Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

Hong Xingguo pressed the pause button, stood up, and looked at the young faces of all the soldiers in the company. At this moment, their expressions were very complicated, filled with anger, heartache, and their eyes were almost spitting fire.

"Did you see all of this?" Hong Xingguo's hoarse voice rang out. "These are recorded images. This is Nanjing in 1937. These are the tragic scenes our compatriots suffered on our own land."

"Tell me, why is this happening, Platoon Leader Yun?"

"Report: Because of the chaos in the country and the incompetence of the army back then, our compatriots and our people are in such a terrible state."

Gao Cheng's voice followed, "That's right, that's why it was so tragic. At that time, the country didn't have wise leadership, a powerful army, or enough guns and cannons."

That's why they couldn't protect their own people and were bullied.

As he spoke, his voice suddenly rose, "Why do we train every day, regardless of the weather? We run five kilometers, we do obstacle courses, we practice marksmanship, we practice teamwork. Why do we say we will never give up?"

Gao Cheng's gaze swept across the faces of the soldiers of the Seventh Company. "We are here to ensure that such things never happen again, and that our compatriots are never bullied by others."

"Use me in the first battle, and victory is assured! We swear to defend our motherland to the death!" the soldiers of the Seventh Steel Company roared.

"Well said," Zhang Anbang exclaimed. "Remember what you said: dignity lies only on the edge of a sword, and truth lies only within the range of cannons."

Back then, we had no guns or cannons and were at the mercy of others. Now we have honed our skills so that our swords are sharp enough and our cannons have a long enough range to protect our homeland.

"Use me in the first battle, and victory is assured. I swear to defend our motherland to the death!" The soldiers roared, their voices hoarse.

Looking at the enthusiastic soldiers, Hong Xingguo pressed the play button and breathed a sigh of relief. It was very pleasant to work with these two partners, but he was always a little worried that they would raise the soldiers' morale too high.

High morale is not a bad thing, but excessively high morale is often short-lived. Once training is thwarted or missions are failed, soldiers' morale is prone to plummet from its peak, leading to frustration and apathy, making it more difficult to adjust than for companies with normal morale.

Of course, this was his own excessive worry; such a situation had never occurred before.

The wind outside the window rustled through the treetops, as if telling a story.

In the activity room of the Seventh Steel Company, the VCD player was still running, accompanied by Magee's video narration, which deeply engraved this bloody memory into the bones of these young soldiers.

……

After dinner, Gao Cheng and Zhang Anbang were walking around the playground.

"Xiao Qi, this video you got is really good. The morale is amazing. It's good enough to be taken to the battlefield now," Gao Cheng exclaimed, puffing on his cigarette.

"Since morale is so high, let's do something. Otherwise, it's not good to let the soldiers just sit around sleeping." Zhang Anbang's words immediately appealed to Gao Cheng.

Gao Cheng, who had the same idea, nodded and said, "That makes sense. Let's do a day-and-night exercise, which is what Lao Hong always talks about: using training to promote teaching and teaching to strengthen training."

Zhang Anbang laughed upon hearing this, "Haha, the instructor is really good. Let's give them a good thrashing and turn their daytime temper into nighttime skills."

This kind of training is a very normal training, not two people deliberately messing with each other. It is a simulation of a continuous all-weather combat scenario in actual combat, testing the soldiers' combat capabilities under fatigue.

The afternoon video training is equivalent to pre-battle mobilization, connecting with the evening training, allowing soldiers to engage in training with a clear goal, which is very much in line with the unit's requirement of consistency between training and combat.

The most they did was simply not give prior notice.

……

As an armored reconnaissance company, the Steel Seventh Company's daily training, in addition to the physical fitness and shooting skills required by all army units, mainly revolves around armored mobility, reconnaissance and infiltration, and intelligence transmission.

Such companies combine the mobility and assault capabilities of armored troops with the stealth of reconnaissance troops. They undergo intense training with high professional requirements, and their training differs significantly from that of ordinary infantry companies and purely armored companies.

The soldiers in the armored reconnaissance company are divided into crew groups and reconnaissance groups, and their training is also divided into two stages: specialized training and joint training.

This includes armored vehicle driving, covert maneuvering, forward infiltration and reconnaissance, technical reconnaissance, intelligence transmission, crew and reconnaissance coordination, fire guidance training, combat exercises, light weapons shooting, individual combat, and capture.

……

From a physiological perspective, the period from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. is when the human body is in its deepest and most restful sleep. At this time, the body temperature is at its lowest and metabolism is at its slowest.

Being suddenly awakened from deep sleep will produce a strong feeling of drowsiness, irritability, sluggish brain response, and a significant decrease in physical coordination.

If an emergency assembly whistle sounds at this time, the awakened soldiers often end up wearing the wrong clothes, carrying their satchels backwards, or forgetting their equipment.

Of course, well-trained elite soldiers can avoid such situations. Many military commanders like to call emergency assemblies during this period in order to test the combat readiness of their troops under extreme conditions.

At two o'clock in the morning, a chilly spring breeze swept through the camp. Although it was early March, the temperature was still around zero degrees Celsius, and the soldiers on guard duty still needed to wear thick military overcoats.

"Who?"

At the entrance of the dormitory building of the Seventh Steel Company, Wang Xinhu, the duty officer, subconsciously asked a question in a low voice, then realized that there must be no outsiders coming out of the dormitory building.

"It must be some inhuman leader trying to cause trouble at this time," Wang Xinhu muttered to himself as he turned his head to take a look.

Sure enough, two figures, each about 1.8 meters tall, walked over side by side, their posture upright and their strides brisk.

Based on their physiques and the three-star rifles they carried on their shoulders, it was easy to identify them as the two tigers of the Steel Seventh Company, Gao Cheng and Zhang Anbang.

"Do your duty well," Gao Cheng said softly, walking out of the dormitory building side by side with Zhang Anbang.

"Yes," Wang Xinhu replied, inwardly thinking that they were indeed two good-for-nothings. These two liked to personally come out and blow the assembly whistle, while the normal company commanders would blow the whistle.

But then I happily thought, thankfully I'm on the night shift today, so this is a blessing in disguise, hehe.

Gao Cheng looked up at the night sky, which had hardly any stars. "I like 2 a.m.

Zhang Anbang chuckled, "The company commander is right, I also like 2 a.m.."

"Beep—beep beep beep beep..."

As Gao Cheng sounded the emergency assembly whistle, Zhang Anbang also raised a megaphone, shouting, "Attention, entire company! Emergency assembly! Collect your weapons and board the vehicles! Training Ground One!"

Throughout the dormitory of the entire Steel Seventh Company, the veterans were all calm, collected, and organized. They themselves couldn't even remember how many times they had gone through such training.

But the new recruits are different. Although they have been in the company for more than a month and have done emergency drills, this is the first time they have ever received their guns and boarded the vehicles at two in the morning.

Xiao Wenwu grabbed his military overcoat, draped it over his arm, and rushed out in his heavy boots.

These heavy-duty boots have brown suede uppers, thick wool linings, rubber soles, and a stitched construction. They entered service in 1979 and can withstand temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius, making them ideal for winter guard duty and field training in northern regions.

High-waisted lace-up design, reinforced front, wear-resistant and slip-resistant, easy to repair. Of course, it also has many drawbacks: breathability is average, socks get very damp after sweating, and a pair of shoes weighs 2.4 pounds, making them quite bulky.

As Xiao Wenwu ran, his gaze swept across the scene and he saw Gangzhu clumsily trying to pull off his military overcoat. He shouted, "Gangzhu, don't put on your overcoat yet, just tuck it under your arms. We'll talk about it after we get on the vehicle."

Gangzhu was taken aback, then quickly tucked his coat under his arm and followed his class to the armory to collect their guns.

"Hurry up, all of you! Stop dawdling like a bunch of girls!" Gao Cheng's roar echoed in front of the dormitory building. Although it wasn't time yet, this guy always yelled and urged everyone to hurry up during gatherings.

……

The drivers of each armored vehicle were the first to rush out of the dormitory building. Their personal weapons and equipment were stored according to fixed regulations, emphasizing the integration of man and vehicle, and being readily available for use.

In such an emergency assembly, their procedure is to spring up, rush out of the dormitory to the vehicle yard, board the vehicle, retrieve and inspect the weapon, check the onboard equipment, and start the engine.

Even in the pitch-black night, the drivers of each tank found their way to their assigned battlefield without missing a beat, grabbed the door handle, pulled open the hatch, and crawled inside.

They don't need to be fully alert; they can complete all the pre-launch checks using only muscle memory.

The train commander pressed the intercom button and made a test call: "Car No. 1 calling the command vehicle, please respond if you receive this message." He confirmed that there was no static on the radio and the volume was clear.

He then ordered, "All personnel, report from your posts!"

"Power system normal, can be started!"

"Weapon system is safe and ready for deployment!"

……