The vast prairie was shrouded in darkness of night, and the northwest wind was "chirping" like thousands of troops neighing. The horse newly crossed the white jade saddle, and the moonlight was cold on the battlefield. The sound of iron drums at the head of the city is still vibrating, and the blood of the golden knife in the box has not dried. As an ancient battlefield, this Gobi desert has disappeared into the long river of history. The ancient battlefield, which has been silent for thousands of years, will once again come into people's field of vision, and in the near future, a huge modern campaign exercise will begin here.

Before dawn, the soldiers of the cooking squad had already drilled out of their underground bunkers and began to bury pots and cook food, the soldiers and horses had not moved, grain and grass went first, and logistical support was also an important criterion for testing the combat effectiveness of a unit. In the cooking squad of the Second Artillery Company, the cooking soldiers are very busy, the cooking smoke has been rising, on the simple board, a soldier is waving the kitchen knife vigorously, with the rhythmic sound of "Dangdangdang" cutting vegetables, one by one big radishes have become thin shredded radishes under his knife, and several other soldiers are quickly pinching the steamed buns. Sun Jiashu and Zhang Ershun are carrying a large plastic pot to pour water into the cauldron, the two of them are now pulling water full-time, to ensure that the whole company can not cut off the water, the water in the plastic pot is poured up "bang" sound, Sun Jiashu took a closer look, the surface has formed a thin layer of ice, the temperature difference here is really big, the season has just entered autumn, it is hot at noon, but the water is frozen at night.

"Squad leader, look, why is the water frozen?" Zhang Ershun took out a piece of ice stubble and asked puzzledly.

"The temperature difference here is more than 40 degrees, and the water is definitely going to freeze." Sun Jiashu said.

"Squad leader, what is the temperature difference?"

"The temperature difference is the temperature of the day minus the temperature of the night." Sun Jiashu said succinctly.

"Oh, squad leader, why does the water freeze when the temperature difference is large, isn't it that the water will freeze in winter?" Zhang Ershun asked puzzled.

"As long as the temperature of the water is below freezing, it will freeze in both winter and summer."

"Really, squad leader? Why can't I turn this bend in my head? Zhang Ershun said.

"Zhang Ershun, you see, the popsicles we eat in summer are frozen by water, which is made of water in a sub-zero cold storage." Sun Jiashu patiently explained.

"Oh, squad leader, now I understand, I'm the first to eat popsicles." Zhang Ershun put the ice stubble in his mouth and said.

The cooking squad quickly prepared its meal, and today it will enter the official exercise, and it is absolutely not too late to eat, and the whole company finished eating early so that there is more time to prepare for battle. One even used water is amazing, yesterday pulled ten full plastic buckets of water, and now they have all become empty buckets, Sun Jiashu has nothing to do with the battle, the next step, Sun Jiashu is going to take Zhang Ershun to do their own work.

At seven o'clock, all units participating in the exercise had already made preparations, and the officers and men were all gearing up to wait for the order to start the exercise. The critical time is coming, not far away to this desolate place is to try their skills, at this time, Sun Jiashu and Zhang Ershun got on the water truck and left, they were aggrieved in their hearts, the water truck went away, they were still standing behind the carriage and watching, there was a lot of wind and Xiao Xiao Xiao is easy to water cold, and the strong man is gone to the feat.

At eight o'clock, the time for the start of the exercise was getting closer and closer, but the troops did not receive the order to attack, and the officers and men could only huddle in underground bunkers and wait. This was a modern, high-tech exercise, and the first thing to do was to conduct an information war between the red and blue sides, and I don't know when the infantry has evolved from the original vanguard unit to a battlefield clearing unit.

The general headquarters of the exercise was set up in an underground bunker the size of a basketball court, which was basically hollowed out and covered with a thick layer of camouflage net, and rows of computer fluorescent screens were constantly flashing, and the staff were working nervously.

At 9:50 a.m., the vice chairman of the Military Commission appeared at the door of the command headquarters, he arrived at the battlefield of the exercise by special plane overnight, his temples were white, and a pair of bright eyes under the sword eyebrows made people daunting; although the journey was tiring, he was full of spirits, the sentry at the door saluted, the vice chairman hurriedly returned the salute, and strode all the way inside, and saw from a distance that his officers and men were standing up and saluting, and the exercise headquarters was in the center.

"Stand up," the commander of the military region, the chief director of the exercise, immediately shouted the order when he saw the vice chairman coming in.

All the officers and soldiers who were busy quickly stood up, and among these people it can be said that the stars are shining: one general, three lieutenant generals, five major generals, what colonels, colonels, there is no rank standing here at all.

"Salute, Comrade Vice Chairman, the Northern Sword Campaign Exercise Command is studying the rehearsal plan, please instruct." The commander saluted the report.

After returning the salute, the vice chairman of the Military Commission motioned for everyone to sit down, and he walked straight to the front of the combat sand table and stopped, saying: "Please give me a briefing on the deployment of the red and blue forces in this exercise." ”

"Yes." The commander began to introduce: "In this exercise, the Red Army is the R Group Army under the command of Lieutenant General Liu Haiming, which has three motorized infantry divisions, including the 102nd, 103rd, and 104th divisions, a missile battalion, and an army aviation regiment, with a strength of about 55,000 troops. The Blue Army is the H Group Army under the command of Major General Huang Tiancheng, which has three mechanized infantry brigades, 356, 357, and 358, a special operations brigade, a missile battalion, and an army aviation regiment, with 40,000 personnel. ”

"Excuse me, Comrade Commander, I don't know what your intention is to arrange such a huge disparity between the forces of the red and blue sides?" The vice chairman of the Military Commission asked.

"Vice Chairman of the report, we intend to test whether the combat effectiveness of the troops is strong or weak under the condition of reduced personnel and enhanced equipment after the motorized infantry division is converted into a mechanized infantry brigade." The commander replied.

"Okay, this line of thinking is very good, I want to be in front of the Central Military Commission, however, the downsizing of the troops is the general trend of the reform of the Central Central Military Commission, and we must make bold moves, and you must be mentally prepared for this, and the future troops will develop in a high-precision and sophisticated direction, expand what should be expanded, and shrink what should be contracted, so as to meet the needs of modern warfare, and all the purposes are to win wars. Continue the explanation. The vice-chair said.

"Yes, this hypothetical is that the Blue Army of Country M invaded our northwest border and was entrenched in Area 502, and the officers and men of our Red Army gathered in the desert for thousands of miles to resolutely drive away the invaders. The commander continued.

"Let me make a suggestion, this exercise does not set up a plan, does not follow the convention, fights to the point of one soldier, and the final winner is the winner, modern warfare is changing rapidly, and only in a state of approximate actual combat can the troops be better trained, commander, what do you think?" The Vice-Chair said.

"Comrade Vice President, if this is the case, I want to change the imaginary military situation, no longer M is the invasion of the Blue Army, but the Blue Army against the Red Army, we must defeat all the invading enemies, now there is no such thing as an invading party, a strong showdown, and the winner is king."

"Hahaha, okay, just give the order as you say." The Vice-Chair said with a smile.

"Yes." The commander picked up the microphone and ordered: "Attention to the Red and Blue Command, I order: The Blue Army is stationed on the 502 Heights, and the Red Army will start a battle. ”

After the order was issued, the commander and the vice chairman sat down in front of the big screen, the screen could show the situation of the entire battlefield, the vice chairman ordered the operator to adjust the surveillance video of several troops, the officers and men were all in full array, and the countdown numbers in the corner of the screen were flashing rapidly, 9:58:37, 38, 39......

The clock ticked down to the last minute, and the commander stood up, staring nervously at the beating numbers, and their hearts resonating with the beating numbers.

10．9．8．…… 3。 2。 1

The commander picked up the microphone: "I order, the Northern Longsword Battle Exercise will start now." ”