Chapter 188 - 140: A Soldier’s Demise

Half an hour later, the playground once again roared with the sound of the fire truck pumping water into the hoses.

Once the fire truck entered water supply mode, each press of the accelerator meant that all the power was directed to the water pressure, to the hoses.

The entire flow connected to the fire truck sped up or slowed down with each press and release of the accelerator.

Cao Yi stood in front of the vehicle, serving as the observer of the entire battlefield.

Raise hand, increase pressure, press down, reduce pressure.

Connecting hoses, the flow couldn’t be too strong, or it wouldn’t connect and would burst.

Once all the hoses were connected, the flow couldn’t be too weak; a slow stream meant no water coming out of the water gun, and everybody would have to wait in place.

A good driver and commander strive to ease the water flow during each hose change so as not to pressure the soldiers too much; but also, when the soldiers connected the hoses, the pressure had to rise just right, coordinating with their advance.

The Special Duty Team was undoubtedly professional in this respect.

But this time, the soldiers lost their earlier liveliness; their howls and jokes were gone.

The water pressure made each hose rigid, and on the soldiers’ shoulders was not only the sudden burden brought by the fully charged hoses but also that force that made the hoses want to straighten as they filled...

Fire truck robots.

Truck front: I’ll form the head.

Truck body: I’ll form the driving force.

Equipment store, water outlet: We’ll form the hips.

Hose: I’ll... Oh my god!

Fang Huai quickly dispelled the images that flashed through his mind and swiftly dealt with the water hose before the single-plank bridge, connecting and passing the junction, hoisting the hose onto his shoulder.

This time the water followed quickly.

Hao Chengbin hugged the water gun and shouted, "Go!"

The extension hoses that everyone had just hoisted on their shoulders were also becoming swollen.

"Hiss... Sss!" Hao Chengbin’s water gun suddenly sprayed out a stream and Huang Yong’s fire gun also burst into a spray.

Everyone carried the hoses and rushed onto the bridge.

Fang Huai felt the person behind him exerting a bit unevenly and didn’t dare to straighten the hose rashly, he shouted,

"Watch where you’re going! Straighten up before getting on the bridge!"

The person behind, startled, quickly shifted his body upright and faced the bridge head-on.

It wasn’t difficult to cross that bridge, half a meter wide, but if anyone went onto it crooked, the entire hose would twist like a large snake to straighten through force, throwing everyone off.

This time, the bridge was a bit slippery because it had been wetted by the water guns up front.

Fortunately, they had the hoses to hold on to; Hao Chengbin, Huang Yong, and Fang Huai, exerting force together, brought up the person who had slipped.

Each person was either helping others with the taut hose or being helped.

As they approached the tower, Fang Huai spotted Zhang Yang running below and reminded him,

"The extension hose can be released!"

Alerted by Fang Huai, Zhang Yang quickly found the best spot to release the hose right under his feet, turned quickly, and tossed the hose backward, sparing most of it from getting stuck before the obstacle area under the bridge.

Then, he crazily rushed up with the four junctions holding two rounds of hoses and began laying out the extension.

That was a timely, excellent move.

There were too many hoses on the ground, which made it very difficult to sort out. But this made it much clearer.

Although it took a little longer to spread out, perhaps one or two seconds more to connect, it was a win because the pathways in the water were clear, allowing Fang Huai to quickly find the part he was supposed to shoulder.

At that moment, Fang Huai also demonstrated extraordinary strength, being the first to carry the hose on his own; he shook his shoulders, straightened it, allowing others not to bend over searching everywhere but rather directly pass the hose over their shoulders.

"Well done!"

Nearby, Hao Chengbin and Cao Yi, who was several tens of meters away, exclaimed in unison upon witnessing this scene.

The right man for the job.

Fang Huai, in the middle of the entire team, maximized his clear mind and powerful upper body strength.

The best number three.

The recent move by Zhang Yang had also been classic.

Not bad.

Cao Yi glanced at the stopwatch he held.

seconds.

He crazily raised his hand, "Charge!"

The driver increased the throttle, seeing water out of the gun in front, he eased off the accelerator.

During the sprint, it certainly wasn’t the case that the higher the water pressure, the better.

Too much pressure could cause the hose to disconnect, dramatically increasing the drag force of the hose.

It can be said that half a throttle from the driver could drag down the entire team’s pace.

A full throttle to the floor could ruin all the preparations made in the half-hour.

Therefore, the most familiar with the entire process’s pace is the driver, knowing when to charge, when to ease, and when to follow the water flow in small increments.

Hao Chengbin, madly dragging the water gun forward, felt an unmatched thrill.

Having strong teammates really made a difference. All he had to do was try hard upfront, and the rest would be taken care of by the teammates behind.

"Be ready to enter the tower! The front should speed up, the back don’t swing your body! If it’s not working, let go of the hose and step back to let it straighten! I can pull it!"

Fang Huai shouted all the way, standing in the middle, controlling the speed of both ends.

His hands loosened here and the front couldn’t pull forward anymore, but rushing too fast could cause the front to fall over led by the hose.

Crucially, he noticed that Xiong Jie was a bit shaky this entire time, swinging with the water hose.

Xiong Jie had experienced a sharp pain in his lower back earlier, and his actions were a bit sluggish. Now that he was nearly at the training tower, he charged inside, trying to endure the pain.

Fortunately, with several reminders from Fang Huai, it didn’t affect the speed too much. When Fang Huai dragged the hose to the stairwell, the people above had already reached it, followed by loud cheers from Hao Chengbin and Huang Yong.

In the distance, the roar of the vehicle stopped.

Far away, Cao Yi shouted something, and Hao Chengbin immediately cheered with glee, "We can do it!"

"Squad leader, how much?" Fang Huai leaned against the wall, panting for breath.

After that run, my ears were buzzing.

"One minute and twenty-three seconds!" Hao Chengbin laughed loudly.

Although the target was one minute and twenty, that was ultimately the dream. To achieve such a high score on the first official discharge of water was unexpected.

"Damn, that’s awesome!"

Immediately, an excited roar erupted both inside and outside the building.

"Not bad, this time Fang Huai contributed the most," laughed Hao Chengbin, unaware of the situation behind him as he spoke words of encouragement.

But at that moment, Meng Qiang, holding a two-way radio, ran into the training tower and said to Xiong Jie, "Squad Leader Xiong, the Instructor is asking if your back pain acted up just now?"

Xiong Jie, who had been happy with everyone just a moment ago, now slowly let the smile fade from his face, showing a bit of weariness as he nodded.

"The Instructor says if you can’t manage, you should go rest and not push yourself."

It was only then that Xiong Jie quietly leaned against the inner wall of the training tower alongside Fang Huai, looking at the sunlight streaming in from outside with a glimpse of the desolation of a hero’s fall-down in his eyes.

It grew quiet inside the training tower, with Hao Chengbin and Huang Yong silently watching him.

And outside, people were probably watching him too.

Meng Qiang’s question seemed as imposing as a police officer knocking on the door to inquire about violations of the law, catching him off guard and stirring a hint of panic.

After a long pause, he gently said in a Yunnan dialect, "Okay."

At that moment, Fang Huai suddenly remembered that Xiong Jie was from Yunnan but had never spoken in the Yunnan dialect, his Mandarin was always impeccable.

He spoke in a relaxed manner, yet he was precise in everything he did.

Getting up in the morning, it would take 10 minutes to fold the quilt.

The water cup had to be placed in the middle of the third spot on the study room table, with the words "People’s Armed Police of China" facing directly to the right.

At the sound of the whistle, he must arrive within two minutes.

Combat uniform and equipment, wardrobes, Fang Huai and his comrades had to tidy up for the old soldiers every day, but Xiong Jie’s was always in perfect order, leaving no room for them to assist.

In the mess hall, everyone had their own bowl. After meals, when they helped the old soldiers wash dishes, Xiong Jie would always wash his own. After washing, he’d use his own bowl to scoop some water, rinse his mouth, then give it another rinse and place it in the sterilizer himself.

When explaining subjects, he would always repeat it twice.

Some small gestures that Xiong Jie would perform like a robot every day without any variation.

Extreme patience and self-imposed standards.

If there were a label for him, it would be: a soldier.

A soldier patted Fang Huai on the shoulder and said:

"We owe you for that last one."

Then he walked out of the training tower.

When Fang Huai and the others gathered their equipment in front of the fire truck, the Logistics Officer had already taken Squad Leader Xiong out of the squadron and off to the People’s Hospital.

...

At noon, as they sang a song and entered the canteen for lunch.

Instructor Cao cursed under his breath, "This Xiong Jie, what’s with him, still trying to push beyond his limits! I thought it was just a minor back issue, but his lumbar disc has slipped! And he still wants to continue, it’s like taking his body for a joke."

Han Yong, who was following behind, couldn’t help but retort, thinking of how good Squad Leader Xiong usually was:

"Instructor, Squad Leader Xiong... probably wasn’t aware himself, right? I think he’s quite sensible. If he knew, he definitely wouldn’t joke with the squadron’s performance."

Cao Yi glared and turned around, "I don’t know? Do I need you to tell me?"

Fang Huai gave Han Yong a tug.

Being new to the troops, Han Yong still didn’t understand the emotion; Cao Yi was expressing frustration. It was disheartening to witness such a capable soldier like Xiong Jie battling a condition that couldn’t be completely cured.

One might blame either Xiong Jie for not training scientifically, or the intense pressure of the Special Duty Team.

He wouldn’t feel right inside if he didn’t harangue a little.

A perfect soldier like that, encountering any issues yet never saying a word, suffering such a severe condition and still training intensively with everyone, it forcibly stirred a discomfort within.

Now was the time to talk about important matters, to prevent everyone from dwelling in sentiments of loss and damage.

Fang Huai stepped forward, approached Cao Yi, and said:

"Instructor, I think Squad Leader Xiong’s position should be filled by someone close to my height.

As long as they’re nimble with their hands and feet and can help straighten out the hose on the ground to save time, even if their strength isn’t great, that’s fine. I feel that I can still hold up the water hose here."

Seeing Fang Huai’s outstanding performance in maneuvers that morning.

Cao Yi nodded and glanced around, "What do you think about Liu Jianfeng?"

Fang Huai considered it, "That might work. Squad Leader Liu isn’t much shorter than me and is familiar with the hose."

Cao Yi stroked his chin, pondering seriously for a moment, "Alright then, this afternoon I’ll have Liu Jianfeng join the team to get the hang of it. He hasn’t had much experience with large-scale maneuvers, so you guys should talk it through when practicing."

"Yes, Instructor," Fang Huai replied.

The same year soldiers behind him all looked envious.

Fang Huai was now even arranging squad leaders!

At that moment, Hao Chengbin finished chatting with a few non-commissioned officers, walked up from behind, patted Fang Huai’s shoulder, and sighed, "With Xiong Jie’s condition, you should also be careful. Don’t sustain hidden injuries during training, and if you feel anything wrong with your body, you have to speak up."

Cao Yi also became somewhat alert, tilting his head to say, "Right! With all your recent training, if there’s any problem with your body, you must mention it!"

In his heart, Fang Huai chuckled.

He had visibly lost weight recently, down to 135 pounds, his body becoming more flexible and strong, his five kilometers nearing a time under 20 minutes.

Now you guys start to care about scientific training?

If you didn’t push me, when would I even get to train?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

With a smile, Fang Huai said, "Instructor, Squad Leader, my body doesn’t have any major flaws, it just lacks training."

Hao Chengbin: ...

"Eat less this afternoon, and tonight we’ll run the big city circuit!"

Cao Yi’s mood brightened somewhat, he laughed and said,

"This guy, not only does he lack training, he’s damn well asking for a beating!"