Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 147 It seems like you know someone everywhere you go!

On the bus.

Chen Mo kept looking out the car window at the scenery; it was May, and the wheat harvest season was approaching.

Along the way, you can see golden waves of wheat covering the mountains and fields, which can instantly lift your spirits.

Next to him sat a sergeant.

The other person got into the car after Chen Mo, and from the moment he sat down, he kept glancing at Chen Mo.

Once the vehicle reached a smooth section of road and the bumpy ride stopped, the sergeant suddenly spoke up: "Comrade, were you also promoted to officer?"

"hold head high!"

Chen Mo was baffled by the question. "I'm not here for a promotion, am I? What's wrong with me?"

"Is there something you need, squad leader?"

"It's alright. My name is Sheng Donghao. Sheng means the prosperity of the motherland, Dong means the East, and Hao means the vastness. I'm from the Fourth Reconnaissance Company of the Xiaoyi Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade."

"I thought you looked familiar."

"Haha, class monitor, we're all on the same side."

Chen Mo was initially a little confused, but upon learning that the other party was from the anti-aircraft artillery reconnaissance company, he immediately grinned and said, "My name is Chen Mo, it's nice to meet you."

Damn it, how come I run into my old nemesis even while taking a ride?

It's worth noting that they had just competed against the anti-aircraft artillery reconnaissance company at the end of March this year, and their own company won a great victory at that time. It's quite awkward to meet them now.

Clearly, the other party had recognized him.

"You enlisted last December?" Sheng Donghao continued to ask.

"Yes."

"A reconnaissance major?"

"Ah."

“Then we should be able to be assigned to the same team, since I was also promoted to officer.”

"Congratulations, class monitor."

Chen Mo grinned and chatted with the other person for a while.

Perhaps everyone else on the bus was asleep from the shaking, and he didn't want to disturb them, or perhaps Sheng Donghao just wasn't interested in chatting.

After chatting for a while, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, pretending to doze off.

Fortunately, Chen Mo didn't really want to chat, so he simply crossed his arms and leaned against the car to sleep.

I don't know exactly how long I slept.

Anyway, Chen Mo was awakened by a whistle.

Upon opening my eyes, I saw Zhai Hongtao, who was in charge of leading the team, standing in the aisle next to me, holding onto the seat with his left hand and shouting loudly, "Everyone, pack your things and get ready to get off the bus."

"Please keep your admission notice, soldier's certificate, and sergeant's certificate safe. Our military region's vehicles won't be entering the academy later."

"Your assignments will be arranged by the students of the Army Academy. Everyone here is a veteran, so I won't say more."

"Just one thing to remind you: your ability to be promoted to officer and to represent the military region for further study is a testament to your capabilities."

"But I hope everyone will cherish this learning opportunity and strive to learn more useful knowledge."

"I wish my comrades all the best, a bright future, and a promising future."

About five or six minutes after Zhai Hongtao finished speaking, two buses stopped in front of the east gate of the Army Academy.

At the gate post, a soldier wearing a red cadet shoulder patch quickly walked down from his post and came to the bus to check the situation.

From Chen Mo's position, he only saw Zhai Hongtao exchange a few words with the other party before handing over the roster.

They then began instructing everyone to get off the bus.

Chen Mo picked up his bag and followed the flow of people, getting off the car and lining up one by one.

The east gate of Shimen Army Academy, built in the late 1990s, was not as grand as the west gate in later years, and it did not match the facilities inside the military academy.

The main gate was replaced with military green iron railings. On the right-hand stone pillar, there was a rectangular board with the words "Liberation Army Shimen Army Academy" written in black on a white background.

The overall furnishings are very simple.

Through the main gate, you can see the spacious and well-organized layout of the inner college, with buildings sparsely spaced and arranged in an orderly manner, varying in height.

The lawns stretched out in ever-growing expanse, like a vast ocean.

Just by standing outside the door and looking around, Chen Mo could feel the solemnity emanating from Dean Lu, as heavy as a mountain.

This is Shimen Army Academy, known as the largest military academy in Yazhou in terms of area. Although many army academies in the seven military regions have privately competed for the position of the eldest brother.

But most of the time there is no dispute that its influence far exceeds that of the other three of the four continental academies that are ranked together.

I'll be studying here for the next ten months.

After everyone got off the bus, Zhai Hongtao ordered the bus to be driven to a slightly farther location.

Chen Mo and his group were received by a group of students from the academy wearing red epaulets.

People lined up to be admitted to the hospital one after another.

Chen Mo stood behind Sheng Donghao, watching as the student in charge of reception smiled broadly and enthusiastically at others.

But when it was his turn, the other person noticed the private's rank on Chen Mo's shoulder and only managed to utter the word "squad leader" before abruptly stopping.

"Comrade, are you here for further studies?"

"hold head high!"

Chen Mo was also somewhat helpless. He was just a private, so why did people always ask him questions wherever he went?

He took out his admission notice and soldier's ID from his pocket and handed them over.

As for the promotion notice, it's not on him right now. All of that needs to be put into his file, and the military will arrange for someone to organize it and send it to the academy in advance.

"Haha, sorry comrade, I misunderstood just now."

After checking the documents and confirming that there were no problems, the person in charge of reception scratched his head and picked up a roll of roster, saying, "Chen Mo, majoring in reconnaissance, ID number is XXXXXX, you have been assigned to the second cadet squad of the 30th squadron. Check if the information is correct?"

“That’s right, senior, this is me.” Chen Mo nodded.

"Don't call me senior anymore."

The student who was receiving them was quite embarrassed and pointed to the side: "Um, Private Sergeant, please stand there and wait a moment. After I've assigned the tasks to the other sergeants, I'll take you to get your things."

"Row!"

Chen Mo didn't mind; he'd just wait if they told him to.

He picked up his bag and left.

The person who received Chen Mo was named Zhao Yu, a senior student in the Tactical Teaching and Research Section of the Army Academy.

Let's put it this way: in the entire Army Academy, all other majors or soldiers stationed in the army, as long as they are privates or corporals, call him senior or squad leader.

Zhao Yu wasn't intimidated at all; he could agree with a straight face. The only exception was the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron—those guys were a bunch of unruly devils.

Just recently, I heard that a new recruit in a reconnaissance company captured three spies, and they were supposedly stabbed. Isn't that terrifying?

Because only the Shihmen Army Academy has a reconnaissance major, other majors and detachments are not very diverse, and most of them come from several group armies under the Kyoto Military Region.

Only the reconnaissance department is a concentrated collection of the army's best personnel. Whether it's a cadet platoon or a company in a garrison unit, everyone here is incredibly physically fit.

It's fair to say that the training intensity of their other departments is nothing compared to that of the reconnaissance department; it's not even worth mentioning.

Chen Mo felt unworthy of being called "senior."

Those who can go to the reconnaissance department are all extraordinary individuals; he might as well not put on this veteran's airs.

The wait wasn't long.

There were quite a few students to be arranged to receive them, and the personnel from each department were assigned accordingly.

Zhao Yu walked up to Chen Mo. Of the dozens of people from the 63rd Army who came this time, only he and Sheng Donghao were assigned to the reconnaissance department.

"Um, class monitors, let's go get our things first."

"Row."

Chen Mo nodded.

Sheng Donghao remained silent, acting quite aloof.

The two followed Zhao Yu, walking straight towards the inner side of the academy from the east gate.

At this time, the Army Academy had not yet been rebuilt, unlike later times when the east gate was changed to the west gate, and the largest and tallest Jing'an Teaching Building could be seen as soon as one entered.

The three of them walked westward for a full kilometer, passing the college's professional teaching buildings, auditorium, and library.

We finally arrived at the accommodation area.

The accommodation area here consists of eighteen buildings, each with four floors, located on both sides of the playground.

The walls look somewhat dilapidated and mottled, but the surrounding area is large, with the playground measuring 400 meters long from north to south and 250 meters wide from east to west.

On the south side of the playground is the Jing'an Teaching Building, which you can see as soon as you enter.

Eighteen dormitory buildings stand facing each other, all facing the same direction, at the same height, and with the same layout.

Even from Zhao Yu's introduction, Chen Mo could hear the strong sense of pride in his tone.

Upon reaching Building No. 3, Zhao Yu pointed to the building and said, "Squad leader, your reconnaissance squadron is in Building No. 3. The other buildings house two squadrons each."

"Building No. 3 only houses one squadron. The college has already distributed the campus card, bedding, and uniform. Just show your admission notice at the duty post on the right side of the dormitory building to take them away."

"The dormitory is on the fourth floor, room 402. I won't walk you up."

"Okay, thanks, senior."

"No, no need, it's all the duty." Zhao Yu waved his hand repeatedly when he heard Chen Mo call him senior again.

Then he turned and left.

They've already taken us to the dormitory entrance, so we really shouldn't ask for more.

The person on duty at Building No. 3 was an old man wearing a camouflage vest, who was fanning himself with a palm leaf fan and seemed quite content.

This is not the military, but a military academy, and some of its arrangements are similar to those of a university.

However, regardless of whether the dormitory supervisors downstairs at the military academy are old men or old women, never bother them unless you need something.

Because military academies are institutionally the same as the military, with unified military management, you can't expect others to help you with many things; you have to rely entirely on yourself.

Besides, many military academies have family quarters. What kind of person do you think could become a dormitory supervisor here?

Being calm and steady is never a bad thing.

Both Chen Mo and Sheng Donghao had obviously heard the legend of the "military academy dormitory manager".

The two obediently showed their identification, registered, and carried their packed bedding and clothes, each bearing their name, either on their backs or in their arms.

I huffed and puffed my way up to the fourth floor.

Arriving at dormitory 402, Chen Mo pushed open the door, but before he could even step inside...

A chubby figure blocked the doorway.

"Oh! Another new person?"

"Wang Bo?!"

The previous sentence was spoken by the slightly overweight veteran.

The next sentence was Chen Mo's surprised voice.

Chen Mo's loud shout startled the veteran standing in the dormitory.

"you know me?"

Wang Bo looked quite surprised. He took a few steps back and carefully examined Chen Mo, who was holding the quilt, as if he was trying his best to remember who the person in front of him was.

But how could he possibly remember?

Chen Mo did indeed recognize the fat man in front of him, and they had a good relationship in his previous life. They had even met at his old leader's funeral.

We chatted for a few minutes.

This guy has been fat since he was young, all the way into middle age.

Chen Mo really didn't expect to run into an old acquaintance here.

Realizing he had said the wrong thing, Chen Mo decided to play along and pushed past Wang Bo, saying, "Of course I know you. You're from the communications platoon of the 189th Division's reconnaissance battalion, right?"

He was stunned that the soldier in front of him could even tell him his unit. Wang Bo's mind went completely blank. He stood on one side of the dormitory entrance, trying hard to figure out who the soldier in front of him was.

Actually, he found Chen Mo to be quite familiar, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

How could it not look familiar?

When Chen Mo received the commendation from the military region, the news report was posted in every unit of the entire military region.

However, the photos in the press release were too blurry and not easily recognizable.

Chen Mo didn't care whether he could remember or not, and walked into the dormitory on his own.

The student dormitory also has bunk beds, with a total of eight beds, five of which are already covered with bedding.

The students' names were pasted on the beds.

After finding his bed, Chen Mo threw all his bedding onto it.

Then he clapped his hands and began to look at the other people in the dormitory.

Besides Wang Bo, there were four other people sitting on the stools in the dormitory.

They were all sizing each other up.

Second Squadron of Trainees, Dormitory 402—this is where he will be staying for a long time to come.

(End of this chapter)