When Zhang Jinglin assigned Ren Xiaosu to the Razor Sharp Company in the war room, he was making his stand clear. Moreover, he even placed Ren Xiaosu under the spotlight and illuminated him for everyone to see.
As the commander’s choice, if he could not convince the masses or lead by example, Zhang Jinglin would not force the matter.
But since Zhang Jinglin made the choice, he was not afraid of everyone finding fault with his decision.
Back then, if Zhang Jinglin did not admire Ren Xiaosu, he would not have allowed Ren Xiaosu to become the replacement teacher of the school. However, Zhang Jinglin had not expected Ren Xiaosu to come this far at that time.
At that time, Zhang Jinglin had thought about getting Ren Xiaosu to be the schoolteacher because that arrangement would not affect the progress of the students. If Ren Xiaosu was a normal person, he would not be thinking about pulling him into this whirlpool of authority either. But even though he did not pull him in, Ren Xiaosu walked straight into it himself.
What Fortress 178 needed was not a good person as its leader. But of course, they could not be a bad person, or worse, a belligerent boor. When Zhang Jinglin first started looking at the commanders around him, he was surprised that none of them were suitable choices.
Until Wang Shengzhi delivered Ren Xiaosu right to his doorstep.
Actually, Ren Xiaosu was not the best candidate either. However, Zhang Jinglin felt that the young man had drive, and as long as he had that kind of motivation, his future was something Zhang Jinglin thought would be worth looking forward to.
However, these commanders believed the young Ren Xiaosu was only lucky to be chosen by Zhang Jinglin. Meanwhile, Zhang Jinglin was thinking that Ren Xiaosu might not even be willing to remain at Fortress 178.
Zhou Yinglong could not answer the question about Ren Xiaosu’s character. “He should be alright…”
To be honest, Zhou Yinglong only cared about the sitreps. Why would he worry about whether Ren Xiaosu was a good person? To Zhou Yinglong, everything was fine as long as they won the battles.
Zhang Jinglin tapped his fingers on the table. “Hu Xinzhi, Chai Zhilong, your armored brigade and infantry divisions will need to get to the FOB a-sap. I’ll give you two three days. Fu Hong, your Engineering Battalion will need to hurry to the Blackstone River within half a month and build a bridge crossing there…”
Numerous orders were issued from Zhang Jinglin’s mouth as everyone realized this was not the time to be worrying over Ren Xiaosu. They still had a tough battle on their hands!
When the Razor Sharp Company returned to the forward operating base, Zhang Xiaoman went to the makeshift chow hall and shouted, “Lin Yuze, where’s Lin Yuze?”
Lin Yuze, who was the manager of the makeshift chow hall, walked out with a smile on his face. “Hey, if it isn’t Captain Zhang, our war hero.”
“Make some good grub. Our brothers are hungry after coming back from the front lines. We’re gonna shower first. After we’re done showering, we wanna see the piping hot dishes ready. Braised pork and braised chicken, those are two dishes we demand!” Zhang Xiaoman shouted.
Lin Yuze smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll make ’em just for you! There’s even barley wine for you to drink. Just be sure to not sneak it out of the base. After today, you can’t drink anymore.”
Normal soldiers couldn’t request the dishes they wanted or drink alcohol. Even an officer like Zhou Yinglong was not allowed to do so, as all officers and men were treated in the same regard.
However, war heroes were different. They could freely request whatever food they wanted that even the fortress commander could not eat. This had always been the tradition in Fortress 178. You would be given whatever you wished to eat after winning a battle!
Rules like these made the men in Fortress 178 understand one thing, and that was how they definitely had to win all their battles!
Allowing the Razor Sharp Company to drink alcohol was due to the fact that they would not be going on any new missions for the next two days. They were back to regroup and rest, after all, but not letting them sneak the alcohol away was in case they drank before their next battle and end up delaying everything.
Zhang Xiaoman swaggered out of the chow hall so much that even his shoulders were overflowing with arrogance. He was as smug as he could get.
When the soldiers from the Engineering Corps saw him, they laughed and said, “Zhang Xiaoman, you’re so damn fucking cocky!”
Zhang Xiaoman smiled and said, “Can’t I be cocky after returning victorious from a battle? The mission that Old Zhou set for me was to capture Shichuan Village within half a month, but we managed to do it in three days!”
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But just as he said that, Zhang Xiaoman felt his ass get kicked. When he turned around and saw it was Zhou Yinglong, he immediately smiled and said, “Battalion Commander, how have you been these past few days?”
Zhou Yinglong’s face darkened. “Don’t embarrass yourself. Hurry up and shower already.”
“Ah, alright!” Zhang Xiaoman turned around and ran off.
One could take a hot shower at the forward operating base, with the facilities here much more complete than expected. When Ren Xiaosu heard it was possible to take a hot shower, he wondered how these soldiers did it.
When everyone took off their clothes and walked into the showers, Jiao Xiaochen was shocked when he saw Ren Xiaosu. While wearing clothes, he thought that Ren Xiaosu looked quite thin. But now he felt Ren Xiaosu’s muscles exuded an aura of strength.
After they showered and dressed, Ren Xiaosu was surprised to see two girls in nurse uniforms standing at the entrance of the showers.
Ren Xiaosu thought they were waiting for the other soldiers of the Razor Sharp Company, but when the two girls saw Ren Xiaosu, their eyes lit up. One of the girls took the initiative to walk up to him and whispered, “When you first arrived at the FOB, I took notice of you. Here, this hand cream is for you.”
With that said, the girl grabbed the other girl’s hand and ran off. The Razor Sharp Company’s soldiers behind him were all jealous when they saw this scene. “I’m jealous again…”
“Why is Ren Xiaosu so popular with the ladies…”
Jiao Xiaochen smiled and said, “We’re just a group of rugged men from the Northwest. The moment Ren Xiaosu arrived, we were knocked off our perches. Also, the entire military knows he’s a supernatural being and that Commander Zhang thinks highly of him, so of course the girls would try to get to know him.”
As he finished speaking, an orderly ran over. He looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, “Are you Ren Xiaosu?”
“Yes, I am,” Ren Xiaosu said.
“Commander Zhang has summoned you. He wishes to see you.” The orderly showed him the way.
Ren Xiaosu turned around and said to Jiao Xiaochen and the others, “Y’all can eat first. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Alright, we’ll leave some for you,” Jiao Xiaochen said in envy. He had actually been summoned to meet the Commander on his
own.
When Ren Xiaosu arrived at the command post tent, only Zhang Jinglin was inside. He was standing deep in thought in front of the sand table. Ren Xiaosu walked in and said, “Teacher.”
When Zhang Jinglin heard that, he was taken aback before smiling and saying, “I haven’t been addressed that way in a long time.”
Ren Xiaosu also smiled and said, “I really miss the school days.”
Zhang Jinglin glanced at him before sighing. “We can’t go back to those days.”
“Teacher, why have you called me here?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“I just thought of chatting with you to catch up.” Zhang Jinglin said with a smile, “The Razor Sharp Company has participated in two tough battles consecutively without anyone dying. Is that to your credit?”
“Not really.” Ren Xiaosu gave it some thought and said, “There was also some luck involved.”
“Do you know how hard it is to lead a company on the battlefield without anyone dying?” Zhang Jinglin asked.
“I know it’s very difficult.”
“If you know how difficult it is and still insist on achieving it at the risk of injuring yourself, that’s called stupidity,” Zhang Jinglin said calmly.
Ren Xiaosu remained silent for a moment before replying, “Same goes for bravery.”