The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 196 Cause
With the unexpected arrival of the new battalion commander Zhou Hongbing, an indescribable atmosphere of loss almost permeated the 2nd Battalion.

As we all know, the old battalion commander Liu Zhiye, who was deeply loved by everyone, has retired with honor, and his departure has made everyone sad.

However, even so, everyone had hoped that Deputy Battalion Commander Chen Dao would be able to smoothly take over as battalion commander and lead his comrades to move forward.

Originally everyone thought that Chen Dao would take over as battalion commander, but he was transferred to another position, and he was replaced by a surprisingly young new battalion commander, Zhou Hongbing.

This change caused considerable controversy in the 2nd Battalion.

At first, everyone had high expectations for Zhou Hongbing, but as time went on, they found that he was not as good as expected.

He was just an officer who had never experienced actual combat, not even a single battle. This made Captain Peng and Political Commissar Cheng very worried.

They were leading an elite main force regiment, but now they were handing over the task to a green hand to serve as the military chief of the main battalion. They were afraid that Zhou Hongbing would not be able to handle this important task.

They had been thinking deeply about whether this "greenhorn" was really qualified for this position and whether he could lead this main force. They felt very uneasy about this and had no idea.

I also went to my superiors many times and made firm reports, strongly requesting that the boy be transferred. However, every time I was sternly rejected by the superiors: "You are just fooling around!"

"Don't you even have the most basic organizational concepts?" The leader's words revealed strong dissatisfaction and blame.

Captain Peng had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​transferring Zhou Hongbing.

He knew that in the army, obeying orders and following commands was an iron discipline, and any personal feelings and selfishness could not override the interests of the organization. Their behavior was undoubtedly a serious challenge to this discipline.

Several regiment commanders had no choice but to assign an experienced, steady and mature instructor to Zhou Hongbing, and they also called in Ge Shuping and others for in-depth conversations and ideological work.

They were expecting the arrangement to bring harmony to the team and ensure the stability of the 2nd Battalion. However, things went against their wishes and the thing they were most worried about still happened.

During the thrilling "82" mortar training, Zhou Hongbing, the "outlier" in front of the artillery company commander, allowed inexperienced recruits to participate in the artillery training.

On a bright morning, the Second Battalion Artillery Company conducted Type 82 mortar operation training at the edge of the camp. The experienced old artillerymen were admirable for their superb skills and calm attitude.

The soldiers operated the mortars skillfully, every step was precise and correct, and the training effect was outstanding.

The company commander Yan Dagang was very satisfied with this and was ready to disband the team after one more training session.

At the side of the drill field, the newly appointed battalion commander Zhou Hongbing looked around the busy field with great enthusiasm. He suddenly suggested: "Let these new recruits also go up and experience it."

Yan Dagang, an experienced old artilleryman, couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He said with some concern: "Battalion Commander, these new recruits are still very inexperienced. If we let them operate the artillery directly, if something goes wrong, it will be no joke."

Zhou Hongbing was unmoved, as he firmly believed that actual combat was the best teacher. He looked at the new recruits with anticipation in his eyes.

"Yan Dagang, follow the order! I will be responsible if anything goes wrong!"

"Yes!" Yan Dagang had no choice but to obey the order.

Therefore, several recruits were asked to take turns to participate in the artillery training.

After everything was ready, Yan Dagang gave the order fluently: "Directly ahead, red brick residential building, direction: XXX, scale: XXX, charge No. 3, one test shot!"

Each gunner performed his duties according to the requirements of the drill manual and skillfully completed the process of setting up the gun, aiming, and transferring the shell to the muzzle for firing.

"put!"

After the command was given, the shell slid into the barrel. Suddenly, everyone present heard a loud "bang" and the shell was accidentally fired.

The artillerymen looked at each other and cried out, "It's over! We're in trouble!"

It turns out that there are two types of mortar training: live-fire shooting and live-fire drills.

Live-fire shooting: It is necessary to choose a deserted place and make sure that there are no people or animals in the shooting range. Then the mortar shells must be loaded with primers, powder bags and fuses for live-fire shooting.

Live-fire drills: There is no need to select a specific location, and they can be conducted anywhere. The purpose is to allow each gunner to form muscle memory through daily training, and to improve their proficiency in operation and tacit understanding of coordination. Since live-fire drills are conducted in the camp, surrounded by either houses or farmland, even though live ammunition is used, it is strictly forbidden to load primers and fuses.

That is to say, during live-fire drills, the mortar shells could not be fired after sliding into the barrel, and even if they were fired, they would not explode. The rookie gunner mistakenly put the primer into the tail of the shell, causing the shell to fire. The mortar is a curved-fire gun, and the shells follow a certain trajectory when flying.

When the shells were heading for the production team barracks, the gunners stamped their feet and shouted anxiously. If it exploded in the barracks, the consequences would be disastrous. Overall, this incident was very worrying.

Zhou Hongbing's eyes widened in astonishment, and he asked angrily and incredulously, "What on earth are you doing? You fired live ammunition!"

Yan Dagang interrupted him hastily and said anxiously: "Captain, we have to go and check it out quickly, make sure nothing happens!"

Zhou Hongbing exclaimed: "It's over! Something happened! Although I said I would take responsibility, I didn't expect it to cause such a big mess! I can't handle it!" He was stunned, his heart full of regret.

Yan Dagang saw Zhou Hongbing was frightened and although he was furious, he had no time to care about it. He quickly gathered people and rushed to the shelling site.

Smoke rose from the cooking stoves in the production team, but no one knew what had happened. The artillery company had fired a shell by mistake, and everyone was in a state of panic.

At that time, after finishing the farm work in the morning, everyone went home to cook. In a bungalow on the east side of the camp, an old member was busy in the kitchen when he suddenly heard a muffled sound from the inner room.

"The house collapsed?"

When the old member went in and took a look, he was stunned. There was a shell embedded in the kang and a big hole in the roof.

The old member mistakenly thought that the "cannonball" was about to explode, and ran out in panic, shouting and screaming. The people in the production team soon learned that "there was a cannonball in the house, ready to explode at any time", and they all ran out.

Later it was discovered that the "cannon" was not dangerous to explode. It turned out that the recruit had mistakenly loaded the primer, but fortunately did not install the fuse, which resulted in the cannon failing to detonate.

The camp accidentally fired a shell during training. The leaders were furious and wanted to punish this incident severely! We must sound the alarm and prevent it from happening again! This matter cannot be taken lightly and must be taken seriously.

A month later.

Later, Yan Dagang was transferred to the logistics farm to raise pigs, and the person in charge, Zhou Hongbing, was given a demerit and transferred from the 2nd Battalion.

Liu Zhiye also felt deeply regretful after hearing this. Yan Dagang, a capable man he had cultivated, was now raising pigs, which naturally made him feel unhappy.

The two fell into a brief silence, as if recalling the time they spent with Yan Dagang. All that former glory and honor now turned into a sigh.

"So what happened next? What's the connection between this incident and your career change?" Liu Zhiye asked again with a frown.

Hearing this, Ge Shuping sneered and said, "Later, I went to have a good talk with him!"

“Later…, I was punished for this incident, but fortunately my old leader intervened and the matter was resolved.

You guys are not around anymore, and I feel like life is meaningless, so I thought about changing my career."

Liu Zhiye said angrily, "You are still so reckless."

"But you did a great job on this one," he added. "I would probably do the same thing if it were me."

Old Ge smiled and said, "I heard what you said. By the way, when I came here, the old commander mentioned you specifically."

Liu Zhiye responded: "Oh! What did the old leader say?" His tone was full of respect and curiosity.

Old Ge imitated the old commander's tone and said, "You are so ungrateful, you have been retired for such a long time and you didn't even come back to visit us. It's a pity that we still miss you so much..."

When Liu Zhiye heard this, his eyes instantly moistened. He murmured to himself: "Of course I miss you all, I do! But I can't help myself now."

"Is the old captain okay?" Liu Zhiye asked, wiping his eyes.

Ge Shuping smiled and said, "Very good, as strong as a young man, but he still practices with that ghost-head sword!"

When Liu Zhiye heard the news, he finally felt relieved. He nodded and said, "That's good. There's no problem. He is really not young anymore. He should be 40 years old this year. Time really doesn't spare anyone."

Ge Shuping suggested: "When we have time, let's go back and see them together." Liu Zhiye agreed deeply and nodded heavily.

(End of this chapter)