Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 201 Absolute Power of Speech!

As Chen Jiang had predicted, after Yuan Guoxing personally visited President Kara and held a private meeting, the two sides basically reached an agreement.

The only drawback is that the DRC is short of money and can only pay in the form of barter, while our side is different from other countries' peacekeeping forces, genuinely helping Kara, especially in the construction of Matadi.

Although Kara preferred to develop Kinshasa, which has a much larger population, Yuan Guoxing pointed out that while Kinshasa has a large population, trade is extremely inconvenient. Most importantly, it is too close to Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, making it genuinely unsafe!
The first construction project was to repair the railway from Kinshasa to Port Matadi.

This railway is not too long, and its operation is already the best among all the railways, so the investment will not be too large.

Most importantly, the Democratic Republic of Congo is rich in mineral resources and is known as the "world's raw material warehouse." Its reserves of copper, cobalt, zinc, diamonds, tantalum, niobium, gold, tin, manganese, chromium, and other resources hold a significant position in the world.

These minerals are actually quite helpful to our country. We can transport the supplies here and then transport the minerals away. Isn't that a win-win situation?

There are many resource-rich mines along this railway line.

Yuan Guoxing was very efficient. After reporting the matter to his superiors, the two sides reached an agreement immediately.

Guo Baoqing's engineering battalion began construction along the railway line from Kinshasa to Port Matadi. Due to a severe shortage of repair materials, they could only carry out the most basic repairs on the railway line, and their highest task was to ensure that the railway could be barely kept open.

Then the second batch of supplies from within the country will arrive, be unloaded at the port of Matadi, and then transported by rail to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chen Jiang's Seventh Company was naturally not idle either. He divided the three platoons into three units: one platoon to protect the engineering battalion's construction, one platoon to stay behind to guard the barracks and supplies, and the other platoon to go to the presidential guard camp in Kara to train elite troops for him.

The three platoons rotate periodically to ensure that everyone gets exercise.

Before Chen Jiang arrived, Yuan Guoxing specifically instructed him that Kara attached great importance to the combat effectiveness of his army and proposed that as long as the combat effectiveness could be improved, he would absolutely delegate authority to Chen Jiang.

But the condition was that three months later, he would meet the different elite troops that had always impressed him.

But when Chen Jiang led his men to Kara's guard camp, everyone was immediately stunned by the chaos there.

Chen Jiang stood on the training ground of the Presidential Guard Battalion, his gaze sweeping over the group of disheveled, lazy, and disorderly soldiers before him, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

A dozen soldiers were leaning against the wall smoking, their guns carelessly tossed at their feet; in the distance, on the parade ground, several officers in different uniforms were arguing loudly, completely unaware of their arrival.

"This is what they call an army?" Li Erniu, the squad leader of the third squad standing next to Chen Jiang, couldn't help but mutter under his breath, his voice full of disbelief.

Chen Jiang took a deep breath, turned to the translator beside him and said, "Notify them to assemble, immediately."

The translator, a local young man, hesitated upon hearing this: "Sir, they might not..."

“Just say the Chinese instructors have arrived, it’s the president’s order,” Chen Jiang interrupted him, his tone leaving no room for argument.

The translator swallowed hard, picked up the megaphone, and shouted.

The shouts echoed over the camp, but there were very few responses.

It took a full ten minutes before a group of soldiers slowly gathered together, their ranks crooked and many without even a gun.

Chen Jiang strode to the front of the group, his gaze sweeping over each face like a knife.

He glanced at the military watch on his left wrist and announced loudly, "From now on, anyone who hasn't come to assemble will be discharged!"

After Chen Jiang's words were translated and relayed, all the guards who were slowly arriving later were in an uproar.

"what?"

"Why?"

"Who are you?"

Chen Jiang sneered, "On what grounds? On what grounds I have the president's order, and on what grounds my personal ability!"

Everyone was somewhat disdainful.
One of the bold, large black men shouted, "Impossible! We're all veterans who've followed the president; he can't possibly fire us."

"correct."

"that is."

At this moment, a guard officer came over. He was the officer in charge of the team. Yesterday, he received orders from his superiors that Chinese officers would come to help train the guards. He was very resistant to this. He was doing a good job with his own guards. Why should he let others interfere?
But he had been watching the show from the beginning, until Chen Jiang decided to dismiss his soldiers. How could he continue to pretend to be deaf and dumb?
"Aren't you going too far?"

Chen Jiang turned around and saw that this was the leader of the bunch of cowardly soldiers. He immediately replied, "Too much? I think this is normal. What's the difference between an army without discipline and bandits? When it comes to actual fighting, they're just a bunch of rabble. Of course, if you don't believe me, you can call the president directly."

How could the other party dare to call and question the president? Because his orders were: fully cooperate with the Chinese instructors' training, and do whatever they asked!

"These are all veterans with excellent combat capabilities. It would be a waste to fire them like this. It would be better to give them a slight punishment so that they can continue to serve President Kara."

"Oh, really? You're overthinking it. Soldiers without discipline can't be very effective in combat." Chen Jiang said with a disdainful look.

Seeing their defiant attitude, Chen Jiang decided to teach them a lesson.
"How about this? I'll give you a chance. There are 27 of you here. I'll choose 3 from the men I brought. If you can win, you can stay. Otherwise, get out of here immediately!"

After saying that, he glanced at the guard officer who had been so insistent earlier.

Upon hearing this, the latter thought, "27 against 3?"
Do you have to brag to die?
If we can't beat them, we might as well go home and take a nap.

"Okay, we're willing! But you have to keep your word!"

Some cowards had already accepted the challenge.

The treatment in the presidential guard is not bad. Although the pay is pitifully low, at least they are fed and can even secretly take some home. Most importantly, they are even given cigarettes, which are definitely "hard currency" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

So although it's a bit unfair to bully the few with the many, this Chinese officer brought trouble upon himself, so we shouldn't give them any face. We must beat these yellow-skinned guys to a pulp!

The guards in the other units shared the same idea.

Everyone was cheering them on.

Chen Jiang glanced at them disdainfully, then looked back at the row of people who remained standing ramrod straight.
He shouted loudly, "He Chenguang, Wang Yanbing, Li Erniu, step forward!"

Upon hearing the command, the three of them immediately stepped forward with beaming smiles, while the others who weren't called on felt somewhat disappointed.

This left the Congolese soldiers completely bewildered. Why were they so happy to be ganged up on?
Are these people out of their minds?

"Your mission is clear: don't go too far, understand?" Chen Jiang simply gave this instruction and walked to the side.

Enraged that Chen Jiang looked down on them so much, the 27 men charged forward, howling.

Leading the charge was the big, black man who had been shouting the loudest. He was waving his fist, which was as big as a clay pot, and had a ferocious smile on his face.

He Chenguang's lips curled slightly upward. He dodged the attack with a sidestep, his right hand flashing as he grabbed the opponent's wrist, using the momentum to execute an over-the-shoulder throw. "Bang!" The big, dark-skinned man slammed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. "The first one," He Chenguang counted softly.

At the same time, Wang Yanbing had already taken down three soldiers who rushed at him.

His movements were clean and swift, each strike precisely hitting the vital joints, instantly incapacitating his opponent without causing serious injury.

"You call this fighting?" Wang Yanbing scoffed, and with a spinning kick, sent the two men flying again.

Li Erniu's side was even more exaggerated; this burly man, standing at 1.85 meters tall, went straight towards the direction with the most people.

Seven or eight Congolese soldiers rushed at him at the same time, but he threw them all down with a bear hug.

Amidst the swirling dust, only cries of "Ouch!" could be heard.

"Too slow! Not enough power, not satisfying at all." Li Erniu dusted off his hands. "With this level of skill, you dare to challenge our battalion commander?"

The guards watching the battle were dumbfounded.

Within just three minutes, more than twenty people were lying on the ground groaning.

The remaining few people began to shrink back, their eyes filled with fear.

"Charge! What are you waiting for?" the guard officer roared in exasperation.

A quick-thinking soldier suddenly pulled out a pistol from his waist, but before he could raise it, He Chenguang appeared in front of him like a ghost.

With a crisp "crack," the soldier's right hand was twisted and dislocated.

The pistol was in He Chenguang's hands in an instant.
"We agreed to be unarmed, so pulling out a gun is a bit underhanded, isn't it?" He Chenguang said coldly, and the soldier clutched his arm and howled in pain.

The remaining soldiers completely collapsed; some began to retreat, while others simply raised their hands in surrender.

In less than five minutes, all 27 people were lying on the ground.

The training ground was deathly silent.

All the guards watching held their breath, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Chen Jiang slowly walked up to the guard officer: "Now, do you have anything to say?"

The officer was deathly pale, his lips trembling as he was unable to speak.

"Remember, the army relies on discipline and training, not numbers and brute force." Chen Jiang surveyed his surroundings, his voice booming, "From today onwards, everyone must strictly adhere to my training plan. Orders must be obeyed without question. Violators will be severely punished, and those who disobey will be expelled!"

This time, no one dared to raise any objections.

Those unlucky guys who were knocked down could only leave, covered in dust and grime, helping each other along.

Chen Jiang didn't look at them. He spoke loudly in English: "From today onwards, you will receive training from the Chinese army! First lesson—discipline!"

Suddenly, he shouted sternly, "Attention!"

The roar was like a thunderclap, and the Chinese soldiers instinctively straightened their backs, their movements perfectly synchronized.

The Congolese soldiers were startled by the sudden order, but having learned from their previous experience, none of them dared to disobey and all stood up straight.

Their actions were simply quite amusing.
I don't know which instructor taught them these drill movements; they're either sticking their butts out or crooked.
Chen Jiang and the others couldn't help but shake their heads inwardly; this was even worse than their own student military training.

Especially when turning left or right, I almost never get it all right.

After several rounds of training, Chen Jiang eliminated another batch of people. In the end, after half a day, only about 400 people remained in the guard team, which left the officer who had been there earlier dumbfounded.

And some even cut their own numbers in half?

How is this still playing?
He could only grit his teeth and go back to make a phone call to complain, hoping that President Cara could stand up for him.

Chen Jiang had no time to pay attention to him. He and a row of instructors trained these rookies separately. Because their foundation was really poor, the training that followed was hellish.

The Chinese instructors started by teaching the most basic military posture, and each movement had to be practiced hundreds of times. Under the scorching sun, sweat soaked through everyone's uniforms, but no one dared to complain.

"Stand up straight! Look straight ahead!" Chen Jiang surveyed the ranks, his pointer occasionally tapping a soldier's back lightly. "Remember this posture; this will be your standard from now on!"

The soldiers complained bitterly about the afternoon's physical training.

The five-kilometer run nearly broke these soldiers who were used to being lazy. Many of them collapsed to the ground halfway through, throwing their guns aside.

"Get up!" Wang Yanbing grabbed a limp soldier and pulled him to his feet. "On the battlefield, throwing away your gun means suicide!"

Li Erniu then hoisted two soldiers who were too exhausted to run any further, tucking one under each arm and continuing to run: "Look closely! This is the standard for Chinese soldiers! Running with a load is no problem, but you guys are only carrying an empty gun, and you're already tired?"

President Cara had already arrived at the military camp and was watching this scene from a distant tower.
It must be said that having been to China, he was quite discerning. He immediately recognized that although Chen Jiang and his team's training methods were somewhat inhumane, such training could indeed make these guys stronger.

So after watching for a while, he tossed the binoculars to the officer next to him and said, "Stop complaining. You guys also need to participate in training and become stronger than the soldiers. Otherwise, what am I doing with you?"

After saying that, he left without looking back.

After a day of training, all the Congolese soldiers were so exhausted that they lay on the ground like dead pigs, not wanting to move at all.

But when Chen Jiang's cooks prepared soup and food suitable for replenishing their energy, the rich aroma instantly whetted the appetites of these rookies.

When Chen Jiang ordered "Let's eat!" in the guard's mess hall, everyone began to devour their food.

In just a short while, the food on the plate was completely eaten.

Because of the food shortage in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is no waste of food. President Kara is also doing his best to ensure the food supply here. However, the dinner prepared by the Chinese cooks is much better than usual.

Although these things may not seem like much to Chen Jiang and his friends, if they were to make some meat buns or pork stew with vermicelli, wouldn't they be drooling with envy?

However, these people don't know how to use chopsticks, so they eat with their hands. This means that the cooks have to adapt to local customs when cooking, which limits their culinary skills.

After dinner, Chen Jiang and his group didn't rest. They gathered these poor guys together and taught them Chinese characters.

Only in this way can the trained troops possess both formidable combat capabilities and a close affinity with China.

(End of this chapter)