But we are also encouraged to hunt, because it develops our knowledge of the jungle and our eye, forces us to do good stalking (tracking) and to shoot well. And also because meat is a need. The forest massif where we are has been a reserve for many years and game is abundant there:tiger, leopard, axis deer, sambar deer (magnificent piece), wild dog, gaur, wild boar, elephant. There is also smaller game:civet, mongoose, tragule, this kind of small deer barely larger than a rabbit, and birds:peacock, wild rooster...
Un tiger and her two cubs live not far from us. We cross their path daily. Elephants are numerous and particularly noisy. Every day we bring something back.
Something welcome because supplies are deliberately given sparingly:rice, tea, sugar, salt, a little powdered meat, some dehydrated vegetables. We have to feed on forest products, meat, vegetables or fish.
We go every day in search of wild asparagus, bamboo shoots and caryota...
We trap a lot because, for resupply, it is naturally much less noisy than a gunshot. We therefore become particularly competent in the manufacture and use of various categories of traps:noose traps for birds, animals... and men, stunner traps, pit traps, arrow traps, punjis.
Punjis are simply thin, pointed, fire-hardened stalks of bamboo that are planted at various angles as a means of defending a camp or along the sides of a camp. a road where it is proposed to set up an ambush. The enemy skewers there.
Others can be attached to the bottom of pits or carefully camouflaged trapdoors, or even to stumps suspended above the path.
The forest is an ocean without landmarks. We must be able to navigate with precision, to arrive at the fixed point without error, to find our camp. For this, we multiply the orientation exercises.
And we discover little by little that in the forest we are at home, day and night. Compass navigation holds no secrets for us. But we also know how to walk in the jungle without leaving useless traces, we can distinguish the trace of an ox from that left by the shoe of the Japanese soldier with separated toes, we can detect the coarse Japanese trap:to put strips of metal under the shoes to imitate the two claws of a deer's hoof. We know how to avoid profile on the horizon, we know how to instinctively avoid the hollow of the valleys, where the jungle is difficult, we know how to make signals to each other without an adversary being able to distinguish them from the usual sounds of the forest. /P>
We know how to keep the moonbeams from reflecting off our gear, how to use a whole code of silent signals, how to avoid cracking twigs, how to tie down our gear without it making any noise. br class='autobr' />We feel quite capable of carrying out patrols, ambushes, attacks on isolated posts, liaisons day or night, in the jungle, of living there for many months and always getting by. We know how to use mountain rivers and torrents to navigate or refuel. We know many ways to cross waterways to ferry heavy equipment. We even swam close to the crocodiles.
A particular test closes the course. It is for each trainee to leave alone with 35 kilos of equipment on the back to achieve a fixed objective.
We have three days and two nights to spend alone, without anyone knowing where we are.
Our equipment includes tent, blanket, mosquito net, hooks, spare clothes and shoes, rope, first aid kit and some food:dried prunes, sugar, salt; it's up to us to manage to get meat, vegetables, fish.
We do have a submachine gun, but without cartridges. Our only weapon is a knife, in an area infested with tigers and crocodiles. If the path follows more or less the valley of a mountain river, it is not possible to follow it on the edges, "seas of bamboo", rock piles and the many detours of the watercourse require a more direct and faster route.
In the event of an accident, no one knows where we are, we cannot count on any help. We have two nights to spend without a weapon. Everyone has adventures, one stumbles on a python he mistook for a stump, another is forced to quickly move from his makeshift shelter in the middle of the night because a tiger has entered it. Another has trouble with a crocodile.
Another, comfortably established to sleep on a small island, woke up in the water, the river having suddenly entered into flood... On "D-Day", the whole team is there, complete.