From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

"Chief of Staff Chen, hello, this is He Yazhou. I'm so sorry to bother you so late."

He Yazhou's voice was very soft and lacked confidence, clearly indicating that, as he said, he was indeed very embarrassed to do such a thing.

"Political Commissar He, why are you being so polite? I haven't rested yet anyway. Did you call me specifically for something urgent?" Chen Jun asked.

"There's nothing urgent, but our brigade commander reviewed the materials you sent overnight and found them very helpful. He just regrets that the second phase of the exercise is missing, so he specifically asked me to call."

Even after bringing up Wang Kezheng, He Yazhou was still too embarrassed to ask for it directly.

"Oh, you want the data on our confrontation with the 909th Brigade? Of course, no problem. I was afraid you wouldn't want it, so I didn't bring it with me. Actually, it's already been prepared. I'll make a copy tomorrow and send it to you as soon as possible."

Chen Jun is not one to keep secrets; his dream is to make the motherland's army stronger, and he would never refuse to help in any way he can.

"That's wonderful! On behalf of our brigade commander, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you. He was a little embarrassed, otherwise he would have definitely called you personally..."

He Yazhou deliberately revealed the truth before hanging up the phone.

Wang Kezheng, who had been hiding at the door listening, was initially happy to see He Yazhou on the phone, but after hearing the last few sentences, he suddenly became furious.

He pushed open the door and rushed in, saying, "He Yazhou, you've sold me out again, haven't you?"

“Wang Kezheng, how could you, a brigade commander, hide outside the door and eavesdrop? Have you no shame?” He Yazhou retorted.

"Okay, okay, I admit I was wrong."

Knowing he couldn't win the argument with He Yazhou, Wang Kezheng cleverly changed the subject and asked, "So, what did Chen Jun say? Did he agree?"

This is the issue that Wang Kezheng cares about most.

"Sigh, it's not that I don't want to help you."

He Yazhou sighed and said seriously, "Chen Jun said that this is a top military secret and it is not convenient to spread it out like this. If you really want it, you can only go to the Seventh Steel Brigade to get it yourself."

Now, I've made the call for you. What you do next is up to you.

He Yazhou's acting skills are truly remarkable. His words, delivered with a straight face and furrowed brows, completely fooled Wang Kezheng, preventing him from noticing anything amiss.

"Alright, I'll go take a look."

Wang Kezheng was really eager for the second phase of data, and Chen Jun had already agreed to let him go, which was a psychological boost for him, and he finally got over that mental hurdle.

"Now that's more like a brigade commander."

He Yazhou smiled with satisfaction and said, "Then I'll arrange a time for you. Make some preparations in advance, and then go to the Seventh Steel Brigade to pick it up."

After saying that, he specifically added, "Old Wang, you can't go back on your word once you've agreed, or I'll look down on you."

"Don't worry, I promised, I won't stand you up," Wang Kezheng assured, patting his chest.

……

Two days later.

Wang Kezheng arrived at the base of the 7th Steel Brigade by car at the time arranged by He Yazhou. As soon as he got out of the car, he saw a large group of people welcoming him.

Leading the group were Wang Qingrui, Chen Jun, and Tian Baoguo, who even made a special trip to the gate to greet him.

This made Wang Kezheng feel flattered and overwhelmed.

He also recalled how Chen Jun and his men had refused to let them in when they visited the 708th Brigade, a stark contrast to the enthusiastic reception he received when he arrived at the Steel Seventh Brigade.

Wang Kezheng felt a wave of shame, realizing he had done something truly foolish.

After getting off the bus, he deliberately jogged forward a few steps, took the initiative to shake hands with Chen Jun, Wang Qingrui and Tian Baoguo, and adopted an exceptionally humble posture.

He said gratefully, "I came all this way to bother you and ask you for the second phase of the exercise data. Your willingness to give it to me is already the greatest help I can give you."

The commotion you've caused makes me feel truly ashamed.

"what?"

Chen Jun was filled with doubt upon hearing Wang Kezhen's words.

"Your Political Commissar He told us that you came to our Steel Seventh Brigade specifically to learn and visit, but he didn't mention anything about the materials for the second phase," Wang Qingrui asked, puzzled.

"I already sent you the information you requested via email. Didn't you receive it?" Chen Jun asked, equally bewildered.

"You sent it to me? I didn't receive it."

Wang Kezheng was even more bewildered than Chen Jun and Wang Qingrui. He asked in utter confusion, "Didn't you say that the second phase of the data was classified and couldn't be leaked, and that I had to come to the Seventh Steel Brigade myself to receive it in person?"

"I never said that. When Political Commissar He called, I immediately agreed to give it to him," Chen Jun said confidently.

"Oh, what's going on?"

Wang Qingrui, Tian Baoguo, and Wang Kezheng looked at each other, completely bewildered. The two sides were talking at cross purposes, their statements utterly contradictory.

"I understand, it must be He Yazhou who's stirring up trouble."

Wang Kezheng realized that the communication between the two sides had always been relayed by Political Commissar He Yazhou, and now that the connection was completely broken, it must be He Yazhou's doing.

Thinking about how He Yazhou had meticulously planned this whole thing to help him out of his embarrassment.

Wang Kezheng couldn't help but laugh.

Wang Kezheng felt truly warm inside to have met such a caring political commissar.

"Haha."

Chen Jun and the others understood, smiled and stopped worrying about it. Chen Jun took the initiative to invite them, "Let's go to the reception room. Since you're already here, let's sit down and have a good chat."

Since you've already read through the materials we sent, you must have some understanding of our tactics and strategies. This will make our discussions more fruitful.

"It would be my honor, please."

Wang Kezheng saw a lot, thought a lot, and had even more questions. At this moment, he needed someone to answer his questions, so he happily followed Chen Jun inside.

Soon the group arrived at the reception room, sat down, and got straight to the point.

“Brigade Commander Wang, you have never seen our Seventh Steel Brigade’s tactics and methods that you are not used to, but in fact, they are very common abroad.”

Chen Jun, who was most knowledgeable about tactics and strategies, started by saying, "Our Seventh Steel Brigade's tactics are actually based on those of foreign armies."

Our country has been at peace for a long time, but the modernization of warfare has never stopped.

Foreign militaries have many years of real combat experience, much of which is learned from failures and lessons learned at the cost of blood. These are areas where we are lacking.

Foreign militaries update their tactics and training methods very quickly, constantly adapting to changes on the battlefield.

Therefore, the only direction for the development of our military at present is to learn from foreign militaries and find our own direction through learning.” Chen Jun’s time is very special, as the domestic informatization reform has only just begun.

As a soldier in his twenties, Chen Jun couldn't just openly reveal all the valuable information he had without any pretense.

That would be very suspicious!

Chen Jun deliberately brought up the simulation of foreign military tactics and methods, which gave him a barely passable reason for his wealth of advanced theories and knowledge.

“Imitation is a form of learning. If you don’t understand something, you learn it. Once you learn it, you can make it your own. I understand that,” Wang Kezheng said approvingly.

At the same time, we gained a preliminary understanding of how Chen Jun, at such a young age, knew so many tactics and fighting styles.

"In the current military field, some countries, led by the United States, have closed themselves off from us and are also our potential enemies. Therefore, learning from foreign militaries, understanding foreign militaries, and surpassing foreign militaries has become a mission that our specialized combined arms brigade needs to accomplish," Chen Jun said solemnly.

"The purpose of the theater command in building the 7th Steel Brigade is to transform the experience of foreign militaries into tangible combat capabilities for our troops, making them your hypothetical adversaries, and allowing you to learn and grow through confrontation," Wang Qingrui added.

"Haha, I understand."

Wang Kezheng said with relief, "So you dared to break with conventional tactics at the start of the exercise, and as a defensive force, you took the initiative to launch a surprise attack on my brigade headquarters, cutting off my retreat."

"Actually, this tactic is not new."

To broaden Wang Kezheng's thinking, Chen Jun gave an example, saying, "Our predecessors have used this tactic countless times, whether in the War of Resistance Against Japan or in the Korean War.

The reason you got infected is because your thinking is rigid and you've done too many routine drills.

They've treated the adversarial exercises as a competitive sport, completely failing to see them as a test of war, and are overly strict about adhering to the various rules of the exercises.

"You're only focused on capturing Line 535, your mind is full of rules and restrictions related to the exercise, so naturally you lack the rules of war and battlefield thinking."

"Rules of war? Battlefield thinking?" Wang Kezheng frowned, not understanding.

"It's basically just not following the rules," Chen Jun explained.

"Disregarding the rules?"

Wang Kezheng immediately became interested and said sincerely, "Please tell me in detail, Chief of Staff Chen."

"Think about it carefully. Of all the wars in the world, which country that started the war followed the rules? If they followed the rules, they wouldn't have started the war, right?"

Chen Jun's words were very insightful, prompting Wang Kezheng to reflect deeply.

Gao Cheng, who had been listening for a long time, stepped forward to speak up: "Actually, if we think about it in a different way, from the perspective of national interests and the mission of the military..."

That's not a matter of rules, but a matter of national dignity and national interests.

When national defense and security are seriously threatened, and the national economy suffers losses, if we fail to take preventative measures when we should, then we, as soldiers, have failed in our duty.

Therefore, if we change our perspective, any tactic is acceptable as long as it protects the country and its people.

"Yeah, that's right."

Gao Cheng's words were very enlightening to him. Wang Kezheng nodded thoughtfully.

"We're not applauding this violation, nor are we saying that conducting exercises necessarily involves breaking the rules. We're just using this to illustrate that war has its own unique laws. If you apply the rules of sports competitions to war, you'll only suffer defeats," Chen Jun concluded.

The three most tactically skilled members of the 7th Steel Brigade took turns giving Wang Kezheng military lessons, and the results were truly remarkable.

"I understand."

Wang Kezheng, as if enlightened, said with his own insights: "The battlefield mindset you mentioned is about breaking free from the exercise mindset we've become accustomed to."

He warned every soldier and every warrior that war could happen today, not just tomorrow.

"Yes, your summary is very accurate," Wang Qingrui said with a smile and a nod.

"As soldiers, we must consider all issues with war as our core and winning war as our goal," Chen Jun said with a smile.

"Well said, so well said, I have benefited a lot from it."

Wang Kezheng felt that this trip was truly worthwhile. The short chat had given him a sudden enlightenment and a revolutionary new understanding of war.

From this moment on...

Wang Kezheng finally understood why his superiors were pursuing modernization reforms, and gained a profound understanding of the meaning of the word "modernization."

His increased understanding of modernization and reform fueled his thirst for knowledge.

He asked very sincerely, "Brigade Commander Wang, may I take a look at your troops? I would like to take this opportunity to learn more about your troops and visit your unit."

To quickly enhance the combat effectiveness of our 708th Brigade, we need to find suitable methods and approaches.

"Yes, of course."

Wang Qingrui readily agreed and arranged, "Chief of Staff Chen, since Brigade Commander Wang is interested, you can take him on a proper tour."

“Okay, I guarantee that Commander Wang will be satisfied,” Chen Jun replied.

"Thank you so much. Let's get going without delay."

Wang Kezheng was truly impatient. Before he could even finish speaking, he stood up and looked at Chen Jun expectantly, his mind already wandering to the training ground.

Chen Jun was pleased to see Wang Kezheng's transformation and looked forward to the day when the entire army would undergo the same transformation.

Therefore, he was very proactive.

After leaving the reception room with Wang Kezheng, they took the same car outside and headed straight to the training ground.

The 7th Steel Brigade has now begun joint training. Under the training outline personally formulated by Chen Jun, all units are carrying out the first phase of training in full swing.

Just like the previous training of the 7th Steel Battalion, Chen Jun divided the joint training of the 7th Steel Brigade into three stages.

The first phase is basic training for each battalion and company, which mainly focuses on honing the most basic squad offensive tactics and core subject training related to the branch of service.

After all the core subjects of training for each battalion and company have passed the assessment standards.

The second phase of training will then begin.

This phase mainly focuses on training coordination between different branches of the armed forces, not limited to two, three, or more branches, and involves various subjects of coordinated combat training.

Only after the various branches of the armed forces have established a certain level of basic coordination and understanding can the final, third stage begin.

The third stage is an upgraded version of the second stage, adding various complex tactical systems to the level of coordination between unit types in the second stage.

This allows each branch of the armed forces, supported by a comprehensive tactical system, to achieve a combat effectiveness far greater than the sum of its parts. (End of Chapter)