Chapter Twenty-Three Military Life

  With a new thought, he floated back to the day of his enlistment in 1976. On that day, the sky was filled with extremely rare large snowflakes like goose feathers... As he thought about it, Xin said: "When I enlisted, I was assigned to the Guangxi Military Region Border Defense First Division Second Regiment Fourth Company. Firstly, I received unified training at the division's new recruit company for over a month, all of you know this."

  He paused, picked up a piece of braised pork with a shiny oil surface from the bowl and chewed it for a few times before continuing: "Because I had excellent performance during the training in the new recruit camp, after the life in the new recruit camp ended, I was assigned to the reconnaissance company of the 3rd battalion of the 2nd regiment.

  In the reconnaissance company, due to South Vietnam's harassment on my border, for our own safety guarantee, we trained every day, morning exercises were a must, and there were many training subjects: formation, shooting, tactics, physical training, etc. Every day, eat and sleep on time, take turns standing guard.

  Morning exercise sometimes means running five kilometers in full gear, called five-kilometer cross-country, and sometimes ten kilometers. The formation is divided into individual training, squad formation, platoon formation, company formation; shooting is also divided into three postures: prone, standing, and kneeling, with fixed targets and moving targets, as well as nighttime shooting training.

  Tactics are also divided into offense and defense, and are further divided into individual, squad, platoon, company, and battalion-level offenses and defenses.

  "Physical training includes five-kilometer cross-country running, single and double wooden horse vaulting, military boxing, 100-meter obstacle course and grenade throwing."

  "These injuries can't be caused by training. Tell me, how did you get these scars on your body?" Piao Zhenbang interjected.

  "Uh, in the reconnaissance company, I stayed for three months. The superiors came to select people, and I was selected because of my excellent training and good performance. Previously, the company had already recommended me to join the party and promoted me to be a squad leader plus a probationary party member."

  "Oh, that's great! You're actually a probationary party member now. Have you joined the party yet?" Fuzhen Bang was thrilled to hear that his son had become a probationary party member.

  "No, later although I had enough qualifications to join the party, but my age was not enough." Fu Xin continued: "Maybe because I was a probationary party member, plus my training results were excellent, and my quality was good, I was selected into a secret troop, what kind of troop I can't say.

  Anyway, that troop's training was very tough, but the treatment was also very good. Basically, we had meat to eat every day. And many people in our company joined this troop and successfully became party members. I was just too young, so I was eliminated.

  "Very bitter?" Li Fanghua grasped the key point and asked, "Son, just how bitter is it? With so many scars on your body, aren't most of them from injuries sustained during training there?"

  "En", nodded and agreed.

  "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime. A real man, a big husband, this little skin injury is nothing, it's better than being injured on the battlefield." Fu Zhenbang patted his chest and said "shamelessly", as if he had experienced it himself.

  Li Fanghua was unhappy upon hearing this, and sarcastically said: "You'd better not brag, when are you going to try it yourself? With a body that can be blown down by just a gust of wind..."

  "Alright, mother, don't say anything else. I know you're worried about me, but father is right. If we don't train well in peacetime, we'll die even faster on the battlefield. Not to mention our unit has a high mortality rate." Fu Xin immediately jumped out to mediate for the sake of family harmony.

  Her son said so, Li Fanghua didn't mind anymore and asked: "What happened later?"

  "After that, it was time to go to the battlefield." Piao's new thoughts began to wander, and he recalled the war that had the greatest impact on him: "Although we were afraid of war, we also looked forward to its early arrival. This calamity may have been destined by fate, no one wanted to avoid it, so it was better to go and return early."

  We were the vanguard, and on February 15th, in the early hours of the morning, our troops finally received orders to advance towards the border. It was unclear whether we felt joy or sorrow. Anyway, everyone's mood was very mixed and excited. Since our unit was tasked with a penetration mission, the entire operation was very covert, and before dawn, our troops had already moved to the Nanxi River on the southern side of the border.

  Comrade Long informed everyone to get ready for camouflage and wait in place. After dawn, the cooking squad brought over food. After eating, the troops moved forward another 300 meters and hid in a mountain valley. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the second company began building a bamboo bridge on the river. Around four o'clock, we started crossing the bamboo bridge at flying speed and entered a primeval forest, stepping into the territory of South Vietnam...

  ……

  "After that, we encountered the troops of South Vietnam. Their strength was really not weak. The Americans had been operating in their country for ten years and had indeed honed them into shape. Moreover, during the resistance against America, our army had taught them guerrilla warfare tactics, mountain warfare, etc., so they were also very familiar with us, which is why our troops suffered heavy losses."

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Fu's new tears couldn't help but flow out. Under his siblings' confused and bewildered gazes, he wiped away the tears on his face and continued: "In that encounter battle, the enemy had a battalion of troops, while we only had one company. Since we'd already been discovered by the enemy, our company commander thought that since we were well-trained, we couldn't retreat, so we could only grit our teeth and charge forward."

  We occupied a high ground, the enemy attacked, we bombarded with hand grenades and howitzers, swept with machine guns, I was assigned to fill the machine gun with bullets, entangled for a day and night, the other side suffered heavy casualties, but we were not few either, after all, the gap in numbers was there.

  The morning sunlight has come out, and I see craters and shrapnel everywhere on the battlefield.

  At this time, both sides' ammunition was basically exhausted. The enemy regiment commander may have realized something and immediately decided to launch a desperate attack at all costs, determined to leave us behind... the white blade battle began..." He couldn't continue speaking and burst into tears.

  "We, Baijia troops, killed them all, this is something I'm proud of, a company taking down a well-trained battalion. But we only survived three! Three! Me, relying on Old Third's master's teachings, barely made it... The reinforcements arrived after we'd exhausted ourselves, why did they come so late?!" Pinyin Xin was somewhat out of control.

  "Alright, son, don't cry anymore, it's all over..." Li Fanghua couldn't bear it any longer, imagining her son's experience, and as she sobbed, she reached out to hug her son's head beside her, speaking softly.

  "You all heard that, this catty of meat should indeed be sent to Old Third's master. No, it's not enough, it should all be sent. Child, you get up early tomorrow and have Fu Xin prepare it, let him go with Old Third to send it to the old man's house. If it weren't for the old man's teaching kindness, my son might not have come back..."

  Feng Bang's eyes were also slightly moist. He hadn't expected that because he had sent his son to the army, his son almost didn't come back.

  A few little guys also had no opinion, although they didn't quite understand, but they also knew that if it wasn't for Fu Wen teaching their elder brother some martial arts, their elder brother might not have come back.

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