Chapter Fourteen

  I stood at the entrance of the regimental headquarters waiting for Colonel and his party. I glanced at my watch and said, "It's already 9 o'clock."

  Wu Zhengwei listened and said: "Don't worry, it will arrive eventually."

  I nodded. Xing Kaiyuan leaned over and said: "Captain, what do you think the commander is doing here this time?"

  I shook my head and said: "I don't know."

  The Chief of Staff said: "Our regiment was originally a directly affiliated regiment, and the direct superior is the military commander. It's also funny to say that since the 53rd regiment was rebuilt, our 53rd regiment has been far away from the military department and hasn't had much contact with the military department. Instead, we have frequent contacts with the military region. Fortunately, the 27th Army didn't have any major events or hold a full army conference, otherwise, our 53rd regiment would be spat to death by other troops of the 27th Army."

  Others looked strange after hearing it, I said: "Yes, our 53rd regiment has never had a meeting with the 27th army." Sun Hao said: "I have been there several times, but every time I go, it's for supplies and expenses, haha!" Everyone burst out laughing.

  After another half an hour, we finally saw the army commander's motorcade, and the army commander had arrived. I hadn't seen the army commander before! I was a bit nervous as I went to greet him. A man in his 60s got out of the car, with a slightly pale face, but exuding a strong aura of killing intent, an aura that only comes from being battle-hardened. General Han whispered beside me: "This is the army commander." I walked up and respectfully saluted, saying: "Commander, welcome to 53rd regiment for inspection amidst your busy schedule. You must have had a tiring journey, Commander."

  The white-haired commander listened with a smile on his face and said: "Haha, you're Tang Ning! Not bad!" I felt a little embarrassed, it wasn't until today that I met the commander for the first time. The others came forward one by one to pay their respects to the commander. I looked at them and said: "Commander, please come in!"

  "Alright, okay."

  We entered the conference room of the troop department, and after everyone sat down, I said to the army commander sitting in the main seat: "Commander, take a rest first, then accompany you to inspect the troop department, and then..."

  The regimental commander waved his hand to interrupt, saying: "Let's talk about this later. This time I came mainly to see the actual situation of your 53rd battalion here. Later, accompany me to visit each camp and then go downtown for a stroll."

  "Yes."

  "Tang Ning, I came with the Military Region Commander last time to see the 53rd Division's mobilization exercise situation. After seeing it, it was not bad! Except for not having been on the battlefield, it already has the appearance of an army. Later, after Ma Dehai came to the 53rd Division, I listened to the reports from below and your division's report, and felt very relieved. This time I came just to see if the 53rd Division was exaggerating?"

  "No, Colonel. The 53rd Regiment has been strictly demanding and insisting on training every day."

  "It's clear once you've taken a look."

  "Yes, okay." I heard a moment of gloominess.

  Then we talked about some other things, and soon we ended the conversation and set out to inspect each camp. We first came to the 1st Camp. The army commander inspected the training situation of the soldiers, then went to the internal affairs of the barracks, and also looked at the sentry post and border defense situation. The army commander did not comment on the overall situation of the 1st Camp, I was very nervous when I saw it. He was very interested in the frequent mountain climbing and confrontation exercises between the 2nd and 3rd Camps, and immediately ordered them to come over and organize a confrontation with the 1st Camp, he wanted to watch on the spot. I immediately complied, actually I was eager to show off in front of the army commander!

  After the military commander watched the exercise, he said: "Well, it has its own characteristics! It has a bit of mountain warfare flavor." I thought to myself: Finally, there's some praise. I let out a long sigh and looked at the sky and then at my watch and said: "Commander, look, it's already 4 o'clock in the afternoon, you haven't eaten lunch yet, why don't you take a break and eat something?" The commander was somewhat displeased and said: "What's the big deal? In the past when we were making revolution and fighting wars, there were times when we didn't even have food to eat, skipping one meal is no big deal."

  I stuttered and said: "Th-th-this..."

  The general looked at me, burst out laughing and said: "Alright, alright. I also can't disappoint Xiao Tang's good intentions, otherwise he would hate this old man to death." The people around us all burst out laughing.

  I blushed and said: "No, no."

  The commander looked at the on-site records recorded by the staff officer and said, "Take all these away. Let's go eat and rest. I'm old, with only this little time left, my spirit is not enough."

  I listened to the regimental commander instruct him to prepare, and he immediately left to make preparations. I led the military leaders to walk and chat about some local customs here, and soon we arrived at the regiment's cafeteria. I led the military leaders to take their seats one by one and said: "There are only some wild game dishes here, hoping that the leaders will not mind."

  The general said: "Well, you guys eat meat every day, not bad!"

  I was choked again, so depressing! In the army, there's a characteristic that is fast, very fast dishes are ready, six dishes and one soup. The commander looked at it and said: "Is there any wine?" I heard him say: "Yes, I've prepared it early, afraid you'd scold me, that's why I didn't take it out?!"

  "Cut the nonsense, you knew I was coming, why didn't you investigate me earlier? Don't you know that I'm good at this?"

  "Hehe!"

  I immediately called for the prepared wine to be brought up and said, "This is a local specialty, Erguotou liquor. Please try some!" After saying that, I opened the bottle and poured a full cup for the military commander. The military commander took the wine, sniffed it with his nose, and praised it as "fragrant". He then tilted his head back and downed the whole cup in one gulp! I couldn't help but think to myself in surprise. After drinking, the military commander closed his mouth for a while, then said, "Good wine, full of flavor. Come on, everyone, don't just watch, try some!" Everyone poured themselves a glass, took a few sips, and all agreed that it was spicy and flavorful. The military commander had tried several wild game dishes and said they were all quite tasty. Soon, everyone finished eating, I ordered the table to be cleared, and asked the military commander, "Commander, do you want to take a rest and sleep for a while?"

  "Never mind, you arrange it, let's go downtown for a stroll. The others will rest at the team department."

  "Yes."

  I accompanied General Jun in the city, looking around everywhere. The comrades of the guard company were scattered all over the place, keeping watch from a distance. Suddenly, General Jun said to me: "Tang Ning."

  "In the army, I am the commander."

  "After watching the 53rd division, I feel at ease. You've done a good job! You were able to quickly form the combat effectiveness of the 53rd division, and in more than a year's time, you were able to stabilize the situation at Matougang Station and effectively control the local situation. You're not bad!"

  "Thank you, Commander, for your praise! This is the credit of all officers and men of the 53rd Regiment."

  "Tang Ning, now the international situation has changed a bit, you must train your troops well, don't be too self-satisfied, do you understand?"

  "Yes."

  "Ai Shilong has already gone to the Northeast Military Region's instructional team for reeducation through labor, I just went to see him off and that's why I'm late arriving here, I'm telling you this so you won't think too much about it, focus on training well and leading your troops!"

  "Yes." I couldn't help but show my delight and said excitedly.

  "As for Xing Kaiyuan and the others in your squad, tell them to just stay in the troops, their situation has already been reported to Chairman Mao by Commander Yao, and Chairman Mao has also approved the Military Region's decision and handling of the matter. Alas, they have ended up not too badly after all." The army commander said with a melancholy face.

  "Yes, got it."

  "Well, if you let the 53rd Regiment go into battle, don't lose face for the old man of the 27th Army!"

  "What? Fight?"

  "I'm saying if."

  "Yes."

  "Let's go back."

  We returned to the headquarters, and the army commander went back to the military department. I saw off the army commander as he boarded his vehicle, and didn't turn back until the convoy was out of sight, then ordered a meeting to be convened.