Chapter 7: The Gates of Heaven and Hell

  At dawn, the loud sound of bugles echoed in the sky above Pingtung. The students surged towards the training ground like a tidal wave.

  On the military training ground, people's voices were in an uproar.

  "Attention! Attention! Wait for orders!" A military officer-like person stepped onto the reviewing platform, shouting loudly.

  Suddenly, the scene fell silent.

  "Assembly - everyone lines up in order of dormitory, one dormitory is a class, and every three adjacent dormitories form a row. Every three rows form a group, and so on. Everyone finds their own position, stands still, and waits for the command." The officer first explained the formation of the queue.

  "Attention! Right face! Eyes front! Forward march! Eyes right! At ease!" The officer stood on the platform, giving orders.

  The students quickly lined up in rows. Row after row was neat and tidy, each one looking spirited and refreshed.

  "Comrades, everyone. My name is Zhang Lishu, and my nickname is Zhang Dapao. I'm a rough man, not good at speaking, so please forgive me if I say anything wrong. This time, I've been ordered to come to Pingdong to train with all of you. As the saying goes: 'Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime.' So, I declare that from today on, we will begin formal training. Before training, I'd like to announce a few rules, and I hope everyone can follow them together. First: Unify your pace, do as you're told, and strictly forbid freelancing. Second: Unite as one, work together with one heart, and strictly forbid factionalism. Third: Reward and punish consistently, reward those who have merit, punish those who are guilty, and strictly forbid special treatment. Fourth: Unify officers and soldiers, treat them equally, and strictly forbid bureaucratization. Everyone, I, Zhang Dapao, always speak straightforwardly, without beating around the bush. I hope you can all understand and cooperate with me. You young cadets are all ambitious youths, you are the hope of our party and country, and you are talented individuals. I hope you can all follow these four rules together. If anyone violates them, you can also report each other to me, and I will handle it accordingly." Zhang Dapao said this, then gave a solemn military salute to the cadets below.

  Thunderous applause erupted from below the stage, lasting for a long time.

  "Attention! Attention! Now, please welcome our political commissar Xiao Yaozu General to the stage to give a speech. General Xiao Yaozu is an outstanding graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy, with great knowledge and ability, and is one of the young military officers highly respected by Chairman Mao. Let's give him a warm applause!" Zhang Dapao said this, leading the way in applauding, and the thunderous applause erupted again from the audience below.

  Amidst the applause, a military officer from years ago walked briskly onto the parade ground, bowed politely, cleared his throat, and said in a measured tone: "Comrades, you've all been traveling for days and must be tired. Today, we're gathered here for the sake of our country's interests, which is our honor. First, I want to brief you on this training session - it will be extremely challenging with heavy tasks. We'll be adopting the most rigorous military training methods from the United States, equipped with their most advanced military equipment. Our goal is to train this troop into an invincible and unbeatable party-state elite force. The National Government has spared no expense in hiring renowned American generals James and Jackson as our military advisors to guide our training. They're currently en route and are expected to arrive by morning. I ask you all to be fully prepared, show your spirit when facing foreigners, and don't embarrass China - do you have confidence?"

  Xiao Yaozu said up to here, and asked loudly.

  "Yes!" The audience chorused in unison.

  "Alright! Now, let's proceed with a simple military training. Training begins, everyone listen to the commands." Xiao Yaozu walked down from the reviewing stand and whispered a few words to Zhang Dapao. Then, Zhang Dapao came to the front of the formation and loudly shouted out the commands: "Attention - right face - eyes front! Forward march - eyes front! At ease! Attention! Right turn, quick march!" Zhang Dapao was shouting out the commands while leading the trainees in a run. Xiao Yaozu was also running at the front of another formation, shouting out commands as he ran.

  On the military training ground, the trainees ran round and round, one by one, panting with exhaustion. Xiao Kunling had been a soldier before, so he was well-trained and could barely endure this kind of long-distance running.

  After running several more laps, many of the students were exhausted, with aching waists and legs, numb hands and feet, and some even fainted to the ground, unable to crawl back up.

  Zhang Dapao, with his fiery personality, saw that the trainees couldn't even sustain a run, and he was furious. He walked up to one of the trainees sitting on the ground, lifted his leg and kicked him, shouting: "Get up! Get up! Keep running! Can't even withstand this bit of hardship, what's the point of talking about being an elite youth soldier, the number one ace army? It's simply a shame for the party and country."

  The student struggled to get up, but only took a few steps before falling down again. His face was deathly pale, his mouth foaming, his eyes rolled back, and his legs kicked wildly. After a brief struggle, he lay still and silent.

  Zhang Dapao saw this and didn't know what to say. He consulted with Xiao Yaozu and finally ordered the troops to rest in place.

  Xiao Kunling saw a living person who left his hometown to realize his life ideals, crossing the ocean to come to Taiwan. Yesterday he was fine, but today he couldn't withstand the torment of long-distance running and left this world.

  Thought it had entered a dream paradise, but who knew, this paradise was actually the gate of hell.