Chapter Three

  We eight people stayed in the rear camp for five whole days, watching others in the camp busy with their work, making us feel even more idle. We wouldn't have known that the leaders were arguing fiercely over the future of the 53rd regiment.

  Northwest Military Region Command, General Yao Yuan, 65 years old, one of the founding meritorious generals of the Republic. He was nicknamed "Yao Turtle" by the current President for his steady and stable combat style. At this time, he was pacing back and forth in his office with his hands behind his back, his face full of anger.

  Next to him was his old partner, Chief of Staff Zhang Sheng, who usually had a smile on his face but now looked gloomy and silent, smoking a cigarette. "These bastards, sons of bitches! My ace elite troops have been almost wiped out, and Xiao Peng has just been buried. What's the point of saying that the 53rd Regiment made mistakes and suffered heavy losses? Suggesting to cancel its formation? And what about White Jian-Sheng and Ai Jiang retiring early at over 50 years old? I'm already 65, why don't I retire?"

  Yao Yuan shouted loudly. "Speak softly, don't let the next-door Jiang Zhengwei hear." Zhang Sheng reminded him.

  "Who cares? I was making revolution when he was still drinking his mother's milk. He's always interfering with this and that, causing chaos in the military region. If you don't understand, then don't interfere! Relying on having backing from above, one moment investigating this person, another moment investigating that person; one moment saying this person is a counter-revolutionary, another moment saying that person is a spy. I think he's just a spy and a counter-revolutionary!"

  "Old Yao, what's wrong with you? You're getting more and more agitated. This is the spirit of the instructions from above, to thoroughly investigate the spies in the revolutionary ranks! Xiao Jiang is just carrying out orders."

  "Haha, I said Old Zhang, you were just calling him Jiang Zhengwei, how come now you're calling him Xiao Jiang?"

  "Okay, okay, let's not get sidetracked. Old Yao, what do you think about the 27th Army's situation?" Yao Yuan listened and then said seriously: "I think in this matter, we must protect the 27th Army at all costs."

  Chief of Staff Bai asked: "How to protect it?"

  Yao Yuan furrowed his brow and said: "To protect the 27th Army, we must affirm the achievements of the 53rd Regiment. If we affirm their achievements, then we can first save the 53rd Regiment, and if the 53rd Regiment is saved, then the 112th Division and the 27th Army will be fine!"

  "The 53rd Regiment's battle results? Saying they were glorious is a bit of an exaggeration. The enemy's First Mechanized Division was annihilated, mainly because the 53rd Regiment first attacked and crippled its main force, the Fourth Mechanized Regiment, and held them back for 15 whole days, causing their morale to plummet. Also, a mountain battalion of the enemy's 101st Airborne Division was almost completely annihilated by our 53rd Regiment, and most of its officers were killed in action. The reason why the 53rd Regiment didn't bring along artillery and communication units is because of orders from the forward command post."

  Zhang Sheng analyzed.

  "I already know all this. The commander of the forward command post isn't Li Qiang, Lin Vice-Chairman's favorite general? It's good that we're facing a great enemy now, but you're still fighting internally!"

  Yao Yuan sat down in his chair with a tired expression and said:

  "As for the merits and demerits of the 53rd Regiment, it's up to the higher-ups to decide. After all, the 53rd Regiment was almost wiped out, and their position was on the verge of being lost. If Ai Jiang hadn't led the 112th Division to reinforce them under pressure, the outcome would have been different!"

  "Hum, do you think Li Qiang didn't know? He intentionally let Ai Jiang know the situation of the 53rd Regiment. He also calculated that after Ai Jiang knew, he would definitely not listen to orders and would reinforce despite being exposed to the main force and surrounded by the enemy. He just didn't expect the 53rd Regiment to defeat the enemy so badly, to the point where Ai Jiang was able to wipe out the enemy in front of him and even prevent them from deploying troops to surround them."

  "Yes, I think you'd better give the chairman a call and tell him about the situation."

  "I called, but couldn't get through. Said the Chairman has gone to Beidaihe for a rest cure. I'll call the Premier, probably he should find the Chairman and report on the situation in the next few days!"

  Ding ding ding... The red phone on the desk rang loudly. Yao Yuan hastily picked up the phone in front of him "Hello, I'm Yao Yuan. Ah! Chairman. Yes, yes, understood, yes, yes, I'll pass it on right away. Yes!" Yao Yuan hung up the phone, his face unable to conceal his joy.

  "What's going on? What did the chairman say?" Zhang Sheng asked anxiously.

  "Haha, the chairman is indeed wise. The 27th Army will not be dealt with, and Ai Jiang of the 112th Division will receive an internal party award once. Wait until the situation stabilizes to attend a high-level national defense course in Zhongnanhai. The 53rd Regiment will retain its original structure, separate from the 112th Division, become an independent army, and be directly under the military command with the title of 'Iron Wall Regiment'. The regiment commander is that Tang Ning, other cadres will prioritize comrades who survived from the 53rd Regiment, and all political work cadres will be arranged by the Military Region. The order will arrive from Beijing soon." Yao Yu excitedly rubbed his signature bald head.

  "Tangning that kid is a overnight sensation, never happened before, this sets a precedent! I'm worried this kid can't hold the position of team leader!"

  "What's to be afraid of? I saw this young fellow when he was a new recruit, and I even tried him out once. This kid is not bad! He has the makings of a good soldier. What's wrong with the battalion commander? In the old days when we were making revolution, didn't we all come up like that? Once they get familiar with things, it'll be all right. Besides, aren't we here?"

  "Huh? I thought you said before that young people can't handle responsibilities and only know how to mess around?"

  "He's different from Jiang Jieshi, he doesn't have so many fancy ideas and won't spend all day grabbing soldiers and seizing power!"

  "No, I think it's better if I talk to him in person."

  "Alright, alright, you've got plenty of time, come on, let's go out and have a couple of drinks!"

  "Alright, let's go."

  They had just walked out of the office when they saw a man walking out of the neighboring room, wearing a dark green military uniform, tall and slender, about 37 or 38 years old. When he saw Yao Yuan and the others, he came over to greet them: "Commander, Chief of Staff, what's the good news? You two look like you're bursting with joy."

  "I'm telling you, Jiang Hong, are you happy only when I'm unhappy all day?" Yao Yuan said with wide eyes.

  "Oh, Jiang Zhengwei, I was chatting with Old Yao and got quite excited, how about we go out for a couple of drinks? Why don't you come along?" Zhang Sheng chimed in from the side.

  "No need, no need, you guys are busy. I still have something to do, next time, next time." Jiang Hong said with a smile.

  "Is there anything else? If not, then stop lingering in front of me, go and do whatever you want!" Yao Yuan said impatiently.

  "Alright, I'll go first."

  Jiang Hong and Yao Yuan walked away, turned back, gritted their teeth, narrowed their eyes, and said resentfully: "Old thing, see how long you can be arrogant."

  And I was still wandering aimlessly in the camp without a purpose, with scenes of Zhang Lianchang talking to me flashing through my mind from time to time. "Head, let's go quickly. Liangzi and the brothers' troops have started fighting." I heard the sound and lifted my head, only to see Zheng Hui panting and rushing towards me.

  "What's going on? How did it start?" I asked.

  "Oh, it was a staff officer from the front line who came to the camp to handle some business. Liangzi accidentally bumped into him and he scolded Liangzi with a sentence 'Are you blind?' Liangzi heard that and also retorted with a sentence, and they started quarreling like this. Later, when they found out that Liangzi was from the 53rd regiment, they said that everyone in the 53rd regiment were cowardly soldiers, saying we were all leftover dregs who had wrapped up dumplings."

  "Son of a turtle, damn it!" I cursed loudly and said, "Get out."

  Dear readers, please give me your valuable opinions after reading, I will try my best to correct them.