Chapter 221 - 167: Returning from Target Practice

The bare shooting range was symbolically cordoned off with barbed wire and a few warning signs.

But the captain said that as long as the Military Management Area sign was there, let alone entering, if anyone dared to linger with a camera, they could be dragged into the squadron for a "tea talk."

If we’re getting strict, even writing in a notebook at the entrance wasn’t allowed.

When the captain spoke, he did so with a certain sense of superiority.

On this front, the People’s Armed Police really did have some confidence.

The Firefighting forces actually had it too, except it was all hung up at the Detachment’s entrance, but if the common people really came, even if they brought cameras, they couldn’t just arrest them, right?

But... what about it? We’re people-friendly!

"Brother, let me tell you about this gun!"

As soon as the captain arrived at the cover and began teaching, Fang Huai immediately became serious.

The captain patted the gun: "Upon reaching the range, you should first check the gun! I won’t go into the complicated stuff! Pull out the magazine, pull back the bolt, and check for any bullets inside!

On the side, there’s a switch, and our usual setting is 0, which is the safety position!

Switch it to 1 for single shot, semi-automatic mode, for firing bursts!

Switch to 2 for automatic! As long as you keep pulling the trigger, a burst of bullets will finish quickly!

This isn’t some AK47 with a long piston rod!

Our Type 81-1 only looks similar! The buttstock at the back only needs to be braced against the shoulder, without creating a recoil, and not only is the accuracy of the single shot high, but also that of the automatic shooting!

In shooting posture, for the first range session, use the prone position, firing from a stationary position, landing hands, knees, elbows, and buttocks in order!

With a gun rest, the gun and your right foot should be in a straight line!

But, make sure to keep your body from sticking out beyond the cover!"

With that, he removed the magazine and demonstrated step by step for them to see.

The captain was very diligent, not just handing them a gun and letting them have a go before leaving.

"Loading bullets into the magazine is very simple, just align with the opening, and press them in one by one!"

With that said, he handed the gun and bullets to Fang Huai first.

Fang Huai held the gun in one hand and the long bullets in the other, feeling the weight.

Five bullets, about two taels.

The gun weighed six or seven jin.

Pressing the bullets one by one into the magazine, Fang Huai couldn’t resist showing off a bit.

Pulling the bolt with the back of his hand, he’s either an inside man or a fierce bandit.

Fang Huai aimed the muzzle at the target.

"Click." Pulled back with the back of his hand.

How awkward, the safety was on, so it didn’t move.

"Slap!" Immediately Fang Huai’s head was slapped.

Very hard.

"Who told you to play around like that?" yelled the captain:

"Under my command, I would have you carry a gun with three bricks tied to it standing for two hours today!"

Fang Huai sulked right away: "Leader, I wasn’t aiming at anyone."

The captain shouted again: "There are standards for using guns! Get down! I’ll teach you step by step!"

The other Firefighters facing the fiery squadron leader were no longer relaxed, all watching intently.

Fang Huai also honestly emulated the prone position as he had just shown, step by step, placing the gun on the cover sandbags, and got into the correct stance.

"This posture... looks proper at last!" Seeing that Fang Huai had managed to learn after a single demonstration, the captain calmed down and continued:

"This gun has no scope! Use both eyes to aim! One dominant eye, the one you rest against the gun!

Use this notch to align with the center, then with the target’s center, focusing the aiming eye on the front sight, not the notch!

Intentional aiming, unintentional trigger pull!

Don’t shy away with your shoulder, press your cheek to it!"

Fang Huai operated the gun, feeling that it was not as easy as shooting balloons in the street. At a distance of 100 meters, even with his enhanced eyesight, focusing on the target wasn’t particularly clear.

Damn, shooting at 800 meters is truly terrifying, no matter if it’s with an eightfold scope or not, if the posture is off, even at 100 meters, the shaking feels incredibly significant.

But perhaps because of his enhanced eyesight, the average person couldn’t perceive the difference in aiming caused by the slight shaking of the muzzle.

Fang Huai just lay there quietly, while the others didn’t disturb him and started learning with another gun nearby.

"Bang! Click... clang!..."

Han Yong was the first to finish shooting his bullets.

A wisp of blue smoke, the sound was very loud.

"Missed four, one in the ninth ring!" reported the platoon leader loudly from a distance.

"Hahaha, the first shot was pretty accurate, but after that, the posture was all off! However, there’s some talent there!"

While the captain was talking, Fang Huai suddenly said:

"I’ve got the feel for it now, leader."

"Then, switch off the safety and begin shooting!"

The Company Leader raised his hand towards the front.

"Dah, thud... dah, thud..."

The recoil was impressively strong, wrenching at the face with pain, but Fang Huai was sure he had hit the target with those two shots.

Feeling the recoil, Fang Huai switched to burst mode, pressing down hard on the gun to steady it, firing three shots in rapid succession.

Intentional aiming, unintentional firing.

"Bullseye! Ninth ring! Ninth ring! Seventh ring! One missed!" the platoon leader reported from afar.

"Hey, not bad!" The captain’s eyes went wide.

Fang Huai, on the other hand, just curled his lips.

"Forget it, leader, this shooting difficulty is way harder than street balloon shooting, not to mention hitting a bullseye."

I’m almost straining my eyes to zero in on the paper target, and with a built-in aiming device, this poor performance; if it’s beyond this distance, once you can’t see properly, it’s probably hard to even hit the target.

This gun, I couldn’t care less about playing with it, too hard to fake being good.

I lack the talent.

— A bit of Versailles from Director Fang.

"...Street balloon shooting?!" The captain started hopping mad:

"Just for that comment, I regret the talent wasted on you, come and take five bullets with me!"

...

Fang Huai’s shooting results, 35 rings, were higher than several other newcomers, but not high among the Armed Police recruits.

Mainly because he had set it to burst fire in the end.

However, Fang Huai heard that for many new recruits’ shooting practice, in order to fully motivate them and build their confidence, even if they missed the target, they would still be reported as having hit an eighth ring or something.

Right at the moment he left the shooting ground, the system suddenly prompted him with a message.

[Would you like to activate the People’s Armed Police Transfer System, and replace fire-fighting class rewards and military merit shops?]

At first, Fang Huai was delighted for a few seconds, and then hesitated for a few seconds before he refused.

He’d touched a gun in the People’s Armed Police, and that triggered a job change?

But... he was satisfied today as well.

He was here just for the experience, the feeling of a real gun, which indeed was full of a man’s sense of power, but the sense of participation in urban construction with the Firefighting forces moved him even more.

Many people are afraid of criticism over this issue, and they dare not express their true feelings straightforwardly.

With his abilities in the People’s Liberation Army or the Armed Police Internal Guard, he’d definitely go to the Special forces. But as a soldier or an officer, it’s hard to leave a personal mark—the state’s sharp tools should remain hidden and not shown without necessity.

Moreover, to be a good soldier there, one’s heart must be "dirty," cunning as a ghost.

Or, you must be particularly "naïve" and able to withstand loneliness.

His small-town mindset was clear in his heart; he wanted to live in the city, amidst the crowds, enjoy the liveliness, contribute his sweat to an ordinary city and share its joys.

Of course, if my country needs me...

Fang Huai, like many old soldiers, watching the rank in his discharge certificate, had also imagined himself taking up arms and going to battle.

If there’s a war, I shall return when summoned.

Now, as he’s still on active duty, he should cherish the time even more.

...

As he was leaving, the captain named Dang Heng kept saying to Fang Huai:

"Damn, what a shame, what a shame. You, kid, were really born in the wrong place when you enlisted. What’s so good about firefighting?

If you came to our troops, I’d train you until you were howling! Look at your face, so pale, you don’t look like a good soldier!"

Fang Huai couldn’t hold back and pointed at the special duty code ’08’ on his own fire truck, making a jibe:

"Captain Dang, take a look at this truck. With equipment, it’s worth over 1.5 million at least!

The code, special duty series! In the Firefighting forces, I’m part of the highest-grade grassroots squadron in the province. If I were to join the People’s Armed Police, I wouldn’t go to your poor squadron where the total worth of four vehicles doesn’t even reach 500,000!

You also say our food is bad; do you dare to bring your squadron sergeants and squad leaders to our place for a meal?

Deceiving them to get by every day must not be easy, right?"

"You motherf**ker!" Captain Dang glared:

"You really are a soldier trained by Cao Yi! Even the tone of insulting others is exactly the same!

Here, take this on behalf of Instructor Cao and scram!"

As he spoke, he threw over two packs of cigarettes, aiming them at two different spots.

He was still testing him.

Fang Huai caught one with his left hand and one with his right, successfully.

"Truly a damn waste!" Captain Dang said, witnessing this and then turned around, cursing as he left.

Fang Huai, looking at the Chunghwa cigarettes in his hand, also cursed under his breath.

Dammit, Old Cao, you’ve got the potential to be a Special forces operative.

...

"The sun sets over the western hills, casting a reddish glow; soldiers return to camp after target practice, to camp they go..."

Everyone was singing cheerfully as the vehicles entered the Second Squadron.

They arrived just in time for the assembly, which had just finished, and everyone was preparing to eat.

"Hey, what happened that you’re so happy?" Cao Yi turned around and asked.

Sun Jingwu got off the vehicle and, looking at the drivers who had hesitated to go on a run earlier that afternoon, laughed out loud:

"Today, they let us shoot guns, we fired five rounds!"

"Damn, really?"

The crowd immediately exploded with excitement.

"Haha, let me tell you guys..."

Sun Jingwu started to recount the afternoon’s events as they entered the cafeteria.

By the time Fang Huai and a few others entered the cafeteria, Hao Chengbin had come over and touched a few of Fang Huai’s sizable parts, asking:

"Did you get hurt anywhere?"

"No," Fang Huai waved him off.

Only then did Hao Chengbin get angry: "And you didn’t let Sun Jingwu call me for the fun of shooting?"

Fang Huai, who was drinking water from the machine in the corner of the wall, choked on a mouthful and sheepishly said, "Squad leader, I was afraid that if you went, you wouldn’t come back..."

"Fang Huai turned around, a kick! That second-term soldier with good skills was floored!"

The cafeteria had gradually become rowdier with Sun Jingwu’s narration.

Particularly those from the training team who looked at Fang Huai now had a bit of "glad we didn’t mess with him back then" regret.

Even Cao Yi turned his head in surprise and asked, "Fang Huai, even that ’Old Nine’ from their squadron lost to you?"

"Instructor, you know of him?" Fang Huai approached, drinking water.

"Of course, I know!" Ye Jiahong joined the conversation, "Dang Heng frequently brings him out for drinks... that Old Nine, I don’t know his name! But I know he took ninth place in their Detachment’s Grand Martial Arts Competition! Very skilled indeed!"

As Ye Jiahong spoke, he looked at Cao Yi and Chen Zhechang, who were eating at the same table; he then burst out laughing:

"I declare, from now on, Fang Huai is the squad leader of our Squadron’s Squad Five!"

Everyone was stunned, a new recruit? Becoming the squad leader?

Wen Jingsong’s just-calmed heart soured again.

Fang Huai too was thrilled for a few seconds before he realized something was off: "Captain, since when do we have a Squad Five in our squadron?"

Ye Jiahong then laughed, "Just established, the Escort Squad! You’ll be our personal bodyguard for me and Instructor Cao from now on! Awarded one multi-functional water gun! Free to move around in the Squadron Department!"

Fang Huai was about to curse outright.

Dammit, you got my hopes up for nothing!

Why don’t you create a damn Eunuch Squad while you’re at it? Captain and Squad Leader!

Fang Huai got his food somewhat speechless and returned to his spot.

Han Yong, twisting his sore arms, said:

"Eh? Should the Armed Police duty squads get involved in police dispatch activities like 110, performing tasks, catching robbers and stuff?"

As soon as these words were out, a few tables nearby from the Second Squadron perked up, then quickly lowered their heads and quietly rushed to eat their food.

Fang Huai also immediately lowered his head, not saying a word, as if there was something taboo, frantically eating.

The clattering of chopsticks and bowls in the cafeteria suddenly became much louder.

Not two minutes passed.

"Drrr drrr drrr!..." Suddenly, a piercing alarm!

Zhao Jinchen jumped up from his seat: "Damn it! Every weekend, just as we start eating, the alarm bell decides to flip the table!"

No sooner had he finished than everyone, as if on cue, stood up and ran out crazily, while those from the training team continued to eat leisurely.

Fang Huai also stood up, pointing at Han Yong: "Your mouth that has been ’blessed’, why not mention the dispatch during any other time but during meals?"

(Adding more in the middle of the night, will post by morning.)