Chapter Twelve

  The gunfire that rang out at night made the citizens who got up early in the morning a bit nervous. When they went out and saw groups of PLA soldiers with live ammunition walking on the streets, and saw the notices on the streets, they knew that the PLA was going to take real action this time. But what they didn't expect was that in the busiest vegetable market in the city, the PLA exposed the corpses of the killed traitors one by one. And right in front of them, they shot all the captured traitor prisoners, a total of 13 people! My god! They saw the PLA soldiers' eyes scanning over them from time to time, and they were chilled to the bone.

  As more and more people gathered, a young officer climbed onto a jeep and shouted loudly: "Fellow villagers, everyone has been frightened and suffered! From today on, the days of worrying, fearing, and suffering are gone. We will distribute food and other necessities according to your actual situation, please wait patiently at home, and also hand over the hidden guns and ammunition to the soldiers who are distributing them. If you don't hand them over within 3 days, then pray that we won't discover it! Everyone should know the consequences. Similarly, if someone exposes a traitor, we will reward them as well. Alright, everyone disperse! Disperse!" The crowd gradually dispersed, with people walking away in twos and threes, whispering to each other.

  I jumped off the jeep, that's right, I was just making a speech. I said to the guard Liu Hu on one side: "Tell the political commissar that they can take action to disarm now."

  "Yes." Liu Hu received the order and left.

  At this time, Zheng Hui walked up and said to me: "Commander, what should we do with these corpses?"

  "Let's put it off for 3 days first, now the weather is cool and nothing will happen!"

  "Yes."

  I was very pleased with the results of yesterday's operation, but at that time, Old Xing said that these were all semi-military personnel and not on the same level. Only when encountering the regular troops of the Green Empire can we test the true combat effectiveness of the 53rd Regiment, which is estimated to be comparable to one of their regiments. I was very unconvinced and asked: "Didn't the 53rd Regiment's blocking battle last time hold off an attack by a division?"

  Lao Xing replied, "That battle was mainly fought by old soldiers of the 53rd Regiment, but now they are all new recruits, and the level is different. Moreover, in that battle, the 53rd Regiment withstood the attack of more than one division of enemy forces, but the enemy was too careless and underestimated us. If I were the commander of the enemy, I would definitely concentrate my firepower and take turns attacking the headquarters of the 102nd Highlanders with three tank regiments."

  I thought to myself: The 53rd regiment still has a long way to go! I saw Old Han walking over and asked, "Old Han, how did you get here?" Old Han replied, "I came to tell you that the guard company has been replaced, and the 2nd battalion's 2nd company went to take up their posts. Also, the 1st battalion has already set out to establish a defensive line and sentry posts at the Tanggula Mountain pass. And I have one more piece of news to tell you."

  "What?"

  "Let's talk about it when we get back to camp!"

  "Huh?" I looked at him in surprise, nodding in agreement: "Alright then, let's head back."

  Room 53 of the General Staff Department. I said to Old Han: "Han Da Chief of Staff, you speak up, no one is here."

  Lao Han looked at me and said with his mouth: "Ai Shizhang has been investigated!"

  I stared at him in shock and said: "What?! Is the news reliable?"

  Lao Han sighed and said, "Yes, he was accused of being arrogant and disobedient, not listening to orders; looking down on superiors, and beating local officials for no reason; having a warlord mentality."

  I slammed my military cap onto the table and bellowed: "Preposterous!"

  Lao Han said excitedly: "I also came from the 112th Division, I am clear about Commander Ai's character, I think this is all slander, slander!"

  "What the hell is going on in this world? The border isn't even stable yet and you're doing this, it's shaking the military's morale. Who gave this order? They should be taken out and shot!"

  Lao Han was stunned after hearing it and said: "It seems like a personal order from the Chairman, otherwise it would not have passed through Commander Yao's place."

  I was shocked and my voice became much softer, saying "No way?! Come on!"

  We both remained silent, each lost in our own thoughts. After a while, I spoke up: "Justice is in the hearts of men, Commander Yao will think of a way." I paused and smiled wryly: "Now we can only...".

  Lao Han's eyes lit up and he hastily said: "What is it? Tell me quickly."

  I said with some bitterness: "Can only pray to God."

  Lao Han listened and shook his head, got up and left. I saw him and hurriedly shouted: "Lao Han! Where are you going?"

  Lao Han replied: "What can we do? We can't help Master Ai either."

  "Then where are you going now?"

  Lao Han replied classically: "Go pray to God." After that, he left.

  I was left speechless and just sat there stupidly. After a while, I told myself: "Really? Fake? I didn't say anything wrong, according to our strength, it's indeed all we can do is pray."

  Two months have passed, and it's time to celebrate the New Year, but none of us are in the mood. The entire unit is busy with garrison duties, clearing out traitors, and maintaining law and order. Some local people tried to come forward to report and expose them, and after our interrogation, we publicly rewarded each of them with 10 kilograms of flour. The locals were stirred up, and many people came to report intelligence to us. Our team leaders were busy day and night, often staying up all night, but in the end, we managed to stabilize the situation here.

  To be honest, the greatest credit goes to our 1st Battalion's Xing Kaiyuan. This old fellow and his troops were guarding the entire western gate, and almost every day they could catch "rabbits" (that's what we call traitors and enemy agents). The 2nd and 3rd Battalions' He Jianbo and Hong Jinwei were so jealous that they were about to go crazy. Every day, after morning exercises, they would report to me on time, taking turns bombarding me with complaints: "Commander, you can't do this! Let the 1st Battalion eat meat, and give the 2nd (3rd) Battalion soup. Our slogan is that we also want to eat meat, let the 1st Battalion drink soup!" I had heard all this before, and Wu Zhengwei, Han Canmou, and Pan Deputy Commander would always be present to watch the show.

  This time, I finally couldn't bear it anymore and said: "He Battalion Commander, Hong Battalion Commander, are you dissatisfied with the current garrison duties?" They nodded vigorously, and I continued: "Do you want to switch duties?" They nodded again, saying "Yes, yes". I also nodded and said: "Well, who among you wants to switch with Gu Lianchang and Sun Lianchang?" They immediately said: "No, no". I was a bit angry and said: "Others have higher awareness than you. They haven't come to complain at all! If you come to me again to complain, I'll let you directly exchange positions with them." They listened and didn't say another word, saying only: "Commander, we still have things to do in the garrison, we'll leave first."

  As they left, they whispered to each other: "Higher awareness? A artillery company and a transportation company, of course, they don't have much to do. What's there to complain about?"

  "Haha!" Wu Zhengwei and his colleagues burst into a fit of laughter, and I also chuckled a few times.

  "Right, Commissar. In 7 days, that Revolutionary Committee is going to send someone here to set up a branch office!" Deputy Commander Pan said.

  "Huh?" I furrowed my brow and said, "We've been fighting for a while without seeing anyone, it's just stabilized a bit, they're coming over."

  "As long as they are around, nothing will be alright!" said Deputy Commander Pan.

  Wu Zhengde said: "Anyway, as long as they don't belong to each other and don't interfere with each other, that's enough."

  The Chief of Staff said, "Not necessarily. They are very proud now, after all, it was the President's idea to establish it, and taking advantage of the current national purge situation, if we get authorization again, we will all have to go in. Don't be careless!"

  "I said in a cold voice: 'Don't come to provoke me, otherwise, hehe...'"

  The three of them shook their heads after hearing it and went back to their own business.