Chapter 113: Building Military Tents, Digging Smokeless Stoves

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Lu Yang swung his hammer round and struck the stake.

Beside him, a group of new recruits were frantically setting up tents.

Last night, after the emergency assembly was sounded, the new recruits fully armed and rushed on foot to the vicinity of this forest.

After walking and running, winding around, it was almost dawn before they reached the destination.

The first task upon arriving here was to build a shelter.

In the form of a short-term field training, to welcome the final assessment of the lower company for each new recruit.

Interestingly, this forest is not far from the Training Section.

Walk a few steps further and you can even see the outdoor shooting range where Lu Yang previously practiced shooting.

The feeling of having just returned to the New Recruit Company for only two days, then immediately turning back again, left Lu Yang with a sense of inexplicable hassle.

At present, each squad and platoon has been assigned the task of setting up military tents in the 'field' to ensure a sheltered place to sleep at night.

Setting up military tents looks simple, but actually involves some difficulty and requires teamwork.

Before setting up, each new recruit was eager and raring to go, showing great excitement.

Because whether now or years later, outdoor camping is always a very pleasant and fashionable activity.

Especially for many young people from ordinary families, this is a field they have never encountered before but are very interested in.

Of course, once they truly arrive at the lower company, the days of field training will be each person's most painful and unforgettable memory.

The veterans' saying, 'Every day two taels of earth, on rainy days half a catty of mud,' describes the field training days.

At present, it is merely a simplified version made to let the new recruits adapt in advance.

But once they actually started setting up, the new recruits discovered that assembling a bunch of parts into a sturdy military tent was not easy.

At this moment, Lu Yang was outside pounding stakes to finally secure the tent.

Others were inside, frantically tying ropes to the frame.

It gave a feeling of being both busy and chaotic.

"Stop, stop, stop, all of you get out here!"

At that moment, Zhou Kaidong's scolding came from outside.

Lu Yang stood up, his forehead slightly sweating.

The others also hurried out of the tent and lined up in front of Zhou Kaidong.

Zhou Kaidong pointed at the tent behind them and said in a hostile tone, "Look, look back and see what this thing is? If you don't know, I thought it was a ghost, I pasted a house together with paper!"

The new recruits turned around and looked at the somewhat lopsided, crooked military tent behind them, looking bewildered.

What's going on?

It looked fine just before.

How did tying the ropes make it turn out like this?

Zhou Kaidong angrily scolded, "Can people even live in a tent like this? It'll collapse with a gust of wind! Tear it down and start over; if you can't set it up properly, you'll all sleep outside tonight and freeze to death—serves you right!"

Having said that, Zhou Kaidong turned and left in a huff.

When they were taught earlier, a group of veterans gave a very serious demonstration.

They all said they understood, but when they tried, it was all for naught.

Not only was this the case for the Third Squad, but other platoons were similar as well.

Even worse, some directly made the military tent into a zongzi-like shape, resembling the conical huts of primitive tribes.

Zhou Kaidong left, leaving the embarrassed new recruits; they first glanced at each other, then subconsciously turned their gazes toward Lu Yang.

Because in their eyes, besides Zhou Kaidong, Lu Yang was the only 'adult' among them and the new recruit who most resembled a veteran.

"Let's tear it down."

As for such a tent, Lu Yang also found it hard to look at.

Originally, he wanted to help, but Kong Long and Ding Tengfei, among others, were too enthusiastic.

They gave him no chance to explain, insisting on immersively enjoying the fun of pitching a tent, which resulted in this.

However, nothing can be done perfectly the first time; without mistake experience, it's hard to have a process of correction and growth.

But even on the second attempt, with Lu Yang's guidance, the result didn't improve much; obviously, the coordination was problematic.

Only by the third attempt did it begin to look somewhat proper.

Lu Yang also didn't expect these people's hands-on ability to be so poor; just looking at their elementary school crafts class, they hadn't learned well.

Originally, Lu Yang thought some places might need reinforcement, but having not eaten breakfast and run so far, he was already too exhausted to bother.

Watching everyone plop down on the ground, panting as they rested and drank water, Lu Yang said nothing more, silently picked up an entrenching shovel, and dug a trench outside the tent.

"Assistant Squad Leader, what are you doing?"

"Digging a drainage ditch."

Kong Long scratched his head, "When we were taught to pitch tents, they never mentioned digging a drainage ditch."

Lu Yang explained, "I saw this in a wilderness survival book."

Genuine military field tents must have a drainage ditch dug, so that when it rains, rainwater won't flow back in.

Besides that, it also keeps out snakes, insects, rats, and ants; sometimes, one must even sprinkle grass ash mixed with sulfur powder to repel poisonous snakes.

Because this is a 'short-term field training,' the focus is on experience, so the requirements aren't that strict, which is why the veterans didn't teach this step.

But Lu Yang felt it was still necessary to do this, lest some bug crawl onto his face while he slept at night.

"Whatever the Assistant Squad Leader says, we'll do it that way!"

Ding Tengfei slapped his thigh and stood up, also picking up the engineer's shovel.

He actually thought Lu Yang's suggestion was quite good, preventing trouble before it happens.

This day is overcast; it's said they'll be staying in the "wilderness" for two or three days, and if it rains, that would be terrible.

Kong Long simply stood up from the ground, and began, according to Lu Yang's words, to dig a drainage ditch around the just-built marching tent.

Zhou Kaidong walked around and came back, seeing this scene he immediately laughed, and asked Lu Yang.

"Did you teach?"

"Yeah."

"Again from the book?"

"Yes."

Zhou Kaidong gave him a thumbs-up: "Reading more is still beneficial. The Cook Squad needs two helpers; you and Kong Long go on a temporary assignment, which is also digging dirt."

"Alright, let's go now."

Lu Yang and Kong Long, carrying engineer's shovels, came to a nearby place.

The Cook Squad people were all dirty-faced, squatting behind a small dirt mound digging a pit.

Just seeing the shovel-drawn outline on the ground, Lu Yang's ear chimed once, and a system prompt sounded.

"Smokeless stove?"

As soon as Lu Yang's three words left his mouth, several veteran soldiers of the Cook Squad looked up in surprise, gazing at him.

The Cook Squad Leader chuckled: "You know your stuff, you even know about smokeless stoves?"

Lu Yang had long heard the fame of the smokeless stove, but seeing it in person was still his first time.

In his previous life, while scrolling short videos, he loved watching wilderness survival bloggers, digging away there.

The principle of the smokeless stove is actually simple: sink the stove base and dig three or four long smoke exhaust channels.

Cover the smoke exhaust channels with damp leaves, branches, and soil.

This way, when cooking with fire, the smoke is collected by the exhaust channels and does not drift away to draw enemy attention.

However, Lu Yang learned from modern war history that during the counterattack against Vietnam's self-defense, smokeless stoves actually already existed.

But the ideal is plump, the reality is scrawny; in combat there are rarely opportunities to cook with fire, and the smokeless stove thus became a "rib" (useless).

Because soldiers need to constantly cross mountains, infiltrate, detour, and forced march; cooking with fire is a luxury, and most soldiers basically rely on individual rations.

The first standard field ration domestically was the compressed dry food produced in 1976.

It mainly consists of wheat flour, vegetable oil, white sugar, milk powder, and edible salt.

But this food also has drawbacks: eating too much easily causes internal heat, a mouthful leaves crumbs all over, and without water it's hard to swallow.

However, on the battlefield drinking water is a precious resource, so many soldiers then could only use unfiltered stream or river water, together with compressed biscuits to fill their stomachs.

Over time, this led many to suffer gastrointestinal problems; vomiting and diarrhea during marches basically became the norm.

However, with gradual improvements in military rations, there are now self-heating individual rations, and logistical support supplies have been greatly strengthened.

And this, in fact, is also a process of constant trial and error, constant improvement and enhancement.