Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen

He was at Jiulian during the rest of the way for the last time.The company was parked on a wooded slope.The soldiers were lying or sitting, there was no laughter, and no one talked to each other. There was some kind of heaviness, depression and bewilderment hidden in the seemingly peaceful atmosphere, which Liu Zongkui felt right away.The instructor Chen Guoqing was the first to see him, along the whitish forest path, from the bottom up to meet him, and said quietly: "I have told the cadres everything that needs to be said. The entire company has also mobilized again. The weapons and equipment have also been checked, and no problems have been found. However, there are some opinions between Company Commander Cheng and Instructor Liang. Just now Instructor Liang asked me to talk about the company commander. It is said that he acted arbitrarily, was born as a chief of staff, and did not understand military affairs. Many cadres and soldiers have concerns about his command of war." Looking into his eyes, Chen Guoqing hesitated for a while, and Chen Guoqing still said what he thought in his heart, " I think it is whether he himself trusts the command of the company commander."

Liu Zongkui's face darkened.Before he had time to speak, a short soldier with a combat map bag and a submachine gun on his shoulder hurriedly walked towards him from the downhill.This person is twenty-eight or nine years old, with a square face, a scar on the left cheek extending obliquely to the neck, a pair of big protruding eyes that are too bright because of the extra tension and excitement in his heart, and a mania is clearly condensed between the eyebrows Anxiety.He stood still in front of Liu Zongkui, panting heavily, and said aggrievedly and loudly: "Deputy head, I want to talk to you alone!"

"Just say what you have to say, there is no one else here!" Liu Zongkui said in a raised voice, not hiding his dissatisfaction with Cheng Ming.The soldiers in the surrounding woods watched them quietly, listening to the conversation between him and Cheng Ming.The commander of the Ninth Company still engaged in such small actions at this time, which would not have a good impact on the fighting mood of the whole company. But he still accommodated the resentful company commander, and walked a few steps towards the sparsely populated forest on the right.He saw the cadres of Jiulian standing at the bottom of the slope, looking towards them, but they did not follow Cheng Ming up.Liu Zongkui vaguely realized that Jiulian's problem might be more serious than what the instructor said.

"Deputy commander, I can't command this company!" Cheng Ming said angrily as soon as he stood still in the woods, "I don't know if I can resign now! ... I can't cooperate with the instructor! He is a knowledgeable Molecule, I'm a big bastard, cook!" "What's going on?" Liu Zongkui has always disliked this kind of winding conversation. Although he tried his best to suppress the anger surging in his heart, the words were still loud and irritable. Cheng Ming looked straight into his eyes, his tone did not change because of his attitude; "Deputy regiment commander, a company must have a leader! When a war is about to take place, there must be someone who has the final say. Our instructor is still instigating the backbone of the squad and platoon to isolate me tonight. How can I fight this battle!"

Liu Zongkui was a little surprised in his anger: the war will be fought in a few hours, and the company commander and instructor of this company are still arguing over who is superior! "Isn't the division of labor between the two of you very clear?" He said, "The instructor is mainly responsible for the ideological and political work on the battlefield, assisting you in commanding the battle, and you make all the decisions on combat command. Is there anything you don't understand?!" Cheng Ming could now hear the anger in the deputy head's words.Liu Zongkui was not only criticizing him, but also despised him from the bottom of his heart.He was a little timid, and said hesitantly:

"I also have a problem with the cadres assigned to the Ninth Company in the regiment! Only the first platoon leader, the second platoon leader and I belong to the regiment, and they are not familiar with each other. The instructor is from the division, and the deputy company commander is from the army. The Chief of Staff and the Deputy Instructor were transferred from Regiment B, and neither of them came from infantry. The remaining third platoon leader was an infantry platoon leader in Regiment A, and was transferred to our regiment after a fight with their regiment commander Jiang. Seven years old, several squad leaders in the platoon are older than him!... How can I fight with such a company!"

"Which third platoon leader?...Is that Shangguanfeng?" Liu Zongkui asked, frowning.There is actually a seventeen-year-old platoon leader in his army. This news can't help but surprise him, "Didn't he go to a military academy and is twenty-two years old this year?" Cheng Ming realized that he had found a suitable topic. "He received early education," he said sarcastically. "His parents were both middle school teachers. He finished high school at the age of twelve. It's been almost a year!" "Why didn't you report this matter earlier!" Liu Zongkui really got angry and shouted at Cheng Ming angrily.It is a historical event that Gan Luo Twelve became Shangqing. When he thought that a seventeen-year-old child would lead troops to the mountain in tomorrow's battle, he was already deeply worried about the combat effectiveness of this team. Worse!

"I didn't know earlier!" Cheng Ming hurriedly defended himself. "I just heard it from the deputy of the eighth class!" He wishfully felt that the deputy head was on the same side as him, and he finally found a reason to say what he had always wanted to say but dared not say, "The deputy Commander, with such a platoon leader, I can't guarantee that I will be able to complete the combat mission tomorrow!" Liu Zongkui suddenly understood one thing: the real reason why Cheng Ming wanted to speak ill of the company cadres to him tonight was that he was not sure about commanding tomorrow's battle, and he was flustered and timid.The war hasn't even started yet, and he already has feelings of failure, and he needs to find reasons to pity himself and shirk responsibility!The instructor of this company is not good enough. At this moment, he does not wholeheartedly support the work of the company commander, but instead spreads distrust of Cheng Ming to the battalion instructor. His actions are actually another manifestation of negative failure and shirking responsibility.Thinking that there is actually a 17-year-old platoon leader in this company (he had seen Shangguanfeng a few times during the pre-war training, and he didn't have a deep impression), he couldn't help but feel a burning pain for the company's fate on the battlefield tomorrow. Tighten it!

Jiulian can't fight!What happened tonight once again strengthened this sober idea in his heart.Unless absolutely necessary, he would not let the company participate in any combat tomorrow.But he also understands that things are not all up to him alone.All battles on the battlefield—including those well-planned offensive and defensive battles—are basically encounters, and the tasks that this battalion may undertake tomorrow are exactly of the nature of encounters. Will be hastily ordered to go into battle.If so, this company will be miserable! "I see if that's the case," Chen Guoqing interjected, mainly facing Cheng Ming, who was still as calm as usual, "Let's hurry up and hold a cadre meeting to unify our thinking, put aside our opinions for the time being, and unite Focus on fighting tomorrow's battle well, and solve any problems after the war!"

"That's the only way!" Liu Zongkui expressed his opinion in a rough voice before Cheng Ming, and at the same time thought for the first time: Chen Guoqing, a taciturn scholar, is good at finding the simplest and most critical solution from the messy entanglement . Cheng Ming had no choice but to take the two of them down the slope, and his expression suddenly became extremely depressed. Walking down the whitish forest path, Liu Zongkui had already made it clear in his mind what he was going to do: Tomorrow he could only try to avoid letting the Ninth Company participate in the battle, but he could not guarantee that it would never participate in the battle. The timidity shown by the two chief officers and the signs of trying to find a way out for themselves by blaming others are extremely dangerous.He must completely dispel their above-mentioned thoughts now, and let them understand that there is no way out except for everyone to fight the battle well!

A tall young man with a slender waist stood at the edge of a forest to meet them.He was about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, and his whole body showed a kind of lightness and vitality that did not match his thin physique. The expression on his long, thin face with brown spots that could be seen in the moonlight showed that he was Believe that your intelligence is slightly better than others. This is Liang Pengfei, the instructor of Jiulian.Like Cheng Ming, he carried a combat map bag and a soldier's submachine gun.Looking at Liu Zongkui and Chen Guoqing striding forward from top to bottom, his eyes and attitude were calm, but it was a kind of artificial calm, trying to hide the inner tension.From afar, he shouted respectfully to Liu Zongkui: "Deputy Head--" "Immediately inform the cadres of the whole company to have a short meeting here." Before stopping, Chen Guoqing said to Liang Pengfei before Liu Zongkui. Company correspondent Wu Bin (a 16-7-year-old soldier with a height of only 1.55 meters, who is currently responsible for following the company commander) and bugle soldier Zhao Jian (who is much taller than Wu Bin and aged 20) Up and down, currently assigned to the instructor as a communication soldier) quickly found the cadres separately and stood in a circle.The deputy regimental commander, company commander, and instructor all had bad looks on their faces. Everyone knew the reason for this, and the atmosphere was tense from the very beginning.As soon as the instructor Chen Guoqing explained the purpose of the meeting, several muscles on Liang Pengfei's face trembled: this meeting was clearly the result of the company commander's conversation with the heads of the regiment and battalion levels alone just now, and it was aimed at himself!Of course he couldn't remain indifferent, so he moved his body and spoke first: "Okay, since we want to unify our thinking and the heads of regiments and battalions are here, I'll give some advice to the company commander—" Cheng Ming's lips trembled, and his face was pale in the moonlight.Just now he went to the deputy head to sue the instructor, no matter what kind of purpose he failed, now Liang Pengfei attacked him first, of course he couldn't bear it and he didn't want to bear it.He immediately stepped in excitedly, interrupting Liang Pengfei's words: "You, you, don't want the villain to sue first! I want to ask you first, why are you saying bad things about me everywhere——" The anger that Liu Zongkui had been trying to suppress before could no longer bear it anymore. He broke out and interrupted the quarrel between Cheng Ming and Liang Pengfei in a harsh voice: "What do you two want to do?!... What time is it, and you are still tearing each other down?!... Today I am not here to let you promote democracy, I am here to remind you that this mental state is not right now! You are all connected The cadres of the platoon, the cadres of the platoon, should think more about how to complete tomorrow's combat mission!... Today I want to reiterate the discipline to you: If any platoon fails to fight tomorrow, the platoon leader will prepare to be court-martial! Your company has not completed Mission, your company commander and instructor are going to court-martial, neither of them can escape!" The cadres of Jiulian all lowered their heads and listened quietly to his fury.Liu Zongkui suddenly realized that he had finished what he should say.The war is imminent, and it is impossible to temporarily replace the cadres of this company.The quarrel between Cheng Ming and Liang Pengfei gave him a chance to give them a serious reprimand in this way.Those who are timid before the battle are nothing more than greedy for life and fear of death, and those who are greedy for life and afraid of death are often afraid of battlefield discipline, including military courts.As a superior commander, all he can do for them at present is these things. As for how they will behave on the battlefield, it is beyond his control.But at this moment, he still prefers to believe that his words will produce good results: Cheng Ming and Liang Pengfei are also Chinese soldiers like him. Another choice! The front line moved again.This short meeting can only go so far.At least he should leave immediately, and Chen Guoqing will do the rest.Thinking of this, Liu Zongkui was about to turn around and leave, but his eyes were attracted by the young military officer who looked like a big boy in the crowd - the latter was standing beside Cheng Ming against the moonlight, not tall at 1.70 meters His shoulders and chest are still thin, his head is slightly larger than his torso, and the shadow under the brim of his hat can't completely cover his boyish round face with well-shaped features, especially those girl-like eyelashes. long eyes.He felt that the deputy head was watching him, subconsciously raised his head against the other's gaze, and smiled unconsciously and a little shyly like every person of his age in front of adults. The moonlight that splashed on his face, shoulders and body like water brightly highlights all the childishness remaining in his life. A vague feeling of pain made Liu Zongkui stop, and asked the young platoon leader: "You are Shangguan Feng?" "Yes," said the lad, with some clear, childlike voice that hadn't quite faded away. "I heard that you are only seventeen years old?" "Who told you that?" The young man panicked like a high school student who had been exposed by an adult, his smile faded from his brows and eyes, his face gradually turned pale, and he managed to regain his composure after a while. "Deputy head, who said I'm only seventeen years old?" He argued without confidence, "I'm already twenty-two years old!" "It is said that you entered the military academy at the age of twelve," Liu Zongkui jumped over the fence he set up, and asked the question straightforwardly, "How can you go to the military academy at the age of twelve?" "I grew up a long time ago. I'm as tall as I am now at the age of twelve." The young man was caught in the trap, and he was serious. He stared at the deputy head with wide eyes, and two shadows appeared in his pupils. "It's not that I want to go to a military academy. In the college entrance examination that year, I volunteered to fill in four local colleges and universities. The last one I volunteered for was the Army Academy. I was admitted unexpectedly." The team around me also started to exercise.Liu Zongkui suddenly blamed himself angrily for his curiosity: Since when are you still interested in such a person!The troops will arrive at Heifengjian in another hour, and he still has a lot of work to do before the battle starts; inform Xiao Bin and Cao Maoran of the situation of the Ninth Company, so that they know what's going on; Communicate and contact, send people to connect with the Second Battalion of the A Regiment underground on the 342nd height, a field dressing station of a division hospital not far from Heifengjian, and an ammunition support point, and so on.He still needs to find time to go to the 7th and 8th companies to check the combat preparations in detail. From the submachine gun, grenade and explosive kits to the "one whip" blasting belt used to open up minefields, they must be absolutely reliable and foolproof.Tomorrow's battle will depend on these two companies. He is a commander with battlefield experience, and he understands that the more meticulous the work before the battle, the more likely it is to reduce the sacrifice of soldiers' lives.Life, and victory, he thought of these two things again, and now he should only think about these two things! He left Jiulian.He had been walking the last part of the night on a large bare ridge.The moonlight became brighter and clearer with the approach of midnight, and half of the undulating forest tops protruding from the valleys on both sides of the ridge ridge shone with dark green brilliance under the moonlight, while the other half were in deep darkness.The excitement he had felt after the night march hadn't recovered, and tomorrow's war firmly became a heavy, unavoidable and disgusting thing in his consciousness.He has been reluctant to think about Jiulian's platoon leader with a child's face, but the very uncomfortable, painful and frightening feeling brought to him by Shangguanfeng always exists in his consciousness.Liu Zongkui only wanted to think about his own team and about tomorrow's war, but the following thought came to his mind suddenly: people in the world can be divided into three categories, one is like Jiang Tao, who is born to fight, because he can control war He simply regards it as a certain kind of career and art, and does not pay attention to its heavy and suffering side; the second type, such as himself, is not a war talent, but he entered the military camp out of the need to make a living and gradually learned to fight. He has become a war talent, although he hates war; the third category is Shangguanfeng, who is not born for war. Fierce, violent, cruel and rebellious.The person who accepted him into the military academy at the beginning undoubtedly did a wrong thing. A young man like Shangguanfeng should not have come to fight. He is only worthy of going to university. Explore the mysteries of atoms in the laboratory, or sit in a spaceship and go to space to study astrophysics.