aircannonsinc Page 119
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"I have no other thoughts, but the army commander has placed all his bets on our division this time, and I believe everyone is well aware of that. We can't let the army commander down!"
We cannot let the army commander down.
Chapter 183 Bloodstained Style
Time flies, and it's almost the end of the year.
This year, Fang Zhenhua decided to gather everyone he could during the Spring Festival.
For example, Zhao Mengsheng, who has become the political commissar of the military, and Liu Anguo, who rarely appeared in public before.
And now Gong Kaichen, who is the Party Secretary of Handong Province, and Zheng Bingyi, the Governor of Dongjiang Province.
This includes Pei Yihong, the current Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Executive Vice Governor of Hanjiang Province.
That's right, Pei Yihong's position is now the same as Liu Anguo's.
Some people may be curious about this position: how can the executive vice governor concurrently serve as the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee?
The reason is actually quite simple: we are currently in an era of one principal and multiple deputies.
Let alone the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee concurrently serving as the executive vice governor, it's possible that the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee could also concurrently serve as the head of the provincial organization department or the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee could also concurrently serve as the chairman of the provincial political consultative conference.
The final decision on the situation of one secretary and two deputies will take more than ten years. Only then will there be talk of a full-time deputy secretary of the provincial party committee.
Moreover, this time Lao Fang decided to recruit Yue Jun as well. Yue Jun is now a division-level cadre, and he has great potential. Fang Zhenghua believes that it won't be long before he will be able to cross the threshold of deputy army-level.
This is a gathering of their small circle, and it has profound significance.
So when he returned to Beijing, Lao Fang brought Yue Jun and Jin Kailai with him.
However, Fang Zhenhua could not have imagined that this trip back to Beijing would bring him a huge shock and also create another opportunity for Qi Tongwei.
On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, it was already close to New Year's Eve.
Iron Blood Club, a newly established club in Beijing, has chosen to close down.
Although it's said to be closed for the day, it's actually still open for business inside; it's just that it's not serving anyone today.
The major shareholder behind the Iron Blood Club is Mr. Fok from Hong Kong Island.
Actually, you can tell where he comes from just from his name.
Fang Zhenhua came with Yue Jun and Jin Kailai. The manager of the Iron Blood Club was very familiar with Fang Zhenhua, and when they arrived, he took the initiative to go up to them and say hello.
"Sir, Political Commissar Zhao and Division Commander Liang have arrived, but Army Commander Gao and Secretary Gong are not yet here. Political Commissar Zhao has already informed me that you should go directly to the small film room after you arrive."
The Iron Blood Club has a dedicated movie room where new films are shown from time to time.
Old Fang was somewhat bewildered by Zhao Mengsheng's actions, but he still nodded slightly and led Yue Jun and Jin Kailai to the third floor in the elevator.
Inside the elevator, Lao Fang remained silent, but Jin Kailai, the outspoken one, took the initiative to speak.
"Why is the instructor being so mysterious this time? He's not usually like this! And Sanxi is here too, could there be something else going on?"
Yue Jun tugged at Jin Kailai's sleeve, then gestured towards Fang Zhenhua with his lip, signaling Old Jin to be quiet.
After the elevator doors opened, Fang Zhenhua got out and went straight to the small movie room.
When he pushed open the door to the small movie room, it was dimly lit, but two middle-aged soldiers could be vaguely seen inside.
At this moment, Fang Zhenhua, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.
"What's going on? Why were we suddenly brought to the small movie room?"
Liang Sanxi remained silent; instead, it was Zhao Mengsheng, who was sitting upright in his seat, who spoke.
"Sit down first. You'll understand why once Lao Gao and Kaihua arrive."
"I've already informed the club. Once Secretary Gong and the others arrive, they'll head straight to the private room."
The implication was that only these few soldiers were in the small conference room.
Old Fang was full of questions, but he still chose to sit down.
Jin Kailai is a straightforward person. If you ask him not to understand these things, he really can't help himself. However, after taking a closer look at Zhao Mengsheng and Liang Sanxi's expressions and finding that the two of them were somewhat serious, he stopped talking.
A while later, Gao Degong and Lei Kaihua arrived. As soon as Gao entered the movie room, he started shouting loudly.
"Hey guys, I haven't even had time to spend with my old man at home. I came here to get together with you all, and now you've called me here to watch a movie? What's the deal with that?"
Old Fang sat there without saying a word, but Zhao Mengsheng spoke up.
"Old Gao and Kaihua are here? Alright, now everyone's here, please sit down! This time I'll show you a documentary."
Gao Degong sat down next to Lao Fang and then asked softly.
"Old Fang, what's wrong with your brother-in-law?!"
"I do not know either."
Fang Zhenhua remained seated, genuinely unaware of Zhao Mengsheng's true intentions.
However, Lao Fang knew that this secret would soon be revealed.
As the club's projectionist began the film, a screen appeared in the dimly lit movie room, accompanied by an extremely exciting sound.
[Xinhua News Agency, February 17]
As soon as that voice rang out, everyone in the movie room, except for Zhao Mengsheng and Liang Sanxi, changed their expressions.
Others may not know, but for these people, it is all too familiar.
This war was fought by their generation of soldiers, and everyone here has made outstanding contributions in this war.
How could they not be familiar with them?
The documentary was playing slowly.
When the scene shifted to the eastern front, Fang Zhenhua clearly heard someone crying beside him.
Gao Degong, this tough guy, cried.
At this moment, on the screen were several young soldiers rolling on landmines. Looking at the introduction of the troops on the screen, Fang Zhenhua understood.
This is the battalion that Lao Gao used to be in.
Time passed slowly, and suddenly Fang Zhenhua saw a familiar scene, a familiar mountain.
Is that Kouling Mountain?
Old Fang's expression turned extremely serious; he seemed to have learned something.
Fang Zhenhua was the company commander of the Steel Knife Company at Kouling Mountain during the battle to recapture it.
Lao Fang himself never expected that the battle at Kouling Mountain would be recorded by a war correspondent from the Dashe News Agency.
Gradually, as the documentary played, Fang Zhenhua's serious expression became increasingly complicated, and tears welled up in his eyes.
When the film was shown at Balihe Dongshan, where one man fought five others.
Fang Zhenhua had already begun to sob quietly. The camera then shifted to the troops who had come to relieve the garrison on the east mountain of Balihe, only to find the ground littered with the remains of martyrs and the wounded soldiers.
Fang Zhenhua could no longer contain himself; he let out a long, mournful howl like a wounded beast.
At that moment, Fang Zhenhua, the recognized champion, was in tears. He clenched his fists and kept pounding his chest.
He kept shouting, "Those are all my soldiers, my soldiers, my soldiers... It hurts so much..."
In Fang Zhenhua's mind, there are two things that are taboo, and few people in his family dare to talk about them in front of him.
One was the Battle of Kouling Mountain, and the other was the Battle of Balihe East Mountain.
The war was won, and Fang Zhenhua made a name for himself in battle, but countless soldiers fell on the battlefield.
This isn't just being sentimental. It's often said that a general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand soldiers, but for Fang Zhenhua, he led his soldiers to the battlefield, but he didn't bring them home.
More than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye.
This matter had been buried deep in Fang Zhenhua's heart, but Zhao Mengsheng brought it up again today.
The documentary was very touching, but Yue Jun and Jin Kailai were somewhat confused. Was Zhao Mengsheng just trying to reopen Lao Fang's wounds?
The lights in the movie room came on. Fang Zhenhua took a tissue from Lei Kaihua, wiped his eyes, and gave a wry smile.
"It made everyone laugh."
Of all those present, who would laugh at him?
Who among these people didn't shed tears just now? It wasn't just Fang Zhenhua.
"Speak! Why did you ask us to come here today?"
After Fang Zhenhua calmed down, he said quietly.
Zhao Mengsheng did not speak; his expression was somewhat serious.
But Liang Sanxi spoke up.
"Do you guys still remember Zhu Zi?"
Fang Zhenhua, Jin Kailai, and Lei Kaihua immediately thought of the bugler who was about the same age as Lei Kaihua more than ten years ago, the man who lost both legs in the war.
"The pillar is gone."
Liang Sanxi's words left Fang Zhenhua somewhat confused, and he turned to look at Zhao Mengsheng.
"Zhu Zi, what happened to him? Hasn't the subsidy association been helping them all these years?"
Zhao Mengsheng said with a stern face.
"Zhu Zi didn't die of illness; he died unjustly."
"go on."
As Zhao Mengsheng recounted the story, everyone learned the whole truth.
Zhu Zi was from Huaizhou in Handong Province, and his family lived in a county under Huaizhou.
As mentioned earlier, Huaizhou is an underdeveloped area in Handong, so Zhuzi's family's life is not very good.
Although he has received assistance from the subsidy association over the years, Zhu Zi, as a disabled veteran, has been able to make a living.
However, a new event disrupted their peaceful life.
With economic development, the Huaizhou Municipal Party Committee and Government also want to build Huaizhou into a better place.
In the county where Zhu Zi lived, there was a similar idea.
So the county head and the county party secretary started eyeing the land.
They have already made contact with a leather company in the provincial capital, who is willing to invest and set up a factory in their county.
However, the price for acquiring the land is very low.
That was normal in the 90s.
But things changed after the leather factory moved to their county.
The leather factory is right next to Zhuzi's village. In the past two years, the villagers have noticed that many dead fish often appear in the river next to it.
At first, no one paid attention, but as more and more dead fish appeared, they finally realized something was wrong.
Zhu Zi has a younger sister who studies chemical engineering. When she returned to her hometown, she heard about this incident and brought professional testing equipment to test the water source. She found that the river water was highly polluted.
The villagers were outraged. Zhu Zi's elderly father led a group to petition the town government, but they were imprisoned and died.
His mother and sister went to town to demand an explanation, but they both fell from the building and died.
Zhu Zi is disabled in both legs. If no one takes care of him, he can't even go to town. I don't know what's going on.
But when the villagers returned, they told him that his sister's body was disheveled.
Even if Zhu Zi is honest, how could he not know what happened?
But what can a disabled person like him do?
He thought about going to the company commander and the political instructor, but how could a disabled person like him do that?
Moreover, the company commander and political instructor are both in the army, and he can't contact them!
Upon hearing this, Fang Zhenhua took a deep breath and then asked.
"How did Zhu Zi die?"
"He committed suicide by drinking pesticide."