Chapter 7 Writing Letters

Chapter 7 Writing Letters

As the day drew closer to February 17, my training of the fighters became more and more intense. In addition, knowing that the people in my hometown have the ability to let the recruits in my hands go to the battlefield in formation, I will put them to death even more.

Camouflage, finding points, tactical attack, retreat, defense, etc., must be practiced several times a day, and sometimes a few soldiers will be sent to pretend to be Vietnamese agents to carry out sneak attacks at night. Of course, this is after I'm sure the soldiers don't have bullets in their hands, and I don't want them to have a casualty record before they even go to the battlefield.

The three platoon commanders were also replaced, Yang Songjian was transferred to the fourth platoon as the platoon commander, the fifth platoon commander was me, and the sixth platoon commander was from his hometown. Xu Liangfei, Wang Wenchang, and Li Yongle, the three former platoon commanders, also had no opinions, after all, they all knew that they were indeed not suitable for this position, not to mention that this was also in the recruit stage, first, they had not been the platoon commander for long, and secondly, they didn't care much about the idea of "being removed", so they didn't have much psychological burden.

In fact, at this time, the biggest problem should be the hometown people. He was originally an instructor in this unit, and the entire company was based on him, but now he has become a platoon commander and asks me to give orders. However, he soon got into the horn, not only obeying my orders, but also quickly putting down his shelf and mingling with the warriors.

It's me......

On the one hand, he has to serve as the commander of the fifth platoon, and on the other hand, he is the commander of the entire company, and sometimes he is also incompetent. In the end, I had to let Li Shui 'wave' act as the leader of the fifth platoon, which solved the problem.

Regarding this situation, I once asked the people in my hometown, why don't you just let me be the company commander and take our entire company to the battlefield directly.

The hometown man replied with a wry smile: "You guy has a really big heart, do you know how hard it took me to find an opportunity to pull the entire company into a formation." This is still because some companies have to stay at the production base, and there are too few people on the battlefield to work. If you become a company commander, do you want to remove the original company commander and let you do it? ”

I think it's true, the establishment of the army is not just added, each unit and even each company has its own predecessor and history, and they are all veterans, it would be good for us recruits to gain a firm foothold in the position of platoon commander, so I didn't say more.

It was February 10th, and there were seven days left to leave the battle.

The soldiers were training every day, and I was counting the days every day, always thinking nervously: There are still a few days left, what else has not been taught to the soldiers? What needs to be strengthened?

It's okay if I don't want to, but when I think about it, I feel that nothing is enough, and everything is wrong. This can't help but remind me of the mood before the college entrance examination, a few days before the exam, I was also in this mentality, asking myself where I was deficient and what aspects I still need to make up, but I found that everything needs to be made up, and it seems that I have not mastered everything. But fortunately, when I got to the exam room, I found that it was not as difficult as I imagined, in fact, I was scaring myself. I hope this time, I'm scaring myself

"Bang bang...... "Bullets came out of the soldiers' guns, and there were more bullet 'holes' on the gun targets hidden in the jungle.

For a month, live-ammunition 'shooting' has been a daily compulsory course for the soldiers. Because I know that in many cases the best defense is offense. For example, if you are ambushed by the enemy in a situation where the terrain is unfavorable, if you block the defense in this situation where the enemy chooses the terrain, it is tantamount to looking for death, and the only way out is to kill the enemy as quickly as possible. In order to do this, it is important for the troops to cooperate with each other and to be proficient in the weapons in their hands. That's why I've always focused on training them with 'shooting'.

At one point, I just need to move the same set of training cold gun troops as it is, and it seems to be easier than training cold gun troops.

When the conditions were so bad that there was no 'chest' ring target, the wooden bumps with steel helmets were used. It resembles an enemy's head, but it is too heavy, and the warriors look clumsy when pulling it with a rope. This is completely insufficient to temper the reflexes of the warriors.

The 'chest' ring target is different, it doesn't weigh much at all, and the rope comes out as soon as it is pulled and "snaps", which is faster than the real enemy. Even because it is lightweight, it can be easily tied to trees, bamboo, grass, and any other place where enemies may hide. And it can also be clearly seen from the bullet 'hole' on the target that the fighters are shooting accurately.

"On the fifth platoon," with Li Shui's 'wave' order, the six platoons covered with camouflage were divided into three troops, and marched in a straggler formation towards the arranged bamboo forest. Seeing the way they covered each other's advances, I couldn't help but think of the soldiers of the Seventh Company and the 538th Regiment who had fought together.

It would be nice if they were here, and we could be on the battlefield together again. But they seem to be really in China now, but now they are old soldiers in their forties and fifties. Are they okay now? Is it already in an important position in the army, or is it demobilized and retired at home?

The sound of "bang-bang......" gunshots interrupted my thoughts and made me refocus my attention on the five platoons that were maneuvering.

It is said that sharpshooters are fed with bullets, and I believe that, as evidenced by these fighters in front of me. In the past month, they have lost tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and exhausted the ammunition and ammunition reserves of the new barracks. How to 'deliver' to my superiors is not a problem for me to consider, it is a matter for the people in my hometown. All I could see was the qualities, reflexes, and abilities of the fighters

This is not? One by one, the 'chest' ring targets jumped out of unexpected places, and soon a few bullets flew over and punched several black 'holes' in the bull's-eye.

Especially that Li Shui' 'wave', all the 'chest' ring targets that appeared in his warning range had already had two more 'holes' almost before they were shaken into place. But looking at the look in his eyes, looking at his gritted teeth, it was really like he said, he was going to kill every Vietnamese who came into sight.

What's lacking is sanity and calm, and if you add that, I'm almost certain he's going to make a good sniper.

"Feed the eggs" At this time, a communications soldier came running out of nowhere, panting and shouting at me: "Where is your instructor?" Find me quickly."

Listening to the words of the communications soldier, I couldn't help but be stunned, and I couldn't help but be angry and funny in my heart. I've always yelled at people 'chaos', but now suddenly a guy who doesn't know the height of the sky is coming and calling me a recruit egg......

But this can't be blamed on him for thinking that this guy is a correspondent in the battalion department of the recruit barracks, and the veterans are not called recruits except for the instructors they know.

I was thinking about what to do with this so that I would not lose face, when one of the soldiers rushed up and knocked the messenger to the ground with the butt of his rifle, and he couldn't get up for a long time.

While beating back, he scolded: "Mother, what are you, calling our instructor recruits, this is the battlefield, do you understand?" When the signal corps sees the commander, he should salute and shout the report."

"You ......" the correspondent seemed to be unconvinced, and jumped up from the ground and became angry.

But in the cold, another soldier rushed up and a rifle butt: "Do you want to shout a report?" ”

The communicator was already covered with blood and his cheeks were red and swollen after receiving such two blows, and when he looked at the eyes around him with murderous eyes everywhere, he no longer had a temper.

I couldn't help sweating, I can't stop it, it's really a matter of what kind of officers there are, what kind of soldiers, I'm not so barbaric, am I? How do you bring out all the soldiers like this......

But then again, when I was training them during this time, the mask I was wearing on my face was really 'quite 'barbaric'

"Xiaoyu, what's the matter?" The people in my hometown heard the movement here, rushed up and saw the situation, and couldn't help asking.

As soon as the correspondent of "Instructor Chen" saw the appearance of the people from his hometown, he stood up as if he saw a savior and said: "You give me a review, and your soldiers are ......."

"What's going on?" The hometown people ignored the correspondent and turned back to ask the two hands-on soldiers.

"Report" The two fighters 'stood up' and said, "This guy shouted to the instructor recruit egg"

"It's okay, it's okay" I didn't want to make it difficult for my hometown, so I stood up and persuaded: "I'm a rookie egg, isn't it?" ”

"Yu Changjie" didn't expect that the people in his hometown were unwilling to just forget it, and shouted at the communicator: "Aren't you the first day to be a soldier, this is a drill, the exercise is the battlefield, as a signal soldier, on the battlefield, you are shouting to the chief, 'recruit egg'?" ”

"I, I'm ......" The correspondent saw that the people in his hometown did not help him, and he couldn't help but feel so aggrieved that he couldn't speak, and his face was as red as a pig's liver.

"Apologize to the chief," the hometown man unceremoniously ordered: "Go back and write me a review and make a report."

"Yes," the correspondent immediately stood straight in front of me.

"Forget it" I couldn't bear to look at this, and waved my hand to stop the communicator, "Let's talk about what is going on with the instructor."

"Report to Instructor Chen" The correspondent seemed to have remembered the task of this trip at this time, and hurriedly turned around and reported to the people from his hometown: "The battalion commander orders you to stop all exercises and lead the team back immediately."

"Hmm" Hearing this, the people from my hometown couldn't help but look at me with a little meaning, and then nodded to the messenger and sent him away.

It's time to come after all, and I can't help but sigh when I see this. I knew what the people in my hometown meant, that is, we were about to go to the front line, I looked at the soldiers who were still training around me, and asked secretly, "Are you ready?" ”

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As I and the people back home had guessed, we felt a strange atmosphere as soon as we returned to the barracks. Several camouflaged Liberation military vehicles and a jeep were parked in the square, apparently someone from above. But I don't have to guess that I know that this must be an order or something.

The date and intention of the war against Vietnam were highly classified, and in order to prevent the information from being intercepted by the Vietnamese army's agents lurking in the country, many of the information was transmitted by hand in the form of documents. The person who delivered the document did not know the contents of the document, and the person receiving the document was not allowed to spread the news, even the soldiers who were about to be sent to the battlefield were not allowed to tell it.

Just like us, as soon as we came back we were told: "Cancel all training, no going out, no letters, get your gear ready to go"

We don't know where we're going, what we're going to do, what we're going to do, and so on. But looking at this situation, the warriors can guess something somewhat.

Unlike what I had seen on the battlefields of Korea, there was an oppressive silence throughout the barracks, even my dormitory. Some people were even secretly wiping their tears, and their laments quickly infected everyone, and it was very likely that they would never come back at the thought of going here, and they didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to their families, and the soldiers in the dormitory were all silent.

This is indeed unfair, and I also thought about it, for the sake of secrecy, it was excusable for the soldiers not to write letters, but the families of the fighters thought they were training in the boot camp.

They certainly didn't think that they would be the last to see their son when he sent him to join the army; They must not have imagined that their son had quietly walked to the battlefield of life and death more than ten days ago; They must not have imagined that when they got the news of their son again, they were already 'yin' and yang

And just a few minutes ago, they were still thinking that their son must be training, and they were still thinking about whether their son would be bitter and tired in the new barracks, and whether he would be bullied in the barracks......

Thinking of this, I stood up and said, "Write a letter, take it with you when you write it, or 'hand' it over to your comrades...... Other comrades can also 'hand' the letter to your family."

I don't say it's okay, as soon as I say it, many people's tears fall uncontrollably, and Junko is even more snot and tears, and the sad and heavy atmosphere suddenly permeates every corner of the dormitory. Even Wu Haiguo was desolate, only Li Shui 'Bo' sat quietly, looking out the window with stunned eyes, as if he was thinking about something.

"The instructor is right," Yang Songjian sighed for a long time and said: "Brothers, leave a letter, I patted my chest, and promised, if I can come back alive, I will definitely send the letter to your family, and I will see if my father and mother can't come back, and the brothers will sprinkle me with a glass of rice wine on the sacrifice day."

"For writing letters, we have to 'confess' to my father and mother when we die"

"Is there any paper? Who has a pen? ”

"I have"

"Brothers, we are close to each other, and if anyone comes back alive, they will take each other's parents as their fathers and mothers."

"A word is a certainty"

……

In the blink of an eye, there was a commotion in the dormitory, some were writing letters, some were entrusting each other with their comrades-in-arms, some were exchanging home addresses and photos, and some were hugging each other, all hiding their fears of death and war.

The lights-out horn of the barracks sounded, but everyone didn't seem to hear it, and the instructors didn't seem to hear it.

"Teacher, I'll hand over my letter to you" Junko walked up to me, his eyes were slightly red and swollen and said: "I don't have a fellow here, if there is anything, please have time to see if my mother has an address on it, her old man's eyes are not good, you can read it to her when the time comes......"

Before he finished speaking, tears fell again, and his voice was choked and he couldn't speak.

"Bring it yourself" I refused without thinking about it: "My responsibility is to bring each one of you back alive, not to bring your letters"

Junko wiped two more handfuls of tears, nodded when she heard me say this, held the letter in her arms and asked suspiciously: "Teacher, why don't you write a letter......

"I ...... If I have something to say, I'll go back and say to them, "That's how I answered."

Actually, the real reason is that I don't know where to send the letter.

None of us could sleep that night, and even I was saddened by the infection of the soldiers.

This is a very strange feeling, the same country and the same troops, in different times, there will be two completely different reactions

If this was in the era of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, as soon as they said that they were going to play, they would definitely be applauding, either they were vying to take the lead, or they were rolling up their sleeves and preparing for battle, even if they were recruits. But now, only more than 20 years have passed, and the fighters of the previous generation have not yet grown old, and the warriors of this generation are a completely different kind of 'spirit' appearance.

I bumped into both of these 'spirits' looks, and there seemed nothing wrong with either

After thinking about it for a while, I think the main reason for this is that the older generation has grown up in the chaos of war since childhood, and has long been accustomed to war. However, this generation has grown up in peace, and naturally does not have the strong psychological capacity of the older generation.

Thinking about it, I fell asleep dimly. But I didn't sleep long before I was woken up, not by people, but by pigs raised in the boot barracks...... The terrible cries streaked across the barracks, and I occasionally heard a few 'chicken' and duck cries, so I knew that there was oil and water for today's breakfast.

Sure enough, breakfast the next day was hearty. On this day, all the living animals were slaughtered, and the table was full of chickens, ducks, pigs, and offal, and a large bowl of wine was held in front of everyone, and the smell filled the whole canteen. But the soldiers quietly looked at these drinks and dishes that they usually didn't dare to think of and were stunned, but no one put down chopsticks

"Eat, eat, eat......" The battalion commander stood up and greeted everyone, but he didn't dare to say anything for fear of leaking.

In fact, everyone knows this secret, but they haven't pierced it.

"Eat" I slapped the table and stood up and shouted: "Comrades, I'd rather be a full man than a starving ghost."

"It's better to be a full man than a hungry ghost," the hometown people also shouted, and then moved their chopsticks.

The fighters also shouted: "Eat"

"Cheers"

During this meal, we didn't drink less. They are all manly husbands, and they are all heroic when they let go. In fact, everyone knows in their hearts: how many people have returned to fight in ancient times?