Chapter 2

  I held Zhang Lianchang and wailed loudly, while Zheng Hui and 7 other comrades surrounded us, sobbing quietly. After a while, I lifted my head and said, "Everyone, wipe away your tears and see Comrade Lianchang off!" I gently laid Zhang Lianchang on the ground, closed his open eyes with my hand, stood up straight, and shouted loudly, "Attention! Salute!" With a rustling sound, I and the 7 surviving comrades raised our right hands in a solemn military salute. "At ease!" I shouted. I gazed at Comrade Lianchang's body, just staring. Suddenly, Zheng Hui walked up to me and whispered softly, "Look, someone is coming."

  "What did you just call me? Don't talk nonsense!"

  "Zhang Lianchang said before he sacrificed that we should listen to your command. You are not the leader, who is?"

  I slowly turned around, looked at my comrades beside me, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I don't know if it's lucky or ironic, our 53rd regiment except for the artillery company and communication platoon didn't go out, 1800 people only left us eight people, all of whom are new recruits, and none of them were injured. What does this mean? It means that Colonel Tang and others have always been taking care of us new recruits, we must bring out the style of the 53rd regiment, let the 53rd regiment become a national top-notch unit, otherwise Colonel Tang, Political Commissar Qian, Company Commander they will not be able to rest in peace." Zheng Hui and others listened without making a sound, but all nodded their heads. I looked at the crowd that was getting closer and said: "Don't make any noise, let me talk!" I took a look at the crowd of about ten or so people, led by Second Lieutenant Four Stars, the others were Second Lieutenant Three Stars, First Lieutenant, etc., good! They were all military officers. As they got closer, the leading officer, who was around 50 years old, walked with great momentum and vigor. He stopped in front of us and asked seriously: "Colonel Pang, Political Commissar Qian, where are they?" We immediately saluted, I said: "Commander, Colonel Pang, Political Commissar Qian, they sacrificed themselves." "What?!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock, "Pang the madman, Qian the miser sacrificed themselves?!" "Yes, Commander."

  "What about Guo Zhen and Zhou Yinglong?"

  "He also sacrificed himself, Commander."

  His trembling lips said: "All sacrificed, all sacrificed..." He closed his eyes and tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. His hoarse voice asked: "How many people are left in your 53rd regiment?"

  "Reporting to the superior, the whole team should have 1800 people, but only 8 people are present, please instruct."

  "Alright, alright, you can go rest now." His eyes were a bit vacant, and he waved his hand vaguely towards the back. We saw him, saluted, and then headed down.

  I lay on the camp bed, my head facing upwards, gazing at the top of the tent and muttered: "The battle is over!" I closed my eyes, thinking back to 8 months ago...

  I've been following my master since I was a kid, until he passed away. After I finished dealing with my master's affairs, I went down the mountain alone, dreaming of becoming a heroic swordsman who rids the world of evil. However, reality is cruel - you don't have any money by your side, and you don't have a way to make a living either. Everything is gone, so how can you survive? I also thought about using my skills to steal or rob, but every time I was about to take action, I would remember my master's teachings from the past, and I wouldn't dare to do it. That's how I ended up becoming a beggar not long after I went down the mountain. I didn't become a heroic swordsman, but instead became one of the beggars. At that time, I was still comforting myself, thinking that being a beggar swordsman wasn't bad either. It had been over 20 years since the founding of the Republic, and although it wasn't great, there were very few people who committed crimes. At least I didn't run into any, just when I was about to starve to death, I ran into a recruitment notice. That day, I don't know what happened to me, my mind was filled with thoughts of joining the army so I wouldn't starve to death, and I ended up biting the comrade in charge of recruitment's hand like it was a chicken leg. Then that comrade subconsciously slapped the stack of forms on the table onto my head, and finally I fell down "gloriously" and passed out.

  When I woke up, a comrade who looked like an officer said to me: "Comrade, you're awake, come and have something to eat." As soon as I heard that, I quickly got up, sat on the stool, leaned over the table, and started eating voraciously. When I had finished eating all the food, I suddenly realized there was someone beside me, my face turned bright red. "Hehe, comrade, where are you from? How did you end up like this?"

  "There's no one else at home, just me."

  "Oh, you're out to make a name for yourself!" He joked at me.

  "I..."

  "Haha, what brings you to the recruitment office? Got something on your mind?"

  "Ah, I want to join the army."

  "With this body of yours? No way."

  "How can I not? It's easy for me to knock you down."

  "Cheers! You've got quite an appetite. If you can beat me, I'll let you stay."

  "Alright, go out and give it a try."

  In the end, I became a member of the Republican soldiers. The defeated general's name was Pang Weiguo, and he was actually a regimental commander. He sent me to the new recruit company and said before leaving that six months later, he would come to pick me up to his regiment, telling me to train well and not lose face for him. What the hell, what kind of joke is this? A great hero like me being surpassed by others, it's really ridiculous.

  When I was in the military formation, standing at attention and doing chores, that's when I realized what new recruit training was all about. When I encountered political ideology, that's when I found out there were other theories besides Laozi and Confucius. In short, these 6 months of new recruit training were my transformative 6 months. Luckily, I ranked first in the new recruit assessment, and during a sparring match, I accidentally knocked down the hand-to-hand combat instructor. When I was on stage sharing my experience and teaching shooting skills, I said, "Shooting with a gun is simpler than shooting with a bow and arrow. You just need to aim, load the bullet, pull the trigger, and you're done. What's aiming? If you want to practice that, go use a bow and arrow. How long did it take me to master it? Not long, just 7 or 8 years." The audience was silent.

  Later, I became famous and was almost assigned to be a guard for the Military Region Chief during the assignment, it's said that Commander Pang even went to the Military Region in person, and finally asked about my intention, so I ended up going to the 53rd Regiment of the 112th Division of the 27th Army, an ace unit!

  After arriving at the division headquarters and meeting with Division Commander Pang, I was immediately assigned to the guard company. At that time, every day someone would come to challenge me to a fight, saying I was a nepotist, a pretty boy, etc. As soon as I heard this, I agreed and beat them up badly. After a while, I became famous in the division, and no one came to challenge me to a fight anymore, but instead came to ask me to be their mentor every day. I was young and didn't have any airs, so I quickly became close friends with them. Soon after, I submitted my application to join the party. It was quickly approved, and Division Commander Pang was even my sponsor! Originally, when the military academy's quota was issued, they would report my name and send me for further study. As Division Commander Pang said, I was a talented individual and couldn't be wasted in this place. I thought that life would continue like this, but then war broke out. The army of the Green Empire invaded our neighboring country Afghanistan after the United Nations failed to mediate, occupying it in less than a month. They then marched straight into our Xintang region. Due to underestimation by our high-level leaders, the defense line of the Xintang region was completely breached, and the situation was extremely critical. Our division received orders from above to rapidly reinforce, requiring us to travel lightly, keep it secret, and not bring any communication equipment. Therefore, the artillery company and communications squad didn't go, and when we arrived at the designated location three days later, we received orders to block the enemy's 1st Mechanized Division for three days, estimating that they would arrive in three days. However, on the first day, our fortifications had only been constructed for one day when the enemy launched a surprise attack. On the first day alone, we lost three companies. Our division's defensive position consisted of high ground at 101, and the left and right flanks at 102 and 103 high grounds. The division headquarters was located on 102 high ground; originally it should have been on 101 high ground, but Division Commander Pang said that 102 high ground was the easiest place to break through because of its flat terrain, which made it easy for the enemy's mechanized warfare. Placing the division headquarters here facilitated command and boosted morale. On the second day of fighting, we finally figured out that the enemy had not only one mechanized division but also a mountain battalion. That battalion was equipped differently and kept attacking 101 high ground. By the end of the second day, our division had lost 800 men. On the third day, Commissar Qian died; on the fourth day, all the regimental officers at each high ground had been killed. On the fifth day, Division Commander Pang died, saying with his last breath: "Why is it a mechanized division? Why didn't they let the artillery company come up?"

  I opened my eyes and quickly walked towards the outside of the tent.