Chapter 30: A Steady Heart and a Steady Hand

Last night, the new and veteran soldiers worked through the night without a break. This morning, Xu Guoqing simply gave everyone the morning off. It wasn’t until after lunch, once everyone was well-fed and rested, that Xu gathered the unit to prepare for the day's training.

At the Iron Fist Regiment’s firing range, near the shooting stations, Xu Guoqing’s gaze swept across the faces of the new recruits. They were all eager and restless, clearly aware of what the afternoon’s training would entail.

"It seems you are all quite interested in marksmanship. Good, because this afternoon’s training is indeed related to shooting."

As he spoke, Xu walked over to the leftmost shooting station. He picked up the Type 95 automatic rifle in front of him and, in front of the hundred-plus recruits, fluidly disassembled the rifle into its individual components. Then, he reassembled it and placed it back on the table. The entire process took less than three minutes—his speed was incredibly fast. It left all the new recruits, and even the "chosen one" Qi Tian, completely stunned.

At that moment, everyone truly realized just how formidable their company commander, Xu Guoqing, really was. Such skilled and fluent operation was impossible to achieve without thousands of repetitions.

"Because of your impressive performance last night, I am going to break two conventions today."

Feeling the intense gazes of the recruits, Xu took a deep breath and looked at them. "First, from today on, while the organizational structure of the squads remains the same, all future training will be executed as a whole unit. This means that if one of you makes a mistake, it will no longer be the whole squad that is punished, but the entire company!

"Second, the order of the marksmanship curriculum is changing. In previous years, new recruits had to go through four steps before live-fire training: weapon handling, posture, aiming, and firing technique. Only then would they move to the range. However, for you recruits who already gained some shooting experience last night, I intend to do it in reverse. To put it bluntly, I am starting you off with live-fire training. I am very curious to see just how much talent some of you—especially those who won last night’s game of cat and mouse—actually possess."

At the end of his sentence, Xu’s gaze fixed directly on Qi Tian, the lead soldier of the first squad. Not only him, but the other ten veteran squad leaders and all the new recruits also turned their eyes toward Qi Tian.

Whether it was the previous inspections of their quarters, physical fitness, or theoretical training, Qi Tian was the undisputed leader, the number one recruit in the company. Now that the moment had arrived to test the greatest skill of a soldier, could Qi Tian succeed as easily as he had before? This question quietly surfaced in everyone's mind.

"Well? Is our 'King of Recruits' waiting for a personal invitation to participate in live-fire training?"

"Report, no need!" Taking a deep breath, Qi Tian responded to Xu and walked quickly to the first shooting station. After checking the magazine and confirming everything was in order, he pulled the bolt, dropped to one knee, and took aim at the wooden target two hundred meters away.

He had learned this set of movements from watching military dramas before he arrived here. While not a perfect replica, he mimicked it quite well.

Old Hei, guarding the first station, noticed Qi Tian’s mistake. Before Qi could pull the trigger, he hissed, "Don’t hold your breath! Keep your breathing rhythmic! This Type 95 is different from the exercise weapons last night; it has significant recoil and vibration. If you hold your breath, you won’t just suffer severe ringing in your ears; you risk fainting. It seems marksmanship training is completely new to you—which is normal. Kid, I finally see a bit of a 'new recruit' in you!"

Hearing the advice, Qi Tian quickly exhaled and regulated his breathing. But then, Old Hei noticed with surprise that while Qi Tian breathed, his hands holding the rifle didn't shift in the slightest. He was as steady as a statue, with incredible body control. In the field of marksmanship, such physical talent was a massive advantage. At the very least, they could already start grooming him as a sniper.

"Bang!"

Just as Old Hei was silently admiring him, Qi Tian squeezed the trigger, firing the first live round of his military career. Once the shot rang out, Xu Guoqing and the ten squad leaders quickly raised their binoculars to observe. All the recruits squinted, trying to see into the distance.

"Squad leader, tell us, how did Brother Tian do?"

"This... how is this possible?!"

At the front of the first squad’s formation, Old Hei stood dumbfounded, ignoring Song Wei’s inquiry. Company Commander Xu Guoqing walked over quickly. Standing behind Qi Tian, he asked with genuine surprise, "Have you shot before? There’s no other explanation—a bullseye on your first shot, and I haven’t even taught you the techniques yet!"

A collective gasp rippled through the ranks of the recruits. A perfect score on the very first shot! This revelation was no less shocking than when Xu had admitted back under the trees that he shouldn't have called Qi Tian’s folded quilt trash.

"Company Commander, Qi Tian definitely hadn't touched a gun before enlisting. The kid was holding his breath just a moment ago—a total rookie. If I hadn't warned him, he would have passed out by now. But I did notice that Qi Tian is different from the others; when he takes his stance, his hands are exceptionally steady, completely motionless. I believe he has the potential to be a sniper!"

It wasn't Qi Tian who responded, but Old Hei, the squad leader standing nearby.

Hearing this, Xu was even more puzzled. "If he’s never shot before, how did he manage a bullseye on his first live round? Even with steady hands, that shouldn't be possible."

"Report, Commander. I truly haven't touched a gun before, but I have watched some military dramas that introduced marksmanship techniques. For example, keeping your hands perfectly still, steady breathing, staying calm, and aligning the rear sight, front sight, and target. I just relied on that knowledge for the first shot. The result... was it decent?"

"Decent?!" Xu turned and glared at Qi Tian, almost laughing in frustration. "New recruit, you hit a perfect score on your first live-fire attempt, and you call that 'decent'? Even if the Brigade Commander himself were here, he could only hit a bullseye. Don't play dumb with me, Qi Tian. Keep shooting—I want to see just how steady your hands really are!"

"Yes, sir!"

After responding, Qi Tian didn't return to a kneeling position. Instead, he stood right where he was, maintaining rhythmic breathing. With a slight hunch, he aimed at the distant target and pulled the trigger again:

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"