Fifteenth Marine Corps Recruits

  When a gust of salty sea air mixed with the smell of the ocean woke up Ye Ren, who had fallen asleep from the shaking of the military truck, Ye Ren knew that their destination was near.

  Two trucks loaded with dozens of new recruits drove into the barracks of the Marine Corps' Bayonet Heroes Brigade stationed in Nanjiang City.

  At the entrance of the camp, a marine wearing ocean camouflage and fully armed stood guard with his steel gun at the ready.

  Entering the camp, the first thing that comes into view is a towering statue, which is modeled after a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, with its three-edged bayonet pointing straight up to the sky.

  The truck stopped in front of the statue.

  "Hurry! Get off! Get off! They're all women!"

  A loud voice shouted from under the truck.

  The new recruits were all startled and quickly put on their own backpacks and jumped off the truck.

  "Attention! Attention! Form fours!" A short sergeant stood with his back to the statue, facing the new recruits, shouting in a dark face.

  The new recruits hastily stood at attention, but ended up standing crookedly due to their fluster.

  Then, the officer's face turned even darker: "Look at you! What are you like? Where do you look like a soldier?"

  The new recruits hastily began to tidy up their disheveled equipment and backpacks.

  It was at this moment that the officer noticed several soldiers standing at the end of the ranks.

  These soldiers were standing upright, unlike other new recruits who were busy sorting out their equipment, with all their gear in order.

  The officer looked at these soldiers and did nothing else, but continued to sweep his gaze over the new recruits in front of him.

  "Halt!"

  An officer shouted loudly, and all the new recruits stopped what they were doing and stood at attention again.

  This time, their equipment was all tidy and in order.

  "Welcome to the Bayonet Heroes Brigade of the People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps! Next, I will introduce you to this monument."

  It's hard to imagine that an old soldier would proudly use the word "monument" when introducing a sculpture at the entrance of the barracks to a group of new recruits.

  Ye Ren couldn't help but carefully examine this sculpture.

  "This monument was forged with the blood and lives of all the commanders since the establishment of our Dagger Hero Brigade, it is the highest honor symbol of our brigade. In times of war, we were brave and strong, killing enemies on the battlefield; in times of peace, we fought bloody battles to serve the people. What is a dagger? Who can tell me?"

  "Report!" Ge Xianjie stood up straight and shouted loudly.

  "Speak!" The officer walked up to Gao Jianjie's face and commanded in a thunderous voice.

  "The bayonet is what we thrust into the enemy's heart, killing the enemy! Killing the enemy! The enemy's weapon! If the motherland needs it, let my blade be stained with fresh blood! The enemy's blood!"

  "I know you're a writer, and you talk better than anyone else," the officer shouted.

  "Report! I will prove that I am not just talking!"

  "Drop down! Push-ups! Two hundred!" The officer didn't buy Ge's nonsense, instead he gave an order with a punitive tone.

  Ge Shengjie put on his backpack and started doing push-ups.

  "What are you looking at! I said drop and give me twenty, now!" The sergeant gave a cold, sweeping glance over all the new recruits.

  Everyone's heart skipped a beat, and they immediately started doing push-ups.

  In a Sino-Russian joint military exercise several years ago, the Bayonet Hero Battalion was assigned as the spearhead unit to storm the beach defended by Russian naval infantry. The battle on the beach was extremely fierce, and the Russian army inflicted heavy casualties on the Bayonet Hero Battalion with its advantageous terrain and powerful firepower. The Bayonet Hero Battalion was blocked on the beach, and the development of the situation was very unfavorable for the Chinese military. If they could not quickly break through the coastal defense line, the airborne troops behind the enemy would be completely surrounded by the Russian army, and the entire exercise would end in defeat for China. At a critical moment when all hope seemed lost, the Bayonet Hero Battalion even ordered its soldiers to fix bayonets and took the beach with extraordinary tenacity. When the brothers of the Airborne Corps saw the naval infantrymen charging into their positions, they were all startled by the glinting bayonets.

  "I want you to remember, here, less talk and more action. Reasoning will not drive away invaders"

  After everyone finished doing push-ups, the tone of the black-faced officer finally eased up, and he said with a heavy heart.

  "Now, get down on the ground and don't move!"

  He took a few steps forward, and the black-faced officer's face turned even darker, his voice rising by two octaves.

  The new recruits had been intimidated by the stern warning and were now all quietly lying on the ground with their hands supporting them.

  "Lift up your heads! Look at the names on the monument!"

  The black-faced officer turned around and pointed at the sculpture.

  All the new recruits looked up at the same time and gazed at the base of the sculpture.

  The base of the sculpture is densely engraved with names.

  "There are a total of 377 names engraved here, they heroically sacrificed themselves in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Liberation War, Korean War, Vietnam War, Sino-Vietnamese War, Sino-Indian War, Tangshan earthquake relief and many years of flood fighting. They fulfilled their mission as soldiers of the Republic with blood and life. The honor of the Dagger Hero Battalion was earned with their lives, remember: dare to fight, must win! Daggers see red!"

  After a speech that could be called an "initiation ceremony", the new recruits were reorganized and marched into the barracks.

  Under the leadership of the non-commissioned officer with a black face, the new recruits marched through the barracks.

  In the garage of the camp, amphibious tanks and amphibious armored vehicles with ocean camouflage were parked in an orderly manner, their muzzles pointing towards the sea, as if a battle array was confronting each other, ready to launch a powerful attack at any time.

  "Among the troops, we are the strongest steel, we are the hot-blooded sons of the motherland. The bayonet is drawn from its scabbard, the cannonball is loaded into the barrel, just waiting for the bugle to sound the charge..."

  The sound of "The Marine's Hymn" filled with masculine spirit came from afar.

  A team of fully armed marines came marching towards us singing a song.

  As they passed by the new recruit platoon led by Sergeant Blackface, these Marines simultaneously saluted Sergeant Blackface.

  Along the way, new recruits were amazed to find that all the Marines they saw were fully armed, even those playing chess outside the barracks had full tactical gear.

  "Don't be surprised, there are only two states here: fighting and preparing to fight! So from now on, you must also be like them, even when going to the toilet, I want you to prepare for battle!"

  The ground where the new recruits stood was the comprehensive training ground for the entire brigade, with mountains behind and the sea in front. At the foot of the mountain were two rows of three-story dilapidated buildings, where all the new recruits would be driven into to sleep every year during the basic tactical training period.

  New recruits can't live in these two buildings, they only live on the third floor of the one behind, so emergency assembly requires running more roads. The front building is used for training.

  In front of the building is a concrete floor full of cracks, with training equipment arranged in front, including single and double bars.

  The new recruits now stand on this concrete ground.

  Beyond here is the beach and the sea.

  The sound of waves rumbled in.

  "Now, go upstairs according to your respective numbers, ten people per room, quickly tidy up the internal affairs, and check after half an hour."

  The black-faced officer finished speaking and looked at his watch.

  "Disperse!"

  The new recruits rushed into action, pouring into the second building in a chaotic manner.

  As soon as Ye Ren entered the dormitory, he was driven out by a pungent musty and sour smell.

  The new recruits following him were also scared by the scene in the house and didn't dare enter.

  There are five iron-framed beds in the room that look like they would collapse if someone lay on them. The walls have peeling wallpaper with green and black mold growing, giving off a musty smell. In the corner of the wall is even a dead mouse, its body just skin and bones, emitting a nauseating odor.

  Wow!

  A sound with a rich texture, unique to vomiting, suddenly came from behind Ye Ren.

  Everyone turned around to see that Zhao Ziqing, the city guard, had already vomited out the two steamed buns he had eaten in the morning, mixed with his congee, and it was still emitting hot and sour air.

  The flavor here is even more rich and varied.

  After taking care of Zhao Zi Qing, who had turned pale and vomited, two unlucky new recruits were randomly selected to go in and eliminate the rat corpses.

  After the mouse corpses and vomit were cleaned up, the new recruits suddenly found that half of the time had passed.

  "We're doomed, Old K will definitely kill us."

  The black-faced officer still doesn't know that the new recruits have given him such a nickname. Old K, old cutthroat, always cutting people down.

  "Don't panic, everyone," Guo Shengjie said. "Let's divide the work. A few of you make the beds, and a few others sweep the floor."

  New recruits look at me, I look at you, neither of us moves.

  "Let's hurry up and do what he said, the people next door are almost done sweeping." Ye Ren took off his backpack and said to the others.

  The new recruits responded accordingly, taking off their backpacks, some began to tidy up the beds, and others moved all the luggage into the house.

  Some even borrowed brooms and dustpans from other dormitories to clean up manually.

  Soon, the new recruits had straightened out the iron bed frames and laid out the mattresses that were piled in the corner of the wall. The shelves on the wall by the door were also wiped clean, and the storage cabinets were tidied up.

  There were seven minutes left and the new recruits began to gather their belongings.

  "What's wrong with you?"

  Just as everyone was busy laying out the bedding, they suddenly found that slightly chubby Yang Bo was busy dismantling the bedding.

  "You haven't seen that this place is so poor even a mouse can starve to death, I have to make some preparations in advance."

  Yang Bo pulled out two packs of sausages from the bottom of his backpack.

  "What you're doing is against the rules, and it will implicate us." Guo Shengjie said to Yang Bo.

  "I have an aura of protection around me, I'm fine."

  Yang Bo never accepted Gao Shengjie's challenge.

  So everyone just watched as Yang Bo opened the sausage and arranged it one by one under the quilt, then covered it up.

  "Never mind him, let's hurry up!" Guo Shengjie had already folded the quilt and said to others.

  "Hurry up! Come, I'll help you." Ye Ren also folded the quilt and said to others who were still watching if Yang Bo would take out anything else, while turning around to help his comrade fold the quilt on the next bed.

  Under Ye Ren's reminder, others quickly started folding their quilts.

  Ge Xianjie looked at this young man and felt somewhat displeased in her heart.