PFC Chapter 150 Grand Martial Arts Competition
Chapter 150 Grand Martial Arts Competition
Chapter 150 The Grand Martial Arts Competition (4,000 words)
10:00 AM.
After the soldiers finished their warm-up exercises, Chen Wenbin instructed Lieutenant John Tripp and Henry Stryker to have the soldiers assemble on the parade ground and select one hundred outstanding soldiers for a shooting and wrestling competition.
The top three soldiers will receive a reward of five pounds, three pounds and two pounds respectively, while those ranked fourth through tenth will each receive one pound.
Upon hearing that Governor Chen was offering such a large reward, the soldiers, who had been somewhat uneasy about the uniform incident, immediately became excited and all raised their hands to participate.
Seeing this, Chen Wenbin simply announced that all soldiers and officers were eligible to participate in shooting and wrestling competitions, which won cheers, including those guys who were almost discharged for not wearing uniforms.
The first event was a shooting competition at the range. To pass, one had to fire three shots with a Robin rifle within one minute. Then, the winners were determined by the accuracy of their shots.
The two Black Forest mercenary companies performed well, with most firing three shots and a few even firing four.
The militia in Robin Town were less capable. Perhaps due to tension and rushing, more than a dozen people made mistakes in their haste. Some forgot to remove the lancet, while others dropped the fixed gunpowder tube on the ground, failing the test.
Chen Wenbin observed the performance of these people and promoted seven of the militiamen who had shown composure and calmness to squad leaders on the spot. He also promoted the other five squad leaders and platoon leaders who had performed well to platoon leaders and company commanders, in order to replace the five officers he had dismissed.
After everyone had finished testing, Governor Chen picked up his Robin rifle and went to his firing position.
"Sir, would you like to give it a try?"
Upon seeing this, John Tripp, who had a full beard, immediately handed over a three-in-one paper tube containing gunpowder and lead bullets.
"I'm also a member of the military, of course I need to be tested too! You time me!"
"Yes!" Tripp immediately took out his pocket watch.
Chen Wenbin smiled, then skillfully pulled back the hammer, bit open the paper tube, loaded the gunpowder into the barrel, then inserted the lead bullet wrapped in paper, pressed it down with a cleaning rod, removed it, and inserted it under the barrel. Finally, he poured the remaining priming powder into the firing chamber, raised the musket, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger.
"Boom!"
He remained motionless, continued reloading and firing, and only put down his rifle after firing four times in a row.
John Tripp immediately raised his stopwatch and exclaimed in amazement, "Sir, four shots in one minute! I have fewer than ten veterans in my company who can do that, but none of them are as steady as you!"
Henry Reinhardt smiled and complimented, "Sir! Your marksmanship is the best I have ever seen!"
Who says German soldiers don't know how to flatter?
Chen Wenbin laughed. With his physical abilities, he could actually be even faster, but there was no need to do so.
Just then, the militiaman in charge of recording the scores ran back with the target paper. He was quick-witted; he immediately held up the target paper and shouted, "Sir! You just fired four times in a row, hitting the bullseye three times! You surpassed all the soldiers who fired four times!"
You are the champion of this shooting competition!
The officers and soldiers behind Chen Wenbin were truly impressed. They could probably do it too, firing four shots in a row, but hitting the bullseye three times was truly impressive!
When the news spread to more soldiers, it also caused a stir of amazement; they hadn't expected that the Governor was also a skilled marksman.
Isn't he a doctor and a millionaire?
At this moment, John Tripp reminded him: "Sir, you have won the shooting competition, and this five-pound prize—"
"Why would I need money myself?"
Chen Wenbin waved with a smile and said, "Buy rum and beef for everyone! The original champion will still get five pounds!"
"Yes, sir!" Lieutenant Tripp smiled and nodded. He knew the big boss definitely wouldn't want the money, but someone had to ask, right?
The shooting competition ended at 12:30 pm.
Chen Wenbin didn't go back to the manor for dinner. Instead, he sat in the large wooden hut of the military camp's mess hall, eating at the same table with the soldiers who ranked in the top ten in shooting, and inquiring about their situations one by one.
Of the ten people, six were mercenaries hired by the Black Forest and four were North American militiamen. They all looked flattered, never expecting that the Governor would sit at the same table with them.
Despite the emphasis on equality before God in European Christian civilization, Christianity also contains ideas such as electoralism, predestination, and the divine right of kings, and in reality, it places great importance on hierarchy and bloodline.
Governor Chen's dining with the soldiers was considered somewhat out of line by the officers—the prevailing ideology in European armies at the time was, "To make soldiers fear officers more than they fear the enemy's bayonets!"—and there was absolutely no concept of equality between officers and soldiers!
If you can't control your soldiers and make them unafraid of you, you're not a qualified officer!
But Chen Wenbin knew his own situation; he was going to rebel someday!
If we don't win over the hearts of the soldiers, who will be willing to risk their lives for us?
Allocating farms and raising wages are merely the material foundation; the most important thing is to make soldiers willing to follow on a spiritual level.
Napoleon could remember the names of most of the old guard soldiers, which gave him the opportunity to be reinstated. If Master Chen doesn't even understand this principle, then what kind of person is he?
As for whether getting close to soldiers will make them look down on them—it's simple, just physically subdue them!
After lunch, we rested for another 45 minutes before the afternoon wrestling competition began. Everyone was welcome to participate, and the prizes for the top three were £5, £3, and £2, respectively, while the prizes for fourth through tenth place were £1 each.
In addition, those who perform well may have the opportunity to be selected for Governor Chen's guard.
Almost all the soldiers raised their hands to sign up. They wanted the money and also wanted to impress Governor Chen and become a member of the Governor's Guard.
Chen Wenbin sat on the makeshift stands, watching the soldiers wrestling in the mud, and was in a very good mood.
With a few more wrestling matches, the Hessen mercenaries and militia can get to know each other and then be directly reorganized into the Western Legion, with unified command and training to quickly improve their combat effectiveness.
Of course, they can't say that to outsiders; on the surface, they are still mercenaries and North American militia.
Chen Wenbin was, after all, only the Governor of the West, not the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in North America, and theoretically could not have a standing army. As for mercenaries and militia, as long as London did not have to pay for them, it didn't matter.
Two hours later, Henry Stray reported: "—Sir! The top ten wrestlers have been determined!"
Chen Wenbin nodded, took off his overcoat, removed the officer's peaked cap from his head and handed it to the guard captain, Shelby, before jumping down from the wooden crate platform.
His gaze swept over the top ten wrestling soldiers standing in a row with their hands behind their backs, and finally landed on the champion in the first position on the left.
He was a Black Forest mercenary sergeant, about 1.85 meters tall, who was shirtless, revealing his muscular physique. His pale skin was covered in downy hair, especially his chest, which had a large tuft of hair covering his chest.
His appearance was very much in line with Germanic blood, with dark golden hair, a long donkey face, and a pair of gray eyes that revealed a fierce look.
Chen Wenbin stepped forward, stopped in front of him, met his gaze for a few seconds, and then smiled admiringly: "—Soldier! I remember you. Your name is Ted Mangel, from Mikburg in Hesse. You're very strong!"
"I am indeed very strong, Your Excellency!" Mangel grinned.
"Great! I like confident guys!"
Chen Wenbin nodded in satisfaction, then walked into the wrestling ring, turned around and shouted, "Now, Sergeant Mangel, your opponent is me! I want you to give it your all!"
"—Sir! You want to wrestle with me?"
Mangel pointed to himself with a look of astonishment, then subconsciously looked at his company commander, Lieutenant Tripp, who was also surprised that Governor Chen would do this.
Not only him, but the other officers and the soldiers watching were also shocked, and they really couldn't understand why the governor did this.
Mangel's strength is undeniable; he has earned the nickname "Black Forest Beast." Most people can't last more than ten seconds against him. Isn't the governor just asking for trouble by challenging him now?
Only Shelby and his six guards, who had always been by Chen Wenbin's side, knew the boss's strength. They exchanged knowing smiles, realizing there was going to be a good show.
Seeing that Mangel was still standing there, Chen Wenbin frowned and urged, "Hurry up! Don't dawdle! I'm not the governor now, I'm just a challenger who issued the invitation!"
Don't worry, if you beat me, you'll get a £500 reward! Even if you lose, you can still join my guard!
£500!
Ted Mangel was immediately excited when he heard the amount. So much money—it was far too much, so much that he didn't know how to spend it. He had to get his hands on it!
At worst, I'll go easy on him later and just not hurt the governor!
He immediately strode into the wrestling ring, placed his hands on Governor Chen's arms, and then he realized something was wrong—
Why are the Governor's arms so hard?
"Ready—Go!"
Chen Wenbin acted as the referee, then with a burst of strength from his arms and a push from his feet, he broke free from and countered the opponent's arms, throwing the big man Manger over his shoulder and into the mud!
"—My God!"
A gasp rippled through the crowd. It was Manger, who had practically crushed everyone else, who had been thrown over the shoulder like that!
Mangel was stunned. He immediately jumped up, staring intently at Chen Wenbin. Seeing the other man gesture for him to continue, he cautiously reached out his arm again, this time not intending to hold back.
"Ready—Go!"
"—Smack!"
He was thrown over the shoulder again. This time he even felt the other person release their strength in mid-air, otherwise he would not have been thrown so lightly!
"Again!"
"—Smack!"
Another over-the-shoulder throw!
"Again!"
It's still an over-the-shoulder throw!
"—Again!!"
"—Smack!"
This time it was a leg-grabbing throw!
"Again!!!"
"—Smack!"
This time it's a neck-clamping throw!
He was thrown eight times in a row, leaving Mangel red-faced and astonished by the onlookers. They weren't blind, and they could see that Mangel hadn't deliberately held back; rather, he had been crushed by the Governor's absolute power!
Your Excellency Governor, are you stronger than a wild beast?
When Chen Wenbin saw Manger rushing over with bloodshot eyes, he frowned slightly and directly used a shoulder thrust and a tripping kick to knock him to the ground. This time he didn't hold back. Manger struggled a couple of times but couldn't get up.
"Take him to Robin Hospital!"
Chen Wenbin gave an order to Henry Stray, then looked at the remaining nine soldiers and said calmly, "Does anyone else want to challenge me? Three of you can come at me together. As long as you can bring me down, the five hundred pounds reward will be split equally among the three of you!"
A direct challenge against three?!
That's incredibly arrogant!
The nine soldiers looked at each other and all felt that they couldn't miss this opportunity—500 pounds!
Even a third of that is a huge sum of money!
So the remaining nine people quickly formed three groups to challenge the Governor.
The first group of three were all militiamen. After entering the wrestling ring, they immediately divided the work and surrounded Chen Wenbin, preparing to strangle him.
But Chen Wenbin dared to take on three people single-handedly, so he was naturally full of confidence. His brain quickly entered an overclocked state, easily finding an opening. He first grabbed one of the people's bodies to block the other's takedown, then knocked down the last person, and then turned around to defeat them one by one—another crushing defeat!
The other two groups were similar; their teamwork was far from seamless, and Chen Wenbin, who had overclocked, saw only weaknesses in them, easily defeating them one after another!
One person took on the top ten in a one-on-one battle, and the result was a crushing victory for them all!
After the initial shock, everyone cheered excitedly for the Governor, but Chen Wenbin felt somewhat bored. He usually trained with his guards in groups of five, and their teamwork was excellent, making it more challenging—but the officers and soldiers who witnessed this scene didn't know that!
They now felt that the Governor was simply a god of war!
No wonder he became governor!
Having achieved his goal, Chen Wenbin, before leaving, addressed the soldiers who were casting awe and adoration his way: "—My warriors! My promise remains valid. Whoever defeats me will receive five hundred pounds, in groups of three—Alright! Dismissed!"
After saying this, he put on the overcoat Shelby had handed him, donned his peaked cap, mounted his chestnut Quarter Horse, gave a few words of advice to a few officers, and rode away from the camp.
After he left, the entire camp was in an uproar. The soldiers excitedly discussed the governor's power, while Henry Reinhardt, John Tripp, and several officers exchanged glances, roughly understanding the purpose of Governor Chen's actions.
The military is an organization of violence!
Soldiers obey the strong!
So what defines a strong person?
It's not about rank, but about whether he can bring benefits to the soldiers and lead the army to victory and glory!
Governor Chen did a good job with the former; all the soldiers were grateful for the land and generous wages he promised. As for the latter, Governor Chen hadn't proven himself on the battlefield, but today he won over these soldiers with his martial prowess and charisma through a wrestling match.
"Henry—do you think there are naturally born leaders in the world?"
John Tripp stroked his beard, watching the soldiers leave excitedly, and asked.
"I have no idea----"
Reinhardt shook his head, then said with certainty, "But Your Excellency is a born ruler!"
He thought for a moment and then reminded him, "John, you shouldn't hesitate any longer. He is a very suitable person to pledge your allegiance to!"
"Wealthy, generous, rational, ambitious, and he owns a vast territory—now that you've brought Margaret and Hans to North America, put the bet on it!"
You know very well that the trust earned by a mercenary leader and the trust earned by a knight who chooses to serve is completely different!
"—A loyal knight?"
John Tripp looked at the young man, seven years his junior, with surprise. "He himself is a baron-de-vie for the King of England, also a member of the knightly order. Does he deserve the loyalty of a knight?"
"This is North America, not Europe!"
Henry Reinhardt didn't want to explain too much, only saying, "Our grandfathers were knights, but we ourselves have no titles. Loyalty to him will grant us land and manors in the future—and even the opportunity to become generals!"
Think it over carefully!
After saying this, he put on the peaked cap with the eagle emblem, turned and left, leaving Tripp deep in thought.