Chapter Twenty-Six: Growth Period

  "How was it? Tell me quickly!"

  In the rest area of the assessment, Wang Dingguo had just finished the assessment and walked over. Dai Li and Yang Hongwei, who were from the same unit and also old acquaintances, almost rushed over, laughing and waiting for Wang Dingguo to talk about the assessment situation.

  After taking over the mineral water bottle, he unscrewed the cap and drank it after drinking, and blinked his eyes contentedly. He said to two old fellow villagers, the two best brothers: "The exam should be able to pass, I have calculated it just now. If my written test score can reach a correct rate of around 85%, then I should be able to enter Kunming Army Academy! How about you? The recruitment of our division is very urgent, and you two also took the shooting assessment this morning, which is the last level. What's the result?"

  "Enough said!" Referring to the shooting assessment earlier, although the Rapid Reaction Brigade of the Army had not experienced many major battles, their requirements were even higher than those of the internal training assessments within the First Division. Yang Hongwei shook his head and signaled for his brothers to sit down first. After nodding at Dai Li, he said: "Dai Li and I thought that with our skills, although we're not the shooting champions or runners-up in our First Division, at least we could meet the requirements, right? But what was their assessment?"

  Daly stood up beside him, patted Wang Dingguo's shoulder and said: "Those examiners didn't even prepare guns for us. The guns we wanted were all in parts placed in front of us. We thought this was just a test of our quick assembly skills? Normally, we can do it with our eyes closed, and assemble the gun in no time!"

  "So we're using brand new firearms for shooting, quickly adapting to uncalibrated firearms, which we've trained for. But the rapid reaction brigade has even higher requirements, they set up moving targets just like our training, but the shooting isn't just about lying there quietly. Let's get into an infantry fighting vehicle and shoot at the target from various firing ports..."

  "And not only is the target moving, but the infantry fighting vehicle is also mobile. You haven't been to the scene, that road was deliberately dug into potholes, and the tracked infantry fighting vehicle can only shake and sway when moving, with some areas even set up with explosive points, the sudden explosion sound and black smoke will affect your shooting. The most despicable thing is that the driver of the infantry fighting vehicle seems to have a grudge against us, suddenly slamming on the brakes while driving, if you don't react quickly, it's going to be disastrous!"

  Dai Li and Yang Hongwei sang in harmony, making Wang Dingguo, who was sitting aside, understand that although this rapid reaction brigade had not experienced many battles, the requirements for the soldiers' quality were not ordinary. The rumor that a brigade could defeat the first division's troops was indeed different.

  "So you've all lost hope?"

  "Yes, the whole division has over a thousand people signing up for the selection competition, but they only need 150! My and Old Two's total scores are ranked 261st and 229th, how can we possibly get selected?" Yang Hongwei said, finishing off his mineral water bottle, "The Colonel told us that no matter where our division sends people, they must be top-notch, whether they go or stay. Besides, our First Division is not inferior to the Rapid Reaction Brigade, and we can gain combat experience, whereas the Rapid Reaction Brigade just stays in Liuzhou on high alert all day, being a soldier without fighting wars. I reckon even if I went, I would apply for reassignment soon!"

  "Alright, now it's up to you, brother! If you really go to the military academy, then do your best. After graduation, at least you'll be a lieutenant, and who knows, maybe you'll even be assigned to our unit, that way you'll become one of us officers!" Dali said, tossing aside his mineral water bottle, and with a loud shout, he slapped Yang Hongwei's head, stood up straight, puffed out his chest, sucked in his stomach, and bellowed: "Salute to the future officer!!"

  "How dare you scold me like this! Watch out, I'll beat you two to death!" As he spoke, Wang Dingguo kicked out with one leg and the two of them had already run off laughing.

  Three new recruits from May 1922, after three months of training and selection, were chosen to join the First Division, and in a flash it was six years. The former mischievous young men are now all leaders, the old squad leader has gone into business and achieved some success, and the three of them have also become glorious second-term officers like their old squad leader at the time. The First Division during the old squad leader's service period was an invincible infantry division, while today's First Division is already an armored mechanized division.

  Three people, as long as the technical and tactical skills are solid, it is very possible to serve as a third-level officer. However, for Wang Dingguo, who had a strong military academy dream among the three, after six years of baptism in the army, he became even more determined to pursue his dream of becoming a high-ranking commander, so he chose to take the military academy exam. The other two brothers were also striving for their future careers, and if they could enter the rapid reaction brigade, promotion would be a natural thing.

  However, the fact is that Wang Dingguo can now enter the military academy, while the other two brothers can only continue to stay in the first division. If their service period cannot be extended, Wang Dingguo will end his life at the military academy at least four years later. Perhaps this is their last time laughing and joking together, and when they meet again, it will likely be as a soldier and a civilian. So the three people chose to go to the company's cafeteria for a wild party, ordering a table of good dishes, and drinking three bottles of beer, treating it as a farewell banquet.

  In late August 1928, another batch of new recruits finished their three-month training and waited for the troops to select them. Wang Dingguo had already boarded a train to Kunming and embarked on a military school path, so he couldn't accompany Dai Li and Yang Hongwei to select new recruits. At this time, the General Staff Department brought good news to the army: the troops would expand again based on these new recruits, not only preparing to build the Sixth Army Group but also expanding one infantry division for each army group, and each army group's ace division would be upgraded.

  That is to say, the five major group armies of the People's Army Land Forces will all enter true group army-ization, with each group army having four main force divisions. Broken down further, in addition to the 1st Division remaining as the sole armored division within the 1st Group Army, this group army will also convert one mechanized infantry division and add one infantry division. The 5th Division of the 4th Group Army will be upgraded to an armored division, with one infantry division converted into a mechanized infantry division and another added. The 2nd and 5th Group Armies will each add one infantry division and convert one existing main force infantry division into a mechanized infantry division.

  The first and fourth main forces of the five major group armies will each have an armored division, a mechanized infantry division, and two infantry divisions. The fourth group army will transfer its fourth division to the sixth group army as the main force, which has a heavy task in this expansion. The second and fifth group armies will each have their first mechanized infantry division, enhancing the combat effectiveness of the group army. The third group army, which is responsible for defending the three southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, is special due to its mountain warfare nature. An additional infantry division was added to this group army, with a focus on developing its mountain and jungle warfare capabilities. However, its main force, the sixth division, is still allowed to be converted into a mechanized infantry division.

  The Sixth Army Group will be based on the original Fourth Infantry Division of the Fourth Army, which will also be converted into a mechanized infantry division. In other words, the future six major army groups and 24 divisions of the land forces will have significant changes in their composition and affiliation.

  The First Army Corps had the 1st (Armored), 2nd (Mechanized), 7th and 16th Motorized Divisions. The Second Army Corps had the 3rd (Mechanized), 8th, 13th and 17th Motorized Divisions. The Third Army Corps had the 6th (Mechanized), 9th, 12th and 18th Infantry Divisions. The Fourth Army Corps had the 5th (Armored), 11th (Mechanized), 19th and 21st Motorized Divisions. The Fifth Army Corps had the 10th (Mechanized), 14th, 15th and 20th Motorized Divisions. The Sixth Army Corps had the 4th (Mechanized), 22nd, 23rd and 24th Motorized Divisions.

  This expansion seems somewhat comical, but in reality it is a transitional expansion made by the army due to limited military funds and low strategic needs. According to the General Staff's idea, the First and Fourth Group Armies will become heavy group armies in the future, while the Third Group Army will focus on mountain and jungle warfare. Among the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Group Armies, a trump card heavy group army will be born, and the other two armies are also important and should not be underestimated, because the army's goal is not just six group armies, after all, China's territory is not just one or two million square kilometers.

  The construction of the new troops urgently needs a large number of old soldiers to be supplemented, and the army dares to increase one division for each group army at once, or even directly expand a main force division into a group army, because it sees that there are many old soldier teams in the army that can be allocated. The ratio of new and old troops is controlled at 1:4, which is conducive to the rapid formation of combat effectiveness. At this time, the advantage of the officer system is reflected, which also helps to retain the combat effectiveness of the troops, that is, the old soldiers of the troops. The construction of new troops means that many old soldiers will be promoted, and it is possible for a third-phase officer or even a second-phase officer to become an officer directly, if they can become officers who lead soldiers, this must be conducive to the enthusiasm and initiative of the old soldiers.

  Wang Dingguo took a bright path, but his brother didn't take a solitary wooden bridge either. The First Army Group quickly completed the transformation of the Second Infantry Division into a mechanized infantry division and rapidly formed the Sixteenth Infantry Division's combat effectiveness by transferring a batch of technically excellent and outstanding commanders from the First Division to the Second Division. Of course, the construction of the mechanized infantry division also relied on the help of the Guangxi Army Officer School.

  While incorporating some of the backbone of the Second Mechanized Infantry Division and a portion of the Seventh Infantry Division into the Sixteenth Infantry Division, the goal was to make the Second Mechanized Infantry Division the strongest mechanized infantry division in the army within five months, and to enable the Sixteenth Infantry Division to be on par with the Seventh Infantry Division. In short, the various major armies of the land forces pursued overall progress, which not only brought about an increase in combat effectiveness for the entire land force, but also provided a better future for veteran soldiers who had dedicated their youth to the troops for many years. Yang Hongwei and Dai Li both became officers before Wang Dingguo, with both becoming junior lieutenants and platoon leaders of the Second Mechanized Infantry Division. At the time when Wang Dingguo was still completing his enrollment procedures, he received letters from his two good friends, who had already transformed from non-commissioned officers to commissioned officers by the time Wang Dingguo put on his red student soldier shoulder badge. As Dai Li put it, "In a special period, the treatment of soldiers is not ordinary, and their fate is not necessarily predetermined."

  The army has made a big move, and the navy and air force have not been idle. The army is expanding its forces with great ambition, but the actions of the navy and air force are also very large, although they do not show as much grandeur as the army. The scale of the air force has always been in a very difficult exploratory stage, just like the naval aviation, and this time's expansion scale is also very small.

  The large air force bases are distributed in Gansu Lanzhou, Sichuan Chengdu, Shaanxi Xi'an, Yunnan Kunming, Hunan Changde, and Guangxi Liuzhou. In addition, Guangdong Guangzhou and Jiangxi Nanchang will also become key points for the Air Force. Although it is said that eight main bases will be maintained, the scale of the air force is not large. After expansion: Two bomber divisions are mainly stationed in Sichuan Chengdu and Guangxi Liuzhou, three fighter divisions are stationed in Guangxi Yulin, Gansu Lanzhou, and Hunan Changde, a training division is stationed in Yunnan Kunming, and a transport aircraft division is located in Guangxi Nanning. Each air force base has an independent high artillery regiment, with 25mm, 40mm, and 88mm caliber twin-mounted anti-aircraft guns as the main equipment of the high artillery regiment.

  The expansion of the navy is mainly concentrated in the naval aviation force. The naval air force expanded from an original experimental composite aviation division to a scale similar to that of an army group, including a fighter division, an independent transport brigade, a torpedo bomber division and a dive bomber division. In addition to the Naval Aviation Hunan Yiyang Training Base, the main bases are Wuzhou, Zhanjiang, Sanya and Yongxing Island. There are also plans to build a base on the remote Qinghai Xining Qinghai Lake shore for secret training of naval aviation shipborne aircraft pilots.

  After the expansion of the three armed forces, it is easy for the army to gain overall combat effectiveness. The air force has pilots who have undergone rigorous training in aviation schools before joining the troops, and their skills and tactics will quickly integrate with the troops after joining. However, after the navy's expansion, forming a higher level of combat effectiveness requires a long period of grinding and time. Even if new equipment is possessed by professional technical personnel, it takes a lot of effort to make good use of the new equipment, develop new tactics, and enhance the combat effectiveness of ships and fleets.

  "Count off from left to right!"

  "One... two... three..."

  "Attention, all present!" Yang Hongwei, now promoted to junior lieutenant and platoon leader, had a single stripe and star on his shoulder, which looked much better than the previous rough epaulette. However, with higher military rank came greater responsibility. So when the Second Regiment was just established, most of its equipment still in transit, a mechanized infantry platoon composed of troops from various units plus a group of new recruits were mobilized early on.

  Yang Hongwei's mechanized infantry company will have four Type 22 infantry fighting vehicles, with a personnel structure of 3+8, plus a company headquarters with a personnel structure of 3+2. Four vehicles and 36 people form a mechanized infantry company. "Although we haven't received the equipment yet, necessary military training must be carried out. Who says that without armored vehicles, you can't be soldiers?"

  The main difference between mechanized infantry and pure infantry or motorized infantry is that the vehicles used for mobile operations are more powerful, with tracked infantry fighting vehicles having good protection and allowing infantry to fight from inside the vehicle, but often their task is to quickly arrive at the battlefield, disembark and participate in combat on foot. Therefore, mechanized infantry also requires high individual soldier quality.

  "Note that our armored vehicle is just like the model in front of us now. When getting on and off quickly, you must be fast and stable. Fast means when the door opens, you must get on and off in an orderly and rapid manner, don't bump your feet. Stable means keep your center of gravity steady, I don't want to see anyone falling off the vehicle, nor do I want to see anyone stumbling after getting on... In short, our armored vehicles are often moving at a certain speed without stopping. Getting on and off quickly in a stationary situation is easy, but it requires more practice when the vehicle is moving..."

  Equipment has not yet arrived, and Yang Hongwei, who has been the platoon leader of the mechanized infantry battalion in the First Division for many years, is naturally very familiar with basic tactics. Six years of military service are not wasted. The equipment has not yet arrived, but he himself found someone to make a 1:1 scale model of the combat vehicle. For new recruits, the first hurdle on the road to becoming a strong soldier is the problem of motion sickness. Many people don't get dizzy when sitting in a large truck that shakes back and forth, but it's rare for new recruits not to get dizzy when sitting in an armored vehicle under various mobile conditions. He himself was also confused at the beginning and vomited countless times, and he didn't know how many times he had to do abdominal exercises on the horizontal bar to overcome his motion sickness problem.

  "I believe that you can join the five major armies, not six. I think your individual quality is good. Shooting, physical fitness, oral orders, and internal affairs, etc., should be no one says their own is very poor! No matter where we go, we all believe in good internal affairs, excellent shooting, abundant physical strength, and a positive attitude, anyone can become a champion." Yang Hongwei said, pointing to the brand new 18-style automatic rifles behind him, "Our tanks haven't arrived yet, but the guns have. Now let's start distributing them!"

  With guns in hand, Yang Hongwei took his squad to the shooting range within ten minutes. It is said that the army has the most abundant ammunition supply, but the vast majority of it is used on the shooting range and exercise grounds, with very little actually being consumed on the battlefield. As a member of the First Division who inherited its glorious tradition, Yang naturally brought his habit of emphasizing marksmanship training with him, issuing each soldier a certain amount of ammunition to help them adapt to their new firearms and get accustomed to shooting in the dry and windy conditions of the northwest.

  Yang Hongwei was watching the soldiers in his squad shooting at targets to get used to their new guns when a messenger came running up behind him, bringing an order from the company commander. "Squad leader, the company commander notifies you that there will be a meeting at the company headquarters in 10 minutes. Also, after your squad finishes shooting, please collect all the target papers and do a statistics of the shooting results, as a baseline assessment of the shooting performance."

  "Oh, so urgent! Is the equipment being transported over?" Yang Hongwei looked at the communication soldier with a smile on his face and quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to him.

  "Thanks, I won't smoke for now. Yang squad leader, to be honest with you, this company commander hasn't even received the equipment arrival notice, but instead got an order from the regimental headquarters saying that they are organizing a group of officers to go to the First Division for observation and learning, to see how their training is conducted. Our company has been allocated two quotas, and the company commander is worried about who to send!"

  "Ah?" Yang Hongwei immediately put out his cigarette, adjusted his hat, and patted the communication officer's shoulder, saying: "What are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and go to the company headquarters right away!" Then, he quickly ran towards the jeep where the communication officer was sitting. Before running a few steps, he suddenly turned back, found the second squad leader who was waiting to shoot, whispered something to him as if making some work arrangements, and then followed the communication officer with a smile.

  Yang Hongwei arrived at the company when he found that the other two platoon leaders and a support platoon leader had all arrived. This intense competition was the same everywhere, so he quickly took out his notebook and pen and sat down, and the meeting officially began. After clearing his throat, the company commander said: "Just now, the first platoon has already gone to the shooting range for training under Platoon Leader Yang's leadership. This positive attitude and behavior are worth learning from by other platoons. In addition, the regiment informed us that our company can organize two officers to go to the First Division for observation and study. Let's not talk about what positive effects this will have on us, but why would there be such a good opportunity for us to take?"

  Four brigades are naturally in a state of confusion, not knowing what to do. In theory, the second division should have been mechanized and given more time for training and integration. It would be good to observe and learn from other troops, but it should be after our own equipment has arrived and we have made some progress in our training. However, this time, even before the equipment arrives, let alone integration training, lower-level officers are being organized to study, which clearly means that the troop's integration time is limited and something has happened.

  "Look at you guys, your minds are racing fast, I'll just tell you directly! The regiment commander gave me a hint, why our group army wants to transform the second division into a mechanized infantry division instead of the seventh division. We won't pursue this reason too much, but it's beneficial for the first division that the second division becomes a mechanized infantry division. From now on, the first division will no longer be training alone, we've become their testing unit for training results, and we can directly conduct red-blue confrontations within our own army."

  At this time, the instructor spoke up: "In fact, our equipment is already on the way, and it will arrive at our division in a week. This week, from the division to the regimental level, we have decided not to waste any more time. Let's send people to learn from the First Division, and after they return, there will be a three-month adaptation period. Next year's spring exercise will be a direct confrontation between our division and the First Division, so time is tight and tasks are heavy, everyone should seize the moment! You are all old cadres of the Second Division and former First Division, I believe you know what to do!"

  "Alright, I've decided that Yang Hongwei and Dai Li from the first and third platoons will go to the First Division for observation and learning. Firstly, you two are both from the First Division, so you're very familiar with the old unit. Now that you've become leaders yourselves, your perspective on problems has changed, and it's more layered. So, you two must learn well, observe their strengths and weaknesses clearly, and our company's performance next year in the spring exercise will depend on your observation results!"

  "After returning, it's time for our team to receive equipment. After returning, the company will hold an academic report meeting for you two, specifically to tell the soldiers about what they saw, learned and summarized in the First Division. Being good at learning is the key to our rapid growth, do you two have confidence in completing the task?"

  "Report, mission accomplished!"

  Yang Hongwei and Dai Li suddenly stood up, solemnly saluting Lian Zhang and the instructor, and after receiving a return salute, sat back down to continue listening to Lian's arrangements and instructions. Although the First Division was their old unit, they were now officers of the Second Division, and both of them looked forward to directly confronting their old unit in the future. However, before that, they still had to humbly learn, as newly formed units needed time to grow. After the six major group armies went through a period of grinding, the army would continue to maintain its position as the oldest of the three armies, and whether it was the oldest in all of China required further verification.