Chapter 183: Even the Squad Leader Is Riding on Your Coattails

"Whoa, this big lion's head, smells so good!"

"I've tried it at Xilai Le before, and I was craving it like crazy!"

"Who is Xilai Le?"

"I haven't watched the TV drama, but it's a miracle doctor!"

In the outdoor training camp, marching tents were set up next to each other.

The Sixth Company soldiers packed meals in their lunch boxes and all returned to their own tents to eat.

Some people, trying to save effort, just find a spot outside, squat or stand and start cooking right away, and in a couple of moves they can finish all the food.

The food standards during outdoor marches naturally can't match those in the camp's cafeteria.

After all, the outdoor cooking environment is really limited, but the Cook Squad still does its utmost to let everyone have tasty meals.

Especially this time's lion's head and Yangzhou fried rice, all thanks to Lu Yang's luck.

Even though everyone isn't sure if it's authentic, the aroma is truly fragrant, and the taste truly delicious.

Especially this huge pot of fried rice, with various ingredients mixed together, and after it's cooked a handful of fresh green scallions is sprinkled on—it's hard to imagine it not tasting good.

"Chen Panpan, why did you crush the lion's head all the way? Isn't that ruining the dish?"

Liu Ziqiang, seeing Chen Panpan stirring the lunch box messily with a spoon, immediately frowned.

Chen Panpan giggled, "You don't get it; I crush it and mix it into the rice, so every bite has the meat flavor. Eating out means you have to be bold and mix it together; that's what makes it tasty."

Lu Yang couldn't help but give a thumbs‑up: "This person has an extremely high appetite."

At that moment, the Instructor and the Company Commander walked into the tent from outside.

Lu Yang and the others were just about to stand and salute when He Zhen Tao waved his hand with a smile, indicating they should sit down.

"How's it? Does the food still suit your stomach?"

"Delicious, tasty!"

Chen Panpan responded with a puffed‑up, playful grin, laughing.

For him, nothing is happier than eating, especially being able to eat out here in the field; he's basically the happiest soldier in the world.

Liu Ziqiang kicked him from behind, lowered his voice and scolded, "Did I ask you? Stop butting in!"

He Zhen Tao's words seemed to be asking everyone.

But anyone with eyes can see that he's actually asking Lu Yang whether the food suits his taste.

Because whether it's lion's head or Yangzhou fried rice, they're hometown flavors made especially for Lu Yang.

"Delicious, especially the lion's head made by Squad Leader Hong, it rivals the restaurants back home."

"Hahaha, as long as you like it, it's fine. This time the fried rice didn't use leftover rice, so it's a bit soft."

"Lu Yang, after you finish, add some more; the others can only have one lion's head, that's enough for you."

Lu Yang quickly waved his hand: "Enough, enough, that's already enough. Give the extra to the other soldiers."

Ma Qing'an gestured broadly: "Hey! Whoever contributed the most gets to eat more; that's the rule and also your reward."

"Today is just a warm‑up, a small test, and tomorrow there's a hard battle, so you must eat your fill."

"Otherwise, once on the battlefield, you'll want to eat but won't get anything, only gnawing on compressed biscuits and cold water."

"I will definitely give my all to secure victory for the company!"

Lu Yang replied solemnly, and the Company Commander and Instructor both broke into big smiles.

They actually hadn't eaten yet and were still hungry, but hearing Lu Yang's confident guarantee instantly made them feel not hungry.

Ma Qing'an said with a smile, "Eat slowly, no rush; in half an hour the battalion headquarters has a meeting, Lu Yang, come with us."

"Mainly to summarize today's fight and discuss how to fight tomorrow."

"Cheng Jun, you also come."

"Yes."

The Company Commander and the other left, and Cheng Jun looked at Lu Yang meaningfully: "The battalion headquarters meeting requires at least a Platoon Leader‑rank officer to attend; this time my Squad Leader status is just riding on your coattails."

Lu Yang also didn't know what level this meeting was.

But since the Company Commander told him to go, he'll just listen.

Sun Chen hurriedly poured a cup of hot water and handed it over, thoughtfully adding a little tea bag to aid digestion.

"Assistant Squad Leader, have a sip of water; just eating makes you choke!"

"You took down the enemy battalion commander with that shot today, that's awesome!"

"My admiration for you flows like endless rivers, unstoppable!"

"Flatterer!"

Liu Ziqiang scoffed, "How did that kid get to speak first again?"

Sun Chen's eyes were full of a thirst for progress, and he simply ignored him.

Cheng Jun looked at the two lively characters, shook his head helplessly, then turned to Lu Yang: "The battalion headquarters meeting is mainly to discuss how to fight tomorrow's battle."

"The Third Battalion isn't a soft target, especially the armored cluster of the Seventh Company, which always gives us a hard time in every drill."

"Lion's head and fried rice aren't that great; tomorrow you'll have to use all your strength, and perform even better than today."

"Can our Sixth Company wipe out past disgrace, shed the perpetual second‑place label, and lead the Second Battalion to victory? It all depends on this time!"

Lu Yang nodded vigorously, suddenly feeling a pressure pressing on his shoulder.

When a company, or even a battalion of three hundred‑plus people, places the outcome's key on you, you are no longer an individual.

Every tactical move, every aimed shot, Lu Yang must calculate precisely to ensure maximum battlefield gain.

Especially, you must settle your mind and not be like Auntie Kang on the battlefield this time, who let immediate victory cloud her judgment.

On the battlefield, greedily rushing forward is absolutely unacceptable; it can act like a fuse and cause total defeat.

However, light infantry versus armored troops is indeed a headache.

Because regular-caliber bullets simply cannot pierce the steel plating of armored vehicles.

Unless it's a heavy machine gun or armor-piercing rounds; of course, a rocket launcher can also inflict some damage on it.

The most troublesome is still the tank, with frontal turret armor thickness of 220 mm, and hull side and front armor thickness of 80–100 mm.

Besides anti-tank mines, anti-tank rocket projectiles, and ultra-long-range heavy artillery, the damage caused by other individual weapons is no different from a scratch.

This is also why, since World War II, tanks have been called the kings of land warfare as their main reason.

In the absence of air strike support, the appearance of a single tank is a catastrophe for all infantry.

However, pressure brings motivation; the tougher the bone, the more we must gnaw at it!

……

"Squad Leader Hong, your lion's head meatballs today are really good—nice balance of fat and lean, seasoning just right. Can I have another?"

At the field kitchen, First Platoon Leader Kang Changyi held a lunchbox, preparing to order another dish.

But he didn't expect that the cook responsible for serving meals, a one-legged cook, would ruthlessly refuse him.

"None left."

"Gone?"

Kang Changyi looked at the four big meatballs in the pot: "Aren't there still four?"

The cook said unhappily: "These are saved for Assistant Squad Leader Lu, to prevent him from getting hungry at night and needing an extra meal."

Kang Changyi, as if he didn't understand, said: "Even an extra meal, you can't eat that many; besides, eating so many meatballs in the middle of the night—wouldn't that get sickening?"

"What does whether it's sickening have to do with you?"

The cook directly tapped the big spoon against the pot's edge, angrily saying: "These lion's head meatballs were specially ordered by the company commander to reward Assistant Squad Leader Lu's meritorious performance; if you want to eat them, bring military merit!"

"Everyone else gets one each; even the company commander and instructor only had half each—just you, with your thick skin, are you that greedy?"

Kang Changyi flew into a rage—after all, he is a lieutenant and platoon leader.

The non-commissioned officer squad leaders, relying on their long service, seniority, and many merits, just talked back to him.

When did it become the turn of a newly assigned cook-squad soldier from the Sixth Company to criticize and find fault with me?

Just as Kang Changyi was about to lose his temper, Squad Leader Hong came up, took the serving spoon, and with a smiling face said the newcomer doesn't understand, asking the first platoon leader not to get angry.

"Our cook squad's purpose is simply to make sure the soldiers eat their fill and eat well."

"Xiao Zhang, you too—how can you not let the first platoon leader add a dish? Don't you have any sense of hierarchy?"

"He just didn't perform well in the training field, accidentally leading over a dozen soldiers of the first platoon into a ditch, where they were wiped out by an ambush—how can we deny him a meal over such a small matter?"

Kang Changyi nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood from being choked.

Who is he being sarcastic about?

Who just didn't perform well?

Who just led people into a ditch?

"What I did was clearly a test of courage! In military tactics, this is called 'if you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you get the tiger's cub?' What do you know?"

"Battlefield conditions change instantly; many things don't allow for deliberation—you've never even been to the front lines, yet you're spouting nonsense here!"

Squad Leader Hong wore a smiling, good-natured look, nodding repeatedly.

"Yes, yes, yes—we only know how to cook, we've never attended military academy, how would we know anything about leading troops in battle?"

"Hmph!"

"First Platoon Leader, what would you like to add? I'll dish it out for you."

"Lion's head meatballs."

"Can't give; these are reserved for Assistant Squad Leader Lu."

"????"

After all that talk, are you just messing with me here?

I had hoped that changing the squad leader would make things a bit more sensible.

But I didn't expect it to be just as clueless, lacking any sense of human relations!

I, a first platoon leader, what's wrong with eating his meatball—what's wrong!

Squad Leader Hong said embarrassedly: "The company commander said that, aside from Assistant Squad Leader Lu, each person may only have one; the other two platoon leaders also follow this rule. If you really want to eat, go ask the company commander and instructor for permission, bring the note, and I'll serve you right away."

Kang Changyi choked on the spot—only someone sick would go request permission for a meatball; isn't this just asking for a scolding?

"Forget it, I don't want it—just give me some other dish, anything will do."

"No problem."

"Bring some braised pork with radish, and also stir-fried mushrooms with greens."

"Okay."

Kang Changyi passed the lunchbox over.

Squad Leader Hong took it with one hand, and with the other scooped a ladle from the insulated container.

The ladle was full of radish and meat, which was scooped up—Kang Changyi watched, swallowing his saliva.

He had taken less in the first round, so he wasn't fully full; he estimated this ladleful would be about enough.

But just as the ladle was about to approach the lunchbox, Squad Leader Hong's hand began to tremble uncontrollably.

Like a Parkinson's patient, he shook all the meat out of the spoon.

When it was poured into the lunchbox, only two pieces of rotten radish remained.

This shaking is even worse than that of a high school cafeteria lady!