in2ebook Chapter 309 Fight!
Chapter 309 Fight!
Everyone was somewhat at a loss, but they could only obey orders, quickly climbing onto the truck one by one. The truck then sped away, bumping along the way. Although it was night, they could vaguely see the rolling mountains in the distance. This unit came from the northern Central Plains and rarely saw such dark, towering mountains.
Zhang Haiyang said,
"Have we really arrived in Yunnan?"
Two hours later, his words came true. Their unit arrived at their final destination, the assembly point in Malipo County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province. In front of a large open space, various branches of the armed forces had already assembled. Tents were pitched, campfires were burning, some were on guard duty, others were maintaining order, and more troops were continuously joining the assembly. The number of people was large, a dark mass, but everything was orderly.
Various howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, pontoon bridges, tanks... stood by. We had seen this kind of setup in previous exercises, but the atmosphere of impending battle and the grim atmosphere on the scene tonight were unprecedented. Everyone experienced it firsthand. After all, no matter how many exercises there are, they are not as unforgettable as a real war.
Although Zhong Yuemin had given them a heads-up beforehand, it wasn't until this moment that everyone finally gave up.
"It's a real war!" Zhang Haiyang blurted out, swearing.
"Scared?"
Zhong Yuemin asked.
"I'm not so much scared, just a little nervous!"
Zhang Haiyang answered truthfully. From the moment he got off the train and onto the truck, all the way to the assembly point, he held his gun tightly and remained on high alert, without even realizing it.
"That's normal. Once the battle starts, you won't be nervous anymore. Just relax!"
Zhong Yuemin said:
"The darkness before dawn is the most agonizing."
"Yuemin, the way you're talking is like a general who's been through a hundred battles. What, you're really not afraid of death?"
"I'm scared! But what's the use?"
Zhong Yuemin said to everyone:
"Don't be afraid. Shells on the battlefield specifically target those who are afraid to die. The more cowardly you are, the more they will target you. On the contrary, if you fight bravely, the shells will avoid you."
After resting briefly at the assembly point, their commander, who had just attended a combat meeting, returned. All other branches of the armed forces were reassigned to the already assembled units, but their reconnaissance company remained. Their commander was none other than their former leader, Liu Yonghua, the former company commander, who was now a regimental commander.
His former squad leader, Wang Tiezhu, became his deputy, the deputy battalion commander.
Liu Yonghua first scanned the crowd with his eyes, his expression solemn, and then began to speak:
"Now that we're here, I don't think I need to say anything more, right? You've all seen it for yourselves. This isn't a drill; we're going to fight those monkeys on the other side. To be honest, I only found out a few minutes ago, and I'm a little scared..."
"Commander Liu, just give us the task. It's just killing monkeys, right? Let's take care of them!"
It was Zhang Haiyang who spoke. Logically, he shouldn't be in the reconnaissance battalion; he belongs to the military region's staff department and is not under Liu Yonghua's jurisdiction.
Seeing that everyone was eager to try, and couldn't wait any longer—not only him, but also Zhong Yuemin, Ning Wei, and the others beside him—Liu Yonghua was surprised.
"Staff Officer Zhang, Battalion Commander Zhong, I'm not joking with you, I'm not trying to scare you. This is real combat, not an exercise."
Last year, similar long-range raid exercises were held five or six times, more frequently than ever before, which caused some complaints. Now that there's no war going on, why the need for such a large-scale mobilization? Now I understand, it was all preparation for today's battle, a counterattack against Vietnam. The higher-ups probably already had a plan for this.