ryethenovel Chapter 89 The Commander: The Exercise Was a Last Resort
Chapter 89 The Commander: The Exercise Was a Last Resort
Chapter 89 The Commander: The Exercise Was a Last Resort
Waaaaah—
Around 2 p.m., a long, drawn-out whistle rang out across the sky.
A train loaded with tanks and armored vehicles slowly pulled into a military station in Guangxi Province.
"Have we arrived?"
Xu Qingling drew back the car curtains, looked at the station nestled in the mountains, then gazed at the unfamiliar landscape in the distance, taking a deep breath to suppress a barely perceptible tension.
"We also need to move to the exercise area, which will take about fifty minutes."
Lin Dong pulled out a map, gestured with his fingers, and looked at the Red Army soldiers wearing helmets outside, as well as the drones being transported to the exercise site by vehicles on another train.
When Lin Dong saw Qi Jingchuan walking towards their carriage, he picked up his combat helmet and put it on: "Let's go, get off the train. This is a public exercise."
Once we reach the outer perimeter of the exercise area, there will likely be military bloggers and enthusiasts, as well as various media outlets and observation groups. Try not to call people by name to avoid making mistakes.
"understood."
Xu Qingling nodded obediently, put on her combat helmet, and got out of the car with Lin Dong.
"They're here! They're here!"
"The Red Team is here!"
After getting off the train and transferring to troop transport vehicles, we arrived at the perimeter of the exercise area when deafening shouts erupted in front of us.
A group of military enthusiasts and bloggers rushed over when they saw the Red Team's convoy, staring wide-eyed at every passing vehicle from behind the barbed wire fence.
All the military enthusiasts' eyes quickly swept over the tanks, armored vehicles, and cannons that had once excited them, and finally focused on the drone on the transport vehicle.
"Is this the drone? Is it carrying a bomb?"
"Why are there three kinds? And what's that thing in the box?"
"Wait! Why are all the Red Army soldiers in that company so young, and with such fair skin? Are they technical troops deployed to the front lines of the exercise?"
soon.
People at the scene noticed the situation of Lin Dong and his No. 1 pilot team, and their young faces.
Shh! Don't make wild guesses!
Before anyone could analyze the situation further, a military blogger with a telephoto camera and an upright posture quickly shushed them.
All eyes turned to the blogger who had spoken. Someone recognized him and couldn't help but ask, "Long K, do you know anything?"
"I have some information, but I can't guarantee its accuracy."
Long K glanced at the guards standing watch not far away, and seeing that they ignored him, he continued, "This exercise is a new equipment exercise, and the new equipment is the Red Team's drones, as everyone knows, right?"
"Know!"
All the military enthusiasts nodded excitedly.
It was precisely because they knew it was new equipment, and because it was a rare public exercise, that they went to such lengths and traveled so far to get here.
Otherwise, the May weather in Guangxi is something those who know, know.
If they didn't want to see the combat power of this new drone equipment firsthand and see how the country's new equipment development is going, they would be crazy to come here like this.
"According to what I've heard, the full name of this equipment is swarm drone, and it was developed in the spare time by a senior military engineer at Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group."
Long K took a deep breath: "It's just that at the beginning, the troops couldn't understand the combat concept of drones and couldn't bring out the combat power of drones. After a period of training, there was no effect."
The son of this military industry tycoon, who was quite quick-witted, went to the training ground and put on a crushing performance.
As for how crushing it was, my friend said it was a secret and wouldn't reveal it, only saying that it would definitely shock the world.
Seeing this effect, the military region simply formed a troop of young pilots.
The families and children of Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAC) pilots, along with the families and children of military officers from both sides participating in the exercise, were organized into a pilot company to participate in the exercise.
Of course, there's probably also an element of nurturing involved, but that's beyond my ability to find out.
"Wow, you can't even do that?"
A military enthusiast wearing glasses couldn't help but exclaim, "If I'm not used to the military, I can go here!"
My family has been beekeeping for generations, and I'm quick-witted, so I'm sure I can handle piloting this swarm drone!
"What good is it for you to keep bees? I'm the one who attracts bees, let me do it!" A military enthusiast next to him couldn't help but shout.
"No, these troops aren't even used to it, why are they in such a hurry to go on exercises?" At this point, a military enthusiast raised a question.
"What else can we do but warn the little devils? Don't you know they've been stirring up trouble lately? This blue team's setup is definitely that of the little devils."
The military enthusiast who had just mentioned attracting bees chimed in.
As he was speaking, he suddenly seemed to see something and quickly ran to the side, shouting, "Quick, the Director is coming!"
What?
The military enthusiasts and bloggers around were all stunned for a moment.
The next second, a familiar middle-aged man, facing the camera, and a group of foreign media from Europe and America appeared at the corner not far away.
"Hello viewers, we are now at the scene of the open military exercise in Guangxi Province. You can see the soldiers of the Red Team entering the exercise area, and there are many military fans cheering outside the exercise area."
This is a rare opportunity for me to run an outdoor event.
I didn't come to the field before mainly because there were too few public exercises in China, and I didn't have much to say about the field exercises. But this time there was a public exercise, so I came.
According to the publicly released schedule for this exercise, it will officially begin tomorrow, May 18th. Now is the time for both sides to enter the field and set up their positions.
"Director!"
Suddenly, a shout came from the crowd.
Everyone then surrounded Zhang Zhong.
"Hello everyone."
Seeing this, Zhang Zhong waved and greeted everyone in a friendly manner: "This public exercise starts tomorrow. Are you all looking forward to it?"
"expect!"
The military enthusiast, who had just put on his glasses, exclaimed excitedly, "I've already set up my tent on a hilltop outside. With my electronic low-light binoculars, I can see almost half of the exercise battlefield, day or night!"
"Then you should set an alarm tonight and not stay up all night."
Zhang Zhong laughed and said, "If you can't see clearly at night, you can visit the military website to watch the live broadcast. You can see the panoramic battle situation from the command post, but it uses a lot of data."
"What do you mean?" The bespectacled military enthusiast was a little confused.
"Didn't you see the publicly available timetable? It only says May 18th, but the command center didn't specify a particular date."
Zhang Zhong subtly hinted, "This is a very interesting rule design, its purpose being to subtly test the war mentality of both sides—"
"You can play it like that?"
The military enthusiasts around were stunned for a moment, and then they were all dumbfounded when they realized what was happening.
"Director, I have a question."
At this point, the military blogger Long K, who started the discussion, stepped forward and asked, "What are your thoughts on this public army exercise?"
"What do I think? I think it's a last resort."
Zhang Zhong's expression changed, and he shook his head, saying, "Since you've come here to watch the exercise, you must all be military enthusiasts. You all know that our fifth-generation fighter jet, the J-20, made its maiden flight last year."
But I don't know if you've noticed some details that haven't been made public, namely that the J-20 has a very serious heart condition.
"heart disease?"
Some military enthusiasts nearby were stunned.
But some people seemed to realize something, their lips moved, and their expressions suddenly turned silent.
"Yes, heart disease."
Zhang Zhong let out a heavy sigh: "The fifth-generation J-20 has a takeoff weight that is nearly 20 tons greater than that of the fourth-generation J-10, almost twice the weight, but it still uses the engine of the fourth-generation J-10."
This destined it to be slow and short-range, confined to its home as a missile launch site.
However, the development of high-thrust engines for fifth-generation fighter jets faces numerous difficulties and seems far off. I've heard that even the theoretical design hasn't been verified yet.
There was no money for naval construction. I come from the navy, so I know this situation very well.
A modern large warship costs tens or hundreds of billions of dollars, and an aircraft carrier costs hundreds of billions of dollars, which is simply beyond our current economic capacity.
If the air force and navy are out of the question, we can only improve the army first, put on a show, and use the army to enhance the deterrent power of our conventional military.
As we all know, our army is a strong point.
Since it's a strength, we should further enhance it and bring out its advantages. This is the idea behind the recent exercise on new army drone equipment.
Therefore, in this public live-fire exercise, our Red Team also had a company of 100 newly-turned-18-year-old Army pilots.
This is how we further strengthen the future of the Army by nurturing the next generation.
But what era are we living in now? The era of air and sea supremacy. In the Gulf War, the army would have been sitting ducks, practically asking for death.
If we had a choice, and if our air force and navy could make breakthroughs in a short period of time, who would still develop the army's equipment like this, and hold all these exercises on new army equipment? Isn't that just a waste of money?
After all, what role can a low-altitude, low-speed drone play in the strategic landscape, besides targeting infantry?
"So that's how it is—"
"No wonder the red team's entire company of pilots were so young."
"No wonder they suddenly decided to hold a public drill this time; it turns out the weaker their confidence, the louder they have to shout—"
The group of military enthusiasts around suddenly fell silent.
Some people couldn't help but tear up, clenching their fists but unable to utter a single word.
The Western media who followed Zhang Zhong in were stunned as they listened to the translator's retelling, and then a hint of arrogance unconsciously appeared in their eyes.
"elder brother!"
Hearing the Chief's somber words, Long K's cousin's assistant couldn't help but ask, "Is everything the Chief said true?"
Long K was silent for a while, then nodded.
"It's all true—"
After saying that, he paused for a moment and added in his hometown dialect, "But don't listen."
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