Chapter 8 Assessment

Lying on a small bed in the tunnel, I breathed a long sigh of relief, and I couldn't help feeling home in my heart.

This tunnel was specially made for me to use for office use. After knowing that I would lead a unit specifically to go to the position to shoot cold guns, Wang Yuehan also knew that I needed an independent space, so he quickly arranged this tunnel for me under his command. In this regard, I have to admire Wang Yuehan's thoughtful and quick work.

This tunnel is not big, although it is only more than ten meters deep, most of the inside is full of rock layers. There are many edges and corners on the tunnel wall that have not been flattened, but this will not affect its firmness at all.

Because they knew that this tunnel would be my command center, the soldiers enthusiastically arranged some small "furniture" for me: the shell boxes were laid horizontally on a row and then placed on a marching quilt, which became a warm and comfortable small bed; the ones were stacked horizontally, and nailed them with nails, which made a simple office desk; plus a few wooden chairs and two kerosene lamps, which looked a bit like an office. They even sawed the side of the shell boxes and fixed them on the half-person-high tunnel wall, and made a closet for me. The closet was filled with a thick stack of document paper, and next to it was an American pistol connected to my belt...

While I was sighing at the many useful shell boxes, I also had to praise the enthusiasm and skills of the soldiers. These shell boxes that were originally scrapped in my eyes, but in the hands of the soldiers, they could sway left and right, making a lot of things like building blocks. If I had time, I believe that it would not be difficult for them to use these shell boxes to make a clothes and kitchen.

The flames of the kerosene lamps were pounding violently in front of my eyes, and the entire tunnel was filled with an unpleasant smell of kerosene. This made me feel a little dizzy, so I got up and blew out one of the lamps.

The turbid air is the only deficit of this tunnel. In order to cover the location of the tunnel, we had to cover the tunnel entrance with a layer of black cloth. This tunnel composed of rocks had no tools at all and had no time to dig ventilation holes. We could only open a few more holes in the soil layer close to the tunnel entrance for ventilation. In addition, in order to prevent the enemy's grenade from directly pouring into the tunnel, the flamethrower could directly shoot into the tunnel, and the tunnel entrance turned a corner, so there was very little air in the depths of the tunnel.

So I thought about it and blew out another kerosene lamp. Anyway, I don’t need to see anything now. And kerosene is a precious thing for the soldiers. Isn’t that? When they dig tunnels, they used the collected pine oil and charcoal lamps.

The surroundings soon fell into darkness. I lay bored on the small bed, stretched comfortably, and soon thought of the cold gun and cold cannon movement that Ji Jiang faced.

How to fight this battle?

As I thought about it, I couldn't help but feel a little done. It's right to accumulate small victories to make big victories. It's not wrong to pick up the lonely enemy or a small group of enemies to take action. But... there is always a problem that bothers me, that is, the enemy's artillery revenge.

The US military has never been stingy with its shells. Once we shoot an enemy, the enemy's artillery fire will soon be overwhelmed. In this case, the enemy does not need to know our specific location at all. They only need to guess with a big sigh in which direction we are in and which part, and then a fire of artillery...

The mortar is pretty good, but the power of this thing is not very high, and it cannot effectively cover the firepower. What if it is an enemy's long-range artillery or howitzer?

After thinking for a long time, I didn't think of it. A sensation came and my head couldn't help but fall into chaos.

Just when I was drowsy, a tight sound of machine guns and explosions outside the tunnel woke me up. I stood up and grabbed the rifle beside me. With my memory, I touched the black corner in three or two steps and grabbed the entrance of the tunnel.

"What's the situation?" I asked Zhang Mingxue, who was on duty in front of the tunnel entrance.

"I don't know!" Zhang Mingxue replied: "Captain, don't go out first, Xu Yongwei has already gone out to see the situation!"

"Captain!" After a while, Xu Yongwei lifted the black cloth and ran in and said, "A team of comrades touched it in the dark and were discovered by the American devils. It seemed that someone was injured!"

"Um!" I was stunned when I heard this. Someone was going to come up? Could it be the group of sharpshooters transferred from my teacher? I couldn't help but smile bitterly, and someone was discovered as soon as I came up?

"Report!" Wang Yuehan's voice came from outside the tunnel, confirming what I thought just now. He was the one who went back to organize the sharpshooters in the selection of the teacher, so I was probably bringing them up now.

"Cui, Captain Cui..." Wang Yuehan lifted the black cloth and walked into the tunnel, and said breathlessly: "Everyone has been brought, and forty-four sharpshooters were transferred from the division headquarters, plus twenty-one people on our position, a total of sixty-five people!"

Zhang Ming tweeted the flashlight, and then I realized that there were still some bright red blood stains on Wang Yuehan’s military uniform.

"What? Is the lottery hanging?"

"No!" Wang Yuehan shook his head and sighed: "Originally, there were forty-eight people I brought with me, but I was discovered by the enemy on the way, and four comrades died on the spot!"

"Yeah!" I nodded and asked, "Where are they?"

"Just wait in the tunnel next to you!" Wang Yuehan straightened his lower body and replied: "Secretary Wang especially supports this event. These comrades are all first-class sharpshooters selected from the teacher. All of our master's good marksmanship are here!"

"Yeah!" I nodded without comment, then turned around and ordered Zhang Mingxue, "Go, light the kerosene lamp!"

"Yes!" Zhang Mingxue stepped forward, turned around and ran towards the depths of the tunnel. After a while, the tunnel was once again shrouded in the fire of the kerosene lamp.

"Look!" As I said that, I opened the black cloth first and walked towards the tunnel next to me.

When I stepped out of the tunnel, I smelled a strong smell of gunpowder in the air. When I walked a few steps and turned into another tunnel, there was another smell of blood.

"stand at attention!"

As soon as I walked into the tunnel, the soldiers stood up and stood in a row along the tunnel wall. Taking advantage of the firelight in the tunnel, four soldiers were lying in a pool of blood in the slightly wider tunnel. Two health workers were nervously checking their wounds, but finally shook their heads and stood up helplessly.

Let’s look at the soldiers. All of them were covered with blood on their white-washed military uniforms, and some even had a large piece of blood-red blood on their backs. I guess they came up with the sacrificed soldiers on their backs.

"How did the enemy discover it?" I asked with a calm face.

"Report to the commander!" A soldier stepped forward and replied: "It was dark and I couldn't see the road clearly. A comrade stomped on stones and alarmed the enemy. We were so many that we could not hide..."

"Why don't you come up in batches?" I interrupted the warrior without hesitation.

"This..." The soldier was stunned: "We, we didn't expect..."

"I didn't expect it?" I couldn't help but get angry when I heard this: "You didn't expect too many! I didn't expect that it was four lives! The lives of four outstanding soldiers! Can you still say so easily? This is a crime, do you know?"

"Captain Cui!" Wang Yuehan couldn't bear the criticism of the soldiers, so he came up to smooth things over and said, "I didn't expect this, mainly because I didn't have enough experience. In the past, there were at least hundreds of people who charged on the battlefield. How could he think that there are only a few dozen people who have to leave in batches now..."

"Staff Officer Wang!" I interrupted Wang Yuehan and said, "Even if I didn't expect to leave in batches, what about their clothes?"

I pointed to the white-washed military uniforms on the soldiers and said, "You let them come up like this? The soil on our positions is black, and the soldiers dress like this. Once the enemy's flares hit, the blind people can see it!"

"This..." Wang Yuehan was speechless when I asked.

"What sharpshooter!" I still couldn't breathe, pointed at the soldiers and scolded: "So what if the gun is accurate? If you go to the battlefield like you, the Americans will be blown to pieces before the gun is opened. Still firing a cold gun? Let me go back and pull it down to avoid embarrassment on the battlefield!"

"Captain Cui!" A soldier was so dissatisfied by me that he stood up and said, "We have all beaten Americans, and there are no less than ten American devils who died under my gun!"

"It's useless to beat me!" I continued to curse: "That's on the battlefield, now we are shooting cold guns! Chief of Staff Wang..."

I turned around and said to Chief of Staff Wang: "You might as well take them all back! They are not suitable for shooting cold guns at all!"

"Captain, let's change it! Give us another chance!"

"Yes! Leader, we came up to beat the Americans, just go on like that..."

...

When the soldiers heard what I said, they couldn't help but be anxious and all gave me a begging look.

"Captain Cui!" Wang Yuehan also said with some embarrassment: "The soldiers are used to fighting battles that run around and go straight, but they have no experience. So you want to teach me, right? Just let them go back..."

"Give them a chance!" After thinking about it, I nodded and said, "But before this, I will do an assessment of my comrades. I said that in the first place, any comrades who have not passed the test will go back to the original troops and pull them down!"

"Yes!" Hearing this, the soldiers couldn't help but be overjoyed, and they all stood upright and prepared.

"There are all!" I ordered loudly to the soldiers: "Go to the tunnel next door as fast as possible to get a piece of paper!"

"Yes!" the soldiers responded, and ran towards the tunnel next door without saying a word.

"Captain Cui..." Seeing this, Wang Yuehan couldn't help but ask in confusion: "You are not going to test whether the soldiers can write, right? They don't even know a single word they are fighting. Didn't you mean to make things difficult for them?"

"Don't worry, Chief of Staff Wang!" I shook my head and said, "Even if I can write, what's the use of going to the battlefield? Just wait and see! Do you want to get one too?"

"No, no..." Wang Yuehan replied with a wry smile: "We have something to say first. If we can't pass this level, we will have to return to the original army. I don't want to cause trouble for myself!"

As they were talking, the soldiers ran back one after another. Each of them held a piece of paper in their hands, and they all looked at me with a look of surprise and doubt. I wonder what I asked them to use this piece of paper for.

"Comrades!" Looking at the soldiers' confusing eyes, I smiled slightly and ordered: "Comrades who can write, just write down what you saw in the tunnel next door on the paper. Those who can't write can use paintings, let's start!"

"What?" Hearing my words, the soldiers were all stunned. No one, including Wang Yuehan, expected that I just asked them to go over and get a piece of paper. The drunkard's intention was not to drink, but to let them take a look at the decorations in the tunnel and remember it.

For a sniper, the important thing is often not gunshot skills, but observation ability. Especially for those who are now shooting cold guns, the so-called mantis stalks the cicada or bird behind each of our targets, there are often enemy snipers or artillery observers hidden behind them. While we hit the target with one shot, we often become other people's targets. However, if we can detect the enemy hidden in the dark in advance, it will be completely different...

"I didn't expect it again!" I smiled softly: "You made this mistake just now, didn't you? You said you would correct it just now, right? Why? You didn't expect it now?"

The soldiers were all staring at each other and didn't dare to speak much.

"Write it!" I didn't think no one could pass the test, and there was no one under my command at that time, so I relaxed the conditions and said: "If you can write five things, you will be considered passing the test!"

"Yes!" The soldiers responded, and they all sat on the ground and thought about it. Seeing them all with bitter faces and holding their heads, they all looked embarrassed. I couldn't help but feel a little funny. The soldiers who usually have guns and bullets and have not suffered many battles were stumped on this small problem.

I am not worried that the soldiers will cheat, because people in this era have good thoughts! They are all very conscious, not like the universities we went to in modern times. But the one who cheats most in college seems to be myself...

"Come on, I have a pen!" Wang Yuehan handed two pencils to the soldiers and said, "I'll pass it down one by one after another after drawing!"

Two pencils were passed down from the soldiers' hands. Under the dim light of the pine oil lamp, the soldiers held the pencils in various strange postures and drew them carefully on the paper. Then the answer sheets were quickly handed over to Wang Yuehan's hands.

"Four, failed!"

"Three, failed!"

"Four people, unqualified!"

"Five, qualified!"

"This...Captain Cui!" Wang Yuehan handed over an answer sheet and asked, "Do you see if this can count?"

I took it and couldn't help laughing. This guy couldn't think of five decorations. In desperation, he drew all the stones and soil to make up the numbers! The owner of this answer sheet was a young soldier in his early twenties with a scar on his forehead. It seemed that he had fought many battles on the battlefield. At this time, when he saw me laughing at him, he stood up straight with his chest without any embarrassed expression.

"What's your name!" I couldn't help but feel a little surprised when I looked.

"Report to the regiment commander!" The soldier stood up and said, "My name is Wu Sihu!"

"Yes!" I nodded and said, "Verify!"

Wu Sihu still saluted me without any joy and worry, and then stood aside. Seeing this, I couldn't help but praise him. Although his observation ability was insufficient, he could count both stones and soil like him, and he must be a person who could do everything he could on the battlefield. What's even more rare is that his calmness and calmness are all conditions for being an excellent sniper.

With the passing and failing, the final result surprised me a little. Thirty-seven people were able to stay. I think this should have something to do with them being sharpshooters in the army! I have been shooting a lot, and no matter where I go, I will habitually observe the terrain and the environment. I have a deep understanding of this.

As for the other twenty-eight people, no matter how good their marksmanship is, I dare not let them join. What I need is people who are careful, cautious and observant, otherwise their existence will likely affect other comrades.

"Comrades!" After sending away the twenty-eight people who were depressed, I said to the thirty-seven soldiers who were left behind: "Although you have gone through the first round of assessment, don't think you can stay in my army from now on. Fighting cold guns is different from fighting wars. What we need more is care, calmness and calmness. If you can't do it, then you can only withdraw or die!"

"Yes!" The soldiers responded in unison with their chests.

"Chief of Staff Wang!" I turned around and said to Wang Yuehan: "You are familiar with them, organize them into three classes and organize them to elect the off-squad leader!"

"Yes!" Wang Yuehan responded, turned around and started to hurry up.

"Captain!" Zhang Mingxue and Xu Yongwei, who had been following me, came up and said, "Can we both... join?"

"Yes! Commander!" Xu Yongwei said hurriedly: "We are guards, aren't we? Then when you go to the battlefield, we will follow you too!"

"You two little kids!" I couldn't help but smile bitterly, "You need a guard to shoot a cold gun. What if you want to kill me? Come and carry a few bundles of rice sacks! If you want to learn the skills, just watch it first!"

"Yes!" Zhang Mingxue and Xu Yongwei responded, and then walked out with both bowed their heads.

Looking at their backs, I couldn't help but sigh helplessly. It's not that I don't want them to join and learn something, but... the order given by the organization is to annihilate single enemies and small groups of enemies. There is no time to train, and I will go to the battlefield at the same time.

Learning in war and growing in war has always been the style of the Volunteer Army. However, what accompanied this learning and growth was a bloody sacrifice, and this time is no exception. This is also the reason why I cut half of the troops as soon as I started.

What will be waiting for us?
Chapter completed!