The morning sun evaporates the rain and dew at night, and the morning sun reflects a golden light on the river, which is almost intoxicating. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThe fresh air is filled with the scent of plants with a hint of dew. The prairie swayed in the wind in the imperceptible mist, and the dew on the blades of grass shone in the air, dazzling in the sun.

Suddenly, the tranquility of the morning was shattered by a burst of footsteps, and in the half-man-high grass, crowds of people quickly passed through, and the hard-soled boots on their feet stepped on the blades of grass, causing only the dew to shake off continuously. And when this tranquility was broken, the crowd quickly "disappeared" into the grassland, as if it had never existed.

The cold touch of the steel body and the faint smell of gun oil when the machine gun was operated by the connecting bolt on the tripod only made Li Weilin's spirit sober up instantly, as a machine gun shooter, he had not even completed the training -- the so-called training was actually just to teach them to operate the machine gun, and as for the tactics of the machine gun, well, it was still being studied.

Leaning in the half-human-high grass, gazing at this tranquil prairie through the tips of the grass, Li Weilin knew that maybe soon, the grassland in front of him would become a hell on earth, and the flames would swallow this green.

"Squad Leader Li, Squad Leader Li ......"

A somewhat nervous voice interrupted Li Weilin's thoughts, he looked back, it was the herald of the battalion commander, and he still had some freckles on his face, what was his name?

"The battalion commander asked how you were? It's up to you when the time comes! ”

As the young herald spoke, he stared enviously at the body of the spear with a dark blue metallic sheen, in the earlier shot. The incessant gunfire stunned everyone. You can have a machine gun nearby. It is a great encouragement for every fighter.

"Let the battalion commander rest assured......"

Patting the calm metal body of the machine gun, and deliberately tapping the 100-round drum on the left side with his fingers, Li Yulin said with a smile.

"If you catch a fish in the tank, you can't run! When the time comes, as long as the bullets are not fired, they will not want to pass in front of our eyes......"

Confident words come from the weapon, of course, more trust in the usual training, confident words in exchange for a smug smile. The laughter of the soldiers of the machine gun squad was exchanged for the relief of the whole position, and it seemed that it was just a normal morning for them to come.

When the soldiers on the steppe greeted the early morning with confident laughter, on a hill more than ten kilometers away, in a tent covered with camouflage nets full of branches and leaves and grass branches, the atmosphere of the meeting was a little tense, the shrill ringing of field telephones constantly echoed in the tent, and the staff officers and signal soldiers walked back and forth.

Beneath the camouflage net outside the tent, dozens of staff officers stood on the edge of a large sand table, but their collars were surprisingly unranked, but only two red untitled leaders. That's the rank of cadet. Because the army was built for a short time, and the army was built earlier than formal military education. For this reason, whether it was the lecture hall of the year or the current Shenyang Army Military Academy, in addition to the newly recruited officers and cadets last year, a large number of officers "return to the furnace" for retraining every year.

According to the regulations of the army school, no matter how high or low the rank is to enter the army school for training, you must take off the military rank and enjoy the same treatment as ordinary cadets, the only difference is that there is no stern reprimand and teasing by the seniors.

At this time, these young officers of the same rank and age crowded in front of the sand table, constantly discussing the gains and losses of both sides on the sand table, this is an exercise, for the Northeast Army. Exercises are a normal thing, from the tactical exercises conducted twice a week by companies and platoons around the camp to the confrontation exercises at the division and regiment level, it can be said that the exercises have already penetrated into all aspects of the Northeast Army.

What is more important is that all parties participating in the exercise mercilessly used all means to inflict heavy damage on each other, and this is not only the honor of the team, but also because the promotion of officers at all levels is linked to the exercise in peacetime.

While the two infantry regiments under the hill played the role of the Red Army Blue Army, the staff group composed of officers and students on the hill was also conducting their staff exercises. At the same time, several German instructors wearing German military uniforms on the side were staring at all this in front of them with solemn expressions, and from time to time they learned from the translator's mouth that they had drawn up an offensive or defensive plan, and their brows were frowning from time to time, but whether they were frowning or raising their eyebrows, they were always fleeting, and today's main actors were them, and today's exercise was the graduation ceremony of the Intermediate Commander's Seminar. Nearly 6,000 troops of the two regiments, which had been completely engaged in a defensive or offensive posture at the bottom of the hill, were the "chess pieces" to test the results of their learning.

For a long time, although the Northeast Army has strong combat effectiveness on the surface, it can be called the first in China, even in the evaluation of Western officers, the Northeast Army is also a modern officer with strong combat effectiveness. However, only those who know the Northeast Army know that the biggest weakness of the Northeast Army lies in the serious shortage of officers, especially middle and senior commanders, and it can even be said that there are no qualified middle and senior commanders at all, even if they are such as Shang Dequan and others, from the perspective of the West, at most they are at the level of battalion commanders. As for the other regimental and battalion company commanders, although most of them had studied in the lecture hall, the training of half a year or several months only enabled them to have basic command ability.

However, such an army, relying on the good training of officers and soldiers at the grassroots level, during the "Northeast Campaign", won more with less and defeated the elite of the Huai Army's land division, which was regarded as the "pillar of the empire", and even swept through the Kwantung region with the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, and was completely invincible.

Despite this "brilliance," after the reorganization of the New Army stationed in Korea into the Northeast Army, it did not stop, but seriously reflected on its shortcomings during the war, what commanders at all levels lacked ability, what units did not cooperate tacitly, what units did not have strong initiative, and so on.

For this reason, large-scale training for commanders was put on the agenda, and unlike the three-month to half-year training for officers during the martial arts period, the training course lasted for 10 months, and because there was no vacation at all, it was almost not inferior to the military academy of the previous year.

"Gentlemen!"

Just after the defense plan was formulated, I looked at the confident students. Major Merkel, who was the head of the Corps of Instructors of the Army Academy. Look at the young officers. Shen asked rhetorically.

"Did the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War depend on the large number of people?"

If Hidekyo Tojo, who was also an instructor at the Army Academy, heard this, his brow might have jumped slightly, and Merkel, who was then a major at the Army University, had asked them the same question.

"No, it's the Commander's ability!"

The voice was slightly raised, and Colonel Merkel stared at the officers in front of him, although there were still many loopholes in the defense plan they had formulated, it was still compared to before entering the school. However, they have already mastered the art of war command, but what they lack is only experience and a little spirituality -- their plans can be described as dull, and they are completely following the trend of using textbooks as models for defensive plans.

Of course, Colonel Merkel doesn't say anything, and for these officers who are not good at command, it may be a guarantee to avoid mistakes, and eventually they will grow up in drill after exercise and even war, especially for the former, for these officers. Almost every divisional and regimental-level exercise is a vivid tactical lesson.

It's only a matter of time before you master it all.

"Today is the graduation ceremony of the Intermediate Commanders Training Course of the Shenyang Army School, and your performance today will be directly related to your personal future. But ......"

After a pause, Colonel Merkel stared at the students in front of him and said in extremely serious words.

"And your future performance will directly determine the fate of the country, gentlemen!"

At this time, Mekel's tone was extremely solemn, as the instructor head of the Army Military Academy, he was very aware of the advantages of the Northeast Army, compared with officers, the soldiers of the Northeast Army have received strict and good training, and as the backbone of the army, most of the non-commissioned officers have also been admitted to the non-commissioned officer school for three to six months of non-commissioned officer training, as for the young grass-roots lieutenant-level officers, they have also received strict training in the military academy.

It is precisely because of this that the grassroots units of the Northeast Army can fight in accordance with the principle of tactical combat when fighting, and there is no confusion in the slightest, so that it is not easy for the enemy to take advantage of it. However, this situation "came to an abrupt end" at the regimental level -- because of the lack of command ability of middle and senior commanders, many problems were always exposed in the command and command of divisions and regiments; fortunately, they were still aware of their own shortcomings, and they rarely made major mistakes in basic principles; although they were inexperienced and young, they were mostly able to do things in a down-to-earth and meticulous manner, and these were their strong points.

Although those middle and senior commanders who know that they lack command ability and experience can always be down-to-earth and meticulous when formulating operational plans, this also brings another problem -- the tactics are too dogmatic, just like the defense plan they are now formulating, they are completely implemented in accordance with the textbooks, and if they fight against the enemy inside the Qing State there is no problem, and they can even use their own grassroots troops to defeat the Qing army, but what if they encounter a foreign army with full experience?

Like the Russian army?

This was exactly what Colonel Merkel feared, but he believed that today's exercise would leave a lasting impression on the mid-level commanders, because of the two regiments down the hill, the infantry regiment responsible for the attack was in the hands of the instructor regiment, who would mercilessly give the cadet regiment the hardest attack.

"You must remember that the war must be preempted at the beginning!"

With that, Merkel's brow raised slightly, and at the bottom of the mountain, the cannon was already ringing.

The offensive began......

A strange sound streaked through the air, sounding like a shrill bagpipe, and the bagpipe-like sound got closer and closer, followed by a violent explosion outside the machine-gun fortifications, and for a moment the whole world began to shake.

"Squad Leader Li! The Red Army is firing on us! ”

In the midst of the loud screams, the warriors all shrank to the base of the breastwork and hugged their heads tightly.

Although they knew that the shells would not fall on them, at the first moment of the battle, they still experienced an unprecedented illusion of being in a sea of fire.

The shells rained down on the target, and unlike the dull sound they were used to in the past, the Blues' shells would always make a high-pitched bagpipe-like whistling sound when they pierced the sky. What was even more surprising was that the Blues' artillery fire was getting faster and more accurate, and the shells were always accurately hitting the target area painted with white lime, and the accurate firepower not only surprised the judges on the hillside, but also stunned the defending Blue troops. Looking at the shells that accurately hit the target area through the binoculars, they could think of what kind of damage the same rain of bullets would bring to the troops in actual combat.

"It seems that the trenches will be dug a little deeper in the future......"

For no reason, whether it was the Blue Army in the "flames of war", or the attacking Red Army, or the officers of the referee team, the same thought came to their hearts.

That is, when everyone was stunned by this dense and accurate artillery fire, behind the defensive position of the Blue Army, far from the depths of the battlefield, several huge balloons were raised, and the balloons that rose to 100 meters in the air carried a hanging basket, and a young officer in the hanging basket, operating a telescope, seemed to be looking for something.

Finally, in the midst of the smoke of the battlefield, the artillery officer found the target he had been looking for for a long time - a platoon of field guns spewing fireworks, and the dozen or so 75-millimeter retractable rapid-fire guns were spewing flames at the Blue Army "positions."

After discovering the enemy's artillery position, the artillery officer quickly put down the telescope and set up the gun scope by the basket, although the hanging basket was only slightly rocking under the rope, but it still affected his observation, so that it took several minutes to complete the measurement, and after measuring the data, he picked up the phone in the telephone box by the basket.

"Hey, the target ......"

The numbers that came out of the telephone eventually became the work on the map, and through the work on the map on the slide rule and help, new numbers were calculated one by one, and the hoarse shouts echoed on the artillery position at any time, and the artillery position suddenly became lively, and the gunners operating the eight tube-retreat rapid-fire guns immediately shook the gun body and adjusted the firing range and firing angle according to the commander's order.

In the next moment, with an order, a deafening sound of artillery sounded on the position, and at the moment when the cannon flame gushed out of the muzzle, the shells flew towards the enemy's artillery positions with a whistling sound, and the observer in the gondola nervously observed the artillery targets, and then through the telescope, he saw a shell falling, but the accuracy of the shell was a little worse, and it smashed squarely on the left side of the target. After a violent explosion, a column of smoke mixed with dust rose into the sky.

The observer immediately reported the deviation loudly over the phone, as it had done hundreds of drills in the past...... (To be continued.) )