Chapter 57: The Crucial Plan To Break The Stalemate
Sixth Squad Leader plus Squad Leader already makes nine people, originally there was no need to assign new recruits, the reason for giving him one new recruit could be considered a “reward” for Jin Dashan’s troop leading.
In the original drama, Cheng Cai was assigned to Seventh Squad, the reason he stayed in Third Squad now.
Was due to Chen Jun’s influence!
Gao Cheng had initially finalized the list in the new recruit company, and how to allocate these six new recruits back to the company indeed gave him a bit of trouble.
People who understand the troops know that the establishment numbers and actual establishment numbers in the troops are rarely the same.
For example, a squad is said to have ten warriors, but the vast majority of regular squads are basically understaffed for most of the time.
On official duties, temporary transfers, various types of martial arts competitions, leading military training, visiting relatives on leave, further studies, demobilization and transfer, hospitalization for injuries or illness, flood fighting and rescue…
And so on various factors, too numerous to count.
Dozens of situations won’t happen all at once, but some of them are bound to occur, with quite a few people not in the company, easily short by a dozen or more.
Except for special situations like first-level combat readiness, the company won’t impose special restrictions.
Steel Seventh Company belongs to the establishment of field units, the company hasn’t been assigned a cookhouse and production squad yet, the combat readiness squad in peacetime has nine people, plus company cadres and service personnel, etc., all in all just around 100 people.
Plus field units have more frequent personnel transfers, Seventh Company’s establishment numbers have basically never been full.
Now many squads in Steel Seventh Company are short of people, out of nine squads, only two are fully staffed with ten people, six new recruits with more monks than porridge, simply not enough to go around.
Gao Cheng as Seventh Company’s chief officer needs to think from the company’s perspective.
How to distribute the six soldiers evenly, making each squad’s combat effectiveness as balanced as possible, is indeed quite a headache.
In the new recruit company without their own political instructor, deputy company commander, deputy political instructor, the cadres Gao Cheng could talk to were only Chen Jun.
So he called Chen Jun over and specifically discussed for more than an hour.
If based on Steel Seventh Company’s armored reconnaissance company establishment, and the newly equipped infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, allocating the six new recruits isn’t complicated.
But Chen Jun has even greater goals, so distributing troops requires considering more things.
Chen Jun is already working to turn Steel Seventh Company, under existing conditions, into a combined arms company through effort, without support from higher units, first establishing the framework for combined arms operations.
Let Steel Seventh Company start from the lowest company-level unit, embarking on the path of combined arms tactics.
And according to the combat demands of combined arms tactics, Seventh Company’s current structure of nine regular combat squads obviously doesn’t match at all.
It definitely needs major changes.
At least split into five combat units.
Artillery squad, anti-air defense squad, reconnaissance squad, assault squad, logistics support squad, these five combat units are the most basic structure of a combined arms company.
Only if each squad has various responsible tasks, and deeply cultivates in those areas, then supplemented with a lot of coordination and integration training, playing to each squad’s characteristic role, can the value of combined arms tactics be fully demonstrated.
So when Chen Jun discussed with Gao Cheng, it was basically centered around combined arms operations.
Of course.
All of this Chen Jun only thought in his heart, without revealing a bit to Gao Cheng.
Without any paving the way, suddenly pulling out the concept of combined arms operations to Gao Cheng, and saying to transform Steel Seventh Company’s model structure into a combined arms company under the existing armored reconnaissance company establishment.
For Gao Cheng, who due to his straightforward personality has always fully shaped Steel Seventh Company into an assault sharp knife company, accustomed to charging straight ahead and hammering away.
Changing to a combined arms company mainly based on tactical coordination, with squads split for division of labor and cooperation.
Chen Jun was very clear.
The concept was indeed a bit too advanced, Gao Cheng probably wouldn’t accept it.
In the situation where he himself was merely a cadet, not even a platoon leader, Chen Jun’s right to speak was very limited, yet wanting to shake up Steel Seventh Company’s foundations.
It was really a bit too early, liable to backfire.
So Chen Jun decided to take it step by step slowly, first concentrate elites into Shi Jin’s Third Squad, then through his own ability shape and upgrade it into a reinforced reconnaissance squad.
First use Third Squad as a pilot!
The breakthrough point toward becoming a combined arms company!
Chen Jun as a traverser knew that two years later there would be a mountain exercise, a confrontation between regiment and regiment, with the entire 702 Regiment mobilized.
At that time, the old A team led by Yuan Lang would also join the Blue Army camp.
In the original drama, 702 Regiment lost very badly, crushed comprehensively by the Blue Army, their own command post completely taken out, yet not even knowing where the Blue Army camp was.
Let alone finding the Blue Army command post.
And Steel Seventh Company as 702 Regiment’s armored reconnaissance company, should have found the Blue Army camp in the exercise, conducted infiltration and reconnaissance on Blue Army information, confronted Blue Army reconnaissance unit, providing key intelligence for the regiment command post.
That way, 702 Regiment as a heavy infantry regiment could play the role its armored group and artillery units should have.
Artillery bombardment, tank charge.
Completely crushing the Blue Army!
And Steel Seventh Company as 702 Regiment’s only reconnaissance company, should have shouldered heavy responsibility to complete the above mission, yet performed very poorly in the exercise.
Not even conducting any reconnaissance actions at all, completely unlike an elite-packed top student company.
Merely occupying one highland, then digging fortifications on the high ground, stationed on the mountain, without sending reconnaissance teams to probe the frontline, nor conducting deep infiltration reconnaissance into enemy territory.
Completely turned into an ordinary infantry company, without playing the role an armored reconnaissance company should have.
Steel Seventh Company failing to play its due role, the entire 702 Regiment became blind and deaf, only to be arbitrarily manipulated by the enemy.
The only highlight was just Xu Sanduo, relying on his fast-running advantage ability, plus that stubborn vigor, and Yuan Lang’s underestimation due to carelessness, capturing Yuan Lang this lieutenant colonel alive in the jungle.
Unfortunately, Yuan Lang in this exercise was just the captain of the Blue side special operations team.
He didn’t participate in commanding combat at all!
Even capturing Yuan Lang alive had no change to this exercise, for 702 Regiment’s disastrous defeat, not even worth bringing to the table.
Precisely because the armored reconnaissance company was completely useless in the exercise, failing to play its due role.
Equivalent to this unit already having no value!
Gathered a large number of excellent warriors from the whole regiment, yet unable to play any role in war, so what’s the point of keeping it?
Obviously none!
Thus it was a sight to behold with glee.
Directly leading to not long after the mountain real troops exercise, Steel Seventh Company’s reorganization being formally put on the agenda, with a red-headed document issued in less than half a year.
Steel Seventh Company thus became history of 702 Regiment, the whole company dismantled into stars scattered across the sky.
The reason Chen Jun wanted to fully shape Third Squad was to use this one reinforced squad painstakingly built, to break the deadlock in this crucial mountain exercise.
