Chapter 145: The Secrets Of Combined-arms Tactics!
The Reconnaissance Battalion was once again struck by the Steel Seventh Company’s “poison hand,” and the battle report quickly reached the Confrontation Command Center.
With the previous instant demise of the Reconnaissance Third Company, the division leaders’ psychological resilience had greatly improved, so they didn’t react with the same shock as before.
However.
This time, the killed personnel had a relatively high rank; it was the deputy battalion commander, one of the Reconnaissance Battalion’s core commanders, and he was taken out by the Steel Seventh Company in a one-shot kill, dying very suddenly, which still sparked quite a bit of discussion.
Chen Jun himself hadn’t even thought of it and didn’t specifically target the deputy battalion commander.
Having the Anti-tank Squad take the return route was purely to protect the Anti-tank Squad, ensuring they wouldn’t be tracked and could shake off pursuers to act as a free squad.
But in the leaders’ discussion, it turned into Chen Jun’s “brilliant strategy.”
Predicting that the Reconnaissance Battalion would send people back to investigate, so he specifically sent two squads to ambush midway, successfully taking out half the battalion headquarters in one move.
It was simply a stroke of genius!
This was the legendary self-brainwashing.
The Steel Seventh Company’s displayed strength grew stronger and stronger, their performance more and more eye-catching, and the atmosphere in the command center changed once again, with more and more people favoring the Steel Seventh Company.
From no one optimistic about the Steel Seventh Company in a one-sided manner, to now over half believing the Steel Seventh Company had a chance to win.
This was the value brought by hard power.
And the Steel Seventh Company’s recognition grew higher and higher; Regiment Commander Wang became the first to benefit.
The Steel Seventh Company was a company in the Seventh Hundred and Second Regiment; achieving combined arms self-transformation, the regiment commander was undoubtedly the greatest contributor—without his order, it would have been impossible to implement.
If combined arms could be promoted across the entire division, or even the whole Group Army, Regiment Commander Wang would absolutely soar.
Others get rich in old age; Regiment Commander Wang soars in old age.
Whether out of recognition, flattery, or other reasons.
When Regiment Commander Wang returned with the theory document and handed it to the Division Commander, he had gone from being alone before leaving to now being the center of a crowd.
It was the first time in Regiment Commander Wang’s life to be surrounded by so many people in the division.
At first, he was baffled, unsure of what was going on.
Until from the praises from everyone, he learned that in the short time he went back for the document, the Steel Seventh Company had launched a second attack, successfully taking out a deputy battalion commander and a main force squad from the Reconnaissance Battalion.
And the Steel Seventh Company still had zero casualties, maintaining their miraculous zero-casualty battle record.
The crowd of division cadres surrounding him had witnessed the Steel Seventh Company’s powerful combat effectiveness and begun turning to favor the Steel Seventh Company winning.
The Steel Seventh Company giving him such face made Regiment Commander Wang feel extremely gratified.
…
On the Steel Seventh Company side.
After the Anti-tank Squad and Vanguard Squad teamed up to take out the Reconnaissance Battalion deputy battalion commander’s convoy, they comfortably restocked on supplies.
Including blank ammunition bullets, rockets, and even diesel fuel, all basically replenished.
Although the confrontation exercise used data settlement, the Steel Seventh Company didn’t need to actually fire rockets in sneak attacks, only consuming blank ammunition.
But in subsequent battle result settlements, the Steel Seventh Company’s carried supplies would be accordingly reduced.
Scavenging spoils of war was an indispensable step!
The Anti-tank Squad and Vanguard Reconnaissance Squad, fully “fed and watered,” had just completed resupply and received a new mission right when Regiment Commander Wang returned to Regiment Headquarters.
By the time he took the document back to the command center, the two squads had already moved to a new position per orders.
This was the original place in Chen Jun’s plan for launching the first battle against the Reconnaissance First Company, not eating the duck delivered to their mouth on the return road.
“Report Steel Factory, Fifth Squad in position, over.”
“Report Steel Factory, Third Squad in position, over.”
Already in the designated ambush positions, the Anti-tank Squad and Vanguard Reconnaissance Squad reported in sequence, feeding the information back to Company Headquarters Gao Cheng and Chen Jun.
Using Steel Factory as the company headquarters callsign was something Chen Jun and Gao Cheng had deliberated over for a long time.
Steel Factory mainly corresponded to the Steel Seventh Company’s designation, taking the first character; secondly, it represented a mindset, metaphorically portraying the Steel Seventh Company as a smelting steel factory where only refined elite soldiers forged in the furnace could be.
“Steel Factory received, Third Squad, Fifth Squad, maintain combat readiness, hold position, over.”
Gao Cheng issued orders to Third Squad and Fifth Squad, then proactively called out: “Call Sixth Squad, call Sixth Squad, report your situation, over!”
“Sixth Squad received, we’re controlling distance for luring; Blue Army squad is 2 kilometers from us, 3 kilometers from ambush point, over.”
At this time, Sixth Squad was running southwest, with faint dust visible in the distant sky behind.
“Company Commander, 2 kilometers is too far, not enough; we need to increase the temptation. I suggest having Sixth Squad slow down further, controlling both sides within five hundred meters.”
Chen Jun offered Gao Cheng a suggestion, then specifically explained: “If you want to destroy the enemy, first make them arrogant.
Only when they see the enemy with their own eyes, seeing is believing, can we maximize the Blue Army’s pursuit desire, making them forget everything else and fall irretrievably into a mental trap.
This way, when passing the ambush zone, they won’t notice anything.”
“You kid, you think of everything.”
Gao Cheng found Chen Jun’s reasoning sound and ordered via communication: “Call Sixth Squad, slow down to close distance; when passing the ambush zone, ensure the distance between both sides is compressed within five hundred meters, over.”
“Sixth Squad received, over.”
Sixth Squad Leader Jin Dashan received Gao Cheng’s order and said to the driver: “Decelerate, slowly decelerate, don’t make it too obvious, let the Blue Army catch up.”
“Received, Squad Leader; acting is my specialty—if I hadn’t joined the army, I’d have been famous across half the sky by now.” The driver chuckled.
“Keep bragging; bragging is free, just don’t flip the vehicle.” Jin Dashan laughed and scolded.
Immediately after, the warriors in the rear compartment also started joking with the driver, bantering back and forth, laughing merrily.
Even with the enemy right on their tail, Sixth Squad’s internal atmosphere was very relaxed; having such a good mentality was all supported by confidence.
And this confidence came from Chen Jun.
From the regiment confrontation to the current division confrontation, under Chen Jun’s command, the Steel Seventh Company had crushed every enemy they encountered.
As smooth as a hot knife through tofu, with absolutely no difficulty.
After one, two, three such victories, all Steel Seventh Company warriors’ trust in Chen Jun had broken through the ceiling, entering blind trust extremes.
Firmly believing that as long as Chen Jun was in command, they wouldn’t lose to any enemy.
Compared to Sixth Squad’s relaxed, carefree, pleasant atmosphere, the Blue Army Reconnaissance Squad chasing behind was extremely serious, with pressure written on every face.
If the Reconnaissance Third Company’s loss of contact still left Reconnaissance Battalion warriors hopeful.
Then the deputy battalion commander sent to find them, along with the main force squad protecting him, losing contact less than an hour after departure, completely shattered the Reconnaissance Battalion’s confidence and trampled it into the ground.
Enveloping the Reconnaissance Battalion from battalion commander down to warriors in a dark cloud.
However.
The eerie uncertainty from continuous losses created immense pressure that could crush ordinary people, but it couldn’t crush T Division’s elite force.
At this moment, all remaining scouts in the Reconnaissance Battalion felt a nameless fire surging inside.
Everyone wanted to catch the Steel Seventh Company and trample them eight hundred times over, letting everyone know the Reconnaissance Battalion wasn’t to be trifled with.
The Blue Army Reconnaissance Squad pursuing Sixth Squad was now full of pent-up fire.
As the only Blue Army unit to spot Red Army and about to catch up, their urgency was even stronger.
Now they just wanted to catch the Red Army ahead and reclaim the Reconnaissance Battalion’s lost face.
With that fire fueled in their hearts, the Blue Army main force squad couldn’t wait for friendly support and pushed speed to the max to chase forward.
Afraid of letting the Red Army escape.
“Squad Leader, the Red Army armored vehicle ahead has slowed down; we’re closing in fast.”
After chasing for a while, the driver suddenly noticed the smoke ahead getting closer, even faintly glimpsing the vehicle occasionally.
“Why are they slowing down?”
The Blue Army squad leader was highly vigilant, immediately thinking of this key point.
“Don’t know; could there be an ambush?” a warrior at the front of the compartment guessed.
“Impossible; the terrain here is very open, field of vision excellent—if other Red Army troops were coming, we’d spot them kilometers away, and with both sides at high speed, there’s no space for ambush,” another Blue Army warrior refuted.
“Yeah, this is a new route; only one set of tire tracks on the ground, low ambush possibility—maybe vehicle trouble,” yet another Blue Army warrior guessed.
“Enough.”
The Blue Army squad leader interrupted the discussion: “Whatever the reason, chase first; we’re the only ones who’ve found Red Army traces—if we lose them, the battalion commander will chew me out.”
What the Blue Army squad leader said was spot on; the battalion commander, upon learning they’d found Red Army, had sent a main force squad rushing over at top speed.
The goal was to take out this Red Army squad; capturing live prisoners would be even better.
The other Blue Army warriors said no more.
Could only chase first.
As the Red Army ahead slowed, the Blue Army pursuers kept high speed, quickly closing to within five hundred meters.
The Red Army armored vehicle ahead was now visible to the naked eye.
The thick black smoke trailing from its rear, though obscured by dust after a few meters, was very conspicuous from afar.
“I get why they’re slowing more and more; must be vehicle failure—that thick black smoke is either engine or transmission.”
The Blue Army squad leader identified the reason for the Red Army slowing, dispelling his last doubts.
“Listen up, prepare for battle; when within two hundred meters, hit ’em with the main gun first, let them taste the Reconnaissance Battalion’s power.”
The Blue Army squad leader ordered aggressively; all Blue Army warriors in the compartment chambered rounds.
400 meters…
300 meters…
Just as the last hundred meters remained and the Blue Army prepared to fire.
“Puff puff~~”
The Blue Army infantry fighting vehicle racing forward suddenly billowed thick white smoke from the compartment; both exercise smoke grenades were triggered.
“Cough cough, what happened?”
“How did this damn thing trigger? Equipment failure?”
“Stop, stop first, cough~, gonna choke to death.”
…
The Reconnaissance Company had never been suddenly defeated, never suffered inexplicable ambushes—only they ambushed others.
All Reconnaissance Company warriors reacted the same when the smoke grenades triggered.
All thinking it was exercise equipment failure!
But when they got off to check the fault and curse the Directing Staff, they finally discovered the truth of the matter.
Upon discovering the truth, they were also declared a corpse.
“Bang bang bang…”
A burst of intense gunshots rang out.
The Blue Army warriors who got off had their smoke grenades triggered too, eliminated in a daze amid mutual bewilderment.
Even when the Directing Staff referee arrived to announce the result, they were still dazed and slow to react.
“Heh heh, Squad Leader, your rolling black smoke trick was unexpectedly effective; those Blue Army fools really thought our vehicle broke down, haha.”
A Sixth Squad warrior by the rear door laughed and tossed aside the iron wire in his hand.
A wooden box doused in diesel and gasoline, lit with a lighter, and dragged behind the door with iron wire, burning thick black smoke, had rolled to the roadside.
Turns out the engine failure judged by the Blue Army squad leader was a ruse by Sixth Squad Leader Jin Dashan with a small trick.
Had to say.
The Steel Seventh Company truly had talents everywhere!
“Using a wooden box to smother-burn black smoke to fake engine failure—this rotten idea… ordinary people couldn’t come up with it, haha.”
The Division Chief of Staff, as the lead supporter of the Steel Seventh Company, felt an inexplicable little thrill seeing them wipe out another Blue Army squad.
Even though nominally now, the Division Direct Reconnaissance Battalion was the division’s own son.
“This Red Army Steel Seventh Company… their playing style is indeed very diverse; compared to ordinary companies, much more difficult to deal with.”
“One squad as bait ahead, two heavy firepower squads ambushing midway—isn’t this the Thirty-Six Stratagems’ ‘lure into the trap’?”
“Actually, the rest is fine; the tactics aren’t rare, even familiar to us—the key is the Steel Seventh Company’s configuration, exquisitely matching their tactics, with lots of things inside.”
The division leaders discussed intensely, but a captain staff officer pointed out the key first.
After his reminder, everyone’s minds cleared like enlightenment, realizing where the Steel Seventh Company’s strongest point was.
Not how exquisite the tactics were, but their configuration was very deliberate.
Under this seemingly odd company configuration hid vast untapped potential; what they’d shown was but one in ten thousand.
The Steel Seventh Company made ordinary tactics yield tenfold combat effectiveness.
It lay in that unique company configuration.
Without this unique configuration, none of the Steel Seventh Company’s current tactics and deployments would have this effect.
Put another way…
The Steel Seventh Company’s set of tactics and playing style, if used by other companies, would only get mediocre results, never crushing the Reconnaissance Battalion like this.
Only the Steel Seventh Company’s current unique establishment, paired with this set of counterintuitive tactics, could unleash such powerful combat effectiveness.
Achieving the legendary one plus one greater than three, this inconceivable miracle.
Using traditional tactics and playing style in a brand-new way, paired with a new troop system suited to modern warfare demands.
This was actually the underlying logic of combined arms tactics!
