Chapter 330: Four Consecutive Strikes, Team Competition
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Wang Daniu, Lao Wang, you are truly impressive.
At an award ceremony for martial arts, you managed to turn it into a personal fashion show.
That’s really impressive!”
The award ceremony disbanded, and the small teams that had competed individually also dispersed on the spot.
Everyone could take a one-hour break, and the team competition would start at exactly 3 o’clock.
Of course, today’s competitions would likely continue into the evening, but the schedule itself extends into tomorrow morning.
As they walked back in the direction of the swimming pool, Wang Changdong and others couldn’t contain their excitement, expressing it to Wang Ye along the way.
“Heh heh, Wang Ye, our Fourth Company’s big boss, you truly live up to your name. Look at those soldiers from other companies; their eyes are wide open right now.”
Up ahead, a corporal from the Sixth Platoon was walking while glancing around.
He was observing the reactions of soldiers from other companies who had scattered after the disbandment.
There was no way around it; the Fourth Company was currently drawing a lot of attention.
Eleven members in total.
In front, Wu Jianfeng was carrying a banner that commemorated Wang Ye breaking the district record, and behind him, Kang Hua was also carrying a banner celebrating Wang Ye breaking the division record.
Following them were Wang Changdong and the others.
Or rather, the entire team was like this now, except for Wang Ye.
Each of them carried a banner in a very conspicuous manner.
Wang Ye, on the other hand, didn’t have a banner in his hands, but he had a sash draped over his body and was even holding a box with certificates and medals.
The group of them could be described as incredibly eye-catching.
In fact, not only were reporters from various regiments present, but also journalists from the division and even the army, all surrounding them and taking pictures. Wu Jianfeng had considered being even more high-profile.
He wanted to simply raise both banners high above his head as he walked.
But with cameras continuously rolling, that would have seemed a bit too ostentatious.
So, he kept it more restrained, just holding one banner aloft; that should be sufficient…
In the queue, Wang Ye kept a smile on his face, and he felt like his smile had become a bit stiff.
There was no choice; the reporters kept taking pictures of him, so he had to maintain his composure.
Fortunately, because there would be more competitions later, the reporters were only taking pictures for now. When Wang Ye and his group reached the pool area, they didn’t ask for interviews and simply greeted them before leaving.
Wang Ye needed a break to prepare for the afternoon competition.
However, just as Wang Ye and his team had stopped, and they hadn’t even finished tidying up the banners, another group of people approached.
“Haha, Wang Ye!”
The regiment commander, chief of staff, and several company commanders came over, not calling out to Wu Jianfeng but directly addressing Wang Ye. Their hearty laughter could be heard from a distance.
Hello, Regiment Commander!”
Wang Ye and the entire Fourth Company quickly stood at attention.
Good, good, hahaha, all of you are doing well!
Enough with the saluting; we came here just to see you and have a chat.
You should take the time to rest; your company is up in the afternoon for the team competition.
In the individual competition, your company already showed our regiment’s prowess.
This time in the team competition, you mustn’t let us down!”
When the regiment commander said this, he tried to sound serious, but his smile was impossible to hide.
This brought smiles to the faces of the entire Fourth Company, and their confidence soared.
“Regiment Commander, rest assured, we will definitely take first place!”
“Yes, our Fourth Company is the strongest. We can handle the individual competition, and we’ll do well in the team competition too!”
Wang Ye’s earlier fashion show had completely boosted everyone’s morale.
Even though everyone knew that team competition was not the same as individual competition.
In terms of actual strength, their hope of taking first place was slim.
After all, there were various reconnaissance teams from different levels to contend with.
But you wouldn’t know if you didn’t try, so they dared to dream.
“Haha, good! i’ll be waiting for your victory news. If you really take first place, after returning to the regiment, 1’11 host a celebration for your Fourth Company!”
The regiment commander didn’t linger for long. He didn’t even let them speak much. He occasionally smiled at Wang Ye and glanced at the chief of staff, who had a somewhat grim expression, and then quickly left with his group.
“Come on! Let’s put the banners back with me, and then we’ll quickly have a brief meeting.”
After the regiment commander and his group left, Wu Jianfeng and the others collected the banners that had been distributed to everyone.
Once they were neatly stacked, Kang Hua organized them, and the rest of the company members gathered in a small circle.
Wu Jianfeng looked at everyone, and after making an effort to suppress his smile, he said, “In the team competition, we can’t rely solely on Wang Ye. This time, all of you must give it your best.”
When Wu Jianfeng said this, he had completely wiped the smile off his face.
Looking at everyone, he paused before speaking solemnly, “Our Fourth Company has made a big name for itself this time, but look around you. Besides Wang Ye, do any of you have rankings? Do any of you have a banner?
When Wu Jianfeng said this, the excited expressions on the faces of the Fourth Company members, who had been brimming with enthusiasm a moment ago, instantly disappeared, replaced by a sense of embarrassment.
Indeed, it was an awkward situation.
Wang Ye had turned the individual competition award ceremony into a personal fashion show. Out of ten awards, he had won ten, and many of them were first place awards.
But what about the other members of the Fourth Company?
They hadn’t even had a chance to go on stage, let alone participate in the awards ceremony.
Not a single banner to their name.
The glorious Fourth Company’s achievements were all brought by one person.
Admittedly, this competition had many teams just participating to make up the numbers.
Not to mention the thirty banners in total, with Wang Ye alone winning ten.
Even if you didn’t consider that, there were only thirty spots in total, with five regiments in the entire division, and some directly subordinate units and logistics companies also participating this time.
The number of companies had already exceeded a hundred, which meant there were not enough awards to go around. When you factored in the situation where Wang Ye alone had won ten awards, and some others had won two or three awards individually, or where a single company had two or three individuals with rankings, it meant that many companies went home empty-handed.
In fact, there were only nine companies that received awards this time.
And if you considered the fact that Wang Ye alone had won ten awards, and some others had won two or three awards individually, or where a single company had two or three individuals with rankings, it meant that many companies went home empty-handed.
In fact, there were only nine companies that received awards this time.
The rate of winning awards was less than ten percent.
No one in the Fourth Company spoke up, and Wu Jianfeng wasn’t looking to reprimand anyone at the moment.
He looked at everyone again and said, “Fourth Company, we’ve made a big name for ourselves this time, and we’re now the focus of attention in the entire competition. But I don’t want others to say that our Fourth Company is nothing without Wang Ye. So, in the team competition, I want us to secure a spot in the top ten and win at least one banner, understand?”
Team competition was different from individual competition. In individual competition, only the top three were chosen, but in team competition, the top ten were selected, and each of them would receive a banner.
While everyone had just boldly declared their desire for first place in front of the regiment commander, Wu Jianfeng’s ambitions were not that high.
The fact was that other companies were not to be underestimated, especially the reconnaissance companies; they were like beasts.
Even if Wang Ye was exceptionally talented individually, it wouldn’t be enough to secure first place, especially in a team game.
The amount of water a bucket could hold didn’t depend on the highest part of the rim; it depended on the lowest part.
Even if you could tilt the bucket a bit, if the other parts were too low, the amount of water it could hold would still be limited.
“Alright, rest up now. I’ll go get your uniforms.”
Inside the drying room, everyone’s clothes that they had changed out of after swimming were still there, but they were almost dry by now.
In fact, the main reason everyone had come back to this area was to retrieve their uniforms; there was no need to come all the way here otherwise.
No one spoke anymore. They spread out a bit where they stood, and there was no need for tents or sleeping pads.
They found comfortable spots on the ground, closed their eyes, and began to rest.
This included Wang Ye as well.
Although the past hour had been very exciting for him and could be considered a highlight of his life, the test wasn’t over yet.
The most important part of the competition, the actual combat, was still ahead, and Wang Ye needed to rest and prepare himself fully.
“Whoo~”
An hour passed relatively quickly, especially after falling asleep. It felt like he had just closed his eyes when the assembly call sounded in his ears.
“Hurry up! Get up, everyone!”
“Come on, take out your clothes and shoes, put on your combat boots again, pack your clothes into your backpacks, we need to assemble!”
Without much chatter, as soon as the call sounded, the members of the Fourth Company opened their eyes and quickly followed Wu Jianfeng’s instructions to prepare.
It took just over a minute for the entire Fourth Company to get up and be ready to go.
Naturally, this time they didn’t show off like they did when they arrived earlier.
The sash on Wang Ye’s body was bundled together with Wu Jianfeng, the banners, certificates, and other items, and carried on his back.
Look, Wang Ye and the others are here!”
The swimming competition arena was a bit far from the assembly point, so when the Fourth Company arrived, most of the other units had already assembled.
However, they were not late, and there was still plenty of time.
Under the gaze of personnel from other units, they quickly ran to their designated spot within the Fourth Company’s formation.
Naturally, Wang Ye’s arrival attracted a lot of attention towards the Fourth Company.
This reminded the members of the Fourth Company of Wu Jianfeng’s earlier words, and they suddenly felt immense pressure.
After about two more minutes, the division commander took the stage.
“A soldier is part of a team, and we often sing a song, ‘Unity is Strength!
On stage, the division commander began his opening speech for the team competition, speaking loudly and concisely. His speech was even shorter than the one from the opening of the individual competition yesterday.
In less than two minutes, the division commander announced loudly, “Now, 1 declare that the team competition of Division A is officially underway!”
The division commander left the stage, and a colonel took over as the master of ceremonies, starting to call out the names of the teams participating in the team competition.
He called out the names of the teams one by one.
“First group, 731st Regiment, First Company, First Platoon, Iron Bones Heroes
Regiment, First Company, First Platoon, 737th Regiment, First Company, First Platoon.”
“Second group…
In team competition, everyone had known the competition events and rules beforehand. However, they only now learned about the order of appearance and the format.
Three companies competed together at once, and it wasn’t like the individual competition where they were grouped by numbers. In fact, they were lined up by their individual numbers.
With thirty people in each team, this arrangement meant that many were competing against their own company members from within the regiment in their respective specialties.
Now, in the team competition, they were directly competing against units from other regiments.
This undoubtedly added to the pressure they felt.
However, it also stoked their competitive spirit.
Soldiers loved to compete and fight, whether it was between squads or between companies within a regiment, or between regiments and battalions within a division.
Now they were competing on the same stage with units from other regiments. This was definitely going to be a do-or-die situation.
No one wanted to be the reason their entire regiment lost face.
“I’m feeling a bit nervous!” Wang Ye heard someone from another company next to him say as they marched towards the competition arena.
“There’s no need to be nervous. Let’s give it our all, at least for now. We don’t need to worry about the overall ranking, but we should aim to outperform the two companies we’re competing against. Let’s at least make a splash and bring some glory to our own unit!”
Wang Ye glanced at them, but he didn’t say anything. However, he knew that everyone in the Fourth Company likely had the same mindset.
For now, forget about the overall ranking. At the very least, they needed to defeat the two companies they were competing against.
First, make a big impression on the surface and earn some recognition for their unit. If they managed that, even if they didn’t make it into the top ten, they wouldn’t feel like they had disgraced themselves when they returned.
However, the reality was that out of the three companies, only one could take first place, and the other two would definitely be left in the dust.
Wang Ye quietly clenched his fist. The team competition was putting a lot of pressure on him.
In the individual competition, he could shine brilliantly, but now…
The Fourth Company from their division and the Fourth Company from the Third Division were both hoping for an easy win..