Chapter 7: Writing a letter

As time goes by February 17th, my training for the soldiers is getting tighter and tighter. In addition, I know that my hometown people have the ability to let the new recruits in my hands go to the battlefield in an established system, so I even slain them to death.

Disguise, find some, tactical attack, retreat, defense, etc., I have to practice several times every day, and sometimes I will send a few soldiers to pretend to be Vietnamese agents to launch sneak attacks at night. Of course, this is when I am sure that the soldiers do not have bullets in their hands. I don’t want them to have a casualty record before they even get on the battlefield.

The three platoon leaders were also replaced. Yang Songjian was transferred to the fourth platoon as the platoon leader. The fifth platoon leader was me, and the sixth platoon leader was from his hometown. Xu Liangfei, Wang Wenchang and Li Yongle had no objection. After all, they all knew that they were indeed not suitable for this position, and it was also in the recruit stage at that time. First, they became the platoon leader not long ago, and second, they didn't care much about the idea of ​​"being dismissed", so they didn't have much psychological burden.

In fact, at this time, the biggest problem should be the people in my hometown. He was originally the instructor of this army, and the entire company followed his leader, but now he became a platoon leader and asked me to order. However, he soon got into the role, not only obeyed my orders, but also quickly put down his airs and got along with the soldiers.

But I...

On the one hand, he had to serve as the platoon leader of the fifth platoon, but on the other hand, he was commanding the entire company, and sometimes he was unable to do anything. In the end, he had to let Li Shuibo act as the platoon leader of the fifth platoon leader, which solved the problem.

Regarding this situation, I once asked the people in my hometown why I didn’t just let me be the company commander and took our entire company to the battlefield.

The hometown people replied with a wry smile: "You guy is so heartless! Do you know how much effort it took to find the opportunity to bring the entire company into a system. This is because some companies have to stay at the production base and there are too few people on the battlefield to work. If you are a company commander, do you have to withdraw the original company commander and let you do it?"

I think it is true that the organization of the troops is not just adding. Each army and even each company has its own predecessor and history, and they are all veterans. It would be nice for us recruits to gain a foothold in the position of the platoon leader, so we didn't say much.

This day is February 10th, and there are seven days left to leave the battle.

The soldiers are training every day, but I count the days every day. I always think nervously: How many days are there, what else has not been taught to the soldiers? Which ones need to be strengthened?

It's okay if I don't think so, but when I think about it, I feel that nothing is enough, nothing is right. This reminds me of my mood before the college entrance examination. I also had this kind of mentality a few days before the exam. I asked myself what was inadequate and what aspects needed to be tutored, but I found that everything needed to be tutored, and it seemed that I didn't master everything. Fortunately, when I arrived in the exam room, I realized that it was not as difficult as I thought. In fact, I was scaring myself. I hope this time, I was also scaring myself!

"Bang bang bang..." One bullet shot out from the soldiers' muzzles, and there were holes in the gun target hidden in the jungle.

Live-fire shooting has been a compulsory course for soldiers every day for the past month. Because I know that in many cases the best defense is attack. For example, if the enemy is ambushed in unfavorable terrain, if the enemy chooses terrain, it is tantamount to seeking death. The only way out is to kill all the enemies at the fastest speed. To achieve this, the cooperation between the troops and the proficiency of the weapons in the opponent are very important. So I have always paid great attention to their shooting training.

At one point, I just need to move the set of training the cold gun troops directly over, and it seems easier than training the cold gun troops.

During the Korean War, the conditions were poor, and there was not even a chest ring target. The wood lumps wearing steel helmets were used. Although that thing was similar to the enemy's head, the disadvantage was that it was too heavy. The soldiers looked clumsy when pulling it with ropes. This was completely insufficient to cultivate the soldiers' reaction ability.

The chest ring target is different. It doesn't weigh much at all. The rope comes out as soon as it is pulled and "pop", which is faster than the real enemy. Even because it is light, it can be easily tied to trees, bamboos, grass, etc., and any place where the enemy may be hidden. And it can also be clearly seen from the bullet holes on the target whether the warriors are fighting accurately.

"Fifth row! Go!" With Li Shuibo's order, the sixth row covered in disguise were divided into three units, scattered soldiers, walking towards the arranged bamboo forest. Seeing them leaning against each other and covering each other's progress, I couldn't help but think of the soldiers of the 7th Company and the 538th Regiment who had fought together.

If they were so good here, we could run on the battlefield together again. But they seem to be in China now, but they are now 40 or 50 years old soldiers. Are they okay now? Have they already held important positions in the military or are demobilized and retired at home?

"Bang bang..." The gunshot interrupted my thoughts and made me refocus on the fifth row that was being exercised.

It is said that sharpshooters were fed with bullets. I believe this. The soldiers in front of me are a clear proof. Over the past month, they have knocked out tens of thousands of bullets and exhausted all the ammunition reserves of the recruits. How to explain to their superiors is not the issue I have to consider, it is the matter of the people in my hometown. What I see is only the quality, reaction and ability of the soldiers!

Isn't this? The chest ring targets jumped out of unexpected places, and soon several bullets flew over and shot several black holes on the bull's eye.

Especially Li Shuibo, the chest ring target that appeared in his warning range had almost two holes before it was shaken. However, looking at his eyes and his gritting expression, he was really like he said, he wanted to kill every Vietnamese who appeared in sight.

What I lack is reason and calmness! If I add these, I will almost be sure that he will become a good sniper.

"Hey! The new recruit!" At this time, a communication soldier came from somewhere and shouted at me panting: "Where are your instructors? Find me quickly!"

I was stunned when I heard the communication soldier's words, and I couldn't help but feel angry and funny. I always shouted at people, but now suddenly a guy who was ignorant of the sky and earth called Xinsengdanzi at me...

But this cannot be blamed for him! I think this guy is a correspondent from the recruit battalion department, a veteran! Apart from the instructor he knew, he saw someone called recruit Danzi.

Just as I was thinking about how to deal with this matter so that I would not lose face, a soldier rushed up to a butt stock and knocked the correspondent to the ground, but couldn't stand up for a long time.

While beating, he cursed: "Mom, what are you? I'm calling us new teacher! Do you understand this on the battlefield? The communications soldier should salute when he sees the commander! He should shout a report!"

"You..." The communicator seemed to be unconvinced after being hit by this, and jumped up from the ground and got angry.

But suddenly another soldier rushed up and another gun: "Do you understand if you want to shout a report?"

After being hit by this, the communicator was already covered in blood and his cheeks were swollen. When he looked around, he stared at him with his eyes holding a murderous person, and he no longer had a temper.

I couldn't help but sweat. I couldn't even stop him! It's really like the kind of officer there are any kind of soldiers. I'm not so barbaric, right? How come the soldiers I brought out are like this...

But then again, the mask I wore on my face when I was training them during this period was really savage!

"Xiao Yu, what's the matter?" The people from the hometown heard the movement here and rushed to see the situation and couldn't help but ask.

"Instructor Chen!" When the correspondent saw the people from his hometown appear, he stood up and said, "Just judge me, your soldiers..."

"What's going on?" The hometown man ignored the correspondent and turned around to ask the two soldiers who were fighting.

"Report!" the two soldiers stood up and said, "This guy called the teacher and the recruit!"

"It's okay!" I didn't want the people in my hometown to do it, so I stood up and persuaded, "I was just a recruit, right?"

"Yu Changjie!" Unexpectedly, the people in my hometown were unwilling to let it go, and shouted at the correspondent: "You are not the first day you join the army! This is an exercise, and the exercise is the battlefield! As a communication soldier, you are calling the leader "new recruits" on the battlefield?"

"I, I..." Seeing that the communicator didn't help him, he couldn't help but feel so frustrated that he couldn't speak. His face turned red like a pig's liver.

"Apologize to the chief!" The hometown man ordered without hesitation: "Go back and write me a review and a report!"

"Yes!" The communicator immediately stood in front of me.

"Forget it!" Seeing this, I felt a little embarrassed and waved my hand to stop the correspondent and said, "Let's talk about what's wrong with finding the instructor!"

"Report to Instructor Chen!" The correspondent seemed to remember the mission of this trip at this time, and quickly turned around to report to the people in his hometown: "The battalion commander ordered you to stop all exercises and lead the team back immediately!"

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

What should come is coming eventually! Seeing this, I couldn't help but sigh. I knew what the eyes of the people in my hometown meant that we were going to the front line! I looked at the soldiers who were still training around and asked in my heart: "Are you ready?"

As I and my hometown guessed, as soon as we returned to the barracks, we felt a strange atmosphere. Several Jiefang military vehicles and a jeep were parked in the square, and it was obvious that someone was coming from above. But I don’t have to guess that I knew that this must be a order or a document.

The date and intention of the war against Vietnam are highly confidential. In order to prevent the intelligence from being intercepted by the agents lurking in the country of the Vietnamese army, many cases are transmitted by manpower in the form of documents. The person who sends the documents does not know the content of the documents, the person who receives the documents is not allowed to spread the information, and even those soldiers who are about to be sent to the battlefield are not allowed to inform them.

Just like us, we were told as soon as we came back: "All training is cancelled, no going out, no writing letters are allowed, and we should organize our equipment and be ready to go at any time!"

As for where to go, what to do, what tasks to perform, etc., we all know nothing. But judging from this situation, the soldiers could guess something.

What I saw on the Korean battlefield was that the entire military camp was in a depressed silence, and even the dormitory where I was was no exception. Some people were even secretly wiping their tears, and their lamentation soon infected everyone. Thinking that this was very likely to never come back, and there was no chance to say anything else to the house. The soldiers in the dormitory were all silent.

This is indeed unfair! I also thought of this. It is understandable that it is not allowed to let the soldiers write letters in order to keep it a secret, but the soldiers' families thought they were trained in the recruit camp.

They must have never thought that they were the last time they sent their son to join the army; they must have never thought that their son had quietly walked to the battlefield of life and death more than ten days ago; they must have never thought that when they received news from their son again, they were already in the yin and yang!

Just a few minutes ago, they were still thinking that their son must be training, and whether their son would be hard, tired in the recruit camp, and whether there was any bullying in the soldier camp...

"Comrades!" Thinking of this, I stood up and said, "Write a letter! Take it with you after writing it, or give it to your comrades! If... other comrades can also hand it to your family!"

It would be fine if I didn't say it, but when many people's tears fell down, Shunzi felt even more snot and tears. A sad and heavy atmosphere instantly filled every corner of the dormitory. Even Wu Haiguo was full of desolation, only Li Shuibo sat quietly, staring out the window with his eyes blankly, as if he was thinking about something.

"The teacher is right!" After a while, Yang Songjian sighed and said, "Brothers, please leave a letter! I patted my chest and promised that if I could come back alive, I would send the letter to your family. I would check out your parents every now and then! If I can't come back, brothers will sprinkle a glass of rice wine for me on the festival day!"

"Yes! Write a letter! We must explain to our parents even if we die!"

"Is there paper? Who has a pen?"

"I have!"

"Brother! We are close friends. If anyone comes back alive, he will treat each other's parents as their own fathers and mothers!"

"One word is certain!"

...

In a blink of an eye, the dormitory was in full swing. Some were writing letters, some were entrusting their families with their comrades, some were exchanging home addresses and photos, and some hugged each other, all hiding their fear of death and war.

The barracks lights were blew, but everyone seemed to be unable to hear them, and the instructors seemed to not hear them, and the soldiers walked around in the dormitory to say goodbye to each other and explain to each other.

"Teacher! I'll hand my letter to you!" Shunzi walked to me, his eyes slightly red and swollen, and said, "I have no fellow villagers here. If there is anything, please ask you to have time to see my mother! There is an address on it. Her eyes are not good. You can recite it to her at that time..."

Before he finished speaking, tears fell down again, his voice choked and could not speak.

"Take it yourself!" I refused without thinking: "My responsibility is to bring each of you back alive, not to bring your letter!"

Shunzi wiped two more hands of tears, nodded when he heard me say this, and put the letter in his arms and asked in confusion: "Teacher, why don't you write a letter..."

"I...I will go back and tell them if I have something to do!" That's how I answered.

In fact, the real reason is that I don’t know where to send the letter.

That night, none of us could fall asleep! Even I was infected by the soldiers and felt sad.

This is a very strange feeling. The same country and the same troops will have two completely different reactions in different eras!

If this was in the era of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, everyone would definitely be applauding when they said they wanted to play! Either they were fighting to take the lead, or they rolled up their sleeves to prepare for battle, even the new recruits were the same. But now, just over twenty years have passed, and the previous generation of soldiers has not yet grown old, and this generation of soldiers has a completely different mental outlook.

Both of these mental outlooks made me collide with them, and there seemed to be nothing wrong with both!

After thinking for a while, I think the main reason should be that the older generation grew up in war since childhood and had long been accustomed to war. However, this generation grew up in peace, so naturally they do not have the strong psychological endurance of the older generation.

As I thought about it, I fell asleep in a daze. But I was woken up before I could sleep. It was not something that made people wake up, but the pigs raised in the recruit camp... The shrill cry passed through the entire recruit camp, and occasionally I could hear a few chicks and ducks. So I knew that today's breakfast was full of oil.

Sure enough, the breakfast the next day was very rich. On this day, all the living animals were killed. There were chickens, ducks, pigs, and internal organs on the table. There was a large bowl of wine in front of everyone, and the fragrance filled the entire cafeteria. But the soldiers were quietly watching these wines and dishes that they could not imagine, and no one was going to take the chopsticks!

"Eat! Eat..." The battalion commander stood up and greeted everyone, but was worried about the leak and did not dare to say anything.

In fact, everyone knew this secret in their hearts, but they were not exposed.

"Eat!" I slapped the table hard and stood up and shouted: "Comrades, I would rather be a thirsty man than a starving ghost! Eat!"

"Well said! I would rather be a man who has sex than a man who has starved!" The people from the hometown also started shouting, and then moved their chopsticks.

The soldiers also shouted: "Eat!"

"Drink! Cheers!"
Chapter completed!