Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 24: Turbulence (2)

  Xifang is a small village with only dozens of households. The 8th Company and the 3rd Battalion headquarters are stationed here. The battalion headquarters is in the village, while the 8th Company lives in the thatched sheds outside the village. Du Yuming's elder brother Du Yichang and Xu Jishen serve as platoon leaders in the 8th Company. Battalion Commander Wang Jun was a geography instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy, graduated from the Japanese Army Officer School, and is an old subordinate of Wang Boling.

  Zhuang Jihua arrived at the camp, Zheng Dongguo came out with two soldiers from inside. One of them was carrying a bucket of paint and the other was carrying a long bench. At first glance, it was clear that they were going to brush slogans.

  Zhuang Jihua didn't dare to be slow and first gave Zheng Dongguo a salute, then smiled and said: "The party representative is painting personally, it's hard work."

  When Zheng Dongguo saw Zhuang Jihua coming, he was very happy. He was an honest man who didn't mind Zhuang Jihua's jokes and knew that he couldn't outtalk him, so he didn't take the bait. Instead, he walked up to Zhuang Jihua and punched his shoulder, then smiled and asked: "Wenge, how did you come? The training plan your newspaper submitted two days ago scared Coach Wang half to death. Fortunately, it was you, Zhu Wenge. If it were someone else, the coach would definitely not have approved."

  "Easy does it, you've hurt me. Our three battalions haven't even taken the battlefield yet and we've already lost a company commander." said Zhuang Jihua with a smile.

  "Go on, go on, Zhuang Jihua is a paper paste, say it out loud, how did you come up with this plan?"

  Zhuang Jihua helplessly said: "I also have no way, it was forced out."

  "Driven out? Who drove him out?" Zheng Dongguo asked in puzzlement.

  Zhuang Jihua looked at the two soldiers and didn't say a word. Zheng Dongguo hastily ordered the two soldiers to take the things to the 8th company first, and he would follow later.

  After the two soldiers walked away, Zhuang Jihua pulled Zheng Dongguo to a corner and quietly told him his judgment about going to the battlefield. Zheng Dongguo listened with some surprise and asked: "What did the principal say to you?"

  "No, the principal would not tell me this. I judged it myself, you just need to know about it, don't spread it out, this is just my judgment, if it's not accurate, losing face is a small matter, but confusing the troops is a big deal." Zhuang Jihua was still relatively at ease with Zheng Dongguo, according to his observations in school, this person spoke and acted very steadily, he believed that he would not spread rumors.

  "That's for sure." Zheng Dongguo nodded, but he still had some doubts: "Do you really think we'll be going into battle so soon?" Zhuang Jihua said in a low voice: "I'm 80% certain, let's just wait and see."

  Zheng Dongguo still had great confidence in Zhuang Jihua. To mention nothing else, during the graduation exercise, he led less than 500 men to defeat two battalions of the First Division's First Regiment, which was enough to earn his trust. Later, it was revealed that the battle plan of the First Regiment was personally drafted by Commander-in-Chief He Yingqin, which made all the students of the first period even prouder.

  "So what brings you here today? Are you going to suggest to Captain Wang that your training methods be promoted throughout the entire camp?" Zheng Dongguo asked.

  "I'm here to request disciplinary action." Zhuang Jihua thought, "Am I that arrogant?" To tell my superiors that their plan won't work and to do it my way, isn't that asking for trouble? "We had an incident where two soldiers escaped and were caught, I handled it without reporting it."

  "Shot dead!?" Zheng Dongguo asked worriedly, this was also something he had to ask about, so he was a bit nervous.

  "No, three days of closure." Zhuang Jihua seemed to realize Zheng Dongguo's party representative identity at this time, and quickly took out the report he had written and handed it over to him.

  Zheng Dongguo took it over and looked at it carefully, then thought for a moment and asked: "Are you sure this method is effective?"

  "It's already taken effect. Now all the soldiers are mobilized, training is very self-aware, and cultural studies are also very serious. In the words of Mengguo, those who were originally unable to kick out a fart now seem to have opened up."

  "Oh! That's great, I'll go to your company that day to take a look, and if it's effective, we'll promote it throughout the whole camp. You don't know, it's really hard to carry out ideological work in the whole camp, the methods used in school seem not to work." Zheng Dongguo also faced the same problem as Cao Yuan, the soldiers' quality was low, they didn't understand the methods taught in military school. So when he heard that the seventh company's ideological work had achieved results, he immediately felt an unexpected surprise.

  "But you'd better discuss with Captain Wang about handling deserters on your own initiative. Let's go together."

  "Never mind, I'll go in first. You finish your business and come over later, it's no big deal." Zhuang Jihua said nonchalantly.

  "Alright, I'll get busy first. Before you leave, be sure to come over and say goodbye." Zheng Dongguo also thought it was nothing. With the status of Wen Ge in Principal Wang's mind, he wouldn't dare not give face to the principal, no matter what.

  But things always have unexpected turns, Wang Jun looked at Zhuang Jihua's report and got angry with a red face, thinking that you Zhuang Jihua handled it before reporting to me, what do you think I am? Now it's like this, how can I command you in the future? So he thought about it more and more angrily, and couldn't get over it. He slammed Zhuang Jihua's report on the table loudly and said: "Zhuang Lianzhang, I want to ask you, why are you reporting now? Where do you put me as your superior? Where do you put the regiment commander? Speak!

  Zhuang Jihua knew that Wang Jun would be uncomfortable, so he planned to let Wang Jun vent his anger first, and then apologize in a low voice, requesting punishment; then explain in detail what he had thought at the time, so as to persuade him. However, unexpectedly, Wang Jun suddenly became furious, his voice shaking the grass on the roof.

  Zhuang Jihua had a bad feeling, today is going to be tougher than he thought.

  "Reporting to the company commander, I was in a fit of rage at that time, so I handled it. After thinking about it later, I realized it was against military discipline, so I request punishment."

  "Hmph, smack!" Wang Jun let out two snorts from his nostrils, then slammed his palm on the table: "You still know how to ask for punishment, take a look at this report, it's a request for punishment! You're showing off. Are you thinking I should go praise you to my superiors, huh?"

  Wang Jun walked up to Zhuang Jihua and stared at him, saying: "You're really something, Zhuang Jihua. You don't care about the principal's instructions or military discipline. You do whatever you want, is that right?"

  "Deserters are beyond my authority to deal with, but you dare to deal with them. You're stronger than me. This battalion commander position should be yours, no, the regimental commander position should be yours."

  Zhuang Jihua didn't dare respond anymore, now he knew trouble was big.