Once they arrived at the live fire zone, the excitement of the new recruits had dwindled significantly. This was because Sim's idea of "live fire shooting" only meant experiencing the feeling of firing a gun. Each rifleman only had one magazine with 50 rounds, while machine gunners had it worse with only one temporary ammunition chain with 100 rounds. Pistol bullets were the only thing that was the same, with each person having 10 rounds. With these limited bullets, they wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth. In full automatic mode, they could easily use up all the bullets in three seconds.
"Officer, these bullets are too few!" exclaimed some of the new recruits.
"I think these bullets won't support us for training, Officer!" added another.
Sim scolded them, "Shut up, all of you! Giving more bullets to rookies who have never fired live rounds before, are you crazy or am I crazy?"
"Come here, I'll demonstrate first, then you can load and shoot."
Sim went on to explain the safety key and mode key of the firearms for five minutes, sharing his own shooting experience and reminding the new recruits of the shooting precautions. As a drill instructor, he knew all the skills that new recruits needed to learn, and he was excellent at each of them. In just a few words, he imparted invaluable knowledge to the new recruits.
"Do you all understand?" he asked.
"Yes, Officer!" they replied.
"Very well, David, Stussy, divide them into teams."
Sim gave a wave of his hand, and the two assistants pulled the line apart. Rifle shooting and machine gun shooting had to be separated and supervised by the two assistants.
As for him...
Before the shooting training began, he allowed the new recruits to experience live fire shooting, and there was a reason for this. People are not equal, some are higher than others. From birth, people are predetermined for many things, such as... talent! Some people could never surpass their limits no matter how hard they tried, while others could break through their bottlenecks with ease. This is innate talent.
He wanted to see if there were any talented sharpshooters in his class.
The live fire shooting began, and the shooting range immediately became lively with the crisp sound of gunfire mixed together, creating an exceptionally noisy sound. The first round of shooting was terrible. Both the rifle group and the machine gun group didn't achieve good results.
They didn't even need to count the number of hits, just a few shots on target would suffice. This was just a hundred-meter target, if it were two or three hundred meters away or even further, the new recruits might only hit the target once or twice out of ten rounds.
But this was also a normal phenomenon. It was their first time firing live rounds, so hitting the target was considered a success. There weren't that many sharpshooters in the world.
"Shit, I'm sure this gun is faulty!" exclaimed someone.
"If we had more bullets, I could definitely hit the bullseye ten times!" added another.
The first batch of new recruits who stepped down from the shooting position all looked embarrassed, frantically looking for excuses. They thought they could do well and were eager to participate in the first round, but reality gave them a blow.
This was one of the three great illusions of life - "I can always do it, I am not ordinary."
Time passed by bit by bit. When it was finally Zhou Yuan's turn, it was already the last group.
Although the rifle target and machine gun target were different, the first live fire shooting was about experiencing the feel of the gun, so there wasn't much rule. Single shot or continuous fire could be chosen freely.
"Zhou, it's your turn!" Sim said.
"I bet Zhou can make it to the top fifty!" someone commented.
"Not necessarily. I admit that Zhou is good at close combat, but firearms and combat are two different things," said another.
The new recruits were all focused on Zhou Yuan. They got along well with him and hoped he would do well, but they didn't want him to do too well, or the gap between them would be even greater.
"You may begin!" announced David, after checking the firearms of the three people.
As Zhou Yuan took aim and knelt down, everyone instinctively held their breath. Even Sim walked up behind Zhou Yuan and raised his binoculars. He really wanted to see what Zhou Yuan's shooting talent was like.
Physical fitness and combat intelligence are excellent, and if he also has a talent for shooting, he would truly be a perfect all-around soldier.
"Bang!"
In the next moment, Zhou Yuan fired his gun.
He started off in single-shot mode and after a few shots, switched to full-auto mode.
"Wow!"
"This kid is a genius!"
Sim, holding a telescope, watched the target a hundred meters away and became more and more amazed.
When Zhou Yuan was firing in single-shot mode, all his shots hit the nine and ten rings.
Even when firing in full-auto mode, not a single bullet missed the target, with the worst result being five rings.
After a hundred rounds, the large circular target for new recruits had a hole right in the center made by Zhou Yuan's shots.
"Sim, I don't think there's much we can teach him."
"I've seen his records, this kid has telepathy, his intelligence and learning ability are exceptional."
Stussy and David stood on either side of Sim, whispering quietly.
"Besides all this nonsense, do you have anything else to say?"
Sim rolled his eyes.
As the appointed squad leader, how could he not understand?
At this moment, Zhou Yuan was already surrounded by the other recruits.
One by one, they congratulated Zhou Yuan, their eyes shining as if they had just seen an alien.
The target a hundred meters away was a bit far to see with the naked eye, but they could clearly see the hole in the target made by Zhou Yuan's shots.
"Alright, go back to your positions!"
After the recruits cheered for a moment, Sim stepped forward to maintain order, but he left Zhou Yuan behind.
"Kid, have you practiced before?"
Sim asked in a low voice, his sharp eyes able to tell that Zhou Yuan had received professional shooting training.
Of course, this couldn't hide Zhou Yuan's talent.
There were many young people who had fired guns before joining the military, but very few could achieve good results in the army.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm a member of the shooting club, and my shooting coach told me that even if my scores were compared with the military, they would be record-breaking."
Zhou Yuan answered directly, without any hint of modesty.
Modesty is necessary when it's called for, and assertiveness is necessary when it's called for. Being a goody-goody doesn't hold much weight in the military.
In fact, he didn't even exert his full strength during the shooting just now.
If he had used more force to control the gun, he could have achieved a perfect score of all tens, at most dropping a few nines.
"Records aren't made by talking."
"I will increase your privileges, come find me here after dinner."
Sim squinted his eyes, his lips slightly pursed, feeling quite pleased.
Maybe he should find the instructors from the other new recruit camps and have a few more formal recruit competitions.
"Yes, sir!"
Zhou Yuan's eyes lit up, then he returned to the formation.
Good!
Sim was about to give him some special training.
Although with his abilities, he didn't need to attend the "Enhancement Remedial Class," it was always good to have the recognition of the instructor.