Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve

In fact, before that conflict, Liu Zongkui and Jiang Tao had a conflict. This first conflict occurred in the second phase of the previous border war.At that time, Jiang Tao and Liu Zongkui, who was the commander of the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the C Regiment, had not met each other. He just heard that his company was brave in combat, and Liu Zongkui himself was a good commander. This company "gnawed" down, and even attracted the attention of the teacher.Liu Zongkui's understanding of Changjiang Tao, a teacher and training department who was born as a son of a high-ranking cadre, is limited to his usual domineering style.After the first phase of the battle, our army had broken through the enemy's first-line defense, and the opponent retreated to the deep zone, adopting the tactics of "avoiding frontal confrontation, small groups and multiple attacks", and carrying out uninterrupted, hit-and-run attacks on our army. At that time, Division L lost its combat object and was forced to switch to defense.That day, Jiang Tao took a staff officer to the 3rd Battalion of the C Regiment to check the fortification of the position. At dusk, he arrived at the 400th highland guarded by the 7th Company. Looking at the enemy's mountain in the dark, he had an idea and said to Liu Zongkui:

"Seventh Company Commander, send a squad to attack after dark, go to the opposite side and grab my tongue!" He wanted to find out on the spot which unit of the enemy the frontal enemy was, whether it was a regular combat division or a general local armed force, so as to assist the division commander in formulating a battle plan for the next stage.He never expected that the rustic company commander next to him was unwilling to carry out his instructions. "Chief Jiang, the enemy's situation on the opposite high ground is unknown. My subordinates are not scouts. If they go there, they may not come back!" Liu Zongkui said slowly and bluntly.

Jiang Tao was just surprised at the beginning: the reason for his reluctance to go was that he was afraid of death!What do you think you are doing here?Then the anger surged up: This Liu Zongkui probably doesn't take him seriously!Jiang Tao's voice became severe: "What if this is my order?!" His arrogance angered Liu Zongkui, who retorted: "Chief Jiang, on the battlefield, I only accept orders from my immediate superiors, and I don't accept any other orders!" Jiang Tao was furious.But I was still amazed: Who would dare to let him down in public when he traveled all over the large and small units of Division L?Who does Liu Zongkui think of himself as!He immediately grabbed the phone and talked to the head of regiment C, asking him to convey his order to the commander of the seventh company.

The head of the regiment immediately asked Liu Zongkui to answer the phone, and was very angry with him: "Seventh company commander, what do you want to do?!...I order you to obey Section Chief Jiang's command unconditionally! His orders are my orders!" The head of the group dropped the phone receiver with a "snap".Jiang Tao looked at Liu Zongkui with contemptuous eyes, and said forcefully: "Liu Lianchang, would you like me to repeat the order just now?!" "No need!" Liu Zongkui gave him a cold look back and said without showing any weakness.

It was getting dark, Jiang Tao wanted to find Liu Zongkui again, urging him to act quickly, but he couldn't find him.After asking the instructor, I found out that Company Commander Liu went to the opposite hill to carry out his orders by himself. Liu Zongkui returned to Heights 400 after one o'clock in the middle of the night. His military uniform was rotted into strands, his body was covered in bloody cuts from thorns and rocks, and a 14 or 15-year-old enemy soldier with a thin neck was tucked in his armpit. Things were far beyond Jiang Tao's surprise.Liu Zongkui contradicted him, although it was hateful, but he was a lonely hero who dared to go deep into the tiger's den alone, and he couldn't help but feel a little admiration in his heart.He wanted to ease the tense relationship with Liu Zongkui, so he took the initiative to walk over, stretched out his right hand, and said openly:

"Old Liu, it's an honor to meet you today! You are a brave man, I hope we can become friends in the future!" Liu Zongkui once again made Jiang Tao lose face.He didn't reach out. "Chief Jiang, I'm not happy to know you." He said, although the night was as dark as ink, Jiang Tao still felt extreme hatred and disgust from his eyes. "I don't dare to climb up on a friend like you. . . What orders do you want me to carry out?" Jiang Tao looked very different.This man is not a gentleman at all, but he slapped his opponent hard when he had won a complete victory and his opponent had surrendered.On the way back to the division headquarters, his anger subsided a little, and he began to feel sorry for the commander of the Seventh Company who had left a deep impression on him: If Liu Zongkui hadn’t been a peasant and hadn’t been so narrow-minded, in terms of his bravery tonight, he would have been in the army. Promising!He didn't expect that Liu Zongkui was sitting in the trench on the 400th height and thinking about him at this time, and he came to another conclusion: it is terrible to be a soldier under Jiang Tao. He is only interested in the progress of the war in his heart, and he doesn't cherish it other people's lives.If he died on the enemy's mountain tonight, he probably wouldn't even frown!

They clashed a second time three years later.Although this has nothing to do with the test of life and death, it hurt Liu Zongkui's heart even more: This summer, Liu Zongkui, who was the commander of the third battalion of the C regiment, owed two thousand yuan in debt because he had been seeking medical treatment for his wife for many years. , which is equivalent to paying off one and a half years' wages in advance.The trainer thought that this would not work, so he thought of a way to give Liu Zongkui a vegetable field of six or seven acres in the battalion department, let him use his spare time to grow vegetables, and sell the harvested vegetables to the battalion department and each company at the market price. Catering units usually have to go to the street to buy vegetables.Liu Zongkui was desperate, so he agreed.

It was at that time that Jiang Tao had just returned from short-term training at the Military Academy, and he had no place to arrange, so he temporarily went to be the deputy head of the C regiment, in charge of logistics work. He thought he was full of knowledge and determined to "reform". Determined to do something famous in the position of deputy head.Not long after he took office, he personally led the team and started a financial inspection of the whole team. One afternoon he brought the chief of logistics to the third battalion to check the accounts of each company.I just found out that there are many IOUs written by Liu Zongkui in the receipts of each company, and my face sank: Look at this battalion commander of the third battalion, he grows vegetables and sells them to his subordinates!There will be no such anecdotes in the armies of the world!ridiculous!shameful!Where does his vegetable patch come from?Can he plant six or seven acres of vegetable fields by himself?Who will plant it for him?Isn't this an obvious trick? !The purpose of Jiang Tao's financial inspection is to catch one or two influential cases, put a brake on the disadvantages of low-level military officers who eat more than they take, and harm public and private interests, and create some momentum for him to reopen the situation in Division L. Of course, he can't let go. The typical Liu Zongkui.

He asked someone to call Liu Zongkui in front of him, pushed a pile of white notes on the table to the latter, and asked coldly and contemptuously: "Third Battalion Commander, are you the one who made these IOUs?" Liu Zongkui's face turned red quickly, and blood rushed to his head.He could only answer truthfully: "I did it." Jiang Tao's gaze became sharper, and there was some unbearable sarcasm in his words: "Third Battalion Commander, don't you think it's inappropriate to do this?...You probably grew vegetables at home since you were a child! Today you are a battalion commander in the PLA, and you have to change your old habits! You can't always forget to grow vegetables make money!"

Liu Zongkui stood in front of him, his face was red and white, but he didn't let his eyes move away from Jiang Tao's face.This was his moment of humiliation, and he couldn't let the other party think that he couldn't bear the straightforward humiliation. The stubbornness of this person once again surprised Jiang Tao. He didn't reprimand him any more, but ordered Liu Zongkui to go back and reflect, write a review and send it to the regiment. At the same time, he asked the director of logistics to notify the financial department. Void, shall not be reimbursed!The companies of the third battalion are not allowed to do this kind of business again, and which company does it again will be found out and dealt with severely!When he returned to the regiment, he reported to the regiment party committee, and everyone was shocked: This Liu Zongkui, who seemed to be a promising combat backbone, how could he make such a mess!Send the disciplinary officer down to check it out!

The thousands of catties of vegetables that Liu Zongkui grew in the vegetable field of the battalion were not taken care of, and they soon fell into desolation.It wasn't that each company didn't dare to buy his vegetables, it was that he was determined not to sell them or let others manage his vegetable fields for him.On the morning of the third day when the incident happened, the instructor returned to the battalion headquarters after visiting his home, and immediately called the regiment, found Deputy Head Jiang, and explained the situation back and forth. Liu Zongkui stayed in the instructor's room, and Jiang Tao spoke. The voice was loud, so Liu Zongkui heard clearly the content of the conversation between him and the instructor. Instructor: Deputy head, I have told you everything about the situation. I was the one who asked our battalion commander to grow vegetables and sell them for money to pay back the bills. If there are mistakes, I should bear the responsibility! Jiang Tao (he is no longer interested in the vegetable field but another thing): Lao Chen, what did you just say?Liu Zongkui knew his wife was sick before he got married? Instructor (bewildered): Yes, but— Jiang Tao (laughing, interrupting the instructor): Haha, why does he still want her? !Is there something wrong with Liu Zongkui's brain?Ha ha ha ha! Instructor (trying to bring the other party back to the original topic): Deputy head, I think this is the case. Don’t investigate what we said just now. work here- Jiang Tao (interrupting the instructor again): All right.I will share your opinion with the political commissar of the head of the regiment, but now all the divisions know that there is a battalion commander in the C regiment who sells vegetables to his troops with white bills, and the reaction is very bad. At the cadre meeting of the whole regiment, come forward and give an explanation, and then your battalion party committee will write another material, do a little self-criticism, and report to the division. (The topic turns to what he is interested in) But I said Lao Chen, I still don't understand why Liu Zongkui would marry such a woman.Didn't it mean that he is good at fighting? He is good at military affairs. The regiment still wants to focus on training him! (Laughs. Pause. Sneezes) He is an army officer. He has survived from the countryside. Instead of finding a healthy national employee who can reimburse medical expenses and live a good life, he will find a sick bag to carry on his back. He can’t carry it anymore. I came up with this idea of ​​growing vegetables and selling them for money. Those who knew said he lived a tragic life, but those who didn’t know thought that the battalion commander of our People’s Liberation Army was a vegetable farmer, hahahaha... At noon that day, Liu Zongkui sent a job change report to the regiment, and put aside the matter of preparing Xu Chunlan to join the army.Outsiders can't see what happened to him from the surface, he should eat and work, only he himself understands what a severe pain happened deep in his heart after listening to the instructor and Jiang Tao on the phone in the morning.He has never forgotten the conflict between himself and Jiang Tao on the battlefield, but it was this new conflict that made him realize the difference between himself and Jiang Tao.Jiang Tao and Jiang Tao will never understand or try to understand the lives of people like them. His pain is both funny and incomprehensible in Jiang Tao's mind, and it is worthless.Jiang Tao had already laughed at him about his wife. If he took Xu Chunlan back to join the army and live a very difficult life, he would definitely continue to be the target of Jiang Tao's long-term ridicule.The army will definitely belong to Jiang Tao in the future, because they have too many environmental and psychological advantages in the competition with others. If they stay on their own, they can only continue to be pawns on other people's chessboard. If you don't understand it, you don't bother to cherish your life. The proud sons of heaven are driving and driving.Instead of this, he might as well take off his uniform and go back to the Taihang Mountains, and live a life of peace with his sick wife despite being poor. His next judgment was basically correct: even if he had to leave, it would not be easy for him.It was not until the beginning of last year that his application was approved, but Jiang Tao was promoted to the head of regiment A in the summer of that year, and within two or three years he became a figure of considerable reputation and influence.He didn't know that the fundamental reason why the head of the military division had not let him go was because he valued his extraordinary courage and commanding ability shown in the last war; This kind of fighting backbone was "forced" away by Jiang Tao, etc.), which made Jiang Tao feel like he was slapped by Liu Zongkui again just like he was at the 400 Heights last time. But all this doesn't matter to Liu Zongkui anyway.His application for changing jobs was finally approved, and his life with Jiang Tao would never have any entanglement again.They will be separated from each other, and under the brilliance of creation, they will complete their respective life journeys according to the path they choose. Yet there was this war. Over the dark ridgeline in the distance, the dark and chaotic atmosphere of dusk is transforming into the bright and clean ink blue of night.The teams of the seventh company and the eighth company meandered into the night outside the village.Liu Zongkui threw away the cigarette butt between his fingers, took the bamboo stick Wei Xi handed over, took a step forward, and led a dozen people from the battalion headquarters into the ranks of the whole battalion's rapid march. On such a night, if someone asked Liu Zongkui to answer whether he would go to the battlefield to die for his country, his answer would not only be yes, but he would also be very surprised why you asked such a question.His long military career had made him used to carrying out orders without thinking about any irrelevant issues, although he had a hidden distaste for war activities and the military profession itself.As for your next question about whether he is willing to go to the battlefield under Jiang Tao's command and die for the country, Liu Zongkui will definitely give a negative answer without hesitation.Liu Zongkui, who was born in Taihang Mountains, would not place clear and significant expectations on tomorrow's war like Jiang Tao did. The reason why he will go to the battlefield is because the country needs him to go to the battlefield, and the duty of a soldier requires him to go to the battlefield, not He wants something from the war.Liu Zongkui has experienced life and death on the battlefield, and believes that he has sacrificed his wife in this unstarted war. At this moment, walking with the officers and soldiers of the whole battalion, what he thinks most about is not so much the victory tomorrow, but the victory in the future. How to do our best to reduce the loss of life in the queue while completing the tasks that Jiang Tao may give.In the afternoon, in the command post of the A regiment in Maoerling, he had faintly felt some flaws in Jiang Tao's combat plan, but it was not them that really made him feel as heavy as a mountain tonight, but his respect for Jiang Tao. Fundamental mistrust in the quality of people and the ability to command the battlefield.Jiang Tao will not cherish other people's lives for his own success, even though he has not deployed combat missions to the third battalion of the C regiment, even though he claimed that they may not fight tomorrow, Liu Zongkui felt that he might as well give them a clear mission now. The task makes me more at ease.Not having a mission right now does not mean that there will be no mission tomorrow. Troops serving as reserve forces may not be able to fight at all.Since he brought out this battalion from Regiment C today, he has an inescapable responsibility for the life and death of every officer and soldier in the battalion.From now on, he has to maintain a high degree of vigilance against Jiang Tao, and be prepared to undertake serious incidents mentally and in the combat organization of the troops.