From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

Wang Kezheng looked over with a murderous gaze, as if warning and threatening Chen Jun not to be too smug, lest he give Chen Jun an opportunity.

Chen Jun was not afraid of his small threat and returned a bright smile.

It's like adding fuel to the fire.

Wang Kezheng's face darkened even more with anger.

However, in such a formal setting, with the commanders of the war zone sitting on the stage, Wang Kezheng could only force himself to suppress his anger, no matter how angry he was.

After receiving our salutes in front of the podium, he walked with a grim face to the Blue Team's seat and sat down.

"Turn left or right, march in step."

After escorting the prisoners into the arena, Gao Cheng shouted commands and led away the special forces soldiers lined up at the gate.

"Comrades."

The deputy political commissar of the theater command, sitting on the right, looked around the entire meeting room and said, "Today, we have invited the principal officers of all major units to attend this conference, and it is scheduled for the evening. Some comrades may not understand why."

First of all, the vast majority of units present did not participate in this exercise, and are not even aware of its content and scale, let alone the true purpose and significance of the theater army conducting this exercise.

Secondly, the various units that participated in and were involved in this exercise were also unclear as to why this summary meeting was being held so soon after the exercise ended.

Chief of Staff Shen will explain these two points to everyone during his review.

Today's meeting has three parts: first, announcing the final results of the exercise; second, a debriefing; and third, announcing and deploying the second phase of the exercise.

These three tasks must be completed within thirty minutes. Now, Chief of Staff Shen Fei will announce the details.

Uh-huh~
Everyone stood up in unison.

Chief of Staff Shen also stood up, holding a document in both hands and reading aloud: "The first phase of the Capital Theater Army's Decisive Battle 2001 live-fire confrontation exercise has been successfully completed."

The exercise began at 8:00 a.m. on January 8 and ended at 5:00 p.m.

The exercise is scheduled to last for three days. The content and mission of the exercise is for the main force of the Blue Army to capture the 535 defense line of the Wolf Forward Training Base, which is defended by the Red Army, within three days, so as to test the comprehensive military strength of both the Red and Blue sides.

If the defense line is breached, the Blue Team wins; otherwise, the Blue Team loses.

The exercise was completed within ten hours on the same day and achieved refreshing results, after consultation with the exercise command, the exercise director, and military experts from the Army.

The assessment concluded that the Red Army's 7th Steel Brigade, in less than four hours, used a large-scale helicopter raid to successfully capture the Blue Army's brigade headquarters, destroy the Blue Army's ammunition and fuel depots, and completely cut off the Blue Army's logistics supply line.

They also effectively used camouflage tactics to slow down the Blue Army's march.

Given that the Blue Force had lost its ability to conduct sustained mobile operations and had lost logistical support, the exercise directorate ruled that the Blue Force had failed and issued an order for the Blue Force to withdraw from the exercise.

However, the Blue Army did not carry out the order and continued to advance towards Langshan as planned, and ordered its artillery battalion to launch an artillery attack on the Red Army's positions.

The Red Army adapted to the situation and captured all the main military and political leaders of the Blue Army during their march, causing the Blue Army's command system to be completely paralyzed.

Now, on behalf of the Army Operations Department of the Theater Command, I hereby officially announce that the exercise has concluded successfully with a complete victory for the Red Army. The 708th Brigade of the Army has withdrawn from the exercise, returned to its base, and will carefully summarize and learn profound lessons.

The exercise announcement has been read.

After listening to Chief of Staff Shen's reading, Wang Kezheng felt an overwhelming sense of defeat.

I felt my vision go black and I staggered.

Fortunately, He Yazhou reacted quickly and immediately reached out to grab his arm, stabilizing Wang Kezheng's body; otherwise, he would have definitely fallen to the ground.

"Now, I will read out another disciplinary decision."

The deputy political commissar stood up solemnly, but everyone present felt a chill, especially He Yazhou and Wang Kezheng, whose hearts almost jumped out of their throats.

After waiting for two or three seconds, the deputy political commissar officially announced: "During the 'Decisive Battle 2001' live-fire confrontation exercise, Comrade Wang Kezheng, the brigade commander of the 708th Brigade, refused to comply with the exercise director's order to withdraw from the exercise."

As a soldier, this is an extremely serious matter. Given that Comrade Wang Kezheng's disobedience occurred during peacetime, he should be dealt with according to the relevant regulations for serious violations of military discipline.

Following an investigation by the Party Committee of the Theater Army, it was decided to issue Comrade Wang Kezheng a serious warning.

Upon hearing the punishment, the entire audience gasped in shock.

Wang Kezheng's face turned ashen.

Although a severe warning may sound insignificant and not as direct as demotion, dismissal, or reduction in rank, it has a significant impact on one's ability to advance further in life.

Having received a severe warning, one is inherently inferior when competing with others.

This has a particularly strong impact on ambitious individuals.

Wang Kezheng is a typical example.

At this moment, his face was expressionless, revealing no emotional reaction, but his hands, resting on his lap, were clenched into tight fists.

The veins were bulging, showing how much force he was putting in.

"Now we will proceed with the second item on the agenda. Chief of Staff Shen will give his comments."

After the deputy chief of staff finished speaking, he looked at Shen Fei, who then pressed the microphone switch and said, "Comrades, I have just explained the situation of the first phase of the exercise. Since this is an on-site review, I will start from the on-site situation."

Just now, Deputy Political Commissar Huang read out the disciplinary decision regarding Wang Kezheng.

I think everyone heard this very clearly. This is not only a punishment for Wang Kezheng personally, but also a warning to all of us officers present.

Now, military reform has entered a critical phase, but some of our comrades are still thinking in the mindset before the reform.

Just because you have some merit, seniority, and were once an advanced role model, you think you can violate discipline, break rules, disobey orders, and turn a blind eye.

I want to remind those comrades who are still harboring illusions to wake up immediately and not repeat the same mistakes.

However, although Wang Kezheng was disciplined today, it does not mean that the battle flag of the 708th Brigade has fallen.

Comrades, don't forget that the flag of the 708th Brigade came all the way from Jinggang Mountain, and how many of our comrades sacrificed their lives for it.

Division commanders, regimental commanders, battalion commanders, soldiers... countless revolutionary martyrs emerged from among them.

It was because of their fall that the ever-falling banner of our 708th Brigade was upheld.

Today, I think the reason Wang Kezheng made such a mistake is that he was overwhelmed by this heavy honor and his thinking became problematic.

I heard that he still refuses to admit defeat, is still not convinced, and still doesn't know how he lost.

In this confused and bewildered state, they were captured by the Red Army and, to make matters worse, they insisted on going to the war zone to file a complaint.

With such awareness, such a state of mind, and if this continues, how long can the 708th Brigade's battle flag fly high?

Chief of Staff Shen was also in a bad mood. He was disappointed that a veteran comrade who had made such a mistake had made him feel frustrated and he couldn't help but get up and walk towards Wang Kezheng.

"Brigade Commander Wang, Political Commissar He."

Chief of Staff Shen came to the Blue Team's seats to call roll. Wang Kezheng and He Yazhou immediately stood up at attention, head held high, chest out, and eyes looking straight ahead, their attitude extremely upright.

He is no longer as arrogant as he was the day before!

"I'd like to hear your thoughts." Chief of Staff Shen spoke in a very calm tone, yet he put immense pressure on Wang Kezheng and He Yazhou.

"I accept the organization's punishment." With things having come to this point, Wang Ke had no room for argument and dared not continue to be stubborn.

Sitting in the audience, Chu Zhangang looked very unhappy and was in a terrible mood. He and Wang Kezheng were not only rivals, but also very good brothers.

Seeing my old comrade who once had a five-game winning streak now in such a state.

Chu Zhangang really couldn't accept it.

Unable to suppress the impulse within him, he even wanted to get up and say a few good words for Wang Kezheng, but was stopped in time by the political commissar next to him.

Chu Zhangang didn't dare to force the issue. In fact, he knew that saying nice things would be useless, so he could only suppress his emotions.

"Commander, on behalf of all officers and soldiers of the 708th Brigade, I solemnly admit that we have indeed failed this time. However, I believe that Commander Wang and all officers and soldiers of the brigade will not fall down. We will cheer up and carry the battle flag of the 708th Brigade to the end, and will never disgrace his honor and mission."

He Yazhou, as expected of a cadre engaged in political work, spoke with great skill. While acknowledging his own mistakes, he also expressed his determination and attitude to his superiors.

Chief of Staff Shen didn't say anything, but immediately took the lead in applauding.

It's clear he felt comfortable hearing that.

"Quack, quack, quack..."

The entire audience immediately joined in with thunderous applause in response to Chief of Staff Shen.

"Good, it's good that you have the determination, but I want to ask, do you know why you lost?"

After the applause subsided, Chief of Staff Shen asked Wang Kezheng and He Yazhou in a very serious tone, and then immediately added, "I don't need your answers now, and I don't believe your answers now."

I hope that when you go back, you will carefully summarize and study the reasons for the failure.

It's okay to fall down, as long as you can get up. The problem is that you might not understand why you fell down. If that happens, you'll definitely fall down a second time.

By then, that opportunity may have passed.

Chief of Staff Shen's words were not simple; they clearly contained several layers of implication.

First, I want to clearly tell Wang Kezheng and He Yazhou that if they can find the reasons for their failure, I can give them a chance to get back up and move forward.

If you can't find the reason for your failure, then you two are probably head over heels for each other.

Wang Kezheng was clearly a straightforward and rough-around-the-edges guy, and he didn't understand the meaning behind Chief of Staff Shen's words, while the quick-witted Political Commissar He Yazhou understood.

Therefore, He Yazhou immediately replied firmly, "We will definitely go back and seriously summarize and find out the problems, and we will never let down the leader's expectations of us."

"Well, sit down."

Chief of Staff Shen was very satisfied with He Yazhou's answer, and his expression softened considerably. After having the two of them sit down, he strode to the front of the podium.

He addressed everyone loudly: "Comrades, the victors of this exercise are the newly formed digitized combined arms brigade, the 7th Steel Brigade, of the Capital Theater Command."

Today also marks the first time the military and political leaders of the 7th Steel Brigade are making their first public appearance to us.

Chief of Staff Shen pointed to the Red Army's seats and then led the applause again.

"Quack, quack, quack..."

Thunderous applause rang out again.

Chen Jun, Wang Qingrui, and Tian Baoguo stood up, turned halfway to face everyone below, and responded with a military salute.

Making sure everyone can clearly see the three of them is tantamount to Chief of Staff Shen making his debut.

The officers in the audience had complex expressions. The vast majority were curious, a small number were skeptical, and a very few were driven by personal emotions.

This person is Chu Zhangang!

Although Chu Zhangang clapped along, his movements were clearly perfunctory, and his expression was full of disdain, obviously looking down on the so-called digitalized combined arms brigade.

His hostility towards the 7th Steel Brigade stemmed from the disciplinary action taken against Wang Kezheng of the 708th Brigade.

In Chu Zhangang's view...

It must have been the Seventh Steel Brigade that played tricks during the exercise, which is why Wang Kezheng, the old comrade, was unwilling to accept defeat and that's why he disobeyed orders.

Therefore, Chu Zhangang despised the 7th Steel Brigade and had absolutely no goodwill towards it.

He even had a strong expectation in his heart at this moment. If he had the opportunity to conduct a confrontation exercise with the Steel Seventh Brigade, he would definitely give the Steel Seventh Brigade a good beating, to vent his anger for his old brothers, and to let the Steel Seventh Brigade see what a crushing defeat was.

Chu Zhangang's mind was very active, but whether his ideas could be realized remained to be seen.

"Okay, sit down."

Chief of Staff Shen gestured for Chen Jun and the other two to sit down, and continued with his hands behind his back: "The Steel Seventh Brigade is the newest and youngest combat unit in the war zone."

His birth marked the emergence of a completely new organizational structure and served as a template for information technology reform.

The intention of the theater army in establishing specialized combined arms units is very clear: to create a formidable enemy and an adversary for other units in a long-term peaceful environment lacking combat experience, so that peace will no longer be peaceful.

The 7th Steel Brigade could be the Blue Army or the Red Army; their role could change with each exercise.

But one thing remains absolutely unchanged, and that is…

Chief of Staff Shen raised his voice and said, "The 7th Steel Brigade will surely become your opponent, your strongest opponent, and will torment you in every way possible."

The 708th Brigade was the first to suffer, becoming their defeated foe.

If you don't want to become the second, if you don't want to lose in a confrontation without even knowing how you lost, then you must find ways to improve yourselves and the combat effectiveness of your troops, and stop being complacent with past honors.

Chief of Staff Shen spoke very seriously, and the atmosphere in the entire meeting room became heavy.

"You always shout slogans loudly, saying you want to win future wars, but you don't even know what those future wars will be like."

The 7th Steel Brigade was developed from the 7th Steel Battalion, which had a glorious record of combat achievements during the 7th Steel Battalion period.

Their research into new tactics for the future, their rich experience in information warfare, and their application of new equipment and gear far surpass those of our traditional forces.

Now that it has been expanded into a combined arms brigade, breaking some rules and changing some traditional methods, it has rendered our elite troops utterly helpless.

What does this tell us? It tells us that military reform can no longer proceed in a step-by-step manner or gradually.

We must build a new type of army, which is not only a change in organization and mechanism, but also a change in ideology and tactical thinking.

The transition will inevitably encounter some problems, but we must be brave enough to take on the challenge and adapt to the new system, new ways of thinking, and new behavioral patterns as quickly as possible.

If we do not accelerate the transformation, many of our comrades will be eliminated.

Comrades, the wheels of military reform are rolling forward, testing us. I hope that after the reform is completed, you will all stay.

Chief of Staff Shen's final words were heartfelt, and those who truly understood his sentiments were met with enthusiastic applause once again. (End of Chapter)