Chapter 4: Alternative Schools

Let your imagination run wild and imagine where the cradle of China's Fifth Special Forces, the world's most elite professional soldiers, is located!
On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where oxygen levels are severely insufficient, snow freezes for years, and you constantly have to face provocations from Asan and terrorist attacks?
In the so-called lifeless cliff, where vast yellow sands stretch out as far as the eye can see, the Taklamakan Desert?
In the dense, sun-blocking tropical rainforest, where landmines left behind decades ago and filled with danger and unpredictability are everywhere?
……
No!
The tour van really took Zhanxiage and other trainees on a forty-nine-hour long journey. During this time, Yajie'er made a cameo as a fairly qualified tour guide.
"Everyone, look! This is a new type of twin-mounted dual-purpose heavy machine gun developed by China's Military Industry Research Institute in 1995. Compared to our active anti-aircraft machine guns, it has a faster rate of fire, can shoot farther, and is more accurate. With it, it can not only strike enemy fighter planes but also directly intercept low-flying cruise missiles visible to the naked eye. When necessary, it can be used as a regular heavy machine gun on the battlefield to suppress ground infantry!"
Looking at the twin-mounted dual-purpose heavy machine gun beside Yajie'er, its chain-like bullet array arranged like shark teeth emitting a faint, cold gleam in the sunlight, and feeling the terrifying pressure emanating from this deadly weapon, Zhanxiage could hardly imagine what kind of terrifying metal storm it would erupt in an instant once this weapon was deployed in ground combat!
"These are domestically produced 100mm naval twin-barrel guns and 25mm anti-aircraft twin-barrel guns. Over the next four years, our South Sea Fleet will gradually replace the current types of artillery on all warships with these weapons!"
"This is a prototype of the Type 96 tank developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences over eight years based on the 'Storm' tank. In this tank, we are the first to adopt a welded turret, a reactive wing stabilization system, and an automatic ammunition loading system. After the Gulf War, the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a new tank that combined the advantages of the Soviet T72 tank and Western tanks. Whether in firepower, mobility, or armored defense, it has reached world-class levels. Once deployed across the entire army, China's tank combat capabilities will undoubtedly be greatly enhanced! ”
"Do you all remember the Type 96 tank I introduced? Here, the chassis and tracks are produced for tanks."
"This is the exclusive technical school for the military factory. Students here, after two to four years of study, can handle most of the work in the twenty-seven subordinate military factory branches. When necessary, they can use lathes and high-quality steel to machine the metal parts we need according to the blueprints. Some outstanding trainees can even skillfully use laser instruments to manufacture precision components that meet spacecraft standards! ”
Yajie'er led all the trainees into a training workshop at the technical school. Dozens of young men in blue work uniforms saw Yajie'er and the others put down their work and stood up together.
Zhanxiage was drawn to one of the boys, about seventeen or eighteen. He walked over to him and asked in a low voice, "What did you seem to have hidden just now?" ”
The boy stared straight ahead at Yajie'er, handing a long, heavy object from behind to Zhanxiage, and whispered, "Hurry up and hide it for me. If the captain sees me, I'm dead!" ”
Zhan Xiagege glanced at the object in his hand, and his eyes immediately widened. "Gun?!" ”
The boy whispered anxiously, "Nonsense! Hurry up and hide yourself, or you want me to write a self-criticism or something?!" ”
Zhan Xiaoge stuffed the rifle in his hand, which he didn't know what model it was, into a pile of cotton yarn. Seeing the stock still sticking out, he kicked the stock hard again.
"Boom!"
A dull sound came from the pile of cotton yarn, like a spring popping. The boy standing next to Zhanxiage turned pale, sweat the size of beans instantly rolling down his forehead. He stared at the pile of yarn for a long while, and only after confirming there was nothing unusual did he finally let out a long, stifled breath.
Watching Yajie'er walk out of the training room surrounded by a group of children, the boy waved to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then dashed to the pile of cotton yarn and pulled out an unknown model of automatic rifle. He pulled the bolt, and a Type 85 automatic rifle bullet popped out.
"Damn, luckily I didn't adjust the spring pressure properly. The firing pin didn't blow up the loaded bullet!" The boy checked the primer of the pellet while shouting at the war hero song, "How did you graduate from a junior school? Can a soldier treat weapons like that?" If the bullet had really fired just now, the whole rifle would have exploded! This rifle-specific bullet of mine is loaded with high-explosive zHA rounds! ”
Zhanxiage glared at the rifle in the boy's hand, swallowing hard and uncertainly, "Could this rifle be ...... Did you make it yourself? ”
"Of course! Not only this gun, but even the bullets it uses are special varieties upgraded from ordinary bullets with my own ingredients. Don't be fooled by the strange shape and bulky appearance of this gun in my hand—as long as I solve the last few technical challenges, this rifle will have the rate of fire of an AK and the power of a rocket launcher!"
The boy proudly raised the rifle and said, "Our school has precision processing instruments and special steel. What's the point of making an automatic rifle?" A dozen classmates two grades above me teamed up to build a diesel internal combustion engine—that's truly impressive! They have already applied to the school and made bold statements: as long as they can get enough materials and equipment, and lend them a small workshop, they can manufacture a light armored vehicle! It is said that they intended to use that armored vehicle as their graduation project. If they really succeed, I estimate they'll be listed in the Fifth Special Forces School's journal! ”
At this point, the boy looked at Zhanxiage in confusion and asked, "You and I don't look much older than you. Which realm are you a student from? Why do I have no impression of you at all?" And why are you hanging out with those newly enlisted little radish heads? Judging by how clumsy you look, you don't look like a trainee who has undergone basic training! ”
Zhanxiage answered honestly, "I'm a student from the Nine Six Realms. I just joined the Fifth Special Forces Training School today. How could I possibly pass the basic training?" I still don't know where the exact location of the school is! ”
The boy widened his eyes, sizing up Zhanxiage as if he were a monster. After a long moment, he finally asked blankly, "Hey, how old are you?" ”
"Eighteen."
"I'm seventeen this year, a year younger than you, but I've been in the Fifth Special Forces Elite Training School for a full eleven years!"
The boy patted Zhanxiage on the shoulder sympathetically and said, "Brother, take your time hanging in there!" You need to master firearms, hand-to-hand combat, mechanical driving, and demolition techniques in the beginner training class. Of course, you can't skip any cultural or ideological and political courses. After six years, your boss will be twenty-four years old after graduation. Then they'll send you to a branch training camp representing deserts, rainforests, hills, and other terrains, so you can quickly adapt to any terrain battlefield. If you're hardworking and lucky enough, you can graduate from the intermediate training class in just two to three years. By then, eldest brother, you would have been twenty-six or twenty-seven. Only then will you be qualified to enter this technical school, mastering the most basic forms and principles of weapons from steel and processing tools. When you can casually craft an automatic rifle yourself, I believe that any weapon in the world—rifle, machine gun, grenades, rocket launchers, Alpha bombards—if you play with it a few times, you can master its principles thoroughly. Over time, your boss will spend another two to four years here! ”
"In other words, your boss will already be a 30-year-old man by the time he finishes these theoretical courses and walks out of the campus!" At this point, you can't even be considered a qualified Fifth Special Forces soldier, but rather a rookie trainee! You must pass at least three years of practical assessment and receive joint recommendations from two or more instructors to qualify as a qualified ...... Soldier! ”
The boy exhaled heavily, "Congratulations, you will become the oldest soldier in the history of the Fifth Special Forces, a thirty-three-year-old soldier!" If you still haven't died on the training ground or battlefield in five years, and if you truly are gifted and can stand out among the talented Fifth Special Forces, I estimate you'll have the chance to become a squad leader before you turn forty-three! ”
Zhan Xiaoge couldn't help but widen his eyes, thinking of those soldiers in the military compound who were only in their forties and already wearing two stripes and three stars, then recalling the shining general flower on his father's shoulder. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn!" ”