What's a Sergeant Major?

"Do you really want to be the Assistant Squad Leader?"

Fang Huai's excited demeanor didn't quite match Hao Chengbin's initial impression of him over the past couple of days.

Fang Huai had already prepared his speech.

"Squad Leader... my dad told me that when you're a soldier, you should bravely take responsibility. I think I have the ability, and I want my family to see my progress."

"Mm," Hao Chengbin nodded. "You understand correctly. This is responsibility. In the military, the Assistant Squad Leader has specific duties and requirements. However, to progress, you need sufficient strength. Besides internal affairs, good training is also paramount. You're currently... lacking a bit in physical fitness. Put in some effort."

"Report, Squad Leader, I understand!"

Hao Chengbin, satisfied, walked into the company headquarters with his hands behind his back.

He felt this was a form of encouragement for Fang Huai. The Chief of Staff had already offered encouragement, so he had to ensure Fang Huai earned the Outstanding Soldier award. Otherwise, it wouldn't just mean Fang Huai was a coward, but that he himself was a bad squad leader.

Twenty pull-ups, mastering the kipping motion... strengthening his arm and core strength, and the problem wouldn't be too big.

Fang Huai had completely slacked off on core and arm strength.

What he needed to strengthen was his grip.

For pull-ups, you need core and arm strength, but you also need to be able to hold onto the bar and overcome the pain from friction.

The simplest way was to tie a backpack strap to the bar and hang for a while. The sensation was something only those who tried it would know. If you didn't pull your wrists, they'd hurt; if you did, your palms would hurt. In 10 minutes, you could peel off a thick layer of skin.

After hanging on the bar for a long time, the palms would constantly break and regrow, forming a thick callus. Naturally, it wouldn't hurt anymore, and your grip strength would improve.

Without the conditions for that, you could only do empty hangs. This was the simplest, yet most patience-testing exercise. Fang Huai decided to start honing his willpower here.

His enthusiasm lasted for about 20 minutes.

His palms were constantly doing empty hangs until it was time to assemble. After going downstairs to move things, Fang Huai forgot about it.

It could only be said that there was a reason for his laziness.

A group of people huffed and puffed as they carried the bedding and folding stools from downstairs to each company's headquarters, immediately preparing to return to their squad to await supplies.

Folding stools, socks, shirts, service uniforms, and a pair of standard issue underwear.

Things he wouldn't even glance at at home before now became rare items that could get everyone excitedly discussing for a while.

"I heard from people that the socks issued by the military are of excellent quality and very warm!"

"Right, even the underwear doesn't wear out! No matter how much you scratch, they don't pill!"

"You're kidding! Military issue items are military supplies! I just saw that little folding stool; besides sitting, you can flip it up and use it as a table! It's awesome!"

"Jū~xū! Jū~xū!"

The whistle blew.

The brothers of Ninth Squad clenched their fists, eager for action.

"Seventh Company, put on your camouflage uniforms, hats, and tie your camouflage belts. Assemble downstairs! Training!"

"What the hell... they haven't even issued the supplies yet, and we're going straight to training?"

"Oh man, what's coming is always coming!"

"Damn, where's my belt?"

"On the bed, in front of your quilt! We put them there uniformly just now, you forgot? Idiot!"

The corridor was filled with similar traditional exclamations until Wang Jian appeared, and the curses died down.

"Hurry up, hurry up! Opening ceremony! Squad leaders of each squad, form up quickly!"

Seeing that Squad Leader Hao wasn't there, Jiang Peng took the lead, rushing into the corridor and calling out to his squad.

"Ninth Squad, assemble, assemble!"

Fang Huai walked out, his belt tied, tidied his hat, and took his position second from the back.

Everyone lined up in the corridor. Jiang Peng stood at the very front of the formation, not knowing how to organize them, but his face was full of excitement.

"To me... concentrate!"

Jiang Peng's hand reached over the head of Sun Lianhai, who was in the first position, immediately causing dissatisfaction. Sun Lianhai slapped his hand away.

Hao Chengbin walked out of the company headquarters, talking on the phone. He saw Jiang Peng, pressed the receiver to his ear, and then kicked Jiang Peng in the backside, frowning. "Which position are you?"

"Report, Squad Leader! Fifth position!"

"Then what are you doing standing here? Get back in line!"

The others burst into laughter.

Hao Chengbin picked up his phone and, looking up at Sun Lianhai, said, "Forward, march!"

"Squad Leader Hao!"

"Squad Leader!"

As they walked down, many non-commissioned officers greeted Hao Chengbin proactively. Hao Chengbin, while on the phone, raised his hand in response. The new recruits of Ninth Squad finally realized their Squad Leader's standing among the veterans who were being trained, and felt a sense of pride.

"...Alright, we're about to have a meeting here. For that hydraulic breaching tool set, it's best you don't add oil first. When it comes to maintenance, don't just mess around by reading the manual. Call the Equipment Technician from First Squadron!"

"Okay, bye."

Hao Chengbin hung up the phone and turned around, shouting.

"Line up on the stairs! There will be Corps Leaders visiting today, so no whispering! If anything goes wrong, you won't get to shower this weekend! Extra training!"

The new recruits in the entire stairwell fell silent.

Fang Huai, however, felt nothing.

Showering... might as well not shower.

I'd rather have extra training!

Training ground.

The "March of Welcome" continued to play as the nine companies stood in neat formation.

On the podium of the training ground, there were three tiers of seating, with three rows of seats. The backdrop read "2007 New Recruit Training Group Opening Ceremony," and next to it, the "China Firefighting" logo, featuring a crossed fire hose, axe, and water gun nozzle within a police emblem, shone brightly.

A convoy of sedans drove to the entrance of the training ground and stopped. A group of officers immediately crowded forward.

"The Corps Leaders are here!" someone exclaimed in the crowd.

A group of middle-aged officers, wearing peaked caps and civilian clothes, alighted outside the training ground. They were surrounded by attendants, looking quite imposing.

"Holy crap, I want to be an officer too when I grow up! A general!"

"You wouldn't even dream of that! Do you even know what a general's rank looks like? None of the Corps Leaders here today are generals!"

"Look, those people are all quite old!"

"What's so great about being old? In 30 years, you'll be old too!"

"You don't know anything. In the military, the older you are, the higher your rank! If you see someone still in the military with white hair, they're definitely a High Leader!"

Fang Huai couldn't help but smile.

That wasn't entirely wrong.

There were regulations on the maximum service years for various ranks in the military. A Captain at the full Colonel rank typically had to apply for transfer to civilian work around 45 if they hadn't been promoted to Deputy Division Commander. Those over 50 still in the military were at least Deputy Division Commanders at the Senior Colonel rank, allowing them to serve until retirement at 55.

If they were still in the military past 60 with delayed retirement, they would at least be a General.

It was the same for enlisted soldiers. If a non-commissioned officer could reach the seventh term, becoming a First Class Sergeant Major, they would have the treatment of a Deputy Division Commander.

However, the difficulty of becoming a First Class Sergeant Major was much greater than an officer reaching Deputy Division Commander. The number of active First Class Sergeant Majors in the entire military wouldn't exceed 200, far fewer than generals. They were all elite talents with special skills.

Fang Huai had once met a Sixth Term non-commissioned officer, a Second Class Sergeant Major, who was outstanding in information technology. It was said that when he was promoted to the Sixth Term, an airline company offered him an annual salary of 1.2 million, but he refused. The words he left behind spread throughout the entire corps.

"The skills learned in the military should be contributed to the military."

1.2 million in the early 2000s.

Let alone First or Second Class Sergeant Majors, even the Quartermaster in Fang Huai's former company, a Fourth Class Sergeant Major, was plump, weighing over 200 pounds. He was slow when running, but incredibly strong on the Flip Board Obstacle and could perform five exercises on the horizontal bar. It was rumored he once knocked out a man over 1.9 meters tall with a single slap.

A standard "muscle wrapped in fat," a "new energy" fatty.

There was a reason the military respected veterans. Both non-commissioned officers and officers had a very intense elimination mechanism. Those who could serve long-term were all talented, and leaders at that.

And don't let their age fool you; they could take down three people after taking off their clothes.

Who would dare not respect them?

A group of leaders approached and walked onto the podium to take their seats in order.

The music stopped, and a dark figure ran to the very front of the formation, about five meters away.

"15 centimeters interval left and right! 75 centimeters front and back! Look right... align!!"

Chief of Staff Yang Yonghua's voice was loud, echoing across the training ground of over 20 mu.

The entire formation began to stir.

"Forward, look!"

"Look right, align!"

"Forward, look!"

"At ease!"

Everyone felt the solemn atmosphere. Apart from the sound of orderly footsteps, there was no other sound.

Yang Yonghua turned, leaped forward, stopped to the left of the podium, turned to face the podium, and saluted.

"Reporting, Comrade Political Commissar! New Recruit Training Group, 853 were expected, 848 are present. Five are on official business trips. Requesting instructions!"

The Senior Colonel in the center returned the salute.

"The ceremony begins!"

"Yes!"

Yang Yonghua ran back to his command post.

"Attention!!"

"At ease!"

After a set of meeting request procedures, the Captain on the side of the rostrum began introducing the leaders present today.

Political Commissar, Corps Commander, Headquarters, Political Department, Logistics Department... it seemed everyone was here except the Fire Prevention Department.

If my uncle hadn't died next year... he had been the Deputy Detachment Leader for the Provincial City Detachment for several years, a Captain at the regiment level... according to my mom, he was about to be promoted to Senior Colonel.

Perhaps next year, during the new recruit training, he would also be sitting on the rostrum.

"...Next, please welcome Political Commissar Zou Tong to speak!"

Clap clap clap.

The Senior Colonel in the middle stood up and gave a not-so-standard military salute, but there was a certain presence in his movement.

"Comrades."

"Today, we are here to hold the opening ceremony for the new recruit training group. On behalf of the Corps Party Committee and the vast number of firefighting officers and soldiers in the province, I extend a warm welcome to our new comrades! I also extend my cordial greetings and sincere thanks to the cadres who successfully completed the task of receiving recruits and have triumphantly returned..."

"Currently, just as the Party's 17th National Congress has successfully concluded, the entire Party and nation are actively striving to achieve new victories in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. You have actively responded to the call of the Party and the people, resolutely chosen military service, and entered the firefighting forces from all walks of life, stationed at the Red Gate of firefighting..."

"New comrades, Guizhou is an inland mountainous province with beautiful scenery, a pleasant atmosphere, abundant resources, and many ethnic groups. Currently, with the comprehensive implementation of the national 11th Five-Year Plan..."

"The firefighting forces are an active duty force shouldering multiple special tasks such as fire prevention and extinguishing, emergency rescue, and handling emergencies..."

"New comrades, the future belongs to you, and your prospects are infinitely bright. The Party and the people expect you to grow and mature. The military needs you to become true good men of the military. I hope you will have a sense of urgency, seize the day, study diligently, train hard, and quickly complete the transformation from ordinary citizens to qualified soldiers, becoming Four Haves Soldiers with ideals, morals, culture, and discipline! Thank you all!"

Applause erupted from the audience.

The leader's Mandarin wasn't very good.

The average age of the audience below was only eighteen or nineteen. When he talked about development and policies, most of them looked confused. I came here to be a soldier. Local development is the government's business, what does it have to do with me, Zhou Mouren?

In short, it was encouragement, so applaud.

Only the veterans knew the arduous tasks these words represented.

Some people present would pay with their youth, some with their lives, to safeguard these development plans. Some died as children, still not understanding the meaning, but they all charged forward without regret.

They charged into the sea of fire, into disaster sites, into the mountains and ravines, leaving their lives there.

When survivors were interviewed, reporters would always ask them what they were thinking at the time. The simplest and most common answer was always, "I wasn't thinking anything at the time."

Fang Huai had spent five years in firefighting in his previous life. He heard about comrades from which squadron being sacrificed or injured while saving people every other day. Standing here now, he was filled with emotion.

He hoped they would always be young, always filled with tears of emotion, that time would be gentle, and that they would be well.

Suddenly, he realized there was quite a lot he could do, and he had some new insights.

Perhaps rebirth could change more than just himself.

The speeches ended quickly. Following the Political Commissar, the Corps Commander's speech was concise and powerful.

"Train well and serve the country!"

"All companies, take your positions, begin training!"

With Yang Yonghua's command, the entire training ground sprang into action.

Seventh Company was assigned a prime spot by the wire fence in the corner. Hao Chengbin directly led his team to occupy the position closest to the fence.

When Ninth Squad arrived at their training spot, Hao Chengbin showed a sly smile.

"Brothers, you're in luck. Outside this wire fence is a driving school."

Everyone looked confused.

"Squad Leader, what do you mean?"

Hao Chengbin chuckled and pointed to a hole in the wire fence, about half a person's size. "See that? That dog hole. You can run out, then run down the slope. You can catch a taxi outside."

They exchanged glances.

"Squad Leader! I definitely won't run! I want to be a soldier. The leaders just said it, to serve the country!" Yue Tao patted his chest, his face full of righteous fervor.

"Yeah, Squad Leader, we finally got in, how could we run?" Chen Zhongqiang said indignantly, feeling looked down upon and somewhat resentful.

Hao Chengbin laughed. "If you're not planning to run, then I have more good news for you... there are many people passing by the driving school outside every day. You can even see beautiful women while you're training."

"Holy crap..."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Squad Leader, you're brilliant!" Fang Huai couldn't help but give a thumbs-up.

Reborn or not, I'm still thirty-five internally, am I not supposed to look at beautiful women?

You have to know that this place, the new recruit training group, had hardly any women. There were a few beautiful female officers in the administrative building at the entrance, but they were in a lower area after entering. The training ground was further inside, and they couldn't see the scenery of the administrative building at all.

After a while, even the canteen aunt looked a bit pretty.

No wonder their squad in his previous life was squeezed into a position near the center of the training ground. The veteran NCOs led their squads towards the walls.

It was still the old squad leader who was cunning, delivering benefits right away!

(Chapter break, chapter break, wait for the shelves and then a 10,000-character explosion)