The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 479: Grand Parade and Exercise 2
At this time, the loudspeakers in the expanded camp had stopped playing, and the Huangpu school song that had been playing in the assault corps' camp stopped instantly. The entire camp also became quiet in an instant, and the members of the reviewing team who came to review naturally looked in the direction pointed by He Wei.

On the playground, thousands of officers and soldiers of the assault corps had formed several square formations and neat rows. Three infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, a direct engineering company, a baggage company, a search company, a communications company, a tank defense artillery company, and an anti-aircraft artillery company were arranged in order.

Just like the many ceremonies held within the assault corps before, all subordinate units of the corps were fully deployed, officers and soldiers of each battalion and company were fully armed and dressed in combat uniforms, and all kinds of light and heavy firearms, equipment, mules and horses were also pulled out.

In order to make enough space for the inspection of the assault corps, He Wei had transferred the five replacement soldier battalions of the First Replacement Soldier Training Department, and he also required all the personnel and equipment of the Third Independent Motor Vehicle Battalion assigned to him to be on standby in the barracks and carports.

Therefore, the distance between the officers and soldiers of the assault corps' queues was also widened, and the front and side widths of the queues were even larger and wider than before. In addition, the assault corps had a large organization and a large number of troops, so the troops appeared extremely powerful.

On the playground, there was no other noise except the whistling of the wind and the occasional cries of mules and horses. The entire assault corps stood far away in the center of the playground as if it was still and stagnant.

The entire column of the assault corps looks like a row when viewed horizontally, a column when viewed vertically, and a straight line when viewed from the side. It is neat and uniform without any disorder, and can be described as majestic and solemn.

Minister He and Minister Xu were both a little surprised when they saw the huge and orderly formation of the assault corps. Minister He, who was more familiar with He Wei, was fine. He had long been aware of He Wei's ability in leading and training troops. He looked in the direction of the assault corps for half a minute and then smiled with satisfaction, as if saying "everything was as expected".

Minister Xu was shocked at first, then he stared at the huge column of the assault corps with interest, and even asked his accompanying adjutant for a telescope. He Wei did not interrupt him, but just stood quietly by the side, allowing the veteran Xu Yongchang to carefully examine his subordinates.

Xu Yongchang, an old soldier in the army, naturally understood what good soldiers and good troops were. Apart from anything else, the assault corps with several thousand men were able to be as steady as a rock and stand in neat and uniform formations for a long time with peace and composure, which many troops could not do.

Although a unit with such military appearance and demeanor may not necessarily be an elite force that is highly combat-effective and invincible on the battlefield, its overall combat effectiveness will definitely not be bad. This is a glimpse of the whole picture. What's more, the Assault Corps has already proved its combat effectiveness with many victories on the battlefield and countless Japanese soldiers' souls.

Major General Yang of the Military Affairs Department, Major General Huang of the Chairman's Secretariat, the Soviet military advisers and the rest of the entourage all looked at the Assault Corps' formation and nodded frequently, obviously very satisfied with the Assault Corps' magnificent appearance.

Not to mention other aspects of the assault corps, the troops' neatly-organized equipment and gear, as well as the imitation German-made steel helmets that every soldier has, are enough to make it stand out among the other national armies. Due to the serious losses in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the government's stock of steel helmets has been almost exhausted. Millions of troops across the country, even the elite troops of the Central Army, are now unable to be equipped with steel helmets on a large scale. Most of the millions of troops can only fight in cloth caps. Wearing cloth caps and straw sandals is a true portrayal of the vast majority of Chinese troops at present.

The attendants in the reviewing group had seen the military appearance of many troops in various roll calls and reviews, but now there were only a few elite troops of the Central Army who could wear a steel helmet. The unique tactical vest of the Assault Corps added a great deal of points to the troops' appearance. The military appearance of the Assault Corps alone could be said to be unique in the entire national army. Many people in the reviewing group were now secretly admiring that this army that had won the great victory in Yangxin was simply different!
Suddenly, the quiet atmosphere was broken by the sound of hurried and orderly footsteps. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound again and saw a dense column of more than 200 officers and soldiers of the special forces company directly under the assault corps, formed under the command of the company commander Yang Biao, moving quickly with hurried steps and neat formations. The soldiers' steps were neat and powerful, and with the dense and orderly footsteps, the special forces company quickly drove in from the gate of the camp and joined the large square formation of the assault corps.

Xu Yongchang then put down the telescope and exchanged a glance with Minister He. Only then did he realize that the team that came in later was the troops that had just lined up on both sides of the road to greet them. Then, Xu Yongchang smiled knowingly and whispered to Minister He, "This assault corps is really amazing. Such a team quality and team spirit must be cultivated through excellent training. He Wei is really good at leading troops. I think the momentum and strength of this team are no less than that of a brigade."

Minister He then said quietly, "Minister Xu, his corps is not no less than a brigade, but its total strength and organization are much larger than an infantry brigade. Each of the three infantry battalions under his corps has seven companies, not counting the direct-affiliated units and artillery battalions. There are 21 companies in the three infantry battalions alone, while an average infantry brigade only has about 20 companies. Haha, this organization table was approved by our Military and Political Department. When the organization of his corps was approved, the cadres in the Military and Political Department were all stunned."

Xu Yongchang was a little surprised when he heard this, and suddenly said: "So that's it."

Then, Xu Yongchang looked at Minister He and said, "Minister He, you will be in charge of the next review and inspection."

Minister He was not polite. He smiled and nodded, then pointed in the direction of the command platform in the center of the playground and said in a deep voice: "In wartime, combat is still the first priority. It is better to keep everything simple. Don't hold a review, just a parade. The focus is still on exercises and drills."

"Yes!"

He Wei replied.

Immediately, He Wei led the reviewing group to the command platform in the center of the playground, and sent a staff officer to notify the chief of staff Wang Yuanling who was commanding near the assault corps formation to start the parade review. The assault corps' neat formation also began to move and change accordingly.

More than 7,000 officers and soldiers quickly took action. Amid the continuous commands and actions, they began to change from a fixed review formation to a parade formation in battalion and company units. The officers and soldiers adjusted their formation and collected equipment to the sound of neat kicks and footsteps. The mules and horses that were towing and carrying the equipment were also driven forward, and to the sound of neat commands and shouts, they completed the process of loading and towing various weapons, equipment and instruments.

Heavy machine guns and 81mm mortars were all loaded, and the mountain guns and ammunition auxiliary vehicles of the artillery battalion were equipped with traction equipment and changed to mule-horse traction. The infantry, supporting firearms, and artillery units each performed their duties and carried out formation changes in an orderly manner. In the high-intensity training before the inspection, the assault corps put various tactical training and combat actions in the first place, but at the same time, the basic formation training of the troops was also paid close attention to. Now, more than people are strictly uniform, and the orderly large-scale complex formation change is the best display of the training effect!
Ten minutes later, the assault corps troops, which had originally stood in a row facing the command platform, had changed into a column formation with their advance direction parallel to the command platform in the center of the playground.

When the troops were ready for the parade, the members of the reviewing group also stood on the command platform and were ready for the review. After consulting Ministers He and Xu, He Wei immediately raised his head and shouted in a roaring voice: "The parade begins!"

Then, Fu Chen, the commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps, who was leading the charge, held his head high and saluted in the direction of the command platform where He Wei was standing, and then gave the order: "1st Battalion, the parade begins, goose-step, march!"

The first battalion at the front of the team began to move. The officers and soldiers took uniform, firm and powerful steps and marched forward in a goose-step posture. Amid the neat, dull and powerful footsteps and step sounds, the first battalion followed the order of the first to fourth infantry companies, the heavy machine gun company, the mortar company and the battalion headquarters company, with the companies as the basic square units, and gradually approached the command platform in a goose-step posture.

The riflemen of the four infantry companies carried their rifles with shining bayonets on their backs, holding the straps tightly with one hand, and marched forward. The sergeants equipped with submachine guns carried their submachine guns with one hand on their backs, and the light machine gunners and general machine gunners carried machine guns on their shoulders. The gunners of the 60 mortar squad carried the disassembled mortar parts, and marched forward with an extremely proud attitude and full spirit.

The commander of the First Battalion, Fu Chen, personally led the First Infantry Company to clear the way. When the First Company's troops were about to reach the reviewing stand, Fu Chen shouted loudly, "Everyone, look to the right!"

"kill!"

Shouts of killing suddenly broke out from the officers and soldiers of the First Company's neat and tidy team, and then with the sound of loud footsteps, they all looked towards the reviewing stand. The officers and soldiers' tactical vests were clean and tidy, the helmets on their heads were clean and shiny, and their various weapons were sophisticated and sturdy, shining brightly in the sun.

With neat steps, loud stamped feet and shouts of killing, the advancing column of the First Infantry Company burst into murderous aura the moment it passed the command platform. The shouts of killing made people's blood boil, and the sound of stamped feet made people's heart beat faster.

At this moment, He Wei watched his troops slowly passing in front of the command podium. All the members of the reviewing group around him were silent, with only the rumbling sound of footsteps echoing. Many people were even stunned.

Ministers Xu and He had already raised their hands to salute the first company of troops passing in front of the command platform. The mere presence of the first infantry company brought great shock to everyone in the reviewing group.

In such a majestic atmosphere, Major General Yang from the Military Training Department, Major General Huang from the Chairman's Secretariat, and many of the attendants saluted with admiration on their faces. Even those big-nosed Soviet military advisers nodded repeatedly and saluted excitedly to the officers and soldiers of the First Company.

Such uniform steps, such full and tenacious spirits, and the murderous aura that could not be concealed at all and was shocking to the heart, have completely shocked the members of the reviewing group!
After the First Infantry Company of the First Battalion passed, the rest of the troops also followed suit and passed the reviewing stand in a marching formation. The Second, Third, and Fourth Infantry Companies of the First Battalion completely replicated the review process of the First Company that appeared first. Next came the First Battalion's heavy machine gun company, mortar company, and the First Battalion's headquarters company, which were also equipped with a considerable number of mules and horses. Although these special companies were not as visually uniform as the infantry companies composed entirely of foot infantry, they also had a unique majesty.

The heavy machine gun company was equipped with eight Czech-made ZB37 heavy machine guns, and the mortar company was equipped with four Blonde mm mortars. All of them were fully assembled and placed on the saddles of pack horses. They were pulled by officers and soldiers of each company and passed the command platform in turn according to the dense march formation in the drill manual.

Heavy machine guns, mortars, and the mixed formation of tall and well-bred horses captured from the Japanese army and equally capable officers and soldiers also gave the reviewing group a sense of majesty and grandeur.

After Major Fu Chen's First Infantry Battalion passed by, Major Fang Jing's Second Infantry Battalion, Major Hu Zhaowu's Third Infantry Battalion, Captain Yang Biao's special forces company, Captain Sun Xisheng's communications company, Major Zhao Zhanhai's search company, Captain Zhao Jiansan's engineering company, Captain Li Teqian's supply company, Captain Ming Jianxiu's tank defense artillery company, Captain Huang Tingjia's anti-aircraft artillery company, three infantry battalions of the assault corps, and the majestic columns of seven direct-affiliated companies passed by in turn, and the angry shouts of killing continued to ring out.

After thousands of officers and soldiers had passed by, many people in the reviewing group, including the two big guys, Minister He and Minister Xu, could no longer control their expressions, with expressions of shock and admiration.

Before everyone could get over their excitement, the artillery battalion of the assault corps, which was the last to be deployed, appeared in everyone's sight on the command platform amid a burst of rapid and dense horse hoofbeats. As the distance got closer, the earth seemed to shake, and many people couldn't help but hold their breath.

Under the leadership of the artillery battalion commander, Major Chen Xinsheng, the artillery arrays of the four combat artillery companies of the assault corps artillery battalion slowly approached the command platform. Pulled by hundreds of Japanese horses, the eighteen Type 75 mm mountain guns and ammunition auxiliary vehicles and gunner auxiliary vehicles of the artillery battalion's mountain artillery companies one, two and three passed by one after another.

The wheels of mountain artillery and various auxiliary vehicles kept passing by, and together with the steadily advancing war horses, they raised clouds of dust, making the entire artillery battalion's column look impressive.

Then, the six extremely large Soviet-made improved M1902 76.2mm field guns of the field artillery company of the artillery battalion, which was the last to be formed, slowly followed up and drove past the command platform with murderous intent. Hundreds of tall horses, twenty-four mountain guns, field guns, ammunition auxiliary carts, gunner auxiliary carts and battle-hardened artillerymen once again greatly shocked everyone on the command platform!
(End of this chapter)