In the evening, the teaching brigade made a temporary camp.

When I solemnly walked into the tent, there were already many people sitting inside.

But no one spoke.

The tent was terrifyingly quiet, and there was a sad smell in the air.

He sat down on his bed, solemnly covered his face with his hands, and was silent for a long time.

Even though he had washed his hands, he still seemed to be able to smell the blood between his fingers.

That's the blood of the old confused......

When he sent the old confused man to the truck, he solemnly went up and took a hand.

The blood of the old daze, which flowed everywhere, mixed with the rain, stained the carriage boards red.

After a long time, solemnly took out a pack of cigarettes from under his pillow and took out the lighter.

I hit it several times, but the lighter didn't hit.

Finally, I lit it, and I ordered a total of three.

Walked over to the old confused bed, on which was stacked with a quilt like a tofu block.

He gently inserted the three cigarettes on the ground in front of the old confused bed, and then returned to his own bunk, his eyes red.

After a long time, Serious said in the dark: "It shouldn't be him......"

Right.

It really shouldn't be an old fool.

He was already injured in his foot, so he was left behind at the time, and it was he who sneaked into the car himself.

After soaking in water for a month, the old confused feet were a little swollen, and he should have rested, but he still got into the car this morning.

It's been more than a month.

Desperately here.

Old Confused is one of the daredevils.

Carrying a sandbag didn't exhaust him to death.

Jumped into the water to drive piles and was not swept away by the water.

Once, the waves swept him into the river along with seven other daredevils, and there happened to be an assault boat from the nearby bridge company on standby, and the seven of them were scooped up.

Survived.

survived eight flood peaks, and ships were resuming everywhere, but in the last few days, they were sacrificed.

The more solemn I thought about it, the sadder I became.

He remembered the time when the old man was hospitalized, bringing him food, chatting with him, listening to him tell his story, and his expectations for the unit with the word "special" on the small pocket of the arm of the camouflage uniform.

talked about his hazy feelings for bayberry. said that if he became an officer in the future, he must confess to Yangmei......

However, it was too late.

He saw the Huang Company Commander who was crying bitterly on the shore of Paizhou Flood District, and the private who knelt beside the instructor's corpse and cried in a mess.

After that time, solemnity never shed a tear again.

But when it came, it really happened to him, and the endless grief swept over him like a huge wave, pinning him to the bottom of the water, suffocating.

Old confused, won't come back......

A few days later, on 10 September, with the approval of the Central Military Commission and the General Defense Department, officers and men of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) navy, army, air force, and armed police units who had participated in the flood fighting and rescue efforts in northern Hubei and southern Hunan provinces began to withdraw from the flood fighting line and return to the barracks.

On the day of the evacuation of S City, the streets and roads to be passed through were full of colorful flags, a sea of red on both sides of the road, and the temporary triumphal arch read-

"Heroic deeds will always be remembered by the people!"

Bunting and all sorts of homemade cards and slogans were everywhere......

"Send your loved ones to the People's Liberation Army!"

"PLA, I love you!"

"Farewell to the soldiers today, I will be a soldier when I grow up!"

Gongs and drums are noisy, and colorful flags are flying.

Cries and cheers mingled into a sea of human voices.

Countless sweets, fruits, drinks, flowers rained down on the back compartment of the military vehicle and fell on the soldiers and officers.

The soldiers picked up the food, stuck it out of the car, and threw it back to the people.

Passing through Jingzhou, the road has long been surrounded by ordinary people.

Twenty minutes away, the convoy drove for more than two hours without being able to get out.

At the moment, there is no need to say much.

Whether it is the military or the civilian, they have a blood-like connection in each other's hearts.

Later, I heard that almost all of Jingzhou's 6 million people and 3,000 policemen took to the streets that day, sending each other day and night, without stopping for a moment, until all the troops left.

In the long queue of military vehicles, there was a truck with a tarpaulin down, and those who did not know thought that there was no one inside, perhaps just loaded with equipment.

In that car, there were more than 30 soldiers from the 3rd Squadron and 3rd District Squadron, and no one was willing to go out to receive a heroic farewell, and no one wanted to accept flowers and food from the masses.

Everyone sat neatly, silent all the way, and there was an empty spot in the middle, on which was a Type 91 camouflage rucksack.

There, it's the old confused location.

On the day they returned to the 1st Division's station, all the convoys got off at the large playground of the division headquarters, and then each of them lined up and took them back to their own camps.

The training team was more than a kilometer away from the division headquarters, and the team walked along the asphalt road in the 1st division barracks.

The surroundings were full of officers and soldiers of the units directly under the unit who had returned from the front line of flood fighting.

reconnaissance company, communications battalion, engineer battalion, guard company, etc......

The people left behind were holding gongs, drums and small red flags, standing on the side of the road and waving them, welcoming the warriors to return in triumph.

"The August 1st Army flag is flying high, ready to go!"

The squadron leader on duty raised his head, and the team began to sing in the rhythm of steps.

The song is loud, as if even the Feiyun Mountain in the distance can be shaken.

We have the discipline of steel,

We have lofty ideals,

We have the correct leadership of the party,

We are an invincible force.

Listen, the triumphant song of victory echoes on all sides,

Look, a new generation is thriving.

Advance! Pla

The August 1st military flag fluttered high......

……

Female soldier Yang Mei held a small red flag and stood on the edge of the large playground of the division headquarters.

She saw the flag of the teaching brigade and stood on tiptoe, trying to find her old classmate from the crowd.

However, the dark and peeling faces were all the same, and they couldn't be distinguished for a while.

Her eyes lit up, and she pulled the solemn person who was walking outside the team.

"Solemn, where is Zhang Jian!? Why didn't you see him? Yang Mei asked with a wink of big clear eyes.

Zhang Jian, this is the name of the old confused.

During the time when I was delivering food to the old confused, I was also familiar with Yangmei.

Under the gaze of Yangmei, the solemn face turned white.

Then, the three district teams collectively stopped.

Yangmei raised her eyes and swept over every soldier of the three district teams.

In the team, there was no Zhang Jian.

There was suddenly a layer of mist in her eyes, so she had to look at the seventh with the highest rank.

"Squad leader, what about Zhang Jian......"

Her voice was so small that even she couldn't hear it.

An unprovoked fear came up from the bottom of my heart.

Lao Qi lowered his head and his eyes were red.

More than 30 soldiers from the 3rd District Team bowed their heads or looked into the distance.

Then, the ranks of the 3rd Squadron also stopped not far away.

All looking this way.

"Luo ......"

The captain of the district on duty was about to ask Luo Xiaoming, the acting captain of the third district team, why he stopped.

Zhou Huping saw the clue, grabbed the district captain, and signaled him not to say anything.

"Solemn, what about Zhang Jian?"

Yang Mei plucked up her courage and asked again.

The old confused figure flashed in his mind like a marquee......

This time, the solemnity finally couldn't hold back.

"It's all his fault!" The emotions that had been solemnly held in his heart for a few days finally broke out, and he roared, as if he wanted to pour all his emotions into these words.

"Let him stay behind and let him do nothing, and quietly sneak into the car to fight the flood; He didn't listen to him when he was left to rest, but climbed into the truck carrying the stones. As a result, he collapsed while moving, and buried him with a bang. ”

After speaking, solemnly turned his face away, covered his eyes red with tears, and was silent for a long time.

The day after his return, Zhuang Zheng was called to the small conference room of the squadron.

"Sit." Zhou Huping stretched his chin towards the chair in front of him and motioned to sit down solemnly.

"Captain, is there something wrong with me?"

"Hmm." Zhou Huping opened the drawer, took out a form, and handed it to the solemn face, "Go back and fill in this thing immediately, and then hand it over to the paperwork." ”

His solemn gaze fell on the document, and he found that it was only a piece of paper with the words "Personal Merit Registration (Report) Form" written on it.

Make contributions?!

He looked at Zhou Huping in astonishment.

"What? Don't want it? Zhou Huping said: "Many people don't want it, and this time the flood fight, a district team has only one indicator." Your performance in Paizhou is very good, and the bridge has reacted over there, and you can be a typical tree. ”

"One?" solemnly stunned, and hurriedly asked, "What about my squad leader?" ”

"Luo Xiaoming?" Zhou Huping pondered for a moment and said: "He is the acting captain of the district, and there are people in the district team who have sacrificed, he is responsible, and he can't make meritorious contributions." ”

After speaking, he added: "I can't either." ”

"Then I can't ask for ......," solemnly pushed the watch back.

Zhou Huping didn't expect that Zhuang Yan would refuse to take the third-class merit, and it took a while to come to his senses.

"Are you stupid? Don't want third-class merit? Do you know how difficult it is to make meritorious contributions in times of peace? ”

Zhuang Yan still shook his head: "I don't want it." ”

"If you don't want it, you have to ask for it!" Zhou Huping said.

This is something he never expected.

"Captain, I can't ask for it, my squad leader is a daredevil, and he didn't even take it...... I'm not qualified enough. He solemnly said, "There is still an old confusion...... No, Zhang Jian......"

"Zhang Jian's matter, we have other arrangements, this is your third-class merit, it has nothing to do with others!"

"I don't want ......"

"This is not a wet market! There is no room for bargaining! Zhou Huping was furious and stood up with a slap on the table.

This soldier in front of him is so strong!

"You're a soldier! Orders must be obeyed! ”

The solemn chest rose and fell, and he wanted to say a lot of things, but he had never seen Zhou Huping so angry, and he didn't dare to say it.

"Solemn, this is decided by the team's research, the third-class merit is not a commodity, it can be given casually! Since you have decided to repay you, you must obey! ”

After Zhou Huping finished speaking, he pushed the form in front of the solemn face.

Solemnly got up from his chair, took the form, saluted, turned and walked away silently.

Instructor Wang Zengming walked out of the inner room, looked at the back of the solemn disappeared at the door, and asked Zhou Huping: "This kid is not willing to take the third-class merit?" ”

Zhou Huping lit a cigarette, took a puff and said, "Well, stinky temper!" ”

Wang Zengming said: "At the squadron meeting, you proposed to report to him, and I know your thoughts, but I support you." ”

Zhou Huping said: "Luo Xiaoming's side, the Political Department does not approve, what can I do?" Zhang Jian's death still has a great impact...... Not to mention ......"

Wang Zengming smiled: "What's more, solemnly, you want to stay in the teaching team as a coach and squad leader, right?" ”

Zhou Huping didn't speak, smoked silently, and looked out the window.

In September, the end of summer is approaching.

The osmanthus trees behind the barracks bloomed, and everywhere there was a refreshing fragrance.

Zhang Jian's memorial service was held in the auditorium of the Normal University three days later.

Yang Mei sat on the stool, feeling a chill surging up from the soles of her feet, looking at the black flat head of the teaching team, she knew that there would be no more Zhang Jian.

After not seeing him for more than a month, the vivid face was coldly inlaid in the frame and placed in the white paper flowers and elegiac couplets, strange and distant.

Yangmei didn't cry, and the military merit medal was hung in the center of Zhang Jian's posthumous portrait.

He's always wanted a military medal, and now he's finally fulfilled his dream, she thought.

From the day she knew about Zhang Jian's sacrifice, Yangmei never cried.

This state was maintained until the end of the memorial service, and the art troupe of the military region came to the division to give a condolence performance.

The last program of the night was a drama, and the theme was the battlefield in southern Xinjiang.

A soldier dying on the battlefield said to the female hygienist who came to the rescue, "Can you kiss me once?" I haven't kissed a girl yet. ”

When the pigtailed hygienist gently imprinted his first kiss on the little warrior's lips, and the warrior closed his eyes with a smile, the curtain slowly fell, and a tidal wave of applause rang out all around.

Yangmei, who didn't shed a single tear at the memorial service, suddenly cried bitterly, and the tears that had been in place for several days became a flood that burst the embankment, so that the people around stopped and looked at this female soldier who was crying terribly, and couldn't understand why she was so sad.

In September of that year, a lot happened.

In addition to the condolence performance of the art troupe, the division also organized a small military parade, because it was not held on August 1st, and this once-in-a-century flood fighting and rescue was carried out, so a review of the troops was also a way to celebrate the victory.

The task of the pacesetter in the parade is carried out by the teaching team, a total of four pacesetters, and the solemnity is one of them.

On the day of the parade, standing solemnly beside the parade road, gazing at the parade procession on the parade ground, like the winding and majestic Great Wall.

Under the Great Wall, the life of a soldier is forever frozen at the age of 20.

Looking at the young faces under the military flag, I solemnly found that the glory and ordinariness were at the same time.

Because of life, but also because of death.

。