From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

The brigade command post of the Mountain Eagle Brigade, located at Xiaojinhu Airport, was bustling with activity, its lights shining brightly as military vehicles moved back and forth, clearly preparing for tomorrow's contingency plan exercise.

"What? They're here to provide support? If they're just here to provide support, why did they bring such a large team?"

After listening to the report, Xiahou Lan, the brigade commander of the Mountain Eagle Brigade, did not believe it at first and was full of doubts. He then asked, "What other characteristics do you feel are different?"

"I felt they were very welcoming. Knowing I was from the Air Force, they treated me to a big meal, and there were drinks with the meal. The food standards were much higher than ours, unlike those of ordinary troops," Song Ping said, expressing his judgment.

"Okay, that's enough."

Knowing he wouldn't get any more information, Xiahou Lan hung up the call, frowned, and sat down at the table, lost in thought without saying a word.

After pondering for a minute or two.

Xiahou Lan suddenly looked to his right and asked the colonel who was looking at the computer screen, "Chief of Staff Gui, have there been any changes in the deployment of the Tsunami Assault Brigade?"

"Nothing unusual has been found so far," Chief of Staff Gui replied.

"In the midst of the naval and air force confrontation, an army unit suddenly appeared, and it was neither a Fifth War Zone army unit nor a unit directly under headquarters. How strange."

Xiahou Lan frowned deeply, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Do you suspect they are participating troops? That's impossible. The directing department hasn't given any instructions. Besides, this is a confrontation between our Red and Blue armies. What kind of color would they be if they came here for an exercise?" Chief of Staff Gui said firmly.

"Reporting to the brigade commander, the exercise command just called to inquire about our brigade's preparations. They emphasized that the first day of the exercise is a demonstration performance, with several military experts present to watch. They requested that both participating units maintain their best condition, perform at their highest level, and ensure the success of the exercise, achieving zero errors at every stage."

A sergeant ran up to Xiahou Lan and reported the orders he had just received.

"Zero error??"

Xiahou Lan laughed incredulously, saying with a hint of mockery, "How is that possible? We're flying in the air and descending from the sky. The weather conditions are constantly changing. Do you think we're on a train?"

After venting his frustrations, Xiahou Lan paused for a moment, trying to calm himself down, and looked at the sergeant, asking, "Anything else?"

"The plane carrying the expert team is scheduled to arrive at 8:30 AM tomorrow. The Red Army will also be heading to the exercise location by car at 8:30 AM tomorrow. This is the directing department's notification," the sergeant said.

"So, the directing staff also informed the Navy of our boarding time?" the brigade commander asked.

"Probably. The directing staff has been emphasizing that tomorrow's exercise is a demonstration exercise, and they hope that nothing goes wrong on either side. Our main task is to demonstrate to the expert group the airborne troops' long-range surprise attack and the special forces' rapid response capabilities," the sergeant analyzed.

"Who are these experts? Why do we have to do a special demonstration for them? A real confrontation is a live-fire exercise with the Marine Corps. Tomorrow's task is just a rehearsal," Chief of Staff Gui said with dissatisfaction.

"Your attitude isn't right. I heard that the members of this expert group are researchers and professors from the Academy of Military Sciences and the National Defense University. We need to take this seriously, down to the second," Xiahou Lan said seriously.

"Understood." Chief of Staff Gui nodded.

While the Mountain Eagle Brigade was discussing the Steel Seventh Brigade and tomorrow's demonstration exercise, the Tsunami Assault Brigade was also having a similar discussion.

"Is Xiahou Lan making any moves?"

The brigade commander sat at the head of the conference table, looking thoughtfully at the chief of staff beside him.

"Not yet. We'll have a practice session tomorrow, and he won't do anything out of line. The official fighting starts the day after tomorrow, and then it'll be hard to say," the chief of staff said.

"I heard that another unit has entered the field? Do you have any news on your end?" Brigade Commander Wang Hu asked.

"I heard they were transferred from the Capital Theater Command, apparently to support the expert group's activities," the chief of staff said.

"Guarantee the expert group?"

Wang Hu frowned and said, "I think this person is up to no good. Good people don't come."

"Then what can it do? We are the Red Army, and the Air Force is the Blue Army. We are two opposing forces. How can there be a third party?" The chief of staff did not believe it.

"I don't understand either."

Wang Hu shook his head, puzzled, then suddenly changed the subject and asked, "By the way, didn't Team Leader Tan reveal any information?"

"No." The chief of staff shook his head.

"Hey~~"

Wang Hu sighed helplessly, a sense of unease creeping into his heart.

……

Regarding this demonstration exercise between the Red and Blue teams, the expert group also held a special coordination meeting. After the meeting, Team Leader Tan specifically sought out Chief of Staff Shen.

"Chief of Staff Shen, are all the members of the 7th Steel Brigade in place?" Team Leader Tan asked.

"Most of them have arrived, the brigade headquarters is in place, and two battalions are on their way. They should arrive sometime tonight or tomorrow morning," Chief of Staff Shen replied.

Artillery battalions and air defense and anti-missile battalions are heavy and therefore relatively slower to move.

After all, Team Leader Tan's arrival was too sudden, and the orders he gave were too hasty, leaving the Seventh Steel Brigade too little time to prepare, so they could only split into two groups and set off.

"At the coordination meeting just now, I only talked about the major principles and didn't want to go into too much detail," Team Leader Tan said meaningfully.

"I can tell, you're leaving yourself some leeway," Chief of Staff Shen nodded and said.

"After all, this is the first time that the three armed forces' opposing forces have clashed, and it's also the first time that the three armed forces' hypothetical enemy forces have competed against each other," Team Leader Tan said in a very solemn tone.

"You mean..."

Chief of Staff Shen was astonished and couldn't help but ask, "The Mountain Eagle Brigade and the Tsunami Assault Brigade, are they also Blue Army units? Professionalized adversary units?"

The 7th Steel Brigade was a hypothetical enemy force painstakingly built by the Capital Theater Command to serve as a whetstone for the entire theater command, a fact that Chief of Staff Shen was well aware of.

However, the attributes of the Mountain Eagle Brigade and the Tsunami Assault Brigade were completely outside his authority.

"Yeah, that's right."

Team Leader Tan gave an affirmative reply, saying, "These two units, the Navy and the Air Force, haven't changed much from the existing units."

However, the tasks they perform are quite different. They are basically acting as the opposing force, and they have also made considerable achievements in the study of foreign militaries.

After you reported on the situation of the 7th Steel Brigade at the All-Army Training Work Conference, it attracted the attention of various units, and some even said it caused a stir.

A year ago, your theater army commanders proposed the establishment of specialized combined arms brigades to create a professional enemy force for the army, which also caused a great stir throughout the military.

Your theater has set a precedent, and therefore a question now faces us.

Team Leader Tan paused here, his tone becoming more serious as he asked, "Is it better for the Blue Army to be professional, unprofessional, or semi-professional?" The three questions Team Leader Tan raised seemed to have little difference in meaning.

However, even the smallest matter can change exponentially when placed on the scale of the entire army and the whole country, becoming an extremely important matter.

For critical units like the military, finding the accurate position is of paramount importance.

"When our theater command was first established, we discussed this issue extensively," Chief of Staff Shen said, expressing his deep agreement.

"What were discussed?" Team Leader Tan asked expectantly.

"Some comrades believe that it is unnecessary to make it too professional, too fancy, troublesome to manage, and will arouse resentment and dissatisfaction from other units."

There's no need to create specialized adversary units; just designate a specific unit to act as the opposing force a few more times.

However, this approach also has drawbacks. Several practical tests by the theater army, in which a certain unit repeatedly acted as the opposing force, did not achieve the desired results.

Chief of Staff Shen explained in great detail, and his words revealed several key points.

That is, before agreeing to form a combined arms brigade, the theater army had tried other methods, and only after these methods failed did it finally decide to form the Steel Seventh Brigade.

This also solved a mystery.

That is, it took more than half a year for the theater command to finally approve the order to form a combined arms brigade after Chen Jun suggested forming a combined arms regiment.

It is likely that they are using this time to carry out the practice that Chief of Staff Shen mentioned.

"Why isn't it working?" Team Leader Tan was even more curious about this.

"First of all, it lacks legitimacy and justification."

Chief of Staff Shen explained clearly: "A regular brigade-level unit will definitely have the same standards as other units in terms of its organization, training syllabus, performance evaluation, and transfers."

But if you keep having him fill in as the Blue Team member, he can't afford to neglect his own profession, and he also has to do the Blue Team's work. Then he has to do two things at once, and in the end, it will be a mess.

Furthermore, regarding the use of funds, it's impossible to give him too much funding for the Blue Team's development.

Because other units occasionally take on some opposing force roles during exercises, if you give a unit to them, they also need construction funds.

In this way, it seems like you save money and trouble on the surface, but in reality, the effect is not strong, and you end up spending more money.

If it doesn't work, spending even a small amount of money is a waste; let alone spending more money and still getting no results, that's even more foolish.

Chief of Staff Shen's words were simple, clear, and easy to understand, and Team Leader Tan understood them immediately.

He nodded in agreement and said, "What you said makes perfect sense."

"later……"

Chief of Staff Shen continued the discussion, saying, "The theater army is determined to do it, so let's put the discussion aside for now and get the framework up and running first."

At that time, Chen Jun, then deputy battalion commander of the 7th Steel Battalion, sent a proposal report, wanting to establish a combined arms regiment, and the content was very well written.

After reading his report, I had an idea in mind.

We form a hypothetical enemy force based on the type of enemy we face. The hypothetical enemy is the enemy, and it is meant to let Chinese soldiers who have never fought a war see what the opponent is really like.

The new combined arms regiment organization proposed by Chen Jun is exactly the combined arms force that has been widely adopted abroad, and it is simply the best template for creating a hypothetical enemy force.

Once the mindset changes, the thinking changes, and ideas emerge, which led to the creation of the Seventh Steel Brigade.

Furthermore, Chen Jun has extensive experience in this area, and his combined arms theory is leading throughout the entire army. Letting Chen Jun take the lead in building a brand-new blue force combined arms brigade to act as the hypothetical enemy force is a good idea.

We leaders can relax and have less work; work efficiency instantly increases. All we need to do is support them from behind and let them get things done.

Chief of Staff Shen was subtly promoting Chen Jun in his words, and his eyes were always filled with an undisguised smile whenever he mentioned Chen Jun. Anyone with eyes could see how satisfied he was with Chen Jun.

"I know Chen Jun from the 7th Steel Brigade very well. He is indeed a rare talent. Looking at the whole situation, I'm afraid you can't find another one like him."

As a member of the J Committee, Team Leader Tan naturally had access to highly classified information. It would be difficult for him not to know about Chen Jun, a talent of the entire army.

He was naturally both satisfied and gratified that the military could produce such top talent.

After praising Chen Jun generously, Team Leader Tan added with satisfaction, "It's not easy for you, as leaders of the war zone, to achieve this."

Team Leader Tan was referring to the decisive decision-making of the Capital Theater Command and its unwavering support for the 7th Steel Brigade.

That kind of courage...

Many war zones can't do that!

Chief of Staff Shen was naturally very pleased to receive praise from Team Leader Tan, as it represented the J Committee's approval, which was extremely valuable to him and the war zone.

……

the next day.

It's 9 a.m. sharp.

Team Leader Tan and his expert group, along with Chief of Staff Shen's team and leaders from the Air Force and Navy brigades, gathered at the highest point of the exercise field.

This exercise area is set up in a very special way, with the director's office being arranged in a semi-open style.

It's like building a super-large steel-framed tent at the highest point of the mountain, covering an area of ​​over 500 square meters, where all departments of the directing team are located.

The steel-framed shed is surrounded by a viewing platform with a wide field of vision.

From this mountaintop, the leaders can see most of the training ground.

At this moment, the leaders who came to participate in the exercise were all arranged to sit in the open space outside the director's office, where the head of the director's office was responsible for explaining the situation.

"Distinguished leaders, special guests, experts, and friends from military media."

The director, a major, stood at the front right and loudly announced: "Today's participants in the exercise are the Air Force Airborne Mountain Eagle Brigade and the Navy Marine Corps Tsunami Assault Brigade."

The first exercise involved the Red Army, played by the Navy's Tsunami Assault Brigade, holding a coastal defense position, being suddenly attacked by a vertical strike and surprise attack from the Blue Army, played by the Air Force's Mountain Eagle Airborne Brigade.

The Blue Army quickly occupied the Red Army's fortified positions. After losing their positions, the Red Army, under the command of its brigade commander, swiftly and effectively organized a multi-service counterattack.

They also employed special forces assault tactics to successfully recapture the lost key positions. (End of Chapter)