"MilMilitary Terrain Study?"
All the "elites" had a huge question mark flash through their minds.
In their eyes, this discipline wasn't that significant.
This had to do with the nature of the ELN armed forces.
They were guerrilla in nature, an anti-government armed forces group, recruiting all combat personnel from local farmers who were native to the area.
On the ELN's current turf, each local camp was recruiting soldiers from nearby, uniting local farmers dissatisfied with the government.
Since they were all locals, the combat range was also within their place of birth, so there wasn't much regard for something like Military Terrain Study.
After all, they could charge around with their eyes closed on this plot of land without getting lost, and if they were to fight in someone else's territory, they could use devices like GPS.
Even without such devices in the past, when joining forces with local ELN members for combat, there wouldn't be a situation of getting lost.
"Instructor, we don't need Military Terrain Study..."
Captain Anthony voiced his doubts.
He felt it was a pure waste of time.
"We've never gotten lost in battles over the years, not once."
Song Heping said, "Oh? Is that so? Never gotten lost? Right now, you have five maps, and the 50 of you will start walking to the school from now, the school isn't far, about a hundred kilometers from here. Walk there on your own, I'll head back to the school first and wait for you."
He couldn't be bothered to explain the importance of Military Terrain Study for military command to this bunch.
Tactics need to be precisely executed to be effective, and in real combat, not being proficient in terrain study leads to tactical failure.
He, Jiang Feng, the translator, and a few others turned to get in the car, but before boarding, he turned to ask Anthony,
"What's your name?"
"Anthony."
Song Heping had looked over the list and knew this man was a Captain, also the highest-ranking student there.
So he said, "Anthony, you will lead the team. You all can put your heads together to figure out a way back to the school, it's just a hundred kilometers, not too difficult. I'll be waiting at the school for you. However, I must remind you, we're close to the border here, and that's an active area for the border forces. You are in the country illegally, and if you wander into their patrol range, I can't save you. Good luck."
With that, he got into the vehicle and left.
Anthony, holding the map, hadn't yet come to his senses, and Song Heping and the vehicle convoy had already disappeared into the night.
"Captain, what do we do now?"
Finally, a student couldn't help himself and came over to consult Anthony.
Anthony, holding the map and compass, checked it several times before finally saying loudly, "It's just walking a hundred kilometers, isn't it? It's not like we haven't walked that far before! Just follow me, and don't get lost!"
...
Early in the morning.
Song Heping walked out of the school construction site's temporary building, stretched, and did some chest-expanding exercises, taking a deep breath of fresh air.
The air in the jungle was fresh, full of negative ions, giving a refreshing and exhilarating feeling.
He turned to go back into the room to get his toothpaste and toothbrush, and then walked over to the wash basin to wash up.
The workers on the construction site were also waking up, emerging from their dormitories one after another to wash up before heading to breakfast.
The temporary canteen was also beginning to emit the scent of porridge and side dishes.
Song Heping really liked this feeling.
Looking at the dawn on the horizon and the undulating mountains, he felt as if he was back in his childhood, living in his home village.
There was a moment when he truly wished time would stand still at this instant, forever.
Because at this time, he felt incredibly relaxed—he wasn't the boss of a PMC company, not the leader of a mercenary troop, just an ordinary person.
"Lao Song!"
Lao Gao's voice pulled him back to reality.
"You're awake?"
Song Heping felt a bit of loss, but after a moment, he still smiled at Lao Gao and said, "Yeah, I got used to waking up early in the army, can't sleep in."
"Brushing teeth?" Lao Gao saw the toothbrush and toothpaste in Song Heping's hand and called out, "Together?"
"Sure."
The two of them went over to the wash basin together.
The wash basin here was temporarily set up, just a twenty-meter-long counter made of cement, fitted with a faucet every three meters, allowing dozens of people to wash up at the same time.
Such washstands, there were three on the construction site.
After all, the cost of water here was quite low, incomparable to electricity.
The water was drawn from a nearby river by a pump station they had built themselves, so only electricity was wasted, not the water itself.
"Lao Gao, I'm counting on you for the progress of the construction work,"
Song Heping said as he brushed his teeth, foam filling his mouth, as he made his request.