Chapter 3 (18)

  Xiao Hei said: "You said I was doing what, didn't think you little kid really ran away."

  "Come on, Lian Zhang, I really have something to do. At most half an hour, you're still not awake from your nap, and I'll be back. You won't say anything, and nobody will know."

  Xiao Hei said: "But I already know, knowing means chasing."

  In the distance, a flashlight appeared. It was the night patrol sent by the main force. If they were discovered, it would be disastrous.

  "Come on, Lian Chang, I'm begging you, just half an hour, I'll definitely be back in half an hour, don't chase me anymore, the patrol is coming."

  Xiao Hei said: "You'd better come down quickly. Nothing will happen if you just come down, but if you jump over the wall, that's considered desertion. You know what the consequences are."

  The patrol is walking this way.

  "Hurry up and say: 'I know, I have to go, I promised you, unless my head is outside, I will be back in half an hour.'"

  He jumped up a bit higher and leaped down, his body already outside the courtyard wall when he landed, rushing straight to the Martyrs' Mausoleum in the west.

  The Martyrs' Mausoleum of the Wolf Brigade and its garrison are not far away, five kilometers west is the brigade's shooting range. In the year when Wan Ba Tian became the head of the brigade, despite many people's opposition, he made a decision to bring back all the remains of the martyrs who were buried on the spot at the border that year and bury them in the forest by the shooting range.

  Some martyrs' remains were really unable to be found, such as Song Liwu, the first platoon leader of the second company that year. For those whose remains had been taken back by their families to their hometowns, empty tombs were built for people to pay respects.

  However, since the Wild Wolf Troop repaired this mausoleum, several people have been buried there, including the old classmate who is a bit older and will be visited now.

  The older squad leader, Zhang Jintang, was the former squad leader of the 9th squad of the 2nd company. When Gao Yidian was a new recruit, his military quality had always been poor. Squad Leader Zhang told Gao Yidian, "All the soldiers I've led can become company commanders, and I don't believe you can't be trained. As long as you're willing to work hard, an iron rod can certainly be ground into a needle."

  So, that year when I was assigned to the company, it was almost all spent in a rivalry with Zhang. The higher-ups had more tricks up their sleeves, and during training they would often play pranks on Zhang, getting him so angry his teeth were clenched, but even then Old Zhang never gave up.

  Later, Zhang the class monitor found out that he had a tumor, but he didn't tell the platoon about it and continued to train with them until one day, he was so angry that he fainted and fell to the ground, and after being hospitalized, he never came out again.

  After that, Gao became a different person. Originally, Zhang's illness had nothing to do with Gao, but Gao felt guilty in his heart and always thought it was he who made Lao Ban Zhang ill with anger.

  Later, without anyone's supervision, he quietly carried out the training and not only won the excellent soldier medal but also became a non-commissioned officer. Every time he made progress, he would excitedly tell his old instructor, but just a few months ago, Old Zhang, who had been fighting against illness for several years, finally passed away, and his ashes were left in the Martyrs' Cemetery of the Wild Wolf Brigade.

  Ran a bit higher to the Martyrs' Mausoleum, jumped over the railing, took out a lighter, felt around and found Old Classmate's tombstone, lit two cigarettes, put one in front of the stone, then squatted down.

  "Monitor, I know you don't smoke, but I didn't bring anything else, not even liquor. Just light one up and let's chat for a bit. Tomorrow... tomorrow I'll be leaving. The army is like a flowing river, it's hard to come back once you've left. I feel sorry for not being able to make things right with you..."

  A gust of wind blew over, and it was even colder, shivering with cold.

  "Monitor, are you cold? Wait a moment, I'll warm you up..."

  He stood up a little higher and went into the woods to pick up firewood, and lit a fire in front of the grave.

  "Hey, I've got some good news for you, squad leader. Our new company commander has arrived, and you know what his nickname is? It's Little Black, haha, that son of a bitch Little Black, he actually likes us calling him that. This Little Black is too awesome, it was him who led us wounded soldiers, not only did we not get captured during the exercise, but we also caught the Blue Army commander and deputy commander, it was so satisfying! Squad leader, you wouldn't believe it, it was this son of a bitch Little Black who took us to beat up that First Company that always insults us as 'dead old twos', what a thrilling battle it was, he even openly defied Deputy Commander Xin right to his face. You can't imagine there's such an awesome person in the world, squad leader. In the past, except for you, I never admired anyone else, but now I admire him, I love that spirit of his, that's what real men are like! With him here, our Second Company will never be called 'dead old twos' again, you can rest easy in your grave. I wanted to stay and follow him, to become a proud and upright Second Company soldier, but they won't let me stay... it's hard for me to bear, old squad leader..."

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