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墨書 Inktalez
I saluted the Company Commander and the Instructor before turning to leave the Company Headquarters.
With two weeks left, I thought to myself that there was still time to improve. I needed to intensify my training and consult the Company Commander and the Instructor on how to optimize the sequence for the Obstacle Course and the combination with Armed Swimming.
At that moment, I suddenly felt the urge to see who my potential rivals were and what their abilities were like. Otherwise, I felt uncertain about my preparations. According to the Company Commander and the Instructor, Squad Leader Wu Yan from Fourth Company and Squad Leader Gao Ge from Seventh Company had both been designated as seeds by their respective Company Commanders. If our Unit made it into the top three, they would become my direct competitors. Unless something unexpected happened, it would likely be these two squads along with Old Bi's Reconnaissance Platoon.
In previous weeks of training, I hadn’t encountered opponents from Fourth Company or Seventh Company, but I had faced Old Bi's Reconnaissance Platoon a few times—perhaps due to our proximity. Old Bi's Reconnaissance Platoon was indeed impressive; he had very strict requirements for his soldiers, rarely smiled, and commanded a certain fear among them, which made them train diligently. Moreover, since the Reconnaissance Platoon was selected from the training team, each soldier had excellent individual qualities. I believed that if pulled out individually, each soldier could achieve All Excellent status. However, for some reason, I always felt that Old Bi's team lacked something—yes, it seemed to lack a certain "spirit." They were disciplined and orderly, obeying orders like machines, yet there was a sense of absence in their overall presence.
Suddenly, a thought struck me—it was quite a coincidence that we had previously been divided into three groups: one in First Company, one in Fourth Company, and one in Seventh Company for training. However, I was luckier; first, there weren't enough Squad Leaders in our Unit, and second, the Company Commander favored me. As a result, I became the acting Squad Leader right away while my two Brothers had it tougher—they had been soldiers for three months, and one of them even had his rank stripped and was made a Private for training. A call to the Medical Unit should provide detailed information; this could really help me!
After making a phone call, I gathered quite a bit of information: Second Battalion's Fourth Company Three Rows was indeed formidable; they had no rivals within Second Battalion and boasted the strongest combat effectiveness and military quality in the regiment. The Squad Leader named Wu Yan was promoted from among the soldiers; he had a rough and straightforward style that adhered to old traditions. He was hot-tempered and domineering, looking down on his peers. Under his influence, his entire squad walked tall within the regiment. However, due to their strong sense of obedience to superiors, the Company Commander favored him; thus no one dared provoke him within Second Battalion.
As for Third Battalion's Seventh Company A Row Squad Leader Gao Ge—a local university student who enlisted earlier than us—he was usually low-key but acted with great composure. His abilities were exceptional; like Seventh Company's Company Commander, he was appreciated for his reserved nature and meticulous thinking. Consequently, he was entrusted with leading the best A Row squad. He lived up to expectations by winning numerous honors over the past year and was even established as an exemplary College Student Leader by his unit, which gradually allowed Third Battalion to catch up with First Battalion. My Brother Old Zhu specifically warned me that this person was extraordinary and advised me not to underestimate him; he indicated that with him around, my chances of securing first place were extremely low.
After enduring this blow from my classmates' assessments, I estimated that Wu Yan shouldn't be much of a problem; however, Gao Ge deserved serious attention. I wanted to get closer to them to gauge their levels and capabilities better so that I could adjust my strategies accordingly during competitions.
Guessing that tomorrow would be the weekend when they would likely have extra training at Second Battalion and Third Battalion Camp, I made a bold decision to observe them while verifying the reliability of my information.
I woke up early the next day and had all my squad members change into shorts and tank tops before leading them towards Second Battalion. We ran past Special Operations Unit Barracks and over a winding mountain path until we arrived at Second Battalion Camp. At my signal, we slowed our pace. Indeed, many units were training at the obstacle course; beyond it lay Second Battalion's Barracks area—I wondered if Fourth Company was training here as well.
Our unit was quite interesting; every Camp was large but Playground facilities were set up in Third Battalion while obstacle courses were located in Second Battalion. Our First Battalion happened to be closest to the river training ground where we rotated guards for training sessions. Other Units needed to schedule their training times in advance except for ours. This arrangement made it convenient for me to practice my weak point—Armed Swimming—so my improvement came relatively quickly.
I pretended we were taking a break while Garfield led our soldiers in warm-up exercises near the obstacle course as I turned around to observe closely for any signs of my rivals.
After watching for a while, it seemed there weren't any standout teams at present; I knew everyone was currently training as squads so only a few competitive opponents would likely stand out.
At that moment, a group of people approached from the opposite side. They were dressed in athletic gear on top and camouflage pants on the bottom, marching straight past us toward the obstacle course.
At the back of the line was a tall, muscular man, around six feet tall, with very short hair that made him look almost bald. His face was rugged and intimidating. As they passed us, he suddenly shouted at Garfield, who was leading the warm-up exercises, "Which Unit are you from? We're using this area this morning; you can come back in the afternoon!"
Garfield looked at me in confusion. I gave him a subtle nod and stepped into line with the soldiers. He quickly grasped my meaning and turned to respond, "We're from A Row, just passing through for a run. Everyone's taking a break and thought we could learn a thing or two from your Unit."
The bald man burst into laughter. "You’re from A Row?! The one where Military Doctor is the Squad Leader? That's you? Hahaha, looking like a skinny monkey! You guys still planning to sign up for the competition? I think you should just forfeit; with me, Wu Yan, you don’t even need to show up!"
Garfield’s expression darkened as he glanced back at me. I remained silent and shook my head slightly. Garfield pursed his lips and stepped aside.
To be honest, although we had roll call every Sunday night, there were so many people that it was impossible to recognize anyone clearly; all we heard was a constant stream of names being called out. So I had no idea who Wu Yan or Gao Ge were.
At that moment, I noticed that the soldiers who had originally walked past us had stopped and were now staring at us with challenging looks. Our brothers in line were not pushovers either; they halted their warm-up activities and began to gather around to confront them.
I saw Wu Yan frowning as he glared at Garfield. "Hey, can’t you control your men? Coming over to Second Battalion to cause trouble? Should I help you manage them?"
I felt a surge of anger and was about to step forward to retort when suddenly He Baisha foolishly ran out and grabbed a second-year soldier from their group. "Hey, Flattery, haven’t you eaten yet?"
The soldier started to swing his arm as if ready to retaliate, but upon realizing it was He Baisha, his expression softened considerably. "Your buddy Flattery has already eaten!"
Then He Baisha followed up with, "Which one of you is the big shot? Why are you acting so tough?"
The soldier from He Baisha’s hometown awkwardly glanced between the bald man and He Baisha, opened his mouth but said nothing. Meanwhile, Wu Yan stood there dumbfounded. "What’s going on here?"
Having spent a considerable amount of time with this guy, I understood a bit of the Chongqing dialect. I suppressed my laughter and walked over to pat He Baisha on the shoulder, signaling him to regroup, then made my way toward Wu Yan, who looked utterly confused.
“Wu Squad Leader, I’m A Row Squad Leader, the Military Doctor, Wang Wei!” I said slowly as I approached, stopping a meter away from him to avoid any noticeable height difference.
“Wang Wei, what the hell are you doing bringing your troops to our Camp?!” Wu Yan was about to explode.
“Wu Yan Squad Leader! Why do you always bring your team to our Camp?” I raised my voice in response.
“What? When did I ever go to your Camp?” Wu Yan asked in disbelief.
“Still denying it? Don’t you go for Armed Swimming training in the river without passing by our Camp?”
“That was just passing through!”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Very well, Wu Yan Squad Leader, by the same logic, I’m just passing through your territory.”
Wu Yan was momentarily speechless, clearly frustrated. “Wu Yan Squad Leader, we’re going to rest here for a bit. I trust you won’t kick us out?”
Before he could finish, I added, “Ah, Wu Yan Squad Leader, it seems it’s our Unit’s turn to guard the river training ground. This is just like what you have, so of course we can’t compare to you, Wu Yan Squad Leader. Therefore, we need to increase our training so that we can adequately host your brothers!”
Garfield chimed in from behind, “Yeah, Squad Leader! I need to tell the Brothers back home to keep a close watch on the gate; not even a dog should get in and disrupt our training.”
“Damn it, you guys!” It looked like Wu Yan was about to lose his temper. I quickly added, “Wu Yan Squad Leader, hurry up and get back to training! If you’re late, you’ll end up practicing less and won’t be able to catch up with High Song Squad!”
Wu Yan immediately took the bait and angrily said, "Gao Ge? Hmph! What’s Gao Ge to me? This time, I will definitely win against him! Brothers, let’s go! We need to start training right away. Hmph! Wang Wei, I’ll settle the score with you later."
Watching them enter the obstacle course, Garfield leaned over and asked, "Squad Leader, what do you think?" I smiled slightly and replied, "Just a bunch of brutes; they’re not to be feared."
The other squad leaders gathered around and asked, "Squad Leader, shall we leave? It’s too uncomfortable here."
I stared at them and said, "Not yet. Let’s watch their training first."
I noticed Wu Yan and his team had driven away a platoon and taken over a lane. They didn’t even bother with warm-up exercises; they immediately set up their formation and began tackling the obstacles. I couldn’t help but shake my head.
Looking again, I saw Wu Yan leading the charge on horseback, moving at an impressive speed—almost one and a half times faster than mine. I checked my watch; aside from the last few who were slowing down due to fatigue, their overall speed was definitely quicker than mine by at least a few seconds.
However, as I looked further back, I couldn’t help but laugh. Wu Yan's platoon was clearly experiencing severe polarization. A large number of soldiers were up front while several others were stuck on various obstacles at the back. There were even a few squad leaders who seemed to be assigned to help but were clearly helpless regarding the soldiers lagging behind.
Over there, Wu Yan reached the finish line, turned around, and rushed to the back of the line, starting to yell at the last few soldiers. Seeing this made me aware of the situation; I waved to everyone and said, "Let’s go, Third Battalion!"
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow.)
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