Chapter 48: You Know Better Than We Do

Xiao Yu nodded with a half-understanding look, as if she still hadn't fully grasped the meaning behind her words.

Just as everyone entered dreamland and fell into a deep sleep, the piercing whistle for an emergency assembly suddenly sounded.

"What... sound is this?" someone asked instinctively in a daze.

Although the communication company had experienced emergency assemblies before, they were extremely rare compared to combat units, leaving them momentarily unprepared to react.

Instead, Xu Qiao, after a brief moment of stunned silence, reacted immediately, "It's an emergency assembly!"

As she spoke, she leaped straight out of bed.

She hadn't heard this sound since returning to the communication company, but she was very familiar with it from her time in the cooking squad.

Coupled with her inherently high vigilance, her reaction was much faster than the others.

While the rest were still doubting upon hearing her words, she had already dressed, shouldered her rucksack, and rushed straight out.

"It really is an emergency assembly, hurry up!" Cheng Yifei instantly perked up upon seeing her actions.

The others were somewhat unconvinced by her words, especially since their usual training focused more on technical aspects.

Though their voices were not loud, they were loud enough for Xu Qiao to hear.

Even if she hadn't been a frontline combatant in her past life, having lived through an era of raging war, she had learned to maintain high vigilance even in the rear—let alone the fact that she hadn't been stationed in the rear.

Just as the company commander's patience was about to run out, the entire company finally finished assembling.

"Look at you all! Not only are you ridiculously slow, but you haven't even worn your military uniforms properly. Where did everything you learned in the recruit company go?"

The company commander thought about it and realized it made sense, but looking behind her and still seeing no one else rushing out, she found Xu Qiao's speed even more bizarre. "Then why was she so fast?"

At this moment, the chaos wasn't confined to just their squad. Upon hearing the emergency assembly whistle, the other squads neither had anyone to remind them nor reacted with such speed.

After a brief moment of blank shock, they finally began shouting and searching for their military uniforms.

The company commander swept her gaze over them, swallowing the anger in her heart as she waited quietly.

"A bunch of veteran soldiers, yet you perform worse than raw recruits during an emergency assembly. When the new instructors arrive, you might as well just pack your rucksacks and go home. What kind of soldiers are you?"

Xu Qiao's squad was the first to assemble completely, which eased Guan Yuqi's expression somewhat at the front.

An emergency assembly was truly a distant memory for a technical branch like theirs.

Though the others didn't understand why there would be an emergency assembly in the communication company, they all began hurriedly putting on their clothes.

As she spoke, seeing the puzzlement in everyone's eyes, her anger grew even further. "What? Do you all think this emergency assembly in our communication company is completely unnecessary?"

Upon seeing the company commander and Guan Yuqi standing there, and recalling the telegram she had intercepted earlier, she instantly understood why such an emergency assembly had been called.

Guan Yuqi quickly said, "How could that be? Right now, I wish they would suffer a bit of hardship so they won't suffer at the hands of outsiders. How could I possibly leak the news to her?"

She swept her gaze across the somewhat disheveled crowd, sighing in deep helplessness upon seeing that at least a third of them had incomplete equipment.

Amidst this flurry of panic, Xu Qiao had already shouldered her rucksack and arrived downstairs.

Although she couldn't bring her physical prowess across, this instinctual awareness was deeply ingrained.

"Do you people honestly still believe that our communication company only needs to know technology?"

The sight of this made even Xu Qiao frown, let alone the company commander.

The sudden sounding of the whistle brought far more than just shock.

Hearing this, and remembering that her physical stamina had been trained under Squad Leader Wu, she no longer had any doubts.

In truth, Xu Qiao's statement was half-true. The true part was that Squad Leader Wu had indeed trained her and put her through emergency assemblies, though they weren't as rigorous as those demanded by real field armies, remaining somewhat relaxed.

Therefore, although no one spoke out, their facial expressions betrayed their thoughts.

To her, an emergency assembly wasn't a mere test—it was a matter of life and death.

"People are about to be sent here to retrain us, and it will all start with military training!"

Seeing her run out first, the company commander looked at her in surprise and couldn't help asking, "What, did you leak the news to her?"

As for the false part, it naturally stemmed from her own exceptionally high vigilance and rapid reaction capability.

Everyone instantly lowered their heads. That military exercise had been an absolute nightmare for them; even though it had ended long ago, it remained an inescapable reality.

"What, none of you are convinced?" The company commander hadn't missed their expressions.

Finally taking a step forward, she spoke up, "To be honest, your performance has truly disappointed me!"

Standing at attention, she said in a loud voice, "Reporting to the company commander, when we were in the cooking squad, we frequently had emergency assemblies and grew accustomed to them."

"As your company commander, I didn't want your unsightly behavior exposed to outsiders. At the very least, I needed to assess your capabilities first."

"Yet I never expected an emergency assembly to make you look this wretched."

"Who would have thought you'd actually give me such an unexpected... fright!"

Some of them hadn't experienced an emergency assembly ever since leaving the recruit company.

Fortunately, at that moment, the remaining people also ran out one after another, and the training ground grew more and more crowded.

"I admit that our company is a technical branch, and our military combat capabilities are somewhat inferior since everyone usually focuses on technology."

After all, being a little slow might mean facing not a punishment, but a bullet or an artillery barrage.

However, looking at their uniforms, they didn't look any better than the others, and her expression darkened once again.

"Hasn't that tragic exercise truly woken you up yet?"

The company commander continued, "It was precisely because our company showed zero resistance against surprise attacks from the outside during that exercise that higher-ups have begun to doubt our capabilities."

Just as they were agonizing over why Xu Qiao had run out so quickly, people finally rushed out from behind.

Unlike Xu Qiao, whose gear was neatly arranged, these individuals either had their clothes improperly buttoned or had items spilling out of their rucksacks.

Seeing no one answered after her question, she snapped again, "Are you all mute? I asked you a question!"

"Report!" At that moment, someone from the squad next to Xu Qiao's suddenly spoke up, "Reporting to the company commander, we are not convinced."

"You said it yourself, we are a technical branch, and the training syllabus in our company has always leaned heavily toward technology. How much military training have we actually had? You should know that better than anyone!"

Her words made the company commander's expression shift time and time again!