Chapter 100: Sharpening the Knife Does Not Delay the Woodcutter's Work

Bang, bang-bang!

At night, gunfire rang out continuously on the shooting range.

Lu Yang lay prone aiming at a target a hundred meters away, firing a few short bursts with his Type 81 Automatic Rifle.

Then, like twisting a dough roll, he swiftly rolled sideways, moving from his current cover to the rear of another cover.

He aimed again at the distant target, lightly pulled the trigger, and fired another few short bursts.

Next, he held the rifle in one hand, side-prone crawling forward.

After moving about ten-odd meters, his breathing became a little irregular.

He quickly rose, crouched, and in a zigzag pattern sprinted toward the distant target.

When he was about to reach it, he dropped to his knees as fast as possible, went prone, gritting his teeth against the burning pain in his knees, and fired again at the target.

Only after emptying the magazine did he pant, sweat dripping from his head, rise from the ground, walk over, and examine the distribution of bullet holes on the target.

But the result left him inevitably disappointed.

Out of thirty rounds, only one-third hit the bullseye; the rest mostly lingered in the six, seven, and eight rings.

Indeed, shooting from a fixed position and shooting while moving are two different things; without extra practice, it's hard to maintain precise aim while running and rolling.

Previously, Lu Yang's running back and forth, rolling around, looked like that of a madman; in the unit there is a professional term for it: comprehensive tactical shooting.

The tactical training of the New Recruit Company teaches only the basics: going prone, taking cover, and low-crawling.

But similar rolling evasion maneuvers, building makeshift cover, knowing when to switch cover, and zigzag dodging steps, etc., are taught only after assignment to a regular company.

Even some logistics support units that barely fire a few rounds all year won't teach you these topics until your two-year conscription ends.

All of this, Lu Yang learned from books in the training team's library reading room, so he simply figured it out on his own.

Sometimes he even goes full chuunibyou, simulating that the enemy side has a fire point continuously shooting at him.

Lu Yang had to pick up a small stone fragment and throw it forward with force, treating it as a grenade.

Then he shouted loudly: "Comrades, follow me in the charge, follow me!"

Doo-doo-doo-doo... accompanied in his mind by the melody of a charge bugle!

At this moment, he is the bravest, most fearless hero on the battlefield!

On the shooting range, there is actually a safety officer, whose role is to ensure training safety.

But right now, the safety officer is rubbing his arms, shaking his head and sighing.

He has actually seen this scene before.

Any recruit, upon first truly encountering live-fire shooting, acts as if gone mad, as if suffering some serious illness.

They feel they must indulge in some scenario role-playing, character acting, otherwise they can't muster any spirit.

Although they all went through that, as a mature and steady veteran, looking back he finds it "quite childish".

"Hey, this kid, he's gone crazy training!"

"Just learned to walk, and already wants to fly?"

"Tactical movement combined with shooting practice—even veteran soldiers would find that impressive..."

At that moment, Deputy Squad Leader Cheng Jun walked over from the side, relieved the safety officer so he could go rest.

Cheng Jun himself then put on the safety officer's red armband and walked over to Lu Yang, who was still pondering his comprehensive tactical shooting training.

He first criticized: "You're going a bit beyond the syllabus."

Lu Yang chuckled: "I'm just messing around practicing."

Cheng Jun rolled his eyes: "I've watched you for a while; you're not just playing around—you learned this from a book, right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you notice that shooting while moving lowers your hit rate, making you miss?"

"Yes!"

Lu Yang tried many times, but each time, as soon as he switched from stationary shooting to moving, his aim dropped significantly.

Cheng Jun didn't explain anything; instead, he had him unload the magazine, engage the safety, and try the standing sniper rifle aiming motion.

Lu Yang immediately complied; his rifle hold was crisp and decisive, his eyes flashing with a stern vigor, completely different from when he first arrived.

Cheng Jun picked up a spent casing from the ground, placed it on the rifle's muzzle, and told him to steady the gun.

But he couldn't hold it for long before the casing fell to the ground.

Then he placed another casing on it.

As expected, it fell again.

"Do you see the problem now?"

"Your hand is shaking!"

"Not only is your hand shaking, your breathing is also irregular."

Lu Yang's chest was indeed rising and falling—a phenomenon that inevitably follows intense exercise.

He raised one hand toward the large searchlight and observed it carefully in the light.

At a glance, nothing seemed wrong; but if you stared closely, you could see his hand trembling imperceptibly.

Cheng Jun told him directly: "Your control of strength, grasp of muscles, adjustment of breathing, and shooting precision are all far lacking. That's why your aim drops when you move."

"Of course, for a raw recruit to reach this level is already remarkable."

"If you gathered those veteran trainers from the training team, probably half of them wouldn't be as good as you."

Lu Yang did not feel pleased by the other's praise.

Because, as they interacted, he gradually shed the rookie's filter toward veterans.

In the unit, most veterans are of average ability; each company truly has only a few standout soldiers.

That is why the issue of assigning new recruits from the training company to regular companies will inevitably cause the company commanders to fall out, ending in heated arguments.

Core outstanding talents are called the backbone of the company, while the even more outstanding ones are the mainstay.

Someone like Zhou Kaidong belongs to the company's backbone, so he could stay all the way to the third phase.

Being assigned to the New Recruit Company to train new recruits is a recognition of their ability by superiors.

Guo Yongwen and Cheng Jun, senior non-commissioned officers of the fourth phase, are the company's mainstay; they are core figures who can help the company commander hold the unit together.

In competitions, drills, confrontations, and martial contests, he is always the main force that wins rankings and honors.

But if the mainstay changes jobs and leaves the service, transferring to logistics, then the company commander will immediately lose a great general under his command, and we must quickly replenish with new personnel.

Otherwise, the unit will suffer from a lack of experienced and new members, fail to win rankings, fail to earn honors, and its performance will keep deteriorating.

Lu Yang's current goal is to become a backbone, so he must surpass the training team's many veteran soldiers.

He stared at Cheng Jun and asked, "Deputy team leader, how should I train?"

Cheng Jun pushed up his low-prescription glasses, shook his head with a smile, and said, "The time in the training team is definitely not enough, but in the future, after you go down to the company, you will have plenty of time."

"Do more strength training, endurance training, and aiming training; these are all laying the foundation for shooting accuracy."

"You may have heard the saying that good marksmen are made by feeding them bullets; but you should also understand that sharpening the knife does not delay the woodcutter."

"You are being a bit too eager for quick success, even though you have great talent, but there is no way to become fat in one bite."

"The existence of the sniper training team is somewhat similar to that of the instruction team; its purpose is to improve, but it does not mean that just by leaving here you will immediately become a sniper, a sharpshooter."

He raised his chin: "How many bullets do you have left?"

Lu Yang took out two tubes from the magazine pouch on his chest: "These are all that's left."

Cheng Jun pointed to the rear: "Push the original shooting position further back; each time sprint forward a hundred meters, then fire a short burst, repeatedly adjusting, repeatedly finding the feel."

"Physical fitness, strength, endurance—these can be slowly trained later; what we train here is the feel."

Lu Yang understood; this is to let the body adapt to the state of shooting after a burst sprint.

With more practice, it becomes a habit, and afterward aim naturally improves.

Plus a large amount of strength, core, and aiming training.

Only this approach that treats both symptoms and root can fundamentally solve the problem.

Lu Yang felt very excited; coming to the training team indeed allows one to learn real things.

Such content is likely hard for many veteran soldiers after going down to the company to even come into contact with, let alone master!

If Kong Long and Ding Tengfei knew this, wouldn't they be envious to the point of red eyes?