Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 172 Squad Assault, Is It Really That Outrageous?
Chen Mo was unaware of the arrangements regarding academic affairs.

After returning to their dormitory from the light weapons shooting range, the group immediately unpacked their backpacks and packed away their quilts and bedding.

While doing that, I also tidied up the house.

One advantage of the academy is that its facilities are much more abundant compared to those of the grassroots troops.

Especially in the summer, during the mid-year assessment period, the swimming pool at the Army Academy is open all day, and the group happened to pass by it on their way back.

Chen Mo quickly tidied up his bed, jumped down from the top bunk, found a new military uniform in the metal cabinet, tucked it under his arm, and said, "Brothers, I just passed by the swimming pool and saw a lot of people taking showers there."

"Who's going?"

Actually, his question was unnecessary.

The assessments for other departments are arranged at the Army Academy's psychological and behavioral training ground, or the high-altitude mountain obstacle course, or the extreme obstacle training ground.

Even though the testing grounds are hot, it's still much better than their reconnaissance unit spending a whole day wandering around in the mountains.

They were all running and jumping around, getting covered in dust and dirt, and when they heard the suggestion to take a bath, they all responded with loud shouts.

Immediately, a group of veterans, carrying small yellow basins, stormed towards the swimming pool.

The swimming pool at the Army Academy is not far from the cadre dormitory building and is located within the teaching and living area. During dinner time, cultural classes were canceled due to the academy-wide assessment.

Within the living quarters, there are many people coming and going at the military service center and outpatient clinic. The fact that the swimming pool is located here means that it is not only used for training.

Students and their families are welcome to come and exercise on open days, or simply to kill time.

Because nobody cares.

Chen Mo carried the basin of water and walked along the main road to the swimming pool, whose exterior walls were made entirely of red bricks.

This Army Academy truly deserves the reputation of being awarded the title of "Garden-style Campus" by the General Logistics Department.

The surrounding environment is lush and green, and walking around here can dispel most of the fatigue of the whole day.

Upon entering, one finds a spacious pool of varying sizes, with over a dozen built along the interior walls.

Walking through the main gate and looking left and right, you can't even see the edges of the pool with the naked eye. The pool is packed with people taking showers, making it quite lively.

There are new assessment tasks to be completed in the evening.

Chen Mo had no interest in, nor did he have time to, join the crowd at the pool. He carried the basin straight to the innermost shower area.

Chen Mo placed the basin on the ground and, while washing the military uniform he had worn during the day, looked up at Xie Yong beside him and asked, "Captain, do you have any information about what assessment subjects will be arranged tonight?"

"I have an egg."

Xie Yong shook his head: "Who cares what subjects they assign? Our reconnaissance department hasn't been in school for long, so there's no benchmark for comparison. No matter what subjects they assign, we'll just do our best."

"I'm not trying to criticize you, but why do you think so much every day? If you tell us to do something, we'll do it; if you tell us to rest, we'll rest."

"A small arms firing range is nothing more than shooting exercises."

Xie Yong spoke casually, and indeed, he didn't seem worried about the upcoming assessment subjects.

Perhaps it's a common problem among reconnaissance soldiers.

Not only Lao Xie, but Wang Bo and Ding Zeliang were also very calm, squatting under the showerhead, washing clothes while being showered.

They were chatting and laughing, showing none of the tension that comes with an upcoming assessment.

Chen Mo scratched his head. Although he was a little surprised by the content of the assessment arranged by the academy this time, he didn't say anything more.

After taking a shower, the group hurried to the canteen. Generally speaking, the food at the Lu Academy was about the same standard as what the vice dean ate.

The most common dishes are stir-fried bean sprouts with vinegar and stir-fried loofah with eggs. Of course, there are also meat dishes, such as stewed chicken pieces.

As for food, Chen Mo didn't have any particular requirements; he just wanted something to fill his stomach.

According to the instructions given by Yang's squadron before the disbandment, the reconnaissance department was to assemble at nine o'clock, so after dinner, Chen Mo and his group didn't have time to do anything else.

Back in the dorm, I lay down on my bed and took advantage of the hour or so before the next assessment to recharge.

Taking advantage of the students' break.

Captain Fang Huai wasn't doing nothing either. Although the captains in the academy couldn't compare to those in the military, the performance of the cadet teams they led didn't really matter to them.

When it comes to promoting personnel, the academy focuses more on the trainees' own performance. Trainee team leaders are at most given a title, and they rarely receive awards or commendations for leading their teams to good results.

The college doesn't really do this kind of thing.

But no matter what, the fact that the second team was able to unite and achieve first place in the first assessment makes Captain Fang proud.

While Chen Mo and the others were resting.

Fang Huai arranged for the coaching team to collect the guns and ammunition needed for the evening's assessment in advance.

Not just receiving.

He also arranged for the training team to conduct a thorough inspection and maintenance of the firearms issued to each of the trainees' units.

In assessments, it often comes down to the details.

While the trainees were giving their all on the competition field, the team leader ensured that the details of the equipment were carefully checked to ensure that everything was perfect before the competition.

They took on logistical responsibilities.

Time quickly came to 8:30 pm on the 28th.

Inside dormitory 402, several mechanical watches simultaneously emitted a buzzing alarm sound.

There's no need for anyone to deliberately call out.

Chen Mo was the first to get out of bed and squatted on the edge of the bed to start refolding the quilt.

"Do we still need to pack our bags for the assessment tonight?" Wang Bo, who was on the lower bunk, craned his neck to look up after hearing the noise.

"I haven't heard of that. I always felt that the academy's assessment system was a bit perfunctory. I didn't hear the examiners mention the requirement to assemble when the class was dismissed."

Lai Wei sat on the bed and spoke with some confusion.

While the group chatted, Chen Mo was busy folding blankets and packing his backpack, making the veterans feel a little insecure.

Ding Zeliang stood up and walked over to Chen Mo, patting the iron frame: "Scholar, are you so sure we'll be carrying backpacks for the gathering tonight?"

"I guess so." Chen Mo nodded without thinking. "Our first squad, second squad, and cadet squad are all from the 30th Squadron. There are dormitories here where we can rest."

"The problem is that other colleges don't have dormitories during the assessment period, so they can only rest outdoors. When we go to the assembly point, they're all carrying backpacks. We can't just go to the assembly point empty-handed, can we?"

"I rely on!!"

After Chen Mo's reminder, the group of veterans who had been calm just moments before became incredibly efficient at tidying up.

This is the benefit of reaching a consensus.

While 402 was packing their backpacks, the veteran from 401 next door came over to take a look and then went back to pack as well.

Although everyone had expended a lot of energy during the day and had been wandering around in the mountains for a long time, soldiers, especially reconnaissance soldiers, to put it bluntly, have inexhaustible energy every day.

If you don't have this much ability, who would dare to call themselves a reconnaissance soldier?

After a short rest, when everyone finished packing their bags and came downstairs to gather,

They had all recovered to the point where they were full of energy, high morale, and their eyes were fixed intently on the front.

Chen Mo stood in the queue, watching Fang Huai set up more than a dozen tables downstairs in the No. 3 cadet building. On them were all kinds of guns, including Type 81 rifles, Type 85 silenced submachine guns, Type 85 sniper rifles, wooden daggers, and Type 64 and Type 54 pistols.

Since arriving at the Army Academy, there have indeed been gun-presentation ceremonies, but never this many guns.

I've never encountered such an outdated standard-issue pistol before.

Leaving aside the other guns, these two pistols alone left Chen Mo speechless.

The Type 64 pistol has decent accuracy; within 20 meters, it can hit the bullseye every time, with no problem.

However, this pistol is too weak. At close range, even with the magazine emptied, it probably wouldn't be able to take down an old ox.

The Type 54 is even more outrageous. It has the power, but the problem is that the accuracy is terrible. Even if an old ox is standing 20 meters away, he is not confident that he can hit it. The directionality is too poor and the recoil is too great.

Chen Mo looked at the rows of guns in the distance, and he quietly turned his head to exchange a glance with Xie Yong.

As veterans, they all knew that the upcoming assessment would be more difficult than they expected.

If firearms cannot be standardized during assessments, it must be a team-based operation.

But who should we fight?
Chen Mo looked around but didn't see anyone from the first squad or the company. In the huge space downstairs in dormitory building number three, only the fourteen members of his second squad were gathered.

What's even more fucked up is.

Before the group was dismissed, Squadron Leader Yang clearly said that they would assemble at 9 o'clock sharp, but Chen Mo and the others had already arrived downstairs at 8:35.

As a result, Fang Huai completely ignored them.

The commander continued cleaning his gun or checking ammunition, leaving no stone unturned, except for ignoring the assembled troops in front of him.

Time passed little by little.

Around 8:55, just as the dozen or so veterans on site were getting a little impatient and someone was about to shout "Report!"

Fang Huai then raised his hand to check the time on his wristwatch, and then calmly instructed the training team to stop the gun maintenance.

He strolled to the front of the line, put his hands on his hips, stared, and walked back and forth, observing everyone's expressions.

Then he shouted loudly, "Attention, everyone!!"

"Take a break!"

"I'll just say a few words. Due to the lack of space at the light weapons firing range, the reconnaissance department's assessment tonight will be changed."

They claimed the venue was too small, but few people at the scene actually believed that excuse.

The Army Academy has stood firm in Shimen for so many years, and has conducted numerous mid-year and year-end assessments. The academy always plans and arranges for each large-scale assessment in advance.

It wasn't a last-minute decision, so how could there be a situation where the venue can't be cleared?
But that didn't matter. The group of veterans stared at Fang Huai with obvious disbelief, their faces saying, "Let's see how you act."

Captain Fang probably realized that he hadn't fooled these old hands, so he coughed lightly with a slightly embarrassed expression and stopped talking nonsense.

Instead, he pointed to a red flag leaning against the table. The flag wasn't big, about the same size as the company flag carried by a grassroots unit.

"Do you see this flag?"

"Our second team's mission is to successfully plant the flag on the top of Cuiping Mountain before dawn."

"Anyone with questions can ask now."

After Fang Huai finished speaking, he put his hands behind his back and pretended to be profound and unfathomable. We have no idea who he was pretending for.

"report!"

"speak."

"The mission can't be that simple, can it? Just plant a flag on the mountaintop?"

"Of course it's not that simple." Fang Huai smiled upon hearing this, then pointed to the dark mountain peaks in the distance: "Right now, four teams have already entered the mountain an hour ahead of you."

"But don't worry, their mission is to prevent you from reaching the summit before dawn."

Those present were all veterans, and just hearing Fang Huai say that made everyone, including Chen Mo, look rather grim.

Because they spent the day looking for maps, all the teams had explored the mountains several times and were extremely familiar with the terrain.

Cuiping Mountain looks big, but it's actually not that big at all.

Enemy forces that have entered the mountains ahead of time only need to be armed with Type 85 sniper rifles and occupy a few key points, making it impossible for those below to climb the mountain without air support.

There is almost no solution to climbing the mountain.

After all, all the teams are too familiar with Cuiping Mountain; the path you can find, others can also think of.

The Type 85 sniper rifle has a range of up to 800 meters. People down the mountain might not even know what's going on, and they could be called out one by one by the people up the mountain, with nowhere to hide.

"Report!!"

"speak."

What are our weapons?

"Are you blind?" Fang Huai gestured towards the long table in the distance with an annoyed look, and said, "I've had people cleaning guns here for ages, do you think I'm just killing time?"

"I've said what I needed to say. They're all veterans, so I don't need to repeat myself, right?"

"I'll give you ten minutes to assign tasks. I'll arrange a car to take you into the mountains in ten minutes."

"Whoever received the gun, come over and register the model."

"Dismissed!!"

After Fang Huai finished giving his instructions, he glanced at Chen Mo. Actually, he wanted to remind the scholar not to cause any more trouble during the upcoming assessment.

Otherwise, if the vice president finds out, he really will be sent to guard the gate.

But after thinking about it, Fang Huai ultimately didn't speak.

Clearly, he didn't think a private could perform much in the upcoming siege assessment.

He didn't mention that the cadet platoon and the squads assigned by the company were also on mountaineering missions.

Because in many cases, the situation is not perfect. Does that mean we should stop fighting if the intelligence is incomplete?

The order to disband was given, and there was a two-second silence on the scene.

Xie Yongcai clapped his hands and said, "Alright, the mission is clear. There are four teams on the mountain, but we don't know which four teams they are or how many people they have."

"But we reconnaissance soldiers are born to fight the toughest battles. It's no big deal. Get your guns."

As the captain of the trainee team, Xie Yong did indeed succeed in boosting the team's morale.

But war is no child's play.

Moreover, everyone present knew that shooting wasn't about brute force; the enemy had already occupied the best firing position and was waiting for them to come to them.

If we charge in recklessly, are we going to get picked off one by one?

Of course, even though everyone knew this battle would be difficult, no one backed down, despite the low morale of the crowd.

Some people were inspecting the Type 81 rifles, while others were pulling the bolts of silenced submachine guns.

Chen Mo frowned when he saw this.

This time, going up the mountain is different from the previous map-grabbing operation. If there is no proper command and the troops just charge in like scattered soldiers, I'm afraid that after one round of attacks, none of the fourteen men will survive.

Scouts are human too; they don't have any superhuman protective abilities.

However, it cannot withstand the machine gun rounds used by the Type 85 sniper rifle. Even though the test uses blank rounds, the effective range is less than 800 meters, which is difficult when positioned at a high vantage point.

300 meters is enough.

Enough to weave a comprehensive network of firepower, slaughtering any team attempting to climb the mountain.

Seeing some veterans about to register with their guns, Chen Mo stepped forward and said, "Wait a minute."

The abrupt words drew the attention of many people present to Chen Mo.

"Captain, how about I make the arrangements?" Chen Mo looked at Xie Yong first.

Regardless of the circumstances, Xie Yong is nominally the team leader, and the necessary procedures cannot be skipped.

"Okay, if you have a solution, just say so." Xie Yong nodded.

Whether Chen Mo has leadership skills is unclear to those present, but one thing is certain: he is more cunning than others.

Time is tight.

Chen Mo didn't mince words and said directly, "We can't just rush in like this. Who has ever achieved good results in military shooting competitions? Especially sniper shooting?"

"I!"

As soon as Chen Mo finished speaking, An Kang from dormitory 401 stepped forward, patted the Type 85 sniper rifle in his hand, and said: "I came in second in the regimental shooting competition. I am good at prone shooting from position one to eight. My score on the chest target is better than that on the head target. When aiming at the baseline, I will subconsciously place it on the midline of the human body."

Ankang's self-recommendation inspired the other veterans.

Lai Wei from 402 immediately spoke up: "I ranked fifth in the sniper competition of the 1st Guard Division. My left eye is the primary shooting eye, which will be a bit of a disadvantage in terms of rate of fire, but stability is not a problem."

Just from the introduction, you can tell that An Kang is just a marksman in the regiment, not a sniper; only Lai Wei is a proper sniper.

There's only one sniper out of fourteen people; that's a bit few.
Chen Mo raised his hand and scratched his chin. In fact, these veteran reconnaissance soldiers were all capable of handling the Type 85 sniper rifle in terms of shooting skills.

However, without a professional sniper, it is difficult to successfully capture targets on the mountain from below.

There's a world of difference between being able to handle something and being a professional.

In terms of sniping ability, Chen Mo himself isn't very good, but he can barely be considered half a sniper.

Just as the atmosphere on the scene became tense, Ding Zeliang, who had the most impatient temper, stepped forward and patted his chest, saying, "Scholar, if two snipers aren't enough, I can handle it too."

"You can ask Lao Xie. I'm best at team-based coordinated sniping in the Night Tiger Company, and I can handle long-range fire support without any problems."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo merely turned to look at Lao Ding and shook his head: "Squad leader, you're not good enough. If we're really talking about sniping skills, I think your pistol shooting skills are better."

"what?"

Ding Zeliang was stunned when Chen Mo said this.

Not to mention him, even Xie Yong opened his mouth wide and remained silent for a long time.

He was mainly frightened by the scholar's words.

Ding Zeliang's pistol shooting skills were indeed outstanding. No one in the Night Tiger Company could match him, and even in the entire 92nd Division, he consistently ranked among the top two in pistol rapid fire.

He was promoted because his rapid-fire pistol brought a lot of honor to the division, but the question is, how did the scholar know about this?

Although Ding Zeliang was a bit arrogant and had a bad temper, he never liked to show off his abilities.

That's ridiculous. There's never been a pistol shooting exercise organized at the Army Academy. Nobody should know about this.

Old Ding's shocked and incredulous expression was noticed by many veterans present.

It's not surprising that veterans who get promoted all have one or two special skills, but how did the scholar see through it?
Why can't they see it?

Ding Zeliang looked Chen Mo up and down several times as if he were seeing him for the first time before nodding: "That's right, in terms of sniping skills, my pistol rapid-fire is better."

"The question is, how did you know that?"

"It's very simple."

Chen Mo stared at Ding Zeliang and smiled, "Squad leader, cooperate with me."

"stand at attention!!"

Hearing the command.

Ding Zeliang subconsciously straightened his chest and stood at attention, while Chen Mo walked around him and said, "Even when standing in a line, a master of rapid-fire pistols has a different muscle posture than others."

"You can see that when Squad Leader Ding is standing at attention, although his right hand is close to the trouser seam as required by the formation, his five fingers are instinctively relaxed."

"This characteristic is deeply ingrained in muscle memory. Only a master of rapid-fire pistols would have this subconscious action in order to draw their gun quickly."

"Your pistol has a high rate of fire capability, which we need when we're climbing the mountain, so let's not talk about your sniping ability for now."

As soon as Chen Mo finished speaking, several veterans quietly hid their hands behind their backs.

Each person had a different expression. Damn, this scholar's eyesight is too sharp!

Can you see this?

Even Fang Huai, who had been watching the veterans make arrangements and testing their command abilities, couldn't help but raise his hands.

I stared at it several times.

Is this scholar really that outrageous?

As the captain of the cadet team, a major and deputy battalion-level officer, his observation skills were actually inferior to those of a private.
(End of this chapter)