War Military: From 1978

Chapter 278 The Trials Before Enrollment!

To be honest, the start of the school year at the infantry school was a bit puzzling.

I registered at the train station, then got on the bus and was taken directly to this desolate wilderness.

There was no formal enrollment, and I didn't see any teaching buildings.

No, I didn't even see the school gate, let alone the teaching building.

Just this row of dilapidated bungalows.

There were no separate classes or majors.

We boarded the train in the order we arrived at the train station, and after arriving here, the so-called instructor casually gestured and divided us into groups of twelve, according to the wooden beds in the dormitory.

I won't even mention it today.

There was no opening ceremony, no speech by the general, and not even any books.

All they had were farm tools.

Working on clearing land.

They didn't seem like they were attending a military academy at all; they looked more like former Class B troops who had been assigned to production units after the war.

"Squad leader, what exactly is going on here?"

While repairing the ditch with a hoe, a cadre trainee named Wei Ning next to Chu An whispered a question to Chu An.

In dormitory number three, everyone briefly introduced themselves last night, and then, as instructed by the instructor, they each decided on a temporary class leader.

Naturally, the position of class monitor fell to Chu An.

After all, in the dormitory, he was the highest-ranking person in his original position. The others were seven platoon leaders, three deputy company commanders, and one company commander.

"do not know!"

Chu An shook his head.

He had never attended a military academy, and besides, he knew absolutely nothing about military academies these days.

"It's all so confusing. They're all local high school students taking the college entrance exam over there. Now we're living together, let alone training with them!"

"That's impossible!" said the other three shifts of cadres and trainees working together nearby.

"We only have a one-year school system, while students in these places take at least three or four years."

Besides, they will definitely start their training with basic things like queueing.

Besides, this is like basic training; it'll definitely take several months. We only have a year; we can't afford to waste our time on this!

"Indeed!" Chu An nodded. "Moreover, it's obvious that this is just a temporary team. We have different majors, and our original positions and job natures are also different, so it's impossible for us to really study together later!"

Last night, during the self-introductions, everyone in Class 3 got to know each other.

Although everyone here comes from the front lines and has experienced war.

However, everyone's original positions, posts, and even branches of service were different.

There are platoon leaders in infantry companies, that's the most common, there are three of them.

But there were also platoon leaders from artillery companies, staff officers, political workers, and even cadres from motor transport platoons.

Everyone originally had different majors, and now they are going to study different majors in their further studies.

If they just study together like this, Chu An won't know how to continue attending classes.

"I don't understand what's wrong with this school, but oh well, I'll just keep working hard. There's always a way out!"

"Yes, let's get to work!"

Chu An nodded, then said no more.

Regardless, they have no choice but to follow orders now.

This is the kind of mindset a veteran should have.

On the contrary, Chu An still held onto his previous ideas.

We can't possibly sell him.

That day, after a full day of work, everyone had only rested for less than ten minutes after dinner when Gao Liwei arrived.

"Starting tonight, each of you will write a war memoir!"
Write down in detail everything you have seen and heard since the start of the war, especially the battles you have participated in.

Remember, be factual and objective. You have a week to write at your own pace; there's no rush!

"Instructor, can you tell me what our situation is?" In dormitory number three, no one objected to Gao Liwei's orders, but some people were genuinely puzzled about their current predicament.

Gao Liwei looked at him and said, "No need to rush. Just follow our instructions now!"

He said nothing at all.

But it actually reveals a lot of key information.

Firstly, he just said that everyone has a week to write their war memoirs. But perhaps that means everyone will have to endure this for another week.

Secondly, he said he would follow all arrangements, based on the questions asked by the cadre trainees.

This means that all of this was actually arranged deliberately by the school.

It's not the kind of situation people are wildly speculating about, where schools have no planning and they're just randomly put together and messed things up.

Based on this, it can already be determined.

This could be considered a test before enrollment.

Or it could simply be that the school really needs to build something, and they're asked to do some construction before the start of the semester.

Just like when we were in school, we had to do a big clean-up at the beginning of the semester.

They may just be expanding their enrollment this year and building new facilities, so they're bringing in all the students from this cohort to serve as recruits.

The specific details are currently unknown.

Knowing this, everyone can finally relax for now.

Soon, everyone took out paper and pens and began writing down their war memories, either squatting or sitting by the wooden beds.

Actually, judging from the current state of the dormitory, it's clear that this is definitely not where everyone will be staying in the future.

There wasn't even a stool, let alone a table.

It's important to know that they are all cadres, and Chu Anxue's major is integrated command.

A student majoring in command must be doing all sorts of paperwork. Even when they return to their dorm, they should at least have a desk and chair, right?

But the dormitory here only has twelve simple wooden beds.

Soon, the nine rooms on the left side of this row of dormitory buildings gradually quieted down.

This is a whole squadron of officer trainees.

Everyone here is a veteran who has experienced war, and they all have clear things to do now. Plus, there are quite a few smart people among them, so naturally they won't cause any trouble.

However, while they remained calm, the local high school students in the other two squadrons were becoming somewhat unsettled.

Such a crude enrollment process, completely devoid of any ceremony, and with no academic program even visible at the school gate, is incredibly unsettling.

Furthermore, after they arrived, they weren't even issued military uniforms, and the squad leaders assigned to them weren't very friendly. They all had long faces, and if they asked any more questions, they would immediately glare at them and be punished.

This situation was unbearable for these newbies who had not yet received military training.

But this was only the first day, so although they were a little flustered, they didn't cause any trouble.

The work continued the next day.

Moreover, the labor intensity is greater, and the treatment is more demanding.

"Hurry up, everyone! Don't talk! Save your energy for work!"

"I didn't even notice you guys were slow eating. Hurry up, there's still other places to go after we finish here!"

"Hurry up! You guys have been on the battlefield before, where's your enthusiasm?"

"Don't think you're so great just because you have military achievements. You're no longer officers. You all need to recognize your place!"

Jiao Yihua and Gao Liwei wandered back and forth around Chu An and the others.

Their words were utterly unkind, treating them as heroes who had come from the battlefield.

Chu An noticed that some people's eyes were red.

After risking their lives on the battlefield, being appointed to important positions, being promoted and becoming heroes, many of them become a bit arrogant after leaving the battlefield.

Because wherever they go, people call them war heroes, and some of them have even been featured in newspapers and are considered prominent figures in their workplaces.

But now, they are being trained like raw recruits.

In fact, there is no difference.

Not far away, local recruits were also being scolded by the veteran squad leaders who had assigned them.

The only difference is the words used to insult them.

Chu An worked silently, though he had already seen through everything by now.

The school's arrangement is probably intended to correct everyone's mindset before they officially enroll, and to correct the mentality of some cadres who might get carried away.

As for the new recruits from those areas, the purpose was probably to temper their temperament.

After all, new recruits do this when they join the army, let alone in a military academy.

If these people successfully enroll, they will become military officers in the future.

The key point is that they are all top students in the college entrance examination. Many of them may have lived a life at home where they were only responsible for studying and did not participate in anything else.

(End of this chapter)