Chapter 2 The Invisible Ghost

  Back at the landlord's house, Old Man Ma happened to walk into the room as well and warmly said to the new recruits, "My surname is Ma. I hope you all have a pleasant stay here for the next few days. Tonight, my youngest son will be staying with you, but he'll be heading back to school tomorrow."

  Yu Songyuan said: "Master Ma, please sit down. I'd like to ask you a question. Why do all of you sleep on the kang? Is it safe to heat the kang? Are there any special considerations?" This was a common question among the new recruits, as they had never seen such large kangs in their hometowns along the banks of the Guan River.

  Old Man Ma sat down beside the kang table, and everyone else also sat around it in a circle. Old Man Ma said, "'Southerners are accustomed to beds, northerners prefer kangs', the heated kang is our northern people's heating facility. Like our place, it's famously known as 'Snow Nest', every year starting from late October, it snows heavily until winter. Winter is long and cold, if our ancestors hadn't invented this kang, we wouldn't be able to get through it."

  "Is this thing safe?" Chen Weitong asked.

  Grandpa Ma smiled and said, "Under the kang is burning with straw, branches and other things, the smoke goes through the flue to the outside, very safe. Sleeping on a kang in winter is very comfortable, only need a thin quilt or grass mattress, the blanket is also very thin. Here people sit cross-legged on the kang in winter, eating, embroidering, chatting, studying, all on the kang, convenient and practical. Every year, old ones are dismantled and new ones are built, the soil of the kang is still excellent fertilizer..."

  "Uncle, your leg?" Yu Songyuan asked with concern as he saw Mr. Ma struggling to get down from the kang.

  The old man said, "It's an old illness from when I was young. Whenever the weather changes, my waist and legs don't listen to orders. It's nothing serious."

  At night, Yu Songyuan slept on the kang, and Grandpa's youngest son Ma Jun had already started snoring. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. The kang was made of bricks, unlike the bed at home, which creaked with every turn, feeling unusually comfortable. Finally, the fatigue of the journey slowly crept in, and before he knew it, he fell fast asleep.

  At night, getting up to urinate, he suddenly heard the woman's deliberate suppressed soft cry. This sound was not unfamiliar to Yu Songyuan. When he was young, whenever Shi Yuandong uncle came, Aunt Yue would make this crying sound when sleeping. Wang Feng aunt and Chen teacher also made similar sounds when sleeping.

  He noticed that the sound was coming from the east room of his grandfather's house. He realized that it was his grandfather's son and new daughter-in-law's room. He had a kind of fear of peeking at other people's privacy, so he quickly went into the house and hid under the quilt.

  At night, I had a dream. In the dream, I was wearing a naval officer uniform just like the camp leader's, and I was marrying Lin Xue in a joyful atmosphere with drums and cymbals. The two of us were kowtowing to our parents on the high platform, and he, who had drunk too much wedding wine, would occasionally steal glances at his new bride wearing a big red cotton-padded jacket with the corner of his eye during the process of worshiping heaven and earth.

  Suddenly, he found that the bride would turn into Yu Yuemei, a stunning beauty, one moment, and then turn into his landlord's daughter-in-law, wearing a bright red wedding dress, with her hair combed neatly and shining with oil, the next. Then she would turn into Wang Feng, gentle and soft, and in another instant, she would become Qin Hong, straightforward but full of bookish elegance...

  "What's going on, he was a bit anxious, and suddenly lifted the red veil, and it turned out that the bride was still his Lin Xue. At this moment, Lin Xue was also excitedly and shyly looking at him, whispering: "Yu Ge, you're annoying, with so many people around, aren't you afraid of being laughed at? Please spare me some face, don't look for now, I'll let you see your fill later..."

  At this time, the sound of Wang Hai getting up to change shifts woke him up. Below, it felt like a gust of wind had passed by, cool and refreshing, but somehow not quite right. As soon as he touched it, damn, it was wet all over... Oh my god, unexpectedly, he had his first "wet dream"! This was Yu Songyuan's first "wet dream" since growing up, a "coming of age gift" that would be etched in his memory forever.

  The next day, new recruits began cleaning up old barracks on a small hill.

  The facilities on this small hill were all built by the Japanese back then. During the war years, it was a stronghold of an air defense airport, with rows of old barracks, and the surrounding intact dark tunnels, and the artillery towers at the corners formed a complete defensive system. Outside the artillery tower, the mountain slope is covered with apple trees as far as the eye can see.

  During the labor interval, Yu Songyuan and Chen Weitong, Wang Hai, Sun Qilai, Fan Jinyou, and Jiang Nanguang carefully examined and experienced these defensive works. In just a few days, they had already followed Yu Songyuan to form a small collective like an iron bucket.

  The tough new recruit training has begun, and for the first month it's basically all formation drills.

  Every day, eight hours of regular class time was spent on the playground. In the first three days after training began, every day was either plain rice with cabbage and pork stewed noodles or greasy big meat buns that dripped oil when bitten into. The new recruits ate voraciously, and Nan Guang, nicknamed "Rice Bucket", could devour ** small bowls of fatty meat buns in one meal.

  Later, Yu Songyuan only knew that this was a trick often used by the army's cooking class. When new recruits came, their food intake was generally very large. Only after being fed with oily and watery dishes for several days could their appetite slowly decrease.

  From the third day on, everyone's appetite really decreased, and the team training was carried out in full swing. The basic team movements such as standing at attention, at ease, turning around, jumping up and down, and saluting were trained for a whole half month. Returning to the dormitory is not finished yet, still have to learn how to fold quilts, the standard must be like a tofu block, square and regular. Each training project has evaluation. A day's work, all soldiers are so tired that they lie on their beds without wanting to move.

  Next，齐步、正步、跑步、踏步，班队列、排队列、连队列、营队列，又是整整一个月。从第二个月开始，是更艰难的军体项目训练也开始了。基本军体训练、四百米障碍、五公里越野、投弹等科目，每一项科目对新兵来说，都是巨大挑战。

  Translation:

  Next, quick march, slow march, running, and goose step, platoon formation, company formation, battalion formation, regimental formation, for a whole month. From the second month onwards, even more challenging physical training began. Basic military training, 400-meter obstacle course, 5-kilometer cross-country run, grenade throwing, and other subjects, each subject was a huge challenge for new recruits.

  Basic military training includes sit-ups, push-ups, single and double bars, horseback riding, and sand pit jumping, totaling ten items. By the time the second month was about to end, the new recruits' faces were all tanned, but their bodies had become strong and sturdy, like a completely different person from when they first arrived.

  It should be noted that although this new recruit camp is composed of new recruits from the 186th unit and the station, everything follows the requirements of the 186th unit. Since the 186th unit is a special duty unit with high personnel requirements, the training projects, training volume, assessment requirements, etc. have been much higher than those of ordinary naval units since the beginning of new recruit training.

  For example, the training content, the ordinary naval troops' new recruit training, the main content of the logistics troops is just the queue, cultivating the basic military quality of the soldiers. The surface fleet will add basic physical training, while 400-meter obstacle course, 5-kilometer cross-country, grenade throwing and other subjects are all army projects, which are basically not done in the navy.

  Longshan New Soldier Camp started from the first week, every few days to organize a team or military physical competition, with the gradual expansion of various training content, and changed to comprehensive training competition. The small banner of the training model class was initially hung in each class, and after a month, it took root in Class 6. More than 20 classes, each one is not convinced.

  Both Lieutenant Colonel Li and Lieutenant Colonel Zhang were staff officers of the airport's Garrison Military Affairs Department. Both graduated from the Army Junior Command College and were transferred from the army. Their comprehensive qualities, such as drill and physical fitness, are absolutely top-notch among the troops stationed at the airport. It can be said that the training model given by these two must be able to withstand scrutiny. However, each class still did not obey, and slowly it escalated to the regimental headquarters.

  Battalion Commander Zhang Guangjin, externally the deputy chief of staff of the 186th Division, internally an unknown "ghost" commander of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion, with a rank equivalent to that of a full colonel. Normally not talkative or smiling, he also serves as the new recruits' battalion commander but rarely goes to the training grounds. In contrast, Instructor Zheng Baogang spends every day on the training grounds, basking in the scorching sun alongside the new recruits.

  The mysterious "Ghost" team's number one figure, however, came to serve as the new camp commander, which seemed a bit of a waste of talent. In fact, it was not the case, these soldiers were all personally selected by Zhang Guangjin from the old district in northern Jiangsu, he wanted to follow and dig out 20 to 30 seedlings who could enter the "Ghost" special training camp among the 67 specially recruited new soldiers in the two training camps.

  After the restoration of the college entrance examination, the thirst for knowledge has become a nationwide atmosphere. The world has entered an era of knowledge explosion, but our army's cadres are aging, with low cultural levels, and many battalion and company-level primary commanders have only high school or even junior high school education, which can no longer meet the needs of standardized and modernized construction of the troops.

  "The Ghost" 3rd Brigade is a secretly strategic strike force directly controlled by the highest level. Under the new situation of national reform and opening-up, the training and combat tasks of the "Ghost" troops are more arduous, and the requirements for knowledge-based and modernized forces are also more urgent than other troops.

  China has openly pledged not to build military bases abroad, but as a major power and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China's interests span the globe. China adheres to a peaceful foreign policy, but in this global village where tigers and eagles are watching each other, peaceful diplomacy does not mean weakness or being easily bullied. The new China has stood tall on the Asian continent since its founding day, never being a gentle lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

  After the founding of the country, New China was subjected to long-term blockade and oppression by Western powers. In the southeast coastal areas, the KMT and the CPC had been in a state of confrontation for a long time. In the 1960s, the northern border was under heavy pressure from the Polar Bear. Since the late 1970s, the South Asian hegemon and the Polar Bear have been echoing each other, and the security of our southern border has been continuously challenged.

  The competition between countries has never stopped for a single second. From the borders of China's interests to every corner of the world, countless outstanding sons and daughters of China are silently fighting to safeguard China's national interests.

  The "Ghost" established in 1955 is a special unit that engages in this kind of covert warfare. It is small in scale, but has a higher level of secrecy than the special forces of various military regions and branches that our army began to establish in the late 1990s, with more arduous tasks, more brutal training and combat. They are not primarily military intelligence gatherers, but rather unknown covert strike forces.

  Since its establishment, although it has made significant sacrifices, it has never lost a battle. In the eyes of elite troops from various countries such as Alpha of Polar Bear, Navy SEALs of M Army and Special Air Service of British Army, China's "Ghost" force is like lightning in the sky, an invisible shadow on land and underwater, with no one having ever seen its true face.

  "The Ghosts" is a nickname or honorific given to them by their foreign counterparts. Their true identity is the Sharp Blade Triathlon Team, nominally affiliated with the Chinese Navy. Whether in the sky, on land, or underwater, the undefeated record of the Sharp Blades has left their opponents trembling with fear.

  Fighting outside the national gate, fighting in the enemy's rear, is the main form of combat for "Phantom". The special combat environment also makes its requirements for the quality of soldiers almost abnormal. Zhang Guangjin personally went to SuBei to recruit this time, and the conditions were extremely harsh. These soldiers were all selected by him from countless applicants, using a "sieve" to sift through them repeatedly.

  To become his special recruit, one must have a strong martial arts foundation, strong combat fighting skills, and a flexible mind. This is the most basic requirement. Additionally, they must have expertise in another specific area, with a cultural level of at least high school or above. Having only academic qualifications is not enough; they must also pass the high school cultural examination organized by the recruitment camp.

  Among these new recruits, there were more than 30 key seedlings that he had personally dealt with. These troops were divided into two new recruit camps, Longshan and Shidao, and mixed with new recruits from other units for training. He often shuttled back and forth between the two new recruit camps, closely monitoring the movements of the new recruits and continuously evaluating their comprehensive potential.