Chapter 339: Two Armies Confronted
While Zeng Changzheng was muttering about Liu Zhiye in his heart, at the same time, Liu Zhiye was also watching him quietly.

Liu Zhiye knew that the Sixth Regiment Commander in front of him was no ordinary person. Being in his early thirties and being able to serve as a regiment commander in peacetime was enough to show that he was outstanding.

He was well aware that Captain Zeng had a powerful background, as he was a top second-generation military officer, but he did not achieve his current success solely by relying on his status.

Zeng Changzheng fought his way out on the battlefield with his unyielding perseverance and extraordinary courage, fighting with every blow.

Although he matched the description in the documents in many aspects, Liu Zhiye felt that he had an inexplicable arrogance. He wondered if he had any misunderstanding or dissatisfaction with his chief of staff.

"But I don't have any connection with this guy. Why is he so confrontational?" Liu Zhiye was puzzled. He didn't understand how he got involved with Zeng Changzheng, a stranger he had never met before.

Zeng Changzheng's unusual behavior formed a sharp contrast with the enthusiasm of Political Commissar Huang Ping.

I have to start from the beginning.

It is said that Liu Zhiye arrived at the headquarters of the 6th Mechanized Infantry Regiment and was warmly welcomed by the leadership team including the Political Commissar Huang Ping of the 6th Regiment.

However, there was one person who was just doing things perfunctorily with a fake smile and it was obvious that he was absent-minded. That was the regiment commander Zeng Changzheng.

At first, Liu Zhiye thought he was just a person of that character and didn't take it seriously, but after Zeng Changzheng's several sharp confrontations, he came to his senses and said, "I see, you are playing Reagan with me!"

Normally, a regimental commander in the army would not dare to openly challenge the division chief of staff. However, Zeng Changzheng's background and experience gave him enough confidence to do so.

"Chief of Staff Liu, times are changing, and the face of war is also quietly changing. It is no longer the same as when you were transferred to civilian work. Today's wars are a contest of modern high-tech equipment.

You may not have expected that the strength of our troops is no longer what it used to be, and the speed of equipment renewal is dizzying..." Zeng Changzheng looked at Liu Zhiye provocatively.

He continued with a boastful tone, "I heard that you are planning to go to the National Defense University for further studies. That's right! It is a wise choice. You can recognize that your military thinking is lacking and take the initiative to learn. Only in this way can you keep pace with the People's Army!" He had an attitude of a superior educating his subordinates and the advanced encouraging the backward.

Huang Ping, the regiment political commissar standing nearby, broke out in a cold sweat when he saw this. "Oh my god, Zeng Changzheng, you bastard, how dare you... You are going crazy, it's all over..."

Then, he immediately wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and explained to Liu Zhiye with a smile: "Chief of Staff, Lao Zeng doesn't think before he speaks. He didn't mean that. Please don't take it to heart..."

Huang Ping stared at Liu Zhiye nervously, fearing that he would suddenly turn hostile. If that happened, it would surely cause a political storm today.

Liu Zhiye, the chief of staff of the Second Division, would instantly collapse in authority if he were challenged by his subordinates.

In the military, prestige is like a general's armor. Once it is stripped away, it is difficult to regain it. Once his authority is questioned, his future will be like a meteor in the night sky, short-lived and dim.

Zeng Changzheng will definitely not end up well, and the consequences he faces are disastrous. If he is not careful, he may be transferred from his original position or even forced to change his job.

As the regiment political commissar, Huang Ping had to follow suit and his military career came to an end.

Liu Zhiye's eyes suddenly became sharp, and he thought to himself: "Humph, here comes someone who refuses to give in, so I can use you to test my hand. Otherwise, others will really think I'm easy to bully and do whatever they want to me."

He had a smile on his face, but his tone was a bit joking: "Political Commissar Huang, don't be nervous. Comrade Zeng Changzheng is doing this out of good intentions. He is worried that I, the chief of staff, am just a figurehead and have no ability to lead our entire division..."

"Because he doesn't understand me. However, I firmly believe that when he truly understands my abilities, those doubts and misunderstandings will disappear. Haha..."

As soon as Zeng Changzheng finished speaking, he felt a little regretful. His words were too straightforward and might make people uncomfortable.

However, seeing that Liu Zhiye did not lose his temper on the spot, the tension in his heart eased a little.

Despite this, he was still a little unconvinced, so he continued to challenge: "Chief of Staff, we don't have to wait until later. Now is the best time. I would like to discuss modern military thinking and war game simulation with you. What do you think?"

Liu Zhiye frowned slightly. He didn't expect Zeng Changzheng to make such a request so directly. But he didn't back down, but nodded to show his agreement.

"Okay, I've also heard that Commander Zeng is not only a man of outstanding achievements, but also a top student who graduated from the Frunze Military Academy. I was thinking of asking you for advice."

Huang Ping witnessed the tense atmosphere between the two, and his relaxed mood became tense again. He glanced at Chief of Staff Liu Zhiye and Regiment Commander Zeng Changzheng, thinking about how to resolve this awkward situation.

"Chief of Staff, Lao Zeng, what do you think of this?" Huang Ping spoke tentatively, trying to break the deadlock. "The comrades in the regiment have not met the leaders yet. Should we arrange for them to meet the leaders first, and then..."

Liu Zhiye still smiled and nodded, "It's time to meet the other comrades, but it won't delay my discussion with Commander Zeng. Political Commissar Huang, you can be our referee, and let the other comrades be our assistants..."

"I want to learn how skilled people with foreign education are... Don't you agree, Captain Zeng?"

Zeng Changzheng was secretly delighted, as this was exactly what he had hoped for. He had originally just wanted to dampen Liu Zhiye's spirit a little and teach him a lesson.

I didn't expect the other party to take the initiative to embarrass himself in front of everyone. This is really asking for trouble. Zeng Changzheng sneered in his heart and prepared to watch the show.

"You will never be disappointed..."

Zeng Changzheng's confidence was in stark contrast to Liu Zhiye. He felt that Liu Zhiye, who had been out of the army for six years, obviously could not keep up with the times in terms of military concepts.

Zeng Changzheng has always maintained a keen insight and deep understanding of the military field, which enables him to handle various complex situations with ease and confidence.

Moreover, Zeng Changzheng grew up in a military camp and had a deep understanding of military knowledge through the influence of his surroundings.

He received systematic military education, from basic to advanced, and each level honed his firm military qualities.

More than ten years of baptism of war have allowed him to accumulate rich experience in actual combat, making him more mature and stable.

In the past few years, he even went to the Frunze Military Academy in the "old Russian" country for further studies, which further broadened his horizons and improved his strategic thinking.

This experience gave him unique insights into modern military building ideas.

Therefore, this person was quite conceited and felt that Liu Zhiye's proactive acceptance of the challenge was just asking for trouble.

However, he does have strengths that he can be proud of.

Apart from anything else, the fact that he was a top student who graduated from the "Russian" Frunze Military Academy was very impressive.

The Frunze Military Academy was very powerful in the 1950s. It was one of the four largest military academies in the world and enjoyed a very high reputation.

This academy has cultivated many outstanding military talents in its more than 40-year history and is known as the "brain of the Red Army."

It is known as one of the "Four Major Military Academies" in the world, along with the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, the Military Academy at West Point in the United States, and the Ecole Military Saint-Cyr in France. It is the cradle of the "Russians" and even the world's military strategists.

Frunze Military Academy was a higher military school in the Soviet Union that trained officers for the combined arms forces and a scientific research center for studying issues related to combined arms combat and army group campaigns.

The academy mainly trains commanders of combined forces from regimental to army levels with extensive knowledge.

The admission requirements for students are extremely stringent. They must have graduated from the Advanced Command School of Combined Arms Forces, served as a battalion commander for more than two years, have practical experience in squad command, have good combat qualities, be under 2 years old, and have a military rank of captain or major.

The admission method is recommendation by leaders, individual examination and admission based on merit. The unified examination subjects are Russian, mathematics, physics, literature, tactics, technical equipment, etc.

There are many famous generals who graduated from the Combined Armed Forces Academy and its predecessor, the Frunze Military Academy. Soviet marshals Zhukov, Chuikov, Grechko, Voronov, Biryuzov and others are all world-renowned military strategists.

The Combined Forces Academy also has a close relationship with our army. Our famous Marshal Liu, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Eighth Route Army General Zuo, and Air Force Commander General Liu have all studied at Frunze Academy. Moreover, Zeng Changzheng was not able to study at the "old Russian" Frunze Military Academy because of his family connections.

He truly stood out from thousands of soldiers and was selected from these outstanding officers of age.

Therefore, Zeng Changzheng was proud of being a top student who graduated from the Frunze Military Academy and looked down on Liu Zhiye, a country bumpkin. He did have reason to be proud.

Therefore, the welcome party originally planned to welcome the superior leaders to provide guidance unexpectedly turned into a meeting to discuss in depth new military ideas.

Of course, the main speakers were the division chief of staff Liu Zhiye and the regiment commander Zeng Changzheng.

If it were Liu Zhiye before he activated his new skills, he might not necessarily be Zeng Changzheng's opponent.

Fortunately, after the Public Security Corps was reorganized into the Second Guard Division, Liu Zhiye's long-lost system activated new skills.

【Military Command, Advanced (Mastery)】

Strategic Thinking, Intermediate (Advanced)

The reason why Liu Zhiye has such strong self-confidence is due to his spirit of constant pursuit of progress.

After mastering the new skills, he put in tremendous effort and sweat, and finally improved these two crucial skills to the current level.

These two skills also gave Liu Zhiye an epiphany in the military field, and he made new breakthroughs in military command and strategy, which he had originally been somewhat unfamiliar with.

…………

In this debate, Liu Zhiye's strategic policies of "defending and releasing, luring the enemy in deep, and annihilating the enemy in depth" and "active defense, luring the enemy in deep", and then the military principles of "concentrating superior forces to annihilate the enemy one by one" successfully defeated Zeng Changzheng's military thinking of "large-scale troop operations and active attacks", and won the debate.

In addition, Liu Zhiye also made a high-level speech at a debate attended by all officers of the regiment, "In the context of peace and development becoming the theme of the times, the active defense strategic thinking guides the Xia army to continuously strengthen modernization and actively promote military struggle preparations."

This time, the debate not only convinced Zeng Changzheng, but also fascinated the officers and soldiers present. They interrupted Liu Zhiye's speech with several rounds of warm applause.

Afterwards, Zeng Changzheng took the initiative to find Liu Zhiye and apologized to him sincerely. He admitted that there were problems with his thinking and asked Liu Zhiye to forgive him.

Although this person is full of arrogance, he is not a bad person at all. Otherwise, he would not have grown to where he is today.

Although the misunderstanding between the two has disappeared, the previously agreed war game simulation still needs to be fulfilled.

This is not a battle of arrogance, Zeng Changzheng's mentality has changed a long time ago. At first, he might have wanted to defeat Liu Zhiye to prove himself, but now, he is more determined to learn from Liu Zhiye and participate in the war game simulation.

In this contest, he is no longer limited to winning or losing, but cherishes every confrontation with Liu Zhiye more, and regards it as a valuable opportunity to improve himself.

Before troops move, war games are played. Using war simulation systems to simulate wars is called war game simulation.

War games are an attempt to infer the future through a deeper understanding of history. A war game usually includes a map, game pieces and a set of rules to simulate a real or virtual war through a turn-based system.

Maps are generally simulations of real maps, with various terrain scenes such as roads, deserts, jungles, and oceans; deductive chess pieces represent the combat units that actually participated in the battle, such as companies, battalions, regiments, and various arms, corresponding combat power and other descriptions; rules are arbitration methods designed according to actual combat situations and combined with the principle of probability, telling you what you can and cannot do, the restrictions and results of marching, deployment, and fighting.

Generally speaking, the two competing sides in professional war games are the "blue team" - similar to the home team, representing friendly forces - and the red team, representing the enemy forces.

White usually adjudicates the course of the game while Red and Blue take action. Sometimes, Green represents allies or civilians.

Winter has come. In the war game simulation room in the important area of ​​Xishan in the capital, the "cold" and "hot" airs are mingling and fighting silently.

Pairs of focused eyes stare at the sand table, closely observing the deployment of troops, guessing the opponent's tactical intentions, and predicting the next move.

The "hot" atmosphere comes from the surging emotions of galloping on the battlefield. When a chess piece is pushed, a fighter plane flies low and roars like thunder; when a red flag is raised, an armored tank flies across the line of fire.

The "cold mind" means a deep understanding of the battlefield environment, a comprehensive grasp of combat data, the separation of false and true from massive amounts of information, and a detailed division of combat objectives...

Liu Zhiye and Zeng Changzheng led their respective teams, the red and blue sides.

The number of players on both sides ranged from 50 to 100, and the war game was carried out all day long, starting at 9:30, except for a break for lunch.

In the military field, wargaming is far from a simple game. Instead, it plays a vital role and is a systematic science.

Xia Guo researchers, who were exposed to foreign wargaming, played an important role in the development of PLA military science, research, and wargaming.

Military scientist and planner Qian Lao had a lasting and far-reaching impact on the Xia Dynasty's military. He founded the Department of Systems Engineering at Xia Dynasty, a discipline that specializes in the study of complex systems.

Qian proposed the idea that "war is a science". He pointed out that "in military science, the basic theoretical level is military science, the technical theoretical level is military operations research, and the applied technical level is military systems engineering."

After a day of war game simulation, of course, the final result ended with Liu Zhiye's victory.

After the game, Liu Zhiye did not feel complacent about defeating Zeng Changzheng, and Zeng Changzheng did not feel depressed because of the defeat.

On the contrary, they all felt that this duel opened a new door for them. Liu Zhiye knew that victory was only temporary, and the real challenge was to constantly surpass himself.

Zeng Changzheng also understood that failure is not terrible. The key is to learn lessons from failure and keep moving forward.

After the end, Liu Zhiye, Zeng Changzheng and others reviewed the process of Zeng Changzheng's failure.

The main reasons for Zeng's failure in the Long March were that he followed the old tactics and left his advance and retreat routes exposed; there was a lack of change in the deployment of combat forces, which tied down the main force and made it unable to escape; and his "sword-drawing" speed was always half a beat slow.

However, Liu Zhiye came prepared, so the effectiveness of the attack was greatly reduced... During reflection, the officers and soldiers present listed a series of problems, but they could be summed up in just four words: rigid thinking.

“If you want to win, you must jump out of the thinking trap, otherwise you will be like a frog in a well, only able to see a small piece of sky above your head.”

Although Zeng Changzheng failed to achieve victory, the confrontation between the two armies undoubtedly demonstrated a very high level of military command.

On the sand table, the two sides fought back and forth, competing with each other in wits and courage, and every confrontation was full of tension and excitement.

"Never stick to the tried and tested 'good tactics', always look for new and innovative tactics."

In the end, the lessons of the failure of the Long March made the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Regiment realize more and more deeply: the only unchanging thing is change itself, and they cannot mechanically use the "Victory Manual" as a guide. Pursuing change, breakthroughs and innovations are the only "laws of survival."

In this way, other participating commanders and fighters also gained tremendous benefits from this experience.

"War games are 'magicians directing wars'. As long as you have a comprehensive grasp of battlefield information, you can perfectly present the battlefield situation. Although it sounds complicated, it is actually not difficult at all to operate." On the podium, Liu Zhiye spoke clearly and the officers and soldiers below listened with great interest.

As a result, war game simulation quickly became popular in the Sixth Regiment, and its influence even gradually extended to other units of the Second Division, which was something Liu Zhiye had never expected.

After inspecting the Sixth Mechanized Infantry Regiment, Liu Zhiye decided to return by the same route. He had been in the company for more than two weeks, and there were a lot of things waiting for him to deal with in the headquarters.

Another reason that prompted him to return in a hurry was that his wife Gan Ning was about to give birth to twins, and the delivery process was relatively risky. He knew that he had to rush back to his wife as soon as possible to protect the safety of her and the children.

(End of this chapter)