Hand to hand combat
“Many of you have some boxing experience, or Greco-Roman wrestling, and this is not entirely bad” Garner said.
“But you have to be fully aware of the fact that reality is very different from boxing or any other sports.
When you are at war, fighting is for killing, and there are no rules. The first to grab a knife wins, the first taking away his enemy's eyes wins, and so on... And you have to know each and every single one of those things can't happen in boxing or wrestling.
And that's why what you think you know about hand to hand combat... is entirely wrong.
First of all, hand to hand combat is not boxing, ok? It's fighting with no weapons.
SOLDIERS, WHAT'S HAND TO HAND COMBAT?”
“IT'S FIGHTING WITH NO WEAPONS”
“Very well. And never think that finding a weapon is difficult. I saw a man dying with a fountain pen stuck in his neck”
A while of silence followed.
“Yes” he added..
The recruits looked at each other embarrassed.
“Rule number one: the first to find a weapon, wins.
Rule number two: the first to lose his eyes, loses everything. The eyes are soft, delicate and easy to destroy with your bare hands. You can easily pull them away with your fingertips. Whatever might happen, never let your enemy get his hands close to your head. Coletta, Messner: put those goggles on”
The two came in front of Garner.
“Now wet your hands with paint and get on guard”
The two started facing each other
“Okay, Sniper, just like that. The first who gets colour on his foe's goggles will receive some beef instead of that rat's soup”
The rest of the recruits murmured a little bit, yet Coletta and Messner studied each other a little longer before starting fighting.
In the end, the selected marksman decided to attack first.
He threw a hook toward Messner's face, but he avoided the hit turning his torso away.
Messner and Coletta shared some other missed hits towards each other, and they finally understood how difficult it was fighting that kind of fight where you can actually blind someone with your fingertips. On the outside, it looked very similar to a regular fight, but it wasn't.
Then Coletta received his first fist on his mouth.
The crowd behind him made some kind of howl, and a while later, everyone was supporting and yelling as if they were in front of a football game.
“Smash his face”
“Kill him”
“Beat the doctor! Come on! He thinks he is someone important, just because he studied...”
The sniper avoided a stretched out fist from Messner, and replied with a hook on his jaw, then finger-marked his goggles right in the middle of both his eyes.
Messner cursed: his goggles were covered with paint, and he couldn't see any more. He and Messner both turned to the instructor sergeant.
“What are you waiting for? Resume the fighting” said Garner.
“But I can't see a thing”Messner said, while removing his goggles at the same time.
“What are you doing? Go on with your training, soldier”
“I can't see a thing”
“You have been hit in the eyes. Continue fighting”
Messner put his goggles on again, he assumed the on guard position and received a lot of punches from Coletta.
It was long and painful, until Garner finally stopped them.
“Okay, that will be enough... You are dead, Messner”