Soldier's Song (1)

  In the days when I had just bought a car, I would often drive to the outskirts of the mountainous areas to take in the scenery. No one else was with me, just myself. I would drive for a long time on the winding mountain roads, then get out and gaze into the distance, feeling as though the mountains here were not much different from those in my memories. The misty colors, the terraced fields, the old men herding sheep, the lush green mountains, and of course, the tractors that occasionally passed by on the road. Sometimes an old lady was sitting on top, sometimes no one was, sometimes it was a young daughter-in-law, and sometimes it was a group of little children.

  I will stand on some similar mountain roads, and I will stay for a long time. It's not nostalgia, it's being in a daze. The benefits of freelancing are that no one urges you to go to work, after finishing the tasks at hand, you can do whatever you want. Free and easy, sometimes it's really aimless, when bored, I like to drive around randomly.

  I first lost my mind here, still with that girl who looked like Xiaoying. It was the summer after she finished her final exams, and I took her out to clear her head. We listened to John Lennon's rock music all the way, exchanging flirtatious glances - this is how I always am with girls I've just met.

  At that time, she had been to my home and knew I used to be a soldier. That's all, she wasn't interested in the military at all. As I drove up the mountain, I passed by a truck. Then another one. And then another one. A convoy of vehicles stopped halfway, naturally, it was a military convoy. Maybe some troops were out for training or participating in an exercise, and they stopped on the road to rest. The trucks covered with camouflage nets and the big-assed vans with jeeps, the sentries wearing steel helmets and camouflage uniforms, holding 81 guns, scattered around, the cooking team's large pot was emitting hot air, and several cooks were beckoning to add firewood, so a few little soldiers ran around busily. The cadres were smoking and talking under the shade of trees, while the soldiers either looked curiously at my car passing by from on top of the vehicles (I knew it was because there was a beautiful girl in the car), or stood by the roadside with the same expression watching my car pass by.

  They are not special forces, I know that. But their dark and thin faces, silly and curious expressions, are familiar to me. Their license plate numbers are also from my old military district, although they have changed many times with different codes, the principle and general sequence are the same. I drove to the front and stopped.

  "What's wrong?" the girl asked me. I shook my head and turned back to take another look.

  "Have you met an acquaintance?" She also turned around, "Your comrade in the army?" The word "comrade" always feels strange. I shook my head again.

  "What's wrong?"

  I smiled and said nothing, got off the bus. She also got off. I took off my sunglasses, looking at the familiar yet strange fleet of cars, looking at those soldiers wearing camouflage uniforms and helmets or with their heads shaved, coming and going. Looking at the curious expressions on their faces as they stared at me and the girl. Watching the cooks stirring the big pots with their large spoons.

  My goodness! My nose suddenly felt sour. I turned around and saw Xiaoying - I was shocked at that moment.

  "What's wrong?" Xiaoying asked me.

  I just came back to myself, it's not Xiao Ying, I always have flower eyes.

  "It's all right, let's go."

  I'm getting on the bus. A small soldier wearing a steel helmet and carrying an 81 rifle comes running over, saluting me: "Comrade! Our battalion commander asks if you have anything to do?"

  I shook my head. The little soldier's dark and thin face was full of vigilance: "Then why are you staring at us?"

  I smiled and pointed at the cadres under the tree: "You just tell them, I used to be a soldier. My troop number is... Troop. Go."

  The little soldier looked at me with a puzzled expression, his bird-like appearance was just like mine back then. He went over to report to the cadres. The cadres looked at me and all smiled, their eyes filled with warmth and surprise. This didn't surprise me, our Dog Head Brigade's reputation was well-known throughout the army, every cadre in our military district seemed to know our unit number. A young captain, apparently the battalion commander, enthusiastically waved at me, inviting me over to chat.

  I just smiled and watched him, waving my hand. He gave me a stylish American military salute, now even the cadres of the field army have seen pirated discs. I returned an American military salute. Then, I put on my sunglasses and got in the car.

  I drove silently away from the convoy of military vehicles. The girl didn't ask me anything, and I didn't say anything either. The music in the car continued to play, still John Lennon. I forgot what song it was, seemed like a soft rock one.

  The troops of armored vehicles were getting farther and farther away behind me, until they disappeared from sight. At this time, the sky began to sprinkle rain, and the windshield wipers swung back and forth. None of us spoke a word. She knew what emotions were flowing in my heart. In fact, I only had one sentence in my mind, a inexplicable feeling.

  "It's really not going in the same direction."

  What is the concept of a military vehicle? What is the concept of mobilizing a large army? You can only know if you have seen it.

  Hundreds of military vehicles, covered with camouflage nets, wound their way along the mountain road, like a green, fluffy giant snake. Messengers on motorcycles zoomed back and forth, busy with official duties, leaving trails of smoke behind them. Military police occupied key intersections, waving small red and green flags non-stop. On the ground, there were armored cars, reconnaissance vehicles, assault vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, main battle tanks, repair tanks, command vehicles, trucks, and jeeps - a long snake of military vehicles. In the air, transport helicopters, armed helicopters, and reconnaissance helicopters flew in formation, like an array of colorful, large and small dragonflies. In short, it was a real-life illustration of the idiom "golden armor and iron horses".

  I was on the helicopter looking down at the entire convoy, we were all very excited. It's a soldier would be excited. Because you really know how big an armed group you belong to. You no longer feel small when you see so many iron things. We flew low over, we waved rifles and helmets with our field combat brothers on the ground. They also waved their rifles and helmets. The officers didn't care, they were also immersed in the rare pride of the army.

  We shouted: "Maneuver seen! Hammer you dog day!"

  They shouted: "Maneuver seen! Hammer you dog day!"

  All are loud and clear calls, all are high morale, all are iron and blood boiling.

  All are the prime of youth, all are hot-blooded young men, all are camouflage emotions.

  Maneuvers, a rare large-scale confrontational exercise of the land and air forces on a mountainous terrain. I experienced only once in my three years of military service. The country is poor, so is the army. We cherished such a large-scale exercise. It was already winter at that time, but there wasn't much change in our province. Subtropical jungle mountains are like this, the provincial capital on the plain reacted a bit more, while the mountain was still green.

  We were on the helicopter, and the pilot was an old bird. Every time we had to dive down to rest our brother troops who were cooking, making them shout and curse us with their ladles in hand, blowing ash into the pot. We laughed on the plane, a joyful prank of youth. We advanced towards the exercise area. At this time, I had already received the third-class merit medal and returned to the squadron for rest after half a month. My body recovered quickly, and after another month of training, I could participate in normal military exercises again. The Dog Head Squadron was punished, but he couldn't say anything because it was his fault. He didn't make things difficult for me either, after all, I had earned face for the Dog Head Squadron.

  What Commander He asked me, I haven't answered him yet. But in my heart, I already have the answer. You all know what it is without me saying it. I like this dog-headed commander, I like the Wild Battle Team. Because here, I live a fulfilling life, I have my faith, I have my brothers. And I also have Xiao Ying, no matter how I am, she will support and understand me.

  I don't want to go back to the city anymore, this is true. In the past, it was so carefree and easy-going, but in reality, it was very tiring. Although life here is tough, I am truly happy. Being a military officer is just being a military officer, I'm not material for being an official, leaving my youth to my beloved dog-headed squad isn't anything special. After I retire from the army, I'll go back and do business with my old man, we've discussed this over the phone, he supports me, thinks it's better than me finishing university and doing art. Old people all have this mindset, they think doing art is not a proper path, being an official is a proper path, and being a military officer is the most proper path of all.

  As for me, I don't have many thoughts. I just can't bear to leave my squad, can't bear to part with my brothers. Because now I'm a superior soldier, next year I'll be discharged. But I haven't had enough of being a soldier yet. I'd like to come back again after graduation.

  Really.

  We followed the helicopter team led by Daqi's dog head 001, and our mood was extremely relaxed. Mada had already become the squad leader, as the original squad leader and deputy squad leader had retired. I also became the deputy squad leader, which was not opposed by Dog Head High School Team - something I did not expect. At that time, I was getting more and more fed up with him, but I still listened to his orders. I had learned the survival principle of the army: if you want to be a bird in a certain place, it's not about being a bird in a non-place, no one supports you; if you're a bird in the right place, even if your status is low, you can still fly high.

  I'm not a bird now, but when I occasionally see birds, I still follow the principle of this dog-headed army. We marched into the exercise area. The ground was covered with tanks. I really liked this scene, which I had never seen in any movie before. At that time, my fellow soldiers and I were extremely excited and deeply proud to be members of the Chinese Army. Our beloved army! Soldiers from different branches marched together like a green, majestic dragon.

  At that time, I had two favorites.

  One is my little shadow.

  And another one is my Chinese Army.