The First Battalion: Rebirth from the Ashes Chapter 6: Formation and Internal Affairs Training

  "Big Brother Hai, I want to go home, shall we run away?"

  A pitiful voice beside me was crying and complaining tearfully.

  "You don't want to live anymore! Run? Where can you run to? Do you think you can run into these deep mountains and forests to feed the tigers?"

  I was startled, this kid's idea is really too creative. I glanced at the bed against the wall in the distance and forced myself to persuade him: "Peng Zuo, don't you think about why you came to the army? It's for training, it's nothing, you won't die, just get through these three months!"

  The barracks were actually similar to the dormitories I lived in when I was studying, only a bit more exaggerated. A room was roughly the size of our classroom, and with upper and lower bunks, one house could accommodate over thirty new recruits. The squad leader, who ate and slept with us, made it convenient for them to torment us rather than manage us.

  I was assigned to the third squad of new recruits, and the squad leader is none other than Qiao Chun Nan, who has already been secretly nicknamed "Qiao Yan Wang" by us. In this barracks that's like a hellhole, he's the king here, and an even more annoying Yanluo Wang than the little devil. And unfortunately, Xiao Peng Ze also got assigned to our squad, sharing my hardships, and happens to be sleeping on the upper bunk right next to me.

  "But I...I just can't take it for even one day...... Waaahhh!"

  This kid is still a child, facing everything in front of him. As for us who are spoiled in the city, when have we ever suffered like this? He lay on the bed next to me, covering his face with the quilt and crying silently.

  "Can't stand it, have to stand it. The more Qiao Yanwang stares at me, the more I refuse to give in!" I gritted my teeth and said to him: "I just don't believe I can't beat..."

  "Who! Who's still talking after going to bed? Don't you want to sleep? If you don't want to sleep, go run ten laps outside and come back!"

  Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives! The voice of 'Qiao Yanwang' roared out from the corner of the wall, followed by a huge beam of light from a flashlight. I gritted my teeth, taking advantage of the darkness to glare hatefully in that direction, silencing the voice. Meanwhile, Peng Ze was so scared he didn't even dare make a sound.

  This is only the first week of new recruit training, and I've already started to loathe this place. Good heavens! Where is the humanity in this place? It's simply a purgatory for the living. Right now, my mind is filled with nothing but the determination to persevere, and I can no longer find any joy to pursue. "To sacrifice one's life for the country, to look upon death as a return home" (Cao Zhi) - this is exactly what I'm going through right now!

  Standing at attention, I'm glad our new recruit training took place in winter, with little chance to enjoy the warmth of the sun. But making you stand still for two hours will make you realize that standing isn't as simple as it seems.

  What's more, when there is a "Qiao Yan Wang" standing on the side, shouting and demonstrating with his chest out, belly in and buttocks clenched, you will feel even more like you are being subjected to cruel punishment. No wonder Peng Zuo couldn't take it anymore.

  Qiao Yan Wang held a long vertical stick in his hand, suddenly pulled it down on someone's arm, and if it opened up, it meant you didn't use enough force; used the knee to gently tap the back of the knee, if one tap made you bend your leg, then it meant your legs hadn't been used with enough force; again, while you weren't paying attention, he would lightly pinch the soft and fluffy fat on your buttocks, which meant you hadn't clenched your buttocks tightly.

  Well, you're lucky to have won, your reward is to stand for another two hours. If it happens to be meal time, sorry! You'll just have to save a bit more food for our hardworking army.

  "Turn your head, to the left, to the left! I'll make you little brat turn right!"

  Of course, for me, this 'nail house' that caught Joe Wang's attention from the start was especially taken care of. The requirements were so strict that they made my scalp tingle. He smiled wryly and said, "Good! I'll let you turn right, let's see if I can straighten you out."

  It's not that I didn't listen to him, after all, I now understand in my heart that although he has a grudge against me, what he teaches are the essentials for being a qualified soldier. However, maybe it's because I've gotten into the habit of nodding and shaking my head locally, or perhaps my brain has forgotten where the center position is, so no matter how hard I try, I just can't get it right. Seeing 'Qiao Yanwang's' sinister appearance makes me feel a chill in my heart.

  Then, my brand new green military uniform was honored to be visited by three big safety pins. The needle heads that shone with a cold light in the sunlight were facing my neck, and if I tilted my head too much, they would ruthlessly pierce into my flesh. After using this method, although I had already cursed all eighteen generations of ancestors of "Qiao Yanwang" in my heart, after two days, I indeed stopped tilting my head.

  Walking in a straight step, the more I walk in a straight step, the more depressed I become. My body has to be a straight line, my legs have to lift at an angle of 45 degrees or more, and it can't be a big stride. It's easy to say but hard to do.

  "Left, right, left, right..."

  "Haha!"

  The comrades in the whole new army burst into laughter, because our lovely little kid Peng Jiu comrade didn't have big legs, but he actually walked with a 'shun gai' (that is, when kicking his left leg, he raised his left hand, and when kicking his right leg, he raised his right hand). This way of walking is due to the body being stretched too tightly, making it difficult for oneself to notice, but if someone next to him sees it, they will laugh so hard their waist will bend.

  Of course, such a creative move was recognized by 'Qiao Yan Wang', and the result of recognition is that you are in our training after two hours of self-training on the training ground. Looking at Xiao Peng's tears streaming down, I dare say that if his father saw it, Qiao Yan Wang's face would definitely bloom, but what's the use? This is a troop, this is a world where you can call for heaven and earth but no one responds.

  It was okay, that day I had Peng Zhuo with me, because during the leg splitting exercise, each movement had to be held for five minutes, and what's even more infuriating is that my legs had to be lifted high, at least above 45 degrees. I kept encouraging myself to do better, so I lifted it to 90 degrees. Unfortunately, I was discovered by 'Qiao Yan Wang' who noticed me, he 'praised' me and rewarded me with holding this posture for two hours. In order to test my endurance, he even hung two bricks on my feet. After I finished my 'overtime', I sat on the ground with a thud, feeling that these two legs were not mine anymore. It took 20 minutes to recover.

  There is also housework, mainly of course it's folding military uniforms. As soon as I mention folding military uniforms, I get a headache, because this task is too artistic.

  "Qiao Yan Wang" only used one or two minutes to fold out a "tofu block", but the new recruits' quilts were newly issued, and the cotton had not been slept on for long, it was loose inside, you have to press it until there is almost no air inside, then use your hands to flatten it heavily before you can fold it successfully.

  But is it easy? I feel like this is asking us to compress a sponge into a sheet of paper, which is unthinkable.

  But there was no way, so I had to think of a way to do it. So I accepted the method of 'Qiao Yan Wang', which is to wet my back and let the cotton inside be solidified by water, so that I can stack up 'stinky tofu'. For this, I slept with a wet back for a week, and the inside of the back was cool and refreshing. It's strange that at that time, my body was actually very good, and I didn't get sick.

  But little Peng was even more outrageous, every time someone came to inspect, the little brat would ask someone to stack up the "stinky tofu" and then he wouldn't touch that "stinky tofu" at all. At night when sleeping, he would find excuses to stay up late, whether it was training or reciting orders, until the squad leader finished checking the beds, then he would sneak into my bed to keep warm!

  Mom! This kid likes to sleep hugging people, he hugs me so tightly that I suspect he has a 'gay' hobby at a young age, I really admire you.

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