Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

"Yes, that's good, it's really meaningful. Sanduo, keep up the good work," Zhang Anbang encouraged.

Xu Mumu grinned, showing her big white teeth. "I think so too. If you, the deputy company commander, say so too, then I'll go back and continue fixing it. I'll fix it well. I haven't finished fixing it yet."

"Yes, not only do we need to repair the road, but we also need to continue training. Your squad leader, Lao Ma, is very capable. He is the longest-serving squad leader in our regiment, and the soldiers he trains are excellent in many companies."

Like Squad Leader Shi, oh, that's Shi Jin, your platoon leader from basic training, he was also trained by Old Ma. When you go back, remember to ask your squad leader for advice, understand?

"Yes, Deputy Company Commander, I remember. It's just that we only have guns, no bullets. The squad leader said that sharpshooters are trained by feeding them box after box of bullets."

He also said that the company commander was the most promising officer among the company-level officers in the 702nd Battalion. It was around that time that he told me the story of the five dogs. At first, I didn't understand, but later I asked my squad leader if I was the dog running backwards, and he didn't answer.

……

"Alright, Sanduo, we've arrived at the regimental headquarters. Get off the bus. The military service center is over there. If you want to buy flower seeds, go quickly." Zhang Anbang raised his arm and pointed in the direction.

"Okay, Deputy Company Commander, I got it. Hey, why do you have such a long scar on your arm?" Xu Sanduo's smile vanished when he saw a five- or six-centimeter-long scar on Zhang Anbang's forearm as he raised his hand.

"It's nothing, just an accident during training. Head back quickly. When you get back, remember to find a ride if it's going in the same direction. It's a five-hour drive from the regimental headquarters to your platoon's location. If you walk back, you won't be able to get back until tomorrow, understand?"

"Yes." Xu Sanduo saluted and turned to leave. After taking only a few steps, he started to lose confidence again. He didn't look like he was there to buy something from the regimental military service store; he looked more like he was there to pick up something.

"This kid..."

Zhang Anbang shook his head speechlessly, but did not interfere too much, as everyone has their own path to growth.

However, he didn't expect Xu Sanduo to ask about the scar on his arm. He probably just asked it out of the blue when he saw it.

His injury looks scary, but it's not actually that serious. It happened when the Seventh Company was doing an armed swimming exercise in a wild river and was rescuing a new recruit who had a leg cramp.

When veterans experience leg cramps during armed swimming, it's not a big deal. They have the experience to know to immediately stop kicking and use their arms to keep their bodies afloat and avoid sinking.

If you get a calf cramp, straighten your leg, grab the ball of your foot with your hand and pull it towards your body to stretch your gastrocnemius muscle. After the cramp subsides, maintain a slow, steady swimming pace.

When a group of soldiers in an organized group swim gets cramps, they should move closer to their comrades and use their buoyancy to stretch, rather than trying to stretch on their own.

But new recruits are different. They lack experience, and if their legs cramp up and they get scared, and their backpacks are heavy (back then backpacks didn't have buoyancy modules), they'll fall into the water.

Unfortunately, the boy was being stubborn and didn't get close to his comrades. When Zhang Anbang noticed the situation, he rushed over immediately, pulled the recruit up, and dragged him towards the shore. As he was doing so, his forearm suddenly slammed into a rock on the shore.

The edge of the stone was a little sharp, tearing not only his training uniform but also leaving a large gash on his forearm. Fortunately, the wound was not deep, less than half a centimeter, just a bit long.

The injury didn't even require a trip to the hospital. The accompanying company medic quickly pulled out saline solution, iodine, and hemostatic forceps from the suture kit. Then, he injected lidocaine and deftly stitched it up with twelve stitches.

Finally, a package of medical gauze was applied, and the job was done. This added another complete case to his already extensive experience in wound cleaning, suturing, and bandaging—essential core skills for company medics.

Such injuries are all too common for company medics, especially those in the Seventh Steel Company; they are practically an everyday occurrence.

Every week, I have to treat at least ten wounds. Tactical and physical training is conducted with hard equipment, rough fields, and outdoor environments. It is common for me to make mistakes and get scratches or scrapes.

Take tactical maneuvers as an example: when crawling forward, constructing bunkers, or climbing with equipment, the forearms are easily scratched by the loose rocks, barbed wire, trench edges, and splinters of wooden bunkers on the training ground.

During armed swimming and field training, I was cut by stones, branches, and weed roots on the riverbank.

When cleaning or disassembling guns, it is common to see people getting scratched by the edges of the metal gun barrel or the magazine, or when using entrenching tools or shovels to build fortifications, their forearms are often worn down or cut by the blades or handles.

Even when Xu Sanduo was repairing roads, his hands were repeatedly worn out.

Many soldiers treated minor abrasions, blisters on their hands and feet, minor bumps and bruises, cracked nails, and small cuts themselves with iodine solution without needing to call a medic.

Only deep lacerations, fractures, gunshot wounds, blast injuries, and extensive burns that involve muscles, blood vessels, or nerves will result in immediate transport to the battalion hospital or even a rear-area hospital.

However, such serious injuries usually occur during live-fire shooting, demolition training, and field combat missions. They are rarely seen in daily training, and medics rarely treat them either. Zhang Anbang's large gash is one of the most serious wounds he has ever treated.

This injury prevented Zhang Anbang from training for seventeen or eighteen days. After all, if he exerted himself and the wound reopened, it would not only be unfair to the medics for their hard work, but the pain would also be real.

Besides, the sanitation worker doesn't need his experience in brushing.

Zhang Anbang stroked his chin thoughtfully. Judging from the current situation, the plot was about to move to the next stage.

Xu Mumu came to the regimental headquarters to buy flower seeds because the road was about to be repaired. In the story, the road was just repaired when it was spotted and reported by three Z-9 helicopters, which were imitations of the French SA365 Dolphin, during a patrol.

Afterwards, He Hongtao took Officer Zhang to interview the Fifth Division. Unexpectedly, Lao Ma couldn't get over his conscience and, despite Lao He's repeated attempts to stop him, revealed that Xu Sanduo was the real road repairman.

Once the group's newspaper reported on it, many people became aware of the matter. Later, during tank shooting training, Officer Zhang pestered Old Wang for an interview, and in the course of conversation, the topic of Xu Sanduo's road repair came up.

Old Wang immediately became interested and ordered Xu Sanduo to be summoned to the regimental headquarters.

Xu Mumu also did something big. When He Hongtao said he was going to transfer him from the fifth squad to the regimental headquarters, the kid just disappeared without a trace. Old He waited for a long time but didn't see him, so he could only return to the company headquarters alone in a huff.

When Xu Mumu returned to the dormitory shivering from the cold in the middle of the night, she was immediately restrained by the four people who talked to and persuaded her.

As soon as it was light, Lao Ma led the team, and Li Meng and Xue Lin escorted Xu Sanduo to the company headquarters.

This child felt that everyone in Class 5 accepted him, so he didn't want to leave and didn't want to leave home.

By a twist of fate, Xu Sanduo's performance earned He Hongtao's approval. He thought Xu Sanduo was a loyal and righteous soldier and wanted to keep him in the Third Company, but in the end, he couldn't do so.

If you calculate carefully, from the time Xu Sanduo bought the flower seeds to when he entered the Seventh Company, it was at most a week.

Gao Laoqi, Gao Laoqi, your nemesis is coming, hehe.

Zhang Anbang was really looking forward to seeing Gao Laoqi's expression. He remembered that Lao Wang had been delivered by Bai Ganshi, and he was determined to take a good look at the scene at the gate.

Zhang Anbang pondered for a moment, then turned to attend to his own business.

"Platoon leader?" Xu Sanduo had just finished buying flower seeds when he suddenly saw a familiar figure.

"Xu Sanduo." The person called the platoon leader recognized the voice and turned around to see that it was indeed him.

"Sanduo, don't call me platoon leader anymore. That was my position back in recruit training. Just call me squad leader now. By the way, I heard from Instructor He that you went to the fifth squad. How are you doing there?"

Shi Jin didn't expect to meet Xu Sanduo here. After exchanging a few words, he asked about Xu Sanduo's current situation.

"Squad leader, I'm doing great there! Our squad leader, Lao Ma, is a really nice guy. I came here today to buy flower seeds. My first order was to repair the road, and I'm almost done. I was thinking of planting some flowers..."

Xu Sanduo, like a child who hadn't seen his parents in a long time, rambled on about everything he had experienced.

Shi Jin listened to him with a smile, "Come on, come on, the squad leader will take you to eat, we can talk while we eat."

"By the way, did your squad leader give you a meal certificate? Give it to me, and I'll go find Old Zhao from the cookhouse to exchange it for a meal ticket."

"Squad leader, how much does it cost to eat at the regimental canteen?" Xu Sanduo asked as he pulled out the temporary meal certificate that Lao Ma had given him from his pocket.

Shi Jin smiled with narrowed eyes, "What is this? It's only a few dollars. Let's go, the class monitor will treat you to dinner."

……

Xu Sanduo was very happy. He felt very fortunate today. He not only met the deputy company commander when he came to the regimental headquarters to buy flower seeds, but also met Shi Jin and had a meal together. This was the happiest day he had had in the six months since he joined the company.

……