The weather was overcast, with a cold wind sweeping through.
Next to the 400-meter obstacle course at the training ground stood the entire platoon lined up in an orderly and uniform formation, each face serious and tense.
Their deputy company commander was at this moment traversing the 400-meter obstacle course.
It was undeniable that the deputy company commander already held an esteemed position in their hearts. Although they didn't accept that she was stronger than the best in their platoon, her military prowess was enough to win over the majority.
That slender silhouette now caught their eyes, flitting through the north wind's howling, the loose training uniform whipping about, accentuating the litheness of the figure.
Her speed was in no way affected, with each movement incredibly precise. Despite appearing as if she could be toppled by a gust of wind, she never wavered, running again and again over the five-step piles, pits, low planks, high stools...
The 400-meter obstacle course, completed five times, totaled two kilometers. In their view, finishing once in two minutes and ten seconds was passing, one minute fifty was good, one minute forty was excellent.
They held their breath, concentrating, guessing in their minds that with Mo Shangjun's speed, she probably maintained around one minute fifty seconds for each run, and even on the fifth time, her movements showed no sign of impact.
Finally—
All five runs were completed!
"Company commander!"
In the hush of the formation, one person couldn't hold back and hurriedly called out to Lang Yan, who was timing with a stopwatch.
Lang Yan looked down at the stopwatch in his hand.
His face changed slightly, but he restrained himself from showing any oddity. Lang Yan calmly waited until he saw Mo Shangjun approaching, then quietly exhaled.
"Nine minutes ten seconds!"
Lang Yan announced the final result.
Nine minutes ten seconds, averaging exactly one minute fifty per run.
While others might see it as a coincidence, Lang Yan felt it seemed very much like something Mo Shangjun did on purpose.
From beginning to end, it was evident that Mo Shangjun's pace was steady, and though there might have been slight deviations, there were no significant changes overall. Hence, it was very likely that Mo Shangjun had intentionally maintained one minute fifty seconds per lap to complete the five 400-meter obstacles.
Five consecutive times, her pace unslowed, with ease?
Thinking this, Lang Yan started to feel a headache.
What kind of freak had joined their Reconnaissance Second Platoon?!
"Beep—Beep—Beep—"
Walking up to Lang Yan, Mo Shangjun squinted and gave a light laugh, then raised her hand and nimbly took the whistle from his grasp, proceeding to blow it three times.
Touching his nose, Lang Yan stepped back on his own accord.
"Attention, at ease!"
Mo Shangjun issued the commands succinctly.
Instantly, nearly a hundred men in the platoon quickly snapped into formation, standing straight and disciplined.
Standing before the aligned formation, Mo Shangjun raised her phoenix eyes calmly, her gaze sweeping over them as she enunciated clearly, "You have two hours, under the supervision of Company Commander Lang Yan, and in two hours, I need the statistical results."
Just as Lang Yan was about to shirk his responsibility and leave, he heard the words "Company Commander Lang Yan" and was forced to halt his steps against his will.
Turning back to face the men's significant glances, Lang Yan couldn't help feeling discomfort.
Great, the platoon had the rare arrival of two female comrades, wasn't that difficult enough? Shouldn't they be protected, cherished, indulged, and accommodated?
Was this not much ado about nothing?
But—
What kind of looks were these youngsters giving him? As if he, the company commander, had no authority at all!
"Trouble."
As a slightly brighter voice followed, a whistle was passed in front of him.
"No need," Lang Yan said reluctantly.
Having spoken, his face revealed a spring breeze of a smile, and then he took the whistle from Mo Shangjun's hand.
"Thank you," Mo Shangjun also expressed her thanks, though not particularly sincerely.
Lang Yan nodded, then led the entire platoon through a testing period that lasted two hours.
Mo Shangjun, though she delegated the tasks to Lang Yan, didn't sit idly by herself; she followed behind the team, occasionally observing their performance and scores during the tests, especially noting those who excelled and those who lagged behind. Seizing the opportunity, she managed to memorize the names of most of these individuals.
"Deputy Commander Mo, if you have any plans, could you share them with me?"
As they waited for their 400-meter obstacle run, Lang Yan finally couldn't hold back any longer and sidled up to Mo Shangjun, asking in a low voice.
"Uh," Mo Shangjun glanced at him sideways.
Lang Yan then smiled with all the sincerity he could muster.
After thinking for a moment, Mo Shangjun said, "I'll send you the electronic plan tonight."
"..." Lang Yan's smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.
What kind of plan couldn't be explained face-to-face?!
Looking at him, Mo Shangjun seemed to guess his thoughts and explained, "The spreadsheet is simple and clear, it saves time."
Lang Yan forced out a smile, "Alright, I'll wait for it."
"I'll send it as soon as possible."
"..."
*
With Mo Shangjun's "excellent" performance, this bunch of whippersnappers was clearly stimulated, clinging to the "indecent notion" that "if they couldn't even outdo a woman, how could they talk about defending their homes and country," the entire company began to perform at their peak like some mad rush!
Damn it, even if in the entire company, only thirty percent achieved the standards for both events, then at least, shouldn't there also be at least ten percent who at least met the minimum qualifying scores?!
Otherwise, it'd be too damn frustrating!
Especially if they lost this time, the thought of being called "rookies" by a woman from now on was simply unbearable!
However, to Mo Shangjun, they seemed unbelievably naive—one bit of provocation and they were all fired up with eagerness to prove themselves.
Little did they know, Mo Shangjun, who was adept at using her brain, had already turned the place upside down and thoroughly researched them beforehand.
She even took the time at noon to check on the overall performance of the Second Reconnaissance Company. She only glanced briefly, but the data was plentiful, allowing Mo Shangjun to make a good judgment of their overall capability.
According to her standards, those who met the benchmarks for both events could be counted on one hand.
Good physical fitness didn't necessarily equate to good marksmanship, and vice versa, and those who excelled in both were, to put it bluntly, few and far between.
Under normal conditions, she estimated there might be six or seven, but with the psychological pressure she'd already applied, the actual number was likely to be even lower.
So—
It turned out exactly as Mo Shangjun had predicted.
"How many?"
Raising an eyebrow, Mo Shangjun walked over to where Lang Yan had finished compiling the data.
"Five," Lang Yan said, his expression somewhat stiff.
That number was seriously not easy on the eyes.
Out of more than a hundred people, only five met the performance criteria set by Mo Shangjun.
Five!
Lang Yan felt a sharp pang of distress.
If he had known this day would come, he'd never have indulged those youngsters!
It was simply—
Too embarrassing!
"Not bad," Mo Shangjun commented lightly, scanning the names on his list.
The names of the five individuals were all within the range she had anticipated.
Among them, Lin Qi and Lai Liang both topped the list, tied for first place.
"Comrade Mo Shangjun," Lang Yan said, handing her the list with a look of sorrow, "in light of your little assessment, I've come to deeply realize my mistake. As the company commander, I'm a bit weak-hearted and can't handle setbacks, so I need some time to recover. The task of training them from now on, I fully entrust to you, and I hope you won't follow in my footsteps."
"..."
Mo Shangjun lifted her eyes to look at the earnest young company commander who was spouting nonsense before her, blinked, and found herself without a rebuttal.