Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

After breakfast, each class took their food back to their dormitories in turn.

This morning, the squad leaders' task was to teach the new recruits how to organize their belongings step by step.

"Neighborhood order is a measure of combat effectiveness" is a common saying in the military. The combat effectiveness of an individual or even an entire unit can be roughly judged by the state of their internal affairs. This is a standard that many leaders use and have repeatedly emphasized.

The new recruits were dismissive, thinking it was just trivial matters like folding blankets, cleaning, and arranging items—what did that have to do with combat effectiveness?

This is not just an empty slogan; it is a profound principle summarized by the military through long-term practice. Its significance lies in shaping soldiers' mindset, behavioral habits, and collective consciousness through internal affairs management, which ultimately translates into execution, cohesion, and the key to victory or defeat on the battlefield.

The core logic lies in three aspects. First, internal affairs are a training ground for discipline, which determines the soldiers' execution ability. As the saying goes, military orders are like mountains, and orders on the battlefield must be completed without any discount.

This stems from housekeeping: folding blankets with sharp edges, arranging items precisely, and keeping bed sheets smooth and wrinkle-free. These seemingly demanding standards are essentially reinforcing a common understanding.

Rules must be strictly followed; details determine success or failure. When soldiers spend a lot of time each day refining these seemingly trivial matters unrelated to combat, obedience to orders is no longer a passive requirement, but rather internalized as a conditioned reflex.

For example, during an emergency assembly, can one still dress and carry the required equipment within three minutes in the dark? Behind this speed lies an extreme familiarity with the placement of items during daily housekeeping training.

Such as always keeping your belt and water bottle in a fixed position, and having a disciplined instinct that allows no delay for even a second, on the battlefield, this instinct means seizing the initiative as much as possible before the enemy's firepower covers you.

Housekeeping is the glue that holds a collective consciousness together and determines the cohesion of the troops.

War is never a stage for individual heroism, but a contest of collective cooperation, and housekeeping is the core tool for shaping a sense of collectivism.

In the dormitory, all the blankets are the same size and face the same direction; in the corridor, all the shoes have their heels aligned in a straight line; in the cafeteria, the tableware is placed at the exact same angle.

Behind this uniformity lies a repeated emphasis on the individual's subordination to the collective, and the collective being greater than the individual. When every soldier actively ensures that their behavior conforms to the collective standards, the belief that we are a unified whole will be deeply ingrained.

This subtle, pervasive sense of unity can unleash tremendous power on the battlefield; no one will hesitate or retreat during a charge, and no one will leave their post without authorization during a cover mission.

Because the soldiers know that any mistake they make could ruin the entire team's efforts. Just like in drill training where one person makes a mistake and the whole team has to start over, the synchronized training in housekeeping is essentially about cultivating a tacit understanding of sharing life and death.

Housekeeping is a touchstone for resilience; it determines the soldiers' willpower.

The wartime environment is filled with extreme pressures, such as sleep deprivation, hunger, cold, and life-or-death tests. Internal affairs training is precisely the kind of training that simulates maintaining discipline under such high pressure during peacetime.

Folding a blanket into a perfect square might take an hour of repeated adjustments, and if there's even a single hair on the floor, you have to clean it all over again. This extreme pursuit of perfection is essentially training soldiers' willpower to maintain focus under monotony and pressure.

When soldiers can calmly spend half an hour shaping the edges of a blanket, they are better able to remain calm and rational when facing fatigue and fear on the battlefield.

Long-term housekeeping training cultivates a state of constant readiness for combat. Even during rest, items are kept in a ready-to-go-battle arrangement. This sense of tension is not a burden, but rather the confidence to deal with emergencies.

As veterans often say, a soldier who can't even fold his blanket properly can't hold his ground on the battlefield.

Internal affairs are the implicit infrastructure of combat effectiveness. Combat effectiveness includes not only weapons and equipment and tactical skills, but also the mental state of people and organizational efficiency.

While internal affairs may seem unrelated to winning battles, they permeate the daily lives of soldiers like air, engraving discipline into their bones, integrating collectivism into their blood, and forging resilience into instinct.

When an army can perfect even something as simple as folding blankets, it means it has the potential to perfect even more important things on the battlefield.

This is the inherent logic that internal affairs are a form of combat effectiveness.

Looking at the quilts on the new recruits' beds that looked like flower rolls, Wu Liuyi, a tough soldier, felt very uncomfortable. But he was a new recruit, so he had to learn from scratch and he would get used to it.

Wu Liuyi pointed to the quilts of the squad leaders, then to the quilts of the new recruits, and asked, "Can you see the difference?"

Most of the new recruits answered that the squad leader's blanket was folded nicely, while one recruit with a more outgoing personality said that the squad leader's blanket was a bit old.

Wu Liuyi was speechless, but pretended not to hear and began to explain the internal affairs regulations to the new recruits one by one.

Wu Liuyi explained it in great detail, including the placement of items, daily routine, hygiene standards, and daily study tasks.

After explaining the theory, I had the new recruits take their blankets and small stools and go outside to the flat ground. I then taught them how to flatten their blankets and fold them into neat squares.

When Zhang Anbang arrived, the new recruits were working hard to press down their blankets on the flat ground. Some were scraping and pressing them down with the wooden edge of a stool, while others were kneeling on it and pressing it down back and forth.

The busiest person was a chubby recruit who was currently rolling around on the ground wrapped in a blanket. Another recruit next to him shouted, "Hey Fatty, after you're done rolling around, roll around with me too."

Pressing and folding the quilt, to make the quilt have sharp edges and corners, it takes three parts folding and seven parts trimming. First, fold it into a rough shape, and then trim it little by little. To fold it into a good shape, the inside of each fold must also be ironed.

At this moment, the recruits' hands began to receive enthusiastic care. As they used their palms to smooth and iron the seams repeatedly, the areas of their palms felt hot from the friction.

The house was tidied up like this all morning.

After lunch break, basic drill training began. In the early stages, new recruits mainly focused on housekeeping and drill training, repeating it over and over again, which was quite tedious.

First, stand at attention with your heels together, legs straight, abdomen slightly tucked in, chest naturally lifted, leaning slightly forward, arms hanging naturally with fingers together, head upright, neck straight, mouth closed, chin slightly tucked in, and eyes looking straight ahead.

After the instructions were explained, the new recruits in each class began to stand at attention under the command of their class leaders. The class leaders then circled around their respective classes of recruits, occasionally checking their knees to see if they were tense. If not, they would add ten minutes and continue standing.

After standing at attention, stand at ease, squat down, stand up, and straddle stance.

Zhang Anbang was wandering around when Gao Cheng waved to him from a distance. Zhang Anbang understood and walked over. As he passed the fifth platoon of new recruits, Xu Sanduo grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and said, "Deputy Company Commander, you're here."

Just as Zhang Anbang was about to say that people shouldn't talk casually in the ranks, Wu Liuyi shouted from the side, "Xu Sanduo, if you want to speak, you need to report it, do you hear me?"

"Ah, yes, class monitor, I'll remember."

Xu Sanduo's grinning face vanished instantly, and he responded in a low voice.

Xu Sanduo's personality is like this now. In this simple world, there are only good people and bad people. If you treat him a little nicely, he will always smile at you. Even if you criticize him, he won't care.

Zhang Anbang had given him good guidance and encouragement before, and now Zhang Anbang is considered a good person in his heart. But it doesn't matter, it's basic training, so there's no need to be afraid of making mistakes.

"San Duo, we not only need to memorize those internal regulations and rules, but we also need to remember to follow them. Are you sure you've memorized everything that Squad Leader Five just said?"

This is Zhang Anbang's attitude towards Xu Sanduo: he won't help him excessively, as that would not be conducive to his growth, but he will tell him what he should do correctly and let him know where he went wrong.

He neither acted as a saint or a nanny to take care of him, nor could he let go of his desire to help others and respect their fate. This was partly his duty, and partly because Xu Sanduo also reflected some of his past.

"Yes, Deputy Company Commander, I understand." Xu Sanduo smiled, his voice even louder than when he answered Wu Liuyi earlier.

Zhang Anbang didn't linger and headed straight for Gaocheng.