Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 243 Your nephew-in-law is indeed quite good.

About an hour later, the vehicle entered the compound of the Tongping District People's Armed Forces Department.

The guards at the gate saluted and let the car through as soon as they saw the license plate, clearly indicating that the car was no ordinary vehicle.

Chen Jiang got out of the car first, followed closely by two young cadres.

They walked straight to the logistics warehouse area, completely ignoring the strange looks cast at them by the people from the People's Armed Forces Department.

"Deputy Director Chen?" A familiar voice came from behind, tinged with surprise and panic.

Chen Jiang turned around and saw Hou Shuiping walking briskly towards him from the direction of the office building, a somewhat unnatural smile on his face: "What brings you here? Why didn't you give us a heads-up so we could prepare?"

“Vice Minister Hou,” Chen Jiang interrupted him calmly, “we are here for a routine inspection. Please cooperate.”

Hou Shuiping's smile froze on his face, his gaze involuntarily drifting to the two young cadres behind Chen Jiang, and fine beads of sweat instantly appeared on his forehead: "Of course, we'll cooperate, but the warehouse is currently taking inventory, so it might not be convenient."

“It’s precisely because we’re conducting an inventory that we need to inspect,” one of the young cadres suddenly spoke, his voice as cold as ice. “Provide us with the warehouse inventory lists for the past three years!”

Hou Shuiping was taken aback by this sudden display of power and stammered, "Well... I need to report to Minister Jin first."

“No need,” another young cadre said, showing his identification. “Please cooperate immediately, or you will bear the consequences.”

Hou Shuiping's face turned deathly pale instantly, his lips trembling slightly: "Okay, okay, I'll definitely cooperate."

The iron lock on the warehouse door was opened, and a smell of dust and mildew wafted out.

Chen Jiang keenly noticed that Hou Shuiping's hands were trembling slightly when he unlocked the door.

Upon entering the warehouse, the two young cadres waited for Hou Shuiping to send someone to deliver the list. Once the list arrived, they checked the supplies against it by random sampling, making notes from time to time.

Chen Jiang observed the layout and environment of the entire warehouse from the side.

"What are these?" Suddenly, a young officer stopped in front of a pile of military bedding.

"These are military bedding items that are ready to be distributed." Hou Shuiping tried to remain calm, but Chen Jiang could tell that he was actually panicking inside.

"Bring out this part; we need to inspect it!"

The other party was very unceremonious, seemingly targeting this person specifically. Hou Shuiping couldn't fight back, so he had to send his men to move it.

Upon opening the box, it appeared to be no different from ordinary military bedding, both being military green and roughly the same size.

"Get me a pair of scissors, let's take it apart!"

"What?" Hou Shuiping immediately jumped up. "These are military supplies. Every single one of our blankets is useful. We can't afford to take responsibility if they're damaged."

“We’ll take responsibility for this, demolish it!” Although the two officers were young, they were incredibly impartial when it came to enforcing discipline.

Hou Shuiping was struggling to cope and could only pin his hopes on Chen Jiang.

But Chen Jiang had already mentally labeled Hou Shuiping as a complete idiot.

The other side was clearly prepared, and Hou Shuiping is most likely doomed.

Chen Jiang shifted his gaze expressionlessly, deliberately avoiding Hou Shuiping's pleading look, and instead focused intently on examining the mountain of supplies piled up deep inside the warehouse.

His silence itself was an attitude, and seeing this, the two young cadres stopped waiting for the scissors.

An officer took out a military multi-tool from his tool bag and, with a "snap," deftly cut open the top seam of the bedding.

Hou Shuiping's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and he almost wanted to rush forward, but his feet felt like they were made of lead and he couldn't move.

After the bedding was cut open, the inner filling was completely exposed to the dim light of the warehouse.

He reached in and pulled out a handful of grayish-black stuffing from the middle. He sniffed it, then carefully twisted it open.

His face instantly darkened.

“Vice Minister Hou,” his voice was even colder than before, with a hint of interrogation, “please explain why the high-quality cotton specified by military standards has turned into this inferior product that is dark in color, has a musty smell, and is even mixed with scraps of cloth?”

"No, impossible! There must be a mistake!" Hou Shuiping exclaimed, sweat rolling down his temples. "This batch of supplies was just inspected recently; it must be an extremely rare case."

"An isolated case?" Another young cadre scoffed, his notebook almost slapping Hou Shuiping's face. "The list shows that at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, you applied for a total of 3,000 sets of bedding in three batches. You're telling me this is an isolated case?"

Before he finished speaking, he had already walked to another stack of boxes next to him and cut another strip open without hesitation.

The result was exactly the same—blackened, low-quality filler.

"And these too!" The officer quickly walked to the other side of the warehouse, pointing to several boxes labeled "Individual Self-Heating Food." "The production batch and serial number don't match the records you provided at all. The records say it's new stock from the fourth quarter of last year, but the batch number on these boxes is clearly wrong! The expiration date is almost over!"

Hou Shui was deathly pale, his body swaying slightly, barely able to stand by holding onto the nearby shelf. "There must be some misunderstanding here, maybe the people below got it mixed up. I need some time to investigate," he said weakly, unable to convince even himself.

"The people below?" the official in front of him questioned. "From warehousing and acceptance to storage and distribution, every step requires your signature as the deputy minister in charge. Tell me, which 'person below' could bypass you and complete such a large-scale substitution?"

He bent down, picked up a small tuft of inferior cotton from the torn quilt, and rubbed it between his fingertips: "Passing off inferior goods as superior ones, reselling military supplies, and possibly even war reserve materials. Vice Minister Hou, you really have a lot of nerve!"

"Deputy Director Chen! I need to call Director Hou." Hou Shuiping still wanted to make a last-ditch effort, actually hoping that Chen Jiang could put in a good word for him.

"Hou Shuiping! This is the organization contacting you to verify information. We hope you take this seriously and don't harbor any illusions. Calling anyone now won't help; it will only make things worse! Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely!"

Upon hearing Chen Jiang's attitude, Hou Shuiping's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes glazed over, muttering, "It's over...it's all over." Just as Chen Jiang returned to his unit and finished reporting to his director, he ran into Hou Jun, who had rushed over to see him. Such a commotion in the unit naturally couldn't be kept from Hou Jun.

"Chen Jiang, Shuiping has been taken away?" Hou Jun asked anxiously.

"Director Hou, I'm not clear on the specifics. I only led the way, but judging from the situation on site, the problem seems to be quite serious."

Chen Jiang spoke with great tact, balancing work discipline with the actual situation, so as not to let Hou Jun hold a grudge against him.

Hou Jun grabbed Chen Jiang's arm with great force, his voice low and trembling slightly: "What exactly happened? I inquired through my connections, and they just took the person away! Just for some bedding? That doesn't make sense!"

Chen Jiang gently pulled his hand away from Hou Jun's. He knew that it wouldn't be difficult for Hou Jun to find out what had happened.

But he had to find his place, so he replied calmly, "Director Hou, because of work discipline, there are things I shouldn't say and can't say. Similarly, it's best if you don't inquire about things you shouldn't inquire about."

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Hou Jun's head.

He stood there stunned, clearly understanding Chen Jiang's unspoken meaning: this matter was beyond the scope of Hou Jun's ability to intervene or even "help".

A few days later, news came that Hou Shuiping had indeed "fallen from grace." At the same time, Hou Jun was also implicated in the case and was arranged to be transferred to civilian work ahead of schedule, bringing his military career to an abrupt end at the threshold of senior colonel.

The ministry held a special warning education conference for this matter. Of course, what everyone was more concerned about was who would take the position of director of the infrastructure department, since it was the most lucrative position.

Chen Jiang didn't care about this at all. Anyway, it wouldn't be his turn to do it. He was just a "temporary worker". The key thing was that he paid close attention to the work of improving the living conditions of grassroots officers and soldiers. This was where he spent the most time and effort.

He had always been concerned about improving the conditions of the Ninth Border Defense Company. He even went to the site many times to inspect and supervise, and put forward many suggestions. As a result, the living conditions of the Ninth Company and other border defense companies, including outposts, improved at a visible speed.

This work was eventually published in a prominent position on page two of the military newspaper, attracting the attention of high-level officials.

Chen Jiang had just started work that day when He Yuanchao called him over.
"Chen Jiang, did you know that your efforts to supervise and guide the border defense post in improving living conditions have been reported?"

The military newspaper is one of the most important internal reference publications of the General Logistics Department. Chen Jiang reads it every day and naturally knows about this matter. He smiled somewhat embarrassedly, "Director, actually, the credit for this matter mainly lies with you, but they..."

"What do you mean by 'here' and 'there'? They're all the same!" He Yuanchao had a broad perspective and didn't care about these issues.

"Get ready, the commander wants to hear your views on grassroots logistics work in person."

"Huh?" Chen Jiang was clearly unprepared.

"What do you mean 'huh'? This is an opportunity!" He Yuanchao said very seriously.

Chen Jiang was completely unprepared.

He read the military newspaper report and was more pleased with the tangible improvement in the conditions of the border defense company. He didn't think it would bring him any extra attention, let alone report it directly to his superiors.

His heart leaped into his throat, not out of fear, but out of a heavy sense of responsibility—this was a precious opportunity to directly transmit the true voices of the grassroots, one that he had to seize, and one that he had to be extremely careful about.

"Director, which leader is this? What aspect do you mainly want to know? Do I need to prepare detailed written materials?" Chen Jiang quickly calmed down and asked several key questions in a row.

He Yuanchao watched with admiration as he instantly got into the zone, and nodded, saying, "Which minister? Of course, it's Minister Zhou from the General Logistics Department! The time is set for 3 p.m. today. You need to prepare the materials, but the leader wants to hear more about the real situation on the front lines and your independent thinking, not empty talk and clichés. You've been involved in grassroots development for so long, you have plenty of information, so just speak the truth, but be sure to be clear and concise, and highlight the key points."

"Understood! I'll get ready right away!" Chen Jiang took a deep breath and returned to his office to immediately begin the intense preparations.

Instead of piling up flowery words, he sorted out his observations, thoughts, and feelings over the years.

At 2:50 p.m., Chen Jiang arrived early at the outer room of Minister Zhou's office to wait.

He calmed down a bit, but his palms were still slightly sweaty.

At 3:00 sharp, after being informed by his secretary, he straightened his clothes and walked in calmly.

Minister Zhou was a sprightly old soldier with sharp eyes and an imposing presence.

He gestured for Chen Jiang to sit down; the military report was on the table.

"Comrade Chen Jiang, I've read the article in the newspaper. You've done real work to change the border defense company." Minister Zhou got straight to the point, his tone calm. "I know you're an outstanding officer who was promoted from a grassroots company, so I called you here today hoping you could speak from the perspective of the grassroots officers and soldiers about where the biggest 'hurdle' is in our current grassroots logistics support, especially in remote and hardship areas. Put aside the clichés and just tell me what you've seen and thought about."

Chen Jiang took a deep breath and, combining his prepared remarks with more vivid examples not included in the report, presented them clearly and systematically.

Minister Zhou was deeply moved after listening, saying, "What you said is very practical. It's clear that you've put a lot of thought and effort into it!"

"I've seen your resume. Your experience is outstanding, and you've won many honors. You're a rare talent in our army!"

"You flatter me, sir. It's mainly due to the trust of the leadership and the support of my comrades!" Chen Jiang quickly said modestly. There are many hidden talents in large organizations, and his honors and achievements are not so dazzling.

Minister Zhou greatly appreciated Chen Jiang's humility.
He waved his hand and said, “Don’t be too modest! Organizational training and personal performance are both indispensable! It’s already rare for a soldier to be promoted from a grassroots company, let alone an officer like you who is both educated and has combat experience in special forces. This is even more rare in our army’s officer corps.”

He suddenly cut to the chase, "Comrade Chen Jiang, we've decided to send Comrade Yuan Chao to the Infrastructure Department, while you stay in the Logistics Department to oversee the work. Are you willing?"

Chen Jiang was momentarily stunned. Hou Jun's transfer had indeed created a vacancy in the Infrastructure Department, but the Logistics Department had several deputy directors. Was it a bit much for him, an "outsider" on temporary assignment, to be in charge of the work here?
"What, you don't dare?"

Minister Zhou directly resorted to provocation.

"I dare! Why wouldn't I dare, sir? As long as you trust me, I am absolutely confident that I can do the job well."

Chen Jiang has always had a strong sense of never giving up. He believes in doing his job well no matter where he is. This is the pursuit of soldiers in the new era.

After Chen Jiang left his office, he picked up the red phone on the table, answered the call, and immediately shouted into the other end, "Old buddy, your nephew-in-law is really something!"

(End of this chapter)