Chapter Thirty-Seven

  It wasn't until the next day that I found out there was more than one new recruit who had joined our class, and Chen Yiyang wasn't the only one.

  This is... before I even woke up early in the morning, there were several young men standing in front of me, standing upright and shouting: "Report!"

  The air was stifling, with a strange smell mixed in. I opened my eyes and looked at the three soldiers in front of me in confusion, asking: "What are you doing?"

  "Come... come and report!" One of the tall ones excitedly explained: "Reporting to the class leader, my name is Shen Guoxin. We're all new here, the platoon leader told us to join Class 2!"

  I straightened up and looked at the scar about ten meters away, the scar was busy assigning new soldiers at this time, just nodded to me, so I knew it was true.

  "Report to the class leader!" Another little guy said: "My name is Xu Guochun, from now on we are people of Class 2 when we are alive, and ghosts of Class 2 when we die..."

  "Halt...!" I interrupted them, standing up impatiently and slapping my buttocks, looking at them with a glance and asking: "Have you been soldiers?"

  "When crossing"

  "Yes!" chorused several new recruits in unison.

  "Have you been to the battlefield?" I had some doubts about this answer, because I was very clear that if someone had been a soldier and fought in battles, it would be impossible for them to still be so excited on the battlefield. This is almost like the behavior of a new recruit...

  "Monitor, we really were soldiers!" Seeing that I didn't believe him, Shen Guoxin said with some resentment: "We're from the same troop, and we've both been in for a year..."

  Looking at him speaking, I became even more suspicious, because I found that some of them didn't even hold their guns correctly...

  It's said that the difference between a frequently used gun and an infrequently used one can be felt at a glance. It's like how a seasoned smoker holds their cigarette with a natural posture, and their smoking movements are smooth and cohesive. In contrast, someone who has just started smoking may mimic the same posture and movements, but it still feels somewhat different.

  And the soldiers in front of me, holding their guns as if they were secretly learning how to smoke in high school.

  "Monitor!" Seeing that I was still satisfied, Xu Guochun explained: "If you don't believe me... If you don't believe me, you can ask our platoon leader. Our platoon leader has also arrived and has been assigned to the 7th company as a squad leader!"

  My heart sank even more when I heard this... What's going on with seven brigades being divided and reorganized?

  "Report to the squad leader!" At this time, a sturdy new recruit stood up and said straightly: "Although we have been soldiers for a year, most of the time we are engaged in construction and production, and rarely touch guns. The squad leader can consider us as new recruits!"

  Oh, now that you mention it, I understand. I remember the old man also told me about this before. In this era of large-scale production, most soldiers spend more time working in the fields than training, and they use hoes more often than guns. When the military region's big competition comes around, they just grab a good-quality company and intensify their training for a month or two...

  In other words, those who have never been on the battlefield and fought are all called new recruits... Sometimes it's even harder to lead old soldiers? Because they don't have any skills, but because they're old soldiers, they also have temper.

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but let out a wry smile in my heart, never expecting that this matter would also land on me.

  "What's your name?" I casually asked that sturdy soldier. Just now, it seemed like he was the only one who could see what I was thinking in my heart, and it seems like he is a meticulous person.

  。

  "Report to the class leader! My name is Li Zuolong!" The answer was loud and clear, neither arrogant nor humble.

  I have to admit that this is my first time being a class leader, so I don't know what to do as a class leader, what to teach them or what to say to them.

  "After some thought, he nodded at them and said: 'You go down first! If there's anything you don't understand... learn from other comrades!'"

  "Yes!" Several soldiers stood up straight and gave me a standard military salute before leaving.

  "What's wrong? Not satisfied?" I didn't know when Knife Scar had walked up beside me and handed me a cigarette.

  I shook my head and didn't speak, what can be said about satisfaction or dissatisfaction on this battlefield? If you really want to say dissatisfaction... Can this annoying jungle make you satisfied? Can the enemy make you satisfied? Can the killing intent everywhere make you satisfied?

  Dāo bā gave me a cigarette, puffed out some smoke and said: "After several battles, our troops have suffered heavy casualties. In order to quickly restore my unit's combat effectiveness, our superiors have given us two days to rest and reorganize, and they've also sent us some veteran soldiers..."

  I can only feel helpless, old soldier? Restore combat effectiveness?

  Why I think these old soldiers will lower our army's combat effectiveness, the fact also proves that my worries are reasonable, they cause more trouble for us on the battlefield...

  "Alright!" After finishing a cigarette, Knife Scar threw away the butt and said: "Be more open-minded, you were also a new recruit just a few days ago! Go do some ideological work for them, let them adapt as soon as possible!"

  At these words, I was taken aback... damn it, when did I start thinking of myself as a veteran soldier, and taking it for granted that I'm the kind of veteran who can fight? To think... I've only been in this era and on this battlefield for just a few short days!

  Walked back to the warriors with a gloomy face, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say, it was those new recruits who came to offer their condolences first.

  "Monitor!" That Xu Guochun was obviously a slick talker, he came up with a smile and handed over a cigarette, saying: "Don't worry, Monitor... although we haven't held guns or fought battles, every one of us is not a coward, won't drag our comrades down!"

  "Right! Monitor!" Shen Guoxin also came up, waving his fist and said: "We've all discussed it, this time we're coming to fight for the country's glory, to become a hero and bring honor back home."

  ！”

  "A hero?" I shook my head with a bitter smile, and the warriors who had fought alongside me also smiled bitterly. None of those who have truly fought want to be heroes.

  However, Li Zhaolong was silently squatting there, not making a sound, his eyes occasionally glancing at the sniper rifle on my back.

  At this time, I couldn't help but look at Li Zhaolong with a different eye. As the saying goes, "A dog that knows how to bark doesn't bite people." Although this sentence is not pleasant to hear, it's still quite applicable on the battlefield.

  What's wrong with that? Those who say they want to be heroes and not cowards don't understand a thing, people on the battlefield don't have time to think about so much, at that time all they can think of is one thing, which is to preserve their lives!

  Instead, it was that one silent voice, as if aware of some danger...

  I don't have the energy to reason with them. In fact, I don't even know how to do ideological work on them... that set of high-sounding things from the old days, I didn't learn from the old man.

  I casually nodded, originally my class had twelve people, after several battles five were sacrificed and seven remained. Now including Chen Yiyang who joined, there are four new members, so with me, our class is exactly ten people.

  Look at the other troops, the number of supplementary personnel is not too many, mainly still according to the proportion of reduction. Although the supplemented soldiers are not many, but sweeping the entire company... suddenly there are many new faces.

  If it were somewhere else, having many new faces might not be a big deal. But on this battlefield, having many new faces is just wave after wave of shocking surprises!

  The shock in my heart came from knowing the number of comrades who had sacrificed themselves. They were supposed to be reinforcements for our troops, weren't they? That means... the more unfamiliar faces there are, the more comrades we've lost, and it seems like they're here to replace those fallen comrades.

  What's more important is... the ones who are least adapted to this change are us, the original team members. On the battlefield, what we need to see most is familiar faces, and what we worry about most is that these familiar faces will leave in a huff. Whether it's comrades by our side or the leaders of our troops, as soon as we hear that any one of them has met with misfortune, our hearts will immediately skip a beat.

  To us warriors, it's always a bit awkward to see these new faces and not be able to call out their names for a while, or get them wrong. In front of them, I'm never sure if I'm the newcomer or they are. On the battlefield, when you want to give an order to someone and can't remember their name because of all the new faces, it'll always take a few seconds... and maybe those few seconds will bring disaster to the troops...

  It's hard to describe, but it feels like all the original members have merged into one with me, just like my arms and legs can be used freely. But these new warriors are like artificial limbs that I'm not used to wearing.

  。

  Never mind! I found a stone to sit down and wipe the gun by myself, anyway, it's not just my class that supplements the troops, others can accept it and so can I.

  The first thing I remember is their names, Li Zuolong, Shen Guoxin, Xu Guo...

  "Uh... what was your name again?"

  "Report to the monitor!" Xu Guochun sprang up from the ground like a spring and replied: "Xu Guochun!"

  "Oh!" I casually tossed the kettle at his feet: "Go get me a kettle of water!"

  "Yes!" Xu Guochun walked away with a smile, carrying the water jug, as if he felt that being named by me made him stand out from the crowd.

  What he didn't know was that I called his name precisely because I couldn't remember it clearly...

  "Monitor, monitor..." In just a few minutes, Xu Guochun ran back with a pale face, looking lost and out of breath, shouting: "Monitor, something's wrong...!"

  "What's going on?" Seeing other warriors picking up their guns, I hurriedly stopped them.

  "That...that water..." Xu Guochun panted and said: "There's a broken leg in that water..."

  "Hey......" The warriors let out a burst of boos. Only those new recruits turned pale with fright.

  It seems that the superiors knew that new recruits were coming, so they made some preparations last night and promptly removed or buried the wounded and dead bodies. However, it was inevitable to leave behind a few fingers or broken limbs, which scared them off with these small parts.

  At this time, Dāo Bā (Scar) brought several soldiers in front of me and pointed at me saying: "Look, this is the Second Squad Leader. Just a few days ago he was also a soldier who had never been in battle, now he has achieved great merit, under his hands at least dozens of Japanese devils have lost their lives... In just a few days he became a squad leader..."

  Damn! I couldn't help but curse in my heart: Why does this sound so familiar? Didn't Knife Scar say the same thing to me on my first day in the army?