Chapter Nineteenth: Ingenious Tactical Maneuvers

  The next day, just after dawn broke, the reveille sounded.

  This was the first time Liu Yimin had heard the bugle call of the 18th Regiment since he crossed over. Since the breakout from Xinhuai, whether it was a series of sneak attacks on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River or marching in the western extension mountainous area, Liu Yimin strictly forbade blowing military bugles to hide the intentions of the troops. So when he heard the reveille, Liu Yimin's feeling was still quite fresh. When he finished dressing and walked out of the door, he found Cai Zhong and Liu Jianli had already led the regiment's direct units to stand in line neatly in the courtyard of the Security Regiment, waiting for him to go on morning exercise.

  Seeing Liu Yimin walking over, the team's security squad leader Li Chengyi ran over and gave a loud salute, shouting: "Report to the team leader, the Red 18th Team's direct troops have assembled and are preparing for morning exercises, please instruct. Duty squad leader Li Chengyi."

  Liu Yimin returned the courtesy and swept a satisfied glance over the troops before saying, "Dismissed."

  Li Chengwei replied with a single word: "Yes." He turned around and ran towards the team, shouting: "Attention! Right turn, quick march!"

  Under the thin morning fog, the footsteps of the Red Army's early exercise sounded particularly shocking on the empty streets. Cai Zhong even had an illusion, as if he had returned to the fiery life in the Soviet Union.

  The team ran all the way to the outskirts of the city. It really lived up to the saying "the early bird catches the worm", and they happened to run into a battalion commander, Gao Yuan, who was leading his troops in single-soldier tactical training. Liu Yimin only found out after asking that all four combat battalions were conducting training outside the city. In Gao Yuan's words, it was all about stimulating the regimental commanders - who didn't want to be invincible in battle and unbeatable in war? Who didn't want to be the sharpest blade in the entire army? The several combat battalions were all competing with each other in their training.

  Liu Yimin liked the atmosphere of competition and catching up with each other in the troops.

  Watching the warriors practicing individual movements on the empty ground, Liu Yimin felt a bit itchy. He immediately started correcting the movements of several warriors on the spot.

  Gao Yuan watched Liu Yimin's guidance and thought it was very skilled, so he intentionally said: "It's easy to talk about it, but it's not necessarily good at doing it. Doing well doesn't necessarily mean you'll be effective in a real battle. The captain isn't all talk and no action, is he?"

  Liu Yimin knew what the plateau meant, and smiled: "Battalion commander, don't irritate me, I really want to make a demonstration, let you see what is a standardized tactical action."

  It's said that when the squad leader demonstrates, all the soldiers stop training and gather around.

  Tsai Zhongxin is a straightforward and impulsive person, this Red Army regiment commander who was promoted the fastest has been in the army for a short time and cannot have received regular military training. If we say that he is resourceful and can come up with hundreds of ideas, it may be due to his high IQ and extensive reading, but infantry tactics and actions are not something that can be learned from books, they require training. Moreover, apart from military schools, there are no other places where such tactical training is taught. Is the hunter who taught him how to shoot a genius in the army? It's strange, the more I look at him, the more I feel like he's full of mysteries. I really don't know what kind of tactics and actions he can come up with, but please don't make a fool of yourself, you should know that now the soldiers of the 18th Red Regiment trust their commander very much, even to the point of blind worship. If this becomes a joke, it will be a blow to the morale of the troops.

  Liu Yimin didn't hold back, picking up a rifle and first demonstrating gun-holding and shooting postures, then proceeding to demonstrate low and high crawling, sideways crawling, and high sideways crawling under enemy fire. Next, he demonstrated rolling forward while stopping and advancing under enemy fire. With Liu Yimin's skillful hands, these basic individual movements were performed as smoothly as flowing clouds, perfectly standard. The soldiers watching were dazzled, their minds filled with admiration for the tactics they had just witnessed.

  After finishing the tactical movements of crawling forward and rolling in, Liu Yimin stood up, shook his feet, and stood in front of the team: "Comrades. The set of tactical movements I just did is called individual movement tactics under enemy fire. In fact, there are only two major movements, one is crawling forward and the other is rolling in. Comrades have all fought in the midst of gunfire, these two movements should be very familiar to you. What I want to emphasize is that if you standardize your tactical movements, practice them until they become second nature, as natural as getting out of bed and putting on clothes or going to sleep and taking off pants, then your chances of survival on the battlefield will be higher than others. This is a lifesaving skill."

  Seeing the cadres and soldiers listening attentively, Liu Yimin shouted: "Wang Dahu, step forward."

  The great king of the Long Wang dynasty emerged in response.

  "What is our Red Army's most precious treasure? Answer."

  "It's a weapon."

  "Wrong! The most precious wealth of our Red Army is the life of every single Red Army fighter. I ask you again: what is the purpose of our Red Army's revolution?"

  "Overthrow Chiang Kai-shek's reactionary rule and establish a new China of Soviets."

  "Against the enemy. Every one of us Red Army soldiers is a seed, which will sprout and grow, bringing out batch after batch of new Red Army soldiers to jointly strive for the establishment of New China. Therefore, we must master combat techniques proficiently, annihilate the enemy, and preserve ourselves. I ask you, what does annihilating the enemy and preserving oneself rely on?"

  "Relying on solid military skills."

  "Well said. Where does solid military skills come from? It can only come from training and actual combat. That is, sweating more in peacetime and bleeding less in wartime. Now, you demonstrate the action for everyone, and I'll explain."

  "Yes."

  "Get down!"

  Wang Dahai held a gun in his right hand and stepped forward with his left foot, then fell to the ground and quickly fired the gun, aiming forward.

  "Get up! You dropped down quickly and can quickly draw your gun, which shows you're a seasoned veteran who's been through battles. However, your movements are not standardized, which can easily cause injury to yourself and affect the accuracy of subsequent shots. The correct method is that when hearing the command to drop down or discovering enemy activity, quickly take a big step forward with your left foot, simultaneously leaning your upper body forward, trying to lower yourself as much as possible. When your chest is close to your left thigh, stretch out your left arm, clench your five fingers together, pointing towards the right rear, and bend your elbow forward. Land in sequence with the palm of your hand, then your elbow. After landing, use your elbow for support, quickly stretch out your left leg backwards, while simultaneously sending your right hand holding the gun forward, your body facing downwards. Use your left hand as an axis to receive the gun, withdraw your right hand to grip the handle, form a straight line with three points, and complete the aiming action."

  Liu Yimin says a sentence, Wang Dahu does it once, saying clearly and doing seriously. After one action is done, several more are done in succession. After Wang Dahu becomes proficient, the soldiers beside him also understand clearly.

  The regimental commander Wang Da Hu saw an opportunity and directly selected 6 squad leaders to follow him, with Liu Yi Min providing one-on-one guidance.

  Chief of Staff Liu Jianli brought his own troops, who could bear this loss? Hurriedly select one squad leader from the instructional team, reconnaissance platoon and guard squad to practice with Wang Dahu and others.

  Next, Liu Yimin demonstrated and explained the key points and functions of several actions such as advancing under enemy fire, jumping forward, crawling forward, rolling forward, and jumping in.

  After all, these 10 people are old Red Army soldiers and are all fighting backbone, they are all masters who have been through a hundred battles, they know what is needed on the battlefield, so they understand at once, and grasp tactical movements very quickly.

  Liu Yimin was overjoyed and inwardly praised the military quality of the old Red Army, who without hesitation demonstrated and explained the tactical movements of individual soldiers using different terrain such as ridges, ditches, trenches, mounds, trees, high grain fields, and dense forests. On-site, he led ten old Red Army soldiers in a drill and simulated training on how to use walls, wall corners, doors, and windows. He also specially practiced anti-aircraft shooting movements using the terrain.

  Finally, Liu Yimin brought out the "three conveniences, three don'ts, and one avoidance" for the training of individual tactics of infantrymen in the Liberation Army: making use of terrain to facilitate observation and shooting, concealment, approach, utilization, and change of position; avoiding interference with the command of squad leaders and the shooting of comrades; not crowding together; not staying too long in one place; and avoiding isolated, conspicuous, flammable, easily collapsing objects and difficult-to-pass sections. Wang Dahu and 10 other old Red Army soldiers compared Liu Yimin's words with their own combat experience and found that Liu Yimin had summarized all the strengths of their past combat experiences, corrected many incorrect actions that caused casualties, and was novel, practical, and useful; they really couldn't figure out where the regimental commander had learned it from.

  When Liu Yimin led the 10 old Red Army soldiers, who were covered in sweat and mud, to finish their training, he found that the battalion and company commanders of the four combat battalions were standing on one side observing. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the empty land they had chosen was actually quite good, with pits, ditches, and small hills, making it an ideal place for military training. Liu Yimin thought to himself that instead of waiting for a better day, he might as well organize an infantry battalion mountain attack drill right now, letting these company commanders set an example and raise the tactical level of the entire regiment. With this in mind, he shouted at the nine company commanders: "Listen to orders, infantry battalion combat preparation!"

  After Wang Da Hu retreated, 9 squad leaders quickly checked their ammunition, tidied up their equipment and stood in a row.

  Liu Yimin shouted: "Encountering the enemy, order your squad to quickly occupy the high ground in front and repel the enemy's attack."

  After a brief discussion among the 9 class leaders, Li Chengyi, the head of the security team, raised his fist and became the leader. Then they quickly formed a line and ran forward.

  Cai Zhong, Liu Jianli and a group of battalion and company commanders followed behind, eager to see how Liu Yimin was training.

  Liu Yimin shouted while running: "Hurry up, the enemy is occupying the high ground, hurry up, if you are one step late, you will die under the enemy's gun."

  The class leaders immediately dispersed and formed a triangular formation, speeding up their running pace.

  Liu Yimin shouted: "Enemy planes are bombing."

  The class leaders almost simultaneously crouched down and accelerated their running speed.

  "Front trench discovered ahead."

  The class leaders helped them dash forward and jump over the trenches.

  "The enemy plane is dropping bombs."

  The squad leaders immediately dropped down and started crawling forward in a high prone position.

  "Liu Yimin shouted immediately: 'Fool, want to let the enemy blow you up? Speed, only speed can save you. Crouch and run, faster, a bit faster.'"

  The squad leaders got up and ran a few steps with their waists bent, just as Liu Yimin shouted: "Enemy planes are firing machine guns." The nine squad leaders hastily rolled forward in a prone position.

  Liu Yimin shouted again: "One group of organizations fired at the air, covering the second and third groups to occupy the position."

  Only nine class leaders immediately changed formation, two groups formed a triangular shape and continued to roll forward, one group lay on their backs, holding guns and aiming at the sky.

  Liu Yimin's urgent voice sounded again: "Air raid lifted, enemy vanguard charged up to the commanding heights. Drive the enemy down."

  Nine squad leaders formed a triangular formation, charging forward while throwing grenades and firing shots. The hand grenade exploded, sending dust flying in all directions in front of them.

  "Pay attention to using the terrain, conceal your figure, and improve your shooting accuracy."

  The effect of the training just now has come out. The nine class leaders' movements are swift and powerful, relying on terrain cover to rapidly charge forward.

  Gaoyuan, a former Red Army commander, was extremely surprised by the performance of these old Red Army soldiers: organized and orderly, powerful attack, standardized movements, swift and agile. This is a brand new infantry combat tactic, completely different from the previous Red Army's charging formation. If every soldier could fight like this, how many casualties would be reduced!

  Gao Yuan was just sighing in his heart when he heard Liu Yimin shout: "Charge forward and drive the enemy away."

  Nine class leaders rushed up the small hill, occupying their positions. Liu Yimin then shouted: "Enemy artillery fire!"

  The squad leaders turned back and hid behind their backpacks.

  As soon as Liu Yimin shouted "The enemy is coming!", the nine class leaders jumped up and quickly entered their positions.

  Watching nine class leaders perform excellently, exceeding their own expectations. Liu Yimin announced the end of the drill, lifted the combat alert, and then commented on the mistakes made during the drill.

  After Liu Yimin's comment, Gao Yuan and Liu Jian almost simultaneously proposed to promote the training of tactical movements and rehearsal modes in the whole team according to today's training.

  No wonder he's the mainstay of the Red Army! Sharp and insightful, with a global perspective. Liu Yimin looked at Gao Yuan and Liu Jianli with satisfaction, directly ordering these 9 squad leaders to be model soldiers, training and correcting the entire regiment's tactical movements, requiring every soldier to practice three times within two days. The waiting battalion commanders were relieved and immediately discussed with Liu Jianli and Gao Yuan how to allocate these 9 squad leaders.

  Finally seeing no one bothering him, Liu Yimin immediately ended training with Cai Zhong and returned to the team.

  The motivation to write comes from the appreciation and encouragement of book friends, vote for me, everyone, hurry up and give me votes, let your votes fall like heavy rain, I'll catch them all.

  This chapter has referenced many posts from military netizens, and I won't mention their names one by one, sorry about that. I can only clasp my fists in gratitude! Thank you! Thank you!