In the evening, Qu Xiaopeng, the leader of the cooking squad, brought a heated meal.

"Let's go. Follow me to the platoon. After eating, after saying goodbye to the company commander and the training officer and other platoon commanders, Platoon Commander Liu set off with Yang Maode. The third platoon is an infantry platoon, and there are three rooms in the tunnel, one room for each squad, and the platoon commander and Yang Maode live in the room of the first squad. As soon as he walked into the room, he smelled a damp smell mixed with the heavy smell of men's sweat.

"Platoon commander, we're done with the meeting." One of the warriors saw them come in and got out of the bed.

"What about Hu Biao? It's going to be there again. His grandmother's, he knows how to be lazy. I don't have time to learn to fiddle with those broken instruments! Lao Wang scolded while undressing. Wearing only a vest on his upper body, he sat on the edge of the bed and began to fiddle with a device placed on the bedside table.

"The squad leader went to the third class, and I went to call him." The soldier saw that Lao Wang's face was not good, and hurriedly prepared to go out and slip away.

"Ribs, you stop, call all three squad leaders over to me." Lao Wang turned around and called out to the warrior nicknamed Ribs.

"Oh, got it." The lanky warrior slipped out as fast as he could.

"These guys, when they have time, they know how to play poker. Lao Tzu was scolded half to death by the company commander, but they were happy on the side. Hey, Xiao Yang, don't stand stupidly, this bed is yours. When you get home, you can be casual. Lao Wang saw that Yang Maode was still standing stupidly and looking around, so he quickly beckoned him to put down his things.

After a while, the three squad leaders ran in happily, and the squad leader who took the lead said to Lao Wang with a bare shirt smile and a grin: "Platoon commander, you won't be trained by the company commander again." ”

"Damn! Hu Biao, you boys are still laughing! It's you idiots. In the morning, the company commander came to check the results of the training, and you were all clumsy and lost all my face. The company commander was still scolding me just now. You'd be fine, and go happy. When Lao Wang saw these three living treasures, he was angry.

"Platoon commander, we've been practicing since you left in the afternoon, and we're not lazy. I only played for a while after eight o'clock, and you came back before you could play a few hands. I don't believe you ask the brethren. Besides, weren't you like us during the morning check-up? Hu Biao still said to Lao Wang with a hippie smile. It seems that the warriors and Lao Wang have become one, and there is no upper or lower.

was exposed by Hu Biao, and Lao Wang had no temper. Turning his head, he dragged Yang Maode to the squad leaders and said, "Let me introduce to you, this is the new deputy platoon commander Yang Maode's comrade-in-arms." Everyone should respect him, he is a well-known combat hero. ”

The three squad leaders hurriedly stood upright.

"My name is Hu Biao, the first class leader." Hu Biao said.

Hu Biao looks shrewd and capable. The eyebrows are thick and long, the eye sockets are deep-set, and the eyes are like those of an eagle.

"My name is Gu Yu, the second squad leader." Gu Yu replied. This is a typical image of a rural veteran, with tanned skin and an honest face.

"My name is Xiao Bo, the leader of the third shift." Xiao Bo replied. Xiao Bo looked like a city soldier, with fair skin and a few deep wrinkles on his forehead that made him look old.

"This is the three living treasures in our platoon, you have to be more vigilant in the future." Platoon Commander Liu said to me.

"Platoon commander, how did you leave yourself out. It should be the Four Heavenly Kings of the Second Row! Hu Biao said to Lao Wang with a smile, and the two living treasures next to him were laughing.

"The four heavenly kings have all become the four major pig heads." has no prestige in front of his subordinates, which makes Lao Wang look very faceless.

"Everyone must seize the time to familiarize themselves with the new equipment in the next few days, and there may be a big military operation in the next few days." Lao Wang sat on the edge of the bed and said.

"Xiao Yang, do you smoke?" Lao Wang took out a box of cigarettes from the pocket of his clothes next to the bed, took out one and asked.

"Let's have one!" Yang Maode said with a smile.

"Platoon Commander Liu, we are an infantry division that is not the main force, what kind of role will we play in the offensive operations that may be launched?" Yang Maode has been thinking about this question all afternoon, and now he has time to ask the officers who are now on the front line.

"Based on the current combat effectiveness of our division and the composition of the troops in the defensive circle, I estimate that we may take on the task of flanking defense and shielding of the assault force. Because our division's current tactical mobility capability is not very strong, the terrain in this area is mainly hilly, and our division lacks tracked vehicles, so it is more dependent on highways. If the battle starts, the threat of long-range fire from the enemy needs to be cleared first in the direction of our division's marching maneuver, otherwise we will not be able to carry out large-scale long-range maneuvering. But judging from the current situation, the enemy has formed a strong defensive line in their outer area, and the road and dirt roads in this area have long been cut off and controlled by Maozi. Alas! I can't tell. Anyway, everyone will know in a few days. ”

"Oh! By the way, we have recently been issued a lot of anti-tank and anti-aircraft equipment, and judging from the fact that we are equipped with these rockets and supporting sighting equipment and other weapons, it should be right that we are responsible for the flank cover mission of the assault force. Lao Wang said while smoking a cigarette.

"Brother Yang, you're tired of a day, you should wash your face first." Gu Yu, the second squad leader, brought a basin of hot water.

Yang Maode hurriedly thanked him. Gu Yuhan smiled and rubbed his big hands. "Brother Yang, I heard that you are a combat hero, can you introduce to everyone." Gu Yu squatted on the side of the door and leaned against the wall and asked.

"What? Lao Gu. Want to learn how to be a combat hero, so that you can go home and report the good news to your daughter-in-law? Xiao Bo, the third squad leader who was asking Lao Wang for cigarettes, began to make fun of Gu Yu.

"Hehe, let's be soldiers, don't we just point to this? Otherwise, after being a soldier for more than ten years, and going to the front line to fight, when we go home, we have not achieved any merit, what a shame! Gu Yu said curtly.

"That's it!" Hu Biao began to echo on the side.

"What a hero! It's just that they were a little luckier than the brothers who had already died, and they died a few days later. Yang Maode looked up from the basin and said, his face covered with water droplets.

"You're all here!" Someone at the door walked in while talking, and the voice was Jiang Shan.

"This is a company of Jiang Shan." Yang Maode turned his head to introduce to everyone.

"Welcome! Welcome! Wang stood up.

"I also just returned from injury, Jiang Shan, the leader of the first platoon and the first squad of the first company." Jiang Shan introduced himself to everyone.

In the evening, everyone sat around Lao Wang's bed and chatted. The troops of the 203rd Division suffered little losses in the defensive operations some time ago, but they did not take many opportunities, and were mainly responsible for the final cover combat mission. The fighters were very dissatisfied with this, and without much fighting, they retreated, from the front line all the way here.

Morale was generally a bit low. Moreover, the fighters appeared to have little confidence in the offensive operations that were about to be launched, as can be seen from the usual training. It is no wonder that our army has been on the offensive since the beginning of the war and has won a brilliant victory, but when the 2nd Division, which was used as a reserve, went to the battlefield, it received an order to retreat to the defense, which had a huge impact on the officers and men of the 203rd Division. In the past, they thought that there was a big gap between the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army and the Chinese army, but now it seems that the gap in the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Army, although it was poor, was not as big as imagined, and despite the huge losses suffered, the Soviet people's will to fight did not collapse. Partial defeats near the end of the first major strategic offensive dealt a blow to the confidence of many officers and men. In the evening conversation, Yang Maode clearly felt everyone's inner worries.

The evening party ended in a long silence. At night, Yang Maode lay on the bed, listening to everyone's long breathing in the dark.

Somehow, the figure of her mother Lu Maolan appeared in front of her.

Her mother was unmarried in her life, but she gave birth to herself, she was busy with family affairs all day long, and rarely cared about him, and he didn't know who his father was at that time, but his mother gave himself the surname Yang.

When he was young, he was always lonely.

He remembered that an uncle would come to visit him and bring him a fun toy or something else. He liked this uncle very much.

After growing up and going to school, one day, his mother told him that that person was his father.

But from that day on, my father never showed up again.

Until later...... He suppressed his thoughts in some confusion and slowly fell asleep.

The next day, Yang Maode began to train with the fighters and familiarize himself with weapons. He learned much faster than them, and in less than two days he became everyone's teacher. After all, he came from a college student, and in this respect he is much better than those officers and soldiers who only have high school or even junior Chinese. Everyone also trusted him as the new leader, and asked him to demonstrate to everyone, and even asked him to go to each platoon to help train.

Four days passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Shan also came twice in the evening, and in their company, Jiang Shan seemed to have become an anti-tank rocket training instructor, and judging from this kid's proud expression, it was estimated that he was deeply valued by the company commander.

September 28th. From the morning they were given an urgent notice to enter the highest combat readiness!

The entire garrison of the Third Company was boiling. The soldiers wiped and wiped the shiny guns, checked them repeatedly, poured out the bullets in the magazine, checked and wiped them all and put them back one by one, and the bayonets were also wiped repeatedly; The gunners were also disassembling artillery and rocket launchers and checking ammunition. The company commander and the training officer walked up and down, and at this time the two of them seemed to have nothing to do. Qu Xiaopeng, the leader of the company's cooking squad, got a bunch of wine and meat from there, and the entire company was filled with aroma.

In the morning, Yang Maode thoroughly inspected the latest "Rainbow" anti-tank rocket (missile) launcher, and after confirming that there was no problem, he began to walk along the tunnel. Gu Yu was sitting at the door of the second shift room and was carefully wiping the machine gun, with a steel wire hanging from his mouth, the muscles of his cheeks were tense, and he looked solemn; Hu Biao was inspecting the soldiers' equipment one by one; Xiao Bo looked at it in the third class.

Lao Wang went to the company headquarters early in the morning to report, and in the morning he accompanied the company commander and training officer to inspect the platoon. It seems that the superiors are satisfied with everyone's preparations.

At noon, the whole company had a big dinner at the company headquarters, and everyone's low mood these days was obviously mobilized by the sumptuous food, and the whole tunnel was full of laughter and noise, and the soldiers sat in groups of three or five to feast on food.

Yang Maode doesn't drink, just taste it. The artillery platoon commander Sun Dacang unceremoniously took his teacup and drank it happily with everyone. Yang Maode doesn't like noisy venues, so he eats quietly on the side. Hu Biao saw him sitting alone, so he also came over.

"The division commander is here!" I don't know who shouted, and the whole tunnel suddenly became much quieter. Yang Maode turned to look into the distance of the tunnel, and saw a dozen or so officers walking over with a smile. The fighters stood up one after another.

"It's Division Commander Luo Yapingluo, I didn't expect to come to our company to inspect. Captain Wang also came. It looks like we're not going to have a big fight. Hu Biao, who was standing on the side, stabbed Yang Maode and said.

"How do you know?" Yang Maode asked curiously.

"If there is no big battle, the division commander will not come to the grassroots company. There are more than 12,000 people in our division, how can the division commander remember it! There is no need to inspect at the grassroots level at this time. Platoon Commander Yang, look at it! Hu Biao said with a grin.

Division Commander Luo came to the soldiers and began to shake hands with everyone one by one, and said from time to time: "Thank you!" Thank you! The hope of the people of the motherland will fall on everyone. ”

When Division Commander Luo shook hands with Company Commander Wang, Company Commander Wang looked very excited. The head of the group next to him was busy making an introduction.

The division commander stayed in the company for more than ten minutes and left. According to the accompanying staff officers, Division Commander Luo had to go through every company of the entire division in the past two days.

It's really going to be a big battle!

For a long time after Division Commander Luo left, the company commander couldn't suppress his excitement, walked around the company headquarters, and finally made a generous statement to everyone. The soldiers also shouted in unison, and the atmosphere in the entire tunnel became lively again.

Xiao Bo, the third squad leader, walked over with a flushed face. "Platoon deputy, why don't you drink with everyone? If you don't drink it today, you won't have to drink it in the future. Come, take a sip! ”

"No, my stomach can't stand the irritation of alcohol. Thank you! Yang Maode smiled and politely refused.

Xiao Bo left him with some shaking, and went to find other fighters.

"Platoon Commander Xiao originally opened a company in Siberia, and it is said that he is quite rich. It's a pity that his wife divorced him, no wonder he has a bit of a gaffe today. Hu Biao explained on the side.

"What about you?" Yang Maode asked Hu Biao.

"Me? I learned to drive at a driving school, and later I opened a car repair shop in our town, which was neither good nor bad. The wife and children have food anyway. It's more than the top and the bottom, and it's quite leisurely. Like Lao Gu, he has been farming at home, thinking about opening a farm, if it weren't for this war, his brother's life would have ended here. Hu Biao smiled and said, "What about you?" ”

"I've been going to school all the time, and I've been here since I graduated from college." Yang Maode replied lazily.

"How many brothers do you have?" Hu Biao asked casually.

"It's just me, Dumiao." Yang replied.

"Huh? Then your parents are willing to let you go to war? Hu Biao asked.

"My dad is the president, I don't go to the battlefield to lead by example, how can he be the president?" Yang Maode said half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"What, what, what? You say you're the son of President Yang? Hu Biao was taken aback, "Really? ”

"Do you believe it's true?" Yang Maode replied with a smile.

In the afternoon, several platoon commanders held a meeting at the company headquarters. Instructor Lao Lu presided over the meeting. As expected, their division did take on the task of flanking cover the offensive line of the main division. Specific actions have not yet been issued, but everyone is basically aware of their work. The company commander also repeatedly emphasized the unanimity of the operation, and did not bring anything unrelated to the battle, and each soldier brought 30% more ammunition than usual, ready for a long march. The instructor repeatedly stressed the need to conceal the enemy's possible aviation fire, especially the evasion of sub-bombs. In addition, everyone should be vigilant at all times and act in unison to prevent destruction by long-range covered fire from the enemy's "Katyusha" rocket artillery. Finally, the instructor asked each platoon to protect its new anti-tank missile launchers and designate a special person to manage them, so as not to get stuck when the fight broke out. The reinforced communications squad was also repeatedly told by the company commander to pay attention to the protection of equipment.

The meeting lasted two hours before it ended. Back in the platoon, Lao Wang summoned the soldiers again and made a mobilization.

When everyone was busy, Yang Maode felt that there was nothing to do. Seeing that nothing was going on, he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.

In the evening, he was woken up by Lao Wang. "Get up, there is an order! Eat now! Assemble in two hours! ”

Yang Maode looked at the watch on his wrist, it was 7 points and 5 points.

The soldiers in the platoon were already busy setting off as a whole team and heading to the company headquarters, and everyone looked serious and not as relaxed and active as usual.

The group's assembly was in a huge tunnel. When the 3rd Company entered the tunnel, everyone was shocked by the scene in the tunnel.

The regiment commander stood aside, and the soldiers behind him held the iron-blooded "human" military flag in their hands. The companies of the infantry regiment, including the infantry company, the artillery company, the engineer company, and so on, stood in order, and the company commanders stood in front of their company's queue, and the heavily armed soldiers stood straight. The lights on the walls reflected the rows of spears that shone with a striking light.

The 3rd Company followed the company in front of it to the designated position with neat steps, and hundreds of pairs of rubber shoes made a slow and powerful muffled sound, like a low and majestic drum beat when setting out for battle. 107-mm MLRS and 90-mm mortars equipped with regimental artillery were majestically placed next to the queue.

In front of Yang Maode, Gu Yu was carrying a "Rainbow" anti-tank missile launcher on his back, and his waist was straight. Before leaving, Lao Gu snatched the launcher from him, and he said that Yang Maode was not as strong as him, and it would not be too late to give it to him when the fight really started.

Behind them were dozens of military trucks with camouflage cloaks, the front of the trucks were covered with rainproof camouflage cloth, and the truck drivers were wearing individual infrared night vision devices. It seems that tonight they are going to the front in a car. But where are you going?

After more than 1,000 people arrived, Captain Wang patrolled along the queue. Just then, there was an earth-shattering cannon shot outside, and the battle began! Yang Maode looked at the time, it was 9:10 p.m.

All companies are in line. The regiment commander ordered to rest in place and wait for the order to go.

Everyone sat down, no one spoke, and the soldiers listened excitedly to the mighty shelling of their troops. The deafening sound of artillery outside continued to sound for three hours without stopping.

(To be continued)