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墨書 Inktalez
"Li Company Commander" stared at me and said, "In your unit, there are usually about four people who can operate a speedboat. The opportunities to practice are even more frequent. Some of the soldiers who have learned have been promoted to non-commissioned officers, and some units might have even more, but that should be enough."
I smiled and replied, "Isn't it better to have more people who can operate them?"
"Li Company Commander" shook his head, glanced at the river surface, and then focused on me again. "You generally set up bridges by battalion, with several units working together. Seven or eight people are sufficient, and there aren't that many speedboats assigned to you. Unless..." "Li Company Commander" suddenly paused, looking into my eyes with a glint of excitement.
"You can't be thinking...?" "Li Company Commander" exclaimed, his eyes widening.
At that moment, I interrupted him. "Senior! I just want to explore a possibility. Please help me out. At worst, I'll cover the instructors' subsidies myself—$100 per person—for them to teach for a week."
"Li Company Commander" looked at me for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Goodness! You dare to think big and act on it! Alright! I'll help you; as for the subsidies, let's not mention that. Now, what are your specific requirements?"
Seeing how straightforward "Li Company Commander" was being, I decided not to hesitate any longer. I boldly stated, "Please assign four of the best drivers from your unit to train the ten soldiers I've selected. The venue will be right here, and the time will be from five to six in the afternoon after training ends. I'll have a squad leader lead them back promptly at six after training each day until they master operating the speedboat. It shouldn't interfere with your unit's regular training and daily life; how does that sound?"
"Li Company Commander" suddenly turned around and patted "Old Bi" on the shoulder, saying, "Wang is really impressive! You should learn from him. He’s worried that our soldiers aren’t teaching thoroughly enough and hasn’t even set a start and end time for the lessons." "Old Bi" looked at us with a confused expression, not understanding what was going on.
Then he turned back to me and said, "Don't worry; I'll assign four non-commissioned officer instructors to help you. We need to get your soldiers up to speed quickly because soon we’ll be starting a training camp ourselves. Once we finish helping you, we’ll need to train the entire unit's cadets as well. The instructors will definitely give their all; they won’t waste any time."
Although I was overjoyed inside, I still smiled shyly and said, "Senior, you flatter me; that wasn't my intention, heh."
"Li Company Commander" patted my shoulder and said, "Go on! Bring your people over at five sharp."
"Thank you, Senior!" I saluted him respectfully, pulled "Old Bi," and turned back toward the training area.
After walking a few steps, "Old Bi" caught up with me. "What the hell! What are you guys planning? What's this about driving?" he asked in confusion, not quite grasping the details of our conversation.
“Li Company Commander is quite the expert,” I said as I walked. “Old Bi,” I lowered my voice, “have you ever thought that a Unit could independently build a Floating Bridge?”
“What!? Impossible!” Old Bi stopped, looking utterly astonished.
“Why is it impossible?!” I turned around and looked at him calmly.
Old Bi glanced at the River Surface, then back at me. “You’re crazy. Although I don’t understand much, I often watch the training. I know that for a River Surface like this, even at its narrowest point, you’d need about ten Bailey Bridges. That means at least ten Speedboats working together. The narrower it gets, the faster the current flows. You’re going to piece it together section by section, and when you connect that last part, it’s practically a torrent. Do you really think you can make it work? And how long do you plan to take with your entire Unit to build a Floating Bridge? One minute?” Old Bi was getting closer to mocking me.
I shook my head. “No, Old Bi, if four of us from my Unit stand on one Bailey Bridge, and we take out ten more to drive the Speedboats, with each person working on top to push the Bailey Bridges together, it might just be possible.”
I looked towards the River Surface, my eyes brightening. I knew that if we could coordinate well, having one Unit build a Floating Bridge wouldn’t be a myth, and I intended to control the time within zero minutes!
Old Bi didn’t say anything more; he just stared at me for a while before sighing, “I really can’t compare to you.” I walked over to him and patted his Shoulder. “Brother, it’s not that we can’t do it; it’s just that we haven’t tried!” I gave him a meaningful smile and turned back to my work area.
At this moment, all the Units had already started their training. I called over the Li Squad Leader. “After training ends at five every afternoon, remember to bring everyone over to report to Waterborne Unit Li Company Commander. Get close to him; he’s still your relative. Remember! Learn as much as you can and bring it back! I’ll leave a vehicle for you all; when you return, I’ll prepare dinner for you. Tell the soldiers not to worry about going back without food.”
“Yes!” The Li Squad Leader replied excitedly with a salute.
“How’s it going? Is finding zero people easy?”
“It’s alright. I’ve observed for a while and have already spotted seven or eight soldiers who are quick on their feet and agile. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Good, I’m leaving this task to you. I trust your abilities.” I knew that sometimes you had to let go; just like how the Old Company Commander used to treat me—if he never let go, his subordinates would never grow. Then he would forever be exhausted carrying them along.
As I walked to the shore, the soldiers had already descended onto the water for training. Two teams were spread across eight Bailey Bridges, each engaged in connecting, docking, and retracting. The lively scene was far more bustling than that of another Unit training nearby, where the soldiers looked on curiously at my Unit, probably thinking, "Have these people been injected with adrenaline?"
The morning training concluded like this. After waking up in the afternoon, we continued with the morning's exercises. The new Veterans were fully committed to quickly familiarizing themselves with the new equipment, and their enthusiasm even caught the attention of the Deputy Chief of Staff.
When he approached, I was still grinning foolishly at the soldiers on the river. Once I recognized him, I quickly stood at attention to report.
He interrupted me, saying, "Captain Wang Dai, you all seem quite lively."
"Report, Deputy Chief of Staff! Under the correct leadership of the regiment's Party Committee and your guidance, our Unit's officers and soldiers are determined to..."
"Stop right there; cut out the fluff! Are you all putting on a show on the river?" The Deputy Chief of Staff said impatiently. After observing for a moment, he muttered to himself, "Hmm, these guys are really serious."
He turned back to scrutinize me for a while before saying, "Not bad. Last time you were at the bottom of the rankings; this time you're aiming to improve? Any good experiences to share?"
I stood at attention and replied, "Report, Deputy Chief of Staff! All personnel in Sharp Blade Company felt ashamed after last training assessment and decided to turn over a new leaf, dedicating all our energy..."
Before I could finish, the Deputy Chief of Staff waved his hand dismissively and turned to leave!
"Company Commander Wang, impressive! The Deputy Chief of Staff is typically restless wherever he stands on the training ground; how did you manage to send him off?" An Old Sergeant from Vehicle One poked his head out from the driver's cabin and asked.
"Heh heh, really?" I chuckled as I glanced at the Deputy Chief of Staff's retreating figure. He would surprise you during assessments.
Thus, this week passed productively amid the soldiers' competitive spirit. In water-based professional foundational training competitions, the New Recruits initially lost three times in a row. Unwilling to accept defeat, they doubled their wager from 100 push-ups to 500 push-ups. Almost during every spare moment in our Unit, there were recruits doing push-ups on the ground while Veterans counted beside them. Many new soldiers struggled to complete their lost counts; consequently, when I checked on them at night, numerous upper and lower bunks creaked under the weight of those still doing push-ups as they accepted their losses.
The new recruits were surprisingly tenacious; the more they lost, the less willing they were to give in. By Friday, during the competition before the end of training, they actually managed to win against the Veteran Team once. Since the Unit only had one Speedboat, the New Recruits and the Veteran Team took turns using it to drag and pull the Bailey Bridge. The New Recruits completed the connection of four Bailey Bridge sections in just over six minutes after entering the water. The finished bridge extended halfway from the shore into the river, and with a little modification, it could even be used as a dock.
At this point, I was secretly pleased as we were not far from my ideal timeline. However, the Veterans couldn't save face anymore; Sheng Xiong was loudly demanding that the Veterans do 100 push-ups on the spot, insisting they wouldn't go home until they completed them.
In the end, Xuanhua's face turned beet red as he led the Veterans through all 100 push-ups. The competition was fierce and relentless; I watched as the Veterans rose and fell on the shore, and I couldn't help but smile.
Meanwhile, Li Squad Leader's Cadet team received strong support from Captain Li. He indeed kept his promise and sent over four of the most experienced and skilled drivers to train us. They almost trained from five to six-thirty, with one even staying until it was completely dark before returning to their unit.
Li Squad Leader reported progress to me regularly. Over the weekend, they even requested additional training sessions. It seemed many soldiers were quite interested in mastering this skill. According to Li Squad Leader, many soldiers were already proficient in using the Speedboat to push and connect the Bailey Bridge for assembly and disassembly.
"Not enough," I told Li. "When will you be able to operate the Speedboat while synchronously pushing the Bailey Bridge at a steady speed together on the river? That will be when you are truly ready."
Li was clearly captivated by this goal and immediately took everyone back for more training. In truth, any skill is taught by a master but honed by personal practice. The Old Sergeants had passed down their experience; what remained was for them to explore and understand it themselves.
Tomorrow is Monday, and a phase assessment is coming up. I wasn't worried at all because I knew that at this moment, our Unit had caught up and was standing at the forefront of all Units. If there was anything they still lacked, it was creating their own glory and honor! And that would be something they had to strive for themselves!
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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