A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted, and the new recruits watching were all in a frenzy, especially the recruits from the first platoon.
Chen Xiwa swung his fist hard at the empty space in front of him and shouted "Good!" A feeling of triumph rose from his heart.
In the distance, Miao Lian laughed heartily, turning to his platoon leader Chen Guotao beside him and saying, "Haha, I've finally waited for one! Look, look, an eight-year veteran reconnaissance soldier has lost to a greenhorn, hahaha..."
Chen Guotao said with admiration, "Yes! This kid is really good. Don't even mention the old pro, even if I went up there, I'd probably just be a sitting duck."
"Many of his tactical moves are quite difficult to execute on their own, yet he manages to integrate them into the 100-meter rapid-fire shooting routine. I really don't know how this kid trained to do it."
Miao Lian chuckled and said, "I've done some research. Zhuang Yan's father is a basketball coach at the city's sports school. After he entered high school, he got into the sports school's shooting team through his father's connections."
But logically speaking, three years of training shouldn't be enough to reach this level; it just shows how incredibly talented this kid is.
Chen Guotao exclaimed in amazement, "My goodness, this kid has become so freakish after only three years of training. What will he be like in the future?"
But this kid's got some skills, and some temper too—he's really arrogant! Old Pao probably can't handle him. This Zhuang Yan's a real troublemaker.
"Haha, this is my business, Lao Miao. Just you wait and see!"
Meanwhile, while the new recruits were making a ruckus, the veteran had already silently started doing push-ups, each one done to the highest standard without any compromise.
"One...two...three...four...five..."
"Fifty-eight...fifty-nine..."
The recruits' voices gradually subsided, and everyone stared blankly at the veteran, their gazes becoming slightly complicated. The firing range was silent, except for the veteran's counting echoing across the field.
Li Ling watched this scene with a smile on his face. He had been consciously training since he was in the sports school team, and today he was finally able to truly show his strength.
Looking at Lao Pao, Li Ling murmured to himself, "Hillbilly, our contest has only just begun."
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Chapter 32 Mountain Gun: Fire at me!
"The sun sets in the west, its glow ablaze with red; the soldiers return to camp after target practice... return to camp..."
The new recruits, carrying target targets, lined up in neat rows and sang "Returning from Target Practice" as they returned to the recruit camp.
"One, two, one, one, two, one, stand at attention, right turn, right eyes, front eyes, at ease."
"Commentary...at ease."
The new recruit company commander adjusted the formation, glanced at the recruits from left to right, and solemnly said, "Comrades, you all performed well in today's target practice. There's nothing more to say."
"What happened today is not to be discussed, spread, or discussed behind the back of the class monitor. Dismissed."
The new recruits dispersed and returned to their respective squads. The veteran walked towards his squad with a blank expression. After walking a few meters, he seemed to sense something and looked back, only to meet Li Ling's gaze. The two exchanged a glance and then looked away.
Chen Xiwa patted Li Ling's arm and said, "Let's go!"
Li Ling nodded and walked past the old man with Chen Xiwa toward the classroom.
After that day, for some reason, the old man became somewhat silent. He still drilled the new recruits hard, but he no longer talked about a bunch of grand principles like before, and he never called the new recruits "bear people" again.
He no longer makes excuses; if he says he's going to do a 5km cross-country run, then it's a 5km cross-country run, unlike before.
In the past, you would add a clause like, "Because this soldier is like this and that, you must do this and that."
In addition, since the shooting practice, Li Ling has toned down his behavior a bit and stopped provoking the veterans on matters involving regulations and rules. He and the veterans are now in a state of mutual respect and non-interference.
The real reason is that Lao Pao was truly discouraged by Li Ling. In the original series, Xiao Zhuang took the same amount of time as him and won by cheating. So, although he admitted defeat, he knew in his heart that there was still a certain gap between Xiao Zhuang and him.
But now Li Ling's strength was truly overwhelming him, so he felt that he had lost face big time.
Originally, he wanted to use his own strength to suppress the new recruits and establish absolute authority in front of them, but instead he was trampled on by the new recruits. No one would feel good about this!
In this atmosphere, more than half of the three months of basic training had passed, and the new recruits would be assigned to their units in about ten days.
...
That night, after the new recruits had all gone to sleep, Miao Lian called out the three new recruit squad leaders from the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company's headquarters.
"So, among this batch of new recruits, are there any suitable to be reconnaissance soldiers?" Miao Lian asked the three squad leaders with great interest.
The veteran, who was the squad leader, spoke first: "Reporting to the company commander, you should know the situation of our squad...."
"Ah!" Miao Lian raised his head and said, "You discovered that soldier Zhuang Yan, just say that."
After saying that, he looked at the second and third squad leaders and asked, "What about you two?"
The squad leader, a sergeant, answered honestly, "One of the guys in our squad used to be a martial arts student, and he really wants to be a reconnaissance soldier."
Miao Lian turned to the second squad leader without giving a direct answer and asked, "And you?"
The second squad leader looked troubled and said weakly, "Company commander, our squad is full of blockheads, they never break any rules."
Upon hearing this, Miao Lian put his hands on his hips and said with dissatisfaction, "How can you be a scout if you don't even break this basic rule? That just means you haven't pushed me hard enough!"
After saying that, Miao Lian ignored the second squad leader and walked up to Lao Pao, solemnly saying, "First squad leader."
"arrive."
"That Xiao Zhuang! I'm determined to get him! Ah! Now that these new recruits are of good quality, other company commanders are all eyeing him. If I go and snatch him away now, wouldn't that be a disgrace to me, Lao Miao?"
"Yes." The old man's heart skipped a beat, and he weakly replied, "Yes."
Miao Lian continued, "I don't care what methods you use, as long as it doesn't cause serious consequences and doesn't dampen Xiao Zhuang's spirit."