Free Web NovelChapter 164: Chapter 120: Get Rolling, Conscripts!
"Squad Leader, what is this generator used for?"
Fang Huai asked with his hands behind his back, looking curious.
Zhang Yang pointed at the lighting set up on the vehicle:
"It’s used to power that!"
"Ah... Does the firefighting pump use this for power as well?" Fang Huai asked, with the expression of someone encouraging a kindergarten tot to answer a question.
Zhang Yang was momentarily speechless.
After a long pause, he nodded: "Yeah, it’s used for that too."
"The drainage equipment... Can it also act as a temporary power source?"
"...Yes."
"Can it also be used for temporary power supply to important units like schools and shopping malls?" Fang Huai continued to lead on.
Zhang Yang squatted there, looking somewhat helpless.
Qi Xiaohui next to him got a bit impatient: "Hey, why are you asking so many questions? Just remember, generally it’s used to charge the lift tools and the lighting sets on the vehicle, that’s enough!"
Fang Huai was cursing inside.
I’m teaching you guys here! You wasteful lot!
Dammit, a vehicle with equipment worth hundreds of thousands, and all you know is how to start it, not how to fully utilize it!
Firefighting equipment generally has one problem: the designers are all with postdoctoral degrees, while the users often only have a junior high school education.
The soul of the supplier and the user simply don’t connect.
Just like before Fang Huai was discharged, he thought the motor chain saw was only used for lawn maintenance and landscaping. The squadron had this same habit, frequently using it that way, often leaving it beside the green belt.
Because for breaking apart structures, there were hydraulic rescue tool sets, and for cutting, there were seamless saws and bidirectional circular metal cutting machines.
Those were sturdier, and the force applied was greater.
So, why use an electric chainsaw that frequently breaks down or gets jammed when there are more durable tools available?
However, in fact, the portability and slender shape unique to an electric chainsaw could refine many large problem-solving plans.
Easy to carry, cutting trees, precision cutting, safety assurance – these are its unique advantages.
Since his rebirth, Fang Huai began to demand himself to live up to the standards of a professional soldier, and he also started to explore these pieces of equipment with a deep investigative mentality, understanding why designers would create so many tools with overlapping and replaceable functions.
Some were a matter of product upgrades, gasoline engines, diesel hybrid engines, and electric motors – as technology advanced, the pursuit was for higher energy efficiency.
Some involved cost issues, like the seamless saw (metal cutting machine) and the bidirectional circular metal cutting machine. The seamless saw had weaker cutting power but the cost of the saw blades was lower, making it more cost-effective for low-intensity metal cutting tasks.
Some were for exceptional performance in specific circumstances, such as the different components of the hydraulic rescue tool set. Those three pliers looked and were shaped similarly, but everyone was accustomed to using the biggest and most powerful hydraulic spreader, leaving other components often untouched and gathering dust. (Easter egg Chapter)
Many pieces of equipment, in the hands of these rough and inexperienced recruits, didn’t fully serve their intended purpose.
It could be said that if a squadron didn’t have an equipment technician, more than half of the equipment would be a mystery to most people.
Especially to the conscripts.
The later proposal for the professionalization and localization of firefighting, aside from military reform considerations, was also not unrelated to these issues.
As a Fang Huai with the mind of a man in his thirties, what he could see was completely different from what the naively discharged Fang Huai could perceive back then.
He thought that to lead this group of conscripts well, some knowledge had to be popularized.
...
Over the course of three days, under Fang Huai’s relentless "inquiries", the habits of the first-class soldiers began to change significantly.
They started studying.
As the "masters" to the new recruits, Zhang Yang, Qi Xiaohui, and Meng Qiang all grew somewhat fearful of Fang Huai.
Fearful of when he might pop up from somewhere, holding some gadget, asking them what it was used for.
Dammit, not being able to answer was quite embarrassing.
Zhang Yang and Qi Xiaohui especially wanted to hit someone, but thinking of Captain Hao’s protective nature, they dared not lose their temper over Fang Huai’s "thirst for knowledge".
Squad Leader Chen, the equipment technician, had been bombarded with countless questions from the first-class soldiers in the past two days and was quite flustered.
What’s going on, are we starting an equipment knowledge competition now?
I didn’t hear anything about that!
After "learning" from the first-class soldiers, Fang Huai then went on to explain to the new recruits.
The squadron leaders observed this change and were gratified.
Fang Huai was also gratified.
In two days, the Task Completion Degree rose to 11.
When the completion degree exceeded 10, he received a task completion alert.
He finally understood what this Task Completion Degree meant: reaching 10 points was regarded as completing a task.
In other words, every 30 points, he could receive a reward!
Having completed the three-kilometer task previously with the new recruit group, he had effectively completed two tasks now, only one more to go before he could redeem his reward!
The capitalist Director Fang almost wished he could whip the three same year soldiers and the four first-class soldiers into improving faster!
Fang Huai could also tell from the Task Completion Degree the progress of the new recruits and the first-class soldiers.
Whenever the completion degree made slow progress, he had to bring various specialty equipment to "consult" with the first-class soldiers, then drag the new recruits to learn.
Things were ramping up.
Fang Huai even considered using 10 military points to exchange for a "pastry making" skill, teaching Chang Ming how to make dough from scratch.
Forget it, not worth it, after all, military points were not easy to earn.
There had been two police dispatch calls these past two days.
One was to catch a snake. A half-meter long little King Ratsnake; Fang Huai bravely took the lead, and before the squad leader could get the snake tongs, Fang Huai rushed up wearing rescue gloves and caught the snake.
He was scolded by Captain Hao but only got 1 military point.
Another was a fire call; a stack of straw in a village was burning, but by the time they arrived, nearby villagers had extinguished it with a dozen buckets of water, and they got a baseline 0.1 military merit point.
Current military merit value: 18.1.
Although it’s possible to be dispatched on police duty, it’s not so easy to earn recognition.
In a year, there are quite a few calls, but most of them are minor, and if you don’t follow instructions and rush forward, you’ll still be scolded.
...
Training time in the afternoon.
Everyone was flipping tires in the backyard playground.
The tires were certainly not ordinary, but 75-kilogram heavy truck tires, flipping them—with a bang—was also a challenge to one’s back strength.
After flipping a circle, few could stand without holding their backs.
Instructor Cao said that this week was "Tire Training Week," with lots of variations, enough for a comic actor to write a full routine.
In the midst of intense training, the guard post announced over the two-way radio: Someone has brought a banner of appreciation.
Everyone looked at Fang Huai.
In recent days, there hadn’t been any major incidents, so it was unlikely that someone would send a banner of appreciation; the only possibility was Fang Huai’s previous water rescue.
Cao Yi immediately picked up the phone, called the Big Team, and then told Meng Qiang to hurry to the Communication room to get the camera, ready to write a briefing.
As efficient as an assembly line.
Cao Yi led everyone towards the front yard, whispering to Fang Huai on their way: "Chat a bit more with them later, the Big Team leadership is on the way."
Fang Huai understood and nodded.
At the door, it was indeed the old man who was saved that day and the woman, accompanied by a man.
As Fang Huai approached, the old man reprimanded: "Kneel!"
The woman immediately knelt down with a plop.
The man also knelt down.
Everyone was taken aback for a moment, even Meng Qiang, who had just descended the stairs with the camera, didn’t know whether to take the shot.
Cao Yi immediately went up to help the young couple, but neither of them was willing to get up.
The old man, now dressed in work clothes, looked robust and spoke with vigor:
"Which two are my lifesavers?"
Two?
Fang Huai quickly pulled Zhao Jinchen to the front.
Zhao Jinchen, somewhat shy, kept waving his hands and pointed at Fang Huai: "Old man! It wasn’t me who went into the water, he saved you!"
Fang Huai also quickly shook his head: "Old man! This is our duty, what we should do! It’s not about being a savior! If there is such a savior, it’s the State Firefighting forces! Anyone who had gone would have saved you!"
Meng Qiang immediately scooped out a notebook and began to record.
Material! Good deeds deserve recognition!
After hearing this, the old man let out a long sigh:
"Ah! I feel ashamed! I too have served in the military, and I’ve gone to Tangshan for rescue missions! Now, I’ve troubled you for a rescue! You are good soldiers, fine soldiers indeed!"
Everyone was shocked; this man was a former squad leader.
Meng Qiang eagerly continued taking notes.
"Old man, come inside where it’s warm! Have them get up too!" Fang Huai quickly urged.
"Right, right, old squad leader, come in and sit down! Have a cup of hot tea!" Cao Yi couldn’t get the couple up, so he could only wait for the old man to speak.
The old man, pleased upon hearing "old squad leader," grunted at the young couple:
"Go!"
...
Squadron Department.
The air conditioning set to 24 degrees, the green tea steaming hot.
After a long talk with the old man, Fang Huai learned about the whole incident that day.
The old man’s surname was Zheng, his wife had died early, he loved to drink, and he would scold his daughter-in-law after a few drinks.
The old man, a former soldier with a hot temper, had a son who busied himself running a small store and a lazy daughter-in-law who seldom helped, frequently getting scolded.
That afternoon, Old Man Zheng drank a bottle of corn wine, scolded his daughter-in-law for not going to the store to help because of the cold, and boasted about his military days, saying that even in the ice and snow he could swim in the river, so what was a little cold?
In the end, the daughter-in-law entered the room and came out a while later, taking advantage of the old man’s drunkenness to suggest they go to the Reservoir for a swim. The old man, drunk, agreed, wanting to show his daughter-in-law what enduring hardships was all about.
As a result, without warming up and having drunk alcohol, he swam a few strokes before feeling dizzy and then suffered cramps.
Afterwards, the daughter-in-law was arrested, and upon learning of the situation, the son hurried to the hospital. When Old Man Zheng awoke, the son begged him to state that the swim was his own idea.
The old man hit his son and later, considering the difficulty of his son finding a wife and the potential for gossip, went to the police to say it was a misunderstanding and to release her.
The daughter-in-law was terrified at the police station, confessed everything at home, and promised her husband and Old Man Zheng that she would change, vowing to care for her father-in-law properly.
This was attempted murder! And yet, she was forgiven! freewebnøvel.coɱ
The Squadron’s Cadres and Fang Huai, Zhao Jinchen, and others listened, feeling a tinge of numbness.
Fang Huai even remembered the ancient East Asian custom of "abandoning the old."
As the old man narrated the story, the young couple, worried about being recorded on Meng Qiang’s mobile phone camera, pleaded repeatedly for him to stop talking.
The old man, however, shouted: "Because of your unfilial behavior, people were put in danger to save you, and you don’t want them to know why? Now you’re afraid! What if I had died? Who would explain for you? It’s your life they saved!"
The couple knelt again, knocking their heads on the ground repeatedly.
...
After the "story" was over, the Instructor arrived.
The Instructor shook hands with the old man, and upon learning that the old man was a veteran from ’74, he affectionately called him "old squad leader" a couple of times.
The Instructor took photos with Fang Huai holding the banner of appreciation, shook hands with the old man, and conveyed warm greetings to the old soldier.
The old man also expressed, "The current troops are great! Conditions have improved a lot compared to before!"
Of course, the Big Team’s accompanying clerk expanded these few words into over a hundred words of "Rescued veteran’s praise for the development of the troops in the new era."
