Chapter 31: We Haven't Lost Yet

Chapter 31: We Didn't Lose

Regarding physical training, Xu Qiao had assumed that after her experience in the mess squad, she would have no issues. However, when she saw the equipment they were required to carry, she was momentarily speechless. She could understand the communication devices and the maintenance gear, but why was there a roll of wire?

Watching her stare blankly at the pile of gear, Xiao Yu crouched down with a smile and began helping her pack her backpack. "Do you think these things are useless?"

Xu Qiao hesitated for a moment before replying, "If this were the past, before we had so much advanced equipment, I could understand it. After all, telephone lines on the battlefield had to be reconnected manually."

"But now..."

"You said it yourself—it's the battlefield," came Guan Yuqi’s voice from behind. "Since it’s the battlefield, anything can happen. As signal soldiers, we must not only master advanced communication equipment but also possess the ability to restore connections once that equipment fails."

Xu Qiao immediately understood. Perhaps in this regard, she could grasp the reality better than others. She had never been on a real battlefield in her previous life, but in that era... there was nowhere truly safe, and she was well aware of the realities of war.

"Alright, no need to be so serious. I’m telling you this just to give you a preliminary understanding of our squad's situation. I want you to realize the importance of physical fitness here; don't think that just because you aren't a combatant, these things aren't important."

"With my current ability... I am not yet at the level of a true signal soldier, but I can work hard at it," she said, looking at her to ensure she was believed. "Really..."

After a moment of distraction, she snapped back to reality, grabbed the remaining gear, and prepared to stuff it into the pack.

"Because field communications serve primarily as a support mechanism for combat operations, acting as a powerful means to establish connectivity in the abnormal state of war, field communication units should be configured as mobile forces. Fixed communications provide high-bandwidth, high-capacity, and highly stable terminal nodes, while field communication units establish the links from those nodes to the users. This ensures that users can access the communication network rapidly, accurately, securely, and without interruption. At the same time, it guarantees the minimum communication requirements for users in extreme situations."

Guan Yuqi sighed. "Yes, at the end of the day, it comes down to our own limitations."

Guan Yuqi paused. "Of course, you will learn these things in greater detail later. For now, you just need to understand what we do."

This feeling was like all her efforts in her previous life had lost their meaning, and a sense of disappointment was inevitable.

***

Xu Qiao became interested immediately. "How should these be packed? Teach me, and I’ll do it myself next time."

Xiao Yu stopped her. "Don't pack it like that. There is a specific order to placing these items; otherwise, not only will they not fit, but it will also feel much heavier on your back."

When someone is willing to learn, there is naturally someone willing to teach. Xiao Yu showed her item by item—which piece should go on the bottom to bear the weight, and which should go on top to compress the contents.

She was simply doing it all over again, and that was even before considering her experience from her previous life.

Xu Qiao nodded subconsciously at her words. Over these months of training, she had transitioned from her initial confusion to a slow understanding of this world, even beginning to accept these new things.

It was the first time Xu Qiao realized there was so much technique in packing a backpack, and the first time she understood that a signal soldier on field duty carried such a massive amount of gear.

Hearing these words, she felt no worry and nodded firmly. "Squad leader, I understand."

Seeing her expression, Guan Yuqi couldn't help but laugh.

Xu Qiao replied directly, "I understand. Combat capability must also be very important. I saw it clearly during this exercise; if our combat capability had been higher, we wouldn't have..."

In her previous life, she had gone from a sheltered young lady who couldn't lift a heavy object to an elite trainee, enduring countless hardships and suffering. She wasn't afraid of hard work; if she had been, she wouldn't have given up a life of luxury to join special training.

"Ensuring radio communications and implementing battlefield radio management are our primary tasks."

Looking at their earnest expressions, Guan Yuqi stopped what she was about to say, shook her head helplessly, and turned to check on the others.

"We have radio detachments, radio relay detachments, and wire communication detachments; some even have communication engineering detachments. Our squad is considered part of the radio detachment."

The weight of the backpack far exceeded her usual training, which left her feeling somewhat dejected after having just found a bit of confidence.

"Beyond technical skills, your physical fitness cannot be lacking. If we can't even carry the maintenance equipment, what can we expect to repair?"

She never imagined that on her first day back in the communication squad, she would rediscover these things. Having reached this era and seen so much advanced equipment—even satellite communications—she had assumed these old methods were no longer needed.

***

Guan Yuqi was not surprised and explained directly, "Our signal company is considered a field communication unit."

Yet, hearing Guan Yuqi’s words made her realize that even in this era, the things she was once familiar with had not disappeared.

"Because we provide battlefield support, both our communication and maintenance skills must meet wartime requirements."

Throughout this process, she still felt a tinge of loss. After all, during this period of training, whether it was physical conditioning or combat training, these fundamental things were different from her previous life.

Thinking of this, she actually felt a bit excited.

When asked, Xu Qiao hesitated but honestly shook her head.

Seeing that she had managed to hoist the pack onto her shoulders despite the strain, Guan Yuqi nodded in secret satisfaction. She understood how much a single telephone line could matter in battle.

"You've been in our signal company for a while, but perhaps you still don't fully understand our situation?"

"The shortcomings exposed during this exercise certainly won't just blow over, so our training cannot be relaxed—it must be intensified."

Xu Qiao sensed an underlying tone in her words. "Squad leader... do you mean that because of the mistakes in this exercise, we will face some kind of punishment?"

"Punishment is unlikely, given that we won in the end," Guan Yuqi said, noticing everyone looking over, clearly sharing the same concern.

She then explained, "Although we won, it still exposed some problems. I suspect—this is just my personal guess—that there might be adjustments made to address these issues."