Chapter 24: Four No, Two Direct: Regiment Headquarters Leadership Suddenly Visits

"What are you saying, someone from the regiment has arrived, already at the gate?"

"Stop dawdling, hurry up!"

That day, Gao Feng put on his hat and hurriedly left the office together with He Zhen Tao.

Arriving downstairs, he didn't forget to tidy his appearance in the military mirror, then rushed toward the main gate.

The two of them jogged, and from afar saw a man with a square face standing by the flowerbed.

His rank showed two bars and two stars, exactly the Special Third Regiment Deputy Political Commissar, Tan Yuanzhou.

"Deputy Political Commissar, what wind blew you here!"

"What, aren't you welcoming me?"

"No, no, welcome, welcome, warmly welcome you to visit and guide. I'll gather the whole company right away…"

"No need."

Tan Yuanzhou waved his hand: "I happened to be passing by, just came over to take a look."

Even so, Gao Feng and He Zhen Tao were no fools.

As a deputy regiment‑level leader of the regiment headquarters, how could the Deputy Political Commissar just casually show up?

Clearly he came for a surprise inspection, the so‑called "Four No, Two Direct".

People had already arrived, and the two of them had no time to prepare anything, so they had to grit their teeth and stay beside the Deputy Political Commissar.

At this moment, Tan Yuanzhou suddenly stopped in front of the propaganda board and asked about the poster above.

"The board looks good, the theme clear, the idea distinct, and the drawing grand. Did you make it?"

"I designed the main part, but there are others' clever ideas inside."

Instructor He Zhen Tao answered truthfully, not hogging all the credit.

Seeing the Deputy Political Commissar turn his gaze toward him, Gao Feng hurriedly waved his hand, feeling guilty.

"Comrade, I don't have that ability. The board was completed with the help of a new recruit."

"Wow, didn't expect there's a little painting prodigy among the new recruits?"

Tan Yuanzhou grew more satisfied: "The drawing is excellent, the concept very clever; this soldier can be well cultivated, our regiment lacks talent in this area. In the future, if the regiment needs another board, we won't have to always borrow people from the neighboring unit."

He Zhen Tao seemed especially excited, quickly added: "Comrade, this soldier is indeed quite good and loves learning. During enlistment inspection, others' bags had food and drink, but his bag was full of all kinds of books."

Tan Yuanzhou looked slightly surprised: "Seems he's preparing to strive hard in the troops? How are his training results, won't he drop the ball?"

"Very diligent, currently mid‑level, still steadily improving."

"Hmm, that's okay, what's his name?"

"Lu Yang."

Tan Yuanzhou repeated it twice, then emphasized to He Zhen Tao again: "This new recruit named Lu Yang should be cultivated well; in the future the regiment might have another capable publicity officer."

"The basic training lasts three months; we can appropriately give him more opportunities to train, especially in painting, drafting, publicity, and hosting."

He Zhen Tao replied eagerly: "Comrade, rest assured, I will focus on his cultivation!"

In a few words, the two seemed to have already sketched a rough outline of Lu Yang's future development.

This made Gao Feng feel very uneasy, and several times he almost couldn't help but retort.

He thought Lu Yang should be assigned to reconnaissance surveying, not a civilian publicity officer.

Spending all day hiding in the office drinking tea, blowing the air‑conditioner, holding a pen to write and draw—can that still be called a soldier?

No need to state the obvious: good soldiers should go to the battlefield!

A tiger belongs in the forest, a dragon belongs to stir the ocean!

Tan Yuanzhou noticed Gao Feng's odd expression and asked curiously: "What's up, Xiao Gao, do you have a different view?"

Gao Feng explained: "I think you can't judge a soldier just by the surface; I've been observing that soldier closely and found he has some other qualities."

"Oh?" Tan Yuanzhou's expression was very surprised: "A new recruit being noticed by two commanders of the New Recruit Company at the same time? Interesting, I'll have to take a good look to see if it's as you say."

Having said that, he stepped toward the training ground, and the two followed quickly behind.

"Which squad is that soldier in?"

"Third Squad."

"Where?"

"Near the basketball court, that's the Third Squad."

"Let me guess, see which one is the kid named Lu Yang?"

Tan Yuanzhou's gaze swept back and forth, finally landing on a slender, fair‑faced new recruit in the distance.

Just from their description, he spotted the target at a glance.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang, who was training, also noticed the situation.

In fact, not only Lu Yang saw it; Squad Leader Zhou Kaidong was the first to notice.

Realizing senior leadership was inspecting, he immediately sternly warned everyone, raising their spirits to a hundred and twenty percent.

The new recruits were also seeing such high‑ranking leaders for the first time, and with the Company Commander and Instructor right behind them, they could still tell who was higher in rank,

"At ease!"

"Stand at attention!"

"Review, command training! Tidy…uniform!"

As Zhou Kaidong finished speaking, the Third Squad recruits quickly adjusted their gear from hats to shoulders in rapid succession.

Overall performance was fairly good, only Ding Tengfei, due to nervousness, messed up the action order.

Zhou Kaidong sternly criticized: "Ding Tengfei, focus your attention!"

"Yes."

Ding Tengfei responded awkwardly.

He didn't even know why he was nervous.

Clearly, his previous attitude toward training had always been slack, just getting by.

Perhaps hearing Lu Yang's words made him inexplicably want to try to improve, yet he worried that if he failed, he'd be scolded.

On top of the sudden inspection and the Lieutenant Colonel officer's attention, his unprepared mind grew even more nervous.

Lu Yang stood at his left side, reminding in a voice like a mosquito, "Practice just as you normally do. The more you fear making a mistake, the more you will, so don't panic!"

Ding Tengfei swallowed, took deep breaths repeatedly, and steadied his mind.

Zhou Kaidong also used a tactical pause to give everyone time to adjust.

"Stop the interval turn, listen to the command!"

"Turn right!"

"Turn back!"

"Half‑face… turn left!"

After stopping the interval turn, this Third Squad was very orderly, with not a single mistake.

Although the movements weren't as crisp and decisive as the veterans', they were still swift and forceful.

But for a group of recruits who had been enlisted less than twenty days, that was pretty good.

Zhou Kaidong slightly adjusted his position and glanced into the distance with his peripheral vision.

He saw that the Lieutenant Colonel chief was standing there with his hands behind his back under the shade, showing no intention of leaving.

That puzzled him: the Whole Company had so many squads, why single out the Third Squad?

In past inspections, leaders just went through the motions, glanced briefly and left; such a dead‑stare on a single squad was rare, making even the old Squad Leader a bit nervous.

To avoid embarrassing the Company Commander and Instructor, and to showcase his weeks of training results, Zhou Kaidong also went all out.

He prepared to unleash his big move, the thing they'd trained the most these days… the marching step.

"Left, fall in line; forward… look!"

"Raise your spirit, march… forward!"

The moment the word "march" sounded, the Third Squad recruits instantly kicked their legs and swung their arms.

The thudding footsteps rang out, and Lu Yang made each step as loud as possible.

From his current shallow understanding, the louder the footfall, the more a unit's momentum is displayed.

Setting aside whether the movements were precise, the momentum had to be captured.

He did this to handle the sudden inspection, not wanting the Third Squad to lose face.

Fortunately, after one pass there were no major mistakes, and Zhou Kaidong's hanging heart finally eased a bit.

Kong Long also performed admirably, completing two rounds without the bad habit of moving the same hand and foot together.

This time Ding Tengfei no longer lagged, but rushed, which was the only flaw so far.

During regular training this kid often had similar issues, leaving Zhou Kaidong uncertain for a moment—was it intentional or not?

Overall, Lu Yang's march was the best in the class, at least his footfall was the loudest.

With dust on the ground, a hard heel strike created a special‑effect‑like puff of smoke, looking quite intimidating.

Zhou Kaidong walked up to Lu Yang, straightened his hat brim a bit and asked, "Are your feet numb?"

Lu Yang winced, "You stomp, you're numb too!"

Zhou Kaidong wanted to laugh, but knowing the leaders were still watching, he simply ordered everyone onto the road to run three kilometers.

Running, that thing, is like the Almighty arriving; you can't find a flaw until the very last moment.

Moreover, he was convinced this leader was only going through the motions and wouldn't have the patience…

Holy crap!

Zhou Kaidong suddenly widened his eyes in terror, nearly choking on a mouthful of old blood.

Tan Yuanzhou silently pulled a Stopwatch from his pocket and casually started the timer.

The scene made the Company Commander and Instructor's eyes twitch, and fine cold sweat already beaded on their foreheads…