Chapter 59: The Soldier Who Gives the Company Commander a Headache!

In this era, being able to drive a motor vehicle was an absolute dream job that made everyone envious.

If one could learn to drive while in the military, it was something even more people wished for in their wildest dreams.

Therefore, upon hearing Old Wang mention that the motor transport platoon would also come to select recruits, Dong Fang instantly mustered the courage to speak up, while the others looked on with eager, longing eyes.

Noticing everyone's expressions, Old Wang chuckled and said, "Whether you get chosen depends entirely on yourselves. When they come to pick people, it's not based on our recommendations. If you manage to get selected, then you go!"

With that, he looked at them and continued, "As your platoon leader, I'm only telling you this now. Don't ask about it afterwards—just keep it to yourselves and know what's what!"

Having said this, he fixed his gaze on Li Guoping: "You, kid, can forget about these things. The medical orderly in our company happened to leave this year, so you're going to fill the vacancy. Rest assured, this is also a technical position. Later on, as long as you want, you'll have opportunities for training and further education. Who knows, maybe one day you really will become a military doctor!"

"Hehe, alright then!" Li Guoping scratched his head.

Although he felt a bit unequal to such a heavy responsibility, he seemingly had no other choices left.

Hearing Li Guoping's response, Old Wang immediately turned his attention to Chu An.

Hesitating for a moment, Old Wang spoke up anyway: "You've known your situation for a long time. For an ordinary person, a frontline company might not seem like a good choice, but you're different, aren't you?"

Old Wang was worried that after saying so much to the others, Chu An might harbor other thoughts if he wasn't addressed directly.

"Yes! I know!" Chu An replied very calmly.

In fact, while listening to their conversation, Chu An hadn't entertained any other thoughts at all.

The company commander had told him long ago that going to a frontline company would give him the opportunity to participate in competitions and win honors and awards.

Now, over two months later, after his physical fitness had caught up, Chu An had indeed demonstrated his capabilities in this regard.

To put it simply, Chu An's most recent timing for the 3-kilometer light-load assessment was nine minutes and thirty-three seconds, while his latest 5-kilometer armed cross-country run had reached seventeen minutes and eight seconds.

In all other events, Chu An left everyone far behind, shining as the absolute brightest star in the entire recruit training camp.

To not exaggerate, nowadays whenever the Second Company lost an internal rivalry match, Company Commander Tong Lianzhong would find a way to set up a single-combat competition with the Second Company and send Chu An up to reclaim their lost face.

Because of this, the commander of the Second Company hardly ever accepted single-soldier challenge matches anymore, unless the competition consisted of multiple rounds.

However, while Tong Lianzhong could chuckle in the middle of the night just from having a soldier like Chu An, he also found himself deeply troubled during the day—especially now, as the end of the recruit training period approached, his headaches were growing increasingly frequent.

For instance, right now...

"Hey, Old Tong, don't be so polite! Come on, sit down and eat. This is a little chicken raised by our battalion's supply officer, and there aren't many left. I specifically had the cooking squad slaughter one today and bring it over so we could have a drink together!"

In the company headquarters, Tong Lianzhong found his mouth watering slightly as he looked at the stewed chicken laid out on the table.

It smelled intensely fragrant, steam rising with the rich aroma of chicken meat piercing straight into his nostrils, causing him to swallow hard several times.

However, he didn't go over to take a seat.

With a wry smile, he looked at the officer who was greeting him: "Battalion Commander Lan, let's skip the chicken. Just now, our political instructor mentioned he had something to discuss with me. If you have anything to say, please just spit it out! Once you're done, I need to get going!"

The chicken smelled wonderful, and the liquor was top-notch—authentic Sanhua liquor—but he truly didn't dare sit at that table to drink.

Because he knew what this visit was all about.

During the training of the recruits, the artillery battalion hadn't sent any veteran soldiers or officers to interfere with recruit training.

Yet now, as the battalion commander of the artillery battalion, he had come looking for him at this particular juncture.

What did he want?

It was as obvious as lice on a monk's bald head—crystal clear.

"Old Cui? No, orderly!"

"Here!"

The orderly he had brought along responded from the doorway.

"Go to the recruit battalion headquarters and call Political Instructor Cui over!"

"Yes!"

The orderly turned and left on the run, which instantly gave Tong Lianzhong a massive headache.

In truth, Political Instructor Cui hadn't called for him at all; he was merely using it as an excuse to avoid eating the man's food and to make his escape.

As for the artillery troops, he was well aware of their criteria for selecting recruits: they wanted those with high educational backgrounds and sharp intellect.

This was because the artillery units of this era lacked artillery observers above all else, and that position required formidable military skills, proficiency in calculation, and a quick-witted mind.

As Chu An's rise to prominence unfolded, his personal information was no secret within the recruit camp, and certainly not within the regiment either.

After all, the officers and platoon leaders in the recruit camp came from various different units. Under such circumstances, it was hardly surprising that the artillery battalion had caught wind of Chu An and knew about his educational background.

A high school graduate who missed entering university by a mere four points, possessed superior physical fitness, and held the top tactical score in the entire battalion.

What did all that mean?

That day, an artillery battalion staff officer had sprinted all the way into the battalion commander's office, shouting that they had discovered a natural-born observer prospect.

It was just that at the time, the recruit camp had entered a state of combat-readiness training, and the higher-ups had decreed that no one was allowed to poach recruits until the very end of the training period.

Because of this, he had waited until today to show up with a stewed chicken and wine in hand.

"Why are you just standing there? Old Tong, you're not showing me any respect here!" The artillery battalion commander put on a stern face and uttered those words, drawing a helpless, wry smile to the corners of Tong Lianzhong's mouth.

Without any more pretense, he simply stopped acting.

"Battalion Commander Lan, you're here to poach a few good soldiers, aren't you? To be completely honest, our First Company really does have some fine prospects this time. Since Battalion Commander Lan has made the trip personally, I can definitely recommend a few to you later. However, let's get one thing straight first: there is one soldier I must keep. That is an order given to me by our battalion commander, and my hands are tied!"

"It's fine, I've already talked things over with your battalion commander. Just call the person out later today!" Battalion Commander Lan waved his hand dismissively and stated righteously.

This caused Tong Lianzhong to nearly roll his eyes on the spot.

What kind of nonsense was that? If he had really managed to settle things with his battalion commander, he wouldn't need to bring stewed chicken and liquor to butter him up.

He could have just had the battalion commander accompany him here. If the battalion commander truly gave the green light...

Well, even if the battalion commander told him to let go, he would still hesitate and wonder if his company commander dared to jump up and down in defiance of the battalion commander.

Otherwise, if he were to just let Chu An walk away like this, even if the battalion commander was fine, the moment the recruit company ended, he would have to return to his veteran company.

By then, he would surely be chewed out and cursed to within an inch of his life by his own company commander.

"Battalion Commander Lan, stop trying to fool me. I know what kind of person our battalion commander is; he would never agree to this. And as for me, I truly cannot help you call that soldier out today!"

"Old Tong, Deputy Company Commander Tong!" Battalion Commander Lan's face darkened.

He stared straight at Tong Lianzhong and said, "Although our artillery battalion didn't take part in training the recruits, we do have the right to have first pick of the new soldiers. I believe you're well aware of that!"

"Yes, but we also have the priority quota to keep the soldiers we trained ourselves!"

"Bulls***! Your priority is only valid *after* the recruit company concludes. It hasn't ended yet, so you have no right to refuse our selection!"

"Understood! Then I'll go assemble the First Company and present them for Battalion Commander Lan to choose from!" Tong Lianzhong said with a completely serious expression, turning around to leave.

"Remember, Chu An must be standing in the formation. Don't try to hide him away!"

"I'm sorry, Battalion Commander Lan, I have no idea who this Chu An person is!"