Article 15 Chapter 1 Clause 2

  It's windy.

  Those who have never experienced minus twenty degrees will not know the feeling of being blown by the wind at such a low temperature. In less than five minutes, new recruits feel like they are not wearing clothes at all, and the cold searches for any possible gap to enter the clothes, then spreads icy throughout the body. The two hands outside the sleeves slowly turn red, as if they no longer belong to themselves, with a numb feeling.

  "Comrades, isn't it cold?" Wu Minghui asked loudly to everyone.

  The crowd was sparse and chilly. Some people felt that if they said they were cold, the old soldiers would look down on them, so they didn't dare say it out loud.

  "Not hungry? Haven't eaten yet, feel like haven't had enough food? Not hungry, huh? Then stand for a while longer."

  When they heard Wu Minghui say that, all the new recruits regretted it. Ten minutes? One minute was already making people want to escape, let alone ten minutes.

  "Will I get frostbite?" Li Yifan asked Liu Ye in a low voice.

  "It will, because if we continue like this, we'll all get frostbite, but your chances of getting it are much higher than ours," Liu Ye said.

  "Why?"

  "Because you're fatter and have more fat than muscle, the speed of blood flow is much slower than that of a normal person," Xiao Lie said.

  "Ah, being fat is also a fault."

  When Li Yifan sighed, the new recruits around him held back their laughter.

  Ten minutes later.

  "Aren't you cold?" Wu Minghui asked again.

  "Cold!"

  This time the new recruits' voices were much louder, afraid that if they stayed for another ten minutes, they would really turn into ice pops.

  "This is the way it should be, you must remember, soldiers, always tell the truth. A lie on the battlefield can cost your life! It may also cost the lives of your friends, comrades, and everyone in your unit. Telling the truth is nothing to be ashamed of, because reality is what makes us soldiers."

  (PS: Because of the authenticity, we are soldiers. I don't know how many new recruits have heard this sentence when they first arrived at the troops. At least we listened to it at that time, and the feeling was inexplicable, was it novelty? Was it excitement? Or was it pride? Later, after a long time, one day when we were together again, as we talked, we began to recall those years. Because everything was real back then, that's why we are soldiers.)

  "We have a full rest day today. Our target is five kilometers ahead, the military camp. Fully armed, let's run in unison." Wu Minghui ordered.

  No one has ever tried running in full gear at such low temperatures, for new recruits, being fully armed is just a scene on TV, they have run before in school but never thought about what it would be like to run with nearly 10 kilograms of equipment on their backs. Exercising in the cold is already an exhausting thing to do. As the new recruits moved their somewhat stiff bodies, some people were still not quite adapted and almost fell over.

  As soon as they thought they could move around and get rid of the damn low temperature, the new recruits immediately realized that it wasn't what they had thought. The veteran soldiers leading the way were running easily in front, without caring about the feelings of the new recruits. When breathing became urgent, some people tried to open their mouths to breathe.

  "If you don't want to freeze your respiratory tract in the low temperature, shut your mouths immediately!" Wu Minghui shouted from the side.

  Some new recruits immediately shut their mouths after hearing this.

  "Now you must learn to synchronize your breathing with your footsteps, three steps inhale, two steps exhale. What's the most important thing in running? It's breathing, it's the rhythm of breathing." Wu Minghui continued to shout.

  The new recruits didn't say a word, but the squad began to get somewhat disheveled, some of their gear starting to deform. In the wind, the new recruits' faces started to turn slightly red.

  "Really, I'm too tired." Li Yifan said with a gasp: "Since childhood, our family has always thought that I was too fat. This time when I came out, my mother only had one thing that she was confident about, and that was that I would definitely lose the extra flesh on me. I didn't believe it before, but now I do. In less than a month, all of my savings from the past 18 years are gone."

  "Don't even mention that you're eighteen, even if you were twenty-eight your savings would be gone. Isn't this a deliberate scam? He came and gave us a warning shot right away. Who does he think he is?" Liu Ye said.

  "He is our superior. Let's just keep quiet, the more we talk, the more energy we waste." Xiao Lie said on the side.

  For an adult's walking, if the pace is quickened, a distance of one kilometer will take about twelve minutes. If running, it would also take around five minutes. However, the new recruits nowadays can't achieve such results. The old soldiers didn't bother with them, focusing on their own running until they almost disappeared from view. Then an old soldier turned around and shouted to the new recruits:

  "If you don't run faster, you will get lost and have to bear the cold."

  No one would suspect the old soldiers' words, all new recruits believe that these old soldiers can do it now. Haven't eaten pork but seen pigs run? More or less before joining the army also heard some things about the troops, the old soldiers bullying the new ones is a common thing in the troops, and it's even called training.

  Emotions are contagious, some people believed the old soldiers' words and other new recruits followed suit. To avoid spending the night outside, the new recruits started to quicken their pace. Soon they discovered that they were not in the same league as the old soldiers. A few who had attended sports school for a few years could initially keep up with the old soldiers' pace, but five or six minutes later it was a different story. Running on flat playgrounds in school was different from running on roads with sand and stones, unmelted snow on the ground, freezing temperatures, and cold air that made breathing difficult. Most new recruits had to cover their noses. Some of the more aware new recruits knew this was the old soldiers' way of intimidating them.

  In the army, there is a saying that even if a tiger is lying down, a dragon must also coil up. Don't believe those rumors about some new recruits being incredibly capable in the new recruit battalion; perhaps such people do exist, but they are only remarkable compared to other new recruits. You should know that some old soldiers also have their own strengths, and among the strong, there are still stronger ones.

  That was the sentence that all the new recruits felt on that day. When the new recruits followed the old soldiers and ran into the camp in a scattered manner, the old soldiers were already lined up waiting for them. Although the old soldiers didn't say anything, they stood still in the wind and snow, but at that time, the actions of the old soldiers told all the new recruits: You are just like that.

  Liu Ye and Li Yifan followed Xiao Lie to the team, then quickly found their position and stood still. No one spoke, and the air was filled with rough breathing sounds, the hot air exhaled immediately turned into a mist of ice in the air.

  "Each class leader takes care of their own soldiers and arranges their dormitory."

  Wu Minghui said a sentence and then left from start to finish.

  When dividing classes, Xiao Lie found himself with Liu Ye and Li Yifan, two "familiar people", and felt quite happy.

  "It seems like we three are really fated, taking the same bus together and now in the same class." Li Yifan said.

  "Yes, yes, I can testify how you lost weight." Liu Ye said with a smile.

  "Alright, everyone find a bed and put your luggage away. Here, everything has its own place and nothing can be placed randomly. First, let's tidy up, then we'll have dinner. After dinner, we'll have a class meeting." New recruit squad leader Zhao Zhuangjie said at the door.

  The new recruits immediately began packing their belongings after hearing the words, no one would doubt Zhao Zhuangjie's words, and every new recruit had made mental preparations for this.

  What's different from before is that when eating here, new recruits have to learn a song before meals and must sing loudly. If someone doesn't sing with enough effort, then their group will be the last one to enter the door.

  Young soldiers did not realize that from the moment they put on those green uniforms, they had to accept change and learn obedience and teamwork spirit.

  "Everyone, get into position. This is our first class meeting. First of all, I want to correct your posture while sitting. As soldiers, we should have a soldier's bearing. When sitting, sit up straight with your head held high and chest out, with your legs at shoulder width and hands on your knees. And when standing, stand up straight with your head held high, chest out, and stomach in, like this."

  Zhao Zhuangjie demonstrated while speaking, and the new recruits began to imitate him. Zhao Zhuangjie then pointed out a few things. Soon, the new recruits learned the second thing in the military camp: how to stand and sit properly.

  "When you are soldiers, you must learn the first rule of being a soldier, which is that a soldier's duty is to obey. When we receive orders, no matter what lies ahead, whether it be a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, we must charge forward. There is no reason why an army should not function like a machine, and we are just one part of this machine, each part playing its role to make the machine move more effectively. If soldiers do not know how to obey orders, then the army will be like a pile of loose sand, and the country will not be safe, nor will the people."

  "So, when we are soldiers for a day, our first order is that soldiers take obedience as their heavenly duty."

  That night, the new recruits received a "Soldier's Handbook" and a notebook. The handbook contained all the rules and regulations that would accompany them throughout their military career. From that night on, they began to learn how to become qualified soldiers, and it felt like going back to school days, but now more closed and obedient, and what they needed to pay was not just brainpower, but also physical strength.

  They are on average less than nineteen years old, in our eyes they are just some little dolls, but when they put on this military uniform, they become the guardians of the motherland, our hope. Many were students a few months ago, at that time they needed others to protect them, and now they must learn how to protect others, since they need to learn how to protect others, then what they first learn is how to protect themselves." Wu Minghui looked at the row of new barracks in front of him and said: "Welcome to the recruit camp."

  "Really coming, I'm afraid that on such a cold day, many of them will catch a cold." Zhao Zhuangjie said from the side.

  "There's no excuse." Wu Minghui said calmly.

  "No excuses."