Chapter 58: My Heavy Combined Arms Battalion, Converted Directly into Infantry?

A few days later.

Having finished handling his routine military affairs, Huang Han walked out of his office with a relaxed expression.

Descending to the ground floor, he happened to run into the Head of the Training and Operations Section, so he waved him over.

"Section Chief Xiang, let's go."

"Accompany me for a stroll around the camp area."

"I've been tied up with equipment matters these past few days and haven't checked on the training status."

"How is the troops' overall condition lately?"

Xiang Tianyun, head of the Training and Operations Section, immediately saluted and replied, "We've been keeping a close eye on that front. Welcome for an inspection, Chief."

Huang Han did not care for empty formalities with Xiang Tianyun.

He raised his wrist to check his watch.

It was exactly twelve noon, time for lunch.

He cast his gaze toward the westernmost sector.

"Which unit is on duty at the western base this month?"

Xiang Tianyun blurted out without missing a beat, "The 3rd Battalion of the 7th Brigade."

"Oh? The ace of aces? Then let's go, I shall inspect this ace unit."

The Joint Command Center where Huang Han served was the absolute pinnacle of defense for the theater command.

The units tasked with guarding this place had never been ordinary.

The 3rd Battalion of the 7th Brigade stood out even among the elite.

They were one of the few fully-manned, heavy combined-arms brigades in the Qilin Theater Command.

Both in terms of equipment quantity and quality, they far surpassed their peer units.

A unit like this, if deployed independently to any region in the world, could accomplish the magnificent feat of a single brigade conquering a nation.

Every single brigade here was built with an investment of tens of billions.

With such advanced equipment, their combat proficiency had to match accordingly.

Approaching the vicinity of the camp, Huang Han checked his watch again and said in a low voice, "Blow the emergency assembly horn."

Xiang Tianyun instinctively tried to dissuade him: "They just finished high-intensity physical training this morning. Shouldn't we let them have a proper meal first—"

"Tsk! Benevolence does not command an army."

Huang Han rolled his eyes.

"When a real war breaks out, the enemy won't give them time to eat."

"Blow the horn!"

Xiang Tianyun had nothing more to say: "Understood!"

Huang Han had once personally issued an order to all units within the theater command.

Once a combat readiness order was received, personnel and vehicles had to complete assembly within three minutes.

Therefore, while timing with his stopwatch, Huang Han observed the reactions of the soldiers within the camp.

One minute and forty-seven seconds!

The commander of the 3rd Battalion came running up to Huang Han.

"Reporting to the Chief of Staff!"

"The 3rd Battalion of the 7th Brigade has completed assembly, awaiting your instructions!"

At this moment, the soldiers stood neatly in formation before Huang Han, their expressions solemn.

Although suddenly assembled during lunchtime, the soldiers' morale was exceptionally high, and their tactical equipment was neatly donned.

"Mm, not bad. Keep up the good work."

Overall, Huang Han was satisfied.

However, shortly after, as he walked around to the rear of the formation, something felt slightly amiss.

"Battalion Commander, how many men are in your battalion?"

Battalion Commander: "Reporting to the Chief, 989 men are supposed to be present, and 953 are actually here!"

"Hmm..."

Huang Han frowned slightly.

The numbers were about right, considering guards and personnel on leave had to be excluded.

Yet...

"The men are all here, but where is your equipment?"

Huang Han pointed toward the column of vehicles parked at the back of the formation.

"I gave an order previously."

"And I made it explicitly clear!"

"An emergency assembly requires not just the personnel to be in place, but the vehicles must also be fully prepared."

"By my estimation, you don't even have half the vehicles of your battalion here, do you?"

This combined-arms battalion was the cream of the crop.

What gave them their advantage?

Was it not precisely because they possessed the world's top-tier weaponry and equipment?

Type 99A tanks, PHL191 MLRS, PCL181 howitzers, HQ-17 air defense systems...

These vehicular assets were the core of the entire combined-arms battalion.

Yet today, the equipment Huang Han saw completely failed to match the actual numbers.

"Playing clever, are we?"

"Skipping the preparation for half the vehicles makes it much faster for you, doesn't it?"

Hearing this, the 3rd Battalion Commander felt rather aggrieved.

"Chief, I only have this many vehicles on hand."

Huang Han glared fiercely, his eyebrows knitting together: "Absolute nonsense! You command a heavy combined-arms battalion with at least over two hundred vehicles!"

"Count them yourself. Is this enough?"

"I think you're itching for a beating!"

In an instant, the Chief of Staff's wrath surged to the heavens.

The oppressive aura emanating from a senior commander of the armed forces was no laughing matter.

Under any other circumstances, the 3rd Battalion Commander would have yielded and accepted punishment without a word.

Today, however, he had legitimate grievances: "Half of our battalion's vehicles were requisitioned by the Equipment Management Department."

"???"

Huang Han was slightly taken aback.

There hadn't been any re-equipment or maintenance plans scheduled recently, had there?

Even if there were, he should have been informed.

Having half a combined-arms battalion's equipment requisitioned was no small matter.

A bit more, and it would require Huang Han's superiors to step in.

The more he thought about it, the angrier Huang Han became.

"Guard! Tell Zhang Ming瑞 to run over here immediately!"

A few minutes later, Zhang Mingrui arrived in a breathless rush.

Since he was not part of the combat troops and his physical conditioning was average, he was panting heavily.

"What is it, Chief of Staff? Making me run like that, it's gonna kill me—"

"Fall into line!"

With a single roar, Zhang Mingrui felt an overwhelming pressure, and the smile instantly vanished from his face.

"What's wrong... Chief of Staff?"

"You still have the nerve to ask what's wrong!"

Huang Han looked Zhang Mingrui up and down.

"Look at the fine mess you've made!"

Huang Han pointed extended fingers toward the troops before him.

A heavy combined-arms battalion, devoid of rifles or artillery, left with only a few battered jeeps.

"Do you think this looks appropriate?"

"My elite heavy combined-arms battalion has been directly downgraded to infantry?"

"Even if your Equipment Department is conducting maintenance and upgrades, you can't just tow away half a battalion's worth of equipment!"

Zhang Mingrui was dumbfounded: "We haven't had any large-scale maintenance or upgrade plans recently."

"???"

Huang Han's eyes glazed over momentarily.

"If there's no upgrade plan, then where are my tanks? Where is my artillery!"

If you can endure for a moment, the sea and sky open up; but take a step back, and the anger only grows.

If there were an upgrade plan, I could at most write it off as a lapse in your work and poor planning.

Since there is no upgrade plan, where did half my battalion's equipment go?

Did you eat them?

Seeing the Chief of Staff's attitude, Zhang Mingrui grew somewhat disgruntled as well. "Chief of Staff, you can't just turn hostile and deny the facts."

"???"

Zhang Mingrui continued, "Didn't you say to fully cooperate with Wei Xiu's work? I lent the equipment to Wei Xiu."

????

Huang Han felt darkness cloud his vision right then and there.

Yes, he had indeed said to give full cooperation to Wei Xiu's work.

But Wei Xiu was doing scientific research, not combat preparations!

What right did he have to haul away half a battalion of my equipment?

"What on earth does he need so many tanks and artillery pieces for?"

"Isn't he doing scientific research?"

Does this look like scientific research?

Are you sure he isn't going off to liberate Tokyo?

Huang Han's face was plastered with question marks.

Zhang Mingrui spread his hands: "No clue. All I know is that the project is some kind of fire-prevention project..."

"What in the heavens kind of fire-prevention project is that!"

Huang Han's blood pressure spiked instantly.

He looked back at the missing equipment in the ranks: tanks, self-propelled rocket launchers, air-defense missiles, drones...

What decent person uses these things for fire prevention?!

"3rd Battalion Commander! Quick, run to the headquarters and report this to the superiors."

Huang Han dared not dwell on this matter any further.

"Zhang Ming瑞, come with me to see Wei Xiu right now."

Zhang Mingrui looked utterly innocent: "What for?"

"To get the equipment back, what else!"

Huang Han cursed inwardly.

Give him an HQ-9, and he could shoot down an F-35.

Now that he had this much equipment...

Just try to guess what kind of things he might manage to shoot down!