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Chapter 2470 The One Who Pursues the Truth (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

This November is destined to be anything but peaceful for the world.

The world condemned the terrorist attacks, and the SEA and the UK mobilized troops, ready to launch a major offensive at any time.

Inspired by patriotism, many young people joined the army, ready to fight for their country in this war on terror.

As a new recruit, Zhang Dongjie underwent the most rigorous training every day, just like everyone else. The sergeants would always try to tempt these new recruits to give up with humiliation and beatings.

He will not give up; he will persevere.

However, there will always be people who give up. The grueling training is something that not everyone's body or will can withstand.

When someone chooses to give up due to physical or mental breakdown, the sergeant major does not laugh at them.

He would silently watch the other person leave, just like everyone else.

The military is not suitable for everyone.

For Huo Yongcheng, all he needed to do was eliminate those who were not suitable for military service.

This is his duty, and also his responsibility to these young children.

After all, these children will be going to the battlefield in the future.

If we go easy on them during training, they will pay a bloody price on the battlefield in the future.

Therefore, he has to be responsible for these children.

As an exhausted recruit, carrying his packing bag, dejectedly got into the car, burying his head in his seat, and drove off towards the training base...
Huo Yongcheng looked at the new recruits in front of him and said:
"Do you see this? These are the people who are eliminated—the army only ever wants the best! Only the most outstanding people can become soldiers."

As soon as he finished speaking, the new recruits shouted loudly.

"Yes, sir!"

Then he walked up to Zhang Dongjie, stood right in front of him, and roared at him from just centimeters away:
"Zhang Dongjie, tell me, what is your purpose in joining the army?"

"Sir, the purpose is to obey your orders."

Despite spittle spraying onto his face, Huo Yongcheng still excitedly said:
"You're a genius, that's the best answer I've ever heard."

In fact, this is a soldier's duty—to obey orders.

All Zhang Dongjie and his comrades could do was grit their teeth and persevere.

Both their bodies and wills must withstand the tests to come; only then can they become soldiers.

Only then can they serve their country in this war on terror.

For these young people, this is precisely what they are pursuing and what they yearn for.

When tens of thousands of young people rushed to join the army,
Most people continue to live their lives as usual, and the deployment of troops overseas will have virtually no impact on ordinary people.

They could only see some news on television, but in fact, after the war broke out, they couldn't even see the news.

It wasn't because there was no news, but because of news censorship. Unlike the United States, which allowed journalists to go directly to the front lines in Vietnam, the SEA, following past practice, did not allow journalists to enter the war zone without permission.

They could only wait at the military headquarters for a press conference and receive official notifications through official channels. Apart from that, they could only conduct targeted interviews at designated times and locations permitted by the military.

This naturally met with opposition from journalists, who were gathered in Beirut at the time and arrived almost as late as the military.

But when they arrived in Beirut, they found it to be a completely different place, unlike any battlefield they had ever been to before.

They not only need to apply for permits, but they can also only stay in hotels designated by the military. This is, of course, ostensibly to ensure their safety.

That's why even newcomers can sense the difference.

For example, what did David Halberstam, the renowned journalist known as the "father of American journalism," feel when he arrived in Beirut?
It is an unprecedented form of regulation.

This regulation even carries a certain oppressive atmosphere.

"Damn it, I dare say, no country in the world has ever treated us like this."

He and his assistant had barely arrived at the hotel when some familiar friends surrounded him and started complaining.

"We can't even get into the international airport, damn it, that's the coalition's headquarters. We can't see the coalition forces, and we can't get into the PLO's controlled area. The Lebanese army has blocked all the access routes."

"It wasn't just about access; they even prohibited us from interviewing the PLO or the Syrian army. Furthermore, the coalition commander declared that any interviews or reports about armed groups would be considered potential supporters of terrorists, leading to arrests and investigations..."

"What? How could they do this to potential terrorist supporters?"

"Yes, that's right. They believe that it would be impossible for us to make contact with those terrorists if we weren't supporters."

"This is ridiculous. Don't we have the right to conduct interviews?"

"No, we only have the right to drink here!"

As Halberstam listened to his friends' descriptions, Halberstam frowned. He was among the first American journalists to arrive in Saigon and won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Vietnam War. His reporting differed from that of past war correspondents.

He never trusted official news releases, instead going directly to the front lines and various locations to find news, establishing a journalistic standard of skepticism towards official narratives. Although he is known as the "Father of American Journalism," he has also been criticized for being responsible for the defeat in the Vietnam War.

One of the simplest reasons is that he and those journalists showed the Americans the most brutal side of the war, and the Americans were simply not psychologically prepared.

The live broadcasts of the brutal battlefield on television were vastly different from the newsreels before movies and the photos in newspapers of the old days, and the psychological impact on Americans was beyond imagination.

Ultimately, anti-war sentiment became a consensus across the United States; after all, no one wanted to fill the gap.

Even the greatest generation cursed during the bloody battle in the Pacific, because the battlefield was not the romantic depiction in movies and novels, but a place of death, mud, pain, and despair, not romantic at all.

However, the satellite broadcasts from the front lines revealed the bloodiest side to the Americans. Without the romanticism of heroism, who could continue?
Now that this war on terror has begun, they have arrived here immediately. What do they want to do?
Naturally, they wanted to present this war to the world.

However, when they arrived here, they found themselves facing a completely different group of "opponents".

Indeed, to some extent, official press officers and media control are their adversaries, even enemies, because Halberstam's established principle for interviewing is to first question official statements.

In this situation, they are certainly adversaries.

"Don't they know that we have the right to free interviews?"

Halberstam asked directly:

"Haha, David, you're such a naive fellow. You're dealing with the SEA now, haven't you ever been there?"

Halberstam certainly visited Chang'an. When he was reporting in Vietnam, he, like many journalists, would take a vacation in Chang'an, but that was a vacation.

Although I was aware of some of the regulations there, it was only a superficial understanding.

“I’ve been there and heard about the differences, but I don’t know much about the specifics.”

Halberstam's answer prompted Lina, who was standing nearby, to say:
“David, you should apply for a war correspondent’s pass first. Without this pass, you won’t even have the right to conduct interviews.”

Her words caused Halberstam to gasp in shock:

"What? How could this happen?"

“Of course that’s how it is, David, didn’t you see it?…”

Lina pointed to the soldiers outside the hotel and the satellite broadcasting vehicles, and said:
“Look, the soldiers are watching us, and our vehicles, because they don’t have permits, can only be parked at the hotel. Do you know that vehicles without permits are very likely to be robbed by armed men? God knows where those armed men come from…”

Lina's words left Haberstam somewhat stunned. Although he had just arrived, he had already realized one thing—this place was different from Saigon, and different from anywhere else he had ever been before.

"Damn it, they're definitely trying to cover up the truth!"

Almost subconsciously, while cursing, Halberstam also saw a huge news story—not just one big news story, but countless big news stories.

After checking into the hotel, standing on the balcony, Halberstam could see planes constantly taking off and landing from the direction of the international airport, which has been the world's busiest airport for the past two weeks, with hundreds of planes taking off and landing every day.

Armies from all over the world are arriving in Beirut in droves. They are invading a country, but the world cannot see the truth here!

Thinking of this, Halberstam felt an unprecedented sense of mission welling up inside him. He looked down at the hotel and saw several jeeps parked outside, with soldiers guarding the place.

Is this for defense?
Clearly, it wasn't just about simple protection. Thinking this, he said to Daniel, who was traveling with him:
"Daniel, would you like to come with me to find the truth?"

Daniel was a recent college graduate who joined The New York Times as Halberstam's assistant. They flew together from the United States to Tel Aviv, and then hired a ship from Israel to Beirut. The journey was quite complicated because Beirut's civilian air service had been suspended.

Daniel said without hesitation:

"David, isn't this exactly why we came here?"

"Then we should leave here."

Halberstam looked out the window and then said:
"We must escape military control in order to report the truth here and tell people all over the world what is happening here,"

He paused for a moment, then looked at Daniel.

"But doing that is very risky, you know?"

Daniel nodded; he was aware of the risks, of course. After all, they had encountered far too many armed men on their way to the hotel.

This is a city in the midst of war, where danger could strike at any moment.

"David, just like you said... war correspondents are like soldiers; we take the same risks in order to show the world the truth about the battlefield."

Daniel idolizes David, and that's why he made his decision without hesitation.

Halberstam looked at the young man in front of him, nodded, and then said:
"Alright, let's pack up and get out of here."

"What about the journalists' press credentials?"

Hearing Daniel's question, Halberstam spoke directly.

"To hell with those official interview permits! We have the right to interview about everything. Now we need to solve one problem—how do we get out of here?"

(End of this chapter)