Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 21: Deserters (Part 1)

  That afternoon, the fourth company commander Wu Ziniu spent the day in solitary confinement, while Zhuang Jihua supervised training on the training ground. Every time he took a break, he chatted with soldiers from different companies, bragging and boasting about his military consciousness, national consciousness, and collective consciousness.

  Cao Yuan looked at Zhuang Jihua and the soldiers chatting about off-color jokes with a hint of jealousy, humming a few lewd tunes. The soldiers surprisingly liked it, and their approval of Zhuang Jihua was even stronger than Cao's, who was in charge of political ideology work.

  Zhuang Jihua had many more tricks up his sleeve. One afternoon, while chatting with Hua Chun about picking up girls, Zhuang Jihua looked down on Hua Chun's techniques. Zhuang Jihua told Hua Chun that he needed to improve his methods and use different tactics for different types of girls. For example, if a girl liked romance, you should give her roses, preferably at night in a quiet place with candles lit in the shape of a heart - that would make her want to jump off a building with him. If a girl was vain, you had to use money to impress her; if you didn't have money, you had to cheat, such as bribing the doorman or sales associates to say that the restaurant was full or the clothes were sold out when Hua Chun brought a girl there. In short, Zhuang Jihua's methods were varied and innovative, leaving Hua Chun in awe and making Cao Yuan suspect that Zhuang Jihua must have been a ladies' man in his previous life - otherwise, how could he know so much?

  Li Xiaoman impatiently said, "What's the big deal? Just do it. Who cares if she wants to or not? We have guns, what are we afraid of?" Wu Ziniu coldly said, "That's rape, and you'll be shot for it." Zhuang Jihua suddenly became agitated and said, "Rape isn't a big deal either. It's just one way for soldiers to satisfy their physical needs." He then explained what physical needs were and finally said that men thinking about those things was normal, and only eunuchs didn't think about them. However, he added that as long as it wasn't on their own territory, it was fine.

  Li Xiaoman asked with great interest, "Where is it okay?" Zhuang Jihua gave him a cold look and said, "On the enemy's land. You can do whatever you want there." Li Xiaoman nodded in satisfaction, but Zhuang Jihua immediately added, "I mean on the enemy country's land, which means neither Chen Jiongming nor Wu Peifu's territory is okay."

  Li Xiaoman looked disappointed and asked, "Which country is the enemy?" Zhuang Jihua smiled and said, "For example, England, America, France, or Japan." Li Xiaoman looked dejected and said, "That still means it's not okay," causing everyone to burst out laughing.

  However, Zhuang Jihua did not expect that twenty years later, when he brought Wu Ziniu to Tokyo, Wu Ziniu actually raped a Japanese woman and was caught by the US military police. When Wu Ziniu was brought before him, he still spoke with confidence, saying it was what Zhuang Jihua had said, that in an enemy country, anything goes. This left Zhuang Jihua puzzled for a long time, wondering when he had ever said such a thing. However, Wu Ziniu couldn't find any witnesses to prove his claim, because everyone who had heard him say it was already dead. But Wu Ziniu's remark, "Why are only Americans allowed to rape, not me? I'm also from a victorious country," made all the high-ranking military officers present burst out laughing at the time.

  At night, 10 kilometers of cross-country running, Zhuang Jihua was very satisfied to see that each class began to arrange tactics. From head to toe, the sequence of classes was basically neat and tidy. The time difference between returning to the playground in front and behind was not large, and his overall concept began to be accepted by the soldiers.

  It was not long after Zhuang Jihua and Cao Yuan fell asleep in Lian's quarters that they heard the sound of Hu Zongnan knocking at the door.

  "Company Commander, Company Commander, something's happened."

  Zhuang Jihua hastily opened the door and immediately asked: "What's wrong? What happened?"

  "Somebody has run away." Hu Zongnan said anxiously.

  Zhuang Jihua was caught off guard and ran away. What did he run away from? Hu Zongnan, seeing his expression, added: "The two Korean-born Zhao Gou Dan have escaped."

  Zhuang Jihua suddenly realized that he had encountered a deserter. Cao Yuan also became anxious and asked, "When was it discovered? How long has it been running? Is there a gun?"

  "I don't know, I just found out that their nests have already been abandoned and the guns are still there." Hu Zongnan said hastily.

  "Don't worry, go and wake up all the soldiers you've arranged, we'll catch them." Zhuang Jihua said nonchalantly, he had already thought it through. This was on Huangpu Island, at night there were no boats, where could they go? They could only wander around the island, and by dawn the next day they would either go to Lianhua Village in the east or Jiangkou in the west to find a boat. Neither of these places had boats going out to sea at night, as long as they arrived before dawn, they would be able to catch them."

  He and Hu Zongnan each led a team in different directions, while Squad Leader Wang Xiaoshan led several people to the north, Cao Yuan stayed behind to guard the company, responsible for reporting messages and presiding over tomorrow's training.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, in the morning, Hu Zongnan caught the two of them at Lianhuacun. These two were a bit clever and knew that Jiangkou was a town with constabulary patrols.

  Zhuang Jihua returned to the company when the soldiers in the company already knew that the two had escaped and been caught back, and there was no way to know, so the two were tied to the pillars on both sides of the playground, and the squad leaders were using this to educate the new recruits under their command.

  "Look at him, this is what happens to deserters."

  "Monitor, are they really going to be shot?"

  "Nonsense, can a deserter escape death?"

  "Even if you don't die, at least you'll get fifty lashes."

  "That year when I was a new recruit, there were also people who ran away. When they were caught and beheaded, the whole regiment watched the execution. This is called 'killing one to warn a hundred'."

  "Don't watch anymore, go back and train, you'll know when Lian Zhang comes back."

  As soon as they heard Zhuang Jihua's footsteps, the two of them looked up. Zhuang Jihua saw that their faces had obvious signs of being beaten and their clothes were torn. The two of them almost simultaneously cried out: "Commander Lian, spare me!" "Commander Lian, I won't dare again, spare me!"

  "Don't cry," said Zhuang Jihua irritably, pacing back and forth in front of the two of them. He was indecisive, unsure of how to handle the situation.

  As soon as he heard that the two had escaped, his anger was great, but by the time he led the team out, he had calmed down and began to think about how to deal with them after they were caught. In fact, it would be simpler if they ran away, he could just report and ask for punishment, catching them back would be more troublesome. He didn't want to kill the two, but not killing them would also encourage other new recruits to do the same, who could bear that?

  Zhuang Jihua walked back and forth in front of the two, feeling both angry and pitiful towards them. He let out a cold hum and returned to the company headquarters. Afterwards, three platoon leaders were summoned into the company headquarters, while the soldiers on the drill ground looked at the direction of the company headquarters with complex emotions.

  "The man has been caught and brought back, how should we deal with him now? Everyone give your opinions." Zhuang Jihua said to the four people with a heavy heart.

  "It goes without saying, kill one to warn a hundred, execute by firing squad." Hu Zongnan said with a murderous tone, both of them were in his ranks, which made him feel extremely humiliated, and his strong sense of self-respect prompted him to make up his mind to eliminate the tumor.

  "Killing might not be suitable, I suggest fifty lashes for each person." Du Yuming did not remain silent this time, usually his words were much fewer.

  "Kill, deserters are not killed, later on the battlefield these people will all run away." Song Xi also suggested killing.

  Yuquan, what about you? As a party representative, shouldn't you also express your opinion?" Zhuang Jihua saw Cao Yu sinking into silence.

  "I've been thinking, why did they want to run?" Cao Yuan pondered and said: "After you left, I was thinking about this question. These soldiers weren't captured, but were recruited. Since no one forced them at first, why did they come and then want to run?"

  Zhuang Jihua was also thinking about this issue, in the past he heard that the KMT soldiers were all conscripted, but these soldiers weren't conscripted, so why did they still want to run away.

  "Why run, afraid of death? When being a soldier and fighting, don't put your head in your pants. This kind of soldier is just a coward." Song Xilian shouted angrily, it's clear what's going on, what else can you think?

  "I don't agree to execute them, I suggest reporting to the team's political department." Cao Yuan made up his mind. Executing deserters must be reported, so the three platoon leaders also agreed to report, but the opinions on handling it could not be unified.

  Cao Yuan believed that since corporal punishment of soldiers had just been abolished, flogging was not permissible and he also did not agree to execute the two men. Du Yuming disagreed with execution but agreed with flogging. Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian strongly advocated for execution, killing one as a warning to hundred, and Hu Zongnan warned Zhuang Jihua that if this was not done, these soldiers would likely all run away in future battles on the eastern front.

  Hu Zongnan's words moved Zhuang Jihua, but the education that his past life's soul was more important than anything else made him hesitate. He asked Song Xilian for a cigarette, he had never smoked in either his past or present lives, but today he broke his vow.

  Others see him wanting to smoke, knowing his hesitation, no longer disturb him, each sitting there, silently thinking their own thoughts.

  Zhuang Jihua lit a cigarette and didn't really inhale, just letting it pass through his mouth before spitting it out.

  To be or not to be, that is the question.

  He had never thought that his words could decide the life and death of others. To kill, two lives would be gone; not to kill, others would follow suit; without going into battle, the troops would collapse. Suddenly, a mouthful of smoke slipped into his throat, causing him a violent fit of coughing.

  He extinguished the cigarette and had the two men taken to a solitary confinement cell, telling the sentry to be careful not to let them escape again. Then he had Squad Leader Wang Xiaoshan summoned.

  After Wang Xiaoshan came in, Zhuang Jihua directly asked him how the two people usually behaved and if they had any complaints.

  Wang Xiaoshan thought for a moment and said, "The two of them were fine usually, Han Wensheng and Zhao Goudan are fellow villagers, they're always whispering to each other, that's why I suspected they wanted to run away, but I didn't think they would actually do it."

  "Nonsense! They didn't run on the way here, but now that they're on the island, they want to run? This doesn't make sense. Are you bullying them?" Zhuang Jihua's words were rapid and urgent.