Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 178 Digital Transformation Is Not the Ultimate Goal

He Chenguang has been very competitive since childhood, and there is nothing he can't do if he wants to do it.

But this time, the "threading the needle" really annoyed him. In his haste, he pricked his own finger with the needle. He sucked on it and wanted to continue, but Chen Jiang spoke up at that moment, "Haste makes waste!"

"The worst thing you can do when handling guns is to be impatient. You can't rush things!"

Perhaps Chen Jiang's words touched He Chenguang, because his movements became slightly gentler, and the effect was indeed immediate.

"Battalion Commander, you're really something! You have a real knack for giving advice!"

"Isn't that obvious? Back when the battalion commander was just a private, he won first place in the army-wide shooting competition, earning the Seventh Company a second-class merit. You should also have that goal and strive to earn merit and be promoted to officer as soon as possible!"

Ma Xiaoshuai, smugly interrupting Li Erniu's effusive praise, recounted Chen Jiang's glorious military history.

These words made everyone present envious, but everyone knew their own limitations. In the army, earning a third-class merit was as difficult as climbing to heaven, let alone a second-class merit. Being the best in the entire army was easy to say, but practically impossible.

This is like telling a high school senior, "Go for Tsinghua or Peking University!"
Do you think this is realistic?

Of course, only He Chenguang secretly made up his mind that he must win first place in the army shooting competition and surpass Chen Jiang's score!
Chen Jiang was unaware of He Chenguang's thoughts. He gave them a few simple instructions and then left.

Now, as the military commander of the Third Battalion, he has many daily tasks, one of the most important of which is holding meetings.

Back when he was in the A Battalion, the battalion commander and the Z Committee were basically the ones who attended the various meetings of the military region. As a company commander, he hardly needed to make any moves except for the meetings within the battalion. Tie Lu and Yuan Lang were known for their pragmatism, and they rarely called meetings unless there was something important to discuss. Even when they did call meetings, they were usually short.

But it was completely different in the 702nd Regiment. First of all, there were many meetings in the division, and then there were meetings held in the regiment to convey messages, which meant that Chen Jiang had to devote a large part of his time and energy to dealing with them.

And so, he was notified to attend the division's work deployment meeting.

The division commander, Liu Biwu, was promoted from the former division chief of staff. Back then, he issued a rectification notice for the 702nd Regiment to Wang Qingrui in this very conference room. Now, several years later, he has become the division commander, while Wang Qingrui sits next to him as the deputy division commander.

Although both men hold the rank of senior colonel, Liu Biwu is still young and has studied at the National Defense University, so he has a high probability of being promoted. Wang Qingrui, on the other hand, is limited by his age and education, so his senior colonel rank is probably the limit.

Liu Biwu glanced at the many officers in the conference room and immediately noticed Chen Jiang.

There was no way around it; he was the only junior officer among the officers attending the meeting today, and he stood out too much.

Moreover, Commander Liu had a deep impression of Chen Jiang, as the leader personally called to request that he be properly resettled. The word "properly" is quite subtle.

At first, he thought it was someone with connections, because people transferred from outside were usually incompetent, and he was somewhat reluctant to admit it. But later, when he heard from his superior that this person was originally a soldier from the 702nd Regiment and had come from the Old A unit as a company commander, he took it to heart.

This isn't a case of favoritism; this is a true elite soldier!
So he discussed it with Wang Qingrui and finally arranged for Chen Jiang to go to the 3rd Battalion of the 702nd Regiment, Wang Qingrui's old unit!
"The main purpose of this meeting is to inform everyone that our division, as an elite mechanized infantry division, will also be facing digital technology reform. This is an organizational decision, a very far-sighted and significant event."

Liu Biwu's words immediately sparked a discussion among the crowd. After all, every reform involves personnel adjustments in the military, and even the issue of personnel leaving or staying. This is something that all officers are extremely wary of.

"The concept of a digitized force was first proposed by the U.S. Army in the early 1990s. After the Gulf War, in order to improve its ability to conduct joint operations with the Air Force and Navy, the U.S. Army, based on summarizing the lessons learned from the war, proposed the idea of ​​building a digitized force, which was implemented in 1994. The main contents are: digitization of individual soldier equipment, digitization of horizontal communication systems for various weapon platforms, digitization of brigades and units below the brigade level, and digitization of units above the division level. By the end of the 20th century, they had completed the formation of digitized battalions and brigades. By the end of 2001, they had built their first digitized division."

The strength of the United States' military has left a deep impression on all Chinese soldiers. They often represent the correct direction of military reform, making them a model for other countries to emulate. When the division commander uses this as an example, it carries a certain degree of persuasiveness.

"In fact, our division had carried out reforms before. At that time, the 702nd Regiment reorganized the Steel Seventh Company. It was proven in retrospect that after reorganizing the Steel Seventh Company, the overall combat effectiveness of our 702nd Regiment immediately increased. This fully demonstrates that military reform is not a bad thing. As long as it can improve combat effectiveness, we will do it without hesitation."

Gao Cheng, who was present, visibly twitched his facial muscles. He was the company commander of the Seventh Steel Company at the time. The division commander's words were light and casual, but who could understand how much pain he had endured back then?
Wang Qingrui, sitting on the platform, frowned even more. Although he had been promoted to deputy division commander, his feelings for the 702nd Regiment were truly deep.

However, the current commander of the 702nd Regiment, Long Kaifeng, is not one of his soldiers. He contacts the 702nd Regiment more through Gao Cheng.

Liu Biwu, oblivious to the change in their expressions, continued, “The essence of a digitalized force is: based on computers and linked by the tactical internet, it integrates reconnaissance and surveillance, navigation and positioning, firepower, command and control, and various support systems into a whole, becoming a combat force capable of conducting rapid, precise, and mobile operations with efficient information utilization capabilities.”

"Our divisional reconnaissance battalion made a bold attempt in this regard, and the results were immediate. After the reconnaissance battalion's digitalization level improved significantly, it completely changed the traditional reconnaissance model, and its combat effectiveness and operational efficiency have increased considerably compared to the past." He glanced at Gao Cheng below and pointed with his hand, "Deputy Regimental Commander Gao, you used to be the battalion commander of the divisional reconnaissance battalion, so you should be the most qualified to speak on this."

When Gao Cheng saw that the division commander had chosen him, he had no reason to back down. He stood up and answered loudly, "Reporting to the division commander, the reconnaissance battalion has become more advanced in reconnaissance methods through digital construction. In particular, the introduction of laser-guided weapons has brought about a qualitative leap in the overall combat capability of the division's reconnaissance battalion."

Chen Jiang nodded slightly. Modern "decapitation" operations are much more diverse, no longer relying solely on sniping and close-range assassinations. With accurate laser targeting, missiles from thousands of miles away can deliver the kill directly, making it not only highly efficient but also ridiculously powerful. This is precisely why Gao Cheng, during his time in the division's reconnaissance battalion, stole the show in several exercises, turning a reconnaissance battalion into the main focus of the drills. His outstanding achievements led to a rapid promotion.

"Okay, Deputy Regiment Commander Gao, please sit down!" Liu Biwu was very satisfied with Gao Cheng's setup. He smiled and asked Gao Cheng to sit down, then continued to persuade Gao Cheng, "This time, our division's digital reform will be modeled on the division's reconnaissance battalion and promoted to the entire division."

This made Gao Cheng very proud, after all, the Division Reconnaissance Battalion had grown stronger under his leadership, and now that the Division Reconnaissance Battalion was to be used as a model, he naturally had no shortage of opportunities to show his face.

"Oh, by the way, Deputy Battalion Commander Chen Jiang previously conducted an information technology pilot project in the A Brigade. Since you're here today, why don't you share your advanced experience?"

Chen Jiang never expected that he would have to speak up. After all, the lowest-ranking person among the attendees today was a battalion-level officer, and he, a captain, was really not up to the task. However, Commander Liu had specifically emphasized the A Battalion, and if he didn't speak up, it would be a disgrace to the A Battalion.

He quickly went through his thoughts before standing up and explaining, "Reporting to the division commander and other leaders, what I did before were all pilot projects, small-scale operations, so there's no advanced experience to speak of."

"Hey Chen Jiang, don't be modest. I saw the military region's report before. The higher-ups are very interested in your information technology squadron and even awarded it an honorary title, which is a great honor. So just say it!"

Liu Biwu frequently read the military region's bulletins and journals, so he was naturally well aware of this matter. Only companies at the army level or above were eligible to receive honorary titles, so this was a major event, and it was impossible to obtain such an honor without outstanding achievements.

"Since that's the case, then I'll offer my humble opinion as a starting point. If there's anything inappropriate in what I say, I hope everyone will offer their criticism and corrections," Chen Jiang cleared his throat and shared some of his thoughts.

"Since World War II, the mainstream development direction of the world's armies has been motorization, mechanization, and digitalization. Motorization improves the mobility of troops, mechanization improves the offensive power of troops, and digitalization improves the coordination of troops."

"It enables a new generation of troops, from individual soldiers to commanders at all levels, and from various combat, combat support, and combat support systems, to acquire, transmit, and process battlefield information at the fastest speed. Basically, every soldier is a combat node. Through the terminal display screen, commanders can see the soldiers' situation on the battlefield and even directly command individual soldiers. The data link system is its most powerful support, which will change the future war situation and war pattern, and is the focus of the military construction of many countries at present."

He gave a wry smile. "Actually, the A Battalion has already completed its digital transformation, which allows it to demonstrate its power in every exercise. How many people are in the command posts of your battalions? The A Battalion only needs a few people to be able to command nearly a thousand people in the entire battalion with ease, all thanks to digitalization."

"Of course, information technology construction is our ultimate development goal. With the arrival of the information age and the integration of the battlefield and combat operations, the integration of military services has become the direction and destination of the construction and development of a new type of army. The joint operations of various services are moving towards integrated operations, and multi-dimensional, three-dimensional, and multi-battlefield integration is the main theme of the future battlefield. But all of this requires huge financial and technological support. Unfortunately, we cannot do these things at present. Therefore, digitalization has become our immediate transformation goal."

After hearing this, Wang Qingrui sighed with emotion, "Chen Jiang said it very well. I once fought against the A Brigade. My regiment had more than a hundred people, but we couldn't even find their command post. At the end of the exercise, they told me that they only used one helicopter and nine people to build a command post, which could accurately command every soldier under their command."

At this point, Wang Qingrui blushed slightly. He took a sip of water and continued, "Back then, our 702nd Regiment was utterly annihilated. We had no direction in our attacks and couldn't hold our ground. In the end, we could only end the exercise with a huge casualty ratio. The Steel Seventh Company was also reorganized as a result. This was a huge lesson!"

"By the way, Chen Jiang, how many people were in the command post of your information technology squadron during the exercise?" Wang Qingrui asked a question that everyone wanted to know.

The command headquarters of the digital brigade has 9 people. What is the command headquarters of the informationized force like?

Chen Jiang held up one finger and slowly spoke to the incredulous gazes of the crowd, “Reporting to Deputy Division Commander Wang, at that time, my company headquarters consisted of only me and a data terminal, nothing more.”

The crowd erupted in uproar, finding it utterly unbelievable.

If that's really the case, then the combat effectiveness of informationized forces can indeed be off the charts.

"Alright, alright, don't make a fuss. Informationized troops are indeed good, and we'll have to do it sooner or later, but it's definitely not mature enough yet. Chen Jiang and his team are just conducting a small-scale pilot program." Liu Biwu told everyone not to be surprised. Actually, it was the first time he had ever heard of how Chen Jiang's squadron operated.

“That’s right, we have to eat one bite at a time. We can’t get fat in one bite! Let’s start with digitization!” Wang Qingrui seized the opportunity to unify everyone’s thinking.

Towards the end of the meeting, everyone was in high spirits because everyone was willing to accept the idea that military reform could improve combat effectiveness. As a result, Liu Biwu's work plan went very smoothly.

The meeting ended in a harmonious atmosphere, which was somewhat unexpected for both Liu Biwu and Wang Qingrui.

Because reforms are involved, which one isn't a bitter, life-or-death struggle involving haggling?

As a result, Liu Biwu had a very good impression of Chen Jiang. After the meeting, he kept Chen Jiang behind alone, which was both an affirmation and praise of his recent work and also a great expectation for him.

Who wouldn't want their troops to be among the first to step into the realm of informationized warfare?

When he got excited, Liu Biwu even gave Chen Jiang a little inside information: a group of elite marines would be coming to the mainland for intensive training soon, and they had chosen our division. There would probably be some competitions and exchanges, and he hoped Chen Jiang would be prepared.

(End of this chapter)