Chapter Sixteen

  Yuan Shuai and his party returned to the troops after, the army commander had personally led the other members of "Flash Sword" to line up to welcome the triumphant warriors.

  When they returned to the familiar barracks, their tense nerves relaxed all at once, and they fell asleep on the ground one after another. Yes, in 7 days, they slept for less than 5 hours. Now that they had finally relaxed, they could no longer control the strong sleepiness that overcame them.

  When they woke up, it was already 2 days later. When Yuan Shuai woke up, he felt that his hand was tightly held by a weak and boneless hand, and a refreshing fragrance came from his nose. He opened his eyes to see a familiar face floating in front of him.

  "Jade soft?"

  Yu Rong heard someone calling him and instinctively opened his eyes to see that it was Yuan Shuai. For a moment, he couldn't control the emotions in his heart and burst into tears of joy. For a while, he didn't know what to do.

  "You're awake, aren't you hungry? I'll go get you something to eat, what do you want to eat?"

  Looking at Yu Rong's panda eyes, he knew everything. He asked lightly:

  "How many days have I slept?"

  "It's been two days, I'm worried to death..."

  Yu Rong wanted to continue speaking, but her face suddenly turned red, like a sunrise by the sea, with a full face of crimson clouds.

  Yuan Shuai looked at him with a hint of gratitude and deep emotion, saying: "Thank you for taking care of me these past two days, it's been hard on you."

  Yu Rong looked away with an embarrassed expression and said:

  "I'm a nurse, taking care of you is my responsibility."

  Yuan Shuai was too busy talking to her and didn't notice that Zhang Qipeng and Wang Yuan had also woken up.

  "Wow, how enviable! It's really 'envy the mandarin ducks but not the immortals'." Wang Yuan said with ill intentions.

  "We are also your patients, why don't we get that treatment?" Zhang Qipeng's movements became even more exaggerated.

  She really couldn't sit still anymore. She made an excuse and said: "I'll go get some food for you guys."

  "Thank you, thank you." The two of them said with mischievous grins on their faces.

  "What about Li Nan?" It was Yuan Shuai who first discovered that Li Nan wasn't with them.

  "He is in the next room." At this time, Jun Chang and Captain Jiang Qingbo came in with something.

  "Great job, young men! You have made our army look good. Here, I represent the entire army to thank you all. You've worked hard." The commander was still outside the door, but his words of comfort had already been relayed inside.

  Seeing the army commander and team leader coming in, General Yuan immediately stood up from bed. A standard military salute "Commander comrade, xxxxxx unit xx squad is hospitalized please instruct, soldier Yuan Shuai."

  This is the most basic etiquette of the troops. When they see their leader, they immediately stand up and salute. The first person to see the leader or the one with the highest rank among them will report. However, he might have been too nervous and forgot that patients in a hospital do not need to report.

  "Lie down, lie down, you still have injuries on your body, take good care of yourself. According to the rules and regulations, hospitalized patients are not required to report." The army commander said with concern.

  "Haha, forgot." Yuan Shuai scratched his own scalp.

  As they spoke, the army commander had already walked up in front of them.

  "You are all new recruits who have just joined the 'Lightning Sword' unit, but you have made great contributions to our group army. I want to thank you on behalf of the Group Army, you are not simple, the hardships you have experienced are unimaginable, among so many troops across the country, you can stand out and prove that you are the people's guards who have been tested, and you are the worthy sharp blade of the country."

  Our country is not peaceful now, and many countries are eyeing our nation covetously. The Nansha Islands, the Diaoyu Islands, etc. Even a country like the Philippines dares to bully us China, and Japan still hasn't apologized to us until now. Why? Because we're not strong enough yet. For this kind of country, if you don't hurt them, they won't remember their lesson. And this responsibility lies on our military's shoulders. Although it looks peaceful now, we must be prepared for battle at all times. Now our domestic policy is to avoid fighting unless necessary. Foreign forces are very clear about this point, so they try every means to provoke war. The bombing of the Yugoslav embassy is proof.

  "This time Estonia's international special forces competition is said to be an invitation to China, but it's more like a test for China, so this time only success is allowed, no failure. Please!"

  A military commander actually bowed to a few young soldiers, the most senior being Lieutenant Zhang Qipeng. This moved them deeply, and it also proves that the commander is so worried about the country and the people. I don't know what kind of thoughts those government officials who only know how to embezzle money every day and bow their heads to those who have invaded us for the sake of money will have after seeing this.

  "General, don't worry, if we fail, we'll die for our cause. We will let the whole world know that Chinese people would rather die in battle than surrender. Even if we fail, we'll make them know that our spirit is forever invincible. China may not return to its former glory of 1000 years ago, but it will never go back to being carved up by others like 100 years ago."

  They have never been so proud of their profession as they are today, and as a soldier, they feel how great their responsibility is. Although they are still just young men in their 20s.

  The General listened to what Commander Yuan said and felt very comforted. "I know the burden on your shoulders is heavy, and your success or failure may directly affect whether China can continue its peaceful development. This may be a bit cruel for you, but at the same time it is an honor beyond compare. If there are any difficulties, feel free to mention them, as long as I can do something about it. I will fully support you with my authority, and the people of the whole nation are also supporting you."

  "Please rest assured, Comrade, and please let the people of the whole nation rest assured, we will certainly accomplish our task."

  "Please rest assured, Director..."

  Participating in this global special forces competition was their dream to begin with, so for the sake of their dreams they will definitely go all out. It's just that now the responsibility seems to be even heavier.

  "Your top priority now is to recover from your injuries. A mysterious figure will come to see you off in a month," the military commander said mysteriously.

  "Who is this mysterious person?" They all wanted to know, but they also knew that the commander would never tell them.

  "He has been paying close attention to this World Special Forces Competition. Alright, you guys take good care of your injuries, I've already spoken with the hospital leadership and they will definitely provide you with the best medical conditions."

  "Thank you for your concern, leader."

  The commander turned his head and looked at Jiang Qingbo who had been silent beside him, "Don't you want to say a few words? These are your soldiers after all."

  Save the praise until you return from Estonia, I still see some problems in these few rehearsals. Although your team is good, individual combat skills need to be strengthened. Wang Yu's marksmanship is excellent, but his hand-to-hand combat ability is too weak. Zhang Qi's ground hearing and archery are unmatched, but his marksmanship and close combat are not good. As for Yuan Shuai, I'm not too worried, but his marksmanship still needs improvement. What I worry about most is Li Nan, his Jianghu habit is his deadliest weakness, which I will discuss with him separately. Now, take care of your injuries."

  Jiang Qingbo was not a talkative person, although he was very satisfied with their performance this time. After all, they were new members of the "Lightning Sword" team, and his bold adoption of newcomers also bore great pressure. If they couldn't win the "exercise" this time, he would face many criticisms. He dared to use them for one reason: their outstanding performance was indeed visible to everyone, and another reason was that he saw himself in Yuan Shuai - calm, wise, and determined. So he could only assign some new soldiers to him, fearing that if he assigned old soldiers, they would disobey his leadership because of their veteran identity. Fortunately, they did not disappoint his hopes. However, he still found the young team members lost direction in the applause, so he didn't praise them but poured a bucket of cold water on them when they were most excited, aiming to calm them down. More arduous and harsh tests awaited them, and no one knew what the outcome would be.

  Jun Zhang and Jiang Qingbo came to Li Nan's ward again, Jun Zhang still sang the red face, Jiang Qingbo was still white-faced, pointing out the problems that existed in this exercise and himself.