Chapter 81: The Regiment Commander’s Inner Demon And Obsession
Regiment Commander Wang and Gao Cheng chatted enthusiastically, while the company commanders from other companies watched with envy.
Especially the Third Company, which took first place in the regiment last time, and the Sixth Company, which prepared very thoroughly this time and was full of ambition; the two company commanders felt the worst inside.
They could accept picking up a new recruit with full talent potential, but they also got a sharpshooter cadet cadre for free.
This luck…
The two company commanders were envious to the point of wanting to curse!!
Fortunately, it was only the first project now, and it was the rare pistol 80-meter precision shooting, which was a weak point for both companies.
The remaining projects were completely different; they both had ace top student competitors in their hands.
As long as the competitors performed normally, they were confident of winning the championship.
Once Chen Jun finished calling the target, the competition was over; the host announced on the stage that assembly would be on the parade ground in twenty minutes for the next competition project.
The competitors from each company returned from the shooting range on their own, but the climax stirred up by Chen Jun was still fermenting.
Chen Jun, who returned to rendezvous with the Steel Seventh Company competition team, had his first meeting in this lifetime with Regiment Commander Wang Qing Rui, opening up “fighting side by side” for the next decade or so.
At this moment.
A new milestone was opened.
Regiment Commander Wang did not know Chen Jun’s lofty ambitions; he only knew that this newly official cadre gave him a burning hope.
The 702 Regiment’s strength in T Division was not bad, solidly one of the main assault regiments.
But since T Division started the mid-year grand competition, more than ten years had passed unknowingly, yet the 702 Regiment had never taken first place in the division grand competition.
They hadn’t even taken many single-event first places.
And in the key “run fast shoot accurately,” the two core common subjects for the troops.
The 702 Regiment could occasionally snag a single-event first in “run fast,” like a phoenix feather or unicorn horn, but added up, it couldn’t even match a fraction of the Division Reconnaissance Battalion.
If Steel Seventh Company was the 702 Regiment’s top student, then the Division Reconnaissance Battalion, assembled with the division’s elites, was T Division’s ace.
The top student among top students!
One could imagine how fierce its strength was!
The 702 Regiment had some harvest in “run fast,” but in “shoot accurately,” it was simply disastrous, with no breakthrough of the “zero score” to this day.
Like a curse, not a single first place.
Precisely because “shoot accurately” was still a zero score to this day, years of accumulated resentment had become Regiment Commander Wang’s heart ailment, constantly nagging at him uncomfortably deep inside.
Regiment Commander Wang did not want to wait until he retired or left the regiment commander position without fulfilling his wish, leaving a regret in life.
He already had one regret in his youth and did not want another new one in old age.
So every mid-year grand competition, he paid extra attention to shooting.
He desperately hoped to produce a sharpshooter to break this damned zero score.
Today, Chen Jun shot a groundbreaking score, suppressing the whole audience with a shocking fifty rings, suddenly giving the Regiment Commander, who had craved it for years, a glimpse of hope.
One could imagine.
How excited his mood was at this moment.
So when Chen Jun and Cheng Cai returned, Regiment Commander Wang even enthusiastically went up to greet them personally, taking the initiative to shake hands with Chen Jun and Cheng Cai.
Chen Jun could still stay steady with such enthusiasm, after all, he was someone who had come down from the mountaintop.
Cheng Cai, who had not seen much of the world, faced the regiment commander’s such enthusiastic attitude; even though he liked to curry favor with leaders, he was still flattered and surprised at this moment.
His hands were shaking with excitement!!
“I didn’t expect it, I didn’t expect it; Steel Seventh Company actually has hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Chen Jun, Cheng Cai, you two did very well, taking the single-event first place is well-deserved. This year’s sharpshooter, I hope it’s you two.”
Regiment Commander Wang praised them excitedly in front of everyone, and in his uncontrollable emotion, he even made a statement on the spot.
“No matter what Steel Seventh Company’s results are in the end, you two must prepare well, represent our regiment to the division level, and bring back first place in this project for me. How about it? Do you have the confidence to complete the mission?”
“Go to the division grand competition?”
Hearing Regiment Commander Wang’s words directly, a smile immediately bloomed on Gao Cheng’s face.
Wu Liu Yi and the other team members were happy for them but also very envious of the treatment Chen Jun and Cheng Cai received; at the same time, their own drive was even stronger, eager to perform well and go to the division grand competition.
Being able to go to the division level after just the first project of the competition was indeed something worth getting excited about.
“Have confidence!!”
Chen Jun’s answer was direct and powerful, his loud voice representing his determination.
“Guarantee to complete the mission, not let down the regiment commander’s favor.”
Cheng Cai did not expect such a good thing, his face flushed red with joy as he stood straight, seriously giving his reply.
“Good, good, good.”
Regiment Commander Wang liked this confidence, satisfied as he said “good” three times in a row.
To not affect the following competition, the rest and preparation time was only twenty minutes; after saying a few more words, he left contentedly.
In a great mood, Gao Cheng waved his hand grandly, holding his head high as he led the Steel Seventh Company competitors back.
On the road, no matter which company commander he saw, he would greet them loudly, not concealing his pride at all, just to announce it to the world.
Subtle? Humble?
Those two words were not in Gao Cheng’s dictionary.
To defeat all their competitors under the attention of all the regiment’s company commanders and create a new record, anyone would be this mad.
The crowd of company commanders, besides envy and helplessness, could only grit their teeth, determined to take down Steel Seventh Company in the next projects and regain face.
This time, Gao Cheng truly gained great face, feeling unprecedentedly refreshed inside, not afraid at all of the other company commanders’ challenges.
Back at the camp, he gave everyone Red Bull; for the next projects, Gao Cheng was equally determined to win, specially instructing Cheng Cai and Wu Liu Yi.
Stimulated by Chen Jun’s perfect fifty rings, Cheng Cai and Wu Liu Yi were now full of ambition.
They must take full marks and create a new regiment record.
For competitors from the same company in the same shooting project to all hit full rings, no company had achieved it yet; breaking it would be a brand new record.
Chen Jun had already created one new record; Cheng Cai and Wu Liu Yi also had ambitions to create another.
Twenty minutes passed.
The competitors for rifle 150-meter precision shooting assembled on the large parade ground; after simply repeating the competition rules, they were taken to the shooting range to start the new round of competition.
The rifle shooting range was the same as the earlier pistol shooting range, just with the target moved to 150 meters away.
The first perfect score competitor who had shocked the whole audience earlier was now in the spectator area, together with Gao Cheng and others, anticipating their own competitors to create another brilliant result.
The competition rules and procedure were similar to the pistol.
Still drawing lots for order, then competing in groups of five.
The only difference was that the rifle had 10 bullets, mechanical aiming shooting at 150-meter distance; hitting 10 full rings would be even more difficult.
But with Chen Jun’s stimulation from before, all competitors were already fired up.
They all wanted to hit full rings like Chen Jun, win cheers from the whole audience, get the regiment commander’s personal congratulations on stage, and become the favored child of heaven in the spotlight.
Under this unified intense competitiveness, the atmosphere in the entire venue was exceptionally tense.
Filled with a pungent smell of gunpowder!
And it was actually filled with gunpowder smell.
Because among the first group of five competitors on the field, one took full marks of 100 rings, and this competitor was from last year’s regiment competition first-place Red Third Company.
Seeing their own competitor perform so well, the Third Company Commander happily raised his arm and shouted loudly: “Well done.”
While shouting, he deliberately looked at Steel Seventh Company.
His eyes full of provocation.
Gao Cheng was not one to admit defeat; he looked back with provoking eyes and even raised his index finger, indicating that first place was still his for the taking.
As the gunpowder smell kept upgrading, the competitors on the field finished shooting one after another.
The Great Merit Sixth Company competitor in the third group and the First Company competitor in the fourth group both performed outstandingly, both taking full marks of 100 rings.
The competition was just over halfway, and already three competitors had taken full marks.
It showed that the competitors’ strength was actually very strong.
This was their true strength.
And as the stronger companies’ competitors all shot brilliant full marks on the field, the pressure came to Steel Seventh Company.
Steel Seventh Company’s competitors were increasingly watched.
Wu Liu Yi was already a veteran soldier from multiple competitions, with very rich competition experience.
Cheng Cai was a skyrocketing talented new recruit who had already shown his strength in pistol target shooting.
Very obviously.
Both had the strength to hit 100 full rings; now it was just about whether they could bring it out.
Some hoped they would have an accident and lose this one, others hoped they could create another brilliant result, showing the style that the honorable Steel Seventh Company should have.
Various emotions intertwined in this sky, making this competition exceptionally tense.
Under the gaze of the whole audience, Wu Liu Yi and Cheng Cai, who drew numbers 22 and 25, carried emotions of both pressure and motivation, coming to the shooting position as the fifth group to start their performance.
“Begin shooting.”
With the commander’s order, the five competitors began aiming at the target and shooting.
“Pa pa pa pa…”
The distinctive gunshots of the 81 rifle rang throughout the venue.
