Chapter 237: Promotion! Deputy Battalion Commander Gao And Company Commander Chen!
When the Blue Army used the strategy of boiling a frog in warm water, they rushed onto the Green Army Position almost without bloodshed and successfully captured the military flag symbolizing victory.
Green Army warriors didn’t even react.
They couldn’t believe that under equal troop strength, they hadn’t even organized a proper defense before their position was breached so quickly.
But seeing the Blue Army surrounding the camp, no matter how shocked they were, they could only accept reality.
Meanwhile, after the initial shock, the Green Army Battalion Commander recalled every move the Blue Army had made from day to night and couldn’t help but admire the Blue Army’s “deeply calculating” approach.
They spent a full day and night laying out the plan, using what seemed like the most foolish method to paralyze the opponent.
Then, with a sudden attack, they ended the battle like lightning.
This mastery of human psychology, understanding of battlefield dynamics, and mature application of tactics were beyond what ordinary people could achieve.
Losing to such a tactical expert left the Green Army Battalion Commander convinced.
Meanwhile, in the Red Army Headquarters, Li Fuguo was full of confidence, preparing to issue orders for a midnight attack on the Green Army as planned.
But just as he gathered everyone, before he could even give the order.
He received a notification from the Directing Staff—
The confrontation was over, with the Blue Army as the winner.
“What? The Blue Army won? How is that possible?”
Li Fuguo, who knew the Blue Army had only been feint attacking the Green Army without any actual combat achievements, couldn’t imagine how they won.
He also couldn’t accept this result!
To figure out if he had misheard, Li Fuguo made a detailed inquiry to the Directing Staff and finally understood the truth of the matter.
The moment he learned the truth, Li Fuguo’s face turned ashen, and he staggered, collapsing into a chair.
Blue Army’s Sun Dongping had taken the Green Army Position with just one and a half moves—this level of strength was far superior to his own.
Because with Li Fuguo’s own combat plan, it would take at least a day and night for him to have a good chance of success.
And during that time, everything had to go smoothly, waiting for the Blue Army to attack the Green Army and weaken their defensive strength before Li Fuguo could successfully capture it.
It wasn’t that Li Fuguo didn’t want to take the confrontation faster; it was just that his ability was limited, so he could only think of these methods.
Compared to Sun Dongping’s tactics.
The gap was truly enormous.
Realizing that the gap with his opponent was so exaggerated, Li Fuguo completely deflated and slumped.
Not only was he defeated physically, but his spirit was crushed too.
A thorough loss!
Regiment Commander Wang Qing Rui had already gone to sleep, believing the confrontation exercise absolutely couldn’t end tonight—no matter how fast, it would be tomorrow evening at earliest.
As the Art of War says: three times the strength to attack, ten times to surround and kill.
One battalion attacking a highland defended by another battalion gives the defenders a huge advantage; the attackers are inherently disadvantaged, making victory far from easy.
Moreover, the Blue Army had been playing tricks, spending a lot of time on useless feint attacks.
Regiment Commander Wang had ample reason to judge that this exercise would take at least two or three days, with the Red and Blue Sides launching multiple attacks to consume the Green Army’s troops before a final victor emerged.
Who knew such a thing would happen? He had just lain down not long ago, not even asleep, when the civil servant came rushing over, pounding on the door.
“Regiment Commander, the Directing Staff just called with notification—the confrontation exercise is over.”
The first words the civil servant said upon opening the door stunned Regiment Commander Wang for a full ten seconds; he couldn’t believe it ended so fast.
He then eagerly asked who had won the final victory.
The civil servant replied it was the Blue Army.
Hearing that Sun Dongping had won, even though Regiment Commander Wang had verbally supported Li Fuguo all along, his heart had already sensed the shadow and couldn’t accept it for the moment.
If Sun Dongping could end the confrontation so quickly, how strong must his ability be?
Regiment Commander Wang was filled with worry.
He was already starting to have a headache for Chen Jun.
The stronger Sun Dongping’s personal ability, the greater his desire to control the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion, and the lower the probability he would willingly follow Chen Jun’s lead.
This was not good news for the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion.
Under this accumulation of anxious emotions, Regiment Commander Wang lost all sleep, put on his clothes, and went to the office to call the Directing Staff himself for details.
He learned that the Blue Army’s boring-to-the-point-of-extreme performance during the day, which made everyone yawn and lose all interest until they all slipped away, was deliberately done to boil a frog in warm water and paralyze the opponent.
This strange yet reasonable tactic not only fooled the Regiment Commander and Division Commander but even the Directing Staff were completely kept in the dark.
Seeing how calm and composed Sun Dongping was, yet so decisive and ruthless in action.
Regiment Commander Wang had to acknowledge Sun Dongping’s strength and unhesitatingly regarded him as Chen Jun’s strongest opponent to date.
Having such a capable powerhouse take charge of the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion would definitely be a good thing without Chen Jun.
But with Chen Jun…
That was another story!
Chen Jun had worked tirelessly, pulling through every difficulty to get the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion up and running; Regiment Commander Wang was certain he wouldn’t become a marginal figure.
Sun Dongping’s personality was extremely confident and competitive, and he indeed had real skills.
Coming to the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion with great ambitions, he surely wasn’t there just to claim a Combined Arms Battalion Commander title and willingly be Chen Jun’s supporting role.
Most importantly, both Chen Jun and Sun Dongping.
Were key figures in the combined arms setup.
Regiment Commander Wang was convinced that these two with conflicting demands would inevitably spark a major storm in the future, one that could affect the life and death of the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion.
“This is an unavoidable deep hurdle; hopefully, we can pass it smoothly.”
Regiment Commander Wang was now at a loss, could only sigh deeply, pinning everything on hope that it wouldn’t lead to the worst outcome.
And this confrontation exercise for the battalion commander position ended just like that in the dead of night.
The next day.
The Directing Staff sent the exercise report to the Division, which confirmed it and forwarded it to the Group Army, which quickly approved it.
Around 10 a.m. on the third day, the Military Region’s appointment document came down.
Based on the previously issued document, confirming the confrontation exercise results as authentic and valid, it formally appointed the winner, Lieutenant Colonel Sun Dongping, as Battalion Commander of the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion, to lead and organize all work of the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion.
Along with Sun Dongping’s appointment document came two others.
One also from the Group Army.
The other from the Division Headquarters.
The Group Army’s appointment was for Gao Cheng, formally appointing the first Combined Arms Company Company Commander, Gao Cheng, as Deputy Battalion Commander of the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion.
To match the Deputy Battalion Commander of the Combined Arms Battalion, which is actually a Regiment Level position.
Gao Cheng’s military rank was also promoted one level.
To Major!
Moreover, the power of this Deputy Battalion Commander position for Gao Cheng was much greater than a typical Deputy Battalion Commander.
The document explicitly stated that Gao Cheng’s main responsibilities were not just logistics; he was also in charge of the Combined Arms Battalion’s intelligence work.
In other words, of the Combined Arms Battalion Headquarters’ “three sections,” except for the Operations Section handled by the Chief Staff Officer.
The Supply Section and Intelligence Section were both under Gao Cheng’s management.
As the military chief officer of the Combined Arms Battalion, the Battalion Commander managed the Combined Arms Battalion’s staff group and was responsible for combat operations, with the rest under Gao Cheng’s purview.
In other words.
Though Gao Cheng was just a Deputy Battalion Commander and had to obey the Battalion Commander’s command and dispatch, he was effectively sharing power equally with the Battalion Commander.
For a Deputy Battalion Commander to gain such great authority, it was clearly not just because Gao Cheng led the Combined Arms Company well.
Everyone knew the reason.
They just didn’t say it outright.
With Gao Cheng’s appointment document issued, becoming Deputy Battalion Commander, he couldn’t continue as Company Commander; the content of the other order was easy to guess.
Pulling out the radish left a hole—the Steel Seventh Company Company Commander position was now vacant.
Many people wanted to fill this hole, but only one was qualified.
That was Chen Jun!!
Long qualified to be Company Commander, just waiting for Gao Cheng, Chen Jun naturally became the new Company Commander of Steel Seventh Company through the Division Headquarters’ appointment document.
Moreover, both the Military Region and Division were well aware of Chen Jun’s importance to the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion.
So.
In addition to appointing Chen Jun as Steel Seventh Company Company Commander, he was also appointed to an even more important position, concurrently serving as Training Staff Officer of the Combined Arms Battalion.
This was one of the Combined Arms Battalion’s five staff officers, at Company Level.
Mainly responsible for formulating the Combined Arms Battalion’s training plans, assessing warriors’ training results, participating in battalion-level tactical research and execution, and more.
The Training Staff Officer is very important to the Combined Arms Battalion; their work directly impacts the troops’ combat effectiveness and training results, making them a key member of the Combined Arms Battalion’s military think tank.
To become a qualified Training Staff Officer, one must possess four basic abilities.
First: Comprehensive ability.
Requires high comprehensive ability to integrate various knowledge and skills to complete tasks.
Second: Military knowledge.
Deep understanding of military theory and actual combat experience, able to flexibly adjust training and combat plans based on battlefield dynamics.
Always keeping the Combined Arms Battalion at the forefront, ensuring updates and iterations in tactical play.
Third, communication ability.
Maintain good communication and harmonious relations with all levels of commanders and soldiers in the battalion, ensuring smooth implementation of training and combat plans.
Fourth, decision making ability.
In emergencies, able to make rapid decisions, assist the military chief officer in formulating combat plans, ensuring troop safety and combat efficiency.
Staff officers are key components of the army, indispensable “nodes” in the command system.
Each staff officer must possess matching professional knowledge for their position, having authority in their field.
The four abilities required for an Operations Staff Officer, Chen Jun not only possessed but at ceiling level.
At the current domestic stage…
Not to mention the entire Eighty-fourth Group Army, even across all army, navy, and air force commanders, none were more qualified than Chen Jun.
Especially in leading and training troops, Chen Jun was absolutely the unrivaled ceiling.
The Combined Arms Battalion was built by Chen Jun himself; he definitely had the most experience in how to train its warriors to master combined arms tactics.
The Military Region and Division were very clear that Chen Jun was irreplaceable in this regard.
That’s why they issued two appointment documents at once, making him the only one in the entire Pilot Combined Arms Battalion holding two positions concurrently.
Every position in the Combined Arms Battalion was highly coveted, with many people eyeing them.
For Chen Jun to hold two positions alone.
It was purely because his strength was too formidable!
Regiment Commander Wang, the Political Commissar, Gao Cheng, and others, even all officers and soldiers up and down the Seventh Hundred and Second Regiment.
Were all very happy in their hearts that Chen Jun received such favor, sincerely believing it was only right.
Even the newly arrived Ma Tianxiang and Man Guangzhi applauded and welcomed Chen Jun joining the battalion headquarters.
Only one person in the whole audience had disgust flashing in his eyes.
Sun Dongping wanted complete control of the Combined Arms Battalion, to develop it in his way, filling every corner with his shadow.
Only then could he turn the Pilot Combined Arms Battalion into his most perfect testing ground.
To experiment with all the ideas in his mind.
If the experiments succeeded and combined arms tactics fully matured, it would all be honors paving the way to general.
Sun Dongping, who had studied combined arms units abroad, had accumulated countless ideas in his mind by borrowing and learning from foreign troops.
He had long been eager to turn all those ideas into tangible troops.
So upon returning, he pulled every connection, even reaching his National Defense University mentor, successfully entering the domestic forefront base for combined arms tactics.
Originally thinking that once the base started running, he could unleash his talents freely.
But after waiting nearly a year with no start, the base was projected to begin operations next year, starting with forming a Combined Arms Brigade.
Sun Dongping knew full well that with his seniority, he couldn’t go to the Brigade Headquarters, let alone be Brigade Commander.
Even if he could only become Battalion Commander of some Combined Arms Battalion under the Combined Arms Brigade, his power would be severely limited, unable to display his “full talents.”
Just then, he learned that the Eighty-fourth Group Army had taken the lead in forming combined arms troops.
And the level was just right—a Combined Arms Battalion—where he could go from the tail of the phoenix to the head of the chicken, with qualifications fully sufficient, as if tailor-made for him.
So Sun Dongping was moved!
He exhausted every method and connection to gain candidate status.
Now, after a simple confrontation, he easily secured the Combined Arms Battalion Commander position; Sun Dongping was now burning with passion, eager to unfold his ambitions.
He had thought Chen Jun was just a Company Commander, never taking him seriously from start to finish.
Once he became Battalion Commander, he could easily suppress him.
But unexpectedly, after the orders came down, this “small role” Chen Jun he hadn’t cared about actually entered the Combined Arms Battalion headquarters.
And the position was very important—the very area he valued most.
As the Combined Arms Battalion’s third phase began until the Military Region’s acceptance work ended, the main task during this period was one.
That was training the newly formed troops to make them a qualified Combined Arms Battalion.
Now with Chen Jun as Training Staff Officer, all work required for the third phase fell within Chen Jun’s scope.
This infuriated Sun Dongping!
Even as Battalion Commander with ultimate authority, the Training Staff Officer was the one in charge of training and such; to intervene, he could only forcibly interfere.
Unlike commanding other departments, where one order sufficed.
For the Battalion Commander to forcibly interfere wasn’t very dignified.
Plus, there was the Deputy Battalion Commander with unusually great power, effectively sharing autumn equally with him as Battalion Commander, who was Chen Jun’s old Company Commander from one company.
Sun Dongping could imagine with his toes that those two would definitely be in cahoots.
If not handled well, he might capsize.
But with orders already issued, no matter how unwilling Sun Dongping was inside, he couldn’t change Chen Jun becoming part of the headquarters.
All he could do was quickly rack his brain for a method to resolve the trouble Chen Jun brought.
