It was already evening when the recruits were ready to eat.

The management of the recruit battalion is no different from that of the regular soldier. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are managed in company-level units. The third company of the recruit battalion has a kitchen squad. The squad leader and the deputy squad leader are veterans, and a few recruits form a kitchen squad.

I had dumpling soup at night, and the big wooden barrel was carried over, filled with dumpling soup. The recruits lined up with new large enamel bowls to make a meal one by one, and then they all squatted on the ground to eat.

The cooking class is really not a good idea. The so-called dumpling soup is a big pot of gnocchi and some vegetables, plus salt and a little oil.

A large bowl of dumpling soup was quickly finished. Li Qinglin was in a bad mood and didn't want to eat it anymore, but a thin recruit next to him finished eating dumpling soup in the bowl. He even licked the bottom of the bowl cleanly, and then stared at the wooden barrel, obviously wanting to eat another bowl.

Li Qinglin asked him quietly: "Is this dumpling soup so delicious?"

The recruit obviously had never seen any world. When he saw someone paying attention to him, he squatted there with his head curled up, without saying a word.

At this time, the children of peasants were generally honest and loyal people. They all regarded self-protection as their way of dealing with the world. They generally took tolerance first. They were unwilling to show up and did not dare to make any excessive demands, so they seemed dull and stupid.

Li Qinglin sighed in his heart. Seeing that Li Gousheng was also looking around, as if he was not full, Li Qinglin raised his hand and stood up: "Report to the squad leader, there are still people who are not full. Can you add more?"

Zhang Ergou just finished eating, and he cursed and said, "Who isn't full? When I first joined the army, I didn't even have to eat half of it. What else can you foodies do besides eating?"

This time, Zhang Ergou even scolded Li Qinglin. Li Qinglin said dissatisfied: "Squad Leader, we join the army just to eat food. If we can't even eat enough, then what kind of soldiers are we a soldier?"

Zhang Ergou's authority was challenged. He glared at the sight of a swearing, but several officers came, leading a lieutenant.

Zhang Ergou quickly put down the hollow bowl in his hand and ran forward to stand attentively salute: "Report to the company commander, the new recruits have a meal, please give me a lecture!"

The company commander waved his hand and said, "Don't have so many rules when eating."

Then he pointed at Li Qinglin and said, "This brother is right. Joining the army is just for food, which is natural. But have you ever thought about what we should do when we join the army?"

Zhang Ergou hurriedly replied: "We have eaten the official meal and put on official clothes, and we have to do business for the official family and obey the command of the superior. We will fight wherever the superior points!"

The company commander nodded, looking very satisfied. Before leaving, he told Zhang Ergou that he must let the new recruits eat their fill.

The remaining dumpling soup in the bucket was eaten by the recruits, and even the bottom of the bucket was scraped cleanly.

The skinny soldier and Li Gousheng ate half a bowl. Seeing that they seemed to be full, Li Qinglin gave them half a bowl of rice in his hand.

After the skinny soldier finished licking the bottom of the bowl again, Li Qinglin asked him: "What's your name? You were also arrested?"

The thin soldier said, "My name is He Changsheng, I came to join the army voluntarily."

At this time, there were still people who volunteered to join the army. Li Qinglin was very surprised and asked him: "Do you think joining the army has a promising future?"

He Changsheng honestly replied: "I have four brothers. I have no land at home. They all rented land to grow. I never had enough food at home. I heard from the security chief that I could eat enough food after joining the army, so I signed up to join the army."

"A good iron does not make nails, and a good man does not join the army." Chinese society has always regarded serving as a soldier as a minor matter since ancient times. Li Qinglin looked up at the skinny and beautiful young people in the team, and sighed in his heart. There should be many people who come to join the army just for a full meal.

Before going to bed, the platoon leader came, and he gave another lecture as usual. The platoon leader mainly said that being a soldier is glorious, and the new recruits should not escape. The sentries outside were all real guns and ammunition. When they found someone fleeing, the sentry would shoot immediately. The escaped soldiers would be severely punished when they were caught.

The platoon leader does not live in the recruits' dormitory at night. The recruits' dormitory is managed by three veteran squad leaders. The windows of the recruits' dormitory are nailed with thick wooden strips, leaving only the gate to enter and exit. The three squad leaders' beds are at the door. Close the gate, and there is a guard outside the door with a gun.

The recruits' shops can only be called "shop". In fact, they are made of wooden boards on the adobe, forming a long, large bunk bed. The bunk bed is very long, but it cannot hold up to many people. Li Qinglin divided the shops with two and a half feet for him to sleep.

Before the lights were turned off, the squad leader took away all the recruits' pants and allowed them to sleep naked.

Someone raised an opinion and said that he was not used to sleeping with bare butts. Zhang Ergou smiled strangely and said, "What's wrong with bare butts? This is the rule of the recruit camp. Whoever doesn't accepts will get beaten. Besides, there are all big men in this room, and everyone has that thing. No one can take advantage of anyone who sees it."

At this time, the Kuomintang troops adopted the method of taking charge of desertion. If a new recruit escaped but was not caught, the squad leader who led the troops would be beaten to the army, and the platoon leader would be fined for salary. The company commander was criticized by the top of the mountain. If too many people escaped, the company commander and platoon leader would be dismissed.

Li Qinglin knew that the squad leader was afraid that the recruits would escape, so he confiscated the recruits' pants. Without the pants, the recruits could only bare their butts when they ran away; and even if the bare-butts left the bare-butt, they would not dare to walk the road in broad daylight. The deserters could not escape even if they wanted to escape, and the veterans would soon be able to capture the deserters back.

The simple house where the recruits live is actually a large shed with slabs made of walls and covered with thatched grass. The house is airy on all sides, which is cool in this hot summer, but the airy walls on all sides bring another problem, that is, mosquitoes come in groups to suck blood.

There are ponds and woods next to this open space, so there are a lot of mosquitoes. Once the lights go out, the mosquitoes that cannot be counted will buzz. As long as there is exposed skin, they will sting until they are filled with blood. For a moment, the sound of mosquitoes "crackling" in the dormitory is one after another, and no one can sleep.

Fortunately, the three veteran squad leader had prepared a lot, so they brought some half-dry and half-wet grass, plus some peach branches, garlic leaves, and pepper trees, and lit them with fire. The half-dry and half-wet grass quickly emitted thick smoke. The thick smoke was choking at first, and thirty or forty men were smoked and coughed and sneezed, but the mosquitoes were also smoked. After a while, the smoke came out less, and the people in the room were used to the smell of smoke. Because they were too tired these days, the recruits quickly fell asleep peacefully.

As usual, there was no toilet in the recruits' dormitory. Someone put down a manure bucket in the middle of the house. After closing the door, the recruits urinated and defecated in the manure bucket.

Li Qinglin also fell asleep while smelling the choking smoke of mosquitoes and listening to the sound of "scattered thunder" in his ears from time to time.
Chapter completed!