Chapter 375: Public Execution
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Battle casualty ratio, thirty-seven to four hundred and twenty-three.
Comrades, I am deeply saddened!”
The Iron Bones Hero Regiment base.
After the entire regiment returned to camp, they were not given any rest time at all.
The entire regiment gathered, and the regiment commander stood on a makeshift platform, holding a megaphone and addressing the soldiers in front of him.
At this moment, some people in the formation didn’t even dare to look directly at the regiment commander.
For example, the Second Company Commander.
For example, Wu Jianfeng.
Even though they were scolded by Wang Ye.
But once they were scolded, that was it.
Achieving success in battle is the first step to establishing oneself, and in this exercise, it was a shameful performance.
Of course, it wasn’t just them; others didn’t achieve much either.
The reconnaissance troops were too slippery, with only thirty-seven casualties in total, and their losses had just been announced by the regiment commander.
A casualty ratio of more than one to eleven, even though the initial casualties were due to the surprise attack by the Second Company’s collective mortar, this performance still made people feel ashamed.
On the platform, the regiment commander looked genuinely distressed.
“Comrades, if today were a real battlefield, there would be over four hundred bodies in front of us. Among you, one-fourth of our comrades would forever bid farewell to this world.”
Pausing for a moment, the regiment commander spoke again, “I take full responsibility. The biggest fault in this attack, with such casualties, lies with me. Our prior vigilance was not high enough, and our sense of war was not sensitive enough!”
The regiment commander’s eyes scanned the formation below like an eagle as he continued, “It’s also my fault for not keeping your training rigorous enough on a daily basis, which caused you to lack the ability to fight and win!”
The regiment commander’s words sent a shiver through the hearts of all the regiment officers and soldiers.
This isn’t self-reflection!
This is piling mountains on our heads!
Of course, no one dared to say anything now.
Looking at the crowd below, the regiment commander spoke in a deep voice, “For the next month, I’ve decided that our regiment will maintain a constant state of war. At the same time, the regiment reconnaissance company will serve as an all-weather attack team.”
Pausing for a moment, the regiment commander scanned the formation below and continued, “For the past, I won’t blame anyone, but for the future, I hope everyone can change their mindset as soon as possible. We are the forefront of our motherland’s forces, and we are the first line of defense in the face of war.”
“For the sake of protecting our motherland and our people, and so that when we truly encounter war, we can effectively kill the enemy, achieve great deeds, and not sacrifice ourselves…”
“Comrades, 1 hope you can put away your playful thoughts, be fully committed, and treat the upcoming exercises and training as a real war.”
The regiment commander did not name anyone for criticism during the meeting, but the pressure he exerted was felt by everyone.
Soon, the entire regiment disbanded.
However, it was only the ordinary soldiers who disbanded.
All the officers from the regiment level and above were called away by the regiment commander.
While it was said that the past would not be blamed, the past events needed to be analyzed and learned from.
In simple terms, it was a debriefing session.
Comrades from the Exercise Department brought video recordings and fully briefed the reconnaissance troops on tactics and previous actions. They then discussed and debriefed together with the Iron Bones Hero Regiment.
Well… in fact, this was also an internally publicized “execution” meeting.
For example, the current regiment commander still didn’t know how Wu Jianfeng and the Second Company Commander had met their end.
But he would soon find out.
Although Wu Jianfeng and the Second Company Commander had died at the hands of Wang Ye this time, the impact on their personal futures was almost negligible.
However, facing a public execution later, with people watching, it would be undeniably embarrassing and a subject of ridicule.
To be killed by the soldiers they had led themselves.
And even the regiment commander and company commander would be executed together!
Thinking about this scene, Wu Jianfeng and the Second Company Commander felt their scalps tingle.
They really wanted to escape and had no desire to attend this debriefing session, but now they had no choice but to go.
Moreover, as officers who had died in combat, they were the focal point of this debriefing.
“They damned bastard!”
As they followed the regiment commander, both of them muttered with resentment.
It can be said that if Wang Ye were still in the Iron Bones Hero Regiment right now, regardless of whether he was the regiment’s treasure, company’s treasure, or company’s treasure, the company commander and Wu Jianfeng would definitely catch him and give him a beating to vent their anger before anything else.
Unfortunately, Wang Ye was already far away, hundreds of miles away.
“Alright, start writing. After you’re done, give it to me for review. If everything’s fine, and if we have time later, you can take a break!”
Inside a dormitory, after the company leader came in, he said this to everyone.
Upon returning from outside, Jiang Nan had given orders.
Everyone was to write a report on their exercise actions, detailing all their experiences during the exercise.
The Iron Bones Hero Regiment needed to debrief, and the reconnaissance company also needed to go through this process.
The difference was that unlike the Iron Bones Hero Regiment, the Second Company was composed of reconnaissance soldiers, and because their tactics involved operating independently and were decentralized, coupled with their smaller numbers, the debriefing process began with each individual providing a detailed account of their actions. After these individual reports were reviewed at each level, the overall debriefing and analysis would begin.
This was not something that could be completed in a single day.
The entire company summarized, the entire company debriefed, the entire squad summarized, and finally, the entire class summarized.
This whole process would take several days to complete. After all, in an era without real combat, exercise confrontations were about accumulating combat experience, making targeted changes to training methods, and even promoting talent.
However, the debriefing and analysis would not affect everyone’s training.
The summary meetings, except for the company-wide summary meeting held the following morning, were conducted in the evenings or during lunch breaks.
Naturally, during this process, Wang Ye and Wen Xiaoman were in the spotlight.
The artillery strike on the regiment’s base, while not causing significant damage, had a tremendous impact.
Furthermore, Wen Xiaoman had even targeted a regiment commander.
So, during the company-wide summary meeting, Wang Ye and Wen Xiaoman were both called onto the stage. In front of all the officers and soldiers of the company, the Chief of Staff praised the two of them and called on all the soldiers of the company to learn from them.
The Chief of Staff’s exact words were, “We are reconnaissance soldiers, and reconnaissance soldiers often need to operate deep behind enemy lines. The enemy won’t act according to our plans, so we need to abandon traditional thinking. We must dare to take action and seize every opportunity, making use of everything available. Comrades Wang Ye and Wen Xiaoman have done an excellent job in this regard!”
Then, both of them received commendations.
Of course, they only received commendations, and in reality, Wen Xiaoman was somewhat burdened by Wang Ye.
If it had been someone else instead of Wang Ye this time, both of them would have certainly received third-class commendations.
However, because Wang Ye had too many achievements to his name, having already received three second-class commendations, even though the division headquarters had previously stated that they wouldn’t ignore the soldiers’ merits just because of too many achievements, practical considerations still came into play.
Mainly, this was just a division-level exercise, similar to when Wang Ye’s new recruits performed exceptionally well in training.
If it had been someone else, they might have received third-class commendations.
But with Wang Ye, they had to suppress it a bit.
Third-class commendations might seem small, but when they were awarded to Wang Ye, they could potentially make their way into military reports or even reach a wider societal audience, especially given Wang Ye’s extraordinarily impressive record.
So, this time, they could only give Wang Ye commendations.
And since Wang Ye received commendations, it was naturally impossible to give Wen Xiaoman third-class commendations.
After all, everyone was well aware of the fact that Wang Ye played the most significant role in this matter.
However, after the company-wide summary meeting, the Chief of Staff also spoke with Wang Ye and Wen Xiaoman personally to discuss this matter.
Wen Xiaoman would be awarded a third-class commendation at the end of the year. As for Wang Ye, the Chief of Staff made it clear that he would only receive commendations.
Of course, Wang Ye didn’t mind at all.
For him, commendations and third-class commendations didn’t make much difference at this point.
In comparison to this matter, he was actually more grateful that the company-wide summary meeting didn’t reveal the specific identities of the casualties he had caused.
This saved Wang Ye from a lot of trouble. When he returned to the company, none of his comrades joked about it either.
If everyone had known that Wang Ye had killed his own company commander and company leader, it would have been hard to avoid being teased by everyone…
“Cold weapons combat is a skill that we reconnaissance soldiers must master.
Look at this dagger…”
An Ping stood next to Wang Ye, holding a dagger and then threw it at a wooden rake about ten meters away.
The throwing knife hit the center of the red target with great precision.
Today marked the tenth day since the end of the confrontation. All the company-wide summaries had been completed for several days, and now the entire company had returned to normal training mode.
Currently, the First Company was training at a cold weapons training ground within the camp.
On one side, some were playing with crossbows, while others were practicing throwing knives.
Wang Ye, on the other hand, was personally learning from An Ping, starting with throwing knives.
“Give it a try-”
An Ping didn’t approach to retrieve his throwing knife, instead, he looked at Wang Ye and gently encouraged him.
“Sure!
Wang Ye imitated An Ping’s posture and threw the dagger he held towards the target.
It had to be said that the hand-eye coordination skills he gained from basic training were indeed helpful. The throwing knife Wang Ye launched hit the bullseye, landing exactly where he had intended.
However, unlike An Ping’s throwing knife that stuck in the target, Wang Ye’s throwing knife hit and bounced off, falling to the ground.
“Haha!”
An Ping burst into laughter, and others like Qi Zhenfei couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Hehe, Wang Ye, pay attention to wrist strength. There’s a technique to throwing knives, and you need to use your wrist to control the rotation angle of the knife!”
Qi Zhenfei grinned.
Finally, they got to see Wang Ye struggle a bit!
It hadn’t been easy, especially considering the training subjects they had gone through previously, not to mention shooting and physical fitness.
Tasks like rappelling, which was a fundamental skill for reconnaissance soldiers, as well as climbing walls and obstacles, had left Wang Ye feeling somewhat inadequate.
“Are you that good? How about you come and teach!” Before Wang Ye could even respond, An Ping glanced at him with a challenging look.
Instantly, Qi Zhenfei shrunk his neck and quickly started practicing throwing knives on his own.
Wang Ye chuckled but didn’t say anything.
However, with a thought in his mind, Wang Ye successfully activated the throwing knife skill.
“Come on, I’ll continue teaching you!”
“Great!
«
Wang Ye was eager to learn, and he even requested a more detailed explanation.
Because this kind of teaching allowed him to trigger passive learning.
“Damn, this guy’s a freak. Less than half an hour, right? He can hit the bullseye within five meters every time!”
On the training ground, Qi Zhenfei, holding several throwing knives in his hand, couldn’t help but speak to Luo Yong, who was standing nearby.
Luo Yong took a look and felt a bit intimidated, so he didn’t dare to say much.
Last time during the confrontation, he had died prematurely, and since coming back, he had been subjected to harsh training.
Take today’s training, for example. While the others had come directly to the training ground, he and the other two deceased soldiers from his class had to run five kilometers and eight kilometers before they could arrive.
As for why there was a difference between five kilometers and eight kilometers, it was determined based on the circumstances of their deaths. In any case, he had to endure an eight-kilometer armed run.
Although he didn’t dare to make many comments, he still couldn’t help but twitch his eyelids a few times.
It’s just too insane!
Back then, it took him several days of practice to make the throwing knife stick to the target without falling. It was around three or four days, he recalled. His wrist was nearly worn out.
But look at Wang Ye now.
In less than half an hour, not only did he consistently hit the target within five meters, but he also managed to hit the bullseye each time. This was different from them, who, after practicing for a few days, could only ensure that the tip of the knife hit the target, but hitting the center was a bit random.
“People are going to die comparing themselves! I won’t compete with him!”
Luo Yong gathered his thoughts, turned around, and ran off. He wasn’t planning to practice throwing knives anymore.
It was too demoralizing. Even when training on the same stage in a subject, he couldn’t even guarantee hitting the bullseye consistently from five meters away.
In this comparison, he felt like a complete failure.. So, he decided to go play with the crossbow for now!