Chapter 345: Starting With A Show Of Force?
Steel Seventh Battalion, as a “super reinforced battalion,” has more equipment and supplies than two regular battalions.
The military train, to fit all supplies and personnel, with flatcars, passenger cars, and canned food cars combined, stretches continuously for hundreds of meters, exceeding sixty cars.
From the base train station to Russia, Chen Jun remembers several railways passing through.
But checking the time carefully, he finds they were basically all developed after 2000; at this stage, there seem to be only two railways.
Both built over a hundred years ago.
As long as the foundation of a railway is well-built and maintained, its lifespan is very long; running for over a hundred years is not unusual.
However, Chen Jun has no memory at all of the specific railway route.
After all, he has never traveled in the Northeast provinces.
Only that intangible sixth sense strongly signals one piece of information to Chen Jun—that this train journey will be extremely long.
In fact, it is indeed extremely long, so long that the warriors of Steel Seventh Battalion are about to vomit.
The military train departs from the train station in Inner Mongolia, first heading west all the way to the capital train station, transferring railways here to head north to Harbin.
The railway from BJ to Harbin is over 1300 kilometers; the warriors of Steel Seventh Battalion sit on hard seats, shaking rigidly for a full day and night.
By Harbin, the journey is only half done; the real iron-butt test is just beginning.
From Harbin, switching to the Binzhou railway, the military train needs to travel nearly a thousand kilometers to reach the border city of Manzhouli.
That’s another nearly full day.
Here, two-thirds of the journey is complete; the train needs to formally enter Russia at the Manzhouli railway port, and military train customs clearance is much more complex than passenger trains.
Even though it is China invited by Russia, and the train station has the Chinese Delegation handling it.
It still takes nearly half a day.
The main reason is that the train arrives here at past eleven at night; no one is there to process procedures in the dead of night, so they can only wait at the port until the next morning.
Ordinary passengers can get off to find a hotel to rest or lie comfortably in sleepers.
But the warriors of Steel Seventh Battalion cannot do that; they can only continue to carry forward our army’s spirit of enduring hardship, continuing to tough it out on hard seats to train their iron butts.
By the next morning, after completing procedures, the train passes through the port into Russian territory.
No one says specifically where they are going,
At least Chen Jun and the Steel Seventh Battalion warriors do not know; probably only the leaders of the Chinese Delegation know. Chen Jun only knows they sat on the train for another ten-plus hours.
When they finally received the superior’s order and each company prepared to pack up and get off,
The warriors of Steel Seventh Battalion went nearly mad with joy; when the train finally stopped and they could get off and step on the ground, stretch their nearly rigid bodies, and take deep breaths of the still cool air that chills the nasal cavity,
The Steel Seventh Battalion warriors all had just one feeling—
The feeling of being alive is so good!
On this bumpy train ride, the Steel Seventh Battalion warriors were all crammed into the narrow train; that feeling was truly worse than being in jail.
Feeling like they were about to die, with their souls floating up.
Chen Jun felt the same infinite emotion; this lifetime, it was his first time sitting pure hard seats for nearly four days total, with the journey exceeding over three thousand kilometers.
The discomfort is that trains in these times run slowly, especially this military train dragging over sixty cars, unable to pick up speed at all.
Maximum speed did not exceed eighty kilometers, averaging just sixty kilometers.
Even if the train ran non-stop for a second, over three thousand kilometers would take over fifty hours, which is a full three days and two nights.
Plus, although the military train does not stop for passengers en route, the warriors need three meals a day supplied.
The military train must stop at least three times a day to replenish enough food and drinking water, etc., with each stop over fifteen minutes.
That wastes one or two hours here.
Clearing the port delayed another half day.
Adding up all the time, Steel Seventh Battalion, departing on the 30th, got off at this unknown Russian train station, and the date had already reached April 3rd.
After four days and four nights on hard seats finally getting off, the Steel Seventh Battalion warriors all thought they had arrived at the destination.
They were ready to reach the training ground, set up tents in the shortest time, put up field beds, and lie down for a good sleep.
The Russian officer in charge of reception came over and told Steel Seventh Battalion’s highest commander Gao Cheng that it was still 100 kilometers to the exercise training ground.
This time there was no train, let alone comfortable buses; as a fully mechanized combined arms battalion, they could only rely on themselves to “mechanize” all the way there.
“Fuck! These grandsons are playing us!”
The delegation leaders had sleeper cars; Gao Cheng and the warriors below were the same, all on hard seats, and now their butts were numb.
Hearing they still had to drive over a hundred kilometers in armored vehicles, Gao Cheng’s face turned iron blue, nearly exploding in rage.
If not for being abroad and needing to watch their image, with Gao Cheng’s fiery temper and personality, the Russian officer delivering the message would get a scolding.
But now on their turf, even representing his palm did not speak out.
Whatever they say, that’s how it has to be.
“Wait until the exercise starts; watch me not beat you properly, you bastards.”
Gao Cheng ultimately chose to swallow his anger, muttering curses as he went down to make arrangements, getting the entire battalion into maneuver status in the shortest time.
Then following the lead vehicle sent by the Russian Army, they left the train station heading south.
The road just out of the train station was still decent; even taking the specially opened side gate nearby, it was a specially leveled hardened dirt road.
Steel Seventh Battalion’s mechanized vehicles drove on it fairly steadily; the warriors inside were still okay.
But after driving for half an hour, the environment deteriorated at extreme speed; mountains began appearing one after another, and the road became bumpy.
They had now entered mountainous terrain.
Russian infrastructure was far worse than China’s; even the mountainous terrain was more harsh, and road conditions could only be described as horrific.
Even reducing speed to 25 kilometers, the vehicles shook like rocking horses.
Up, down, left, right, huge undulations.
This made the warriors inside feel not like traveling on land, but like being on a ship rising and falling with the waves.
Even though Steel Seventh Battalion’s warriors were all practiced, elite soldiers carefully selected from each company.
After already sitting four days and four nights on hard seat trains, with butts numb and mental state extremely poor, they still could not withstand this torment.
One by one, shaken dizzy, stomachs churning uncontrollably.
Warriors who were completely not carsick before surprisingly started getting carsick again, and those in worse condition were about to vomit.
The most typical representative among them was Xu Sanduo.
That feeling absent for several years surged back into his mind.
If not for now being an officer, arranged by Chen Jun as squad leader in the special operations platoon, needing to set an example for the special operations platoon warriors,
Xu Sanduo would absolutely not hold back from vomiting!
The special operations platoon is a rare all-officer platoon; everyone inside now has a military rank of first lieutenant or above, none lower than Xu Sanduo’s.
If Xu Sanduo could not hold back and vomited, he could forget being squad leader.
Cheng Cai and Wu Liu Yi were the same, both arranged by Chen Jun as squad leaders in the special operations platoon, training them while paving the way for their seniority.
On the contrary, Ba Te Er, who performed slightly worse, became platoon leader of Seventh Company’s Third Platoon.
The reason Ba Te Er promoted relatively quickly is that he does not belong to special forces, not in the special operations platoon, with much less competition pressure.
You know.
The special operations platoon now has just one platoon establishment; squad leader positions have a bunch of captains competing for them.
Very intense.
If Xu Sanduo had not followed Chen Jun, with all sorts of individual and collective first-, second-, and third-class merits on him, he would still need Chen Jun to pull strings to be squad leader.
Xu Sanduo has now awakened a lot; his brain is much smarter than before, no longer as wooden as in the past.
He knows that to do more meaningful things, he must strive harder; being squad leader, platoon leader, company commander is more meaningful than being a soldier.
So after becoming an officer, Xu Sanduo worked harder than when he was a warrior.
Xu Sanduo, Cheng Cai, and others were striving to endure; the other several hundred warriors of Steel Seventh Battalion were also enduring, not wanting to lose face for Chinese people in front of foreign troops.
Under this firm, tenacious willpower persistence, the convoy shook on the mountain road for a full three hours.
In the afternoon as it was getting dark, they finally arrived at the destination.
A training ground with an extremely large area!
Although the leading Russian still did not introduce where he brought Steel Seventh Battalion.
But Chen Jun, proficient in Russian, through Russian signs at various places in the training ground, still discovered a lot of information and figured out their current location.
It turns out this place is called Chugor Training Ground, belonging to Russia’s Transbaikal Territory.
Total area seven hundred sixty-eight square kilometers.
Compared to the domestically newly built Zhu Rihe Base, the total area is not much less.
And after entering this training ground, Chen Jun and the warriors all discovered one thing: this training ground has a railway connecting to the outside.
They could clearly have driven the train directly here, getting off right to find a site to camp.
Yet the Russian Army insisted on making Steel Seventh Battalion get off early, knowing full well they had been on the train for days and nights, forcing the entire battalion to bump over a hundred-plus kilometers of mountain roads exhausted.
This was clearly intentional!
Gao Cheng was so angry on the spot that he fumed with rage three feet high, wanting to go complain to the delegation leaders, have them take Steel Seventh Battalion to demand justice from the Russian Army.
But the delegation had been picked up by Russian Army military vehicles as soon as they got off the train.
Now they were probably sitting with Russian high-level leaders eating a carefully prepared dinner; even wanting to find them would take time.
“Old Gao, this is clearly deliberate; maybe to give us a show of strength, or to test us, see what level our Chinese Army is at. Whatever the reason, this grudge is tied.”
Chen Jun stood in Gao Cheng’s position sharing the enemy indignation, then switched tone to comfort: “The best way to deal with such people is to use the most powerful fist, slap their faces hard, let them know what real hard power is.”
Gao Cheng felt Chen Jun made a lot of sense; making a fuss on their turf is pointless and makes oneself seem petty, especially since they did not do it openly.
Moreover.
The Chinese Army does not understand the Russian Army, and the Russian Army is equally unfamiliar with the Chinese Army.
To figure out the Chinese Army’s strength, specially arranging a hundred-kilometer harsh environment march is indeed an excellent method to assess strength.
The Russian Army, through various information shown by Steel Seventh Battalion during the march,
Including Chinese soldiers’ perseverance under fatigue, marching and combat ability under harsh conditions, combat vehicle failure rates under harsh conditions, etc.
Putting all this information comprehensively together.
Even if not fully figuring out the Chinese Army, at least they get a basic understanding.
However.
Understanding is understanding.
This feeling of being inexplicably tricked not only made Gao Cheng and Chen Jun uncomfortable, but also left the Steel Seventh Battalion warriors seething inside.
The already strong hostility toward the Russian Army was fueled like oil on fire, burning even more fiercely.
Everyone wanted to beat the Russian Army soundly.
The receiving Russian officers still did not know that their self-thought clever little trick not only was seen through by the Chinese Army but also stirred up group indignation.
They brought Steel Seventh Battalion to the designated camping area, explained where to get water, and left after handing over relevant matters.
After about an hour.
Steel Seventh Battalion’s companies had their camps mostly set up; all sorts of tents were up, and vigilance work basically arranged.
The Russian Army’s logistics support troops finally arrived, linking up with Steel Seventh Battalion Support Company’s cook platoon.
They thought that at least on the first day arriving at the Russian Army training ground, as hosts, the Russian Army would put on a good spread, letting the Chinese Army eat comfortably.
But the food delivered was ridiculous.
It was Russia’s biggest specialty rye bread, paired with one pickled cucumber and a small lump of cured meat per person, plus a small bagged coffee powder.
This stuff the Russian Army surely eats comfortably; after all, it is their most common everyday food.
However, Chinese people are not really into these Russian specialties; some even cannot stomach the pickled cucumber and cured meat at all.
If every day is such Russian specialty food, Steel Seventh Battalion’s warriors definitely will not eat their fill.
Combat effectiveness will inevitably decline!
Fortunately, Chen Jun had sufficient foresight, preparing enough supply food domestically in advance, having the cookhouse put the pickled cucumber and cured meat in the pot, paired with brought dry vegetables, directly stir-fried into two dishes.
Pickled cucumber stir-fried with egg, cured meat stir-fried with cabbage.
Simply adding a bit of side dish, the Russian specialty food instantly became Chinese dishes; treating the rye bread as steamed buns, it immediately had flavor when eaten.
The food was perfectly resolved by the cookhouse; after eating their fill and drinking enough, they could finally rest.
But only the warriors could rest.
As Steel Seventh Battalion Battalion Commander, Gao Cheng received notification from the delegation leadership to bring Deputy Battalion Commander Chen Jun to attend the Russian Army directing staff’s exercise meeting tonight.
