Chapter 145: Departure, a new starting point
The days go by.
Except for the initial excitement in the company when we received the notice, no one mentioned it afterwards.
After all, Chen Mo is studying in a military academy, not retiring from the army. It is a happy event, so there is no need to make it too sentimental.
Time passed quickly and it was May 7th. The order to set off was finally issued to the company.
In the reconnaissance company canteen.
Because of Chen Mo's departure, all the soldiers in the company had a sumptuous meal of dumplings again.
This richness does not refer to the variety, but to the fact that many veterans in the company personally washed their hands, rolled up their sleeves, kneaded the dough, chopped the stuffing, and made the dumplings stuffed with mutton and cabbage.
At the company dining table.
Cheng Dong, Huo Linshan, Lao Pao, Hou Zhanye, Liang Hongjie and others were all there.
Watching Chen Mo lowering his head to pick at the dumplings, stuffing them into his mouth one by one, until his eating speed visibly slowed down and he began to swallow with difficulty.
Lao Pao smiled, raised his hand and patted Chen Mo on the back, saying: "Okay, if you can't eat anymore, don't eat it. Don't vomit it again when you get on the bus later."
"Remember when you go to school, don't be so eager to show off. Study hard and acquire knowledge and skills. That's what's most important."
"Do you understand?"
"I know, squad leader." Chen Mo swallowed the last dumpling in the bowl with all his might, then raised his hand to wipe his mouth and responded quickly.
It’s not that he is greedy, but the people in the company are too enthusiastic. The company commander and the instructor each gave him more food once.
Soldiers are not good at expressing their emotions, especially Cheng Dong, who kept urging him to eat more. Chen Mo didn't want to reject the company commander's kindness.
Seeing that the rice in the bowl was all eaten, Cheng Dong looked down at the time on his watch and waved his hand, "Okay, are you done packing up?"
"Xiao Liang, drive Xiucai to the Political Department for the gathering. Someone will call out their names there. The military district will be responsible for arranging vehicles to transport this group of comrades entering the school to Shimen."
"I've pretty much said everything I need to say these past few days. Damn it, remember to call the company when you get to school. Don't act like you've disappeared just because you left."
"Get lost."
"Let's go." Liang Hongjie stood up first, and Chen Mo followed suit, stood at attention, and raised his hand to salute.
This salute is a tribute to both the cadres and the veterans in the company.
He hadn't been in the reconnaissance company for long, but the people here were all nice to him, especially recently, when he was the only private left in the company, and these veterans were particularly enthusiastic.
Now it's time to go, all the farewells are contained in this salute.
The ceremony is over!
Chen Mo picked up the bag at his feet and strode out of the cafeteria accompanied by Liang Hongjie.
All the members of the company quietly followed the company commander to the canteen door. They stopped tacitly, some waved goodbye, and some stood with their hands on their hips and stared at him.
Some people lowered their heads to light cigarettes, while others stood upright with their hands behind their backs.
Seeing that Chen Mo had already walked to the distant dormitory building and was about to get on the car, Wang Jianyong, who had the best relationship with him privately, said loudly: "Xiucai, don't forget, the third company will always be your home."
"Remember to come back after you finish your studies. If you dare to go anywhere else, I'll bring you back."
"Haha, Lao Wang, don't brag. The next time you see Xiucai, he'll be a platoon leader. Would you dare to arrest him?"
“Hahahahahahahaha.”
The bursts of laughter dispelled the sadness of parting. In fact, it was not that everyone could not wait for these ten months.
But the large-scale disarmament has not yet been completed, and no one knows who will be leaving when the latest disarmament order comes down.
Even Chen Mo doesn’t know whether the reconnaissance company will still be there next year, let alone others.
"Don't worry, squad leader, I will definitely come back."
Chen Mo responded to the crowd in the distance with a smile, then opened the passenger door and got in.
The vehicle starts.
We drove away from the military camp and also left Kuchi Village.
Liang Hongjie was not concentrating while driving, and turned his head to look at Chen Mo from time to time, making Chen Mo, who was looking around the scenery, feel uncomfortable.
"Platoon leader, is there something wrong?"
"Indeed, there is something wrong, scholar. Why don't you take off those private epaulettes? The company commander didn't ask you to keep them, and there's no need for you to wear them all the time."
"If you bring this thing to school, you'll probably become a celebrity in your major very quickly."
"Private recommendation, do you know what that means?"
Without waiting for Chen Mo's response, Liang Hongjie continued, "Come to think of it, you really should thank me for drinking too much that night. The three spies helped you get admitted. You're so lucky."
"Do you know our company's quartermaster? It's Liu Rengao. I heard from the deputy company commander that in 1996, the central government issued a directive requiring all units to appoint quartermasters as officers. At that time, squad leader Liu should have been recommended."
"In the end, I don't know if there were enough quotas that year or what, but this matter never came to fruition. Squad Leader Liu has been looking at you with envy these past few days. You should keep a low profile, kid."
"No wonder." Chen Mo nodded slightly after hearing Liang Hongjie's words.
"No wonder what?"
"No, no."
Chen Mo didn't continue. He had been wondering why the quartermaster was not very familiar with him.
But they have been very active in recent days. These veterans are so energetic that they often stand at the head of his bed in the morning, waiting for him to wake up.
Gather all your strength to torment him.
The most active among them was the quartermaster, who often told him some things to pay attention to when entering the school.
Chen Mo always thought that this was Liu Rengao's concern. Now that he thinks about it, it is very likely that the things that Liu the squad leader prepared himself were not used, so he was passing on his experience to him.
In 1996, the Kyoto Military Headquarters did issue a document stating that the post of Chief of Staff of the entire army must be held by cadres.
At that time, a large number of people were indeed given opportunities for promotion.
But what can be said about this matter? Some of the vacancies have been replaced, some of them are indeed not enough, and there are too many grassroots units, so it is impossible to implement it overnight.
Even in later generations, the chief stewards of many units are still non-commissioned officers.
The headquarters of the 7th Armored Brigade is not close to the Military Region Political Department. The headquarters of the 63rd Army is in Taiyuan, and it takes nearly four hours to get there.
If others need to go there for a gathering, the company basically won’t care and they have to find a way to get there by bus.
How can a soldier be afraid to go out?
But Chen Mo couldn't do that. As a private, according to the army regulations, he was not allowed to travel alone.
We set out at around eight or nine in the morning and didn't arrive at Wuchen Road in Taiyusn until noon.
The military district requires that all personnel who receive the notice gather at the entrance of the logistics department opposite the military headquarters gate before 3 pm.
Chen Mo was very familiar with the military headquarters. Along the way, he looked at the scenery of Wucheng Road, and scenes of his past life flooded into his mind like a flood.
Chen Mo was sitting in the car, gazing out the window intently. When he passed the military communications station on the west side of the military compound, he hurriedly patted Liang Hongjie and said, "Platoon leader, please stop here."
"Here? Are we there yet?"
Lao Liang stepped on the brakes and picked up the map in his hand to compare it carefully. In that era, there was no navigation, and long-distance travel relied entirely on a paper map and road signs to identify the route.
"Not there yet." Chen Mo pointed to the left side of the road: "This is the military communications station. I remember there's a noodle restaurant here that's pretty good."
"Come on, I'll treat you to some noodles."
"I can walk to the meeting place by myself later."
After Chen Mo finished speaking, he pushed the door and got out of the car.
Liang Hongjie was stunned. Damn! Is this place familiar to the scholar?
With confusion.
Lao Liang waited for Chen Mo to get out of the car before parking it on the side of the road and getting out with him.
After walking for a while, I actually saw a restaurant selling oil-splashed noodles.
When they sat down at the dinner table, Chen Mo opened two bottles of soda and handed them to Liang Hongjie, but Liang was still confused: "Scholar, how are you familiar with this place?"
"I heard it from someone."
Seeing the familiar street scene and sitting in the small noodle shop he had been to before, Chen Mo was obviously in a good mood.
He bit the straw in his mouth and pointed eastward. "Let's go out and walk about 300 meters. We'll reach the south gate of the military headquarters. Diagonally across from the south gate is the entrance to the logistics department, where we're supposed to assemble."
"Don't worry, Platoon Leader. I'm also a scout. I'm sure I won't get lost. You can go back after dinner."
"The return trip will take several hours."
Hearing this, Liang Hongjie nodded with doubt, and he didn't ask any more questions.
Anyway, Xiucai always comes up with some incredible theories. Not only is he very fast at learning things, but he is often more familiar with some things than himself, a platoon leader with five years of military service.
Lao Liang has adapted to it himself.
While eating noodles, Chen Mo couldn't help but get excited. He was not hungry, but the key point was that the platoon leader had worked so hard to bring him here.
I must express it.
To be honest, even he himself did not expect that the road to promotion in this life would be so smooth.
The dreams you made before entering the camp will soon come true.
After dinner.
Chen Mo repeatedly declined Liang Pai's offer of companionship, promising that he would not get lost, and then walked to the door of the logistics department with his luggage.
Maybe promotion is a big deal.
At this time, there were still two hours before the time required by the military district, and there were already twenty or thirty people standing at the entrance of the logistics department.
Most of them were first-class non-commissioned officers, with a few privates first class and a few second-class non-commissioned officers, either standing or squatting nearby waiting.
These were all members of the 63rd Army, but Chen Mo was not familiar with them. This group in May was completely different from the group in November of his previous life.
Adhering to the principle of not showing off when going out, Chen Mo found a place at the base of a wall out of the sun, threw his bag on the ground, sat there and waited.
Occasionally, someone nearby would look over, but seeing that he was just a private, no one came up to say hello.
No one would think that a private could be promoted.
As time went on, more and more people gathered, reaching as many as fifty or sixty people.
Chen Mo has been observing the new group of people coming.
You know, to be honest, there are not many people who can stand here because of their academic performance. Most of them are talented people who have been promoted due to their meritorious service.
There are even some first-class heroes among them.
Although Chen Mo's experience, including his second-class merit, is worthy of pride, it is not worth mentioning in front of these people.
The value of a first-class merit is far higher than that of a second-class merit. Being able to survive means crawling out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
But Chen Mo has one advantage.
He is not one to give up easily. The more challenging the environment is, the more motivated he becomes.
This time when I go to the military academy, I can't just compete in physical fitness with these shirtless men. I have to find a way to enrich my resume and think about making meritorious deeds.
He had been thinking about getting close to the political commissar, but before he could do so, he was thrown out of school.
If you want to go further and stand higher in the future, the thicker your file is, the better.
Of course, this thickness requires real talent, and the thickness supported by the disciplinary notice does not count.
While Chen Mo was immersed in his own plan, two buses slowly drove out from the military compound diagonally opposite, circled around, and stopped at the open space in front of the logistics department.
The car door opened.
A lieutenant colonel held a whistle in his hand, glanced at the crowd, put the whistle in his mouth and blew it.
“Beep-beep!!”
"Everyone assemble!!"
With a loud shout, everyone who was sitting nearby, including Chen Mo, immediately stood up and began to line up.
After watching the formation take shape, the lieutenant colonel returned to the bus and retrieved a roster. He said, "I'll call the roll now. Comrades whose names are called, please respond loudly, 'Here,' then come up to me and sign in to board the bus."
"Before we set off, I'll just reiterate this one more time."
"My name is Zhai Hongtao, and I'm the officer in charge of taking you to Shimen Military Academy. It will take about four hours."
"We'll only stop once, and the bus will leave in ten minutes. I hope you won't keep me waiting. If anyone can't make it, don't tell me. Find a way to get there yourself."
"Because you are not my soldiers and I don't know you, to reduce the time wasted by constant roll call during the journey, please maintain discipline."
"Now we'll start the roll call."
"Yu Guowei!"
"arrive!"
"Pang Xiaojie!"
"arrive!"
“.”
"Chen Mo!"
"arrive!"
After hearing his name, Chen Mo at the back of the queue responded and strode to the front of the queue.
Zhai Hongtao, who had originally looked serious, smiled when he saw Chen Mo coming over. He handed over the autograph book in his hand and said with a smile: "Scholar, congratulations!"
"Thank you, Chief!"
Chen Mo was stunned for a moment. The person in front of him looked very unfamiliar to him.
It seemed as if she saw his doubt.
Zhai Hongtao smiled and said, "Do you remember when Director Tao went to your recruit company and awarded you the Second Class Merit? I was there."
"I remember, I definitely remember."
Chen Mo chuckled, he didn't remember anything.
When the second-class merit was awarded, it was Tao Ruichang, director of the military region's political department, who personally awarded it. There was a large group of cadres behind him, and he didn't have a computer in his head.
How is it possible to remember them all?
But in this kind of situation, even if you don’t know the person, you have to pretend to know him or her.
After signing his name, Chen Mo returned the roster and stood at attention, saying, "Captain, I'm getting in the car."
"Go ahead."
Zhai Hongtao waved his hand. He had an impression of Chen Mo because the spy he caught that time even alarmed the people of Guoan.
This time, it was Director Tao who proposed the promotion, which allowed Xiucai to be included in the list with almost no obstacles.
Otherwise, we are currently in the midst of a major military downsizing, and countless people would want to borrow this quota.
It’s hard to say without the person with the star on his shoulder saying anything.
Chen Mo didn't know that Old Man Tao was so loyal. He came to the bus with his luggage and sat down.
I watched the people who were called get on the bus one by one.
After waiting for about ten minutes and no one came, the two buses started.
Drive straight to Shimen.
Looking at the buildings receding outside the car window, Chen Mo's mood began to fluctuate.
Shimen Army Academy, located in the western suburbs at the foot of Taihang Mountains, is called "Military Academy City" by the locals.
It will be his next new starting point.
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