Glory of Special Forces Episode 21 Recap
> Glory of Special Forces Recap
Guo Xiaoxiao, hailing from the grasslands, shared her father's philosophy that people are categorized into three types: sheep, sheepdogs, and wolves. Sheep live dependent on others, sheepdogs live for others, and wolves live solely for themselves. While she initially chose to be a wolf, joining the army shifted her perspective, leading her to embrace the role of a sheepdog, living for others.
The final phase of the selection process was where Yan Poyue made her realize the crucial need for teammates. Trapped together in a deep hole, Guo Xiaoxiao extended her hand to Yan Poyue, their shared names prompting a moment of lighthearted laughter. From above, Xiao Yun Jie peered down, relieved to see them alive and chatting animatedly. Soon after, Xiao Yun Jie lowered a vine, enabling both Yan Poyue and Guo Xiaoxiao to climb out of the pit.
With Zhou Zi Jian, who had suffered a spider bite, they fashioned a makeshift stretcher and continued their trek. Zhou Zi Jian, burdened by his injury, urged them to leave him behind, but Guo Xiaoxiao quickly located and applied a cooling herbal remedy to his arm, allowing them to proceed. Along the way, they noticed "imaginary enemies" were not directly engaging them but rather herding stragglers towards the rally point, as the assessment was set to conclude before nightfall.
At the rally point, just five minutes before the deadline, Yan Poyue, Xiao Yun Jie, Zhou Zi Jian, and Guo Xiaoxiao successfully arrived, joining a total of twenty-three participants. Observing the unexpected number of survivors, Yan Poyue instinctively felt that further challenges awaited. The commander, Lv Tu, announced "good news" that they had made it, followed by "better news"—dinner. However, upon entering the tent, they found not food, but an array of weapons.
Lv Tu clarified that this was "mental food" designed to unleash their potential and courage. He then announced that the rally point had been "attacked," forcing them to retreat 50 kilometers to a backup rally point. To heighten the challenge, the pursuit team would consist of all the instructors. Xiao Yun Jie protested the unfairness, but Lv Tu countered that war itself is never fair.
Qin Feng, leading the instructors, ordered his teams to form a fierce siege from four directions to exert intense pressure. When Leng Jing voiced concern that few would remain, Qin Feng dismissed it, stating his goal was to identify only the absolute best. Later, while making their way through the forest, Yan Poyue's group encountered a man named Yue Kong, who claimed to be a lost member of the Yun Ling exploration team.
They cautiously examined his identification, finding no immediate suspicious elements. Yue Kong pleaded for them to take him along, explaining he had been lost for two days. Guo Xiaoxiao, suspecting a trick, wanted to tie him to a tree and verify his identity at the rally point. However, Yue Kong's desperate pleas, including mentioning his newborn daughter and the dangers of the forest, made them hesitate, fearing they would be responsible if anything happened to him.
As they deliberated, sudden disturbances in their surroundings forced them to take cover. Yan Poyue eventually told Yue Kong to rest and head west at dawn to find their campsite. Guo Xiaoxiao, however, remained unconvinced and pulled him back, insisting he couldn't leave. Unable to reach a consensus, they decided to vote. Yan Poyue, Xiao Yun Jie, and Zhou Zi Jian voted to let him go, leaving Guo Xiaoxiao as the sole dissenter.
Though she reluctantly allowed Yue Kong to leave, a sense of unease lingered, a feeling Yan Poyue shared, acknowledging they could only leave it to fate. Meanwhile, a separate confrontation unfolded between Bai Long and Cao Ben. Bai Long harbored deep resentment towards Cao Ben over the incident involving Xiang Fei, believing Cao Ben's actions had led to Xiang Fei's demise. Cao Ben, however, used Bai Long's hatred as a strategic weakness, ultimately capturing him.
Yan Poyue’s group then encountered a sniper, whose presence was subtly indicated by almost inaudible shots and night-vision goggles. Recognizing the need for a swift counter, Yan Poyue began to "digitize" the terrain, assigning numerical values to features like hills, forests, and their altitudes and gradients, explaining how this method allowed for rapid identification of potential sniper positions without a map.
Xiao Yun Jie and Zhou Zi Jian, bewildered by this technical explanation, relied on Guo Xiaoxiao to interpret, who quickly translated Yan Poyue's numerical data into practical hiding spots like the right side of a bush or the left of a swamp.
Realizing there were likely multiple snipers, Guo Xiaoxiao devised a plan: each of them would target one of the three suspected positions, while she would provide mobile fire, with their primary objective being to breach the area rather than eliminate every enemy. Their coordinated efforts allowed them to successfully pass through the sniper-infested zone, surprising even Leng Jing, who reported to Qin Feng that the four had bypassed her area and were proceeding to Zone B.
The following day, after a brief respite where Yan Poyue playfully tricked Xiao Yun Jie with a fake water bottle, their journey took a dangerous turn when Zhou Zi Jian accidentally fell into a trap, leading to the capture of all four. Bai Long was also among the captured. They were then subjected to a brutal "captive torture training" exercise.
Yan Poyue was bound and placed in the middle of a road, where a car sped directly towards him, stopping mere inches from his face, terrifying Xiao Yun Jie and Guo Xiaoxiao. Observing these harsh methods, Leng Jing expressed concern to Qin Feng about the psychological trauma such extreme training might inflict, particularly on the female soldiers.
However, Qin Feng remained unyielding, asserting that the battlefield offered only life or death, and that pushing them to their limits was necessary to unlock their full potential against a brutal and merciless enemy. The captors, feasting on roasted lamb skewers, taunted the hungry prisoners, who were then inverted and submerged in water, repeatedly questioned for the coordinates of their training base.
Under this intense physical and psychological duress, Zhou Zi Jian eventually broke, offering to reveal the coordinates and was promptly pulled from the water. That night, as the captors relaxed their guard, Xiao Yun Jie feigned unconsciousness, creating an opportunity for Yan Poyue to free himself. He then quickly subdued their captors, binding them in the water to give them a taste of their own methods.
The five escapees—Yan Poyue, Xiao Yun Jie, Guo Xiaoxiao, Bai Long, and Zhou Zi Jian—fled into the night. After running for some time, they collectively decided to return. Despite the profound humiliation they had endured, they were determined to confront their tormentors before returning to the army. Bai Long, nodding in agreement, pledged to support them. With renewed resolve, they marched back, shouting defiance.
The leader of their captors then removed his mask, revealing himself to be Yue Kong, the very "exploration team member" they had chosen to release earlier. As the five charged forward, a chaotic struggle ensued. Bai Long, seizing a knife, dramatically threatened to take his own life, forcing Lv Tu and Cao Ben to intervene. However, the group refused to back down, demanding that Yue Kong engage in a one-on-one fight with Yan Poyue as a condition for their surrender.
