Chapter Thirty

  On November 21st at 8 o'clock, the Longwei State recovered Puna and the Tsangnan Valley. From then on, all the land occupied by Xizang in the eastern front was fully recovered.

  I am now in a small room in the Kandar Front Command, looking at the group photo of cadres above the company level of the 53rd Regiment. I look at the figures of Pan Cheng, Xue Fei, Du Wei and others in the photo, and tears have long been flowing uncontrollably.

  Wang Wei sighed and said, "If we had taken Dezhou earlier, that would have been better."

  The deputy commander said: "Don't say that, you've all done your best! You and Commander Luo's troops have also sacrificed many good comrades and friends!"

  Wu Zhengwei also shook his head and said, "It's just a temporary setback."

  When I walked out with a pale face and red eyes, everyone stopped talking and stared at me. I calmly said: "What are you looking at? I'm fine, has the telegram arrived?"

  "Wu Zhengwei said: 'We've arrived, and our superiors have ordered us to stand by where we are and take a rest.'"

  I nodded and said: "Now in the northeast of Xizang, there are no more enemy troops, and in the entire eastern part of Xizang, only the 6th Division and the remnants of the 4th and 5th Divisions remain. If the enemy wants to launch another attack, it must bring over the 32nd Army from the northern mountainous region; now the gate of Xizang has been opened, and in front of us is the Henghe Plain, and the capital of Xizang, New Delhi, is no longer defensible. Now we just wait for orders from above."

  The deputy commander said: "Yes, but it is said that this 32nd Army is a well-known mountain unit in Xizang, and it's an ace troop!"

  Pang Tong said: "Now we will rest and reorganize, but where can we replenish the soldiers we have lost?"

  I also said: "This has to be asked upstairs, have you ever asked?"

  "No." Wu Zhengyi replied.

  "Then send out a message and ask."

  "Alright."

  The days passed by, and when I saw the telegram from Dongfang saying that the personnel losses of various departments would be replenished after returning to their respective garrisons, it was already 3 days later, November 24th. After reading it, I thought: this battle will not be fought again! But I am unwilling, the blood of the soldiers has been shed in vain? We are just passively defending? Others hit us once, and we hit back once? Thinking of this, I immediately found Wu Jianguo, the political commissar, and discussed with him the next step's point of view. Old Wu listened to my words and rarely sighed, saying: "In the past few days, I have also talked to Lao Cheng and others about it, we have also seen the telegram in your hand, actually, we also expected that the Central Committee would not continue to fight, the reason is simple, our country is not an imperialist country, will not invade other countries."

  "What is this? Is this gentlemanly demeanor? The style of a great nation? Or are you afraid to fight?"

  "Wu Zhengwei said coldly: 'Tang Shifu, pay attention to your words and tone!'"

  I jumped up and shouted: "You! Fine, I won't talk to you anymore, forget it!" After that, I turned around and left.

  I arrived at Guo Wei's communication camp and saw Guo Wei. I said to him: "Let me send a telegram to Old Yao."

  Kuang Wei listened and said in surprise: "Huh?"

  I gave him a glance and said: "Don't tell me you don't have Lao Yao's radio frequency!"

  "What's going on?" said Guo Wei.

  "I irritably said: 'Don't ask, just execute the order.'"

  Kuo Wei spread his hands and said: "You didn't give me the telegram's contents, how can I ask someone to send it?"

  I coldly said: "I told you to remember."

  "Wait." Guo Wei hastily fetched a pen and paper, then said: "Alright."

  "I said: 'Commander Yao, the 53rd Regiment has been fighting bravely since the start of the war, and at the cost of heavy casualties, including the deaths of Commander Pan Cheng and Chief of Staff Xue Fei, we have finally gained a favorable position today. Currently, in front of our army, the enemy's gates are wide open, with no geographical advantages left, and they fundamentally do not have the ability to hold onto the eastern part of the Henghe Plain. Our army can completely attack and capture their capital, New Delhi. I hope Commander Yao will agree to adopt my unit's suggestion and report it to the Chairman.' I looked at Guo Wei and said: 'Remember this, send the message immediately.'"

  "Yes."

  "As soon as there is a reply, report immediately." "Yes, understood."

  I sat in the command room chair with my eyes closed and thought: It seems that only Commander Yao's road is left.

  Western Front Headquarters. Commander Yao Yuan stood by the window, gazing out at the scenery outside, but his mind was not on the view before him. Instead, he was thinking: This is a great opportunity! If we seize it, that would be a major achievement! Mr. Chairman, don't let those scholars persuade you to retreat! Just then, the secretary came in to report: "Commander, there's a telegram from Tang Ning of the 53rd Regiment."

  "Oh? What? Give it to me."

  "Yes."

  Commander Yao received the telegram, looked down and read it, then smiled and said: "This kid can't hold on anymore, I guess he heard some rumors and directly reported to me." He thought for a moment and told his secretary: "Send him a reply, just say 'wait for my order'".

  "Yes."

  Commander Yao Yuan's heart was burning with excitement, and he thought with some emotion: This kid became a division commander and still remembers that he came from the 27th Army. Well done! Commander Yao Yuan immediately picked up the phone and said, "Connect me to the Chairman's office."

  "Is this the President's office? I'm Yao Yuan, I have something to report to the President. Okay, we'll wait."

  "Chairman."

  "What's wrong, Commander Yao?"

  "Mr. Chairman, how dare I let you address me like this?"

  Haha...

  "Mr. Chairman, has the matter of Xizang been settled?" asked Commander Yao, getting straight to the point.

  "What? What's wrong? You're in a hurry?"

  "Mr. Chairman, the morale of our troops is now high! They are all asking to go into battle! Just a moment ago, that Tang Ning even submitted a request for a duel with me!"

  "Oh? What did he say then?" The chairman asked with interest after hearing the name Tang Ning.

  "He said he was fully confident of capturing New Delhi, the capital of West Pakistan."

  "Ah, I understand his mind very well, he's just all about attacking, attacking and attacking again!"

  Commander Yao listened and felt that the Chairman's tone was a bit off, so he immediately said: "Tang Ning said that after taking New Delhi, he can guarantee to completely hold the entire eastern part of West Bengal!"

  "Oh?" The chairman's interest was piqued and he said, "What method does he have to hold on?"

  "He didn't specify, Mr. Chairman."

  "After a long time of consideration, the chairman finally said: 'In that case... well, you and he come to my office right away and discuss the specific situation with me in person.'"

  "Yes, I will execute the command immediately."

  "Alright, let's just leave it at that."

  "Goodbye, Chairman!"

  "Well, goodbye."

  Commander Yao hung up the phone, let out a long sigh, and thought to himself: This time I've gone all in, I don't believe that on the road ahead, Tang Ning and I won't be able to come up with a solution. He shouted: "Someone come here."

  "Commander."

  "Get Tangning over here right away and tell him to set off immediately. Also, ask him to inform Director Dong about it, we'll send one to Director Dong as well."

  "Yes."

  Western Zhen Dong Frontline Command. I was drinking water, reading the Military Report, waiting for a telegram. Just as I put down the newspaper, I saw Guo Wei hand me a telegram saying: "Commander Yao's telegram, ordering you to go to him immediately, something has come up! Set off at once!"

  I took it and said: "Call the political commissar, deputy commander, chief of staff to come over, and by the way, send a copy to the Eastern Headquarters, just say I'm going to report on my work in the Northwest Military Region."

  Yes

  As soon as Secretary Wu arrived, I explained the situation. Secretary Wu said: "Don't worry about home, go quickly and come back quickly."

  The deputy commander smiled and said: "Wait for good news." It seems that he has a bit of an idea about the purpose of this trip.

  The Chief of Staff said: "We will bring the troops back safely."

  "Well, I'm off then. No need to see me off." After bidding farewell to them, I immediately took Liu Hu and got into the car, heading straight for the newly built Linzhi military airport in the rear.