There are enough things in a warzone to make you shit your pants. If you risk your own life before you even have the chance to make it to the front line, you're not really helping yourself.
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That's exactly what one new Chinese army recruit did after he dropped a live grenade during a training exercise, leaving his quick-thinking instructor to save his life.
The near-miss happened at a training camp in in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, central China.
Footage of the dramatic incident shows the rookie and his trainer leaning over the top of a trench when the grenade lights in a puff of smoke.
Shocked, the pair immediately duck down, with the grenade quickly rolling off the wall right into the trench where they're stood. Bet they needed a new pair of combat trousers after that.
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Miraculously, the trainer avoided disaster by pulling the recruit to safety in a nearby hole, just before the live grenade explodes just seconds later.
Once the cloud of dust clears and the pair emerge from the trench, the new recruit is quickly hauled up and pushed away from the area.
The video was shared online by Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of China.
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Amazingly, this isn't the first time a Chinese soldier had to rely on his trainer's know-how to save him after accidentally setting off a grenade.
In 2015, a Chinese soldier was filmed trying to throw a grenade in the middle of an army training exercise in the country's Guangdong Province.
In that situation, too, the trainer had to pull the recruit into a nearby trench to prevent either of them having their limbs blown off or worse. Lucky they have so many trenches lying around apparently.
According to the Telegraph, the pair only suffered scratches and didn't sustain any more serious injuries.
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The newspaper reports that the young buck had only recently signed up with the army and it was his first time handling a grenade. Do you think he ever got the chance to do it a second time?
It makes you wonder why young recruits get trusted with explosives.
Featured Image Credit: Youtube/ChinaViewTVTopics: World News, army, News, China