Just as Cheng Su had expected, Qi Taiguo, who had been leading the team outside, had also reached the tail end of the training mission.
"Rest in place." With a wave of his hand, Qi Taiguo watched as the soldiers, with sandbags strapped to their calves and shirts off, immediately collapsed into a sitting position, pounding their arms and waists with their hands, but they did not remove the sandbags.
Qi Taiguo himself also sat down, took the canteen tied to his waist, guzzled all the water, and heaved a long sigh of relief.
"This training mission is finally coming to an end. Damn, I was nearly trained to death. I can finally go home and hold my wife," Gao Linbing, who had somehow found his way to sit down, was wiping the sweat from his neck and said.
Qi Taiguo laughed, "You once won first place yourself, why are you complaining about the hardship now?"
"I’m getting older, I can’t compare my physical strength with my younger days," Gao Linbing sighed, "I think, this position is probably as far as I go in this life!"
Qi Taiguo’s brow furrowed slightly and he said, "How old are you to be snuffing out your own ambition like that?"
"You know the situation now as well as I do. With the military downsizing, the competition is even greater. The best I can hope for is probably to get promoted to deputy battalion level and retire. The country inevitably needs a strong military that retains the strong and lets go of the weak," Gao Linbing said.
"So, training is indispensable. If you can’t keep up with the physical demands, you can’t keep up with anything!" Qi Taiguo said, "I know this training was a bit too tough, but just as you said, retaining the strong and letting go of the weak, if you’re not strong, you’ll be eliminated. This world is all about the survival of the fittest, natural selection. If you don’t make yourself strong, you’ll be devoured by those who are stronger."
As he spoke, his eyes gazed at a point in the distance, and it was unclear what he was thinking. His pupils seemed to blur, as if he was speaking from deep inspiration.
"It’s rare to hear you talk like this. Were you really stimulated?" Gao Linbing looked at him, "What’s up, still thinking about that past event?"
The corner of Qi Taiguo’s mouth twitched upward, and he said, "Not really, just speaking my mind, that’s all."
"Speaking your mind is brooding over it. But it’s good that you have this mindset. Survival of the fittest is indeed the case. Both Old Long and I have high hopes for you. That tenacity in your bones is no joke," Gao Linbing said.
Qi Taiguo plucked a foxtail from beside him to fiddle with in his hand and said, "I don’t have many thoughts about it. I just feel if you’re weak, you’ll be easily assigned and unable to resist. I don’t like that."
Gao Linbing sighed, "It’s a tradition left by our ancestors, not so easy to break. The rules of this world are just like that."
"Therefore, I must become stronger." A flicker of determination shot through Qi Taiguo’s eyes. He needed to become stronger, to climb higher!
"You can do it. After this time, I bet those boys below are most afraid of you. Did you know, they’ve been calling you ’Devil Company Commander’ behind your back?" Gao Linbing chuckled lightly.
"I was doing it for their own good!" Qi Taiguo’s face darkened.
"I know. This time out, who gained the most? Even the weakest kid in our company can now carry a gun without moving for two hours! Look at them, after this training, hasn’t everyone’s spirit transformed?" Gao Linbing nodded towards them.
Qi Taiguo looked over. Those boys, whether sitting or leaning, had skin turned dark and rugged, their bodies marked with bloodstains from thorns and branches, their arms filled with genuine muscle. Yet their eyes were resilient, convincing him that once they reached the battlefield, once they were assigned their tasks, their will would be just as resilient.
Qi Taiguo’s mouth curled up, then quickly straightened as he said, "It’s still not enough. They need real hard-earned experience."
Only when they truly faced missions on the battlefield, would they be forged into soldiers through trial by fire and hammered resilience.