Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen

After the cadres dispersed, Shangguanfeng was still standing by the edge of the forest, waiting for the third row of guards of the whole company to come up.At this moment, the tears in his eyes dried up, and he finally remembered a sentence that could be used to fight back against the company commander: the ancients said that a soldier can be killed but not humiliated! The moonlight is getting brighter and brighter, giving people a strange feeling of being in the daytime; most of the overlapping forests are evenly coated with a layer of bright white light, it looks like the forest is using its own vastness and depth Yun sucks the essence of the moonlight from bottom to top; on the ridge line and several mountain passes in the distance, the strong southeast wind blows the forest tops up and down, and the silver light shakes.Looking at all this, he suddenly remembered that he had hesitated for a moment when he answered the company commander.As a soldier, he certainly believed that he was not afraid of death, but even tonight, he had already embarked on the road to the battlefield, and it was still difficult for him to say that word directly.

What happened to him today was an old problem: it seemed as if someone else went to war with a few clicks.To him, it was as if he had to go through thousands of mountains and rivers.The troops had arrived in southern Xinjiang three months ago and had been engaged in war preparations, but nearly a hundred days had passed, and his mind was still stubbornly stuck in the void between war and peace, unable to advance or retreat, and he was deeply concerned about his experience. I have deep doubts about the authenticity of everything. This feeling of incompatibility with war—in the final analysis, with the profession of a soldier—was rooted in his heart as early as entering the military school.

A few years ago, when Shangguanfeng entered the military academy, it was indeed like a joke.At the age of twelve, he finished high school ahead of schedule. Not only did he not expect to be a military cadet, but his parents—two model teachers in a key middle school in a medium-sized city in the southwest—had no similar spiritual preparation.What they entrusted to their brilliant only son were unfulfilled dreams when they were young: the Department of Mathematics of Peking University and the Department of Space Physics of Tsinghua University.Before the college entrance examination, Shangguanfeng filled in a provincial university, a technical secondary school, and an army academy in his voluntary letter. In addition to responding to the school’s call, there was another reason that couldn’t be simpler: he had to put Fill in all five voluntary columns on the form.The reason why the parents didn’t stop their son from doing this was that the son’s grades were good, and he was sure to be admitted to the university he filled in as his first choice. It didn’t seem too dangerous to pretend to be an Army Academy.Little did they know that there was an additional internal regulation in the admissions requirements of the university: if one of the five volunteers applied to a military academy, candidates should be admitted by the military academy first.The whole family was dumbfounded when they received the admission notice, but such a notice is an order from the state, and those who disobey will not be allowed to apply for any other universities in the future.The parents, who have always kept themselves clean, wanted to go to the Army Academy in the provincial capital to tell the actual age of their son, using this as a reason to make the school give up the admission. Fearing that they would be charged with fraud, they had no choice but to pack their things and send their son to report.Shangguan Feng was still young, so he thought the matter was absurd, but his parents' idea was still his idea after all, so let's go.

On the first day he entered the military academy, he felt a strong discomfort.The architectural style of straight lines and squares in the campus.The unfamiliar teaching content that made him uninterested, the military camp-style management method, the physical training with a lot of exercise, and the tense and breathless pace of life all made it difficult for him to accept.In less than a week, he told the district captain his real age on his own initiative, hoping that the school would let him drop out.After the school investigated, it was found that the situation was true, and it was intended to let him go, but this was the peak period for new students to drop out every year, and the principal was worried that letting him go would cause more people's thoughts to fluctuate, and said to wait for a while.After a period of time, the matter was brought up again, but the teachers unanimously reflected that this twelve-year-old child was precocious, with strong receptivity, excellent homework, and a strong interest in war theory and war history. A 5,000-word paper would require Published in the school magazine.The principal said that's fine, and he won't let him go. Didn't the universities in the mainland offer classes for teenagers?We left him for an experiment. If he is not suitable to work in the army after graduation, he will stay in the school to teach and do theoretical research. Isn't our school lacking top talents in this field?

Shangguanfeng's efforts to leave the military academy failed.Neither the teachers nor the headmaster understood that his nature was to be interested in all abstract things. When he arrived at the military academy, he could not delve into pure mathematics or astrophysics, but of course he studied war theory and war history.During his four years in the military academy, Shangguanfeng had always been a top student, and more than a dozen academic papers published in newspapers and periodicals inside and outside the military also made him famous in the whole school.On the eve of graduation, someone remembered the words of the retired old principal and proposed to let him stay in school to teach. Unfortunately, a "red-headed document" came from the military region at this time, saying that in recent years, the phenomenon of military school graduates using the back door to escape from the grassroots has become increasingly serious. The chief strictly ordered that this year's graduates are not allowed to stay in school, and must all be assigned to combat troops.No one mentioned Shangguan Feng's stay in school anymore, and no one remembered his real age, so he was assigned to the third battalion of the A Regiment of the L Division, one of the main divisions of the military region. He first served as a soldier in the Eighth Company for half a year, and then It was in this company that he became a platoon leader.

It is natural for a military student to be assigned to the army as a grassroots officer after graduation, and Shangguanfeng has no objection to this.Four years of military school education not only made him proficient in elementary command knowledge and infantry tactics and techniques, but also internalized his soldier consciousness in the depths of his soul, which included his understanding of military professions, responsibilities, missions, honors and disgraces, etc. Definite and conventional insight.But he did not enter the military academy voluntarily, so he stayed in the military academy for four years. Apart from the external reasons that made him have to stay, he still had a childish idea hidden in his heart: entering the military academy was imposed on his life by others. An absurd move by a man who, being a mistake, will always be corrected one day.He is still young, and there is still time for him to take the local university after finishing the military academy.But now his fantasy has been shattered, that mistake has not been corrected, but has turned into an unavoidable fate, which will continue to extend in his future years, and he cannot see its end at a glance.The eyes of the sixteen-year-old Shangguanfeng suddenly opened. He felt disappointed and angry. Although it was a kind of powerless disappointment and anger, it really influenced his attitude towards the new life.

After more than a year, his life in the A regiment encountered great difficulties.He didn't expect that there is a huge difference between the company and the military academy; in the military academy, others take care of him, but here as a platoon leader, he has to take care of others; in the past, others took the initiative to solve his ideological problems, but now he One of his responsibilities is to do other people's ideological work; his sixteen-year-old life is basically spent at home and one school after another, and his knowledge structure is basically campus and book-style, but in the company Being a platoon leader requires another kind of knowledge, and his limited experience has not yet taught him the latter kind of knowledge.The joke of entering the military academy by mistake finally became an inescapable reality of life in the military camp, which was extremely monotonous and tedious every day. The original disappointment and anger in my heart merged into blind resentment and anger, which I involuntarily vented to the surrounding targets.

One day he vented them on the head of the regiment, and he became famous in the regiment himself. At the end of last autumn, the Eighth Company was responsible for construction tasks in the regiment headquarters.When the movie was shown on Saturday night, instead of notifying the secret service company to send someone to maintain order at the entrance of the auditorium as usual, the headquarters pushed the tolerance to their company.He is the platoon leader on duty, so the company commander naturally entrusted him with the job.The soldiers had resentment against the regiment and disdain for the movie. As the platoon leader, he was particularly resentful. As soon as the movie started, he immediately put his soldiers into the auditorium, closed the gate according to the regulations, and led two squad leaders to watch the movie. At the gate, no latecomers will be admitted.

I don't want to come to Tuan Jiangtao in stride at this time. Shangguanfeng didn't know Jiang Tao.It's impossible to say that he didn't know the head of the group A for more than a year, but he really didn't know Jiang Tao.However, even knowing Jiang Tao, according to his naive thinking, the team leader is not allowed to enter the arena if he is late, the rules are the rules, and the leader is no exception.Shangguanfeng had other reasons not to let Jiang Tao enter the arena: according to the notice that the soldiers should enter the arena, Jiang Tao was wearing a pair of woolen military trousers, but he was wearing a brown-red dazzling leather jacket on his upper body.

The arrival of the head of the group made the eyes of a large group of latecomers who had been blocked by Shangguanfeng outside the auditorium shine brightly.They took the initiative to make way for Jiang Tao, and thought: Once the stubborn little platoon leader who guards the door let the regiment leader in, there is no reason not to let them follow in! That night, Jiang Tao's face was flushed and his eyes were bright.During dinner, he drank two glasses of wine with the working group from the army, and when he returned to the dormitory, he received a call from Zhang Li from the teacher's hospital.Tomorrow is Sunday, and Zhang Li asked him to go to a nearby scenic spot for a day.Jiang Tao couldn't go because the working group was in the regiment, but he was happy to receive such a call on the weekend, and the two of them had a long conversation.Afterwards he took off his military uniform for a civilian one, dressed in his own style, and took some more time.He personally stipulated that the troops must be neatly dressed to watch movies, but this regulation is not valid for him alone.There is no flat ground, no high mountains, and everything has its specialness. His goal is to express and maintain a unique and unique style in this regiment, this division, and even this army.

He didn't expect to be blocked when he walked up the steps in front of the auditorium without anyone else.Of course he didn't know Shangguan Feng, but he didn't think that the latter didn't know him. Once he walked over, the door behind the little platoon leader would automatically open.Jiang Tao didn't care about those people outside the auditorium. Of course, it's not normal for many people to be stuck here, but it is the responsibility of the military affairs department to deal with such matters. Even those onlookers didn't expect that Shangguanfeng didn't know the leader, so Jiang Tao went straight over and no one made a reminder.What Shangguanfeng saw was a chief he didn't know, who was late and didn't dress according to the regulations. People outside the auditorium were all staring at his reaction to this person. Of course, he couldn't let them see his jokes. , thinking that he dared not stop the chief. Jiang Tao approached. "Chief, you're late." He didn't move away from the entrance, but looked directly at the person coming, and said. Jiang Tao involuntarily slowed down, not realizing that he was stopped at the entrance of the auditorium, thinking that the platoon leader just wanted to strike up a conversation with him, so he responded vaguely: "Well. I've been delayed by something." Shangguanfeng still didn't get out of the way. "According to the regulations, you can't enter the arena." He said, his eyes were firm and implied a bold reproach, "You are the chief, and you should take the lead in observing discipline." Jiang Tao had to stop, and at the same time he became sober.He was surprised at first: Which company platoon leader is this, dare to stop him in the crowd?Then he flew into a rage and shouted at Shangguan Feng: "Go away!" Shangguanfeng was stunned by the "chief"'s rude words, and his face changed abruptly.A feeling of being humiliated in public immediately made him tremble all over, and tears welled up in his eyes, and his voice became high and trembling: "Who are you scolding? Who are you telling to get out? You, you..." At this time, the onlookers saw the way, and shouted: "He is the leader!" When he came down, the head of the group didn't follow the rules and even cursed at others, the head of the group didn't deserve his respect! "How about the leader?" He cried in a dragged voice, "Can the leader curse people?" He simply made up his mind and said harshly: "I just won't let you in today! Let's see what you can do?!" The commander of the eighth company and the chief of the military affairs section in the movie theater ran out when they heard the noise and pulled him away from the entrance before Jiang Tao entered the auditorium.The latter almost forgot about it when the game was over. It was nothing more than a little platoon leader who was ignorant and didn't know him, which made him a little unhappy.Shangguanfeng did not forget the insult given to him by the leader.Jiang Tao had just returned to the dormitory when someone knocked on the door. "It's you?!" He was stunned for a moment before he remembered who this person was. He turned around and walked in, asking, "What's the matter with you?!" Shangguanfeng was not invited, so he walked in and stood still, ignoring Jiang Tao's false gesture asking him to sit down, trying to maintain a calm and dignified expression on his gray face, not letting tears spill into his eye sockets again.Then, word by word, he spoke out the words that had been brewing in his heart: "Commander, I want to tell you: You are a citizen performing military duties, and I am also a citizen performing military duties. I can and must accept your leadership, but I have no obligation and will never accept your insults. Today You have already scolded me tonight, so now I have to pay back - you are a bastard!" After speaking, he ignored Jiang Tao's reaction, turned around abruptly, and left. Jiang Tao was fooled again, and the unknown platoon leader had gone away after waking up.For the second time today, he was shocked by this man's audacity.In a rage, he called the instructor of the third battalion and asked him to immediately find out who the platoon leader of the eighth company was on duty at the entrance of the auditorium of the regiment headquarters tonight, and let him get out of regiment A tomorrow. "I don't know him very well, he may be a student officer who has just been assigned." He was so angry that he gasped into the microphone and shouted repeatedly: "After finding out, send him back to the Army Academy immediately, we don't want such a person! "As the head of the regiment, it is tolerable for someone in the regiment to dare to call him a "bastard" face to face! The instructors of the third battalion did not send Shangguan Feng back to the Army Academy because it was impossible, but they still went to the eighth company to criticize him severely.Although Jiang Tao still held a grudge against Shangguan Feng later, he couldn't bring it up to others.However, the story of Shangguan Feng's "fight" with the head of the regiment spread throughout the regiment, and was gradually turned into something similar to a martial arts novel.Before he knew anything, he became a well-known "stabbing head" cadre of the A regiment. One day he finally thought: I can't stay in this regiment any longer. At the end of last winter, the troops received a combat order and urgently expanded. Regiment C asked the whole division for a group of grassroots cadres. When Shangguanfeng heard the news, he immediately asked the instructor to sign up.Soon he knew that even if he didn't take the initiative to sign up, he would be "supported" this time. His name was included in the first list drawn up by the Youth League Cadres Unit.