Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 234 First-Class Combat Hero, Supreme Glory in the Field
The Blue Army's actions not only baffled the Blue Army's division.

Even the Red Army artillery regiments were surprised that these so-called information technology people were so shameless.

It was nearly nine o'clock in the morning on the 10th.

Lu Tiehu, the battalion commander of the maintenance battalion of the 3rd Battalion of the 139th Division Artillery Regiment, stood at the gate of his own barracks.

They stared in disbelief as the army, which had stretched out for several kilometers, somehow managed to form a column, with two tanks in a group, and inserted itself into the middle of the artillery regiment's encampment.

It's important to know that in a typical artillery regiment with a three-battalion system, only the first and second battalions have artillery, while the third battalion is usually a support battalion, meaning the entire battalion is responsible for logistics.

Since it's logistics, it means it has little combat capability.

During wartime, the garrison would be surrounded and protected by two combat battalions, forming a strong protective perimeter.

For the safety of the artillery battalion, the Red Army division headquarters could not allow the artillery regiment to be stationed alone. There were also armored and mechanized infantry regiments around it, forming a ground defense line.

A large encampment was set up within a radius of five or six kilometers.

The fact that Lü Tiehu could see the Information Battalion at the gate of his own camp meant that Chen Mo was not only seeking protection from the Red Army Artillery Regiment.

They even led their troops into the innermost protective circle of the enemy, swaggering across multiple Red Army outposts and shrinking to the very back.

That kind of thick skin is something only a normal person could have.

But Chen Mo himself didn't take it seriously.

After the convoy stopped, he pushed open the door of the command vehicle, stretched, and turned to look at the Red Army soldiers in the distance. They were looking this way from a mile away, and rows of cannons were clearly visible.

In fact, the equipment of the 139th Division is not as good as that of the Informationized Battalion.

It's far from it. After all, we are an experimental unit, and our weapon configuration is based on the highest standards.

But for some reason, Chen Mo felt that only when he was completely integrated with the artillery regiment could he feel extremely safe.

"Hey you, Lao Feng, go and tell all the squads to set up camp and rest as soon as possible."

"We'll follow the artillery regiment wherever they go for the next two days, see where they dug their outhouses, and then set up camp upwind. The artillery regiment has few men, so if they dug their outhouses too short, we'll help them dig them longer."

"We should get along well with our brother units. We should set up tents and cook meals as needed, and put the fighting on hold for now."

"Go and carry it out!"

"Hey, okay!"

Feng Guoqing responded, scratched his head, and looked somewhat conflicted.

He was, after all, a student who had only recently graduated, and his thick skin couldn't compare to the mentality of someone like Chen Mo, who was in his fifties.

Setting up camp in someone else's territory, what kind of nonsense is that?

But once the order was given, he couldn't refuse to carry it out.

In fact, not only Feng Guoqing, but every single person in the Blue Army battalion, not many could be as at ease as the battalion commander in being stationed at the camp.

When setting up tents, many veterans kept their heads down and worked with their faces flushed with embarrassment, while the vast majority of officers didn't even show their faces.

Some hid inside the tanks and didn't come out, while others gathered in the middle of the tank group, sat on the ground smoking, and refused to move an inch.

Of course, not everyone refrains from showing up.

For example, when the restless Company Commander Cheng was supervising the digging of dry toilets, he turned his head and saw Chen Mo chatting with Battalion Commander Lü of the Red Army like brothers.

This is the first time we've met! Judging by their expressions, they'd love to become sworn brothers on the spot.

Cheng Dong sat on a nearby earthen slope, glancing at the artillerymen who had come to watch the commotion. Old Cheng had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his gaze fixed on the distant sky with a troubled expression.

After a long pause, he muttered under his breath, "Damn it, I've built up a great reputation, how did I end up with this piece of trash?"

"Hold!"

Around 10 a.m., after the entire camp had eaten breakfast, everyone went into their tents to rest.

Chen Mo pulled Liang Hongjie aside and instructed him to write a detailed post-battle report based on last night's battle.

What Wang Songhe could guess, Chen Mo could also guess with a high degree of accuracy.

The information technology experiment—after last night's battle, the directing department will definitely make some kind of response.

As for whether the Blue Army battalion should continue to participate in the war, whether to stay on the battlefield and wait for the end, or to disband on the spot and return to the Kyoto Military District.

Regardless of the outcome, Chen Mo could breathe a sigh of relief.

He brought his entire battalion to seek the protection of the Red Army division; how could he not know how shameful that was?

Every soldier, every man, has some backbone.
But if you look at it from Chen Mo's perspective, he is the acting battalion commander of the information technology battalion, and he needs to complete the experiment to get the job done.

They were able to bring the entire battalion out intact, preventing them from being swallowed whole by the Blue Army Strategist.

Only this outcome is the best result.

If the entire army had been wiped out, the achievement of destroying a supply depot on the eastern front last night would not have seemed so remarkable.

After explaining the beam arrangement.

After inspecting the camp area and finding nothing wrong, Chen Mo returned to his tent to rest.

We've been in Qinglong Gorge for two nights now. The first night, the sandstorm was so bad that we had to make do in the command vehicle. The second night, we were running around and we were exhausted.

Lying inside the tent, I didn't feel hot at all, after drinking a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water.

He tilted his head to the side and fell into a deep sleep.

The Blue Army camp has quieted down.

However, the Seventh War Zone does not mean that nothing will happen.

The Blue Army Division's supply depot on the eastern front was destroyed, and the units stationed along the way lost their fuel and ammunition supplies, resulting in the loss of one-sixth of the division's supplies.

Troops were lost, and organizational structure was disrupted.

Under these circumstances, the Red Army division could not simply stand by and watch the enemy redeploy troops to the eastern front.

Around 12 noon.

The main forces of the Red Army's 415th and 416th Regiments stationed in the Seventh War Zone were responsible for containing the Blue Army forces on the northwest front.

Some units of the 417th Regiment made a long-distance maneuver to the eastern front, tasked with intercepting units transferred from the southern front.

Again.

Regardless of the era, reconnaissance is the most difficult tactic to prevent, and almost all military operations by both sides are carried out under cover of exposure.

Of course, when divisions go to war, they don't have the same reckless fighting style as Chen Mo.

They always want to sneak into other people's hideouts.

The purpose of the two battle-scale units engaging in combat was primarily for training purposes, as the deputy commander of the Blue Army armored regiment stated.

The exercise aims to ensure that troops can be brought from their base to the battlefield without any major accidents along the way, and arrive at the designated area within the specified time.

Setting up camp and establishing defensive lines is far more meaningful than firing cannons on the battlefield.

This is also the purpose of the exercise.

The 139th Division was an infantry division, and its staff members calculated that the Blue Army division had lost its armored regiment advantage.

Furthermore, calculations were made to determine how long the defensive line of their own mechanized infantry battalion needed to be to withstand the main assault of the enemy's tank battalion.

They adopted a defensive depth strategy, tightened their firepower, and dug a machine gun trench 1.5 to 2 kilometers long.

By employing the "bleeding" tactic, they tied down the Blue Army division's forces that were moving from the southern front to the eastern front.

If Chen Mo hadn't wiped out the Blue Army's armored regiment, the Red Army division certainly wouldn't have done it.

After all, sending a battalion or company of mechanized infantry to block heavy tanks is tantamount to suicide.

To put it bluntly, it was a case of deliberate loss of life.

However, the Blue Army Division does not have an armored regiment as a backup, so there will not be many heavy tanks left on the southern front, as they will be stuck on the way from the southern front to the eastern front.

The Blue Army's strategy of strategic infiltration is doomed. With the northwest front tied down and the east front blocked, only the main motorized infantry force on the south front remains. What's the point of infiltration then?

This tactic is not a random arrangement.

The terrain of Qinglong Gorge dictates that mechanized infantry battalions and companies, despite their positional advantage, cannot withstand heavy tanks.

Without considering special combat terrain and the requirements for clustered assaults, even a reinforced battalion-sized tank charge would only have a line of fire that changes within 2 to 2.5 kilometers.

The average spacing is 80-90 meters.

If we take into account the actual battlefield terrain, the spacing will only fluctuate by about ten meters. But no matter how you calculate it, whether the assault formation is trapezoidal or triangular, a spacing of one hundred meters is the maximum spacing for tank fire coverage.

Based on this calculation, without the armored regiment as a backup, the Blue Army Division could not possibly send all its heavy tanks from the southern front.

Therefore, the Red Army's blocking lines were able to achieve the purpose of the "bleeding" tactic.

The so-called bloodletting.

To put it simply, the Red Army's 417th Regiment wouldn't deploy too much firepower on the eastern and southern fronts; instead, it would use a diversionary tactic to prevent the Blue Army from regrouping on the southeastern front.

The Blues, in order to hold the eastern front, or rather, to ensure that their later infiltration tactics could continue,

They had to continuously reinforce the garrison of the 417th Regiment, but the recruits wouldn't suddenly appear.

Reinforcing troops would require mobilizing the troops stationed on the southern front.

The strategic objective of the Red Army divisional staff was to force the Blue Army to gradually place its heavy forces on the southern front in positions close to the eastern front.

Bleed out little by little.

When the Blue Army Division is tied down on the northwest front and unable to move, and has to be mobilized to provide relief on the south front.

The main forces of both sides will then clash on a large scale.

At this point, the initiative in the main battlefield area will completely shift from the Blue Army Division to the Red Army Division.

Whoever holds the initiative has enough time to make arrangements and is very likely to win in the end.

Therefore, Chen Mo didn't sleep well during his rest period.

Artillery fire was raging dozens of kilometers away; even in his dreams, he was commanding tanks in battle.

Chen Mo rested around 10 a.m., but was completely woken up by the sound of artillery fire at 3 p.m.

He rubbed his sore eyes and wiped away his sweat as he emerged from the tent.

As soon as they came outside, they saw Feng Guoqing, Cheng Dong, Wang Jianbin, Liu Hongyun and others standing on the roof of a tank, looking into the distance.

"You guys are really energetic. What's so interesting about fighting?"

Chen Mo raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight, and looked at the group of people who seemed to be in such good spirits, feeling somewhat speechless.

heard movement.

The group of cadres smiled but didn't respond; they were too embarrassed to say that they couldn't sleep because of the sound of gunfire.

After all, not many people have a heart as big as Chen Mo's.

The sound of artillery fire outside is deafening, yet he can still fall asleep; he's quite an extraordinary person.

Only Yao Jinghua, a veteran from the reconnaissance company and the former squad leader of the eighth squad of the reconnaissance company, who had practiced car chases and enemy capture with Chen Mo, said with excitement, "Battalion Commander, you don't know."

"The Red Army did a great job this time. Last night, they dug a defensive line near our bombers to block the Blue Army's mobile firepower."

"The Red Army's infantry and the Blue Army's tanks have been fighting for three hours and there is still no winner."

"Infantry fighting tanks?" Chen Mo was taken aback. "How did they do it?"

“PF-89,” Cheng Dong replied. “I just sent someone to check it out. The Red Army is digging trenches and using the terrain to their advantage to maneuver against the Blue Army.”

"The battle was quite intense, but the casualties on both sides were pitifully small. It wasn't as comfortable as the battle we had this morning."

"That was indeed quite lively."

Chen Mo grinned, then squatted down, took out a map, and stared intently at the place where he had taken cover from the bomber formation the night before.

A simple analysis reveals the Red Army division's intentions.

The fact that the Blue Army camp moved from that terrain last night shows that it was the flattest area nearby, suitable for heavy equipment movement.

The Red Army was digging trenches here to prevent the main Blue Army force from joining up with the eastern front, and more importantly, to prevent the Blue Army's supplies from re-entering the eastern front.

As for why there's been no result after all this time, well, that goes without saying.

Infantry fighting tanks is already illogical, and then they use a crappy weapon like the PF-98.

Perhaps it's because Chen Mo has been leading the Blue Army battalion lately and their equipment is so good that he doesn't even look at this stuff.

But there's a reason why he doesn't like it.

Compared to individual weapon systems, calling the PF-98 a piece of cake is an understatement. Although it can be carried on the shoulder and used as a tripod for fixed positions, and can be used with machine guns and light grenade launchers, it is too heavy, a large target, and has a short range, making it inconvenient to carry and defeating the purpose of infantry's advantage of surprise attack.

That's tolerable, given the current limited number of individual weapons available.

What's most intolerable is that not only is the range short, but it's also inaccurate and lacks precision guidance.

Infantry has a very low hit rate against tanks. The only way to use them is to have infantry get within 200 to 300 meters of an attacking tank.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a weapon damaged in combat by a single soldier.

In addition, tanks can launch flares, so even if you advance to within 200 meters, you may not be able to hit them accurately.

It's really not very good.

However, Chen Mo wasn't looking at the map to check the accuracy of the weapons; he was trying to figure out the Red Army's intentions.

At present, the battlefield near the eastern front is so close to the Red Army artillery regiment, yet the division headquarters is not mobilizing such a powerful main force as the artillery regiment to go there.

Instead, they chose to wage a war of attrition against the Blue Team.

If you have cannons but don't use them, and instead use this as a mascot, then there's only one purpose.

This forces the Blue Army to continuously reinforce its troops and shift the main battlefield to the vicinity of the eastern front.

Because if you don't deploy troops, the artillery regiments here are always capable of eliminating the Blue Army's support firepower on the battlefield, which will completely sever the connection between the southern and eastern fronts.

Even if forced, the Blue Team will continue to reinforce its troops.

The battle will be hampered.

Since reinforcements were needed, Chen Mo stared at the map while thinking. Reinforcing troops was out of the question for the northwest front, because going from the northwest to the eastern front required crossing the entire Seventh War Zone. With so many main Red Army forces stationed there, it would be tantamount to suicide.

Considering the overall situation on the battlefield, the only way to reinforce troops is to draw them from the southern front.

"South Line 1. South Line 1."

Chen Mo looked up, constantly analyzing the situation in his mind. The southern front was the location of the main battlefield of the Blue Army's original plan.

It was also he who deduced the location of the Blue Army division headquarters.

If the Red Army were to follow this tactic and force the Blue Army to redeploy troops and provide continuous support from the southern front, wouldn't the protective firepower of the division headquarters be continuously weakened?

"I rely on!"

The more Chen Mo analyzed, the more engrossed he became, and he couldn't help but swear.

His eyes shone brightly.

Without protection from the division headquarters, the division commander surnamed Wang probably won't be transferred, because there's no place for him on the eastern front, and he can't get across to the northwest front.

The Blue Army camp has another mission now.
If we could take down the Blue Army Division's headquarters, we'd make a fortune.

Chen Mo rolled up the map, his mind starting to wander.

The main reason is that the temptation is too great.

Two senior colonels at the division level and a group of colonels at the regimental level—if I could catch them, I could at least get a second-class merit award, or add another star to my shoulder.

Just as Chen Mo was getting into the planning, Zhang Baolin, a staff officer from the directing department, ran over quickly from a distance.

Seeing that Chen Mo had regained his spirits and was even inexplicably excited, Major Zhang wiped the sweat from his face and smiled, "Battalion Commander Chen, you're finally awake."

"Come on, come with me to the 184th Regiment."

"Go to the director's office?" Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, as he had gone there with Zhang Baolin before.

The directorate was located within the Jincheng Military Region Special Forces Brigade's headquarters, which was formerly the headquarters of the 184th Regiment.

"Haha, that's for sure."

Zhang Baolin laughed heartily, his tone clearly filled with envy: "Around noon, the director's office sent a notice asking me to take you there."

"When we notified you, we knew you had just fallen asleep for a little over an hour, and the higher-ups specifically instructed us to wait until you woke up before going over."

"Let me tell you, Battalion Commander Chen, you're really going to make it big this time. I heard that even the General Staff Headquarters in Kyoto is coming over. Your Information Battalion has really made a name for itself this time."

"You might get promoted right away!"

"That's too much to ask, it shouldn't be." Chen Mo suppressed a smile, took out two packs of cigarettes he had prepared in advance from his pocket, and quietly slipped them to Zhang Baolin.

Chen Mo is no young man; he understands the ways of the world. The Blue Army battalion won a battle, and all company and battalion-level units were guaranteed a collective second-class merit, so everyone was celebrating.

There's no reason for them to have any other thoughts.

But Major Zhang wasn't a member of the Blue Army, and Chen Mo understood the principle of being beholden to someone who pays his bills.

Even if it's just to suppress some jealousy, two packs of cigarettes would be worth it.

"I've troubled you to wait so long, let's go."

As Chen Mo spoke, he turned to Yao Jinghua and waved, "Class monitor, come with me."

"The food over there is pretty good. Try to bring back some more so that everyone can try it out. Let's also try the food from the special forces unit."

"Hey, that's good."

Yao Jinghua jumped off the tank, dusted himself off, and followed along.

What should have been a discussion about whether Chen Mo could be promoted on the spot was instead turned into a discussion about the special forces' food by his words.

Cheng Dong scratched his head, grinning and grinning without saying a word.

The other cadres exchanged glances, even though they all guessed that the battle this morning should be considered a successful experiment, allowing them to report back.

We can speculate, but we still need to see the reality to know.

Now, the reality has finally arrived.

The three of them set off in the Z-8 helicopter of the command headquarters. When they passed through other war zones, Chen Mo discovered that exercises were also underway in other war zones.

Along the way, from the sky, one could see dogfights between the red and blue forces everywhere.

Fortunately, we were traveling in the director's helicopter, which had a distinctive livery, and we were given a notification on the public channel before departure.

Only then can one travel smoothly without any obstacles.

If any other unit's helicopters dared to swagger by like this, they would have been shot down countless times already.

Looking at the ground combat units, Chen Mo's heart was not at peace.

It's fair to say that there were many twists and turns in the process of this experiment.

Let's leave aside how the Army Academy made its decision for now, and let's not even mention the shelving of the academy's construction. Even the training was aborted midway, and they were suddenly pulled to the Northwest battlefield.

This is nothing.

After all, those in power aren't gods; many policies change at any time.

What Chen Mo was really thinking about was what reward he would receive from above if the experiment succeeded.

Second-class merit?
Chen Mo shook his head slightly, guessing that it wouldn't be enough. After all, all the participating companies had been collectively awarded second-class merit, and everyone who came would receive one as an incentive.

He is now an officer, no longer the private who would risk his life for a single award.

The reason I think about these things is not because I crave honor, but because they are what I deserve and what I should consider.

He already had a second-class merit award, so it wasn't very appealing to him.

Could it be a first-class merit award?

Chen Mo felt a little uneasy.

This murmur wasn't because he was worried about not meeting the first-class standard; he had worked under a former leader and knew the standards for evaluating merits and awards in the military.

Information technology experiments were conducted multiple times by the Army Academy, the Kyoto Military Region, and the General Staff, both secretly and openly.

Because of his efforts, he should be awarded more than a first-class merit.

As for being promoted on the front lines, Chen Mo never even considered that possibility, precisely because he was all too familiar with certain rules and regulations within the military.

Therefore, he never even considered that his rank could be promoted from lieutenant to captain; given his current contributions, it's not that he can't reach that position.

Rather, it's because the occasion is inappropriate.

Promotions are usually not done at this time, especially with the leaders of major military regions present. According to Zhang Baolin, even leaders from the General Staff Department came over.

Promoting someone to a higher rank in this kind of setting seems a bit petty.

Unable to guess what the higher-ups were planning this time, Chen Mo simply let out a long sigh and stopped thinking about it.

About forty minutes later.

The helicopter landed smoothly on the south side of the auditorium of the 184th Regiment, on the west square of the 10th Company.

This time I came.

The absence of the shovel and gun confrontation from last time suggests that the exercise has fully commenced, and the special forces have been deployed to the battlefield.

The entire base was practically deserted.

Chen Mo originally planned to get rid of Yao Jinghua after arriving and then have a big meal in the cafeteria.

Unexpectedly.

The three had just stepped off the helicopter when two tall, senior sergeants ran quickly toward them from a distance.

Judging from the other person's attire and powerful posture, it is not difficult to determine that he must be a guard of some leader.

After the two stopped, they raised their hands in salute. The sergeant on the right spoke first: "Which one of you is Battalion Commander Chen Mo?"

"it's me!"

Chen Mo raised his hand in return and took half a step forward.

The guard who spoke had a hint of envy in his eyes before he grinned and said, "Battalion Commander Chen, hello. The commander has been waiting for more than twenty minutes."

"Let's go there now."

"However, routine checks are necessary."

"understand!"

Chen Mo nodded and raised his hand naturally. This wasn't the first time he'd done this routine; he was already used to it.

at first.

Yao Jinghua thought that he had nothing to do in such a serious occasion.

Just as they stepped back, intending to wait outside...

As a result, he couldn't escape the routine procedure either.

After all three were checked, the guards on duty even took out towels and patted off the dust that was on their bodies.

They were made to look as neat and tidy as possible before being led to another hall near the auditorium.

The guard was responsible for pushing the door open.

Chen Mo took a deep breath, strode into the room with his head held high, and didn't even look at the surroundings.

When moving ahead.

Yao Jinghua, who was following behind, was stunned after just one glance.

He then stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his breathing becoming rapid.

I wasn't intimidated by the leader sitting at the head of the table, but rather by the words on the red banner directly in front of me.

The words "Awarding Ceremony for First-Class Combat Heroes" are clearly written on a red background with gold lettering.

A first-class combat hero, the highest honor in field battles.

Who is this for?
Yao Jinghua felt as if he had been electrocuted, and his eyes widened in shock.

This setting is clearly a small-scale, secret commendation ceremony.

It's no wonder that veteran Yao was stunned.

Once in military uniform, always in glory; who would see the words "First-Class Combat Hero"?

Can you still remain calm?

Could this be for a scholar?

Goodness, if this scholar were to receive the title of First-Class Combat Hero, the reconnaissance company's garrison would be in a much better position.

Shouldn't we erect a monument for the scholar?
(End of this chapter)