Chapter 356: Sixth Company, Becoming the Vanguard of the Army-to-Navy Transition

Hey, I asked you to deliver goods to Yue Nan, and all day it's either windy or raining—are you messing with me?

Off track, that's the fuse!

Zhang Jiaheng casually picked up a toothbrush and used it as a dagger, imitating the yellow-haired character played by Wu Jing.

The two of them then started posing and practicing in the cramped dormitory space.

They insisted on seeing, in close quarters, whether the dagger was better or the baton superior.

The result was obvious: an inch longer, an inch stronger. After just a couple of moves, Zhang Jiaheng winced, squatted on the ground, and rubbed his arm.

Report!

Lu Yang pushed open the office door and gave a salute.

He Zhen Tao was holding a digital camera, deeply engrossed in his research.

Ma Qing'an, taking advantage of his inattention, casually pulled a cigarette from that pack of Yuxi on his desk and lit it.

Welcome back, is the armed police fun?

It's pretty interesting, but the training intensity there is indeed high, so it's no wonder the shoes wear out so much.

Hahaha, I heard you learned hard qigong there and can now break six bricks at once—is that true?

Of course it's true. Later I can organize my notes, simplify the process a bit, and have everyone practice together. Once you master the breathing, find the feeling, getting started shouldn't be a problem—just treat it as strengthening the body.

He Zhen Tao, who had been researching the digital camera, smiled and glanced at Ma Qing'an: 'See what I said—Lu Yang is good in this way, he doesn't keep things to himself.'

The purpose of studying there is to turn others' good things into our own, so everyone can progress together.

Ah, as expected of a first-class merit, you always keep the collective in mind, remembering that unity is strength.

Instructor, if you praise me any more, I'll become proud.

Being proud is good; if young people aren't proud, are they still young? Hahaha.

Ma Qing'an twitched the corner of his mouth, laughed along, but his smile was full of sorrow.

He let Lu Yang sit down first, then quietly finished smoking the cigarette in his hand.

During this, the two of them said nothing, as if they were brewing something, considering how to speak.

Lu Yang could clearly feel the embarrassment and tension in the room, yet he simply sat there honestly, saying nothing.

Ma Qing'an extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray, then poured some water from the teacup into it to put out the ember.

Only then did he look at Lu Yang solemnly and say: 'There's something we've been hesitating about—should we tell you?'

Lu Yang: 'I'm mentally prepared; go ahead.'

Ma Qing'an sighed: 'The Special Third Regiment is about to be reorganized, with the entire unit transitioning from the Army to the Navy.'

He Zhen Tao also spoke: 'The Sixth Company will serve as a model, becoming the vanguard of the Special Third Regiment's reorganization.'

Hmm, understood.

Lu Yang's state was calmer than Ma Qing'an and He Zhen Tao had anticipated.

He Zhen Tao was somewhat surprised: 'Have you already known? When did you find out? Did Cheng Jun tell you?'

Lu Yang shook his head: 'Squad Leader Cheng did hint at it, but even before that, I already had a rough idea.'

'In the hospital, when I learned our regiment's exercise had failed, I guessed that such a day might come.'

'Later, the regiment commander took you to the three detachments, generously handing over all this year's new equipment coordination to them, which confirmed my guess.'

Ma Qing'an and He Zhen Tao each showed a faint, sorrowful smile.

These past few days, they've couldn't eat or sleep well, just pondering how to bring this up to Lu Yang.

But they didn't expect that he already knew; indeed, speaking with smart people saves trouble.

Ma Qing'an looked at him and asked: 'Since you already know, what do you think?'

Lu Yang: 'I understand the two leaders' concerns; shifting from the Army to the Navy is a new beginning, also meaning we'll face many new challenges. Everything ahead is unfamiliar to us, even the training methods will undergo major changes.'

But I feel this life is actually more promising, giving us a clearer idea of what to do and which direction to strive for.

Currently, our Navy on the world stage is relatively backward; but I believe that through the efforts of batch after batch of us, we will eventually catch up with Western developed nations.

In the future, we will have many destroyers, frigates, nuclear-powered submarines; even several aircraft carriers to safeguard our motherland's long coastline!

Ma Qing'an's face showed a rare smile: 'If that's really the case, that would be wonderful; but the day is probably still far off, after all, we haven't even seen a hint of an aircraft carrier yet.'

He Zhen Tao: 'All beginnings are hard; when many gather firewood, the flame rises high. I believe that day will surely come.'

He turned his head to look at Lu Yang and said: 'At this critical juncture, we mainly face several problems; since you're back, can you help brainstorm ideas?'

Hmm.

The first problem is that the other members of the company still aren't clear about this matter, and the information has remained under lockdown.

He Zhen Tao said solemnly: 'The regiment mainly worries that if the news leaks, it will affect troop morale and cause disunity; but as the days draw near, as the first unit in the regiment to be reorganized, we still need to find a suitable opportunity to announce it.'

It's exactly this timing that we haven't figured out well, after all we need to consider the soldiers' psychological endurance.

We conducted a private survey, and over eighty percent of the soldiers in the company cannot swim at all.

Among the rest, only a few have swum before, and truly proficient swimmers are estimated to be none.

Ma Qing'an said embarrassedly: 'I and the instructor belong to the completely different swimming ability category.'

Lu Yang thought for a moment and had an idea: 'How about this? Since I'm back, I'll prepare a project; in the upcoming political ideology class, I'll subtly add some content about the First Sino-Japanese War naval battle and the Pacific War.'

So that, through subtle influence, everyone realizes the importance of the Navy system in national defense and major-country diplomacy, and understands that maritime threats are the most pressing issues we need to solve today.

After that, we can hold some fun competitions, like breath-holding, adding salt water to a basin to simulate seawater salinity.

It may seem like play, but it actually trains the soldiers' lung capacity and alleviates their fear of the sea.

He looked at the two attentively listening and continued: 'Actually, I think our company, as Iron Foot, naturally has a larger lung capacity; once in the water, our breath-holding time will definitely be longer than other units.'

Perhaps we can't match those navy comrades, but not being able to surpass the upper while exceeding the lower; among those transitioning from land to sea at the same time, we will definitely be the advantaged group.

Ma Qing'an and He Zhen Tao exchanged glances, nodding repeatedly in agreement.

Lu Yang's series of small measures will indeed have some effect.

Iron Foot, if he got into the sea, he might just become an iron leg skimming on the water, huh?

Hahaha, that makes sense......

Both of them were made to laugh by Lu Yang.