Chapter 184 - 136: Deciding on the Quota

The Provincial Special Duty Team has this one advantage.

The training equipment is complete, and the grounds are spacious.

Therefore, when the Detachment or even sometimes the whole Corps conducts concentration training, they often choose this location.

Participants from other units carry their belongings, travel dozens or hundreds of kilometers, even "leaving home and venturing far" to come here. But soldiers of the Provincial Special Duty Team don’t even have to step outside their doors, they train at home.

Even when the First Squadron comes over, they don’t have to stay here. Just send the people over in the morning and pick them up in the evening.

If they go to the Corps Training Base, that is, to the new recruit group’s place, it’s even closer. It takes just over ten minutes for the Second Squadron to send people there.

However, the concern of the Cadres below doesn’t seem to be about the grounds.

Ye Jiahong started to ask, "Instructor, for the Martial Arts Competition... which squadron does He Zhijun belong to? His connections are with the Second Squadron!"

As soon as the Instructor heard this, his face fell:

"You’re under me, and yet not a day passes without you mentioning He Zhijun! As a Squadron Leader, do you just wait for He Zhijun to feed you every day?

He Zhijun belongs to the Big Team! Right now, he’s in Chongqing attending the Large Area Training, and he won’t return before the competition!

The Head of the Corps has already made it clear, he will not participate!

You have dozens of Non-commissioned officers, can’t you pick out a few sharp soldiers?

Lubricate your joints well, polish all the rust off your bodies, don’t get too comfortable!

Remember, you are the Provincial Special Duty! I’m not insisting on getting the first individual rank, every Detachment has its own aces!

But each Detachment’s Special Duty Team sends out four people. It’s clearly the Head of the Corps’ wish to let our Detachments’ Special Duty Teams compete against each other!

Remember, the other Detachments have special service squadrons!

Only we have a Special Duty Squad!

If we select four people from the two special service squadrons and can’t secure the top overall score, I’ll lose face, and I promise you your life will be hell hereafter!

Time to eat!"

The atmosphere was very silent.

We’re finished, "barbecued."

...

The Spring Martial Arts Competition differs from the Autumn National Martial Arts Competition.

The Spring Competition is organized by the Corps itself, with fewer group drills, emphasizing more on individual abilities, mostly physical fitness subjects.

To put it bluntly, spring is for pull-ups, 5000 meters run, four hundred meters supplies dispersal, weighted floor rushes, one hundred meters hurdling, twelve meters rope climbing, hook ladder to the fourth floor... Whatever makes you sweat, that’s what’s coming.

For skill-type subjects, they are all individual, one-man three-carry, knotting methods, 20 meters fire extinguishing drill...

There will be a team subject, the specifics of which are uncertain; it depends on what the Corps decides.

The ranking of each Detachment is determined by adding up the individual points of each person, plus the team subject points, to calculate the total score.

The Autumn National Martial Arts Competition focuses on multi-person drills, much closer to international-level firefighting professional skill competitions.

Of course, there are team and individual competitions.

Individuals are also ranked.

But there are no monotonous physical fitness subjects like pull-ups anymore; it emphasizes the incorporation of physical fitness into skill.

The simplest might just be carrying an empty call for a 5000 meters run.

There are many subjects, not only physically demanding but also with complex operational procedures and requiring technical skill.

For instance, crossing climbs, 30 meters high-altitude rescue, firefighting obstacle...

Yikes...

Only those who train know.

How many people have broken their backs and crippled their hands because of those subjects. So many iron-willed firemen would grin their teeth in animosity, wishing they could drag the designers of these subjects over and make them go through the drills themselves.

The firefighting Spring and Autumn Military Competitions aim to let every fireman live a fulfilling life, always on the hop like a grasshopper on a hot pan, never at peace.

If you want to train, various cruel new subjects are updated yearly.

Detachment competitions, Corps competitions, Fire Department competitions, there’s always a stage for you to perform every now and then.

Very humane.

More human than Handicraft Geng himself.

...

The fragrant smell of food in the cafeteria, with its scent of meat, still held off everyone’s worries.

Coriander beef, cumin beef, braised beef, and the bubbling braised beef brisket in the pot.

All accompanied by several seasonal vegetables.

Mouth-watering.

The Instructor was so pleased with the meal, he kept loudly praising whichever dish was well-made, and then the person who made it would stand up with a grin to receive the accolades.

As the enthusiasm reached its peak, the Instructor, holding a cup of peanut milk, stood up and loudly said:

"Ah... First of all, thanks to Comrade Xiao Fang for contributing! Bringing such excellent ingredients to everyone!

I heard the story of this beef meal, and although the stake was high, there’s no denying the spirit! And besides, it’s a benefit to everyone, I think it’s great!"

"Hahaha..."

The soldiers laughed and clapped along.

"Secondly, I’m also very gratified to meet you, brothers!

I see the spirited look on the brothers’ faces, very good!

Of course, the competition I just mentioned is important, but what’s more important is to undergo training with a smile, and imbue that fearless spirit into our training life!

Here, I offer a drink as a tribute to the brothers! I wish everyone can smoothly complete all the tasks of the Special Duty Squad in March, and in this Olympic year, leave a shining mark!"

A stream of superfluous literary words just to expand the five words "get a ranking in the competition" to over a hundred words.

But the Squadron Leaders all followed suit, each holding up their cups of drinks:

"Here, we also toast to the Instructor!"

"Three, two, one, down!"

"Down!" Everyone shouted in unison, their voices robust as they lifted their cups and drank in one gulp.

At this moment, the slightly relaxed cafeteria was suddenly filled with a bold declaration of a vow from the three southwestern provinces:

"Chug, which one of us doesn’t chug!"

Everyone looked towards the source of the sound, finding Sun Jingwu standing in front of a non-commissioned officer holding a large cup of Sprite, egging him on loudly.

The officer clearly couldn’t chug it down in one go, and Sun Jingwu was loudly goading him.

In the Southwest, people often swear by "幺儿," meaning son, using the set phrase "you say ’幺儿’ drink (cheat)," implying if you cheat me, you’re my son.

Another person would confidently say "幺儿 drink, okay!" and the bet is struck.

"Which one of us doesn’t chug" means whoever doesn’t finish their drink is everyone’s "son."

But as it happened, Master He had only drunk half of his peanut milk and hadn’t finished it yet.

It was quite embarrassing.

Everyone couldn’t help but look at Master He.

Master He cursed:

"Damn your grave! Who gave me this peanut milk? I’m lactose intolerant! Damn it, can’t finish and still have to be the ’son’!"

Having said that, he picked it up and gulped it down.

Roars of laughter filled the hall.

...

Nobody mentioned just how many pull-ups Fang Huai could do even after dinner was over.

Which squadron doesn’t have its "secret weapon"? If you’re playing dumb, then do it well, when the time comes, we’ll see who’s the mule and who’s the horse by taking them out for a walk.

After dinner, Fang Huai found Instructor Cao, hoping to participate in the Corps Martial Arts Competition.

Of course, it was for the purpose of earning honors.

Even if you don’t take first place and earn the big honors, the top three in each event still get military merit points.

to 10 points each.

For the Corps Martial Arts Competition, if you could snag several top-three singles, wouldn’t that be worth a good twenty points in military merit?

Instructor Cao, however, just said he’d consider it.

He didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

Fang Huai understood, too; with only four spots and each squadron sending two, giving one of those spots to a new recruit like him meant he’d carry the full responsibility if he held them back.

Choosing a new recruit over many outstanding old soldiers, wouldn’t that be a deliberate attempt to drag the big team down?

Fang Huai calmly accepted Instructor Cao’s tactful refusal.

Training would start in the middle of the month, which meant the spots would be decided by this week at the latest, leaving very little time for his own progress.

With so many events in the competition, he was clear in his mind that he wouldn’t get into the top three overall, he wasn’t deluding himself.

Among the strong are the stronger; the martial arts competition isn’t all about pull-ups and dips, some people might not be very good at those, but have terrifying overall scores.

Even if He Zhijun came back, whether he could securely take first place would depend on his performance.

The honor of the group is what matters the most.

He could see if he could be a sparring partner, at least, to gain some experience.

...

Squadron Department.

"Who do you think should compete in the martial arts competition?"

Cao Yi, having sent off Master He, got the competition document from the instructor and called a small meeting with the squadron leaders and Hao Chengbin.

Four officers from the squadron.

The squadron’s Deputy Captain, Zhang Yaohuan, usually worked closely with the big team, studied at the Fire Prevention Department, not Command, and since there were two quite active executives, he didn’t involve himself much in daily management.

Next step, he might go to the big team to become the Fire Prevention Counselor.

Wu Di was just an intern platoon leader and relatively young, usually mixing with the soldiers and handling miscellaneous tasks, hardly having a say in the squadron’s work arrangement.

For a time, no one spoke.

Ye Jiahong smacked his lips: "For strong overall ability, we’ve got Huang Yong, Little Black, Zhao Jinchen..."

But Hao Chengbin interrupted: "If you’re sending Zhao Jinchen, you might as well send me. Give me a month to recover, there are quite a few events I am confident about."

Cao Yi, however, shook his head: "Old Hao, don’t be too confident. Even if you have an advantage in strength events, your heavier weight will put you at a disadvantage compared with the younger guys overall.

I’m thinking, you definitely have to go, but only for group drill; the set drill this time is the One Hundred Meters Ladder Attack Drill.

Nine people, one commander and eight combatants, divided into two assault teams.

That’s some heavy work! I figure, I’ll be the commander, and you lead an assault team. We need to pick someone to lead the other."

"No problem," answered Hao Chengbin crisply.

"What about Zhao Jinchen for the individual competition? It’s his sixth year; he should be able to keep up," mentioned Ye Jiahong, sounding a bit regretful.

After some thought, Cao Yi said, "Zhao Jinchen’s physical fitness really has fallen too much. I think we should consider the younger non-commissioned officers.

Little Black is strong in hook ladder, pulling ladders, hundred-meter hurdles, four hundred meters of equipment evacuation, long-distance, and pull-ups... our squadron doesn’t really have anyone strong in that; let’s consider just one for now."

Hao Chengbin laughed again: "The strongest in our squadron for pull-ups right now might be Fang Huai."

"He just told me he wants to compete," said Cao Yi with a chuckle:

"That kid, he’s got a lot of spirit, but there’s just not enough time. Give him two more months of training, and I’d dare to put him in.

Perhaps by the time of the summer Detachment competition, we won’t have to worry about who to send; that kid will definitely take a spot.

When Song Lin gets to his second year, he could take one too."

Hearing this, Hao Chengbin felt a bit proud but also had to face the current reality:

"Fang Huai definitely isn’t suitable. I think... Huang Yong... What about Xiong Jie?"

"Xiong Jie used to be even fiercer than Zhao Jinchen... It’s a pity, he got a back injury; all our old soldiers in the squadron carry some sort of ailment.

In our Second Squadron, the original young non-commissioned officers, Luo Ye went to Chongqing, He Zhijun was borrowed by the First Squadron, and two others were discharged. All that’s left is Little Black, who’s somewhat competent.

The newly transferred officers, apart from Huang Yong, who’s a bit weak on the hook ladder, others have the strongest overall ability; his pull-up record is reportedly up to 48."

"We don’t even have to think about it then, it’s Huang Yong!" Hao Chengbin slapped his thigh: "One month, it’s not like results can’t be improved! The old ones leave, we train the new ones, right? Talent, who isn’t molded?"

As soon he finished speaking, the two previously disheartened executives perked up with the new insight.

"Alright, it’s Huang Yong!"

(Might add a Chapter tonight, I’ll try, but don’t wait up. I need to sleep a bit before writing, and by the time I finish, it’ll probably be light out.)