Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Chapter 61 Becoming the Class Monitor

Soon, Lu Mingfei and the others arrived at the shooting range.

Sergeant Herman was already waiting there. He watched the group of pale-faced, dazed recruits run over and curled his lip.

"A bunch of cowards, they become like this just from eating a meal?" he mocked.

"Pick up your guns! Today, I'll teach you how to use them to save your lives and send the enemy to hell!"

""

"Watch closely, I'll only demonstrate once!" After saying that, Sergeant Herman took a G98 rifle, leaned against a sandbag, and aimed at a target in the distance.

Position the gun, cheek rest, aim, hold your breath, and fire.

A crisp gunshot rang out over the shooting range, and a clear black dot appeared on the chest of the humanoid target in the distance.

"See? It's that simple!" Sergeant Herman put down his gun, stood up again, and said with a disdainful tone.

"Treat your guns as part of your bodies! Breathe steadily, keep your hands steady, and pull the trigger decisively! Your goal is to get the bullets into the enemy's body, not to send them soaring into the sky!"

"Now, first row! Step forward! Take five bullets! Load! Ready to fire!"

The recruits were divided into several rows and took turns going forward to receive bullets. The guns they had received before were not loaded with bullets, since it was still dangerous to give guns loaded with live ammunition to these recruits who had not yet received military training.

Lu Mingfei was among the first group. He walked to the firing position, lay down on the rough ground and sandbags, and felt a bit of pain from the sand.

He recalled Sergeant Hermann's actions just now: loading bullets, cocking the gun, pressing his shoulder against the buttstock, his cheek against the cold wooden handguard, squinting his eyes, and aiming at the blurry human figure a hundred meters away through the notch rear sight and front sight.

It was quiet all around, with only the sound of the wind and the tense breathing of other recruits in the distance. He could smell the earth, his own sweat, and a faint lingering stench of decay.

He forced himself to forget those things, focusing all his attention on the crosshair and the target, breathing—calm—steady—

boom!

The gunshot rang out, and he felt a hard slam into his shoulder. A speck of dust rose from the edge of the human-shaped target in the distance; it had missed.

Although Lu Mingfei had used guns before, he had only used small revolvers. This was the first time he had used a rifle like this, and he hadn't fully grasped the feel of it yet.

"Wrist too loose! Cheek not properly attached! Start over!" Sergeant Hermann shouted at Lu Mingfei's performance.

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath, pulled the bolt back, and aimed again. This time, he pressed the butt of the gun harder, his cheek pressed even closer to the barrel.

boom!

The bullet hit the target, nine rings!

"Continue." Sergeant Herman looked at Lu Mingfei with some surprise, but quickly concealed his emotions and continued.

At this point, Lu Mingfei had completely found his rhythm, and he fired three shots in a row.

Rings 10! Rings 10! Rings 10!

"Next group!" Sergeant Hermann glanced at the target and said to the others behind him.

Lu Mingfei got up and made way for the other soldiers, who soon began shooting practice, but most of them missed the target.

This was their first time firing a gun, but Sergeant Hermann insulted them without any politeness and even whipped the recruits who missed the target with a horsewhip five times.

When Caesar finally appeared, his posture on the sandbag was textbook perfect. He didn't rush to fire, but first took a few deep breaths and measured the distance through the sights.

boom!boom!boom!boom!boom!

Five more shots were fired in quick succession, almost without pause. After the gunfire subsided, five closely spaced bullet holes appeared on the chest of the humanoid target in the distance. All five shots hit the bullseye.

After firing all the bullets, Caesar stood up, raised his chin at Sergeant Hermann, and adopted an arrogant and smug posture.

"What's your name?" Sergeant Herman asked, looking at the arrogant blond youth in front of him.

"Caesar Hoffmann," Caesar replied decisively.

"I'll remember you, Caesar Hoffman," Sergeant Herman said with a smile, though his smile was quite eerie. He then turned to Lu Mingfei and asked.

"What's your name?"

"William Hans," Lu Mingfei replied immediately.

"You two did a good job today. I've decided to make you two acting squad leaders, each in charge of twenty-four men," Sergeant Hermann said.

Lu Mingfei was stunned. He had never even been a group leader before, and he never expected that he would become the squad leader leading twenty-four new recruits.

Caesar, on the other hand, felt it was only natural; someone as outstanding as him, who else would he choose?

"However, you two shouldn't be so happy yet. From today onwards, you two are rivals. If your squad loses to another squad, your entire squad will be punished." Sergeant Hermann's face became increasingly distorted.

He realized during his run yesterday that these two recruits were not easy to handle; they were both arrogant. So he decided to let them fight each other.

He was well aware that his training methods would cause resentment among the new recruits, and that resentment would inevitably erupt if it accumulated for too long.

Then the solution would be to transfer the resentment gathered on him to the other party. This would be the perfect solution.

Lu Mingfei's face immediately darkened. Damn it, they're implementing collective punishment! He has absolutely no management experience; how is he supposed to manage these twenty-four people?

Caesar's reaction was quite different. Instead of showing any sign of embarrassment, his handsome and arrogant face revealed an even more obvious smile, one of conquest.

An opponent? That suits him perfectly! His life motto has never included being subservient to anyone.

Becoming a squad leader, leading others, and defeating opponents—this is what suits his identity and personality. He believes that one day he will rise from squad leader to general.

Since Lu Mingfei, this young man from the East, can keep up with him, then why not expand this contest from a simple individual competition to a team level? In any case, he will definitely be the one to win in the end.

"Yes, sir!" Caesar straightened his chest and responded loudly, his gaze sweeping over Lu Mingfei beside him with a scrutinizing and provocative air.

Lu Mingfei felt Caesar's gaze and sighed inwardly, but knew he couldn't refuse. He took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound as steady as possible: "Yes, sir."

"Very good." Sergeant Hermann nodded in satisfaction; this was exactly the kind of competition he needed.

"Now, everyone assemble! I'm distributing the list of attendees to you. Remember, from today onwards, your class's grades are your grades, and your class's mistakes are your mistakes. If one person makes a mistake, the whole class will be punished! Do you understand?!"

"Understood!" the recruits replied in varying degrees of confusion.

Soon, the personnel list was distributed, and Lu Mingfei and Caesar each received their class's personnel list.

Lu Mingfei quickly glanced at the twenty-four names, most of which were unfamiliar. However, he noticed that they included the skinny boy who almost collapsed on the first day of running and was whipped this morning for forgetting to bring his gun, as well as several unlucky guys who performed at the bottom of today's shooting training and were scolded mercilessly by Herman.

His heart sank further; this lineup—it didn't look good.

The situation on Caesar's side doesn't seem to be much better; the list also includes people who are physically weak, slow to react, and have obviously poor mental fortitude.

But Caesar showed no worry, only absolute confidence that he could win no matter what cards he was dealt.

"Now, led by your squad leader, you will proceed with the next training exercise: crawling and obstacle course!" Sergeant Hermann pointed to an area on the other side of the training field that was filled with barbed wire, mud pits, and low walls.

"Hoffmann's class, start from the left! Hans' class, from the right! The last class to finish, everyone get extra practice!"

The competitive atmosphere ignited instantly as Sergeant Hermann gave the order.

"Follow me! Quick!" Caesar waved to his twenty-four still somewhat bewildered subordinates without hesitation and took the lead in running towards the obstacle course on the left.

Although he was arrogant, he did have a natural leadership quality that made the new recruits follow him instinctively.

Lu Mingfei's side was in a bit of a mess. He looked at the group of new recruits behind him, whose expressions were all different, and most of them looked timid and confused. He raised his voice and shouted.

"Everyone, listen to my command! Follow me closely! Pay close attention to my movements! Our goal is to complete the training and, as far as possible, avoid injury! Understand?"

"Understood—I understand—" The responses were sparse.

"Louder!" Lu Mingfei shouted, recalling Herman's previous teaching methods.

"Understood!!" This time the voices were more unified.

"Okay! Follow me!" Lu Mingfei no longer hesitated and turned to run towards the obstacle course on the right. He had to run in the lead and set an example, while also constantly looking back to observe the team and remind those who had fallen behind or lost focus.

Obstacle course training is more grueling than simple running and shooting. The low barbed wire is covered with barbs that can easily cause injury if you're not careful, and it's also covered with smelly pig entrails, simulating the conditions of a battlefield as much as possible.

After passing through the barbed wire, there are various obstacles. Climbing over the low wall requires strength and skill, and many people have fallen and gotten bruised due to excessive force or incorrect posture.

Lu Mingfei had to complete these actions himself while also directing and helping the other members of the class.

"Head down! Keep your butt down! Crawl over there!"

"Give him a hand! Yes, that's it!"

"Don't stop! Keep going!"

His throat was almost hoarse from shouting, and sweat mixed with mud streamed down his face. He realized that leading a team was more than ten times more tiring than completing a task alone, not only physically but also mentally.

On the other hand, Caesar's performance was highly efficient. He also took the lead, nimbly overcoming each obstacle while directing the troops with concise and powerful commands.

He would relentlessly urge those who lagged behind and reprimand those who made mistakes without hesitation, but his ability and presence did indeed intimidate most people, making the class's actions appear more organized.

This kind of training is routine for him; he does it frequently in Kassel.

When the training ended, both classes completed the task, but Caesar's class was significantly better than Lu Mingfei's class in terms of time and overall completion.

Several students in Lu Mingfei's class sustained minor injuries while climbing over obstacles, and one student twisted his ankle in a mud pit.

Sergeant Herman inspected the two platoons of new recruits, announcing the news with a blank expression.

"Hoffmann's team is ahead in time, with two players suffering minor injuries. Hans' team is three minutes behind, with five players suffering minor injuries. According to the rules, the entire Hans' team will have extra training! One hundred push-ups! Begin now!"

The recruits in Lu Mingfei's squad let out a groan, but seeing Sergeant Herman's cold eyes and the slightly sympathetic or gloating glances from Caesar's squad, they could only resign themselves to their fate and lie down.

As the squad leader, Lu Mingfei was the first to start, but he was seething with anger. What the hell was going on? He just wanted to survive until the end of the war, but now he had to take charge of a whole bunch of people and be dragged down by them.

One hundred push-ups are undoubtedly torture for exhausted recruits; many of them are struggling on the ground by the end.

By the time the last person barely finished, it was completely dark.

"Dismissed! You can go have dinner now!" Sergeant Hermann finally spoke.

He eventually allowed these people to have dinner, after all, high-intensity training requires a sufficient food supply, and then he turned and left.

The members of Lu Mingfei's squad were slumped on the ground like mud, not wanting to lift a single finger. Lu Mingfei himself was also exhausted, but he still forced himself to help the soldier who had twisted his ankle up.

"Thank you—thank you, squad leader—" the soldier said, his voice trembling with tears. He was the young man who hadn't brought a gun earlier. Lu Mingfei remembered that his name on the roster was Bruckner. He was only seventeen years old and the youngest soldier here.

Lu Mingfei waved his hand without saying anything, then helped Bruckner and the others walk towards the cafeteria. When they arrived at the cafeteria, the other platoons had already finished eating, and Lu Mingfei's platoon was the last to arrive.

However, because Lu Mingfei's class had just been doing push-ups, Caesar's class was granted the right to come to the canteen early, and the last of the hot food in the canteen went to their plates.

All that was left for Lu Mingfei and his companions was cold vegetable soup and hard, black bread that could kill someone.

Lu Mingfei and his group brought the cold vegetable soup and black bread to the table. Everyone looked ashen-faced. After a long day, eating something like this was bound to upset anyone.

The cold vegetable soup had no flavor at all, and the hard, dark bread required a lot of force to break apart, chewing it felt like gnawing on wood chips.

The Caesar class at the next table was completely different from the Lu Mingfei class; they were chatting and laughing with smiles on their faces.

Although they were very tired today, they didn't have to do push-ups later, and the vegetable soup on their plates was hot, with meat in it. In addition, their plates also had sausage and some jam.

This wouldn't normally be anything special, but seeing the treatment Lu Mingfei's class received, they felt a sense of superiority and naturally started laughing.

Looking at the food on the plates of the students in Caesar's class, many students in Lu Mingfei's class showed envious expressions. There is no harm without comparison.

"Tsk, look at how much they're eating—" In Lu Mingfei's class, a burly recruit named Otto muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed on a sliced ​​sausage on the next table, his saliva practically dripping down his face.

"If our class had won too—" another tall, thin recruit named Carl sighed.

Zi Guang unconsciously glanced at Caesar, who was dining with the elegance of an aristocrat, with a hint of regret in his eyes. Why wasn't their class monitor Caesar? If their class monitor were Caesar, would they have won't have lost?