Chapter 17

Pitting soldiers against world champions in their specialized sports is indeed somewhat unfair. Therefore, Shelestov added wilderness survival training as compensation, to make these athletes, who are always in closed training, suffer a bit, to hone their qualities of resilience and decisiveness. It should also be a good thing, right?

"Comrade Director, are you going to participate in the survival training as well? Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" A soldier from the GRU training battalion raised an objection. Although he didn't have a look of disdain, his meaning was clear; he didn't approve of Shelestov's sincerity in mingling with the lower-ranking soldiers.

"Of course, I will participate!" Shelestov stepped aside, pointing to the two women behind him, "Major Isayevna and Major Lukani, who were adopted by the military academy as orphans from a young age, have actually served longer than all of you. The two comrades will guide me during the training, so there's no need for your concern..."

Them? Everyone cast suspicious glances at Isayevna and Lukani. The two beautiful women, with their rosy lips and delicate features, stood in the cold wind. Their thick sable coats couldn't hide their curvaceous figures. Most importantly, their hands didn't look like they had ever touched a gun. How much skill could they have? Pfft... In the end, three or four people couldn't hold back their laughter...

Just because I'm the head of the secret police, no one believes what I say? Shelestov's shoulders moved slightly, indifferent to their reactions. He rarely told the truth, and when he did, no one listened. There will be a time when you realize the severity of the situation. Don't treat girls who have lived in the intelligence city for over a decade as mere ornaments.

As everyone went down to prepare, "Director, those soldiers seem to look down on us two. Since that's the case, why don't we two compete with them in marksmanship?" Isayevna's lips curled slightly, revealing a hint of her silver-white teeth.

"Look at how honest Lukani is. Don't cause trouble for me at this moment!" Shelestov almost sighed, "After they finish their competition, we can go back to the military management bureau's shooting range to compete. For now, it's better for us to be spectators..."

In the vast stadium, this competition between military elites and professional athletes had only three spectators, which was a pity. "Now entering the field is the world's most versatile athlete, Comrade Kuznetsov, who has broken world records. He will face ten of the best soldiers here..." Shelestov temporarily served as the commentator, providing live commentary for the other two women, eliciting a series of soft moans from them...

It had a bit of the feel of a king entertaining his vassals. Shelestov focused intently on the field. In this environment of around minus ten degrees Celsius, Kuznetsov's outdoor performance was definitely restricted. These elite soldiers, who often participate in outdoor drills, could narrow the gap in strength, but winning would still be difficult.

"For the soldiers to win, they must disrupt Comrade Kuznetsov's mindset in the first event!" Isayevna analyzed, "This temperature is disadvantageous for Comrade Kuznetsov. These track and field events are all from the Summer Olympics, and he has probably never run with a load. In contrast, these soldiers often march with heavy equipment..."

"But as a professional athlete, it's impossible for his mindset to be disrupted in the first event. The decathlon is a ten-event competition. Even if Comrade Kuznetsov loses the first event, as long as he warms up, he can still catch up later..." Lukani, lying on Shelestov's back with her arms around his neck, said.

"Let's see!" Shelestov subtly disengaged from the woman's embrace. Even though there were few people in the stadium, it was still a public place. Even if he didn't care about his own reputation, he had to consider the KGB's face.

The competition was held over two days. As the two women had analyzed, the world champion, who excelled in Summer Olympic events, did not perform well in the thick winter clothing. In the first 100-meter sprint, he only placed fifth, with soldiers from the Dzerzhinsky Division, Tamanskaya Division, GRU training battalion, and the State Security Directorate all ahead of him. "The 100-meter sprint has a very low margin for error. Any slight discomfort can lead to this result!" Shelestov asked the referee if there were any fouls, and upon receiving a negative response, he said so.

Medvedev, who had been watching the competition with disinterest, eventually couldn't stand it and walked over to Shelestov's side, asking helplessly, "When it's my turn, you won't make me wrestle naked in this temperature, right?"

"No, the indoor arena is still open!" Shelestov said with a laugh, "There are still some residents of Kuibyshev there, so you can experience the atmosphere of being cheered on during the competition..."

"In that case, I'm much luckier than Kuznetsov, hehe!" Medvedev flexed his muscular shoulders and laughed heartily.

As Shelestov and the others had assessed, the 100-meter sprint, full of variables, could only be considered a warm-up. Kuznetsov, having warmed up, quickly demonstrated why he always broke world records in the decathlon. In the subsequent long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400-meter run, he placed first in all of them. The shot put and 400-meter run were slightly closer, but the other events were won by a large margin, leaving no suspense.

"If our Soviet Union faced such an opponent and still needed to win, what would we do?" Shelestov, avoiding Medvedev, asked this question.

"The Olympics?" Lukani, looking at Shelestov's expression, said lightly, "But in the Olympic arena, we have no rivals. As long as the Soviet Union participates in the Olympics, the United States can only rank second!"

At the last Olympics, the Soviet Union had also defeated the United States in the gold medal tally, but at that time, Shelestov had no time to pay attention to the Olympics. The Suez War was in full swing, and Hungary and Poland were in turmoil. He was busy putting out fires.

Compared to Kuznetsov, the 22-year-old Medvedev was undoubtedly a very young man. But this young man had already gained a high profile throughout the Soviet Union. In the Soviet national freestyle wrestling competition, this young man from Minsk was even more popular than the eventual champion. Everyone knew he had much more potential than the other wrestlers.

So, letting him win was impossible. But Shelestov never dreamed that Medvedev would be so ruthless. With the cheers of the people of Kuibyshev, this polar bear gave no face to the Red Army, defeating all ten challengers in a single round, with two of them being carried off unconscious.

This was too embarrassing. Shelestov propped his head on his hand, staring at the center of the ring with a melancholy, tearful gaze as the cheers grew louder. "Soldiers, you can only regain your honor in the wilderness survival training..."

"The rules limit the combat effectiveness of these soldiers!" Isayevna tried to comfort him, but it was of no use. The Red Army's face was completely lost...