After careful weighing, Wu Ming finally made up his mind:

In mountain warfare, he did not have to worry about Huang Meixing and the others' Songhu combat experience at all, let alone overestimate the reaction ability and adaptability of the officers and men of the Second Central Guard Regiment.

The two battalions of the Second Guard Regiment will, in accordance with the usual tactics used by the Central Army in the previous encirclement and suppression operations, encircle and suppress the "Red Army" entrenched in the area specified in the exercise within 12 square kilometers south of Zhishan.

Just after 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, Wu Ming sent 12 squads of brothers to familiarize themselves with the terrain and conduct surveying and mapping, and the staff group of Wu Ming and Dai Ziran immediately redrew the map based on more than 20 local survey maps, and drew out the geographical topographic map within 25 square kilometers in only two hours, and copied five copies.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, Wu Ming and Dai Ziran attended the preparatory meeting convened by the exercise headquarters together, and finally met their opponents this time, Colonel Huang Meixing and Lieutenant Colonel Gao Zhisong, who were in straight uniforms.

It is estimated that Huang Meixing and Gao Zhisong also inquired about Wu Ming's situation from other places, especially now that the Fifth Regiment of the Second Division of the Zhejiang Army belongs to the only strong force under the command of the old commander Yu Jishi, the two of them did not have the slightest arrogance on their faces, and they were quite polite to Wu Ming, who also had the rank of colonel.

Guo Chen, who presided over the meeting, was very happy to see this, as Chen Cheng's confidant, although he favored Wu Ming in his heart, he was also willing to see that the relationship between the two sides of the exercise was good, so that he would not be angry during the exercise, and Wu Ming would not offend people because of this. After Guo sent people to distribute the printed drill plan and the freshly released adjudication standards, he explained in detail with Yang Jie, who temporarily served as the chief arbitrator of the confrontation drill, emphasizing the safety of the exercise, the setting up of each referee group, the standards and basis for the verdict, and the absolute authority of the referee.

Wu Ming listened carefully from beginning to end, and was very calm without saying a word, but Huang Meixing and Gao Zhisong frequently asked about the referee standards of a certain event, and when they heard Guo Xin say that it was forbidden to use it because there was no training shell for a 20mm cannon, Huang Meixing and Gao Zhisong also argued for a long time, and Yang Jie and several referee team leaders shook secretly

Judging from the reactions of both sides alone, Huang Meixing and others, who had three times the strength of their opponents and also had heavy firepower such as mortars and heavy machine guns, had already lost the first battle

It wasn't until there were no problems on both sides that Guo Xin made a concluding speech:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this exercise is of great importance, although the scale is not large, and it is only a confrontational test at the battalion and regiment level, but it is extremely important to be targeted, scientific, advanced, and of positive significance, and it can be said that it has never been seen since the founding of our army, and it will certainly be written into the annals of army building of our National Revolutionary Army...... Therefore, I ask you to keep in mind the spirit of the important speech made by the Chairman of the National People's Congress at the opening ceremony of the officer corps, keep in mind the expectations of the party and the state, and do your best to fulfill your responsibilities."

"Yes"

Wu Ming, Huang Meixing and the other four stood up in unison and responded loudly.

Yang Jie pressed his hands and motioned to everyone to sit down amicably: "This confrontation drill has attracted the attention of all parties, not only the general adviser Mr. Verzell will lead the German military advisory group to observe the whole process, but the generals of the Nanchang camp and the Jiangxi Provincial Government will also come to watch, and the 1,840 members of the training team will enter the battlefield to observe and study together with the referee teams, and carry out a summary and discussion after the end, the burden on your shoulders is not light."

"If there are any practical difficulties, or if there are any other requirements, they should be boldly raised, and the command and our instructor corps will do their best to solve them."

Huang Meixing stood up and replied loudly: "The headquarters does not have any requirements. ”

Wu Ming waited for Huang Meixing to sit down, hesitated to stand up, thought about it and sat down again.

Yang Jie smiled and encouraged: "Head Wu has something to say, please say." ”

Wu Ming stood up stubbornly: "Can you send us two pigs tomorrow?" Eight of the ten days were fish, only one day was pork, and one day chicken and duck were eaten. ”

Everyone was horrified, thinking that you have fucking meat to eat every day, what are you complaining about? I'm afraid that no one in the other troops has such a high standard of food Huang Meixing and Gao Zhisong looked at Wu Ming incredulously, and soon realized that this was Wu Ming satirizing the poor supply given to them by the headquarters, and couldn't help but glance at each other, secretly shaking their heads and smiling bitterly.

Wu Ming smiled when he saw this, sat down and apologized in a low voice:

"I'm sorry that my subordinates are abrupt, forget it if you don't, it doesn't matter, we play the Red Army, mud legs, it's good to have a bowl of porridge to eat, where can I ask for so much, hehe......"

At 2 p.m. on July 29, the sun turned cloudy, and the east wind was two to three degrees.

The first 1,840 cadets of the Lushan Officer Training Corps, led by 12 referee teams, entered the pre-set drill battlefield with great interest.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, dozens of generals and 15 German military advisers followed Chiang Kai-shek, climbed the mountain several hundred meters south of the Haihui Temple, and entered a temporary grass hut set up by the special task force directly under Chiang Kai-shek.

The prescribed time for this exercise was 36 hours, and in this place, Chiang Kai-shek and a group of civilians, soldiers, and German advisers around him probably could not see the specific battle situation, but this did not affect everyone's interest, and the special task force directly under it had already arranged telephone lines connecting the 15 referee teams, and had entered the battlefield for more than two hours to confront each move, and every move of the two sides could be reported to the viewing platform in a timely manner, and a judging team led by Yang Jie, the chief arbitrator, passed through a microphone and two speakers imported from the United States. Inform Chiang Kai-shek and the observers at any time.

At 10 o'clock, the loud voice of the young staff officer who reported on the situation on the battlefield sounded again:

"The No. 4 and No. 5 referee teams reported that the two companies of the Red Army all changed the highly concealed military uniforms that our army had not yet equipped, put on strangely shaped vests, and steel helmets covered with multi-colored cloth covers and camouflage nets, and quickly left the assembly site Guangfu'an in three ways, and its commander personally led five people to run alone to Lingxiao Mountain due north, as if intending to climb to the top of the mountain at an altitude of 420 meters."

Chiang Kai-shek frowned, and turned to Chen Cheng beside him in confusion: "What does the concealed military uniform that our army has not yet equipped look like?" ”

Chen Cheng smiled bitterly and shook his head: "My subordinates haven't seen it either, I only heard Wu Ming talk about it, and it is estimated that it is similar to the so-called three-color or four-color camouflage combat uniforms of the German mountain troops." ”

"Where did Wu Mingbu get this kind of military uniform?" Chiang Kai-shek was very curious.

Chen Cheng thought for a while, and replied with some uncertainty: "It is estimated that they made it themselves, Wu Ming's wife has a quilt factory in Changshan, Wu Ming's military uniforms and backpacks are all produced by that factory Wu Ming is knowledgeable and proficient in English, and he has been in his office, and he has seen no less than five hundred English books from Rulin's bookshelf, all of which are often turned over, not just like goods, and there are many mechanical and military magazines from European and American countries." ”

Chiang Kai-shek was slightly surprised, and just as he wanted to speak, he heard another announcement from the loudspeaker:

"In one case, the forward referee team reported that looking through the telescope at the camouflage backpack of the staff officer of the Red Army, it was found that the Red Army had at least three advanced knapsack radio stations, one of which was following the Red Army commander to the top of Lingxiao Mountain."

"In addition, the Red Army detachments that had infiltrated the northeast, west, and northwest directions were extremely fast, and two of the squads numbering about 60 men disappeared after entering the dense forest, and the speed of the Red Army's march was about nine kilometers per hour."

There was a buzz on the viewing platform, and everyone was surprised, nine kilometers per hour is equal to running forward, but according to the map, the confrontation area is clearly divided into only one east-west curved mountain road, a northeast to southwest winding mountain trail, at nine kilometers per hour in the mountains without a road to run forward, but it is very rare, and it is difficult for ordinary scouts in the Central Army to do this.

Chiang Kai-shek was a little anxious, and whispered a few words to the attendant officer behind him, and the attendant immediately walked to Yang Jie, the chief arbitrator who raised the telescope in front of him.

In less than ten minutes, the loudspeaker reported the details:

"Under the leadership of the commander of the Blue Army, two infantry companies and one machine gun platoon on the north road, three infantry companies and one mortar platoon on the south road, and two companies and one mortar platoon under the leadership of the commander of the Blue Army, set up a temporary headquarters at the eastern foot of Wujialing, which is 2.5 kilometers away from the starting point in the north, and the north and south roads continued to search and advance in the direction of the Taiping Temple, which is 1.5 kilometers northeast of the Red Army's assembly area.

Chen Cheng saw the Blue Army flag on Wujialing, and not long after, he saw the whereabouts of the Blue Army on the North Road two kilometers away, and immediately signaled to Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek picked up the binoculars, observed carefully, and nodded slightly after a few minutes: "Although the speed of advance is not fast, it is quite cautious, as long as the distance between the north and south is not too large, it will not be broken by the faster Red Army." ”

As soon as Chiang Kai-shek's words fell, the prompt sounded again on the loudspeaker: "The No. 6 referee team reported that the seven reconnaissance officers and soldiers sent by the Blue Army half an hour ago were ambushed by the lurking Red Army reconnaissance team, and have now been sent to the No. 6 referee team, and the attack is judged to be effective, and the seven-member Blue Army reconnaissance team is out." ”

The generals on the viewing platform immediately stopped talking, and the confrontation between the two sides of Zhilu Dao officially began, and they habitually raised their binoculars even if they couldn't see it.

Chen Cheng's gaze happened to meet Yang Jie, who was looking over, he smiled and turned to Chiang Kai-shek beside him, and found that Chiang Kai-shek was burying his head in looking at the map, and his fingers tapped on the position of the No. 6 referee group.