Chapter 334: Team Competition Ends
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Stay steady, it’s the final one left. Maintain the current status, let’s go!”
Outside the field, Wu Jianfeng and Kang Hua had been chasing after them all the way.
At this moment, while Wang Ye and the other three were transitioning from the fourth stage to the adjacent fifth stage, he shouted loudly.
The first group in front had already started the fifth stage.
In the fifth stage, they had to transport ammunition boxes and run a fifteen-meter relay.
The group that finished the fourth stage first could directly proceed to the fifth stage.
However, in this stage, only one person could carry the ammunition at a time.
As they relayed, once the thirty-kilogram ammunition box was lifted by the first person, it couldn’t touch the ground again.
If it did, unlike the previous stage where transporting the wounded meant a direct score reset, in this stage, each time the ammunition box touched the ground, it added thirty seconds to their time.
In this situation, it was essentially the same as elimination, after all, it was thirty seconds.
“Hurry, hurry!”
Wang Ye and his group shouted at the person running the relay in front as they reached the starting point.
They were now the third warrior from the first group to pass through.
After he came back, the last one from the first group also took the ammunition box and ran out.
After that, Wang Ye and his group of four began the relay.
No one dared to waste even a second.
One after another, in this stage, Wang Ye was the last to perform.
When Wang Ye returned from the relay and placed the ammunition box at the designated spot on the ground, the referee next to him checked the stopwatch.
“Seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds!”
In that moment, a sweaty Wang Ye smiled.
“Haha! We won!”
On the sidelines, Wang Changdong and others cheered and jumped for joy.
Seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds, it broke the current best record.
At that moment, in the First Battalion’s Heavy Artillery Platoon and the Heavy Machine Gun Platoon, someone’s face turned bitter.
“Oh no, my legs!” someone in the artillery company said with a wry smile, looking at his own legs.
“Damn, no wonder they call them the Crazy Company. They threw more grenades than us, but their final score is better than ours!”
“Yeah, I had a feeling,” someone in the machine gun company sighed helplessly. “Unless they had someone picking up grenades, they climbed the tactical wall faster than us. Many of us took over sixteen seconds, but they were all in the fifteen-second range, even Wang Ye was in the thirteen-second range. One person being one second better than us can create an eight-second gap with eight people!”
It was a helpless outcome. Although they had harbored some hope before, now that the result was out, they had indeed lost.
While the artillery company had won the first round just now, they were now competing based on the wager made privately with the Fourth Company.
Tomorrow, they would have to walk back.
Fortunately, it wasn’t just them walking back tomorrow; the Second Company had it even tougher as they had to wear grass shoes.
Walking back together, they could still form teams.
At this moment, some of them looked over at Wang Ye and his group.
Coincidentally, at that moment, Wang Ye and his group were discussing this matter, and they collectively grinned and looked over in their direction.
Just now, Wang Ye and his group were under a lot of pressure, especially after the Heavy Artillery Platoon’s competition ended, and they achieved the best performance on the field. They were quite triumphant.
Although they didn’t come over to the Fourth Company to taunt them, the smiles they displayed were unforgettable to Wang Ye and his group.
Of course, now that Wang Ye and his group were returning those smiles, it made them even more uncomfortable.
Just now, they could only say they had a slight hope of winning, so they could smile. But now, the Fourth Company had really hammered them.
However, that was the way it was; the Fourth Company wouldn’t come over to taunt them.
Betting within the regiment stayed within the regiment, and they wouldn’t allow other regiments to watch for amusement.
“Haha, well done!” The staff officer also came over, laughing heartily and giving praise to the group.
At that moment, on the high platform, Colonel Hong’s smile became even more evident.
Although today didn’t start smoothly, the Heavy Artillery Platoon had previously broken the best record, and now it was their own regiment’s squad that broke this record.
It felt great.
Looking at the two colonels beside him and their stern faces, he felt as refreshed as if he had eaten ice-cold watermelon.
“Seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds!”
“Seven minutes and forty-four seconds!”
Two consecutive results were reported by the nearby referees after checking the stopwatch.
It was the Fourth Company of the First Regiment and the Fourth Company of the Third Regiment.
Undoubtedly, with these results, their company commander wouldn’t have any reason to smile, and even their company commander didn’t enter the field.
“Alright, you can leave now!”
At this point, the referees began to clear the field.
After the competition, they had to move on; they couldn’t continue to stay here.
Wang Ye and his group smiled and didn’t say anything to the two dejected squads next to them.
They left together.
Soon, on the competition field, another squad continued.
Wang Ye and his group had finished their competition, so they didn’t need to line up again, but they still watched nervously from the sidelines.
At the moment, their company had the best score, but everyone was well aware that the tough opponents had yet to compete.
The reconnaissance units from each regiment had not taken the field, and even many of the regiment’s special forces hadn’t participated yet.
Currently, they were in the lead, but whether they could maintain a top-ten position in the end was still uncertain.
Time passed.
Until it was past 5 o’clock, none of the previous fourteen squads had surpassed the Fourth Company’s score today.
However, the fifteenth squad was the highlight of the day.
This was deliberately arranged, the final competition of the day featuring the Reconnaissance Platoons from three regiments.
It was an all-scout competition, and it was the grand finale.
“Let’s see how this turns out. If they can all surpass our score, we’ll be in trouble!”
“Hope they all go pick up grenades!”
Wang Ye and his group were now standing not far from the grenade-throwing area.
In the Fourth Company’s team, some were chatting, and Wang Ye overheard, but he remained silent. He was focused on watching their tactical climbing.
This was the first time Wang Ye had seen reconnaissance soldiers climbing tactically.
In the individual competitions before, due to the staggered formation of small teams, Wang Ye hadn’t had the chance to witness it.
They were all very fast, almost all in the fourteen-second range, and there might even be someone who climbed within fourteen seconds, not much slower than Wang Ye.
He clenched his fist, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
He was watching his own company’s reconnaissance soldiers.
Feeling a bit of pressure and having some thoughts of his own.
If everything went as planned, after this competition and graduating from the training camp, Wang Ye would join them as a soldier.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.
Currently, in the Fourth Company, there was really no one who could challenge him. These reconnaissance soldiers clearly appeared to be stronger than the soldiers in the Fourth Company.
Soon, they completed the first stage.
In the second stage, their movements were also very fast.
The teams in this competition were all composed of reconnaissance soldiers, each showcasing their skills. After quickly clearing the high wall, they ran forward to start throwing grenades.
The efficiency of the three squads was almost identical.
So far, Ironbone’s squad was the fastest, but they only dropped one grenade’s time. The Third Regiment was about the same.
“Bang-”
When the grenades hit the ground, the efficiency of the reconnaissance soldiers from the three squads directly weighed on the hearts of the Fourth Company members.
Not to mention picking up grenades, they didn’t even drop to the fourth.
In the end, Iron Bone’s Reconnaissance Platoon finished with twenty grenades, the First Regiment was even more ruthless, with nineteen grenades.
The Third Regiment lagged behind a bit, dropping twenty-two grenades.
“I feel like we can’t hold on to the first place!” Wang Changdong said with a bitter smile.
“Yeah, it’s really tough!” His words made his comrades nearby sigh.
Wang Ye still didn’t say anything, but he felt a bit helpless inside.
Reconnaissance soldiers did indeed have better overall quality than ordinary platoons. Mainly because the source of recruits for reconnaissance units was already of higher quality.
Typically, the best recruits in basic training every year were directly selected to become reconnaissance soldiers. Later on, some outstanding individuals within the regiment might also be chosen.
For someone like Wang Ye, if he hadn’t been able to secure a spot at the military academy, even if Wu Jianfeng had managed to recruit him into the Fourth Company, he definitely wouldn’t have stayed this long.
After some time in the Fourth Company, he would have been transferred to a reconnaissance unit.
“Seven minutes and twenty-five seconds!”
“Seven minutes and twenty-six seconds!”
“Seven minutes and twenty-seven seconds!”
Soon, the results of the teams composed of three reconnaissance soldiers were announced.
The faces of the Fourth Company members instantly turned bitter.
At this moment, everyone’s reaction was almost identical to how they had reacted when the Artillery Company achieved their score after Wang Ye and his group had run.
Because at this moment, not only had they lost their previous first place, they were now pushed down to fourth place.
It was a miserable outcome.
Even the last reconnaissance platoon had a better score than the Fourth Company.
“Well, let it go, we were mentally prepared for this!” Wu Jianfeng shook his head with a bitter smile.
Looking at Wang Ye and the others, he forced a somewhat strained smile. “At least we held onto the first place for over an hour, and you guys have proved that the Fourth Company still has the capability!”
His tone revealed his helplessness.
But at this point, besides saying these words for self-comfort, there wasn’t much else to say.
That night, the entire division’s competing teams spent the night in tents at the competition field.
The next day, after breakfast, the competition continued with great enthusiasm.
One after another, the squads from different units took the stage.
As the competition progressed, the scores of the three motorized infantry regiments were surpassed. Artillery units, anti-aircraft artillery units, and some units directly under the division also participated.
The top score was constantly being updated.
“Seven minutes and twenty-four… Seven minutes and twenty-three…”
Finally, the top score settled at seven minutes and twenty-one seconds, achieved by the Second Platoon of the Division Reconnaissance Battalion.
However, it was at this moment that smiles appeared on the faces of the Fourth Company members.
“We’re tenth, we’re tenth, we held on!”
Du Yitong stood behind Wang Ye, speaking excitedly in a low voice.
He didn’t dare to speak loudly; after all, it was only tenth place, and he was the award-winning goalkeeper.
However, they had achieved their goal.
God knows how much pressure they had been under. Last night, Du Yitong and Wang Ye had a bitter conversation, where Du Yitong told Wang Ye that other squads were saying that if Wang Ye were in the Reconnaissance Platoon, the Ironbone Heroic Battalion’s performance might have been even better, but in the Fourth Company, it was a waste.
And now, they finally got tenth place.
Although this didn’t change the opinions of those people, at least they didn’t leave empty-handed, and they had the confidence to refute those comments.
“One generation replaces the old, and through this competition, I see your vitality. Very good, all of you are doing great…”
After the competition ended and the entire division had finished eating, they gathered once again for the award ceremony.
The division commander, who hadn’t left yet, stood on the stage to give a speech and conclude the event.
This time, the division commander spoke for a long time, nearly half an hour before he finished.
Afterward, the division commander, brigade commander, chief of staff, and even the battalion commanders of various regiments took the stage to speak one by one.
Fortunately, their speeches weren’t as long.
Combined, it was about an hour.
“A Division Reconnaissance Battalion, Second Platoon!”
Onstage, the colonel hosting the ceremony announced loudly.
The award ceremony finally began for the soldiers below, who had been eagerly anticipating it.
“It’s here!
In the Fourth Company, everyone’s spirits lifted.
Wu Jianfeng turned back to remind everyone, “Stay focused, if you’re feeling drowsy, pour some water from your canteen and splash your face!”
Of course, his words weren’t really necessary.
When the senior officers were speaking just now, some soldiers were a bit sleepy because it was right after lunch, and it was nap time. However, now that they were about to receive awards, and their own platoon still had a chance to go on stage, under these circumstances, who would feel drowsy?
Everyone was in high spirits.
“A Division Reconnaissance Battalion, Second Platoon, in this Strong Military Cup competition, performed outstandingly, winning first place in the team competition. According to the decision of the division XX, they are rewarded with a collective third-class merit…”
“A Division Reconnaissance Battalion, First Platoon…”
One by one, the teams took the stage.
In team competitions, the awards were presented with the platoon leaders leading the entire platoon of participating members.
The top-placing squad received a collective third-class merit, the second-place squad received a collective commendation, and the squads from third to tenth place received banners..