"This place is simply heaven. The services at the military community are like those of a high-class hotel, and there's even a movie theater! It's wonderful!" White threw his entire body onto the bed in the barracks. "And this comfortable bed and barracks, is this Colonel Sink's blessing? It really feels like a dream!"
"I bet it's filled with velvet. I've never felt such a soft pillow before!" Cobb patted the pillow, smiling triumphantly.
"Come on, this is for you!" Heffron vigorously threw his pillow, hitting Cobb's head directly, causing a burst of laughter. Then Moore threw his pillow at him.
"Alright, alright, let's see how I deal with you all!" Cobb laughed loudly, twisted his pillow, and jumped barefoot onto Moore's bed, hitting his head hard. A pillow fight immediately erupted in the barracks.
"This is our new beginning, guys. We've overcome another hurdle." Parks smiled, watching them make a ruckus in the barracks. Although as a First Sergeant, he had the right to make them stop, Parks didn't do so. This kind of happiness was simple; the brothers needed an optimistic mood to cope with the increasingly complex training.
As a result, most of the men in Easy Company were exhausted that night, and it wasn't until deep into the night that all the barracks gradually quieted down, and the camp gradually fell silent in the night.
"Luz!" Parks lowered his voice and gestured, "You and Heffron attack from the right. Act on my command. Once you breach their first line of defense, immediately move to the rear and feign an attack!"
Luz nodded, then, crouching, went to the right with Heffron.
"Christenson, Cobb, draw fire from the left. Act on my signal. Find cover and remember to suppress the enemy's fire with your machine gun. Once you breach the first line of defense, come over immediately and suppress the enemy's second line of defense from the front." Parks gestured to the two. Christenson and Cobb quietly turned to the left.
Parks immediately said to White, Moore, and the others: "You follow me and act on my hand signals!"
In front of Parks were two buildings. The one in front was a bungalow, now just an empty shell. Apart from a few walls, there was no cover, and even the doors and windows had been removed. Behind the doors and windows, figures flickered faintly.
Parks raised his hand to signal Luz on the left and Christenson on the right. Christenson's machine gun immediately opened fire. Gunshots instantly erupted, and the people inside the building raised their guns and desperately fired at Christenson.
"Go!" Parks saw that Luz and the others had already circled to the right and started to draw the attention of the right side of the building. He immediately signaled, leading the remaining men to charge towards the building.
Clearly, the people inside the building were already somewhat chaotic. Suppressed by machine gun fire and constantly harassed by Luz, they neglected their front line. Coupled with Parks's rapid advance, by the time they recovered from their confusion, Parks was already approaching the door and threw a smoking grenade into the building.
After clearing the first room, Parks gestured to both sides. Luz began to turn to the rear, feigning an attack to continue drawing fire, while Christenson set up his machine gun closer, providing continuous suppressive fire against the enemy's second line of defense.
"Don't move!" Parks rushed into the second room, then raised his gun. "You're captured, gentlemen!"
At this moment, White, Moore, and the others also arrived.
"White, you stay here. Moore, you take the rest of the men, link up with Luz, and then launch a strong attack from the rear. They've already been drawn in by our frontal assault!" Parks decisively waved to Luz, turning their feigned attack into a real strong attack.
"There's no suspense in this one!" Lieutenant Winter, who was observing from a distance, put down his binoculars and said to Nixon, who was observing through his own binoculars, "Parks and his men are sure to win!"
"You're absolutely right!" Nixon nodded. "He's a true tactician."
This was a routine training exercise, designed to train the Easy Company soldiers in their ability during assault operations. Clearly, the squad led by Parks demonstrated high quality and ability in the exercise.
"He's making his opponents run in circles," Nixon couldn't help but smile. "I wonder what other surprises he'll bring us. I'm really curious about him now. It's a pity he didn't go to military academy, otherwise he would definitely be an outstanding leader."
"They're coming back, let's go see!" Winters didn't directly answer Nixon's question but walked towards Parks and the others, who were escorting their "prisoners."
"Now I really admire you, Parks! You're simply omnipotent," White laughed loudly.
"Hey, hey, Cobb, there's no need to really treat us as prisoners!" Guarnere was unfortunately one of Parks's opponents, so he had a lot to say about Cobb's smugness in front of him.
"Oh, Mr. Gonorrhea, who are you talking to? Have you forgotten that you were killed in the battle just now?" Cobb didn't mind at all and instead continued to tease him.
"Damn it!" Guarnere had no choice but to complain to himself. Then he said to Parks, "You're really cunning, making us dizzy. You schemer!"
Parks laughed loudly: "Don't complain. You should be glad you're not krauts! This isn't playing tricks; it's art, you know, the art of war. Perhaps you should take a good lesson."
"Good thing I'm on your side!" Guarnere rolled his eyes.
At this moment, they saw Winters and Nixon approaching. The group quickly stood at attention and saluted them.
"At ease!" Winters smiled and nodded. "You did very well! Dismissed!"
The group cheered and dispersed. Parks was about to leave when he heard Lieutenant Winter call out: "Parks, can you wait a moment?"
Parks stopped, then turned to face Winters and said, "Sir, do you have any orders?"
"Your tactical execution was excellent; you successfully deceived the enemy!" Winters said.
"Thank you, sir!" Parks didn't know Winters's intention, knowing it wasn't just to praise him a few times, so he patiently waited for Winters's next words.
"I hope that in the future, you can use your wisdom to help your brothers get through some difficulties. And of course, don't make unnecessary sacrifices. Do you understand?" In fact, when Winters said this, he didn't expect Parks to understand anything, but he couldn't help but say it.
Parks, however, could understand his thoughts. Winters was afraid that if Sobel were to give reckless commands on the battlefield in the future, he would ensure that his brothers would not suffer greater losses. But Parks knew that Winters's concerns were unnecessary because he knew that the ultimate outcome of the conflict between Winters and Sobel was that Winters won, and Sobel was transferred.
"I understand, Lieutenant!" Parks saluted him solemnly. This was also why he admired Winters.
"Alright, nothing else. Dismissed!" Winters nodded.
Parks turned to leave, but after only two steps, he was called back by Winters.
"Sir?" Parks waited for Winters's command.
"Was your tactic just now a flash of inspiration?" Winters asked.
Parks nodded and said, "Yes, sir. As a commander, I must make my own judgments based on the situation and formulate effective tactical plans. I will not let my brothers take risks easily."
"Hmm, very correct," Winters smiled, "Especially Luz's transformation from a feigned attack to a strong attack, it was excellent and very instructive. You did a great job!"
Parks smiled and said, "I read a military treatise that emphasized 'when real, appear to be unreal; when unreal, appear to be real.' Reality and unreality are not constant but mutually transformable. When you strike the unreal with the real, the enemy will be easily defeated."
Winters's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "A very clever theory, simply the thinking of a genius. Can you tell me what kind of military treatise this is?"
Parks smiled and said, "It's 'The Art of War,' written by a very famous ancient Chinese military strategist."
"Then I must read it!" Winters said.
"This…" Parks hesitated, "I'm afraid you might be disappointed. This book is not common in America right now. Perhaps you might find it in Europe, but you'd have to be lucky." Parks was telling the truth. Although Western research on 'The Art of War' began relatively early, it was somewhat late in America. It wasn't until after the end of World War II that more Americans began to study 'The Art of War.' Before that, it was even harder to find related works.
Winters was clearly a bit disappointed, but he still remembered the book's title. On the European battlefield, he even specifically looked for such a work and finally found an early European translation of 'The Art of War,' which he treasured as if it were a priceless gem, always keeping it as one of his primary desk references.
Currently, the officers and men of Easy Company have begun training for assault operations. They use blank ammunition and smoking grenades to repeatedly demonstrate various situations that might be encountered during an assault.
Although this training was a bit more complex, the Easy Company brothers were very enthusiastic, and they even had time to go to Columbus to have some fun.