Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 302 Rushing to the Military Region, an Awkward Meeting
The lobby of the Jinyang Directors' Office.

As the last wave of the 7th Armored Brigade's main force was wiped out, the atmosphere on the scene became suffocating.

In particular, it was observed that the casualties of the demonstration battalion were almost negligible, with only a few being eliminated during the final battle, a chaotic encirclement and suppression operation.

Overall combat effectiveness was not compromised.

This suffocating feeling reached its peak, like a thousand-pound boulder pressing on one's chest, the atmosphere becoming extremely oppressive.

In less than two hours, the 7th Armored Brigade was wiped out.

Thousands of people were lost just like that.

What is this concept?
It can be said that this is unprecedented in military history. Even during World War II, the annihilation of an entire field army regiment was rare. The complete annihilation of a brigade-level unit is truly unprecedented.

We've been decimated, routed, and even suffered 90% casualties.

The only one that failed to appear was a brigade-level combat group, which was completely annihilated after two hours of fighting, with no survivors except for the high-ranking officers who were not present.

It wasn't the 7th Brigade that lost, but more than half of the main force troops present, because they asked themselves, what would have happened if they had led their units to face the demonstration battalion?

I'm afraid the outcome won't be much better.

The 7th Armored Brigade made mistakes, including insufficient anticipation of the enemy and failure to establish wired communication in time before the battle, which led to a dead end at the start of the battle and was eventually completely scattered.

But here's the thing.

Even if the 7th Armored Brigade is extremely cautious and has made the most accurate predictions, can the balance of this war really be tilted?

Not necessarily!
Everyone knew very well that no matter how well prepared they were, it would only prolong the battle and allow them to hold out until the demonstration battalion could move to the battlefield.

It's just that we lost in a slightly more dignified way.

The once-elite 7th Tank Division suffered a complete and heartbreaking defeat in the face of the new system.

This is not just the defeat of the 7th Brigade, but the powerlessness of an entire mechanized system that has been developing for ten years in the face of informatization.

Director Xu Hong stared blankly at the final ending, taking a while to process it before straightening up from his seat, clearing his throat, casually tapping the microphone on the table, and looking up at everyone.

"Gentlemen, it's a good thing to feel ashamed."

"The combat effectiveness of the Kyoto Demonstration Battalion has exceeded the expectations of all of us present. While there was certainly an element of trickery involved in this operation, we must acknowledge that."

"Whether it's the Informationized Battalion or the 7th Equipment Brigade, they both fought very well. You don't need to feel sorry for yourselves. However, as veterans of field operations, and as commanders who will need to make great efforts to reform the system in the future."

"Remember one thing."

"War is composed of many combat units. Local casualties are not important. Losing to your own people is not terrible. What is terrible is losing without realizing it."

"They only want to save face and reject new systems. Just think about it, what if one day our enemy brings such an army to our doorstep?"

"Comrades, how should we respond?"

"In a battle where both sides are glorious, neither should you excessively display the posture of the victor nor excessively display the sorrow of the loser."

"Because these are all our comrades, some of them need to wake up."

Listening to the director's pointed remarks.

Some officials at the scene clenched their fists, feeling deeply ashamed, and quietly loosened their grip, trying their best to relax.

Yes!

Although the demonstration battalion is strong, they are not outliers, nor are they the enemy of the military region, but rather the path that the military region will take in the future.

However, upon suddenly witnessing the Seventh Brigade's crushing defeat, some people fell into a state of shared sorrow and were unable to extricate themselves from it.

Even Zhang Canshan, who was sitting in the front row, looked somewhat relieved.

His understanding was not much different from that of his previous life. He strongly agreed with the mechanization reforms that involved continuous troop reductions, the large-scale elimination of main combat divisions, saving funds, and vigorous development of mechanization.

He was too focused on the development of mechanization and was somewhat stubborn. At this critical juncture of reform and transformation, he once again saved money and developed informatization.

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that this is a deliberate fog released by the West to mislead them.

Delaying one's own development.

After all, this isn't the first or second time this has happened.

But this time it's different. Information technology has risen rapidly in just a few months, taking a completely different approach from the previous model.

This also made him fully realize the huge gap in systemic reform.

"Old Qin."

Zhang Canshan called out to Qin Quan'an, "Go and inform them that the exercise is over. Have Lao Wei and that Major Chen come to the military region."

"Row!"

After being reminded by the commander-in-chief, Chief of Staff Qin realized that the exercise was over and it was time for their directing department to make a response.

. . . . . . . . .

the other side.

Chen Mo watched as his main force easily surrounded and wiped out the remaining thousands of men from his old unit, and even he felt a sense of unreality.

No.

The 7th Brigade had several thousand people, how could they all be wiped out while being bombed?
Initially, the idea of ​​sending artillery companies and long-range rocket artillery companies to attack was to train troops and test the waters with the 7th Brigade. However, as they tried, they ended up destroying the entire old unit.

"Battalion Commander, we won."

"Haha, that's awesome!!"

Chen Mo had just stepped out of the command vehicle, his feet barely firmly planted, when Man Xuexi rushed over excitedly, his dark face beaming with a wide grin.

"Fighting is so much more fun than training! Battalion Commander, how was my performance this time? Does it count as a meritorious service?"

"Count it all! You did the best!"

Chen Mo was too lazy to pay attention to Lao Man's gossip, so he just gave him a few perfunctory replies. Before he knew it, there was no one left in the Seventh Brigade.

The command had not yet announced the end of the exercise, and the battlefield observers in mid-air had not seen any movement.

He looked up with some surprise, then stepped over the crowd and walked to the soldiers of the Seventh Brigade who had been eliminated.

At this point, with all personnel lost, the initial excitement of battle had subsided.

The soldiers on both sides kept some distance from each other, glaring at each other, neither willing to yield.

The soldiers of the 7th Brigade were even more grief-stricken.

Fortunately, no further conflict arose.

Wu Jingyuan, the battalion commander of the fourth battalion, Du Jianguo, the artillery battalion commander, Gao Yujie, the logistics battalion commander, and several company commanders directly under the brigade headquarters were all gathered together, smoking with blank expressions.

Some of the more impatient cadres even had red eyes, and would occasionally wipe away their tears with the back of their hands, sitting on the ground with their heads drooping.

It appeared lifeless and gloomy.

Defeat is always hard to accept.

But they are all veterans in the military, so their resilience isn't that bad. The problem is, this defeat was too frustrating.

We had no idea what happened; thousands of people in the entire brigade were wiped out.

It was less a defeat and more a war that brought panic and despair.

In similar situations, no matter how much the cadres analyze and reflect on their mistakes, they must ultimately admit that they cannot confront the enemy.

Even if they fought another battle, the Seventh Brigade would still suffer a complete defeat with no chance of a comeback.

Seeing the scholar walking towards them, some cadres exchanged glances and just watched, while others lowered their heads helplessly, pretending not to see him.

The gap between the two sides is too big.

They've even lost interest in post-war verbal sparring.

"What, is Battalion Commander Chen here to see us brothers make a fool of ourselves?"

The fourth battalion commander chuckled self-deprecatingly, the domineering and imposing air he had displayed during the final charge completely gone.
"No way, I just saw that you guys were all sitting here, so I came over to try and get on your good side."

Chen Mo approached with a grin, only to be pushed away by several battalion commanders who told him to squat further away.

"You son of a bitch, who the hell is your brother?" Battalion Commander Gao of the Logistics Battalion sneered, "You son of a bitch, you're not one of our Seventh Brigade."

"Damn it, Lao Liang needed to learn how to lead logistics, and I was the one who taught him step by step, right?"

"You tank crewmen didn't know how to drive tanks, so Old Liu from the Second Battalion personally went over to teach you, right?"

"But look at yourself, you son of a bitch. Were you being polite during the fight? You could have at least put on a little bit of a show. I just got out of the car and your sniper almost blew my hat off."

"Haha, it's my fault, it's all my fault."

Chen Mo smiled and took out a cigarette from his pocket, intending to offer it to a few veteran cadres, but Wu Jingyuan snatched it away and stuffed it into his own pocket with a "whoosh".

"Consider this a little interest, you damn scholar. I'd like to see how you explain this to the brigade commander. Damn it, don't you think that if the military region hadn't spent most of its funds on your demonstration battalion, would we be so poor? Even our drones are of poor quality, and they even betrayed us."

seriously.

If it weren't for the fact that there were so many veterans in the demonstration battalion, all of them non-commissioned officers, watching over this place from not far ahead.

They couldn't go too far.

Otherwise, I would definitely have to beat the scholar up to vent my anger.

That bastard is infuriating! He's treating them like Japanese devils!

Chen Mo didn't care. They had won the battle and everyone was an acquaintance. Could he really not allow people to curse him a few times to vent their anger?

"Brothers, the demonstration camp is not your enemy; we are one family."

Chen Mo sat cross-legged opposite the group.

"This exercise, we won not because we are good at fighting, and we lost not because we were careless, but because we lacked experience." "Our brigade has also been exposed to information technology, and I believe you all understand how much the intervention of radar and drones can help."

"It's just that the military region is too large and our field army has too many units, so a lot of equipment cannot be deployed in time. Otherwise, a battalion would definitely not be able to defeat a brigade-level unit."

"But I believe that the spirit of the 7th Division of Tashan will always remain, until one day when our troops develop to the point where all field armies are equipped with fully information-based weapons."

"The demonstration camp was easily wiped out."

"This is a contest of systems, not a battle between units."

A contest of systems.
The officers of the 7th Brigade pondered the matter carefully, then looked at each other in silence. What else could they say?

Although they are all battalion commanders, Xiucai is a battalion commander who is well-known in the military region, the major military region, and even the headquarters.

He was the only one in the entire field army.

And among them, which main combat unit can't produce ten or eight?

Even if we're from the same brigade, it's already quite kind of them to come and say these few words. One shouldn't be unable to distinguish between good and bad people.

of course.

Chen Mo didn't intend to say more; if he continued, it would sound like he was showing off, which wouldn't be nice.

He dusted himself off and stood up: "Brothers, rest a bit more, I'll head back now."

"and many more!"

As soon as Chen Mo turned around, Battalion Commander Du of the artillery battalion looked up and asked, "Scholar, I'm just wondering about one thing: why would our artillery battalion's drones betray us?"

"How come everything was fine before, and suddenly it turned into your plane?"

"Also, what's with that creepy voice coming from our radio communication system?"

Forehead.
Faced with this question, Chen Mo hesitated for a moment before speaking: "This question is actually about another system that extends from information technology, called electronic warfare."

"Information warfare can involve electromagnetic spectrum signals, and signals can be searched, interfered with, intercepted, or hacked."

"Your drone issue can be understood as the command system being hacked, and as for communications, it means that they were both interfered with and hacked at the same time."

"The transformation from mechanization to informatization is still in its early stages. You don't have technical reconnaissance units yet. If you do equip them in the future, you will be able to counter this type of warfare."

“Oh, I understand now. It’s like a radio broadcast; it can be monitored and intercepted,” the fourth battalion commander interjected.

"more or less."

Chen Mo smiled, then waved and left.

He was not happy when the 7th Armored Brigade was defeated, and he was even less happy when the Demonstration Battalion won.

Especially the last scene, where the remaining thousand-plus men of the entire brigade charged forward, their eyes bloodshot, yet they still followed the rules.

The eliminated soldiers did not cause excessive trouble, and those who charged forward kept falling.

The exercise was won, but the victory was heartbreaking.

"So, Old Wu and the others didn't say anything, right?"

When Chen Mo returned, Cheng Dong came up to him and asked what was wrong. If anyone was in the most conflicted and embarrassed situation right now, it was probably him.

"No, arrange for each company to retreat to a distance of two kilometers."

"Also, the prisoners captured by the reconnaissance company have all been released. The directorate hasn't notified them, so they're probably delayed by something else. There's no need for us to keep wasting time here."

"Okay, that's what I think too."

Cheng Dong stared at the direction of the Seventh Brigade from a great distance for a while before shaking his head and instructing the entire Demonstration Battalion to retreat to avoid conflict if they stayed together.

If this battle can be fought thoroughly and fiercely, then all the tactics and strategies of the Seventh Brigade that have been entered into the system can be used.

Then it wouldn't be so painful to win.

After all, no one would feel comfortable seeing their once-firmly-believed, invincible old workplace turn out to be as fragile as paper, easily torn apart.

That was the workplace that nurtured me and where I stayed for many years.

The defeat happened too quickly. Before the demonstration battalion even arrived on the battlefield, the entire brigade was left with only the last batch of main force members, and some soldiers didn't even have guns.

Just as Chen Mo returned to the camp, the reconnaissance plane that had been circling in the air finally landed.

At the same time, the results of the exercise were announced on the public radio channels of the 7th Armored Brigade and the Demonstration Battalion.

"Congratulations, Major Chen!"

A battlefield observer, also a major, got off the reconnaissance plane, walked up to Chen Mo with a big smile, and saluted: "The military region commander wants you to come over now."

"The helicopter is fast, I'll take Major Chen there."

"Thank you for your help," Chen Mo replied.

Then, he called over Man Xuexi, who was loitering nearby, and gave him a few instructions, telling the camp not to make any other moves and to retreat two kilometers to rest in place.

Only then did they board the helicopter with the observer and head straight for Jinyang.

on the way.

Chen Mo didn't even have time to appreciate the scenery in mid-air; he started to ponder in his mind why the military region had summoned him.

After the battle ended, the command remained silent, and even the notification that the exercise had ended was not delivered immediately.

Then it's not hard to imagine.

It's likely that even those in power didn't expect this operation to end so quickly.

This also means that the exercise is not over yet, and there is a high probability that even stronger main combat divisions will be deployed to conduct a thorough test of combat effectiveness.

If we take stock of the main combat divisions of the 63rd Army, there are very few that are stronger than the 7th Armored Brigade. Not to mention the motorized infantry brigades, their equipment is so poor that they are probably not even as good as a single company in the demonstration battalion.

Mechanized infantry brigades are not suitable either; anti-aircraft artillery brigades and artillery brigades are also unsuitable.

The only units stronger than the 7th Brigade are the 188th and 189th Brigades.

However, the 189th Division was an infantry division, which was reorganized from the Kyoto Garrison. Its forces were extremely dispersed in Jinyang, and most of its tasks were to protect the granaries and reservoirs around Jinyang.

Whenever there is an exercise, they only clear the perimeter and do what the armed police unit is supposed to do.

If the other side hadn't come from the garrison area and had someone behind them, they probably would have been disbanded or transferred entirely to the armed police long ago.

189 will definitely not be the next target.

Therefore, Chen Mo was certain that if the military region chose to arrange the next battle, it would inevitably be the 188th Division.

188作为战略突击师，那可是63的门面，跟61师是21和139师是47的门面一样。

The unit with the strongest combat power and the largest number of troops in the entire military region.

It was composed of five regiments.

Last September, headquarters required the armored forces to undergo mixed reform. After the 188th Division was reorganized, the number of tank regiments was reduced and replaced by armored regiments, resulting in more combat branches and greater flexibility.

Even if the number is reduced, the enemy still has 290 tanks and 280 infantry fighting vehicles.

In addition, the 188th Division has an anti-aircraft artillery regiment, a howitzer regiment, three missile battalions, a division-level tank battalion, a division-level reconnaissance battalion, an army aviation brigade, and an electronic warfare brigade, although the electronic warfare technology is not the same as that of the demonstration battalion.

But that's the terrifying power of the Strategic Assault Division.

Facing them.

The demonstration camp is where real trouble is likely to occur; if one is not careful, it will be swallowed up by the torrent.

After all, it represents the military region's strongest mobility and high-speed assault capabilities, and its destructive power in battle is no less than that of the 7th Tank Division back then, or even stronger.

This is the real formidable opponent.

Chen Mo sighed softly. He knew he had gotten a little carried away, thinking he could defeat a main assault division with just a battalion.

What can I do if I can't float?

If they don't even dare to have this thought, then this year's annual military exercise, once it begins, the 61st Division, in conjunction with the Jincheng Demonstration Battalion, and that old bastard surnamed Wang, will only be stronger than the 188th Division, perhaps even several times stronger.

Are you suggesting we admit defeat to that old bastard?

Damn it, impossible.

Chen Mo still remembers the embarrassment of being chased into the mountains. He would never admit defeat to that old bastard.

We must fight him to the death!!
Smash all his eggs!

The helicopter landed; we had arrived at the military region.

Chen Mo quickly suppressed his thoughts, straightened his uniform, and followed the observer, striding towards the director's office.

What he never expected was...

I came from firing range number four, which is only about a hundred kilometers away from the military region.

The headquarters of the 7th Brigade in Hedong is more than 200 kilometers away from the military region.

But Brigade Commander Wei Jin'an arrived before him.

At this moment, he stood in front of the military region headquarters building, as if waiting for someone.

"When fighting against a battalion, Brigade Commander Wei probably wouldn't personally go to the front lines to command the battle, would he?"

Chen Mo was a little hesitant.

But since the others had already arrived, it was pointless to dwell on why the brigade commander had arrived before him.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet, quickly walk up to Wei Jin'an, snap to attention, and give a standard military salute.

"Greetings, Brigade Commander!!"

(End of this chapter)