Chapter 52: Desert Eagle (Part 1)

Zhanxiage glanced at his watch and whispered, "Rest!" ”
Zhao Haiping stared at the war hero song in astonishment. They had only been in the desert for about an hour and hadn't felt tired yet—how could they be resting already?
Zhanxiage didn't explain anything to Zhao Haiping. He found a protruding rock and lay flat in the shade behind the rock. Seeing Zhao Haiping still standing there in a daze, Zhanxiage reached out and patted the spot next to him, also blocked by rocks, signaling Zhao Haiping to lie down as well.
After Zhao Haiping lay down as ordered, Zhanxiage placed his backpack on his side, squeezing Zhao Haiping between Zhanxiage and the backpack. Unless he jumped up, he had no room to move and could only lie there obediently.
Zhanxiage did not tell Zhao Haiping that this was aimed at those who didn't understand the desert, nor how to survive. It was a method of restricting movement to conserve energy and using small, relatively safe spaces to lure them to quickly relax their bodies and minds.
Zhao Haiping lay in the shadows behind rocks, where the temperature was eleven to seventeen degrees Celsius lower than outside. After following the war hero song for so long, he understood the importance of fully relaxing his body during rest as a soldier. As he slowly relaxed his tense limbs and stretched his body with the most comfortable movements, he suddenly realized that although he had only walked in the desert for an hour, his body was already showing mild fatigue.
The sweat from his body seeped into his underwear. The cotton cloth tied around Zhao Haiping's wrists and neck had absorbed the sweat, and as he lay down in a cooler, more shady spot, a wave of freshness radiated from his body.
Twenty minutes later, Zhan Xiagege got up and gently patted Zhao Haiping. Zhao Haiping nodded, and the two of them silently carried their supplies and weapons on their backs, embarking on a life-or-death journey that might be a journey of no return.
Every hour, Zhan Xiagege would force the two to rest for twenty minutes. On the third break, he handed his water bottle to Zhao Haiping. He ordered, "Drink water!" ”
Zhao Haiping licked his lips, which were already a little dry, and said, "I'm not thirsty yet." ”
"Cut the hell with your nonsense!" Zhanxiage widened his eyes and said, "Hah!" From now on, before 4:30 PM, drink 1.1 liter of water every hour! After 4:30 PM and before 8:00 PM, you drink 0.6 liters of clean water per hour! If you want to get out of here alive, stop acting like a hero in front of me! If you fall in the desert, don't expect me to foolishly carry you on my back—that will only ruin us together! ”
Zhanxiage pulled a bottle of lip balm from his pocket, which he didn't know who had seized it from some terrorist, tossed it to Zhao Haiping, and said, "Apply it to your lips." Don't keep licking your lips with your tongue; doing so will only accelerate the loss of moisture from your body and cause your lips to crack and dry, but will do no good! ”
Zhao Haiping could only obediently drink water. After another three hours of stopping and wandering like this, Zhao Haiping finally saw Zhanxiage drink water once. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Master, why is the water you drank less than a third of mine?" ”
"We're different!"
Zhao Haiping widened his eyes and said, "We're all human. We all sweat, we're thirsty, we all go hungry. What's the difference?" Master's actions are like slapping me. From now on, I'll drink as much water as Master drinks! ”
Looking into Zhao Haiping's stubborn eyes, Zhanxiage, who already understood his personality quite well, shook his head helplessly and said softly, "Have you heard of 'water training'?" ”
Zhao Haiping shook his head in confusion.
"During World War II, the United States was preparing to send troops to the North African battlefield, and at that time, the military's main concern was the supply of fresh water and the survival of soldiers in the desert on the North African front. Both the U.S. and Israeli Ministries of Defense once believed that gradually reducing the fresh water supply for each soldier during training and maintaining it for a considerable period so that soldiers' bodies could adapt to this condition and maintain good combat effectiveness, was a good solution to the challenges of the North African battlefield. ”
There was a hint of sarcasm in the slightly low voice of the war hero, "As a result, hundreds of soldiers died participating in this 'water training' in the U.S. In the U.S., which advocates freedom and democracy, and lawyers seek chaos and try every means to encourage lawsuits, this kind of high-fatality, high-attrition training is absolutely unacceptable to the public, and in the end, it just dropped." ”
Zhao Haiping nodded vigorously. This almost fanciful "water training" was indeed somewhat similar to the saying "want the horse to run but the horse doesn't eat grass." Success was truly unbelievable.
"The human body isn't actually that fragile." The war hero song said: "The reason the U.S. and Israeli Ministries of Defense proposed this training plan was only after thorough evaluation and after confirming it was theoretically feasible did they begin to implement it." It's just that the soldiers who receive training have resistance from the start, and this kind of training easily leads to non-combat casualties, which only makes them feel an invincible fear. When we entered the desert training camp, the instructor handed us a 'life-and-death certificate.' Whether to accept this high-mortality 'water training' is the only subject we can choose independently in the training camp. But for us, no one would choose to be a deserter. My classmates, thirty-four of them, all signed up for this training. ”
Zhao Haiping asked cautiously, "Then...... And what happened? ”
"The result?"
Zhan Xiagege was silent for a long time. Only when Zhao Haiping thought he wouldn't answer the question again did he speak in a strange voice: "In the end, because of this kind of training, only twenty-seven classmates remained by my side." I myself fainted three times on the training ground. My best friend in the barracks had his heart stop beating when he fainted. Artificial respiration failed, oxygen therapy didn't work, and a small pacemaker didn't work. The instructor was really desperate and simply used a combat knife to cut open his chest, break his ribs, hold his heart with his hands, and forcibly use this abnormal method to help restore his heartbeat again and again. We all stared blankly at the brother whose chest had been cut open and blood kept flowing. We thought he was doomed, but ...... My brother actually regained his heartbeat—he actually survived! ”
Zhao Haiping's mouth dropped open, staring blankly at the desolate Zhanxia Ge. For the first time, Zhao Haiping felt a feeling of almost sympathy for the song, so powerful it was almost inhuman. To achieve extraordinary accomplishments, one must first learn to work hard. The world only sees the strength and ferocity of Zhanxia Ge, but who knows that beneath his camel-like resilience and terrifying military technology almost like a killing machine, lies a cycle of life and death hells that ordinary people can never imagine, let alone dare to imagine!
Zhao Haiping comforted him, "Fortunately, he still came back to life!" ”
"I think he'd rather not survive himself!"
Bitterness spread across Zhanxia Ge's face as he softly said, "The instructor's hand restored his heartbeat, but it also caused his inevitable wound to be infected by bacteria." He was airlifted to the nearest military district hospital and spent two months and twelve days in the intensive care unit. When he reappeared before us, he looked like a ...... Mummies! A dried corpse that was no longer alive or laughing, helplessly sitting in a wheelchair, staring blankly at us! He received a compensation that would seem considerable to normal people. He no longer had to undergo such inhumane training, and every month he could enjoy state allowances and subsidies. From then on, he could live without worries about food or clothing, and he no longer had to struggle to survive! ”
A faint glint of water shimmered in Zhanxia Ge's eyes, but he forced that glow back into his body. Perhaps this was also a kind of ability left by the "water training" in this strong man to overcome biological instincts.
But as his brother, I knew he would rather never open his eyes again, carrying the honor of a warrior, draped in a five-star red flag, buried by us in that vast desert. Not spending your whole life in a wheelchair, surviving under the gaze of pity from others! ”
Zhanxiage handed the water bottle to Zhao Haiping, "Drink!" You're still a normal person, don't compare yourself to us! Don't let me be in the desert, go dig the grave for the seventh brother! ”
Zhao Haiping took the kettle and took a big gulp. He understood that the reason Zhanxiage had told him so much, and why she had told him some unbearable memories, was simply because he hoped he could drink at least three times more fresh water than Zhanxiage!
With his master Zhan Xiage, all Zhao Haiping could do now was do his utmost to cooperate with Zhan Xiage, so he wouldn't fall, so he could accompany Zhan Xia Ge toward their victory, or perhaps fall together on the final battlefield of their lives!
Zhanxiage suddenly turned his head, showing a focused and listening expression. He rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a piece of earth-yellow canvas cut from the Chechen guerrilla tent. With a flick of his hands, he spread the entire canvas, covering both himself and Zhao Haiping. The two of them each grabbed the two corners of the canvas and continued lying steadily under the bushes.
"Rat-tat-tat......"
The heavy machine gun on the helicopter fired, bullets swept fiercely from more than twenty meters away from Zhan Xiaoge and the others. Zhao Haiping was so frightened he nearly jumped. Zhan Xiaoge closed his eyes and said, "Don't move!" They're playing the trick of knocking on a mountain to shake the tiger—flying so high, if they can see us, they'd be in the dark! At most, they just follow the footprints we leave behind and conduct probing attacks there. Shoot, shoot, bullet casings are great, better to drop a little more. ”