Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 186 The scale of this exercise is truly unprecedented.

As they were part of the participating troops, Chen Jiang and his comrades lived and survived in accordance with field standards, setting up field tents in designated areas.

Not far away was the main force of the mechanized troops, their engines roaring.

"Battalion Commander, that must be our Type 99A main battle tank, right? It looks really impressive!" a soldier whispered.

“Yes, but the future may not belong to tank units,” Chen Jiang said. He understood the trends of the future battlefield. With the popularization of drones, these former steel behemoths would simply become “steel coffins.”

Unless a sufficiently robust protective measure can be devised, its shortcomings are very obvious.

"No way, this is our latest tank!" Everyone was skeptical.

Chen Jiang said to everyone very seriously: "You must remember that advanced equipment is certainly good, but advanced technology cannot remain unchanged. It will gradually be replaced. Only people will be the eternal protagonists on the battlefield of the future!"

Chen Jiang's words were overheard by Tang Xinyi, who had come to coordinate the work. Tang Xinyi was a staunch believer in the power of equipment. Among her group of military academy students, the impact of modern wars such as the Gulf War was too profound. Good equipment could easily crush the opponent, and if a generational gap was formed, it could be even more overwhelming.

So she said somewhat indignantly, "Deputy Battalion Commander Chen, if people are this crucial, then what are we needed for? You can completely skip the digitalization and just solve the problem with rifles and grenades."

Chen Jiang turned around and saw Tang Xinyi standing at the tent entrance, holding a stack of documents, her brows slightly furrowed.

He hadn't expected Tang Xinyi to confront him so directly in public, so he could only laugh awkwardly.

"Commander, digitalization is certainly important, but even the most advanced system needs people to make judgments and decisions. Didn't the Iraqi army import advanced equipment from developed countries during the Gulf War?" He Chenguang was now a loyal fan of Chen Jiang, and seeing him get the short end of the stick, he was determined to step in.

"That's because they simply don't know how to use it! If the personnel on both sides are of equal skill, the side with the equipment advantage will inevitably win," Tang Xinyi retorted nonchalantly.

Unexpectedly, He Chenguang gave a cold laugh, "Commander, isn't what you said also about the key being people?"

Tang Xinyi hadn't expected He Chenguang to be so eloquent, and for a moment she was caught off guard and found herself at a loss for words.

Chen Jiang secretly rejoiced. The two probably didn't know each other yet, and he didn't know whether he should try to match them up. However, judging from the current situation, Tang Xinyi was clearly a little annoyed.

Fortunately, the regimental officer ran over, saluted Chen Jiang and Tang Xinyi, and said, "The regimental commander has ordered that all officers of battalion level and above participating in the exercise must go to the exercise command post for a meeting. Director Tang, your meeting notice will be issued directly by the military region's political department."

He then handed Chen Jiang a written notice and turned to leave.

Chen Jiang was not originally a battalion-level officer, but he was the military commander of the Third Battalion, so he was definitely going. He saw He Hongtao's name on the notice.

I'll have to go and inform him myself.

"It seems the exercise is about to begin." Tang Xinyi was also visiting the Zhurihe base for the first time, and she couldn't help but feel excited at the thought that her scientific research results might shine in this exercise.

The mobilization meeting for the "Operation Sharp Sword" exercise was solemnly held in the conference room of the Zhurihe base.

The meeting was of a very high standard. Chen Jiang saw many generals he would never normally see. Gao Jianjun, whom they respected, could only sit on the side of the rostrum. There were also foreign military officers on the rostrum.

"Why are there foreign troops here?" Chen Jiang asked He Hongtao beside him in a low voice. As a time traveler, he keenly realized that this exercise might be more important than he had imagined.

"How would I know? They're not going to make us fight the Russians, are they? That would be really exciting." Although He Hongtao didn't usually oversee military training, he had the passion of a soldier and how could he not yearn to win glory for his country?
"It is said that high-ranking military officers from Russia and several Central Asian countries have come." Gao Cheng pointed to the group of officers in different uniforms sitting on the right side of the conference room, who should be the people he was talking about. "Russia has brought a lot of advanced fighter jets, so we have definitely lost our air superiority."

"Don't talk, and be mindful of meeting discipline." Suddenly, Long Kaifeng gently stopped the three from their discussion.

This immediately silenced the three of them.

A major general introduced the main components of the military exercise.
Although the red and blue forces are still divided, the level of coordination among various branches of the armed forces is much higher this time. It not only brings together several of the country's elite armored divisions and helicopter aviation brigades, but also the most advanced Su-30MKK fighter jet units imported from Russia. These are currently the top military forces in the country.

Chen Jiang's army group did not send its entire force this time; instead, each division sent one regiment.

The 702nd Regiment was assigned to the Red Army side, possessing a powerful armored assault force and formidable air cover.

The Blue Army consisted of several little-known units, but their characteristics were quite obvious: they had brought a lot of Soviet-made fighter jets from the Soviet Union, as well as their armored forces, mainly composed of T-90 tanks, which were all very formidable.

On paper, the Blues are by no means weak; this will be a closely contested match.

The exercise was conceived as a three-day offensive and defensive contest between the Red Army and the Blue Army in this area, without distinguishing between the attacking and defending sides.

The referee team, composed of officers from various countries, will monitor and analyze the progress of the exercise in real time at the exercise command center!

Chen Jiang and his comrades were junior officers and were unlikely to participate in the decision-making of the commanders of both the Red and Blue sides; they only had the right to follow orders.

But when he saw their regiment's combat mission after the meeting, he still gasped in shock.
The mission was to have the 702nd Regiment launch a surprise attack on the Blue Army's main fuel supply base at all costs!
Looking at the map, the Blue Army's fuel supply base only has a rough location, hundreds of kilometers away, with a vast Gobi Desert in between, uninhabited, and the weather is unpredictable.

The best way to attack such a position is to send a small unit to scout ahead and then guide a medium-range ballistic missile to attack, or to send fighter jets for precision bombing.

But the problem is, how can we get there to conduct reconnaissance from such a great distance?

Someone suggested sending troops to conduct armed reconnaissance via army aviation helicopter units, but this idea was vetoed by Long Kaifeng because the other side had the support of the Russian air force, and A-50 early warning aircraft could conduct comprehensive monitoring of the airspace.

Flying over there like that would be suicide.

Flying such a long distance at extremely low altitudes places extremely high demands on helicopters, making it far too dangerous; the army aviation brigade would not agree to such a risky plan. Some have suggested sending a contingent of troops for reconnaissance via parachute.

This idea was also rejected by Gao Cheng, because the 702nd Regiment was a mechanized infantry regiment, and very few people knew how to parachute. Especially for such a mission, sending too few people would be useless, as the area was too vast.

"Commander, esteemed officers, I think it would be better to take a risk and launch a long-range surprise attack from this position using infantry fighting vehicles!" Chen Jiang, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up.

When the other battalion commanders saw the route Chen Jiang had drawn on the map, they were all dumbfounded. Soon, someone raised a different opinion: "This route is almost no man's land, the climate conditions are extremely harsh, and we have to cross the vast Gobi Desert. Our armored infantry fighting vehicles simply cannot support such a long-distance raid."

"Yes, it's such a long distance, how do we get fuel? Do we have to follow the fuel trucks?"

"Another point is that the Red Army's aerial reconnaissance was not just for show, given how obvious the convoy was as a target."

Everyone chimed in with their opinions, basically saying that Chen Jiang's suggestion was unreliable.

Even He Hongtao remained silent. In his view, the Third Company simply did not possess the capability for such a long-distance raid.

"Chen Jiang, do you have any specific ideas? At least give me a reason to trust you." Gao Cheng knew that Chen Jiang was capable, so he decided to support him.

What if he really has a good idea? He's shown great skill in the previous exercises.

Chen Jiang was very grateful for Gao Cheng's trust. He cleared his throat and began to persuade everyone.
"Gentlemen, the Type 92 infantry fighting vehicles that our 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion were recently equipped with have electric start engines. Because they use air cooling, they do not need to be filled with coolant like water-cooled engines, making them more suitable for long-distance maneuvers in water-scarce areas such as the Gobi Desert and other desert regions. With a full tank of fuel and an auxiliary fuel tank, they can travel more than 800 kilometers at a speed of 85 kilometers per hour."

"In that case, we can't march during the day, but we can at night. It's a distance of several hundred kilometers. We can cover it in one night!"

"Once we reach the vicinity of the destination, we will conduct a dispersed search in platoons and squads to improve search efficiency. I am confident that we can complete the mission within the time limit stipulated in the exercise."

Chen Jiang has great confidence in this new infantry fighting vehicle.

It departs from the design of previous tracked infantry fighting vehicles, using three pairs of large rubber tires, a 6×6 equal-wheelbase chassis, and features dual transverse wall independent suspension, inter-axle and inter-wheel differential locks, adjustable air-pressure bulletproof tires, a water propulsion system, and steering mechanisms on both the front and center axles. This gives the Type 92 wheeled armored vehicle high mobility, cross-country capability, and ride stability.

Although the firepower of this armored infantry fighting vehicle is not very good, it is just right for small units like them that are carrying out long-range raids.

After listening to Chen Jiang's analysis, everyone felt that it made a lot of sense, but they were still a little worried about the fact that Chen Jiang was only leading a company of troops, as the force was too weak.

"Don't worry, everyone. The more people we send, the easier it is to be exposed. The Seventh Company is training very hard, and everyone is eager to make a name for themselves. The morale is high! Most importantly, our entire battalion has been digitized. I can monitor the wartime situation of each vehicle and even each soldier in real time, which greatly increases the chances of our successful raid."

Chen Jiang still felt a little regretful. If he had been leading the squadron from the A brigade, there would have been no need for such trouble. Parachute landing would have been the most reliable method, and the informatization construction there was already showing signs of progress.

But there's no other way now, these are the conditions, we have to go even if there aren't enough conditions.

Finally, after Chen Jiang's strong persuasion, Long Kaifeng and other leaders of the group agreed to his plan, mainly because other plans were obviously less reliable.

"Deputy Battalion Commander Chen, is there anything you need? The regiment will definitely meet your needs!" Long Kaifeng spoke to Chen Jiang in a rare kind tone, because he knew how arduous this long-distance raid mission was.

While it is theoretically feasible, at such a long distance, any unpredictable situation could occur. Most importantly, they are passing through uninhabited areas, and if the vehicle breaks down, how to rescue it would be a major problem.

"Commander, please prepare more tow ropes for us. In case a vehicle breaks down on the road, we can tow it out." This is what Chen Jiang fears most, but towing will definitely increase fuel consumption and cause non-combat casualties in the troops. In the end, they might not even be able to complete the mission.

"Okay, is there anything else?"

"Commander, how about you cook us a good meal? The emperor doesn't starve his soldiers."

Everyone laughed at Chen Jiang's words.

Long Kaifeng's orders were quickly carried out. The soldiers of the Seventh Company were excited to know that they had been given such a "big mission." They had been training for a long time, just to use it for this one moment!
Besides, the group had prepared so much delicious food that everyone ate their fill. Then they filled up the tanks with fuel, packed up supplies, and prepared to set off as soon as it got dark.

Chen Jiang also gave a battlefield pep talk to the soldiers of the Seventh Company, which was actually unnecessary. On the contrary, the Eighth and Ninth Companies said that the battalion commander was biased, which made him waste a lot of time and effort.

Why aren't the Eighth and Ninth Companies equipped with wheeled infantry fighting vehicles?
Long-distance raids require tracked vehicles, which consume too much fuel and are too noisy.

Ma Xiaoshuai had no choice but to give up in the end, but he hoped that Chen Jiang would consider his old subordinate more often if good things came his way in the future.

Even He Hongtao said that it was the political instructor who was guarding the house again, and that the battalion commander was not being fair.

This left Chen Jiang both amused and exasperated.

Just as everyone was about to set off, Tang Xinyi and her assistants arrived.

"Chen Jiang, you must take me with you!"

"My dear Director Tang, we're going on a raid, it's going to be very tough. You beautiful young female soldiers can't handle this kind of hardship." Chen Jiang was really feeling overwhelmed. What kind of business was it to lead a few female soldiers?
"What a joke! What era are we living in? You still discriminate against women?" Tang Xinyi said, very dissatisfied. "Let me tell you, we are not powerless vases. We have all gone through tough training."

Chen Jiangxin believed her words. Although the military region treated them with special favors, they still received all the necessary training.

"But it's too inconvenient on the road, you know what I mean." Chen Jiang really didn't want them to go.

"If there's anything inconvenient, we'll take care of ourselves. Besides, can you handle all that digital equipment by yourself without us?" Tang Xinyi smiled slyly.

(End of this chapter)