From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

The war zone's orders mark the final outcome, signifying the official end of this talent war.

Hong Yi, who was originally struggling to make a decision, accepted the arrangements with a smile after receiving two orders from the army group and the war zone.

They prepared their personal belongings immediately and arrived at the Steel Seventh Brigade as quickly as possible to report for duty.

The 7th Steel Brigade received a call from Hong Yi in advance. To show their respect for Hong Yi's talent, Wang Qingrui organized the brigade headquarters to welcome him on the parade ground downstairs.

They even sent a car from the brigade to the airport to pick up Hong Yi.

When Hong Yi got out of the military vehicle sent by the 7th Steel Brigade and saw the grand welcoming scene, his smile became even more intense.

He thought to himself with delight, "It seems I made the right choice. The Seventh Steel Brigade is the place I should be."

Hong Yi felt an even stronger sense of belonging to the Seventh Steel Brigade, which made him restrain his expression and solemnly step forward to salute Wang Qingrui.

Then he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Reporting to the brigade commander, Colonel Hong Yi is here to report for duty."

"Welcome to the 7th Steel Brigade."

Wang Qingrui returned the greeting with a big smile, and then extended his hand.

With Hong Yi extending his hand to shake hands, it signified the official addition of a powerful general to the Steel Seventh Brigade, and the stabilization of the brigade's middle-level cadres.

All that remains is to expand the recruitment of ordinary soldiers and officers, and to continue to strengthen and enhance combined arms tactical training.

For the next month, Hong Yi adapted to his new position in the 7th Steel Brigade and learned about the work required of a special operations battalion commander.

The 7th Steel Brigade is far more advanced than the 909th Brigade, both in terms of equipment and concepts.

Hong Yi needs some time to adjust.

While Hong Yi was adapting to his new life, Chu Zhangang, who had been at odds with him in the 909th Brigade, also officially left the 909th Brigade and was promoted to deputy chief of staff of the C Group Army, becoming a senior colonel at the division level.

In terms of rank, he has already surpassed his old friend and comrade-in-arms, Wang Kezheng.

Wang Kezheng had also said he would make the proposal a long time ago, but there has been no response so far. Instead, he has been overtaken by Chu Zhangang, which is most likely due to the impact of that severe punishment.

With Chu Zhangang becoming the deputy chief of staff of the group army, Ding Kai, the former sycophantic chief of staff, naturally became the new brigade commander of the 909th Brigade.

Zhu Rongsheng, who had only been serving as deputy brigade commander for a few months, was also promoted to chief of staff of the 909th Brigade in this wave.

Although both are at the same rank, both at the regimental level, which is considered a lateral transfer, the chief of staff clearly has the upper hand in terms of rank and authority.

In terms of the order of command in combat operations, the chief of staff is third in rank, second only to the brigade commander and political commissar.

Following them are the deputy brigade commander, deputy political commissar, and deputy chief of staff, etc.

Chu Zhangang was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. After becoming the deputy chief of staff of the army at the division level, the first thing he did was to return to his old unit, the 909th Brigade, to inspect its work.

Ding Kai was originally Chu Zhangang's "little brother", so he naturally dared not neglect his boss when he returned.

Not only did they organize all the soldiers in the entire brigade to clean the camp spotless, but they also polished the tanks until they shone, washed the leaves off the trees along the roadside, and hung various red welcome banners on the walls.

Half an hour before Chu Zhangang arrived, all officers of the brigade headquarters were organized to greet him at the gate.

Chu Zhangang also adopted the full demeanor of a superior, even changing the way everyone was addressed, now addressing subordinates as superiors.

Others had their own reservations, but given the situation, they didn't dare say anything, and their expressions remained unchanged.

Only Ding Kai flattered Chu Zhangang from the start, deliberately omitting the word "deputy" and addressing him as "Chief of Staff." Even after Chu Zhangang corrected him with a smile, Ding Kai continued to flatter him and eventually changed his address to "Commander."

Chu Zhangang was very satisfied with this leader, and the smile on his face became even more intense.

In front of his former brigade colleagues, Chu Zhangang, displaying the imposing manner and airs of a group army commander, solemnly revealed an important piece of information.

"I'm an impatient person, and I'm also a sentimental person. Once there's a hint of something, I want to tell you all about it."

The army group has received a notification from the theater army that it will undertake an important military exercise after the Spring Festival.

This was an order personally issued by the theater commander. The army commander is very likely to be on-site to direct operations. It wasn't easy for me to give the 909th Brigade this opportunity.

Chu Zhangang was very skilled at winning people's hearts, and his next words were clearly an implication to everyone.

This exercise was not originally intended for the 909th Brigade. It was only through my efforts, Chu Zhangang, that the 909th Brigade secured this opportunity.

As your former brigade commander and now your leader, I have truly taken good care of you.

"So that's why I said the old commander came home. It turns out he was taking special care of the old troops." Xu Xiaocun was very polite and immediately flattered him.

"Hey, you can't say that."

Chu Zhangang quickly corrected him, saying seriously, "It's not that others don't have opinions about assigning the task to your 909th Brigade; you just need to know the consequences yourselves."

"Now that this task has fallen to you, you can't just sit back and gloat. You must be fully prepared mentally and absolutely cannot mess it up."

Chu Zhangang's words all conveyed the same message: "I've given so much, you should remember my kindness."

"With our old commander overseeing things and working so hard to secure this opportunity, we will definitely do our utmost to ensure the military exercise is a complete success," Ding Kai flattered.

"Old leader, what kind of military exercise is this? How large is it? Can you give us a heads-up?"

Unlike Ding Kai, who only focused on flattery and official rhetoric, Zhu Rongsheng appeared much more pragmatic. Instead of immediately expressing his opinion, he first inquired about the key points.

"Ding Kai!"

Chu Zhangang did not answer Zhu Rongsheng, still harboring resentment towards Zhu Rongsheng's earlier words. He looked at Ding Kai and asked, "If the opponent is still the Steel Seventh Brigade commanded by Chen Jun, how do you plan to fight? Do you have any contingency plans?"

"..."

When Ding Kai was the chief of staff, he was just a mouthpiece and never made any decisions on his own. So when Chu Zhangang asked him this question, he panicked.

In the past, when people panicked, they could always brush it off by saying they would follow the brigade commander's orders.

Now that he had become the brigade commander, he was in charge of the entire brigade. Ding Kai could no longer dodge the question and could only bite the bullet and say, "This, this depends on what the orders are. What tasks have been assigned from above?"

But whatever the mission, we must fight it well, we must win it, we cannot let you down, our old commander.

Ding Kai seemed to have given an answer, but in reality, what he said was all nonsense, without a single substantive word, just empty official jargon.

Xu Xiaocun, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer and had to step in to remind him, "What you're saying is all natural. The old commander wants to hear specific arrangements, such as the training of the troops below, tactical planning, and so on." After being reminded by Political Commissar Xu Xiaocun, Ding Kai finally understood a little.

Following Xu Xiaocun's words, he said, "Old Commander, the officers and soldiers of the brigade are currently following your instructions and have been studying the tactical characteristics of the Seventh Steel Brigade. They have also conducted many targeted training exercises."

Regarding intelligence on the 7th Steel Brigade, and all key information about Chen Jun, our collection and analysis work has never ceased.

"..."

After hearing Ding Kai's words, Xu Xiaocun almost fainted.

As a brigade commander, he had absolutely no ideas of his own in military command. Even after being reminded, his answers were still so unprofessional.

Nine out of ten sentences he said were flattering Chu Zhangang. Can this kind of person really be a good brigade commander?
Xu Xiaocun expressed strong doubts.

However, Ding Kai is now the brigade commander of the 909th Brigade, and is also a trusted confidant personally promoted by Chu Zhangang, the deputy chief of staff of the group army.

Even if Xu Xiaocun had a lot of dissatisfaction in his heart, he could only keep it to himself and could not show it.

However, Xu Xiaocun was very dissatisfied with what he heard, while Chu Zhangang was very pleased with Ding Kai's words, and his smile became even more intense than before.

He waved his hand cheerfully and said, "Great, very good. Take me to see the military base."

……

The office of the theater chief of staff.

Upon receiving Chief of Staff Shen's orders, Chen Jun and Hong Yi rushed over as quickly as possible.

The more Hong Yi learned about the 7th Steel Brigade, the more impressed he became, and the more satisfied he felt. In just one month, he had undergone a dramatic transformation compared to when he was in the 909th Brigade.

He was summoned by the chief of staff at this moment, and his face no longer showed any anger, but was radiant with confidence and high spirits.

"Chen Jun, Hong Yi, you've arrived. Please have a seat."

The chief of staff waved for Chen Jun and Hong Yi to sit down, and he also came to the head of the sofa area, asking with a smile, "Hong Yi, how do you feel about arriving at the Seventh Steel Brigade?"

"Reporting to the commander, very good." Hong Yi answered loudly without hesitation.

"I called you two over here mainly to discuss a few things..."

Chief of Staff Shen didn't mince words. After a few casual exchanges, he got straight to the point: "First, Hong Yi, after you're transferred to the Seventh Steel Brigade, you need to utilize your expertise in special operations training and deployment. You've even received special training abroad."
I believe that the direction of the 7th Steel Brigade, as a professional adversary force of the army, should be to become a new type of land combat force.

Special operations and the use of special forces must have the characteristics and features of the information age.

If you become exactly the same as other special forces soldiers, and fail to highlight the unique characteristics of special forces in combined arms brigade operations, then there's little point in transferring you here.

“I understand, I’m prepared,” Hong Yi said with a confident nod.

"Chen Jun."

Chief of Staff Shen turned to Chen Jun and said, "You are a specialist in combined arms operations command. You are already at the forefront in forming combined arms units and developing combined arms tactics."

To say that you are the core and soul of the 7th Steel Brigade is not an exaggeration at all.

Therefore, your next key task is to develop a modular training syllabus for specialized hypothetical opponents and accelerate the training progress.

Although I've given you a year, I hope you can progress faster and train more thoroughly.

Chen Jun's ability in training special forces is no less than Hong Yi's, and even though this information is classified, Chief of Staff Shen is actually very clear about it.

The reason why the work related to special forces was specifically assigned to Hong Yi was that he was in charge of it.

The main reason is that, in Chief of Staff Shen's mind, the progress of the 7th Steel Brigade's integrated transformation and the development of combined arms tactics are more important than individual special forces training.

That's why the special forces training schedule was pulled out to lighten Chen Jun's burden so that he could devote himself fully to general training.

Someone as intelligent as Chen Jun naturally understood what Chief of Staff Shen was saying, and he didn't say anything more about Chief of Staff Shen's arrangements.

Simply reply "accept".

"Second."

Chief of Staff Shen continued, "The organization and structure of a digitalized combined arms brigade cannot be as large as that of a regular army brigade, nor is it necessary."

We must be efficient and effective, so that each one can achieve the effect of ten.

Within the 7th Steel Brigade, it is crucial to scientifically combine and coordinate the various branches of the armed forces to achieve a synergistic effect where one plus one equals more than three.

As a special operations battalion within a combined arms brigade, special operations are not simply individual special forces operations, but rather small-scale, highly sophisticated combined operations.

This tactical model must be systematized and become the hallmark and norm of specialized combined arms brigades.

Chief of Staff Shen had clearly conducted in-depth research on information related to combined arms brigades and joint operations, and had thoroughly understood the combined arms forces and joint operations theories reported by Chen Jun.

That's why the arrangements regarding combined arms brigades can be described in such detail and comprehensively.

Chen Jun greatly admired Chief of Staff Shen's studious spirit and naturally had no objection to his arrangements. He even took the opportunity to give Hong Yi a push.

"Commander, Deputy Brigade Commander Hong truly possesses exceptional insights and abilities in special operations."

He has only been with the 7th Steel Brigade for a little over a month, but he has already become fully familiar with the special operations battalion and has also developed a new special operations training syllabus.

Integrating special operations, reconnaissance, electronic intelligence, engineering, aviation, and mechanized infantry into a single training program, based on my personal predictions and analysis, will definitely significantly improve the integration capabilities between these branches.

Since Hong Yi was willing to give Chen Jun face and agree to come to the Seventh Steel Brigade, Chen Jun naturally had to give Hong Yi a sufficient reward.

But he will not regret his decision!
"Great, great, that's very good. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the next training session."

Chief of Staff Shen nodded in satisfaction, a hint of appreciation in his eyes as he looked at Hong Yi. He then added, "With so many branches of the armed forces undergoing integrated training, many problems are bound to arise. Do you have contingency plans for this?"

Even the mouth and tongue often fight, let alone when so many different types of soldiers are training together.

Without a suitable conflict resolution mechanism, prolonged training between different branches of the armed forces can escalate conflicts and lead to a decline in combat effectiveness.

"Problems and conflicts will definitely arise during training. Professional training is like a mountain to those in different fields. Drivers may not know how to aim, and shooters may not understand communications. Some people may not be able to adapt, but these are all normal."

Chen Jun gave a brief explanation before revealing his thoughts: "Therefore, in order to deal with these situations, our contingency plan is to vigorously promote the concept of 'one specialty with multiple skills,' and 'multiple specialties with multiple skills' throughout the entire brigade." (End of Chapter)