Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 2800 The First Letter

The night was uneventful, and the battalion headquarters held a meeting the next day. Although Tan Shuangxi kept yawning, he still had to participate. This meeting is an "enlarged meeting" in which all officers and non-commissioned officers are present. As expected, as Sergeant Ma said, the meeting first announced an order for the entire battalion to rest for three months and the troops to reorganize. Therefore, there will be more personnel transfers.

"Make sure your mailing address is valid. New orders may be sent at any time."

At the same time, the application conditions for voluntary discharge were announced. Tan Shuangxi read a total of three items: a total of twenty-four months of overseas deployment during the service period; a total of three combat injuries; and an age of over thirty-five.

"In addition to these three items, if your family really has difficulties and needs retirement care, you can also submit an application. The Political Department of the General Staff will be responsible for review. One matter will be discussed on a one-by-one basis." Lin Fu added.

The horse sergeants naturally meet the standards. In fact, after careful calculation, many people in the camp are qualified. Tan Shuangxi knew that he could apply if he wanted to withdraw this time. However, he was not willing to give in to this reply. He didn't want Ma Shi to have a family business to run, even though at his level, as long as he obtained a Class B diploma, he would most likely be sent to the local government to become a "cadre" or something like that. But the salary and benefits are not as good as those in the army. Especially during this mainland campaign, the troops received additional "wartime allowances" in addition to their original military pay, and their income was several times what it was when they were stationed in the past.

After the meeting, Tan Shuangxi wanted to go back to the platoon to make arrangements, but was stopped by the battalion commander and held a small meeting. The attendees were specially selected sergeants from each company.

This time, it was Lin Fu who presided over the meeting, but the real protagonist was an officer from the Political Department of the General Staff whom he did not know. The content of the meeting was very simple: sergeants worked in pairs to deliver death notices and relics to the homes of fallen soldiers in the company.

"This is a very important job and may take up a lot of your time. I hope that everyone will adhere to the principles of patience and carefulness and deliver the relics and notices one by one to show humanistic care..."

Tan Shuangxi didn't understand the second half of what the officer said about humanistic care. He was completely confused.

"This is difficult!" Tan Shuangxi had repeated this sentence countless times. He subconsciously reached for a cigarette in his pocket, but the vibration under his butt made him suddenly realize that he was on the subway - smoking was prohibited on the train, so he retracted his hand.

Since getting in the car, he has read the sentences in the mission manual hundreds of times, but he still can't figure out how to say: "Your son/husband is dead."

"It's difficult!" Tan Shuangxi's temporary partner, Sergeant Zhang Laicai, also muttered, "What kind of mission is this!"

Zhang Lai is the "platoon sergeant" of his platoon, so he can't escape this job. His complaint is not just because the task is difficult to complete, but the key is that it also delays "good things". He had originally made an appointment with a "yellow ticket" who he was acquainted with before. They would have a meal in Dongmen City in the evening and then go to Wushan together. If you take this job, you won't be able to go to Wushan. You will have to cover the entire Lingao area, which will take at least two or three days. The muttering started at the camp gate.

"The mission is the mission, what's there to say." Although Tan Shuangxi was also full of complaints, he couldn't stand Zhang Laicai's eagerness to find a woman.

Zhang Laicai no longer muttered about "delaying things", but was a little worried. He glanced at the two bulging military backpacks on the luggage rack, lowered his voice and said to Tan Shuangxi: "Old Tan, what's going on here?" There are several who have nothing but the 'Medal of Glory', and the pension can only be based on the lowest one. Will the family members have any objections and cause trouble? "

"Trouble?" Tan Shuangxi never thought in this direction and did not react. Yes, there is such an even more difficult question. He couldn't help but take off his military cap and scratch the top of his head several times. Why embark on such an unfortunate task? Not to mention the bad luck, the main reason is that I can't open my mouth. This task is more difficult than attacking the hilltop position.

"That's not the case. When you are a soldier fighting, life or death is your destiny, so what's the point of making a fuss. Do they dare to make a fuss in the Ming Dynasty?"

"Isn't this the Ming Dynasty? If family members are dissatisfied, they can't let him speak out, right?"

"But what's the use of making trouble with us."

"It's not called making trouble, it's called having opinions at most." Tan Shuangxi warned, "Be careful with your words! If family members have opinions, we just say a few words of comfort. If you say anything unpleasant, just ignore it - people always say It’s a relative who has died, please be patient.”

"I understand this. This is not a policy and it was not decided by us."

"You just have to understand this. We went to deliver the relics to execute orders, not to solve problems." Tan Shuangxi said, "If you have any opinions, we can just listen and report them back."

"Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to take a vacation." Zhang Youcai began to sigh again, "How frustrating it is!"

Tan Shuangxi ignored him and focused his gaze on the empty seat on the opposite side of the carriage. It was already past the morning rush hour and everyone was working, farming and going to school. Except for the two of them, there were only a few vendors and odd jobs. There was a hawker huddled in a corner of the carriage, dozing off, with the straw hat on his face swaying as the carriage swayed. He almost fell off several times, but was pushed up again by him. "Military straw hat, Lingao Rattan Weapon Factory, one dollar and two cents exchange coupon...bastard! What are you thinking, why do you have these strange thoughts? Concentrate and think about what to say later... No, it's Cheng The high imitation version from Mai Woodware Factory only costs eighty-five...bastard..."

The two got off the bus at Fushan Station near the Lingao-Chengmai border. There are a total of eleven death notices to be sent, and the locations are distributed in every corner of Lingao. Among them are bustling thoroughfares like Dongmen City and Bobu Town, as well as villages and farms whose names I have never even heard of.

He and Zhang Laicai spent half a day together before setting off and decided to start from Fushan Town in the east of the county and complete the delivery in two days.

The first place is called Zhongxing Village. The name of the village was chosen by the elders. As China was reviving, the locals would not dare to be so bold in naming it. Since the village name was obtained by the elders, this village is naturally an immigrant village. Most of them were refugees transported from Shandong during Operation Engine. Later, refugees transported from Shandong Station, Jiangnan Station, Wuhan Station and other places were successively resettled. There were also some spontaneous immigrants. In a few years, it has become a large village with a population of more than a thousand.

As soon as you enter the village, according to the rules, you first go to the village chief to understand the situation. The Guo Dapeng house they were going to was actually just two old parents.

"How could he join the army with only his parents at home?" Tan Shuangxi was a little confused, because Guo Dapeng was drafted into the army before the mainland was conquered. At that time, the recruitment was "one out of three, two out of five". If Guo Dapeng was an only son, he would not be eligible for conscription.

"He had an older brother who thought he couldn't make money by farming, so he went to Nanyang with some oil company to recruit workers. It's been two years since he left, and he only replies to his letters every three to five months." The village chief led the way in a nonchalant manner. "The old couple also has a daughter. She was originally married in this village. Last year, the man went to Qiongnan to set up a plantation, and the daughter followed him. They are the only ones left in the village, alas!"

"How is his family's financial situation?"

"It's not bad. I don't have to worry about food and drink," the village chief said. "Both sons have sent money back. My daughter used to send food and clothing every now and then. After moving, she also sent things back."

After hearing this, the two of them were slightly relieved. Because Guo Dapeng is the fallen soldier who Zhang Youcai said "has only one medal of glory". The Guo family are relatively old and have other children to support them at home, so they probably won't cause trouble.

To be on the safe side, the village chief and militia captain accompanied him to Guo Dapeng's house.

The Guo family's house is on the edge of the village. It is a three-room tile-roofed house built by the Senate for the immigrants. White walls, black tiles, and fast-growing tree fences. There was a big yellow dog lying in the yard. When a stranger came in, he barked immediately. The village chief scolded him before he quieted down.

The door was unlocked, but no one was inside. The furnishings inside the house are simple and plain, and the sunlight shines in from the clean small windows, making the house warm and bright.

"Probably not at home. Most of them have gone to the fields now." The village chief said, "Let's go to the fields to look for them."

Along the way along the slowly flowing river under the shade of green trees, we found the vegetable garden. The vegetable field is very large, and the village chief said that it is used exclusively to grow vegetables for Tianchu Food Factory and Lingao Cannery Factory. Growing vegetables is a delicate job, but the labor intensity is relatively light. Since the Guo family had no labor force, they just did some garden work.

From the shelves set up for cucumbers and tomatoes, Tan Shuangxi distinguished two figures wrapped in white towels. They squatted among the green leaves, quietly doing farm work. The sound of footsteps made the old man and the old lady turn around. They saw the village chief and the militia captain bringing two unfamiliar Fubo sergeants. The old man stood up with difficulty, as if he had a premonition of something, and looked straight with his slender eyes. Wearing the military uniforms worn by Tan Shuangxi and the others.

"This is it," the militia captain said softly.

"It's time to say something." Tan Shuangxi's head was spinning rapidly, but he couldn't say a word. He felt Zhang Laicai touch his leg, and he opened his mouth, but no words came out.

The old lady also stood up. She looked at this group of ominous people with wide eyes, as if she wanted to say something.

"Black egg...Dapeng?" The old man pulled down the towel on his head and wiped the sweat from his head and asked in a low voice. His new language was good, with a slight Shandong accent, which reminded Tan Shuangxi of several northern soldiers under his command.

Tan Shuangxi saluted reflexively, then quickly took off his hat and said with difficulty: "Guo Dapeng, he, he was killed in battle!" Then he remembered something.

The old man paused, as if he didn't understand what death in battle meant. Suddenly his whole body shook. He stretched out his two hands and grasped in the air, as if he wanted to grab something. The village chief quickly went up to help him, and the old man waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I'm just dizzy for a while. It's an old problem." He stayed there for a long time, then nodded to the sergeants and said, "It's hard for the two presidents to live so far away." I’m going to take a trip and sit at home.”