Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 135 Stepping into the Finish Line, This is Truly Talented!
Their steps never stopped, and Chen Mo did the same.

However, when he put on his heavy backpack and took only a few steps forward...

Chen Mo discovered that many veterans had large patches of blood on the groin area of ​​their thighs.

The pants were stained black and red.

Their walking posture has become somewhat pigeon-toed, and just looking at them is painful.

Chen Mo found it strange. He subconsciously looked down at himself and found that everything was normal on his right leg.

However, his left leg was also covered in blood.

It's good that I didn't notice it earlier.

Ever since I discovered bloodstains on my legs.

The more Chen Mo walked, the more his clothes chafed, especially when they rubbed against his wounds. It was both itchy and painful, and he couldn't have been more miserable.

I was so tired when I passed by the minefield that I didn't even notice it.

The reason why my right leg wasn't chafed was because...

That's because when he was climbing the rope, Peng Wei had put a safety board on his legs, which served as a form of protection.

The scholar had been speaking righteously and sternly just moments before, but suddenly he stopped and started pulling at his trouser leg to look.

The veteran who had set off with him stopped.

He simply stopped pretending and slammed all his gear on the ground before collapsing to the floor himself.

"Damn it, scholar, I thought you were so strong, that you were really going to stick with me and run to the foot of the mountain to start the next climb."

"So you were just faking it all along?"

Screw you!

Chen Mo rolled his eyes and ignored this glib old fox.

Many veterans who had crossed the minefield found medical kits in their backpacks and took out triangular bandages or fascia to wrap around their thighs.

He followed suit and started pestering her too.

If you tighten your pants a bit, there won't be much direct friction between them and your thighs, making walking much easier.

A large portion of the people in the minefield at the rear had not yet come out, and those who had made it out first dared not rest for too long.

After tying the right leg.

Chen Mo set off again, limping.

It's clear that after all this intense training, not a single veteran in the entire company can remain relaxed.

They've already reached their limit.

But no one relaxed.

They all gritted their teeth and fought hard.

Cheng Dong often says: Only those who survive have the right to complain about being tired.

This might seem like a big deal to people in later generations, but it was nothing new to the vast majority of soldiers in that era.

War could break out at any moment.

In their subconscious minds, going to the battlefield was not far away from them.

Therefore, in order to survive on the battlefield and kill more enemies, these veterans were truly willing to risk their lives during training.

This is what they mean by "looking at a mountain but running until the horse dies."

After emerging from the minefield, Chen Mo could see the distant mountains when he looked up, but when he actually got close...

It took everyone nearly an hour.

Perhaps the journey wasn't long; it was just that these people were too tired.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, Chen Mo looked up at the mountaintop, which was thirty or forty meters high, equivalent to a dozen or so stories high, and he really felt dizzy.

"Can it still work?"

As Chen Mo was gazing at the high mountains, another veteran, with an arrogant and irritating demeanor, came over and asked him a question.

Just like when we came out of the minefield.

When asked again, Chen Mo merely glanced at the other person. Despite being in extremely poor condition, he still replied, "Nonsense, there's never a time when I can't do something."

His tone was firm and full of disdain.

In truth, everyone knew that the reason the veterans took turns asking questions was to stimulate the scholar's desire to win.

To persevere through the entire training exercise, both mentally and physically, is no less agonizing than torture.

Let alone a private.

Even veterans need to constantly encourage themselves to ensure they can persevere to the end.

"Alright, they're soldiers from our old 7th Division, tough as nails."

The veteran who had come over saw that the scholar was as tough as ever, so he took off his heavy pack.

He put his arm around Chen Mo's shoulder and laughed, "To be honest, Scholar, we've all decided that after the martial arts competition, our whole company will train against you."

"Who the hell told you to be jumping around so enthusiastically the other day?"

"But I've changed my mind now. I've decided to forgive you when I return to Dalian."

The veteran thumped his chest loudly, pointed to the high mountain in front of him, and said: "Next up: rock climbing, reconnaissance, reporting, and drawing."

"There are ropes hanging down from the top of the mountain. Find them yourself, tie your safety rope securely, and be careful."

“After you climb to the top of the mountain, describe everything you saw or felt along the way from the artillery range to here, including the terrain around the top of the mountain.”

"Clearly mark the coordinates, and draw out all the military targets and surrounding terrain conditions."

“I remember you learned drawing from Liang Pai. Just do it according to your own experience. Once you reach the finish line, hand it over to the command headquarters and you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

"Scholar, be careful. No matter how you do in the martial arts competition, I'll treat you to drinks when we get back."

"Okay, thanks, veteran!!"

"Hey, why are you being so polite with me?"

The veteran patted Chen Mo on the shoulder, then left to choose his climbing spot.

Every day, veterans offer to treat me to drinks, but it's not that they're being polite; it's just that I haven't even gotten a single drink yet.

However, Chen Mo wouldn't care about these things.

Regardless, the veteran genuinely wanted to help him.

But then, they ran out of rations.

Even the fresh water in the kettle had run out.

In this situation, even if you rest on the spot, you are unlikely to recover much strength.

Seeing that the other veterans were continuing to climb, showing no sign of wanting to rest.

Chen Mo gritted his teeth and decisively checked his backpack to make sure it was securely fastened and wouldn't fall apart during the climb.

They're not taking a break anymore.

Find a climbing rope hanging down from the mountaintop, secure it tightly to your chest strap, and take all necessary safety precautions.

Start climbing hard.

In the early morning, thick ropes were used to cross the river, but now, for climbing, thin ropes have been used.

The calluses on the hands of these reconnaissance soldiers are more useful than gloves, so gloves are generally not issued to them.

But Chen Mo hasn't even turned his callus into a glove yet.

The thin rope was impossible to grasp, and the grip was too weak.

He had no choice but to wrap the rope around his arm once while climbing, and once he found a foothold, he would untie the rope and continue climbing.

The mountain was tens of meters high, and soldiers were climbing it everywhere.

No one complained of being tired; it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because they were soldiers.

No one complained of being hungry, and complaining wouldn't have made a difference. The competition had begun, and until the finish line was reached, nothing else mattered.

Chen Mo finally reached the mountaintop.

He unpacked his backpack, found paper and a pen wrapped in plastic sheeting, sat on a large rock, and began to observe the terrain in the distance.

Chen Mo used to be an officer, and drawing is a basic skill for officers. In addition, Liang Hongjie taught him for a period of time in the company.

At that time, Chen Mo would deliberately study during his lunch break.

The reason for letting the officers in the company know about this was to create a plausible excuse for himself.

Drawing and calibration are not difficult for him.

However, what frustrated him was...

Even though Chen Mo had hidden himself on the mountaintop in some remote corner, some veterans from the company would still come over from time to time to look for him, craning their necks to see if he could draw the map.

They were afraid he would drag the company down.

Damn it, these guys have really messed with me. I don't know whether to be touched or annoyed.

After the drawing is completed.

All personnel took inventory of their equipment under the close supervision of observers.

The three companies began taking roll call. Anyone who hadn't arrived by then and whose name wasn't called was eliminated.

On Chen Mo's side, because they managed to grab enough assault boats during the boat handling, fewer people needed to expend energy swimming.

The number of people eliminated was small, and the overall number was quite even. Apart from the twenty-odd people who were blown up by the minefield and had their number plates removed.

The remaining ninety-odd people all persevered until the drawing was finished.

However, the artillery reconnaissance company and instrument reconnaissance company of the anti-aircraft artillery brigade were much less fortunate.

The number of personnel in these two companies was originally less than that of the 7th Division.

Each company only had a little over seventy people who could actually participate in the battle.

After the boat crew was reduced in number and the minefield crew was reduced in number.

Currently, the total number of people in both companies combined is less than the number of people on Chen Mo's side.

In terms of individual soldier capabilities, the three companies are roughly the same.

However, aside from the organizational structure, the 7th Division also has a large proportion of veteran soldiers, and there's the reason that if you're one step ahead, you'll always be ahead.

The scales of victory have begun to tip noticeably.

But you think the fight is over?
No, no, no, the hardest and most torturous part is yet to come.

After the drawing is completed.

The competition format simply ended the previous free-range approach, and the accompanying observers began to intervene in the battlefield rescue exercises.

Mentioning this, Chen Mo couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Everyone says that the scholar is ruthless, but the observer is the real ruthless one.

Battlefield rescue requires simulating wounded soldiers, so the observers specifically choose the bigger, obviously fatter guys in the company to be the wounded.

Fractures all over the body, gunshot wounds to the waist and abdomen, toxic fumes entering the lungs—all sorts of bizarre and varied ways of being tortured.

The wounded soldier was unable to move, so other participating soldiers had to make makeshift stretchers out of whatever materials were available to carry him.

Chen Mo initially wanted to be a wounded soldier as well.

When selecting the wounded, he pushed his way to the front.

Unfortunately, he wasn't tall and was as thin as a monkey, all skinny and bony.

Aside from being more energetic and handsome than other veterans, he doesn't have any advantages.

If you're not considered a wounded soldier, then you can only be responsible for carrying the wounded.

They searched everywhere for thick branches, but couldn't find any. They tried to cut down trees with their bayonets or daggers, using two branches and a few belts tied between them.

Add another layer of bedding; do whatever makes the wounded comfortable.

This is a competition, after all, not the kind of silly training or battlefield rescue drills that are common in basic training.

After the stretcher was prepared, the two veterans, who were paired with him, worked together to lift the wounded soldier onto it.

Then, keep running, keep running.

The total distance for the comprehensive exercise is set at fifty kilometers, which is not an exaggeration for many veteran detectives.

The problem is that you have to complete all sorts of subjects along the way, and it's simply unbearable.

The wounded soldier was carried for three kilometers before he was deemed fit. After putting him down, Chen Mozhen felt like he was almost wounded himself.

I have absolutely no strength left in my body.

That's understandable; they hadn't eaten much, and they were carrying heavy loads, so they were exhausted and sleepy.

After delivering the wounded to the designated location, Chen Mo was on the verge of a breakdown.

He sat down on the ground, leaning against his backpack, panting heavily.

The wounded soldier that Chen Mo just carried was Liu Rengao, the company's quartermaster, who was the same guy who vomited while running the five-kilometer race in full gear at the beginning.

Old Liu sat on the stretcher, watching a young soldier carry him for so long, he must have felt bad about it.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a package wrapped in several layers of oil paper and plastic sheeting, glancing around to make sure no one was watching.

Old Liu quickly took out two large meat buns from his bag and tossed them to Chen Mo, saying, "Scholar, eat up. Be careful not to be seen by the observer."

"The rules of this competition are that you can only eat dry rations or use whatever you can find on the spot, you can't smoke or sleep, and you have to keep going until you reach the finish line."

Chen Mo stared wide-eyed at the big meat bun in his arms, his lips twitched, and he quickly hid it in his clothes.

Damn it, he thought to himself, these veterans are really hiding their true strength.

I'm out of fried noodles, but the quartermaster has meat buns?
Upon hearing the quartermaster's words, Chen Mo remembered that some people were eating sashimi while others were secretly eating steamed buns and pickled vegetables after getting off the assault boat.

No wonder he shamelessly went up to ask for so long, but the old soldier didn't dare to give him much, only a little bit of pickled vegetables for him to taste.

At first, Chen Mo thought the other side didn't have enough food, but now that he thinks about it, they were probably wary of the observers.

He turned his head and looked around.

Perhaps because he also had some dry rations, Chen Mo felt that the group of veterans who were temporarily resting on the ground in the distance were also occasionally throwing things into their mouths and swallowing quickly.

Damn, that's really sneaky!
So all this time, he was the only one seriously participating in the competition?
"Thank you monitor."

Chen Mo responded and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, quickly swallowed the two meat buns.

As the old saying goes, "A full stomach makes one feel at ease."

After finishing the meat buns, I opened the kettle and carefully sipped a few mouthfuls of water. There wasn't much left, so I didn't dare drink large gulps.
Once he regained some strength, he continued his journey with the other veterans.

Chen Mo never asked where the finish line was.

Because asking won't help, and what good will it do to know anyway?
For the rest of the journey.

In areas contaminated with drugs, one must wear a gas mask and crawl. If there is an enemy attack from above, one must find cover nearby.

In short, they'll do whatever it takes to torment people.

The energy provided by two meat buns was gone in the blink of an eye; it was simply not enough to sustain such consumption.

Chen Mo and his group set off before dawn and continued until dusk before following the observer's route once again.

We arrived at the edge of a cliff.

Before any veteran could even begin to climb, the observer beside them said, "Comrades, this is the last climb."

"After climbing up, we sprinted 3,000 meters. Dinner and a place to rest were prepared for everyone at the finish line."

"I won't keep you any longer. I wish you all the best in achieving a good result!!"

The observer finished speaking.

Just moments ago, everyone looked exhausted, but in an instant, it was as if they had been injected with adrenaline, and their eyes lit up.

My whole body was inexplicably filled with power.

Chen Mo was quick-witted and grabbed a rope first, climbing upwards.

The other veterans were equally fast, making a final sprint together.

Climbing this cliff is different from climbing the high mountain we just saw. At least the mountain has many footholds, and you can save energy by using your hands and feet to climb.

But this kind of cliff.

It looks like it was sculpted with an axe; the surface is smooth, to save time.

Chen Mo could only rely on the strength of his arms to pull himself up little by little. When he was too tired to continue, he would put his feet on the rope to rest for a while.

The cliff is not high, only twelve meters high, and the slope is not steep, about forty-five degrees.

Normally, this level of difficulty is like child's play.

But that won't work now.

Chen Mo gritted his teeth and climbed to the top, holding back no more strength.

Join the first wave of veterans and charge forward.

Gradually.

The barracks are getting closer; this should be the barracks under the command of the anti-aircraft artillery brigade.

The finish line had already been marked out, and a group of officials were waiting at the finish line.

Cheng Dong, Huo Linshan, Liang Hongjie, and others were all present.

When the three of them saw that there was a scholar among the first group of people rushing forward, they realized that he was one of them.

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

For a mere private like Xiucai to participate in the martial arts competition is already quite an achievement, let alone to break into the top tier in the final event.

Cheng Dong blinked. If a private could break into the front ranks, then that person would definitely be selected to enter the training team for officers above the corps level.

This is incredible talent!

While the group was stunned,

Chen Mo had already crossed the finish line. Although he wasn't in first place, he was definitely in the top five.

That's the final, most powerful move.

The moment my foot crossed the finish line.

Including Chen Mo, all the veterans completely collapsed and slumped to the ground.

He had absolutely no strength left in his body.

"Go and have a look."

Cheng Dong called out, and a group of cadres gathered at the finish line, including people from the anti-aircraft artillery camp.

They all followed along out of curiosity.

It's truly remarkable that a private could endure this long.

(End of this chapter)