Soldiers' Assault: Veteran Special Agents and New Recruits

"In the industrial age..."

Long Xiaoyun sat on the stage and spoke eloquently: "Mechanized warfare is large in scale, with long battle lines and a wide battlefield. This has created a tree-like command structure that connects the highest command to the grassroots level, from top to bottom and from left to right, with a long vertical and narrow horizontal structure."

With the development of information technology and the increasing role and status of information warfare in modern warfare, this system has gradually revealed various drawbacks.

The information flow is long, and horizontal communication is not possible between units at the same level, or between reconnaissance systems and weapons. Communication must be relayed through higher authorities, resulting in poor survivability.

The disastrous defeat of the Iraqi army in the Gulf War proved that this top-down, highly centralized command system is now outdated.

Therefore, the organizational structure of warfare in the 21st century needs to be significantly adjusted.

In particular, to transition from a hierarchical structure to a network structure, our First Division developed and promoted the E5W system precisely to adapt to this structural shift.

The main feature of this structure is that it is interconnected horizontally and vertically. This horizontal connection is…

"Teacher, I have something to add."

Jing Xiaoshu suddenly stood up to give a report, interrupting Long Xiaoyun's presentation, which was quite impolite in a sense and caused an uproar in the room.

"Speaking!"

However, Long Xiaoyun didn't mind at all, and even gave her permission with great anticipation.

"I think your description of the characteristics of this command structure is not comprehensive enough. You should add a flatter shape so that as many combat units as possible are at the same information flow level..."

Jing Xiaoshu is a top talent in this industry, and it is not difficult for him to switch from civilian to military use, so he spoke vividly about it.

However, when Political Commissar Lu saw this young major, he found him to be a complete stranger, someone he had never seen before.

Curious, he whispered to Jackie Chan beside him, "Who am I, sir? I've never seen me before."

"Him? He's Jing Xiaoshu, the one I told you about," Jackie Chan replied.

"Is that the hacker who came back from the US?" Political Commissar Lu asked, frowning.

"hacker?"

Jackie Chan smiled and said, "You could say that. He specializes in software development, and strictly speaking, he's the same kind of person as a hacker."

"That's not right, is it?"

Political Commissar Lu frowned even more deeply, and said in a low voice as he stood up, "Come out for a moment, let's talk."

Jackie Chan could tell from Political Commissar Lu's expression what was on his face. He frowned and, knowing he was going to explain anyway, he simply followed him out.

"The special recruitment procedures haven't even been completed yet, and Jing Xiaoshu is already wearing a military uniform. What's going on with Long Xiaoyun? She's too bold!" Political Commissar Lu said angrily as soon as they stepped out the door.

"It's not her fault; it was with my consent," Jackie Chan said.

"You agreed?" Lu Yunhe was very surprised.

"right."

Jackie Chan didn't think he made a mistake in his decision. He said frankly, "You didn't get involved, so you don't know. The country is developing rapidly now, and local governments are vying for talent. If you hesitate even a little, you might miss out on talent."

The E5W system has reached a critical juncture, requiring Jing Xiaoshu to take charge. Therefore, we can only get him on board first, and then finalize the details later, working on it as we go.

"You've lost your mind! Don't you know this is against the rules?" Lu Yunhe said with great distress.

"Yes, doing this is a bit outrageous, but it's the only way. For the development of the E5W system, some things have to be done," Jackie Chan said firmly.

"The cadre policy is a red line that cannot be touched. No matter how urgent the situation, we cannot violate the regulations. You can't make a mistake. In my opinion, before things get any worse, you must take off your uniform immediately," Political Commissar Lu insisted.

"He's working day and night, and the research and development has reached the most critical stage. How can we do this? I can't go back on my word." Jackie Chan also has his principles.

"Fine, since you don't want to talk to him, then I'll play the bad guy and go talk to him."

Political Commissar Lu insisted seriously, saying, "No matter how good your intentions are, a violation is a violation. If this matter causes trouble for the division and for yourself, I have to deal with it."

"Sigh, I'll handle it. I'll take care of it. Give me some time," Jackie Chan said.

"The sooner the better, you know?"

Given Jackie Chan's insistence, Lu Yunhe, as the political commissar, could say no more and could only leave.

Jackie Chan has served in the military for two generations; how could he not know about the rules?

He dared to do this because he had the confidence that it wouldn't be as serious as Political Commissar Lu said, and it wouldn't affect the division.

……

military region.

Deputy Commander Zhong led a group of officials in charge of the formation of the First Division to an outdoor tea party to discuss the progress of the division's formation.

"Recently, Cheng Long, acting as the division commander of the First Division, submitted a report of 50,000 words, proposing some new ideas for the problems faced by the First Division in the process of further developing its combat capability. We can discuss it together today."

After Deputy Commander Zhong gave the opening remarks, Minister Wang continued the discussion, saying, "Jackie Chan's ideas are mainly reflected in the following aspects."

First, the First Division can decide for itself whether cadres below the regimental level should stay or leave.

Second, senior professional and technical personnel can be recruited at any time and granted corresponding military ranks and technical titles without occupying special recruitment quotas.

Third, special talents and academic leaders will receive a stipend several times their monthly salary, in addition to their regular salary.

Fourth, it requires the rotation of military and political leaders across the entire division.

Minister Wang finished explaining the four suggestions put forward by Long, and Deputy Commander Zhong said to everyone, "How about it, everyone? Let's all start discussing it."

The formation of the First Division was a major project, involving people from various departments of the military region.

Deputy Commander Zhong was the leader, and there were more than a dozen team members.

"I think I've figured it out. Jackie Chan is trying to get power from the military region. Isn't that a bit of wishful thinking?" said the short, stocky colonel.

"We can't raise a whole hive of bees only to end up with no honey and a ruined hive," said the colonel with a mole on his eyebrow.

Then everyone started talking at once.

"The formation of the First Division is a good thing, but if it's not managed properly, with demands being made today and ideas being raised tomorrow, what will the other units think? Won't things fall into chaos once it starts?"

"Jackie Chan came from the special forces; he was always a restless guy when he was in the special forces."

"Yes, he's an outrageous person. If we give him too much power, it could lead to a loss of criminal control and he might cause even more outrageous things."

……

A large group of people chimed in, and in no time they had identified a whole host of problems.

It's easy to tell from their words that their control over power is ingrained in their very being.

Everyone gets furious when it comes to rights.

Whether it was the battalion commanders under the First Division or the cadres working in the military region's offices, they all had the same appearance and were indistinguishable.

Only one bald senior colonel expressed a different opinion.

"I think Jackie Chan must have his reasons for making these demands. The current system of our army restricts the construction and development of the army in many ways."

The First Division needs to move towards digitalization to cope with modern warfare, so it's understandable that they want to accelerate the pace of reform.

The bald colonel's words are actually very reasonable, and are entirely based on the development of the military.

But his words refuted most of the people present. The short, stocky colonel immediately retorted, "I don't think this trend can continue. If each unit does whatever it wants and acts on its own, won't it become a multinational force, a ragtag army of outlaws? This will only lead to trouble."

The colonel with a mole on his eyebrow and the short, stocky man were on the same side, and he immediately chimed in, "I do admit that some of these suggestions are quite good."

But the time isn't right yet; it's far from that point, and it's impossible to implement it concretely. I think we need to wait a while longer.

Colonel Ai Dun was even supported by some people, who added fuel to the fire, saying: "Recently we have received several letters reflecting that Cheng Long of the First Division has recruited local personnel without anyone's approval."

Furthermore, he issued orders and bestowed military ranks, treating military law as a joke and the First Division as his personal property.

Regardless of who tipped them off—Wu Yiwen or Gui Pingyuan could be among them—the fact that Colonel Ai Dun spoke so seriously clearly suggests a targeted attack.

Upon hearing that Jackie Chan had recruited people without authorization, Deputy Commander Zhong's face immediately darkened, and he asked sternly, "Is that really true?"

"We are currently verifying this, but based on this report and Jackie Chan's style of behavior, this is entirely possible," Colonel Dwarf replied.

"Then go and verify it right away, and we'll talk about it after that."

Deputy Commander Zhong personally had high hopes for Jackie Chan and didn't want to see him make mistakes, so he changed the subject and asked, "Any news about Wu Yiwen lately?"

"Everyone reacted well to him. He was able to find his place in the team and showed great respect to the acting division commander, Jackie Chan. He repeatedly stood up for Jackie Chan and upheld his authority in meetings and public occasions."

Minister Wang gave Wu Yiwen high praise, and then added, "I also heard that he wrote down the six characters you gave him, 'Pull the iron out properly,' and put them under the glass of his desk, and put them into practice very well."

"hehe."

The deputy commander smiled, his expression complex, and then took a deep breath and said, "I was prepared for the reactions from all sides to Jackie Chan. After all, it's a promotion beyond his rank, and the tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind."

I just didn't expect it to be so intense. I've been receiving letters from him almost every day lately, with all sorts of questions.

Although most of them are anonymous, it seems that not all of them are baseless.

As the saying goes, "Three men can make a tiger."

Deputy Commander Chung had high hopes for Jackie Chan and believed that he could build the First Division well, which is why he insisted on having Jackie Chan take on the role of acting division commander, even though he was above the rank of division commander.

However, after a long period of criticism and criticism, and with those at the top also having their own opinions, things have changed.

Deputy Commander Zhong's resolute heart clearly wavered.

His words are the evidence.

Minister Wang could see the changes in the deputy commander. He had received a call from Jackie Chan before and could vaguely guess some of the reasons, so he couldn't help but worry about Jackie Chan.

To prevent any misunderstandings, Minister Wang volunteered to Deputy Commander Zhong, saying, "Do you think I should go and find out what's going on?"

"People say I stirred up a hornet's nest. I can't just watch the hornets sting people and stay far away by myself. Let's go together," said Deputy Commander Zhong.

"When are we going?" Minister Wang asked.

"I'll leave tomorrow. Secretary Zhang also invited me to Linzhou tomorrow to discuss the reservoir construction," Minister Wang said.

"I heard that the idea of ​​building the reservoir was initiated by Gao Cheng. When he took office as the commander of the Linzhou Military Sub-district, this was the first thing he did," Minister Wang said.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Deputy Commander Zhong said in surprise, "The Linzhou Reservoir had been proposed to be built several times before, but it was always vetoed by the military. I didn't expect him to become the one who promoted it."

"The biggest problem in Linzhou is water. Now that the First Division is stationed there, we really need to find a solution to the water issue as soon as possible," Minister Wang said.

"Let's talk to him then."

After Vice Commander Zhong made the decision, the topic was changed to other aspects.

the next day.

Upon receiving the notification, the members of the First Division Headquarters, led by Jackie Chan and Lu Yunhe, gathered on the large lawn of the division headquarters to welcome the arrival of Deputy Commander Zhong.

The waiting time had long passed, but Deputy Commander Zhong's helicopter still hadn't arrived.

Jackie Chan and Political Commissar Lu were both surprised.

Deputy Commander Zhong is a very punctual person, so he also dislikes people who are not punctual. Logically speaking, this should not have happened.

But since Deputy Commander Ke Zhong was his superior, he couldn't call to ask or urge him.

All we could do was wait idly on the playground.

In fact, Deputy Commander Zhong had arrived long ago, but he deliberately wanted to take them by surprise and did not go to the division headquarters to meet with Jackie Chan and others immediately.

Instead, they chose to conduct a surprise inspection of a brigade under the First Division without prior notice.

The first stop was the engineering battalion.

The helicopter was parked at the engineering battalion's training ground, on a hilltop platform with three sections, so that the engineering battalion could be observed from the mountain and first-hand information could be obtained.

The head of the engineering battalion quickly spotted Deputy Commander Zhong and Minister Wang on the mountaintop.

He rushed over to greet the two of them, while simultaneously sending someone to drive to the division headquarters as fast as possible to inform the others who were still waiting on the parade ground.

Jackie Chan, Political Commissar Lu, and others greeted Deputy Commander Zhong, and as required, none of them carried mobile phones.

The phone call couldn't get through; we could only notify them manually.

When the messenger rushed over to inform Jackie Chan and Political Commissar Lu and Deputy Commander Zhong that they had arrived, Political Commissar Lu immediately said he would go over.

However, the communications officer immediately added that Deputy Commander Zhong forbade anyone from going over and that they should continue with their daily work.

All we need is for Deputy Division Commander Wu to go!

Upon hearing this strange order, Jackie Chan and Political Commissar Lu exchanged bewildered glances, unable to fathom what Deputy Commander Zhong intended.

The other ministers and staff officers at headquarters were equally baffled by the order.

Only Wu Yiwen's eyes flashed with surprise, but he quickly hid it. At first glance, no one could detect anything unusual.

(End of this chapter)