Chapter 16: Muster of Troops and Impressions of Chu An

“Lin Ping!”
“Here!”
Tong Lianzhong suddenly called out a name.
Among Chu An’s group of recruits, a new soldier responded loudly.
The next moment, Tong Lianzhong called out another name.
After both responded, he said, “Take your luggage and follow Staff Officer Li!”
At that moment, one of the three men who had been waiting stepped forward and said, “Come to me!”
While the two were still confused, other reception officers began calling names as well.
Some called out one, some two, and the highest called four names.
Because the group of new recruits brought back by that reception officer was obviously large, at least fifty or more.
“All right, Battalion Commander, Instructor, I’ll take them away first!”
The staff officer named Li turned around and saluted the two men who had been waiting with him.
Because of his words, all the recruits who heard his voice looked at these two officers.
Battalion Commander?
Instructor?
Chu An was stunned for a moment.
Could these be the battalion commander and instructor of their future recruit battalion?
Only a moment later, the staff officer Li led the dozen or so recruits he had called out away.
Then, the officer whom Li called the battalion commander walked toward the flagpole on one side.
“Comrades, greetings!”
“Greetings, Commander!”
Most of the recruits present had already undergone some training, so when the battalion commander spoke, they responded enthusiastically in unison.
“My name is Qi Ning, and I will be your battalion commander for the next three months!” The commander first introduced himself, then continued, “Firstly, on behalf of our C Regiment, I warmly welcome all of you aspiring youths to join our ranks!”
*Clap clap*
He started clapping, and Chu An and the other recruits followed suit.
When the applause died down, he resumed speaking: “Secondly, I apologize that many of you have been with us for three days, but today is the first time I formally meet you!”
He smiled slightly, but Chu An saw no genuine remorse in his expression.
Of course, he understood the formalities.
“Our regiment is a unit with fine traditions. Although it was formed after the founding of the nation...”
Standing on the platform, this battalion commander Qi Ning spoke at length for over twenty minutes. Towards the end, Chu An was almost nodding off.
He spoke of the glorious history of the C Regiment, but the so-called glory was mostly about assisting local areas with production and construction.
Really, Chu An rolled his eyes and glanced at the reactions of the recruits beside him.
He felt these words were unnecessary.
As a Category B unit, even if newly established, there was no impressive battle record or history to boast about, so why bother with this speech?
Soldiers are the sharp edge of the nation, at least on the surface they represent the state's instruments of force.
Even if not all the recruits were joining with the desire to fight and earn merit, young people’s vision of the military was naturally passionate.
But what he was saying was anything but inspiring.
Road repairs today, digging reservoirs tomorrow, helping villagers harvest crops the day after—this was no different from collective farm labor.
Especially knowing that the neighboring country was restless; under such circumstances, hearing that the army was always busy with these tasks would make new recruits question if the unit could really handle real combat.
Fortunately, after more than twenty minutes, he finally finished.
Then, the instructor came up on stage.
After introducing himself as Cui, his speech was surprisingly brief.
He just told everyone that as soldiers they must be loyal to the Party and love their country, without preaching grand theories or speaking at length.
His speech lasted about a minute.
This made Chu An instantly feel a certain fondness for this instructor.
“Now, the appointments will be announced!”
The instructor opened a folder: “Tong Lianzhong!”
“Here!”
Tong Lianzhong in front of Chu An responded loudly.
“Tong Lianzhong is appointed as the commander of Recruit Company One!”
“Yes, sir!” Tong Lianzhong saluted.
Then, the instructor called out another name.
“Xia Jianxian!”
“Here!”
A reception officer from a nearby recruit formation stepped forward.
“Xia Jianxian is appointed as commander of Recruit Company Two!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Now, roll call for Company One squad leaders!”
“Here!”
A seasoned squad leader from the adjacent formation called out in response, then stepped forward to lead his squad.
At the same time, Chu An and the others looked on.
Honestly, it surprised Chu An that there were only two recruit companies in a recruit battalion.
According to traditional military organization, the army followed a ‘three-three’ system.
But seeing the total number assembled, only a little over two hundred, having just two companies was not strange.
Three companies were simply unnecessary!
...
“You... you... fall out!”
Beside him, Chu An turned to see the squad leader who had been called come to their formation and choose two soldiers.
These two soldiers were clearly the best among their batch.
They were dark-skinned and robust; though one was somewhat short, about 1.65 meters tall, his facial muscles were well-defined, clearly a tough individual.
Soon, the squad leader who had chosen the two soldiers came to Chu An’s formation.
Compared to the recruits they had brought in, the squad leader clearly did not know much about Chu An’s group.
Chu An was standing in the front row, and at 1.75 meters tall, he was second from the left.
A bit unexpectedly, the squad leader skipped over the taller recruit next to Chu An and stopped in front of him, facing him directly.
“Your build is thin, but you eat a lot. What did you do back home?” The squad leader asked with a serious expression.
Everyone ate together, and Chu An’s appetite was noted by other squad leaders.
“Reporting, squad leader, I didn’t do anything at home!”
Chu An’s voice was a bit small.
It was mainly because he felt guilty!
That was a clear lie.
His original self was a proper rural person. Although he had been studying, he had always helped with farm work during weekends and after school—plowing the fields, feeding pigs, cooking, everything.
But just yesterday, Squad Leader Wang had confronted him.
One has to save face, especially since Chu An had a decent feeling about Wang despite being somewhat tricky.
Although the foot washing and meal service was only on the first night, the next day it stopped.
Still, Wang said that after division into squads, Chu An could become a deputy squad leader based on his bed-making skills—so Chu An had to stay!
He wasn’t familiar with the other veterans; who knew what the criteria were for deputy squad leader?
Looking at the squad leader in front of him, wondering what else he might ask and how he should answer,
the squad leader instead continued walking to the right.
Hmm... obviously, he was ignoring Chu An.
The squad leader’s impression was that Chu An ate a lot.
Normally, being able to eat meant good physical stamina, but Chu An said he didn’t do anything, and responded timidly and lacking confidence.
A timid glutton!
That was the squad leader’s impression of Chu An.
Naturally, such a soldier wouldn’t be considered for anything.
...