Chapter 117: Unity Is Strength, Ready to Sing

The rain keeps falling, and the atmosphere isn't exactly harmonious...

Cold icy rain slaps randomly across the face...

I hold a small communicator, standing in the wind and rain, switching from left hand to right hand, but the right hand can't get a signal...

At night, around 1–2 am, a torrential downpour pours, and the cold wind is bone‑chilling.

Lu Yang grips his steel spear, taking over from Ding Tengfei, whose soul has been baptized by rain, and continues to hold his post on duty.

The good news is, he has a raincoat.

The bad news is, the raincoat is of little use.

This rain falls so thick, so dense that even breathing with an open mouth is somewhat difficult.

It's like layers of thin veil continuously stacking and falling, suffocating the people so they can't catch their breath.

To endure this arduous "short" period, Lu Yang can only repeatedly sing rain‑related songs in his head.

But the effect isn't obvious; the flow of time seems trapped by this winter rain, barely moving forward.

The cold is truly bone‑chilling; rain has already seeped in through the collar of Lu Yang's raincoat, soaking all his inner clothes.

His hand grips the icy steel spear, which the rain beats until it turns pale, red, purple, then pale again.

Fortunately, unlike before, Lu Yang's physical condition now is much stronger, so he won't be knocked down by a rain.

Besides his relentless training, the system's "Accelerated Flow Package" provides multiple‑fold feedback.

Two "break‑then‑rise" effects also greatly boost his physical attributes.

Suddenly, a gale roars, and Lu Yang tenses his body, rooted like a tree, standing immovable.

But the other rookie sentries at different positions are blown off balance unexpectedly.

At this moment the wind and rain take shape; the soldiers' raincoats sometimes cling tightly, sometimes flutter with the wind, sometimes soar upward like Marilyn Monroe's skirt.

The more extreme the environment, the more it hones the rookies' will and tests their combat ability.

In battle, the enemy will deliberately strike during extreme weather, because that's when people are most lax.

But for today's Longguo soldiers, this doesn't work at all, because the harsher the weather, the tighter their nerves, and the less they give the enemy any opening!

Outside, the gale and sudden rain rage, yet those staying inside the tent aren't much better off than those outside.

They frantically press hard against the tent's edge, fearing the wind will blow the marching tent away.

The rookies are building a tent for the first time, lacking experience.

Its sturdiness is far poorer, and they're hit by a storm.

But Third Squad overall is much better than the other squads.

Because they dug drainage ditches in advance, rainwater isn't backflowing into the tent, and the ground underfoot remains dry.

But the other squads aren't so lucky; by now the backflowing rainwater has already flooded up to their ankles.

Even the Squad Leaders were careless, never expecting a sudden rain ambush.

Whether to dig drainage ditches or not has no strict requirement; it purely depends on the situation.

Considering it's only a "short field training", lasting two or three days before moving on, the veterans chose to keep it simple.

If it were a real outdoor collective field training, they couldn't build a camp to these specs.

Of course, in past outdoor trainings when sandstorms hit, even tents built by veterans would collapse as they should.

Against nature's flood beasts, temporary tents can't compare to reinforced concrete.

At that moment, a certain squad, lazy while erecting the tent, didn't secure all the guy‑lines tightly.

Resulting in the whole tent being blown away, leaving only the bare metal frame crookedly standing.

The squad's rookies were thus stark naked, exposed to the storm, freezing to the point of helplessness, even wishing for death!

At this time, the gale sweeps like a giant wave; Third Squad's tent, situated at the windward opening, begins to shake violently.

The metal frame inside the tent creaks, as if the joints could snap at any moment.

Kong Long, Ding Tengfei and others scramble around, desperately clutching a corner, fearing the tent will collapse.

Bone‑chilling wind laced with rain streams through the window and door cracks, striking many faces and arms, making teeth shiver.

It also shatters their fantasies of outdoor camping, refined living, and modest comforts.

This isn't camping at all; it's clearly a punishment!

Some even suspect it might be artificial rain!

Otherwise, why so sudden, so targeted, as if specifically opposing this batch of rookies?

Zhou Kaidong guards the doorway, thrusting both hands into the side gaps, preventing the gale from entering, looking as if he could move mountains.

"Hold fast, no one let go, or the tent will fall apart!"

"Sing, sing a song to gather spirit!"

"Squad Leader, what are we singing?"

"Sing 'Unity'!"

"Ding Tengfei! Lu Yang isn't here, you old‑fellow, take the lead!"

Ding Tengfei now looks like a drowned chicken, freezing, his hands and feet trembling.

When he opens his mouth, white vapor comes out, and his nostrils are filled with ice shards.

But to keep the tent steady, to rally everyone's spirit, and not to lose the face of the Guangling people.

He almost exhales cold air, roaring from his throat: "Tuan… (teeth chattering) Unity is strength!"

"Unity is strength!"

"This strength is iron, this strength is steel!"

"Harder than iron, stronger than steel, towards…"

Inside Third Squad's tent, the rookies use their singing to fight the gale and storm.

Soon the other squads also started singing, and the numerous resonant voices formed a continuous string.

The powerful singing broke through the rain curtain, broke through the severe cold, broke through the cold wind, dispersing the chill and fear.

And this song of "Unity," sung countless times by everyone, will become an indelible beautiful memory for this batch of recruits, this group of young people, forever.

This rain came suddenly and left quickly.

Lu Yang stood the 1‑2 night watch; when it was Kong Long's turn to take over, the rain had already stopped.

But as everyone knows, evaporation carries away heat, especially right after rain, when the outdoor temperature drops sharply.

Fortunately, Lu Yang's backpack contained hand warmers and a sanitary pad, which were given by the veterans in the training team.

Veterans are called veterans because they have far richer experience of military life.

Naturally they know what is most indispensable in this cold winter.

With Lu Yang's hand warmers and the sanitary pad placed under his shoes, Kong Long was not "frozen to death" by the sudden temperature drop while on guard.

But seeing his stiff, frozen state upon return, everyone couldn't help but sweat over the assessment after dawn.

Whether physical fitness, drill formation, or tactical maneuvers, they have only practiced them on the training ground.

This frozen ground after rain is as slippery as ice skating on a rink.

Even marching in step can suddenly cause a big split that tears the pants.

Fortunately, taking weather and venue into account, the post‑dawn assessment was not held near the camp.

After eating the steaming hot breakfast, everyone was taken to the Training Section, where there were dedicated training grounds and a shooting range.