Chapter 130: Red Third Company Vs Steel Seventh Company—clash Of Titans!
Since the Gulf War ended in 1991, the White Eagle gave a harsh lesson to armies around the world, and our army’s reform was put on the fast track.
Improving the cultural quality of soldiers across the entire army, accelerating research and development of various advanced equipment, and so on.
All came online at super-fast speeds!
However, as the main field army guarding the capital, T Division had only heard rumors of the entire army’s military reform before, and knew that the trend was irreversible and unstoppable.
But everyone didn’t take it very seriously, thinking it wouldn’t fall on T Division so quickly.
Yet the speed was exactly that fast.
In just a few short years, the knife had already fallen.
All regimental-level units in T Division, including Regiment Commander Wang, would be chopped by the knife named military reform, and every company under them would be affected.
For every regiment’s chief officer, touching their own troops was like cutting into their own flesh.
That truly hurt.
In order to lead their own troops through this military reform smoothly, at least within a range they could accept.
Every regiment commander was thinking of ways to get through this hurdle of military reform.
Regiment Commander Wang was the same.
Now the order had come down to the regiment, clearly stating that every regiment must put forward one company for military reform, meaning the matter was already confirmed.
But when the Group Army would “probe” 702 Regiment, Regiment Commander Wang had no specific time.
Even the division level didn’t know.
However, unlike other regiments that could only wait passively, accept tests from the Group Army, and finally have the division decide how to carry out military reform.
Because of Chen Jun’s existence in 702 Regiment, it gave Regiment Commander Wang new hope.
If the synthesized modification succeeded, it could greatly influence decisions at the division level, even the Group Army high command.
Allowing 702 Regiment’s final military reform result to proceed under his own active guidance.
Active means having autonomy, passive means only obedience.
Obviously, the former is better!
And Steel Seventh Company, as Regiment Commander Wang’s hope, five months had passed in the blink of an eye, and Regiment Commander Wang urgently wanted to know the modification results.
If the synthesized modification turned into a mess, he would have to prepare in advance.
Regiment Commander Wang had already learned through his own channels that in the military reform list issued by the Group Army, 702 Regiment’s Steel Seventh Company, Red Third Company, and Great Merit Sixth Company—all excellent companies—were all included.
Military reform’s knife specifically targets main force companies, which left Regiment Commander Wang baffled while increasing the pressure in his heart.
So he urgently wanted to break the situation!
Under Chen Jun and the entire company’s full collaboration, Steel Seventh Company’s synthesized modification went very smoothly, and Gao Cheng was naturally happy to share with the regiment commander.
Gao Cheng, who was usually not good with words, spoke eloquently at this moment.
Also because the simulated training demonstrated powerful combat effectiveness, every word Gao Cheng said revealed his confidence in the synthesized Steel Seventh Company.
“Good, I look forward to the confrontation in a month being as powerful as you say, not just empty boasting.”
Gao Cheng had praised Steel Seventh Company to the skies, and Regiment Commander Wang was very satisfied with the inquiry results, leaving one sentence before hanging up the telephone.
With Regiment Commander Wang calling to urge them, Gao Cheng and Chen Jun’s enthusiasm was even stronger.
The final and most crucial training finally kicked off as scheduled.
From starting with joint training on common subjects, to the middle where each squad honed their own professional skills, to coordination between the reconnaissance squad and other squads, it formed a perfect step-by-step path.
All stages were already problem-free, so the final stage was naturally full company integration training.
The so-called full company integration training meant the entire company participating in the training, conducting whole-unit training at the company level, training the company’s integrated combat effectiveness.
Not only did all nine squads need to be fully involved, but the company commander and political instructor also had to participate together.
As the person in charge of the synthesized modification, Chen Jun had long designed four completely different trainings based on the special nature of combined arms operations.
Just like a screenwriter writing scripts, he created four completely different simulated actions.
Each action took seven days as a cycle, with five days based on actual combat to carry out, as the total time to complete the mission.
The remaining two days were for summarizing the various problems that arose in this simulated training.
Then rectification, ensuring no repeat next time.
In the final month, Chen Jun conducted a total of four company-level combat simulation trainings, perfectly cycling all the time.
Conducting four combat simulation trainings in one month was equivalent to fighting four battles in a month.
Difficult, definitely difficult.
Tiring, definitely tiring.
But would difficulty and tiredness stop them?
Of course not!
As soldiers defending the country and protecting the people, facing difficulties head-on is the most basic attribute, because behind soldiers are the people, with no way to retreat.
No matter how bitter, difficult, or tiring, they had to push on.
And the reason Chen Jun arranged it so intensively was partly to, in addition to training, exercise Steel Seventh Company’s combat effectiveness in extremely harsh environments.
Never underestimate the cruelty of war; there are never ideal war conditions.
The more fully prepared, the better adapted to war.
And so.
In the next month, amid other companies’ puzzled guesses, Steel Seventh Company would leave the camp every week and disappear for five days, returning only for two days to rest and adjust.
In the same battalion, aside from Sixth Company leading the new recruit company, the remaining Eighth Company, Ninth Company, and Tenth Company all sent people to Seventh Company to investigate.
Gao Cheng had already issued a gag order in advance, so naturally no information could be obtained.
Even if the company commander came personally, they could only return empty-handed.
Even Second Battalion Commander and the political instructor were alarmed; they hadn’t received any reports from Seventh Company and worried that Steel Seventh Company’s prolonged private outings might cause issues.
They quickly called Steel Seventh Company during the two days they returned.
But similarly, no gains.
A typical company commander would definitely be very “obedient” to the battalion commander, but Gao Cheng was someone who dared to grab the regiment commander’s water cup to drink, so the battalion commander held no deterrence in his eyes.
He directly said it was a military secret, couldn’t say without the regiment commander’s order, and easily pushed back.
This left Second Battalion Commander both annoyed and helpless, so he used reporting Steel Seventh Company’s situation upward as an excuse to come to the regiment to find the regiment commander.
What exactly happened when the battalion commander met the regiment commander, neither Chen Jun nor Gao Cheng knew.
They only knew that after this, the battalion commander didn’t call again.
Steel Seventh Company’s final and most crucial training thus proceeded smoothly as planned, amid great fanfare that piqued the curiosity of the entire regiment, yet no one could find out.
New recruits who completed three months of new recruit company training also gradually joined the companies during this period.
Because the synthesized training time was too tight, this year’s new recruits joining the company were completely beyond Gao Cheng’s attention; he couldn’t manage the quality of the new recruits at all.
Whatever soldiers were assigned, he accepted them.
This became the only year since he became company commander that he didn’t personally select soldiers.
And the new recruits assigned to Steel Seventh Company this year also experienced their unique joining-the-company life, completely different from other companies’ new recruits.
Not only was there no grand company entry ceremony upon joining, but squad leaders simply held a brief entry ceremony for them in the squad, and each was given a number.
Even in the month before joining, they did only one thing every day—
Company housekeeping!
The entire Steel Seventh Company went out for training, leaving only one veteran soldier and the clerk to stand guard and receive telephone documents at the company.
The whole company was out for five days without returning, but housekeeping regulations still had to be followed.
Indoor housekeeping work had to be done every day, and outdoor corridor housekeeping even more so; they had to follow housekeeping regulations to keep the company clean and tidy.
The new recruits had no one to lead their training, so they could only be responsible for housekeeping work at the company.
Spending the first month after joining doing a full month of housekeeping, without even one lesson on the three major steps—the most basic—probably only Steel Seventh Company’s new recruits in the entire regiment.
Fortunately.
Effort and harvest are proportional.
After a month of dirty, dusty hard work outside, Steel Seventh Company’s company action simulation training was very successful, and coordination between squads was successfully completed.
Although there was still a long way to go to unleash the combined arms company’s strongest combat effectiveness.
But combined arms tactics had been implanted in the company; from soldiers to the company commander, everyone clearly understood their roles and already possessed preliminary combat effectiveness.
Time came to March 25,
The confrontation military exercise agreed with Regiment Commander Wang arrived exactly half a year on this day.
Carrying a bit of personal petty emotion, wanting revenge for almost being poached back then, Gao Cheng specially made a trip to the regiment headquarters himself.
Relying on his close relationship with the regiment commander, he smoothly confirmed the opponent for this confrontation military exercise.
The Third Company Commander, who had just taken over this year’s new recruits, fished in a few good soldiers through connections and means, full of ambition preparing for a big fight, aiming to win a beautiful comeback battle in this year’s mid-year grand competition.
Because he hadn’t paid much attention to Steel Seventh Company early on, and later Steel Seventh Company suddenly went mysteriously missing, he tried every way but couldn’t get any news.
The confrontation military exercise order from the regiment caught the Third Company Commander especially off guard.
It caught him completely unprepared!
With absolutely no prior preparation, the order was only to pull the entire company to Area B186 in one week for a confrontation military exercise with Steel Seventh Company.
Not even the specific confrontation mode was given, and preparation time was only one week.
The Third Company Commander was not happy at all.
His head swelled a full size bigger!
Gao Cheng had his own petty emotions, so he specifically picked Red Third Company as the opponent.
Red Third Company Commander Huang Yang’s emotions toward Gao Cheng were several times more intense than Gao Cheng’s.
Not to mention how he personally brought good cigarettes to find Gao Cheng, just wanting him to share two good soldiers, but Gao Cheng didn’t give any face.
Later, trying to secretly poach, but got discovered by Gao Cheng and scolded face-to-face.
Face lost completely, and even the inside was gone.
Just talking about the regiment competition, his Red Third Company was comprehensively crushed by Steel Seventh Company; not only did they fail to hold onto first place in the regiment competition, they didn’t even make the top three.
Regiment competition results were tied to the company’s annual performance; failing to hold top three meant a year of work for nothing.
Huge loss.
Therefore.
From the end of last year’s regiment competition until now, the Third Company Commander had been channeling every ounce of energy into venting his anger, wanting to regain face.
Now, great.
Preparation work only halfway done, and already facing off against Steel Seventh Company.
Third Company Commander Huang Yang was very satisfied with this confrontation mode; only beating Steel Seventh Company this way would make Gao Cheng convinced, but it really wasn’t the right time now.
To the enemy it’s a sharp knife, to training it’s a razor, to one’s own people it’s a bone-scraping knife.
This was 702 Regiment’s universally recognized slogan describing Steel Seventh Company!
With Steel Seventh Company having just won first place in the division grand competition, momentum unprecedentedly strong, and his own preparations incomplete, facing Steel Seventh Company now, the Third Company Commander truly had no confidence, at best fifty-fifty.
But the regiment’s order was issued, so no matter how unwilling, the Third Company Commander could only obey.
He immediately seized every minute and second, striving to perfect the preparation work as much as possible in the remaining seven days.
Compared to Third Company’s immense pressure and heavy atmosphere, with the entire company shrouded in shadow.
Steel Seventh Company’s atmosphere was the complete opposite!
Having just completed the preliminary synthesized modification, with tactics and technology comprehensively upgraded, Steel Seventh Company from top to bottom was full of enthusiasm, with an especially strong desire for combat.
It was just like a child getting a new toy, eager to show it off to good friends.
If unable to show off, it felt stifled inside.
And the current confrontation military exercise was the best opportunity; everyone in Steel Seventh Company was already impatient to display their skills in the confrontation military exercise.
To see what kind of achievements their half-year of hard training could yield.
And Gao Cheng, who deliberately set Red Third Company as the opponent, returned to the company with a grin that wouldn’t close, completely immersed in excitement and agitation.
The confrontation military exercise hadn’t even started yet, but it was as if he already saw the Third Company Commander’s bitter expression.
Every time he thought of it…
Gao Cheng felt a secret thrill inside!
This wasn’t petty revenge or small-mindedness; it was purely the standard military style where victory desire overflows, and every company wants to compete for first.
They say a soldier who doesn’t want to be a general isn’t a good soldier; actually, there’s a similar saying.
That is, a troops that doesn’t strive for first is definitely not a good troops.
In this atmosphere of the entire company brimming with high fighting spirit, various preparations underway intensively, the seven days of preparation time passed in the blink of an eye.
The confrontation military exercise finally began!!
Red Third Company, per the regiment’s order, pulled the entire company to the designated B186 area.
The regiment headquarters operations staff had already sent people here to handle handover and guidance with Red Third Company, ensuring the confrontation exercise proceeded as planned.
Such as the content of this confrontation, supply and receipt of exercise supplies, victory or defeat judgments, and so on.
All handled by the regiment operations staff.
Steel Seventh Company also pulled out the entire company at the same time, arriving at the regiment-designated A051 area, similarly docking with the waiting operations staff.
Plateau, plain, mountainous terrain and other various terrains coexist, which is a main feature of Inner Mongolia’s terrain.
The area where T Division’s base is located is the junction of mountainous and plateau terrain, with relatively more complex terrain.
And the confrontation area selected by the regiment this time combined these three characteristics.
There is grassland, but not much.
There is forest, also not much.
Vast areas of sparse vegetation with loess exposed, looking particularly desolate—the loess plateau—became the mainstream scenery here.
