Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 355 Stealing the Regiment Flag, Plotting a Two-Pronged Approach

Prisoner-of-war camps are places specifically used to guard enemy troops who have been killed in battle during exercises.

In general.

Each unit would choose remote areas or areas far from their own camps to settle prisoners of war, in order to avoid giving the enemy an opportunity to counterattack.

But combat training is different.

There's no need to make it so complicated.

After the Night Tigers' night raid failed, the General Staff set up the prisoner-of-war camp directly on a large open space behind the mess hall.

The area was surrounded by roadblocks, and soldiers were assigned to take turns on duty. During their imprisonment, the prisoners of war were not treated as well as one might imagine.

For example, you need to report when you eat, get up, rest, go to the toilet, etc.

No matter if you're an officer or a non-commissioned officer, no matter how senior you are, once you're in the POW camp, you have to behave yourself.

These are the military exercise rules set by headquarters. Any unit that loses a battle must accept this kind of defeat control.

now.

The drug used to make hemp in Xie Yong's mouth has been removed, and he is now conscious.

He sat blankly in the open space of the prisoner-of-war camp, his face ashen.

Looking at the demoralized reconnaissance soldiers around him, each one like a wilted eggplant, their eyes numb, standing there like wooden blocks, it was extremely heartbreaking to see.

This is demoralizing.

It's so demoralizing.

It is conceivable that this will happen in the near future.

The Night Tigers would instill a great psychological shadow and fear in the Blue Army camp, making them unwilling to be enemies with them.

The fact that even the infamous Night Tigers are unwilling to become enemies speaks volumes about the dog-like nature of the Blue Army.

They are not afraid of direct combat, whether it's a hard fight or a fierce battle.

No matter how fierce the battle, losing is losing. It's just that we're not as skilled as the other team. We can always have a chance to improve if we go back and practice.

But in this case, they were manipulated at will, and more than a hundred people were not even stirred up.

How is this played?
Seeing that Ding Zeliang, the captain of the second team, had also been arrested, Xie Yong was filled with mixed emotions. He didn't even bother to give a debriefing, for fear of upsetting the people in the company and making them cry.

Even if you fail.

Night Tigers wouldn't want to lose face like that; crying isn't something a bunch of men like them should do.

It was already daylight.

A sliver of light appeared in the east, the sandstorm gradually subsided, and the chill of the night was rapidly receding.

Xie Yong got up from the ground, and was about to arrange for the people in the company to rest first.

Inside the prisoner-of-war camp, members of the Night Tigers suddenly stood up abruptly, nearly a hundred of them clenching their fists and glaring angrily into the distance.

A fierce atmosphere, like that of a hungry wolf, permeated the air.

Even Ding Zeliang stood up and rushed to the front of the crowd to stop them, fearing that the crowd would get out of control.

Old Xie was somewhat puzzled.

He glanced back, and after just one glance, he was speechless.

No wonder the people in the company reacted so strongly. The battalion commander of the Blue Army Battalion, that dog scholar, was his classmate and comrade-in-arms when Lao Ding was promoted to officer.

At that moment, they were walking over from a distance.

To be honest, his relationship with the scholar wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad either.

Meeting in this kind of setting is a bit awkward.

But this awkwardness seems to be nonexistent for the scholar.

Chen Mo saw that the Night Tigers' men were all glaring at him angrily, as if they had some deep-seated grudge against him.

Although no one crossed the line despite the roadblocks, the menacing aura emanating from these people hadn't diminished at all.

"It's quite lively, isn't it?"

Chen Mo walked into the prisoner-of-war camp with a smile, ignoring the intense gazes around him, and passed through the crowd.

He walked straight up to Xie Yong and Ding Zeliang, smiled, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and offered one to each of them.

"Long time no see, Lao Xie."

"Old Ding, how have you been lately?"

"Damn it!" Ding Zeliang snorted angrily, snatching the cigarette case from the scholar's hand: "Thanks to you, son of a bitch, I'm having a terrible time."

"Old Xie and I haven't even been back from Shicheng for a month, and we've already lost our first battle to you?"

"Ha ha!"

"It's combat training, so it's normal to have wins and losses. Besides, you're allowed to come to our camp to steal flags, plant explosives, and carry out decapitations, but we're not allowed to be on guard?"

"From the moment you pick up a gun, you have to be prepared to be killed. Besides, don't you know how to change your combat strategy?"

Chen Mo curled his lip and sat cross-legged on the ground in a very familiar manner, saying, "Since the special forces were established one after another ten years ago, special tactics have been constantly evolving based on reconnaissance systems and applied to the battlefield."

"The number of times that mechanized units across the entire army have suffered losses is probably countless."

"Many units are now prepared for special tactics. Even if I were blind, I would know you would come last night."

"Isn't defending against an enemy based on individual ability?"

As Chen Mo spoke, he looked up at the Night Tiger members around him. After all, he had served as battalion commander for a long time and was the undisputed leader in the Ironclad Regiment.

His demeanor was completely different from when he first joined the army, as he looked at the group of veterans around him.

Few of the group of soldiers who had just suffered a defeat dared to look him in the eye.

It's not that I'm afraid; it has nothing to do with courage.

Rather, they are the defeated side, unable to speak of courage; their anger is merely baseless and cannot be brought to the forefront.

The Night Tigers' warriors' aggression was somewhat suppressed by Chen Mo's words, which were half reasoning and half questioning.

After all, the Blue Team did nothing wrong.

Whether it's combat training or an exercise, the one who gains the upper hand isn't just the Night Tiger. Once the Blue Army's camp falls, it will inevitably suffer the same fate: the entire battalion will be bombed, beheaded, and all its supplies destroyed.

Those who gain power will not hesitate to act.

This is common sense.

"You're really different from last year. Leading the Blue Army battalion must be tough."

Xie Yong sighed. He first waved his hand and arranged for several squad leaders in the company to take everyone to rest, so that the scholar wouldn't spout nonsense here.

The winner has every right to say what he wants, but it's not for outsiders to lecture the Night Tiger.

Then he looked at Chen Mo, and then at the two yellow stripes and one silver star on his shoulder. After a long silence, Old Xie spoke again: "But your brain is still as sharp as ever."

"Many of our cohort of students still mentioned your mid-year assessment at Cuiping Mountain when we graduated."

"Oh well, that's all in the past, why bring it up again?"

Chen Mo blushed slightly, a rare occurrence for him.

Back in the Army Academy, although I was just a private, I was already fifty years old in terms of seniority across two lifetimes, and I was put together with a group of people in their twenties for the assessment.

In addition, he was influenced by the internet of later generations, so his mind was bound to be more agile than that of people in the 1990s.

There are plenty of ways to win if you want to, but none of them are honorable.

Ding Zeliang wasn't interested in the past. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Scholar, you just said that we should change our approach to special operations."

"So, based on your suggestion, how should the Night Tigers be fought in this combat training?"

"You'll know."

Chen Mo did not respond directly, but looked up at the sky and smiled, "You can rest in the POW camp first. I will let you out for a walk at noon and allow you to contact the regiment."

"You two will see what special operations are all about then."

Chen Mo deliberately kept everyone in suspense and didn't say much.

There's really not much to say.

On large-scale battlefields, the development space for special operations is extremely limited. No matter how strong a single soldier is, can he be stronger than two armored vehicles equipped with two 12.7mm heavy machine guns?

Since the beginning of the 21st century, and even in the last two years, the level of secrecy surrounding special forces has been significantly reduced.

Many previously unheard-of organizations are now well-known to other organizations, especially with the emergence of information technology experiments and the entry of mechanization reform into its third stage.

The survival space for special operations has been further compressed, which is undeniable and a fact.

Since old classmates have finally managed to get together, there's no need to keep harping on the topic of combat training.

The three chatted about things at the Army Academy and discussed some of the courses taught in the reconnaissance department after Chen Mo left.

Finally, when discussing the information technology reform of the 61st Division, Xie Yong mentioned that if the 182nd Regiment did not achieve good results in this combat training, there was a high probability that many company commanders who had served for seven or even ten years would have to leave the army.

Chen Mo did not comment on this.

The military must continue to develop.

Since the reform of the non-commissioned officer system, the requirements for meritorious service and promotion to officer have become increasingly strict. Except for the armored regiment, other units have a hard requirement for promotion to officer: that the candidate must be an outstanding soldier and have served as a squad leader for one year.

There are also clear regulations regarding the transfer of cadres to civilian jobs.

If a company commander fails to be promoted by the age of 35, he or she will have to be demobilized.

Cases like Cheng Dong's will be gradually cleared out at the grassroots level in various military regions until the first batch of national defense students enter the army, and the rejuvenation of cadres will be fully implemented.

Those veteran cadres who served as company commanders during the volunteer army period will become a thing of the past.

The 61st Division will only move faster.

There's nothing we can do about it. They were among the first units to undergo information technology reform. Even if the entire division won't be covered in the short term, the digital reform will inevitably have an impact.

Their Miao clan is about to withdraw.

When Xie Yong mentioned these things, he could only sigh, saying that it was an inevitable trend and no one could do anything about it.

The military is a place that emphasizes development and combat effectiveness.

From a holistic perspective, every unit must yield to the general trend; there are no exceptions.

Chen Mo, Xie Yong, and Ding Zeliang are now cadres, so their discussions certainly won't be limited to combat.

The two also took this opportunity to learn about the prospects for future information technology development.

The group chatted from around 5 a.m., when it was just getting light, until after 7 a.m., when the mess hall brought a food cart to serve breakfast to the POW camp, and Chen Mo finally left.

As for when to release the Night Tigers, there's no rush.

At least we have to wait until the main force of the 182nd Regiment has arrived at Zhurihe and helped the Blue Army Battalion test the combat situation of each unit before we can release the people.

After all, the Night Tigers certainly don't have an advantage against the entire Blue Army battalion, but that doesn't mean that if they target a specific squad, that squad can hold out just as well.

Even the most meticulous plans can have flaws.

For the first test of each squad's combat capabilities, Chen Mo needed pure, real data to compare how much improvement could be made later.

At first, we couldn't let the night tiger cause trouble, so we had to keep it locked up.

Blame it on the tiger for running headfirst into the cage. If they hadn't come to the camp, none of this would have happened.

He was too obsessed with beheading and causing destruction; he had no one to blame but himself.

When I arrived at the cafeteria entrance.

Chen Mo unexpectedly ran into Li Zhiang, who was alone. Seeing that he was all by himself and not eating with the other members of the guard brigade, he asked curiously, "Zhiang, why are you alone?"

"Good morning, squad leader!"

Upon hearing the voice, Li Zhiang turned his head and saw the person approaching. He quickly stood at attention and saluted.

Then he grinned and said, "I didn't go on a mission with the first platoon last night; I went on patrol around the town with the second platoon."

"Now I'm in charge of guarding the prisoner-of-war camp."

"Oh, I remember now." Chen Mo raised his hand and patted his forehead. "You were the first to spot the Night Tiger Team Two, weren't you?"

"I'll talk to the company commander about your performance, and you'll be recognized as an outstanding employee at the end of the year. Keep up the good work!"

"Yes!"

The two walked into the mess hall side by side. Due to combat training, the various detachments were not in the camp, and the logistics cooking platoon only left a few people to be responsible for cooking.

There were very few people in the canteen. Chen Mo didn't see many people from the battalion headquarters. After finishing breakfast, he took a walk around and saw that the main force of the 182nd Regiment hadn't arrived yet, so he simply went back to the dormitory to catch up on sleep.

Nourish your spirit.

At this point, he had actually forgotten about instructing the guard battalion to steal the 182nd Regiment's flag. He had just remembered it while chatting with Xie Yong, but after talking about it for so long, and since it wasn't a big deal, he had forgotten about it.

The reason I brought this up this morning was mainly because I was angry at the time.

As enemies.

Night Tigers set up machine gun positions in their own camp, searched for armories to blow up, arranged for beheadings, and even climbed flagpoles to steal flags.

When they were discovered, they became enraged and, despite their losses, rushed upstairs to do their own thing.

In this situation, who wouldn't get angry?
We can't just allow you to launch sneak attacks while forbidding me from retaliating, can we?

But Chen Mo forgot.

The men of the guard battalion treated this as a mission. Before dawn, a platoon of soldiers from the Xiangjian team boarded the only Z-8 transport plane in the helicopter squadron.

Heading straight to Longxi.

. . . . . . . . . .

April 2th, 20: am.

Jia Guoqiang, the commander of the 182nd Regiment, took the land route and methodically led the main force to the Zhuri River.

Learning from the experience of the Spring Thunder Campaign earlier this year.

Commander Jia was quite cautious. He conducted combat training directly without hiding any troops, and he didn't even intend to conceal the location of the command post.

He sat openly in the command vehicle, listening to the military train report on its movements every half hour.

Around 10:15.

Regiment Commander Jia was sitting in the command vehicle, studying the distribution map of the Blue Army battalion sent back by Chief of Staff Lin Yifeng. The map must have been sent back with the consent of the Blue Army battalion.

In this respect, the Night Tiger Team Two's sacrifice was essentially in vain.

Because Chen Mo never said that the distribution map of the detachment's location needed to be kept secret, and combat training is not an exercise.

He was eager for the 182nd Regiment to formulate a battle plan on the way, engage in combat as soon as possible, and obtain data on the operations of a group of units.

Jia Guoqiang was engrossed in studying the map.

The phone inside the command vehicle suddenly rang.

Peng Jiawei, the chief of staff of the 182nd Regiment, who was standing next to him, picked up the receiver and put it to his ear.

"Hello? This is Peng Jiawei, what's up?"

"what?!"

"Can you say that again?"

Chief of Staff Peng, who had been calm, sat up abruptly upon hearing the contents of the phone call, his hand gripping the receiver trembling slightly.

Hearing the noise, Jia Guoqiang frowned: "What's going on?"

"Captain."

Peng Jiawei gritted his teeth, his face ashen: "Our regimental flag is gone."

"What's the matter?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Guoqiang's body suddenly stiffened.

The Youth League flag is gone?

The flag represents a designation, an honor and a history; how could it simply disappear?

But Commander Jia quickly realized what was happening.

He glanced at the blue army's detachment distribution map, and then slapped it hard.

"Chen Mo!"

"You brat, you've bullied me!"

Faced with Commander Jia's anger.

Chief of Staff Peng Jiawei was also helpless. Their Northern Class A Motorized Infantry Division used to be so glorious.

Since the Northwest Military Exercise last year, which tested the results of the second phase of mechanization reforms, the entire division has almost become a laughing stock in the Jincheng Military Region.

Let's not talk about things further back.

Take last year's year-end group army conference, for example.

What were the previous evaluations of the 61st Division by other units of the Jincheng Military Region?
The 139th Division once called on the entire army to learn from the model Class A motorized infantry division at its year-end meeting, and even required its officers to voluntarily sacrifice their vacations and pay out of their own pockets to go to the 61st Division to observe its training.

Mechanized Infantry Division: At the year-end meeting, it was also pointed out that the mechanized torrent of the Northern Class A Mechanized Infantry Division was terrifying, representing the pinnacle of field combat skills.

The engineer division: It has been mentioned that the 61st Division is the shield of the motherland.

But what about last year?

After suffering repeated setbacks at the hands of the Kyoto Information Technology Camp, their attitude changed.

139th Division: At the meeting, they said that the enemy was inflexible and used outdated ideas to fight them, and that they had not made any progress over the years.

The mechanized infantry division even stated that a dignified Northern Class A mechanized infantry division was deceived by a major, questioning whether they still had the ability to defend the strategic depth of the North.
Engineer Division: During the intermission of the conference, the division commander jokingly said that a new recruit in his unit secretly drank alcohol and, after getting drunk, boasted that the engineer division could take down three 61st Divisions with one hand.

Although these words were spoken in a joking tone, it was truly infuriating that even the engineers looked down on them.

of course.

The arguments that broke out between different departments at the year-end meeting were certainly not because they had lost a battle.

After all, the resources available from above are limited. Strong units will only get stronger, while weak units, if they don't fight for their resources, may one day fall behind completely and be laid off.

In this situation, an entire military region is vying for resources.

The heads of each unit not only verbally abused each other, but also slammed their fists on the table, threw down their meeting notes, and hurled insults at each other.

They even arranged to go out and have a fight.

That being said, the 61st Division is indeed in a somewhat awkward position right now, as the Northern Class A Motorized Infantry Division bears too much responsibility.

Now that their regimental flag has been stolen, who knows what other hurtful things they'll be told in the future?

The Blue Army battalion commander's sudden move has once again put the 61st Division in the spotlight.

Who knows how many organizations are waiting to laugh at them?

Jia Guoqiang was extremely angry the moment he learned that the regimental flag had been stolen.

They didn't say anything more after that.

He simply hunched over his desk, focused on the map, and began studying the detachments of the Blue Army battalion.

The regimental flag is the bottom line for a unit, and Chen Moneng was furious because the Night Tigers' men tried to steal the battalion flag.

Jia Guoqiang was naturally also angry about the Blue Army's underhanded and despicable behavior.

But anger alone won't do any good.

We must give the Blue Army a sound thrashing.

This demonstrates the power of the Iron Hammer Gang, showing them what it means to be as fierce and powerful as a tiger.

"Commander, do you have a battle plan yet?" Chief of Staff Peng dragged a stool over and sat down next to him.

Hear the words.

Jia Guoqiang frowned and said, "The Blue Army battalion uses a squad organization, and these squads are mainly combined arms. Their combat training this time is to hone the combat capabilities of these squads."

“Yes.” Peng Jiawei nodded.

"Leaving aside the combat capabilities of that detachment, what gives them the confidence to split a battalion into more than twenty detachments scattered in different areas?"

Jia Guoqiang looked at Peng Jiawei.

"A collaboration!"

"Information-based, integrated, and digitalized systems, the strongest point of combat performance lies in mobility and coordination."

"The Blue Army battalion is more effective than a regular battalion. Firstly, they have a larger organizational structure, more new equipment, and more veterans. Secondly, the coordination between their fire units is much closer than that between a single company and a battalion."

Peng Jiawei responded, "Their command instructions can be issued to individual soldiers, and individual soldiers can also call in other firepower through joint operations, which can maximize the role of the organization."

"Yes."

Jia Guoqiang nodded slightly. Although he had never fought the Blue Army battalion head-on, he had heard about it from the people of the 183rd Regiment.

Against the Blue Army, there's always a feeling that you have the strength but can't unleash it.

If the firepower of our own forward positions is aimed at the infantry, then the Blue Army battalion will quickly mobilize artillery to carry out a comprehensive bombardment.

If the target is armor, the Blue Army infantry will arrive earlier and use individual rocket launchers to clear it out in advance.

Often, as soon as one's own combat objectives begin to emerge, the Blue Army will discover them and react.

In this regard.

The 61st Division held several internal meetings to discuss the matter.

The final conclusion was that the size of the Blue Army battalion was such that every soldier participating in the battle could become a temporary commander on the battlefield.

This kind of temporary command is omnipresent and controls the changes in the entire battle situation.

What's even more fucked up is.

You know the opponent's combat system, but you can't imitate or learn it.

Because every soldier is a commander, the amount of information to be processed in battle is enormous. There are no dedicated information processing vehicles or a large number of officers to support them.

Anyone who dares to learn from this will likely find their own side in complete chaos the moment the gunfire begins.

"I've figured out how to deal with the Blue Army battalion, this squad-based combat model."

Jia Guoqiang smiled confidently, took out a pencil and circled it on the map: "The Blue Army has more than twenty squads, and each squad is not strong individually."

"In the past, the Blue Army battalion always deployed as a group in combat in order to exert sufficient firepower."

"This combat training adopts a two-front operation."

"Let the First and Third Battalions, along with the main force, launch an attack near Chagan Aobao, targeting the main force deep within the Blue Army's territory."

"Let the Second Battalion deal with the Blue Army battalion detachments around Zhurihe Town."

"The Blue Army battalion is scattered, so they cannot launch a surprise attack in a short time; at most, they can only fight a blocking battle."

"Then the Second Battalion will have a chance to take down some of the detachments first."

"But."

After listening to the regimental commander's plan, Chief of Staff Peng hesitated and said, "Isn't fighting on two fronts too risky?"

“I know the Blue Army’s strengths and weaknesses, but if we attack their territory, there’s no guarantee that these Blue bastards won’t be able to encircle Chagan Aobao once they realize what’s happening. If that happens, the First and Third Battalions will be in danger.”

"Our two battalions' firepower would be useless against the Blue Army battalion head-on. Once they trap our two battalions, we can easily deal with the second battalion as well."

Peng Jiawei looked puzzled.

Jia Guoqiang revealed a meaningful smile.

"Don't rush me, I haven't finished speaking yet."

"Fighting on two fronts does not mean fighting a decisive battle on two fronts."

"The first and third battalions stationed at Chagan Aobao seemed to be the main force for the decisive battle, but from the start of the battle, we fought and retreated, focusing on sabotage, allowing the various units of the Blue Army to gradually concentrate in the geographical space."

"With two battalions holding the line and one battalion engaging in the decisive battle, the front and rear cannot support each other, and the rhythm will be disrupted."

"What do you think?"

Upon hearing the question, Peng Jiawei nodded slightly.

The raid strategy is simply to annoy the Blue Army's battalion, while our two battalions occupy the heart of Chagan Aobao.

It can repel powerful enemies at any time.

They can break through and rejoin the Second Battalion.

This may be the optimal tactic for the 182nd Regiment's first combat training exercise so far.

It was all because of that damned scholar.

If he hadn't stolen the regimental flag, forcing the 182nd Regiment into a corner, the plan to fight on two fronts might have been abandoned.

They might not be able to come up with it.

Don't forget, if the Night Tigers have never been to Zhurihe, that means the 182nd Regiment has never been there either.

Conducting operations on two fronts in unfamiliar terrain.

This kind of courage is not something that ordinary people possess.