Chapter 338: The Death of a Soldier
Ten years ago, after returning from the frontline with a mecha platoon, the beloved captain company commander in front of them, received an order from the regimental command to take a leave of absence immediately.
Before the smoke on his face could be erased, the captain set out on his way home. It stands to reason that the captain who has already made his home on the border federation control planet is not far away, but it is only a few light years away, and it can be reached in a day if you take a military transport ship through the wormhole.
But no one expected that this time the family leave would be so long, and the 173 people of the mecha company of the 88th Mecha Division, known as the Tiger Company, who were on the front line, did not wait for the return of their captain and company commander. A month later, the colonel went to the Tiger Company to announce that Captain Tie Yong had retired for some reason, and the commander of the Tiger Company was replaced by the deputy company commander on the spot, and no one even knew the real reason.
However, the colonel commander and the chief of staff of the lieutenant colonel's regiment, who may have known the reason, remained silent and did not explain the reason to all the officers and men of the LTTE Company until they were promoted.
Captain Tie Yong disappeared silently from the front line, away from the field of vision of the more than 100 comrades-in-arms under his command who got along day and night, without a word of explanation, and even changed the contact information. Many people in other mecha companies said that Tie Yong was afraid, afraid of this kind of life of rotating on the battlefield almost every three months to fight skirmishes with the Jeppen people, so he became a deserter. He didn't contact everyone because he was afraid of facing his comrades and brothers.
And the reason why the regimental command did not say the reason was because the commanders felt ashamed, not only the shame of the Tiger Company, but also the shame of the entire 88th Mecha Division. Since the day the 88th Mecha Division was built, it has lost battles and deserted soldiers, but there has never been a captain-level company commander who has applied for retirement on family leave, and if the reason is said, the morale of the officers and soldiers on the front line will definitely plummet.
This explanation seems very reasonable, but the 173 officers and men of the LTTE Company do not agree with it. Others are not familiar with their company commanders, aren't they familiar with them yet? Tie Yong, who was more than 35 years old at that time, could be regarded as the oldest actual company commander in the entire 88th Division, and may also be the longest captain in the military, the captain who had served for more than 16 years was promoted from the first rank of the second private, and the cold and summer of 10 years on the front line made him the most senior sergeant of the Tiger Company, so as to get the opportunity to enter the military academy for 8 months of further study, and finally rose to the captain and company commander of the Tiger Company.
For all the officers and men of the Tiger Company, who were nearly 10 years younger than him, the iron and brave captain who had accompanied them since the recruit period was like a father and a brother, and they did not believe that such a brother would become a deserter.
If he doesn't want to fight endlessly, he can choose to retire while serving as a sergeant, and for a sergeant who has served for more than 10 years, the federal government will arrange for him to return to his hometown to become a sergeant of a police station, and there is no problem with worrying about food and clothing for a lifetime.
They have been waiting for the truth, even if most of them have retired over time. It's almost all of them obsession. This is also the main reason why Tie Yong, who has disappeared for 10 years, suddenly sent a message and invited everyone to come to the Capital Star, and they immediately left all their jobs and rushed to the Capital Star, not the generous salary of 1000 credits per month plus bonuses offered by Tie Yong.
It's just that they didn't expect that the captain and company commander, who was as steady and heroic as a mountain on the front line, would be destroyed into the appearance in front of them after ten years. But, out of trust in their bones, they didn't ask, just expressed their thoughts with hugs.
And now, it is finally time to uncover the mystery, and they are waiting for the explanation of their company commander's eldest brother. It's about honor, it's about faith, and they believe that Iron Courage has never let them down.
So, they waited in silence.
However, no one knew that what they were waiting for was such a cruel truth.
γγγγγ
"It's been ten years, a long time, but why is it so short for me?" The sloppy uncle's face remained unchanged, and there was a little sadness in his eyes, which had been a little cloudy due to the erosion of alcohol for a long time. "You may all know the story of me and your sister-in-law Ah Meiγγγγγγ"
"Sister-in-law?" Liao Lei, who was the last to arrive, suddenly changed his face: "By the way, sister-in-law!" Is something wrong with my sister-in-law? And, what about the nephew? β
The muscles on the sloppy uncle's face twitched slightly, and he waved his hand to signal himself, his eyes were a little confused, as if he had fallen into some kind of memory: "My parents worked in the mining star, because of an attack, they were gone, originally the federation was going to send me to an orphanage at the age of 10, but Ah Mei's parents, who were neighbors, accepted me, relying on the house left by my parents and the financial support of my stepparents, I finished middle school and high school, but I was not admitted to the military school of my dreams."
Although I have no parents, my righteous parents are very good to me, and with the company of Ah Mei, who is three years younger than me, those years are extremely warm and beautiful days in my life. When I was 19 years old, I fell in love with Ah Mei, but I also chose to leave home to join the army, both the oath to avenge my parents and the ambition to break out for Ah Mei and my future.
I work harder than anyone else, I train hard, I fight the enemy bravely, the blood of the Jeppen people can allow me to comfort the souls of my parents in heaven, the rising positions of corporal, sergeant, and sergeant and the corresponding increase in salary can provide a better life for Ah Mei, and I am worthy of family and love.
When I was 30 years old, I was finally promoted to lieutenant after graduating from military school, and the two gold stars on my chest finally gave me the courage to propose to my stepparents and marry the girl I loved the most. On that day, the girl who had been waiting for me for 10 years had a happy and beautiful face. β
When talking about his wife, the expression on the sloppy uncle's face was extremely gentle, and the gentleness made the stubbornness in Qiu Ruge's eyes soften. She knew that it was love.
Although I don't know how many years have passed, when a man talks about a woman, he can still be so tender, what a wonderful feeling!
But what about the beautiful woman? In the more than a year of getting along, Qiu Ruge, who had never seen a sloppy uncle return home, and had never heard him mention his family, couldn't help but panic a little in her heart. Beautiful fairy tales, the most frightening, is the cruel ending.
But this world does not exist with people's good wishes! Joys and sorrows, life and death, are staged every day around all kinds of human beings.
"In order to be closer to me, Ah Mei, who has become my wife, chose to leave her parents and come to work in Gongga Star, which is the closest to the front line, although the living conditions there are harsh, the oxygen content is only 60% of that of the human habitable planet, and the most terrible thing is to enter the long winter, and the temperature is minus 70 degrees, but she still came here without hesitation in order to be able to accompany her beloved husband more, and waited in Gongga Star with countless long-awaited military wives.
And I, on the other hand, only have one month of family leave a year to accompany her. I had hoped that she could go back to live with her parents-in-law, but she didn't want to, our station was five days away from my parents-in-law's planet, and she didn't want me to run around, and she didn't want the reunion to be 20 days in January. I couldn't convince her, and she stayed, for five years.
Those five years were the happiest days of my life, when I returned from the front, I could see her gentle smile, every time I returned home, although the cold wind was howling outside, I could always have a cup of hot tea waiting for me, and the window that emitted a warm yellow light.
Especially, when one day, four years later, on a remote video call, Ah Mei told me that she was pregnant. We've been on video calls countless times imagining the future. Ah Mei wants a son because she wants him to be like his father who can protect her and also become a soldier in the future to defend her hometown. And I, I hope it is my daughter, with the same gentle eyebrows and eyes as Ah Mei. The sloppy uncle continued to speak gently, but as he spoke, tears quietly hung on the corners of his eyes that he closed at some point.
Everyone's hearts couldn't help but tighten silently, as if they had a sense of foreboding.
"All the good expectations ended with my visit to my family. Before I led the second platoon to the battlefield, I also had a video call with Ah Mei, and the pregnancy has passed 8 and a half months, and there are 10 days at most, and our child will come into this worldγγγγγ The tears in the sloppy uncle's eyes could no longer be suppressed at the moment, rolling down. When I arrived at Gonggar Star on the transport ship of the military district, the window that emitted a warm yellow glow was gone. I was greeted at the door of the door by the head of the Major General of the Logistics Department of the Military Region, the pale face of Ah Mei in the ice coffin, and our unborn daughter. β
"When I was still fighting on the front line, Ah Mei was about to give birth ahead of schedule, but a sudden snowstorm blocked the flight of the flying car, and amniotic fluid embolism is not terrible in this era, but a delay of half an hour is enough to kill a pregnant woman.
I knelt in front of Ah Mei, knelt in front of our poor daughters who had not yet seen a ray of sunshine, and prayed that they would open their eyes and look at me, I would rather exchange all my military medals for a look, as long as they could look at me, I knelt for three days and three nights, I cried for three days and three nights, even if my parents-in-law who had arrived personally supported me, I didn't get up! I don't understand why God wants to punish me like this, even if I've been in a mess for the past ten years, I haven't figured it out. At that moment, the sloppy uncle's face was full of tears and his muscles twitched, and he looked a little hideous. It's all my fault, if I hadn't joined the army, if I hadn't gone to the battlefield to go back to her when she was about to give birth, she wouldn't have died, and our daughter wouldn't have died. However, I am also the leader of the company! Is there any reason why my brothers should go to battle and I leave? β
"The responsibility of the state is greater than the responsibility of the small family, I understand, but I lost my wife and children, I can't cross that hurdle, I choose self-exile, I begged my superiors to hide the truth, I didn't contact my brothers, and even left all the retirement allowances to my parents-in-law, for ten years, I haven't visited the two old people, I'm too fragile." The sloppy uncle shook his head bitterly. "I apologize to all the brothers!"
The whole audience, including Qiu Ruge and the two guys, all burst into tears. I'm afraid no one thought that once the truth was revealed, it would be so cruel and cruel that people's hearts were broken.
When the soldiers on the front line returned home, they could only put the general's medals in vain in front of the tombstones of their wives and children, and it was so painful. If you are still alive, you are the strongest person, and every time you dream back at midnight, it is the greatest suffering.
"Company Commander Xiang Tieyong and sister-in-law Amei!" A man in casual clothes, with tears on his face, took a step forward, his mournful and high-pitched voice seemed to pierce the entire silent night sky. "Salute!"
"Salute!" All the veterans collectively stepped forward and raised their right hands to their brows.
The sound resounded in the sky, and the erect body was like a javelin.
This is already the highest respect that soldiers can express.
Nothing else can express the great sorrow of their hearts.
After hesitating for a moment, the sloppy uncle stood up and saluted his former soldiers.
The former captain and soldier looked at each other with tears in their eyes, but their posture was upright, like a pine on a rock.
γγγγγγγ
PS: This chapter is dedicated to the officers and soldiers who are on duty on the border line but are unable to take care of their relatives, and also to the relatives of those who are silently waiting for the soldiers. Because of the photo of the soldier who was full of military medals and cried in front of the tombstones of his wife and children, I wanted to write this plot for a long time, and today, I finally wrote it.
()
The whole book