Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 364 Shared Teaching, is this old man crazy?
By the time Chen Mo finished working on the major questions of the military modeling test and checked all the test papers to make sure there were no problems, it was already past 10 p.m.

He straightened up, stretched, and when he looked around, he realized that the fourth batch of more than fifty trainees had entered the computer room.

Now, including him, there are fewer than five people in the classroom, and only a few screens are lit up.

The corresponding students are still struggling.

"Is the attrition rate that high?"

Chen Mo paused for a moment, before he could make any other move.

The cadre in charge of supervision and assessment, who had been sitting in the computer room, stepped forward.

The other person glanced at the exam paper on the screen, a hint of amazement in their eyes.

The examiner didn't see exactly what was written, but the densely packed words were impressive enough.

However, the other party showed no reaction on the surface, and simply said calmly, "Comrade, please leave after you finish answering and click submit."

"Don't linger here."

"Yes!"

Chen Mo quickly gathered up the exam cards on the table, stuffed his military ID into his pocket, clicked submit on the screen, stood up, and strode out of the computer room.

As for the few people still answering questions, there was nothing he could do to help them. When it comes to assessments, they can only hope for the best.

Late March.

The nights in Shicheng are not as cold as those in the border regions. Under the roots of the evergreen and vigorous pine trees along the roadside, lush green shoots of new grass are already exuding new vitality and growing vigorously.

I smelled the fresh scent as I walked along the quiet road.

Following the route he remembered from the daytime, Chen Mo arrived at the dormitory building.

Around 10 p.m., Command Center Lu had already turned off the lights.

As Chen Mo passed the dormitory supervisor's post, he stopped, turned around, stood at attention, and saluted, as usual.

The dorm supervisor, who ignored him yesterday, surprisingly picked up the lamp on the table today, patted the lamp head twice, and then waved it at Chen Mo after it lit up.

"Are you done with the exam?"

"Yes, the exams are over."

"How were the results? Are you satisfied?"

"It's alright, I should be able to pass."

"What are you doing standing there? Don't you even look at the time? You're disturbing my rest!"

Chen Mo: 。 。 。 。 。 。

Damn it, why is this old man's temper so strange? Who was talking to whom first?

Chen Mo muttered a few curses under his breath, his face darkening, and turned to go upstairs.

He didn't recognize the old man guarding the gate, but since he knew about the entrance exam, he guessed that the old man must have held a high position in the college before he retired.

When we arrived on the second floor.

The door to dormitory 202 was open. Da Yong hadn't left. He had moved a small stool and sat by the door, watching several cadres participating in the training program chatting idly in the hallway.

I saw Chen Mo come up.

One of the lieutenant colonels greeted him with a smile: "Battalion Commander Chen, are you done? How did the exam go?"

"It's so-so. If I'm lucky, I might get a passing grade."

Chen Mo responded with a smile, took out a cigarette from his pocket and made way for the people in the hallway. While handing out cigarettes, he glanced at several dorm rooms on the second floor, none of which had their lights on.

"Are these rooms on the second floor unoccupied?"

"It's been arranged. He was expelled from the college after the results came out." The cadre who first greeted him shook his head slightly.

"So fast?"

When will the results be released?

"You're in the last batch, so you definitely won't be able to get out now. We're in the first and second batches, and the results will be announced this afternoon."

After chatting, I learned that the lieutenant colonel was from the 10th Artillery Brigade of the 65th Army and was the battalion commander of the long-range artillery battalion. His name was Du Qinglong.

The group gathered on the second floor consisted mainly of officers from the 65th Army, including Yan Yahui, the battalion commander of the tank battalion directly under the 1st Armored Division, and Huang Shaoling, the battalion commander of the artillery battalion directly under the 193rd Motorized Infantry Division.

These men are clearly professionally trained officers, and they are young, unlike the battalion commanders who are veterans of the volunteer army. Just by looking at their faces, they all look to be around thirty or forty years old.

There's no need to ask about their actual age; they're not very young.

“Chen Ying, you shouldn’t worry.” Du Qinglong grinned and patted Chen Mo’s shoulder: “The entire Central Training Command has been waiting for you for ten days. Even if you submit a blank paper, you’ll probably still be able to stay.”

“We’re not so great. Dang Yanjie, Wang Shuo and the others who came out in the third batch just left. We only got together to chat after seeing them off.”

Du Qinglong's implication was clear: the group of people gathered there were the ones who had already passed the first test.

The first option is completely useless.

Today we're only learning theoretical knowledge. Tomorrow, the second item will begin: sand table simulation, which will require hands-on practice.

Just thinking about the difficulty involved made Chen Mo's head ache.

"I'm nothing special." Chen Mo waved his hand: "But this assessment was really too far beyond the scope. I can understand Zhongpei's interpretation of the deep battle theory, but explaining the automatic command form of the army group and the final military campaign modeling were too outrageous."

"These things would probably be significant enough for a graduation assessment, and even in advanced training, they would likely be quite valuable."

Chen Mo complained, genuinely feeling that the theoretical assessment was far beyond the scope of the curriculum. If it weren't for the fact that he had read many military strategy and tactics papers and related materials during his early years as the battalion commander of the Blue Army, he would have been in a much worse situation.

With his own understanding and some information from his previous life, he simply couldn't pass this test.

Even if the exam is over now.

He wasn't 100% sure he could pass; academic issues are debated, and it all depends on how the examiners judge.

Chen Mo's complaints, however, left Du Qinglong, Yan Yahui, Huang Shaoling and the others stunned.

After a while.

Battalion Commander Yan stared wide-eyed and said, "Wait, wait, Battalion Commander Chen, are you confused by the test?"

"What kind of automated command system for army groups? What kind of campaign modeling? You're just spouting nonsense."

"I'm not exaggerating."

Does Chen Mo need to brag about questions he's already answered?

He stared at the three of them, wide-eyed: "Don't you have similar questions?"

"No." The three shook their heads very firmly.

"So what did you take the test on?" Chen Mo was a little confused. Even if the test papers were randomly generated by computer and the questions would be different, the same group of people should be setting the questions, right?
It's impossible for someone in charge of the Lu administration to be so idle as to assign a separate test paper to each person; there's no need to expend so much effort.

"We also have campaign theory, but most of it is judgmental, such as the composition, definition, essential elements, characteristics, classification, factors that determine victory or defeat, and various criteria for judgment in campaign theory."

Du Qinglong recited his assessment questions in a simple and detailed manner, as if he knew them by heart.

"Mine wasn't that complicated either. It was just filling in the blanks about the definition and understanding of campaigns, setting standards for judging campaign command capabilities, and adapting to new tactics."

Yan Yahui shrugged, staring at Chen Mo with a puzzled expression.

"So what was your last big question?"

Chen Mo had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"There's no such thing as a final, big question. They're mostly true/false questions. There are just a lot of questions, and even more sets of questions. Whether you know the answer or not is easy to tell by the simple answers."

Du Qinglong shook his head slightly: "With these questions alone, many people have been eliminated in the assessment. As for the ones you mentioned, they are even less likely to appear."

"Chen Ying, do you know that during this training program, many cadres couldn't even write a complete article? They're quite skilled at using the standard phrases for self-criticism, but most of the promoted cadres can't write a complete theoretical article."

"Let alone writing theories on a computer, it's already good enough if I can understand those battle theories. I'm still confused by many of them."

“Since the college recruits these cadres, it will take into account their actual circumstances.”

What you're saying is utterly absurd.

Damn, I get it.

I totally understand now!!
Chen Mo's forehead creased with annoyance. No wonder he was the only one typing away at the keyboard in the entire exam room, while everyone else kept glancing at their seats.

Even the proctors went over there several times.

At the time, he felt quite confident, as if he were possessed by a god of exams, becoming the center of attention.

That guy was pounding the keyboard harder and harder; apparently, all the questions were multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank?
Is your own exam paper a genuine standard exam paper for combat theory?

It is true that Director Lu will not tailor-make an entrance examination paper for everyone.

But it should be possible to tailor a set specifically for him; it's not that difficult.

I'll trap you, you monkey!
Chen Mo wanted to cry but had no tears.

No wonder the college was willing to wait for me even though I was ten days late. Even if there was an entrance exam, other people shouldn't have affected the exam progress.

When I get here, I can just retake the exam, right?
So all that effort for nothing, and it turns out there wasn't even a single set of test papers.

And things are definitely not that simple. Whether others take the exam in advance or whether he takes a make-up exam or shares the same test template is not necessarily related.

"Chen Ying?"

Seeing Chen Mo standing there silently, gritting his teeth, the others had just suspected that the kid was bragging.

But now, some of them have come to believe it.

After all, so what if someone brags? How many soldiers don't brag?

But there's no need to put on such a facial expression control after you've finished praising someone.

"Oh, it's nothing. You guys chat, I'm going to rest for a while."

Chen Mo smiled, ignored the people in the corridor, and went straight into the dormitory to sit on his bed.

He was indeed exhausted. Waiting in the auditorium all day was more tiring than training all day.

After answering the questions for several hours, I felt like I was lacking oxygen, and my head was spinning.

He could have held on, but when he heard that his exam paper was different from everyone else's, Chen Mo guessed that the college might have made other arrangements for this exam.

Otherwise, there's no need to add extra difficulty for him; would he have any free time?

I saw the battalion commander sit down to rest.

Da Yong, who was standing next to him, took out an aluminum lunchbox and placed it on the table: "Battalion Commander, have something to eat first."

"This afternoon I saw many people being escorted out of the academy by police officers downstairs, and I was worried that you wouldn't pass the assessment."

"If you think it's alright, then it's fine. You should get some rest tonight. There are several empty dorm rooms on the second floor. I'll move to the room across the hall."

"By the way, I called the company commander and Xiaoman to let them know I'm safe. They told me to do my best on the exam. People from our armored regiment are just as good as anyone else, you'll definitely pass."

"Okay, I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Chen Mo nodded. He wasn't worried about the Blue Army camp right now. Even though the combat training wasn't over yet, with Cheng Dong and Man Xuexi here, there wouldn't be any problems.

What he's considering now is that Director Lu would rather wait ten days for him to come, and even prepare a separate exam paper.

What exactly are they after?

Was it arranged by the General Political Department? After all, during the review, the leader surnamed Zhou had already mentioned that this training program was indeed arranged by their General Political Department, and even Chief of Staff Xu had no right to inquire about it.

That's a bit of an overstatement.

But in reality, if it really was arranged by the General Political Department, Xu Hong wouldn't have been able to get involved.

As for how these old men were gossiping about him, Chen Mo couldn't figure it out for the time being.

Outside.

Du Qinglong, Yan Yahui, Huang Shaoling, and the others also lost interest in chatting.

Firstly, they've passed the first test, but there's a second one tomorrow, so now's not the time to relax.

The outcome is still uncertain, and we need to continue our efforts.

Secondly.

This damn scholar's exam questions are way more difficult than the questions for other people.

It's unrealistic to say there's nothing fishy going on behind the scenes.

We were all in the same batch of trainees.

The feeling of suddenly having someone receive special attention, and possibly even special care afterward, is worse than death for the other trainees.

Chatting? What the hell are we even chatting about?

I need to go back and calm down first.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The fourth batch of assessments on campaign theory has concluded.

In the multimedia conference room on the second floor of the Army Command's Operations Department building, former Principal Li Yazhong, who hadn't rested late into the night, was supervising several officers specializing in operations studies as they graded exam papers.

Before the Lunar New Year, the Ministry of National Defense and the military held a joint meeting and specifically changed the conscription requirements for the new century. The policy of relaxing the requirements for rural household registration was still relaxed, and the educational requirements were not very high.

However, the requirements for urban residents have been raised, including the implementation of policies such as college recruitment and pilot programs for national defense students.

The trend of making cadres younger and more knowledgeable has been gradually unfolding with the arrival of the new century.

Today, the third phase of mechanization reforms appears to be progressing rapidly, but this is merely a facade.

As advanced equipment, such as drones and multi-functional radars, gradually enters grassroots levels, new challenges have emerged.

Moreover, this problem was actually a weakness that was forcefully exposed by the Blue Army Battalion of the Ironclad Regiment.

That is, the understanding of mechanization is deeply ingrained in each unit.

The pace of informatization in the reform process has been very slow, and there is also great resistance.

To put it bluntly, while advanced equipment can reach the grassroots level, the number of technical personnel at that level to operate or maintain it is pitifully small. Many units only know how to use it, but that's about it. As for how to apply it in warfare, frankly speaking, most units have no idea.

In other words, the integration of information technology equipment with mechanized equipment cannot be as smooth as that of the Blue Army camp.

Take the 61st Division as an example.

As the second unit to conduct information technology pilot projects, the Spring Thunder Action was launched.

The enemy's drones, radar, and even electronic warfare units failed to play their due role.

In many organizations, from cadres to soldiers, there is an unusually strong resistance to new things.

Of course, the rejection mentioned here does not mean an unwillingness to accept.

The grassroots units are happier than anyone else when they receive new equipment.

The problem is that when people learn that equipment like drones and radars cost millions of dollars, many units keep their main combat equipment hundreds of meters away from their auxiliary combat equipment during training exercises.

The answer is that it's too expensive, so expensive that no one wants to control it or treat it like royalty.

Very few soldiers are willing to learn, and even fewer are capable of learning, given the high cost.

The situation in the 61st Division was common in most units.

Having good things in hand but not knowing how to use, maintain, or repair them.

However, cadres lacked sufficient understanding of the new equipment, resulting in limited efforts to promote its implementation. Consequently, the third phase of mechanization reforms was almost at a standstill.

After headquarters became aware of the problem.

We've also held several meetings to discuss this.

However, the real problems cannot be effectively solved by simply holding meetings and making demands.

If cadres lack sufficient understanding and ability, the reform will be implemented slowly. The only solution is to abandon large-scale reforms and select a few units for focused implementation.

The approach will then be expanded from specific examples to cover a wider range of units.

Which units to choose from among the available options has become a real problem.

Not all units are the size of a Blue Army battalion, with the same number of veterans and officers.

They have no shortage of elite troops and capable generals.

But what about other units? Currently, none of the seven military regions have dared to replicate a blue army battalion, let alone use the standards of a blue army battalion to promote other units.

Finally, a solution was devised.

Zhongpei.

The program brings together capable and promising battalion and regimental-level officers who are relatively young and participate in mid-level officer training.

But training alone is not enough; one must be able to accept the new system and have one's own understanding of strategic tactics and macro-level aspects.

These people, once trained, will be employed by organizations that prioritize the third phase of mechanization reforms after graduation.

The number of units requiring overall reform has decreased, cadres' awareness has improved, and the training of technical reconnaissance and radar operation technicians can also keep pace.

If these individuals achieve good results in implementing the policy, they can be promoted quickly, thus expanding the implementation to larger units.

As a result, the effects of the third phase of reforms will inevitably be seen within the next three years.

Of course, we are only seeing some results. To complete the comprehensive reform, we need at least a large number of national defense students to enter the grassroots level.

Don't think this takes a long time.

The first phase of mechanization reform lasted nearly six years. Before the entire army had even begun to widely adopt mechanization, it started with individual units.

The initial plan was to gradually cover other units, but in reality, the ideal state of the first phase of reform has not yet been achieved.

Mechanized equipment has not been implemented in all frontline units.

However, due to economic constraints at the time, they had to simultaneously appease the Soviet Union and initiate the second phase of reforms.

After all, time and the international situation did not allow the field army to stop.

The second phase of reforms took almost four years, and it wasn't until last year, when the Blue Army battalion suddenly appeared during the Northwest military exercise, that things changed.

With a battalion-sized force controlling half a division, the direction of the third phase of reforms is not so easy to determine.

As for the full implementation of the third phase, regardless of whether the higher authorities acknowledge it or not, the practical problems remain, and they will still have to follow the example of the first phase.

Let some organizations enter the information age first and start the fourth stage; the rest can only proceed gradually.

The plan is in place, and the direction is clear.

The remaining task is to select the members for this training program, starting with the Kyoto Military Region.

As for Chen Mo's role, it would be accurate to say that he was sent to Zhongpei, but Chief of Staff Xu initially said that there would be at least another six months, and judging from the way he said that at the time, that made sense.

However, the headquarters finalized the decision so quickly that this notification seemed particularly rushed.

Chen Mo's role here is to provide training, and also to bring the Blue Army's leadership philosophy and various concepts to more trainees.

Rather than an entrance exam, it's more accurate to say it's a selection process for capable cadres who are also eager to learn and willing to embrace new ideas.

Whether you're a graduate of a military academy or a veteran volunteer who's been promoted to officer, it's not difficult to learn some relevant operational theory after spending so much time in the military.

Those who are willing to learn and understand are the people this training program needs to retain.

If the assessment is unsatisfactory.

To put it nicely, it's being eliminated; to put it bluntly, it's being swept into the abyss by the tide of the times.

Because after this training program, in the next two or three years, a large number of military academy students and national defense students will flood into the military.

With the arrival of a new era, these people who are being phased out will inevitably have to leave the military.

One person, one job; they have to make room for the next one.

As for Chen Mo's exam paper being specially prepared, that makes no problem. The higher-ups are planning to entrust him with all the capable cadres from a major military region.

Can't the organization test you?
Chen Mo's test paper was different from others', not only were the questions different, but his paper didn't even have any points. Most of the questions were comprehensive questions, and the test-takers just wanted to see how far this kid could go.

Do we have the capability to undertake this shared teaching approach?

In other words, there was no expectation that he would actually finish answering.

The old principal was spending the middle of the night with his team monitoring the grading process because someone behind Zhongpei was waiting for news.

This intermediate training was neither wrong to say it was organized by the General Political Department nor wrong to say it was organized by the General Staff Department.

The point is to use the Kyoto Military District for this experiment.

As for the matter of taking leave, Xu Hong didn't initially think that the old man Li Yazhong was so stubborn. It's not like he's a head instructor in a shared teaching program.

The other trainees need to be screened first. According to Xu Hong's plan, this will take about ten days, since there are several hundred people involved.

Who can imagine.

This old man is not only stubborn, but he's also very hardworking; he doesn't go to sleep until 11 p.m.

He stayed in the multimedia conference room, personally reviewing the papers.

Wearing his reading glasses, Li Yazhong looked at each test paper one by one. The test papers were automatically generated by the system, so there was no way to check the fixed answers.

And for something as rigorous as this, we dare not relax our efforts; the level of seriousness in the review process is no less than that of the college entrance examination.

Old Li stared at it for hours, then looked up at the clock on the wall next to him, his brow furrowed as he sighed.

After a long pause, he turned his head and asked, "Have the notifications been sent out for the third batch of eliminations?"

"Yes, Principal, everyone has been notified."

One of the officials stood up to respond.

"Okay, sit down and check the submission records. See if that kid surnamed Chen has finished answering the questions."

After asking around, Old Man Li didn't believe Chen Mo could hand in his paper so quickly.

Those questions were compiled by him in conjunction with Zhang Jinnan, the vice president of the Army Academy, Luo Yaowu, the director of the Department of War Studies, and several professors of War Studies from the Army Academy.

These questions are reviewed and evaluated by specialized personnel.

They calculated that all the questions combined would allow Chen Mo to complete 60% of the questions, which would be enough to pass the exam.

That means that the kid's efforts in reading so many graduation theses and the Army Academy's operational tactics project last year weren't in vain.

They have good comprehension and application skills, and as academics, they naturally have their own evaluation criteria.

Old Li picked up his water cup, took a sip of hot tea, and leisurely waited for a response.

According to his estimation, Chen Mo should not have handed in his paper yet. He had seen the questions before, and even if there were no fixed answers in academics, they would definitely be enough to give this kid a hard time.

But we can wait and wait.

On the large screen in the multimedia conference room, an answer sheet bearing Chen Mo's student ID number, officer ID number, and name was suddenly projected.

The officer who had just responded stood up and said, "Principal, Battalion Commander Chen handed in his exam paper twenty minutes ago."

"Oh?"

"So impatient?"

Old Li adjusted his reading glasses, looked up at the large screen, and paused for a moment when he saw the densely packed answers.

Then, he was dragged and pulled onto a chair and sat down in front of the big screen to watch it carefully.

At first, Li Yazhong's expression remained calm. After all, there were many questions on the test paper, and who knew how many this kid had actually answered?

But as he watched, the old principal felt a chill run down his spine and jumped up from his chair.

He didn't read it all; he only looked at the questions he had set and the major military modeling questions at the end.

To make sure this kid wasn't just making things up to grab attention, Li Yazhong couldn't sit still any longer.

The other party's completion rate is not 60%, but 100%.

But I can't sit still, so I have to keep watching.

Li Yazhong flipped through the exam paper over and over again, spending a full half hour looking at it.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The answer rate was 100%.

A good grasp of the big picture.

Excellent insight.

Excellent war planning skills.

I would give a score of around 80.

Don't think this score is low. There are no fixed answers in academic theory. Being judged as 80 points by an old professor of military strategy is already very impressive.

Even if Old Li himself were to grade his students, not one of them would score above 70.

Of course, Chen Mo's hidden advantage is that he is still young and has only read the graduation theses of previous students from the Army Academy and the projects of outstanding students.

To answer to this level without even participating in the training program is already quite impressive and far beyond the scope of the curriculum.

"quick!"

"Fax a copy of this exam paper to the Army Academy."

"Also, go and drag that kid Chen out right now and clean up the sand table war room."

"I want to see him practice! Go!"

"Now watch."

"Yes."

When academics get serious, they don't care whether it's day or night.

It is not uncommon for people to argue about a single issue for a whole day and night.

Upon receiving the order, the officers from the command headquarters dared not delay and immediately called Zhou Kaiwei, the captain of the police detachment.

They demanded that Captain Zhou bring Chen Mo to the battle tower as soon as possible.

Upon hearing this, Captain Zhou was stunned for a moment before he realized that Battalion Commander Chen had only arrived at 10 p.m. last night.

Why did the principal take notice of me tonight?

That brat, has he done something outrageous again?
But doubts remain.

Zhou Kaiwei didn't dare to linger and immediately left the duty room to go to Chen Mo's dormitory building.

As for Chen Mo, he was exhausted after a long day. He had barely put his head on the pillow and closed his eyes to rest for ten minutes when he finally did.

The dormitory door was then banged on loudly.

When he opened the door, he learned that it was Old Man Li who wanted him to come over, and that it was supposed to be a practical exercise, starting with a sand table assessment.

Chen Mo stood there, stunned.

Damn it, is this old man crazy?

Who pulls people out for practical exercises in the middle of the night? Even if there's a second assessment, it doesn't have to be done in the middle of the night.

He hasn't even had a chance to catch up on sleep yet; hands-on practice on the sand table is much more mentally taxing than theoretical assessments.

That old man is fucking toxic!
. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

P.S.: Here's an excuse for the update issue.

First of all, I apologize. It's not that I don't want to update more frequently, but some chapters from the previous battle training were blocked. Some can be released, but some cannot. Chapter 354 still cannot be released.

I had no choice but to end the training quickly, and many things were left unexplained before moving on to the new storyline, which caused some confusion in my thinking. I sincerely apologize to everyone.

(End of this chapter)