How to Act to Be Worthy of This First-Class Commendation Medal...

Written by: Army Media Reporter Luo Youwei, Liang Yanfeng; Photography: Li Chenxi, Zhuang Haoning

One and a half years ago, six new recruits stood in line, saluting with a sense of nervousness. On their chests were a rare combination of badges: one representing the shortest service time and another bearing the highest honor.

These six new recruits are Yi Peichong, Li Guangbin, Gao Junchao, Xu Tao, Pan Zhao, and Xiao Jiecai. In the spring of 2024, they enlisted in a certain brigade of the 72nd Group Army. A few months later, their company was awarded the honorary title of "Model Rocket Artillery Company" by the Central Military Commission, and every soldier in the company received a first-class commendation badge. This stroke of luck became a test in their military lives: how to earn the right to wear it.

On the day they joined the company, they were taken directly to the training area. Deep in the humid and hot jungle, several artillery pieces lay in wait under camouflage nets, their barrels neatly aligned, wrapped in camouflage paint, ready to unleash thunder. Everything before them struck a strong impact on their hearts.

When Yi Peichong pressed his red handprint on the application for combat for the first time, his hand trembled slightly. He asked his squad leader, "Can we do well?" The squad leader replied, "If you press down, you can." For over ten consecutive days of high temperature and humidity, their camouflage uniforms hardly dried, and Yi Peichong truly realized that equipment must operate under extreme conditions, and people must bear the burden alongside the equipment.

When the final moment arrived, the ground trembled slightly, and shells whistled out of the barrels. Standing in the smoke and dust, Yi Peichong understood what it meant to have a mission.

In the second training exercise, the initial results of the simulated training were not ideal. The new recruits watched anxiously, silently following the cadre to repeatedly calculate. From midnight to dawn, the new simulation results finally showed success.

The next day, they practiced the procedures. The sergeant reported the parameters in a hurry, and the command post replied, "Measurement error 0.3." This was within the allowable range, but the sergeant shook his head: "Even a difference of 0.1 is not acceptable!" After a detailed investigation, the hidden problem was identified and resolved. The corrected parameters were reported again, and an exciting voice came from the radio: "Error is zero."

In the driver's cabin, Li Guangbin and Gao Junchao were sweating in their palms. They wrote "even a difference of 0.1 is not acceptable" in their notebooks and etched it in their hearts, starting to learn from the old squad leader how to record shooting parameters and compare impact points. In the brigade's professional competition, Li Guangbin won first place in rocket artillery operation, while Gao Junchao came in third. The two excitedly told the sergeant, "Squad leader, there's no difference of 0.1 now."

While the sounds of artillery shook the Southeast training ground, Pan Zhao and Xiao Jiecai were experiencing another "battle" a thousand miles away.

The company was tasked with participating in the parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the two were selected as crew members for the parade training team, setting out alongside driver Liu Yang.

Liu Yang had participated in the National Day parade in 2019, with good skills and a steady mindset. The two new recruits were afraid of failing the selection and often worked overtime to practice hard. But the more they feared, the more it happened; Pan Zhao accidentally got injured from overtraining and regrettably did not make the cut.

That night when the list was announced, Pan Zhao sat alone in the training ground, the lights casting a long shadow. Liu Yang and Xiao Jiecai came to comfort him. Liu Yang patted him on the back: "We all saw your efforts. Some standards are not just about walking past." Xiao Jiecai said, "If you can't make it, I'll walk for you."

On the day of the parade, Pan Zhao watched the live broadcast in the barracks, his eyes never leaving the screen. When his comrades drove past Tiananmen Square, he clapped vigorously, not just for the participating soldiers, but also for the days they had endured together. "Having fought through it, having experienced it, is growth," he told himself in his heart.

As their two-year mandatory military service was about to end, the six faced the choice of whether to stay or leave. Gao Junchao, a college graduate, wanted to return to school to complete his bachelor's degree. The other five all applied to stay in the army. Understanding the weight of the military uniform, they decided to nail their youth to the front lines and witness what their company would look like on the centenary of the army's founding.

The centenary of the army's founding is drawing near, not just marking the passage of time, but also serving as a coordinate for overcoming challenges. Young soldiers and heroic companies are striving forward, just like shells fired from the barrel— the trajectory is set, and all that remains is to give it their all.