Chapter 2: 11. Lonely Wandering in the Thicket (1)

  Last night I wrote that TV drama until very late and fell asleep, then I dreamed of that big black eagle, really, and I cried. I dreamed it was flying in the sky, and I was chasing after it below. I asked: "Eagle, eagle, where are you going?"

  The big black eagle didn't say a word, just let out a long whistle, spreading its wings in the sky and flapping them to soar through the air. I asked again: "Eagle, eagle, where are you going to take me?"

  The big black eagle still didn't speak, but it guided my way in the air. I followed it running across the grassland, running across the desert, and then again running across the grassland, and again running across the desert. Finally, the eagle landed. I saw many familiar faces smiling at me: "Little Zhuang, Little Zhuang, why did you come so late?"

  My Chen Pai, my Miao Lian, dog day high school team, bird man He Dui, Ma Da class leader, Sheng Zi... Many of my brothers in the old unit are waiting for me, a camouflage square is waiting for me, leaving an empty position for me. He Dui pointed at my nose: "Get your ass in gear! Look at that bear-like appearance of yours?! You also dare to say you're my soldier? Watch me not take you down!" Then I stood up straight, tears streaming down my face. Chen Pai ran over, he really ran over and did a beautiful flying kick in mid-air, which I couldn't do no matter how hard I tried. Even in the movies, not many people can do it, then patted me: "Let's go! There are still 10,000 meters of armed cross-country running to go!"

  We ran, and then everyone ran. He Dui drove a special motorcycle with a dog head on the oil tank, leading us in front with a loudspeaker shouting numbers: "One two three four what's different about being a soldier, get ready to sing!"

  "We shout and sing: 'What's the difference between us soldiers? Just because we're all wearing simple military uniforms! What's the difference between us soldiers? Since leaving our hometown, we haven't seen our parents! Saying it's different is actually the same, it's all youthful years, it's all passionate young men! Saying it's different is actually the same, the same youth shines on the flag of the Republic!"

  Then we ran through many places, and the scenery whizzed past my ears.

  Then we ran into a city, empty streets.

  Then I was left behind, they waved their hands: "Little Zhuang, little Zhuang, we're leaving, take care of yourself, come visit us brothers often, pay attention to your body, study hard every day, eat well and drink well, don't run around recklessly, handle relationships between men and women properly, don't mess with your own brain, okay? Remember you're a soldier, we're leaving! One two three four! You drive your car, I climb my slope, you walk your road, I wade my river. Since it's to join the army, since it's to serve the country, soldiers endure hardships and sweat, what are they afraid of?! Nothing to say, the motherland understands me, a scorching heart warms up the steel gun! Nothing to say, the motherland knows me, let me sing another song! Learn from Lei Feng, good role model, loyal to the revolution, loyal to the party.

  Then he shouted the number and sang a song as he walked away. Captain He was still driving that motorcycle in front, leading us. He's old now, although he can run 10,000 meters, but he can't keep up with us. When we're not busy, during our morning cross-country runs, he likes to drive his beloved camouflaged off-road motorcycle and lead us, looking very happy and laughing loudly like a child, letting us little rascals follow him, the big rascal. His driving skills are also quite wild, I've seen him ride that damn motorcycle directly from a helicopter 2 meters above the ground, it's really amazing! He repeatedly warned us not to tell Captain Chang, the deputy captain, otherwise he would be criticized and his motorcycle would be confiscated. And we're not allowed to tell his wife either, or else he'll get scolded at home and have his motorcycle taken away too, because everyone knows he has heart disease. None of us will say anything, we all love watching Captain He drive, leading us in front while we follow behind, showing off our skills and shouting loudly, trying to show off all our abilities in front of Captain He, because we adore this big rascal, Captain He, and are proud to be his little rascals. We're so arrogant in front of other troops that it makes them jealous, they want to beat us up but don't dare.

  They just left me like that. I stood foolishly on the city street, and many blurry faces came and went, with no one paying attention to me. I shouted, but no one answered me. I walked in the city, as if wandering alone in a jungle of steel and concrete.

  The big black eagle is gone.

  Tears gushed out and then the military uniform on me began to shatter, then I was changed into many fashionable jackets, and my face also started to blur. Then I woke up, and I found myself crying uncontrollably...

  I dreamed of that big black eagle.

  Actually, from the beginning of bungee jumping, we entered the learning phase of the basic subjects of special forces, and of course, other physical abilities such as fighting and climbing were not relaxed. At that time, I really understood that Dog Head Brigade was indeed different from traditional scouts, it's just that they didn't admit it openly. So I learned, my brain is relatively useful, and my technical subject learning is only second to those three lieutenants who are from a regular military academy, their elimination rate is much stricter than ours, if our scores are not as good as theirs in any subject, we would be eliminated immediately. But I really didn't let them down, I couldn't compare with them after all, they are graduates of a regular military academy, they have seen and experienced more things, even if they haven't eaten pork, they've seen pigs run! Then, they set up various strict rules and scenarios for us to experience fear, loneliness, and loss.

  One day, we first ran through that damn obstacle course, then rolled around in the mud a few times, and finally got on the rear carriage of Dongfeng Pingtou Chai, covered with mud all over. The canvas was tightly closed, and there was still a training officer sitting at the back who wouldn't let us look outside.

  Then he took us circling around the mountain. At first, I was still mentally calculating, roughly how fast we had been driving and how far away our new training camp was, because even a fool would know that this formation was obviously meant to test our map-reading skills and sense of direction while running on the road in the mountains. First, they made us tired, tired but not to the point where we couldn't run anymore, then they made us dizzy with all the circling, and finally let us go back. But after a while, I couldn't calculate anything anymore, because the car was circling around so fiercely and without any pattern, several times it just circled around in place before finding another direction to circle around again. After driving for over two hours, nobody knew where we had been taken to, then the car stopped, the canvas cover opened, and the Dog Head High School team shouted at us to get down.

  We all went down in a daze, but quickly fell into line. Only then did I observe the surroundings, this big mountain is almost the same everywhere, and I don't know where we are, maybe the new training team is at the foot of the mountain or maybe tens of kilometers away. These bird officers are just doing this kind of thing, and they can't hide their thoughts from the rookie birds. Then each of us received a compass and a hand-drawn map, and when we looked at each other, they were not very similar, and I was confused at the time, how could they be different?

  The dog head high school team said that this is to find the cadres' family members, even children, according to their description painted, the painters are all outsiders and have never been to this place, let alone running in the mountains. So it's just this map, whether you walk right or wrong has nothing to do with them.

  We had learned about GPS at the time, but we weren't given any GPS devices. The Dog Head High School team said that if a battle broke out and the GPS ran out of battery or got damaged, what would happen? We'd still have to rely on scouts using the old method of a compass and a map to navigate. Wouldn't having GPS make things too easy? As for maps, his explanation was that during war, we might have satellite reconnaissance photos, but often we wouldn't have time to get those photos, so we'd have to rely on human scouts, who usually aren't experts. What's called "people's war" - do you understand? This is still a map drawn by someone with culture, but during battle, it could be an illiterate old lady or old man drawing the map - what can you do? You have to move forward even if it's not accurate, because as a soldier, you have to complete your mission. There's nothing that can be said about this.

  I secretly cursed in my heart.

  According to my map, the target is also the base of our new training team, which is 70 kilometers away. This distance doesn't count for anything, but if the map is inaccurate, we'll have to run extra miles. The scale ratio doesn't even need to be thought about, it's definitely not accurate. And in this area, we've never been here before, and there are no outstanding landmarks or geographical features to refer to. This area is absolutely mountainous and forested, absolutely primitive. Walking along the highway is also impossible, because any fool knows that the Dog Head High School team has set up surveillance posts somewhere, waiting for us, and if we're caught, we'll have to run away.

  Then let's choose to bring a water bottle or a machete, the kind of big chopping knife you've seen in American movies, all military ones are similar. Later we went to Gou Tou Dui and helped with cooking in the kitchen, using this to chop pork ribs, feeling much more useful than a vegetable knife.

  We all didn't choose water bottles, but instead chose machetes. Because in the woods, a knife is more important than water. We wore our camouflage uniforms and rubber shoes, wearing training hats, with machetes slung over our shoulders, and compasses and that bastard's hand-drawn 20 maps that couldn't find many common points stuffed into our pockets, standing stupidly in a row.

  Then the high school team said that this subject is called "Jungle Drifting". Special soldiers who are separated from their squad in enemy territory have many reasons, such as leaving behind a sniper to pursue and complete tasks before withdrawing, or being captured but not having time to pull the glorious bullet before escaping. In short, when you are left alone in the wilderness, you have to rely on this skill. The high school team also said that this is still relatively good for us, because in most cases, there isn't even a map, and you just have to navigate by looking at the stars.

  Our time was one and a half days plus one night, now it's 11 o'clock in the middle of the day, which means that everyone must return before dark every day, those who can't return will be eliminated. Later I communicated with foreign special forces brothers, they said they were also dealt with like this, although the form was different but the essence was the same. After that, after I retired and came into contact with some materials, it turned out that this was also a basic subject and was written by an American in a column. But I still want to write about it once, because the impression is too deep. If you feel repetitive, you can skip it.

  Then we changed to those 4 small Wang Ba Ming camouflage jeeps, and with our eyes covered, they took us in four different directions, circling again in the mountains, then driving for a while and dropping one off, driving for a while and dropping another off. From the bumps on the road surface, I knew we had left the highway.

  I really can't remember how long it took to drop one, because my heart was nervous and uneasy, I believe most people don't remember either. Because it's the first time encountering this, in the old troops, they never threw you alone into an unfamiliar jungle. Safety first, comradeship is important, dare not let you do anything careless.

  My heart began to feel desolate, and then I started missing the small reconnaissance company of our mountain village's infantry regiment. I missed my fellow Chen Pai, and my brothers - they would never leave me alone in the vast wilderness of the mountains. If I were gone, they would all mobilize and search every inch of the mountains for dozens of miles around, shouting "Xiao Zhuang, Xiao Zhuang, where are you?" through a loudspeaker, and occasionally firing blank shots into the air to guide me back.

  Tears quietly flowed out, wetting the black cloth covering my eyes. Mada sat beside me, grasping my hand: "Don't be afraid, Turtle Son, you'll be fine!"

  I don't know if I have a problem either. The black wind is howling in my ear, and the mountain forest is full of crises. I know there are wolves inside because we heard them calling each other at night, and I was so scared that I couldn't move. They all went down.

  Then it was my turn. I was thrown down, and by the time I took off the blindfold, that little turtle jeep had already left. I looked around, I was in an empty lot.

  Black wind, thicket, mountain valley, blue sky, white cloud.

  Anything else?

  It's just me, a little soldier still half a month away from turning 18 years old.

  Do you know what it means to be insignificant?

  I realized it at that time.

  I had seen "First Blood" and all that before, but I never thought I'd end up like this, lost in the middle of nowhere.

  I dare not shout, for fear of attracting wolves.

  I'm all alone now, no one is helping me.

  If I had an 81 automatic rifle, I wouldn't be afraid. I've said before that I'm a master of rapid firing with an automatic rifle. I reckon the wolf won't be able to keep up with my speed. Within 35 seconds, I can accurately fire 30 rounds and hit all targets within a 100-50 meter distance from the front at a 60-degree angle range just as they pop out from the steel plate target. My speed of replacing magazines is also very fast. When the last round is fired, my left hand has already pulled out a spare magazine from my chest, then while the empty gun is still hanging, the spare magazine has already been loaded and ready to fire again within 2 seconds. I believe the wolf won't have that many because I would bring 150 rounds of ammunition but now I only have a mountain knife.

  Tears fell down.

  My legs are going soft.

  But it didn't make any sense because time was passing minute by minute. I took out the compass, and that goddamn map.

  Although I still have tears streaming down my face.

  I was thrown into the dense forest by a member of Dog Head High School when I wasn't even 18 years old. And I was the last one to be thrown, which means I was the farthest away. Do you guys think he's not an idiot?!

  And I'm still in tears.