Chapter 117: Five More Seconds!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“What is it? Has the Commander left?”
“Yes, the commander just left.”
The principal felt a little baffled. He had seen the regiment commander heading upstairs to supervise the soldiers’ training, but then he quickly left.
He glanced at Wu Jianfeng and Lin Hai, knowing that the regiment commander was intentionally avoiding them.
The two of them were left stunned.
The regiment commander ran away?
What on earth…
“We should go to the regiment commander’s house!” Lin Hai said through clenched teeth.
He couldn’t let the regiment commander off the hook so easily. Since he had already agreed to their request, he shouldn’t be playing games like this.
“Hehe, believe it or not, he won’t be there even if you go to his house!” the chairman said with a wry smile.
Upon hearing this, both Lin Hai and Wu Jianf eng’s expressions turned sour.
“Alright, let’s go back for now. 1’11 keep this matter in mind. We’ll have a talk with the Commander when he comes tomorrow!” Lin Hai declared.
He didn’t want to confront the Chief of Staff directly. They were all acquainted, and he knew that the Chief of Staff was not someone who would back down easily. Once he had set his sights on something, he would not easily let it go.
Lin Hai could only leave this matter to the Commander.
After all, he was the one with the headache now, not Lin Hai.
“Alright then!” the chairman agreed, and they decided to deal with the issue tomorrow when the Commander was present.
Despite their unwillingness, Wu Jianfeng and the Second Battalion Commander had no other choice.
As the committee member had pointed out, if they went to the regiment commander’s house now, it was highly likely that they wouldn’t find him there. It was evident that the regiment commander was avoiding them.
Acknowledging the reality, they returned to their car without visiting the Chief of Staff.
They understood the Chief of Staff’s character and his reasons. As a veteran officer in the Lu army, it was almost expected for him to have his eyes on outstanding soldiers. This was a tradition and a common practice among superiors.
Fortunately, the Iron Bones Hero Regiment only had one new company this year consisting of recruits. If there were multiple companies, the division headquarters would handle the training, and then the selection process would be even more challenging.
People like Wang Ye would undoubtedly be picked out by the division headquarters, leaving no room for contention.
In the end, they had to accept the situation as it was and wait for the Commander to arrive tomorrow to address the matter properly.
“I will look for the regiment commander tomorrow. You should hurry up and train the soldiers. Just take care of the new recruits,” the battalion commander said to Wu Jianfeng in the car.
“Alright… Um, Battalion Commander, my soldiers are your soldiers. You don’t want to steal them from your direct subordinates, do you?” Wu Jianfeng looked at the battalion commander and whispered.
Lin Hai rolled his eyes at the comment, “My direct subordinates are in the artillery and heavy machine gun companies. I have no use for him there. It’s the same as leaving him with you. Are you trying to accuse me of betrayal?”
Wu Jianfeng quickly clarified, “Of course not. I’m a member of the 2nd Battalion while alive, and 1’11 be a ghost of the 2nd Battalion in death!”
“Get lost!” Lin Hai retorted with a curse.
With that settled, the battalion commander steered the car toward the 400-meter training ground.
“Let’s go see this soldier!” he said.
“Good!” Wu Jianfeng agreed.
As they drove to the training ground, cheers erupted from the recruits, signaling that all nine squads had completed their runs. Now, out of the five runways, only one remained occupied.
After resting for nearly half an hour, Wang Ye’s condition had almost recovered. Since the company commander hadn’t returned, he decided not to wait any longer.
He informed Ye Sanshi and the platoon leader that once the entire company finished running, he would take the initiative to run again.
As Wang Ye ran on the obstacle course, the other soldiers from the recruit company cheered him on, with the fifth squad being the loudest.
Wang Ye approached the ladder that marked the start of the obstacle course. Despite having skill points, he chose not to use them for the 400-meter obstacle this time.
The regiment commander had given them two months, and there was no need for him to show an outstanding performance right away. He wanted to keep his abilities low-key for now.
Besides, the experience points required to level up were minimal, so it wasn’t worth spending points at the moment.
He had already run once, so running again without adding points wouldn’t grant him any new insights or skills.
However, the first run served as valuable experience. Wang Ye used this knowledge along with the observations of the veterans and other recruits to run more calmly the second time.
With a focused mindset, he approached the obstacle course once more.
The main reason Wang Ye’s second run was more successful was that he had gained confidence and experience from his first attempt. During his initial run, he encountered some obstacles for the first time and lacked confidence. As a result, he wasted time and physical strength in certain places.
However, during his second run, Wang Ye was more self-assured and focused. He managed to navigate the obstacles more efficiently and avoided wasting unnecessary efforts.
Wang Ye crawled and rolled through the pit again, disregarding his dirty clothes. He continued to execute each stance, maneuvering through the turning flag and sprinting the last 100 meters.
As he crossed the finish line, all eyes, except for Zhang Ping’an’s, were on the platoon leader, waiting for the results.
“1 minute 39 seconds 33!” the platoon leader announced.
The entire place erupted in astonishment.
“That’s amazing!”
“He’s so fast! If he increases his speed by another five seconds, the veterans would be eating his dust!”
“I had no idea Wang Ye was this good. Although he excels in our three-kilometer and 400-meter tests, he wasn’t in the top spot, right?”
“I don’t even want to talk about it. I’m two minutes and forty seconds slower. That’s a whole minute and a second too late!”
At this moment, many of the recruits had mixed feelings, especially in the other classes. However, everyone from Class Five gathered around Wang Ye, expressing their admiration and excitement.
“Brother Wang, you’re too awesome!”
“Damn, if those veterans ran a little slower, two more of them would have been scolded!”
“Haha, our Company Commander isn’t here yet.”
“No, he’s back. Look over there!” Zhang Ping’an pointed out.
Indeed, the company commander and the battalion commander had already arrived. They got out of the car and heard the platoon leader announcing the results.
“It’s truly impressive! Running one minute and forty seconds on the second attempt, a time that most veterans can’t achieve!” The battalion commander praised Wang Ye with a smile.
“It’s all thanks to your encouragement, otherwise, I wouldn’t have contested against the Chief of Staff at the regimental headquarters!” Wu Jianfeng replied proudly.
“It was worth it. If this result holds true, I’ll head over to the regiment commander’s office tomorrow. If he’s still avoiding me, I’ll stay there until he shows up. 1 won’t let this soldier slip away!” The battalion commander spoke resolutely.
Wu Jianfeng smiled and said, “I believe you can do it, Battalion Commander.”
Afterward, Wu Jianfeng felt much more relieved. Although the pressure didn’t entirely disappear, it had shifted from him to the battalion commander..