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墨書 Inktalez
When I saw Old Bi, he had already fallen behind several people. Surprisingly, Old Bi had been overtaken by Second Company and seemed to finish in eighth or ninth place.
Watching Old Bi rush to the finish line, slowing down and panting like a bull, I felt a bit sorry for him. I helped him take off his gear and supported him as we walked in circles. After a few steps, I asked him in confusion, "Old Bi, weren't you at the front earlier? How did you end up falling behind?"
"Ha... ha... I was in the middle. When there were about four or five hundred meters left, I pushed myself hard, but then I just couldn't keep going," he gasped.
"Didn't you plan to sprint at the end?"
"I... I was going to sprint at the end. Xiao Yu, could she see me? At least I showed my face in front of her, right?" Damn! So that was his intention. I immediately dropped him and walked away. I'd rather see which unit's Cadet would be eliminated last than stay with this useless guy.
Back at the finish line, the last few competitors were nearing their arrival. To my surprise, Old Sergeant was among those at the bottom of the rankings, which was unusual for him. However, considering his age and the nature of his unit, it made sense. Behind him were four Cadets. The one who finished last would be eliminated, and clearly, no one wanted to be in that position. The competition among those four Cadets intensified as they desperately chased each other. No matter how hard they tried, their order kept changing, but they could never catch up to Sergeant Li's pace. In the final stretch of a few dozen meters, they all surged across the finish line. When the fourth-to-last Cadet crossed over, Pighead Vice Captain shouted loudly, "Time's up! The last three are eliminated!"
The last Cadet to cross the finish line looked pale and collapsed on the ground just a few steps past it. Xiao Yu hurried over to help him up. "Don't stop; you need to keep moving." I quietly approached and helped him remove his gear, taking over his weapon and supporting him as we walked together. This would be the first batch of Cadets eliminated from training; the competition here was undoubtedly brutal. How far could we go?
Seeing the dejected expression on this Cadet's face, I couldn't help but offer some words of comfort. "Since it's a competition, there has to be a last place. By normal standards, you've done very well! It's just that these people are tougher." The Cadet looked at me gratefully for a moment before struggling to push away and wobbling toward the Big Black board downstairs. I followed him anxiously.
The Pighead Deputy Team was already there with chalk and a score sheet, apparently ready to record the results. I watched as this Cadet slowly approached Pighead Deputy Team and said, "Vice Captain Chen, can you give me the chalk? Let me do it myself."
Pighead paused for a moment but handed over the chalk anyway. The Cadet took it and shakily marked an X next to his name on the score sheet for the first event. He turned around and smiled bitterly at the confused gazes around him. "This mark is for me to write myself down. Everyone, see you again next year if fate allows!" With that, he slowly walked up to the dormitory building.
The other two Cadets who also failed to meet standards pushed away those who were helping them and walked up to the board as well, marking an X next to their names.
Thus began the elimination process; no one expected that from then on, every Cadet who was eliminated would insist on marking their own X on the Big Black board. It became a tradition that continued through subsequent training sessions.
Second Week began, and in addition to the usual physical training, the subjects included shooting, tactics, reconnaissance, and capture techniques. Unlike the first week, which focused mainly on theoretical subjects, Second Week was primarily practical. Since all units followed the same training outline, individual foundational skills became crucial at this point. The training team decided to conduct a comprehensive assessment of these subjects, announce the results to highlight gaps and deficiencies, followed by self-training, and finally a retest on Sunday. The rules remained strict: anyone who failed any subject would be eliminated, while those who passed would see the lowest scorer in each subject eliminated.
After breakfast in the morning, all Cadets gathered for the first assessment. Little did I expect that during the shooting evaluation in Second Week, both Old Bi and I would face a crisis.
The shooting assessment involved a 100-meter fixed target with five bullets to be fired within one minute. At the Training Brigade's Shooting Range, groups of ten Cadets shot in turns and reported their scores after each round. The standard for this training session was set: scoring four rings or above was considered passing, forty-five rings or above was excellent, and hitting fifty rings qualified one as an exceptional marksman, allowing them to skip the retest for this item.
Before the assessment began, there was an opportunity for practice shots to get a feel for the weapon and adjust sights. When I saw Old Bi lying on the shooting position hesitating to fire, my heart sank. After he finally finished firing all five bullets, my heart dropped even further—five shots with zero rings! He even missed one shot completely, hitting the target of another Cadet, who ended up with five shots scoring fifty-five rings! If this continued into the initial assessment, he would be granted an exemption from retesting!
Amidst laughter and mockery, I nearly buried my head in my pants! The looks from Pig Head and Sun Hu were bearable, but even Xiao Yu beside me was covering her mouth to stifle her laughter; I felt utterly humiliated. However, I understood why Old Bi performed so poorly—he had never handled this Type 95 rifle before! When I graduated from training, I had only seen Instructors testing such weapons; as for Old Bi, who graduated even earlier than I did, this Type 95 rifle must have been entirely new to him. In our unit, there were hardly any opportunities to handle firearms, let alone something as new as this; it was his first time experiencing Live-Fire Shooting with a Type 95 Automatic Rifle.
Nonetheless, I believed that Old Bi had a good grasp of things and wouldn’t make such basic mistakes again. Sure enough, during the exam, he scored forty rings out of five shots—not passing! I glanced at a few others; Lin Hao scored full marks! Sun Hu also scored full marks! Wu Di hit forty-eight rings! Liu scored forty-eight as well! What kind of world is this where even Old Li scored fifty rings!
Fortunately, during the subsequent rapid-fire pistol shooting segment, Old Bi managed to redeem himself somewhat. For rapid-fire shooting with a pistol at a five-meter chest target within one minute, hitting all five shots was considered passing while scoring forty rings or above was excellent. This time we used a Type 54 pistol; I felt somewhat relieved since Old Bi should be quite familiar with it. Indeed, in this section, aside from a few occasional misses from some Cadets, most hit all five shots. In terms of accuracy, Lin Hao, Sun Hu, Wu Di, Old Bi, Liu, and Old Li all scored above forty rings with minimal differences.
As for tactics, reconnaissance, and capture techniques later on, Old Bi performed adequately—not outstanding but not lagging either. After all, he graduated from a Military Academy, so he shouldn’t be too bad! However, I had lost interest in observing others' performances; shooting was a critical test for Old Bi! If he got eliminated due to poor shooting scores, he would be one of those leaving in just Second Week! What a waste of effort!
During lunch that day, I pulled aside Old Bi and asked him what had happened. Unlike his usual nonchalance, he frowned tightly. “You know we’ve only used the Type 81 rifle; when have I ever used this one?! This is my first time using the Type 95 for live-fire shooting! Honestly, from the moment I picked up this rifle today, I've been trying to adapt. The overall layout of the Type 81 and Type 95 is different—the aiming method and how you hold it vary too. Plus, the Type 95 has no stock against your shoulder; it’s basically resting against the receiver—both heat and noise are more direct; it’s less ergonomic! These changes in habits aren’t something you can just switch overnight. Also,” he continued hesitantly, “when I shot just now, I felt like the magazine was too long and combined with how high the sights are made lying down uncomfortable. The safety lever position isn’t reasonable either; you can’t adjust it without changing your shooting posture. Is there an issue with the propellant formula? The gas escaping from the ejection port affects the shooter significantly…”
“Stop right there!” I interrupted impatiently. “This isn’t your chance to critique the weapon! Do you have any confidence in passing this assessment?”
After thinking for a moment, Old Bi replied slowly, “I’ll just have to train more during this time. This rifle uses a peep sight that significantly improves accuracy compared to the Type 81; if I practice more and get used to it, I can shoot well!”
This week’s training turned out to be quite interesting. The majority of the time for Cadets from second-line and logistics units was spent on shooting practice while those from main combat units seemed much more relaxed—spending time sparring and practicing capture techniques together. Our unit didn’t conduct many of these trainings; I wondered how solidly grounded Old Bi was—could he rely on his past experience? Sighing inwardly at how things were going—if they continued like this—his scores in other areas would still likely surpass ours. It’s truly a case where one misstep leads to another! But there wasn’t much point in worrying about that now; all I hoped for was that we could get through this week safely—hang in there as much as possible,Old Bi!
As for us Instructors, we also had our share of practice and performed quite well; at least we didn't miss the target. Old Bi was more accustomed to using the Type 81, which made it easier for him to adapt to new firearms. Later, even Xiao Yu excitedly wanted to try the Type 95, but she always ignored the attentions of Pig Head and Sun Hu, constantly pestering Lin Hao to teach her how to shoot. Little did Lin Hao know how much resentment he was accumulating; even Old Bi muttered to himself in frustration while shooting, "White Face! Damn it! I'll surpass you sooner or later!" Under this psychological pressure, Old Bi's performance improved rapidly, and before long, he had already reached the standard for excellent results, which eased my mind a little.
The busy days always passed unnoticed, and in the blink of an eye, the Second Week was over, quickly leading us to the assessment on Sunday.
First up was the pistol shooting. As expected, all Cadets hit the target five times, though their scores varied. The highest was Sun Hu with 46 points. Old Bi had a strong grip and impressive arm strength; when he held the .54 pistol, it was remarkably steady and accurate. Old Bi managed to score 40 points, which wasn't far off from several other promising candidates. The worst-performing Cadet scored poorly and was likely to be eliminated.
Next came the Rifle shooting assessment. Old Bi, you better hold your ground!
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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