The First Book: Reborn from the Fire Chapter 4: The New Recruit's First Day
"Peng Zhuo!"
"Arrived!"
"Lin Dahan!"
"Arrived!"
At the mention of my name, I took a step forward, carrying my own large and small backpacks, and even helped Peng Zuo, that little brat, carry two bags as we jumped off the military truck. I stood at attention in what I thought was good military posture under the truck, facing a sergeant with one thick stripe and two thin stripes on his shoulder badge.
I took a slow train for a day and a night, stopping at various provinces and cities to pick up new recruits. The whole carriage was filled with young soldiers, I couldn't even tell if it was a military train or not. But this one day and night actually helped me recover my spirits, and I finally felt like I had made it through. Now I feel incredibly energetic, and the fact that our group has lost nearly a quarter of its members, combined with my own regained physical strength, makes me feel surprisingly powerful, so much so that I didn't even break a sweat.
As for the backpack, it was reduced by two-thirds, because apart from the military supplies issued by the armed forces department, most of what we brought from home were food, and one day and night was enough for us young men to vent our remaining energy with these things. Anyway, at that time, we were all new recruits, and those leading troops officers and old soldiers didn't know which unit we would be assigned to in the future, so they were very kind to us, basically as long as we weren't too excessive, we could let us act freely, even smoking our cigarettes together, chatting about big things, teaching us how to get along with comrades in the army.
After getting off at Beijing Station, thousands of new recruits boarded their respective numbered military vehicles under the leadership of their team officers and began to disperse. I had already become familiar with many fellow townspeople from X city on the train, but in the end, only Peng Zhuo and three other fellow townspeople were able to board the same vehicle as me.
From the military train at Beijing Station, a total of three cars with over 100 new recruits were loaded, seemingly from all provinces and cities. Along the way, the tail curtains of the military train were all pulled down, and I could only see through the gap when the wind blew open the tail curtain. We passed through cities, walked through small towns, and drove for nearly three hours before entering a mountainous area. By the time we arrived here, the rear of the car was filled with flying yellow dust, making it impossible for me to see the scenery outside the car.
It wasn't until I heard my name being called to get off the bus that I could see we were inside a military camp surrounded by flat houses, and outside the camp was a mountain, a continuous range of mountains. I saw no towns, no villages, only a white road stretching out in the distance between the green hills and water.
What's depressing is that Beijing's winter and the south's winter are completely different, the coldness is the same, even worse, what's more annoying is the icy wind blowing from the mountains, it's like a knife cutting, making our thin skin and flesh feel extremely uncomfortable, we're so disappointed to the extreme, feeling like we've fallen into a desolate and barren land, don't know when we can escape.
"Attention!"
After roll call, the sergeant ordered us to stand at attention in formation and gave a command to stand up straight, which made us involuntarily puff out our chests.
The stern gaze of the lieutenant colonel swept over our scattered formation and the bizarre standing posture, he seemed to have a faint cold smile at the corner of his mouth, and ran quickly to a young officer with one stripe and two stars on his shoulder, stood up straight after saluting, and said loudly:
"Report to Comrade Company Commander, new recruits roll call is complete, 35 people should be present, 35 people are actually present, assembly is complete, please instruct!"
This was a handsome young lieutenant, I felt he couldn't be more than twenty-five years old. He stood straight as a ramrod, at least one meter seven or eight in height, like a sturdy green pine tree. He returned a military salute and said in a deep voice:
"Halt!"
"Yes!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the sergeant saluted the young officer again, executed a standard about-face and marched back to us with short steps, then bellowed loudly: "At ease!"
Maybe I didn't know what it meant to stand at ease back then, but I subconsciously spread my legs apart and stood in a big scissor shape, while the sergeant had retreated to one side, seemingly glancing at me with an air of indifference.
"My surname is Kuang, from today on, I am your new company commander!"
Kuang Lian's long face was expressionless as he stared at us, but I felt his gaze was extremely piercing, with an unspoken authority that seemed to sweep across our faces like a knife edge.
"...once you enter the military camp, you are no longer an ordinary citizen, you are a soldier, a soldier who can protect your family and country, and solve problems for the people...no matter what you were in society before, whether you were a genius or a celebrity, or even a hooligan, my responsibility is to train you into a qualified soldier, to make you a real man..."
"Report to Comrade Company Commander, new recruits have assembled, whether to take them back to the dormitory for rest, please instruct!"
"Bring it back!"
"Yes!"
A few brief and forceful dialogues meant that we had finally arrived at our destination, and our mood also relaxed unconsciously.
"Attention!"
But to our surprise, it seemed that things were far from over. After Sergeant Lian had given us a simple pep talk and left, the sergeant's eyes gleamed with intensity as he stared at us and shouted loudly.
We stood up straight, although we had never received formal training in this aspect, but the basic training of standing at attention and at ease was still learned in physical education class. Looking at the standard military bearing of the sergeant and lieutenant officers in front of us, we also involuntarily gave it our all, at least looking a bit like the real thing.
"Halt!"
Another urgent order came, and under conditioned reflex, we all made a reflection. At that time, I didn't know how others did it, but in tension, I stepped my foot to the side and became a stride standing.
"Is this what you call taking a break?"
The sergeant slowly walked towards us, sneering and said: "Tell you, from today on I am your new squad leader, my responsibility is to train you into a man, I don't care if you are a city person or a rural person, as long as you arrive at this military camp, you all have to become qualified soldiers."
"You can't even do the simplest standing at attention and at ease that primary school students can do, so put everything down and go run 10 laps around the 400-meter track, then come back and rest!"
After saying all of the above in a loud voice, he looked at me with a profound gaze and walked up to me, saying: "And your rest has the most imagination, so you come to our team! If possible, you can be even more creative!"
I looked into his eyes and saw the faint chill, usually I'm very bold and daring, but for the first time I didn't dare to talk back, at that moment I only felt bitter in my mouth, and a chill in my heart, it turned out he had been eyeing me all along, I vaguely knew that I would have an absolutely unhappy new recruit three months of hard training.
That was my first day as a new recruit in the army camp, after we ran back 4000 meters panting, I had exhausted all my energy that I had rested on the way, plus this sergeant's special "favor" to me, he inevitably became one of the most impressive people in my impression.
That day, I remember that Commander Chang spoke to us for a long time, his words were simple yet profound. Perhaps many years later I won't remember much of it, but two short phrases have stuck with me: "qualified soldier" and "true man".
I remember those days when the term "real man" kept echoing in my ears, but I couldn't help wondering what kind of person is a real man.
In the following days, I gradually came to know that his name was Kuang Baogang. He was actually a junior lieutenant, but during that period he wore the rank of first lieutenant as he was the platoon leader of the new recruits. The sergeant's name was Qiao Chunnan, who was then the deputy squad leader of the new recruits' company. Although I didn't spend much time with these two men, they left an indelible mark on my memory and I will always cherish their memory.
Because in some sense, they changed my life...
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