Chapter 22 Chapter two

... After dark, the whole regiment began to move towards the attack area, and Jiang Tao returned to Maoerling by car. Compared with when he set off in the afternoon, his mood is now calm, confident and excited as before the meeting with Liu Zongkui.Not only did Liu Zongkui, the deputy head of the C regiment, dispel his doubts about the prospect of the battle, but this final inspection also increased his confidence.Now Jiang Tao thinks: Tomorrow he and his A regiment will not be able to win the battle on the front line of Qipanling, but will definitely win a beautiful battle according to his plan!

On the last afternoon and evening before the outbreak of the war, Jiang Tao's mood had such dramatic ups and downs and dramatic changes, the reason is profound. How deep a person's heart is is often difficult for outsiders to guess.Even for a person like Jiang Tao who regards war as his lifelong career, the coming of a real rather than virtual war still seems sudden to him, and it will cause a deep shock in the soul at the first moment.The reason for the shock is extremely complicated: Jiang Tao has longed for war for many years, but when he thinks about it seriously, what he longs for is not war, but to make contributions in the war and achieve the feats and fame of his father; but despite this, After all, he has lived under the peaceful sky for a long time like everyone else, and he thinks that he is ready for war and fulfilling his military mission in war.In fact, like all people living in peace, when the war really came, he suddenly found that not only was he not fully prepared, he was not even prepared for the minimum. He was more adapted to peaceful military camp life rather than war.Jiang Tao never thought that he would die in any war. This is the biggest psychological difference between him and many grassroots officers and soldiers. Think of the responsibilities you have to bear in the war.A few years ago, he participated in a border battle that lasted only 27 days as a staff officer, but at that time he basically stayed in the command post with the division commander, and never commanded a team in his current capacity. Team combat experience.Jiang Tao has never doubted that he is excellent and outstanding as a soldier, but the war is imminent, and he still has a little worry in the secrets of his heart about whether he can lead a regiment to complete any combat mission assigned by his superiors ( He does not want to admit that this is a doubt of his own ability. He only admits that it is a little bit of anxiety that naturally arises when people are under great pressure).Jiang Tao walked into the war along the following spiritual path: After the initial shock, he understood the full meaning of this incident for himself and everyone else faster than anyone in the whole regiment or even the whole division.The first thing he thought of was: as a regiment commander, even if he admits that he has a little worry about his own ability, he still has the duty to lead the regiment to war and complete any combat mission.That being the case, there is no need for this bit of worry and anxiety; secondly, this war not only constituted a severe test of his actual ability to lead troops—including luck—but also quickly made his achievements in the military world. Fame offers rare opportunities.Jiang Tao's inner gaze turned to the surroundings at this time: Although he has no experience in leading a regiment into actual combat, compared with other regiment leaders who are also going into war—such as Liu Daoming—he believes that he is excellent again.Liu Daoming would also think about what this war meant to him.Between trials and huge opportunities, Liu Daoming, like himself, will first think of how to seize and use this opportunity.Thinking about it this way, Jiang Tao not only felt that he shouldn't let that bit of self-doubt and anxiety remain in his heart, but also believed that their existence was completely unreasonable in comparison with Liu Daoming's abilities.Liu Daoming is not even worried about his own abilities, why does he have any reason to doubt himself?Jiang Tao devoted himself to war preparations with unprecedented enthusiasm. He led the troops to move forward, and then launched a large-scale pre-war adaptive training, studying the difficulties that a new border war might bring to him and the troops, and one by one. Address it specifically.He immersed himself in it wholeheartedly, thinking that he was already experiencing the war, but what he experienced during this period was only sand table operations and actual military exercises day after day, and he did not notice that with these pre-war activities, the The realism and heaviness of the previous war is being replaced by a new kind of game-style tension and excitement.War preparations themselves have a certain game nature, and this game-like war preparations in turn strengthened his self-confidence like the proud son of the day, and also made the initial suspicion and anxiety no longer appear.For a while Jiang Tao thought it had been completely eliminated, but in fact it hadn't.When the troops really marched into the Gongmushan theater one day, the game-like pre-war preparations were over, and the reality of the war suddenly returned to his heart heavily, and the original faint self-doubt and anxiety quietly disappeared from the battlefield. It came out from the bottom of my heart: the war was about to start, but Jiang Tao suddenly felt a little uneasy about the attack plan for the Qipanling area that he personally made.This plan was formulated after he repeatedly considered the enemy's situation, terrain, and missions, and was approved by the head of the military division. As a field commander who considers himself a first-class military expert, he could not accept any attack from any direction (including his own). Inner suspicion): But the same keen intuition created by the first-class military literacy quietly reminded him that there was nothing extraordinary about this plan.The reason for this seems to be that when formulating the plan, his thoughts are not free, but are confined within the frame drawn by others.All those enemy situations, terrain, and missions are immutable, and battles can only be fought in that way.Dimly, he felt that in his helplessness, there might be a deeper danger hidden that a genius military strategist should be aware of.As for what danger it is, he has no idea.Jiang Tao's attitude to deal with this kind of psychological contradiction is consistent with his arrogant temperament. Simply put, it is: since he firmly believes that his military talents are outstanding, and he can't see the so-called "deep danger" What is it, of course he doesn't need to bother with it!

It was with this state of mind that he ushered in the last morning before the war.He thought that the problem in his heart had been solved, but he didn't expect that it was only temporarily avoided.He spent this day extremely tense and excited: first, the army commander and division commander came to Maoerling and almost replaced him from the command position of the A regiment; then Liu Zongkui clearly expressed the battle against him in his own way Program distrust.He has a way to deal with the distrust from above (invited two reporters and installed a direct line to Beijing), but Liu Zongkui's distrust changed his mood drastically. After all, this is the distrust from the heart of a true military expert , The latter has more actual combat experience than himself!Jiang Tao immediately decided to leave everything behind and drive to the battalions: the battle is imminent, he has no time and can no longer doubt his own battle plan, the only thing he can doubt is the troops who implement the plan!

It was during this last inspection of the troops that his state of mind underwent a fundamental reversal.No matter which battalion he came to, what he saw was a scene of high fighting spirit.The cadres and soldiers expressed a warm welcome from the bottom of their hearts to his arrival at this time.They kept shouting to him: "Captain!" "Here comes the head!" "Hello, leader!" "The leader is here to see us off!" "Does the leader have any good cigarettes, get one!" ... Jiang Tao didn't bring good cigarettes, and he didn't come to see off the officers and soldiers, but the inspection turned into a see-off naturally, and he was deeply moved by the scene in front of him.He suddenly thought: On the eve of the battle, not only did the soldiers not feel depressed at all, on the contrary, everyone was full of spirits, lively, and full of spirit of "destroying the food". With such an army, why would he have any reason to doubt tomorrow's soldiers? victory!

"Hello, comrades!" He greeted the officers and soldiers of each company loudly, and called out the names of the soldiers from memory, "My delegation, the party committee and myself, are here to visit you... How do you feel?" "No problem, Commander!" The soldiers replied loudly, or said: "Commander, just watch!" "I didn't bring cigarettes for everyone today. You know that I never smoke, and it's the same when I go to the battlefield!" Jiang Tao, whose spirit was greatly encouraged, spoke in front of the expedition team, gesturing vigorously, "But I just graduated from the division. Take back a bag of military merit medals, which are jingling there, and we will see who of you can take it away tomorrow!"

"Commander, we've got everything covered!" The soldiers replied.Jiang Tao's mood is getting higher and higher. In addition to the Warriors, he also found more inspiration in these teams.Due to his more than two years of management, the battalion and company cadres who led the troops to the front line tonight were all single-handedly selected by him, and they are all his "direct descendants" in name and character.Now, all he heard from them were reassuring answers: "Leader, you are unnecessary to make this trip!" "Commander, you can sleep peacefully, we will wake you up after the battle!"

"..." "It's not that I'm worried about you, I just want to take a look!" Jiang Tao's eyes filled with tears.The troops had started to move towards Qipanling. He stood on the side of the road and watched the teams sink into the jungle. Once again, he thought excitedly: With such subordinates and troops, he should not have any doubts about tomorrow's victory. ! He returned to Maoerling with such an excited and moved state of mind. Immediately, the joy and excitement of winning the game rose to another level: it turned out that when the eve of this war came, the regiment command post also changed from Inside and out, there is an atmosphere of excitement, relaxation and joy like that of combat troops!

During his absence, Yin Guocai moved the command post to the other two caves under the cliff on the south side of the camp as planned.This is a two-hole cave that is wider and deeper than the cave where the reporters lived. The No. 1 cave actually extends into the mountain for more than one kilometer, and the No. 2 cave is also 500 meters deep.Like all karst caves, there are stone walls and stalagmites hanging everywhere in the cave, dividing the space into several "halls", "corridors", "single rooms" and "suites".Yin Guocai reserved the No. 1 cave with the largest volume and many small "single rooms" for himself and the staff and miscellaneous staff, and arranged the No. 2 cave with a "hall" and a "suite" at the entrance. The combat command room of the regiment, the "suite" serves as the "bedroom" of the regiment leader.According to the group leader's preferences, he not only moved tables, chairs, beds, wardrobes, carpets, wine boxes, telephones, still photos of foreign actresses and guitars into Jiang Tao's new "bedroom", but also hung them upright on a stone wall. A large military mosaic map was created to replace the combat sand table that cannot be moved into the hole at the same time.After doing all this, Yin Guocai stood in the cave and looked it over, and felt that even according to Jiang Tao's standards, this "battlefield bedroom" could be called "luxury".

Jiang Tao was satisfied after entering the No. 2 cave.The new combat command room is tall and open, brightly lit, and all staff members work according to wartime requirements; their "bedroom" is deep and compact, with a small space but not depressing.Under the light of a 300-watt incandescent light bulb, although all the furnishings are familiar to him, they have a novelty in the sense of pure arrangement because of the change of location. The four walls of the "bedroom" are jagged and strange, and the dome is filled with stalactites of various sizes, giving people a sense of mystery and unreality of being in a dream.What satisfies him most is the mosaic map that stands upright, which presents a grand momentum that surveys the overall situation, making his body and mind feel tall and majestic in himself.Looking at this map, he couldn't help but have a new feeling: in the entire battlefield of Gongmu Mountain, he is the only one who plays a pivotal role!However, what really made him happy was the excited, relaxed, and joyous atmosphere inside and outside the command post.They seem to verify the conclusion he came back from the inspection of the troops from another angle—since all the staff officers (including Yin Guocai) believe that tomorrow's victory is beyond doubt, why does he have any reason to doubt it? !

"Comrades, it seems that you are doing well!" In this happy state of mind, he felt that he should make a joke with his subordinates.This is not common for him. "Back then, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven only lived in such a fairy cave, right?... If tomorrow's battle is not fought well, we are sorry for such a good residence!" The staff officers shouted enthusiastically and enthusiastically: "What is the head of the regiment talking about!" "The regimental commander is in a good mood," an artillery staff officer named Ma Huchen said to Jiang Tao in a teasing tone, "The regimental commander is thinking about the post-war celebration party right now!... We people will run after you on saddles, until I will reward you with a bottle of 'Remy Martin'!" "This request can be considered!" Jiang Tao said happily.

He didn't forget what he should do, sat down in front of the telephone, first formally reported to the division commander the news that the whole regiment had started to move towards the attack area, and then called the army's combat department to inform He Yan of the regiment in his personal capacity By the way, I asked about the news of the B group.He Yan's answer once again led his thoughts to Liu Daoming, the leader of the B regiment: The B regiment has just started to exercise, and the road that Liu Daoming will take tonight is uncertain, and tomorrow's battle is even more uncertain for Liu Daoming.He himself is different, the battle of Qipanling is basically in sight.Thinking of this, the excitement in his heart rose even higher... As a field commander, on such an unusual night, if Jiang Tao, who participated in the war a few years ago, could calmly think about it, he might understand what was happening in the army and regiment command post at this moment. The general excitement is not only a distorted reflection of the psychological heaviness caused by the war to the combatants, but also a refraction caused by his mental characteristics such as self-confidence, firmness, and certainty of victory after entering the war zone on the officers and soldiers of the regiment.But tonight, he was eager to get rid of the last bit of doubt and anxiety from the bottom of his heart. His mind was not clear, so not only did he fail to see the essence of the matter, but he also recognized it with joy and excitement, and regarded it as his understanding of tomorrow. The starting point of the war.In this way, in the following time, this blind optimism will not fail to increase with the further development of combat operations, and have a direct impact on his feelings, thinking and decision-making. ... Returning from the "hall" to the "bedroom", Jiang Tao's heart was completely relaxed.Combat operations had begun, the troops were on the move, and he had essentially nothing to do until ten o'clock when the battalions entered the area of ​​departure for the attack.Even if the troops entered the predetermined position after ten o'clock, as long as the battle did not start, he basically had nothing to do except to keep in touch with the battalions at any time and report to the division command post every hour.When Liu Erzhu brought the meal in, he realized that he hadn't had dinner yet.Sitting down to eat a few bites, but found that he had no appetite at all, "Take it away!" he said to his guard.Liu Erzhu took the meal away.He stood up and paced aimlessly in the "bedroom".He walked from dusk into this long night with high tension and heavy emotions. He didn't expect to encounter several hours of free time first, which he was not used to. "I should go to sleep for a while," he said to himself in the stern tone of a regimental commander, and immediately found it impossible to put himself to sleep now. "...Or go and see Zhang Li. I haven't seen her since breakfast." He thought again, but immediately another more beautiful and charming face flashed in front of his eyes. "...No, I'd better go see the reporters and lay the groundwork for the articles they will write tomorrow." He knew that what he really wanted to meet was the new female reporter. "Your heart is still tense, on this battle night." A voice suddenly emerged from the bottom of your heart, "You want to get emotional relaxation from her or her, so that the inner pressure will be relieved.  … You put Zhang Li stayed in Maoerling just for this moment." "But which famous person will be calm before the war?" Another voice rose, "Was Napoleon calm before the Battle of Toulon? Tuzov knelt down to pray to his Orthodox God before the big battle outside Moscow. . He thought fleetingly, the reason why he didn't arrange Bai Fan to live in Zhang Li's tent in the morning was because he didn't want her to get in touch with Zhang Li.Deep down in his heart, he even felt that it would be best if Bai Fan didn't know that there was Zhang Li on Mao'er Ridge, because that would be somewhat detrimental to his image in the eyes of the reporters. "Bai Fan....Bai Fan is lovely. She is a very beautiful woman after all. It is impossible for a man with a normal mind not to feel happy when he sees such a woman." But he understands that he has not fallen in love with Bai Fan, just like he has never fallen in love with any woman wholeheartedly and selflessly.What he really loves is the success of his career, his dream of becoming a famous general. "Will I be successful tomorrow? . . . Of course. The Battle of Qipanling will be a beautiful battle of annihilation, my 'Battle of Toulon', after which I will be a rising star in the army sky.  … He thought about it happily, and felt that it was a pleasant thing to think so wildly.But he wants to go to the cave of the reporters. For tomorrow’s success, what will he do with the reporters tonight.” Yours... Bai Fan and Zhang Li have many differences, but they have one thing in common. They are all simple women. Generally, simple and enthusiastic women are always kind-hearted, so they are always easy to deal with. Tonight I It should impress them more, something they can write about as a celebrity anecdote.” As for how he could make a “more impressive impression” on reporters, he didn’t really think about it, just thinking about it. Confident that there must be a way before the car arrives at the mountain, he strode out of the cave and happily walked towards the cave where the reporters lived—the No. 3 cave.