167: Chapter 166: Students of the Kick Ram 167: Chapter 166: Students of the Kick Ram Training unfolded in an orderly fashion, with Gao Yang’s instructors adjusting the content and intensity of the training according to their progress.
Frey made the fastest progress since he originally knew almost nothing.
Starting with the basics that every recruit should learn, Frey quickly mastered the fundamental skills of an infantryman.
Once he had done so, his instructor arranged for him to have specialized training with a rocket launcher.
Cui Bo also progressed swiftly.
Initially, he practiced shooting under ideal conditions with high-intensity drills.
When he reached a satisfactory level of shooting in perfect conditions, his instructor began pushing him further.
For instance, Cui Bo had to carry his sniper rifle plus an additional twenty kilograms, run five kilometers, and, while panting like a dog, immediately shoot at a target a kilometer away designated on the fly by the instructor.
He could only take one shot, and if he missed, Cui Bo had to run another five kilometers with all his gear before taking another shot.
If he missed that target, he wouldn’t be doing anything else that day.
As for Glolov, he was an exception.
Glolov was no longer young, and his physical conditioning was falling behind, but as a machine gunner, no one in the base could teach him anything new.
On just the first morning, the instructor teaching Glolov machine gunning told him to get lost because there was nothing left to teach.
He suggested that Glolov train with a mortar or rocket launcher instead, or whatever else he thought would be useful to the whole team.
In any case, there was no need to learn anything more about machine guns.
There were only five members of the Satan Mercenary Corps, and each member needed to possess multiple skills with one specialization.
After discussing with Gao Yang and the others, Glolov went to refamiliarize himself with using a mortar.
Glolov already knew how to use a mortar; in fact, it was a basic form of heavy firepower accompanying infantry in the Russian military system.
As a paratrooper, the use of mortars and rocket launchers was quite extensive.
Anyone who had served several years as a paratrooper could practically use a mortar, so Glolov was already very familiar with it; it had simply been many years since he had last used one extensively.
After spending two days reacquainting himself with the mortar and changing his training plan accordingly, Glolov was forced to switch again.
For an old soldier like him, the skill of using a mortar was etched in his bones, impossible to forget.
Therefore, after practicing with the mortar for two days, his instructor felt it was a waste of time to continue and shunted him off elsewhere.
Glolov didn’t know what else to train with next.
He was just a machine gunner and rarely had to use other weapons in combat.
Moreover, his movements had become set and it was neither necessary nor feasible to change them.
Consequently, Glolov ultimately ended up practicing team coordination with Gao Yang and the others.
Li Jinfang became friends with the experts he trained with, and one of the instructors was his student.
So in the morning, Li Jinfang was the instructor, and in the afternoon, Li Jinfang became the student.
The role reversal between the two was quite smooth; during hand-to-hand combat lessons, Li Jinfang was the instructor.
But as soon as the class ended, he would have to change his address and call one of his students “instructor.”
As for Gao Yang, his days were rather miserable.
He had to teach new recruits hand-to-hand combat, learn how to be a good squad commander, and he couldn’t neglect his role as the team’s marksman.
In addition to these, he also had to train in the skills required of a sniper, which meant he had to practice with a sniper instructor just like Cui Bo.
On top of that, he couldn’t skip the training in team coordination, which made Gao Yang the most physically exhausted of them all.
Gao Yang always remembered Fedor’s words, that when he had the chance, he should practice shooting quickly and accurately with the gun’s mechanical sights without relying on aids.
Therefore, Gao Yang now focused mainly on shooting without using auxiliary aiming devices, and his instructor was a specialized marksman capable of taking on the role of a sniper if needed.
Consequently, Gao Yang’s training with his dedicated instructor was hugely beneficial.
Because there was so much to learn, Gao Yang could only sleep for six hours a day, sometimes even just four.
The rest of his time was spent solely on training with no moment to catch his breath.
However, this wasn’t the worst part for Gao Yang.
The real misery was that he now had to practice hand-to-hand combat with Li Jinfang’s students.
Practicing combat with Li Jinfang wasn’t such a big deal, but let’s not forget that Li Jinfang also had sixteen students.
So the reality was that Li Jinfang taught those sixteen students, and then those sixteen students taught Gao Yang.
Theoretically, during this period, Gao Yang was meant to be a professional sparring partner, getting beaten up by Li Jinfang and his sixteen students in turn.
Gao Yang suffered terribly under Li Jinfang and his group of adept students, but the upside was that after this period of hardship, Gao Yang had moved beyond relying solely on punches and kicks.
He could now make use of a complete set of Magia Technique quite proficiently.
Improving his hand-to-hand combat skills was always on Gao Yang’s agenda, but he only willingly walked into beating sessions because he had been forced into a corner and had no choice but to seek out Li Jinfang for combat training.
Who was pushing Gao Yang to his limits?
Of course, it was his group of new recruit trainees.
After having tormented his recruits for the first ten days, Gao Yang finally began to teach these poor students how to properly exert force, how to unleash the Half-Step Collapse Fist and Lower Body Kick like he did.
Those who had been kicked around for a full ten days and had already learned how to be hit, now only thought about learning to strike others.
They made incredible progress, real speed.
Just a few days later, they were all practicing quite impressively, and Gao Yang even started to feel a bit overwhelmed.
No wonder Li Jinfang could bully Gao Yang from start to finish when he was teaching him, because Li had a profound foundation and decades of training under his belt.
No matter if Gao practiced for a month or a year, he would definitely not be a match for Li.
But Gao’s skills were achieved in an accelerated manner; he relied on a unique trick, and after he taught this trick to his students, the scenario of ‘the apprentice starving the master’ inevitably became Gao’s fate.
People need face and trees need bark.
When Gao Yang saw that he couldn’t control the situation any longer and feared being beaten by his students, which would really make him lose face, he had no choice but to change his plan.
He rearranged his originally postponed combat training to fit within the schedule and also had to change his teaching hours.
Only by doing this could he avoid overlapping his class time with that of Li Jinfang and his advanced students, forcing him to practice desperately with them while teaching his own disciples.
By the time the month was nearly up, using his Lower Body Kick against his students would mean mutual annihilation.
However, Gao had made significant progress during this time, and by relying on what he had newly learned, he was still able to suppress his new trainees.
When the time finally came for Gao to have taught his new recruits for a full month, it also meant that his trainees were due to graduate.
The plan of General Wolfgang was to have Gao train this group of new soldiers for just a month, then see the results of their training.
After finishing the last class, Gao Yang clapped his hands and gathered his students.
He then said aloud to the trainees, who had become very familiar to him over the past month, “Gentlemen, this is our last class.
Over the past month, I’ve been very comforted and pleased by your progress.
I hope you never need to use what I’ve taught you, but if you must, remember to kick your enemy’s ‘eggs’ and take his life immediately thereafter.
Only a dead enemy is a good enemy.
That’s all I have to say.
Finally, I kicked quite a few of your butts over this month; I hope you won’t hold it against me.”
After speaking, Gao Yang expected to receive a round of warm applause, for his words signified that the hardships of these new soldiers were at an end.
Gao had no illusions of being loved by these trainees, and he knew they had even nicknamed him Kick Ram.
These new soldiers harbored such hatred for him that they couldn’t wait to kick him in retaliation.
Surprisingly, all thirty new recruits simultaneously gave Gao Yang a military salute, all wearing an expression of reluctance to part and some even had red-rimmed eyes.
Instead of the expected cheering, sending off the tormentor became a scene of unwilling farewells.
This unexpected turn of events took Gao by surprise and made him involuntarily recall the time when he was in military training at university, where the instructors, hated to the core by the students, were bid farewell with tears—of course, the tears were only from the girls, while the boys pretended not to care.
Finally, one of the more lively new recruits saluted Gao Yang and shouted, “Instructor, we will remember your teachings and will not disappoint you.”
Gao Yang didn’t know why, but looking at his trainees, a feeling of reluctance emerged.
He saluted his students, wanting to say something, yet he didn’t know what to say.
According to the path Gao had planned, he should never have the chance to see these students again in his life, so saying goodbye didn’t seem realistic, but bidding a permanent farewell seemed even less appropriate.
While Gao was feeling uneasy, Lieutenant M, who had been observing and recording his training methods throughout the month, suddenly spoke up.
“Everyone, this afternoon you will be competing against another group of experimental trainees to determine whose training is superior.
Also, I have some good news to announce, or perhaps bad news.
You’ve all applied to join the special forces without success, but according to the instructions of our base’s highest authority, the winner among your two groups of trainees will be allowed to stay for the next step of assessment.
That means if you win, you stay; if you lose, pack your bags and leave.”
After speaking, Lieutenant M glanced at Gao Yang, then continued to address the new soldiers, “This afternoon your beloved Ram Instructor will be in attendance.
Also, as you probably know, our neighbors are all experts, and they will be the judges.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you don’t want to leave in disgrace, and you also don’t want to see your instructor lose face, go out and win to show your gratitude to your instructor.” (To be continued.
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