Chapter 33: 400 Meters Obstacle Course
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the mid-autumn celebration party, the military base reverted to an intense training atmosphere once again. Because the inter-battalion competition was approaching, all four battalions all gradually intensified their trainings.
Rain or shine, there were always a huge number of people training on the drill ground, in the wilderness, on the shooting range, and on the battle ground.
This week of training was even more intense than that of full-time soldiers. However, after half a month of acclimatization, the students could grit their teeth and manage through it.
Mo Wen still spent most of his time training up on his Dragon Tiger Overlord Fist. Cultivating his Inner Qi was the most crucial thing to him. As for those military events, besides learning modern military tactics and usage of guns, he was not interested in anything else.
Combat skill training, like going through obstacle courses, swimming, or surviving in the wilderness, was meaningless to him. Besides, he was already an expert at those skills. In comparison to him trekking through difficult terrains, mountains, and rivers, these training exercises were nothing but child’s play to him. Thus, he did not really require training to pass the test.
After going through a week of intense military training, the day of the inter-battalion competition had finally come.
At eight in the morning, the four military battalions gathered on the drill ground and split into the four corners with about a hundred meters between each of them. In the middle of the ground was a patch of empty ground.
Four chief instructors, rarely seen by the students, appeared amongst the troops and stood at the front of each battalion. Behind the chief instructors stood five of the company instructors.
The Fourth battalion was allocated to the south-east corner and the officer in front was unexpectedly Chief Instructor Zhou Zhen. He was a military field officer with a high school military rank.
Not far away, there was a simple makeshift stage. On top of it, there were a few tables arranged with five to six people dressed in military uniform were seated around. They seemed to be the leaders of the military and the judges of this inter-battalion competition.
At this moment, a middle-aged soldier dressed in military uniform walked to the middle of the drill ground. In his hand was a trumpet. The soldier announced, “Dear students, the month-long military training is slowly coming to an end. It is now time to display the results of your military training. I hope you will all give it your best and bring into play your most outstanding side to attain glory for your battalion. Following this, we will commence the military parade ceremony.” When he finished saying that, the soldier retreated a step and seriously ran back to the presidium.
Not long after, a female instructor walked out from the area of the First Battalion. She walked over to the front of the First Battalion, the only female battalion in the military, and started to give her commands, “Attention, at ease, quick march.”
Following the military commands, the entire First Battalion started to move. All the female soldiers of the First Battalion had neat and uniformed movements as they walked onto the track following each call of a military command.
They marched in unison and changed to a parade march before marching at double speed. They then continued with the parade march while making a salute. After making a round around the entire track, they finally returned to their original position.
Once the First Battalion had finished marching, the Second Battalion started, followed by the Third Battalion, and finally the Fourth…
This military parade was used to inspect one’s military posture and test the discipline and teamwork of the entire troop. The battalions that marched well would receive the highest score.
After half an hour, all the battalions had started to complete their military parade one after the other, and then the four battalions returned to their original positions.
The middle-aged soldier had returned to the center of the drill ground once again and announced the battalions’ individual results for the military parade, “Everyone was very serious about this military parade and the results are very objective. We will now announce the results of the individual battalions. First battalion 95 points, Second battalion 93 points, Third battalion 98 points, Fourth battalion 95 points.”
Amongst the four battalions, the Third had the best score, the Second had the worst score while the First and Fourth Battalions had the same score.
After completing the announcement of the results, the chief instructor at the front of the Fourth Battalion furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the five junior officers behind him with a little unhappiness.
Looking at this, Zhang Lizheng let out a bitter smile. He observed the military parade and believed that the Third Battalion performed best overall. He also knew that Chief Instructor Zhou Zhen had some animosity with the chief instructor of the Third battalion, Xu Kui. The Fourth Battalion could lose to anyone, but the Third Battalion or else Chief Instructor Zhou Zhen would lose face.
An announcement rang out across the field, “Dear students, don’t lose heart! Other than the overall group assessment, there is still a round of major talent competitions. If our performance is good, we can turn the final result of the inter-battalion competition around. Next up, we will have three rounds. First, there will be traversing the obstacle course; up second will be the hundred-meter shooting, and finally, there will be the one-on-one combat. The rules of the competition are simple. For the obstacle course, each battalion can send out 10 students. They will all attempt the obstacle course simultaneously and the total score will be calculated based on the average timing of the 10 students. First place will get 10 points, second place 8 points, third place 5 points and fourth place 2 points. All the points earned will be counted towards the final score.
Next up, can each battalion please send out your 10 participants for this competition.”
The chief instructor of the Fourth Battalion looked back at the five adjutants behind him, seemingly asking them which students they were sending out for the competition. The five company instructors of the Fourth Battalion shared a look among each other before separately calling out the names of a few students from each of their companies.
Evidently, they had planned this out long before. The people who were chosen were the ones with the best results in their company for the 400-meter obstacle course.
Wang Yuan, Chen Zhongqing and Mo Wen from the 4th Battalion 3rd Company were amongst them. The three of them had the best results for the 400-meter obstacle course in their company so they were naturally chosen.
As for the other four companies in the Fourth Battalion, they chose the few students whose results were the best and they grouped into a 10-person team before walking out into the middle of the drill ground.
Not long after, the four teams had appeared together on the drill ground. Amongst them, the most eye-catching one was naturally the female team from the First Battalion: identical looking girls on the drill ground.
The 400-meter obstacle course had long been set up in the middle of the drill ground. A long straight strip of obstacles connected the two ends of the drill ground and boy was it a sight to behold.
Mo Wen was bored stiff as he stood in the midst of the team. The only thing that piqued his interest was when he noticed Qin Xiaoyou had appeared in the women’s team of the First Battalion. That girl had recently become much nimbler in her movements. However, if she wanted to traverse the 400-meter obstacle course, it would still be a little difficult.
Qin Xiaoyou had also noticed Mo Wen. She did not expect Mo Wen to appear in the team for the competition. From her impression, Mo Wen was not good at the physical activities. She winked at Mo Wen and discreetly waved a little, as if to tell him not to lose to her. Mo Wen lowered his gaze, too lazy to care about her challenge.
After the start command, the four teams started to go out dashing to the obstacle area as they started their long journey of scaling through difficult terrains. At the same time, crazed cheers had erupted from the four battalions as they continuously rooted for their fellow friends.
Traversing obstacle courses was a huge test to one’s physical ability and disposition. 400 meters especially was a huge challenge.
However, what surprised Mo Wen a little was that the female battalion had actually produced a few valiant females. There were quite a number of them with quick and nimble movements. Qin Xiaoyou was one of those female soldiers. In Mo Wen’s mind, two words could not help but surface – female warrior!
The 400 meter obstacle course went like this: a 100-meter clear run – bypassing a signpost – scaling a three-step pile – jumping across a trench – jumping over a short wall – scaling a tall board – jumping off high and low platforms – balancing across a single-plank footbridge – flipping over a tall wall – crawling through a pile net – bypassing a signpost – going across a pile net – flipping over a tall wall – making a detour across a bridge – going over high and low platforms – jumping off a tall plank – weaving through a culvert – jumping off and climbing up a ditch – scaling a five-step pile – bypassing a signpost – 100-meter last dash.
There was no need to say any more about Mo Wen’s physical ability. To him, the 400 meters obstacle course was basically of no difficulty. He did not give it his all to dash forward from the start. Instead, he remained in the middle position and leisurely climbed past the obstacles. He was in no hurry nor was he slow. He did not lag behind nor did he surpass everyone.
However, there were really quite a number of professionals from the other four battalions. With Wang Yuan’s ability, he could only maintain fifth position. As for Chen Zhongqing, he was always just outside of the first ten positions.
Unknowingly, the obstacle had already been completed halfway. The physical fatigue started to increase and many people started to slow down.
Mo Wen’s speed, however, did not change. As time passed, he had surpassed the seven to eight people in front of him.
When he realized that the person in front of him was Qin Xiaoyou, he almost laughed out loud.
Half of her body was dangling over a high wall as she tried multiple times to flip across but to no avail. The more she tried and failed, the more anxious she got and the more fatigued she became.