Early the next morning, before the break of dawn, drums began to sound within the camp. The three separate drumbeats each carried a different meaning: the first was the signal to wake up, the second marked the time to tidy quarters, and at the final beat, everyone had to gather at the designated location to receive breakfast rations. It was a very strict routine.
Those troublemaking soldiers whom the two of us had knocked unconscious yesterday had been dragged back to their respective tents by White to sleep off the night. When I stepped out of my tent, those fellows immediately glared at me with hostile stares, but with so many prying eyes around, they dared not make a scene and could only vent their fury on their biscuits, crushing them to powder.
There was a half-hour breakfast break before departure. After breakfast, considering that there were far too many minors in the contingent, a twenty-minute warm-up session would follow. Most people were assigned only hard rations, making do with a bite washed down by water from their canteens.
Chapter 87