170: Chapter 169: After Hardship Comes Happiness 170: Chapter 169: After Hardship Comes Happiness Gao Yang made an assault gesture, and then Li Jinfang kicked open the not very solid door and rushed in, with Gao Yang immediately following behind him.
The two stormed into the room and began firing at the targets inside.
Over the past two months, Gao Yang and his teammates had been tormented mercilessly.
Now, with the rare opportunity for retribution, they had to lash out fiercely to vent some of their pent-up frustrations, especially with their special training about to end.
Wolfgang had told Gao Yang that their training time at the base was limited to three months, as that was the longest military exchange program he could authorize within his power.
Fortunately, three months had been more than enough for Gao Yang and his team.
Since entering the third month at the base, they had significantly reduced the time spent on basic training.
Each day included two hours of targeted training and two hours of live-fire exercises.
The so-called live-fire drills didn’t just involve shooting with real guns and live ammunition but also included crawling under barbed wire as machine-gun bullets whizzed overhead, or during fast assaults when machine-gun bullets would follow close behind.
As for the rest of the time, Gao Yang and his teammates didn’t have any specific training content; they just needed to avoid being hit by paintball guns.
That made those four hours the most anticipated period of safety during their last month.
Especially for Gao Yang, who particularly enjoyed the two hours of targeted training since it was during this period that Simon had come to the base as an instructor, imparting his relentless shotgun shooting techniques to the soldiers including Gao.
Among those learning from Simon, Gao was the best.
Although his speed at reloading wasn’t as good as Simon’s, Gao’s accuracy when shooting the shotgun one-handed was almost on par with Simon’s.
The speed of reloading would naturally improve with more practice over time; it was merely a matter of time.
The reason why Gao Yang and his five teammates absolutely cherished those four hours of training time is because ever since they entered the hardcore mode of training, so-called all-weather adversarial training had utterly berated and terrified them.
Their lives during this period were beyond description, except harrowing.
The first ambush they encountered was merely an appetizer, or not even deserving of that term.
Because once they became the opposing force within the base, they endured ceaseless attacks.
Being woken up from bed by a paintball in the middle of the night was actually the least of it.
After the first night’s lesson, Gao immediately moved in to sleep with Li Jinfang and the others.
To hell with the damn officer’s privileges—Gao just wanted a good night’s sleep, but unfortunately, those special forces were just too damn good.
They made preparations, taking turns keeping watch at night to get some rest.
This made their already precious sleep time even shorter, but it couldn’t prevent the special forces soldiers, tasked with conducting ambush exercises, from finding them and giving them a harsh wake-up call.
The worst part was that Gao Yang and his teammates were on the losing side most of the time, and the losers had to run ten kilometers as punishment.
Actually, being woken up in the middle of the night by an attack was somewhat bearable compared to the insufferable feeling of having to remain vigilant even during showers.
After two ambushes while bathing, they could no longer assume that being naked was a truce period.
Having to bathe under the watchful eyes of a bunch of people, looking like an idiot with goggles and a paintball gun in hand, was bad enough.
But what was even more frustrating was that eating meals was never peaceful.
While Gao Yang and his teammates shoveled food into their mouths with one hand, they had to hold a paintball gun with the other, always ready for the possibility that the guys at the dining table might suddenly pull paintball guns out from under the table and start shooting at them.
Gao Yang and his teammates had fought a few skirmishes in the cafeteria, including one where they accidentally injured some innocent soldiers who were dining.
They not only had to run ten kilometers with gear on but also were denied food and water.
If, overwhelmed by hunger, dizziness, and sleep deprivation, they fainted, it was no big deal—the medics would pop out from some corner, quickly carry the unconscious to the infirmary, revive them, and after ensuring they wouldn’t immediately die, they’d brutally kick them back out.
Gotta say, the medical staff in the base were pretty good at their jobs.
On many occasions, Gao Yang felt like he couldn’t go on any longer, like he might collapse and die any second, but he just couldn’t die.
Even if they wanted to feign illness or faint to catch a break, it wouldn’t work; the highly competent military medics would immediately see through their tricks.
And once those detestable medics discovered their ruse, the soldiers would horribly receive double the punishment, as the medics had the authority to mete out discipline themselves.
At all times, Gao Yang and his team lived in a state of constant anxiety, especially when they saw someone shrouded in a black robe.
They would instinctively point their guns at that person until the individual left their sight.
The Israeli enemies Gao Yang’s special forces faced sometimes disguised themselves as heavily robed Arab women with their faces covered.
Even after training was over, they wouldn’t change out of their robes but just walk away.
This wasn’t a very common sight but wasn’t considered odd until one day, Gao Yang and his team were walking when suddenly a group of soldiers in black robes pulled out guns from under their expansive robes and swiftly left Gao Yang and his team covered in bruises.
Since that incident, Gao Yang and his team developed a sort of nervous allergy to people in black robes.
The situation Gao Yang and his team faced was that everyone on base was a “civilian,” but those armed with paintball guns were the “enemy.” They needed to seek out the enemies hidden among the so-called “civilians” and then eradicate them.
And of course, those eradicated had to accept punishment.
Even going to the bathroom required the presence of five people; otherwise, a team member might be declared “killed in action.” And if one person was killed, Gao Yang and the other four would be marked as having failed and collectively run ten kilometers on an empty stomach.
Although life was somewhat miserable, the benefits were extremely apparent.
Now, Gao Yang and his four comrades had reached a level of tacit understanding where they didn’t need to speak a word, just a glance was enough to communicate.
Moreover, their reaction speed to an ambush was calculated in milliseconds.
From the moment they encountered an ambush to the instant they fired back and killed their opponent, it absolutely wouldn’t exceed one second.
Gao Yang and his team improved rapidly, from initially only being bullied to later being able to inflict serious “casualties” on the enemy, and finally sometimes winning the skirmishes.
This was impressive considering they were declared wholly killed off if just one of them was “killed.” Winning under such stringent conditions was as difficult as one could imagine.
As for the last two days, Gao Yang and his team had achieved victory in combat three times in a row.
So with four days left before leaving the base, the long-absent Lieutenant M finally reappeared and informed Gao Yang and his team that they weren’t just punching bags anymore.
They now had the right to initiate attacks and had finally been recognized as a qualified opposing force.
This time eight squads were issued paintball guns, but they didn’t know who their enemies were.
Now, Gao Yang and his companions could finally choose their favorite method and time to pick a target to ravage.
The first time is always the most memorable, so Gao Yang and his team chose to kick in the doors at midnight for their maiden attack.
Gao Yang selected the squad of his assault instructor because he was certain that the instructor had ambushed them many times before.
The only problem was that Gao Yang and his team’s targets were seasoned soldiers who knew what being given paintball guns meant.
So, not surprisingly, they would definitely meet with resistance.
But even if those targets were prepared, it didn’t matter anymore because now it was their turn to fail if even one of them was “killed.”
So at ten-thirty, they launched an attack, making that squad run multiple ten-kilometer stretches.
Gao Yang and his team noiselessly made their way to the doorway of the target squad.
Theoretically, the squad should have been asleep and therefore unaware of their presence.
But the six-man target squad was indeed prepared; though uncertain of an attack, they split into two groups to sleep, with three staying awake to wait for Gao Yang and his team.
As soon as he and Li Jinfang entered the room, they started shooting at the beds, stepping aside from the doorway to clear the line of fire.
Glolov and Cui Bo then started shooting from the doorway.
Although the target squad was ready and fired their guns the moment Gao Yang and Li Jinfang entered, successfully “killing” them, Glolov and Cui Bo who followed were still able to hit the three awake men.
What followed was lifting the blankets off the sleeping three and firing at them to wake them up.
“Damn it, I knew you would come for revenge.
Ram, you sure hold a heavy grudge.
To be considered failed if even one is killed…
F**k, who designed this shitty exercise?”
Gao Yang turned on the light and looked at the infuriated assault instructor.
After taking a deep breath, he said contentedly, “Although I hate this shitty exercise too, I must admit the rules benefit us for now.
Being declared failed if just one is killed, I’m loving these rules now.
Oh, and don’t forget we were the biggest victims of these rules.
How many ten-kilometer runs did you make us do?
You’ve lost count yourself, haven’t you?
Ah, this feeling is just wonderful.
Alright, you know the drill.
Go run your ten kilometers now, make it quick.
Just to give you a heads up, I plan to enjoy this fantastic feeling several more times tonight.”
(To be continued.
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