Soldiers' Assault: Veteran Special Agents and New Recruits

Deputy Commander Zhong and Gao Cheng talked for a long time, and finally Deputy Commander Zhong asked the most crucial question.

"If you were to take charge of the First Division, how would you plan to lead it?"

Deputy Commander Zhong's words carried a probing meaning and would, to some extent, influence his final decision on the division commander selection after the confrontation.

Gao Cheng was clearly aware of this, and coincidentally, he had made preparations in advance.

"Reporting to the commander, please take a look."

Gao Cheng reached into his pocket, pulled out a folded document, and handed it over.

"Wow, you're so well-prepared?"

Deputy Commander Zhong took the document with surprise, opened it, and saw it filled with densely packed questions, with the title at the top standing out prominently—

Several ideas on how the First Division can achieve combat effectiveness.

Seeing that the contents of the document perfectly matched the question, Deputy Commander Zhong couldn't help but laugh with a hint of teasing, "Looks like you're determined to win. You've printed over a dozen sheets; it must have taken you a long time."

"Reporting to the commander, I have been preparing for thirty years," Gao Cheng said firmly.

"Thirty years? If I remember correctly, you're only thirty-seven this year." Deputy Commander Zhong laughed, his tone joking rather than questioning.

"I've been preparing for today ever since I first stepped into the military camp at the age of seven," Gao Cheng said earnestly, without any hint of arrogance.

Moreover, given his family background, this is indeed a possibility.

Deputy Commander Zhong knew this and didn't say anything more.

He left with the words, "I'm taking the things with me. I look forward to your performance next," and then drove away with Minister Wang to the next location to watch the show.

During the ongoing coastal combat training exercises, Deputy Commander Zhong would visit each battalion to observe the proceedings.

The next place after leaving Gaocheng is the special forces unit represented by Jackie Chan.

Deputy Commander Zhong arrived first at the camp that Lu Yunhe from the division headquarters had specially prepared for the special forces, assuming that Jackie Chan would definitely still be waiting in the camp.

It is currently only in the early stage of naval training, and no confrontation exercises between the two militaries have been organized.

Since special forces do not need to train at sea, they would naturally be assumed to be resting in the barracks.

As a result, Deputy Commander Zhong arrived empty-handed.

There wasn't a single member left in the special forces camp. From Jackie Chan down to the lower-ranking officers, none of them were there. Only the guards assigned by the division headquarters were keeping watch at the gate.

Deputy Commander Zhong had his guards contact him by phone and learned that Jackie Chan had taken everyone to the Qiyun Mountain training site.

There was a police communications battalion belonging to Gao Cheng's faction over there, and Jackie Chan took some time to go and act as a free instructor, helping Gao Cheng train the police communications battalion.

"Those guys from the special forces are really always busy; they always find something to do. Come on, Minister Wang, let's drive over and take a look."

Deputy Commander Chung was very satisfied with Jackie Chan's diligence. In order to see firsthand how the Special Forces trained the Police Communications Battalion, he immediately asked Minister Wang to drive him there.

The journey is not very long.

Less than a 15-minute drive away, Vice Minister Zhong could clearly hear gunshots and explosions coming from the direction of the Jinyun Mountain training ground.

After driving for another five minutes, we entered the training ground. As soon as we got out of the car, a major ran over to us.

He saluted and reported loudly, "Comrade Commander, the Third Company of the Signal Battalion is conducting a battlefield evacuation simulation training. Please give your instructions. Battalion Commander Hu Tianshuo."

"Continue training," Deputy Commander Zhong replied in return.

"yes!"

Battalion Commander Hu Tianshuo returned the salute again, reminding him, "To ensure your safety, please stay here and observe; do not proceed any further."

"Why? Isn't the view ahead quite open?" Minister Wang asked, puzzled.

"Reporting to the commander, because we are using live ammunition, and the area ahead is the simulated combat zone, there is a possibility of accidental injury to the commander," Hu Tianshuo reported.

"What? Live ammunition?"

Deputy Commander Zhong was taken aback; his pupils dilated.

"Yes, sir. All the personnel from the special forces brigade who are conducting the simulation training are using live ammunition, while only the soldiers in my battalion are using blank rounds."

Hu Tianshuo frowned as he spoke, clearly showing some discomfort with the actual combat training.

"That's utterly ridiculous."

Deputy Commander Zhong's expression instantly turned serious, and he said to Battalion Commander Zhang Tianshuo, "Go and call a special forces team over, right now."

"Yes."

Seeing that Deputy Commander Zhong was in a bad mood, Hu Tianshuo ran away as fast as he could to avoid getting into trouble, and quickly summoned a member of the special forces.

"Greetings, sir."

The men in the Old A unit were all worldly-wise, and they weren't nervous when they saw Deputy Commander Zhong.

Give me the gun.

Deputy Commander Zhong extended his hand and said.

The old soldier, unaware of Deputy Commander Zhong's intentions, cooperated by handing over the Type 95 rifle with the muzzle facing upwards in a standard handover posture.

Deputy Commander Zhong wasn't there to play the handover game; he grabbed the forehand of the rifle with his right hand and took it.

Still maintaining the position with the muzzle pointing upwards, he skillfully placed his left index finger on the bolt handle and pressed down hard to eject the bullet.

"Thump~"

A bullet ricocheted and fell to the ground.

Minister Wang helped pick up the bullets and placed them in Deputy Commander Zhong's palm.

Upon seeing the sharp bullet tip, confirming that it was a live round capable of killing people, rather than a blank round commonly used in exercises, Deputy Commander Zhong's expression became even more serious.

With astonishment and anger, he asked, "You're actually conducting live-fire training?!"

"Yes, sir," Hu Tianshuo replied.

"Who gave the order to conduct live-fire training?" Deputy Commander Zhong asked sternly.

"Reporting to the commander, it is the captain of the special operations brigade," Hu Tianshuo replied.

"Jackie Chan? Where is he now?" Deputy Commander Zhong frowned deeply.

"Right over there, he's personally leading the Second Company in simulated parachute training," Hu Tianshuo replied, pointing in a direction.

"Let's go, take us there." Deputy Commander Zhong didn't want to wait a second longer.

"Yes."

Hu Tianshuo turned around and jogged forward, soon arriving at the edge of a embankment.

At this moment, Jackie Chan, Xu Sanduo, Wu Liuyi, and others were organizing the group of pumpkins from the Second Company to conduct a simulated parachute exit maneuver.

That is, jumping from a two-meter-high earthen embankment to the soft mat below using a standard skydiving technique.

Before each soldier parachutes from the helicopter, they undergo thousands of simulated exit maneuvers on the ground. Jackie Chan applied a special operations training system to the police communications battalion.

The Police Communications Battalion is a very special unit.

Skydiving is something you rarely need in everyday life, and there's a high probability you'll never need it in your lifetime, but it can be necessary in special circumstances.

Learning beforehand in uncertain situations provides a safeguard against unforeseen circumstances.

of course.

In competitive training, this is also a plus.

Jackie Chan has a very sharp eye; when he saw Vice Commander Chung coming over, he took the initiative to run over.

He raised his hand in salute and said, "Reporting to Deputy Commander Zhong, the Special Forces Brigade is conducting training against the Communications Battalion. Please give instructions, Chief of Staff Cheng Long."

"The troops will continue training. You are out of command. I need to talk to you about something," Deputy Commander Zhong ordered.

"yes!"

Jackie Chan raised his hand in salute again, turned around and shouted, "Squad Leader Wu, you will now take over command of the troops' training. Rest on the spot after training."

"Yes."

Wu Zhe, standing more than ten meters away, answered loudly.

"You just found a dirt slope, climbed up and jumped down like frogs, and you think you can master parachuting?" Deputy Commander Zhong asked.

"Sir, this was a last resort, but the training method was correct," Jackie Chan replied.

"Was it a last resort?" Deputy Commander Zhong asked rhetorically.

"Personally, I think that all the troops currently participating in the coastal training exercises have significant problems with their training and do not meet the standards for building a new type of digitalized combined arms division," Jackie Chan said seriously.

"Didn't you tell all the battalions to train together? Why is there a problem now?" Deputy Commander Zhong frowned.

"Sir, the ground troops are practicing three defenses and three attacks, but they don't have helicopters to support them, so they can only shoot kites in the sky; the army aviation brigade doesn't have tanks, so they shoot circles drawn on the ground all day long; we need to practice parachuting, but we can only climb up and jump down like frogs."

Jackie Chan gave several examples in a row, paused for two seconds, and finally concluded: "Sir, in this way, each brigade trains separately, which not only wastes training resources, but also greatly reduces the training effect."

I believe that the various battalions should be integrated and trained in a coordinated manner. This would not only save resources but also strengthen inter-battalion cooperation, thus elevating combat effectiveness to a new level.

"What you said makes a good point."

Deputy Commander Zhong was persuaded by Jackie Chan's words, and sighed as he added, "Once the First Division is fully formed, the situation you described will change."

"I don't think so. Hardware is easy to solve, but software is not so easy to solve. If it's still like this, the new digital compositors are just changing the name without changing the substance, and they will not be able to achieve the desired results at all." Jackie Chan said very seriously.

"Whether the software can keep up is not your concern. I'd rather ask you why we use live ammunition in daily training?"

When Deputy Commander Zhong brought up the topic of live ammunition, his expression became unusually serious, and his tone was already stern.

Using live ammunition for training is a very common practice for Jackie Chan; he uses it every time he goes out to teach and train in rural areas.

This is indeed the first time it has been used in units other than special forces.

Deputy Commander Zhong had very little knowledge of special forces. He had never used live ammunition for training and was naturally very resistant to it.

In his understanding.

Live ammunition can kill people, so using it in training will inevitably lead to training accidents.

Deputy Commander Chung didn't want any soldiers to die in training accidents, which is why he was angry about Jackie Chan using live ammunition for routine training.

"Ordinary grassroots units don't really need it, but the training for combat personnel in the communications and communications company is different. They need to experience the real battlefield and hear bullets whizzing past their ears in order to better fulfill their duties," Jackie Chan explained.

"You're violating the training rules, don't you know that?" Minister Wang rebuked.

"I know, but..."

Jackie Chan deliberately kept them in suspense for a while before saying seriously, "The First Division is not an ordinary unit; it needs to have its own set of rules."

I believe the First Division is a pioneering unit, so it deserves to be treated with the highest standards, and the highest standards of training are centered on actual combat.

I believe that live-fire training under reasonable and controlled conditions is absolutely necessary.

Jackie Chan's explanation is logically sound: the First Division is a new force built to future standards, so it cannot be bound by old methods.

Deputy Commander Zhong and Minister Wang couldn't refute this, at least not on this ground.

We can only look for other problems.

"What do you mean by a reasonable and controllable situation? Bullets don't have eyes when they're fired, can you control them?" Minister Wang questioned.

"I don't know about other units, but here, in our A Battalion, bullets have eyes. We can make them go wherever we want them to go. That's the definition of reasonable and controllable," Jackie Chan replied.

"You think he can just go wherever you want? You're really arrogant. What makes you so confident?" Deputy Commander Zhong laughed in exasperation.

"Because we're the elite A!"

Jackie Chan spoke these words with exceptionally loud voice and great confidence.

"Okay, very good."

Deputy Commander Zhong was speechless after being confronted.

The people in Brigade A were all rather arrogant, something Deputy Commander Zhong had long heard of and had dealt with the railway before, having experienced firsthand what he saw in them.

That kind of self-confidence that comes from the bone, that arrogance that emanates from the depths of the soul.

After this encounter with Jackie Chan, Vice Commander Chung felt a sense of power from Jackie Chan that was several times stronger than when he first met the railway.

He wanted to retaliate against Jackie Chan, but couldn't find a reason.

The people in Team A are indeed outstanding; this is something that everyone in the Capital Military Region can attest to.

Not to mention that Deputy Commander Zhong was well aware of how powerful Jackie Chan's trump cards were and what kind of monstrous existence he was.

Even if Deputy Commander Chung questions everyone in the army, he has no way to question Jackie Chan.

There was really no other way, so I had to say something.

Deputy Commander Zhong could only soften his tone and say in a kind manner, "Nothing is absolute. No matter how accurate your A-team's marksmanship is, there will always be times when accidents happen."

What if—and I mean just what if—an accident happens and someone gets hurt?

Deputy Commander Zhong's anger subsided, and Jackie Chan also lowered his own tone, calmly explaining, "Commander, I can explain this to you from three aspects."

First of all, only my men have live ammunition. They can easily drive nails into wooden boards with bullets from 100 meters away. Shooting live ammunition is as easy as cracking sunflower seeds for them. Their marksmanship is absolutely flawless.

Secondly, the fact that the weapon is loaded with live ammunition actually makes it less likely for accidents to occur.

When the soldiers participating in the training know that it is live ammunition, they will naturally develop a combat mindset, remember the key points of safe operation very clearly, and concentrate more, so as to complete the tactical actions with the highest standards.

In this state of perfect unity of mind and body, even if you wanted to shoot them with a bullet, you might not be able to hit them, let alone deliberately control the height and position.

Finally, it is the most important point.

Soldiers are born to protect their country and its people. In order to hone their skills and live up to the expectations of the military, they sometimes need to make sacrifices.

As a pioneer of the future army, the First Division must be even more aware of this.

If we can't even make this choice, how can we talk about building a first-class army that meets the needs of future warfare and is ahead of the world?

(End of this chapter)