Chapter 11 chapter Ten

This pleasant mood did not last long before it was destroyed.He had just walked down the slope at the entrance of the cave where the reporters "stayed" when he saw Yin Guocai rushing to look for him.He suddenly thought: From after lunch to now, Yin Guocai has come to urge him to meet the deputy head of C regiment for the third time! "Captain, Deputy Commander Liu has been waiting for you for a long time, I'm sorry to make him wait any longer!" Seeing him coming out of the cave, Yin Guocai said in a low voice with an anxious and dissatisfied expression on his face. "I'm going to see him right away!" Jiang Tao's good mood was damaged, and he replied while walking quickly to the command tent.

He knew why Yin Guocai was dissatisfied with him: Regiment C led the third battalion of the regiment and a deputy commander of Regiment A came to Maoerling after lunch. The deputy commander of Regiment C had to go to the front command post of Regiment A at this time, because he had not given this battalion a few days ago after taking over the third battalion of Regiment C in the division. Clarify the combat mission, even though Yin Guocai reminded him.Jiang Tao thought about these things quickly, and a deeply hidden view of Yin Guocai naturally emerged in his mind again: Although the chief of staff is shrewd and capable, he is not a very promising person. I always don't know what is the most important among many things.For example, today, he may be able to guess the real reason for his warm reception of the two reporters, but he cannot realize that the role of the two reporters in tomorrow's battle is far greater than that of the C regiment's battalion.The reason why Jiang Tao has not issued combat instructions to this battalion is not due to negligence, the real reason is that he was not happy that the division strengthened this battalion to him from the beginning.The commander of the division did not reinforce a battalion to the B Regiment, which was the main attack, but gave a battalion to the A Regiment. He had to give birth to the idea that the combat capability of the A Regiment was doubted, and he had always been extremely sensitive to such things.He once asked the division commander not to want this battalion, but the division commander forced it to him.To put it bluntly, from that day on, he had no intention of using this battalion at all!

When the two approached the command tent, Yin Guocai took a few quick steps and opened the curtain before Jiang Tao.Jiang Tao bent down to go in, and immediately saw a person sitting on the empty shell box next to the combat sand table. —It is inaccurate to say that he is sitting: he just sticks his buttocks on one corner of the shell box, his long legs stand upright at right angles, spread widely to the sides, his knees lean forward tensely, and his trouser legs are high. The muscles of the calf exposed after being rolled up high are stretched hard one by one; the upper body is bent forward in a large span, and the head seems to go straight to the side of the sand table. A bamboo stick with the lower half covered with dry mud It was tightly held by his hands, and the clean end rested on the chest, supporting the weight of the whole body together with the two calves; under the weight of the head and neck, the elbows turned out flatly to the outside.This last movement made his whole sitting posture look like a big clumsy bird about to take flight. ——This person is staring at the sand table contemplatively, motionless, leaving an unforgettable impression on Jiang Tao: It seems that since he entered the tent three hours ago, he has been sitting like this, and has been studying intently and with gloomy eyes. Touch every gully on the sand table.

Jiang Tao's mind suddenly lit up!It was this person's special sitting posture, which was uncomfortable for himself and others, but stiff and powerful, which made Jiang Tao think of who he was when the other person didn't raise his head.The person sitting by the sand table also heard footsteps at this time, and slowly turned his face.A pair of narrowed eyes maintained a contemplative expression at first, but once they saw that it was Jiang Tao who appeared in front of him, their eyes immediately became bright and sharp, full of anger and alertness.He rose slowly from the empty shell box.

"...Old Liu, it's you?!" "Captain Jiang, it's me!" A vague look of embarrassment lasted for half a second in Jiang Tao's eyes, and then disappeared. The other party's obviously unfriendly attitude made his eyes suddenly become arrogant and stern.Jiang Tao straightened his chest and said in a dissatisfied and domineering tone: "Old Liu, you seem to be late! I think you and the third battalion of your regiment should have come to me to accept the mission!" He adopted a pre-emptive tactic of surprise attack, trying to defeat the opponent's mental attack consciousness when he was caught off guard, at least slightly dampen his edge and put him on the defensive.He noticed that this approach worked at first: the guest shook violently after hearing his words, and there was a momentary look of surprise on his face.But he regained his composure immediately, and stared closely at Jiang Tao's eyes, which suddenly added sarcasm and hatred.He said word by word in a slow, calm, slightly contemptuous tone:

"Regimental Commander Jiang, we arrived at Bajiaoping at 6 o'clock yesterday morning according to the order of the division headquarters, and we have been waiting for your instructions since then. The division order said that you will send someone to contact us. I am I found here step by step without waiting for your people and your instructions!" He especially emphasized the weight of the last word "find".And it seemed that it was because of such a word that Jiang Tao, who was always eloquent, was at a loss for words. Yin Guocai had been standing behind Jiang Tao, watching with interest the sudden exchange of words between the two.He felt that he understood the head of the regiment: the man in front of him was one of the soldiers Jiang Tao looked down on the most. The deputy head of the C group looks a few centimeters taller than Jiang Tao, with a dry and thin body, his left shoulder is slanted upwards in a strange way, his skin is as black as a charcoal burner, and it seems to be directly attached to the bone frame. Yes; a scruffy military uniform, blotched with white lye, reeking strongly of soldier's sweat and the choking smell of inferior tobacco.The front of the jacket was half open, exposing the slender neck and bony sternum.The bottom two trouser legs are rolled up to the knees, half-dried mud and some grass blades are stained on the calves and Jiefang shoes, which reminds people of the full meaning of the word "find" he just uttered forcefully; this person also has an ugly He has a long face with sparse eyebrows, sunken eye sockets and cheeks, protruding forehead and cheekbones, plump lips that are melancholy and stubborn, and angry and piercing eyes. ——This is a man of humble origin, misfortune overflows conspicuously from every part of his body, not only does he not hide it, he is not ashamed, on the contrary, the expression on that dark and ugly face is still particularly arrogant, calm and supercilious of.Standing here, he seemed to say: Although I was born unlucky and will continue to be unlucky in the future, I just don't buy into those who think they are nobler than me!

"Now, please clarify for us tomorrow's tasks." After a brief silence, the black and thin man realized that he had the upper hand in the mental confrontation with Jiang Tao.There was no complacency on his face, but his eyebrows trembled in disgust, as if he felt that the current conflict between himself and the head of regiment A was not only ugly and boring, but also disturbed him as if he had been stained by something unclean. So uncomfortable that he had the idea of ​​ending the meeting as soon as possible. "I still have to go back to Bajiaoping to greet the troops before dark and get ready for battle." He said again emphatically, without taking his sharp and piercing gaze away from Jiang Tao's face, "The time you left for us is not enough. There are too many!" Two unnatural red and white patches quickly appeared alternately on Jiang Tao's face. The hostility and contempt shown by the deputy head of regiment C to him in front of everyone in the command tent had already hurt his self-esteem.He realized that if he didn't speak to the other party in a more blunt and impolite manner, he would lose face in front of his subordinates!

"Okay! Deputy Head Liu, now let me clarify your tasks!" He changed into a higher-pitched, more severe tone, and said in a straightforward tone like the superior ordering the subordinates, with that kind of arrogance appearing on his face again. He replaced the "Old Liu" with a more formal address, so that the person in front of him and the people around him should not forget the condescending attitude towards the thin black man that he possessed due to his temporary affiliation. that power. He was well aware of the humiliation his new attitude had brought to the other party.But the black and thin man held back, Jiang Tao felt that he did so because he had to.At this time, Jiang Tao quickly walked to the other side of the sand table, raised the sand table signal stick for the third time since this morning, and his eyes fell on the sand table, but his brain made full use of the short few seconds to think quickly—— —

Since he never planned to use the Third Battalion of C Regiment, no arrangements have been made for it on the battlefield; Not only did he feel that the reinforcement of a battalion for him in the division was to doubt the ability of the A regiment to win the victory, and it was an insult to him, but he also had another thought hidden in his heart: tomorrow's battle will be easy to fight, and he doesn't want others to share the strength of the A regiment. victory and glory; He originally made a secret arrangement for the 3rd Battalion of the C Regiment: After the victory in the Qipanling battle, it would be responsible for the transfer of the wounded martyrs and the supply of ammunition and food in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalion of the A Regiment.He is a commander with actual combat experience. Tomorrow's job has little to do with the victory and glory of the frontier, but it is quite arduous and important; after a few seconds, he has made it clear in his mind what he is going to do for this battalion now The only thing: to designate a place for it to hide and stand by near the battlefield tonight, so that it can be put into the battlefield transfer work immediately after the battle tomorrow, but right now it can't speak clearly.He realized with all his heart that the cue stick in his hand had already found this point on the sand table.

"Deputy Commander Liu, I order you to take the 3rd Battalion of C Regiment to the Heifengjian in the north of Height 342 before 24 o'clock tonight to assemble and stand by," he said, pointing the tip of the cue stick to the middle of Qipanling There was a deep gully under the big northern mountain slope, and there was no flaw in his tone or actions, as if this matter was not a temporary decision by him, but an arrangement that had been made after careful consideration. "Your task tomorrow is to serve as the reserve team of our regiment, ready to support the battalions in battle at any time." He raised his eyes and stared at the black and thin man for a moment, as if otherwise it would not be enough for the other party to remember his order. "This location is the closest to the 342 highland in the middle of Qipanling that the second battalion of our regiment is responsible for attacking, and it is also equidistant from the 164 highland at both ends of the Qipanling to be attacked by the first battalion and the 631 highland at the east end that the third battalion is responsible for taking. It's a suitable place to wait for orders." He paused, retracted the cue stick from above the ravine called Heifengjian in the center of the sand table, and leaned on the ground forcefully like a saber, with a hard and cold smile on the corner of his mouth.At this moment, he felt that he couldn't restrain the impulse in his heart, and wanted to scorn the person opposite the sand table who had turned all his attention to "Black Wind Stream". "However, I think that Regiment A can win the battle without you tomorrow," he said in a sarcastic, domineering tone that obviously wanted to make the other party feel ashamed. You may not have the chance to participate in the battle. Since you are currently under my command, I have to remind you to pay attention to anti-aircraft guns, and don't let people run around and step on landmines, because your casualties after the war are also counted on my regiment's account Yes!...Of course, after the battle of Qipanling is over tomorrow, I may trouble you to do something unrelated to the battle.” He couldn’t help but add, revealing a little bit of the secret hidden in his heart, In order to let it further stab the pride and self-esteem of the person opposite.Suddenly he felt that he had talked too much. As the commander of the entire Qipanling offensive, he didn't need to condescend to waste time with the deputy head of a reinforcement unit that had no battle at all.Thinking of this, another impatient look immediately appeared on his face.Jiang Tao looked directly at the other party, and said in a business-like, indifferent tone of superiors to subordinates:

"Deputy Commander Liu, I think we'll stop here! You can ask my chief of staff about other things....Do you have anything you don't understand and want me to answer?!" "I don't think so!" The black and thin man raised his head from the sand table, replied solemnly and at the same time sarcastically, and stared at his opponent for a second without blinking with that sharp contemptuous gaze. It seemed to make the latter understand that his posturing just now was useless to him.Then he ignored Jiang Tao's blatant intention of driving him away, lowered his eyes again, squatted on his legs, and continued to carefully ponder the ravine called Heifengjian, the hostility and sharpness in his eyes suddenly disappeared. They were as focused and gloomy as when Jiang Tao had just walked into the tent. He squatted beside the sand table in this posture for at least ten minutes, and then he stood up slowly as if he was squatting down, his eyes passed Jiang Tao indifferently—as if he didn’t exist—and landed on Yin Guocai’s face, and then Saying it word for word in that calm, drawn tone that first impressed everyone: "Please, Chief of Staff Yin, tell me about the implementation plan for the battle at Qipanling tomorrow. In addition, I need to know the specific method of communication with you, the locations of the forward dressing stations and ammunition supply points along the Qipanling line." , The command relationship between my detachment and the detachment that originally performed the attack mission when my detachment was ordered to support the battle, and the procedures for calling artillery and reinforcements during the battle.” Yin Guocai was stunned for a moment, and then he answered his questions concisely, clearly and fluently like every time he encounters an intellectual challenge.As the time of this unpleasant meeting prolongs, the chief of staff of the A regiment feels more and more that the unattractive deputy head of the C regiment should not be underestimated. military experts. The black and thin man was not satisfied with Yin Guocai's answer. He narrowed his eyes and slowly asked another question: "Excuse me, have you ever thought of unexpected situations that may arise during the battle?...I want to say, is there any supplementary plan to deal with these unexpected situations?" After talking with the black and thin man, Jiang Tao, who had been standing still and was about to walk away but didn't, suddenly changed his face.Just now he thought he had won the verbal battle with the guest, but now he realized that the victory was false. The black and thin man pushed him back to a doubtful position with just one question above. He is extremely intolerable. "Our regiment's combat plan was formulated after careful consideration of the enemy's situation and the estimation of the possibility of various unexpected situations. It was an accident, so there is no need for any supplementary plan!" Jiang Tao rushed ahead of Yin Guocai, tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart, and said arrogantly and decisively.His voice was very loud, and the anger was leaked through the trembling of his voice, which made him even more annoyed. The black and thin man met his gaze, and stared at him silently for a second.At this very second, Jiang Tao quickly sensed that his opponent was also enraged. Suspicion, hatred, contempt, and other emotions all returned to his deep-set eyes, which were illuminated by two flame-like lights from the inside out.Immediately, the head of regiment A heard a low, dismissive voice: "Excuse me, can I go?!" With Jiang Tao's affirmative answer without any hesitation, he turned around, raised the bamboo stick in his hand as a crutch, limped slightly on his right leg, and strode out of the tent without a moment's delay, without a single unnecessary movement, and without any delay. He didn't look at anyone again. Then he walked down the hill step by step along the slope in front of the camp, and soon became a wriggling little black spot on the urgent road in the distance, and then disappeared. Jiang Tao followed him out of the tent.Yin Guocai, who had been following him all the time, realized that not only did the leader's mood not improve, but it completely deteriorated! At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun is shooting thousands of dazzling rays of light from behind a large group of silver-gray clouds high in the western sky to the mountains and rivers of the earth. A dull silence and helplessness.Jiang Tao narrowed his eyes to look at the sunshine under the clouds, and suddenly felt extremely bad.He didn't want to admit that his emotional change had something to do with Liu Zongkui who just came down the mountain (that would be too flattering to the person who became the deputy head of the C regiment at some time), but he couldn't help but realize clearly that there had been lurking behind him since entering the war zone. The vague uneasiness in his heart resurfaced in his mind because of what this person said just now.He didn't want to admit the existence of this uneasiness, so he thought about the person who went down the mountain.During his more than 20 years of military career, he had only dealt with Liu Zongkui twice, and each time brought him unhappiness.What annoyed him was that Liu Zongkui was not even Liu Daoming's kind of peasant boy whom he could regard as an opponent, but another type of peasant boy in the army that he could neither understand nor grasp.There are so many of them, and they don't seem to have any desire for life, regardless of military achievements, promotions, great prospects, etc., are not attractive to them, and their personalities are rebellious, and they believe in their own philosophy of life (he still doesn't understand that. What kind of "philosophies" are they?) In the face of this philosophy, no matter how high your position is and how powerful you are, it has no real binding force on their hearts and behaviors at critical moments.They live, as if only to show their tenacity aimlessly.But this is Liu Zongkui, who has extraordinary bravery and special military talents cultivated by actual combat experience.Deep down in his heart, he even believed that Liu Zongkui was better than Yin Guocai and his deputy commander Zhao Yong as a military expert.That vague uneasiness emerged from the depths of his consciousness again, which made him think of another thing in surprise: after tomorrow's war broke out, the dedicated telephone line he personally arranged for the two reporters could be quickly sent to The good news of victory can be reported from the rear, and the bad news of failure can also be delivered with the same efficiency! "Guocai, ask someone to bring my car over! You stay at home and I'll go to the battalions to have a look!" He suddenly made up his mind and said loudly, his face becoming more gloomy and terrifying than the cloud-covered sky . Yin Guocai quickly called a car for him, watched him get into the car, and drove away all the way.After that, the staff officer of regiment A stood in place for a long time, feeling depressed: what's wrong, this is the first time today, he didn't keep up with the thoughts and emotions of the regiment leader!