To please others? It's better to please yourself.

In the office, Song Weihua touched the only 5 yuan he had left, and reluctantly put it back.

He felt it was better to go out and meet friends, and reconnect with them! At his age, he wouldn't feel at ease without some savings of his own.

For the next six months, he'll have to rely on free cigarettes to get by!

"Boom—Boom—Boom"

Hundreds of long-range heavy artillery pieces opened fire on the enemy simultaneously, and in an instant, the entire enemy war zone was ablaze with fire and explosions.

After several rounds, the Vietnamese army was routed, and their prepared fortifications were basically destroyed...

As darkness fell, the night descended quickly in the jungles of Vietnam, near the equator.

"Report!"

"Enter!"

"Commander, we have more troops and stronger artillery. The enemy couldn't hold out and retreated in small groups."

Shen Yue understood that the inevitable trend in jungle warfare was guerrilla warfare. The dense vegetation and poor visibility meant that any engagement would be a close-quarters battle.

The last war was the 1962 Sino-Indian border war. Adding to this the new recruits added before the war, it's fair to say that the current soldiers have virtually no combat experience; they've practically never seen blood!

How many of these young soldiers will come back alive?

Shen Yue suppressed his worries: "They are familiar with the terrain. Some of the escapees went up the mountain, crawled through caves, and entered the forest; others will inevitably hide in the homes of ordinary people."

"Proceed according to plan, with personnel moving separately. Starting tomorrow, each group will search using a 'grid-like' method, followed by a thorough search. Upon hearing gunfire, all units responsible for the search must immediately return to their posts!"

Shen Yue gave a solemn military salute: "Please be careful, everyone, and return safely!"

"yes!"

The opponents on the battlefield are not only enemy soldiers, but also natural environmental factors.

Vietnam has countless jungles, and most of the animals are poisonous, hiding in every corner of the jungle.

Old Wu led more than half of the new recruits with utmost caution. They had to watch out for landmines underfoot and also be wary of the surrounding plants and animals.

"hiss--"

Old Wu immediately turned to look at Liu Bo, the new recruit beside him. "What's wrong?"

The young man, barely eighteen, nervously pointed to his ankle.

I felt a little itchy on my leg, and when I rolled up my trouser leg, I was shocked. There were several fat, large, fleshy-looking worms crawling on my leg, sucking my blood.

Old Wu squatted down and immediately understood. He took out a lighter and said, "Don't panic, this is a leech. We talked about this before we came; you can't pull it, you can only burn it."

After getting rid of the bugs, I poured some salt water on it. "Are you feeling better?"

Liu Bo's face scrunched up in discomfort: "It's so itchy, it's making me anxious!"

Old Wu got up and gave another reminder: "Don't be afraid of the heat! Wear your helmet, turn up your collar, tie your shoelaces, and tighten your cuffs and trouser legs. You must protect yourself."

"Also, be vigilant! If you feel unwell or itchy, immediately loosen your clothes to check."

"yes!"

The others were even more on edge!

As we were about to leave the jungle, we saw many plumes of smoke rising in the distance.

Wenxi happily said to Lao Wu, "Captain, there should be a village ahead!" Being able to get out of the jungle was something to be happy about!

I had walked less than 10 meters when I could vaguely see people in the farmland in the distance.

Old Wu stopped in his tracks: "Wait! You guys follow behind, I'll go check out the situation first!"

"Yes!" The group immediately slowed down and stood about 10 meters apart.

As Lao Wu approached, the figure in the farmland became clearer—a young girl.

The weather was hot, and the girl's clothes were soaked through, clinging tightly to her body and showing off her slender figure.

It was so hot that she got up, picked up the small earthenware pot next to her, and drank it down with a "glug-glug" sound.

He drank too quickly, and some of the water trickled down his slender neck, over his delicate collarbone, and across his barely visible chest...

When Lao Wu walked up to her, the girl put down the pottery jar and used her right hand to lift the hem of her dress to wipe the sweat from her brow. At the same time, a large expanse of skin and her slender waist were exposed.

As was customary, the girl didn't even raise her head before reaching for her dagger with her right hand.

But Old Wu was faster than her; before she could even pull it out, he stabbed her through with a knife.

The girl looked at Lao Wu with disbelief, clutched her stomach, and collapsed.

The men following behind rushed over. "Captain, how's it going?"

Old Wu spat, "Pah! Trying to blind me with just a bare waist. If I blink even once, I'd be letting down the one dollar the regimental commander paid!"

Wenxi chimed in, "Exactly! Won't we just become a laughingstock for the whole troupe again!"

Liu Bo thought for a moment: "Captain, wasn't your chest exposed during that exercise?"

Old Wu said sternly, "What nonsense are you talking about? I closed my eyes the moment he unbuttoned his shirt!"

Liu Bo has always had a good memory, and he couldn't admit to this: "Captain, I'm absolutely sure I didn't misremember..."

"Shut up!"

The others immediately covered Liu Bo's mouth.

"Waaah—"

……

During the initial exercise, Su Jianjun collapsed during the scene depicting "women giving birth".

Now, not far in front of him was a pit a meter and a half deep. Inside lay a girl crying for help. Beside her was her basket for gathering herbs.

The girl said pitifully, "My elderly relative is sick, so I came to gather herbs. But on my way back, I fell into a ditch and sprained my ankle."

Since ancient times, Vietnam has been a tributary state of China. The two countries share cultural similarities and are geographically connected, so many Vietnamese people can speak Chinese and even some regional dialects of China.

"Could the PLA comrades help me to the front? It's not far, only about 50 meters."

Following the direction the girl pointed, they could see the edge of the jungle not far ahead. It was clearly in the same direction they were heading.

The girl's ankle was swollen high, like a steamed bun. Her other knee was also covered in mud. It was clear that the injury was quite serious. It would be a lot of effort for her to walk out on her own.

Su Jianjun turned to the person next to him and said, "What do we do now? This is just a favor we did on the way!"

Seeing everyone start to hesitate, the girl became so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes.

"It's really no trouble at all. If I could do it myself, I wouldn't have bothered you!"

Su Jianjun smiled as he looked at the soldiers waiting for his orders. "There's an old saying: 'Many lice don't itch, many debts don't worry.'"

"What does that mean? Class monitor?" The newbies had no idea what the deeper meaning of their class monitor was.

Su Jianjun smiled and looked at the girl, saying, "Don't worry, girl, I'll pull you out."

He squatted down by the pit and reached out his hand. The girl gritted her teeth, stood up from the pit, slowly moved to the edge, and was about to reach out and grab him.

Su Jianjun punched the girl in the jaw, and she immediately fainted. With a "thud," she fell into the pit.

"She's already in such a bad state, she doesn't care about taking another punch."

"Wouldn't a body search reveal whether someone is a dangerous individual?"

……

Sun Weimin also led a team in a difficult search in the jungle.

Seeing the pile of rotting leaves teeming with ants and insects not far away, he gave the others a wink. They all instinctively slowed their breathing and quietly approached.

He plunged in, and unsurprisingly, a scream rang out. After checking to make sure no one had escaped, he was about to leave when he heard someone calling for help.

"Help—help—" The voice was sometimes in Vietnamese and sometimes in Cantonese.

As Sun Weimin and his men slowly approached, they discovered that an eight- or nine-year-old boy was trapped in the trap.

Upon seeing the People's Liberation Army soldiers, he excitedly shouted, "Help! Help!" "My leg is broken, uncle, please pull me up—"

"Please, uncle. Please save me, People's Liberation Army uncle—"

The child's cries for help echoed in my ears. Anyone who heard them would feel their heart soften!

Sun Weimin then turned to the young soldiers beside him and asked, "What do you think we should do now?"

Erzhu immediately said, "Squad leader, should I go down and save him?"

Sun Weimin was furious: "Idiot! What if he's the enemy? Are you out of your mind? All those exercises the regimental commander went through, were they for nothing?"

Xiao Hong hesitated and said, "We don't know if they're ordinary people or not. Maybe we should just leave it at that?"

Sun Weimin glared at him: "We are soldiers! How can we ignore people in need who ask us for help?"

The young soldiers were also bewildered. "Squad leader, what do we do?"

Sun Weimin said with exasperation, "Keep an eye on it!"

"Child, how did you get through it all?"

The boy, his face streaked with tears, said, "I was so hungry, so I came out to find something to eat. Only my grandma is home; she's waiting for me!"

Sun Weimin pulled a piece of snake meat from his pocket and tossed it over. "Catch it, kid, have something to eat! Don't worry, your grandma will be heartbroken for you. She'll definitely find someone to rescue you. Just hang in there!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and left with his teammates.

The children trapped in the pit were stunned. Something was wrong! He hadn't completed his mission, and he might really be stuck in the pit tonight! At that moment, he was truly terrified!

As Sun Weimin walked away, he explained to those around him, "Look! Isn't this a win-win situation?"

"We offered a helping hand without putting ourselves in danger. This is perfectly acceptable anywhere!"

The newbies suddenly felt like the world had become brighter!

……