Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 287 Battalion Commander, Our System Needs to Be Changed
A group of cadres were diligently memorizing the equipment manuals.

His voice was loud and clear, and he was quite enthusiastic.

Of course, Chen Mo wasn't idle either.

He sat at his desk at the artillery range, holding the Blue Army battalion's training records, studying them intently.

In essence, there is not much difference between the original Blue Army battalion and the current Demonstration Battalion.

All of these require the prompt implementation of computerized management, with professional advisors efficiently linking different teams, assigning tasks, and uploading results based on the work content.

From a general perspective, they are all the same, with consistent requirements and desired outcomes.

If I had to point out any differences...

That was the original Blue Army battalion, which was relatively easier to lead.

That's right!

They're just easier to manage.

Because the core members of the Blue Army battalion are all hard-core, the ground assault team is supported by Liu Hongyun and the veteran cadres of the Second Battalion.

In the air, there was the support of squadron leader Dong Kehao, who was in charge of armed helicopters. In terms of information technology, Wang Jianbin led the entire electronic warfare team of Xiangjian.

They are all very strong.

With them around, and with the assistance of their regular units, many problems simply don't exist.

Chen Mo's responsibility is more about providing his own ideas; whatever those veteran cadres understand, he can quickly translate that understanding into execution.

Thus, the corresponding firepower can be unleashed.

That kind of combination is similar to the main force temporarily formed at the regimental or divisional level in combat.

The current demonstration battalion's cadres cannot compare to those of the veteran cadres from the Blue Army battalion era. They have fallen far behind in terms of prestige, experience, and execution.

The tacit understanding between soldiers and officers was simply not on the same level.

Therefore, he led two battalions with the same mission.

Chen Mo's policies will have different emphases.

The Blue Army battalion emphasizes intensive training, setting requirements and monitoring results, while putting pressure on company-level officers.

The demonstration battalion couldn't be organized like that. Chen Mo had to break down every detail and feed it to them little by little, ensuring that the cadres first understood the knowledge of information-based unit operations.

Not only that, but we also need to constantly remind them of the importance and urgency of building the camp.

otherwise!

These newly graduated cadres lack experience, are incompetent, have no experience in leading troops, and don't even know how to communicate with the grassroots.

Occasionally, when he looks up, his eyes are as clear as those of a six or seven-year-old child.

It's too difficult to expect these people to learn and integrate the knowledge on their own.

The reason Chen Mo sent them all to the grassroots level to be ordinary soldiers was to give them grassroots internship experience.

This will allow him to take office at any time in the future.

Of course, on the other hand...

No matter how good the Blue Army Battalion is, it is still just another unit. No matter how capable Chen Mo is as the battalion commander, he cannot bring the Blue Army Battalion together with one heart and one mind.

It's okay to increase the intensity for a short period of time, but if you try to do it at the same intensity for a long period of time, it will inevitably collapse.

The upper limit will also be very low; the level of the Northwest Military Exercise has already reached its limit.

But the demonstration camp is different.

Both the knife and the sweet date were in Chen Mo's hands. Just because the cadres are not good now doesn't mean they won't be good after training.

With a large number of veterans, we can adopt a system where soldiers take the lead in driving the growth of key personnel.

In this case.

The demonstration camp has a very high ceiling. It can be said that as long as Chen Mo, the battalion commander, exerts his abilities, the demonstration camp can keep up.

In a short period of time, the Blue Army was strong.

In the long run, the demonstration battalion will become stronger, and in terms of both personnel quality and equipment configuration, it can completely overwhelm the original blue army battalion.

The prerequisite is that you have to get through the most difficult stage.

They have the opportunity to grow.

Previously, Chen Mo didn't need subordinates or soldiers who could think; he only needed obedient tools.

Now, the situation is completely reversed.

He desperately needs a steady stream of newly appointed cadres; that's his core team.

"Three months, three months."

Chen Mo stared intently at the Blue Army camp's training records, his expression serious, his mind constantly racing with plans.

If it weren't for this unexpected interference, they wouldn't have needed to rush things; they could have simply followed the established learning and training methods.

but now.

With time running out, we had to change our approach.

The detachment size must be complete, because this is a characteristic of the Kyoto demonstration camp.

The three-month period given by the authorities was carefully analyzed by Chen Mo, and he concluded that it was not given arbitrarily, but must have a reason behind it.

It is now mid-September. Three months from now, it will be the end of the year, the year 1999, the preparation stage for the military region's annual military exercise.

In the past six months, the demonstration battalion has been like a giant vampire, sucking up talent and new equipment from the Jincheng Military Region and the Kyoto Military Region, all concentrating here.

At that time, will the higher-ups choose to directly transfer the Kyoto Demonstration Battalion to the southwestern grasslands?
I'm afraid not.

At the very least, we should look at how the demonstration battalion performs in the annual military exercises, right?

Only those who perform well are eligible for a transfer; those who don't perform well will be treated the same way the leader said.

The path of combining informatization with synthesis is wrong.

Chen Mo didn't sleep a wink last night.

He wasn't just thinking about how to train; he was also studying the meaning behind the leader's words.

Because no conclusion can emerge without a reason.

Building a camp is not something that can be done in a day, and judging whether the road is wrong cannot be done overnight.

The General Armaments Department chiefs were subtly reminding him not to overstep his bounds or cause any more trouble, based on Chen Mo's keen insight as someone who had served as a confidential secretary.

Then there is only one explanation.

There were differing opinions regarding the development of information technology.

Those who support their own system have disagreements or even conflicts with those who support other systems.

This is not a conspiracy theory, but a real observation, because information technology inherently involves multiple experimental approaches.

Main combat is only one aspect; there is also auxiliary combat, and non-main combat capabilities like the signal arrow, which can provide information to multiple units and carry out small-scale sabotage when necessary.

Both are paths to information technology development.

Chief of Staff Qin once said that after the military parade, the Jincheng Military Region's demonstration battalion would officially enter the construction process.

That explains why Pu Guoqing said the demonstration camp was not doing well, proving that this approach was wrong.

If Chen Mo's prediction is correct.

The Jincheng Military Region's demonstration battalion will inevitably take the path of supporting combat operations and will be supported by another group of people.

Rather than saying it will be completed in three months, it would be more accurate to say that three months later, the annual military exercise field will be a confrontation between the Kyoto Demonstration Battalion and the Kinjo Demonstration Battalion.

Who performs well and who is more suitable for development will be determined at that time.

This is why Chen Mo suddenly ordered the entire battalion to unite and focus all their efforts this morning.

These people were truly at a critical juncture of life and death.

But such words.

Chen Mo wouldn't tell his subordinates to avoid causing unnecessary anxiety, not even to the instructors.

Who can tell whose skill that is?

While a sense of shared hatred and hatred might work for established units, for a model battalion, the allure or pressure of a designation and disbandment is far greater and more effective.

Creating an enemy out of thin air is too much like a conspiracy theory and is not appropriate for the morale of the troops.

Therefore, when Chen Mo was researching shortcuts suitable for the development of the demonstration camp within three months, he could not abandon the size of the sub-teams, as this was their characteristic and advantage.

His approach ultimately focused on developing a highly efficient, flexible, and mobile system centered around the Type 98 main battle tank, with squads as the main combat modules.

Having a large number of cadres is an advantage of the demonstration camp.

If detachments are difficult to manage, then more command departments should be established. For example, in addition to the staff units under the battalion-level joint command, there should also be support units, air-ground integrated units, administrative units, and so on.

Borrowing from the division of responsibilities during the Blue Army's battalion period, each department performed its own duties, with the battalion commander as the leader, the chief of staff providing an overall view, and the electronic warfare team coordinating all command posts.

We will strive to bring the entire demonstration camp to fruition.

This will strengthen the entire battalion once again.

Of course, the need to complete the staffing in the short term also makes this plan less than easy to implement.

It could even be said that the situation is quite dire.

Three months to prepare for the annual military exercise; this is just the beginning for their Kyoto Demonstration Battalion next year.

If they win and go to the southwest, they will likely face much more than just the Jincheng Demonstration Camp.

If you calculate it this way.

Three months of training are required, and no detail can be overlooked. Any omission could lead to a decline in combat effectiveness, or even a reversal of it.

The underlying principle is very simple: highly coordinated information-based warfare places extremely high demands on small internal combat units.

But three months is too short.

After finalizing the plan, Chen Mo rubbed his temples, put his hands behind his back, got up, and strolled around the cadre group chat.

"Comrades, please be quiet for a moment."

When Chen Mo spoke, all the cadres who were holding instruction manuals and memorizing obscure and difficult data breathed a sigh of relief and looked up in the direction of the battalion commander.

I'll just say a few words.

"You must memorize the instruction manual. No one is allowed to slack off. The General Staff is already preparing the end-of-month assessment, which will all be written tests. Everyone must participate."

"I will look at the results one by one when the time comes."

"Anyone who doesn't meet the requirements, get ready to report to the logistics and cooking platoon. I'm not kidding you."

Upon hearing this, the group, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, tensed up again.

Damn it, it would be such a disgrace for a cadre to end up in the mess hall.

However, among those reading the instruction manual, there was one person who disagreed: Zong Shengli, the platoon leader of the cooking platoon.

He was a non-commissioned officer, not an officer, but his name was already on the list of candidates for promotion. Because he came from a logistics background and had worked in a logistics unit for a long time, Liang Hongjie pulled him over.

Chen Mo didn't see the veteran's expression, and just said to himself, "Don't think these things are useless. Our battalion's training tasks will be very heavy later on."

“I’m not sure about the capabilities of some of you, and you yourselves probably don’t know either. Only practice can produce results. If you don’t understand equipment, I’d like to reassign you to other positions. Can you take on that responsibility?”

"And another thing," Chen Mo pulled up a chair and sat at the front, "the third phase of mechanization reform has begun, with radar units and drone squadrons being deployed in every military region. Next year will be a year of radical tactical changes. The era of mechanization is changing, and we cannot lag behind in building a strong information-based military."

"Integrated joint operations across all airspace, military meteorological services, and the deployment and testing of equipment such as radar and drones."

“Every step we take is compressing the meaning of our existence.”

"Each one has a ripple effect."

"I just did a rough calculation, and the tactical types that our battalion will be changing in the future will involve 13 combat units and various types of technical weapons."

"There is no doubt that the training will face severe challenges."

"Everyone, get ready."

After Chen Mo finished speaking, he did not deliberately ask who understood or who did not.

Because there's no need to ask.

Next, the pace of eliminating cadres, soldiers, and everything else will accelerate.

If you lack awareness, or your awareness is too slow, then there's nothing that can be done; no one can help you.

Chen Mo is just a battalion commander, not a parent.

It's impossible for him to supervise everyone's growth at every moment.

just.

Just as Chen Mo finished speaking and was about to leave, the other cadres continued to recite the instruction manual, but Zong Shengli, the platoon leader of the cooking platoon, got up and jogged over to Chen Mo.

Stand at attention, salute, and shout in a loud voice: "Greetings, Battalion Commander!"

"Oh, Lao Zong, what's up?" Chen Mo heard the noise, took out a cigarette from his pocket, handed one to Zong Shengli, and smiled broadly.

Regardless of whether Lao Zong was promoted to officer or not, as long as he still held the rank of sergeant, he was a soldier.

Chen Mo treated the soldiers with consistent kindness, but as for the officers, he would either beat or scold them.

There are very few kind faces.

Zong Shengli took the cigarette, scratched his head with a somewhat simple and honest expression, and said, "Battalion Commander, how about we change our rules?"

"What rules?" Chen Mo was taken aback.

"Just don't cram all the idiots into the mess hall. Our mess hall is only supposed to have thirty people, but now there are forty-five."

Zong Shengli said indignantly, "If there were only one or two idiots, it would be one thing, but now there are more than a dozen."

As he spoke, Lao Zong counted on his fingers and reported, "Ever since the battalion commander said that the stupid soldiers were going to peel potatoes, Company Commander Xu of the infantry, Company Commander Qin of the tanks, and even Company Commander Man of the supply platoon, and our logistics company commander Liang, have all been targeting our cooking platoon."

"If they keep stuffing people in like this, I really can't keep doing this."

"hiss!"

Hearing such an unusual complaint, even Chen Mo, who was well-versed in many things, was somewhat at a loss.

Damn it, he does often say in meetings that anyone who is stupid or fails the assessment will be fired from the logistics department, but the assessment hasn't even started yet.

It hasn't been implemented yet.

"Old Zong, this isn't the attitude a veteran should have," Chen Mo said patiently. "As a veteran, especially since you're Company Commander Liang, actively recommending promising veterans for promotion, how can you just give up?"

"And enlightenment?"

"If you don't do it, the whole battalion will stop cooking."

"Furthermore, I disagree with what you said. Soldiers are all the same; there's no such thing as smart or stupid. Whether you can lead them out or not, isn't that still your responsibility as the platoon leader?"

Chen Mo's long lecture put him down.

He managed to make Zong Shengli, a man nearing thirty, blush with despair and shed tears.

He stood there, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Finally, Lao Zong had no choice but to grab Chen Mo's wrist and said angrily, "Battalion Commander, stop for a moment. You should talk to the officers of the combat companies about these important principles."

"None of the officers brought anyone with them, they just dumped all the idiots on me. Why should I, a sergeant, be the one to lead them?"

"If you don't believe me, I'll take you to see it right now."

Zong Shengli's voice was filled with anguish, which not only piqued Chen Mo's curiosity.

Even those who were memorizing the instruction manual were aroused, and a group of them followed behind, heading towards the back door of the cafeteria.

We arrived at the busy area of ​​the kitchen.

Zong Shengli shouted at the group of people washing vegetables: "Gao Zhuangzhuang!"

"Eh!"

A short while later, a private with two jowls appeared, wiping his hands on his apron, and saluted in a proper manner: "Good morning, platoon leader. Platoon leader, did you call me?"

"Ok!"

Zong Shengli nodded: "The platoon leader's cigarettes are on the bed. The battalion commander is coming to inspect the work, and I want to offer him a cigarette. Go and get them for me."

Gao Zhuangzhuang obeyed the order and strode around to get the cigarettes.

Chen Mo observed from beginning to end, a smile on his face: "Isn't this great? What a fine soldier!"

"Old Zong, you're being a bit ungrateful."

Zong Shengli looked haggard and said weakly, "Battalion Commander, don't jump to conclusions so quickly, wait a moment."

Two minutes later.

Gao Zhuangzhuang appeared running and handed over a box with only two cigarettes left: "Platoon leader, here's a cigarette for you."

Zong Shengli didn't reach out to take it, and said expressionlessly, "Zhuangzhuang, I want to offer the battalion commander a cigarette, where are the matches?"

"What? Matches?" Gao Zhuangzhuang was a little shocked: "I remember them on the bed, next to the cigarettes."

"Yes, then why didn't you take it?" Veteran Zong said kindly, "Besides, the battalion commander is here, and there are so many officers behind him. Don't I have cartons of cigarettes on my bed? Why did you take this one with only two left?"

"Oh, platoon leader, you didn't tell me that. I'll go get it now."

Gao Zhuangzhuang looked full of regret and turned to run back to the dormitory.

Until the person had gone far away.

Zong Shengli then looked at Chen Mo and said, "Battalion Commander, did you see that?"

“In our cooking platoon, there are more than a dozen people like Zhuangzhuang. The original quota was thirty people, but they squeezed fifteen more people into my platoon and even took away a few of my clever ones.”

“Our battalion needs to eat. I can’t keep soldiers who can only peel potatoes. I need soldiers who can wash vegetables, cook, and distinguish between salt and soy sauce.”

Veteran Zong's voice of accusation was like the mournful cry of a cuckoo, desperate and oppressive.

Chen Mo clicked his tongue; he felt sorry for Lao Zong.

I never imagined that a casual remark made during a meeting would put so much pressure on the logistics department.

It's not terrible for a platoon to have one incompetent soldier; what's terrible is if the whole platoon is that type. The demonstration battalion won't last long before it runs out of supplies.

They can't even get a meal.

"Well, what's wrong with me?" Chen Mo raised his hand and scratched the bridge of his nose, mainly because it was just too damn embarrassing.

He never expected things to develop to this point.

"I will criticize them later and try to transfer those who are not keeping up with the training to the ammunition depot or the vehicle and artillery range."

"You'll have to work hard during this time too."

"Yes, Battalion Commander, I will try my best to adapt."

Zong Shengli raised his hand in salute. He was in a much better mood because the battalion commander was able to solve his problem in a practical way.

The issue of the cooks' platoon is resolved.

Chen Mo turned his head and saw the person reciting the instruction manual still gathered around. He immediately waved his hand impatiently: "Get lost, do you like watching the show so much?"

"Let me tell you, if you fail the assessment, you won't even have a spot to scrape potatoes. You'll all be sent to guard the ammunition depot or patrol the vehicle and artillery yard. As long as you don't mind the embarrassment, I don't care."

This insult.

The onlookers were thoroughly humiliated and quickly dispersed.

Damn it, there aren't even any slots left for potato peeling! Listen to that, it's terrifying.

They used to look down on these people, but now they're not even in the running.
Chen Mo ignored the cadres. Now that he had a general idea, all that was left was to implement it.

Upon arriving at the East Campus, Wang Jianbin was setting up the information command center, where more than a dozen members of the electronic warfare unit had gathered all the computers in the battalion.

While connecting the vehicle and artillery range equipment, they also tested the digital connection.

Chen Mo didn't understand any of this. He just stood there watching for a while, showing some concern, and then walked up to Wang Jianbin and offered him a cigarette.

"Old Wang, do you know anyone in the Jincheng Military Region?"

“Jin Cheng?” Wang Jianbin looked up and thought for a moment: “Yes, there is, but the relationship is not deep. We have only sat together and had technical exchanges.”

"Members of the electronic warfare unit of the special forces brigade at the 184th Regiment in Qinglong Gorge."

“That’s enough.” Chen Mo nodded. “If you can get in touch with him, keep in touch with him more often. After the National Day parade, the Jincheng Military Region will also establish a demonstration battalion. I want to find out what form they will take to build it.”

Wang Jianbin, being one of the core cadres of the demonstration camp, naturally knew about the three-month assignment given by his superiors.

As someone who came from the same training unit as Xiangjian, especially since he was in a special operations brigade that was also an information technology unit, Lao Wang quickly understood what Chen Mo meant.

"Scholar, are you saying that the commander's sudden provision of equipment and personnel is related to the establishment of the Jincheng Demonstration Battalion?"

"Hard to say."

Chen Mo shook his head: "But let's plan ahead. The annual military exercise is in three months. It will be much easier to set up auxiliary combat units than we are. Two months will be enough."

"The higher-ups didn't say it explicitly, so there might be other considerations. We can't make judgments based on guesswork; let's focus on doing our own work well first."

After listening, Wang Jianbin completely ignored what Chen Mo said next.

There's nothing to say or not say about this. In the last seven or eight years, due to experiments with new systems, there have been many changes, which is all normal.

After all, the success of an experiment with a new system is not only about whether it succeeds or not, but also about whether it is suitable for its own development prospects.

We must put the overall situation first.

"So, scholar, what do you plan to do? Three months? Not even enough time to fart."

"It's not that exaggerated."

Chen Mo smiled and tried to appear relaxed: "The rest of the battalion is fine right now, except for the artillery company, rocket artillery company and air defense company structure."

"You go ahead with your work. I'll go find Lao Zhao and the others to discuss the specifics and see how to get these three companies up and running."

"It's not a good idea to keep putting new recruits in reconnaissance companies. Everything is difficult at the beginning, we have to try, right?"

Chen Mo waved his hand and strode away.

Wang Jianbin stared at the scholar's retreating figure for a while before turning back to his work.

Three months. No matter the outcome, we have to give it our all.

What he can do now is help the scholar achieve a 90% network connectivity rate for all the battalion's tanks, thus realizing informatization in terms of equipment.

As for how to lead the teams, how to train the cadres, and how to conduct training.

That's not something a technician like him should worry about.

(End of this chapter)