Chapter 9: The Platoon Commander's Dispute

Chapter 9: The Platoon Commander's Dispute

Breakfast was not a big fish and big 'meat' like yesterday, just a few bowls of rice and a big pot of green vegetables, which made us realize that the strategic materials at the front were far less abundant than those in the rear.

But think about it, I vaguely remember seeing in modern sources that when the counterattack began, our army used a total of nearly 270,000 men from nine armies. Although this army was far less than the million-strong army during the Korean War, it was not fully prepared before the war, and there were still a large number of 'elite' troops on the northern front on the Sino-Soviet border to prevent the Soviet attack, which made our army's logistics clumsy for a period of time.

This breakfast was very dull, and I don't know if it was because of the long time in the car, or because of the fear of knowing that I was going to battle, in short, every soldier had no appetite. The way the soldiers usually eat in the cafeteria is long gone, and they all chew slowly. So much so that when the assembly horn sounded again, the rice in the hands of many soldiers was only half a bowl.

We were stuffed into the car again and drove in unknown directions. This time, I could see that many of the fighters were nervous, and many of them had pale faces, and some were whispering:

"Is this going to war? Isn't it too fast."

"Hanging yourself has to take a breath, doesn't it?"

……

I even saw a few soldiers who climbed several times because of the weakness of their legs when they got into the car.

But I know that this is absolutely impossible to let us go to war, we don't even know which company we are assigned to, the number of the unit, or even who our company commander is. And I also know that there are still five days left to leave the war, and even if I want to, there is nowhere to fight

So I patted the rifle in my hand and said to Junko: "Don't worry, it's not so fast to go to the battlefield, who would let us go to the front line without even firing bullets?" ”

The soldiers under my command seem to have a blind admiration for me, so when they say this, they are all relieved as if they have taken a pill.

"Platoon Commander" Junko still asked a little uneasy: "Then you say...... Where will they take us? ”

I glared at Junko angrily and scolded: "Why do you ask so much why you don't want you to walk when you have a car"

In fact, I also have the same doubts and 'confusion' in my heart, so it is said that there are still a few days left to leave the war, and we should use these few days to make preparations in the barracks, for example, we should be assigned to the company to let us get acquainted with our company commander and new comrades-in-arms, and for example, let us conduct a few exercises with our new comrades-in-arms and new superiors to run in. We just got out of the car, and where are we going?

Half an hour later, the mystery was finally revealed, and the convoy stopped in front of a ruined village. It is said to be a village, but in fact it is a few sparse bamboo houses, all of which are made of bamboo and straw, and then pasted with mud. We can easily see the furnishings in the room through the cracks in the bamboo. The lower level was pitch black, with many green-headed flies buzzing and some livestock droppings. The upper floor is cleaner, and there is no 'bed', but there is an iron shelf in the middle with a pot hanging from it, which is almost the case in every household.

So I guessed that this is how most of the people here live. The lower class raised livestock, and the upper class lived, and the whole family gathered together, and slept at night around a fire in the middle. I later confirmed this from the translator assigned to our company, but that's for later.

"Comrades, go this way," at this time, a soldier wearing glasses and cadre uniforms got out of the jeep and waved at us. He seemed to be a clerical worker, a bit like a tour guide or a commentator, so I vaguely guessed the purpose of the trip.

As expected, it didn't take long for us to come to several bamboo houses that had been blown up, and the bespectacled soldiers pointed to the bamboo fragments that only had a little frame left, waved their hands and said in a warm and 'excited' voice: "Comrades, look at it, this is the good thing done by the hooligans of Vietnam, this Asia, who have the support of the Soviet Xiu, brazenly sent troops to invade our border, shot and opened fire on our innocent border people, killing and wounding many of our border people. On December 25, 78, the Vietnamese invaders opened fire on our border guards who were on normal patrol duty, killing and wounding many of our border guards; On January 10, 79, our border people stepped on a mine planted by the Vietnamese invaders, and many people were injured and killed......"

I didn't listen much to the words after that, but this is indeed a good way to take the soldiers to visit the houses that were blown up by the Vietnamese army, the places where the border guards died, and the photos of the scene, etc., which can 'arouse' the psychology of the new soldiers to a certain extent. Just like Li Shui's 'wave' with hatred in his heart, the anger 'provoked' by hatred will cancel out some of the fear in the hearts of the warriors.

However, as far as I know, the bespectacled cadre in front of me, the civilian who can tell everything vividly, can only believe half of what he says. Because as a modern journalist, of course, I would know that those "Vietnamese invaders opened fire on border guards who were carrying out my normal patrol duties, killing and wounding many of our border guards." In fact, it was the reconnaissance unit of our army that entered the territory of Vietnam to reconnoitre, and after being discovered by the Vietnamese army, there was a shootout, and there were casualties.

It's just that at that time, the scouts who entered the cross-border reconnaissance or carried out the task of fighting prisoners had an extremely strict rule, that is, when performing the mission, they must be clean and neat under all circumstances, and not a single martyr, a wounded, a gun and anything that can be used as evidence by the Vietnamese army cannot be left behind.

It is precisely because of this that although our army has repeatedly sent reconnaissance units to cross the border to reconnoiter and capture prisoners, it has 'exchanged' fire with the Vietnamese army on several occasions. The Vietnamese army has also protested to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs on many occasions, and although they have the time, place, and casualties, they have no physical evidence, and no one can determine who is right and who is wrong.

This is where the media propaganda and public opinion build up the 'fine' China, and the struggle between countries is by no means as we ordinary people imagine, and we stress honesty, morality, and reasonableness in everything. The only ones who pay attention to these things in war are fools. The only thing that is talked about between countries is strength, fists, and interests

"Comrades" at the end, the bespectacled cadre waved his hand and shouted at us in an accentuated voice: "The time has come to raise troops for a thousand days, and the time has come for the country to need us for a while, and Vietnam, with the support of Soviet hegemonism, has openly invaded Cambodia, betrayed its promises, and avenged its kindness, causing frequent bloodshed in the border areas of our country." What we have to do now is to severely punish the Vietnamese overlord, defend the territorial integrity of the motherland and the tranquility of the people on the frontiers, and resolutely defeat this loyal lackey of the Soviet Union."

"Hit the Vietnamese Little Overlord"

"Down with Su Xiu's loyal lackey"

……

The fighters also shouted slogans one after another.

Looking at this scene, I seem to have found a feeling on the Korean battlefield, and I also saw some blood and anger in the eyes of the soldiers, and it seems that this ideological and political class is still very effective, at least for now

Then we visited several bombed-out houses, schools, and overseas Chinese who had been repatriated from Vietnam. Naturally, this is still indispensable to the explanation of the writer and worker, which may still have an effect in the ears of the soldiers, but it feels a little unnecessary to me, and I only think in my heart, "If you want to fight, you will fight, and you will make so much trouble and so many things"

But even so, the Vietnamese overseas Chinese who lived in the repatriated country still left a deep impression on me. They were like a bunch of beggars, men and women, young and old, living in a stinky, musty warehouse. His clothes were in tatters, he drank dirty water from a well, and he ate rice from the troops......

According to the cadres, these warehouses were originally used to store materials to resist France and aid Vietnam and to resist US aggression and aid Vietnam, but now they can only be used to accommodate batches of returned overseas Chinese. Most of these overseas Chinese in Vietnam were wealthy businessmen, and they made outstanding contributions in the struggle against France and the United States, and even many children of overseas Chinese directly participated in the war, but now they have been ruthlessly persecuted and expelled by Vietnam

I believe that all this is true, because I saw sadness and anger in Li Shui's eyes, and I also saw the murderous aura on his face......

The civilian cadres had just the right amount of time, and when we came back from a tour outside, it was just time for dinner. I don't know if the fighters were so tired that they forgot their fears, or if the ideological and political work had taken effect, and as soon as they ate in the cafeteria, they began to let go of their bellies and gobble up.

When the fast-eating warrior wanted to go back to the barracks, he realized that he did not know where to go. While the soldiers were chatting in groups of three or five in the square, the assembly call sounded again.

The soldiers lined up in the square as fast as they could, and before the soldiers could react to what was going on, a row of veterans ran forward, took out one of the sheets in their pockets, and read them aloud:

"Zhang Zhongfa"

"Hu Youguo"

……

"To"

"To"

……

After each soldier whose name was called answered, he consciously lined up behind the veteran. After walking row after row, the soldiers were 'drawn' away one by one as if they had been 'drawn', and the queue became thinner and thinner.

"Cui Wei"

"To"

When my name was finally read, I glanced at the soldier who had given my name before going up, and he was a slightly bookish man, with a pen in his left breast pocket and a bulging pocket in his right breast, which I later learned was a notebook. He was the instructor of our company, a high school graduate. As soon as he had time, he took out a notebook and pen in his pocket to write poems, and the soldiers quickly nicknamed him: "Poet"

From the long list of reports from the poet's mouth, I know that the people in my hometown really have the means, and the three of us in the platoon of more than 100 people have all been reported. It was only reported that the paper in the poet's hand was turned page after page, and in the end it was a little out of breath, until it was full of standing together.

When he was done, the poet shouted at us, "Run, walk......" and trotted away from the square.

At this time, I was a little strange, why the other instructors led the soldiers to walk in unison, but the poet shouted to run, and then occasionally remembered to ask, the poet replied with a wry smile: "Don't you see the eyes of those recruits looking at us?" All of them are scattered into the troops, and you are the only ones who come up in the whole formation, obviously going through the back 'door'. You can afford to lose that person, I can't afford to lose that person, but now I know that this is not a shame, you have the ability"

We were taken to a few tiled houses, and there were already more than 30 veterans waiting in line, led by the company commander. He was a tall, dark-faced, lanky soldier, with a few wrinkles on his face that made him look old, and his eyes were a little numb and dull, lacking the wisdom of a commander.

Seeing this, I couldn't help frowning, and I vaguely felt that I wouldn't get along well with this company commander

The poet took us to join the team, and then ran to the company commander and reported: "Report to the company commander, a total of 113 additional soldiers, all of them have been brought, please ask the company commander to instruct"

"Hmm" The company commander nodded, pulled the hem of the military uniform and saluted us, and said: "Hello comrades, I am your company commander, call Li Zhifu from now on, we will be comrades of a company." Our number is the 71st Battalion of the 213th Regiment of the 639th Division of the 5th Army. Our company is a glorious contingent that participated in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Our team has emerged countless ** heroes in these battles, and I hope that after you join, you can inherit the 'spirit' of your ancestors and carry forward their 'spirit'......"

Hearing these reprimands from the company commander, I almost had some doubts that I had lost my eyes. But later I learned that these precepts were actually the poet's masterpiece, and the company commander took two hours to memorize them, and several sentences were missed when he said them

"Now ......" After the lecture, the company commander asked us standing in the back row: "I heard that how many of you are platoon commanders, right?" ”

"Yes"

I, my hometown, and Yang Songjian responded and stood up.

Company Commander Li looked at us and asked casually, "How many years have you been a soldier?" ”

Yang Songjian and I answered for two months, and the people from my hometown answered for six years.

"Hmm" Company Commander Li nodded, and said earnestly: "Comrades, it's not that I don't trust you, but we are going to fight soon, and what we go to the battlefield is to rely on excellent military quality and a firm ideological and political stance." Do you agree with that? ”

Hearing Company Commander Li's words, Yang Songjian and I and the others understood that he wanted to remove our three platoon commanders and replace them with those veterans in his own hands

But this is also human nature, which veteran will obey the orders of the recruits, the hometown people are okay, Yang Songjian and I are just recruits who have just joined the army for two months, can we convince those veterans?

But...... If the three of us don't be platoon commanders, won't my training for more than a month be in vain?

The hometown and Yang Songjian obviously took this into account, and they all set their eyes on me.

I smiled, puffed up my chest and replied loudly, "Report to the company commander, we agree"

"Very good" Company Commander Li smiled and patted me on the shoulder: "This comrade still has a high ideological consciousness, since the comrades have no problems......

"Report Company Commander," I interrupted Company Commander Li's words and said, "I mean, the three of us have become platoon commanders precisely because we have excellent military qualities and a firm ideological and political stance."

"Uh-huh" Company Commander Li nodded at first, and only raised his eyes after a while and asked me, "What do you mean?" Illustrative point"

"Report to the company commander," I replied, staring into the company commander's eyes without giving a step, "I mean...... No matter who wants to be this platoon commander, you must use real skills to get it."

"Report to the company commander, I also mean the same" The people in my hometown quickly understood my intentions and stood by my side without hesitation.

"Report to the company commander and me" Yang Songjian also joined us.

Company Commander Li obviously didn't expect us to have this hand, and looked at us in a daze for a while before he smiled and said, "Yo, all of them are soldiers."

Then he suddenly changed his face, pointed at us and scolded: "Let me tell you, I, Li Zhifu, am the famous soldier of our battalion and I ...... He Pingbiao."

"To," a tall veteran stepped forward

Company Commander Li glared at us fiercely, took a step back, turned to the veteran named He Pingbiao, and said, "Give me some courage, and snatch the platoon commander back with my own skills."

"Yes" He Pingbiao immediately stood in front of us and opened the frame, and beckoned to us with disdain: "Which recruit will come first?" Uncle let you see what it means to have excellent military quality."

The three of them didn't move, not because we were afraid, but because our hometown and Yang Songjian were used to looking at me as the horse's head. I didn't move, so they didn't move

I smiled lightly and said, "Squad Leader He...... We are guests from afar, the so-called guests are as they are pleased, so let you pick them."

"Yo ho there is a kind" He Pingbiao glanced at the three of us, and then pointed at me and said, "Just you"

There was a loud cry, and the warriors all burst out laughing.

I know what the fighters are laughing at, and I know why He Pingbiao chose me.

Yang Songjian is tall and looks like a powerful character, and most of the time he will suffer if he finds him. And the people in my hometown just said that he has been a soldier for six years, so he will not be a rookie anyway, only me...... Alas, the so-called good people are bullied, and that's what they say

It's just that whether I am a good person or not is known only to the warriors who have been tortured by me for more than a month.

I shook my head with a wry smile and walked up with a relaxed step: "I'm still the same sentence, the guest is as the host, what is it?" ”

He Pingbiao was obviously 'made' by the laughter of the soldiers, and he faintly realized that he had chosen the wrong object. But after looking at my unremarkable figure, I quickly gained confidence again, and said, "Let's compete against the enemy."

This guy is not stupid in terms of capturing the enemy, and his stout body is obviously taking advantage. But how would he know that after a few years of fighting, I had already practiced the hard kung fu of killing people on the battlefield......