Chapter 8: Defending the Homeland

The squad leader strode toward the bushes, pointing at them and shouting angrily, "Zhao Haiping, I taught you marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, how to survive and set traps on the battlefield, how to use human physiology to kill targets in one shot, and how to drive cars, tanks, and fighter jets. But I never taught you how to pretend to be a fool on the battlefield, did I?!" Don't you have a gun in your hand? Either shoot me and fight me to the death, or come out here obediently! ”
A Type 85 automatic rifle poked out from the bushes, followed by a man wearing a camouflage hat woven from tree branches and a homemade camouflage net, standing up. He carefully exposed his hands and weapon in a spot the squad leader could see.
Two of China's top fifth-category special forces soldiers, a mentor-apprentice who are both mentor and friend, actually met under these circumstances.
On Zhao Haiping's plain and slightly wooden face, his muscles trembled constantly, his expressions shifting between surprise, fear, guilt, and anger. No one knew what he was thinking at that moment.
"You did a pretty good job! You really brought honor to our fifth-category unit. With one move, you took out seventeen 'enemies,' and even engaged in guerrilla warfare against superior enemies in the mountains, dragging them out so much they dared not make a move. You truly pushed your special operations skills to the limit. Even I, your teacher, feel proud and have to applaud you! But I really find it strange. Aren't you supposed to be a hero? You should know why I'm here, so why didn't you shoot me? ”
The squad leader raised his hand, and a Chinese special forces triangular bayonet was stabbed fiercely into a tree as thick as a bowl in the middle. Pointing at the still-trembling bayonet, the squad leader shouted sternly, "Tell me, what kind of words are engraved on that bayonet!" ”
"I know, our bayonets are all engraved with the words 'Defend the Homeland'!" On the first day I was specially allowed to enter the Fifth Category Special Forces, you told me that from that day on, I became the world's most elite professional soldier. From that day on, I was engraved with the proudest mark of Chinese soldiers. If I tarnish this honor and pride, class monitor, you will personally take back everything entrusted to me! But I never expected that day would actually come, and so soon! ”
Zhao Haiping suddenly dropped his weapon and knelt before the class monitor. He raised his face and shouted hoarsely, "I know I'm doomed!" I know that as soon as you show up in front of me, I'm doomed! My marksmanship isn't as good as yours, my mind isn't as agile, and even three hand-to-hand fighters might not beat just one. My skills aren't as agile as yours, and my combat experience isn't as rich as yours. None of my military skills can match you. When I met you, I didn't even have a chance to escape. When I killed those seventeen militiamen, I was already prepared to die by your hand! But I beg you, let me live one more day, so I can fulfill my last good wish, okay?! ”
The squad leader said coldly, "You've come to the opposite side of society, making you our enemy and the greatest disgrace to our fifth-category special forces. What room do you have left to bargain?!" ”
"Squad leader, you taught me to defend our homeland. For the honor of our country and the happiness of our people, we professional soldiers must always be ready to sacrifice ourselves for our country. I've always thought that the greatest fortune of my life was joining the Fifth Category Special Forces, following a man as upright and upright as you, squad leader! But I suddenly realized that what you told me was wrong. I suddenly realized that we were all so foolish, so foolish! ”
Zhao Haiping, a tough-blooded soldier who had once tumbled down a hillside with his own body to cover his comrades' retreat, crushing four landmines along the way, yet was unharmed by his high-speed movement. At that moment, he suddenly slapped himself hard across the face, crying as his hands slapped his face, blood and tears splattering fiercely.
"Class monitor, do you still remember my daughter Panpan? Every day after training and during breaks, what I love to talk about most is my daughter—about her grades, how she likes blue, black, and hates green and red, that she likes hamburgers and doesn't like fried cakes, that when it rains, she loves running wildly in the rain, never looking like a girl, that she looks more and more like her mother, and that at just twelve, she started receiving love letters from boys. She is my precious child, the person I hope for and the closest person to me in this world! ”
Zhao Haiping's lips twitched continuously, and he suddenly let out a wolf-like howl: "But she's dead now!" My daughter died, she was still so young, so adorable, yet she died! She would never open her eyes again, never again hug my neck and call my dad to try every way to get a few yuan for pocket money from me! Class monitor, my daughter died so tragically! Don't forget, you're also her godfather whom she's never met, and you even made her a birthday gift with bullet casings!! ”
Even if he could stand by Mount Tai without changing his expression, the class monitor couldn't help but be moved. He stared at Zhao Haiping and shouted sternly, "What's going on? Wasn't Zhao Pan perfectly fine before you came home to visit?" How did she die? ”
"It's all my fault, it's all my fault! It's my fault for failing to discipline my own wife, for being useless as a man, letting my wife steal a man! But what did my daughter do wrong? She only told me the news when I came back. I was just furious, went to confront that bastard, and punched him. Zhao Haiping pounded his chest and shouted hoarsely, "I'm just an idiot. I know full well that Li Weihua is a complete thug, and I have a bunch of henchmen who do all sorts of evil. Over the years, somehow, after becoming a township chief, they've only gotten worse. Those followers have also turned into militia who show off with guns everywhere." I'm such a clueless country bumpkin, and at a time like this, I actually dared to confront him. I actually dared to punch him! My daughter Zhao Pan was gang-raped to death by that bastard and ordered seventeen militia under his command! My daughter, Panpan, is only fourteen!! ”
Zhao Haiping looked up, his eyes flashing with madness and despair. He glared at the squad leader and shouted hoarsely, "Squad leader, tell me, we must defend our homeland and our people!" I followed you to the battlefield, fought bayonets with the India-Tibet border special forces, and dealt with Afghan guerrillas who had infiltrated our country in the jungle...... I've been hit by three bullets, and now there's still a piece of shrapnel in my body that hasn't been removed. But you, squad leader, have suffered even more injuries than I did. We've bled, we've sweated, but are we really protecting these bastards, a bunch of bastards who gang-raped my daughter to death?! Can you tell me why I still protect them, why I still shed tears for them after shedding blood and sweat?!!! ”
The squad leader was truly stunned. He stared blankly at the man before him, who was in unbearable pain. This man, who had been shot by the enemy on the battlefield and trembled all over despite the pain, could still give him a wooden smile. Now, he was nothing but a desperate and sorrowful madman, left only with hysterical revenge and longing!
"You know, I don't even have the chance to seek justice for my daughter through legal means! Without a forensic examination, without any examination or proof, my daughter's body was sent to the crematorium by them. And I, that damn bastard, spent the whole night fooled by my own wife, running around in circles. I thought she had had enough fun and was bored, but suddenly I changed my mind! When I finally understood everything, all I brought back was a bottle—a bottle containing Panpan's ashes! ”
Zhao Haiping suddenly lifted his head and burst out laughing, crying and laughing, "Hahaha...... Those guys wanted to cut the mess quickly, but who am I? I'm a top disciple personally trained by you, class leader. It only took me an hour to find out everything. Under that bastard's office desk, I saw four words—'Dad, save me!' 'Those four characters were carefully drawn by my daughter with her fingers!' Every word is carved so deeply, each one is deeply etched into my heart! Before I cut off a bastard with my saber, he finally said everything, hahaha...... I finally know everything! ”
Listening to Zhao Haiping's hysterical laughter, the class monitor fell silent. He stared at Zhao Haiping and said, "You begged me to give you one more day because you only killed seventeen accomplices, and you haven't killed the ringleader named Li Weihua, right?" ”
"Not just him, but that woman Zhang Yanhua too!" Zhao Haiping slapped the hard ground and shouted hoarsely, "She can be a womanizer, but I was blinded by lust. Before the wedding, I knew she wasn't frugal, yet I still married her and brought her home." I'm a rough guy who doesn't understand romance. I've spent the whole year in the military camp and never had time to spend with her. If she has problems with someone else, I'm also responsible as a man. But she's also Pan'er's mother. I don't understand why she could stand by and watch her daughter be gang-raped to death without reacting. I even more confused how she could comfortably drag me onto the bed afterward, giving those bastards time to send Pan'er's body straight to the crematorium! ”
The class monitor raised his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Well done!" ”
Zhao Haiping's mouth dropped open, "Huh?" ”
"A true man should act with a clear conscience; be loyal to the country, loyal to friends, and love to family! If you have no courage at all, how can you become a soldier in our Fifth Special Forces? ”
The squad leader said, "Anyway, you've already killed seventeen militiamen. If we really want to convict you, even ten executions won't be enough. Debts won't weigh on you. Go do what you want!" I think the Military Law Office shooting nineteen bullets in your head is not much different from firing seventeen, but the difference between these two bullets alone can help you do a good deed for society. Worth it! ”
"Class monitor, I'm sorry! I, Zhao Haiping, bow to you here! ”
Zhao Haiping's head repeatedly slammed hard against the hard ground, and with loud "bang bang" sounds, blood splattered continuously on his forehead.
The class monitor turned his head and said coldly, "Stand up. A man's knees are worth gold!" My Zhan Xia Ge wants brothers of iron will, not pitiful ones who kneel and kneel! Don't forget to shoot one more bullet for me against that bastard! I will leave a contact mark in the county town and report back to me within twenty-four hours! Remember, either don't do it, or do it thoroughly—don't miss a single one! A true man should look up to heaven and earth above him! Even if you are rejected by the world and must pay with your life for your revenge, at least before your execution, you can openly tell me that you did not wrongfully kill a good person, nor spared a single bastard! Now you lift your head, stake a man's honor, tell me if you can do it?! ”
Zhao Haiping wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes, looking at the man standing with his hands behind his back with the utmost respect. He had been looking at this young man ten years younger than him with the same gaze for who knows how many years ago! He shouted fiercely, "I can!! ”
"Come back alive! Even if you die, you will die on the execution ground of our own troops!" The class monitor gazed at the dazzling, unpredictable fiery cloud on the horizon, sighed, and said, "Zhao Haiping, do you know?" The job I hated most as a child was soldier. If someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would definitely tell them, I wanted to be a bandit! I didn't expect that before I could become a bandit, you beat me to it first. ”