The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 480: The Russians’ Admiration
After the grand and majestic parade, the barracks of the assault corps returned to silence. The three infantry battalions and seven directly affiliated companies of the corps adjusted their formations again and completed the transition to the review formation facing the command platform before the parade.

More than 7,000 officers and soldiers of the assault corps, who had just completed an exciting and magnificent large-scale parade, neatly executed various formation movements such as retreating, merging, moving closer, turning, etc. in less than ten minutes. The soldiers' movements were neat, the officers' commands were accurate, and the coordination and cooperation of various departments in the formation adjustments were seamless and smooth. Although the entire process of formation changes was not as grand as the parade just now, every part of it reflected a high degree of organization, discipline, obedience and solid basic qualities of a soldier.

However, after witnessing the majestic and exciting parade of the Assault Corps and the clean and neat large-scale formation changes, the members of the reviewing group seemed to be still unsatisfied. Many of the attendants were pointing and talking excitedly at the Assault Corps' formation, and everyone's face was filled with excitement and admiration.

Even Minister He Jingzhi of the Ministry of Military Affairs and Minister Xu Yongchang of the Military Affairs Department, veterans of the battlefield who were accustomed to big scenes, were excited.

On the command platform, Xu Yongchang pointed at the assault corps and whispered to Minister He, "The assault corps is really amazing, really amazing. You can tell from the military parade that this team is extraordinary. In a trance, I seem to smell a faint smell of blood and murderous intent. This He Wei is really good at leading troops."

Hearing Xu Yongchang's praise for He Wei's ability to lead troops again, Minister He smiled knowingly and whispered, "This shows that what I said on the road was not empty talk. If he didn't have strong leadership skills, he wouldn't have been promoted so quickly in just two years. The specific situation of his corps when it was formed was also reported to the Military and Political Department. More than two-thirds of the soldiers were veterans who had fought in the battlefield. Of course, there was a lot of blood and murderous intent."

Xu Yongchang smiled and said, "It's true that hearing about someone is worse than seeing them in person. When I came here today, I felt that I should have come to the Assault Corps earlier to take a look."

After Xu Yongchang finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the Major General Yang from the Military Training Department beside him and asked, "The Military Training Department is in charge of the training and guidance of the national army. I wonder what Major General Yang can see from this parade?"

Major General Yang nodded solemnly and said, "The magnificence of the army, the neatness of its equipment, and the quality of its weapons are unprecedented. Not only are they unprecedented in the current national army, but they are also rare in the national army before the war. In my opinion, even the Central Military Academy Training Corps before the war is inferior to them in terms of overall condition."

Huang, a senior adviser in the chairman's secretariat who was standing next to Major General Yang, also looked at the huge formation of the assault corps and nodded slightly, but did not make any comments.

Similar conversations praising the assault corps' combat effectiveness and military appearance also occurred among other members of the reviewing group. There were admiration, sighs, excitement, and various comments on various aspects of the parade, and even comments on He Wei himself, but all of them were full of praise.

After the parade, He Wei did not disturb the members of the reviewing group, but stood quietly on the podium, allowing them to exchange views and express their opinions.

While everyone was chattering and discussing heatedly, an officer walked up to Ministers He and Xu and said, "Ministers, the three Soviet advisers are very interested in the artillery of the assault corps and hope to communicate with Captain He."

The three Soviet military advisers mentioned by the officers are naturally the three Russians in suits in the reviewing group. After the Soviet Union started its military aid to China, it not only provided China with a large number of weapons and equipment and military supplies, but also sent hundreds of military advisers to provide all-round guidance to the Chinese army's anti-Japanese war strategy, tactics, troop training and the use of Soviet-aided weapons and equipment.

These people were excellent military cadres in the Soviet Army who had received a good military education and had high military literacy. They had sufficient practical war experience and the ability to guide military tactics.

After arriving in China, these advisers quickly helped the Nationalist government establish a comprehensive military advisory system in China, which was another powerful form of assistance provided by the Soviet Union to China in addition to material assistance such as weapons, equipment, and military supplies.

As soon as the officer finished speaking, three big-nosed Soviet advisers came over. Their emotions and actions were much more excited than the Chinese members of the reviewing group. They pointed loudly in Russian without paying attention to etiquette, and the direction they pointed was exactly the formation of the artillery battalion of the assault corps that had just served as the finale of the parade.

The loud comments and body movements of these Russian guys in Russian soon attracted the attention of the reviewing group members. The reviewing group members who were talking and chatting with each other all stopped communicating and turned their attention to the three Russian guys. These three Soviet military advisers immediately became the central figures on the podium.

Dozens of reviewing team members looked at the three big Russian military advisers, and the command platform suddenly became quiet. Minister He glanced at the three Russian military advisers, nodded to the officers, and said, "Tell them, it's okay."

Then, Minister He waved to He Wei and said, "He Wei, these three military advisers want to communicate with you. These Soviet advisers are active officers in the Soviet army. They are currently stationed in the Military Commission to guide our army's strategic and tactical positions in the war of resistance. You must communicate well with the three friendly advisers."

"Yes!"

He Wei stood at attention and said, then walked up to the three Russians, saluted, and said with a smile: "I wonder if you, the advisors of the states, have any guidance on the combat training mission of our assault corps?"

Immediately, the officer who asked Minister He began to relay the information to the three advisers in Russian, which He Wei could not understand at all, and the three Soviet advisers quickly gave their responses.

He Wei had no idea what the three Russians were saying, but seeing their excited state and high-pitched voices, He Wei felt that their current evaluation of the Assault Corps should be quite good. Moreover, it seemed that the three of them were very interested in the artillery battalion of the Assault Corps and kept pointing in the direction of the artillery battalion's formation.

Soon, the translator threw questions from the three consultants to He Wei.

"Captain He, these three military advisors are particularly interested in your artillery battalion. It seems that your artillery battalion has artillery made in the Soviet Union?"

"That's right. The field artillery company of my artillery battalion is equipped with six modified M1909 field artillery pieces produced in the Soviet Union."

The translator quickly said to He Wei, "Captain He, several advisors have heard that your troops have annihilated the Japanese army on the battlefield. Did these Soviet-made artillery play a big role in the battle? Without these large-caliber field artillery provided by the Soviet Union, can your troops still win the battle?"

He Wei was stunned when he heard this question. He thought that these Russian consultants would ask questions related to the training and combat of the troops, but he did not expect them to ask whether the Soviet field artillery equipped by the artillery battalion was easy to use.
He Wei felt that these three Soviet advisers were showing off the weapons and equipment that their country had donated to China. Well, they seemed to have a sense of superiority, as if the assault corps could not win without the artillery equipment donated by the Soviet Union. In short, He Wei was not very comfortable. However, He Wei could understand that these old Russians were the aid providers and the Chinese army was the aid recipients. In addition, the overall unfavorable situation of the Chinese army on the battlefield made it understandable that these old Russian advisers had a sense of superiority, but what they said did sound very unfriendly.

The members of the reviewing group all around also showed some dissatisfaction. Although those members of the reviewing group were not officers of the assault corps, they were all Chinese soldiers. In their view, the problem with the Russian advisers was that the Chinese army could not win a battle without the equipment provided by the Soviet Union, which made them quite dissatisfied.

He Wei shook his head and said calmly, "I am very grateful to our allies for providing assistance to our country at the critical moment when our country was invaded by Japan. I am also very satisfied with the performance of the field artillery equipped by my corps. However, so far, this type of artillery equipped in our corps has not participated in the battle against the Japanese army. Instead, the mountain artillery of the artillery battalion has participated in the bloody battle between our corps and the Japanese army. It is the artillery that has really hit the Japanese army hard on the battlefield, but these mountain artillery are all made in Japan."

When the translator relayed He Wei's words to several Soviet advisers, the three advisers first showed disappointment. He Wei's answer was obviously not what they wanted to hear, and then they showed doubts.

The translator asked He Wei again: "Captain He, may I ask why your unit is equipped with so many Japanese artillery?"

Upon hearing this, He Wei immediately replied in a loud voice: "These mountain artillery pieces were all captured by our corps from the annihilated Japanese troops in previous battles. Wouldn't it be more satisfying to arm ourselves with the enemy's equipment and then fight back against the enemy?"

As soon as He Wei finished speaking, the members of the reviewing group around him cheered loudly, and some even applauded, praising He Wei and the assault corps for their fighting ability and fighting spirit. Many of them also showed their strong momentum.

After all, what He Wei said, using the artillery captured from the Japanese army to fight back against the Japanese army is really encouraging!

The three Soviet advisers were straightforward people. After listening to the translator's retelling, the puzzled expressions on their faces turned into admiration. The three of them then nodded to He Wei frequently and gave thumbs up to He Wei and the artillery battalion of the assault corps.

Obviously, these three Russians were also impressed by the heroism that He Wei had just shown and the battle records implied by the captured mountain artillery.

Seeing the Soviet adviser's expression of admiration, Minister He, Minister Xu, and many members of the reviewing group felt proud.

Minister He walked to the three Soviet advisers with a beaming face and said, "Advisors, our army fought bloody battles on the battlefield to defend our country and our lives. This was all due to our patriotic spirit of fighting the Japanese invasion. Of course, we are also very grateful for the weapons and equipment you provided. With these weapons and equipment, we can better fight the enemy."

Minister He, who was in high spirits, quickly made up for the embarrassment with a few polite words.

At this point, the review group's basic review of the assault corps has ended, and the next highlight is the test of the assault corps' combat qualities and various combat actions.

The core of this test is naturally the joint combat exercise that the Commando Corps has been preparing for a long time. Minister He and Minister Xu are also looking forward to the combat exercise of the Commando Corps, because He Wei has specially applied for coordination with the Air Force for this joint combat exercise.

As for the content of the coordination and what role the Air Force will play in this exercise, the two powerful ministers He and Xu were not clear. But after this extremely exciting parade, they were both very interested in what He Wei was up to about coordinating with the Air Force.

The same was true for the three Russian military advisers and the review group's entourage. This wonderful parade had whetted their appetites, and everyone was eager to see the assault corps' true tactical level.

After all, no matter how well the parade is conducted, it is just a show. Only various real tactical drills can show the true value.

He Wei did not waste any time and immediately ordered the entire corps to begin a joint combat exercise.

After He Wei gave the order, the first to take action was not the main combat force of the assault corps, but the Third Independent Motor Vehicle Battalion, which had not appeared before. After He Wei's order, the 160 military heavy-duty trucks of the Third Independent Motor Vehicle Battalion drove out of the carport one after another, and the huge convoy was soon assembled in the center of the assault corps' playground.

At the same time, the main force of the assault corps also started to move, but the main force of the assault corps did not set out in an organized manner. The first to board the trucks of the Third Independent Motor Vehicle Battalion were the anti-aircraft artillery company directly under the assault corps, the twelve infantry companies under the three infantry battalions, and the general-purpose machine gun squads of the thirty-six infantry platoons.

Following the commands, the fully armed anti-aircraft artillery company and the officers and soldiers of the thirty-six general-purpose machine gun squads boarded sixty trucks one after another, carrying their full set of artillery, machine guns, and ammunition equipment.

After completing the boarding operation, the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery company and the general-purpose machine gun squad skillfully used the sandbags that had been prepared on the truck compartment to build simple shooting support fortifications on the rear compartment of the truck.

Afterwards, the officers and soldiers who got on the train placed eight Surotong 34mm anti-aircraft guns and thirty-six MG34 general-purpose machine guns equipped with anti-aircraft tripods on the temporary firing fortifications made of sandbags on the carriage. The gunners and machine gunners also took up combat positions and assumed air-to-air shooting postures. The muzzles of the eight Surotong mm anti-aircraft guns and thirty-six MG general-purpose machine guns were pointed directly at the sky under the operation of the gunners and machine gunners.

Sixty trucks loaded with anti-aircraft artillery companies and thirty-six general-purpose machine gun squads, with the exception of sixteen trucks loaded with personnel, observation equipment and ammunition, and the remaining forty-four trucks carrying anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, were transformed into forty-four mobile "anti-aircraft firepower vehicles" in less than ten minutes, in front of the surprised eyes of the reviewing group members.

(End of this chapter)