Free Web NovelChapter 128: Chapter 85: Second Squadron’s inadequate soldiers?
Fang Huai turned his head and saw that it was the Lieutenant Colonel who was speaking in the center.
"Yes, sir!" Fang Huai immediately responded.
"I heard you’ve been shooting a promotional video with Zhang Ning and the others recently? Why didn’t you join us in Special Duty? Did Zhang Ning not let you come?"
The Lieutenant Colonel rested two fingers on his cigarette, adopting a thoughtful pose.
Fang Huai’s eyes narrowed, feeling that the emphasis of the question seemed not to be on the promotional video, but on Zhang Ning.
Damn?
This guy... was he once Zhang’s suitor, or an ex-boyfriend?
A female cadre in firefighting, really in demand, huh!
Several cadres beside him also crossed their arms, adopting a gossipy look.
"Report! The leadership said that Special Duty training is busy! They told us not to disturb you!" Fang Huai answered loudly.
After speaking, he glanced at the surrounding cadres.
Noticing the odd looks from everyone, the Lieutenant Colonel threw away his cigarette butt and turned the topic with a dry laugh:
"Oh! I mean, since you’re doing publicity, Special Duty shouldn’t be left out! I’ve heard about your performance. Hao Chengbin even called me to give you a special recommendation, and Deputy Chief of Staff Qin also called the brigade, talking about your situation!
You did quite well in the new recruit group, huh? A new recruit, to gain such strong approval from the squad leader and even take part in publicity work! Our squadron’s cadres should make the most of each person’s talents in the future. You are a promising seedling!"
With these words, the surrounding squadron leaders understood that this kid had a connection with Deputy Chief of Staff Qin, and damn, he was a cultural soldier!
The Captain who had spoken earlier’s face fell:
"Hu Da! Can you talk to Liu Da and the Instructor, try to get us in the Second Squadron an extra new recruit quota?
Do we have time for all this? This year’s police and training missions are very heavy!
Look, our squadron only got four new recruits, and that Han Yong who just left... with that physique, not easy to train, huh!
Fang Huai, right? The one in the arts?
Hao Chengbin... Ah, about the transfer, you know, right, Hu Da? He complained to the leadership and even brought two new recruits!
That Han Yong just now, and this Fang Huai!
Now we only have two new recruits left! How are we supposed to carry out this year’s work?" freeweɓnøvel.com
These words didn’t take Fang Huai’s feelings into account at all.
Perhaps in the eyes of the Captain, "someone in the arts" wasn’t such a bad thing.
But Fang Huai’s eyes widened at the words.
What the hell does that mean? What’s this ’only two left’?
I’m involved in the arts?
You’re the one in the arts! Your whole family is in the arts!
What’s wrong with Hao Chengbin complaining? If you were fair, would anyone need to complain?
Yeah, I’m the one who complained! So what!
Fang Huai cursed to his heart’s content internally, but he kept a smile on his face.
A couple of the surrounding cadres also frowned, while three others clearly took delight in the misfortune, obviously from the First Squadron.
One of them said with a smile, "Instructor Cao, the allocation of new recruits isn’t up to us. Your squadron is short two recruits, but our officers have supplemented quite a few for you before!
We also have many discharges this year. We all have 26 soldiers, 4 cadres, we didn’t get any more than you!"
Instructor Cao immediately chuckled, "Captain Huang, you’re speaking without the pain of standing. The officers also chose from you first. We got two extra, what about it?
All 30? How can you even say that?
Last year you said too many people were learning to drive, and you borrowed He Zhijun from our squadron, now you’re using our squadron’s quota and not returning the person.
Half a year has gone by! You’ve got your people together now, right? How long do you plan to keep He Zhijun from us?
He’s a talent trained by our Second Squadron!
Give us He Zhijun back! I won’t say anything else! A shortage of new recruits is acceptable!"
The First Squadron immediately stopped talking, each adopting an attitude of introspection.
We’ve spoken out of turn! Go get your own new recruit quota, okay?
The Lieutenant Colonel quickly smoothed things over with a laugh, "Cao Yi, stop talking about it. The issue of new recruit quotas is already being looked into by Battalion Liu and Old Teacher He.
I’m just a Vice Brigade Captain, I don’t have much say above, so arguing in front of me is pointless.
The whole corps only have so many quotas. If we just focus on you, will the other big teams stop working?
If we’re talking about a heavy dispatch workload, can our team even compare to the urban Yunyan Brigade?
Last year, they went out on calls over a thousand times!
Don’t look at us being Special Duty that often catches provincial leaders’ eyes, but it’s them! If they don’t handle that side well, do we not want the annual funds from the whole corps?
Don’t always emphasize one’s own difficulties!
We are all one big team. Within the team, we have six cadres and two old Non-commissioned officers. All the third-class merits, commendations, do you see the brigade keeping them for themselves?
When we work together and do a good job, all kinds of awards, the quota of soldiers, won’t they all belong to your squadrons?
If the brigade gets a quota, then your squadrons get a quota as well!"
With a few words from Vice Captain Hu, Instructor Cao cooled his jets, but upon looking at Fang Huai again and turning back, he sighed yet again.
Fang Huai was itching with frustration.
It’s so hard not to speak out!
Damn it, just because I made a promotional song, I’m classified as an arts soldier.
Instructor Cao, right?
Just you wait, if you ever get transferred to logistics and the publicity department. Then, we’ll see how I’ll tease you!
Just as he was brooding, a burst of familiar laughter came through, making Fang Huai’s heart lighten.
"Yo, you all came!"
Hao Chengbin came up from the training tower stairs, glanced at Fang Huai, then took out a pack of Black Label cigarettes and cheerfully began to distribute them.
The first to take a cigarette was Hu Da.
But the first to speak was Instructor Cao.
"Squad Leader Hao, it’s been a long time."
"Yes, it has." Hao Chengbin also smiled.
The two men, who both harbored some dissatisfaction with each other behind their backs, managed to keep their faces somewhat courteous.
Hao Chengbin patted Fang Huai’s shoulder, laughed towards Vice Squad Leader Hu, and said, "Hu Da, this soldier I recommended to you, how is he?"
Hu Da was clearly able to maintain his composure, and even though Cao Yi had just been criticizing recently, he still smiled and said, "I think he’s not bad, worthy of being well trained."
However, a cadre from First Squadron added fuel to the fire, saying, "Just now Instructor Cao was saying it too, he thinks that Second Squadron’s new recruits this year are not up to par!"
Hao Chengbin was taken aback, then remembered something, went to the window to look out, pointed towards the playground, and said:
"Oh, you’re talking about Han Yong, right? I saw him just before I came up! This guy, he’s got some strength! He can carry a dummy on his own, he’s got a foundation! Look, there he is!
Instructor Cao, don’t worry! The soldiers I train, I personally make them do additional practice, and within a year, he’ll definitely make the cut!"
After Hao Chengbin said this, several cadres walked to the window to look down at the playground below.
It wasn’t very clear.
But the figure who was alone, unsteadily carrying a dummy towards the 50-meter line was fairly conspicuous. From a distance, it looked almost eerily as if the dummy was walking by itself.
"Wow, haha, not bad!"
"Right, Instructor Cao, this lad might be a bit chubby, but he should be good for carrying loads in the future!"
Fang Huai didn’t dare to go up and squeeze in to look, but just listening to the descriptions, he was inwardly shocked.
Brother Yong could actually handle a dummy on his own?
Even though it was just carrying, that was pretty fierce.
Hao Chengbin, seeing everyone’s reactions, finally felt a bit of confidence, and when he turned around to see Fang Huai, he felt even more assured, somewhat smugly saying:
"As long as Han Yong can be trained, and with Fang Huai here, the two soldiers I train, they’re surely worth the ticket price, aren’t they?"
At these words, everyone’s expressions became a bit strange, and their gazes shifted evasively towards Fang Huai.
It was that kind of look that seemed to want to say something about Fang Huai, but it was uncomfortable to name names.
Cao Yi coughed lightly.
"Squad Leader Hao, how are Fang Huai’s physical conditions... among this batch of new recruits?"
Cao Yi didn’t mention any training results; in their view, what is a new recruit group’s training worth?
After joining the squadron, it’s all back to zero, starting from scratch!
Hao Chengbin casually answered, "His physical foundation is very good! A lung capacity of over 6000, the doctor said, the re-examination doctor said, his heart function is also very good! With this cardiorespiratory foundation, how many in Second Squadron can compare?"
Everyone was surprised for a moment, then took a fresh look at Fang Huai.
This was a big deal!
Joining the forces with this lung capacity, training for long-distance running would be much easier!
Only then did Cao Yi take another look at Fang Huai, with doubt in his tone, "Isn’t he often taken out for propaganda activities with the cadres? I heard that the Detachment is also involved in this propaganda effort, if he’s registered with the Detachment, and he’s often called out, wouldn’t that interfere with his regular training?"
Hao Chengbin was taken aback, pointed incredulously at Fang Huai, and looked towards the cadres.
"Him? The one you all discussed about the quality of recruits, you were talking about Fang Huai? Hu Da, when I told you I wanted Fang Huai, didn’t I mention Fang Huai’s performance and training results?"
The cadres were silent, and Hu Da gave an awkward smile.
What am I supposed to say! I saw that Second Squadron was short of people, looked out for Second Squadron on the quiet, and now everything’s out there even before the soldier has left the group! Won’t First Squadron come snatch him up?
First Squadron is right next to the big team, pestering the brigade captain and instructor every day. If they really asked, how could I refuse?
Let them say what they want! Once he’s down from the group, the three-month new recruit evaluation will reveal the truth, right?
Cao Yi is dumb too, digging to the bottom of it.
Hao Chengbin didn’t understand Vice Squad Leader Hu’s mental gymnastics or know about the competition between the two Special Duty Squadrons, and after hearing this, he lost his temper.
So they think I, Hao Chengbin, am leading a bunch of useless soldiers, bringing calamity to Second Squadron?
He walked to Fang Huai’s side, patted his shoulder, snorted, and began to vent the frustration within him.
"This one, is the most well-rounded, the best new recruit I’ve ever led!
The results were tested just last night. Pull-ups on the horizontal bar, 18, dips on the parallel bars, 80 without dropping off!
Running, the entry test was a three-kilometer run in 14 minutes 32 seconds, not even meeting the new recruit standard. And how long has it been since training began? Just the other day, 12 minutes 50!
He Zhijun trains with him every day, saying he has huge potential! For specifics, you can ask around!
His ability to participate in propaganda shooting, that’s his skill! And he has many more abilities! A lot of the computer office software the Brigade Department Clerk doesn’t understand, they all come to ask him!
Artistic skills, he writes songs himself! The propaganda song for this occasion, he wrote it! At the corps’ singing competition, he, composed dozens of military cadences, leading Seventh Company to score first place in the whole corps!
The Three Major Decrees, he can recite them all! Second place in the Base decree competition! At evening classes summarizing the news, he can clearly analyze the spirits of the directives!
These skills, not even an old soldier possesses them all, right?
Management, go look at the points board in front of the New Training Building. Our squad is the first among nearly 80 squads in the new recruit group, having been the model squad for two consecutive months, much of that is due to the efforts of him, the Deputy Squad Leader!
This soldier, before he leaves the group, might even have cadres from various Detachments calling Old Black at the Base for him!
Wang Jian from the Anshun Development Zone came to see me privately three times, even phoned the Anshun Special Duty to convince people in my squad to persuade me, but I never gave in!
Firstly, I have my own selfish desire not to part with this soldier, and secondly, I worry if he goes to Anshun, it might delay his development!
I went through a lot of trouble to have him join the Special Duty Squad, how can you still have objections?
I see Second Squadron is really too busy, didn’t even have time to inquire about the new recruits?
The name Fang Huai is known throughout the corps, you should really ask around!
Instructor Cao, with these performances and abilities, I say he alone is worth three new recruits, that’s not an exaggeration, right?"
