Chapter 411: Joining the Army
In 1969, Li Kangzhan had entered the fifth year of his military career.

With his profound cultural background and unremitting enthusiasm for training, he stood out the following year and was awarded the qualification for admission to the S City Army Command College for further studies.

After returning from his studies, he returned to the artillery regiment of the 2nd Guard Division and was quickly promoted to platoon leader. With his outstanding abilities, he also served as deputy company commander, writing his own military legend.

This year, just after the "August 20st" Festival, Li Kangzhan heard that in order to commemorate the th anniversary of the founding of the Xia Kingdom, the city of Beijing was preparing to hold an unprecedented rally and review at the People's Square on the "National Day".

Since the training of the 2nd Guard Division is well-known in the entire army, it is responsible for the task of forming the parade formation in this parade.

When the news came, the whole army was excited, and the soldiers wrote letters of request to participate in this activity.

Sure enough, a few days later, the first company of the artillery regiment's cannon battalion gathered in the dining hall for a mobilization. At the meeting, the instructor explained the political significance and tasks of this large-scale review. The task of Li Kangzhan and his comrades was to form a 60×60 army team and accept the review through the rostrum.

Finally, the instructor asked the entire company to be ready to set off at any time.

The military order was as strong as a mountain! As soon as the meeting ended, everyone started to take action. Some were busy packing their luggage, some were busy writing letters of determination and diaries, and some secretly wrote letters to their parents.

But after a few days, the enthusiastic atmosphere among Li Kangzhan and his team gradually faded.

News had already come from outside that the 4th, 5th and 6th Regiments had set out one after another, and later I saw with my own eyes the armored regiment's convoy driving away.

Not long after, Li Shengli saw a buddy from the air defense and biological chemical battalion also set off in a swaggering manner with a backpack under his nose.

This guy is quite irritating. He even imitated the tone of the fat boy in "The Battle of South and North", saying that if Li Kangzhan and his regiment hadn't left, the "battle" would have been over long ago.

Li Shengli and his men could only watch helplessly as other troops set off.

Some cadres couldn't help it and went to the regiment headquarters to inquire, but to no avail.

The artillery regiment remained motionless, without any movement. Only a few battalions of soldiers were left in the huge Second Guard Division.

It was so anxious! Just when everyone was about to lose control of themselves, the company gathered in the dining hall again, and the company commander announced the order from the regiment headquarters to everyone: the cannon company was on standby and carried out mobile missions.

What is mobility? The soldiers' mood suddenly fell to the bottom, and a depressing atmosphere enveloped the entire company.

At some point, a new soldier in Li Shengli's platoon blurted out, "Move, move, and then we will move without moving."

It soon reached the instructor's ears and became typical material for his ideological education.

The instructor said at a later meeting that some comrades were ideologically unstable, had a poor understanding of their superiors’ orders, and were not resolute in their implementation.

Everyone in Li Shengli's platoon was so upset that they wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it, but the instructor's last sentence, "This eagerness to fight is understandable," finally made Li Shengli breathe a sigh of relief.

On the night before the "square team" was about to have a joint training, the company headquarters suddenly received an order from the regiment headquarters, asking Li Shengli's company to immediately select 50 soldiers who were over meters tall and had good goose-stepping skills to go to the People's Square in Beijing to participate in training.

At dawn the next day, Li Shengli and his comrades, carrying their backpacks, boarded the military convoy that had been waiting at the intersection and headed towards the People's Square in Beijing.

At this moment, the deeply depressed mood was released like a tide. The comrades hugged each other, and Li Shengli even found that some people were shedding tears.

Li Shengli knew in his heart that the mission he was responsible for was glorious, but he also knew that the task to be completed was arduous.

Before setting off, they had watched a video documentary, and were deeply impressed by the majestic and heroic demeanor of the soldiers in the People's Square in Beijing, who embodied the power of the army and the prestige of the country.

Li Shengli and his company were stationed in a guesthouse near Wangfujing, very close to People's Square.

Their daily training is very hard, more than 10 hours a day. Some say they "train from the moment they open their eyes until the lights go out."

At the beginning, everyone was still a little excited. They marched in step, one, two, one, repeating this mechanically and monotonously every day. After a few days, everyone had back pain, red and swollen legs, and they couldn't stand steadily. They were shivering, and later even their bones felt like they were falling apart when they slept.

My confidence has been greatly reduced. It is so painful!
Large slogans such as "The training ground is the battlefield" and "Give the people of Beijing a satisfactory answer" were hung high above the square. Slogans such as "If you feel it is hard, think about the Red Army's 25,000-mile Long March. If you feel it is tiring, think about who you joined the army for!" were heard one after another.

At the critical moment, Commander Liu Zhiye, commander of the parade force of the Second Guard Division, called on all companies to use the gaps in training to organize and study XXx's philosophical thoughts.

“摆正30天与3分钟”的辩证关系，即训练一个月（9月初到9月底）与从人民广场东侧入场经过天安门3分钟时间的关系。

The soldiers were very emotional. Some soldiers had legs swollen like steamed buns but didn't shed a tear. Some soldiers fainted on the training ground but didn't complain. A soldier from Beihe bit his finger and wrote a letter in blood...

Li Shengli was smart. He discussed with the instructor and called a few educated soldiers to compile these good deeds into a cultural program, which was performed for everyone during the breaks in training.

After nearly a month of hard training, the company's marching skills have greatly improved, and every time the whole regiment practices together, they receive praise from the division commander Liu Zhiye.

The time to accept the test finally came. On the National Day, the officers and soldiers of the Second Guard Division got up at 2:30 in the morning, took out the latest military uniforms and caps, put on bright red collar badges and cap badges, and came to the assembly area early in their new clothes.

On this day, the square was filled with red flags and crowds of people, and the festive atmosphere was everywhere.

At 10 a.m., after a lively meeting ceremony, the review began. Under the guidance of the red flag team, the teams of workers, farmers, businessmen, students and soldiers entered the venue one after another.

Accompanied by the music of the People's Liberation Army March of the Xia country, the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Guard Division marched in step with their chests puffed out, chanting the slogan "Be vigilant and defend the motherland", and walked through the rostrum in a heroic and proud manner to accept the review.

The entire team's movements were standardized, neat, and performed in one go, winning warm applause from the leaders on the rostrum and the audience. The Second Guard Division was undoubtedly a success.

After the National Day military parade, Liu Zhiye and the Second Guard Division, who performed exceptionally well, were once again commended by the Military Commission across the entire army.

In fact, this year's military parade has a purpose.

Because in this year, the Xia Kingdom began to carry out "war preparations" across the nation with a very high attitude. This "war preparation" was the national preparation work to win the "Three Wars".

Especially the two major military regions of Fengtian and Beijing, the number of troops dispatched this time was really astonishing.

Among these troops, the Fengtian Military Region newly established 2 garrison infantry regiments and 1 artillery division, and the Beijing Military Region newly established 5 infantry regiments, 2 garrison infantry regiments, and 1 artillery division.

The major military regions also began to expand their field forces on a large scale.

Based on the newly established 28 field units and 2 field units, the Xia People's Liberation Army's field strength will be 400 more than before.

The Second Artillery built a new battle position, a large number of garrisons, supplies and resupply were expanded, and the air force was rapidly developed, with eight new aviation divisions and two anti-aircraft artillery units.

The air defense missile force has also been greatly expanded.

The ace "59th Army" was also transformed into a modern motorized army with 240 3000 tanks and more than military vehicles of various types.

A machine gun army is composed of three machine gun divisions, each of which has three machine gun battalions, a tank battalion, an infantry brigade, and an artillery battalion. This is a major step for the People's Army to move towards full war preparation.

While expanding the regular army, the militia is also being expanded vigorously.

As of this year, there are approximately two million troops under the Fengtian Military Region.

All the towns in the three provinces of the Fengtian Military Region also established their own militia groups, with a size of more than one million.

In times of war, the divisions, regiments and battalions composed of militia will be expanded into combat units of the People's Liberation Army.

Therefore, their training method is completely based on field combat methods.

It is equipped with assault rifles, anti-tank guns, anti-tank mines and other field equipment to assist the regular army in performing anti-tank tasks during wartime.

In their daily lives, the militiamen engage in agricultural labor, but once a state of war breaks out, they will all be incorporated into all levels of the People's Army.

Establishing an anti-tank brigade of 55000 men at each pass would bring an inescapable nightmare to the invading enemy. In addition, the militia during this period also formed specialized militia technical units such as anti-aircraft artillery, ground heavy artillery, chemical defense warfare, and communication warfare.

Because the imaginary enemy in the coastal area is the Navy of Country M. Therefore, the militia also has a variety of skills such as anti-submarine, mine removal, logistics transportation and reconnaissance.

Among them, the Xia Kingdom had an anti-aircraft artillery unit composed of militia. At this time, the main factories and factories in major cities had anti-aircraft artillery units, including the army.

Most of the guns were of 37 mm caliber, and those without guns were equipped with twin anti-aircraft machine guns.

Thus, in the major cities and towns of the Xia Kingdom, a three-dimensional defense network was formed with the People's Liberation Army Air Force as the backbone, the surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns of the People's Air Defense System as the foundation, and the People's Artillery as the backing.

That is to say, starting from this year, the construction of roads and railways in various parts of Xia State has officially entered a state of preparation.

Starting this year, Xia State has invested nearly 2400 million yuan to build more than 6000 kilometers of railways and more than kilometers of roads, which has greatly improved Xia State's road conditions.

Although Liu Zhiye hid in Liujiazhuang this year, he was actually traveling in a hurry.

They had just successfully completed the important task of the grand military parade of the Guard Division, and immediately plunged into the busy work of expanding the army.

Recruiting new soldiers, training militia, and building a national defense mobilization system, every task was carried out in full swing. He did it personally, actively prepared for war, and worked silently for the country's peace and future.

On the morning of November 16, Li Kangzhan and others received a notice from their superiors asking them to pack their bags and go to the regiment headquarters immediately to participate in the task of receiving new recruits.

Li Shengli was very happy, but he was more mentally and spiritually stressed because usually, it was the cadres who were responsible for recruiting new soldiers every year. He had been a platoon leader for less than two years and a deputy company commander for less than a year. He had no experience in this area, so he was more worried...

After arriving at the regiment headquarters, Li Shengli and other cadres in the regiment who were responsible for receiving new recruits took a bus to the Beijing Railway Station. Li Shengli was assigned to go to Dongshan to receive the troops.

The commander of their Dongshan Recruitment Corps is the deputy chief of staff of the artillery regiment headquarters. Their main task is to receive new recruits from the mountainous and Yimeng areas of Guangdong. More than 95% of the members of the reception corps are cadres, and only a few squad leaders participate in the reception.

After arriving at the place, they concentrated on studying in the local armed forces guesthouse for a week.

The main thing is to learn the policies, regulations and requirements for receiving new recruits: political qualification to ensure that the guns are in reliable hands; physical qualification to ensure health; age qualification, between 18 and 22 years old, neither older nor younger will be recruited; safety is guaranteed, and the mission is considered successfully completed when the new recruits are brought to the troops and handed over to the recruit company.

After a week of study, Li Shengli and other recruits went to the Dongshan Reception Corps and then took a car to the Yimeng Mountains. After arriving in Mengyin County, the Reception Corps assigned specific tasks to each recruit.

Li Shengli was arranged to receive more than 100 new recruits in Mengshan Commune under Mengyin County, including 40 new recruits from the division's direct detachment and 69 new recruits from their artillery regiment.

On that day, Li Shengli took a bus to the People's Armed Forces Department of Mengshan Commune to report for duty. He met Minister Song, who was in his fifties, and Officer Li, who was in his forties. I reported to them on the matters related to the recruitment of soldiers.

It can be seen that Minister Song and Secretary Li were very enthusiastic about Li Shengli's arrival and took very thoughtful care of him in all aspects.

He attached great importance to and supported Li Shengli in his work, and after more than ten days of getting along with him, he was left with a deep impression!

They cooperated very well from mobilizing the masses to sign up, physical examinations of soldiers, assignment of soldiers and home visits.

I often work overtime and never have a rest for more than ten days.

Especially when visiting the families of new recruits and understanding their situation, every day is very hard, leaving early and returning late.

Some of the new recruits live in the mountains, and Li Shengli and his colleagues ride bicycles to and from the mountains.

The two local veterans are very good at cycling and can ride through small bends and single-plank bridges. Li Shengli was afraid to walk with his bicycle on his shoulder and had to rely on the two veterans to help him move forward...

Mengshan Commune in Mengyin County is located in a mountainous area with picturesque scenery. There is a large reservoir not far behind the commune, and the environment is beautiful...

After receiving the new recruits and preparing to set off, the two veteran armed forces held Li Shengli's hands for a long time and were reluctant to let go.

Li Shengli also shed tears. They had been together for nearly a month and had a deep affection for each other.

Later, after returning to the army, Li Shengli kept in touch with them for a long time...

After receiving the new recruits, I felt a lot of mental and spiritual pressure. What I was most worried about was that the new recruits would not fall behind.

Especially riding in a car and transferring stations were extremely stressful. They had to run back and forth in the recruit team and often call the roll. After bringing the recruits to the troops and handing them over to the recruit company, Li Shengli and others felt very tired, their voices were hoarse, and they didn't want to talk.

After returning to the army, Li Shengli immediately returned to his own company after handing over the new recruits. He rested for several days in a row but did not recover to his normal strength. It is really tiring to receive new recruits and the responsibility is huge!
After completing the task of receiving new recruits, Li Shengli returned to the company and reported the situation of receiving new recruits to the regiment commander.

After a week's rest, I participated in the company's normal work, but my voice was still hoarse and had not fully recovered. It took a long time for it to return to normal.

Although it was hard to receive new recruits, it was a very practical training for Li Shengli, as he learned to independently organize, command, manage, observe and deal with some problems.

Division Commander Liu Zhiye was full of praise for this group of new recruits. The cultural level of the recruits recruited by the Second Guard Division this year did not show a significant decline, but instead their other comprehensive qualities improved significantly.

These new recruits are all farmers from northern S, the old Yimeng area, and the depths of the Taihang Mountains. They have inherited the older generation's revolutionary spirit of perseverance and hard work, and the fine tradition of indomitable spirit runs in their blood.

As a leader among the recruiting cadres, Li Shengli naturally came into the sight of the big boss Liu Zhiye with his outstanding performance.

Liu Zhiye had never expected that his introduction of Li Shengli into the public security detachment out of a desire to repay his gratitude would yield such unexpected results.

However, Li Shengli brought a huge surprise to Liu Zhiye with his actual actions. Liu Zhiye seemed to see the shadow of his youth in Li Shengli, whose tenacity and perseverance moved people.

This kid is now worthy of his dedicated training, and the relationship between their two families is irreconcilable, and they are born to be of the same faction.

Li Shengli and Liu Zhiye were both notoriously naughty kids when they were children, doing whatever they wanted to do to make trouble and cause trouble.

However, from the moment they stepped into the military camp, they seemed to be reborn and quickly stood out in the army.

Perhaps, it is this unruly and tenacious nature that makes them naturally suitable for a military career, allowing them to write their own legends in blood, iron and sweat!

…………

Back to the beginning of this year, the spring conscription work began. In fact, being a soldier has always been Yi Yuanchao's dream since he was a child, and the person he admired most since he was a child was Liu Zhiye.

After hearing the news, Yi Yuanchao's heart couldn't help but pound.

Early the next morning, he got up, washed, put on his neatest clothes, and couldn't wait to go to the brigade to sign up.

However, the militia company commander told Yi Yuanchao that this year's conscription was only open to local youths, and they, the educated youth who had been sent to the countryside to work, did not meet the requirements.

This news was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the enthusiasm in Yi Yuanchao's heart. Yi Yuanchao walked back to his residence in disappointment. The mud under his feet turned into ice due to the cold, making a crackling sound, as if telling of his inner disappointment.

A few days later, on a cold night, Yi Yuanchao and several young men living in the same room were warming themselves by the fire in the main room.

The fire crackled, lighting up their faces. Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from a neighbor's house.

Out of curiosity, Yi Yuanchao put on a cotton jacket and walked out. The cold wind blew in his face, making him shrink his neck involuntarily.

Yi Yuanchao saw that the conscription officers were mobilizing a local youth to join the army.

The scene of the young man bidding farewell to his family made Yi Yuanchao very confused. In Yi Yuanchao's view, being able to join the army is an extremely glorious thing, so why did they act so reluctant?
The young man's mother held her son's hand tightly, her wrinkles filled with tears of reluctance. His father stood by, his expression firm, but he could not hide the worry in his eyes.

This scene made Yi Yuanchao fall into deep thought. He began to understand how difficult it was for these people who had lived in the mountain villages for generations to leave their hometowns and their parents.

However, Yi Yuanchao, an educated youth who had already left his hometown, was full of yearning to join the army.

(End of this chapter)