Chapter 19: The Veterans of Class One

Miao Lian personally came to take Zhuang Yan away, but unlike the original plan, this time Su Yang was with them.

Miao Lian didn’t say much to Su Yang, and Su Yang didn’t find it odd either. Along with all the new recruits assigned to the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company, they packed their bags and followed.

They walked along the concrete road beside the recruit barracks for over ten minutes, arriving at a dormitory area about a kilometer from the regimental headquarters.

The area buzzed with the sounds of soldiers training—some working on physical fitness, others grappling in the mud pits—there wasn’t a single idle soldier.

Su Yang followed Squad Leader Miao to an old dormitory building. On the second floor stood a flagpole flying a red flag emblazoned with several large white characters:

"Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company!"

At the dormitory entrance, a sentry on duty, a corporal, greeted Miao Lian with a bright salute. “Squad Leader Miao, you’re back! Are these our new recruits?”

He carefully sized up Su Yang and the others, his excitement unmistakable. It was clear he knew that with these new recruits, he would finally shed the “newbie” label and become a seasoned soldier.

Miao Lian understood the corporal’s enthusiasm and said nothing, waving him over. “Go and call the platoon leaders of the first, second, and third platoons.”

“Yes, Squad Leader Miao.”

Shortly after the corporal left, Chen Guotao and two second lieutenants came over.

“Reporting, First Platoon Leader Chen Guotao at your service!” Chen said, nodding towards Su Yang and Chen Xiwa.

Su Yang responded with a slight nod, while Chen Xiwa gave a bashful smile and called out, “Platoon Leader Chen!”

Xiwa had met Chen Guotao during the competition; seeing a familiar face eased some of his nervousness.

“I’ll introduce you all. These soldiers are joining our company,” Miao Lian said, first pointing to Xiwa. “This is Chen Xiwa. These two new recruits—you’ve probably heard their names—this is Su Yang. He was first in the division’s new recruit competition and, before even joining the company, earned a third-class merit and commendation from the regimental headquarters. He’s exceptionally talented.”

Then he introduced Zhuang Yan: “This is Zhuang Yan. His reputation precedes him.”

Miao Lian then had the others introduce themselves.

Chen Guotao stepped forward, pointing at Su Yang and Chen Xiwa. “Commander, our platoon is severely understaffed. Su Yang and Chen Xiwa are excellent—we want them!”

The other two lieutenants immediately grew anxious. A slightly more experienced second platoon leader interjected, “Chen, you can’t just take the two best recruits at once. What about us? How about Chen Xiwa goes to your platoon and Su Yang to ours?”

“No way. Why should Su Yang go to you? If he’s assigned, it’s to our platoon,” said the third platoon leader. Though young, he knew good soldiers were worth fighting for.

Miao Lian cleared his throat and made a decision. “Enough arguing. Since the first platoon is short on men, both Su Yang and Chen Xiwa will go there. You can divide the rest among yourselves.”

Seeing Miao Lian’s firm decision, the second and third platoon leaders reluctantly agreed.

Chen Guotao then selected two more soldiers and led them away.

After Su Yang and the others left, the second platoon leader glanced at Zhuang Yan, frowning. The eagerness to claim Su Yang had vanished. “Reporting, we want those three.”

The third platoon leader, seeing Zhuang Yan assigned to him, hesitated but picked two others besides Zhuang Yan without further comment.

Miao Lian cursed quietly before the two finally revealed why they didn’t want Zhuang Yan.

“He’s a troublesome soldier, hard to discipline.”

Zhuang Yan felt disheartened but stubbornly kept his composure.

Seeing this, Miao Lian dismissed the others and kept Zhuang Yan behind.

...

“Welcome to the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company!”

Chen Guotao led Su Yang and Chen Xiwa into the dormitory, to a room on the right side of the hallway near the training ground.

“You two will be rooming here. You’re both assigned to First Squad. Soon, your squad deputy will come find you and arrange your induction ceremony. Remember, if you have any problems, first go to your squad leader. If they can’t solve it, then come to me.”

Chen Guotao pointed to the two empty beds and told them to settle their belongings. Then, as if recalling something important, he added seriously:

“Yes, Platoon Leader Chen.”

Hearing this, Su Yang understood that they were being told not to bypass the chain of command.

Both Su Yang and Xiwa knew that bypassing the chain of command was a major taboo.

“Platoon Leader Chen, who is our squad leader?” Xiwa was most curious about their new squad leader.

“Your new squad leader? Don’t worry, you know him. He’s currently with the company commander handing over duties,” Chen Guotao explained.

“A familiar face? Could it still be Squad Leader Zheng?” Xiwa and Su Yang exchanged surprised looks.

Su Yang was a bit stunned. The original drama never mentioned who Xiwa’s squad leader was after joining the company, so hearing that the tough old soldier was still in charge surprised him.

Would Chen Guotao not clash with Zheng? After all, Zheng had embarrassed himself a few times in the recruit company.

“Yes, don’t overthink it. The tough treatment you got from Old Cannon in the recruit company was for training purposes. He’s not usually that fierce.”

Seeing their expressions, Chen Guotao explained to prevent misunderstandings.

“Platoon Leader Chen, we’re not overthinking, just curious. If it’s Squad Leader Zheng, that’s better—at least we’re used to him rather than starting with a new leader.”

Before Xiwa could say more, Su Yang quickly shook his head to stop him and reassured Chen Guotao.

“Alright, then get your quarters in order. Your squad deputy will be here soon.”

Chen Guotao said no more and left after they settled in.

After they finished arranging their beds, several seasoned soldiers filed in.

Su Yang immediately pulled Xiwa to his feet and saluted them. “Greetings, Squad Leader. And you are?”

Since all the newcomers were junior to these veterans, and not in their squad, military protocol required addressing them as squad leaders.

After the salute, a somewhat short but spry senior sergeant smiled and said, “You must be the two new recruits the platoon leader mentioned. Welcome to First Squad. I’m the squad deputy, Xu Kangyue. These others are all in our squad.”

“Reporting, Squad Deputy. I’m Su Yang, this is Chen Xiwa,” Su Yang introduced themselves.

As soon as he finished, a corporal with a mischievous smile looked at Su Yang and said oddly, “So you’re Su Yang. We’ve all heard your name: first in the recruit competition, and a third-class merit before even joining the company. Not bad. Us two-year soldiers haven’t even gotten that. We should spar sometime!”

Then he added, “I heard the guy who fought with the squad leader in the recruits also came here. Do you know where he is?”

Su Yang frowned, sensing a challenge in the man’s tone.

Xiwa, oblivious to the undertone, smiled simply and said, “Fellow squad leaders, Xiao Zhuang isn’t with us; it seems Squad Leader Miao kept him back.”

“Alright, Sun Weihao, enough chatter. Xiwa, apart from me and the squad leader, you can call others by their names. We’re all equals in the squad.”

Xu Kangyue shot a glance at the corporal, signaling him to stop talking, then introduced the others.

“That guy is Sun Weihao, a corporal. Though his words can be harsh, he’s a good guy. Don’t mind him.”

After introducing the other four, Xu Kangyue led Su Yang and Xiwa out, intending to familiarize them with the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company.

The other four veterans in the room glanced at Sun Weihao and said, “Sounds like you plan to give those two new recruits a little ‘welcome’.”

“Of course. Just because they’re fresh from recruits doesn’t mean we treat them gently. How else do we boost our squad’s combat effectiveness? Last year, three veterans retired, and our fighting power dropped. Now with two new recruits, if we don’t push them, we won’t reclaim the squad’s honor.”

Sun Weihao continued irritably, “Besides, I’ve heard those two were in the same recruit squad as Old Cannon. If they both act like him, it’ll be chaos.”

“Chen Xiwa is fine, but aren’t you worried about losing to Su Yang and ending up as embarrassed as Old Cannon? He’s the most capable new recruit,” said another soldier with a northeastern accent.

The others agreed but worried about a repeat of Old Cannon’s failures.

“I’m not trying to fight them outright. I want to pressure them through training competitions. I don’t believe I’m not one of the top in Night Tiger Reconnaissance. Even if I can’t beat the strongest platoon leader, I’m not worse than Old Cannon.”

“If they can surpass me in new drills, I won’t treat them as rookies. I’d even be willing to serve them foot baths.”

With Sun Weihao’s words, the others fell silent.

...

At the basketball court beside the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company dormitory, Su Yang listened to Deputy Squad Leader Xu’s introduction while observing the surroundings.

Only now did Su Yang realize that the shooting range and other facilities used in the recruit company actually belonged to Night Tiger Reconnaissance.

As a regiment-level reconnaissance company, Night Tiger had impressive amenities—basketball courts, badminton courts—they even had their own vegetable gardens behind the rows of houses.

Xu Kangyue explained that they used to have a farm and raised pigs, but military reforms cut these economic units.

Otherwise, poorly performing soldiers could be assigned to pig farming.

Su Yang couldn’t help but smile wryly, having thought those stories were mere military rumors, not realizing they were once true.

After they toured enough, the two were taken to the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company memorial hall, which displayed the names and deeds of the company’s fallen heroes.

It was there, with the arrival of Squad Leader Miao and the political instructor, that Su Yang, Chen Xiwa, and Zhuang Yan took their honorable induction ceremony.

[End of excerpt]