Chapter 328: Raising the Bar

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

The general didn’t stay at the competition ground for long.

After the martial arts competition ended, he called Wang Ye over, praised him for a few moments, and finally patted Wang Ye on the shoulder and said, “Young man, keep up the good work!”

Then, he approached the competition ground, went up close to the members of Class 8, and offered them words of comfort. After a brief exchange, he left with the company of the division commander.

Naturally, this move left the members of Class 8 feeling quite ecstatic.

Their enthusiasm increased a notch when they were throwing grenades.

Wang Ye was someone they had never seen in person before, while they had all served in the army for at least a year and a half, some even for seven or eight years.

But seeing the general in person was truly a rare occurrence.

After all, the class divide was significant, and sometimes, even if the general visited the unit, say, the Iron Hero Regiment, it was unlikely that the entire regiment of soldiers would be assembled to see the general.

Everyone was excited, including the squad leaders like Wu Jianfeng.

Especially Wu Jianfeng and Kang Hua. Now that the general and his entourage were over a hundred meters away, the red glow on their faces hadn’t dissipated.

When the general came over just now, he had specifically asked who was Wang Ye’s platoon leader, and then he had stepped forward.

Together with Kang Hua, the two of them introduced themselves in front of the general.

At the same time, they received the general’s encouragement.

What did this mean for a grassroots leader?

It was an honor.

At this moment, they had returned to the off-field location where the squad leaders were stationed.

But at this moment, their backs were straight.

Especially when they looked at the company commanders of the artillery and heavy machine gun platoons nearby, the red glow that was supposed to fade away on their faces intensified.

They didn’t say a word, but at this moment, their demeanor and expressions spoke volumes without words.

Jealous?

That’s a given. Not to mention the company commanders of the artillery and heavy machine gun platoons, even the Fifth Company commander from the same Second Battalion couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy!

If they’d known this would happen, they would have fought tooth and nail for that job at the recruits’ camp last year.

Getting Wang Ye on their side would have made today’s glory all theirs.

At this moment, the Fifth Company commander couldn’t help but glance at the figure in the distance.

He spotted someone walking behind the group.

That was the staff officer of their regiment.

The leadership of the Iron Heroes Regiment, this time, it was the two of them who had come over with the regimental commander.

And just now, naturally, he had run over with the division commander and the regimental commander to welcome the general.

He had witnessed the whole show of Wu Jianfeng stealing the limelight, and the staff officer who had lost a bet over a crate of milk was probably feeling uneasy right now!

The Fifth Company commander pitied him and even felt a bit sorry for him.

Hmm… there was also a bit of a desire to see some drama.

He glanced again at someone nearby who was obviously still excited.

The Fifth Company commander muttered to himself inwardly.

Go ahead, show off. When the staff officer comes to hassle you later, I’ll definitely come to watch the show!

“Two minutes and fifty-three seconds!”

In the rural wilderness, next to a temporary swimming pool dug out by a riverbank, when Wang Ye reached out and touched the shore, the referee on the bank immediately announced the result.

“Damn, he’s a real freak.”

“Yeah, you get used to it, considering his physical condition…”

Behind the bank, among those who had already finished swimming and those still waiting in line, people couldn’t help but mutter.

In the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition, if you only looked at this result, Wang Ye would be considered the absolute worst, beyond terrible.

Even during normal swimming training in the company, if you swam this poorly, your platoon leader would definitely treat you to his beloved 42-yard boot scraper.

He’d kick you back into the water and make sure you swam back ashore in under two minutes.

But today, if anyone could swim under two minutes on this competition ground, the general who was still here would immediately come over to pat your shoulder and give you some encouragement.

There was no choice. In this battalion-level competition, the 100-meter freestyle required participants to swim while wearing their uniforms.

This was different from their usual training.

In their previous training at the company, they only mentioned the 100-meter freestyle without any other restrictions.

But after coming here for the competition, they realized that the rules for this event had changed on short notice.

Taking real-world scenarios into account and referring to their experiences during flood relief, participants were not allowed to bring weapons and equipment, but they couldn’t take off their clothes and shoes either.

Only the hat could be left on the shore, and then you had to swim.

What did it feel like?

Just look at Wang Ye, who was holding onto the shore, panting heavily, as if he had just completed a 400-meter obstacle course.

In fact, swimming this 100 meters while dressed felt worse to Wang Ye than running a 400-meter obstacle course.

Swimming with clothes and shoes on felt like someone was constantly clinging to you, struggling with you.

The feeling after soaking the clothes, pants, and shoes in water, only those who had swum knew.

Anyway, the best result in this event yesterday was three minutes and eleven seconds.

And before today, the best times for the Heavy Artillery Platoon were three minutes and thirty-one seconds.

Furthermore, among the 18 participants from the Fourth Company, including Wang Ye, only five managed to complete the swim in under four minutes, while the rest finished within five minutes.

“Come on, get up!”

On the shore, the referee crouched down and extended his hand to help Wang Ye after he had caught his breath for about ten seconds.

This makeshift swimming pool was ice-cold, and to make matters worse, there were no handrails or stairs on the bank. They had to jump in directly, and getting out relied on the assistance of others.

Turning back, after he was pulled up, Wang Ye glanced back.

This swimming pool had three lanes, and three people entered the water at the same time.

Right now, the two people behind him were within seventeen or eighteen meters from the shore, while the other one was farther away, at least thirty meters.

“Keep it up!” Wang Ye shouted, then turned and walked towards the changing room.

There was a washroom here where they could shower, and there was a powerful drying room where they could put their wet clothes and shoes to be dried after wringing out some water.

They could be completely dry within two hours.

This ensured that when they transitioned to the events that required carrying heavy loads, there wouldn’t be any reduction in weight due to taking out clothes or other items.

Of course, Wang Ye and the others didn’t need to transition right now.

By late morning, the four assessments had concluded, and it was close to eleven o’clock.

They were just waiting here for now.

They would wait for all the field competitions to finish and then continue with the team events in the afternoon.

However, this was only what Wang Ye thought.

In reality, at twelve o’clock, just after finishing lunch, all the division’s participants were gathered under the high platform where the competition had been opened the day before.

“Comrades!”

Sir!

On the stage, the one-star General stood.

The General had come, so they naturally took the opportunity to let him address the troops. Since the individual competitions had concluded, the entire division gathered, and the General took the stage.

“Actually, I originally planned to come in the afternoon to watch your team competition events. Coming here early in the morning means 1 was truly impressed by A Division. Very well done, A Division produced a strong contender, breaking the division’s record in the 400 meters. I feel proud…”

On the stage, the General spoke with a smile.

His words were casual, but they filled everyone in the division with a sense of pride.

Because the General was praising A Division.

From the General’s perspective, Wang Ye’s individual performance represented the entire division’s achievements.

And they were all part of A Division.

Of course, for soldiers and officers from other regiments, this sense of pride came and went quickly.

No one could ignore the fact that, from the General’s standpoint, they were all part of A Division.

But from their own perspective…

Wang Ye was still a member of the Iron Heroes Regiment.

So, quickly, among the people standing behind the General, only the two leaders of the Iron Heroes Regiment and the division commander could smile. The leaders of the other regiments couldn’t help but feel a bit sour.

They were sour because such an outstanding soldier wasn’t from their regiment!

“Wang Ye, you’re really amazing!”

“Awesome Wang, from now on, I’ll only call you Awesome Wang. The General is really impressed with you!”

Next to Wang Ye, his comrades from the Fourth Company couldn’t help but let out their excitement in hushed tones.

Wang Ye didn’t reply to them. At this moment, his hands were clenched into fists.

Excitement and a touch of nervousness.

The General had elevated his status in an instant!

Before, he was just a treasure of the regiment, but now, he should be able to become a treasure of the division, and maybe even the entire army…

Soon, the General’s speech ended. He didn’t speak for too long, just about three or four minutes.

Following that, the division commander and the political commissar took the stage and briefly spoke a few words each.

Then, the award ceremony officially began.

“Private Wang Ye from the Fourth Company of the Second Battalion, Iron Heroes Regiment!”

The colonel on stage, serving as the host, called out Wang Ye’s name first.

“Here!”

In the audience below, Wang Ye didn’t have a microphone or a podium, but when he responded loudly, almost everyone in the audience heard him.

“Comrade Wang Ye, with a time of sixteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds, secured the first place in the individual competition, the Armed Cross-Country Five Kilometers.

At the same time, Comrade Wang Ye set a new record for the division in the Armed Cross-Country Five Kilometers with this performance, becoming our A Division’s new record holder for the Armed Cross-Country Five Kilometers event. Let’s applaud!”

As Wang Ye stepped forward onto the stage, the host on stage announced his achievements.

At the same time, it signaled what event was being awarded at that moment..