1033: Chapter One Thousand Seventeen: The Reason Is Complicated 1033: Chapter One Thousand Seventeen: The Reason Is Complicated After speaking indifferently, Gao Yang ignored those who looked simultaneously furious and astounded.
He walked to the front of the formation and, after giving the remaining men a stern look, suddenly said to Li Jinfang behind him, “Groups of five, you assign them.”
“You, you, and you—five of you, group up.”
Li Jinfang began calling out names and, after picking out five people, arbitrarily formed them into a group.
In total, forty-one people were left, which divided into eight groups left one person extra, resulting in one group of six.
After dividing people into eight groups, Gao Yang waved his hand and with a cruel smile shouted loudly, “Run another lap on the route we just took.
I only want thirty, so I need to eliminate a lot of you.
The rule is that the last in each group gets eliminated, and the last group to finish is entirely eliminated.”
The remaining men had yet to move when Li Jinfang bellowed, “Are you deaf?
Start running, run for it, last place gets eliminated, move!”
The forty-one individuals were already drained, and the expressions on their faces as they learned they had to run again were quite spectacular, but military orders are like a mountain—once the command is issued, they still had to run.
Gao Yang turned and walked back, only to see those sixteen who couldn’t help but beat up Yake and Ludwig still standing in their original spot, fury etched on every face, but at least they weren’t continuing to chase and beat Yake and Ludwig.
As Gao Yang expected, these sixteen were all from the fastest group, and even the individual with the best time of thirty-four minutes was among them.
At this moment, that person was quite active, for although he had stopped hitting others, he was pointing at Ludwig and Yake and cursing them out.
English and Arabic rapidly alternated, making it almost impossible to understand clearly.
Gao Yang frowned and walked up to the cluster of men, quietly observing them.
Once those who were still angry gradually quieted down, Gao Yang spoke in a deep voice, “What are you angry about?
Why are you angry?”
The individual with the best performance wanted to speak, but after glancing at the military rank on Gao Yang’s shoulder, he finally chose not to say anything.
Gao Yang held the rank of colonel, and no soldier in their right mind would dare make a fuss in front of a colonel.
With the best performer keeping silent, a short soldier saluted and said loudly, “Sir, we have been insulted.”
Gao Yang shrugged and then nodded, “You have been insulted, yes, I am aware.
So, you disobeyed orders to get even, is that right?”
The short soldier stood at attention and said loudly, “Sir, we joined the Special Strike Force voluntarily, wishing to serve our country.
We didn’t come here to be humiliated, sir!”
Gao Yang nodded and replied, “Yes, you should not be insulted, so you resisted, and thus you have been eliminated.
Alright, there’s nothing left for you here, be gone, go wait on the airplane.”
The short soldier exclaimed, “Sir, can you give us a reason?”
Farouk was following beside Gao Yang, and at this point, he looked at Gao Yang, hoping to get an answer.
However, Gao Yang had no intention of explaining and shook his head before sitting back down in his chair.
Gao Yang couldn’t be bothered to explain when someone was happy to.
Yake, who was contentedly counting money, heard the short soldier’s question, shoved the cash into his pocket, and laughed loudly, “What kind of question is that?
Isn’t disobeying orders reason enough?
It was said that whoever lays a hand will be eliminated; yet you still fought.
If not eliminating you, then who?”
The defeated Ludwig angrily retorted, “A bunch of idiots!
You’re being eliminated because your IQ is too low!”
Ludwig immediately faced glares again, but he glared back at the soldiers angrily while shouting, “What are you looking at!
You idiots, you’re eliminated because there’s something wrong with your IQ!
F**k, do I look like I have the leisure for this?
The point of insulting you was to make you unable to restrain yourselves, IQ!
Do you have any?
Such an obvious trap, and just a few insults, you’d still jump into it even if it meant defying military orders.
Special Forces don’t just need physically strong guys; IQ is even more important!
You weren’t just eliminated, you failed the test.
Now roll back to your plane!”
Ludwig was harsh in his words, but this time no one sought to fight with him, and those he insulted were red-faced with shame.
Ludwig wasn’t wrong; it was clear whoever fought would be eliminated.
They fell into such an obvious trap simply because they couldn’t stand being insulted; not eliminating them would be an injustice.
A soldier’s highest duty is to obey orders, and if they can’t tolerate being insulted, such soldiers really don’t qualify.
Everyone has a temper, but as soldiers, especially those facing more complex situations like the Special Forces, what they might encounter is certainly far more serious than mere insults.
If they can’t pass the mental test, they must be eliminated.
Gao Yang returned to his seat, and the major couldn’t help but say to Gao Yang, “That big guy, was he telling the truth?”
Gao Yang glanced at the major and then shrugged, “Of course it’s true.
It’s quite obvious.
We don’t have a week or even a month to select suitable candidates, so a simple test like this reveals the basic physical and psychological qualities.”
The major nodded and said, “I feel it should be this way, but the General has requested the formation of a force numbering over a hundred.
It would be difficult to meet this goal with such eliminations, wouldn’t it?”
Gao Yang sighed, “Major, if someone’s physical fitness isn’t up to par, it can be developed through exercise, and if their combat skills are lacking, that can also be resolved through training.
These are minor issues.
But do you really think we can train a group of ordinary people to the level of Special Forces in just one month?”
The major shook his head, but he couldn’t say anything, only nod in silence.
Farouk sat back down beside Gao Yang, who now offered a wry smile, “At this point, we can only choose those who barely meet the physical standards and just pass the psychological threshold as a stopgap measure.
Frankly, I don’t consider the remaining candidates to be qualified, but we have no choice.
Relatively speaking, their physical and psychological qualities can withstand short-term training, then they can immediately be sent to the battlefield.”
Gao Yang left something unsaid: In the regular Special Forces selection process, candidates are meticulously chosen.
Unlike this simplistic approach, where standards are so lax that just a glance at basic fitness leads to training and dispatch to special battlefields, it is not about creating a Special Forces unit but rather about training elite cannon fodder.
The major had already given orders to relay Gao Yang’s decision: those who did not reach the finish line within an hour need not continue, for they had been eliminated.
However, those who still wished to join could carry on, even though their chances of being selected were slim.
Having received the order, most of those who lagged behind stopped.
Gao Yang looked through his binoculars and saw only three people were still running, albeit not fast.
He estimated they would reach the finish in about an hour and a half.
Putting down the binoculars, Gao Yang turned to the signal-sending major with a look of distress, “Do we have to choose at least a hundred men?”
The major nodded, “Yes, it has to be more than a hundred.”
Gao Yang was speechless, but then the major spoke softly, “If the remaining candidates from this group are not up to par, we have another batch of volunteer soldiers.
Their number is not small; you can continue to choose from them.”
Gao Yang, overtaken by frustration, didn’t bother asking Farouk for his opinion and blurted out, “Are you fully in charge of the selection?”
“Yes, the General has ordered me to take full responsibility,” the major nodded.
Gao Yang pointed to the sixteen eliminated candidates and asked, “Which unit do they belong to?”
After a glance, the major spoke gravely, “They are from The Republican Guard’s Directly Affiliated Reconnaissance Battalion.”
Gao Yang nodded, “Reconnaissance troops, no wonder.
How large is this Reconnaissance Battalion?”
What Gao Yang was asking was classified information, but after hesitating for a moment, the major still replied softly, “The full strength of the battalion is over five hundred, but most are armored reconnaissance forces.
Among them, about two hundred are infantry who have undergone rigorous training.
However, among the infantry, all those who speak English are already here.”
Gao Yang waved his hand dismissively, “In the current situation, what’s the need for English speakers?
It doesn’t matter if they don’t speak English.
Send over the rest of the infantry from that Reconnaissance Battalion, and we’ll select from them.”
The major’s face showed difficulty, and then he sighed, speaking low, “It’s not possible.
We can’t transfer anyone else from the Reconnaissance Battalion.
There are some issues here that I won’t elaborate on.
Sorry, you’ll have to make your selection from the list we’ve already provided.”
Gao Yang was now grateful just to have qualified infantry to choose from, no longer caring whether they spoke English as it was far easier than picking from a large group of clerical and technical staff.
For Gao Yang, he wouldn’t be staying on indefinitely.
He planned to lead whatever troops he assembled for Marshall out for a few showings, win a couple of battles, and give Farouk something to report to the higher-ups, temporarily at least.
Although Gao Yang intended to only make do with what Farouk had to offer from the top for now, he was a responsible man and didn’t want those he picked to be incompetent.
Even though the unit was being hastily assembled and would soon be facing combat, Gao Yang hoped to lay a solid foundation at least, so that, even if he left after slapping the dust from his hands, this unit, given prolonged and proper training, could become a force to be reckoned with.
To lay a good foundation, he had to choose qualified people, despite the time crunch.
If the foundation of the unit was built on poor selections, then the unit would be flawed from the start, and no amount of training would resolve it.
So, Gao Yang had only one objective now: to do his best to select a group of qualified soldiers.
But now, he had dropped the requirement for English speakers, hoping only to choose from a professionally appropriate force.
Yet, this reasonable request was unexpectedly denied.
Unable to contain himself, Gao Yang blurted out, “Why?
What’s the reason?”
After hesitating, the major finally said, “The reasons are complex, really complex.
Just choose from those who speak English; please don’t ask for reasons.” (To be continued.
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