Republic of China, 1922: Rise from the Post-Zhili-Fengtian War

On the north side of the playground, a row of low wooden frames had been temporarily erected, covered with barbed wire; on the east side, a sandpit of varying depths had been dug, with several half-person-high wooden walls running through the middle.

These things were all arranged by Gu Cheng after he decided to conduct the assessment. In addition to this exam, he and Ji Jinchun had discussed that these would also be included in future training subjects.

When the first group of people stood on the starting line, someone in the team looked up at the barbed wire fence, his throat moved as if he was secretly swallowing, but it was obvious that he was nervous.

Su Nan raised his hand, the whistle blew, and the ten people rushed out almost simultaneously.

The first 200 meters went smoothly; some people quickly pulled away, some stayed in the middle of the group, and some fell to the back.

But the real change came at the first obstacle—a wooden wall half a person's height.

The young man in the lead barely slowed down when he reached the wooden wall. He braced his hands on the top of the wall, pulled his body upward, and flipped over. He stumbled when he landed, but quickly regained his balance and continued running.

Seeing this, the two people following closely behind him also successfully flipped over, their movements weren't particularly graceful, but they both made it across.

The fourth soldier who ran to the wall slipped while climbing over it and crashed into the edge of the wooden wall with a thud. He groaned and fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. He couldn't get up for a while and was eventually helped off the field by the medics on the sidelines.

Lin Jiusi made a mark on the list without saying anything more.

The procession continued forward.

The sandpit is in the second section... Because the sand is loose, some people who rushed in were noticeably slower, sinking in with every step and needing twice the effort to pull themselves out compared to flat ground.

Someone slipped and fell in the sandpit. When he got up, his face was covered in sand and he couldn't even open his eyes. But he didn't stop. He wiped his face haphazardly with the back of his hand and ran forward again, stumbling along.

The people running ahead had already left the sandpit and were beginning to approach the barbed wire fence.

The barbed wire fence was the most difficult obstacle.

The height is low, so you have to crawl forward, keeping your body close to the ground and using all four limbs. If you're not careful, you'll be scratched by the barbs on the wire.

Some people hesitated when faced with the net, seemingly calculating the distance, but it was clear they were afraid. It took them a long time to start climbing forward.

Some people climbed too slowly, their movements were clumsy and their hands and feet were uncoordinated; others climbed very fast, their movements were crisp and clean, and they hardly stopped, like a snake close to the ground.

When the person in the lead reached the barbed wire fence, he didn't hesitate at all. He lay down and used his elbows and knees to push forward, his movements as fluid as if he had done it countless times on the training field.

When he climbed out of the barbed wire fence, his shirt was torn on the back, but he didn't stop. He stood up and continued running forward.

Cai Changyuan stood next to Gu Cheng, watching the figure who was the first to climb over the wooden wall, cross the sandpit, and crawl out of the barbed wire. He whispered, "Master Gu, the one who ran first is Ma Jingshan. The platoon leader of the second battalion is the one who came in second in the written test."

Gu Cheng didn't reply, his gaze fixed on Ma Jingshan's retreating figure.

He ran very fast, but his steps were steady and his breathing was even, like a wound-up machine operating at its own pace.

The second and third groups took to the field one after another.

Someone got their clothes caught under the barbed wire and struggled for a while before finally breaking free. By the time they stood up, the others in their group had already run far away.

Someone ran in the wrong direction in the sandpit, got stuck, and struggled to make a turn, wasting a lot of time and falling almost half a lap behind the others.

Some people performed very well. Although they were not the fastest, they overcame each obstacle cleanly and efficiently, like a sentence that had been polished repeatedly, with each word falling into its proper place.

Gu Cheng remained silent, simply watching the young figures weave through the obstacles.

As the sun rose higher, the shadows on the playground grew shorter, the dew condensing on the wire mesh gradually evaporated under the sun, and more and more footprints appeared on the ground. The old and new sand turned up in the sandpit mixed together, like pages of a book that had been turned over and over again.

Cai Changyuan stood there for a while, then spoke again: "Master Gu, this method is indeed excellent. Without these obstacles, just running laps wouldn't reveal who can truly survive in the wild."

Gu Cheng nodded: "You understand correctly. So these obstacles will also be a fixed training subject for my 11th Mixed Brigade in the future—once the Jinzhou camp is completed, a special area will be planned for the training ground there."

As he was talking, he saw Li Dazhu's team come onto the field. He had just turned away from the tree trunk to take a closer look when he heard footsteps behind him.

Turning around, he saw a messenger running up, panting. As the messenger approached, the messenger saluted: "Brigadier! A telegram from Fengtian!"

Immediately afterwards, a telegram was handed to Gu Cheng. He looked down, unfolded the paper, and quickly scanned the words.

It was Zhang Zuolin's order.

He was instructed to closely monitor the movements of the Zhili troops along the Luanzhou front and to report any suspicious activity immediately.

Gu Cheng didn't speak immediately. He folded the telegram again, held it in his hand, and looked back at the playground, no longer at the figures moving through the obstacles.

He mentally reviewed the situation in 1922—the Fengtian Army suffered a crushing defeat in the Zhili-Fengtian War and retreated to Manchuria. Taking advantage of this, the Beijing authorities dismissed Zhang Zuolin as the Inspector General of the Three Eastern Provinces and promoted Wu Junsheng and his uncle Feng Delin, attempting to drive a wedge into the Northeast.

Now that Zhang Zuolin has declared provincial autonomy and appointed himself Commander-in-Chief of the Security Forces of the Three Northeastern Provinces, the Fengtian Army is reorganizing and strengthening its military, and the Zhili Army will naturally not be quiet.

The Luanzhou line is the throat between the inside and outside of the Great Wall. The Zhili Army sent troops north to probe, not only to test the strength of the Fengtian Army, but also to test Zhang Zuolin's reaction.

The fact that this order has now landed on his desk means that Jinzhou has been pushed to the front line.

The pace of troop reorganization needs to be accelerated; minor skirmishes are clearly unavoidable in the future.

He continued to scrutinize the figures striving on the parade ground, and said to the messenger: "Report back that the order has been received, and that Jinzhou should intensify its reconnaissance of the Luanzhou line starting immediately, and report every two days."

Also, have Ting Shu send me the troop deployment map for the Luanzhou area.

The messenger immediately stood at attention, saluted, and quickly turned and left.

Cai Changyuan, who had noticed the change in Gu Cheng's expression, waited until the messenger was out of sight before asking in a low voice, "Master Gu, is there any movement from Luanzhou?"

Gu Cheng didn't look at him, his gaze returning to the playground. Li Dazhu had just crawled out from under the barbed wire fence, his shirt had a tear on the back, but he didn't stop. He stood up and continued running forward, running very fast, his steps heavy but unusually determined, clearly risking his life.

He clearly knew that he had failed the written test, and the physical fitness test was his only and last chance.

Gu Cheng stared at his figure, his tone calm: "The Zhili Army is operating in the north. The commander-in-chief ordered us to keep an eye on them. You should know that Luanzhou... is less than two hundred li from Jinzhou."