Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2635 We Can Endure Hardship Too (Third Update, Please Subscribe)

Li Mingfan's gaze unconsciously drifted to the front of the line, where Klaus was standing. He nodded to him and then silently retreated to the back of the line.

He then realized that this was part of the training.

In the training at the elite academy, every trainee is at risk of being put in a leadership position at any time.

Falling from illusory satisfaction back to harsh reality and immediately being given the responsibility of commanding the entire platoon, this moment encapsulates the core of the French Military Academy's training philosophy: forging and testing leadership on the verge of personal and mental collapse.

This imposed and unquestionable responsibility is the shared mark that this school has left on more than 70,000 students over the past thirty years.

"Your task,"

The instructor's voice rang out again:
"Before nightfall, lead your platoon to establish a patrol base here and implement the complete surveillance plan. I will act as an observer to assess your command capabilities. Now, give me your answer, scout!"

Li Mingfan took a deep breath. Although he was exhausted, it unexpectedly cleared his muddled mind.

His gaze swept across the swamp before him. It was a relatively open woodland, surrounded by rainforest, with a dry highland in the center.

There was a narrow waterway not far away, with a slow current that provided enough water and also offered good cover. From a tactical point of view, this was indeed an ideal location to establish a temporary base.

Although hunger and exhaustion were tormenting him.

But he knew that the most severe test was just beginning.

Unlike regular military academies, elite military schools, which only accept applications from junior officers and sergeants, never test a person's abilities at their peak.

It tests whether a person can make the right decisions when they are physically and mentally exhausted and on the verge of collapse; whether they can shoulder their responsibilities under the weight of hunger, cold, and fear; and whether they can lead their troops to survive and defeat the enemy when they themselves are about to give up.

This is the core of elite soldier training.

Elite School is never a place for anyone to slack off in their comfort zone.

It will throw everyone into hell, push him to the brink of mental and physical collapse, and then, when he is most desperate, burden him with a heavy load.

If you can withstand the pressure, you'll become a leader; if you can't, you'll be eliminated.

Li Mingfan straightened his back, although his body swayed slightly. But he still answered in a somewhat hoarse voice:
"Yes, sir!"

Zhao Pengju nodded without saying another word, turned around and stepped aside. Soon he was on the fan ship and continued his task—the assessment.

Li Mingfan turned around to face the twelve team members in front of him. They were all like him, severely exhausted, their faces showing fatigue, only their eyes still holding the determination of soldiers.

He took a deep breath and shouted:
"Attention all!"

The twelve men stopped simultaneously, turned around, and stood in a row facing him. Although their movements were somewhat slow, they maintained a soldier's posture.

"We are currently in the heart of the West Iri Swamp."

Li Mingfan's brain was working at lightning speed. Although his body and mind were exhausted to the extreme, all his tactical knowledge was activated as if by instinct.

"Based on the terrain survey, this woodland offers a wide view and abundant water resources, making it suitable for establishing a temporary patrol base. Now, I will assign tasks!"

His gaze swept across the group, landing on a tall student:

"Kim Jae-gi!"

"Have!"

Kim Jae-gi responded loudly and clearly.

"You will lead Team Two and be responsible for constructing defensive fortifications. Set up obstacles and establish three lines of defense around the base. The first line will be equipped with tripwire alarms, the second with spike traps, and the third with personnel sentry posts. Complete this within one hour!"

This is precisely the significance of elite soldier training—to place the life and death of the entire platoon on your shoulders in your weakest, most desperate, and even most disoriented moments. This is not about training superhumans; it's about forging "leaders."

Leaders, on the other hand, need to make the right decisions at all times.

They are all officers or professional sergeants, all of whom have received rigorous tactical training and have extensive command experience. What they need now is to make the right decisions when they are physically exhausted and mentally broken.

When issuing orders, Li Mingfan found that his orders were being sent out one after another, clearly and accurately, without any hesitation or delay.

Even he himself was surprised that his brain could function so quickly in such a state of extreme fatigue. The tactical knowledge he had learned at military academy flowed into his consciousness like an activated program.

Why is this happening?

Because the brain learns "minimalism" under extreme stress.

It's like a computer that shuts down all unnecessary background processes under pressure—hunger, fear, fatigue—leaving only the most essential front-end functions—survival and command.

Once the tasks were assigned, everyone immediately got to work.

The once silent woodland suddenly became bustling with activity. The sounds of machetes chopping down trees and entrenching tools digging into the soil mingled together.

Li Mingfan led three people toward the edge of the woods.

His steps remained heavy, each step seeming like he was dragging his legs and forcing himself to move. But his eyesight grew clearer and his mind became increasingly lucid.

Hunger and exhaustion were still tormenting him, but he couldn't care less.

His mind was filled with the layout of the campsite, the setting up of the defensive lines, and the arrangement of the sentry posts.

He needed to consider every detail, anticipate potential dangers, and ensure that every order he gave would allow his platoon to safely get through the night.

He walked to a bush, parted the branches and leaves, and looked into the distance.

The fog gradually dissipated, revealing the full view of the swamp.

The boundless green stretches to the horizon, like a green ocean.

This is the West Irian Swamp, the largest swamp area in the entire SEA, covering tens of thousands of square kilometers. It can devour everything, but it cannot devour them.

The wind blew past his ears, carrying a putrid stench. But it made him feel much more awake.

Li Mingfan's lips curled up.

He remembered the instructor captain's words and the motto of the elite cadet school.

"Hell's Vanguard, forever at the forefront!"

This is more than just a slogan.

It is a belief, a belief that will never give up even in the most desperate situations; it is a responsibility, a responsibility to carry the team on the verge of collapse; it is a legacy, a legacy that has continued for thirty years since the first batch of trainees thirty years ago.

Thirty years ago, Asia was in turmoil. At that time, the SEA was in a period of post-war "relaxation" and its army had a total strength of less than 100,000 men.

In response to the changing situation and to enhance the army's combat effectiveness, the elite soldier school was established. It was not a grand strategic design, but rather stemmed from the most pressing need on the battlefield—the need for leaders who could fight in dire straits and command in the face of collapse.

Over the past thirty years, more than 70,000 cadets have graduated from here, bearing the marks of their hard work and the scars of their service as elite soldiers, and have entered various units of the SEA Army. Like carefully sown seeds, they have permeated the very fabric of the SEA Army, creating a unique "ripple effect."

This model has profoundly shaped the grassroots leadership ecosystem of the SEA Army: it does not aim to maintain a permanent elite operational structure, but rather systematically produces a backbone of leaders with shared hardship experiences and tactical language, distributing them in order to raise the baseline level of the entire force system.

During this period, the Army once pushed for a policy that all combat officers could simultaneously receive the "Elite Badge" in order to maximize the "seeding" effect.

The armies of Southeast Asian countries have also been deeply influenced by this, and even in Shan State, a "spearman's badge" is a prerequisite for becoming a commander. This is also a common "badge worship" among the militaries of Southeast Asian countries.

The elite soldier badge represents an irreplaceable certification of combat leadership, and is also a symbolic asset related to promotion and reputation. In officer promotion evaluation committees, possessing an elite soldier badge is often seen as direct proof of "proactiveness," "tenacity," and "tactical proficiency," becoming a powerful implicit competitive advantage. This informal "badge culture" has begun to deeply permeate the Army's personnel system, shaping officers' career development paths.

This applies to any officer without exception. For thirty years, the military has had a tradition that an officer without the "elite badge" is not a qualified officer.

For decades, the elite soldier school has never lowered its standards. Everyone is treated equally here. They have to climb mountains with heavy loads in the biting wind and live alongside crocodiles and venomous snakes in the suffocating heat and humidity of the swamp.

In this school, all trainees' physiological indicators were pushed to near their limits, and their body fat percentage dropped to an extremely dangerous level. However, subsequent cognitive assessments showed that their decision-making decisiveness and task planning abilities under extreme pressure showed statistically significant improvements. This is precisely the paradoxical result that the elite training school pursues—forging extraordinary psychological resilience and leadership effectiveness while approaching the brink of physical collapse.

"Alright, you'll soon be a top soldier!"

Li Mingfan's gaze fell on his busy comrades. Their figures moved in the setting sun; they, like him, were all striving to obtain the "Elite Soldier Badge."

He knew that everything he was experiencing was being forged in the furnace of this swamp.

To forge yourself into a true elite soldier.

A leader who can lead the team out of darkness in dire straits.

As the sun gradually set, its afterglow bathed the land in a warm glow. The temporary base was beginning to take shape, with three lines of defense neatly arranged around the woodland.

After finishing everything, Li Mingfan's stomach started growling again, and his eyelids began to droop. But he no longer thought about the fries and hamburgers in his hallucination, and the luxury cars and models also disappeared from his mind.

He recalled his instructor's words: "The limits of an infantryman lie only in his gut and his brain."

His mind is now perfectly clear.

His intestines were incredibly hungry.

But his willpower is enough to sustain him!

On the distant fan-powered ship, Zhao Pengju simply nodded silently, then muttered to himself:

"Alright, tomorrow is a new beginning. Tomorrow you will face an even more brutal test..."

What is his task as an instructor?
It eliminates more than 60% of those with weak wills; only the most tenacious can persevere here. Not only must they be tenacious, but they also need to demonstrate their leadership abilities in dire situations.

In fact, they didn't even have to wait until tomorrow. After only a few tens of minutes, without even a break, a new round of tests began.

After all, they came here not just to "endure hardship," but to command, to fight, and to lead their troops to victory in a desperate situation of incomplete information, physical exhaustion, and time constraints.

As night fell, the camp was infiltrated, and gunfire and explosions rang out in the vicinity...

(End of this chapter)