Chapter 2 The Least Severe Punishment

  "The Red Beret" Special Warfare Brigade is the latest special warfare brigade established by our army, focusing on modern warfare needs, drawing on domestic and foreign special warfare experience, and concentrating the best resources of the whole army.

  During naming, all senior generals of the army had repeated discussions and finally named this special warfare unit to be established as "Red Berets".

  The reason for this naming is mainly due to three considerations:

  One is red, representing the Red Army. Countless Red Army predecessors fought bravely and shed blood to drive out Japanese invaders, liberate all of China, support South Korea, shock the world, and leave a brilliant chapter in the history of global warfare. The comrades of the preparatory group hope that the excellent tradition of the Red Army, which is not afraid of hardship, brave and strong, and dares to win, can be better inherited and carried forward in this newly formed special force.

  Two is red with a warning meaning. In traffic signals, when the red light comes on, all vehicles are prohibited from passing. The General Staff has placed great expectations on this special forces unit, hoping that after its formal establishment, it will be able to independently complete various difficult and dangerous tasks, and be able to show off our country's prowess in the world of special operations warfare, standing tall and proud. The ultimate goal is to make other special forces units see the "red beret" and feel a sense of warning, just like vehicles seeing a red light, either stopping or taking a detour.

  The third point has a certain degree of cruelty, with red representing blood. The General Staff made a major decision, sparing no expense, to build this troop well. At the preparatory meeting, it was clearly pointed out that during training, the difficulty should be increased, standards should be strict, and requirements should be severe, without fear of bleeding sacrifices, as long as personnel who meet the standards can be trained, even if it means advancing over corpses!

  In the newly established "Red Beret" training base, buildings of various sizes are scattered all over, with winding roads that twist and turn, surrounding and encircling each other.

  From a distance, the branches and leaves are lush, the mist is floating, and the whole building is like wearing a layer of gauze, making people can't help but want to explore.

  Wang Fanglong rushed out of the Wang family tomb and ran towards the assembly point at a speed of 100 meters.

  However, when he ran after him, he found it was already too late.

  All other reserve team members have gathered, and Li Zhenhong is standing on the high platform, speaking passionately.

  Speaking of Chief Instructor Li Zhenhong, this man is not simple at all. He holds the rank of senior colonel and enlisted in the army at the age of 16. He has been serving in special operations forces all along, and so far, he has served for a full 25 years.

  Twenty years ago, he won the championship in the International Special Forces Competition, and is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, shooting, street fighting, wilderness survival, and disguise. He has extremely rich practical experience and enjoys a very high reputation in the international special forces community.

  Before he could even stand still, Wang Fanglong had already looked up to size up the Chief Instructor Li Zhenhong. He found that Li's face was resolute and his features were sharp and clear-cut, like an ancient Greek statue. Standing upright on the platform with impeccable military posture, he inspired a sense of reverence in others.

  。

  However, Wang Fanglong didn't even have time to take a closer look. He knew that he was late for the first assembly, which was an unforgivable mistake for a professional special forces soldier.

  He hastily stopped in his tracks, turned to face Captain Li Zhenhong, stood at attention and gave a standard military salute, while shouting "Report" to request permission to enter the formation.

  Li Zhenhong's speech was interrupted, his expression clearly displeased, he turned to look at Wang Fanglong with a piercing gaze that captivated the hearts of all.

  As an ordinary person, being stared at by Li Zhenhong like this would probably be enough to scare him out of his wits.

  However, Wang Fanglong was naturally tough and had a strong willpower. Facing such gazes, he showed no signs of fear, his clear eyes were filled with calmness as he stood still waiting for the outcome.

  However, Wang Fanglong did not know how Li Zhenhong would deal with himself, and he was still a little nervous.

  However, what Wang Fanglong did not expect was that after Li Zhenhong swept a glance at him, he quickly withdrew his sharp gaze and turned his head back, as if he had not noticed Wang Fanglong at all, and continued to speak to the team: "You..."

  For the instructor's disregard, Wang Fanglong was not angry at all. He knew he had made a mistake first and couldn't help but secretly smile to himself.

  However, Wang Fanglong thought again that as a soldier, he must enter the formation during assembly.

  Although he didn't know why the instructor was ignoring him, Wang Fanglong made another report, asking for instructions to join the ranks.

  This time, Wang Fanglong's report was even more sonorous.

  Li Zhenhong's speech was interrupted again, he suddenly turned his head, staring tightly at Wang Fanglong, his eyes were sharp and powerful, like a Buddhist arhat, majestic without anger.

  At the same time, Li Zhenhong loudly said to Wang Fanglong: "Good! Very good! You are the first person who dares to interrupt my speech, report your name!"

  "Reporting to the superior officer, Wang Fanglong!"

  "Don't call me Captain, from now on you all address me as Instructor Li. Wang Fanglong, I don't care what you did in the army or how excellent you were, once you're here, you must follow my rules."

  You're late for assembly, you must be punished. Interrupting my speech is even more punishable. Considering it's your first offense and you're new here, I'll give you the lightest punishment. Squat in a horse stance where you are and listen to me finish speaking with the other comrades!

  "Yes!" Wang Fanglong didn't say another word, neatly and efficiently securing his horse stance on the spot, with an upright and stable posture, his eyes gleaming with spirit, gazing straight ahead.

  Although he was punished from the very beginning, Wang Fanglong did not complain at all. The army must have iron discipline, and this point, he understood better than anyone else. He made mistakes first and deserved to be punished.

  Wang Fanglong crouched in a horse stance, quietly listening to Li Zhenhong's words.

  Li Zhenhong stood on the high platform, and he swept his gaze over everyone including Wang Fanglong once again before continuing to speak: "You should all be very clear that the purpose of gathering here for training is to form the strongest special warfare elite in all of China, even in the whole world. The seven major military regions of the army, plus the navy, air force and Second Artillery Corps, a total of ten large units, ultimately only selected you one hundred comrades, truly a rare occurrence."

  "Before, many people told me that you one hundred comrades are the best in the whole army, the elite of the elite, the king of soldiers among kings. But actually? Bullshit! You call this the elite? I can tell you now, after the final assessment results come out, if even a tenth of you remain, it will be a miracle! At that time, I'll apply for second-class honors for all of you collectively!"

  Li Zhenhong paused for a moment, swept his eyes across the entire team, and found that some people had skeptical expressions. He deliberately focused on Wang Fanglong and found that Wang's expression didn't change at all, with a serious look of listening attentively.

  "I know that some of you may not believe what I said earlier. That's normal, as awarding this collective a second-class merit requires approval. But what you don't know is that the formation of this unit was a decision made by the Military Commission, and it wasn't just any ordinary decision! The head of the Military Commission has extremely high expectations for you all! The amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources invested in forming this unit is unimaginable. I hope you can live up to the sacrifices made by the Party and the country!"

  Li Zhenhong's voice suddenly rose, his emotions slightly agitated, the veins on his forehead bulging, his face red and ears burning as he continued to say: "Today, before we officially start training, I want to tell you that as long as you're willing to put in the effort, even if you get eliminated, the experience here will be the greatest wealth of your life! Even those who are eliminated, their efforts here are completely worthy of the honor of second-class merit!"

  "What are you often faced with here? I'll tell you now, the choice between life and death! The test of ice and fire! It will be around you every moment! You don't need to go to the battlefield, even on the training ground, at any time, in any place, if you're not careful for a moment, you may lose your own life."

  ！”

  Li Zhenhong paused for a moment and found that everyone's eyes were focused on him.

  In these eyes, he saw determination and calmness, also saw fearlessness, but no longer the previous indifference.

  Li Zhenhong raised his voice again and asked loudly to all the red beret special forces reserve members: "I ask you! Are you afraid or not?!"

  "We're not afraid!" Everyone responded in unison without hesitation. The sound shook the heavens and earth, almost changing the weather!

  "Alright! From today on, we start anew! Forget your ranks! Forget your pride! Everything starts from zero! Here, regardless of position or status, whether you're an officer or a soldier, everyone is equal and is a student! Here, as long as you can hold on, you will deeply understand what it means to be tortured both physically and mentally! Here, if you persist until the end, you will discover the true meaning of being elite! Here, as long as you're willing to pay the price, no one can stop your progress!"

  Wang Fanglong crouched in a horse stance, listening carefully to Li Zhenhong's words, feeling more and more that he had come to the right place, his determination to persist until the end and become an official team member grew even stronger.

  As the elite and pride of his original unit, this was the first time he had been punished since joining the army. It wasn't hard to say that it didn't feel bad, but he had no regrets. If given a chance to choose again, he would still go pay respects to his parents, but try his best to return before roll call.

  At the same time, his strong personality constantly reminded himself that he would never allow himself to make any mistakes again. He could practice more than others, but it had to be something he actively sought out, not passively accepted as punishment.

  But what Wang Fanglong did not expect was that the punishment with the smallest difficulty in the instructor's mouth had a particularly high actual difficulty, and it almost got him into trouble.

  Although he was already a special forces elite, he was also an individual. A normal person would have been satisfied with squatting for two minutes, but he squatted for a full two hours.

  Li Zhenhong alone spoke for an hour. Then, instructors Sun Hongwei, Qi Dajun, Shi Huanzhe and Wu Tianyu took turns speaking, using up another hour.

  Ma Bu had been squatting for an hour, and Wang Fanglong was already having a hard time holding on. All the clothes on his body were soaked with sweat, his legs kept trembling, especially the muscles above his thighs, which felt numb and painful. He felt it was very difficult to support the weight of his body anymore, and he might fall to the ground at any moment.

  。

  It is worth noting that, apart from practicing martial arts in his childhood, he had not received specialized horse-riding training in his original unit. He could hold on for an hour mainly thanks to his strong physique and iron-like willpower.

  An hour later, Wang Fanglong was completely supported by his willpower.

  Because in his life concept, there have never been two words called giving up. In his view, if he can't persist until the instructor finishes speaking, he will be eliminated. And this is what he absolutely cannot allow, and he also wants to learn more skills of revenge here.

  So he endured all kinds of pain and constantly encouraged himself: "Wang Fanglong, you must do it! To avenge yourself, you must hold on! As long as you don't die, you must hold on!"

  As for Wang Fanglong being able to maintain a horse stance for two hours, Li Zhenhong, as the person who started it all, didn't expect that either.

  His intention was just to let Wang Fanglong persist until he finished speaking, which was about an hour.

  So he said from the beginning, let Wang Fanglong crouch in a horse stance and listen to him finish speaking. But when he finished speaking, he found that Wang Fanglong was still squatting with his legs trembling, originally intending to directly order Wang Fanglong to join the ranks.

  However, he also saw that Wang Fanglong was now in pain, but apparently had not yet reached his limit. He wanted to know where the limits of this young officer were. Therefore, Li Zhenhong did not make a sound and silently observed from the side.

  As for Wang Fanglong, in the last half hour, he was on the verge of collapse, feeling that his entire body was not his own, his brain had basically come to a standstill, and he couldn't hear any sounds in his ears, with only one persistent thought supporting himself.

  So when the last instructor finished speaking and gave the order to disperse, Wang Fanglong didn't hear it at all and was still squatting in his horse stance.

  At this time, he was already on the verge of fainting.

  At this time, some reserve players saw that Wang Fanglong had not yet stood up and ran over to call him to stand up.

  As a result, Wang Fanglong was as still as a statue, without moving at all.

  That reserve player was very curious and gently pushed Wang Fanglong.

  As a result, Wang Fanglong fell directly to the ground.