Chapter 295: Straight Into Battle From The Start!
Each participating team collected the required supplies in the morning, and the afternoon was specifically reserved for adaptation time.
This competition does not allow teams to carry their own weaponry and equipment; all weapons and equipment used are unified, all provided by the Estonian organizers in standard NATO models.
Each country’s weaponry and equipment has differences, and unification inevitably leads to some unfairness.
To maintain fairness as much as possible, competitors from each country can bring their own weaponry and equipment to the training ground for thorough familiarization.
This includes live-fire target practice, live-fire throwing, and more, all to meet the cadets’ requirements.
Adapting to a new gun in just one afternoon is indeed quite challenging; for ordinary branches of service, it would be impossible.
Fortunately, special forces soldiers are inherently special, with regular training including learning foreign military weapons.
Especially NATO standard weapons, which have many models, but their aiming and loading mechanisms are similar, allowing one to master many after mastering one.
Even with just one afternoon, they can actually learn it to about eighty or ninety percent proficiency.
Perhaps because the American Team was harshly punished in the morning, when the Chinese Team conducted adaptation training on the parade ground in the afternoon, no one foolish came looking for trouble.
The entire process went very smoothly, with all competitors’ firearms debugged and calibrated.
There are several shooting subjects in the competition; failing to calibrate the firearms in advance would make one very passive during the event.
After collecting the required supplies in the morning and conducting adaptation training in the afternoon, there was no good sleep at night.
Because the competition had begun!
Around ten o’clock at night.
The 12 countries and 24 teams participating in the competition were uniformly taken to the seaside, boarded a warship, and transported to the sea 5 nautical miles away.
One nautical mile equals 1852 meters, equivalent to about 8 kilometers.
The ship had prepared some food and water, supplied unlimited to each competitor; though simple rations, these were the only hot food the competitors would eat in the next seventy-eight hours.
To accumulate sufficient energy in the body, to endure longer in the upcoming competition.
Every competitor was actively replenishing!
They must eat to about eighty percent full.
The reason not to eat completely full and stuff as much food as possible into the stomach is that once eaten, it can all be converted to energy later.
The reason is that eating too full prevents intense exercise.
Otherwise, the intestines and stomach can’t handle it, causing pain.
The body’s condition would plummet sharply.
Although the competitors from each country didn’t know when the competition would start, the teams were already lined up, so it was definitely tonight.
The competition start would definitely involve intense exercise; only a fool would eat until stuffed at this time.
There were no restrictions on carrying competitor food anyway, so they could carry more food to meet the needs during the upcoming competition.
However, the basic load was already seventy pounds; each additional ration added pressure to the body.
How much supplies to carry also became a technical matter.
Carrying too little means not enough to eat en route, especially drinking water taking up most of the load; unclean water in the wild causes diarrhea, which is big trouble.
Diarrhea causes rapid physical exhaustion; a weakened body can’t possibly complete the competition.
Due to the dense schedule of the competition, almost every minute arranged, even if there is abundant edible food in the primitive jungle, competitors have little time to hunt and forage.
The food for the next seventy-eight hours would mainly rely on what the cadets carry; more carried is more advantageous.
However, carrying too much causes problems.
Each person’s load is limited; the seventy-kilogram basic supplies are already at the limit, adding even one more kilogram is extreme exploitation.
It’s like a weightlifter lifting two hundred kilograms, no problem for him.
But adding beyond two hundred kilograms is adding single digits slowly; those few kilograms that seem insignificant in daily life might decide the final champion’s victory or defeat.
The same applies to load.
The greater the load, the more the body suffers, greater stamina consumption, leading to a deficit situation where carrying more drags one down instead.
For competitors to complete one hundred fifty kilometers, the load weight must be especially noted.
Chen Jun specifically warned everyone not to overdo it and pretend to be tough, carrying supplies beyond body limits, causing the body to collapse early in the competition.
Everyone must act within their capacity and carry as little as possible.
The lighter the load, the lower the body consumption, equivalent to greater advantage.
Chen Jun’s words were like an imperial decree; teammates highly obeyed Chen Jun’s arrangement, all carefully calculated clothing carried.
However.
When Chen Jun’s line of sight swept over the whole audience, he found many teams making mistakes.
Some teams’ carried supplies weight totaled over ninety pounds, yet those team members still didn’t take it seriously.
Thinking they could carry it, so they could certainly carry it the entire way.
Little did they know that cross-country on the road with ninety pounds and marching in the primitive jungle with ninety pounds are completely different concepts.
The primitive jungle is uneven first, destined for substantial up-and-down fluctuations while walking.
Equivalent to carrying ninety pounds while constantly bouncing up and down in various ways; the impact pressure on hands, feet, and body far exceeds flat ground walking.
These foreign teams don’t understand?
No!
It’s simply overestimating their own strength, thinking their physique strong and sturdy enough, naturally believing they can do it.
In common terms, it’s getting carried away.
Chen Jun noticed these teams’ situations; he naturally wouldn’t play good Samaritan to remind them, but used them as negative examples to teach Cheng Cai and other team members.
Telling them never to learn from such people, who harm themselves and the team.
Each team replenishing physical items and organizing supplies, plus final checks of personal supplies before departure, time slowly passed amid the busyness.
Unknowingly.
Time reached exactly 0:00 on the third day’s early morning.
With the chief referee’s order, the 1998 International Special Forces Soldier Competition officially began.
The first event at the start was kayak landing.
Each team needed to, without any road guidance like flashing light buoys, only with a single GDS navigator.
Drive a kayak by hand paddling to complete landing at the designated control point.
The warship’s position at the starting point was two nautical miles from the landing point.
Equivalent to 7 kilometers!
Each team had 35 minutes to, on this pitch-black night at sea, find the direction themselves and arrive at the first control point on time.
Allowed a five-minute leeway up or down; arriving too fast or too slow both not allowed.
If not arriving at the control point for check-in to get the next target point between thirty and forty minutes, each team member would be penalized with a penalty slip.
One team means four!
The way to determine scores for this subject is by each team’s arrival time at the control point; closer to the standard 35 minutes, the better the result.
After a brief introduction to the relevant competition rules, the referee began organizing the departure on site.
The earliest to depart was UK Team Two, then every five minutes, sending teams one by one, creating gaps between teams.
China Team Two was arranged behind Denmark Team Two, followed closely by the Estonian National Guard.
Over a dozen teams departed successively, the entire process lasting over an hour, appearing completely normal.
But Chen Jun, with his rich experience, sensed something different.
After China Team Two’s Wu Zhe and others departed, ten more competition teams went out successively, yet still no hearing of China Team One’s departure.
This sounded normal, yet very abnormal.
Because other countries’ two teams would be intentionally arranged close by the organizers, with gaps not exceeding five teams.
Yet China’s two teams were spread so wide, timeline stretched over an hour.
And the only such case in the whole audience!
Something unusual must have a demon; this was very off.
Just as Chen Jun guessed who was behind it, the answer soon jumped out itself.
American Team One, led by American captain Joseph, was followed immediately by China Team One being arranged to depart; the two conflicting teams were put together.
Chen Jun and team members like Cheng Cai all understood; definitely these Americans wanted to cause trouble.
The marching route for this competition was roughly the same; all teams followed the same road in and out, differing only in departure times.
American Team deliberately departed just before the Chinese Team, right in front of China Team One.
Anyone not a fool could see that American Team One wanted to pressure China Team One to secretly tamper during the competition.
“Can’t win head-on, so playing tricks? I want to see what tricks you can pull.”
Chen Jun disdained the American Team’s behavior and became somewhat wary of such actions by each team, but had no fear at all.
As long as one’s own strength is solid enough, no fear of petty tricks.
However, what Chen Jun didn’t know was that the American Team’s arrangements weren’t over.
After China Team One departed right after American Team One, American Team Two surprisingly lined up right behind China Team One, sandwiching China Team One perfectly in the middle.
With two teams front and back clamping one team, plenty of tricks could be played.
But Chen Jun at this moment didn’t know; American Team Two was right behind his own, his mind full only of messing with American Team One again.
Since the American Team wanted to play tricks, let them know what hitting an iron plate feels like.
With this idea of messing with the American Team, Chen Jun led the team shouting a slogan paddling the boat, playing the advantage of troop marching songs here.
Paddling to the rhythm of the military song was more efficient than chaotic paddling.
Chen Jun originally thought the American Team would cause trouble, definitely waiting until landing; after all, tampering while paddling at sea is hard.
Moreover, the sea was pitch black, night temperature dropped sharply, sea wind blowing coldly on the body, slight carelessness leads to deviation.
Time and route were tightly timed; once deviated, definitely lose four cards.
Yet not even ten minutes after departure, Chen Jun discovered American Team One right ahead, clearly waiting for them intentionally.
“Want to deliberately block our position? But blocking like this won’t work either?”
Chen Jun really couldn’t understand American Team One’s operation.
“Yeah, departing every five minutes per team, time difference only allows five minutes; American Team One doesn’t want penalty points, so they can only arrive at most in forty minutes, while we’re five minutes slower, arriving together at exactly thirty-five minutes, our result would be much better than theirs.” Cheng Cai was also puzzled.
“Could American Team One want to drag us down? Pull us to penalty together??” Wu Liu Yi guessed.
“Impossible.”
Chen Jun immediately opposed and said: “American Team is aiming for champion, and has greater reputation; we’re participating for the first time, equivalent to barefoot.
American Team dragging us down together, they lose more than us.”
“Then it’s strange; what are they up to?” Cheng Cai was baffled.
Seeing the American Team ahead getting closer, Chen Jun grew more confused about their operation, unable to figure out what they wanted.
Until American Team One came ahead, deliberately blocking position forcing Chen Jun to decelerate.
Both sides dragged like this, over twenty minutes passed.
Then splashing water sounds came from behind, distance rapidly closing in.
Hearing this clearly off paddling frequency, recalling at China Team One’s departure American Team Two hadn’t gone yet, Chen Jun glanced ahead, then turned to look behind; the fog in his mind instantly cleared.
“Damn it, I get it.”
Chen Jun said in sudden realization: “The one behind us might be American Team Two; Team One ahead slowing speed is waiting for Team Two to catch up.
Then using Team Two to hold us; as long as American Team Two blocks well, our time exceeds forty minutes, leading to penalty.
While their two teams, one front one back, both complete the subject within time.”
Chen Jun’s explanation was very clear; Cheng Cai and others immediately reacted.
All cursing American Team shameless!
“Then what do we do now? If their bad idea succeeds, we’ll lose to them; I really don’t want to lose.” Xu Sanduo said pitifully.
“No problem, don’t panic.”
Chen Jun was an old fox of several lifetimes; this little trick couldn’t stump him; eyes rolled, immediately had an idea.
“We dead bite American Team One, ignore their Team Two; if their Team Two wants to overtake ahead, let them.”
Chen Jun didn’t explain the reason in detail, but Cheng Cai, Xu Sanduo, and Wu Liu Yi unhesitatingly cooperated to execute Chen Jun’s order.
With tacit twelve paddles accelerating, they rammed straight into the butt of American Team’s kayak.
Just topping American Team One’s butt forward.
“Holy shit, damn yellow-skinned monkey.”
American captain Joseph stumbled from the collision, nearly flipping off the kayak, couldn’t help cursing, continued executing his plan.
Just as Chen Jun guessed.
Joseph wanted to wait for American Team Two to rush up, then accelerate to shake off China Team One.
Leaving China Team One for American Team Two to handle, letting American Team Two technically pressure China Team One’s speed, preventing them from arriving on time.
Had to say.
This plan was very perfect; ordinary teams encountering it would be doomed.
Unfortunately.
China Team One had Chen Jun this freak; the whole team became freak-level, far beyond ordinary teams.
Using this little trick Chen Jun had played to death, impossible to stump Chen Jun.
