Chapter 304: Two Armored Companies Go Head-to-head
Time flies, and years pass like a shuttle.
In the blink of an eye, two months have passed.
1998 has become a thing of the past, ushering in the brand new year of 1999.
In January of this new year, Chen Jun finally completed the army-wide experience sharing lecture and returned to Steel Seventh Battalion to lead training.
With just over a month left until the New Year, regular troops have entered a period of rest.
However, Steel Seventh Battalion, currently undergoing intensified training, remains in high-intensity drills with no time to waste.
Nearly half of the year has passed, and there isn’t much time left for Steel Seventh Battalion.
If they don’t train against the clock,
How can they pass the test a year from now?
Over the past nearly half-year, Gao Cheng has strictly implemented Chen Jun’s training syllabus, ensuring all basic training was solid.
Now that Chen Jun has returned to Steel Seventh Battalion to take charge, the basic work no longer requires his responsibility.
Chen Jun’s job is only one thing—
That is to refine the entire battalion, identify the problems in each company, and the areas for improvement, and conduct targeted reinforcement.
This is a complex and in-depth task that requires extremely rich experience from the executor.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to identify the problems in each company, fix the hidden ailments, and refining the entire battalion would become an empty talk.
Therefore, Chen Jun formulated a detailed plan and went deep into each company for on-site investigation.
Furthermore, before going to the companies for targeted investigation, Chen Jun, in order to better discover the potential problems of each company and achieve better results from this refinement.
He specifically incorporated the new combined arms tactics concept tailored to the characteristics of combined arms units—
“Reconnaissance, Control, Attack, Evaluation Linkage Theory!”
This is a mature tactical concept from later generations, which can effectively integrate the playing styles of various branches of service in combined arms units and is very helpful for improving combat effectiveness if introduced early.
The basic concept of Reconnaissance, Control, Attack, Evaluation Linkage Theory is actually not difficult to understand.
“Reconnaissance” is to gather intelligence on the enemy;
“Control” is to control the battlefield situation and the rhythm of the battle;
“Attack” is combat in the literal sense.
“Evaluation” is post-battle assessment.
As the saying goes, learning from lessons leads to progress, and post-battle summary is an indispensable step, but how to summarize effectively also requires skill.
The evaluation method in this theory is to review the combat process through sand table simulations.
By integrating these four steps and making them a process like muscle memory, combat effectiveness can be improved through continuous drills and optimization.
The last part, “Linkage Theory,” refers to the four steps forming a closed loop, emphasizing coordination and continuous improvement.
A simple explanation can be given in a few dozen words, as if anyone can learn it after reading it once, but the actual difficulty of implementation and transformation is very high.
For Steel Seventh Battalion to better understand and digest this new theory.
Chen Jun not only made a detailed breakdown plan but also selected and explained in detail each key core within this theory.
Reconnaissance, Control, Attack, Evaluation Linkage Theory is a process management method with coordination as its core, characterized by forming a closed loop through four key steps to improve organizational efficiency and combat capabilities.
Its core connotations are divided into three categories and ten points:
The first category is “Theoretical Framework,” supported by four core points.
The first point is “Reconnaissance.”
By combining the Electronic Warfare Brigade and the Special Reconnaissance Company, the respective advantages of virtual and physical entities are leveraged, ultimately achieving a synergy of more than one plus one.
It emphasizes the intelligence gathering and analysis stages, building a foundation for decision-making through multi-dimensional data acquisition.
Combined units are products of the informatized era, destined to be dominated by information and digitalization. Only by effectively integrating battlefield reconnaissance and electromagnetic intelligence acquisition capabilities can combat effectiveness be maximized.
The second point is “Control.”
This is reflected in the dynamic control of resources and processes, as well as situational awareness and command system adjustments.
To give the most vivid and appropriate example:
It is to control the various branches of service in a combined arms unit like the five fingers of a hand, flexibly and quickly forming actions such as “scissors,” “OK,” and “rock,” and playing with unit command to the fullest.
The ability to have more combinations and pairings, and stronger controllability, is the biggest difference between combined arms units and traditional units.
Traditional units have a single tactical approach, while combined arms units possess diversified combat capabilities.
The third point is “Attack.”
This is combat.
There is only one core: how to eliminate as many enemy forces as possible at the minimum cost.
To achieve this efficiently, one needs to be proficient in a large number of tactical play styles.
And informatized combined arms tactics are the most optimal!
For example, by combining intelligence and control from the previous steps, precisely grasping the enemy’s information and battlefield situation, launching missiles to destroy the command center, using electronic warfare to jam enemy communications, completely paralyzing the enemy’s command system, and then dispatching assault troops to launch a surprise attack.
The entire process executed is a complete combat.
The fourth point is “Evaluation.”
Through post-battle review and optimization, a continuous improvement mechanism is formed, optimizing the “Reconnaissance – Strike – Evaluation” response linkage through sand table simulations and real combat data retrospection.
A strategic performance system must also be established for in-depth analysis of processes, measures, personnel combinations, etc.
Since there is peace and no fighting domestically, all daily confrontation training and various large and small actual combat exercises should be included in the evaluation.
By summarizing the problems encountered during training and exercises, the combat system is continuously optimized, and existing problems are patched.
The second category is “Coordination Mechanism,” comprising three points.
First is process standardization:
Complex tasks are broken down into standardized actions that can be coordinated.
All training processes are turned into assembly lines, enabling companies to coordinate efficiently like an assembly line, achieving maximum benefit in minimum time.
Second is data-driven combat:
An intelligence platform is built to achieve real-time information sharing, so that before every battle, there is enough data to thoroughly understand the enemy.
Simply put, intelligence must precede combat.
In layman’s terms, know yourself and your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.
And to optimize this, a command system covering the entire unit is needed, which is currently lacking in Steel Seventh Battalion.
In this era of digitalization and informatization, integrating the entire unit onto a single system platform to make command more efficient and convenient is an inevitable future trend and a necessity.
Chen Jun has been trying to find a solution to this major problem of the command system, but unfortunately, he still has no clue.
Developing a completely new system that also meets the needs of the army is not a simple task.
It requires not only substantial available military funds but also the establishment of a development laboratory with the support of superiors, as well as a key core figure to lead it.
And in this day and age, top talent in program development is a highly sought-after commodity everywhere.
It is quite difficult to attract them with the army’s conditions.
Until a leader-level program development expert is found who can lead the entire project and complete the development as required, this project can only be temporarily shelved.
Even with sufficient military funds, it cannot be initiated.
Not to mention that at the current level of Steel Seventh Battalion, they do not have the capacity to build the required development laboratory; the project would at least need to start after reaching the Combined Arms Regiment level.
Therefore, there is no use in being anxious now; there is no need to spend too much thought on this.
Just go with the flow!
The third point is responsibility devolution:
Through the division of responsibility and incremental sharing mechanisms, training achievements are linked to assessment performance. Cadres who fail to meet requirements will face varying degrees of punishment, and may even be transferred out of Steel Seventh Battalion.
Warriors who fail to meet training requirements will also be transferred out of Steel Seventh Battalion.
Of course.
There will also be rewards for good performance.
Through a clear reward and punishment responsibility mechanism, the motivation of cadres and warriors is stimulated, further improving the quality and results of training.
The third category is “Setting Goals,” also divided into three points.
First is the improvement of training effectiveness, aiming to increase overall training efficiency by at least 40% through continuous optimization of the linkage theory.
Second is the reform of combat modes, with the comprehensive scores of each company needing to improve by more than double.
Finally, organizational resilience is significantly enhanced, achieving a multiplicative effect of “one plus one greater than three” through the specialized division of labor and coordination of the smallest combat units.
The linkage theory, comprising these three categories and ten points, is the new approach Chen Jun is promoting to the entire battalion.
With Chen Jun’s leading influence in Steel Seventh Battalion, the new linkage theory will undoubtedly be implemented smoothly, and Steel Seventh Battalion will soon enter a new phase.
Chen Jun formally commenced the “refinement” work, entrusting the specific execution of the theory to Gao Cheng.
The first to be targeted by Chen Jun was the Armored Company!
After the last expansion, Steel Seventh Battalion now has two standard tank companies, both equipped with heavy main battle tanks.
Chen Jun first went to Armored Company One, going through everything from training to small assessments.
It must be said.
The foundation of Red Third Company is very solid, and the Third Company Commander Huang Yang, who dared to challenge Gao Cheng, is also capable and has a strong ability to absorb new things.
Chen Jun spent a full two days inspecting Armored Company One and found basically no major issues.
Whether it was single-vehicle crew assault operations or multi-vehicle crew cooperative operations; whether it was projectile hit rates or the efficiency of group charges; whether it was conventional tactics or the combined tactics developed by Chen Jun.
In all aspects, etc.
The assessment results were all excellent, meeting the standard of excellence.
They also met the standards Chen Jun required.
Chen Jun is very strict with Steel Seventh Battalion; here, there are never just “qualified” or “good,” only “unqualified” and “excellent.”
Anything not meeting the excellent standard is considered unqualified; everything is benchmarked against top combat power.
There were only some minor issues that were not worth mentioning, and Chen Jun believed that once he pointed them out, they would all be corrected in no time.
The fact that the first company inspected was so excellent proves that everyone has been working hard.
Chen Jun’s mood was very good.
With this auspicious start, Chen Jun then proceeded to inspect Armored Company Two.
Armored Company Two was a later addition during the military region’s expansion. From the company commander down to every tank soldier, they were all new recruits who had only joined less than six months ago.
Compared to Armored Company One, they had fewer months of training, meaning they had less than half the time to learn combined arms tactics.
Both the company commander and the soldiers had a certain gap in their understanding of combined arms tactics and combined arms units compared to Armored Company One.
Therefore, when Chen Jun arrived at the company and conducted a comprehensive small assessment.
He found that the overall performance was slightly lower than Armored Company One, and there was also a gap in their performance in single-vehicle crew and multi-vehicle crew cooperative tactics.
Chen Jun did not show any dissatisfaction; this was within his expectations.
To achieve an overall good or better performance in just six months, with most results reaching the excellent standard, is sufficient proof that Armored Company Two has put in great effort.
Chen Jun believed that if they maintained this state, they would reach the excellent standard within two months.
“As expected of an armored company personally formed by the military region, their learning speed is fast. Their individual soldier’s basic qualities and abilities are probably even better than Armored Company One.”
Chen Jun secretly praised Armored Company Two. The performance of both armored companies was satisfactory, further brightening his mood.
With this, the armored forces only had one last step: the two companies conducting cooperative combat. If there were no problems, they could move on to the next branch of service.
Before the two companies engaged in cooperative combat, Chen Jun felt it should just be a formality.
Given their excellent overall performance, their mastery of various tactics and skills was already consummate, so there was no reason for any issues to arise.
However, the very thing Chen Jun was most confident about turned out to be problematic.
Chen Jun originally intended it to be a mere formality and did not set up any complex subjects, so he had the two companies conduct a cooperative tactical charge together.
According to the tactical play style and requirements, the two companies only needed one to be the main attacker and the other to provide support, and the tactic would be complete.
However, when the two companies entered the actual training field, they did not exhibit the orderliness required by the tactic; instead, they appeared very chaotic and disorganized.
One company was supposed to be the main attacking force, with the other providing flanking support.
Instead, the two companies vied for the main attacking role, pushing and shoving on the training field, unable to even advance in unison.
If this were on the battlefield, the consequences of two tank companies acting so disorderly would be extremely dire.
“What is this? Isn’t this just messing around?”
Chen Jun, who had been smiling due to the good performance of the previous two companies, became angry and cursed at the two companies’ chaotic actions.
As for why the two armored companies were dragons separately but turned into two loaches when combined.
The reason is actually very simple!
Based on Chen Jun’s years of experience and practice, he immediately saw the problem: clearly, neither company was convinced by the other, and both wanted to contend for the status of the main armored company.
As the saying goes:
Two tigers cannot share one mountain.
The companies that come to Steel Seventh Battalion are all fierce tigers in their own right.
Now, having arrived at the army’s first pilot combined arms battalion, these tigers naturally refuse to be subordinate to anyone else and want to be the strongest.
Especially among tigers of the same branch, the competition between them will naturally be more intense.
