Perhaps because he had prayed that night, or perhaps because the Recruitment Office had added more staff, Gaizika completed his registration by noon the next day.
The Recruitment Office officer issued him a military service certificate and an address, telling him to report there on his own.
When he arrived, Gaizika found five or six hundred people gathered there, yet only one Lieutenant and two Corporals were responsible for managing them.
Military Uniforms and weapons had not yet been issued, and even their training consisted only of the simplest drills—lining up, turning around, and the like.
Lieutenant Caso told them that the Instructors transferred from the front would not arrive for another ten-odd days. Only then could formal training begin.
This greatly disappointed the young men eager to head to the front and fight the England Prussia Austria invaders.
Yet that very afternoon, several carriages stopped before the temporary Camp. More than a dozen people in old Military Uniforms climbed down from them.
The instant Gaizika saw them, he froze.
Half of them were in wheelchairs or missing an arm.
The middle-aged man leading them wore a Copper Iris Medal on his chest, and less than twenty centimeters remained of his left arm. He tipped his hat to Lieutenant Caso, who had come forward to meet them. "Lieutenant, we heard the New Barracks lacked Instructors. We've all been to war. We can help you train them.
"Oh, don't worry. Five of us graduated from the Paris Police Academy. Mr. Strong and the others attended the Military Technical School as well, so there definitely won't be any problem with the basic training courses."
Lieutenant Caso stared blankly at their disabilities for a long while, unable to say a word.
The veteran wearing the Copper Iris Medal said, "Look, we may be