3 Mess Squad

Once Qin Hao left the Military Affairs Department Office, he followed the map and went straight to the barracks of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Battalion. Along the way, he passed through the barracks of other units under the 106th Mechanized Infantry Division, only to find that the men in this division were almost all new recruits.

Looking at the young faces, Qin Hao sighed. Nine out of ten veterans like him, who had been crawling through the battlefield for almost a year, were dead. These new recruits would be dragged directly into the cruel battlefield soon enough, and who knew how many would walk out alive.

Soon, Qin Hao arrived at the base of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Battalion.

"Reporting in!" Qin Hao shouted outside the battalion commander's office.

"Enter!" A thick voice rang out from within.

Qin Hao pushed the door and entered the office. He only saw two people inside the room. One of them was burly and at least 1.9 meters in height. The man looked as strong as a bear, with thick hair all over his body. If one were to run into this guy in the forest, one might actually mistake him for one. The other person in the office was a thin, sickly-looking man no taller than 1.7 meters, and the two of them stood together in sharp contrast.

"Private 1573, reporting in!" Qin Hao said out loud.

"You're that veteran?" The thin man was a lieutenant, and his voice sounded gentle.

"Yes, Sir!" Qin Hao puffed his chest up as he answered. It was a habit he had developed in his year-long military career.

"What the hell are the upper echelons thinking, not even letting the disabled go? Is the war that dire..." The strong, bear-like man was the second lieutenant, and he whispered to himself upon seeing Qin Hao's robotic arm.

F*ck! You think I don't want to get away from this? Qin Hao cursed inwardly but remained expressionless as he stood straight, his eyes facing forward.

"All right. Ralph, I'll leave this guy to you." The thin lieutenant was the commander of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, and Ralph was clearly the bear-like guy.

"Battalion Commander, he's already wounded to such an extent, how about we give him a leisurely rear assignment while he awaits his discharge? The second company is a spearpoint company, and it isn't right for him to go with us..." Ralph said reluctantly, though it seemed that he had a good relationship with the battalion commander. Otherwise, he would not have dared to speak that way to his superior.

"Cut the nonsense, and see to your orders!" The battalion commander rolled his eyes at Ralph.

"Yes, Sir!" Although Ralph was extremely reluctant, because the battalion commander had spoken in such an authoritative manner, he could only comply.

"Come with me, boy!" Ralph glanced at Qin Hao and walked out of the office.

Qin Hao followed Ralph out of the office and went straight to the second company's station. Along the way, Ralph kept complaining. For a bear-like guy, he sure complained as much as an ill-treated daughter-in-law, and Qin Hao could not get used to it.

"What's-your-name-again..." After they arrived at the second company's station, Ralph pointed at Qin Hao and continued, "...while the battalion commander has pushed you onto me, since you're in this state, you probably won't be able to charge the frontlines again. How about this, I'll get you an easy posting."

"I'll follow your orders, Sir!" Qin Hao was well aware of the rules in the barracks. The commander's orders were divine and had to be carried out.

"Good! The mess1 squad is currently short of a leader. I'm sure a vet like you would do well!" Ralph said. Due to Qin Hao's disability, he strongly disagreed with assigning Qin Hao to the frontlines for combat tasks.

"Yes, Sir!" Qin Hao saluted Ralph. Actually, being sent to the mess was not all bad. At least he would be well fed. Over the past few days, aside from his itchy torn arm, there had been a bizarre change in him, and that was his unprecedented appetite. He could eat a day's worth of rations for a meal and still not feel full.

Of course, eating such a large amount of food on a starship was not a problem. Supplies were abundant there so no one would care no matter how much he ate. On the battlefield, however, provisions might not be abundant, especially during tough battles. The amount of rations a soldier could carry was limited. With Qin Hao's current appetite, if the logistics could not keep up, he might have to eat those giant beetles' legs.

Hence, being assigned to the mess was not without benefits. At the minimum, the company's rations were all there. So, Qin Hao would be close to the food source and not have to carry on with a hungry stomach.

Nevertheless, being part of the mess squad not only had its advantages, but also its disadvantages. Since they needed to carry a large number of cooking utensils and combat rations, their exoskeleton suits were basically built for heavy labor. Their weapons for self-defense were only a small pistol and two energy grenades. They were not equipped with powerful weapons like electromagnetic rifles.

As a veteran, Qin Hao felt weird without an electromagnetic rifle in his hand.

In any case, the orders had been given, and Qin Hao's battlefield recorder on his shoulder had been updated. Now, he was the squad leader of the second company's mess.

"All right, proceed to the mess squad and have a look at your men." Ralph waved his hand and sent Qin Hao away.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Qin Hao gave Ralph a salute and turned toward the mess.

...

"Leave me a drumstick!"

"Bloody hell! The quality of the supplies this time is average. There's only this much fresh vegetables and meat?"

"Just keep some for the company commander. We'll split up the rest!"

The moment Qin Hao entered the kitchen door, he saw a few fat guys dividing a chicken to eat. In the space age, military food supply had not been a problem for a long while. Even so, most of the starship and battlefield rations consisted of high-concentration nutrient liquid and compressed food. Due to the difficulties in storing fresh vegetables and meat, there was always only a small portion of them available.

F*ck! No wonder I've only been eating nutrient slush and compressed food bars. You bastards split all the good stuff in private! Qin Hao cursed inwardly. However, there was a saying that a cook would not pinch and steal only if there was no food, and that had always been the case since time memorial. The officers, of course, knew about this, but since the cooks would leave shares of delicious food for them, they just closed one eye. In the end, the ones who suffered were soldiers like Qin Hao.

"Attention!" Laced with resentment, Qin Hao's voice scared those cooks who had stolen food to the point that they almost choked to death.

"Coming, coming." The cooks wiped their mouths as they came out and stood in line. They had received a notice through their battlefield recorder that a new squad leader was coming.

"You..." Qin Hao initially intended to reprimand them, but seeing these guys with their oily faces, he suddenly felt that he could not be bothered to waste his breath on them.

"Forget it. Dismissed!" Qin Hao waved his hand.

"Come, come, let's stew the beef and celebrate our new squad leader!" All of them were sharp, and the moment they saw Qin Hao's robotic arm, they knew that he was one of the soldiers who had just come off the battlefield. Plus, seeing his angry face, they knew that he was holding them responsible for stealing food.