In a certain spot in the Southern Jungle of Venezuela.
Song Heping stood in a field of wild grass, constantly checking his watch.
It was already 11:30.
Jiang Feng, who was standing nearby, was clearly excited, pacing back and forth, and finally couldn't help but say to Song Heping, "Squad leader, these fifty people are nearly two squad teams' worth. Can just the two of us manage to bring them over?"
Song Heping glanced at him, "You said yourself you've acted as a squad leader. Are twenty extra people really too much for you?"
Jiang Feng said, "Is that the sa thing? Previously in the instructor team, the trainees were elites selected from basic units, they were very obedient and disciplined, and those who couldn't cope could be sent back to their original units. But these guys, they're all anti-governnt guerrilla fighters, you want to talk to them about discipline?"
"Yes," Song Heping said with certainty, "why not? Without rules, nothing can be made square. We'll go by our trainee standards. I'll teach tactical command, and you'll handle the practical training. What? You're not up to that?"
"That's impossible!" Jiang Feng, naturally, couldn't admit to his lack of practical skills, shaking his head again and again, "It's just that we only have two months, I'm worried that if we focus too much on discipline, we won't have ti to teach them military skills."
Song Heping sneered, "When the ti cos, just do as I say, and you won't go wrong."
With that, he picked up the phone and dialed Morins' number.
The person on the other end had clearly been sleeping, and from his voice, it was evident he'd been woken up.
"Song, it's already 11:30, don't you know the people in the mountains go to bed early?"
Suddenly fully awake.
"Nothing went wrong with my people crossing the border, did it?!"
Song Heping chuckled, "No, they crossed the border smoothly. There's just sothing I suddenly rembered that I need to inform you about, so I called you right away."
"No problem… So, what's so urgent that you needed to call now?" Morins, relieved to hear that the crossing went well, greeted the question with a lazy tone, yawning on the phone, "Co on, say it quick, I need to catch so more sleep. I have to get up early in the morning..."
After he finished, another long yawn echoed.
Song Heping said, "Here's the thing, I forgot to discuss the permissible death rate with you earlier, so now I need to bring it up. In our country, there's an old saying, 'Ugly words first.' If sothing happens later, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Permissible death rate?" Morins's alertness perked up a bit, "What's that? What death rate?"
Song Heping explained, "In the army I used to be part of, there was a permissible death rate, aning if an accident happened during training, the instructor wouldn't be held accountable. Understand?"
"Wait!"
Morins was completely alert now.
"Song, these are my core mbers learning military command. From what you're suggesting, are you planning to train them to death?"
"That's right," Song Heping said, "I indeed plan primarily to teach them tactical command, but what is the most effective way to learn tactical command?"
"What is it?" Morins sounded confused.
"The basic knowledge of tactical command is all on paper. After learning it, one must know how to apply it flexibly. And how can one apply it flexibly? Through real combat, of course…" Song Heping said, "But real combat is dangerous, people might die..."
He drew out his last words long, making Morins shudder over the phone.
"Oh God, Song, do you realize what you're saying?!"
After a silent while, Morins started shrieking over the phone.
"These are the elites I've painstakingly selected from my organization, the backbone of command at all my bases! You're telling , after I spent two million US dollars to send them to you for two months, they might die in training? Fuck! Do you realize what you're saying?!"
He was nearly cursing his mother out, which showed how furious he was.
Song Heping's tone remained very detached and calm, "Hmm, you said they are elites, handpicked, right?"
"Yes! Of course!"
Morins shouted loud, "If not, do you think I would spend that much money sending them to you to learn so damn tactical command and jungle warfare?!"
What Song Heping said next rendered Morins speechless.
"If they are such formidable elites, then they shouldn't lose their lives easily. If they are easily killed in real combat, then they cannot be considered elites. Isn't that right?"
This profound philosophical rhetoric left Morins at a loss.
He wanted to rebut Song Heping, but found himself unable to find an argunt.
"But..." eventually he vented helplessly, "Those are my elite, you can't treat them that way! If half of them die during training, the loss for when the rest return will be huge! Huge! Do you understand?!"
Song Heping said, "I understand. But let ask you, would you rather have fifty Chihuahuas or ten lions?"
Morins went mute again.
"A Chihuahua, no matter how many there are, is still just a wild dog. A single lion is king of the jungle." Song Heping used ancient Chinese wisdom again to enlighten Morins, "Morins, rember this—better less but better. Do you understand?"
This ti, Morris was completely awakened.
He sat at the head of his own bed and thought for a long ti.
In the end, he still caved.
Because he couldn't refute Song Heping.
Indeed, 50 Chihuahuas could never compare to one lion.
Sending them himself was to make them beco lions, not Chihuahuas.
"Alright, Song..." he compromised, "But I'm sending you 50 people, you can't seriously only leave one to send back, can you?"
"Hahahaha!"
Song Heping burst into laughter, finding Morins too amusing when he got serious.
"Don't worry, I'll leave you at least half of them, but I can't guarantee none of them will die in these two months unless I'm trying to cheat your money by selling Chihuahuas as lions."
By the ti the two ended their call, not far away, the sound of a car engine ca from the distance on a dirt road.
"Old squad leader, they've arrived."
Jiang Feng pointed towards the distance.
Song Heping nodded, put his cellphone back into his pocket, and asked, "Is the map ready?"
"Ready."
Jiang Feng glanced at the SUV parked by the road.
"They're all in the car."
Three trucks soon arrived in front of them, stopping on the grass.
"Get out! Everyone out!"
Under the urging of Jiang Feng and an interpreter, the ELN ard "elites" jumped off one by one.
"Assemble over here!"
The "elites" lined up on the ground in a scattered fashion.
But the line was so sparse that it hardly looked like a proper queue.
Song Heping stood by and watched without a peep.
He was assessing what level these guys were at within the standards of militarized managent.
In the end, he concluded—these guys were definitely at the level of civilian guerrillas.
It's not that the combat capabilities of civilian guerrillas were poor. Often, they were extrely formidable on their own turf.
However, these were rely local snakes, not dragons crossing the river.
In unfamiliar territories, facing a formal regular army, they would lose miserably.
But now, looking at them, each one of them was so confident.
From how they responded to Jiang Feng's orders, it was clear these people didn't take themselves or Jiang Feng seriously.
"Don't bother correcting their formation anymore."
Song Heping walked over to Jiang Feng, stopping the instructor who had been constantly correcting their formation.
"There's no need to fuss over it anymore."
Jiang Feng stepped aside huffily and said in a low voice, "Even our militia has better discipline than this."
Song Heping laughed, "That's because they are militia."
Jiang Feng was taken aback, then also began to chuckle despairingly.
Song Heping said, "Go, get the map."
Soon, Jiang Feng took out a stack of maps from the SUV.
"Give them five copies, one for each squad."
Jiang Feng followed Song Heping's instructions and quickly distributed the maps.
There were fifty people, organized into five squads, with ten people per squad.
The ELN ard "elites" who received the maps looked baffled.
They didn't know what this instructor was planning to do.
Song Heping said, "Now your official schooling begins, the first subject, military topography."
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