Chapter 419: Military Region Commending

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

All, just one can barely make it!”

On the rooftop of the regiment headquarters, after watching all the new recruits complete their run, the chief of staff put down his binoculars and spoke in a rather indifferent manner.

This drew a sidelong glance from the regimental commander.

In the next moment, the regimental commander chuckled, saying, “Well, don’t request any this year then!”

“No, that won’t do!” The chief of staff turned around. “We definitely need to replenish our troops. Although this batch is quite ordinary, we can still find a few tall ones among the short ones!”

At this moment, the regimental commander had a sentence he wanted to say, but as it reached his lips, he changed it to, “Alright, I’m heading down!”

In fact, he had wanted to say that in previous years, when he saw a new recruit complete the 400-meter obstacle course in under two minutes for the first time, he would be overjoyed, and he might even immediately call someone to make an advance reservation.

But this year, there were some who ran it in under two minutes.

However, he was reacting like this now!

Nevertheless, the regimental commander knew that if he said that, it would definitely bring up the matter of the box of milk that the chief of staff had mentioned.

This wasn’t just to make himself feel uncomfortable, so he held back those words.

“Do you see the difference?” On the side of the 400-meter obstacle course, at the front of the new recruits’ formation, Jiang Huai yelled loudly with a stern face.

“Let me tell you, don’t think that just standing in formation makes you a qualified soldier, compared to…”

Last year, Wang Ye’s batch, due to Wang Ye’s accident, didn’t even have a chance for a lecture.

But this year was different, especially for the reconnaissance soldiers, they didn’t go easy on the new recruits.

In the entire platoon, there was only one who completed it in under two minutes, and that one just managed to break through with a time of one minute fifty-eight seconds.

Compared to the reconnaissance soldiers, who all had times under one minute and forty seconds, it was a significant gap.

Although there were objective reasons for this being their first run.

But now, being the first time running wasn’t an excuse, and in fact, being the first time running was one of the topics Jiang Huai used to lecture everyone.

He wanted everyone to realize that the army was not just about formation, but also about other training exercises.

They still had a long way to go, and there was much to learn.

He had been lecturing the new recruits for at least ten minutes.

Afterward, he led everyone back.

But this time, Wang Ye didn’t catch up.

He told Jiang Huai that he wanted to stay for a while and would come back later.

He also said hello to Zhou Qi, asking him to keep an eye on Class Five.

Because he had spotted someone he knew.

He saw Wan Baojiang over there with the reconnaissance team.

Although he didn’t participate, and he didn’t come over earlier, he exchanged gestures with Wang Ye.

“Brother Wang!”

At the moment, as the new recruits were just taken away, Wan Baojiang rushed over from the group of reconnaissance soldiers who had been watching the excitement earlier.

“Old Wan!”

Wang Ye also took a few steps forward with a smile and gave him a hug.

“Haha, it’s quite a coincidence today. I went to your side earlier to find you, but 1 got swindled badly by the guy who guards your place!” After letting go of him, Wang Ye laughed as he recounted the story.

Seeing his comrade from the new recruits’ platoon again, and it was Wan Baojiang, Wang Ye was very happy.

Hehe, I found out about that later too!” Wan Baojiang couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard Wang Ye mention it.

“Come on, do you have any free time today? It’s rare to meet, let’s go find Ping’an!” Wang Ye said this, and although it sounded like a question to him, in fact, Wang Ye’s voice was quite loud, so the lieutenant who was now walking up behind him also heard it.

“Platoon Leader Wang, nice to meet you for the first time!”

The lieutenant approached, saluted with a smile, and extended his hand.

Wang Ye returned the salute and then shook hands with him, saying, “Hello, Lieutenant Niu!”

This gentleman, Wang Ye didn’t know him before, but Jiang Huai had just called out to him, so Wang Ye knew his last name was Niu.

After releasing their handshake, Lieutenant Niu spoke with a smile, “Thanks to Platoon Leader Wang for giving us face today!”

Wang Ye smiled and said, “What’s there not to give face about? You guys are already impressive!”

“Hehe!” Lieutenant Niu chuckled and turned to look at Wan Baojiang. “Baojiang!”

“Here!”

Lieutenant Niu said, “I’ll give you a break for now, catch up with your old comrade, and just come back before roll call!”

“Yes!” Wan Baojiang had a happy expression, and Wang Ye thanked him as well, saying, “Thank you, Lieutenant Niu!”

“Haha, no need to thank me. Alright, I’m off!”

Lieutenant Niu didn’t linger; he had come to greet Wang Ye and make an acquaintance.

Although the military was very pure, purity didn’t mean they didn’t understand how to socialize.

Having more friends means more paths, an age-old saying.

Furthermore, considering Wang Ye’s situation, anyone with a discerning eye could see his bright future. Having the opportunity to get acquainted with him would definitely be beneficial.

Watching Lieutenant Niu leave, Wang Ye put his arm around Wan Baojiang.

“Let’s go, we’re heading to the Fourth Platoon!”

It was already past mealtime, but that was okay. Zhang Ping’an was a cook, and going to the Fourth Platoon to have him whip up a couple of dishes would be perfect for catching up and chatting.

“Alright!”

On New Year’s Day, Wang Ye’s parents back in his hometown received another piece of good news, the notice of his third-class merit from the previous time.

However, since Wang Ye had instructed them, this notice didn’t mention any combat achievements. He had also told his family that this was just another competition he had participated in and won.

Based on this, Wang Ye’s dad proudly boasted about it at home without any psychological burden.

Of course, these matters were just side stories for the current Wang Ye. In fact, he was too busy to think too much about them.

After the formation drills ended, the intensity of life in the new recruits’ platoon increased. Wang Ye, as a platoon leader, also served as a class leader, and he often couldn’t go to bed until at least eleven o’clock every night.

Moreover, as a cadre, he didn’t have the luxury of being a new recruit. Not only did he have to take turns on guard duty, but he also had to check on the soldiers and their bunks at night at irregular intervals.

It was tiring, and the demands on cadres were far greater than on regular soldiers, but that’s the path a cadre had to walk.

Time passed.

Wang Ye thought that there wouldn’t be any more major events in the new recruits’ platoon for a while. However, just one week after New Year’s Day, his peaceful life in the new recruits’ platoon was disrupted.

Wang Ye received an award.

The news came when someone from the military directly came down, accompanied by personnel from the division, and they made their way to the regiment.

Finally, the regiment commander personally brought people to the new recruits’ platoon to find Wang Ye.

He was awarded the title of the Annual Outstanding Individual of the Military Region.

This was the honor Wang Ye received.

To be honest, he had not expected to receive this recognition.

So now, faced with the sudden arrival of these people, including reporters from the military region, the army, and even the division, Wang Ye felt a bit flustered.

In the end, they only notified Wang Ye of this news, and the interviews focused on his previous experiences and training process.

After everything was settled, Wang Ye was surrounded by the regiment commander and others in the platoon office.

The regiment commander looked at Wang Ye and said, “On the 25th, the Military Region will hold an awards ceremony, and the regiment will arrange for personnel and a vehicle to take you there. During this time, you need to prepare a speech that you can use when facing interviews after the award ceremony, do you understand?”

As the regiment commander spoke, it was clear that his complexion was still a bit rosy.

Wang Ye received this kind of award, and although it was a recognition of him personally, he was from the Iron Bones Hero Regiment.

At the awards ceremony, his name would be called out as Wang Ye from Iron Bones Hero Regiment, Fourth Platoon.

Even in the subsequent external and internal publicity and reports, the name of Iron Bones Hero Regiment, Fourth Platoon, had to be included.

The honor belonged to Wang Ye, but it also belonged to the Iron Bones Hero Regiment.

In a military region, a regimental level wasn’t particularly prominent.

Now, to receive this kind of honor, it would be fake if the regiment commander wasn’t excited.

In fact, all the directly supervising officers of the regiment were very happy at this moment.

Perhaps only a few individuals couldn’t force a smile.

The chief of staff looked at the jubilant group of people and at this moment, he had the urge to challenge the regimental commander and give him a good beating.

It was so damn uncomfortable!

Really, he swore that if he could go back in time, he would buy a whole cart of milk and give it to the regimental commander to drink and take milk baths.

Such a misunderstanding!

If they had grabbed Wang Ye in the first place, Wang Ye wouldn’t be affiliated with the Fourth Platoon of the Iron Bones Hero Regiment in the entire military region; he would be with the Iron Bones Hero Regiment’s Criminal Investigation Company.

However, at this moment, no one paid any attention to him standing on the side.

All eyes were on Wang Ye.

At this moment, as soon as the regimental commander finished speaking, one of the deputy regimental commanders immediately spoke up, “How about we let Wang Ye take a break from his duties in the new recruits’ platoon for a while, stop serving as a class leader, and we’ll reassign someone else as the class leader. During this time, you can focus on writing your speech!”

“Commander, there’s no need!” Wang Ye looked at him and smiled, rejecting the idea.

In fact, Wang Ye made it clear, saying, “My work in the new recruits’ platoon won’t interfere with my ability to write the speech!”

At this point, the regimental commander also nodded and said, “Wang Ye has done an excellent job leading the new recruits, and a speech is just that, it shouldn’t affect Wang Ye’s normal duties!”

The political commissar chimed in, “That’s right, Wang Ye, just take some time to draft the speech, and later on, 1’11 arrange for someone to help review and refine it!”

“Alright, thank you, Political Commissar!” Wang Ye thanked with a smile.

In reality, Wang Ye felt it wasn’t necessary.

Being one of the Outstanding Individuals of the Year, there would likely be no opportunity for him to speak during the awards ceremony with so many recipients.

As for interviews and speeches after receiving the award, whether he used a script or not didn’t matter to him.

Of course, that was Wang Ye’s perspective.

For the regimental commander and the political commissar, they highly valued this recognition and wanted Wang Ye to be well-prepared.

“Class Leader, why are there so many people looking for you today?”

When Wang Ye returned to his class, one of the new recruits from Class Five, with whom he had become familiar over the past month, couldn’t help but curiously ask.

Wang Ye suppressed his smile and looked at them, saying, “How do you memorize regulations? Don’t you know not to ask what you shouldn’t ask?”

Immediately, Li Jun lowered his head.

Seeing him like this, Wang Ye chuckled inwardly.

He didn’t punish him to copy any regulations.

Of course, Wang Ye wouldn’t voluntarily tell them anything either.

Even if Jiang Huai or Zhou Qi asked, he couldn’t say anything.

Because the people from the military region had made it clear that this matter hadn’t been officially announced yet, so it needed to be kept confidential.

Of course, this confidentiality was only necessary for the time being.

A few days later, the news was published in the military newspaper.

For a moment, inside the new recruits’ platoon, the recruits who heard the news while reading the newspaper had their eyes wide open.

They already knew that Wang Ye was impressive from the day they arrived by train.

But they couldn’t have imagined that after being astonished by him time and time again, they would now hear such news just from reading the newspaper.

An Outstanding Individual of the entire Military Region!

How many people were there in a military region?

Several hundred thousand, right? They only selected twenty individuals, and Wang Ye had secured a spot among them.

“Wow, Platoon Leader, you’re amazing!”

In the new recruits’ formation, the exclamation of one recruit represented the feelings of all the recruits in the entire platoon..