In this extremely bad environment, honor was earned by many soldiers with their lives. It was the wind on the frontier, the rain on the battlefield, and the scars caused by the sun.
It is every bullet hole focusing on the bullseye, a determination, a loyalty, a perseverance, a fall, getting up and continuing to move forward, and the courage to shine the sword at the critical moment to guard the door of the motherland behind you.
More than 90% of the soldiers of the Second Company of Border Defense have black and sunken fingernails, purple complexions, and peeling skin. This is caused by long-term lack of oxygen and malnutrition on the plateau.
The border defense force cannot be understood by the information composed of fonts on the document, nor can it be explained in one or two sentences.
When Chen Ming heard the instructor's words, "Which class in the Second Company of Border Defense has no shortage of people," he felt sad. These were indeed details he had never learned from the information.
Yes, the environment in their border defense force is difficult and the work is dangerous. It is a difficult place to retain people.
Even if ordinary recruits stay in the company for two years, they will basically choose to retire in a hurry. There are very few people who choose to stay in the team every year.
Coupled with the occasional conflicts or natural disasters faced during patrols, the encirclement and suppression of some unknown elements must be carried out in this harsh environment.
If the battle becomes fierce, they will face attrition at any time.
Over the years, even if the Second Border Defense Company would withdraw every once in a while and let other companies come and garrison, they would still come up sooner or later. It is hard to imagine that for such a famous ace company, they have not realized for a long time what a full complement is. What a feeling.
Numbers are always scarce.
How did Chen Ming know that the regular class of the Second Border Defense Company usually has about ten people, but here, each class can generally maintain seven people, which is already quite good.
Instructor Geng Yanrong paused and sighed: "Then let's go to Class 1 and Class 2. Two people from that class just left the army two days ago. Now there are only five people in the class including the squad leader. Let Chen Ming take the lead. "
A class of five people is only one-half of a regular class, and many tasks cannot be carried out.
Even if there is a war, even the conventional three-three system coordination cannot be formed, and it really needs to be supplemented.
The company commander Wu Xueliang listened, was silent for a while, nodded and said: "Okay, then let's move to the second squad in a row."
One row and two shifts.
Hearing this, Chen Ming was slightly startled, and he couldn't help but sigh, fate is really a wonderful thing.
When the new recruit was assigned to the company, the only place he stayed was the second squad of the first platoon of the Second Battalion of Yuanhuo. Unexpectedly, this time when he joined the grassroots level, he was assigned to the second squad of the first platoon.
While his thoughts were filled with emotion, the company commander stood up and smiled at Chen Ming: "Let's go, I'll take you to see your new class. It's not the second class's turn to patrol today. It should be a break for the team at this time."
After saying that, Wu Xueliang walked out of the office first, followed closely by the instructor, and Chen Ming quickly followed. He looked at the time and saw that it was almost ten o'clock in the evening. Even if there was no patrol mission, it was time to close the team. ?
Just because it gets dark late in southern Xinjiang this season, we can't stop the team, right?
But it was hard for him to ask when he first arrived.
When the company commander and instructor came out of the office, they did not go to the dormitory. They took Chen Ming straight out of the company gate, walked five or six hundred meters along the spot where he had just gone up the mountain, and turned to a small road on the left.
After walking about seven or eight hundred meters, a very steep slope appeared in front of us. It was about forty or fifty degrees by visual inspection. The entire slope was a hundred meters long, leading directly to the top of the mountain.
On the slope, there were nineteen figures sprinting again, all of them blushing, holding back their strength and rushing towards the top of the slope.
Under the refraction of the light reflected by the white snow, the figures of these nineteen people seemed to be glowing.
At the bottom of the slope, a second lieutenant platoon leader stood up straight, staring at the slope, watching the performance of the people rushing up the slope.
Company commander Wu Xueliang, instructor Geng Yanrong and Chen Ming walked behind the platoon leader. He seemed to hear some noise coming from behind. The platoon leader turned his head and glanced. After realizing that the leader was coming, he hurriedly saluted: "Company commander." Good looks, good instructor!"
Chen Ming took a brief look at the platoon leader. If nothing else happened, he should be in charge of this person during his time at the grassroots level.
Company Commander Wu Xueliang waved his hand with a smile, indicating that he did not need to be polite. He smiled and glanced at Chen Ming: "Old Cao, let the comrades gather together. I have something to announce."
The platoon leader known as Lao Cao, whose name is Cao Fei, is quite thin, but he is so lean that he gives the impression that his thin body contains strong explosive power.
Cao Fei nodded heavily. After noticing the company commander's eyes, he also glanced at Chen Ming. Then he picked up the whistle on his chest, blew it and shouted: "Assemble."
The soldiers who were rushing down the slope in the distance heard the sound of whistles, like a pack of wolves howling. They moved in unison, ignoring the steep slope, and rushed down the mountainside collectively.
Run this way quickly.
While the soldiers were coming down the mountain, company commander Wu Xueliang pointed at the second lieutenant platoon leader and introduced with a smile: "Chen Ming, this is your future platoon leader, and his name is Cao Fei."
Then he turned to Cao Fei and said: "Old Cao, the ones assigned by the superiors are considered veterans. Aren't there only five people in the second class of your first platoon now? Put him in your second class. You can join more Have some snacks and let people know about our company.”
"yes!!"
Platoon leader Cao Fei had no expression on his face. After responding to the company commander's arrangement, he just glanced at Chen Ming and asked in a cold voice: "Are you Chen Ming?"
"Yes, platoon leader." Chen Ming quickly stood up at attention, took a step forward, saluted Cao Fei, and responded with a sonorous voice.
But this performance did not ease the expression on Cao Fei's face. He nodded slightly and said, "Well, welcome."
The words that came out of his mouth and the expression on his face did not look like a welcome.
Chen Ming looked at the paralyzed expression on his face and couldn't help but murmur in his heart, good guy, isn't this border defense company short of people?
Why does it seem like there is no shortage of people?
Or maybe he was very lucky. When he first entered the military camp, he met Zhao Lifei, a man who was known for his unsmiling nature. Now that he had just joined the grassroots level, he met Zhao Lifei again.
However, there are still some differences between the two of them. As the recruit squad leader, Zhao Lifei has a black face that does not reflect the situation but the person. He is simply very coquettish and aloof. He doesn't like to smile because it looks ugly.
But Cao Fei didn't seem to be pretending. His expression and his eyes made him really a very calm person.
You can't blame him. Chen Ming's military uniform is a new one, company, and military rank. Looking at his young face and wearing a brand new military uniform, he looks like a fledgling recruit.
The border defense force is not a regular force. If you know how to be tactful, you can get along. Cao Fei is worried that soldiers like Chen Ming will either be arranged by someone above to come here for gold plating, or they will be too unlucky to be thrown here and find it difficult to adapt.
At most he could only stay for a few days and cry, and then look forward to being discharged or applying for transfer. His military uniform was really incompatible with all the soldiers of the Second Border Defense Company.
The water supply here is extremely scarce, coupled with the bad weather, the military uniforms are almost fading, and they look dirty and almost patinated.
But this is not the case. Military uniforms are very clean, but they are not durable due to environmental reasons.
At the moment when Chen Ming was muttering, the soldiers rushing up the slope, holding steel guns, came to gather neatly.
With a faint smile on his face, company commander Wu Xueliang walked up to the soldiers and said with a smile: "Comrades, the main reason I came here today is to introduce our new members to you."
After saying that, he waved his hand and motioned for Chen Ming to come forward, patted his shoulder, and continued to say to the soldier: "This is Comrade Chen Ming. The original unit was disbanded due to reorganization, and the new one assigned to our unit was Comrade."
"Although I am only twenty-four years old this year, I have five years of military service. I hope you can get along well in the future and make progress together."
After the company commander finished speaking, the soldiers in the team clapped symbolically, just like what Chen Ming said when he met the sentry when he first arrived.
Maybe their second border defense company hasn't had any new faces for a long time.
The soldiers who were lining up were applauding, and their curious eyes were constantly looking at Chen Ming. There was something new and a little bit of excitement in their eyes.
Maybe they have been facing the snowy mountains, black soil, and harsh environment here all day long, and it is a very novel thing for them to suddenly have a new person and a new face.
After the applause fell, the company commander shouted loudly to the soldiers in formation: "Second squad leader."
"arrive."
"The new comrades will be placed in your class first. You can get used to them in the past few days and take more care of the new comrades. We will try to complete the adjustment as soon as possible and perform tasks together."
"yes."
After the company commander finished speaking, in the queue, a second-term monitor who was as strong as a brown bear stepped out and saluted heavily.
Chen Ming stood in front of the queue and clearly saw that in addition to the squad leader, there were four other people in the queue who looked at him with bright eyes. If he guessed correctly, these four people should also be from the second squad. .
Maybe it was the long-lost enthusiasm of the grassroots company that had returned. Chen Ming looked at them and inexplicably began to look forward to the days he would spend in the second company of border defense in the next few months.
After the company commander introduced Chen Ming, he left here with the instructor.
Platoon leader Cao Fei originally wanted to continue training, but looking at the strange faces of the second class, he was not in the mood to stand in line. Then he saw that Chen Ming was still holding a backpack in his hand and wearing regular clothes, so he simply waved his hand and announced that they were disbanded. .
Originally, this was not the time for training, and it was already dark. However, due to the high altitude, coupled with the white snow and moonlight, compared with the daytime, except for the less dazzling light, the difference was not that big.
"Each squad, put your guns in storage and go back and prepare to rest."
"Disband."
"What about that? New comrades are here. We all know each other. Let's go to the cafeteria to see what food is available and prepare some food."
After Cao Fei made the announcement, he turned around and left.
Soldiers from other squads followed behind the platoon leader, looking back at Chen Ming and the military uniform he was wearing, full of curiosity.
On the contrary, on the second class side, after everyone else had gone away, the few people who looked novel just now became a little shy.
With a silly smile, he walked over and surrounded Chen Ming, looking up and down, but no one spoke.
There were only five people in their class including the squad leader. After looking at each other for more than forty seconds, a thin and youngest-looking upper class soldier stretched out his hand and rubbed it on his pants seriously, and said with a smile: "Hello, brother, My name is Wu Bing."
"Hehe, thanks to you, this is the first time in half a year that we have ended our evening training early."
"Haha, finally a new person has joined. If you stand guard the day after tomorrow, you can save a few hours."
"Squad leader, don't be so dumbfounded. A newcomer is here. Why don't you prepare some game to entertain us?"
"Chen Ming, right? Come on, give me your bag, let's go back to the dormitory first."
~~~~~~~
A group of soldiers from the second squad gathered around and chattered, but there was no chance for him to interrupt.
It was not as Chen Ming initially expected. The border guards were particularly fierce and would look for trouble when they came over. On the contrary, these people were very enthusiastic.
Faced with this situation, Chen Ming could only smile with a smile on his face when he saw the other person's enthusiasm.
Surrounded by five people, he followed them back to the dormitory.
Rao had been mentally prepared for a long time, but when he really saw the dormitory environment, Chen Ming found that he was wrong again, so wrong.
He still underestimated how crude the dormitory of the Second Company of Border Defense was.
The dormitory is a row of small bungalows, with a total of twelve rooms, nine combat classes, plus a cooking class, one room for each class.
The three platoon commanders have one room, and the company commander and instructor have one room. The allocation can be said to be simple and rough.
Entering the room, it is even more simple.
Five bunk beds are arranged in two rows. At the end of the room, there is a cabinet with ten compartments for storing personal belongings.
There is a chandelier hanging on the top in the middle, which is the whole dormitory.
There isn’t even a toilet. If you want to go to the toilet, you have to go out and walk to a public hut about fifty meters away. If you want to take a shower, there is a shower room next to the dining hall opposite the dormitory. There is a sink outside the shower room where you can wash your hands in the morning. There.
After hearing this introduction, Chen Ming was a little confused. Even if he had never been to the border defense force, he had at least seen some in military newspapers and military news.
Many border defense troops in the Southern Xinjiang Military Region have built new barracks. It was even more difficult in the past. Many border defense troops did not even have their own barracks. They had to go to distant barracks for accommodation and meals. They could only patrol while standing guard. will come when the time comes.
Later, with the development of the domestic economy, the army carried out extensive upgrades to the border defense environment. Why are the conditions here still so primitive?
Chen Ming put his things on the bed, looked at the soldiers following behind him, and couldn't help but asked in surprise: "We are also troops after all?"
"And it's still a relatively dangerous border guard force. Even the toilets are now toilets. Such conditions."
Chen Ming didn't say any more. After all, he had just arrived, and it would be pretentious to talk too much.
But although the above advocates saving in all aspects and implementing the principle of frugality, you still have to spend money where it should be spent, right?
Looking at his surprised face, the monitor who looked like a bear came up, scratched his head naively, and said with an awkward smile: "There is no way, our place is too remote, there are a lot of big equipment We can’t even transport it, and it’s troublesome to hire workers.”
"We do a lot of things ourselves. We can paint, pave the road, build a bed, dig a toilet, etc. We can do all these ourselves."
"In addition, we have a large number of border defense troops, and national construction must be done step by step, so we will make do with it first."
Yes, Chen Ming nodded slightly as he recovered. Even if they are called infrastructure madmen, building things still requires equipment and time.
Although the conditions here are simple, at least everything is complete. Many items look like they were made by themselves, such as the lame table in the company commander's office.
The road here is really bad. Just transporting large bricks is a big problem, not to mention workers and pipeline problems.
Even a toilet is so difficult, and other infrastructure construction must be done step by step.
Even if Chen Ming had already prepared his mind well, he could only sigh when faced with this environment.
He was really not being hypocritical. He could accept all kinds of hardships, but the fact that he had to run fifty meters away from the toilet was a bit uncomfortable.
After all, it is quite cold here at night. If I have diarrhea one night, I just think that I have to hold the paper in one hand and cover my butt with the other hand, and run for fifty meters under the bright moonlight before I can run for a thousand miles.
Well, this picture is so beautiful that Chen Ming can’t even imagine it.
It seemed that his hesitation caused some silence in the second class. Wu Bing, who took the initiative to talk to Chen Ming just now, pursed his lips and said with a lonely expression: "Brother, since the border defense troops are here, you have to do what you want." It’s hard work.”
"If you can't bear the hardship, then you should hurry up and apply for transfer. If you know someone in other units and there are people in other units who are willing to accept you, our company commander will not force you to stay."
"As long as you write an application and ask for a place, the company commander will let you go."
Walk? ! !
Chen Ming was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that maybe he had been too obvious just now, causing them to get the wrong meaning.
He looked at the soldiers from the second squad, sitting beside his bed one by one, looking at him with a look of regret and loneliness on his face.
It seems that there should be many people like him who were transferred here before, but they couldn't stay long and applied for transfer again.
Not everyone can endure the hardships of border defense. There is always a gap between imagination and reality.
Chen Ming smiled, and now he would look very pale when explaining anything, so he asked casually: "Then since our company commander will release people, why don't you write an application?"
"us?"
When several soldiers from the second squad heard the inquiry, their eyes seemed to shine a little brighter.
One of the tall and thin soldiers looked up and said with a smile: "If everyone leaves, who will guard the country's gate?"
"I took the initiative to apply to be transferred to the border guard. I will not leave."
"Haha, I won't leave either. Is it hard to guard the border? Is it hard? If I don't do it anymore, wouldn't I be spoiling myself?"
"When your heart is steady, your hands will be steady. When your hands are steady, you will be steady."
"Whether it's bitter or not, whether I can withstand it or not is not something I should consider. I am young and frivolous, and my youth is exciting. I guard the battlefield and set sail with my dreams."
"Haha, I won't leave either. The squad leader praised me for my rapid progress here, but I know that my rapid progress is because of my low starting point, but that doesn't matter. I dare to defend the country, and I am proud of it."
(End of chapter)
