Chapter 147: Afraid of a Brother

'Heavy Machine Gun Squad, hurry up, hurry!'

'Heavy Machine Gun Squad, move faster, why haven't you set up your guns yet?'

The Heavy Machine Gun Squad Leader who rushed up the slope first crawls on the ground, 'reconnoitering the enemy', and roars angrily at the lagging soldiers behind.

'Report, the machine‑gunners didn't keep up!'

'Kong Long? Where did Kong Long go?!'

'He fell behind!'

Damn!

The ammo‑carrier caught up, but the gun‑carrier didn't, what's the point of fighting!

The Heavy Machine Gun Squad Leader, angry, scrambles up and quickly turns back.

'Fell behind so far you're overseas now, ears gone deaf?'

'Squad Leader, I can't go on, I can't run, really can't run.'

At the very rear of the unit, Kong Long hoists the nearly 53‑jin Type 89 Heavy Machine Gun, his steps limp and weak, his face twisted in painful struggle.

The Heavy Machine Gun Squad Leader shouts at him, 'Man, you can't say you can't! You're such a big guy, ending up at the back—do you feel honored?'

Kong Long shakes his head in pain, 'Squad Leader, I'm not a big guy, I'm a little…cabbage.'

The Heavy Machine Gun Squad Leader spits at his face, 'I don't care what vegetable you are, increase your speed right now! Our training mission is to set up a fire‑support point on the slope to provide strong fire support!'

'Look, they're carrying four ammo boxes ahead of you; someone's got the backpack, someone's got the mount—how much effort does just lugging a gun require?'

'This is just routine training; in wartime you'd carry even more, maybe even a whole ammo box yourself!'

Seeing his words have no effect, the Heavy Machine Gun Squad Leader can only push the despondent Kong Long forward from behind.

When they reach the hill, the rest of the squad wear amused expressions.

Assistant Squad Leader Wan Baoshan quickly tells everyone to stop gawking, take positions, and 'prepare for combat'!

He helps Kong Long assemble the heavy machine gun, loads the magazine, and then the Squad Leader issues the 'combat order'.

Because it's a simulation, they only need to run through the procedure once; no real firing is required, just to let everyone get the feel.

Afterward, the Heavy Machine Gun Squad Leader, seeing Kong Long's near‑death look, reluctantly orders the whole squad to rest in place, drink water and recuperate.

'We've been in the company for over a month, still can't improve fitness, eating all that rice, and we're still such big guys!'

Huff, huff, huff......

Kong Long flops onto the ground, rolls onto his back in a sprawling position on the weeds, sweating and gasping heavily.

He feels he's about to die, in the literal sense.

He's done heavy‑weight training in the gym before, but never this extreme.

Even after removing the tripod, the heavy machine gun's weight lessened a bit, but a five‑kilometer field sprint still cost him half a life.

The weight that the New Recruit Company could never shed, once in the Third Company Heavy Machine Gun Squad, dropped off easily within ten days to half a month.

Wan Baoshan steps forward, looks down at the half‑dead Kong Long on the ground, shakes his head sympathetically: 'You look so built, but it's all dead muscle; you're really useless!'

Kong Long forces an awkward smile, not even wanting to argue.

He'd rather be a little cabbage than be singled out for his bulky frame.

Although his name sounds fierce and domineering, it doesn't mean he's infinitely strong.

Moreover, gym‑built muscle is meant for show, not practicality.

Compared to now, he truly misses the days of running with an 81‑kg bar, which was just too easy.

Kong Long can hardly imagine how soldiers in the past carried such heavy gear over mountains to fight the enemy.

Even so, it's still the world's lightest active‑service 12.7 mm heavy machine gun; it's said this equipment can effectively boost a unit's mobility and agility.

Whether it's agile or mobile he doesn't know; anyway his nuclear‑powered donkey is about to be crushed and die of exhaustion.

Tsk tsk tsk......

At that moment, a shadow blocked the sunlight in front of Kong Long.

It wasn't anyone from the Heavy Machine Gun Squad, nor any Assistant Squad Leader or Squad Leader.

But it was a face that Kong Long knew all too well, even appearing in his dreams.

'Whoa, Assistant Squad Leader!'

Kong Long instantly leaps up from the ground, as if seeing a relative, clutching Lu Yang's arm.

Lu Yang sizes up the Kong Long who's much thinner, his cheekbones slightly sunken, and asks, 'Long, what happened to you? Did they even mistreat you?'

Kong Long's eyes immediately well up, and he rushes to hug him, 'Brother, my fate is miserable, miserable!'

When a grown man embraces another man and cries out loud, art is made.

Lu Yang, like coaxing a child, takes off his hat and pats his egg‑shaped head.

'Oh~ don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.'

'Brother Lu Yang, I really didn't expect to see you here; are you also out doing armed off‑road?'

Kong Long, eyes watery, looks at Lu Yang, still thinking he was also pulled out for training on a big weekend.

Lu Yang lifts his hand and points to the motorcycle parked nearby, explaining, 'No, we're off today; I rode out for a spin and happened to see you training here.'

'A spin, wind?' Kong Long is even more upset: 'Didn't the Motorized Infantry have no motorcycles?'

'Hahaha, we have some, but not many; I even found time to get a Motorbike License.'

'Over there, is it that leisurely and comfortable?'

Kong Long feels as if struck by a critical hit, his eyes full of disbelief.

He both fears his brother's suffering and fears his brother's road‑tiger.

He thought, as fellow wanderers, but the clown turned out to be only himself.

When they heard Lu Yang came on a motorcycle, the others in the Heavy Machine Gun Squad showed envy, including the old acquaintance Assistant Squad Leader Wan Baoshan.

Lu Yang, you're doing alright now?

I heard you just got assigned to a company and became assistant squad leader, you also have a motorcycle to ride, the platoon leader treats you politely, and the company commander is even grooming you as a backbone, awesome.

Lu Yang also didn't expect that Kong Long would be assigned to the Third Company, and even end up in the same squad as Wan Baoshan.

Back in the sniper training team, Wan Baoshan was always at the bottom, frequently occupying the last place.

After they split, they lost contact, yet I didn't expect this guy to know my affairs inside out; truly lives up to the nickname 'Wan Shitong'.

Wan Baoshan rubbed his hands, a lecherous smile on his face: 'Um, that motorcycle of yours, can you let the brothers feel it?'

Lu Yang jerked his chin at him: 'The key's not pulled out; if you want to ride, just loop around nearby, don't go far. I just came on the road and ran into the military police—no license and you'll get caught.'

'Not far, not far, just sway a circle in front of your eyes!'

Wan Baoshan got overly excited, breaking into a little jog toward the car.

The squad leader and the others also hurried over, excited, asking if they could also get a feel.

Although Lu Yang knew the principle that vehicles and women shouldn't be lent out, most of those present were veteran soldiers, and they were also quite polite, so Lu Yang really couldn't refuse.

All he could do was remind everyone to pay attention to this, making sure they stayed within his line of sight and didn't ride far.

Everyone also understood the rules, and didn't act senior just because Lu Yang was a limping private.

After all, those who managed to rise from conscript to non-commissioned officer aren't fools.

Those who become squad leaders upon joining a company and are allowed to ride solo on weekends—how could they be mere scallions, ginger, and garlic of the Sixth Company?

The heavy machine gun squad leader, who had also ridden a motorcycle, was responsible the whole time, watching to prevent these kids from messing around.

After all, the motorcycle belongs to someone else; you definitely have to take responsibility for it and not cause trouble.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was drawn to the motorcycle, Lu Yang seized the moment to tell Kong Long about the previous events.

'Do you still remember Zhang Jiaheng?'

'Zhang Jiaheng, who's that?'

'Assistant squad leader of the Eighth Squad, from Jiujiang, his marksmanship scores were just slightly worse than mine before.'

'No impression.'

Kong Long's head shook like a rattle drum, completely no impression.

Lu Yang clicked his tongue: 'It's the guy who came out with the Fiji Cup on the first day of enlistment.'

'Oh oh oh, Cup Brother, what's up with him?'

'He became a military police.'

'What the heck? He became a military police? Someone like him, does he even deserve to be a military police?'

Kong Long jumped up in anger, as if bearing some deep grudge: 'He can be a military police, he, he can be a military police? Then I think, I can too!'

Lu Yang really wanted to kick him two times: '......'