Chapter Sixteen

  "Company Commander!" I thought of this and immediately stood up and replied: "I think my time as a soldier is still short, many rules are not yet understood, and further tempering is needed. The current situation is not suitable for being a squad leader to lead the troops, hoping that the company commander will reconsider..."

  I have to admit that I've never been so humble. For the first time in my life, I agree that humility is a virtue.

  "Let you be in charge then!" Li Lianzhang said with an impatient tone, "Whether it works or not isn't up to you to decide, if it doesn't work out we can just switch again!"

  "Yang Xuefeng, comrade!" The instructor, who was holding a cup of tea and had just walked out, saw the situation and interjected: "The superiors letting you be the squad leader is a trust in you, as well as an affirmation of your performance on the battlefield. Although you haven't been a soldier for long, the superiors choose people based on merit, not on how long they've been soldiers. As the saying goes, whether it's a white cat or a black cat, if it can catch mice, it's a good cat! On the battlefield, whether you're a new recruit or an old soldier, as long as you can bravely fight and defeat the enemy, you're a good soldier..."

  Then came a barrage of words that left me in awe of the instructor's eloquence, while also making it clear that if I didn't accept this arrangement, the instructor would continue to do "ideological work" on me.

  He reluctantly stood up and said: "Report to the instructor, company commander... I've figured it out, everything will follow the arrangement of superiors.

  ！”

  "This is a good comrade!" The instructor smiled and nodded, seemingly very satisfied with his previous speech.

  After walking out of the company, Knife Scar patted my shoulder and said: "Just a few days as a soldier and already became a squad leader, such people are really rare. But on the battlefield... it's also a place where you can discover talent, isn't there a saying that goes 'chaotic times produce...'?"

  "A hero will emerge in a chaotic world!"

  "Right!" Scar nodded his head and said: "It's the chaotic world that produces heroes. Think about it, if there wasn't this battlefield, how would we have discovered your talent for killing enemies? Do a good job, being a soldier isn't difficult. Take Little Wang from the first company, he also said he couldn't lead troops at first, but later on, he managed to make an entire squad obey him. Or take Little Zhao from the seventh company, he's even younger than you..."

  "I said I'm the class monitor!" As I listened, I felt something was off and asked in doubt: "This class monitor of mine... isn't it what you requested from our platoon leader?"

  "What are you talking about?" Scar's face sank, and he said seriously: "Who do you think I am? Can a squad leader make demands to the company commander? I just recommended someone..."

  He said nothing and just walked away, leaving me behind to grit my teeth in anger at this ugly eight trigrams.

  In life, perhaps everyone wants to be a cadre, jokingly, who doesn't want to hold power in their hands?

  But on the battlefield, positions like squad leader, platoon leader and even company commander are jobs that everyone fears and tries to avoid.

  Why?

  I've heard old men say that our People's Liberation Army has been known for its outdated equipment since its founding, right? During the Red Army era, they even took big knives to the battlefield, and during the Eighth Route Army era, they were only equipped with three bullets. After firing three shots, they had to charge forward with bayonets and fight to the death, hence the nickname "Three Shots and Eight Roads". Even after the founding of the People's Republic, the PLA was still using weapons captured from the enemy.

  It is precisely because of this that the PLA troops have a tradition, that is, when fighting, cadres must charge forward.

  Imagine if a poorly equipped and untrained army, like some officers, waved their pistols and shouted: "Brothers, charge! Kill an enemy and get 50 big bucks as a reward!" And then hide behind to direct the battle... Would anyone still risk their lives for you? Compared to life, what's the use of those few dollars? Having money but no life to spend it on is useless.

  So most troops were in low spirits and discipline was lax

  。

  The PLA troops did not receive any money and could not afford to give out money, all they could do was for the cadres to set an example for the new recruits, charging forward one by one...

  Now I have unfortunately become such an example.

  As I returned to the camp in a daze, I heard Daobi shouting: "Second squad, assemble!"

  "Comrades!" When Knife Scar raised his hand to address the soldiers: "Our Second Squad Leader sacrificed himself in a search mission, he was not only a good soldier but also a good squad leader and our good comrade. We must turn our grief into strength and demand this blood debt from the Vietnamese devils!"

  "Avenge our blood debt!"

  "Blood debt must be repaid with blood!"

  ……

  The warriors all raised their hands and shouted.

  "Comrades!" Scar's gesture signaled the warriors to quiet down, and he continued: "Our squad's Yang Xuefeng comrade, although his time in the troops is short, but his military quality and performance on the battlefield are evident to everyone. Now, the higher-ups have appointed Comrade Yang Xuefeng as our second squad's new leader, do comrades have any opinions?"

  "No comment!"

  "Obey the arrangement of superiors!"

  ……

  The warriors shouted again.

  I just kept silent because I knew speaking out would be useless.

  Because I was angry in my heart, after dispersing, I sat down on the stone alone and wiped the gun with a piece of cloth.

  "Comrade Yang Xuefeng!" The bayonet, while eating canned food from his hand, approached me and asked in a vague tone: "I... I heard you don't want to be the class leader? Why is that? Are you afraid of not being able to manage us? Don't worry, we will definitely listen to your command and follow your arrangements!"

  "That's right!" Xiaoshi also came up and said: "You can rest assured to be your monitor! These days we've seen you kill so many Vietnamese devils, hey... that one called Overlord"

  "Follow you to fight against the devils, can't go wrong!"

  "Yes! Comrade Yang Xuefeng!" The bookworm also nodded and said: "Although you have been a soldier for less time than us, but being able to capture Vietnamese snipers, being able to defeat more than 40 Vietnamese devils in one night with your own strength... this is not something ordinary people can do. You come be our squad leader, we'll obey! You lead us into battle, we're at ease!"

  It wasn't until then that I realized I had become the class leader because of those "moves" I made over the past two days.

  Why am I so stupid? Even a bird that sticks its head out to get shot doesn't know...

  "Here!" Just as I was sulking about the new officer taking office, Knife Scar suddenly tossed a large chain of bullets and a rifle strap in front of me.

  "What's this?" Because I was still thinking that it was Knife Scar who made me take on the position of class leader, so my tone when speaking to him wasn't good.

  "Bulletproof!" Scar looked at me with some confusion.

  "I know these are bullets! But what's the point of giving them to me?"

  "Shh, keep your voice down!" Scar mysteriously pointed at the sniper rifle I had placed aside and said: "Your superiors let you take care of it... but didn't say you can't use it, did they?"

  "What?" I lit up at these words: "Are you saying... this is a sniper rifle bullet? Where did you get it from?"

  "You little scamp! " Scar's slap on my head was not gentle: "The enemy sniper rifle uses machine gun bullets!"

  "Ah!" With Scar's words, I suddenly saw the light.

  No wonder this sniper rifle can shoot so far, it turns out that it's still using machine gun bullets.

  He hastily picked up a few bullets from the ground and compared them, and they were indeed the same. He couldn't help but feel elated, and his heart lifted instantly.

  Although the size of this machine gun bullet is similar to that of a 56 semi-automatic rifle bullet, it will be longer than a rifle bullet. Being longer means more gunpowder can be loaded, and being able to load more gunpowder means the bullet can shoot farther, right? I still have some basic physics knowledge from middle school.

  "Hehe, a long queue......" Looking at these bullets, I don't even know what words of gratitude to say to Knife Scar.

  Don't be too optimistic yet

  ！The scar above his mouth curled up into a sinister smile, and without explanation, he turned and walked away.

  At that time, I only knew how to hold the sniper rifle and load bullets. Originally, I thought it was just a useless stick for starting fires, where would I have thought that the bullets were right under my eyelids, and they were the kind that had as many as you wanted... This feeling of losing and regaining is indescribably exciting, so naturally, I wouldn't think that Knife Scar's words had any deeper meaning.

  Loaded the sniper rifle with a full magazine, held it in hand and played with it for a while, the weight was just right, the hollowed-out stock had natural lines, as soon as I grabbed it, I could feel a hint of killing intent and mystery from the gun.

  I seem to recall that old man once said this thing is called SVD, made in the Soviet Union with a range of one thousand meters, more than twice as far as our army's 56.

  Take another look at the armed belt... The things attached to it are exactly the four empty magazines that match the sniper rifle, a bayonet and a Tokarev pistol.

  I tied the armor to my waist with a few quick movements... and strangely, I felt a sense of confidence, stability, and solidity that I couldn't quite put into words. It was as if I had gained just a little bit more of something, but I knew that it was often this tiny difference that made all the difference between life and death on the battlefield!

  I was going to try the gun, but then I thought that there were Vietnamese agents lurking everywhere, and it could even be said that our army had infiltrated Vietnamese agents. If we opened fire, it might cause misunderstandings, so I had to give up.

  "Little stone!" I shouted at several soldiers under my command from a distance.

  "Here!" The little stone quickly ran up and stood upright in front of me.

  "This!" I took off the 56 semi-automatic rifle from my body and handed it to Xiaoshi, saying: "From now on, you're in charge of taking care of this gun!"

  "Huh?" Xiaoshi was a bit confused: "Class leader, are we still keeping this gun?"

  "What's going on?" I glared at him with a scowl and said, "Didn't you just say you'd obey my orders? You're changing your mind already?"

  "Yes!" Xiaoshi stood up straight and replied: "I will resolutely obey orders!"

  Looking at Xiaoshi's bitter face holding 56 half going down, I couldn't help but feel secretly pleased in my heart: Who made you want me to be the class leader, it's just to give you a bit of hardship to eat.