Chapter 22: Zhao Gang Can Also Be a Humblebragger

Chapter 22: Zhao Gang Can Also Versailles

(Part One)

The morning training session was assassination drills. The soldiers held wooden sticks roughly the length of rifles fitted with bayonets. Following Zhang Dabiao’s commands, they practiced the disarming movements repeatedly in counts of one, two, three, four.

Under Dong Dahai’s leadership, the communications company also joined the morning assassination training. Guanshan stood in the middle of the formation, diligently practicing the disarming maneuvers while reflecting on the various extracurricular classes he had taken in his previous life.

Judo, karate, taekwondo, boxing, sanda, grappling, Japanese kendo, European fencing—it seemed he had even tried Muay Thai and Wing Chun for a while...

As for why he had taken these classes, or whether he had even been genuinely interested, Guanshan couldn’t quite remember. He only recalled always rushing from one place to another, and catching brief moments of dozing off in the back seat of a car during those intervals.

“Report to the regiment commander and political commissar!” The messenger Abao ran to the edge of the training field, saluting as he reported, “The guests from the Jin-Sui Army Observation Group have arrived; they are resting at the regiment headquarters!”

“Aren’t they supposed to visit the headquarters? Why come all the way to the independent regiment?” Li Yunlong asked.

Zhao Gang interrupted him and asked Abao, “How many people?”

“Two! One is Chu Yunfei, commander of the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army, and the other is his adjutant, Captain Sun Ming!”

Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang exchanged a glance and gestured to Zhang Dabiao to continue the training. The two of them left the training ground and strolled leisurely toward the regiment headquarters.

This was the main storyline after all, Guanshan mused, picturing the scenes he was already familiar with.

“Guanshan!” Zhang Dabiao shouted.

“Yes, sir!” Guanshan responded quickly, thinking, My movements are correct, pretty standard!

“Fall out!”

“Yes, sir!”

Guanshan didn’t dare delay, quickly jogging over in standard military posture to Zhang Dabiao.

Zhang Dabiao instructed, “Everyone, at ease! Pay close attention to Guanshan’s movements! Guanshan, demonstrate for everyone!”

“Yes, sir!”

Oh, so I’m the model to follow!

Guanshan took his stance and executed the movements precisely, following Zhang Dabiao’s commands.

(Part Two)

Before long, Abao ran over again with Li Yunlong’s order to stop the assassination training. The communications company was to return to the regiment headquarters and switch to training with the large blades of the 1st Battalion’s sword team.

Still the main storyline! According to the plot, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang were currently engaged in some mutual admiration with Chu Yunfei at the regiment headquarters. Soon, Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang would bring Chu Yunfei over. Captain Sun Ming would demonstrate his eagle claw technique to rip apart two sandbags, and Monk Wei would deliver powerful kicks to an earthen wall. The soldiers would cheer, but Zhao Gang would frown and complain about damaging public property.

Ha, who says our Political Commissar Zhao Gang doesn’t know how to Versailles!

“Company Commander Dong! The communications company returns to the regiment headquarters to stand by. Guanshan, you stay behind!” Zhang Dabiao ordered.

“Yes, sir!” Dong Dahai and Guanshan replied, exchanging a puzzled glance.

“Guanshan!”

“Yes, sir!”

“You lead the team to find a flat area outside the village and continue training there!”

“Yes, sir!”

Guanshan followed Zhang Dabiao’s instructions, organizing the soldiers to move the training site. He wondered why he couldn’t stay nearby to witness the main storyline in person and instead was assigned a side mission.

On the way out of the village, Guanshan replayed the upcoming main plot in his mind, trying to recall details that might help him now that he was part of the story.

Details? Thinking carefully, he could still remember some.

When the Jin-Sui Army delegation met the welcoming party, they asked how far it was to the headquarters. The welcoming party replied it was still over thirty li away.

Oh, and in the main plot, when Chu Yunfei handed his Browning pistol to Li Yunlong, he made a request—he challenged Li Yunlong to arrange a real battle for him to observe, instead of just talking theory. This also served as a foreshadowing hook for the ambush officers’ observation group.

After Chu Yunfei’s request, there was another detail: a conversation between Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang. Li Yunlong’s exact words were, “Our independent regiment was assigned to guard the flanks of the headquarters; we’re basically a security unit. It’s rare to get a real fight. But if we sneak in a battle during downtime, that kid would really laugh at us!”

Lost in thought, Guanshan suddenly slowed his pace.

Sure enough, the devil’s in the details. Even after watching the drama thirty or fifty times, now that he was a participant rather than a spectator, he discovered hidden ‘Easter eggs’!

“Guanshan, this spot is fine. Let’s train here!” Zhang Dabiao called out.

Guanshan came back to reality, looked around, and shouted, “Everyone, attention! Stand at ease!”

(Part Three)

“Dahai, the communications squad has returned, right? Send Shanzi over here!” Li Yunlong ordered.

Dong Dahai hesitated, then replied, “Guanshan? Commander, Zhang Battalion Commander kept Guanshan behind.”

“Kept him behind?” Li Yunlong widened his eyes and turned to Abao, asking, “Weren’t you supposed to relay the order to bring the whole communications squad back?”

Abao looked very aggrieved, glancing at Li Yunlong and then Dong Dahai before saying, “I told them, but Zhang Battalion Commander ordered the communications company back to the regiment headquarters to stand by, and Guanshan stays behind. You can ask Company Commander Dong if you don’t believe me!”

Dong Dahai helped explain, “Yes, yes, Commander. Zhang Dabiao had Guanshan lead the assassination team outside the village to continue training.”

Li Yunlong was both annoyed and amused. “That Zhang Dabiao really knows how to boss people around. Guanshan’s not even in his company anymore. Go, go, go. Abao…”

“No need to send the messenger again, Old Li,” Chen Bo said. “I’ll go find him myself. I’ll talk to him after the training’s done—waiting a little longer won’t hurt!”

“That works. Old Chen, I still have guests here, so do as you please!”

“Commander, Political Commissar, Commander Chu, Captain Sun, you all carry on. I’ll take my leave now!”

(Part Four)

After leading the team through the morning assassination training, Guanshan was stopped by Chen Bo.

Guanshan stood at attention and saluted, proactively offering, “Commander, what would you like to know? I have already given detailed reports to the guard company and security section about that day’s events. We carefully reviewed everything, nothing was omitted...”

Chen Bo waved his hand, “I’m not here to verify those details. I’ve read the report—it’s indeed very thorough.”

“Oh? Then why did you want to see me?” Guanshan asked curiously.

There was no way around it—this was a side storyline, and the system gave no hints. Guanshan, the side character, had no script.

“Don’t be nervous. Come, let’s take a walk and talk as we go,” Chen Bo said lightly.

“Yes! Oh, okay, Commander!” Guanshan was indeed a bit nervous.

After yesterday’s shooting training, Zhao Gang had introduced Chen Bo as the chief of staff of the special service regiment directly under headquarters, and the special officer responsible for handling a series of recent special operations by enemy forces.

Fortunately, Guanshan had learned Japanese before Chen Bo arrived. Now he was quite worried about how to conceal the skills brought from his time travel identity. If he couldn’t hide them, how would he explain?

Thank you for your support and recommendations!

(End of Chapter)