Chapter 48

  The weapons were returned to us early on the second day, after all, this is a battlefield, and our superiors also considered that if they didn't give us weapons, something unexpected might happen in case of an emergency.

  The order for our execution was given at noon on the second day, when we were hiding in a civilian house to sleep after a night of interrogation.

  Why don't you sleep in the tent?

  In Vietnam, if it's sunny during the day, it's sweltering and hot. You can't even hide in a tent. As for ordinary houses, no one is home anyway, so you don't need to ask permission. Just pick up some dry grass or broken mats somewhere, find a cool spot inside, spread them out... and that's a perfect bed!

  To be honest, since I entered Vietnam, I have never slept so comfortably. The main reason is that there are much fewer mosquitoes during the day than at night, and another reason is that I was exhausted from not sleeping all night yesterday.

  It wasn't until Knife Scar came in and woke us up that I realized I was still in a daze, thinking I was still being interrogated.

  "Hmm... I confess, everything I said is true..."

  The warriors around him burst out laughing.

  "The class monitor is still explaining the problem!" Xiaoshi said with a serious face: "Comrade Yang Xuefeng, confess and get leniency, how many targets have you made..."

  The look on Xiao Shi Tuo's face triggered another burst of laughter, but I was the only one who looked unhappy and didn't know what to say. This is getting ridiculous, I even dreamed about being interrogated!

  "Assembly!"

  At the sound of a command, we hastily lined up in the camp. Having just woken up, I felt it was hard to open my eyes under the scorching sun, and it took me a while to see clearly that the people standing in front of us were the instructor and a young cadre with a fair complexion.

  "Comrades!" The instructor unfolded a piece of paper in front of us and said: "Now, read out the superior's opinions on handling individual comrades. Comrade Jiang Xiaoqiang, Comrade Li Jun, Comrade Wang Genning... These comrades, due to fighting and causing trouble, considering their circumstances are relatively minor and they have shown a good attitude in admitting their mistakes, are now given a severe warning!"

  It wasn't until then that we truly let out a sigh of relief. A severe warning, well, it was just a warning after all.

  However, this result is also taken for granted. Firstly, the superiors have to deal with such things, and if they don't, other troops will follow suit, and if they are not satisfied with the company commander, they will take action... Secondly, the superiors do not dare to punish them too severely. After all, most of them are survivors on the battlefield, aren't they? If the punishment is too severe, it may trigger another backlash in their minds.

  "Comrades!" The instructor continued: "The superior has assigned a new company commander for you, everyone welcome!"

  After a round of applause, the young cadre stood spiritedly in front of us, saluted with a crisp military salute: "Comrades! My name is Luo Xianwen. I hope to fight together with comrades in the future battles and defeat the devils thoroughly!"

  Saying that, another military salute indicated that the conversation was over.

  The warriors looked at the new company commander's pale and clean face like a scholar, and they were all stunned.

  Is this the new company commander? Can he fight? Does he know how to fight? It's hard to say if the old company commander is more suitable or not!

  It wasn't until later that we found out that this Lao Lian Zhang was actually a graduate of the Beijing Military Academy, and he had been on his way to the front lines by train, car, and finally on foot when he stumbled upon our company's mess and ended up getting beaten down.

  This is it? At this time, he had nothing on him except for a backpack, no binoculars, no map... not even a handgun, just standing in front of us empty-handed.

  "Disperse!" With a single order, the warriors dispersed, each with their own thoughts.

  Several soldiers under me quickly gathered around me and whispered: "Squad leader... look at this new battalion commander..."

  "Alas! This superior is really something!" Xiaoshi said with some dissatisfaction: "Our class leader is so capable, if our class leader were to become the company commander, there would definitely be no opposition, but instead they sent a sissy..."

  "Keep your voice down!" The bookworm glared at Xiaoshi and said, "Even if our class monitor is capable, that's still just a class monitor. It's not easy to be promoted to class monitor in just a few days. And you think it's possible for someone who has been a squad leader for so long to become a platoon leader directly? Do you think those who have been squad leaders for so long can accept that?"

  "What's the point of saying this?" I said somewhat impatiently: "You're all full and have nothing to do, right? If you've got nothing to do, go dig trenches for me..."

  As soon as I said this, those soldiers fell silent.

  I actually really don't like saying this, because for me, being a class leader, team leader or even platoon leader are all burdens. I just can't understand why people would rush to do such a life-threatening job...

  "Comrade Yang Xuefeng!" At some point, the new company commander Luo Xianwen stood in front of me and extended his hand to say: "Hello, I just arrived at the unit and heard about your combat exploits. You fought well! In the future, I'll have to learn from you more often!"

  "That... is so long! I... where... that... dare say learning!" Suddenly, I just knelt down.

  I'm a person who fears neither heaven nor earth... Actually, it should be said that most people who have fought in battles on the battlefield are not afraid of either heaven or earth.

  What's wrong? I've seen Death a few times already, what kind of situation would still scare me?

  But this guy is so humble and speaks to me in such a low profile, and yet he says he wants to learn from me... I feel particularly awkward, and suddenly my whole body feels uncomfortable.

  "Comrade Yang Xuefeng, you're too modest!" Luo Lianzhang smiled broadly and said: "Being able to capture a Vietnamese sniper on the battlefield, defeating the Vietnamese blocking firepower, destroying the underground fortress arsenal... even discovering Vietnamese special agents and leading troops to kill or wound dozens of them... I think this is absolutely not something an ordinary person can do! My shortcoming is that I have theoretical knowledge but no combat experience. It's only natural for me to learn from you, Second Squad Leader!"

  "Hmm, this..." I was at a loss for words, as the saying goes, "don't hit a smiling face", and now Xin Lianchang is giving me a big hat to wear... Moreover, he seems to know my past battles very clearly, from this point of view, he must have done some homework, so I naturally can't bear to pull his face anymore.

  "Ah, right!" Luo Lianzhang continued to say: "I think... with Comrade Yang Xuefeng's experience and cleverness, he is absolutely capable of being a squad leader, so I want you to be the squad leader of the second squad, don't know if Comrade Yang Xuefeng..."

  "What... about Scar?" I glanced over at Scar, who was standing not far away with a group of soldiers smoking.

  "Ah!" Luo Lianzhang smiled and nodded: "I thought so, because of the heavy casualties, a new batch of recruits will soon be added to the first squad. I think the second squad leader has more experience in dealing with new recruits, so I arranged for the second squad leader to take over as the first squad leader, this second squad leader..."

  "Ah!" Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but nod in agreement, and this arrangement was indeed quite suitable.

  First of all, although I have military achievements, the time I spent as a soldier is only a few days in total. I myself don't even know what military discipline is, let alone lead new recruits. Knife Scar is different, he's a standard military man and has great leadership skills, which can be seen from how he controlled this riot. His ability would make him suitable to be a company commander or battalion commander, not to mention just a platoon leader!

  "Does the second monitor have no opinion about this arrangement?"

  "Hmm, no...no opinion!" I thought to myself. Since being a class leader already requires taking the lead and charging forward, why not climb up? Who knows when I'll be able to become a regiment-level cadre and just give orders from behind?

  "Great!" Luo Lianzhang shook my hand again: "I've been waiting for this sentence from you, Second Squad... uh, should be called Second Row Commander now!"

  So I became the leader of the row!

  I was a bit caught off guard by this change, because my own mindset can be said to have not fully transformed from a new recruit to an old soldier. For example, in the face of many things, I still feel that I haven't handled them as elegantly as Knife Scar. However, suddenly... I found myself having become someone on the same level as Knife Scar!

  For this change, the soldiers under my command were naturally overjoyed. Firstly, I became a squad leader, and secondly, I was still the squad leader of the second squad, directly leading them. So this change can be said to bring double happiness for them.

  Then I felt a bit embarrassed... being asked to be the second leader, which also means that I would have to lead two more classes.

  The monitors of these two classes... I don't know if it's because they envy me or what, but they basically don't speak to me. Can I really handle these two class monitors?

  But I didn't expect that this matter wasn't a problem at all, because soon the two class leaders walked up to me and gave me a standard military salute.

  "Don't worry about it, Squad Leader!" said Wang Shuren, who said with some embarrassment: "Your performance on the battlefield... everyone has seen it, you as the squad leader, we obey!"

  "Line up!" Li Changbin also nodded and said: "We soldiers, actually don't have any likes or dislikes. Whoever can help us achieve the greatest victory with the smallest cost, we'll like to follow whoever that is. You're such a person, so we have no reason not to like following you. Actually, you don't know... there are many people who want to fight alongside you!"

  It wasn't until later that I realized what Li Changbin said was true, because many soldiers who couldn't find their unit were asking to be transferred into my platoon... It's really astonishing how many people can't find their unit during wartime. One reason is the chaotic command, another is unfamiliarity with the terrain, and on top of that, our military communication equipment is extremely outdated... As a result, many soldiers got separated from their units, and these stray soldiers couldn't possibly return home as deserters. So they just followed another unit nearby and joined in - after all, it's all about fighting, all about battling the Vietcong; what difference does it make which unit you're in?

  Moreover, these infiltrating soldiers have an advantage, which is that they are relatively free. For example, if they join our army today and find out the whereabouts of their own unit tomorrow, they can leave our army to look for their own unit. As a result, some infiltrating soldiers took advantage of this loophole and retreated before rejoining... When joining, they would ask to be assigned to the 2nd company, 2nd platoon by name, and if they couldn't join the 2nd platoon, joining the 2nd company was also acceptable.

  It just so happens that my unit didn't suffer heavy casualties in this battle, did it? So within less than half a day's time, the vacancies were filled up, even to the point where a squad that had been reduced to only seven men was replenished to full strength, with some people even trying to squeeze in...

  The thoughts of the soldiers are actually very simple, as Li Changbin said, whoever can let them gain the greatest victory at the smallest cost, they will follow whoever.