Chapter 207: I don't want you to feel it for me; I want to feel it myself

After the regiment commander left, Lu Yang carried out his duties as acting platoon leader.

According to the regiment's training schedule, he took the first platoon's soldiers on a ten-kilometer cross-country run called "Pleasant".

In the Iron Foot Company, five kilometers is just a warm-up, ten kilometers is ordinary, fifteen kilometers is so-so.

Only twenty kilometers, or even twenty kilometers with full gear, can be considered a slight increase in intensity.

If a major national holiday comes up, we must properly celebrate with a thirty-kilometer armed cross-country run.

The ten-kilometer cross-country run ended quickly, and Lu Yang led the first platoon's thirty-plus soldiers back to the camp, preparing to rest briefly before starting the next training subject.

"Using me as the benchmark, assemble the whole team!"

Lu Yang raised his right fist and issued the assembly command.

The soldiers quickly gathered and formed ranks.

But in the ranks, one person stood there like a sickly weed, seeming out of place among the others.

Lu Yang walked past Zhou Kaidong and came up to Kang Changyi, who was drenched in sweat and panting like a broken bellows.

"Can you stand straight?"

"..."

Kang Changyi looked left and right, seeing that everyone else was standing ramrod straight.

Only he was standing at ease, supported on one leg.

He gulped down his dry throat, then slowly straightened his body after bringing his legs together.

Lu Yang poked him in the shoulder with a finger, and Kang Changyi immediately lost his balance, stepping back half a step.

"What, what are you doing?"

"A soldier sits like a bell, stands like a pine! In the military academy, haven't they taught you how to stand at attention?"

"Lu Yang, don't bully people too much!"

Kang Changyi had just finished the ten-kilometer run, his breath still uneven, and was immediately ordered to fall in—how could he have the energy to stand properly?

In the past, for ten kilometers he would walk and run intermittently, resting whenever he could.

Because in his view, a commander doesn't need to train together with the enlisted soldiers.

As long as he makes good battle decisions and does his command work, assigning personnel is enough; there's no need to do everything himself.

But he didn't realize that it was precisely this lofty, mistaken view that alienated him from the masses and lost him their support.

Moreover, even now Kang Changyi stubbornly believes that he will be reinstated to his original post soon.

Because he doesn't think an ordinary soldier who never attended a military academy could outperform him.

And this guy is picking on him solely because, as a newly appointed official, he's trying to make an example of him to assert his authority.

Lu Yang stared at him sternly: "During training, you can't just shout 'Lu Yang'; you should address me as First Platoon Leader!"

"......"

Kang Changyi felt a chill run down his body under Lu Yang's gaze.

Afraid that in the next second his fist would come flying at his face again.

Lu Yang's tone grew heavier: "I'm talking to you—are you deaf?"

"No!"

"Louder!"

"No!!"

Lu Yang snorted coldly: "After just a ten-kilometer run you're panting like this and can't even stand steady—if you had to run twenty or thirty kilometers, would they need to carry you out on a stretcher?"

He returned to the front of the formation and loudly declared: "I have always been about the matter, not the person! In the Iron Foot Company, any training item can go wrong—except running!"

"This is our old trade, and moreover our proudest achievement!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded very loudly.

These flying legs are their pride.

Because this is the most precious legacy left by their seniors.

Holding fast to the three words "Iron Foot" and carrying forward the tenacious will of light infantry is the transmission and inheritance of the Sixth Company's faith!

Kang Changyi also answered, but his mouth seemed unable to open, his voice sounding as if squeezed from between his teeth.

Beneath his weary expression lay his resentment toward Lu Yang, and only after that came fear.

Lu Yang didn't want to waste more time on Kang Changyi, and instead moved straight into the next training.

"Everyone, turn right; objective, tactical field, run!"

Lu Yang held a whistle in his mouth, blowing the tune "121", jogging alongside the formation as they headed to the tactical training field.

"Just a quick warm-up, then we'll do ten sets of tactical drills, timing them and recording the scores!"

Lu Yang pulled a stopwatch from his pocket, then, as if performing a trick, produced the score book.

Although this is his first time acting as platoon leader, he handles training the troops with ease.

Carrying out the superior's uniformly prescribed training plan to the letter is the duty of a platoon leader under normal daily training conditions.

But just as everyone was doing a simple warm-up, Kang Changyi's stubborn nature flared up again, prompting him to step forward to assert his presence.

"Report, pla... platoon leader."

Kang Changyi wore a constipated expression.

Making him shout "platoon leader" to Lu Yang feels worse than killing him.

"Speak?"

"I think ten sets of tactical drills are too many; five sets are enough."

"Reason?"

Scientific research shows that the effect of tactical maneuvers in actual combat is not as great as imagined, so I think we can reduce them appropriately. Moreover, daily training doesn't need timing.

It's okay that you're new to being a Platoon Leader and unfamiliar with the troop training process; if you have any questions, you can ask me, and I will gladly teach you.

Lu Yang couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

Zhou Kaidong also covered his face with his hand, wishing he could give him two slaps.

How does this guy always remember to eat but not to get beaten? Even after being demoted, he's still putting on airs as a platoon leader.

The others looked like they were waiting for a show, and a former platoon leader who had been removed still dared to speak out— isn't he just asking for a reprimand?

Although Lu Yang has a good personality and good relationships, that doesn't mean people can walk all over him.

Moreover, they've all seen Lu Yang's violent side— provoke him and there will be no good outcome.

But just when everyone thought Lu Yang would surely lose his temper next, he remained calm and composed.

"Your suggestion is good, but don't make it again next time."

"Pair up, get ready!"

Lu Yang's disregard was also the loudest slap to Kang Changyi's face.

At the whistle, the two of the first team quickly dropped prone and swiftly crawled under the barbed wire.

The first half was low crawl; the second half was side‑crawl while holding the rifle.

Lu Yang repeatedly pressed the stopwatch to record the time, and soon it was Kang Changyi and Zhou Kaidong's team's turn.

Zhou Kaidong moved very swiftly, like a hunting crocodile; Kang Changyi's speed was not only much slower than his, but his posture was also awkward.

"The Third Squad Leader is currently the best performing in the platoon, with the most standard movements!"

"Kang Changyi is the slowest, his posture is terrible— who taught you to crawl like that, sticking your butt up so high?"

Kang Changyi brushed off the dust on his body and replied nonchalantly, "I think my crawl is quite standard."

Lu Yang didn't indulge him either: "Others rest; you crawl back from this end again."

"On what basis?"

"Just because I'm the platoon leader."

"I think my movements are very standard; that's how they taught us in the military academy!"

"I don't care what you think; I want what I think, and what everyone thinks!"

Lu Yang asked the crowd: "Give Kang Changyi's tactical maneuver a score out of ten— how many points would you give?"

"One point!"

"Zero points!"

"Negative, negative— slower than an old lady crawling out of bed; on the battlefield he'd be a living target!"

If we had to say Kang Changyi has any strengths, aside from being thick‑skinned, it's that he's stubborn‑mouthed.

Lu Yang could see that this guy actually still fears him a little.

But fear aside, when it comes to training matters he always wants to argue and show authority.

The root cause is that he still hasn't straightened out his position and hasn't truly regarded himself as a platoon leader.

"Crawl or not?"

"If you don't crawl, then we won't train anymore— we'll all wait for you."

About thirty people looked on with schadenfreude, making Kang Changyi feel ill at ease.

He clenched his fists tightly and could only shout those three words humiliatingly from his throat.

"Crawl then!!"

"Why shout so loud? I'm not deaf— hurry up!"

Kang Changyi lay face down again, looking angry like a big toad, slowly and awkwardly crawling under the barbed wire overgrown with thorns.

Lu Yang looked at Zhou Kaidong, who spread his hands awkwardly and helplessly, indicating he had no good solution either.

"Otherwise, we should just promote him— the effect would be immediate. With this kind of person, we can't be lenient, or he'll walk all over us."

"But I still prefer to convince with reason and win with virtue."

Zhou Kaidong recalled Lu Yang beating Kang Changyi during the drill and really couldn't see how that related to winning with virtue.

"This can't go on; we can't let him drag down the platoon's training pace."

"Then what are you planning to do?"

"The squad leader."

"Here!"

Lu Yang summoned the squad leader: "Go get a piece of tire rubber and two backpack straps— we need to cure his stubborn‑mouthed habit."

The squad leader grinned mischievously: "Yes, I'm on it!"