Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

The moment those three words were uttered, the entire conference room fell silent. These words carried immense weight; they were like the stern father of China's military industry and soldiers.

A strict father disciplines, urges, sets bottom lines, never tolerates luck, never lets things go easy, doesn't allow complacency, and keeps a close eye on every loophole.

They don't sing praises, they don't accept "good enough," they always find fault, they force people to think about the worst-case scenario, and they use anxiety to drive out extreme rigor, allowing no room for slackness or complacency.

Ultimately, this is all due to the deep-seated trauma of being bullied for a century.

In modern times, due to outdated equipment and insufficient foresight, enormous sacrifices were made. Due to equipment gaps, lack of contingency plans, insufficient firepower, and weak reconnaissance capabilities, countless officers and soldiers on the battlefield had to use their blood and flesh to fill the gaps in design and planning.

If we always plan for the best and ignore even the smallest possibility, there will be bloodshed and sacrifice on the front lines.

During the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" period, Premier Zhou reviewed the hydrogen bomb delivery plan. Experts said it was 100% safe, but the Premier repeatedly asked, "What if it fails to drop?"

This forced the team to come up with three backup plans. Later, when the test failed, it was these multiple contingency plans that saved the safety of the personnel and the test.

This incident has become a benchmark passed down through generations in the military industry system. No matter how perfect the plan is, it must leave room for contingencies. Redundancy is acceptable, but inadequacy is not.

When developing equipment, the first reaction of the R&D personnel is never whether it meets the standards, but rather to ask themselves: what if the battlefield environment is worse than the test, what if parts fail during continuous high-intensity combat, and we still have to continue to modify and add redundancy.

The same applies to soldiers; the principle of "what if" is an ironclad rule of combat readiness and tactics.

Firepower configuration cannot be singular, in order to prepare for the possibility of the main firepower being destroyed. Offense must also have reserves, that is, to have redundancy, so that they can be pushed up to supplement at any time.

The tactical plans exhaustively cover the worst-case scenarios, with multiple plans prepared for offense, defense, infiltration, and skirmishes.

What if the enemy launches a preemptive heavy attack? What if the enemy's long-range firepower suppresses our artillery? What if communications are lost? What if the drones lose contact and we can only rely on ground observation?

It can be said that the phrase "what if" is a bottom-line mentality engraved in the national defense system.

Taking the century of humiliation as a lesson and the casualties of officers and soldiers as a warning, like a strict father, we constantly urge military research personnel to strive for excellence, force soldiers to take all-round defenses, and refuse any chance of luck.

All the multi-line research and development, multi-layered firepower preparation and deployment, and multiple emergency plans all stem from this weighty "what if?"

The political commissar nodded seriously. "What you said makes sense. What if? Since we're conducting this pilot program to benchmark against Western countries, I agree with Comrade Zhang Anbang's proposal in principle."

However, as the army commander just said, this requires too many resources and personnel, and needs to be thoroughly investigated before being discussed at a meeting.

Gao Shijun also spoke up, "The political commissar is right. This is how we stabilize the country. When you go back, turn everything you said today into a plan and submit it."

Then, according to what you said, list out the composition requirements of the pilot combined arms battalion, including all the differences from the original plan and the advantages and disadvantages.

Can you finish it in three days?

Zhang Anbang did not hesitate. "Yes, Commander and Political Commissar. However, it won't take three days. I already had some drafts of these things. One day is enough to complete all aspects, and we can submit them tomorrow."

Gao Shijun nodded. "Okay, then I'll give you one day. After you submit your proposal, we'll discuss it again at the meeting. All the previously agreed-upon coordination directions will proceed as normal, and the difference will be supplemented later."

Next, the Standing Committee needs to discuss other highly confidential matters, including the deployment of army group forces and securing special funding from higher levels. Go back and prepare your plans.

"Yes," Zhang Anbang saluted and quietly left the office.

This is a meeting of the Standing Committee of an army group with a bunch of major generals, senior colonels, and colonels everywhere. It's already quite impressive that he, a mere major, can attend and boldly report all his thoughts.

The subsequent discussions on various matters, the internal power struggles within the Standing Committee, the contingency plan for accountability in the failure of the experiment, the conflicts of interest among various units caused by the transfer of key personnel, and the project evaluation are all matters for the Party Committee members to discuss behind closed doors, and it is impossible for him to be present.

After returning to the T Division's training office, Zhang Anbang immediately picked up a pen and began writing the report, continuing until after 1 a.m. before going back to his dormitory to sleep.

The next morning, more than ten minutes before the normal start time, Zhang Anbang arrived at the division commander's office. This was related to the size of his combined arms battalion, so he couldn't be late.

Chen Shi couldn't help but laugh when he saw Zhang Anbang blocking the office door. "You're really impatient, kid."

As Chen Shi unlocked the office door, he greeted Zhang Anbang with a smile.

"Hey, division commander, you can't blame me for this. The army commander said we had one day to submit the plan."

Zhang Anbang made excuses while turning on the water dispenser in the office.

"You little brat, wasn't that your own request? The commander originally said three days, but you changed it to one day yourself, and you're blaming the commander for that?"

Zhang Anbang filled a cup with water and placed it in front of the division commander. He then poured himself a cup as well before plopping down in the chair opposite the division commander's desk.

"Commander, you can forgive me if you don't praise me for this, but you can't blame me. The sooner this matter is resolved, the sooner we can have peace of mind."

Commander, I've left the plan here. Take a look and see if it's suitable. Also, Commander, look at the combined arms battalion; the army has given so much support.

As your family, could our division... hehe.

Seeing Zhang Anbang rubbing his hands together, Chen Shi was speechless. He pointed at him and said, "You little brat, you really dare to ask for this position. How about I just let you be the division commander?"

Zhang Anbang waved his hands repeatedly, "Commander, you're exaggerating. I only have 21 cents, which is far from enough. It will take several years, many years."

Chen Shi finally lost his temper. "You little brat, you're getting cocky now that you're fat. Get lost! Are you really that confident about breaking down all the information silos? Our army group doesn't have that many people."

"You can forget about our division. You've taken on this job, so don't mess it up. Otherwise, even if the army commander is concerned about saving face, I'll get angry."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Anbang's expression turned serious. "Commander, don't worry about this matter. I already have a concrete idea. My wife is the director of the technical department at the military region's directly subordinate communications station."

She's an expert in electronic communications, especially information security. As for me, I'm fairly good at programming. One of my college classmates and his roommate works in the Information Technology Research Lab at Institute 207, and he's also very good at programming.