From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

Chapter 471 The Steel Seventh Company has always been there!

Chen Jun took Wang Kezheng to see the Seventh Steel Brigade's training, naturally wanting to give him something different.

It just so happens that the special operations company is conducting urban street warfare training today, in a specially built simulated street training ground, doing things that field troops have never done before.

So Chen Jun took Wang Kezheng and drove directly to the training ground.

When Wang Kezheng saw the special operations company soldiers, in squads, carrying out street combat, cleverly utilizing the building structure, and fighting fiercely by scaling walls and leaping across rooftops, he was deeply moved.

He was truly deeply shocked!
Field troops primarily train in the field, either in jungles or mountains. Wang Kezheng had never seen large-scale combat training with urban streets as the battlefield before; the 708th Brigade had never conducted such training.

"Wow, Chief of Staff Chen, this training of yours is really interesting." Wang Kezheng said as if he were watching something rare.

"Urban warfare is the main form of future warfare, especially for the army."

Chen Jun, acting as a temporary guide, said, "The streets in this training ground are all carefully arranged to completely simulate the street structure of a certain place."

In this place, the soldiers mainly train in offensive and defensive confrontations between buildings, the wartime application of terrain such as building structure, courtyard layout, underground culverts, shops and residences, as well as the research of new tactics for urban sniping operations.

These are all war requirements that will inevitably be encountered in modern and future warfare, so our training subjects are mainly designed for the modern informationized battlefield.

......"

As the car traveled through the streets, Chen Jun provided detailed explanations without reservation, and when passing through a special terrain, he would give a specific analysis.

Wang Kezheng has been in the army for more than 20 years, but at this moment he has become a newly enrolled student.

Every subject and knowledge point Chen Jun mentioned was an unfamiliar field that Chen Jun had never encountered before, which made him feel both curious and pressured.

As a veteran army leader with decades of experience, there are still so many things he doesn't know.

How could one not feel immense pressure?

Fortunately, Chen Jun explained things in great detail, and they weren't too difficult to understand, which eased Wang Kezheng's mind a bit and prevented him from breaking out in a cold sweat.

However, even though Wang Kezheng had tried his best to learn, the new things that appeared still dazzled him.

There's no end to what you can learn.

There's simply no way to finish learning it all.

Especially in the latter half of the training, the various combined operations of the special operations company and the army aviation battalion's helicopters brought the infantry's combat effectiveness to its peak.

The perfect coordination between the two types of soldiers truly amazed Wang Kezheng.

When Wang Kezheng witnessed the unprecedented combination of infantry and helicopter, with helicopters providing aerial fire support to help ground troops advance, he was completely stunned.

The troops used helicopters to quickly rappel down and precisely carry out surgical strikes against the enemy.

This left Wang Kezheng in awe.

He shouted that he hadn't been wronged in the last exercise.

Faced with such a force attempting to behead him, Wang Kezheng knew very well that with his current troops' defensive capabilities, there was simply no way to effectively intercept it.

Even if he were to be beaten twice more, he would still be captured alive by the Seventh Steel Brigade.

After visiting the completely different training ground, which allowed Wang Kezheng to experience what a new era of troops looks like, Chen Jun then took him to the command center.

The purpose of bringing him here is simple: to let him experience what a digital and information-based military is like.

Chen Jun gathered IT experts such as Liao Qiuxue to research a digital command system in the war zone laboratory, which is now in a stage of steady development.

Although it will still take a considerable amount of time before a complete command system is ready.

However, in order to put the command system into immediate use in the 7th Steel Brigade after its successful development, preliminary preparations had already begun.

For example, all the equipment needed for the command system, such as computers, has now been installed and put into place at the command center.

All staff members in the 7th Steel Brigade's command center, as well as brigade officers and staff, have now gradually implemented the workflow.

Even without a command system to maximize efficiency, working via computer can significantly improve efficiency.

The command post of the 708th Brigade, where Wang Kezheng is located, still operates in the same traditional command mode as before.

When Wang Kezheng saw the overwhelming technological atmosphere of the 7th Steel Brigade, with its command center filled with electronic equipment, he was once again awestruck.

It was as if she had become Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, and everything she saw was both novel and unfamiliar to Wang Kezheng.

"Chief of Staff Chen, I never expected your command post to look like this. It's just like something out of a foreign science fiction movie. It's amazing."

Wang Kezheng was truly shocked, and at the same time, he was so envious that he almost drooled.

"This is a fully digital command center. The brigade's daily training, living conditions, and logistics can all be viewed here in real time. It's still a work in progress, but it will become much more powerful once the system is fully installed," Chen Jun explained.

"It's already this good, and it's still only a half-finished product?" Wang Kezheng's mouth was big enough to fit an egg.

"Correct."

Chen Jun nodded and said, "Our digital command system is still under development. It will be fully operational when it is combined with the equipment here after the development is completed."

At that time, we will only need to stand here to automatically arrange and deploy all branches of service, specialties and different positions in the entire brigade, as well as conduct post-training assessments and push them to all units.

This allows all units to use fully automated assessments to correct problems that arise during each training session and prevent them from recurring in the next training session.

Each unit can also review and replay their training performance on the same day through the network system.

This entire training system is just one function of the digital command system. With the support of this system, training effectiveness can be improved by 200% compared to the past, and that's a very conservative estimate.

"Can it double the training effect?" Wang Kezheng's eyes widened.

It is important to understand that once a unit has been trained to a mature stage, its combat effectiveness tends to stabilize without large-scale changes to its equipment and facilities.

No matter how hard we train or how cutting-edge our tactical systems are, it doesn't matter.

The improvement is also calculated as a percentage.

Can be imagined.

The training effect is doubled, which is an incredible feat.

"Yes."

Chen Jun smiled confidently and said, "This digital command system is very comprehensive and will be involved in every aspect of the entire brigade."

This includes, but is not limited to, frontline operations, command systems, and logistical supplies.

It's essentially the brain of our entire brigade, and also our brigade's super database, enabling efficient command and control by moving all offline work online. The reason we can confidently say the training system has improved by 200% is due to its digital micro-control.

When a soldier enters our 7th Steel Brigade, his physical fitness, physical condition, psychological qualities, and skill parameters are all entered into a large database, which can be adjusted at any time according to the training situation.

Once a soldier reaches a certain standard in a particular skill, they can automatically advance to a higher level and receive more challenging training, further enhancing their individual abilities.

Instead of wasting precious time by repeating basic or low-level training with soldiers who have not yet met the standards.

Therefore, the training system can help soldiers to reasonably adjust the intensity and difficulty of training within their effective service period, so as to optimize their training.

At the same time, the support of the training system's control panel greatly assists us in deploying troops and arranging training more rationally.

The role and function of digital command systems go far beyond what Chen Jun mentioned.

If all the functions were to be explained, even if Chen Jun stood here and talked for a whole day and night, he probably still wouldn't be able to explain them completely.

The leap in information technology reform is enormous, comparable to the transition from cold weapons to firearms.

There are just too many things involved.

"I, Wang Kezheng, have truly learned something today. No wonder you were able to defeat our 708th Brigade so easily, and then defeat the 909th Brigade as well. They really have some skills, and I'm quite envious of them."

Wang Kezheng spoke very sincerely because he felt like a frog at the bottom of a well.

This time, I finally jumped out of the well and broadened my horizons.

"Actually, for the missions that our Steel Seventh Brigade is to carry out, these are not honors at all, but rather a tragedy," Chen Jun sighed.

“Sadness? What’s there to say?” Wang Kezheng asked her sister.

"The main purpose of the theater command in forming the Steel Seventh Company was to make us training partners for all units in the theater command. The task of training partners was to improve the combat effectiveness of our comrades so that they could defeat the real enemy in the future. But what about now?"

Chen Jun smiled bitterly and said, "Our comrades are too weak. They can't even beat us when we're half-finished, let alone the complete Steel Seventh Brigade."

Is there anything to be proud of in defeating such a weak opponent?

"We are a hypothetical enemy force. If you can't even defeat a hypothetical enemy, what will you do when you encounter a real enemy?"

Chen Jun felt that Wang Kezheng was a reasonable person and a true veteran, which was why he said so much to him.

He spoke his mind.

“What you say makes sense. It is indeed a tragedy, my tragedy, and Wang Kezhen’s tragedy.” Wang Kezheng lowered his proud head.

The events of the past two days have made Wang Kezheng realize the reality and recognize his mistakes.

"We have no honors to speak of, so our brigade will become the only unit in the entire theater without a hall of honor or a military history museum. We only have one identity, and that is your enemy," Chen Jun said.

“If you don’t record your battle achievements, how can you conduct traditional education? How can you motivate your soldiers?” Wang Kezheng asked doubtfully.

As the saying goes, soldiers regard honor as their life.

In Wang Kezheng's view, it is simply unacceptable for an army to lose its honor.

"Times have changed, and so have our methods. The base may not have a hall of honor, but that doesn't stop us from building a virtual military history museum on the computer," Chen Jun said proudly.

"A virtual military museum? That's very unusual. This is the first time I've ever heard of it. Could you tell me more about it?" Wang Kezheng asked curiously.

"Please look at the big screen."

Chen Jun pointed to the large screen in front of him, and the staff next to him were very sensible. They automatically brought up the virtual military stadium without Chen Jun having to give any order.

The various photos from the Steel Seventh Company's Hall of Honor, the major battles the Steel Seventh Company fought, and the various medals and award flags it won were all displayed on the big screen.

"Hey, isn't this the honor room of a grassroots company? It's not your brigade's, is it?" Wang Kezheng asked doubtfully.

"This is the root of our Seventh Steel Brigade."

Chen Jun raised his head and said proudly, "Our Steel Seventh Brigade was just established and indeed has no history, but we originated from a unit called the Steel Seventh Company."

We went through a series of efforts to reorganize the Steel Seventh Company into a combined arms company, and then expanded it into the Steel Seventh Battalion, which is how we came to have the Steel Seventh Brigade we have today.

Therefore, in the hearts of us members of the 7th Steel Brigade, the 7th Steel Company has never left. The 7th Steel Brigade is the 7th Steel Company, and the 7th Steel Company is the 7th Steel Brigade.

The glorious history and honors of the Seventh Steel Company are naturally also the glorious history and honors of the Seventh Steel Brigade.

Looking back on the goals he set for himself, Chen Jun is now filled with emotion. The bold words he made years ago have unexpectedly come true so soon.

Leading the Seventh Steel Company, they climbed step by step, and were about to reach the finish line.

Chen Jun really has every right to be proud!
"You guys grew from a single company? You turned a company into a brigade in just a few years?" Wang Kezheng was stunned.

While the previous series of shocks were tolerable, this explosive news was truly unacceptable to Wang Kezheng.

This seemed completely impossible to him.

But something completely impossible actually happened right before his eyes.

The reason why Wang Kezheng reacted so strongly, seemingly because he had never heard of it before, is that information about the Seventh Steel Brigade has always been classified.

Even with Wang Kezheng's brigade commander authority, he could only find out that it was expanded from the Steel Seventh Battalion.

In recent years, the military reforms focused on information technology have made great strides. The transformation of divisions into brigades and the upgrading of regiments into brigades have become commonplace. Although the expansion of battalions into brigades is still rare, it is still within the acceptable range.

A company was transformed into a brigade within a few years...

This is a bit too outrageous!
"We've had a tough journey, but thankfully we've succeeded."

Chen Jun didn't explain much, because it involved too many secrets, and took the initiative to change the subject, saying: "Actually, our virtual military history museum has two main parts."

One section is about ourselves, mainly recording our past glorious deeds and various commendations.

Another part is learning from neighboring units. We're currently planning to include the glorious history of your 708th Brigade in our virtual military history museum as a foundational lesson in our brigade's traditional education. What do you think?

Chen Jun was essentially sending a friendly signal to Wang Kezheng, hoping to completely resolve the previous conflict.

“That’s good, I have no objection. If you need to collect data on-site, just let me know and I will personally arrange for someone to assist you.”

Wang Kezheng was completely convinced of the 7th Steel Brigade's superiority and strength compared to the 708th Brigade. He saw it as a good thing to entrust his own honor to the 7th Steel Brigade.

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll send someone to your brigade to gather materials tomorrow, haha," Chen Jun laughed.

(End of this chapter)