journal:

December 17, 1979 (cloudy)

"The hard queue exercise training has begun, it's so hard. Don't say anything else for one day of training. Just standing for one day is enough, but no matter what, I must grit my teeth and persevere. I recite the key points of standing attentively:

The heels are close together, the toes are separated out about one foot, the legs are straightened, the lower abdomen are slightly retracted, the chest is naturally straight, the upper body is straight, the shoulders are slightly leaned forward, the shoulders should be flat, slightly spread backward, the arms are naturally drooped, the fingers are closed, the middle finger is connected to the trouser seam, the head should be straight, the neck should be straight, the mouth should be closed, the jaw should be slightly retracted, and the eyes should be straight forward.

The key to rest is: extend your left foot in the direction of the toes, extend your feet naturally, and keep your upper body in an upright position. If you rest for too long, you can change your feet by yourself.

Don’t underestimate the seemingly ordinary action. This is a basic movement standard for soldiers and the fundamental difference between soldiers and ordinary people.”

The brief rest and recuperation soon passed, and our arduous training for new recruits began. We all understand that this is the primary task facing every new recruit after joining the army. To complete the transformation from ordinary people to soldiers, it is not just about wearing military uniforms, but also about the soldiers. In the words of our platoon leader, we are just ordinary people in military uniforms now, and the image and temperament of soldiers will not naturally grow with the increase of military service, so this level must be passed.

When we were notified that the queue training was about to begin, many new recruits who had not tasted the hardships were cheering excitedly, among which the ten people on our farm seemed particularly calm and rational. Of course, I don’t need to say that I have been in the army since I was a child. Every summer vacation, the troops will send us cadres and children to the company to participate in military training, mainly these basic queue training. The comrades in other farms were originally militias before joining the army and participated in similar training, so there was no new feeling at all. However, the two fishermen, Zhou Yousheng and Wu Xiaozhang, also seemed a little uncontrollable. After all, the desire to become a masculine and heroic soldier is the dream of every new recruit.

Seeing that the recruits on our farm were extremely calm, Zhou Yousheng asked strangely: "Hey, you've trained, are you unhappy?"

I squinted my eyes and joked, "Didn't you already lined up two days ago? What's the pleasure?"

Zhou Yousheng shouted loudly: "Hey, that was just a meaning two days ago. I would like to experience the feeling of standing in a queue. Now the training has officially started. Haven't you seen the veteran's accent that is very handsome? How can you feel like joining a soldier without learning?"

Shi Yinlin patted my shoulder and said, "You are so yes. He grew up in the army since he was a child. Do you still want you to teach him?"

Zhou Yousheng looked at me with some dissatisfaction, with doubts and provocations in his eyes. I was too lazy to pay attention to him, so I clasped my fists to show that I could learn from him.

Our training starts with the most basic set, disbanding, standing attentively, resting, fighting in the army, and reporting numbers.

It is said that soldiers can see at a glance that this kind of military temperament is from the inside out and requires experience in the military's career. What we need to do now is to achieve a qualitative change through hard training.

When the class monitor talked about the first subject, the gathering and disbanding, the whole class burst into laughter. Is this still necessary to train? Elementary school students can do it, so what are you kidding?

The squad leader asked with a smile: "Since everyone has explained it, let's practice it and see how it works?"

We agreed to give it a try at once. So we ordered the squad leader to present a group of people to me and gather!

After hearing this, we immediately ran to the team. The result was either the wrong position or the opposite squad leader did not show a horizontal line, and the first and last squad leader looked crooked. When the squad leader held back his laughter and shouted, "Disband!", we immediately accused each other, saying that I was standing in the wrong position, and he said that you were the one who was crooked, causing the team to be uneven.

After a long fight, no one was convinced. He turned his head and looked at the squad leader, hoping to hear his comments.

The squad leader told us the key points of assembly and disbandment. It turned out that just one assembly and disbandment had so many tricks, which was not as easy as we thought.

The squad leader said: The squad assembly is divided into squad convergence groups, squad columns, squad columns, and squad columns. When all the soldiers heard the command "Submit the squad convergence group", the highest number one is the benchmark soldier, and quickly ran to the appropriate position in front of the squad leader to establish a correct position. The other soldiers took the benchmark soldier as the basis, arranged to the left in sequence, and stood upright by themselves, and established a correct posture.

When the command to "disband" was heard, all soldiers quickly left the original queue position, rested on the spot, and were not allowed to leave the training ground.

Now we are convinced. It turns out that there are so many famous things here that everyone realizes that we need to study hard.

The squad leader rearranged according to the height of the twelve people in the class, and reported the number from high to low. He emphasized that the number reported is the number of each soldier in the queue in the future. From now on, whenever he finds someone or invites someone, the number shall be the number and will not call the name of the person. The order of the queue is No. 1: Feng Wenquan, No. 2: Ye Meng, No. 3: Yang Qilin, No. 4: Qin Zhongfa, No. 5: Gao Guozhu, No. 6: Du Zhigao, No. 7: Huang Buqing, No. 8: Huang Aimin, No. 9: Shi Yinlin, No. 10: Zhou Yousheng, No. 11: Xu Chang, No. 12: Wu Xiaozhang.

Standing attentively and standing at the military posture are the three most basic movements of soldiers. Don’t underestimate the simple movements of standing attentively and standing at the military posture. These are the movements that soldiers must face every day. Whether it is gathering, meeting, standing guard or going out, to always maintain the posture that soldiers should have, you must start from these three basic movements. As the veterans said: Only by practicing these three basic movements can you initially look like a soldier. A qualified soldier should be upright and have a bright look. It looks like a pine tree from a distance, but looking at it close is a sculpture. This is not a matter of early or overnight.

The number of numbers is required to report the number loudly when each soldier reports the number, and at the same time quickly turn his head to the left comrade, with the purpose of allowing the next comrade to hear it. The entire number of numbers requires that everyone speaks short and rapid, and the sound is loud and powerful, just like a relay, and cannot be intermittent.

At first, we all felt that military training was very majestic, but at the end of the day, the original freshness was gone. Not only did we stand up, the waist was sore all over our legs, but more importantly, people were blowing Buddha for a long time in the bitter cold wind, their hands and feet were cold, their faces were numb, and their lips were dry and cracked. Only those who had been soldiers could experience this kind of pain.

As the training intensity continues to increase, our physical strength and willpower are greatly tested. The first few days were the most difficult. From childhood to adulthood, we have never stood for so long in the snowy wilderness. It is too tiring and too hard. The atmosphere in the class began to remain silent. Apart from the loud call, loud answers and loud slogans required by the training, no one was shouting anymore, and even the strength to speak. Even Zhou Yousheng, who started to shout loudly, was silent.

After finally resting, I sat on the cold and hard ground, gasping heavily, and Zhou Yousheng also sat on the ground, drooping his head in a daze. I kicked him and said, "Yousheng, why don't you talk anymore? Don't you like training?"

The friend looked up and sighed, "Oh, I'm so tired, so how can I have any energy?"

I asked with some clues: "Aren't you and Xiaozhang fishermen? Why do you have to join the army?"

The friend smiled bitterly and asked me: "What about you? Are you not a child of a cadre? Why do you have to join the army?"

Yes, the reason I only know the reason for joining the army. I remembered that my father, who had been a soldier for a lifetime, had transferred to his career a few months ago and served as the leader of the farm party committee. He was just in the process of the first recruitment after the earth-shaking self-defense counterattack. My father took the lead in registering for me without hesitation, and so I walked into the military camp.

Friends looked at the sea not far away and said, "I used to want to be a sailor, but I am very majestic on the warship, but now I am a naval engineer."

The squad leader heard our words. He did not blame us. He squatted beside us and took good care of us. Don't sit on the ground for too long, and you will catch a cold.

After we got up from the ground, we stared at the quiet sea and fell into deep thought. Xu Chang, who had always been competitive, came over and said, "Brothers, come on!" After saying that, he stretched out his hand to us. I reached out without hesitation, but my friend still looked listless. Deputy squad leader Qin Zhong sent a greeting to everyone: "Come on, brothers, come on, come on, come on." The twelve people in our class gathered together, leaning on their heads, and hands stacked together. The deputy squad leader shouted loudly: "Come on, brothers!" The whole class shouted in unison: "Come on!"

The platoon leader and the squad leader in the distance looked at our whole class and smiled with satisfaction. Soon, the other classes followed our class and gathered together and shouted cheering. A young man's crying spirit came up again.

The first few days were the most difficult moments. Three days later, new recruits began to get sick one after another, with the most colds.

I also felt my throat was dry and itchy and my limbs were weak, but I thought I had to grit my teeth and persevere. Didn’t the squad leader say that, and after a week, I will get used to it slowly.

However, the squad leader still found symptoms of my physical discomfort from my performance and asked me if I would like to rest for a few days. When I thought: At present, all the soldiers in our other two squads fell ill, our class is still intact now, and no one fell ill. I must not drag the whole class back. If I want to win honor for our class, I refuse the squad leader's kindness.

My comrades also took the initiative to help me overcome difficulties. Huang Buqing and Shi Yinlin were my comrades in the queue. They kept paying attention to my situation while training. Whenever it was time for rest, everyone would compete to let me sit on the only square stool. Ye Meng, who didn't speak much, poured a cup of boiling water and handed it to me. I knew that his physique was actually not much better than me. My heart was warmed and moved again and again, and at the same time, it also strengthened my determination to live up to the care of my comrades and gritted my teeth and persevered.

The first difficult week finally passed. We gradually got used to the days of training in the biting cold wind. We no longer had the soreness and fatigue all over our body. Our movements were no longer scattered. We were already quite good. The traces of soldiers began to truly dissolve into the bone marrow and blood, and from then on we will accompany our lives. This is the deep mark of soldiers.

In addition to completing our transformation from civilians to soldiers, the training of recruits must also strengthen the military mission and responsibility of every soldier. We have learned teamwork through hard training and enhanced the tenacity and perseverance to overcome all difficulties. What’s more important is that these will be the eternal wealth on our future life path. Because of this, only those who come out of the military camp will have different temperaments and spirits.
Chapter completed!