Chapter 344: Newcomer’s Breakthrough, An
Extraordinary Beginning
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Pu~pu~”
At 5:40, the wake-up call resounded outside.
Inside the dormitory, Wang Ye quickly opened his eyes.
Others did the same, swiftly getting out of bed and putting on their athletic shorts before changing into shoes.
In the summertime, it was this convenient, especially during morning exercises. If there were no orders to shout, all you needed to wear was your athletic uniform.
And the military didn’t allow sleeping shirtless at night, so when the wake-up call came, you just had to put on some boxers and shoes, and that counted as getting up. You could head out.
This greatly saved time needed for assembly.
“As we begin a new week, we have new recruits joining us, and we need to adapt quickly!” After the formation ended, Jiang Nan stood in front of everyone, looking at them as he shouted.
After saying that, he glanced at everyone and spoke again, “Now, everyone go upstairs, grab your backpacks, and fully gear up. Then assemble again! Dismiss!”
Wang Ye looked at him, not sure what he was up to. He didn’t mention it earlier, but now they were assembling and dismissing again. However, many military units had this habit of making things challenging for you.
Wang Ye wasn’t a brand new recruit fresh out of basic training, so he didn’t pay it much mind and quickly followed the others upstairs.
After changing into their training uniforms, they began to pack their backpacks.
In this regard, Wang Ye naturally couldn’t fall behind.
In fact, he was quite quick with his movements.
However, he didn’t run ahead on his own. He waited until most of the others were ready and then ran to the armory with the guidance of An Ping.
Yesterday, Wang Ye had received a Type 95 rifle again.
It’s worth mentioning that Wang Ye never had an induction ceremony when he arrived at the Second Company. The rifle presentation ceremony was a simple affair held in the squad’s dormitory.
Mainly because even though Wang Ye was now in the Second Company, he was still on loan and couldn’t be considered a full-fledged member of the Second Company.
In reality, his official position still belonged to the Fourth Company of the Iron Bones Hero Regiment.
Although he had been promoted to First Lieutenant, the Chief of Staff had mentioned yesterday that Wang Ye would still have to follow the usual process and attend military school next year.
Now, after receiving their rifles under An Ping’s guidance, everyone reassembled in front of the building.
“Right face, target: the garage. March, forward!” After the assembly, Jiang Nan wasted no time and, without any extra words, led the formation into a run.
Wang Ye already knew where the garage was.
Yesterday, after buying some items from the convenience store, An Ping and the others had taken Wang Ye on a brief tour of the camp.
Certain areas of the Second Company were the focal points of their tour.
But today, they weren’t going to the garage to get armored vehicles.
Several transport trucks had been brought out.
Everyone got on board.
“Squad leader, where are we going?” Wang Ye couldn’t help but ask as they sat inside the truck.
Today marked his official first day as a reconnaissance soldier. He had arrived the night before, but it was still the weekend, and the training had consisted of just a five-kilometer run.
“I don’t know,” An Ping shook his head.
“It definitely won’t be a field trip!” A soldier across from them chimed in sarcastically.
Wang Ye looked over and couldn’t help but smile.
He had recognized this soldier yesterday.
One of the two guys he had helped defeat during the confrontation exercise.
Surprisingly, both of them were in the Second Squad, and their dorms were right across from his. When Wang Ye found out yesterday, he was taken aback.
But as long as they weren’t in the same squad, it was fine.
Of course, for those two, it might not be fine.
Although Wang Ye wasn’t in the same squad as them, their dorms were right across from each other, which made for some awkward encounters.
“Hehe, Old Miao, lighten up a bit. Why are you being so sarcastic early in the morning?” Sitting next to Wang Ye, Qiu Shuang grinned and spoke.
“Get lost!” Old Miao, as he was called, retorted irritably.
Qiu Shuang wasn’t bothered. He continued to smile and said, “You, your heart is too small. It’s old news by now. During the confrontation, Wang Ye wasn’t part of our Second Company. We were opponents on the battlefield. So what if he teased you a bit? Haven’t you ever done something like that?”
“Hmph!” The soldier across from them just turned away.
Was he really hung up on this?
He had long forgotten what Wang Ye had said during that confrontation.
What had really bothered him was when Wang Ye had the rank of Private and was still messing with them.
After they returned, who knew how much trouble they had gone through because of Wang Ye’s status as a Private.
“Hehe, the past is the past,” An Ping said with a smile.
Then he looked at Wang Ye and said, “Wang Ye, do you have cigarettes? Give one to the guys in the Second Squad.”
“We’re all men, and the past should be left behind. Besides, we’re all brothers in the same squad. We’ll have to sit together like this when we go out on missions in the future. How can we keep scowling at each other?” An Ping continued, then turned to a soldier from the Third Squad, “Old Zhao, what do you say?”
“Yeah!” The squad leader from the Third Squad nodded, although his expression remained serious.
At this point, Wang Ye had already taken out some cigarettes. He had run out of the two packs he brought when he enlisted, but during their outings with the training unit, he had replenished his supply a few times from his system’s inventory.
Currently, he only had half a pack on him.
But after distributing half of that pack, Wang Ye reached into another pocket with a smile and pulled out another pack from his storage space.
Everyone in the truck received a cigarette.
“Hehe, this is the first time I’ve smoked a cigarette from Wang Officer! And it’s Huazi, what a luxury!”
“Officer Wang is really generous, giving out Huazi cigarettes!”
Inside the truck, everyone was in a jovial mood, especially the soldiers from the Third Squad, who received the cigarettes. They took the opportunity to flatter Wang Ye.
They hadn’t expected to have a chance to smoke Huazi cigarettes while just enjoying the ride.
Soon, as the truck bumped along the road, a cloud of smoke began to fill the rear of the vehicle.
With everyone smoking, the smell of cigarettes was quite strong.
However, the truck was currently traveling through a forested area, and it was early in the morning with no one else around, so they weren’t too concerned about ruining military decorum.
As they finished one cigarette and chatted for a few more minutes, the truck’s ride became increasingly bumpy.
In an instant, the pleasant conversation that had been going on inside the truck was replaced by a chorus of curses as everyone jerked forward.
Wang Ye grabbed onto the rear canvas pole, but it didn’t help much.
The most intense jolt sent him flying at least a foot off the ground.
The driver of this truck seemed to be driving much more recklessly than the one they encountered in the Fourth Company.
Fortunately, this bumpy ride didn’t last long, and in less than two minutes, the truck came to a halt.
“I’m going to beat the hell out of the driver up front!”
“Let’s go, pull him out and give him a good thrashing!”
In the back of the truck, angry reconnaissance soldiers began to curse and grumble as they got off.
Of course, they were shouting fiercely, but as soon as they saw Jiang Nan and the assistant squad leader coming down from the front, everyone swallowed their anger.
At this point, Wang Ye didn’t join in the uproar like the others.
He was observing.
And he couldn’t recognize this place.
It was his first time in this part of the division headquarters, and in this remote wilderness, he had no idea where they were.
But with a quick glance, he noticed that the truck had stopped by a wild lake.
“Blow the whistle-! Assemble!” The assistant squad leader blew his whistle.
Instantly, the guys who had been aching from the jolts just a moment ago forgot about their complaints and quickly formed up.
But before they started marching during the assembly, Qiu Shuang, who was beside Wang Ye, muttered quietly, “It’s going to be rough this morning, prepare yourself!”
Wang Ye had a bad feeling too.
Being brought out fully armed early in the morning without doing the regular morning exercises was definitely a sign that something wasn’t right.
But for now, all they could do was take it step by step.
After a quick assembly, the entire squad lined up.
Jiang Nan stood in front of everyone and announced, “It’s a beautiful autumn morning, and I’m taking you all out for a little sightseeing!”
After saying this, he looked at the assistant squad leader and said, “Old Kong!”
The assistant squad leader stepped forward immediately.
At that moment, Wang Ye noticed that he was holding several neatly folded pieces of paper.
“First Squad!”
“Present!”
“Here you go, for your squad!”
“Second Squad…”
Three squad leaders received one paper each.
After the assistant squad leader finished distributing the papers, Jiang Nan continued loudly, “Designated return to camp. Your routes will be different, but the distances are roughly the same.”
As he spoke, he glanced at his watch and said, “It’s currently 6:15 in the morning. If you don’t make it back by 8:00, you’ll skip breakfast. Also, the squad that arrives last will have to do an additional two kilometers of duck-walking after the meal!”
Wang Ye’s inner thoughts were like, “What the heck?”
Is this what reconnaissance soldiers do? Two kilometers of duck-walking as a punishment after a meal is seriously intense.
“Dismiss!”
Jiang Nan didn’t pay attention to the bitter expressions on everyone’s faces and gave the order.
Immediately, the squad leaders from each section started giving commands.
“First Squad, gather here!”
“Second Squad…”
Wang Ye and his group naturally followed the First Squad leader.
The First Squad leader wasted no time and led everyone straight to the water’s edge.
“We don’t have time to show you the map now. Hurry up and get ready for armed swimming!”
The First Squad leader looked at Wang Ye and asked, “Wang Ye, you’re okay with armed swimming, right?”
“Um… no!”
In fact, Wang Ye had never done armed swimming. He didn’t attend the naval training during his time in the Fourth Company.
He had gone directly to the training unit, and the training unit didn’t have this particular exercise.
“That’s fine. Get ready to get in the water. We’ll navigate using the map and swim across this lake.”
In fact, it wasn’t just the First Squad; the other two squads were also doing the same.
It was evident that everyone’s route started the same way, with an armed swim across this wild lake.
Wang Ye remained silent and observed how the other soldiers were doing it, then followed suit.
After preparing their gear, they threw their backpacks into the water in front of them and dove in.
“Wang Ye, haven’t you done armed swimming before?” An Ping, who was beside Wang Ye, suddenly looked at him with a puzzled expression as they entered the water.
“Um… no!” Wang Ye replied, a bit helplessly. He wasn’t sure what had tipped An Ping off, but it seemed like he had made a mistake.
Of course, Wang Ye quickly realized his mistake.
After entering the water, everyone else quickly laid on their backpacks to utilize their buoyancy, while he awkwardly held onto his backpack, preparing to swim.
“What the heck, you’ve never done armed swimming?” The assistant squad leader, Ge Hui, was somewhat flabbergasted as he spoke.
He hurriedly continued, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Is everything in your pants ready now? Do you have your floatation bags?”
“It’s alright, I saw you guys getting ready, so I got ready too!” Wang Ye replied.
This misunderstanding was partly due to Wang Ye’s actions. He had won a swimming competition earlier, and he hadn’t spoken up when they were all getting prepared.
So, they didn’t consider that Wang Ye had never done armed swimming before.
“As long as you don’t have floatation bags, it’s fine. Next time, if you haven’t done a training exercise before, please let us know in advance. This exercise isn’t too difficult, and your swimming skills are fine. The only issue would be if your clothes don’t hold the air properly,” An Ping explained. Then, he looked at the assistant squad leader and said, “Ge Hui, take care of Wang Ye!”
“Yes, sir!”
At this moment, the other members of the First Squad also overheard this conversation.
But since An Ping had handled the situation, the squad leader didn’t say anything more.. He just shouted, “Keep up, First Squad! Take care of the newcomer!”