Chapter 424: Platoon Leader Tian Who Spat Blood!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Hurry, hurry, hurry-”
Under the cover of night, Wang Ye stood on the roadside, urging on the passing troops in a low voice.
It was a night march, tonight’s mission.
The plan was to march from 8 o’clock all the way until 10 o’clock.
It was already the third night of training, yet the troops had only covered barely a hundred kilometers.
This was because the training route had been interspersed with assessment tasks.
At the moment, Wang Ye wasn’t just urging the new recruits; he also bore the responsibility for several soldiers.
He couldn’t afford to have them running and suddenly realizing some soldiers were missing when they reached their destination.
Soon, as the last new recruit passed by him, Wang Ye confirmed that no one was missing, then he lifted his leg and followed suit.
But before he caught up, Wang Ye turned around.
Three days.
The special forces troops had not launched an attack yet.
Last year, on the first night, they couldn’t wait and came creeping in.
Unexpectedly, this year, they hadn’t made a move even until now.
“Perhaps it’s tonight!”
Wang Ye speculated inwardly.
Putting himself in the shoes of the enemy commander, he thought that, out of caution, they would probably choose to strike when the enemy was exhausted.
Tonight, the new recruits were on a night march during training. In this situation, after each recruit had been pushed to their limits, they would likely be half-dead tired, and even the guards stationed after the run might not be in high spirits.
Perfect conditions for a surprise attack.
As he pondered, Wang Ye ran along with the troops, also thinking about how to arrange the night watch later.
He couldn’t give any hints, but he could arrange responsible and determined new recruits for the watch positions.
However, such soldiers were limited in number.
Due to the rules and limitations, some things couldn’t be done obviously. He couldn’t continuously assign top-performing soldiers who had already stood night watch to continue, while those who hadn’t yet done it got to sleep.
In fact, up to this point, only one of the top-performing soldiers in the Class Five hadn’t stood night watch. Wang Ye had to bet on the right one to have a chance of throwing off the special forces troops.
It should be from the second to the fourth, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility of it being from the first to the second, or even the fourth to the sixth.
Wang Ye thought once more about when the special forces troops might come.
According to normal logic, the best time for a night ambush would undoubtedly be from the second to the fourth.
This is the time when a person is most exhausted.
However, if you put yourself in their shoes, the special forces troops aren’t fools either. If Wang Ye can guess that they might strike tonight, they must also know that this matter can’t be hidden from experienced soldiers like him.
So, being cautious and avoiding the new recruits who might be assigned for duty from the second to the fourth isn’t really unexpected.
After all, last year they attacked at this time and were thwarted by Wang Ye, who was still a top-performing new recruit at the time.
He kept thinking.
In the end, Wang Ye made up his mind.
“Platoon Leader, they’re here!”
When the marching troops arrived at the camping site.
On a small hill to the south of the camp, a few soldiers were resting on the ground. Platoon Leader Tian quickly opened his eyes.
In the next moment, Platoon Leader Tian swiftly turned over.
He lay prone on the hill, using binoculars to observe the placement of the new recruits’ watch positions below.
“Don’t make any noise and observe their watch position layout carefully!” Platoon Leader Tian ordered through his headset.
They had arrived here earlier, and now the soldiers from a whole platoon were scattered around in pre-selected ambush spots.
But it wasn’t time to strike just yet.
Currently, the new recruits below were standing there, receiving feedback and summarizing the issues that had arisen during the recent forced march.
Platoon Leader Tian watched for a while, then he used his binoculars to focus on a person in front of the new recruit formation, standing beside Jiang Huai.
Looking at that face through the binoculars, Platoon Leader Tian felt like he wanted to spit on him from a distance and drown him.
But the next moment, something astonishing happened.
Wang Ye actually turned his head and looked in their direction.
Through the high-powered binoculars, it was clear that Wang Ye was frowning as he gazed in their direction.
Platoon Leader, did he spot us?” Next to him, a special forces team’s squad leader was also using binoculars and whispered with suspicion.
Platoon Leader Tian inwardly cursed Wang Ye as a weirdo. How could he even react to prolonged scrutiny? But he didn’t say this out loud.
“It doesn’t matter whether he noticed us or not. They’re not fools; they must have guessed that we would strike tonight. Don’t worry about it!” Platoon Leader Tian said that, but deep down, he felt a bit hesitant.
Should they strike today?
Could this guy be deliberately setting some kind of trap?
But thinking that Wang Ye would adhere to the rules, Platoon Leader Tian felt somewhat reassured.
Wang Ye was a seasoned soldier and couldn’t participate in this test for the new recruits.
Half an hour later…
On Wang Ye’s side, he had just come out of the company commander’s tent after a meeting.
However, he didn’t go directly into the tent to rest. Instead, he headed straight for the guard post.
“No sleeping on duty, just two hours. Stay alert, got it?”
Yes!”
The sentry in front of him responded crisply.
“Alright! Remember, this is a state of readiness, everything is based on real combat. You must not let your guard down!”
Wang Ye added a few more words.
“Yes!” The new recruit in front of him responded again.
Then, Wang Ye made his rounds to the other guard posts.
Back in the tent, Wang Ye lay on his bed, contemplating what would happen tonight. Afterward, he forced himself to empty his mind and began to drift off to sleep.
What was meant to come would come. As a seasoned soldier, he had done everything he could up to this point. The next step would depend on the new recruits themselves.
Time passed slowly.
At 1:30 AM, Li Jun sat crouched in the bushes about twenty meters outside the camp, holding a whistle in his mouth.
Currently, not only was he concealed in the bushes, but he had also used branches to create a rudimentary camouflage around him.
Tonight, Class Five was assigned to the covert sentry position.
Well… for a diligent and responsible sentry, this was one of the most uncomfortable positions.
Because not only could he sit down, but he could also lean against a tree, and most importantly, he was a covert sentry, so no one could see him.
It could be said that if there were no concerns about inspections, this position was almost like a nap spot.
But the fear of inspections and the even greater fear of blowing the rare opportunity to follow the squad leader meant that he had to resist the temptation to close his eyes and sleep at all times.
His thighs had turned a shade of purple from pinching himself.
Mainly, it was because of the day’s strenuous training and assessments, which had drained his energy. On top of that, he hadn’t slept well the past two days.
So now, as he sat there, he felt his mind growing heavy.
Even though he tried to sustain his willpower, his eyelids would occasionally droop uncontrollably.
Yes, it wasn’t the most tiring time yet, which would be from the second to the fourth hour, but due to the exhaustion of the past few days, even as he walked to his sentry post after being called up, he had already yawned several times on the way.
However, thinking about what Wang Ye had told him during the squad leader’s assignment, he really couldn’t dare to sleep.
Wang Ye had explicitly warned him that if he caught him sleeping on sentry duty, he could forget about continuing with him to the Fourth Company; he’d be sent straight to pig farming.
He had practiced martial arts with his grandfather since he was young, admired soldiers, and aspired to be the top soldier king in the army. How could he end up pig farming?
So, he had to endure even if he felt like he couldn’t.
Using his hand to adjust the whistle that Wang Ye had given him, he reached up to scratch his neck.
It had to be said that the mosquitoes that he used to detest so much were actually helping him tonight.
These large mosquitoes from the Xiguang region could cause itching and discomfort for quite a while after biting, which helped keep him alert.
At this moment, he didn’t notice that, about ten meters behind him, there were two figures quietly crawling on the ground, approaching stealthily.
Learning from last year’s lesson, Platoon Leader Tian not only brought the entire platoon out this time but also assigned two people to act simultaneously at each sentry post when he was in action.
Just to be on the safe side, ensuring that there were no surprises.
“Group one in position!”
“Group two in position!”
Tonight, Platoon Leader Tian didn’t choose to take action personally. He closely monitored all the sentry posts and the situation of his men using binoculars from the high ground.
Listening to the voices in his headset, he ordered, “Hold on, the sentry at post number five just slapped a mosquito and might stay alert for two more minutes. Wait for my command!”
In fact, at this moment, there was a mosquito sucking blood on his hand holding the binoculars, but he didn’t pay it any mind.
Let it suck; a little blood circulation boost for the mosquito. But if things went south tonight, he’d be the one sent to pig farming.
With intense concentration, Platoon Leader Tian didn’t dare to take his binoculars away from his eyes for a moment.
And it wasn’t just him; there were two soldiers beside him doing the same job with binoculars.
It could be said that for tonight, their special forces platoon had put in their all.
Finally, after a few more minutes, watching the new recruit at post number five, who was once again tilting his head and looking groggy, Platoon Leader Tian gave the order, “Move in!”
In that moment, the special forces troops sprang into action.
This year, there were more sentry positions in the new recruit platoon.
One per squad, twelve sentries in total, so they arranged six covert sentries and six overt sentries.
However, the special forces troops weren’t to be underestimated. The sentries, especially the covert ones, were all half-dead from exhaustion.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that all six covert sentries combined couldn’t muster the alertness of a single fully awake person.
Even Li Jun, a top performer, now had only a tiny slit left in his eyelids.
Well…
Suddenly, Li Jun seemed to hear a sound.
In an instant, he became alert and turned his head to look.
The next moment, his face turned pale.
He saw two figures coming at him rapidly.
His scalp tingled, and he immediately wanted to roll to the side.
But he was sitting down, and he realized a bit too late. Even though he had trained in martial arts with his grandfather since he was young and had reaction times beyond the average person, in this situation, there was no way he could evade it.
The two people rushed over and pinned him down.
*Beep~
*
Suddenly, a clear whistle sound abruptly rang out.
At that moment, the two special forces troops who were holding him down had their faces change drastically.
Similarly, Platoon Leader Tian, who was on the high ground in the distance, stiffened all over, his face turning pale.
“Fuck! Where did that whistle come from?”
Li Jun was a covert sentry, and they had seen him being assigned to this position. However, after the assignment, Li Jun had squatted among the makeshift branches he had used for camouflage, and they couldn’t see that he had a whistle given by Wang Ye in his mouth.
So, even though they were holding Li Jun down now, with one of them even reaching to choke his neck, the other was preparing to cover his mouth, they didn’t expect that he had a whistle in his mouth all along.
Now, under the pressure, the whistle sounded in one breath.
“Hmm…”
What’s happening?”
Where did that whistle sound come from?”
In an instant, inside the tent, the new recruits were awakened.
Simultaneously, the six overt sentries, who had been drowsy and some even standing while sleeping, were suddenly jolted awake.
They opened their eyes and quickly scanned their surroundings.
The next moment, one of the sentries, shocked to the core, shouted in horror.
“Enemy attack!”
They saw it- there were faintly two or three figures lurking in the covert sentry positions.
Where did so many covert sentries come from?
Furthermore, their current positions were all wrong.
At this moment, the faces of the special forces troops at the other five covert sentry positions were extremely grim.
Holding down the sentry they had just awakened, but whose mouth they were covering, one of them couldn’t help but curse out loud.
“Damn it!
“You idiots!”
They couldn’t understand why their well-laid plan had failed right at the beginning, during the most straightforward and easiest part – infiltrating the covert sentry positions.
Where did that whistle come from?
At this moment, they felt a mix of frustration and anger.
“Fuck, retreat!”
Through the earpieces, Platoon Leader Tian’s voice came, filled with curses.
Platoon Leader Tian really wanted to spit blood right now. He didn’t expect Wang Ye to be this crafty, actually giving a whistle to the sentry on duty.
The key was that his two soldiers were utterly useless and actually let him blow it.
Vomit blood!
Another failure.
At this moment, Platoon Leader Tian felt like he could see pigs in front of him, grunting and demanding to be fed….