Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 37 Training (1) (Please collect, follow, and recommend)
At six o'clock in the morning, the bugle sounded, and teams of soldiers ran out of the dormitory quickly. After forming a formation, they started running. The chief officer ran in the front, followed by the deputy.

This is the morning exercise of the 88nd Battalion of the 527th Regiment of the 5th Division. It requires them to complete a -kilometer cross-country race fully armed. Based on the principle of gradual progress, there was no time limit at the beginning. Each company was organized separately. Battalion Commander Yue Qianli trained with a company every day to play a supervisory role.

As the Central Guard Division, the 88th Division has very solid training for its soldiers and they have very good physical fitness. Although they have never run a five-kilometer cross-country race like this before, most of them can stick to it, but not everyone can understand it.

The company commander, Liao Jianping, was full of complaints about the battalion commander's troubles. He started cursing right after running:

"What the hell are you doing? Do you think running like this every day will make you strong enough to fight? I think you must have drunk too much foreign ink and ruined your brain!"

It's no wonder that he was full of complaints. The position of the second battalion commander had been vacant and he had been eyeing it for a long time. Then, Yue Qianli suddenly showed up and not only took his position, but also tortured him to death all day long.

Second Platoon Leader Li Jiaxun knew what the company commander was thinking, so he leaned over and said:
"I heard that the battalion commander was the top student when he graduated from West Point. These are all brought back from the United States. Monks who have studied abroad are good at chanting sutras, and the higher-ups recognize this."

"Bullshit, only those who can fight are good monks! We are fighting bandits in the hail of bullets in western Fujian, and he is eating foreign bread and hugging foreign women. How can he fight like this? Only if he shows his real ability will the brothers respect him."

After listening to this, Li Jiaxun continued to add fuel to the fire:
"That's right. Running is fine, but they also asked us to do push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and other things. Are these things useful? Everyone is exhausted like a dog."

Liao Jianping glanced at Li Jiaxun and said:
"Hurry up and monitor the troops' training. No matter if it's useful or not, let's see the results first."

Li Jiaxun wanted to be lazy, but Liao Jianping glared at him and he had to leave. He knew Liao Zhengping had no choice because the battalion commander was keeping a close eye on them. He would conduct assessments every month, and the company commander with the worst performance would be scolded.
The company that ranked last in two consecutive assessments had no meat to eat, and it was unknown where the battalion commander got the money to subsidize the meals out of his own pocket.

We used to eat meat once a month, but now we eat meat every day, two taels per person. Although it’s not much, it satisfies our cravings.

Just for this one benefit, the soldiers can endure all the troubles from the battalion commander. If they can't eat meat because of poor assessment scores, it will be difficult to lead the team.

After a busy morning, we returned to the cafeteria and saw a sumptuous breakfast on the table. Everyone's resentment turned into appetite.

Each person received an egg, four side dishes on the table, a plate of sugar, white flour buns to fill them up, and a large bucket of porridge. Even the landlord's family could not afford this kind of food.

Sergeant Yang Shiyuan grabbed three large steamed buns with his palm-leaf fan-sized hands and started to eat them. He was already hungry after a long morning of training.
As a machine gunner, he seemed to eat more than the average person. Others were basically full with two or three big steamed buns, but he would eat six, plus a big bowl of porridge. He had never been full before, but he could bear whatever his superior did to him.

When he picked up the seventh steamed bun, Platoon Leader Li Jiaxun glared at him and said:

"I can still eat without worrying about bursting my stomach."

Yang Shiyuan smiled innocently and said:
"Even if my stomach bursts, I will still be hungry. The battalion commander said we will have enough."

"You only know how to eat. I bought you off with just a few steamed buns. What a promise!" Yang Shiyuan stopped talking back and finished the seventh steamed bun in two or three bites. Then he picked up the eighth one provocatively...

Li Jiaxun raised his foot and was about to kick him, but suddenly he remembered that the battalion commander's rule was not allowed to beat or scold soldiers, so he retracted his foot, warned Yang Shiyuan fiercely with his eyes, and then left.

When the squad leader saw the platoon leader leave, he glared at Yang Shiyuan and said:
"If you don't talk back to the platoon leader, you'll be dead! Be careful that you'll be in trouble in the future."

"I'm afraid of the ball. I don't like anyone who doesn't let me eat enough."

Yang Shiyuan said nonchalantly that he was very satisfied with the new battalion commander because at least he could eat his fill and had eggs, sugar and braised pork to eat. Even the rich man Yang in the village could not feed him, but he was convinced by this.

After breakfast, the superior arranged tactical training, which included the offensive tactics of the class.
The new training outline requires that each class be divided into four combat groups, with three people in each group, two in front and one in the back, with the machine gun group at the back, thus forming a 4 combat formation.

Each platoon has three squads, and when attacking, they are also required to form an inverted triangle, with two in front and one in the back. There is a distance of 15 meters between squads and two to three meters between individuals. This is the basic attack formation of the platoon, which is practiced repeatedly.

At the beginning, many people lost their control while running, and there was no coordination between groups. The company and platoon leaders asked them to correct these problems. The battalion commander would train them every day, and no one dared to slack off.

The standard issued by the battalion was that the charge distance was 300 meters, the formation must not be messed up, and everyone had to bend over and charge;
After entering the enemy's position within a hundred meters, it is necessary to adopt a tactical charge. Methods include low-posture crawling, high-posture crawling, and zigzag charge. After repeated practice, everyone's arms and legs are covered with scars.

"You can't bear this? More sweat in peacetime, less blood in war. Don't you know how fierce the enemy's machine guns and artillery shells are?
Using tactical advances can reduce at least half of the casualties on the way to the charge. Which is more important, your life or getting a few scratches now?"

Liao Jianping pursed his lips at the side. He seemed to have no reason to refute the battalion commander's words. He had also participated in the Battle of Shanghai. The firepower of the Japanese was too strong. This kind of attack formation and tactics could indeed reduce a lot of casualties.

What makes him unhappy now is that Yue Qianli, as the battalion commander, is always watching their training and hanging out with the soldiers all day long. How does he act like a battalion commander at all?

“Lao Liao, the training of the first company is well caught, but it still needs to be strengthened;
I won't be here for the civil engineering training this afternoon. As a company commander, you need to get down to business and set strict standards. The depth, width, and thickness of the soil covering the anti-gun holes must not be compromised. That can save lives when the Japanese bombard. "

When Liao Jianping heard that Yue Qianli would no longer keep an eye on them in the afternoon, he was delighted and patted his chest and said:
"Captain, don't worry. This is not the first day for us to lead the troops in training. The standards will not be lowered."

Yue Qianli nodded and said:

"That puts my mind at ease. You are a veteran of the Second Battalion, with high qualifications and prestige. You cannot be outdone by the other two company commanders.
I heard that the regiment is going to promote a company commander to concurrently serve as the deputy battalion commander. The battalion has only one standard: the company commander with the best performance in the three-month training assessment will be promoted. This is the only way to convince the public."

Liao Jianping naturally knew what Yue Qianli meant. He didn't care much whether he was the deputy battalion commander or not, but he couldn't hold back his face after losing to the other two company commanders in the assessment, so he patted his chest and said in a very cooperative manner:
"Don't worry, Battalion Commander. The reputation of the company will not fall on me."

(End of this chapter)