Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 222 The country's highest military academy

With Yu Genshan's side settled, Chen Jiang had no more worries about his work. In addition, Sun Tongfei was very supportive of his work, which allowed him to thrive in the operations department.

During this time, he also received an invitation from He Chenguang, inviting his whole family to attend his wedding with Tang Xinyi. This made him very happy. He Chenguang was finally going to settle down and start a family. A son of a military family like him had a bright future ahead of him.

In addition, Wang Yanbing and Li Erniu were both promoted to officers, which made the promotion rate of the Seventh Company somewhat absurd, making it the most prestigious company in the entire division.

Good news kept coming in. Chen Jiang's article on the deep integration of armored and transport forces received high praise from higher authorities, and the development of a new type of heavy transport truck has been officially approved.

But the biggest news is about Chen Jiang: he has been recommended to study military equipment at the National Defense University for a year.

The National Defense University training program is not only a "qualification certificate" for officer promotion, but also a crucial springboard for capability leaps. The curriculum includes not only academic courses, but also a large number of realistic combat simulations and cross-service joint exercises, which will significantly improve the combat effectiveness of the troops after graduation.

It is worth noting that a full-process elimination system is implemented during the training period, with an elimination rate as high as 15%, to ensure the quality of talent cultivation.

In short, after Chen Jiang goes away to study for a year, he will most likely be promoted and given important responsibilities upon his return.

Director Liao Weiliang said somewhat unwillingly, "Our operations department is too small to retain talented people. He's only been here for half a year and he's already being transferred again."

Chen Jiang quickly explained that he was going out to study, not being transferred.

Yu Genshan, who was standing next to him, looked on with envy. "Studying at the National Defense University is different from studying at a regular military academy. Going to this school is to prepare for the next step of promotion. You are so young. After you come back, you will probably be commanding a regiment directly."

He's getting on in years and has no opportunity for further education, so he'll most likely be demobilized at the colonel level. That's the harsh reality of the military.

Chen Jiang offered a few words of comfort and then left. He had many things to do, and the first thing he needed to do was go back and report to his wife.

Chen Jiang's son, Chen Gang, is only a little over one year old and needs someone to take care of him. Fortunately, Chu Ning has always been very understanding and supportive of Chen Jiang's work.

Chen Jiang understood that his wife had turned down many opportunities for further education for him, and that she had sacrificed a great deal for the family, so he felt guilty.

The National Defense University is my country's highest military academy and a comprehensive joint command university for senior military officer training. It originated from the Red Army training corps established in Jinggangshan in 1927, and was formed in December 1985 through the merger of the Military Academy, the Political Academy, and the Logistics Academy.

It is similar to the National University of Defense Technology in China, but their positioning is completely different, and their specifications and levels are worlds apart.

The most direct difference is that the president of the National Defense University is of a much higher rank, and the National University of Defense Technology is mainly geared towards ambitious young people in society, while the National Defense University is mainly geared towards officers in the military for further study.

The school is located in the northwest corner of the capital, not too far from Chen Jiang's old unit, but their admission notice clearly states that they will be under full closed management and will not be allowed to leave without special circumstances.

Chen Jiang enlisted while still a university student and later obtained his bachelor's degree through correspondence courses, so he is now participating in the military with a bachelor's degree.

He first reported to the Military Management Academy and was then assigned to the Military Equipment Studies major.

There are 20 students in this major, which is exactly one class. They are all deputy regimental-level cadres, and Chen Jiang is the youngest among them.

These trainees come from various branches of the armed forces across the country and are all outstanding young cadres.
Chen Jiang carried his luggage into the dormitory building and ran into a burly classmate who sized him up and smiled, "You must be Chen Jiang?"

Chen Jiang was taken aback, then nodded: "Yes, you are."

"My name is Zhao Zhenguo, from the Armored Brigade of the Lanzhou Military Region." The other person extended his hand and shook it firmly. "You're the youngest in our class, it's too obvious, haha. Qi Huan and I are old classmates, he's here this time too, did you know?"

Chen Jiang was very surprised: "Where is he? Where is he?"

As the two were chatting, a lieutenant colonel wearing sunglasses walked up from the end of the corridor. He was tall and muscular and walked with a brisk pace.

When he walked up to Chen Jiang, he actually stood at attention and saluted, "Qi Huan, the squadron leader of the Old A Special Operations Brigade, reporting to the commander!"

"You're still so talkative, huh? You've finally become a company commander!" Chen Jiang was very surprised and, of course, very happy to see his old comrade-in-arms.

The two shared a very warm hug.

This surprised Zhao Zhenguo.
Qi Huan hurriedly explained, "In the Old A unit, he started as my trainee and later became the company commander of our squadron, a company commander of a lieutenant-level officer. You've never seen him before, have you? He's my superior!"

"Don't listen to his nonsense. What leader or what leader? We're classmates now."

Zhao Zhenguo held Qi Huan back and asked him for a long time before he learned the story. He immediately respected Chen Jiang even more; this guy's promotion speed was comparable to a rocket.

Because they arrived early, they were naturally assigned to the same dormitory room.

There was another guy in the dorm who came from the Air Force; he was supposedly a fighter pilot, and his name was Lin Xiaoxiao.

Since everyone had some free time in the evening, they started chatting about all sorts of things.

From Lin Xiaoxiao, they learned that the Chinese Air Force has made great progress, and its fighter jet units have begun to be equipped with the newly developed J-10, an advanced fighter jet entirely developed by my country. The Su-27s imported from Russia are now becoming outdated. Lin Xiaoxiao frankly admitted that after this training, he will most likely be assigned to a J-10 squadron, and flying this domestically produced single-engine fighter jet is one of his dreams.

Zhao Zhenguo was somewhat puzzled, "Is this kind of aircraft even more powerful than the Su-30?"

He was the commander of the armored forces and was not very clear about the development of the Chinese Air Force. In the past, the army, navy and air force were the most powerful, and frankly, they did not have high expectations for air force support.

The mainstay of the Chinese Air Force is still largely composed of second-generation fighters like the J-7 and J-8, especially the J-7, which has a very short range and weak ground attack capabilities. Even in air-to-air combat, its air-to-air missiles have very limited range, resulting in a significant gap in combat effectiveness compared to mainstream international fighters. Only in recent years, with the introduction of the Su-series aircraft, has this situation improved somewhat.

Therefore, in his mind, the SU-30 purchased later was already the best fighter jet in China.

"That's all ancient history. The SU-30 fighter jet is indeed very strong, but we will eventually follow the path of domestic production. Moreover, the J-10 fighter jet's air maneuverability is in no way inferior to the SU series fighter jets." Lin Xiaoxiao is a top-notch pilot in the Air Force and is naturally very clear about the domestic air force equipment.

"Moreover, our new short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles are under development. When equipped with the electronic eyes of airborne early warning aircraft, even the J-7 and J-8 can maximize their combat effectiveness in the air."

"You know the KJ-2000, right? It's our first domestically developed early warning aircraft. It uses the Il-76 large transport aircraft as a platform and adopts innovative phased array radar technology, which successfully breaks through the limitations of traditional Doppler radar, making the KJ-2000's detection capability surpass the level of the American E-3C generation."

Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes were full of pride when she mentioned this.

Zhao Zhenguo and Qi Huan listened with rapt attention. As Chinese soldiers, who wouldn't want their country's air force to become stronger and stronger? The fear of insufficient firepower has always been a source of pain for the older generation of soldiers.

Only Chen Jiang knows how powerful our country's air force will become in the later stages; it's just that none of them are aware of it now.

“Indeed, the future will be a system-based war. The era of simply relying on fighter jets to advance behind enemy lines for skirmishes will not be long gone. When early warning aircraft and fighter jets share radar information, and when air-to-air missiles have a long enough range, our fighter jets will be able to achieve ‘detect and destroy’ without even having to fly out, minimizing casualties from skirmishes,” Chen Jiang sighed to himself.

Zhao Zhenguo was somewhat disdainful. "You're an army commander, yet you talk so knowledgeably about the air force. Isn't that a bit much?"
Qi Huan had a strange confidence in Chen Jiang, after all, Chen Jiang's performance had always been amazing.

Lin Xiaoxiao was very shocked because these theories were still in the verification stage, and he only understood the basics. He never expected that Chen Jiang, an army officer, would have such a level of understanding, which made him look at him with new respect.

Chen Jiang realized he had gone a bit too far, so he quickly changed the subject and asked about Zhao Zhenguo's work in the armored forces, which was exactly what he wanted.

"Our tank regiment is equipped with the latest Type 99 and Type 96 tanks, which have very powerful firepower and an extremely advanced fire control and aiming system. No matter how fast the enemy tanks are, we can still chase and fire at the same time, and the hit rate is very high." Zhao Zhenguo knew that the combat capability of the armored regiment he served in was among the best in the world. Moreover, the army has always been our strength.

"Tanks may become less and less noticeable in future wars because modern attack helicopters are too powerful. For example, the US's Longbow Apache is equipped with advanced millimeter-wave radar and 16 Hellfire missiles, which can accurately destroy armored targets at a distance of 30 kilometers; the Russian Ka-52 Alligator, the world's only mass-produced coaxial twin-rotor helicopter, can perform highly difficult tactical maneuvers and can still lock onto moving targets within 5 kilometers even in heavy rain."

"Wait, does that mean my armored regiment is useless?" Zhao Zhenguo finally couldn't take it anymore. Although Lin Xiaoxiao was very knowledgeable, she kept talking about the military strength of Western countries. Did she think that his country's tanks were so incompetent?
Lin Xiaoxiao wasn't annoyed. He was an air force prodigy, and the Air Force had the highest pay among the three branches of the military, so his horizons were broader. "Zhenguo, I'm not saying tanks are useless. It's just that the world's military landscape will change in the future, especially with fewer and fewer ground wars. It will mainly be a contest of air power. Because no matter how strong an armored force is, it will face catastrophic consequences if it loses air superiority."

Chen Jiang strongly agreed with Lin Xiaoxiao's point of view. He felt a sense of regret for not having met her sooner. He had transmigrated from another world, but Lin Xiaoxiao had already come to this view so early, which was quite remarkable.

"Okay, I admit that tanks need the cover and support of your air force, but I still feel that the role of tanks is irreplaceable. Otherwise, who would we rely on for ground offensives? No matter how powerful fighter jets are, they can't just go down to the ground and end the battle themselves, can they?"

Although Zhao Zhenguo was unwilling to admit defeat, he also understood that Lin Xiaoxiao's words made sense.

Lin Xiaoxiao didn't argue further, but just smiled helplessly.

Seeing this, Qi Huan immediately stepped forward to smooth things over, explaining to everyone the new tactics of special forces, especially the initial application of information technology, which made their A-team even more formidable.

Many of these tactics were devised by Chen Jiang during his tenure. Of course, that advanced system had evolved to the point where even Chen Jiang couldn't understand it anymore, but its creator was now gone.

Chen Jiang also learned about the situation of Team A from Qi Huan, which involved a lot of personnel adjustments.

For example, the railway battalion commander was promoted to a special operations subject teacher at the National Defense University, and his career was upgraded to senior colonel. Yuan Lang refused the promotion and remained the battalion commander of the A Battalion because he really loved special operations. Wu Liuyi, who stayed behind at the time, was promoted by Yuan Lang to deputy company commander. He was already a fourth-term sergeant. In any case, the A Battalion did not look at military rank but at ability. This was a great opportunity for Wu Liuyi. Being able to stay in the army was his life's ideal.

In addition, some of his old comrades-in-arms are also doing well. Some of them have transferred to civilian jobs, while others have returned to their old units. But it is rare to see someone as successful as Chen Jiang.

As Lin Xiaoxiao and Zhao Zhenguo listened to the story, they realized that Chen Jiang was incredibly capable. He had risen from an ordinary soldier to such a level, and judging by this trend, he would likely be promoted again after graduating and returning to the army. His future was truly limitless.

The next day, which was also the first day of school, the school organized a grand opening ceremony.

The principal personally delivered a speech to welcome all the trainees. He emphasized that everyone should truly learn and understand the skills here, and put them to good use when they return home. He also hoped that everyone would be as close as brothers here and never forget that they had received training here.

After the opening ceremony, each class was led back by its homeroom teacher.

Their homeroom teacher, Qin Dong, was a senior colonel who had studied abroad and possessed exceptional knowledge and insight, which earned him great respect from everyone.

After a brief self-introduction, he assigned the first task: to select a class monitor from among the 20 students in the class as soon as possible.

Since everyone has the same rank, the selection criteria can only be based on scores.

(End of this chapter)