Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 335 Spring Thunder Activated, What Are You Laughing At?
Around 2 PM on the 28th.

The armored regiment's guard battalion dispatched forty men, along with twenty men from the reconnaissance company, for a total of sixty men.

Led by Zhang Chuan and Xu Dong, the team changed into simple casual clothes and took a helicopter to a city a little further away.

They transferred to different trains, heading in different directions, to monitor the movements of all 61st Divisions in the Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia region.

The early warning passive phased array radar is fully activated.

We have reached this stage of war preparedness.

In fact, there was no need for explicit notification; many officials already knew.

The assumptions made at the conference are simply not true.

The battalion commander must have already known through other channels that the enemy this time was the 61st Motorized Infantry Division under the 47th Army of the Jincheng Military Region.

Everyone was busy, and apart from the recruit company, it seemed that only Battalion Commander Chen Mo was idle.

While other soldiers and officers were on standby or engaged in negotiations, he acted as if nothing was wrong, leading Wang Jianyong to carry a large bucket of grass seeds from the logistics warehouse.

Grabbing shovels, they ran to the open space outside the camp and dug holes to plant grass.

These grass seeds were obtained by the military from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences; they are not considered as additionally cultivated varieties.

Because new varieties that can adapt to the Zhuri River cannot be cultivated so quickly.

It will take at least one or two years, through greenhouse cultivation, to observe several, or even a dozen or dozens of crops.

However, there's no rush. Spring is just around the corner, so we can plant as much as we can.

Chen Mo's decision to plant grass wasn't because he was too idle; quite the opposite, he simply didn't know what he should be doing.

I need some work to calm myself down.

Chen Mo was only guessing that the 61st Division would come.

However, this speculation is not solely due to Wang Luyi's prior disclosure.

First of all, Chief of Staff Xu of the military said that Zhurihe would participate in the annual military exercise, but it's almost the Lunar New Year and there's still no sign of it.

Secondly, it's no secret that the Jincheng Military Region has an information technology demonstration battalion.

Currently, apart from the 61st Division, which has a relatively high level of informatization, other main combat units in the entire army would most likely get beaten if they came here.

It's impossible for those in power to ignore morale.

Only the Jincheng Military Region, which also possesses an information technology demonstration battalion, will be put out to test its combat effectiveness.

The current 61st Division also has few adversaries.

The Ironclad Regiment is just right.

Chen Mo was digging holes and sowing grass seeds, wandering aimlessly around the camp. When Wang Lu saw him, he immediately grabbed a small shovel used by engineers and ran over.

"What are you all busy with?" Wang Lu asked, craning his neck to look at the seeds in the bucket.

"We're planting grass. Spring is almost here, and tanks often pass by, compacting the ground too much. We'll sow some seeds and hope they'll sprout in two months."

Chen Mo explained with a smile.

"Then I'll give it a try." Wang Lu had only ever heard of growing crops before; this was the first time he'd heard that grass also needed to be planted.

She rolled up her sleeves, carrying a bucket of water, and ran back and forth quite diligently. First, she thoroughly watered the ground, then dug holes and carefully scattered the grass seeds evenly.

It seems they are doing something very meaningful.

The peaceful atmosphere was disrupted.

Chen Mo started to slack off instead; he stopped digging holes and just leaned on the shovel handle.

Wang Jianyong and I, two grown men, watched as that young girl busied herself with her tasks.

Occasionally, I would look up and notice the direction of the recruit training camp, and see many recruits looking out, seemingly bored.

Chen Mo simply turned to Wang Jianyong and said, "Take a bucket to the recruit training camp and give each of them some seeds, so they can come out and plant them."

"If the camp is surrounded by lush green grass next year, it will be a kind of achievement for the new recruits."

"Got it!"

Wang Jianyong nodded, picked up the seeds from the bucket, placed them on the ground, and left them for the two people present to plant.

The rest were all sent to the recruit training company, where the recruits were mobilized to start working around the camp.

In other military units, the most common task for new recruits is weeding; planting grass is quite rare.

Seeing the battalion commander standing listlessly in the distance, Wang Lu waved his shovel and asked, "We're planting weeds, it should be useful, right?"

"of course."

"It will help stabilize the soil and improve the climate in the border region. It will prevent sandstorms every time the wind blows, and the entire grassland will be lush and green in spring and summer. How wonderful that would be!"

Chen Mo's subconscious explanation.

"Then why don't you hurry up and plant them? What are you standing there for? Come over and help me sow the seeds."

Wang Lu greeted them.

Hearing this overly familiar tone, Chen Mo was taken aback.

No one in the entire Ironclad Regiment had ever taken it for granted to arrange things for themselves like this.

Even Liu Min, the captain of the medical team, who usually takes a detour, was ordered around by a new recruit in the medical team today.

Chen Mo chuckled, temporarily setting aside his thoughts on the military exercise, and spent over two hours helping Wang Luyi with his work.

Of course, she didn't need to do the rough work of digging holes. Chen Mo carried water, watered the land, and dug holes himself, while Wang Luyi was responsible for sowing seeds.

Only after all the grass seeds left by Wang Jianyong had been planted did Chen Mo clap his hands, signaling to Wang Luyi that he could go and rest.

He put the shovel back in its place, dusted off his hands, and strode toward the armored regiment's information command room.

This is currently the busiest place in the entire group.

More than 20 electronic warfare and reconnaissance soldiers sat in front of their computers, their eyes fixed on the screens as they worked.

Surveillance in the Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia region is easy to hack because, although surveillance has become digitalized and no longer relies on closed-circuit cable transmission as before, the number of surveillance cameras along the route is still not large.

It will only be available on major roads.

The problem is that even if the quantity is small, it's still a workload that more than twenty people can easily complete.

They had to constantly check different sections to search for the movements of the main force of the 61st Division.

Highways, train stations, and national roads along the route have all been invaded.

After wandering around for a while and watching the switching screens without finding anything, Chen Mo walked up to Wang Jianbin and asked, "Old Wang, have you found anything?"

"Pretty much, no gain is the biggest gain."

Wang Jianbin pushed up his glasses, his gaze never leaving the screen, and said, "This afternoon I checked all the surveillance footage that was still available in the vicinity of the 61st Division within the last half month."

"It was discovered that the other side did not participate in the annual military exercise, and all troops remained at their original locations without taking any action."

"Based on this situation, I estimate that your guess is correct. It is abnormal for a unit like the 61st Division not to participate in the annual military exercises. It is very likely that they are preparing for us."

"Okay, keep an eye on it."

Chen Mo nodded and said nothing more.

War requires patience, especially a major war of this scale. The goal is to lure the enemy into a trap and cause the loss of most of their main force along the way.

You can't do it without patience.

In the evening, the officers of the armored regiment who had gone out returned one after another.

Not surprisingly.

Using the pretext of New Year's combat readiness, the local military region and local departments were mobilized for cooperation with almost no obstacles, and the other party readily agreed.

The road administration and traffic police have clearly stated that after receiving the notification, they will set up multiple temporary checkpoints along the route, ostensibly to strengthen security during the New Year, and to delay all passing motorized vehicles as much as possible.

When a field army is deployed, local units certainly have no right to stop it. But if they are on official duty, it's perfectly reasonable for them to go up and inquire, or use the excuse of calling their superiors to ask about the situation.

A single checkpoint can stop you for five or six minutes.

What about the thirty or forty checkpoints in the cities along the way?
Three hours would be wasted on the road, greatly delaying the enemy's arrival at the designated location.

Furthermore, there is no way to break this open conspiracy; the checkpoints are real, and the personnel carrying them out are real.

If it is not part of the armored regiment, it does not constitute a violation of the exercise regulations.

Not only that.

When Instructor Fang Peijun returned, he also brought back good news.

When the local herders heard that they could cooperate with the troops, they did not hesitate at all. Some veteran herders were mobilized to offer advice and suggestions, drawing on their decades of experience living in the area.

They pointed out to the armored regiment which places, hundreds of kilometers away, were prone to mudslides and which terrain was suitable for setting up disaster sites.

It can be said that even places that the armored regiment would never have thought of were pointed out by the old herdsman.

Furthermore, the younger herders have already driven their flocks of sheep and cattle toward places where natural disasters could be caused.

The local military region also issued orders requiring all outposts along the route to act as surveillance points, promptly cooperating with the armored regiment and the herdsmen to report the whereabouts of the mobile units.

The scale of the event and the breadth of the response were so great that even Chen Mo, the one who devised the plan, was astonished.

Be nice!

His initial plan to reduce the number of personnel was simply to eliminate some of the 61st Division's mobile units before they reached the Zhuri River due to missed opportunities.

If things continue like this, let alone eliminating some, it's uncertain how many will even be able to join.

Don't wait until then.

Apart from a group of commanders who were able to reach the Zhuri River, the rest of the main force of the division was stranded on the way.

That would be a huge mess.

"You all go and rest first. Until we receive specific instructions, all operations will continue as usual."

Chen Mo waved his hand and dismissed all the cadres who had come to report on the situation.

He stayed alone in his office, staring at a map of the Zhuri River.

This was his personal habit; before a battle, when he didn't know how the enemy would attack or how his own side would respond, he would stare at the map.

After observing for a long time, one will naturally develop strategies for troop deployment.

. . . . . . . . .

1 month 29 day.

The Little New Year has arrived in the North.

There has been no notification from the military, and there are no specific plans for combat readiness in the new year. Currently, all operations are being carried out in cooperation with local departments and the general public.

There were no specific plans within the camp, so Chen Mo simply ordered the logistics company to make mutton dumplings for the entire regiment as a way to celebrate the New Year.

After all, when the war really breaks out, if it drags on for too long, the battlefield doesn't care what day it is; they'll fight as usual.

On the afternoon of the 29th, soldiers in plainclothes reconnaissance gradually arrived near the 61st Division's garrison.

They infiltrate villages and cities, keeping a close watch on each other's every move, no matter how far away they are.

The date is January 30th, which is the 1th day of the twelfth lunar month.

For people in the south, today is actually the Little New Year.

Around 10:00 AM.

Chen Mo paced back and forth in his office, hoping the phone on his desk would ring. Two days had passed since the New Year's combat readiness was declared, and there was still no movement from the 61st Division. The net was already cast wide enough; how could things not work if no fish came?

Chen Mo had just lit a cigarette and hadn't even taken two puffs yet.

Wang Jianyong strode to the office door, knocked, and then walked in with Hou Zhanye, the company commander of the reconnaissance company.

Seeing the two of them in such a hurry, Chen Mo had an idea.

"what happened?"

"Battalion Commander, our early warning radar has detected six helicopters entering the warning range without prior notification of their whereabouts."

"Judging from the direction they're heading, they should arrive in about forty minutes."

Old Hou responded with a solemn expression.

No prior notification
Chen Mo silently weighed the options in his mind. Only units that could come directly without prior notification would have this kind of style, except for those from major military regions or military districts.

Most companies should at least call ahead to let you know.

If it were a large organization, he wasn't sure whether they were from Kyoto or Jincheng, but if they came directly, Chen Mo didn't want his superiors to see his side's serious preparations for battle.

It wasn't that he was arrogant, but rather that there had been no notification of combat readiness or exercises from above. It wasn't wrong to arbitrarily prepare for combat, but he was worried that the people from Jincheng would see the grim atmosphere of the armored regiment.

We will take precautions in advance.

In war, you have to use deception and trickery to catch the enemy off guard.

Who's going to play a game of open-handed attacks with you?

"Forty minutes is still enough time."

Chen Mo ordered, "Go, notify each company to feign the cancellation of combat readiness, and have all soldiers on the outer patrols return to their normal duty standards."

"The early warning radar and reconnaissance jamming vehicles are all turned off. The recruit companies have resumed training, and the armored vehicles of each company have been deployed to begin practicing platoon combat."

In short, return to normal.

“Execute it!”

"Yes!"

Hou Zhanye gave the scholar a deep look. Although he had no idea what the other party was up to, how could the war preparations be faked and canceled?

Who are you putting on this for?

Even if a high-ranking officer comes, wouldn't it be better to show that the whole regiment is not forgetting combat readiness during the holiday?
But an order is an order, and Lao Hou wouldn't ask any questions. After giving a reply, he quickly turned and left.

five minutes later.

The patrol drones deployed to Zhurihe have been gradually returning to their bases, their early warning radars have been shut down, and they have been stored away.

All reconnaissance and jamming vehicles were taken out of service and parked in the garage.

Twenty minutes later.

Large numbers of mobile patrol teams returned one after another, and the tanks of each company started up and slowly drove out of the vehicle yard.

Thirty minutes later.

Under the guidance of veteran soldiers, the new recruits began to carry full gear and acclimatize to the five-kilometer run.

The slogans resounded throughout the entire camp.

The entire armored regiment maintained a two-day state of readiness, which was suddenly canceled, and the usual bustling activity resumed.

Forty-five minutes later.

Six helicopters slowly landed on the outskirts of the camp.

Chen Mo hurriedly got off the command vehicle that was conducting mobile training, reached out and tugged at his military uniform, and pretended to be surprised to stop the training that had just begun.

He led a group of cadres to greet them.

Meanwhile, the veterans in the rear were all acting geniuses; they clearly knew in advance that a commander from a major military region might be coming.

After training was suspended.

They still acted like they'd never seen the world before, standing at a distance, craning their necks to look in their direction.

Wait until the helicopter comes to a complete stop.

One by one, the cabin doors opened, revealing Xu Hong, Wang Songhe, and Xu Wu'an, who were the commanders of the 47th Army, followed by more than a dozen high-ranking officers.

The moment Chen Mo saw Old Wang, he breathed a sigh of relief. The old guy had indeed been promoted; his two bars and four stars had become one star.

His entire demeanor has changed; he looks much more dignified than before.

It's good that he's here. His arrival means the 61st Division shouldn't be far behind.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be necessary to make such a big fuss just to see a daughter.

"Hello, Chief!!"

Chen Mo led a group of cadres to stand at attention and salute.

It's been several months since we last met.

Looking at the spirited demeanor of the armored soldiers around him, Xu Hong smiled and said, "Not bad."

"The biting wind cannot break you, and you stand firm as a mountain to protect your homeland. It seems that your armored regiment has adapted to the climate beyond the Great Wall."

"Thank you for the compliment, Chief!!"

Chen Mo straightened his chest.

“This is not a compliment.” Xu Hong glanced at Xu Wu’an and Wang Songhe behind him, then smiled and said, “Alright, notify all soldiers in the regiment to suspend all training.”

"Get ready, you have a combat mission."

"Yes, Chief."

Upon hearing about the mission, Chen Mo immediately turned around and instructed the officers behind him: "Quickly, notify all companies to activate combat readiness, conduct maintenance and upkeep on all tanks and equipment, and prepare for battle."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing the instructions, the other cadres were all eager to participate and quickly dispersed to spread the word.

Xu Hong stared calmly for a while, and when he led the team to the entrance of the Zhurihe camp, he noticed that the soil on the ground, squeezed by the tracks, was still very fresh.

It did not change color, nor was it dried out.

Even the tire tracks in the distance were fresh, not at all like those of someone who had been training for a long time.

It seems more like they only deployed in the last ten minutes or so.

Regarding these details.

Xu Hong simply smiled and remained silent. He led the men from the Kyoto and Jincheng military regions straight into the headquarters building.

Chen Mo thought his actions were very discreet.

Little did he know, those in power were not so easily fooled. Even if Xu Hong didn't know everything, he could guess pretty much what the Ironclad Regiment was doing.

Moreover, Xu Dong's satellite phone has a location tracking function, and that guy has now gone to the Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia area to conduct undercover reconnaissance.

How could the Kyoto Military Region not know about the Ironclad Regiment's recent plans?

but.

Xu Hong didn't care how Chen Mo knew the news in advance, nor did he care how the battle was fought.

All he needs is to win.

After all, this military exercise marks the first clash between the Kyoto Military Region's veteran informationized battalion and the Jincheng Military Region's newly established informationized demonstration battalion.

This concerns the reputation of two major military regions, so there's no need to fuss over such a trivial matter.

Everyone came to the conference room.

Xu Hong stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point: "Major Chen."

"To!"

"Didn't you call the military region headquarters twice to inquire whether your armored regiment would participate in this year's annual military exercise?"

"Now I can tell you to participate."

"I will serve as the chief director of this military exercise, and Comrade Xu Wu'an will serve as the deputy chief director."

Military exercise codename: Operation Spring Thunder!

"Participating units: Kyoto Armored Regiment, Kinjo Motorized Infantry 61st Division."

"The armored regiment is designated as the Blue Army, and the 61st Division is designated as the Red Army. This exercise can begin now, and the main force of the 61st Division is already preparing to depart."

"The exercise results showed that the main force of one side was completely annihilated, and the casualties reached 70%. The 61st Division's main force's pre-planned maneuver plan has been approved by the directorate."

"They will all be within the Zhuri River area by 7 p.m. tomorrow."

"Given the significant disparity in troop strength between your two units, both sides may take military action during the maneuver."

"By the way, Comrade Wang Songhe is no longer serving as the commander of the 61st Division, but as the deputy commander-in-chief of the 47th Army, and is fully responsible for coordinating all the Red Army's combat plans this time."

"Do you have any questions?"

"Report, no."

Chen Mo hurriedly shook his head. Seeing that the commander announced it so hastily, he guessed that annual military exercises were underway in various places, and the higher-ups didn't have time to make detailed divisions.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally asked, "Sir, I still have a small question."

"speak!"

"If the main force of the Red Army does not arrive at the exercise field by 7 p.m. tomorrow as scheduled, will it be considered a battle loss?"

"Nonsense, is this your first day in the army? Your first time encountering wartime regulations? Don't you know the consequences of delaying combat operations?"

Xu Hong coldly rebuked him. He probably knew the Ironclad Regiment's setup, so he specifically explained the rules.

But his rebuke.

Not only did Chen Mo fail to realize his mistake, he also looked at Wang Songhe, who was sitting there with a serious expression.

I don't know why, but I just really wanted to laugh, and I just couldn't help it.

Chen Mo's reasoning was that he could finally take revenge.

Old Wang has just been promoted to deputy commander-in-chief. It would be a shame not to give him a big gift to celebrate his promotion.

But at such a serious meeting, Wang Songhe saw this kid smiling at him with a sullen expression.

Old Wang's face turned ashen instantly, and he snapped, "What are you laughing at?"

"Report, no."

Chen Mo quickly shook his head, suppressing his smile.

But secretly, I was overjoyed.

After all, defeating a division commander is nothing compared to defeating a deputy commander-in-chief.

That old bastard, his promotion came at just the right time.
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P.S.: I'm asking for monthly votes in October so that our ranking can move up a bit. This book is doing poorly, and even a little exposure would be helpful.

Thank you all for your support!

(End of this chapter)