Chapter 11 The Old Soldier Really Has Some Tricks Up His Sleeve

  "Take a short rest."

  "Attention!"

  "Comrade Captain, the 14th squad's gun-granting ceremony is ready. Please give your instructions." Yan Weidong's loud voice echoed in the large classroom. At this time, the large classroom was brightly lit, and all the seats had been rearranged, leaving a relatively wide empty space at the front of each row. On top of the podium, a row of tables had been rearranged neatly, covered with military green blankets, looking particularly solemn. On the blackboard, in Liu Xiaojian's beautiful handwriting, were the four large characters "Gun-Granting Ceremony".

  "Please take a seat." The team leader, Zhou Huashan, who was carrying two bars and three stars, returned the courtesy and looked at the 140 young but determined faces in front of him (two people did not pass the assessment). He organized his thoughts and began to speak: "Firstly, I would like to represent all the cadres and soldiers of the Third Brigade, and on behalf of the college, congratulate you comrades for passing the arduous three-month intensive training. From today onwards, you will become formal students of the Shimen Military Academy. In other words, from now on, one foot has stepped into the door of a professional military career. You will dedicate the most precious years of your youth to the army and the country. From today onwards, you will shoulder your responsibilities and make sacrifices for the greatness of the Chinese nation, without hesitation, with sweat and blood. Here, I would like to congratulate everyone and pay my respects!"

  Zhou Huashan stood up and gave a solemn military salute to 140 young people.

  "Wow——" A warm applause erupted, most of the students were excited, their faces flushed red, and they clapped their palms frantically.

  "The gun-granting ceremony begins, everyone rise!" Captain Yan Weidong gave the order.

  "Whoosh!" The only sound in the large classroom was a crisp standing-up sound, and all the students stood up straight like white poplars suddenly sprouting from the ground.

  "Present... the team flag!" With the command, three senior students from the opposing team standing at the back of the large classroom marched forward in lockstep, escorting the 14th Middle School team flag. District team leader Feng Shaojun and two tall, specially selected flag bearers had been waiting and stepped forward steadily to receive it. Under Yan Weidong's command, a solemn handover ceremony was conducted.

  The military flag was held in the hands of Squadron Leader Feng Shaojun, and stopped at the front side direction of all team members. Two flag bearers stood proudly with their heads held high, white gloves holding shiny steel guns, standing behind Li Tianze.

  Then, in order of class number, everyone was called up one by one to receive their guns. Some people were excited, some had big smiles on their faces, and others looked very serious.

  "Quán Míng Jùn!"

  "Reporting!" Qu Mingjun hastily ran forward, standing at attention in front of the company commander and saluting with a standard military salute.

  Deputy Captain Zhou Huashan returned the gift and solemnly handed an 81-1 automatic rifle to Qu Mingjun.

  Qu Mingjun took the gun with both hands, his palms sinking down, and a mix of emotions rose to the surface, he couldn't tell whether it was joy or solemnity. The icy steel gun lay quietly in Qu Mingjun's hands, making him suddenly feel that his three months of hard work had not been in vain.

  "Comrades, everyone has received their own guns. Here, I want to tell you that this gun will accompany you through your four years at the military academy. It will be your most loyal companion for these four years." The speaker is Team Leader Yan Weidong. "Comrades all know that a gun is a soldier's second life. A soldier without a gun is undoubtedly a tiger without sharp teeth and claws. Only by being familiar with the gun, understanding the gun, and engraving every part and parameter of it in your heart will it be like an extension of your arm, assisting you to bravely fight the enemy on the battlefield. I hope that the first thing you do when you go down is to thoroughly understand your gun. Firmly remember your gun number and learn how to maintain it..."

  Back in the classroom, all the new recruits who had just enlisted were hugging their guns lovingly. Wang Jin was shouting loudly to go to the warehouse to fetch his camera and take pictures of himself.

  Guo Xiangyang smiled, put his gun on the table, took out a white cloth and gun oil from the weapons cabinet, pulled out his small stool, and sat down. Li Dongkuan, Cui Ze, and Jiang Xiaoming saw Guo Xiangyang's movements and all smiled, following him to sit down.

  Qiu Mingjun and a few others watched as the four old soldiers quickly disassembled the guns with a few "clicks" and then began to oil them using cloths and small tools that came with the guns, leaving them wide-eyed. They had never learned this before.

  Wang Jin's mind moved quickly, and he hastily picked up his own gun to run over and get close to Guo Xiangyang, "Squad leader, squad leader, don't just do it yourselves, teach us too, how do you disassemble this thing?"

  "Hey, don't rush, go register the gun number first. The weapon registration form is in the gun cabinet. After you're done registering, we'll probably be finished wiping down too. I'll teach you then." Guo Xiangyang didn't even lift his head.

  "Oh." Wang Jin hastily ran over to get the registration form.

  "Hey, where's the gun number?" Liu Meng Lou flipped through the guns in his hand, puzzled and asked Ma Xiao Tian.

  "Here, here." Wang Jin hurried over to point out to Liu Meng Lou.

  Qu Mingjun also lowered his head to look at the 81-1 automatic rifle in his hand. On the upper part of the trigger, slightly towards the back, was engraved a five-pointed star, and behind the five-pointed star were eight digits - "12750252". From this moment on, Qu Mingjun suddenly realized that his gun also had a name, which was 12750252. The rifle was long and sturdy, with a folding stock made of engineering plastics and steel, a wooden handguard and grip, and a polished firing mechanism. Holding it in one's hands gave a sense of cold mechanical beauty. It was so quiet, but when it burst into action, how earth-shaking it was!

  "Come on, come on, everyone over here." Guo Xiangyang's call broke into Qu Mingjun's train of thought.

  "Alright, everyone watch closely. I'll demonstrate as I go along. Later, after you all disassemble your guns and wipe them down with gun oil, put them back in the cabinet. I reckon they've been stored in the armory for quite some time now, so they need a bit of maintenance." As Guo Xiangyang spoke, he placed his already assembled gun on the table. At this moment, Guo Xiangyang's gun was emitting a unique luster under the fluorescent light, clearly different from the guns held by Qu Mingjun and the others that had not been wiped down yet. The contrast gave one the feeling of comparing a sharpened knife to a pile of unsharpened knives.

  "Now, first take out the spare magazine from the gunstock, point the muzzle forward, hold it with your thumb like this, and then put it back. Then press the trigger, cover the receiver..." Guo Xiangyang explained while disassembling the gun in his hands, slowing down his movements so that everyone could see clearly.

  "That's it, when putting it back, pay attention to arrange all the parts in the order of disassembly, convenient for wiping and final assembly." Guo Xiangyang finished disassembling the gun, looked up, "Hey, hey, Wang Bin, what's the hurry? Wait a minute, I'll tell you how to assemble the disassembled gun later, so as not to mess it up later."

  ……

  "Pig ah you, press this, use force!"

  "Here, here, turn back a bit."

  "Take apart the firing mechanism and just take out the whole thing?"

  “……”

  Four old soldiers who had polished their guns began to turn around in front of the eight new recruits. One moment they pointed at this one, and the next moment they pointed at that one. Qu Mingjun had a great memory, after Guo Xiangyang explained it once, he remembered several steps firmly, only his movements were a bit stiff on the first try.

  Everyone finally wiped their guns clean and combined them under the guidance of the old soldiers, everyone was very excited.

  "Guo Xiangyang asked: "How's it going? Have you all learned it? Do I need to say it again?"

  "It's quite simple, isn't it? Not too difficult."

  "Simple?" Choi Tae heard Go Min-joon's words and somehow felt a stinging sensation.

  He frowned and said, "I don't want to say you're a rookie, but you're also too... You think decomposition and combination are easy, huh?"

  Qu Mingjun nodded inexplicably. The other students in the class looked over, most of them with expressions that Qu Mingjun was right.

  "Alright!" Choi Jae placed his gun in front of him, wrapped a towel around his eyes and stood at attention. "Sergeant, please give the order!"

  Guo Xiangyang smiled and ordered: "Disassemble it!"

  Choi Jae's hands, which had been stuck to his pants, suddenly moved and, with a few crisp clicks, a complete rifle was disassembled and all its components were neatly arranged on the white cloth.

  "Decomposition complete!" Cui Ze reported loudly.

  Everyone in the class was stunned, how could he even dissect with his eyes closed? Moreover, at that speed, it was as if they couldn't keep up even with their eyes open. And to make matters worse, everything was neatly arranged. What the heck, did his eyes grow on the outside of his head?! Wang Jin even ran over to take a closer look from under Cui Ze's chin, wondering if he had left any gap, but unfortunately, there was nothing to be found.

  Guo Xiangyang looked at Li Dongkuan and Jiang Xiaoming with a smile, loudly giving the order: "Begin combination!"

  Cui Ze accurately picked up the scattered parts on the table, quickly assembling them into place with a few "clicks". The rifle was restored to its original state. Cui Ze rapidly pulled back the bolt and fired, then reset the safety and tidied up the sling before putting the rifle away. Only then did he remove the towel from his head. At this point, the rifle seemed as if it had never been disassembled and reassembled earlier, quietly lying on the table.

  "Is it simple? Isn't it simple?" Cui Ze patted Wang Jin's shoulder, who was staring blankly beside him, and swept his gaze across everyone in the room, finally stopping at Qu Mingjun. With a profound tone, he said, "Kid, practice slowly!"

  "What's the point of practicing this? It's not like we're performing acrobatics." Qu Mingjun said stubbornly.

  "Of course it's useful." Guo Xiangyang took over and said: "If you're on the battlefield at night, your gun needs maintenance, but you can't turn on the light, or some parts of your gun are damaged, you can replace them with parts from other guns. In the dark conditions, if you don't learn this, how can you use a gun?"

  The old soldier still has a few tricks up his sleeve, thought Qu Mingjun involuntarily.