On the morning of the third day, Zhan Xia Ge carried Yang Zhenbang on his back and entered the county seat of Motuo. The so-called county seat is built on a hill of more than 1,100 meters above the sea, and there are only dozens of houses scattered on the hillside, forming the office area of the county government axe and the main body of the entire "county seat". There are no streets, no infrastructure, except for a newly built brick courtyard at the county hospital, which is all dilapidated wooden and adobe houses.

In such a harsh environment, the county party committee and the county government axe share a yard, and the only extra thing in their house is to nail a piece of white iron sheet to the roof, so that when it rains, the house will not leak. In the "County Government Axe Compound", there are even poultry such as chickens, dogs, pigs and sheep, which are leisurely haunted in it, making it look more like a small mountain village that is a bit depressed.

In a world like Metuo, which has more than 8,000 square kilometers of land and only a permanent population of just over 9,000 people, agricultural production technology is extremely backward, and in many places, residents still use the most primitive slash-and-burn methods. Although the garrison stationed in Metuo taught the rice planting technology to the local residents, hoping that they could produce their own rice and save themselves, because the Bamen people were still a primitive tribe that maintained the human matrilineal clan system before liberation, and their mastery of various technologies was not high, the yield of rice was very low, and the average yield per mu was only about 100 catties.

In such a bizarre "county", long-distance phone calls can be made for a few days throughout the year, and there is no mobile phone signal at all. In a tattered-looking kiosk, you can find instant noodles, canned food, ham sausages and the like, but the prices are ridiculously high. A can of Coca-Cola costs two dollars outside for ten yuan here, and an apple the size of a fist costs twenty-five yuan each. What I didn't expect was that in such a small shop, where it seemed that the actual price of all the goods was no more than 2,000 yuan, gasoline was still sold. Of course, the price of gasoline sold here is really not ordinarily expensive, they use the most primitive scale, using the Chinese unit of calculation, to measure the weight of gasoline, a pound of gasoline...... Twenty bucks.

Living in a normal environment, surrounded by reinforced concrete, in the colorful neon lights, enjoying the convenience brought by high technology, it may be difficult to imagine what kind of world Motuo is.

The people of Bamen, who live here all the year round, hardly drink hot water, in order to keep out the cold, they have their own wine utensils made of bamboo tubes for winemaking, and they usually use corn and black branches to make a kind of rice wine with low alcohol concentration, sour and astringent taste as an ordinary drink; When they receive guests, they also drink a liquor made from vines and black branches, but in this case, the incidence of arthritis in the Menba people is still more than 70%. In particular, their elbows and knees are most likely to become enlarged due to arthritis, and they are often incapacitated by arthritis attacks before the age of 40.

The houses of the civilians of Motuo County were all wooden houses on stilts, the roofs were covered with thatch or bark, and the houses and windows were all made of whole planks, and some of the residents who looked stupid sat in front of them, not knowing what they were thinking there. Occasionally, you can see a drunk man with a wine bottle in his pocket, spewing wine in his mouth, and walking staggeringly, dancing all the way to his broken wooden house.

In the eyes of the Song of War, this is a Jedi with no hope and no vitality! The inhabitants who sat in front of the door of the house stared at the two uninvited guests who had broken into a forgotten world in the most peculiar gesture with their yellow eyes, and there was no brilliance in their dull eyes like stone statues, only occasionally turning slightly, revealing a little vitality.

But fortunately, perhaps because this place is close to the "county seat", Zhan Xia Song did not see any spiders painted in front of the door of the wooden house, and no one warmly welcomed them into the house to drink, and of course no one tried to poison them.

The final destination of Zhan Xia Ge and Yang Zhenbang is the third frontier battalion stationed in Beibang Township. This garrison, which only has one battalion, is responsible for a border line that stretches more than 200 kilometers from Gemara in the east to Deyangla in the west. It usually takes five days to walk from Gedang Township, the farthest garrison point in the east, to Didong Village, the farthest garrison in the west. The third battalion guards more than 10,000 square kilometers of the Medog territory, and more than two-thirds of the territory of Medog is illegally occupied by India.

The biggest memory of the three battalions of the company is from their title of "Model Battalion on the Border". One of the outstanding deeds of this battalion was that they exerted the spirit of "self-sufficiency and abundant food and clothing" in the extremely inconvenient transportation of Metuo, where they cultivated their own wasteland, planted their own rice, harvested their own rice, and dried them into ready-to-eat rice. Up to now, the 3rd Frontier Battalion has harvested 100,000 catties of rice at least in this isolated land! If calculated according to local prices, this third frontier battalion has saved at least 800,000 yuan for the country just by farming its own land!

To tell the truth, Zhan Xia Ge is really very dismissive of all this, obviously professional soldiers, some are even urban soldiers from the city, and it is okay to run to this kind of place where birds don't to be soldiers, just because of an order from the battalion commander, that is, for the honor of a so-called soldier, he has to pick up hoes, shovels, sickles and other tools to engage in such heavy work.

Over the past ten years, the Third Frontier Defense Battalion has saved 800,000 yuan for the country, and can save tens of thousands of yuan a year on average, but compared with the moths who eat and drink at public expense and squander them in deficit, what is this little money?

Before arriving at the garrison barracks of Metuo, Zhan Xia Ge saw several soldiers busy in the vegetable field, in the harsh environment of Motuo, only vegetables such as green peppers, eggplants, pumpkins, cabbage, green onions, and taro could be grown.

"Hey, brother!" Zhan Xia Ge greeted, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and threw a few over casually. The few people whose hands were covered with mud were surprised to catch the gift thrown by Zhan Xia Ge, and a soldier first glanced up and down at Zhan Xia Ge and Yang Zhenbang with a vigilant gaze, and then glanced at the cigarette in his hand, and a bright smile appeared on his face, "King Furong, what a smoke!" ”

In the repeated soft sound of the lighter, a wisp of flame finally rose from the hand of the warrior song, and several heads came together, and light blue smoke rose in the air.

Zhan Xia Ge did not show his true identity to these young soldiers, he just took out the identification certificate issued for him by the Motuo County Political Axe, and chatted with them casually as a "reporter", Zhan Xia Ge asked: "Do you want to grow your own vegetables and farms?" ”

"I knew that I would come to Motuo, except for a stupid daze every day, I just farmed, and I didn't come to kill me!" A soldier took a deep puff of the cigarette in his hand with an expression that was almost greedy, and it took him a long time before he spit out a puff of cigarette that swirled in the lobes of his lungs, and said, "I think it's better to let my dad come, when it comes to farming, growing vegetables and raising pigs, he is much more than me." ”

"Don't listen to him!"

Another soldier said: "He is just talking, if there is nothing to do, our life will be even more difficult!" ”

Seeing that Zhan Xia Ge's face showed a slight surprise, he didn't speak, but the squad leader who was squatting there silently smoking a cigarette spoke, "Do you know what an island is?" ”

The climate in the territory of Motuo is special, every year when the heavy snow covers the mountain, it will be completely isolated from the outside world for nine months, even in the summer when the mountain can be opened, continuous rain, sometimes it can rain for a whole month, in this lonely environment, some of the soldiers stationed there have autism, and some people even create a special medical term for the geographically closed and psychologically closed environment of Motuo...... Murlock syndrome!

In the eyes of that squad leader, Zhan Xia Ge saw something different, and Zhan Xia Ge understood that it was a kind of pain that was repeatedly suppressed and squeezed back into his heart.

It took a few days for Zhan Xia Ge to hear the story of the squad leader from the mouths of others. The squad leader was a Sichuan veteran whose father had died, but it was not until the following year that he received a letter from his family informing him due to heavy snowfall. After the squad leader was approved to ask for leave from his superiors, when he climbed the Yuexiongla Pass, he unexpectedly met his own brother who came all the way, and when he asked, he found out that his mother was also dead!

The two of them hugged and cried on the snowy slope of the Duoxiongla Pass, and when he finally arrived at his long-lost home, looking at the spiritual seat of his father and mother, he knelt on the ground with both knees, such a five-foot man, a man who had persevered in such an inhuman environment as Motuo, choked up and down his throat for a long time, and then suddenly let out a cry: "Father, mother, I'm sorry for you......!!! ”

While talking with several soldiers, Zhan Xia Ge entered the camp of the third frontier battalion under their leadership. As soon as he entered the camp, Zhan Xia Ge saw a lieutenant, who was sitting on a table tennis table made of bluestone slabs, and the most puzzled thing for Zhan Xia Ge was that the lieutenant was holding a wooden footbath in his hand.

A soldier, especially a soldier with the rank of a two-star lieutenant, was in the barracks, holding a tattered footbath! Seeing that Zhan Xia Ge stopped, a soldier who had the most conversation with Zhan Xia Ge quietly pulled Zhan Xia Ge and said in a low voice: "Let's go, don't disturb him, just let him sit there quietly!" ”

Hearing the voice, the lieutenant raised his head blankly, he looked directly at Zhan Xia Ge, and said, "You're here?" ”

Although Zhan Xia Ge was sure that he and this lieutenant had never known each other, Zhan Xia Ge still nodded and said, "Yes, I'm here!" ”

"Come and sit!" The lieutenant patted the empty table tennis table next to him and said, "Can you talk to me?" ”

"Aren't you a journalist? If you want to really get to know us Murto, go talk to him! The squad leader sighed lightly and said, "Go over and accompany him, he has already talked to everyone in our barracks, and it is rare that someone can still enter our barracks now." ”

Zhan Xia Ge nodded slightly, and put down Yang Zhenbang on his back, "My eldest brother is sick, please take good care of him." ”

After receiving an affirmative reply from the squad leader, Zhan Xia Ge sat down next to the lieutenant.

Zhan Xia Ge and the lieutenant sat side by side, and after a long while, the lieutenant suddenly asked, "Hey, do you have a girlfriend?" ”

Zhan Xia Ge thought back to Yajie'er and nodded vigorously.

The lieutenant gently stroked the wooden basin in his arms, which he didn't know what it meant, and said, "Treat her well, don't wait until you lose it to know how to regret it!" ”

Ignoring the reaction of the Warrior Song, the lieutenant just hugged the tub in his arms and told his story, in fact, he didn't care who was sitting next to him, he just needed an observer, someone who could share his emotions.

"I have a girlfriend and we've known each other for eight years! She is really a very good, wonderful girl! There is a saying in our Medog military camp that it is difficult to be a soldier, it is even more difficult to be the wife of a border guard, and it is even more difficult to be the wife of a Motuo soldier! Not to mention she's just my girlfriend anymore. ”

A look of sympathy appeared in Zhan Xia Ge's eyes, and by this time, he could already guess the beginning and end of some things. In the barracks, there are their own rules, and the wife of a soldier is not allowed to visit the border barracks, and this lieutenant, he and his girlfriend have not established a legal relationship between husband and wife, and such a visitor will not be welcomed in the barracks.

"The first time she appeared in front of me, I was really stunned. I really can't imagine how she, so weak, climbed over the Dorachon Pass with a group of Bamen people carrying heavy food on her back, and through the wooded area full of blood-sucking locusts. You know, usually even if she sees a green worm, she will scream in fright! I cried for the first time in front of her when I unfastened her pant leg that was tied tightly with leggings. The bloody patch on her leg was all the marks left by leeches that burrowed into her body and sucked enough blood to fall off! But the next day, I kicked her out of the barracks. ”

Speaking of this, the lieutenant's eyes showed a hint of tenderness, and he said in a low voice: "From that time on, when the heavy snow that closes the mountain thaws every year, it becomes a time for us to gather. Every year, I would get a special week off from the battalion commander, and I would cross the Doracon Pass, where we would meet at a privately run inn in Ta County, the closest to Metuo. We bought pots and pans, we cooked our own meals, and every time she came all the way over, I would use this wooden basin to prepare hot water for washing her feet, wash her feet with my own hands, and help her pinch her feet. When my vacation was over, we would leave our used things with the landlord of the hostel. ”

"Funny, right?" The lieutenant said: "A soldier would secretly have a tryst with a girl who has no legal relationship, and a big man would bend down and help a woman wash her feet." ”

"No," said the warrior song, "it's not funny at all!" To be honest, I really admire your girlfriend. ”

"She has to travel thousands of miles to get here every year, and she has been with me for five years, but ...... The last time I washed her feet, she told me that she was tired of this life. If I can't get myself out of Motuo in a year's time, we're done. ”

The lieutenant twitched his nose slightly, and after a long time, he said softly: "As a result, this year, she really did not come back, and I just carried this foot-washing wooden basin, crossed the Dorachon Pass, and returned to Metuo. ”

Warrior Song asked, "Why didn't you apply for a transfer?" ”

"Alas, it's difficult!" The lieutenant sighed, "Who would want to come to such a place?" Without someone to replace me, it would be impossible for my application to be approved. Unless I want to take off this uniform, I'm going to have to stay here. ”

The lieutenant glanced at the warrior song and asked, "You don't understand?" ”

Zhan Xia Ge nodded, if it was him, if he was asked to give up Yajie'er, he wouldn't be able to do it! Even if he is not a soldier, even if he leaves the Fifth Special Unit, he will never give up his most beloved woman.

"We are needed here, no matter how bad the environment is, someone has to come and stand guard, right?" The lieutenant said: "There are 8,000 square kilometers of land in Motuo, but two-thirds of the territory has been forcibly occupied by India by encroachment, little by little. If it weren't for our three frontier battalions, Medog would have become an occupied area of India, this is our own place in China, as long as there is the presence of our soldiers, it marks that this land still belongs to us! Since we have put on this military uniform, we must be responsible for the country and ourselves! Therefore, we must not retreat, we must not let the McMahon Line continue to be inserted into our land, and we must not be a seed! ”

These words should be the words that this captain used to admonish and comfort himself, but they made Zhan Xia Ge's body shake violently again and again.

On this battlefield that has not been swept up in the smoke of gunpowder, it is the most loyal guardians of these republics, who have supported the proud backbone of China with their own hands. No one would be willing to go to such a hostile world, patrolling with guns and sentry while grabbing shovels and sickles and plowing a barren land. No one wants to watch their most beloved woman run away from them crying. But they still chose to stay here, to borrow the lieutenant's words...... Since we have put on this military uniform, we must be responsible for the country and ourselves!

(To be continued)