From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

Chapter 461 Circumstances in Motion

"How can you fish without food?" the civil servant asked, completely bewildered.

"It depends on what kind of fish you're fishing for," Chu Zhangang said meaningfully.

"So, what kind of fish are you trying to catch, Commander? It's not like Jiang Ziya, the one who willingly takes the bait, is it?" the civil servant said with a smile.

"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. It's all about the wisdom of the angler. Have you gathered all the materials you were asked to collect?" Chu Zhangang asked, feigning profundity.

"I've collected them all."

The civil servant immediately opened the bag he had brought, took out a folder, and handed it over.

The document contained all of Chen Jun's information; anything that wasn't classified as top secret had been found and sent to Chu Zhangang.

"Has he changed his phone number?" Chu Zhangang asked.

"It hasn't been changed; it's always been this capital city number," the civil servant replied.

"It seems he has a lot of sentimentality and is very nostalgic."

Chu Zhangang felt as if he had grasped something, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

"It should be true. He's very sentimental. He's rarely taken leave in recent years, and even when he does, it's for his family and his girlfriend who works in the capital," the civil servant added.

"I just don't believe he has no flaws."

Chu Zhangang has always wanted revenge, but to get revenge, he must first understand his opponent and find their weaknesses so that he can have a chance to defeat them.

The intelligence gathered is now showing initial results, which gives Chu Zhangang even more confidence.

He gave the order again: "Continue to collect all information about Chen Jun, even the smallest details and unconfirmed news."

"Yes, I'll think of a way," the civil servant replied.

……

Training ground of the 708th Brigade.

In order to complete the old commander's mission efficiently, Staff Officer Jin dared not slack off or be careless in the slightest, and personally drove to the training ground to find Wang Kezheng.

Upon learning that Wang Kezheng had led his troops to the back mountain for training, the political commissar and chief of staff were at the command post on the training ground.

Staff Officer Jin couldn't go to the training ground on the back mountain, so he went to the command post first and found Political Commissar He Yazhou, telling him about the phone call from Meng Huilan.

Did Elder Meng say anything else?

He Yazhou was also very surprised to hear that it was his old superior calling, so he stood up.

"He didn't say anything else, just that he wanted Brigade Commander Wang to call him when he had some free time. I think the instructor wouldn't call the duty room unless it was something urgent," Staff Officer Jin said.

"I understand. The training is not yet complete, and Commander Wang has not returned yet. You can go back now."

After He Yazhou arranged for Staff Officer Jin to leave, he said to the Chief of Staff beside him with a solemn expression, "It seems that Elder Meng has already found out about the defeat. He called the brigade commander and me, probably to interrogate us."

"Sigh, Old Meng must be feeling... sigh." The chief of staff hesitated, then sighed repeatedly.

He Yazhou knew what the chief of staff was going to say, and his expression became serious, and he felt very uneasy.

When the 708th Division was in Meng Lao's hands, it was an undefeated ace unit.

Wang Kezhen has only been in command for three years, yet he has already caused the 708th Brigade, one of the top elite brigades in the entire war zone, to lose to a new brigade with only half the strength of a brigade.

Whoever was once the commander of this unit wouldn't be in a good mood.

He Yazhou felt that this matter could be a big deal or a small deal. In order to handle it properly, he immediately went outside, drove to the training ground in the back mountain.

Wang Kezheng took the opportunity to practice shooting himself, firing bursts with a light machine gun, while He Yazhou waited nearby.

"Hey! Old He, you're here."

After firing the bullets and checking the gun, Wang Kezheng stood up, turned around and saw He Yazhou waiting behind him. He immediately grinned and said, "How do you think I did?"

I'm about to become a full-fledged division commander, I'm so happy!

"What kind of fighting is this? It's a complete mess, you've turned it into a hornet's nest."

He Yazhou picked up the binoculars from the table next to him, took one look, and then started ranting.

"All you do is criticize me," Wang Kezheng said, displeased.

"Then I'll try."

He Yazhou picked up a rifle and a magazine loaded with bullets and walked towards the shooting range.

"What do you mean? Are you trying to make fun of me?" Wang Kezheng said, glaring at him.

"100 meters, target number 3."

He Yazhou offered no explanation, walked up to the target, aimed, and fired.

"Snap, snap, snap, snap."

He fired five shots from a standing position, hitting the bullseye every time.

"That's amazing! This gun really makes you proud. How can you shoot so accurately?"

Wang Kezheng was dumbfounded and also discouraged. He completely lost interest in shooting and tossed his head, saying, "I'm not shooting anymore. My luck is bad today. Let's go."

A political officer's marksmanship instantly killed him, a military officer, and Wang Kezheng was too ashamed to continue fighting.

"You played alright."

He Yazhou put the gun back on the table with satisfaction, picked up the documents on the table and said, "Don't rush off, wait a minute, this is the summary report I wrote, take a look and see what you think."

"Okay, very good."

Wang Kezheng took the report, glanced at it, and immediately flipped to the last page to sign his name.

"Huh? You signed it without even looking at it? Do you even know what I wrote? You should at least have looked at it first." He Yazhou was so angry he was almost speechless.

"Okay, okay, let me see."

Wang Kezheng couldn't win an argument with He Yazhou, so to avoid being lectured by He Yazhou, he could only quickly agree and start reading carefully from the beginning.

As soon as he opened the first page and looked at it for a while, Wang Kezheng's eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.

He said with great dissatisfaction, "Political Commissar, this is not right. What are you writing? What do you mean by saying that my brigade's subjective thinking and concepts are at least thirty years behind?"

"Keep watching, we'll talk after we've finished."

He Yazhou smiled but did not accept it. He took the gun, changed the magazine, and went to the front to practice shooting, leaving time for Wang Kezheng to read the report.

……

The seaside in Chenghai City.

"Old Chu, you really know how to pick a spot! This is a great place to fish." Political Commissar Xu Xiaocun called out from a distance as he approached Chu Zhangang. Seeing the commissar, Chu Zhangang stopped pretending to be serious and immediately stood up to walk over to him.

When Chu Zhangang met Xu Xiaocun on the rocky beach, he said meaningfully, "Political Commissar, you're having a really bad day. You didn't catch a single fish."

"You're a fishing expert, how come you ever come back empty-handed? That can't be right," Xu Xiaocun laughed.

"What are you doing here again?" Chu Zhangang asked, not wanting to discuss the topic.

"Oh, the theater army called to ask if we've finished the exercise summary," Xu Xiaocun replied.

"Just tell them it's already done. They don't know anyway, so why should Chen Jun make a special trip? It's not a big deal."

Chu Zhangang and Wang Kezheng are similar in this respect; both are very resistant to submitting summary reports.

I feel so ashamed!

“Hey, if you didn’t do it, you didn’t do it. That’s not good. Isn’t that giving false information?” Xu Xiaocun criticized.

"I guessed it. What the leader wants isn't a summary, but an attitude, right?" Chu Zhangang said smugly.

"We definitely need to have the right attitude, but the summary must be done properly and not just a formality," Xu Xiaocun said seriously.

“Okay, then I’ll organize a meeting tonight, recruit the battalion commanders and leaders to come over and talk. We’ll summarize, you’ll chair the meeting, and I’ll give the concluding remarks. It’ll be a breeze,” Chu Zhangang said.

"Ugh."

Xu Xiaocun said helplessly, "This time we suffered a defeat, and it exposed quite a few problems. It's not that simple."

"The problem? I've been thinking about it. Before I came back from Langshan, the commander even talked to me about it." Chu Zhangang had a smug expression on his face.

"Oh, really? What did you say?" Xu Xiaocun asked, frowning.

"They are quite positive about our performance, and they think we are different from the 708th Brigade." Chu Zhangang blatantly lied through his teeth.

“But what I heard was a little different. The commander believed that although we persisted to the end and fought very tenaciously, the problems we exposed were essentially the same as those of the 708th Brigade,” Xu Xiaocun said with a smile.

“That’s right. The commander first affirmed it, and then he did talk about it. I admit that 708 underestimated the enemy, and so did we.”

Seeing that Xu Xiaocun had seen through his lies, Chu Zhangang had no choice but to tell the truth.

"By the way, Chen Jun from the 7th Steel Brigade is coming to our brigade in a few days. He's being sent by our superiors, so we need to be prepared to receive him," Xu Xiaocun said.

"Good, good timing, we must treat you well."

Chu Zhangang revealed a strange smile, already brewing something in his mind.

……

Headquarters of the Capital Theater Command.

Chief of Staff Shen's office.

Chen Jun, Tian Baoguo, and Wang Qingrui arrived at Chief of Staff Shen's office with a report and handed over the completed exercise summary report to Chief of Staff Shen.

The fact that all three top executives of the Seventh Steel Brigade gathered together demonstrates the importance attached to this conversation.

"I've finished reading the summary report."

Chief of Staff Shen placed the report on the table, leaned back in his chair, and said, "Everything else is fine, but there are two shortcomings."

One issue is that the tasks of specialized adversary forces under informationized conditions have not been considered comprehensively enough.

They only focused on the combat troops and didn't delve into other levels of the theater army. They should know that the enemy wouldn't just be focusing on our combat troops.

Secondly, specialized adversary units are needed. To achieve comprehensive and rapid improvement, psychological warfare and maneuvering against the opponent cannot be relied upon alone.

You must develop a strong brigade-level combat capability. Now that we have sent you out of the mountains and formed the Steel Seventh Brigade, it is impossible for this to be just a formality.

Rather, it should truly serve as a whetstone, becoming the number one enemy of the entire theater's army forces.

Chief of Staff Shen's comments sounded complicated, but they can actually be summarized in just two sentences.

The tactics are not comprehensive enough.

Their combat strength is not yet strong enough.

“Commander, the defeats of 708 and 909 speak volumes. It’s not that they are weaker than the Steel Seventh Brigade, but that their mindset is too outdated,” Wang Qingrui said.

"It's not that simple."

Chief of Staff Shen glanced at the three people in front of him and said earnestly, "Take football as an example. Our team won't suddenly realize its mistakes and improve its strength rapidly just because it has lost one or two games."

They need to figure out where they went wrong in order to get the key to progress and growth.

Given their current mindset and state of mind, they may believe that they have done their best and that losing is just bad luck. They believe that there will be another chance next time, and that as long as they are lucky, they will definitely be able to win.

Whether it's Wang Kezheng or Chu Zhangang, they share the same idea; a change in mindset and ideology won't happen overnight.

There are many deeper issues here that they need to address.

"Commander, the deeper issue you mentioned is..." Tian Baoguo asked, puzzled.

"The emergence of the Seventh Steel Brigade is undoubtedly a wake-up call, but it's far from enough. I'm not sure how many people it will awaken. Some people may wake up, while others may go back to sleeping soundly," Chief of Staff Shen said.

"There are definitely no people who sleep soundly, but there must be some who can't figure it out," Tian Baoguo said kindly.

"I mean……"

Chief of Staff Shen took a sip of water, put down his glass, and said, "We won't have a centralized debriefing for this exercise. Each unit can conduct its own summary after returning home."

The leaders and political commissars have stated that they will not commend those who win or blame those who lose, but will instead look for the reasons and shortcomings. There is only one standard: to be as close to actual combat as possible.

Your 7th Steel Brigade will produce two detailed tactical analysis reports for the two battles, one before and one after.

From the perspective of the 7th Steel Brigade, this report details the entire process of the confrontation between the two opposing forces. Further arrangements are planned after the report is completed.

"We're going to write the Blue Team's confrontation report too?" Chen Jun asked, quite surprised.

Normally, everyone writes their own reports, so this was the first time Chen Jun had ever encountered a situation where the 7th Steel Brigade was asked to write the opponent's exercise report.

Wang Qingrui and Tian Baoguo were also a little puzzled as to why they would make such a decision.

"Writing from the perspective of your 7th Steel Brigade will allow you to better identify their problems, and at the same time, also identify your own problems."

Chief of Staff Shen said very seriously, "The report must include a clear line of thought, strategy, tactics, tactics, and lessons learned from the success or failure of the exercise, as well as both subjective and objective observations."

"Understood. We will resolutely carry out the commander's instructions and do our utmost to complete the tasks assigned by our superiors," Wang Qingrui stated on behalf of the Seventh Steel Brigade.

"After you finish writing the two reports, I would like the three of you brigade leaders to personally visit the 708th and 909th Brigades to deliver the reports to them and proactively share your findings. This will facilitate communication between you," Chief of Staff Shen instructed.

"Go deliver the report and give them a heads-up. We're definitely fine on our end, but I'm worried they might not be able to accept it," Chen Jun said meaningfully.

"I don't think so. Your job recently is to go to those two brigades and explain your combat plans to them in detail, so that they understand what the Red Army is thinking and how it fights. It would be best if you could sit down and exchange ideas. The war zone has already notified them in advance," Chief of Staff Shen said.

(End of this chapter)