How do two or three people eat one cake and sleep less than 2 hours a day for special forces?

Hunter School, located in Bolivar, Venezuela, South America, is a world-famous special forces training center. Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, it has attracted countries around the world to send the best special forces for training.

Most people know about it and can get a glimpse of it from the movie "Out of the Amazon" based on it.

Special Forces Jiang Huai knows it through personal experience. In 2015, the then 26-year-old Jiang Huai passed through the selection process and represented China's best special forces. He entered the Hunter School with 12 other Chinese special forces for about a year of training.

Not like a hunter, like a trapped beast

On January 22, 2018, at the training ground of a special operations brigade of the Army’s 77th Group Army, the cold wind swept across the burnt yellow lawn. , accompanied by gunshots in the distance, Jiang Huai's words were unhurried, recalling those thrilling pasts, just like the stories of others.

“When I’m inside, I don’t feel like a hunter, but like a trapped animal.” This is how he felt when he first entered the hunter school. You can see strength and passion in the movie, but in reality there is only endurance and survival.

The Hunter School is most talked about by the outside world for its "devil training". Jiang Huai had heard about it before arriving at the school, but he still followed the old saying that what you learn on paper will only make it clear. He only understood the school's motto when he actually experienced it. Profound - "The most combat-effective, fiercest, and wisest warriors are created here."

"In the first two weeks of training, I probably slept less than 8 hours." The "appetizer" served by the Hunter School was too much to swallow. "Throwing cold water and fumigating gas are the hardest things for me to endure. There is a big temperature difference between day and night, with 20 to 30 degrees Celsius during the day and close to zero at night. Usually, the cold water starts to be poured at two or three in the morning for about 2 hours at a time. Stand in the wind and continue after drying. Sometimes you also pour cold water into your mouth, which will make your body experience extreme cold. There will also be duck steps, log jerks, etc. ”

There are many ways to smoke gas, including putting students in tents with gas, setting fires around students, or tying students’ hands and feet to trees, and blowing gas directly into people’s faces. “It’s more uncomfortable than death.” "Jiang Huai remembers a gas test in a tent. 12 people were locked inside and only 10 gas masks were provided, only 3 of which had oxygen tanks. "In panic, I found a mask, put it on and took a deep breath. It turned out that it didn't have an oxygen tank. All the gas was inhaled into my nose and mouth. I rolled around in discomfort. My hand accidentally touched the outside of the tent. The instructor said Stamp your feet as hard as you can to death."

In the first two weeks of "Devil Training", each student needs to complete a total of more than 90 hours of pouring cold water, 10 hours of fumigation, and 60 hours of fumigation. Hours of extreme cross-country training, interspersed with training courses such as pushing carts, torture of prisoners, and starvation. Students with more than 50 students will be eliminated in the first two weeks. "In our batch, there were more than 60 people at the beginning, and then there were only 20 people." After the first two weeks, the number of people who can continue to persist has stabilized.

Surviving the first two weeks does not mean the ordeal is over. The "devil training" lasted for nearly three months. During this period, there were various cruel trainings such as pouring cold water, burning gas, extreme off-roading, being beaten, and being abused every day. The trainees were always hungry and sleep deprived.

Take sleep as an example. After 2 weeks of training, the daily rest time has been reduced to 1 to 2 hours. This is a lot more than before, but it is still a drop in the bucket. Jiang Huai no longer makes jokes about "falling asleep while standing". After all, he can fall asleep while running. However, this is a mistake that one should not dare to make. Making a mistake or falling behind means being beaten and enduring extreme hunger. "When it's time to eat, you can only get a stone, put it in your mouth, and then spit it out after everyone has finished eating."

In fact, the so-called eating is also very formal during the "Devil Training" period. on content. The hunter school gives students 10 seconds to eat. "In fact, it is enough, because each meal only has one and a half palm-sized corn tortillas, which can be finished in one or two bites." On rare occasions, there will be some minced meat on the corn tortillas. More often than not, two or three people share a tortilla.

In the Hunter School, there are no names, ranks or positions. Everyone's name is a numerical code, called "Hunter 001", "Hunter 002"... "Hunter 000" ranks before everyone else. It's a dog. Speaking of this dog, Jiang Huai smiled bitterly, "If there is meat on the tortillas, each of us must pick out the largest minced meat and give it to eat. Its existence is to tell us that its status here is not comparable to that of a dog." "

On the first day after the "Devil Training", Jiang Huai rushed to a fast food restaurant. He was eager to eat a full meal. "But he was full after just a few bites because his stomach was already full. "I was starved."

Various training methods that challenge physical and psychological bottom lines are performed in the Hunter School, and every student is at risk of injury, disability, or even death. At the same time, each student also has an "exit card" in his hand. If it is unbearable, the instructor will stop the training on the spot as long as he says "I can't do it anymore" or "I want to quit."

JAC has never thought about touching this "exit card", even if it only turns over in the bottom of its heart. "When I first entered the training, I seemed to be in a daze. It might be that I was confused due to high exhaustion, or it might be numb. In short, it was a very unreal feeling." In his so-called "unreal" state, Jiang Huai persisted , "I will never give up. I know that as long as I survive 3 months, I will be fine."

Some people compare the devil training in the Hunter School to hell, without seeing any good or hope, but Jianghuai is pleasantly surprised. Discover changes in yourself. "Even if he is always hungry and tired, his reaction speed is obviously faster."

During a field training session, a sparrow flew in front of Jianghuai. Jianghuai, who was running, had quick eyes and quick hands. , actually grabbed the sparrow, broke its neck in an instant, and put it in his pocket. "I was afraid that the instructor would find out, so the whole process was very fast, beyond my imagination." Later, the little sparrow was roasted and eaten by four comrades, and it became the best meal during the training.

There is more to this experience of being impressed by yourself. Once after pouring cold water on him, Jianghuai had a high fever of nearly 40 degrees Celsius. "I don't have any ginger soup for you to eat. Instead, I soaked you in ice water to cool down." This time, Jianghuai got a rare chance to rest and slept several times. Hours, "That's it, the fever is gone, and I can continue training as usual."

After the "devil training", the trainees will receive more professional skills training for about one year. That period of life of blood and tears, came to Jiang Huai's mouth, but it was calm and gentle. He was used to making the impossible possible, used to breaking through limits, and used to discover the unlimited potential of his body. This habit grew up on the training ground beneath his feet.

There is a saying about a special operations brigade of the 77th Group Army of the Army in the Western Theater Command that this is the earliest place where "special forces" were trained in China. Le Deng Que, known as the "ageless legend of the special forces" here, participated in the International Scout Competition at the age of 36. "I want to see if I can still fight. Every experience is a test." Le Deng Que feels that the test can test whether he is still the best. A qualified special forces soldier. Before entering the examination room of an international competition in July 2013, he passed 10 levels of selection examinations and passed all the tests before getting the final "admittance ticket."

Shen Zijie, like Jiang Huai, successfully graduated from the Hunter School. From 2010 to 2012, he passed all 44 training courses in the school's sea, land and air with excellent results. "Willpower is the most important of all the qualities required by special forces. The way to develop super strong willpower and endurance is that you must endure the most cruel hardships in the world: endless hunger, biting cold, and unreasonable abuse. Insults and so on."

The most comfortable day here was yesterday

"Special forces, special people, special spirit, special soul", future generations will follow the footsteps of their predecessors and train in the special forces. On the road to success, there are always people working non-stop.

High-pressure water cannons were aimed at people and fired vigorously. They all pounced on the obstacles in front of them like wolves and tigers. Then a group of 8 people worked together to lift the 1,600-pound assault boat, squat it 30 times, and crawl through it. 4 barbed wire fences 30 meters high, rushed into a puddle 1.5 meters deep, and lifted ammunition boxes 30 times.

Then jump over the burning fire wall, run over the 3-meter-high and 30-meter-long hemp rope bridge, the 2-meter-deep ant hole, the 20-meter-long quagmire... The will training ground of a special operations brigade of the Army's 77th Group Army in the Western Theater Command, there is always something. The roar of officers and soldiers.

“The most comfortable day here was yesterday.” People from a certain special operations brigade believe this to be true. Just flip through the "curriculum" of a certain battalion (company), and you'll find a full schedule of various physical training, tactical training, and operational training such as armed 5-kilometer cross-country, shooting, long-distance swimming, light-armed 3-kilometer, and combat. The "coursework" that a "first-year soldier" needs to complete includes more than ten subjects such as light weapons operation, basic tactical movements, basic combat readiness, military topography, basic combat, basic climbing, and professional physical fitness.

Take basic climbing as an example. The skills to be learned include stepping on ropes, climbing with bare hands, three-point fixation, etc. "Complete climbing a 10-meter high wall with bare hands within 30 seconds, and completing 1,000 At the climbing training point, the back of a new soldier's hands turned red from the cold, and his palms turned blue. The thick calluses on his palms from climbing exercises made him insensitive to cold or high temperatures. feel.

Here, each training is conducted step by step, such as learning to land safely before practicing airborne landings. "It's just jumping from a parachute platform several meters high, dozens or hundreds of times each time," a new fighter said. After jumping too much, he can no longer feel the existence of his legs.

How are special forces trained? When asked about it, the parties involved had their own answers. Some people say that it is to undergo water training every summer and change the skin of the whole body; some say that it is to survive the endless hunger and bone-eroding cold; some say that it is to increase the speed of completing the 400-meter obstacle race from 2 minutes to Within 1 minute and 57 seconds; some people say that it is to make life difficult for oneself in peacetime, but to make life difficult for the enemy in wartime.