African Nationhood

Chapter 350: Heavy Training and Marching

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The entire month of July slowly passed through day-by-day live-fire training.

Zhao Youjin’s team assisted the battalion headquarters in slowly determining the best ratio of firepower for the team:

Each team is equipped with 1 light machine gun and 600 rounds of ammunition;

Equipped with 2 submachine guns with 600 rounds of ammunition, 300 rounds each, and 4 grenades per person;

Equipped with 2 grenade launchers and 30 rounds of grenades, 15 rounds per door;

Equipped with 2 pistols, 80 rounds of bullets, 40 rounds each.

Equipped with 5 rifles and 300 rounds of bullets, each with 60 rounds.

(These data refer to the ammunition base of our army’s grassroots units during the War of Liberation, because the Nanhua Company’s army is currently targeting light infantry, not mechanized large corps standards.)

These data are of great reference significance, and the battalion headquarters will report the data to the division headquarters.

The division headquarters then summarizes it to the military headquarters, and when the data from each division headquarters are collected together, the military headquarters will uniformly determine it, and finally form a standard, which will be fed back to the logistics department to facilitate logistics arrangements.

……

During this time, the other soldiers in Zhao Youjin's team got along better and better, and everyone's brotherhood slowly accumulated.

Because Zhao Youjin is the youngest, everyone in the team takes care of him the most.

Zhao Youjin was very embarrassed, but he couldn't refuse everyone's kindness, so he gradually got used to it.

The squad leader and squad deputy also gave full play to the leading role of the veterans. Their daily behavioral norms were also very standard, leading the atmosphere within the squad to become increasingly positive.

……

By August, the previous live-fire training gradually decreased and a new round of training began.

The training subject this time is weight marching, which relies solely on manpower to carry weight.

The battalion headquarters specially sent instructors to teach the soldiers how to pack backpacks.

The instructor who came was young and very small. It was said that he was a packer in a factory before joining the army. After joining the army, he was found to be good at "backpacking", so he became a model for "backpacking".

"Hello everyone, I am Wang Tiezhu, and today I am here to teach you a little skill about life in the military camp.

During our daily march, we often receive sudden orders or urgent missions, and the distance to the next combat area is uncertain.

At this time, a backpack that is simple, fast and does not fall apart will be what everyone needs most urgently.

The outer skin of the backpack is the marching blanket or quilt we are issued. In the backpack we must carry enough rations and our firearms, which requires our soldiers to be able to carry as much weight as possible.

Regarding backpacks, I have now figured out a very effective binding method, which is the 'three horizontal and two vertical' method.

Now let me show you a demonstration first, and then we will get into the details. "

After speaking, Wang Tiezhu demonstrated the process of quickly packing a backpack in front of the entire company, and then demonstrated the details of packing to the soldiers, including where to fold the corners and where to pull the backpack ropes. He explained in great detail.

This process may seem simple, but the soldiers may not think so once they pack it themselves.

Therefore, Wang Tiezhu's role came to the fore. He gave on-the-spot guidance to the soldiers and gave his own explanations, and everyone gathered around to learn silently.

In just over an hour, everyone learned his method, and the rest was just practice.

……

After three days, all the soldiers in the battalion were very proficient in how to pack their backpacks. After learning how to pack their backpacks, the next step was to practice marching with heavy loads.

Marching with heavy loads naturally refers to marching fully armed. According to the previously determined firepower standards for the team, the total weight of these weapons and equipment is about 180 kilograms, less than 2 kilograms per person.

But in addition to weapons and equipment, soldiers also need to carry 2-3 days of rations.

One day's ration is calculated as 1.5 kilograms per person, which is 3 kilograms for three days.

Including the clothes and odds and ends we carry, the weight is almost 6 to 7 kilograms.

The total individual weight added up is 8.5 kilograms on average.

This 8.5 kilograms is only a preliminary calculation, and soldiers need to cooperate with experiments to ensure the best ratio. The battalion headquarters once again sent clerks to collect statistics, and all soldiers in the battalion went out for a test. Such a test can be called a devil's training for ordinary soldiers.

The distance of the first heavy march was 5 kilometers. At first, everyone didn't take it seriously, but after walking 3 kilometers, they felt a little bit better. By the time they reached 5 kilometers, everyone could still talk and laugh normally.

Carrying weight for 5 kilometers takes about an hour.

During the march, everyone's performance was just okay, and there was no particularly obvious phenomenon of falling behind.

After resting for a while, continue testing.

The next test was a 10-kilometer weight-bearing march, and now the gap became apparent.

It was obvious that there were soldiers on the road who could not hold on any longer and needed the help of their comrades to persevere.

The distance at which individual soldiers become exhausted varies, generally between 7 and 8 kilometers, and the rest depends purely on perseverance.

Zhao Youjin was exhausted at 7 kilometers, but it was squad leader Yao Long who helped him carry the gun so he could finish the whole race.

The proportion of soldiers who can complete the 10-kilometer distance is 8.5%, and the proportion of soldiers who are physically weak is very small, and it takes more than 2 hours.

This test shows that the longer the distance, the faster the soldiers' physical fitness declines. At the same time, there is also a reason why the soldiers have not learned to scientifically distribute their physical strength.

After the battalion headquarters counted the numbers, the weight-bearing training continued the next day. This time the distance was increased to 15 kilometers.

This time, the proportion of soldiers falling behind has increased significantly, with nearly 3% of the soldiers unable to complete the journey.

The battalion headquarters continued to count until the marching speed with heavy loads reached 40 kilometers, and the proportion of soldiers who completed the heavy-bearing training only reached 2.5%.

At this point, a cycle of testing was completed, and the battalion headquarters began to instruct the soldiers to reduce the amount of rations they carried from 2 days to 1 day.

As the weight is reduced, the time and distance of the soldier's weight training are completely proportional.

This proportional relationship was determined after statistical comparison by the battalion headquarters: the troops carrying 2-day rations are 7 kilograms, which is the best weight-bearing ratio for ordinary troops during daily marches during heavy-bearing training.

This weight-bearing unit can guarantee a rapid march of 12 kilometers within a certain period of time (50 hours).

If the load is further reduced, the limit can be increased by another 10 to 20 kilometers.

(The 38th Army during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea had this data, marching 70 kilometers overnight.)

After receiving data feedback, the division headquarters believed that the troops' short-distance heavy-load marches still had potential to be tapped, so they ordered a special order to focus on short- and medium-distance fast heavy-load marches.

And issued specific training standards: 5 kilometers and 10 kilometers, no stragglers can be found in the troops, and at most 20% of soldiers will be left behind at kilometers.

30公里最多1成，40公里掉队比例最多2成，50公里最多3成。

In other words, the division headquarters requires grassroots soldiers to be able to adapt to the requirements of rapid marches within 20 kilometers, and most soldiers must be able to adapt to the requirements of long-distance raids.

Such stringent training requirements issued by the division headquarters have already placed a great burden and intensity on the grassroots soldiers.

In order to meet the requirements of the division headquarters, the battalion headquarters must increase these training standards.

最终基层士兵负重实训要求直接变成了5公里负重训练，半小时内结束，10公里1个半小时内结束……50公里低至2成掉队比例。

The requirements from the battalion headquarters have been issued. What else can the grassroots soldiers do? Just practice hard.

If you don't train well, you will be laughed at by your comrades, squad and company.

Under such high-load and intensive training, soldiers like Zhao Youjin finally realized that life was worse than death.

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(End of this chapter)