Chapter 45: The unexpected "happiness"

When I sent the child to the hospital, I bandaged the wound myself. It was already past three o'clock in the morning when I returned to the camp. The hot noodle soup that Sun Yuanchao promised was already served, and the soldiers were eating with relish! Seeing me and two soldiers escorting me in, Sun Yuanchao stood up and said loudly:

"Our hero is back, everyone is clamoring!"

The soldiers immediately put down their bowls and chopsticks, stood up neatly and applauded me. I felt a little embarrassed to make a pose of pressing down with both hands and said:

"Brothers, don't be polite! Keep eating! Everyone is exhausted!"

After saying that, I also found a seat to sit down. A soldier had already served me a bowl of noodles. I was not polite, so I took it and ate it. After busy in the heavy rain for a long time, I was already exhausted.

After eating the noodles with voracious food, Sun Yuanchao stood up and said:

"Thank you all tonight! Now go back and rest quickly. The morning fuck will be cancelled tomorrow, and the wake-up time will be delayed by two hours!"

Everyone cheered and walked towards the dormitory, and I stood up. At this time, Ye Xiaoyan came over and asked in a low voice:

"Platform Commander Lu, your injury is fine!"

I turned my head and looked at her gratefully and said:

"No big problem! Thank you, Director Ye for your concern!"

Ye Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment and said:

"Platform Commander Lu, I... do you have time? I want to talk to you."

She saw me hesitating and said quickly:

"I promise I won't ask you about privacy questions!"

I thought about it and said with a smile:

"Although I'm very tired, I can't refuse the beauty's request! Haha, Mr. Ye, let's talk outside!"

After saying that, I turned around and walked out of the canteen.

There was still wind and rain outside, and occasionally there were one or two dull thunders. We stood at the entrance of the canteen. Ye Xiaoyan lowered her head and didn't speak for a long time. I asked:

"Director Ye, please ask if you have any questions! I will definitely cooperate with you!"

Ye Xiaoyan raised her head and asked:

"Platform Commander Lu, I just want to know what you thought of when you rushed over to save the soldier?"

I laughed in silence and said:

"What do you think I can think? At that time, where would there be time to think about it? Seeing that a squad leader was in danger, I rushed over. It was a completely instinctive reaction. Well... I really didn't think about anything at that time! My mind was blank at that moment. I wonder if I was satisfied with what I answered like this?"

Ye Xiaoyan smiled and said:

"I just want the true thoughts in your heart, as long as they are your true words, I will be satisfied!"

I quickly said:

"Really! Absolutely true!"

Ye Xiaoyan asked with a smile:

"Platform Commander Lu, my second question is: What do you think is the value of the existence of contemporary soldiers? War now seems to be very far away from us. What do you think is the motivation to move forward like you who have not experienced life-and-death battles on the battlefield, a young officer who has achieved success as soon as he leaves the school gate?"

Her words immediately made me fall into memories. When it comes to life and death, I don’t lack it. That trip to Japan gave me a brilliant mark on my military career and brought a huge change to my attitude towards life. The bloody scene that caught my eyes, the windows with rolling smoke, and the shocking wounds, I felt for the first time that the distance between life and death was actually so close...

When Ye Xiaoyan saw me silent, she asked carefully:

"Platform Commander Lu, is this question difficult to answer?"

I smiled and shook my head, and asked back:

"Staff Secretary Ye, do you know the war to resist the U.S. aggression and aid Korea and the self-defense fight against Vietnam?"

Ye Xiaoyan nodded in confusion, and I asked again with a smile:

"Then do you know how the performance of our soldiers in these two wars is different?"

Ye Xiaoyan tilted her head and thought for a while, and said:

"Platform Commander Lu, just say it! I am not an expert in military history, I don't understand these."

I smiled and continued:

"Pure personal opinion, I think the courage shown by Chinese soldiers on the Korean battlefield is the kind of bravery that has been through many battles and has long been numb to life and death. In the fight against Vietnam, I have seen relevant information about Vietnam War and real battlefield videos. I think the courage of our soldiers is completely inspired by ideological education and combat mobilization. This is completely different from those volunteer soldiers on the Korean battlefield who have experienced countless battles in the Liberation War."

Ye Xiaoyan seemed to understand a little, and she looked at me and asked:

"so what?"

I smiled and said:

"So, I think the true value of soldiers is reflected in the battlefield. Only soldiers who have experienced the baptism of war can be calm when dealing with war. However, soldiers in peaceful times have outstanding achievements, as long as they are not military achievements, they are not worth mentioning. Just like my first-class merit, it is nothing at all!"

There is still a sentence in my mind that I didn’t say: “Soldiers who have experienced war are also the ones who hate war the most!”

Ye Xiaoyan asked in confusion:

"So according to the logic of platoon leader Lu, isn't your actions tonight meaningless?"

I smiled and shook my head and said:

"You really broke the baton and asked to the end! I remember what we just discussed was the value of the life of soldiers. This has nothing to do with the action tonight. We saved three lives tonight, and this is the full significance of this action."

Ye Xiaoyan nodded thoughtfully and said:

"What you said seems to make sense, but I see your expression when you speak, it seems like you have experienced such bloody storms!"

I quickly shook my head and said:

"How is that possible! Our generation has no chance to experience it!"

Ye Xiaoyan opened her mouth and was about to speak, when the correspondent ran over and said:

"Line-row leader, it turns out you are here! Go to the company headquarters! The division commander is coming to see you!"

I was stunned for a moment when I heard this, and nodded immediately and said:

"Okay, I'll go there right away!"

Then I turned to Ye Xiaoyan and said, "Sorry, Officer Ye, let's talk about it if you have time another day."

Ye Xiaoyan nodded understandingly. I nodded at her apologetically, and then ran to the company.

At the office of the company, I sorted out my military appearance. This is my habit. Although my clothes are dirty, I must be strict and clean, at least not open my chest and back.

I shouted in a deep voice at the door:

"Report!"

Sun Yuanchao shouted in the room: "Come in!"

I pushed open the door and went in, and saw that the room was filled with smoke. Sun Yuanchao and Wu Yanfeng were sitting there with a colonel. The colonel was about forty years old, tall and big, with a sense of majesty on his dark face. He was holding a cigarette in his hand and was chatting with the company commander and instructor. When he saw me pushing the door in, he looked at me with interest. I immediately stood at attention and then saluted a standard military salute.

The colonel nodded with a smile, and Sun Yuanchao said to him:

"Chief of Staff, this is the platoon leader Lu Changfeng who saved people."

The colonel kept staring at me and ignored Sun Yuanchao's words. Sun Yuanchao said to me again:

"The first row leader, this is Chief of Staff Ye of our division."

I was a little uncomfortable being stared at by the Chief of Staff and said:

"Hello, Chief! I am Lu Changfeng, the leader in rows of rows!"

The Chief of Staff then came to his senses and squeezed out a word from his throat:

"Um!"

Now Sun Yuanchao and Wu Yanfeng don’t know what to say. It was originally Chief of Staff Ye who wanted to see me, but now I came in, but he didn’t say anything.

The room suddenly became quiet, and the scene became a little awkward. After a long time, Chief of Staff Ye said:

"Young man, I just heard the introduction of your company commander and instructor. I want to ask you a question!"

I didn't know what medicine he sold in his gourd, so I nodded blankly and said:

"Please speak, please."

The chief of staff asked expressionlessly:

"If on the battlefield, a commander exchanges his life for the life of a soldier, do you think it's worth it?"

I was stunned. His meaning was clearer, but I didn't understand. A leader of an army not only disagrees with the heroic behavior of his subordinates, but instead criticizes him. Why is this for?

I thought about it and said:

"Chief, I think some things cannot be measured by whether they are worth it or not. Saving people is completely my instinctive reaction. And if I take a step back, I will save him even if I have time to consider it, because soldiers must be led by their own hearts. Only when we give our sincerity can we get the support of soldiers, and this group will have cohesion!"

The Chief of Staff did not seem to hear me and said impatiently:

"I'll ask if this behavior is worth it! Don't touch on other aspects!"

Sun Yuanchao and Wu Yanfeng kept winking at me and signaled me not to contradict the leader. I pretended not to see their winks and said without hesitation:

"I think it's worth it! First of all, no one knows whether people can be saved before saving people, and no one knows whether their lives will endanger. If they don't save people, the warrior will definitely be finished. Secondly, even if they know that their lives will endanger, I will still do it, because if I don't save them, the whole collective will be disintegrated. If on the battlefield, my platoon does not need the enemy's attack, and it will collapse by itself. On the contrary, if I go to save them, I can greatly improve cohesion. Even if I sacrifice and change to someone, the morale of our platoon will still be there, and I will even be even more sad and angry because of my sacrifice. In this way, in a sense, this is also beneficial to the war!"
To be continued...