From the 7th Steel Company to the Synthetic Division

When Brigade Commander Wang arrived at the conference room, he faced the same scene as Chen Jun.

Nothing has changed.

After Brigade Commander Wang sat down opposite him, the senior colonel went straight to the point and asked, "You were the commander-in-chief of the Red Army at the time. What consequences and impacts did the Steel Seventh Brigade's disruptive behavior have on this exercise?"

The colonel's question was clearly leading and biased against the 7th Steel Brigade.

This can be seen.

The opposition from headquarters was no less than that from below.

"Do you want me to tell the truth?" Commander Wang said expressionlessly.

"Of course we should tell the truth," the colonel said seriously.

"Through this exercise, we have learned a lot of useful experience from the 7th Steel Brigade and Staff Officer Chen, including their bold attempts to disrupt things," Brigade Commander Wang said earnestly.

"Tuk-tuk-tuk."

The colonel tapped the table three times, deliberately putting on a fierce but actually cowardly threat: "This is not a place for jokes. You will be held responsible for what you say."

"Do you want me to lie? To say that this exercise was a complete mess?"

Brigade Commander Wang was an upright and righteous soldier. He had already realized that these people were targeting Chen Jun, so his tone became less polite.

“We didn’t ask you to lie, but it’s a fact that the order of this exercise was disrupted.”

The colonel was somewhat embarrassed by Brigade Commander Wang's rebuttal, but in order to get the answer he wanted from Brigade Commander Wang, he still deliberately tried to guide the conversation.

"Yes."

Director Wang agreed with the colonel, but then abruptly changed the subject, saying, "However, the original order was not the one that was closest to actual combat."

Instead, it is more about the order of viewing, acting purely for the sake of performance.

We all know that the training ground is not a stage for acting; it should be a battlefield, or rather, the closest place to a battlefield, a serious and earnest place.

The Seventh Steel Brigade's actions broke with the original plan and conformed to the rules of the battlefield. Haven't all our exercises over the years been aimed at developing in this direction?

What Brigade Commander Wang said were all public facts, and the Senior Colonel had no way to refute them.

But he didn't want to be led by the nose by Director Wang, so he continued to nitpick, saying, "What you're saying is certainly the right direction, but today we'll only talk about the problems that exist in Operation Warrior."

"question?"

Brigade Commander Wang sneered and bluntly stated, "The biggest problem with the exercise is obvious, it's right there in front of you, it's just a show."

"No way, I've seen the exercise plan. It's a real-life confrontation without any contingency plans," the colonel said, frowning.

Yes, that was the initial situation.

Commander Wang nodded and continued, "But later we heard that experts from the Academy of Military Sciences were coming to observe, so they told us to change our plan and follow the second plan."

The plan involves conducting drills with a performance-based approach, followed by back-to-back, unscripted exercises after the experts leave. However, we believe this is completely unnecessary.

Although Commander Wang did not name names directly, the name of the person who made this decision was obvious.

"We?" the colonel pointed out.

"Yes, it's us." Brigade Commander Wang wasn't afraid at all.

"Who exactly is it?" the colonel pressed for details.

"Me and Brigade Commander Xiahou."

No sooner had Brigade Commander Wang finished speaking than the lieutenant colonel beside him, like a dog smelling excrement, immediately snapped, "So you had this planned all along?"

"Correct."

Commander Wang looked directly at the lieutenant colonel and said, "If Chief of Staff Chen Jun hadn't come, we would have planned to break the plan and do something different in our confrontation with Commander Xiahou."

However, Chief of Staff Chen Jun arrived too late and had no idea that there was a contingency plan that was mainly for performance and that there was such a thing as a confrontation exercise.

This operation was conducted entirely in accordance with exercises closely resembling real combat.

Now that the 7th Steel Brigade has launched an attack, we must respond actively and utilize our contingency plans. So, that's roughly the situation.

Commander Wang's words were airtight and without any loopholes, so the colonel could not find a problem and had to ask another question: "As the commander-in-chief of the Red Army in this exercise, you won the exercise, while the Steel Seventh Brigade did not. Do you think this was just going through the motions?"

"I never considered the Red Army to be the victor."

Commander Wang said with a wry smile, "If the hostage situation is carried out according to the Seventh Steel Brigade's plan, we can launch a rescue operation within ten minutes, and the exercise will present a thrilling scene."

Our tsunami special operations brigade's rapid response capabilities can also be put to great use.

However, what should have been a brilliant exercise was rejected by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Qian, who forcibly prevented us from carrying out the operation.

Our commandos waited for more than three hours for the helicopter to arrive; this is simply treating the exercise like a joke.

To be honest, the exercise has been dragged on for so long that even if we didn't go to rescue them, those experts from the Academy of Military Sciences could walk back to the guesthouse on their own.

Wang Hu's eyes reddened as he spoke, showing how aggrieved he was.

It was a well-planned exercise, with everyone preparing for so long, all ready to give it their all, but because of someone's selfishness, it ended up being nothing more than a farce.

Anyone would feel upset and furious in that situation.

"Is there such a thing?"

For the first time, Da Xiao showed a shocked expression, indicating that he had no idea of ​​the real situation and that his mind had been filled with one-sided information before he came.

"This is nothing, there's more to come."

Wang Hu laughed sarcastically and said, "When we went to rescue the experts from the Academy of Military Sciences, the military experts wouldn't let us rescue them at all."

They proposed that since they had already joined the 7th Steel Brigade, they wanted to participate in this exercise and not be taken away as rescuers, but rather as prisoners of war.

It was as if they were still waiting for the 7th Steel Brigade to launch a rescue operation.

Commander Wang's words were very shocking. The people they were supposed to rescue had become prisoners, waiting for what they thought were bandits to come and rescue them.

"This...this is unbelievable."

The senior colonel and the lieutenant colonel next to him both gaped, as if they had heard something unbelievable.

……

Chen Jun was unaware that Wang Hu was in the conference room. From beginning to end, Wang Hu was speaking on his behalf and that of the Seventh Steel Brigade, which greatly shocked the two officers conducting the investigation.

He had just returned to his room, preparing to call Liao Qiushui to chat and relax. But before he could even dial, there was a knock on the door of his guesthouse room. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Brigade Commander Xiahou Yuan.

"Commander Xiahou, it's you!"

"Haha, I knew you were back, and I actually ran into you."

"Come in, come in and sit down."

After a round of warm greetings, Xiahou Lan was warmly invited by Chen Jun to sit down at the tea table inside, where Chen Jun personally poured him a cup of hot tea.

"Brigade Commander Xiahou, you're here too. You must be looking for me as well," Chen Jun asked curiously.

"I've already received the notification and will be going up in ten minutes. I figured I'd be waiting outside anyway, so I thought I'd stop by and chat with you," Xiahou Lan said with a smile.

"I just finished my talk and came down here. Brigade Commander Wang Hu is talking up here now. So, the three of us are all here, haha," Chen Jun laughed.

“If you hadn’t come to the capital, I would have liked to visit your Steel Seventh Brigade for a thorough study. As soon as I got back last time, I reported your situation to our leaders. We are about to officially become a professional opposing force, and there will be new adjustments to our organizational structure. We urgently need to learn from you,” Xiahou Lan said sincerely.

"Great, welcome!"

Chen Jun was determined to strengthen the motherland, including the army and navy. He was very happy to hear the news and said: "To put it simply, we do have some experience in the field of professional opposing forces."

Especially when it comes to foreign troops and potential enemy forces, it ranks among the best in the country.

Moreover, we have many staff officers who are growing rapidly and have already gained a wealth of experience in this area. If you have any needs, I can second them to you.

I believe that once they arrive at your unit, they will definitely be of great benefit to your efforts in building a professional opposing force.

Chen Jun's words were not mere polite remarks, but a genuine expression of his feelings, which Xiahou Lan could keenly sense.

"Okay, thank you in advance."

Xiahou Lan gladly accepted Chen Jun's kindness, then asked with a serious expression, "Is the higher-ups still holding you accountable for kidnapping the experts?"

"It's not just this one thing."

Chen Jun smiled and said, "I think the main problem is that they misunderstand the nature of professional opposing teams. After hearing some other opinions, their thinking was skewed, which led to many misunderstandings."

Anyway, I've said what I needed to say. Let them do what they want, haha.

Chen Jun laughed heartily, which earned Xiahou Lan's sincere admiration. If it were anyone else who came to investigate in the morning, it would be difficult to maintain such a stable mindset.

"I heard you're going to hold a big exercise soon. I'd love to go and see it. Would you be welcome?" Xiahou Lan asked expectantly.

“Great, of course we welcome you…”

Chen Jun agreed without hesitation, but before he could finish speaking, someone outside shouted, "Brigade Commander Xiahou, it's your turn to go up. Where are you?"

"coming."

Brigade Commander Xiahou responded, got up to say goodbye to Chen Jun, and hurriedly went upstairs.

Because Xiahou Lan was delayed for a while, she didn't meet with Commander Wang in the stairwell when she came up, and went straight to the conference room.

Xiahou Lan is a strong-willed person, and he is equally assertive when it comes to investigating issues.

Before the person opposite could even ask a question, he took the initiative and said, "I only want to say one thing. The most prominent feature of this exercise is the addition of a professional opposing force, namely the Steel Seventh Brigade."

The real purpose of this exercise was to test the results of our military's professional opposing force construction.

Xiahou Lan immediately praised the Steel Seventh Brigade, asserting that it was the biggest contributor to the exercise, thus making his stance clear from the outset.

The colonel and the lieutenant colonel were both stunned for a few seconds.

Previously, Brigade Commander Wang Hu's attitude was already very clear: he highly recognized the performance of the Steel Seventh Brigade in the exercise and was even more impressed with Chen Jun's command talent.

Now, the last commander of Operation Warriors has come up, and he's even more exaggerated than Wang Hu.

They made no attempt to hide their feelings and stated directly that the 7th Steel Brigade was the biggest contributor to this exercise, implying that the 7th Steel Brigade deserved some kind of award.

Seeing that the two were stunned by him, Xiahou Lan took the initiative and continued, "Although you work in the headquarters, it does not mean that you fully understand the current development and construction of the troops."

Especially with some new training methods and concepts, because you are so far removed from the grassroots units, you may have already become out of touch.

Xiahou Lan's words were truly scathing, and he certainly had the guts and courage to say them.

Most people wouldn't dare say that.

The colonel and lieutenant colonel sitting in front of him were lectured by Xiahou Lan. They wanted to retort, but couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Because they sit in the headquarters of the capital, which is really too far removed from the grassroots.

They were completely ignorant of the things Xiahou Lan was talking about, and they knew very little about leading and training troops.

Because their weak points were hit, they had no way to refute it, even if they were unhappy.

The sharp-tongued Xiahou Lan had already taken control of the meeting, but his mouth didn't stop. He continued, "The reason why many of the Seventh Steel Brigade's tactics and methods are seen as outrageous and problematic by you is because..."

It is precisely because they approached the task from a professional perspective that they were able to realistically simulate the hypothetical enemy, achieving a perfect resemblance in both form and spirit.

The 7th Steel Brigade has always been at the forefront of the entire army in simulating foreign military training. They have applied the theoretical findings of their research on foreign militaries to live-fire exercises, vividly and realistically demonstrating the actual combat effects on the battlefield.

As a whetstone, it constantly simulates the Red Army and targets its weaknesses, launching effective therapeutic strikes...

"Brigade Commander Xiahou."

The colonel saw that Xiahou Lan kept praising the Seventh Steel Brigade, which had now been touted as the most powerful force in the entire army, moving further and further away from the effect he wanted to achieve. He couldn't help but want to interrupt him.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiahou Lan interrupted him without hesitation.

"Listen to what I have to say first."

Xiahou Lan showed no mercy and continued, "The professional Blue Team will present themselves to me as the image of a real enemy."

This surprised our combat troops, who had been living in a peaceful environment for so long and had lost their vigilance.

It makes us feel that the enemy is right beside us, right in front of us, bringing a sense of crisis and urgency to our lives and work.

It also effectively promotes troop training, continuously moving towards and closely resembling actual combat.

This is the professional opposing force, the Steel Seventh Brigade, a major breakthrough in training model reform and a valuable contribution to the PLA's information technology reform.

If you truly understand this unit and the construction of a professional opposing force, your concepts and perspectives will undergo a significant change.

We will no longer use a ridiculous, business-like tone to raise pediatric questions to experts, nor will we stage any farcical situations like comparing apples and oranges.

"Now, Senior Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel, please continue with your questions. Don't try to label me again as someone who came to headquarters to lecture you." (End of Chapter)