Chen Ting's Teaching Time

"Bang, bang."

Chen Ting knocked twice on the bed frame with his knuckles, producing a dull, heavy sound:

"Everyone up and make your beds. Have you made your beds? You're sleeping right here!"

"When I get back, if I see your beds are still a mess, I'll deal with you."

Hearing Chen Ting's words, most of the New Recruits immediately snapped out of their sleepy daze.

This was the military, not home.

Recalling yesterday's lesson, the New Recruits struggled to sit up one by one, their faces etched with pain.

Especially the muscles in their arms and legs, the soreness was indescribable.

It was all due to the intensity of yesterday's training.

Although the intensity wasn't high, they hadn't exercised in a long time, so it was normal to be sore all over today.

"Let's go."

Seeing that all the New Recruits in the squad were up, Chen Ting turned and called out to Lü Qinglong, telling him to bring the two model guns from under his bunk.

"Okay, Squad Leader."

Lü Qinglong responded, grabbed two model guns from under the bunk, and followed Chen Ting out of the barracks.

"Huh? What's Qinglong going with the Squad Leader for?"

Ji Baichang was woken up and was still a bit confused. He asked Xue Daochao on the bunk next to him.

"I don't know. Most likely, the Squad Leader is giving him extra training, a private session."

"Whoa? That's rough. We only have to make our beds, and he has to do extra training."

Ji Baichang yawned and slowly started making his bed.

Xue Daochao next to him muttered to himself:

"Rough? I want to be Special Forces too. Maybe I should ask the Squad Leader to let me join the training tomorrow morning when he gets back."

"Squad Leader, where are we going?"

Lü Qinglong followed Chen Ting all the way to yesterday's training ground, stopping when they reached a small grove with several obstacles set up.

"Teaching you something. Give me a gun."

Chen Ting took the Type 95 Model Gun from Lü Qinglong. With a simple switch between his left and right hands, he set up a basic standing shooting stance.

(Figure 1)

"You know the standing and crouching shooting stances, right?"

"Squad Leader, my brother taught me that when he was on leave before,"

Lü Qinglong nodded and held the Type 95 Model Gun according to the method his brother had taught him.

Although he was powerfully built, making the Type 95 Model Gun look slender in his hands, his standing shooting posture was very standard.

"Mm."

"The hand placement, the buttstock against the shoulder and cheek, and the focus distribution for aiming are all done very well."

"Your brother taught you well. Have you ever fired live ammunition?"

Chen Ting asked casually.

Lü Qinglong seemed to have a better grasp of firearms than he had expected.

"Squad Leader, I have."

"The Armed Forces Department used to have live-fire exercises twice a year, and they'd call me to the shooting range. I'd usually fire over three hundred rounds each time."

"But I've only ever shot the Type 81 Rifle. I haven't shot the Type 95."

Lü Qinglong said truthfully.

"Alright. Then for close-quarters indoor shooting, do you know the C-Grip Close-Quarters Shooting Stance?"

"Huh? Squad Leader, what kind of shooting stance is that?"

Lü Qinglong scratched his head, finding some of Chen Ting's technical terms a bit difficult to understand.

"It's when your left hand's fingers and palm form a 'C' shape, partially enclosing the front handguard of the gun."

"You can watch me demonstrate."

Squad Leader Chen Ting said, slightly raising his left hand, his left arm forming a ninety-degree angle, his forearm resting horizontally on one side of the model gun.

(Figure 2)

"Do you understand? This shooting method is often used in close-quarters combat scenarios indoors."

"It can be used when you have a wall on your left to lean on."

"But this shooting method also has its drawbacks; it can obstruct your vision in the lower-left quadrant."

"So it's limited to CQB, which is close-quarters battle indoors. If we were in a jungle or woods right now, you'd still use the first standing shooting method. Do you understand?"

Chen Ting explained in great detail, even offering hands-on demonstrations.

Lü Qinglong wasn't stupid. He grasped Chen Ting's teachings almost immediately, raising his left hand and adopting the same shooting stance as Chen Ting.

"Don't try to swallow too much at once. We have plenty of time. I'll teach you this one move today, and you focus on holding this posture."

Chen Ting stepped forward and helped Lü Qinglong adjust his stance.

Once the posture was correct, he continued to teach Lü Qinglong some basic combat awareness.

"From ancient times to the present, do you know how modern warfare is generally categorized?"

Chen Ting's question stumped Lü Qinglong. While maintaining his sideways shooting stance, he replied, "Squad Leader, I don't really understand that."

"It's normal not to understand. I'll give you a fundamental concept now."

"All warfare is divided into three major categories: Offensive Warfare, Defensive Warfare, and Deception Warfare."

"Sneak Attacks, Surprise Attacks, Information Warfare, and so on, all fall under Deception Warfare."

"I don't need to explain Offensive Warfare and Defensive Warfare, you should understand those. I'll focus on explaining Deception Warfare to you."

Lü Qinglong nodded thoughtfully.

"Before you engage in any Deception Warfare, you must have an advantage over your opponent."

"Perhaps this explanation isn't clear, but let me put it in simpler terms. If you're going to carry out a surprise attack, you at least need to understand the enemy's firepower deployment, personnel numbers, and other basic information."

"If you don't even understand the enemy's basic situation, then you shouldn't undertake such missions."

"It's the same with CQB, Close Quarters Battle. You can only plan your operations and troop deployment after you know the enemy's personnel distribution."

"If you become an officer in the future and are able to command battles, you must fight asymmetrical warfare."

"Use your strengths to crush the enemy's weaknesses. You understand the concept of playing to your strengths and avoiding your weaknesses, right?"

"Everything you do is for the purpose of winning!"

Chen Ting seemed to realize he was talking a bit too much, so he stopped, leaving the remaining time for Lü Qinglong to digest the information.

"Squad Leader! I understand about seventy to eighty percent of what you've said. I feel like I'll need a long time to process these words."

A glimmer of understanding gradually appeared in Lü Qinglong's eyes.

He truly was a veteran Special Forces soldier who had served sixteen years in the Special Operations Brigade. Just a few casual remarks from him were enough for Lü Qinglong to ponder for a long time.

He listened very attentively. If he weren't practicing his gun-holding stance right now, he would have found a notebook to record Chen Ting's every word.

Do you guys feel this section was a bit dry? I've tried my best to explain it in understandable terms. I'll be writing about subjects like military topography in the future, which might be even drier. But I promise, if you can get through it, you'll have no problem understanding military maps later on.