Volume 1: First Battle Chapter 16: University Student

  Soldiers, sometimes it's just like this, beyond one's control. As soldiers of the party and state, even if we die, it's not worth regretting, but what about the people of Beiping? What about this ancient capital of a hundred years?

  Listening to Zhang Zizhong's words, I couldn't help but fall silent. This kind of talk sounds reasonable at first glance, but does it mean that we should just wait for death because our equipment and military strength are inferior to the enemy? Should we just hand over Beiping? If so, what's the point of fighting? Both sides can just compare their equipment and military strength to determine victory or defeat!

  But I didn't point it out, because I knew that Chang Zongzhong also had his own difficulties, and he was also following the orders of his superiors.

  Soldiers are sometimes at the mercy of circumstances. Educated or not, Zhang Zizhong was no exception!

  "So......" Zhang Zizhong paused for a moment and continued: "Please believe that the superior is not completely unaware of the little devil's ambition, and the withdrawal of the 29th Army from Beiping was indeed forced by the situation. We are here to deal with the little devils, and it is not necessarily not a delaying tactic! As for your concerns about leaving a bad name, you can all say that it is under my order, Zhang Zizhong!"

  "Sensei!"

  "Sensei!"

  ……

  Upon hearing this, the officers in the conference room stood up one after another. They apparently wanted to express their willingness to share weal and woe with Chang Zongzhung, but didn't know what to say.

  Zhang Zizhong stood up and said loudly to us: "If there is any grievance among you, Zhang Zizhong will apologize to all of you here!"

  He stood up straight and saluted us with a military salute, the officers hurriedly stood up and returned the salute.

  Since Zhang Zizhong has said so, what else can we do? The meeting ended in a dull and oppressive atmosphere, with the officers walking back and forth, each lost in their own thoughts.

  I couldn't help but lament my own bitter fate... After narrowly escaping from Nanyuan with the military training team, I thought I'd have a few good days ahead of me, but no, now that we're in Beiping, we still have to wait for those little Japanese devils to surround us...

  Unconsciously returned to the barracks, and was surrounded by the soldiers with a whoosh: "Squad leader, what's the situation?"

  "What's the line for the peak?"

  ……

  It was only then that I realized I still had to explain this to the warriors under me, how could I explain it? Should I tell them that for the sake of national righteousness and for the people of Beiping we have to wait here to die?

  "Nothing!" I thought of this and responded with a loud voice: "The order from the superior, we will stay in Beiping to maintain order!"

  My personality is such that if something is hard to explain, I'd rather just not explain it.

  "What?" I tried to bluff, but the warriors wouldn't let me off so easily. They chased after me, asking in unison: "Does that mean we're going to negotiate with the little Japanese devils?"

  "What about the 29th Army? Where has the 29th Army gone?"

  "No way! Let me stay and deal with those little Japanese, I won't go!"

  "I won't bother either, let's go find our superior!"

  ……

  "Come back!" I shouted at the subordinates who were about to go and argue with their superiors: "What? Are you all new recruits or something?! Didn't your instructor teach you to obey orders?! All of you, get back here and wait for further instructions!"

  Lying on the bed, she pulled the quilt over her head, covering her entire face.

  I don't care if they obey orders or not, things have developed to this point, I'm afraid even my own life can't be guaranteed, let alone whether they listen to me... I've done what I should do, they can do whatever they want! Damn it, being a soldier in the Nationalist Party's army is suffocating!

  "I said..." I vaguely heard the old squad leader advising those soldiers: "All of you come back! Listen to the platoon leader, the higher-ups have their own reasons, we should just take care of ourselves as small soldiers..."

  The old classmate shouldn't have said that, now I'm so angry I want to get out of bed and scold him. Can't the old classmate say something else? Why does he keep repeating those two sentences over and over again?!

  "It's better not to go!" After a while, a voice chimed in and said: "The current situation... is probably going to be like this no matter what we say. Going there won't have any effect and will only cause trouble for the higher-ups. What's most important now is thinking about how to coordinate with the higher-ups' actions!"

  I couldn't help but exclaim in bed: This guy is quite clever and his words are convincing.

  "What's your name?" I asked, lifting up the quilt.

  "Report!" The soldier stood up straight and saluted me, saying: "Junior Sergeant Li Wenxi of the Third Squad!"

  "Oh, I was just about to tell the officer!" The old squad leader chimed in: "The squad leaders have been chosen. First squad is me. Second squad is Chen Dalie. Third squad is Li Wenxi, a top talent who graduated from Central University (now Nanjing University)!"

  "Hmm!" Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but take another look at Li Wenxi, and indeed he had a refined and elegant demeanor.

  I'm a history major, I know that university students in this era are not comparable to modern university students. Modern university students are everywhere, but in this era, even if you graduated from junior high school, you could be considered an intellectual, and university students were even rarer than modern-day PhDs. Moreover, what's even more difficult is... I also know that the treatment of university students in this era was generally not bad, first of all, they must come from a well-off family, because ordinary people couldn't afford to attend university. Secondly, after graduation, their average monthly salary requirements were around 100 silver coins, knowing that the monthly income of a middle-class family at that time was only between 15-30 silver coins, it can be seen how high their salaries were.

  This might be a good thing for me as a modern college student, so I quickly started thinking about whether to become a deserter and find a job in some city in the rear... But soon I regretted it, how could I forget to bring my graduation certificate when I came!

  "You're a university student......" I asked Li Wenxi in doubt: "Why did you come to join the army?"

  Our military training team is mostly composed of student soldiers, but I know that the majority are junior high school students or high school students, and university students are rare.

  "Report, Commander!" Li Wenxi stood up straight and replied: "A country's rise or fall is every citizen's responsibility..."

  "I want to hear the truth!" I waved my hand impatiently before Li Wenxi could finish speaking.

  If it were someone else who said that, I would believe it. University students are basically spoiled rich kids, and it's very likely that his family is wealthy and influential. Would they give up such privileged conditions to join the army as a low-ranking soldier?

  "Report to the squad leader!" As expected, Li Wenxi's expression darkened and he replied: "To be honest, my family was originally a wealthy household in Northeast China. After the little devils came... they occupied all of my father's property. My father was so angry that he..."

  "Fall in!" After a moment of silence, Li Wenxi calmed down and raised his head to say: "I'm now homeless. I joined the army for two reasons: one is to do my part for the country, and the other is that only by driving out the Japanese can I fulfill my father's last wish and take back our family's property!"

  "Uh-huh!" I nodded and encouraged: "Go on, one day we'll drive out the little Japanese and take back our land!"

  "Yes!" Li Wenxi stood up straight and responded.

  What he didn't notice was... I deliberately added the two words "we" before the land. The reason is that after this little Japanese is driven away, it will be almost time to start beating the local tyrants, but of course, this can't be said to him...