Chapter 1171

On the playground, the national flag fluttered in the wind, and the military flag also unfurled.

Over a thousand soldiers raised their right fists and took a solemn oath.

I am a member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army,

I swear:

To obey the leadership of the Communist Party of China

To serve the people wholeheartedly

To obey orders and be loyal to my duties

To strictly observe discipline and keep secrets

To be heroic and tenacious, and not fear sacrifice

To train hard in combat skills and be ready to fight at all times

To never betray the army and to defend the motherland with my life

The soldiers shouted with glaring eyes, and the veins on their necks bulged. Ordinary people use their flesh and blood to forge a Great Wall of steel, defending the people and the motherland with their unyielding, unbreakable, and resilient will!

They made a great oath to the people and the motherland, never to die until the end!

They were soldiers now!

No!

They were warriors now!

After the rank-conferring ceremony was over, the new recruits of the new recruit regiment were each led back, organized by the instructor for an ideological activity, and wrote letters home.

It wasn't until after lunch that the new recruits took off their regular uniforms and changed back into their training uniforms.

In the army, there are corresponding rules and regulations for walking, sitting, sleeping, eating, living, and traveling.

According to the "Internal Affairs Regulations," soldiers should wear training uniforms during combat, training, combat readiness, handling emergencies, and physical labor. Units below the division level can uniformly wear training uniforms during daily work and life. Organs of units above the army level can also uniformly wear training uniforms during working hours in the barracks.

The "Regulations" also stipulate that when wearing summer training uniforms, usually the first button of the jacket is not buttoned, and the sleeves can be rolled up (before wearing, first roll the sleeves outward to the armpit seam, then roll the part outside the cuff outward to the seam with the cuff, and then fold the cuff down to cover the rolled part), and the buttons should be fastened, with the camouflage pattern or the front of the cuff exposed.

So after changing back into training uniforms, the new recruits basically all rolled up their sleeves. Because it was gradually getting hot, they could cool off a bit. Of course, they didn't forget to button on the issued epaulets.

Looking around, the new recruits all had one chevron on their shoulders, and everyone was quite happy, feeling that they looked a bit like veteran soldiers. By the time of the autumn recruitment, they would be veteran soldiers with half a year of military service.

"Really good." Someone couldn't help but sigh, "It feels different after hanging the rank."

"What's different?"

"The shoulders feel heavier."

Wang Yan looked over upon hearing this. It was a plain, green face, but what he said was very interesting and pleasant to hear.

"Comrades, do your shoulders feel heavy?"

"Squad Deputy is telling jokes again. How heavy can two epaulets be?" a new recruit in the squad replied.

Clearly, this one was straightforward, didn't think about things at all, didn't know how to turn a corner, had relatively poor reading comprehension, lacked that kind of abstract divergent thinking, and it looked like he had never passed Chinese class in school.

Just like Xu Sanduo, grinning foolishly: "Wang Yan, I don't feel anything; I just feel very happy. Today our Squad Leader told me that I am a good soldier."

"Does it still need the Old Squad Leader to say it? You are a good soldier!"

"Right, that's what I told the Squad Leader at the time. He nodded and then said I am a good soldier."

"Okay, keep it up and continue to work hard." Wang Yan smiled, "It won't be long before we are assigned to companies. No matter where you go, you can't slack off. You must study seriously and train hard just the same."

"Yes! Guarantee to complete the mission." Xu Sanduo even gave a salute, baring his big teeth and smiling happily.

A new recruit asked: "Squad Deputy, you're definitely going to the Seventh Company with our Company Commander, right?"

"Aren't you talking nonsense? No matter how awesome our Squad Deputy is, he's still a soldier. If the Company Commander wants to take him, can he not go? Besides, our Squad Leader and Platoon Leader are both the Company Commander's people, and they've taken good care of our Squad Deputy. Look at which new recruit smokes openly? I estimate that in the entire new recruit regiment, our Squad Deputy is the only one."

"Hey..." Wang Yan waved his hand, "You can't take breaking the rules as your own glory; that's wrong. We have regulations. I'll criticize myself first, and then criticize the Company Commander."

The new recruits in the same squad were stunned, amazed at Wang Yan's shamelessness.

Wang Yan naturally understood their thoughts and smiled: "I know, I'm a beneficiary, so I have no face to say this, but the principle is the principle. Besides, smoking isn't good; it hurts the body. I learned it early because I was ignorant before. Many of you don't know how to smoke yet; this thing is meaningless, no need to learn."

Then everyone started criticizing the Squad Deputy; he was a bit too shameless...

After the rank-conferring ceremony, the live-fire shooting that the new recruits had been thinking about day and night finally arrived. Everyone wanted to touch the gun, everyone wanted to hold the trigger and not let go, rat-tat-tat-tat-tat...

Chengcai wanted to be a sniper; he wanted to be one before he became a soldier.

Previously, he had watched a movie called "Enemy at the Gates." The thrilling and heart-pounding duels of the snipers in the film deeply attracted him. He imagined countless times that when the war started, he would hold a sniper rifle, hide on the battlefield, and precisely harvest the lives of the enemy.

After deciding to become a soldier, he wanted it even more.

After becoming a soldier, he wanted it even more.

Finally, the opportunity for him to perform arrived. He believed he had a talent for shooting. He believed that the damn Wang Yan wasn't strong in everything.

"Everyone, let Wang Yan give you a demonstration." Gao Cheng shouted with a smile.

So the eyes of the new recruits fell on Wang Yan. Chengcai did too; he looked at that damn person wearing that damn smile.

Smile, smile, smile, what the hell are you smiling at? Today I'll let you see that I'm not worse than you! Chengcai thought to himself, self-motivating.

Thinking this way, he also smiled, but he had already imagined Wang Yan's wonderful complexion...

Then he saw Wang Yan go over and pick up the Type 81 rifle. He saw Wang Yan load it with a 'click' and saw Wang Yan shoot repeatedly at the target two hundred meters away.

Before long, the wireless walkie-talkie in Gao Cheng's hand crackled with a voice.

"One shot five rings, one shot seven rings, five shots eight rings, ten shots nine rings, the remaining thirteen shots are all ten rings."

Click...

A sound rang in Chengcai's ears. He knew that was his heart breaking. He already had a good understanding of shooting. Two hundred meters, iron sights—even Wang Yan's posture wasn't that standard, yet he had achieved such results.

Immediately after, he reacted.

Gao Cheng directly let Wang Yan demonstrate; he must have given Wang Yan special training beforehand and fed Wang Yan a large amount of ammunition. Yes, it must be like this. After all, everyone knew that Wang Yan had a very good relationship with the veteran soldiers and the Company Commander, not like superiors and subordinates, but like good friends.

He had heard that Wang Yan dared to scold Wu Liuyi, and Wu Liuyi still laughed.

Look at other new recruits and try scolding; let alone scolding, even if they just used a swear word, they would be severely disciplined.

Of course, there were also tough guys; it was said that in another new recruit company, someone beat up a veteran soldier... but clearly, in their new recruit company, there was absolutely none of that.

Chengcai firmed up his idea; it must be like this. As long as he also had a large amount of ammunition to shoot, he could be more powerful than Wang Yan.

He didn't smile anymore and lowered his head, not wanting to see Wang Yan's smug, show-off look...

Gao Cheng was praising loudly, and Xu Sanduo came over.

"Wang Yan, you're really amazing."

"You can be even more amazing."

"You're lying to me again; I can't catch up to you." Xu Sanduo shook his head with a silly smile.

"W-why is it 'again'? When did I lie to you?"

"You said before that as long as I train well, I can be better than you, but I'm already too tired to train, and I still can't catch up to you in anything."

This was an honest child. Wang Yan chuckled and patted his arm: "That's because you haven't trained well enough. Under the condition that your body can bear it, you must work even harder. After all, I've been training since I was a child, training like this for more than ten years, with a body of childhood skills that you can't catch up to in two or three months. But you have potential; given time, you will definitely be able to do it.

Besides, what did I tell you before? If you improve today compared to yesterday, that's good. You can't compare yourself to me; you have to compare yourself to yourself. Otherwise, when you are stronger than me, who will you compare to? Only by constantly overcoming yourself can you be a true strong person."

"I feel like I'll never catch up to you in my life."

"Don't say discouraging words."

"I'm not discouraged; I'll just chase hard, and I'll definitely get stronger and stronger." Xu Sanduo smiled, saying pure words.

Wu Liuyi and Shi Jin were both listening on the side. Shi Jin bumped Wu Liuyi with his shoulder. Wu Liuyi looked over impatiently and, not surprisingly, saw a smiling face with winking eyes.

Wu Liuyi just let out a hum and went to teach other new recruits...

Although he was so dazzling, Wang Yan still went to the shooting range with other new recruits. These were all recorded and were to be compared by the over a thousand new recruits of the entire new recruit regiment. This included the results of various physical training sessions before, and the final honor of the new recruit company also relied on these results. The assessments by the veteran soldiers and the Company Commander Gao Cheng were the same.

In fact, so far, Wang Yan had also received some honors, such as the Interior Affairs Model, Training Model, Excellent New Recruit, and Excellent Deputy Squad Leader, but they were all honors of the battalion and company, and relatively speaking, the gold content was not enough.

The days passed one by one, not dull but also dull.

The non-dull part was that every day was very passionate. There were always gossips from other battalions and companies mentioned by veteran soldiers—new recruits beating veteran soldiers was just the beginning, there were also new recruits fighting, new recruits offending visiting leaders, or new recruits who didn't want to stay in the army anymore. These messy gossips that made people gloat and feel a bit proud almost happened every day.

The dull part was that every day was almost the same, every day was exhausted, and they fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed.

It was very fulfilling, not empty at all...

Seeing that the end of the new recruit company days was approaching, the new recruits had recently begun to be a bit restless, imagining the life of a real soldier after being assigned to a company.

And on a night after everyone had chatted and fallen into a sound sleep, the life-taking, soul-summoning whistle sounded suddenly again.

The new recruits woke up suddenly, and then began to hurriedly call their companions who hadn't woken up, hurriedly put on clothes, packed their bags, and ran to the barracks entrance to stand in line and assemble.

After dealing with the unqualified people as usual, Gao Cheng, who was also in training uniform and carrying a backpack, spoke.

"Listen up!"

The new recruits stood at attention, and Gao Cheng said, "Today, we are going to carry out the last major project of the new recruit company training: a long-distance training exercise! A preview: after completing this project and finishing the drill, you will be assigned to companies. I won't say much more; time is urgent. I'll give you ten minutes to solve your personal problems like pooping and peeing. After that, just like the armed cross-country, everyone carries six bricks. Start marching, three days and two nights. Dismissed."

As soon as the words fell, someone in the team couldn't help but let out an 'ouch.' The veteran soldier glared over: "What are you 'ouching' about? Huh? Hurry up! No talking! Whoever talks again will do a hundred-meter frog jump with a load before leaving!"

Like this, the new recruits quieted down and hurriedly dispersed to do their own things. Some people just happened to have to go out when something happened, so they had to poop and pee, always dawdling for a while. After all, they weren't being sent directly to fight, so they were relatively well-prepared and it was relatively humane.

Wang Yan also went to pee, washed up, came back, stood in line, and chatted with Wu Liuyi and others.

There wasn't too much nagging. After loading the bricks and lining up to get the military rations and the water for replenishment, all of which were stuffed into the bags, the per capita load had far exceeded fifteen kilograms, at least twenty-plus kilograms, heading toward thirty kilograms, basically reaching the general wartime load—an absolute actual combat training exercise.

They didn't give people a chance to adapt. After joining the over a thousand people of the entire new recruit regiment, the companies set off one after another, directly at the speed of a forced march.

Fortunately, the new recruits had already had training before and could hold on, but over a long distance, they were almost heading toward their limits, which was also the purpose of the training exercise.

There is also a "Devil Week" in the army, which is to break limits, temper the body, and toughen the will.

The soldiers of the entire new recruit regiment stretched into a long dragon, left the barracks, walked onto the highway, leaned against the side of the road, and walked silently and quickly. On the road, there were also a dozen military vehicles driving.

Occasionally, passing cars or people who didn't know whether they were going out early or returning late slowed down specifically, watching the soldiers walking with their heads down.

By the time the soldiers walked with their heads down until dawn, it became even livelier.

People on the road greeted them with smiles from time to time. There were children watching and saluting with shining eyes, and there were also people who specifically bought water to catch up and give to the soldiers.

The officers and veteran soldiers handled these problems, and the team marched forward without stopping.

This was still in the suburbs. If they marched into the city, the scene would naturally be even livelier.

Perhaps this is the meaning of a long-distance training exercise.

In the process of marching, one would naturally see the smiling faces of the people and the admiration in the children's eyes, and naturally, one would also feel the heaviness on the shoulders.

The soldiers were all silent. They were already numb from walking and had no energy to talk. When the people passed by to inspect, they shouldn't be noisy.

Their sweat had long soaked their clothes, and they carried heavy backpacks, firmly, step by step, forward!