Chapter Seventeen

  To say that life in this army can be a bit dull at times.

  An iron-clad camp is naturally an iron-clad military discipline. After putting on that armor, life training became a very regular thing.

  I heard that online games can still be addictive for kids and many experts are thinking about how to help them quit their internet addiction?

  I actually think it's quite simple.

  You just get that kid to enter the game interface, then log in and out of the account repeatedly for a month. I reckon that kid will vomit blood whenever he sees online games for the rest of his life.

  We were almost like this at that time.

  Rolling, crawling and fighting are all too familiar. Continuing training is to pursue perfection, and everyone knows that at critical moments, who is more skilled and has faster hands and feet will win. To be precise, whoever has a higher survival rate will have a much greater chance of living.

  They are all big boys in their teens or twenties, even if they are tired after a day of training and want to crawl, their minds are still active thinking about how to come up with some mischievous ideas to make everyone happy.

  One weekend evening, as usual after the roll call, everyone was preparing to go to bed two hours later when Jiang Kuan's big grandson came over and said "Baldy, baldy, do you know that there is a dance party at the Army Transportation Corps tonight?"

  I haven't even reacted yet, and a group of brothers from the same class all came over with green eyes and said it's a dance party? Does that mean some kind of opposite-sex creature will appear?

  Jiang Kuan's grandson nodded vigorously with a look of approval, saying "yes, yes!" Apparently, it was said that the military parade was going to be held at a nearby school and everyone was wondering if they should go take a look.

  When I say I'm not wearing a bulletproof vest, dance halls and song halls are the places I least want to go.

  What I do every day is make money and eat in there, for others it's entertainment, for me it's going to work...

  But wearing this jacket, it seems that I haven't seen the opposite sex for a while. And listening to music is all those military songs. I really miss the music in those places and the scenes where neon lights are flashing.

  I said that line let's go take a look anyway come back before lights out is fine we'll sneak past quietly and come back quietly it's all good!

  Everyone agreed and changed into casual clothes from their luggage, one after another, they climbed out of the window and rushed to the Army Transportation Corps.

  Actually, we and the Army Transport Corps are just a wall apart. After all, everyone is wearing vests gathered together to take care of each other and defend themselves with less effort.

  Sneaked under that wall, several brothers were a bit stunned.

  I don't know whose idea it was, but the original three-meter-tall earth wall actually had a layer of barbed wire on top, and it was impossible to climb over!

  If it were wartime, we could just use a dagger to solve the problem with one stroke. But in order to go dancing, or rather, to take a look at the opposite sex, do we need to move our hands and feet?

  It's just not right, no matter how you say it?

  At this time, Jiang Kuan's grandson looked around and suddenly said, "Brothers, don't worry, look over there, there is a gap, we can rush over and be done with it!"

  Everyone turned their heads and looked over, and indeed there was a place where the earth wall had collapsed a bit, just revealing a 70-centimeter square gap.

  It's absolutely impossible to climb up with such a huge gap, and even if we managed to get past it, we'd be covered in dust. What's the point of dancing then? But we're all well-trained people, and when we run tactics, jumping through narrow entrances is what we excel at. Today, we've finally made it!

  Then go over there?

  Everyone lined up like a wide river, and that Sunzi took the first step. Everyone started to sprint and ran past one by one, light as a swallow, waving their hands without touching a single speck of dust.

  Three brothers had passed by, and just as the fourth brother's landing sound had just echoed, he suddenly shouted out a loud warning: "Be careful! There is an ambush!"

  Huh?

  We all know that on the other side of the wall is the logistics depot of the army, where there are oil tanks. Someone had planned to blow up the underground oil pipes before, but fortunately those bastards were not smart enough and blew up the wrong place.

  It seems that those grandchildren have sneaked into the oil depot today?

  I didn't think much and pulled Yang Ke to say hurry back to report, someone sneaked into the oil depot of the Lu Jun transportation team, hurry up and call the brothers!

  I rushed over and the brothers behind me also followed!

  My brother is probably on the other side of the wall, and he must have encountered them. He might be dead already. Although I didn't bring any tools with me, my courage is still here, my fists are still here. Today, I'm going to fight these bastards to the death!

  As soon as I fell to the ground, I didn't say a word and immediately got into a fighting stance, ready to pounce upwards. But before I could even make a move, he turned on his high-intensity flashlight and laughed, saying "Hehehe, you guys are quite something! With this kind of gap, more than ten of you have snuck over in one night, and every single one of you is using standard tactical movements!"

  Come sit down? I'll send you back together later!

  I knew it was a bad dish as soon as I saw it in the tactical flashlight!

  Military Police Command's Constabulary Ah!

  They've been waiting here for a long time!

  Alright, after going back, I'm sure the instructor's scolding is unavoidable. Probably will be sleeping in the confinement room tonight!

  To be honest, we're still following the rules most of the time, but after days and days of repetitive training, people can't help but feel a bit lax.

  To say that these old soldiers are really awesome, especially those who have led many years of soldiers in the grassroots units are even more awesome!

  I guess they sensed that our bones were a bit light and our thoughts were a bit active, so the leader said let's have a revolutionary history education, we'll run 50 kilometers!

  That's a life-threatening 50-kilometer sprint!

  Fully armed, the magazine was all blank rounds, and there were also hand grenades, but they were just the kind that exploded with a loud noise and scattered paper scraps everywhere. Then, the team leader sat in a camouflage jeep and sped away first, followed by the instructor's order to start running.

  Everyone rushed out.

  After going through the training camp, running 50 kilometers with full equipment is not a difficult task. Especially in Xinjiang, where the terrain is not very rugged and the ups and downs are not felt, it's even easier for us.

  After wandering for ten kilometers, I saw the team leader's camouflage jeep stopped beside a large patch of sand thorns and camel thistles. Then two staff officers wearing red armbands were gesturing to their brothers saying "over here, over here!"

  Which side?

  There's no road ahead, is there? It's just a vast expanse of at least three or four kilometers of dense thorny saxaul and camelthorn that has taken over the ground. Not to mention humans, even camels don't dare to venture in!

  Can friends from Xinjiang help explain what is Saxaul tree?

  Forget it, I'll just say it myself!

  Everyone knows about wolf fang batons, right? Just imagine a ground full of small shrub branches and those branches are covered with thorns as long as the middle finger, short ones are about knee-high and tall ones are above head height. Simply put, it's a field of wolf fang baton array!

  My goodness!

  You want to train troops and make a revolutionary historical education, you're not kidding people like this, are you? Although we're all wearing winter military uniforms made of special windproof and splash-proof materials, our palms and faces are still exposed outside.

  Nothing can be done about it!

  Military orders are like mountains!

  He simply charged into the thorny thicket of camelthorn with his shoulders forward.

  Later, I saw a movie that said the Shaolin Temple had an eighteen copper man formation. If someone without any kung fu skills walked in, they would be beaten to death inside. I thought that if we had moved those cactus-spiked camels to the Shaolin Temple back then and combined them with the eighteen copper men, I reckon those monks would have suffered even more.

  Looking at the branch, it doesn't take much effort to push it open lightly, but when you let go of your hand, the small branch with excellent flexibility will brush back with a swish sound, bringing a gust of wind, and the sharp thorns on top will pierce into human flesh with a whooshing sound.

  I just listened to the brothers around me, one by one, making low humming noises and muttering curses under their breath, but their movements were still swift and swift. In just half an hour, most of the horses had squeezed out of that patch of sand thorn camel thorn.

  My hands and face are covered in bloodstains, but my brothers have all rushed over!

  The team leader just stared at me with no expression on his face. I also saw the instructor and Brother Kuang, they were all like this, but there was not a single expression on their faces!

  The squad leader said, "Let's keep running! We'll head forward for three kilometers, turn over that slope and launch a surprise attack!"

  Let's run again!

  Three kilometers were run and turned over the slope that blocked the view. The several brothers in front all stopped.

  There is still no road ahead, just a large area of icy puddles everywhere.

  The instructor didn't stop, Ming Ge didn't stop, and the old soldier brothers didn't stop either. They just plunged into the puddle like that.

  The ice is not very thick, only three to five centimeters. As soon as someone steps on it, it breaks and underneath is water that reaches chest level.

  Everyone rushed into the puddle where the ice cube was floating around.

  It wasn't until many years later, after watching several war movies in a row that were all about fighting against the Japanese devils. Suddenly I realized that there seemed to be a tradition within the Communist Party's army?

  It seems that the devils are about to rush up, and it's going to be a fierce battle. The folks in the back haven't retreated yet. Then those low-level officials, even the big shots at the regimental or divisional level, grabbed their carbines and stood on the battlefield, shouting: "Follow me!"

  Just one horse rushing forward with smoke and fire, then it's bayonets at dawn!

  Undoubtedly, the instructors and brothers of Gangming also inherited this tradition!

  And passed this tradition down to us!

  In front of the mountain of knives and sea of fire, follow me!

  That's what people wearing this vest should do!

  In Xinjiang's winter, more than 200 people and horses crossed the icy water of that puddle, getting completely soaked!

  He pointed to a vast expanse of open land in front of us, about two kilometers wide, with no expression on his face.

  Crawl forward!

  More than 200 people started climbing!

  I don't like saying those ambiguous words, at that time I really hated the leader and wanted to shoot him in the back!

  Are you kidding me? You want to crawl forward for another 2 kilometers after crashing into a camel and almost drowning in icy water?

  What is the weight of clothes and pants soaked in icy water? What does it feel like to crawl forward with your whole body wet under sub-zero temperatures?

  I also saw the instructor, my beloved instructor, crawling beside me. I knew that the instructor's leg was injured. I saw the instructor's face frozen purple and twitching with each step!

  Are you sitting on your camouflage little turtle, unaware of the suffering of your brothers?

  After crawling two thousand meters, the camouflage turtle of the squad leader was gone. Several staff officers were standing there shouting to continue running and not stopping, using the fastest speed to occupy a certain highland in front and competing with the enemy for time!

  Let's run again!

  My anger just grew and I hated everyone - the team leader, the participants, the planners. Anyone who didn't suffer with us, I hated!

  As I was running, I don't know which nerve went wrong, but I suddenly shouted towards the sky: "Fuck your mother's XXX!"

  XXX is our team leader's name!

  As soon as I opened my mouth, the whole team was energized and one after another, dialects from all over the country asked our team leader warm words of greeting, Instructor Kuang Ming and his brothers couldn't stop them!

  Then everyone unfolded the formation under the small high ground and attacked, the empty package bullets were beating da-da-da-da, the paper hand grenade was also exploding with snowflakes flying everywhere, the slogan was neat and uniform, just one sentence - Capture XXX alive!

  I just hate my team leader so much! I really mean it and I'm grinding my teeth with hatred!

  So I was the first to rush to the top of that high ground, and I actually shouted "Capture XXX alive" in front of the team leader. Then I saw the team leader standing in front of me with his hands behind his back, quietly staring at me!

  The brothers all came up.

  Everyone was panting and some were even unable to stand steadily. The instructor also came up, it was Brother Qiangming who pulled him up as he rushed over.

  Even if the instructor is the world's number one general, he's old and his physical strength can't be compared to us young people.

  Then the team leader waved his hand, and on the other side of the small hill, the sound of a car engine roared loudly. Then a truck came up with a load of brand new vests, followed by four or five commuter cars.

  Reorganize and change formation on the spot!

  I don't remember how I took off my military uniform at that time?

  Camel thorn scratched, ice water bubble crawled and ground again, plus a silly run, and finally came an assault drill, the military uniform was already rotten. It's not taken off at all, it's just torn off.

  Put on a brand new camouflage vest, not desert camouflage, but that white and blue camouflage, later found out it was called snow camouflage, warm, frost-proof, and infrared-proof, at that time, domestically, there were really very few.

  Each of us also had an assault pack that was waterproof and brand new, capable of holding sixty liters, just enough to hold our rotten ponchos.

  The squad leader watched us change into our uniforms and then looked at us new recruits with hostility and anger in his eyes.

  Then the squad leader pointed to an inconspicuous stone monument on that small hill.

  "This is a monument erected by the local Uyghur villagers for our soldiers! There are no remains inside, only 131 badges and hats! When the troops entered Tibet, in order to intercept a group of bandits who were about to catch up with the herdsmen and rob them, 800 officers and men forced their way through the 30-mile-long camel thorn forest, trudged across the Lion River which was churning with ice blocks, and then crawled over the frozen Dasaka, rolling down from a slope of 75 degrees to establish a blocking line before those bandits rushed past the mountain pass!"

  "Nearly a hundred Uyghur and Tibetan compatriots, as well as their cattle and sheep, were rescued! But among our 800 troops, 131 people forever stayed on the road before reaching the blocking line! You tell me, is it worth exchanging the lives of 131 people for the lives of less than 100 others? Is it worthwhile?"

  "If I had to say, it's not worth it, really not worth it! Even the old man who sells sweet potatoes in my hometown knows that one hundred and thirty lives can't be exchanged for one hundred lives, it's not worth it! But these one hundred and thirty brothers did just that! They're not short of eyes, they know numbers, they know that camel thorns are painful, icy water is cold, crawling on the icy slope is perilous, rolling down from such a high and steep slope will cost lives!"

  "But back then, why did those 800 brave warriors still do this? Why did they sacrifice their lives to save people they didn't even know? Think about it carefully! And ask the 131 badges buried here! Ask these 131 brothers! They are watching you!"

  PS: Tonight at 12 o'clock, four more chapters will be uploaded, hoping to rush onto the click or recommended list...