Chapter 103 - 61: Becoming a God through Battle

"Today, our Squad Seven will select a batch of new recruits to participate in the competition on understanding of military decrees."

Wang Jian quickly moved on to the next topic, reading from the paper in his hand without giving everyone another chance to cause an uproar.

"The competition will be held next Friday, and this is an opportunity. The top three scoring individuals among the new recruits will be awarded the Excellent Soldier Medal by the Regiment Department! So, everyone should actively participate..."

In fact, the squad leaders had already informed the new recruits about the competition and the award rules.

Wang Jian was just reading from the beginning, simply to shift the focus away from the previous issue.

However, both Liang Longhui on the stage and Fang Huai below weren’t affected by his words at all, their eyes locked in a silent standoff.

"...In the second round, each competing team will answer questions in order based on the team members’ numbers, with each team answering three questions, correct answers earn 10 points, incorrect answers score zero..."

"The third round, the quick response section..."

"The competing teams from each squad will consist of one new training cadre, one new training backbone, and three new recruits, with members selected by their respective squads."

"Hmm? Wang Lian, why do cadres and backbones also have to participate now? Wasn’t it only four new recruits before?"

A Non-commissioned officer from below inquired.

Wang Jian raised his hand to quiet them down: "Oh, the rules have changed. The regiment leader says that reciting decrees should be a consistent requirement from top to bottom!

It also reflects the passing down of knowledge from the old to the new. In short, the Regiment Department has its requirements, we just need to comply. The Brigade Department has only me and Instructor Liang as cadres, neither of us are afraid even if it’s a choice between the two. You have ten people to choose from, what’s there to be afraid of?"

Immediately, a Non-commissioned officer joked, "Then let Huang Yi go! We’re busy leading the new recruits; we don’t have time to memorize decrees! He’s a clerk; he has more time!"

"All right, all right!" Wang Jian saw the discussion was becoming more intense and clenched his fist again.

"You guys want Huang Yi to go, but he’s no idler. He has to lead the junior clerks during the day, and he often has to work overtime at night!

You say you’re busy, let him go, but don’t expect him to write your leave requests next time!"

Saying this, Wang Jian, for some reason, glanced at Fang Huai again.

He then noticed that Fang Huai was still making eye contact with the man on stage, not blinking and not yielding an inch.

This kid.

When he’s modest, he’s totally obsequious.

And now he’s suddenly being stubborn to the extreme.

But there was something he couldn’t say.

He had always thought Fang Huai was good in every aspect but lacked a bit of temper. But today, he saw the kid also had that temper.

He truly was a promising recruit.

The troops are not a place to be coy or play dumb. If you have the ability, you must show it. Once you’ve proven yourself, everyone will respect you, and then you can afford to have a temper.

Of course, this does not often apply to new recruits. A new recruit who’s always angry is just asking for a beating.

On rare occasions, it might be acceptable.

Fang Huai understood this well. He could afford to be stubborn this time, but after this incident, he absolutely couldn’t mess with the old soldiers on other matters.

Otherwise, it meant he didn’t understand how things worked, and everyone would dislike him.

Fang Huai’s biggest confidence was that, no matter how much he argued with Liang Longhui, it probably wouldn’t come to blows; at most, they would exchange verbal insults, at worst receiving a demerit.

Liang Longhui didn’t have the ability to get really rough, and once things got serious, Fang Huai could legitimately fall back on his special connections.

But he also needed to display his abilities to have the right to be temperamental.

Therefore, when Wang Jian asked, "Which of the new recruits are willing to volunteer for the competition?" Fang Huai raised his hand confidently.

"Mm, those who are called, state your names!" Wang Jian noted down the names of the new recruits one by one as they raised their hands.

"Reporting, Sun Jun!"

"Reporting, Su Mengliang!"

"Reporting, Xiao Haishan!"

Wang Jian frowned slightly: "Why is it always those from the physical training class? Don’t squad leaders have anybody else available?"

A Non-commissioned officer chuckled, "Our squad’s Xiao Haishan, he’s talented and virtuous!"

"Hahaha..."

Those who understood this phrase all laughed.

Wang Jian rolled his eyes: "Talented and virtuous is used to describe old artists! If you’re uneducated, read more books! Don’t just play marbles all day!"

"Next, Cao Peng... oh, Brother Peng, are you also joining? Isn’t the inspection work at Liupanshui Regiment keeping you busy lately?"

Wang Jian joked to lighten the mood.

Cao Peng, the frequent object of scolding and someone whom Wang Jian often had heart-to-heart talks with, was well-known to him, and the two were quite familiar.

The place burst into laughter.

Even Cao Peng blushed a little from the teasing, "Company Leader, don’t make fun of me, I’ll have to stay for Evening Exercise with the squad leader again later!"

As soon as the Squad Five Leader heard this, he stood up abruptly, "Cao Peng, when you’ve got too much going on, don’t talk nonsense! The regiment has repeatedly decreed, I’ve never made you do Evening Exercise!"

Cao Peng immediately apologized with a fist clasp, "Haven’t done it, haven’t done it, Squad Leader, really haven’t!"

Laughter erupted again.

The squad leaders also looked at Cao Peng with less of the antagonism and resentment they had during training.

Fang Huai smiled too, seeing that Cao Peng seemed to be doing alright.

As for those with special relationships who took some heat, as long as they didn’t complain, didn’t make trouble, and obediently focused on training over time, their personable advantages would naturally show.

Being compliant could sometimes even turn them into materials that squad leaders and cadres used to scold other personnel with special relationships.

"How big of a connection does your family have? Making such a fuss, and look at XX, the nephew of someone, so obedient! Have they ever caused trouble? Do you think your family’s someone is all that important?"

And so forth.

"Next, Fang Huai! Fang Huai, how much of the decrees have you memorized?"

Finally, Wang Jian called on Fang Huai, who had been raising his hand from the rear row all along.

For some reason, seeing Fang Huai voluntarily raise his hand, Wang Jian felt he had some kind of confidence.

Fang Huai stood up confidently, "Reporting, Company Leader! I have memorized all Three Major Decrees!"

He wanted to show he could perform, and to prove that he wasn’t afraid of being randomly checked earlier, just dissatisfied with the unfair treatment.

At this point, everyone was somewhat astonished.

That was a bold claim!

All Three Major Decrees memorized??

...

Earlier, Fang Huai had been browsing the military merit shop, looking over and over at what his six military merit points could get him.

But after looking for a while, he found that the skills that could pique his interest started at at least 20 military merit points, such as practical operations of certain firefighting equipment. Other vocational skills that seemed appealing (basic level) would require at least 50 points, and a language (communicative level) would need 100 military merit points.

Moreover, there were even reviews for military exams available for understanding, 20 military merits per subject.

Those had exchange value for him.

Like math, physics, chemistry—these weren’t subjects you could master with just a good memory. If he couldn’t grasp some concepts, he wouldn’t be able to pass an open-book exam either.

Unless his memory was so prodigious that he could recall the actual military exam questions from his previous life, he might directly memorize the answers.

In other words, as long as he prepared 60 points of military merit to nail the science subjects of the exam, he could simply skim through Chinese, English, and politics, and securing admission to the Langfang Military Academy wouldn’t be a problem.

points of military merit, at present, could be exchanged for the most economical thing, which was indeed the Three Major Decrees, and earning a medal for placing top three in the competition would instantly net him a return of 20 points.

After contemplating for a while, Fang Huai chose to make the exchange.

...

"The Three Major Decrees, Fang Huai, are you referring to the ones on the materials or in the actual decree booklet?" Wang Jian was almost incredulous this time.

If you could memorize the entire Three Major Decrees in half a month, then why be a new recruit at all? Wouldn’t it be better to aim for a key Military Academy?

"Reporting to the Company Leader, the decree booklet, mostly."

Fang Huai couldn’t be bothered to explain; his "talent for memory" would reveal itself in the future anyway, so there was no need to hide it.

Not only the non-commissioned officers but also the new recruits of Squad Nine were skeptical.

Where did Fang Huai spend all his effort?

It’s not like anyone saw him reciting very much before!

It’s true that Fang Huai’s family has a military background, but do the "Three Major Decrees" also require some kind of familial scholarly inheritance?

Passed down from ancestors??

Wang Jian really wanted to test him.

But Fang Huai had just had a disagreement with Liang Longhui, so he shouldn’t be targeted again.

Thus, with an encouraging smile, Wang Jian said, "Alright, we have a test later, a hundred questions. Let’s see how many you can get right."

The results wouldn’t be out until tomorrow anyway, so he would see how things played out then.

Liang Longhui kept his silence; after all, he was a cadre, and having cooled down for a moment, he began to reassess where he might have gone wrong, contemplating how to restore his image.

Now, to publicly target this new recruit would be disadvantageous for him.

To everyone’s surprise, Fang Huai didn’t sit back down. Instead, he said with a hint of pride, "Company Leader, I’m not afraid of spot checks. You can test me right now; any of the Three Major Decrees will do."

Showing initiative at this moment was what counted as performance, so everyone could believe in it.

If he waited until after the fact, no matter how well he did, it would lack credibility.

Wang Jian, unusually serious, flipped through the thickest "Internal Affairs Regulations" on hand and made a cautious probe.

"Recite ’Squad Leader’s Responsibilities’ for me."

This content, turned into a sign and hung in every squad room, was the one new recruits were most likely to recite a few points of, quite lengthy, yet far less than what Fang Huai claimed to have memorized, the entire Three Major Decrees.

Choosing this topic, Fang Huai would not be rendered speechless, unable to answer a single question and thereby dampening the mood.

It also provided an opportunity to gauge his fluency in recitation.

If he couldn’t recite this in its entirety, Wang Jian would not test him further, as Fang Huai certainly would lack the capability.

Fang Huai did not hesitate, the knowledge flowing smoothly through his mind.

"Squad Leader’s Responsibilities.

The squad leader is fully responsible for all work of the squad and shall fulfil the following duties:

First, lead the squad in preparing for combat, commanding the squad in completing combat tasks;

Second, lead the squad in fulfilling training tasks and improve the military and political quality of all squad members;

Third, lead the squad in strictly implementing regulations..."

Fang Huai recited fluently.

This was content that all squad leaders had to memorize as part of their duties, and everyone nodded as they listened.

However, Liang Longhui sneered. This Wang Jian was cunning, choosing something both long and simple.

Wang Jian, feeling there might be an opportunity, continued to ask.

"How does a commanding officer issue orders to subordinates?"

"Company Leader, are you asking about the order process or its execution?" Fang Huai inquired.

Wang Jian, slightly embarrassed, realized the intro he read was somewhat ambiguous, so he cleared his throat and said, "The issuing process."

Fang Huai nodded. "That’s ’Internal Affairs Regulations’ article thirty-seven, commanding officers have the authority to issue orders to subordinates, which are usually passed down through the ranks. In urgent situations, orders may also be issued bypassing the chain of command..."

Listening, Wang Jian was inwardly stirred, sensing that Fang Huai had at least three out of ten on this subject.

"Military personnel wearing officer uniforms for occasions?"

"Article seventy-eight, officers shall wear officer uniforms when attending the following activities..."

Now it was scoring five out of ten.

Wang Jian quickly flipped through several pages.

"Duties of the duty officer!"

"’Internal Affairs Regulations’ article one hundred forty-one, the duty officer is selected in turn by officers of the same rank, under the command of superior duty officers, and carries out the following responsibilities..."

After finishing the recitation, Fang Huai added a reminder, "Company Leader, the sections you’ve tested me on were all from ’Internal Affairs Regulations’."

Wang Jian took a deep breath, detecting in Fang Huai’s tone the possibility that his claim of complete memorization might just be eight out of ten true!

Nodding, he proceeded to set up a major challenge.

"Alright then, recite the ’formation transition of the squad and company’ for me."

Upon hearing this, squad leaders below couldn’t help but swallow.

Damn, this section had an overwhelming presence. They’d seen it many times because they had to teach the movements, but no one ever tried to memorize it.

Just the content for the squad and company alone amounted to more than a thousand words!

Unexpectedly, Fang Huai frowned slightly and said.

"Company Leader, that is part of ’queuing action’ article thirty-nine, shall I also recite the sections for battalion horizontal and vertical formations, and the part for the regiment as well?"

Wang Jian’s mouth twitched: "Uhm... go ahead..."

Fang Huai nodded once more.

"Very well, ’queuing action’ article thirty-nine, formation transition is the queuing action of changing from one formation to another.

First, exchanging horizontal and vertical formations..."

To be precise, the whole section, along with the preamble, had 1457 words.

Fang Huai’s clear recitation lasted a full ten minutes.

Wang Jian checked each word.

As Fang Huai finished speaking, Wang Jian’s gaze turned complex, uttering only four words:

"Not a single error."

Instantly, all the squad leaders stood up, and thunderous applause erupted in the study room, resounding for a long time.

With this battle, Fang Huai had achieved legendary status!