Chapter 58: On the Eve of Joining the Company, the News Goes Public!

For the families of Chu An and the other new recruits, May might have been a bittersweet time.

Around this time, many families received letters and money sent back home by their sons who had enlisted.

Perhaps the money was meager, and perhaps the letters were short.

Yet familial affection could bridge a thousand mountains and rivers.

However, there was one common thread among all the letters sent by the new recruits in the C Regiment's recruit camp: not a single person mentioned that they were undergoing pre-combat training.

Nor did anyone disclose their current situation at the camp.

This was partly due to the superiors' orders regarding confidentiality, and partly out of a desire to spare their families from worry.

Reporting only good news and omitting the bad was an unspoken understanding shared by everyone.

Even so, despite their best efforts to keep things under wraps, as late May arrived, their families far away in the inland provinces had basically learned of the situation.

This was because national newspapers had officially reported on the Vietnamese authorities' expulsion of overseas Chinese.

Spurred by the coverage in state-run media, various local news agencies also began racing to unearth everything the Vietnamese regime had done over the past two years.

For a time, the new recruits in the military found themselves facing a headache.

When the next batch of letters from home arrived, nearly all of them mentioned this matter.

After all, when everyone had first enlisted, the military personnel who conducted family visits had explicitly stated where they might eventually be sent.

At the time, none of their families thought much of it.

The motherland was vast, and serving as a soldier anywhere was still serving; even if some regions were exceptionally harsh, they would simply urge their children to persevere, believing that enduring hardship in one's youth was nothing to dwell on!

Yet now...

"Ah, what a headache! My parents wrote to me as well, asking if we're going to fight the Vietnamese devils, and telling me to be quick on my feet and run slower if a real battle breaks out. You guys tell me, do I look like that kind of person?"

Inside the Squad 4 dormitory, following the distribution of the latest batch of letters, Gong Liqun finished reading his and spoke with an exasperated expression.

He made no attempt to hide the contents of the letter, readily sharing even his parents' advice to run slowly.

Of course, no one minded.

Having eaten and slept together for two months, they all knew his personality well.

He was a man of straightforward nature—or simply put, someone who couldn't keep anything to himself.

If he were truly asked to keep a secret, he wouldn't be able to hold it in for two days before eagerly seeking someone out to whisper, "Let me tell you a secret."

Li Guoping finished reading his letter at that moment, scratched his head, and said somewhat sheepishly: "My grandpa didn't tell me to hide, but he said that once the fighting starts, I shouldn't tell anyone I know medical skills. He's worried that instead of saving people, my skills might end up harming them and bringing shame upon the family!"

"Haha!"

His words instantly provoked a burst of laughter in the dormitory.

Gong Liqun laughed out loud and said, "Right, your grandpa is spot on. Seriously, if I get wounded on the battlefield, I will definitely not let you treat me. You only know a couple of massage tricks and how to apply medicated plasters—treating people's injuries with that is a joke!"

Dong Fang chuckled as well, adding, "Heh, actually you can't put it quite like that. Old Li could just swap the plaster for something that stops bleeding—stick one on and boom, bleeding stops. That could actually work!"

"What are you guys on about? I wouldn't treat you anyway! Besides, I never said I wanted to be a military medic; I just want to be a combat soldier holding a rifle!"

"That won't do!" At this point, Old Wang, who had been listening quietly all along, chimed in with a smile: "I might as well tell you straight, kid, you're definitely going to be a company medic."

"What!" Li Guoping panicked. "Squad Leader, don't you know my level? How can you make me a company medic?"

Old Wang smiled. "It's fine, you'll just be a company medic, not a senior doctor. You won't be handling any major illnesses or anything like that. Once you're a medic, at most you'll learn a few simple emergency medical procedures, and then you'll basically just be putting your ancestral skills of applying plasters and giving massages to good use!"

With that, Old Wang added: "Don't look down on your own abilities. To be honest with you, the current medic over at the machine gun company's family used to be a veterinarian—the kind who only knows how to give injections to pigs!"

"Haha!"

"Pfft—"

The dormitory erupted in laughter; some tried to hold it in, but simply couldn't.

Only Li Guoping's face turned completely red. "Squad Leader, can I avoid going?"

"Basically, no. But don't look a gift horse in the mouth, kid. Look at your current training scores—you're always dragging down the average. Becoming a medic means at least you won't have to train as hard, which suits a lazybones like you!"

"Is that so? Well, that's alright then!"

Hearing that medics didn't have to endure rigorous training, Li Guoping's attitude changed instantly.

Just then, the others were drawn into the conversation as well. He Weimin leaned forward and asked, "Squad Leader, where will we be assigned after we leave the recruit company?"

"Yeah! Squad Leader, will we all be separated when we join our regular companies? Will we still have a chance to stay together?"

It was late May, and the three months of recruit training were drawing to a close.

Assignment to regular companies was the issue they were all about to face.

"I was just about to talk to you all about this!"

Old Wang looked at the group of eager, expectant new recruits and said, "Over the next few days, some units from the regiment will come over to select personnel. To be honest, if you get chosen, just pack up and go!"

"What?!"

"Why?!"

The new recruits were stunned, and some voiced their confusion outright.

For over two months in the recruit camp, everyone had avoided discussing this topic. Even when Qiu Wei had left earlier, they had only chatted about it briefly without delving deep.

Yet now, Old Wang was proactively bringing it up in detail.

Looking at the young faces before him, Old Wang sighed slightly and said, "I've been your squad leader for over two months now, and I can't bear to deceive you. Let me talk to you about some practical realities!"

Pausing for a moment, Old Wang continued: "The platoons and companies coming to pick people over the next few days are all technical units, such as the repair workshop, the military horse station, the transport platoon, and so on."

"I know that when you all enlisted, aside from a few exceptions, none of you planned to serve for just three to five years and then head back home. But serving beyond your initial term is very difficult. If you have a specialized skill—even if it's just feeding mules exceptionally well—you can use that to stay in the military. Conversely, if you wait until later and get assigned to front-line combat companies like ours, then at most you'll serve six years. Unless you get promoted to officer rank, you'll have to pack your bags and return home!"

At this time, the Chinese military had indeed formulated policies regarding the reform of volunteer servicemen, but these policies had not yet been publicly implemented.

In other words, frontline units were still unaware of these developments.

This meant the military still operated as before: unless one could secure a commission, serving beyond the sixth year was impossible unless a soldier possessed extraordinary technical proficiency that compelled the military to make an exception.

Otherwise, six years was the absolute limit.

"I..." Gong Liqun scratched his head. "Squad Leader, I don't think I can handle any of those technical things! I only know a bit of martial arts and have some brute strength!"

Old Wang gave him an exasperated look. "I'm just throwing it out as an option; you decide for yourselves what suits you. As for you, getting assigned to a front-line company isn't bad either. You know martial arts and your physical stamina is good—you've got the makings of a true combat soldier!"

"What about me? Squad Leader, I... I kind of want to go to the transport platoon. Do they all get to drive trucks over there?"