Chapter 75: The Great Battle Begins!!
August 21,
“Today is a good day for the competition departure…”
The annual mid-year Grand Competition finally arrived. As the Political Instructor Hong Xingguo, who is a political officer, he specially held a send-off before departure.
It was mainly to boost morale, stabilize the team members’ emotions, and let everyone have no psychological burden.
Gao Cheng, as the team leader for the competition, had to go to the regiment with the competition team. As soon as he got on stage, he said a few words and announced to get in the truck and depart.
The competing competitors, led by Chen Jun, all got on the troops’ distinctive canvas-covered truck.
The warriors of Steel Seventh Company, who could only cheer below, saw the competitors happily going to participate in the competition, and their feelings were very complex.
On one hand, it was sincere blessing, hoping that the competition team would achieve good results and bring honor to Steel Seventh Company.
As a member of Steel Seventh Company, it was also immensely glorious.
On the other hand, it was also immense envy, with waves of sourness in their hearts, thinking that if they were on the truck, they would definitely smile happier than them.
Unfortunately.
With insufficient strength, there was no method at all, and all they could do was send blessings.
…
The venue for the mid-year Grand Competition was not in the regiment. The regiment headquarters did not have such a large training ground to unfold, but several areas were specially designated in the outdoor training ground.
Taking advantage of the geographical advantage of the plateau region, it was hard to find dense forest and babbling streams in the wild, but finding a flat ground was very easy.
Any size of land was available.
When Steel Seventh Company’s convoy arrived at the designated competition venue according to the regiment’s notification, logistics personnel immediately came over to register.
Then there were specialized personnel responsible for the competition who guided them to the assigned Camp No. 7 for settlement.
Steel Seventh Company’s camp had two field tents, one of which was the dormitory for the competition competitors, with folding iron frame field beds already set up inside.
Five field beds were placed on the left and right respectively, just enough for the ten competing competitors to live in.
Although there was nothing in the tent except the iron frame beds, no furniture or utensils at all, ordinary people would have no way to live in it.
But for soldiers, it was completely no problem.
Because soldiers go out fully self-sufficient, from daily necessities to everyday items, everything was complete.
If it weren’t for the competition venue providing meals and drinking water, without needing to bring cooks themselves, Chen Jun and his group could handle even food and drink on their own when going out.
The inside of the other tent was slightly different, divided into three compartments.
One compartment had a field bed and a desk, a level higher than the competitors’ room, and it was clear at a glance that it was the team leader’s room.
The other two compartments were near the tent door outside. The left compartment only had two field beds, while the right compartment had no bed, but had a gun cabinet and a storage shelf.
From this layout, it could be distinguished that it belonged to the tent for logistics personnel and supplies.
The team leader specially lived in one compartment, the communicator and the quartermaster lived in one room together, and the remaining compartment was specially used to store competition gear.
The personal equipment and weapons needed for the competition were not provided by the regiment.
They all needed to be brought over themselves.
Maintaining them well in advance in their own company, completing precise calibration themselves, and using guns they were more proficient with to better perform, was one reason.
Secondly, it was to prevent competitors from performing abnormally and blaming it on the weapons provided by the competition side, causing unnecessary conflict.
This method was the common model for competitions, and international competitions all required bringing one’s own competition gear.
The personnel participating in the competition could not carry them all the time. During the competition, they needed to bring the weapons, and at other times, they needed to store them.
The gun cabinet and storage shelf could then come into play.
After the convoy arrived at Steel Seventh Company’s exclusive Camp No. 7, Chen Jun and his group got off the truck and immediately started their respective tasks.
Company Commander Gao Cheng was responsible for going to find the person in charge of the competition to complete check-in and receive relevant process documents, etc.
Perhaps to cultivate, or for other reasons.
Gao Cheng specially brought Chen Jun along.
The quartermaster was the “logistics chief” for this competition, and he was responsible for coordinating related logistics work.
Including but not limited to reporting meals at the canteen—if not reported, there might be no food; going to the Logistics Department to receive daily necessities, such as drinking water, milk, and other supplies; understanding various arrangements and precautions during the competition, etc.
More than a dozen companies all crowded together for the competition, plus various units serving the competition, hundreds of people together was very chaotic.
Whether the competition team could avoid mishaps and smoothly complete various competition projects.
The quartermaster’s responsibility was very heavy.
Therefore, the quartermasters of most companies were either experienced non-commissioned officers with three or more terms, or officers with flexible minds.
The communicator, as the army’s “super secretary,” also had a lot of work.
He needed to help the company commander, the quartermaster, and himself organize bedding and daily necessities, and also help manage the firearms and equipment in the storage compartment.
As for the competitors participating in the competition, they were actually the most relaxed at this moment.
They only needed to organize their personal items in the dormitory, then stay quietly in the dormitory without running around to rest, waiting for the company commander, captain, and quartermaster to return.
They would inform everyone of various matters and rules regarding the competition and life through a meeting.
After all, the competitors were the protagonists of the mid-year Grand Competition, and they needed sufficient rest before the competition started to recuperate and wait to explode on the venue.
If it were border defense companies or such for the mid-year Grand Competition, the distance between companies was relatively far, tens of kilometers was normal.
The competition check-in time usually took several days.
But as the 702 Regiment of the field army, all were nearby, and close companies could run over in just a few minutes, so gathering together was very simple.
Therefore, the competition check-in time was just one day.
If they couldn’t report to the competition command post on the day, it would be treated as forfeit, the entire company’s competition score would be zero, and subsequent disciplinary action from the regiment headquarters.
No company would make such a mistake, so all fifteen companies arrived before dark.
After uniformly eating dinner at the canteen at six in the afternoon, the competition command post organized the team leaders of the fifteen companies for a pre-competition public meeting.
Various precautions and the superiors’ guiding thoughts, etc., added up to nearly two hours.
To be fair.
Troops’ meetings take quite some time, not as straightforward as their style.
After the team leaders finished the meeting and returned to the camp, they still had to organize all competitors for a meeting to continue passing down what the command post said.
Letting the competitors understand the competition rules, what the scoring mechanism was like, what places needed attention, what to pay attention to at the venue, etc.
After the internal meeting was over, another hour or more had passed.
Less than an hour left until lights out and sleep.
“Everyone, don’t have pressure. As long as you steady your mentality, even if you don’t perform exceptionally, just perform at normal training level, we are still the strongest. There are few other fourteen companies, no difficulty. Don’t overthink tonight, just lie on the bed and rest well for me.”
Chen Jun represented Gao Cheng to host the meeting, finally admonished the competitors, turned to Gao Cheng and asked: “Company commander, anything else to say?”
“None, meeting adjourned.”
Gao Cheng was very confident in his own soldiers, with a full face of smile, already impatient.
