When you listen to the good news in the newspapers and on the radio, and imagine that the overseas Heavenly Dynasty is thousands of miles away, the king is making great progress, and perhaps the idea of serving the country from the military will arise spontaneously.

For young people living in townships and towns living in economically underdeveloped areas, it is a good choice to go to the city to work and sign up for the army, and some township families with more brothers and sisters often let one of them try to sign up for the army without thinking.

The Ming government did not establish a compulsory military service law until 32, but it was not promulgated until the outbreak of war in 39.

Prior to this, the Ming government relied entirely on volunteers to maintain its army, and thanks to the sheer size of the population, the number of people who volunteered to join the army was far greater than the number needed for the army.

In this context, it is not easy to be selected, and local military recruitment agencies (county government offices) will examine applicants from many aspects such as family background, appearance, height, weight, etc., and usually only a small number of applicants can be selected.

If you're lucky, you'll get your badge and certification on the spot after signing the military deed (contract), and after a few days of waiting, you'll head to a nearby boot camp.

Boot camps (training grounds) throughout the country are run by locally stationed infantry divisions, but in some state capitals, some field heavy artillery brigades or motorized infantry brigades are also eligible to be opened.

All recruit training camps are carried out in accordance with the training norms promulgated by the Military Training Department of the Ministry of War, and no unauthorized changes are allowed.

After finding your bunk in the boot camp, you and many recruits will soon receive military uniforms, military hats, military boots, and clothing made of cotton and viscose mixed fabrics with a good texture, but the crooked collar and hat are really not like soldiers.

Basic training will begin soon, which will last 30 days.

During this time, you will learn housekeeping, marching on foot, bandaging first aid, chemical defense, air defense, and for the first time you will be trained in shooting with a standard Type 21 bolt-action rifle, with grenade throwing training a little later, and live ammunition will only be issued at the end of the test, which will only be practice. At the same time, physical training is also carried out every day, rain or shine.

Every night after the end of training, everyone has to gather in the school field to watch the military education film, this product of modern industrial technology can teach you a lot of skills and essentials efficiently and vividly.

Compared with the rigorous German-style military training, the localized French-style military training is easier, but it is only some.

It's rare for someone to fail to complete basic training, after which you and many recruits will be assigned to the Ranks, which is usually determined by the boot camp officers.

Recruits with the best overall qualities are selected as scouts, i.e., scouts; Recruits with excellent physical fitness are selected as sappers; Recruits with the highest level of education are selected as artillery or signal corps.

Most of them will become an important but inconspicuous infantryman, and most likely will be a part of it, and non-commissioned officers and officers will use their keen eyes to select some new recruits to become members of the heavy machine gun team.

After the division of troops, professional training will continue for 60 days, with 1 day off every 10 days.

As an infantryman, you'll learn rifle shooting, grenade throwing, earthwork, and squad training – assault, sweep, defense, and more, as well as digging a variety of foxholes and shelters, as well as basic combat and stabbing skills.

Heavy machine guns were regarded as the core of the infantry detachment by the Ming Imperial Army, and everyone except for the members of the heavy machine gun team who was supposed to specialize in it, practiced the heavy machine gun handling method twice, and learned the principles and deployment positions.

At the end of your professional training, you and many of your recruits will receive a 3-day short sabbatical, followed by a 30-day field camp.

Don't get carried away on your vacation, for the patrolling gendarmes are the most happy to see.

During the training, you will continue to be in contact with nature for a month, learn the essentials of camping, vigilance, patrolling, and will also master some vital skills, such as concealed fire, beware of snakes and insects, identify landmines, clean water, etc.

At this point, you have mastered the complete killing skills, and you have become a competent infantryman by using a total of 220 rifle rounds, 50 machine gun rounds, 3 grenades, and 1 blaster canister.

The boot camp will write down the results of the assessment on your army officer disc (ID) and stamp it with a bright red stamp.

While waiting for the allocation of troops, everyone will undoubtedly be concerned about how they will be treated in the future.

As a professional soldier with a military contract, although you are still only a private, you can receive a monthly salary of 32 yuan, a living allowance of 3 yuan, and a settlement allowance of 6 yuan if you are married.

If you go to the battlefield, then from the day of the pull-out, the additional combat allowance will be calculated in days, 1 yuan per day, which is commonly known as "opening silver" or "double salary" in the army.

In the state capital of the middle economic level, the monthly salary of workers usually ranges from 31~36 yuan, and the monthly salary of employees usually ranges from 35~40 yuan.

The people live on food, and the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers, although the food you enjoy in the boot camp is not bad, but you will definitely worry about what will happen in the future.

According to the norms formulated by the Ministry of War, the food in the army garrison is divided into three grades.

The first class is a front-line combat unit; The second class is the occupation of security units, local training units, and rear medical units; The third class is a native garrison.

Previously, what you enjoyed in the boot camp was a second-class standard meal, which included:

1 kg of rice or flour, 5 taels of potatoes or sweet potatoes, 2 taels of meat, 1 kg of vegetables, 15 grams of iodized salt, 10 grams of sugar, 3 grams of tea, 10 cigarettes, 250 ml of beer or 100 ml of wine, 1 egg or 50 grams of egg powder, 5 grams of condensed milk, 100 ml of soy milk.

If you are assigned to a local garrison or a newly formed infantry division, then I am afraid that for the time being, you will only be able to eat a third-class standard meal that is one level lower, and the more expensive meat and sugar will be halved, and the condensed milk will be reduced to zero.

If you're ordered to go overseas and replenish your front-line troops, you're likely to be able to eat the highest standard of food. Correspondingly, once the troops are in combat condition, the food supply at the station becomes very unstable, and you may only be able to eat field rations for several days on end, including:

Breakfast consists of 6 biscuit sticks, 1 pack of 5 cigarettes, 2 fruit hard candies, 1 tea bag, and 1 water purification tablet.

Lunch consists of 2 pieces of compressed dry food, 1 canned meat, 1 canned fruit, 1 pack of 5-pack cigarettes, 2 fruit hard candies, and 1 pack of soup powder.

Dinner consists of 1 piece of compressed dry food, 1 canned meat, 1 pack of 5 cigarettes, and 2 fruit candies.

Let's struggle! As long as you make a "second merit", you will have the qualifications to be promoted to non-commissioned officer or even alternate officer, and the future is immeasurable, maybe when the war is over, you are already a school officer, and you have a considerable chance of becoming a general in the future!