Chapter 43 of Volume I: Shooting is Not That Fun Either
"Has each target reported completion of shooting?" Instructor Li asked after looking at the training team members in front of him, who had basically stopped firing.
"Report! Target No. 1 has been hit!"
"Report! Target 2 has been destroyed!"
"Report! Firing at target number 3......"
……
"Report! Target number 20 has been destroyed!"
"Rise!" Everyone stood up.
"Haha, this is really addictive." Cui Ze had already pulled the brim of his camouflage hat to the back of his head when he stood up, and forgot to turn it back.
Qū Míng Jùn began to worry, he was only thinking about the lifespan of the gun barrel at first, and didn't think about his physical endurance. Although the 95-style automatic rifle has a relatively low recoil after firing, after shooting thirty rounds from three magazines, his shoulders still felt the signs of soreness. This is just the beginning, if he wants to shoot nine hundred rounds, can his shoulders handle it? Are they rejoicing too early?
"One hundred meters ahead, replace your target with a new sheet." Instructor Li ordered.
Twenty team members put down their guns and rushed to the shooting range with the target papers and glue they had received. When they arrived at the shooting range, everyone couldn't help but compare. The most impressive was still Guo Xiangyang, this guy was simply a godly shooter, the 95-style automatic rifle's first shot at the target, he actually got the lowest score of 9 rings, looking at his target paper with dense bullet holes in the center, everyone was amazed.
"Second task. 100-meter kneeling single-shot shooting, 3 magazines, free shooting!" Instructor Li looked at the training team members who came back and continued to give orders with his arms crossed.
Most of the training team members, like Choi Ze, started free shooting with an excited attitude, occasionally picking up the sighting mirror to check their shooting results. Qu Mingjun thought about the consequences after firing 900 rounds, but he could only follow orders. However, during shooting, he was especially careful to make his shoulder stance as standard and stable as possible.
……
"The third event, 50-meter standing single-shot shooting, three clips, free shooting!"
The relaxed expressions on the faces of the training team members were gone, and even those with the strongest physical strength felt a sense of discomfort in their shoulders.
……
"Fourth exercise, 20 meters rapid fire, three magazines, free shooting!"
The training team members let out a sigh of relief, and finally they didn't have to shoot shoulder-to-shoulder anymore.
……
"The fifth task, 100 meters unsupported single shot shooting, 3 clips, free shooting!"
The sky is gloomy, the faces of the training team members have turned pale, shooting without support, relying solely on their elbows and shoulders to control the stability of the firearms, much more difficult than the first task with supported shooting. Not only does it test one's shoulders, but also one's elbows. If I had known earlier, I would have brought a elbow pad to protect myself. With 90 rounds of ammunition, to ensure accuracy, both elbows must be used to stabilize the gun, and the recoil after firing will cause the two elbows to rub violently on the ground, finishing the shooting without losing flesh is at least going to scrape off a layer of skin.
……
"Sixth exercise, 100 meters kneeling position shooting at moving targets, three clips, free shooting!"
In front of the electric target trench, a humming sound was emitted, and 20 side targets began to move from east to west and then back again, repeating this motion.
Choi Ze's face had turned a bit green, having fired 450 rounds already. Except for the close-range shots that didn't test his shoulder, the recoil of the other 360 rounds had all solidly hit his right shoulder socket. This sixth task was also testing his flesh-and-blood shoulder.
Qu Mingjun also felt his right shoulder blade starting to go numb, he stole a glance at Instructor Li and Captain Fan, Captain Fan was still shooting at his own target with a calm expression, while Instructor Li stood behind him with his arms crossed like an unyielding judge.
Damn it, I knew it wasn't that easy. You think we like shooting targets? We all want to shoot more, right? So let's not stop until we're exhausted. With a fierce expression, Qu Mingjun pulled the trigger again.
……
"Seventh exercise, 400 meters prone with support shooting at visible and hidden targets, three magazines, free shooting!"
……
After completing this task, when sticking targets, the faces of all team members were very unsightly, including Guo Xiangyang. It was not only because their right arms could no longer be lifted during target sticking, but mainly because everyone had bullets deviating from the target in this task, even the great god-level shooter Guo Xiangyang also missed several shots.
400-meter prone position with support for hidden and visible targets, does not test accuracy, that is to say, it does not examine how many rings were hit, but rather whether the bullets hit the target or not. 30 shots, 18 hits and above pass, 24 hits good, 27 hits excellent. Qu Mingjun only scored a pass with 21 hits.
Damn it, why are tasks getting harder and harder? Qu Mingjun felt that his arms were not listening to him, he wanted to lift them but couldn't.
……
"The eighth task, 400-meter tactical shooting, four magazines, one magazine per line, free shooting." Captain Li didn't even look at their scores, just gave orders with his arms crossed.
What's the meaning of 400-meter tactical shooting? Qu Mingjun was somewhat perplexed.
"Report!" Seeing Captain Li gesturing for them to take up firing positions, Qu Mingjun hastily raised his hand to report.
"Speak!" Captain Li frowned.
"Reporting officer, I haven't learned 400-meter tactical shooting and don't know how to shoot."
"Kuo Hsiang-yang!" Colonel Li suddenly remembered that K'uei Ming-chun was a direct examinee from the local province to the Shih-men Lu Institute, and second-year students hadn't started learning this course yet, but the old soldiers must have all known about it.
"Arrived!"
"Tell him."
Kuo Hsiang-yang hastily ran to Ch'u Ming-chun's side and began to gesture rapidly with his fingers.
Qu Mingjun suddenly realized that this was the tactical shooting. Starting from 500 meters, running to the 400-meter shooting position, using a jump-forward motion to lie down and start prone shooting with one magazine, then listening to the command to jump up and run towards the 200-meter shooting position, then kneeling to shoot another magazine, then to the 100-meter shooting position, standing to shoot another magazine, and finally rushing to 20 meters, close-range shooting the last magazine.
Running and shooting? This really tests the quality of marksmanship. You know, this tactical shooting has time requirements, if...
Time's up, you've got to rush to the next shooting position even if you haven't finished your bullets. After a quick dash, whether you can catch your breath in time or grab the right aiming moment during the swinging of the gun will become the key points for shooting.
The tactical shooting started, and the scores were getting worse and worse, not even guaranteeing a pass. Qu Mingjun's face was also getting worse and worse, as were the other nineteen training team members.
……
"The ninth task, 200 meters prone position small ring target unsupported single shot, 3 clips, free shooting!"
Small ring target? This is even smaller than the standard target used before. Still 200 meters prone unsupported, my god, won't I get a zero score?
At this time, the sky had already begun to darken, and unknowingly, Qu Mingjun and his companions had spent the entire afternoon and evening at the shooting range. The time for dinner had already passed. When Qu Mingjun and his companions were posting the target papers, they saw the soldiers on guard at the shooting range having their meal.
Damn, I'm so tired. My right arm is completely useless now and my left hand has started shaking. The weather is sweltering hot, not a drop of water all afternoon, no rest time at all. Some people in the training team wanted to take a short break by pretending to pee, but that damned Lieutenant Li made them do it in the nearby bushes instead.
Qu Mingjun smiled wryly, holding the gun with his left hand, and sprinted to the shooting position in front. Only 5 magazines were left, with 150 bullets remaining. It's estimated that there are only about ten tasks left. This damn training camp isn't something just anyone can handle. Let's go all out, if we can't make it, then so be it, after all, this is the last time anyway.
Seeing Qu Mingjun and others running towards the 200-meter shooting range with a slightly painful expression and slow movements, Li Shangwei let out a cold hum in dissatisfaction.
"What are you doing, have you run out of energy? Aren't you the elite of the entire college? How can 900 rounds of ammunition not be finished and all become useless? Don't tell me that now you're starting to learn how to aim and shoot like women? Wrong, even women aren't as soft and slow as you. Are you planning on spending the night here tonight, don't want to go back?" Captain Li started mocking Qu Mingjun and his team.
Qu Mingjun and others listened with a start, anger burning in their hearts. Although they didn't dare to confront him directly, their footsteps quickened nonetheless.
Standing on the shooting range, Captain Li swept his eyes across everyone in the queue, "Can't shoot or don't want to shoot? Then I'll consider you all abandoning. I can allow you to abandon the shooting and it won't be counted as desertion, just leave the shooting range and go back to rest." Captain Li pointed at the gate of the shooting range.
"Damn, you've fired so many bullets, now the fingers that pulled the trigger don't even listen to orders anymore. Qu Mingjun glanced at Fan Shaobai on the edge, he actually followed them all the way to now and started shooting slowly while lying down, is his shoulder made of iron? Doesn't he know tiredness?"
"Get down!"
"Fire!"
"Bang——""Bang——"…
"What are you doing? Who ran far in the competition?" Captain Li carefully looked at the smoke and dust rising from the earth wall behind the target, and suddenly became furious again. "If you can't shoot, don't shoot! Do you know how much a bullet costs? You're wasting the country's property, do you know that?"
"Ah——" Qu Mingjun seemed to see Li Shangwei's mocking gaze, so he simply pulled out his right hand, which was most affected by the shot. He let out a loud roar and slammed it heavily on the ground. Suddenly, blood began to seep out from the outer side of his right palm, as if the feeling in his right arm had returned. Damn it, if I'm not dead, I'll keep going!
The other nineteen training team members heard Qu Mingjun's loud roar and turned their heads to look over.
Cui Ze also drew out his right hand without hesitation and slammed it onto the ground...
Guo Xiangyang also drew out his right hand...
Feng Shaojun also...
……
Damn it, if you're a man, get up and keep going, even if we old men die, we won't believe in this evil!
The sound of gunfire rose again, and the entire Shigemori estate echoed with the reverberation of bullets.
"The tenth task." Captain Li glanced at the twenty pairs of bloodshot eyes in front of him, like wolves ready to devour their prey, and smiled faintly. "One hundred meters prone position with supported single-shot firing, last two magazines, record scores, shoot well!"
Commander Fan, who had never spoken since arriving at the shooting range, stepped forward and swept his gaze over everyone. "There are only sixty rounds of ammunition left," he said. "I don't expect everyone to make it to the end. I just want to tell you all that from now on, every day's training will be more brutal than the last. Today is just the beginning."
"Do you think your body has reached its limit? You can apply to withdraw!"
No one in the team is speaking, what a joke, if you want to quit, it's better to quit early. There are only sixty bullets left, quitting now is more shameful than escaping at the beginning. Besides, these twenty people are the top trainees of the entire college, representing the face of our team, who would admit defeat at this time?
No need to say anything, let's fight!
The final shot has begun...
All the training team members still looked quite ugly, and their performance was not ideal. Although they tried very hard, from both physical strength and gun barrel heat caused by continuous shooting, they performed poorly. At this time, everyone also saw Captain Fan's military quality, who shot at the same target with them, fired as many bullets, but his final shooting accuracy was far higher than theirs, it was simply unbelievable.
Li Shangwei recorded his score, and a group of people began to bring back, even bigger waves waiting for them...
