From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

The incorporation of the 7th Steel Brigade can be considered a safe landing, resolving the biggest challenge it currently faces.

Stimulated by this joy, the officers and soldiers of the entire brigade did not slack off after passing the test; on the contrary, their enthusiasm for training became even greater.

Various advanced training programs are gradually being rolled out, making combat abilities more comprehensive.

In order to showcase the "full glory" of the 7th Steel Brigade to the entire army in the upcoming autumn campaign and to solidify the 7th Steel Brigade's position in the army, Chen Jun devoted himself wholeheartedly to the task.

Every day, he would run between the various companies, personally looking out for the shortcomings and deficiencies of each unit, and then write lesson plans to provide targeted reinforcement.

Gao Cheng, Hong Yi, and other key members of the brigade headquarters had a workload that was no less demanding than Chen Jun's.

Chen Jun is like the captain of a ship, responsible for the ship's direction and goal. All other tasks are handled by Gao Cheng, Hong Yi, and other senior executives, who then carry them out efficiently and specifically.

Even Wang Qingrui, who was originally just there for a transitional period, began to shine brightly at this time.

Since he wasn't very knowledgeable about joint operations and combined training, Wang Qingrui focused on what he knew, taking charge of various logistical tasks and providing support to Chen Jun and others.

Whatever Chen Jun needed, Wang Qingrui would find a way to get it for him.

Thanks to his more than 30 years of experience in the military and his connection with Gao Cheng's father in the K Group Army, people still gave him face.

Therefore, Wang Qingrui personally handled the replenishment of various materials for the Seventh Steel Brigade, ensuring a steady supply.

Simultaneously.

Some "rumors" have also circulated within the K Group Army headquarters. Although these rumors have not been confirmed, they have spread quite widely within the 7th Steel Brigade.

The content is about Brigade Commander Wang Qingrui.

As is widely known, Wang Qingrui's appointment as commander of the 7th Steel Brigade was merely a transitional measure; even without the word "acting," he was essentially just an acting brigade commander.

Everyone basically knows who Wang Qingrui is acting as a temporary interim agent for.

It's either Chen Jun or Gao Cheng.

It couldn't be anyone else.

If someone else had been appointed as the brigade commander, or if someone had been parachuted in and taken the position, Wang Qingrui would never have become the brigade commander.

Back when it was still the Seventh Steel Battalion, a battalion commander was parachuted in, and in the end, such a big incident occurred.

If another brigade commander were to be parachuted in now, the Seventh Steel Brigade would probably be in deep trouble. This is a much bigger problem than the Seventh Steel Battalion, and not everyone can handle it.

Apart from the veteran leaders who came all the way up from the Steel Seventh Company, probably no one in the entire brigade would be convinced.

The "rumor" circulating from the military headquarters this time is that after the autumn campaign exercise, Wang Qingrui will be transferred to the military headquarters and promoted to the rank of division chief and deputy chief of staff.

The same path taken by Chu Zhangang and Wang Kezheng.

Wang Qingrui was already close to the age limit. If it weren't for the fact that he had worked his way up from soldier to volunteer soldier and then to officer, he would have spent a long time in the soldier stage.

At his age of over fifty, he has long passed the age limit for becoming a full-fledged division commander and should have retired long ago.

It was because of Chen Jun from the 702nd Regiment that, single-handedly, he started from scratch and brought a reconnaissance company to the level of a combined arms brigade.

Wang Qingrui was able to reap the benefits even while lying down, which is why he has the qualifications to continue rising in rank.

Therefore, when Wang Qingrui was promoted to deputy chief of staff, even though he was already over fifty years old and was undoubtedly the oldest deputy chief of staff in the entire army, no one was surprised by this, as it was expected long ago.

The reason why everyone cares so much about this rumor is that after Wang Qingrui's departure, who will take over the vacant brigade commander position?

Chen Jun and Gao Cheng are both colonels, both at the regimental level.

Gao Cheng joined the army a few years earlier than Chen Jun. Before Chen Jun even reached military academy, Gao Cheng had already graduated and started serving as a platoon-level officer in the army.

In addition, Gao Cheng was the company commander of the Steel Seventh Company, and the Steel Seventh Brigade was based on the Steel Seventh Company. In other words, many of the middle-level cadres of the Steel Seventh Brigade were the former company commanders.

This also includes Chen Jun, who should also be called the old company commander.

In terms of both military service years and seniority, Gao Cheng has a clear advantage.

Not to mention that Gao Cheng is a true second-generation Red Army soldier. His father is currently the top leader of the K Group Army, and he is definitely a promising young man with great potential for future promotion. He will probably be entering the war zone soon.

In other words, Gao Cheng has an absolute advantage in terms of personal background.

While Chen Jun may not be as good as Gao Cheng in these aspects, in every other aspect, Chen Jun completely overwhelms Gao Cheng.

Combat skills, military command, tactics and strategy, combined arms force development...

In every aspect, it was absolute suppression.

Moreover, although Gao Cheng was everyone's old company commander and everyone respected the higher-ups, Chen Jun was everyone's "spiritual leader".

Everyone knows that they have achieved what they have today, but who should they thank and be most grateful to?

Therefore, no one would object to Chen Jun becoming the first true brigade commander of the 7th Steel Brigade; everyone would be happy to see it.

It is precisely because Gao Cheng and Chen Jun each have unique advantages in different directions.

So the question of who will serve as brigade commander has sparked such a large private discussion and has had such a wide impact, becoming the topic of greatest concern to everyone.

As everyone continued to discuss and analyze, although there were still disagreements about who should be the brigade commander, one thing was generally agreed upon.

The question of who will serve as brigade commander will most likely be decided in the upcoming autumn campaign, based on the performance of Gao Cheng and Chen Jun.

This also makes everyone very confident that, although the list of participants has not yet been released, the Seventh Steel Brigade will definitely have a place.

The officers and soldiers of the entire brigade were discussing it enthusiastically in private. Gao Cheng and Chen Jun, as the parties involved, naturally knew about it, but neither of them joined in to argue.

Having fought side by side for so many years, their bond is the most important thing in their hearts.

Regardless of who ultimately becomes the brigade commander, Chen Jun and Gao Cheng will continue to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to their work, ensuring that the Seventh Steel Brigade can go further and more steadily in the future.

There will absolutely be no personal feelings involved, and no intentional attempts to cause trouble for the other party.

It's even less likely that at this crucial juncture, he would resort to private connections to smooth things over and increase his chances of becoming a brigade commander, like Chu Zhangang did.

This was the most shameful thing for the upright Chen Jun and Gao Cheng.

So even as the discussion below grew more heated, Gao Cheng and Chen Jun pretended not to hear it, letting them discuss as they pleased, and focused on doing their work well.

Chen Jun had no time to relax while leading troops in intense training exercises.

The only way to relax is online.

Chen Jun would take some time each week to call Liao Qiuxue, chat about what was happening in their lives, and inquire about the progress of the command system development—a fairly regular weekly routine. Every week, Chen Jun would set aside about an hour each time, two or three days in total, to call Liao Qiuxue.

After more than half a year of private conversations, their relationship had basically stabilized, with only the final unspoken understanding remaining.

With just one trigger, their relationship will undergo a qualitative change.

As Chen Jun paid close attention over a long period of time, and based on his understanding of the command system of later generations, he put forward his opinions and ideas in a timely manner.

The laboratory led by Liao Qiuxue as an advisor is making good progress in developing the command system.

It is expected that the digital command system will be developed before the autumn campaign, and then it can be implanted into the system of the 7th Steel Brigade for trial operation.

In this regard.

Chen Jun is still looking forward to it!

After all, the heavy combined arms brigade he personally built is now basically complete in other aspects, and only the last two key components are needed to make it a complete unit.

One of them is a digital command system that enables efficient command and fully integrates information technology.

Besides chatting on the phone with Liao Qiuxue, Chen Jun's other leisure activity was to enrich himself by studying online military forums.

Even with a vision that was more than a decade ahead of its time, Chen Jun was not arrogant or conceited.

They thought they were already perfect and didn't need to learn anymore.

Chen Jun still believes that no matter the era, there will always be people who have a flash of inspiration and come up with ingenious ideas, or even ideas that are far ahead of their time.

These things may not seem significant individually, but when combined, they create a qualitative change.

Chen Jun hopes to find a spark of inspiration in the vast ocean of the internet that will allow him to further develop his tactics and strategies.

To discover such talent, one inevitably has to engage in a lot of online battles with others.

Deputy Chief of Staff Shen is one of the visionaries. He had been playing chess with Chen Jun online for a long time, and the two still frequently clash.

This is not.

Chen Jun had just finished writing the next training plan and wanted to relax, so he habitually opened the military forum and saw a message left for him by his old rival.

"I recently read a report about a specialized opposing force unit of the army in a certain theater of operations. After leaving the theater, it appeared to be passive in every way."

Even if they resorted to some fancy but ultimately ineffective tactics, their defeat clearly demonstrates that a professionalized opposing team approach may not be suitable for China's national conditions.

Chief of Staff Shen knew the whole story and had always been a staunch supporter of the 7th Steel Brigade.

The reason for leaving such contradictory remarks to Chen Jun is clearly that he did not know that he was arguing with Chen Jun, but he highly recognized Chen Jun's understanding of modern military affairs.

That's why he told Chen Jun, in his own voice, the same statement that was used by outsiders to criticize and belittle the Seventh Steel Brigade.

This was intended to probe Chen Jun's (an online friend) views and thoughts on the matter, and to provide corresponding analysis for my own reference.

simply put.

He was able to select appropriate examples from Chen Jun's counterattacks and use them to refute other "cadres" at the war zone meetings.

After all, Deputy Chief of Staff Shen was under a lot of pressure, so the more theoretical arguments he came up with to refute the claims, the better.

Chen Jun didn't know that the other party was Chief of Staff Shen, but I had been talking to him for over a year and we were old friends. We also shared many of our views.

It's so-so but still meets my taste; in this day and age, he's already considered a rare "master".

Now, seeing that the example the other side has chosen is actually their own troops, and that the entire statement is one-sided and far from the truth, it's clear that the other side is exposing a completely different side of the story.

Chen Jun certainly couldn't accept this, so he immediately launched a counterattack.

"Do you only know how to think like a pig? Shut your pig mouth. The professional opposing force you're referring to is the famous Steel Seventh Brigade."

The cross-theater army exercise you mentioned is not as bad as you say; it's just a one-sided news report that has concealed some of the truth.

Moreover, for professional opposing forces, there is never a concept of victory or defeat.

If the purpose of forming a professional Blue Team is merely to defeat the Red Team, purely for the sake of winning, how is that any different from a pig eating feed just to gain weight?

The emergence of professional opposing forces should be regarded as a brand-new training method, and it should play a positive role in promoting the reform of military training.

Changing the established confrontation training model is one of the most direct and effective ways to transform the results of foreign military research into training practice.

To regard a single victory or defeat of the Blue Team as the standard for the construction of a professional Blue Team is simply the stupid thinking of a donkey who knows nothing about military training.

You ignorant fool, how dare you spout nonsense on a military forum? You should be dragged out and shot ten times over.

Chen Jun's words were very strong and assertive, completely different from his usual speaking style, which highlighted the nature of the debate on the forum.

If you don't know who the other person is on the forum, then you can just do whatever makes you happy.

"Ding Dong."

Chief of Staff Shen was organizing documents when he suddenly heard a computer notification sound. Almost instinctively, he turned around and saw Chen Jun's reply.

Chief of Staff Shen took this matter very seriously, so the forum webpage remained open after he replied.

"This guy has a really sharp tongue, haha."

Chief of Staff Shen smiled after reading Chen Jun's message, thinking to himself, "I've finally figured out this guy's pattern. If I want him to say something useful, it seems I have to go all out."

As Chief of Staff Shen thought to himself, a smug smile crept onto his lips, and he started snapping his fingers across the ground.

"The missile has finally broken its silence, but it's clear that because it's been silent for so long, it's firing without any mercy. It hasn't even figured out the true meaning of this post before it's firing off indiscriminately, and it's also making very rude remarks. It's really infuriating."

Chief of Staff Shen was called a stupid donkey by Chen Jun, and he was really at a loss for words, but he still couldn't help but refute him.

"This guy, he's got a temper now?"

Chen Jun laughed when he saw this, and replied again: "If you want to discuss the issue, you should be straightforward and settle it with a whistling sound and a flash of swords."

"Okay, that's what I've been waiting for."

Chief of Staff Shen praised the action, then composed himself and began typing seriously: "Since the Seventh Steel Brigade is a professional opposing force, its handling of hostages is completely unlike that of terrorists. Therefore, I must question three points."

First, I believe that the claim of professionalism by the 7th Steel Brigade is merely a legend and a rumor; in reality, they are quite unprofessional.

Take hostage-taking operations, for example. They should be purposeful, with political, military, or economic objectives. If these objectives are not achieved, a hostage-taking operation is a blind adventure, a game of make-believe by fools, and has no military value whatsoever…” (End of Chapter)