Chapter 398 Third-class decoration
Zhou Yinglong specifically inspected the wounds of the injured and found that all of them had sustained gunshot wounds. One of them was even unfortunate enough to be hit by the fragments of a stray bullet.
However, the wounds below the layer of black medicine had already started to scab. It was as though the injuries were not that serious.
In order not to get stretchered off, the injured even jumped off their stretchers and moved about vigorously to show they were absolutely fine. It wasn’t an act at all and they really were fine.
Zhang Xiaoman who was standing by the side directly scolded, “Why didn’t you all fucking walk on your own when you were fine?”
The wounded chuckled and said, “If we could walk a little less, why not?”
Their comrades of the Razor Sharp Company who had carried them started cursing, “Ya bastards are fucking awful!”
“Y’all are too shameless!”
At this moment, Zhou Yinglong asked, “Are these all the casualties you suffered after taking Mt. Dingyuan?”
Zhang Xiaoman said modestly, “It was all due to Battalion Commander Zhou’s good teachings.”
Zhou Yinglong was so angry he smiled. “Enough of your bootlicking! Get out of here and write up the battle report for me!”
The faces of Zhang Xiaoman and the others fell. “Battalion Commander, all of us in the Razor Sharp Company are faithful veterans. Now should be the time for us to enjoy some good food and drink here at the FOB rather than writing some battle report.”
“Why?” Zhou Yinglong gave Zhang Xiaoman the side-eye. “Would you also like me to personally pour you some w
Zhang Xiaoman thought for a moment. “Well, if you don’t mind...”
Zhou Yinglong kicked Zhang Xiaoman in the ass. “Get lost and write the report for me!”
It was the usual practice to write a report after every battle. On one hand, it was to summarize all of the details of a battle. On the other hand, it was to list any mistakes and lessons learned in combat to prevent the same mistakes from happening again in the future.
But Zhang Xiaoman and this group of gruff men hated writing battle reports the most.
Since they had already won the battle, why should they still have to list their mistakes and lessons learned? All they had to do was win the battle!
These gruff men of the Razor Sharp Company were all nestled and gathered around Zhang Xiaoman in the tent that had just been put up.
At this moment, Zhang Xiaoman looked at Ren Xiaosu while holding a notebook and a pencil. “Ren Xiaosu, you...”
“I’m just a refugee, so I dunno how to write,” Ren Xiaosu said.
“Oh.” Zhang Xiaoman lowered his head dejectedly at first but immediately figured out that something was not right. How could the successor chosen by Commander Zhang be fucking illiterate? ‘If you don’t want to write the fucking report, just say it. Doesn’t it prick your conscience to lie that blatantly?!’
Zhang Xiaoman chewed on the end of the pencil and tried to recall the details of the battle. “It feels like the enemy was defeated even though we did not put in much effort.”
After thinking for a long time, Zhang Xiaoman still did not know how he should write the report. That was because their victory was mainly due to Ren Xiaosu. That was the truth.
“Ren Xiaosu, I think it’s better for you to write the report. If you’re really illiterate, you can just tell me and I will write it out for you.” Zhang Xiaoman said, “More importantly, we don’t even know how exactly you managed to turn the bandit lair at Mt. Dingyuan upside down. Also, what you did will earn you great honors. You’ll get promoted right after submitting this report!”
Ren Xiaosu said, “You can just write that everyone fought bravely. Fighting the battle involved the entire company, so I can’t take all the credit for it.”
“I don’t think that’s right.” Zhang Xiaoman said awkwardly, “We’ll be really embarrassed that way. It’s not like us to accept credit where it isn’t due.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Forget it, I’ll write instead.”
Then Ren Xiaosu grabbed Zhang Xiaoman’s notebook and pencil from him and started making up details of the battle. He described his comrades as soldiers who had shown unsurpassed bravery and resourcefulness in combat.
He also wrote about how they broke through the defensive line and killed the enemies in an orderly manner. Zhang Xiaoman was dazed reading what he had written. “Was I that great?”
After he finished writing the report, Ren Xiaosu handed it to Zhang Xiaoman. “Take it to the battalion commander. We’ll all share the credit.”
As for Ren Xiaosu, he did not really have a sense of belonging to Fortress 178 yet. He just wanted to use the power of Fortress 178 to take revenge on the Zong Consortium. Therefore, whatever credit he might deserve was completely unimportant to him.
After his revenge, he would head to the Central Plains to search for Xiaoyu, Yan Liuyuan, and the others. He did not plan to become an official in Fortress 178. So he’d rather leave the credit for others.
By now, the entire Razor Sharp Company had acknowledged Ren Xiaosu, and he was no longer ostracized by the others. This group of men had even forgotten about the previous incident where Ren Xiaosu caused a misunderstanding and led them to pick a fight with Second Company.
However, Zhou Yinglong’s intention was to find out about Ren Xiaosu’s capabilities from the battle report. He knew it was mostly to the credit of Ren Xiaosu that they could take Mt. Dingyuan with almost no casualties. He also wanted to know what this person the commander had selected was like. However, Ren Xiaosu’s name was hardly mentioned in the entire report!
Zhou Yinglong glanced at Zhang Xiaoman and said unhappily, “How dare you steal the accomplishments of your subordinate! D’you think I won’t execute you?”
Feeling wronged, Zhang Xiaoman stammered, “But this report was written by Ren Xiaosu himself!”
Zhou Yinglong got lost in thought. How could a young man not be greedy for success? What kind of a successor had Commander Zhang chosen?
His group of old comrades would definitely ask him about Ren Xiaosu’s performance as a soldier under his command. As the battalion commander, wouldn’t it be such an embarrassment if he could not even answer that?
Zhou Yinglong suddenly asked Zhang Xiaoman, “Tell me, how did Ren Xiaosu fight this battle?”
Zhang Xiaoman replied honestly, “I didn’t see it either, Battalion Commander....”
“Get outta here!”
Their days at the forward operating base were not as comfortable as expected. At 6.20 AM, Ren Xiaosu could already hear reveille blaring outside their tents.
Then soldiers gathered in their respective formations and began their morning exercises. Very quickly, cadences were being shouted from outside the forward operating base.
The soldiers had to run five kilometers in full kit before heading out to the battlefield. Only the Razor Sharp Company was the exception. That was because they had just finished a battle, so they had the privilege of skipping training to recover at the forward operating base.
But after reveille sounded, Jiao Xiaochen could not get back to sleep. He laid on his cot and said, “Something doesn’t feel right if I don’t do anything after reveille. Is there anyone else who can’t sleep like me?”
In the military tent, there was a scattered response from everyone. “Wanna go for a jog?”
“You can’t get back to sleep either?”
“It’ll be a miracle if I can fall asleep now....”
“Come on, let’s go for a run!”
With that, Ren Xiaosu saw everyone from 1st Platoon get up to put on their uniforms. As such, he got up as well. When he walked out of the tent, he realized that 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Platoons were also out of their tents. This included Han Minglei, a medic, and Li Xingcheng, a cook.
Zhang Xiaoman said with a chuckle, “Well done, gentlemen. Even though our Razor Sharp Company has gained victory, we can’t get too uppity. We have to keep training!”
Jiao Xiaochen muttered, “You’re the one who’s most uppity right now....”
“Will you die if you don’t speak?” Zhang Xiaoman stared at him.
But at this moment, Zhou Yinglong’s orderly trotted over to them. “Captain Zhang Xiaoman, Battalion Commander Zhou is requesting your presence at the command post!”