After the morning’s routine exercises, the black soldiers were called to gather at the shooting range.


    Today’s training focused on squad tactics and cooperative combat skills. Deng Shiyang was also brought to the training ground to assist Semler.


    “…Therefore, today we have invited Mr. Deylek to demonstrate,” Semler explained in Portuguese to the group.


    A sparse round of applause sounded from the crowd.


    Deng Shiyang, dressed in a coyote-brown polo shirt and three-color desert camouflage pants with an AMD-65 rifle slung on a single-point sling over his shoulder, glanced at the unenthusiastic group through his sunglasses and smirked slightly.


    It was no surprise that he wasn’t warmly received; after failing to secure better terms during negotiations, Moody must have blamed the management, casting Deng Shiyang, the project leader and chief representative, as the “villain” exploiting the workers.


    “In previous training, you learned how to shoot using basic cover,” Semler pointed to the shooting range behind him. “But combat situations are much more complex. I will now explain common types of cover and how to use them.”


    Looking in the indicated direction, one could see a rusty Ford pickup truck parked on the range, several blue oil drums lined up, and a mock wall made of wooden frames covered with plywood, complete with a rectangular window.


    “‘Concealment’ is a broad term that includes anything capable of hiding your body—grass, trash cans, sandbags, cars, walls, furniture, and so on. These can help you remain unseen by the enemy.”


    “However,” he emphasized, “not all concealments offer protection. A typical example is tall grass. It obstructs visibility but doesn’t stop bullets. Once you’re discovered, it’s practically useless.”


    “So, in combat, you need to know how to find ‘cover’—something that can stop bullets. Even if the enemy knows you’re behind it, they can’t hurt you from a certain angle. Examples include concrete walls, thick tree trunks, sandbags, dirt mounds, and trenches.”


    “Of all covers, vehicles are the most misleading. Certain parts can provide protection, but most are mere shelter,” Semler moved to the old pickup, pointing at the bodywork as he explained. “Movie heroes often use car doors as cover, but in reality, doing so is suicidal because whether a character gets shot is up to the director.”


    The surrounding soldiers chuckled, though Deng Shiyang, who didn’t understand Portuguese, was left puzzled by the laughter.


    “Most car bodies are made of rolled thin steel sheets, easily penetrated by handguns ammunition, and utterly useless against for the rifles ammunition,” Semler said, moving to the front of the truck and kneeling by the front tire. “Only two parts of a car offer reliable cover: the engine and the wheels. The engine can withstand most medium-caliber rifles ammunition, while the wheels provide protection for your legs against shots from beneath the vehicle.”


    “People naturally hug cover closely during a firefight for a false sense of safety, but don’t do that behind a car,” he said, stepping back a few feet. “Bullets hitting the hood at an angle can ricochet. Keeping a distance of one to two meters reduces the risk of being hit by ricochets bullets.”


    “Also, avoid peeking over low cover. It’s conspicuous and invites enemy fire,” Semler demonstrated a side-peek shooting stance from behind the car. “Always peek and shoot from the sides of cover when possible. This reduces exposure and uses shadows to your advantage. When shooting out of a window from inside, use shadows for cover and don’t stand in front of or push your gun outside the window.”


    “These are the common types of cover. Remember what I’ve said and apply them on the battlefield.” Semler said, gathering everyone at the far end of the shooting range.


    Leading them behind the mock wall, he pointed to two half-body targets eight feet away from the wall, each with four balloons attached at the head, chest, and abdomen. The wall’s window was about four feet square, with its bottom at least six feet off the ground, making the targets invisible from the front.


    Back in front of the wall, he pointed at the window. “Suppose this wall represents a house. How would you eliminate enemies behind that window?”This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    “Use a grenade,” someone answered from the crowd.


    “Correct,” Semler nodded. “Explosive devices such as grenades, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers can effectively kill enemies in enclosed spaces. Before entering an unknown area, throwing a grenade can reduce the risk of ambush.”


    “However, weapons that use shrapnel are more likely to wound than kill, and furniture and other items can absorb much of the damage. Throwing a grenade before entering can disorient and disrupt enemies, giving you a safe entry point. But finishing the fight requires your rifle or machine gun.”


    Semler moved to the right side of the window and squatted against the wall.Then he opened his hands to Deng Shiyang. Deng Shiyang stepped forward and stood on Semler''s knees. Semler hugged Deng Shiyang''s thighs with his hands.


    “See, this solves the height issue,” Semler said.


    Deng Shiyang, now standing on Semler’s knees, did not lean into the window but raised his rifle and inclined his body slightly.


    “No matter how dumb you might be, don’t stick your head in front of a window—that’s asking to die.”


    After the ladder demonstration, Semler let go, and Deng Shiyang jumped back down.


    “Next, we will show how to coordinate during an assault,” Semler signaled some range safety officers over and whispered instructions. The officers ran to a nearby pickup and began unloading equipment.


    The attack starting point was about 80 yards from the mock wall, with five types of cover in between: tall and low walls made of wood and hollow bricks, six metal barrels lined up, a chest-high sandbag wall, and a horizontal, rusted pickup. Near each cover were three or four balloon targets.


    These targets differed from standard silhouette targets. Each stood about waist-high with a wooden cross-shaped base, and instead of boards, they had red balloons at the top, roughly the size of a human head.


    “Our goal is to suppress and eliminate the enemy in that window,” Semler pointed to the mock wall, now set with a red silhouette target in the window.


    “During the advance, Mr. Deylek will suppress the enemy in the window while I take out nearby balloon targets and advance to the closest cover. Once I’ve secured the position, I’ll provide covering fire for him to move to the next cover. We’ll switch roles each time one of us advances, covering and moving in turns.”


    After explaining, Semler directed the soldiers to stand aside while he and Deng Shiyang stepped up to the firing line.


    Deng Shiyang wielded the AMD-65 he had zeroed the night before. He extended the stock and pulled a magazine from the hip pouch, loading it and setting the safety to semi-auto. He racked the charging handle.


    “Ready,” Semler raised his left hand.


    A black soldier with a stopwatch nodded.


    Semler raised his AR-S and fired at a balloon target near the wooden wall.


    At the sound of the first shot, Deng Shiyang aimed at the window and began shooting. Since the zeroing distance was twenty-five yards, he pressed down the light spot of the red dot scope when aiming.


    “Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop…” The AMD-65 barked out shots.


    As half the magazine emptied, Semler dispatched three balloon targets and sprinted to the wooden wall 10 yards ahead, firing at the window for suppression.


    Deng Shiyang redirected his shots to the targets behind the pickup.


    “Pop-pop… pop-pop… pop-pop…” Three controlled double-taps burst the balloons behind the pickup truck.He bowed and ran to the front wheel of the pickup truck and knelt down on one knee, and continued shooting using the hood as support.


    Semler reloaded swiftly and aimed at targets near the next cover.


    Covering for Semler’s advance, Deng Shiyang emptied of his the second magazine. He grasped the pistol grip with his right hand and pressed his shoulder against the butt of the gun to keep the muzzle pointed. He reached to his waist with his left hand and pulled out a spare magazine, pressed the magazine latch forward and knocked the empty magazine out, and then inserted the spare magazine into the magazine slot. Then quickly break the four balloon targets near the oil drums.


    When he reached the row of oil drums, the distance between him and the mock wall was less than thirty yards. At this point, aiming and controlling the bullet scatter became much easier, so even though he continued shooting in single-fire mode, his rate of fire was much faster compared to the beginning. In less than thirty seconds, he had emptied two more magazines.


    On the other side, Semmler performed equally impressively. He took less than ten seconds to eliminate the "enemy" near the final cover and then ran to the blind spot under the mock wall''s fire with his gun in one hand. He raised his hand and threw a light blue M69 training grenade into the window, then crouched against the wall just below the right side of the window.


    Taking advantage of the short interval before the grenade exploded, Deng Shiyang sprinted  around for the metal oil barrels shelter and ran to the mock wall, changing magazines as he ran. Just then, a "bang" sound came from behind the mock wall, followed by a puff of white smoke.


    Upon hearing the training grenade explode, Deng Shiyang quickened his pace, dashing to Semmler''s side. He stepped onto Semmler''s knees and stood on them. Once the "human ladder" was set, Deng Shiyang switched the AMD-65 to his left hand, leaned towards the window, and aimed through it to shoot at the targets behind the wall. After a rapid burst of fire that lasted only two seconds, all eight balloons hanging on the two mannequins were gone.


    "Done!" After breaking all the balloons, he raised his right hand to signal, and the person timing the exercise immediately stopped the stopwatch.


    Deng Shiyang turned off the rifle''s safety and jumped down to the ground. Both men removed their magazines and cleared their chambers. Semmler then turned toward the group of onlookers and asked, "What was this time?"


    "One minute and fourteen seconds," answered the Black man holding the stopwatch.