The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 483 The Chairman's Micromanagement Assessment
"Minister, I don't deserve it. I just imagined this anti-airborne attack based on the basic tactical assumption that the Japanese airborne troops would attack the temporary capital. It can also be said to be an air defense exercise. As stated in the proposal I submitted to the Military General Staff Department before, there are only two basic ways for the Japanese airborne troops to attack the temporary capital. One is direct parachute drop, and the other is to use large gliders to land directly on the ground. In the exercise just now, the six target aircraft shot down by the anti-aircraft artillery company of my corps completely imitated the appearance and structure of the glider, and the balloons placed inside them are aerial targets used by the Air Force for combat shooting training. In the exercise, they played the role of representing the Japanese paratroopers."

"After all, although balloons are fragile, paratroopers in the air are not much different from balloons in the face of anti-aircraft firepower on the ground. They have no offensive power, let alone defensive power. In terms of mobility speed, paratroopers in the airborne stage are not as fast as balloons blown away by the wind."

"As for deploying anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns on trucks, it is to improve the mobility of our corps' anti-aircraft firepower. Trucks can provide stable firing carriers and support for anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft machine guns and other anti-aircraft firepower, and also make them highly maneuverable. For example, in the final stage of the exercise just now, many trucks of our unit equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns quickly moved forward and pursued targets moving rapidly in the air. They advanced and fired at the same time, and in a short period of time, they shot down all the balloons that drifted away with the wind. In wartime, we can also use the same method to deal with Japanese paratroopers who were scattered and maneuvering in the air. In addition, the mobility of trucks can also enable anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns to reach the landing area of ​​the Japanese paratroopers as soon as possible, causing them to suffer casualties as soon as possible."

He Wei answered steadily.

Minister He nodded repeatedly as he listened, and Minister Xu also listened with great interest, and was obviously very satisfied with these "tricks" that He Wei came up with. However, He Wei was secretly laughing in his heart. This anti-airborne exercise he organized was indeed quite varied, with target shooting machines and anti-aircraft guns and machine guns installed on trucks, but He Wei actually had a good idea of ​​the practical significance and level of this anti-airborne exercise.

He was originally not interested in the Japanese airborne attack on the temporary capital, so although he made the anti-airborne exercise the highlight of the joint combat exercise of the assault corps, he also took great pains to get the help of the Air Force.

But in his opinion, this air defense and anti-airborne exercise is more of a performance-type exercise, with a huge element of showmanship. For example, the ammunition belts used by the anti-aircraft machine guns in the exercise are all specially loaded and modified.

Generally, a machine gun ammunition belt containing tracer bullets would contain one tracer bullet among three to five ordinary bullets. However, in the exercise just now, the ammunition belts fired by the thirty-six MG34 machine guns were loaded with % tracer bullets.

He Wei did this naturally in order to make the scene bigger and more shocking. He knew that the members of the reviewing group were either high-ranking personnel of the Military Commission or people from the Chairman's Secretariat, most of whom were office officers who had never been to the battlefield. For these people, an exercise that was completely close to actual combat would probably not be as shocking and powerful as an exercise with a grand scene and plenty of pomp. Hence, there was the tracer barrage that looked like a fire dragon all over the sky just now.

In He Wei's opinion, the main purpose of this exercise is to tickle the reviewing group's sore spot, to make them feel good and enjoyable, and to let them know that the Assault Corps has put a lot of effort into the combat readiness task of defending against the Japanese airborne attacks on the temporary capital. Only in this way can they perform well in this inspection, and in the future they can also obtain more multi-faceted resources for the Assault Corps. That is why He Wei did not put actual combat first.

Of course, it does have practical implications, but if we really want to sit down and plan and deploy the anti-airborne combat readiness plan for the temporary capital, such an anti-airborne firepower exercise, although exciting enough, is short in time and the scenario is too simple, so it is still very insufficient.

Soon, after Minister He commented on the anti-airborne exercise planned by He Wei as "so many tricks", the long-silent reviewing group finally became active again. The performance of everyone was no different from that after witnessing the assault corps parade not long ago. Some talked to each other and praised them highly, some pointed excitedly, and some cheered loudly, and all of them once again did not hesitate to praise.

When He Wei saw the performance of the reviewing group members, he knew that his good intentions had not been in vain. This anti-airborne exercise, which was the core highlight of the joint combat exercise, was a success.

Just like after the parade just now, He Wei did not interrupt the comments of the reviewing members, but gave them ample time to express their shock and amazement about this anti-airborne exercise.

Now that the anti-airborne exercise has gotten off to a good start, He Wei feels that as long as the Assault Corps performs well in other subjects of the upcoming joint combat exercises, the Assault Corps' exercise will be considered a success.

After the members of the review group freely commented on the anti-airborne exercise for more than ten minutes, Minister Xu looked at He Wei and raised his voice, "He Wei, it seems that it was right to assign the combat readiness mission of the auxiliary capital area to your troops. This air defense combat method and air defense firepower deployment is not airtight, but it is enough to be called a dense fire network. If the Japanese really dare to use airborne troops to attack the auxiliary capital, they will be sitting ducks in front of your air defense firepower. Very good, very good. I hope your troops will not fall behind in other exercise subjects."

Minister He also said upon seeing this: "It's really well done. We should move to other places and continue the next exercise. He Wei, our inspection will continue. Keep organizing your troops for the exercise!"

Ministers Xu and He requested that the exercise continue. Naturally, all the members of the reviewing group around them quieted down and prepared to continue watching the next exercise of the assault corps.

He Wei was also inspired when he heard this, and answered, "Yes!"

If the anti-airborne and air-to-air shooting exercises just now were mostly for show, then the following combat exercises will be the real deal.

According to the predetermined plan, after the anti-airborne exercise is over, the combat exercises of various arms of the assault corps will be carried out in sequence, including the offensive and defensive tactics of infantry squads, platoons, companies, and battalions, the single gun, platoon, company, and battalion shooting of artillery units, the formation of artillery fire networks at different distances by mountain artillery and field artillery, as well as the coordination between infantry and artillery, and exercise subjects of professional and technical arms such as logistics, communications, and engineers.

For the Assault Corps, these real-life, practical subjects are their real forte, and are also the subjects that can truly reflect the Assault Corps' combat technical level!

He Wei became excited when he heard that Minister He wanted to continue watching the exercise. After responding, he was ready to organize the troops to start the exercise according to the original plan and demonstrate the excellent combat skills of the assault corps in front of the reviewing group.

However, he didn't expect that before he took a few steps, he heard the voice of Major General Huang from the Chairman's secretariat from behind.

"Captain He, please stay!"

He Wei immediately stopped and turned around, only to see Huang Gaocan running behind him with a big smile on his face. He Wei stood at attention with a look of suspicion in his heart and said, "Please give me your instructions, sir!"

Huang Gaocan smiled and returned the greeting, then said, "Captain He, I was ordered to come here this time. In fact, it was the order of the Chairman. The Chairman attaches great importance to the national military review led by the Military Commission. Your unit is on the list of troops to be reviewed, and it is also the only unit of the Central Army stationed near the temporary capital. Therefore, the Chairman attaches great importance to the inspection and review of your unit, so he specially sent me here."

"However, the Chairman specifically instructed me before I left that our army's current shooting skills are relatively poor, so he asked me to focus on your shooting level. Therefore, before your scheduled combat exercise plan begins, I hope to inspect your shooting level."

Looking at Major General Huang, who had been silent all the time but suddenly "started to attack" at this moment, He Wei thought that these people from the Chairman's Secretariat were not here simply to review the Assault Corps, but came with the mission of assessing the Assault Corps, and it was a surprise assessment at that.

The person who issued this task was naturally the bald principal of He Wei, Chang Kai-shen. Hearing what Huang Gaocan said, He Wei's heart was slightly disturbed, but on the surface, He Wei said calmly: "Yes! I obey your order, please propose the assessment method!"

Major General Huang nodded, the smile on his face disappeared, and he said solemnly: "Then I won't be polite. Since we are testing the shooting skills of your officers and soldiers, we have to test the most basic soldiers. The chairman's request is to randomly select four regular squads to conduct a 150-meter rifle shooting test. When shooting, they must wear combat uniforms, all shooters carry backpacks, wear helmets, and shoot at fixed targets!"

He Wei was stunned when he heard this. Although he had long known that President Chiang Kai-shek liked to micro-manage, he did not expect that President Chang would be so meticulous in micro-managing. Not only did he specifically instruct the people in the attendant's office to conduct a surprise assessment of the assault team, he even personally decided on the specific assessment methods and requirements.

Well, this chairman's micromanagement is really meticulous!
He Wei was still very confident about the live-fire shooting level of the assault corps officers and soldiers. They were fed with a huge amount of bullets. He Wei said confidently: "No problem! I will submit the organizational chart of this headquarters to the commander. Whether it is an infantry combat unit, a non-infantry combat unit, or a professional technical company, please select any soldiers for assessment at will!"

"Very good, then let's get started as soon as possible!"

Soon, Huang Gaocan, who was in charge of the work, informed Minister He, Minister Xu and other members of the review team of the assessment plan he had suddenly proposed.

It must be said that Huang Gaocan did a very good job of keeping secrets. Not only He Wei didn't know about this sudden shooting test, even Minister He and Minister Xu were completely unaware of it beforehand. However, since this was the Chairman's intention, no one would say anything and could only obey. As a result, the next combat exercise subject of the Assault Corps was replaced by a sudden live-fire shooting test.

Ten minutes later, at the shooting range of the assault corps' combat training ground, four squads, totaling fifty-six officers and soldiers who were selected to participate in the live-fire shooting assessment, were already fully armed and standing in military posture on the shooting line of the shooting range.

At each person's shooting position, there is a Czech vz24 rifle and a row of five mm pointed rifle bullets, and in the target trench meters in front of each shooting position, there is a round standard wooden target.

The main force of the assault corps had already moved fully equipped to the corps' combat training ground during the anti-airborne exercise. He Wei also fulfilled his promise and handed the assault corps' organizational list directly to Major General Huang in the attendant's room, allowing him to choose a reference unit at will.

Major General Huang was not polite and just randomly selected four squads from different units. Among them, two squads were infantry companies, namely the 5th Infantry Company of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps and the 9th Infantry Company of the 3rd Infantry Battalion.

The other two squads came from the smoke platoon of the engineering company and the wired communications platoon of the communications company. These four squads are two infantry combat units from the assault corps, and the other two are from the professional technical service company directly under the assault corps.

At the shooting range, apart from the soldiers waiting to be tested, there were only five officers from the Attendant's Room headed by Major General Huang and two squads of officers and soldiers from the Attendant's Room Guard who followed them. Apart from them, there was no one else.

Huang Gao saw that all the soldiers to be tested were ready, so he took out his pocket watch and shouted, "Everyone, take your positions and start shooting!"

As soon as the order to start shooting was given, the four squads of assault corps soldiers immediately crawled on the target position and began to load and shoot. The crackling sound of gunfire soon resounded throughout the shooting range.

砰

砰

砰

Bullets were fired continuously, flying out like shuttles. The officers and soldiers who were participating were skilled in loading, shooting and ejecting bullets. In less than a minute, the intensive gunfire gradually stopped.

"Report to the commander, the shooting is completed!"

"Report to the commander, the shooting is completed!"

"Report to the commander, the shooting is completed!"

After firing a row of five bullets, the soldiers who had completed the shooting stood up one after another and shouted the command that the shooting was over. The officers and soldiers of the four regular squads quickly finished firing their bullets and completed the shooting test.

When Huang Gaocan heard the report that the last soldier had finished shooting, he immediately ordered the officers and soldiers around him to start counting and verifying the results. The officers and soldiers in the attendant room who followed him quickly ran to the target ditch 150 meters away to start counting the results.

Not long after, an officer handed the statistical list of shooting results to Huang Gaocan. After Huang Gaocan took the list, his eyes widened and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face, because the average score of the first regular squad he saw was nine rings, which was already an excellent result when the full score was twelve rings.

What shocked him even more was that this class that had achieved an average shooting score of nine rings actually came from the Communications Company of the Assault Corps, a wired communications class of a non-infantry combat unit!
Looking at the shooting results statistics table, which showed that the average scores of the four classes were all above nine rings, and the lowest individual single-shot statistical score was eight rings, Major General Huang murmured after a moment, "I am convinced, completely convinced!"

(End of this chapter)