Red vs. White camp assessment is a traditional two-camp team-based scoring competition. However, the specific rules change depending on the objectives of each exercise, so there’s no fixed format.
This type of assessment is usually aimed at individual combat skills. Occasionally, students from the command department participate, but they have rarely experienced a camp battle made up entirely of command students.
Cheng Feng had watched a few edited clips on San Yao and didn’t know much about it, so she asked the senior beside her, “How is the test conducted?”
The young man shook his head. “I don’t know how the base sets the rules. I asked friends from the infantry department before, and they said it’s basically chaotic fighting – whoever has the toughest attitude and the best skills stands till the end. But our command department can’t be that simple and crude, right? After all, we’re technical workers.”
Cheng Feng thought to herself, That’s not necessarily true. The physical training instructor had been going all out on them lately.
She pulled down the screen and finally found her personal evaluation. She opened it immediately and found only few large characters:
“Still need to work hard. Future hopes run high.”
Cheng Feng: “…”
So what exactly was she expecting?
She casually glanced to the side and noticed the senior had also found his evaluation. He was reading it with intense focus, his eyes nearly glued to the screen.
That page was packed with dense text – at least a thousand words.
Cheng Feng was stunned. She turned her head and looked toward the person on stage. The course instructor seemed to sense her gaze, glanced back, and gave her a slight nod with a smile.
…Probably because they had talked privately last time, so the evaluation step was skipped. Cheng Feng felt a bit disappointed – she’d missed out on a masterpiece of praise.
…
The next day, the base was uniformly closed for the holiday. After class, everyone retrieved their own optical computers.
Just before five in the morning, the optical computer popped up a public message – a grouping notice from the base regarding the upcoming Red vs. White camp assessment.
The system would randomly select two military academies to determine the affiliation of the Red and White camps.
In the end, United Military University was fixed as the Red Camp, and First Military University was fixed as the White Camp.
The remaining students from UFU and Second Military University, organized by their respective schools, could choose to join either the Red or White Camp after internal discussions.
Because the student body of the Mobile University was relatively scattered, and to increase the flexibility of the camp battle, students from that school could freely join either camp based on their individual preferences.
Due to this special arrangement for the Mobile University, the camps were not required to have equal numbers.
One after another, faint blue glows lit up in the dormitory, casting light downward onto several disheveled, unwashed faces.
Cheng Feng, still groggy with sleep, hadn’t even finished reading the base’s congratulatory message when she was pulled into a discussion group.
“Time to vote, fam – are we joining the UMU or the First Military?”
“The styles of First Military and Second Military are way too reckless. When I team up with them, I can’t help but feel like punishing my own teammates.”
“The problem is, those two unis fight like crazy with each other – there’s no way they’d end up on the same side, right?”
“If we’re talking about enjoyment of cooperation, I still prefer First Military – at least they’re not sneaky.”
Cheng Feng hurriedly sent two messages:
Ye Guicheng: “I want to fight Tao Rui.”
Ye Guicheng: “I like red.”
The group fell silent for two seconds. Then, shamefully, they were tempted by her first reason.
Humans – so worldly, after all.
The group admin started a poll. Within two minutes, 23 votes were for the red team. A few people were still in bed.
“Alright, red team it is. I’ll go register with the instructor – don’t let the Second Military people beat us to it.”
From her bed, Cheng Feng heard her senior let out a yawn from the bunk across the way and mutter groggily, “The hell… they had to send the notification at this hour? I’m dead tired.”
Right after that, she saw the account under that senior’s name passionately cheering in the group chat:
“Cut down Tao Rui from his horse! The UFU legend lives on!”
“Pull yourselves together, everyone! If we win this Red vs. White camp assessment, when we get back to UFU, we can walk out wearing two pairs of shoes. One pair on our feet, and the other pair carried behind us by those meathead jocks from the infantry department! Now that’s glory!”
“Even though what you said makes a lot of sense, isn’t it a bit early to be coming up with slogans before we’ve even started?”
“Registration’s done. Now we need to go recruit students from the Mobile University. Wake up, fam – time to knock on the doors of the neighboring dorms!”
“Why do we have to do the recruiting ourselves?”
“Of course – this is to test our charm and organizational skills as commanders!”
“Group admin, open the poll again. I woke up late – let me feel involved.”
“New intel: There’s a Tao Rui fan club over at the Mobile University. A squad of 15 people just signed up directly for the White side. If you guys don’t get up and start working, the camp battle will be 60 to 90.”
“…If you’d said that five minutes earlier, I would’ve picked First Military.”
“Mobilize every resource! Hurry up and start recruiting!”
Cheng Feng was the first to get up. Without even washing her face, she threw on her jacket and headed out.
Pulling open the dormitory door, she turned back and asked, “By the way, which rooms are the Mobile University students staying in?”
Shen Dan poked her head out and said, “The ones at the very back. Wait for me – I’m coming too.”
Suddenly jolted awake as if doused with ice water, the senior jumped up from her bed and shouted, “Don’t either of you move! Please! You don’t need to lift a finger for such a trivial thing. Let me show you the charm of us senior girls!”
Cheng Feng opened her mouth to say she could handle it. She had already matured and wouldn’t get angry so easily anymore.
Afraid that Cheng Feng might take the initiative anyway, the senior rushed out the door in her slippers, yelling at the top of her lungs, “Sisters~ Wanna team up?”
A melodious echo-like call traveled down the hallway. One by one, dormitory doors swung open. In the dim pre-dawn light, beneath the motion-sensor lights that flickered on, girls in loose sleepwear drifted past their dorm.
“Sister~”
“Beautiful~”
“Darling, are you awake~”
For some reason, the entire military base suddenly felt like a demon’s lair.
The senior didn’t forget to double back and lock the door behind them.
But when it came to recruiting, Cheng Feng had to admit after watching for a while that the senior’s experience truly paid off.
From the dormitory to the cafeteria after washing up, Cheng Feng saw several times how groups of people would grovel around their targets – asking if they were warm or tired, serving tea and water. Their stance was utterly humble.
…So this was the charm of a commander.
Being a commander really wasn’t easy.
…
Around noon, the chaotic and frantic team-building task finally came to an end.
The base sent out a new website, which displayed the results of the camp team formation – 70 people on the Red side, 80 people on the White side.
Attached below was an assembly notice.
After working so hard for most of the day, to the point where their smiling faces had nearly frozen stiff, it turned out they had only managed to recruit about ten people.
Cheng Feng closed the webpage and switched over to the chat group.
But she had to admit, this time the First Military did have the advantage. After all, in large-scale battlefield confrontations, Tao Rui still maintained a 100% win rate. Proven results were the best calling card.
The senior students from UFU, however, were quite optimistic and continued joking around in the group chat.
“Great work, everyone!”
“Well done, comrades. Eat a little extra at lunch to recharge – there’s a tough battle tonight.”
“Shouldn’t we confirm the main commander candidate with the UMU people?”
“Let’s not discuss that for now – it could easily cause bad blood.”
At 1:30 in the afternoon, the students gathered on time at the square in front of the base entrance.
Robots brought over a dozen crates of equipment, lining them up in a single row and stacking them on the platform at the top of the stairs. The five instructors appeared right on cue, dressed neatly, with expressions even more excited than the students’ – as if every wrinkle on their faces was straining to spell out the word “day off.”
Mr. Zhou looked around and said with a satisfied smile, “You all seem to be in good shape. Looks like the cafeteria served a great lunch.”
Everyone responded with a smiling emoji expression.
The Red vs. White camp assessment had a uniquely natural charm – even if they had to go two days without sleep, they could still jump in with boundless energy.
Mr. Zhou cleared his throat and said, “I won’t waste words on nonsense. Let me get straight to the key points. This exercise has two camp bases. One is in the training building – right here. The other is at the end of the village ahead – the pigsty. The two camps will need to choose their respective bases. You can discuss it among yourselves and also nominate a representative to come up and compete for the priority selection right.”
After hearing this, the first thought that popped into everyone’s mind was: Why the pigsty again? Are we just never going to get past this during this entire training camp?
Shen Dan called out, “Report, Sir. We can’t keep troubling the locals. That would be too embarrassing.”
The senior students chimed in, “Yeah, yeah.”
Mr. Zhou laughed and scolded, “Get out of here. You’re not the ones who have to borrow the venues, so what are you shouting about? It’s called ‘the military and the people are one family,’ got it? You have 30 seconds. If you can’t come up with a representative, I’ll just pick someone at random.”
A third-year senior was about to start organizing when Cheng Feng caught a glimpse of Tao Rui stepping forward out of the corner of her eye. He raised his hand enthusiastically and volunteered, “Me! Me!”
Seeing this, the senior changed his tune and said, “Alright, I agree to let Cheng Feng go up. Everyone, do your best to support our junior!”
The UFU crowd had no objections.
Over at the UMU side, although they didn’t know what would be tested, they weren’t confident they could gain any advantage over Tao Rui in professional knowledge anyway. They were quite eager to watch the spectacle, so they agreed.
Cheng Feng then hopped up onto the steps, straightened her cap, and fixed Mr. Zhou with a pair of bright, intense eyes.
Mr. Zhou, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, mentally reviewed the situation and confirmed that what he had just said wasn’t “come on stage for a duel.” Acting as if nothing was wrong, he turned around and made way for the professional course instructor.
The female instructor had a low but powerful voice. She said concisely, “This is a quick-response quiz. Three questions.”
Two soft sighs came from the Red Camp.
Just as expected – professional subjects that put them at a disadvantage.
The instructor activated her optical computer and projected a model into the air.
Cheng Feng immediately stepped forward two paces, narrowing her eyes as she scrutinized the details repeatedly.
The crowd below forgot all about formation and surged forward in a jumbled mass, squeezing together just to get a better view.
Before they could fully memorize it, the projection automatically disappeared after five seconds. The instructor smiled and said, “Under standard scale, estimate the height by sight.”
Tao Rui hesitated for a moment, then answered, “327 meters.”
Cheng Feng was determined to one-up him: “328 meters!”
“334 meters,” the instructor said, pointing at Cheng Feng. “Red team.”
A few boos came from the White Camp, expressing their discontent.
The Red team wasn’t about to back down and immediately jeered back in challenge.
The instructor raised her hand and pressed it downward. “Listen to the sound,” she said.
Everyone held their breath.
From the loudspeaker came a rapid, dense burst of gunfire.
This was far too familiar to Cheng Feng. Weapon knowledge was her strong suit, and the question was a classic example. Without waiting for the instructor to ask, Cheng Feng directly rattled off the firearm model, including its effective range, combat rate of fire, and magazine capacity. There was no room for argument.
The instructor was genuinely surprised. She pointed at Cheng Feng once more. “Red team, correct.”
Tao Rui glanced at Cheng Feng in astonishment, unable to deny that he truly hadn’t recognized it. He gave a slight bow toward the instructors and turned to step back down.
The White Camp members were still processing what had just happened.
“How could she recognize it just by listening? That’s impossible, right?”
“Do we even need to compete in the next question? Tao Rui actually lost?”
“Weren’t these two questions way beyond the curriculum?”
On the Red side, it took a moment for the realization to sink in, but then they burst into cheers and thunderous applause.
“Well done, Cheng Feng!”
Mr. Zhou announced loudly, “Cheng Feng, representing the Red Camp, has the priority to choose a base.”
Most people expected Cheng Feng to choose the main training base, given that she had shown resistance toward the pigsty ever since the training camp began. However, without much hesitation, Cheng Feng directly answered, “The pigsty.”
A senior who had been about to raise his hand and voice an opinion froze in place. Mr. Zhou glanced at her calmly and asked, “Why?”
Cheng Feng analyzed coolly. “Quite a few people from First Military and Second Military have been to the pigsty, but many of us on the Red side have never been there. If we let the White Camp take the pigsty, we would be at a disadvantage in terms of intelligence. Also, I’ve explored both locations. Although I don’t know the exact competition rules yet, I believe that compared to the main base, which has more restricted areas and a more rigid, square architectural style, the terrain around the pigsty is better suited for students to show their abilities.”
Mr. Zhou clasped his hands behind his back and gave a restrained smile. He nodded and said, “Not bad, you.”
