Father, you've been drafted four times already, please spare us!

"No, what's done is done. Zhao Jun, as the squad leader, is willing to make a self-criticism in front of the whole company. Why are you going to make things difficult for a new recruit?"

Old Ge looked at Chen Nian with great confusion. He couldn't understand why Chen Nian would say such hurtful things to that new recruit called "Old Yao" at the end!

Why are new recruits called new recruits? Why do they need ideological and political education and military quality education? Isn't it all to turn them into veterans who can fight and win battles?

Now Chen Nian is doing well; he broke a new recruit's defenses with just two sentences.

As the instructor, Lao Ge was having a major headache.

Chen Nian leaned back on the sofa, not even lifting his eyelids.

"Are you done talking?"

Old Ge was so speechless by the question that his eyes rolled back.

"What do you mean, 'Are you done talking?'"

"Chen Nian, I'm completely baffled!"

"I'm waiting for your explanation!"

Old Ge also broke down.

Chen took a sip of tea.

"Heh, fine, you want an explanation? I'll give you one!"

"Let me ask you first, in the military, who are you most trustworthy?"

Old Ge was taken aback by Chen Nian's question.

"Let me tell you! In the military, the only people you can and should trust are your comrades!"

"You've never been to the border, never seen or participated in any truly bloody operations!"

"I've seen drug dealers and ruthless criminals alike, and I've dealt with them all personally!"

"When facing emergencies or cooperating with local anti-drug operations, your gun might jam, and your skills might be hampered by environmental, psychological, or other unforeseen circumstances. But your comrades won't. You can absolutely trust your comrades!"

"In the military, if you can't stand back-to-back with your comrades, you won't survive!"

Chen Nian's words silenced Lao Ge, who couldn't find any reason to refute Chen Nian.

"Old Ge, let me ask you again, is this recruit skills competition judging the individual soldier or the recruit company as a whole?"

"If we're only looking at individual soldiers, then they don't need any training at all. I'm confident that if I take action, the company will achieve a result that no one else can even dream of!"

"But is that really the case?"

"Does the competition assess your individual military skills?"

"He's assessing the company's military commander's ability to lead troops!"

"One strong soldier isn't enough; a strong company, that's true strength!"

"Since we're focusing on the collective, a sense of collective honor is an unavoidable topic. The integration among new recruits and the cultivation of trust in comrades are also crucial!"

"Previously, I had been thinking that military skills could be improved through intensive training and observation!"

"But how do you cultivate that kind of trust between comrades?"

Under Chen Nian's repeated questioning, Lao Ge felt immense pressure.

He couldn't understand Chen Nian's trust in his comrades because he had never participated in the bloody and fiery operations.

"Today's incident, in essence, is about a fellow recruit not leaving food for the sentry post. It's a problem that the recruit platoon leader didn't emphasize it properly and failed in his duty!"

"But on a bigger scale, what if soldiers in the same platoon couldn't even imagine whether their sentry post had eaten? Don't you think that's terrifying?"

"Why were our troops able to win in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the War of Liberation, and the War of Resistance Against Japan, when facing enemies many times stronger than ourselves? Wasn't it because our comrades were willing to entrust their backs to each other?"

"Old Ge, you're the political instructor; the ideological education of the entire company rests on your shoulders!"

"Now you're questioning me, do you think that's reasonable?"

"Is this all you've got?"

Old Ge's face turned red from Chen Nian's scolding.

"Dad Chen, please stop yelling! Please stop yelling!"

"I was thinking too simplistically!"

Chen Nian scoffed:

"Is your thinking too simplistic?"

"It's people like you who haven't seen blood in so long that you've forgotten what a dead person looks like!"

Old Ge's breath hitched, and he felt a chill run down his spine.

Yes, since the counter-offensive, in peacetime, apart from a very small number of elite troops who have the opportunity to fight or participate in operations, other troops have not seen blood for far too long.

So much time passed that they all became complacent and forgot about it.

This is also the true intention behind the military reform.

Let the troops in peacetime see blood without actually shedding it!

"Call that soldier over here now, I'll talk to him and persuade him!"

"Today I'll show you how a political instructor should be!"

Old Ge was scolded terribly today and didn't dare to refuse. He picked up the phone and asked someone to call "Old Youngest" over.

Inside the office.

"You're the youngest, right?"

Chen Nian didn't speak softly; his words were filled with the sounds of war and battle. With blood on his hands, Chen Nian's aura was so powerful that even Old Ge trembled, let alone a new recruit.

"Instructor Chen, I was wrong!"

"I really know I was wrong, I didn't mean to!"

The youngest child's eyes reddened as he struggled to hold back his tears.

Making mistakes is not the problem; the problem is knowing you're wrong but not correcting them!

"Your squad leader, Zhao Jun, has already written a self-criticism on your behalf. If you feel you've let him down, you should strive to catch up and make him redeem himself in front of the entire company because of you!"

"Instead of sitting here chanting slogans like this!"

Chen Nian's voice was cold and stern, devoid of any warmth.

"And Liu Wu, the sentry from today, he's awake now. If you want to apologize, go and talk to him in person. You're comrades-in-arms, people you can trust with your backs. There's no barrier between you that can't be overcome!"

"Youngest brother, after this incident, I hope to see your name on the first page of the entire company's training report card!"

"I also hope you won't call me 'youngest,' but 'firstborn!'"

"Yes, Instructor Chen!"

The youngest child wiped away his tears and stood up with a thud.

This time, the military posture is even straighter and more upright than before!

Watching the youngest son leave, Chen said softly:

"He's gained a soul!"

Old Ge didn't quite hear:

"What?"

"It's nothing. If he can truly learn from his mistakes and improve this time, he'll definitely be a good soldier!"

...

"Will everything be fine after running five kilometers?"

"Do you really think your grades are good enough?"

"What the hell are you all doing, lying on the ground pretending to be dead?!"

"All of you, stand up!"

When Chen Nian returned from Lao Ge's office, he saw the new recruits lying in a circle on the ground, and he was so angry that he laughed.

"Instructor Chen, some new recruits have even collapsed from shock during training; the intensity is too high!"

Some new recruits took advantage of Liu Wu's fainting spell to protest.

"High strength? When the enemy has a gun to your head, will you still say it's high strength?"

"All squad leaders and platoon leaders! Assemble!"

Obeying orders is something ingrained in the bones of veterans.

Even though they had seen Liu Wu faint and were extremely unwilling, they still quickly gathered in front of Chen Nian and stood in a row.

"The new recruits don't understand things, don't you guys understand things either?"

"Given their emotions, shouldn't you, as squad leaders and platoon leaders, try to mediate and guide them to continue training?"

"Xie Fei, tell me, what's your class doing!"

Xie Fei hung his head and couldn't say a word.

"Dead?"

"Reporting to the Chief Instructor, our platoon of recruits has just finished push-up training and is resting now!"

"Rest? Does rest mean lying on the ground?"

"Do you have any sense of military discipline or appearance?!"

Xie Fei pursed his lips but didn't say anything.

"And you?"

"Wang Shifeng, what are Class One doing?"

Wang Shifeng puffed out his chest and said in a deep voice:

"Reporting to the Chief Instructor, Class One is currently conducting push-up drills, please provide further instructions!"

Chen Nian was quite satisfied with Class One; after all, it was his own class.

But even though so many people were reprimanded, Wang Shifeng was not wrong, he was also wrong!

"Your class is training, what are the other classes doing? Why didn't you remind them!"

"Reporting, Chief Instructor!"

A long line standing at the front of the queue interrupted Chen Nian's question.

"speak!"

"A new recruit fainted, and the remaining recruits felt the training intensity was too high and requested a reduction! I believe this is a reasonable request!"

"Training should be gradual; starting with such a high intensity right away will negatively impact the recruits' physical abilities!"

Chen Nian was waiting for this sentence; he needed someone to say it so that he could take the next step.

"Platoon leader, I'm asking you, who am I!"

"You are Chen Nian, the chief instructor of the recruit skills competition!"

"Then who are you?!"

"I'm the platoon leader of the first platoon in basic training!"

"Then why don't you carry out my orders!"

"Reporting to the Chief Instructor, I have..."

"What right do you have? Military orders are paramount!"

One sentence left the platoon leader speechless.

"Now, all squad leaders and platoon leaders, time yourselves for the 10,000-meter endurance run!"