Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 155 Experimental Proposal, Planning Officer Academy

The secret archives of "On Informationized Warfare" record a mature concept of informationized organization.

In fact, the concept of synthesis did not appear as late as one might imagine. Various ideas emerged as early as the 1970s and 80s, and the actual concept of its implementation in 1999 can be said to have been basically perfected.

However, in order to smoothly navigate the growing pains of the transition phase, the higher authorities have extremely high requirements for the confidentiality of documents.

In his previous life, Chen Mo was only fortunate enough to see these things after the confidentiality period ended in 03, and these were concepts that he had discarded like trash.

Unexpectedly, in this life, it was brought back to me four years earlier.

It's still under wraps.

Chen Mo sighed. Sometimes, the twists and turns of life are really hard to understand.

If he had had sufficient authority in his previous life to know that this file had existed long ago and was top secret, would he have changed his "stubborn" mindset?

The answer is probably no.

The gap in understanding across different eras is overwhelming.

In his previous life, he came from a motor infantry unit, and from the very beginning, he was taught that motor infantry served as a support for mechanized armies on the battlefield.

Large-scale troop operations are the mainstream, and focusing on full mechanization is his dream as a motorized infantryman; information technology is just a side path.

Fate always likes to play tricks on people.

What was a very important document to him in his past life has now been placed before him once again.

If it were the old him, he probably would have argued with the old men in front of him.

"What? What's the problem?"

Seeing Chen Mo staring blankly at the label on the file folder, not signing any confidentiality agreement, Zhang Jinan frowned and asked him a question.

"No, sir, I don't have a pen."

After regaining his senses, Chen Mo quickly looked away.

It's no wonder he lost his composure; his thinking at the time brought him great regret.

Sometimes, it really is just a matter of a single thought.

"Heh, you're pretty thin-skinned, kid." Zhang Jinnan didn't think much of it. He assumed Chen Mo was just sitting by the table in a daze because he didn't have a pen and was too embarrassed to ask.

He took out a pen from his pocket and handed it over, barely glancing at the contents of the confidentiality agreement.

He quickly signed his name.

Vice Dean Zhang Jinnan picked up the agreement, glanced at it, and then pointed to the stool next to him, saying, "You can open this document and take a look."

"Remember, once you leave this room, you must not reveal a single word of the contents of this document, understand?"

"Yes, sir, I understand!"

Chen Mo solemnly stood up and straightened his posture before picking up the file bag as instructed and opening it to check each item.

The content held no appeal for him now. Not only had he seen it in his previous life, but more importantly, it represented the current theory of information warfare.

These ideas all stemmed from various considerations made after the outbreak of the first Gulf War a few years ago. They were quite comprehensive, but they were still just concepts.

Compared to the formation of combined arms battalions in later generations, this was still far from being the case.

The content is somewhat rough.

However, even today, it is still a shocking idea.

the reason is simple.

That is, the current development of the army is still focused on learning from the US, and all its energy is devoted to imitation.

This document has put forward the idea of ​​developing its own military industry, which is basically consistent with the views he put forward in class.

Since the archives can be classified as confidential, it goes without saying that this idea must have been approved by a group of people, and a large number of related research projects have probably been initiated and studied in great depth.

Chen Mo pretended to be looking at this for the first time, flipping through it again and again.

The old men next to them were quite patient and didn't urge them on.

After Chen Mo had pretended for almost half an hour, when he felt that the time was about right, he finally sealed the document again.

Put it on the table.

"So, what are your thoughts after watching it?"

Zhang Jinnan smiled and looked at the young man in front of him with a cheerful expression. Even the old man who had been studying the documents in his hand just now turned his gaze over.

"Chief!"

Chen Mo stood up at attention and saluted!
"Sit down, sit down and talk, no need to be so polite." Zhang Jinnan waved his hand.

"Yes."

ponder for a moment.

Chen Mo then tentatively asked, "Commander, the military region is currently collecting combat data from armored units over the past three years. Is this related to this document?"

"Yes, you could say that." Zhang Jinnan didn't hide anything and nodded readily, "Your words reminded us of that."

talking.

Vice Dean Zhang sighed and continued, "In the past, the academy obtained a lot of data from existing military units, but it overlooked your statement that no one is more convincing than the grassroots armored units in improving armored combat capabilities."

“You’re right, but there are some things you don’t understand, and it’s not that easy to carry out the experiment.”

"We face significant obstacles. We've long wanted to conduct experiments on information-based warfare, but unfortunately, we haven't made any significant progress."

It would be strange if there were any progress.
Chen Mo secretly curled his lip.

He knew that the academy was going to take the lead in organizing the Blue Army camp, and that this wasn't just happening now.

Back in 92, the Kyoto Military District had a Blue Army unit.

And there's more than one.

Ultimately, there were many factors that contributed to the failure.

At that time, informatization was only in its infancy. They wanted to learn from the Americans in developing informatization and also wanted to imitate their equipment.

The result was a hodgepodge: they couldn't grasp the essence of information technology, couldn't keep up with the development of weapons, and could only learn to wear foreign military uniforms and even change their food to hamburgers and beef, becoming completely Westernized.

It's no exaggeration to say that at the time, even the lighters used for smoking were modeled after those used by the soldiers.

However, their combat effectiveness remains abysmal; these are all examples from experiments.

Doesn't that sound ridiculous?

But the country has gradually figured things out step by step to get to where it is today.

"Sir, even if we obtain the exercise data of these armored units and see the changes in combat capabilities in recent years, will the subsequent experimental documents still mention information technology?"

"Yes, that's right. Let's choose a unit that performs well and continue the experiment."

Zhang Jinnan made no attempt to hide anything and honestly admitted it.

"The theory you mentioned in class aligns well with our experimental ideas. Would you be interested in taking on the challenge?"

coming!

My opportunity has finally arrived.

Chen Mo knew that if he nodded now, then in a few months, after these old men had seen the data submitted by the military region below, they would definitely choose a unit to conduct another experiment.

He will then go to that unit as a graduating officer to complete the corresponding tasks.

In this way, he can rely on the Lu Academy for his background and connections.

It's easy to rise to prominence once you achieve even a little success.

But Chen Mo knew better than anyone that he couldn't agree.

At least for now, we cannot agree to this. It's not that there aren't enough opportunities, but rather that randomly choosing a unit for experimentation would be problematic given the current xenophobic attitude at the grassroots level.

Even in the past, he was a marginal figure, incapable of causing any trouble.

The reason Chen Mo clung so tightly to the 7th Armored Brigade was because he knew all too well that without forming factions, it was simply a matter of one person being parachuted into a new unit.

No matter how capable you are, if you can't get through to your direct superiors, if they don't support or approve of you, it's all for nothing. The academy is indeed very prestigious; all sorts of strategic theories, tactics, and technological advancements originate from there. But the problem is, the local official has more influence than the distant one.

Experiments aren't something you can just do with words.

"Feel free to share your thoughts."

Seeing Chen Mo hesitate, Zhang Jinnan knew that the young man in front of him must have his own ideas.

Otherwise, if a private is promoted to officer, and the path is paved for him on his second day at the academy, how could he possibly hesitate about such a good opportunity?

"Sir, I have an idea, but I don't know if it's right."

Chen Mo hesitated for a moment, but still decided to offer his suggestion.

"Just tell me."

"Yes."

"Commander, this document mentions an informationized force. Are we planning to jump straight into experimentation and wait for success?"

"what do you mean?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jinnan paused for a moment, then looked up and saw that the heads of several departments at the Army Academy, including the senior professor of combat studies, were all looking at him.

He was the first to stand up and said, "Let's go somewhere else."

The location has indeed changed.

Chen Mo was moved to an office on the second floor of the Jing'an Teaching Building, but he didn't know which department head worked there.

But an office isn't an archive, so the old men smoked without any inhibitions.

That thing, it was like a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed), with billowing smoke.

The way the old men smoked cigarettes was completely out of character for the professors.

Chen Mo, this younger generation, also received preferential treatment. Two or three packs of cigarettes were placed in front of him, and seven old men sat opposite him, all staring at him.

"What did you mean by saying we should just experiment directly and wait for success?"

Zhang Jinnan's tone was no longer as warm as it had been at the beginning; instead, it was somewhat serious, or rather, stern.

That's just how academics are—they have this stubborn streak, there's nothing you can do about it.

Chen Mo felt quite uncomfortable being stared at. He shifted his body and changed his sitting posture before speaking, "Commander, please don't be in a hurry."

"What I'm saying may not be correct. I've read the information documents, and many things in them are completely different from the current operational thinking of armored forces."

"If we choose a unit to conduct experiments and implement information technology, what exactly is information technology? These days, all documents are kept secret, which restricts our ability to conduct any experiments."

"From the perspective of the external environment, each unit has its own set of combat theories, and a completely new theory cannot be promoted in a short period of time."

“From the perspective of internal driving forces, few people even know what informatization is. Such a major system change is directly attributed to a single unit. Even if they want to promote it, they don’t know where to start.”

Chen Mo's words were not without merit.

The content of "On Informationized Warfare" is still classified. The academy has been researching it for a long time, but they can take the classified content and put it into practice at the grassroots level.

Trying to keep things secret while also wanting to see the actual results is bound to confuse people.

The previous example of the Blue Team's incoherent and unpredictable performance was a product of this kind of environment.

The military needs to develop, national defense needs to be built, and the group of military science experts in the academy are responsible for blazing new trails—there's nothing wrong with that.

The problem is that you shouldn't take too big a step. You can't expect to succeed by just picking an experimental unit. It's not that simple.

"You mean the experiment won't work?"

This time, it wasn't the vice dean who asked, but the oldest old man who had sat opposite Chen Mo in the classroom who asked again.

"Sir, it's not that the experiment is unworkable." Chen Mo shook his head: "The problem is that the approach is wrong."

"Regardless of whether it's informatization, mechanization, or the previous semi-mechanization or horse-drawn systems, no matter what kind of organizational structure it is, the fundamental reason has nothing to do with what kind of equipment it is or which unit it is."

"It has nothing to do with the system; it's the soldiers who do all of this."

“Resources are the foundation of everything. If we want to conduct large-scale experiments, the selected units must understand that they will be at the forefront and ride the wave in the future.”

"To accept experimentation in terms of ideology, such as establishing a separate sergeant academy or a separate base, we can lay the foundation for new combat concepts."

"The purpose of doing this is not simply to plan soldiers' careers, but to lay the foundation for information warfare. Those who lead troops understand one thing: the source of soldiers is the foundation of everything."

"If everyone has received IT training, even for just a few months, the results will be much better than simply selecting units and conducting pilot programs."

"As long as the training is in place, a group of talents can be drawn from the base or the newly built sergeant academy at any time to form an informationized force."

After Chen Mo finished speaking, he stood up again, snapped to attention, and saluted!

But these words of his...

The old men opposite were stunned.

The cigarette Zhang Jinnan had in his mouth fell onto his camouflage uniform, sparking and burning him so badly he was scrambling around like a monkey.

The concept of targeted training at the Sergeant Academy was still quite novel in 1999.

It must be said, however, that Chen Mo's suggestion did resonate with several of the old men.

More importantly, it was Chen Mo's advanced ideas as a new student that shocked the old men.

It should be noted that at this time, the Zhurihe Training Base had only been expanded into the largest and most technologically advanced combined arms tactical training base in the entire army two years prior.

It's only just getting started.

This expansionist mindset is strikingly similar to the new recruits' proposals to establish a non-commissioned officer academy or a separate training base.

Zhurihe is located in a remote area, and large-scale construction has only just begun. They believed that the young man in front of them had never heard of it.

That's even more terrifying.

Damn it, I've never heard of this before, yet it aligns with the ideas above, aiming to elevate the Lu Academy's large-scale experiment to a new level.

The idea is undeniably bold; this person is truly talented.

Zhang Jinnan stomped out the cigarette butt that had fallen to the ground, quickly stood up, and said, "Chen Mo."

"To!"

"I'll give you two weeks. Can you write a complete plan for this sergeant academy you mentioned?"

Half a month?
Isn't this the deadline that the Kyoto Military District is asking the armored units of the 38th and 63rd Armies to submit various data from exercises over the past three years?
It's just the planning of a non-commissioned officer academy. How could Chen Mo need it for so long? This is targeted training, not a real non-commissioned officer school like those in later generations.

Three days is enough!
And he knows far more than those so-called classified documents.

Now that he has seen the document, there is no need to keep many things hidden anymore.

"Sir, give me a week, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

Chen Mo ultimately didn't dare to boast too much, stood at attention, and accepted the military order.

"Okay, okay, okay, haha."

Zhang Jinnan laughed and patted Chen Mo on the shoulder: "Go on, go get ready."

"I'll give you a week. I want to see the report in this office a week from now."

"Of course, I can exempt you from physical education classes this week, but not academic classes. I've looked at your file; graduating from high school isn't enough. You need to continue your studies."

"Go."

"Yes!!"

Chen Mo saluted again, then turned and left.

A new journey is about to begin, and Chen Mo can't contain his excitement.

The May sun was scorching hot.

The red shone brightly on his epaulets.

P.S.: There have been strong winds these past two days, causing power outages and making updates less stable. I hope all my readers can understand.

(End of this chapter)