Rebirth of a Star General

PASSING THE TEST

Translator: Sylph
Editor: Milac

He Yan guessed right. Three days later, when she was running with a sandbag on her back, Instructor Liang shouted, “From tomorrow, running around the barracks will be changed to five laps. As for the remaining time we will do weapons training! So today, run with all your might! If you can’t run well, there will be no lunch at noon.”

Everyone got excited upon hearing it. Compared to running with a bag of sand on a hot summer day, weapon training sounded much easier and it was more like what a new recruit should do. Being able to end this purgatory and enter a new phase could just be an indication that they had gradually become a decent soldier of the Wei Dynasty.

However, He Yan understood the implication of Instructor Liang’s words. Today was the last “test”. If the runner was not good enough to keep up with his physical strength, he would no longer be qualified to do the following weapon training.

He Yan bent over to carry the sandbag. At that moment, someone passed behind her and suddenly bumped her body heavily. She stood up straight to look at the person. It was the scar-faced man who had robbed her of the bun a few days ago. Wang Ba looked at her with a shrewd smile, “Boy, as soon as today is over, you will be a guerrilla soldier, and your good days will be over.”

He Yan shrugged, “I don’t understand.” 

“Those two brothers of yours won’t be following you all the time, a guerilla soldier…” he lowered his voice, a hint of tyranny flashing in his eyes, “No one will care even if I killed you!”

“Then try it.” He Yan swung the sandbag on her back, smiled at him, and said, “By the way, I won’t be a guerilla soldier, absolutely.” With that, no matter what expression Wang Ba had, she turned around and went along the way. 

Mak followed her nervously and asked, “Brother He, he didn’t embarrass you or give you a hard time just now, did he?” 

“How can it be?” He Yan replied with a smile, “We just chatted a few words.” 

“Oh, okay.” Mak laughed again, “Brother He, you are so amazing, you can run with us now without huffing and you’re still being fast!”

Mak and Shi grew up in the mountains since childhood, as hunters they had to go out to hunt all day long and utilize so much of their physical strength, it was obvious their running was fast. On the other hand, He Yan’s feeble and reluctant start was obvious to everyone, but now, she was getting more energetic and relaxed every day, making people wonder if she had taken some kind of magic pill.

“Really?” He Yan nodded solemnly. “I really have a lot of potential.” 

On the other end, the instructors gathered around the edge of the long forest path to observe the situation.

The daily long-distance running for more than half a month was not only to train the physical strength of the recruits but also to judge the qualifications of the recruits. They have been recording it every day, and today was the last time. After today, long-distance running would no longer be a means of judging qualifications. It would become a part of the common training because being able to carry out weapons training, meant that the person was qualified to become a recruit of the Wei Dynasty and would not die before the war, at least not for reasons related to their physical strength. 

There was also a distinction between the strong and the weak in the barracks, and the contrast was even sharper. Those with good qualifications stood out from the start, and those with poor qualifications were bullied from the very beginning. This was an unfair thing, after all, no one could change it. 

However, there was an exception.

“Lao Liang,” someone patted instructor Liang on the shoulder. “That boy named He Yan in your team is really a talent.” 

He yan was the exception.

Her qualifications were so poor that she was uniformly evaluated by the coaches from the very beginning. Even if she happened to become a guerrilla soldier, everyone was afraid that she would be fumigated by the fire, but she was getting lighter day by day, and now she was able to keep up with the team steadily, even at the front of the team. 

It was really a miracle.

“Dripping water pierces a stone; a saw made of rope cuts through woods.” Teacher Liang was very proud, “I have said it a long time ago, I, Liang Ping will not be mistaken. This kid’s will is hard to come by, nothing he does will be bad.”

“Don’t talk big,” the instructor who poured cold water on him was called Du Mao. He spoke disapprovingly, “You also know that qualification is aptitude. The reason why he can keep up with the team is based on hard work.” 

That was true, the crowd looked at the young man who was running with the group; he was just the right age, described as optimistic, and looked downright pleasant. He was also very disciplined when running, seldom spoke to the people around him, and ran seriously. In short, it looked like he was very serious about doing this.

 “He worked very hard to reach this stage, while the others didn’t need to work hard.” Du Mao said, “Now it’s just a long run with a sandbag on his back, in the future, the weapon drills and battle deployment maneuvers will only become more and more complicated, and he will also have to put in more effort than others. In this way, he will never be top notch and can only be an ordinary soldier.”

“I advise you to put more effort into the well-qualified recruits in your team, and not pay too much attention to that kid,” Du Mao shook his head, “There’s no point.”

“I can’t be bothered to talk to you.” Liang Ping was not very happy with his words, he took his spear and walked away.

However, as he walked away, he also murmured in his heart. Those who were leaders of the army had led a lot of soldiers. Those who could survive or make contributions on the battlefield were often those who were amazing and outstanding at the beginning.

That boy could only work hard… but hard work. Was it really useful?

He Yan ran through today’s share in one breath, received her meal and ate it. She waited until the afternoon, when suddenly the instructor Liang came and ordered ten or so soldiers to follow him away.

“Hey, those seem to be the ones who are going to be the guerrilla soldiers.” Mak said, “But does the guerrilla team need so many people?”

He Yan smiled and shook her head, “It’s just a name. It’s not just all cooking, but there are other things. In short, you don’t have to fight directly with people on the front line.”

“That’s quite good,” Hong Shan stretched his back, “Isn’t it good to live without having to fight with your life, right?”

“But Brother He must be very happy this time,” said Mak, “You don’t have to be a guerrilla soldier!” 

He Yan was reluctant to be a fellow soldier, it was something that everyone knew, and she didn’t argue, just smiled and said, “Grateful.”

 “Aren’t they going to give you a chance to show off right away?” Hong Shan poked at her and spoke derisively, “You’ll be able to show off your skills in the next weapons drill, right?”

“Well, not really.” He Yan thought for a moment before answering.

Knives, arrows, and horsemanship were the things she could do well, lance and step siege weren’t difficult either, after running for so long, climbing and charging was also of no problem, the only difficulty was probably the crossbow.

The crossbow required a great deal of hand strength and it was difficult for people who were not physically strong to pull it away. With the original Miss He’s physique, it might become a problem. 

However, Xiao Jue would not come up with the crossbow for military training, would he? She thought. 

But she was wrong.