Los Angeles defector

Reverse training

In the early morning, the various squads gathered and started running laps on the parade ground. Jason took Emily and instead of heading to the parade ground, they ran up to the top of the eastern hill. Emily, panting, asked Jason why they were climbing the hill instead of going to the parade ground. Jason explained that running on the parade ground was to train for marching, while climbing the hill was to prepare for evading enemy pursuit in the future. Jason made an excuse, saying that they were training to be faster and stronger than those on the parade ground.

After breakfast, each squad began practicing formations on the parade ground. Jason took Little Miss to the mountain to dig individual foxholes without using tools, just using a knife, branches, and rocks. After digging them, they filled them back in, covered them up with camouflage to restore the ground to its original appearance. Learning to quickly dig individual foxholes can provide protection against artillery and serve as a temporary position to dodge bullets. In critical moments, if camouflaged well, it can deceive the enemy and save one's life. Little Miss grumbled, not understanding why they were doing this seemingly pointless task. Jason made the excuse that utilizing individual foxholes could facilitate better surprise attacks on the enemy.

From the parade ground came the shouts and sounds of bayonet training. Jason led Little Miss to practice climbing under the cliffs of the eastern hill. The surrounding mountains had many steep cliffs, which was a method to escape danger that needed to be practiced. Although there weren't many rivers here, Jason planned to teach her swimming when the weather warmed up. Faced with Little Miss's questioning, Jason's excuse was: "If the enemy is on a cliff, don't you have to climb up to fight them? Let's start practicing from lower heights."

After lunch, the new recruits began practicing aiming while crouching on the parade ground. Jason taught Little Miss how to disassemble firearms and reassemble them inside the house, explaining how to troubleshoot basic issues and maintain the weapons. He also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of various guns. On the battlefield, if a g*n fails to fire at a critical moment, it could mean certain death. Little Miss was very interested in this training, not getting enough of it. She borrowed various guns like the M1930, Type 38, M1911, and others, making Jason disassemble and reassemble them in front of her. She watched attentively, learning carefully with wide eyes, repeatedly and patiently. She had long regarded Jason as her master.

In the afternoon, the various units started studying academic subjects. Jason taught Little Miss how to read a clock, helping her grasp the concept of time, including the minute hand, second hand, and hour hand, and explaining what hours and minutes are. He taught her basic units of distance, how long a foot is, how far a mile stretches, how wide a meter is, and how fine a millimeter measures. He also discussed the size of the village and the height of the mountains outside. Little Miss was full of curiosity about these unknown fields. In her innocent and focused eyes, Jason's figure gradually became taller and stronger, like a giant, like the towering and steep mountain peaks in the distance.

After finishing his lunch, Martin wandered around the village with nothing to do. He was not the only communication officer, and being a new recruit, apart from boiling water, sweeping the floor, and delivering simple messages, he didn't get the chance for real courier tasks. Passing by Jason's residence unintentionally, he overheard bits and pieces of conversation. Curiosity sparked within him, and unable to resist, he slowly approached the window. Gradually, he too became entranced and found himself listening intently.

"The trajectory of grenade launchers and mortar shells is quite high, making them hard to hide from, but their range is not far, and their power is somewhat limited. On the other hand, the trajectory of mountain guns and field artillery is lower, with greater power. If you take cover on the reverse slope, they won't be able to hit you..."

"Fox, I forgot what the reverse slope means again, can you explain it to me?"

"When you were disassembling the g*n, you had a good memory. Now you're getting drowsy talking about this, right? Here, let me draw you a picture, and then you'll understand..."

Martin squatted under the window sill, feeling restless. Yes, both sides of the mountain were slopes, so which side counted as the 'reverse slope'? Jason mentioned drawing a picture? Martin quickly got up, stretched his neck, trying to peek inside. Suddenly, he felt a kick from behind, startled, he turned around to see Emily appearing behind him like a ghost, swaying her braided pigtails as she stared at him. Quickly, he smiled and said, "Oh, isn't this Emily? I was just passing by to deliver a message. Just passing by. Hehe."

Emily pursed her lips, said nothing, and simply extended her small hand, holding it out in front of Martin.

Martin scratched his head in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"This is a secret of our ninth squad. Do you want to listen? Give me a bullet, and I'll let you go."

In fact, Jason had already sensed someone outside the window, but he pretended not to know. Since this person was willing to eavesdrop, it showed that he was a keen and intelligent individual. Jason decided to ignore him and continued with his teaching. Little did he know that after being discovered by the girl, she went out immediately to catch the eavesdropper on the spot.

"What? A secret? Isn't this secret too expensive? How about we go talk to the chief of staff about this?" Martin wasn't planning to fall for this trick.

The clever little messenger wasn't easy to fool, but the girl was persistent. She glanced around, then put on a different expression and said, "Hehe, Martin, our ninth squad's fox is no ordinary person, as you've seen. As long as you give a bullet, you can come listen anytime in the future, listen with me, but you can't tell anyone. How about that, fair deal?"

Martin bowed his head in thought. The knowledge that Jason shared was like a rare gem, and he felt like a naive boy who had been living in a closed room, suddenly exposed to the outside world. He couldn't bear to close that window again. Without hesitation, he reached behind, pulled out his pistol from the holster, racked the slide with a click, ejected a bullet, and placed it in Emily's small hand.

Second Lieutenant Alan Blade, the platoon leader of the 2nd Platoon in the Independent Regiment, was a robust and powerful man, especially skilled with a bayonet, earning him the nickname "Slashmaster" among the regiment. As the 2nd Platoon finished their training, Slashmaster walked back and encountered Sandy Sniffles, who was looking gloomy. He stopped, jokingly said, "Well, if it isn't our Section Nine leader. A new officer should be shining brightly, but you, lad, don't seem to be living up to the standard, eh?"

Sandy Sniffles continued to tear at a yellow grass leaf in his hand, sighing, "Captain Alan, please stop teasing me. I'm almost at my wits' end."

Slashmaster sat down next to Sandy Sniffles and patted his shoulder, saying, "Come on, tell me what's going on. It's better to talk about it than keep it all to yourself, right?"

"What else could it be? It's embarrassing. I've only got two soldiers - one is a young girl, and the other is a deserter from the government army. What kind of section leader does that make me?"

Slashmaster was taken aback, "What? Did you say the newcomer is a deserter from the government army?"

Sandy Sniffles threw the broken grass in his hand on the ground, "Exactly, the chief of staff said he used to be from the 67th Army."

"Damn that so-called 67th Army! How can such scum make it into our ranks? I'm going to see the regimental commander right now."

Watching Slashmaster storm off in anger, Sandy Sniffles was puzzled instead. "This is about me. Why is he so worked up?"

Slashmaster hated, he hated the government army, and he hated the 67th Army even more. So many of his brothers had died at their hands. Now, hearing that the government army and the resistance forces were said to be collaborating, and now they were actually appearing nearby, this was unacceptable. Fuming with anger, he dashed towards the regimental headquarters...