Chapter 4 Fission 6. Soldier's Song (2)

  We set up camp in the valley among the mountains, with our camouflage tents blending seamlessly into the surrounding peaks. Helicopters frequently took off and landed, bringing supplies for us and our brothers-in-arms. The assigned anti-aircraft artillery units were on high alert, guarding the skies above the valley.

  In the Chinese army of the 1990s, the difficulty and competitiveness of exercises increased, often before the director's orders had even been given, the curtain had already been raised on the exercise. So we had to guard against surprise attacks from our brothers in the special forces brigade. In fact, it was our own "Dog Head" Brigade that started this trend.

  It all began a few years ago during an exercise when their mission was to scout out and monitor the movements of our brother unit's tank battalion. This task wasn't difficult to complete, as at the time, Chinese army units participating in exercises were still accustomed to waiting for the director's orders before starting to follow the pre-arranged plan.

  This is a story that has been told countless times on TV shows and documentaries, so it's not considered a breach of confidentiality. At the time, this was indeed how things were done in the Chinese army - there hadn't been any large-scale wars for many years, making it difficult to get into the right mindset.

  The "Dog Head" Brigade disguised themselves as migrant workers at a train station and blended in with the locals. The tank transporters of our brother unit's tank battalion had just arrived at the station and were about to start unloading. Suddenly, yellow smoke billowed up from all sides of the transporters. It didn't take long to figure out that it was the "Dog Head" Brigade who had done this.

  According to the exercise rules, an entire tank battalion had been taken out before they even had a chance to unload. The commander of our brother unit wasn't happy about this: "The exercise hasn't even started yet!" The dispute went all the way up to the director's office, but in the end, it was our deputy commander who made the final decision: "As soon as you enter the exercise area, it's game on!"

  Got it! The brother unit suffered a crushing defeat, and there's nothing more to say. From then on, our military district's exercise troops would remove their gun covers and load blank rounds before entering the exercise area - in the end, they became more and more intense, even deploying counter-reconnaissance measures before leaving the barracks, sending empty vehicles on different routes, and secretly advancing with the main force. It was a real secret operation, and they didn't dare to tell the truth to the director's department either. That's how it ended up like this now - all because the Dog Head High School team threw out over a dozen smoke bombs. Everyone was so tense and on edge that they suspected anyone who looked at them of being an intelligence gatherer for the other side - and indeed, there were many people mixed in with the local civilians searching around, sometimes even disguising themselves as hospital nurses to carry out reconnaissance, making it impossible to defend against.

  Before the exercise began, intelligence reconnaissance and special forces had already infiltrated. The first company had dispersed before we arrived, either parachuting or landing by helicopter or running, to conduct reconnaissance and sabotage behind enemy lines, providing guidance on important ground targets for air force brothers and surface-to-surface missile troops. When we arrived at the base before the operation, the last team had just come out of the tent, wearing camouflage uniforms, carrying weapons and backpacks, and boarding a helicopter. We exchanged greetings: "Beat those bastards!" The response was: "Beat those bastards!" - during exercises, this became a password. Everyone smiled with white teeth, and during exercises, soldiers' military feelings were really found. Watching their helicopters leave, disappearing into the horizon at dusk. What mission would be carried out in a nighttime airborne infiltration? I wondered in my heart, but didn't ask. No one asked. Because it's better not to know what you shouldn't know. Our brothers were eager to try, but we were special forces, directly under the Red Army Command's Special Warfare Command - do you want to go out? What does strategic mean? It means it's not tactical reconnaissance or strikes, but strategic reconnaissance or strikes. The commander-in-chief will give you tasks based on overall considerations, so wait patiently.

  However, we are also happy in our hearts. If we hammer, it must be absolutely ruthless. Otherwise, how can we still be called the sharp teeth on the wolf's fangs? In the evening, the special duty team will brief us on the enemy situation, and the chief of staff will personally explain the main situation of the opponent. The Blue Army, a mechanized infantry division plus an army aviation brigade, with corresponding logistics support units and air force strike fighter bomber units. This is all clear to us, so we know how to hammer. Then it was said that this time the military region borrowed a special forces brigade from a brother military region to give our dog-headed battalion some color, so as not to be too arrogant, and let them fight against us in a special warfare battle. We shouted at the bottom, who is going to hammer him to death!

  The Chief of Staff couldn't help but laugh, and the officers saw the soldiers' high morale and wanted to laugh too. Then a cat head appeared on the screen. We laughed: "Cat head vs dog head! It's a natural rivalry, they've been fighting for thousands of years!" Only then did we realize that this was the ace of the brother military district, also known as the number one special warfare elite in the entire army - the Black Tiger Squad. The brothers all laughed, it turned out to be the Black Tigers, not the Cat Heads! The Chief of Staff also laughed, he didn't dare say anything, both squad leaders were first-class heroes and combat heroes, founders of the special forces, on the front lines they were comrades who shared a pot of food and went through life and death together. They were his old seniors and superiors - what could he say? They all liked to design their own special force logos, one looked like a dog head and one looked like a cat head, it was just fate, what can you say?

  Our special task force's mission is to get rid of Cat Head.

  Deeply infiltrate the enemy's rear to capture the commander of the Cat Head Battalion, catch a few and count as a few, even if you can't catch one, but you must get rid of a few (i.e. tear off his chest badge to prove his death). In short, it is to launch a surprise attack, take the initiative, and first give them a show of strength. The goal is to destroy the command system of the Blue Army's special forces, and more importantly, to give our brother and comrade-in-arms, Commander He of the Cat Head Battalion, who has always been belittled by the entire army, a chance to show off. So that when all the commanders of the special forces units are having a meeting together, the superiors will no longer mention the Cat Head Battalion and the Dog Head Battalion in the same breath, saying they are both trump cards and number one. This time, we'll make them see who is the real trump card and who is number one! We'll shout loudly: "Capture the Cat Head! Capture the Cat Head!"

  Then Captain He came in. We stood up. Captain He said: "Can the motherfucker complete the task?!"

  "Got it!" More than a dozen people were still shouting like crazy in the mountains, what could the soldiers of the troops do?

  "Get his mother to drag him back here for me!" He Dui said, "Hei Hu's Lei Dui wants the living not to die and the dead not to live! The rest want the dead not to live!"

  "Yes!" The mountain roared back.

  "High school team!"

  "Arrived!" The Dog Head High School team is still the same, standing upright and looking cool.

  "Depart at 8 o'clock tonight!" He Dui said, pointing to his nose, "If you little brat still can't complete the task, I'll screw your mom's B*!"

  "Yes!" The Dog Head High School team hesitated for a moment, obviously still remembering the last time they were captured. I was worried in my heart, it seems that every time this matter is mentioned, the Dog Head High School team remembers it once, and it seems that this matter is not over yet, and we have to deal with the Dog Head High School team again, and they will definitely find another way to bully me. But before I could think more, He Dui spoke up: "What are you?!"

  "Wolf's Tooth!"

  "Who gave you your name?!"

  "Enemy!"

  "Why did the enemy call you Wolf's Teeth?!"

  "Because we are accurate! Because we are ruthless! Because we are not afraid to die! Because we dare to go to death!" We shouted at the top of our lungs. This is the oath of our Dog Head Brigade.

  "Your attitude is still okay!" Commander He looked at us, "Don't just talk big! Bring back Commander Lei and then talk big! Got it?!"

  "Yes!" We shouted at the top of our lungs.

  "We'll definitely bring back the Cat Head Squad's Lei Dui for you!" I suddenly blurted out, still a kid, seeing the cat head projection made me want to laugh, don't know why I said that. Everyone was stunned, what are you talking about at this time?! I shouted and realized my mistake. He Da-dui thought for a moment, his serious face cracked into a smile: "Good! The name Cat Head is great! If we catch Lei Dui back, I'll give him the name Cat Head Squad! We also have Wolf Tooth, Wolf Tooth! Good! Damn it, how come I didn't think of calling him Cat Head Squad?!"

  We just smiled and didn't dare tell Captain He that we actually called ourselves the "Dog Head Brigade". We went to prepare, eating a little food but not too much because we still had to run and it was best to be half full. Then we returned to the tent to check our weapons and equipment, replenish ammunition, prepare dry rations and water bottles, and put on makeup in front of a small mirror. At that time, our makeup was extremely good and very serious, each person's makeup was slightly different, not required by our superiors but something we pursued ourselves, seeking different styles. Soldiers also have their own personalities and hope to show off their individuality, we had no other place to express it, so we expressed it through the camouflage paint on our faces.

  Captain Mada likes to have a thick black stripe across his face all the way down to the collar of his polo shirt, I always say he looks like he has a caterpillar painted on his neck. I prefer two diagonal stripes, they're more eye-catching and I think they look cooler. Then we do a final check, carefully checking everything. We line up and board the helicopter with Dog Head High School team.

  All the brothers we met on the way shouted: "Beat the dog!"

  We shouted: "Catch the cat!"

  Everyone shouted along: "Catch the cat head! Catch the cat head!"

  They shouted with extremely serious attitudes, just like they were shouting "serve the people" with a serious bird-like face. Later I thought it was a kind of revolutionary romantic black humor. We brought a kind of anger to the war, this anger came from our brothers' humorous military style. At that time, we didn't know what humor was, but just felt it was funny. I also thought so, and thought the dog head vs cat head was absolutely a great show. But the dog head was obviously much more powerful than the cat head, a truth for many years. After we got on the helicopter, our brothers below shouted: "Catch the cat head! Hammer that damn cat head!" We also shouted: "Catch the cat head! Hammer that damn cat head!"

  We took off. Our dozen or so dog heads embarked on the journey to capture the cat head battalion, Lei's battalion. In the dark night, we clutched our rifles and flew low over the primeval forest. Ahead was the battlefield.