Chapter 103: Thirty Years East Of The River, Thirty Years West!
Just now, everyone was a perfect score expert, but suddenly more than half of the competitors couldn’t do it, with such a huge gap before and after, it’s indeed hard to accept for a moment.
Fortunately, among the two 100-ring competitors, there was Wu Liu Yi from Steel Seventh Company.
A veteran soldier is indeed a veteran soldier, he withstood the enormous pressure.
Gao Cheng and Regiment Commander Wang both smiled!
And for those competitors who didn’t hit 100 rings, the company commanders and regiment commanders behind them had their hearts in their throats, and all the smiles on their faces disappeared.
This included Regiment Commander Yang from 701 Regiment.
In the first group, both competitors from their regiment failed to hit 100 rings.
At this critical time when they were “fighting” against 702 Regiment, having soldiers under them not step up was indeed a very embarrassing matter.
Seeing Gao Cheng and Regiment Commander Wang with smiles on their faces, Regiment Commander Yang felt very uncomfortable inside.
It was as if they were mocking him.
Fortunately, 701 Regiment still had two soldiers who hadn’t shot yet, so it wasn’t decided who would win, and Regiment Commander Yang still had a great opportunity, so he wasn’t broken yet.
Gao Cheng and Regiment Commander Wang also didn’t rush to counterattack, after all, Cheng Cai’s result hadn’t come out yet.
If they celebrated too early, that would be a big loss of face.
The atmosphere on the sidelines was joyful for some, sad for others, and spectators for the rest; almost every team’s emotions were different, and the competitors on the field were also under immense pressure at this moment.
Even the dominant Division Reconnaissance Battalion in previous division competitions had their confident expressions completely disappear.
Everyone frowned, with a bit of anxiety.
No one could have expected that this year’s competitors would have a sharpshooter explosion, with everyone becoming so fierce; the change was too sudden, and no amount of confidence was useful.
Amid the turbulent waves after the first group finished shooting, the second group immediately went up to shoot at the target.
“Pa pa pa pa pa…”
After a burst of gunshots.
In the silence of the whole audience almost where you could hear a pin drop, under the unavoidably tense atmosphere, the target inspector climbed out of the target pit and began reporting the targets one by one.
“Target number one 99 rings, target number two 100 rings, target number three 93 rings, target number four 89 rings, target number five 97 rings, target number six 99 rings.”
The results of the second group were reported one after another, and the spectator seats immediately buzzed with discussion.
Perhaps the pressure on the second group was too great, causing the competitors to underperform under pressure, or maybe the overall strength of the second group itself was not as good as the first group.
Whatever the reason.
The second group’s results were even worse than the first group, and there were even competitors who scored in the low eighties.
Now who could stay calm?
Gao Cheng and Regiment Commander Wang saw that Cheng Cai only got 99 rings, while among the first group’s results, the Division Reconnaissance Battalion had two competitors who both hit 100 rings.
If these two people were on the same team…
As soon as Gao Cheng and the regiment commander thought of this, their hearts sank halfway.
The smiles on their faces were gone!
Each unit had two competition teams competing, the Division Reconnaissance Battalion’s clothes were different and recognizable at a glance, but you couldn’t tell if they belonged to team one or team two.
And Regiment Commander Yang sitting right next to them had emotions that completely couldn’t hold up at this moment.
Because among their regiment’s four competitors, only one hit 100 rings, and the rest were 99, 98, and 94 rings respectively.
What made him most upset was…
The two competitors who hit 100 and 99 rings—if they were on the same team, there would still be a chance, but only he knew they weren’t on the same team.
This was really hard to hold together!
This meant that his 701 Regiment’s four competitors had been exactly as Gao Cheng prophesied—truly four people lost to two from 702 Regiment.
As the double runner-up from the previous division competition, the absolute top regiment under the Reconnaissance Battalion.
Losing to last place in last year’s, the year before’s… every year’s division grand competition—this was unacceptable to Regiment Commander Yang, his face as black as a lump of charcoal.
Gao Cheng and Regiment Commander Wang didn’t know how 701 Regiment’s four competitors were divided; their minds were fully on the Reconnaissance Battalion.
Because the Reconnaissance Battalion had two who hit 100 rings, if these two competitors were on the same team, then Steel Seventh Company would face losing points right from the start.
For the ambitious Regiment Commander Wang, it would be a very heavy blow.
Everyone was unclear about other teams’ information, making the atmosphere on the field very strange for a moment; they could only wait for the referee to announce the final results.
All the results were submitted to the referee team, who checked the target papers one by one to confirm no reporting errors, and then the chief referee handed them to the host to announce the results.
“Rifle 150-meter precision shooting project, after the wonderful competition of the second round, the results are out. I now announce the top three.
Third place is team 2 from 701 Regiment, with the two competitors’ scores of 100 rings and 98 rings respectively.
Second place is vacant, because there are two tied for first…”
“Tied for first?”
The host’s words stirred the whole audience’s atmosphere; they didn’t expect the competition to be so intense and neck-and-neck, with two teams still undecided after the second round.
Which two teams had such strength, sparking everyone’s curiosity.
Only Regiment Commander Yang, who got third place but couldn’t be happy, looking even worse, had no curiosity at all; he only hoped it wouldn’t be 702 Regiment.
Anyone from any regiment would do, as long as it wasn’t 702 Regiment.
Unfortunately.
His prayers were completely useless, and even had the opposite effect.
“They are team 1 from 702 Regiment, and team 1 from the Division Reconnaissance Battalion; both teams’ scores are 100 rings and 99 rings respectively.
Next, let’s give them a round of warm applause to congratulate them on becoming the individual first in this competition item. We hope…”
When the two tied-for-first lists came out, Regiment Commander Yang was petrified on the spot, sitting there with a face full of dejection, wanting to crawl into a crack in the ground.
The atmosphere on the field was instantly lifted to the skies; no one dared believe this would be the outcome.
Last place from the previous competition actually stood together with the genuine first place.
This was too dramatic!
Even the division commander and political commissar on the grandstand, hearing that 702 Regiment had taken individual first and matched the Division Reconnaissance Battalion’s strength, both had surprised expressions.
This dark horse that 702 Regiment suddenly burst onto the scene particularly piqued their interest in discussion.
“Not bad, 702 Regiment has been suppressed for so many years, never shone in the grand competition before; tying with the Reconnaissance Battalion this time is like a comeback battle—not easy. Hope this isn’t a flash in the pan.”
The political commissar praised with a smile at the corner of his mouth, his eyes already looking down at Regiment Commander Wang.
Regiment Commander Wang was the most senior regiment commander in T Division, having been in the regiment commander position for over ten years; other contemporaries of his were at least division commanders.
Even without merit, there was hard work.
The political commissar actually liked this diligent team from the bottom of his heart and hoped 702 Regiment could shine, allowing Old Wang to move up a position.
The reason Regiment Commander Wang hadn’t moved up for so many years was partly because his personality was too upright and fiery.
Not only did he not use connections, he also offended quite a few people.
In the original drama, to change Steel Seventh Company, when Regiment Commander Wang’s temper flared, he even dared to confront the division commander without giving face, showing how stubborn his temper was.
