Literary Master 1983

Chapter 420 Demilitarized Zone
what?
It's over!
Among the crowd, only two cadres from the Political Department and the Propaganda Section seemed happy. Everyone who had just returned from the front lines wore complicated expressions, including Xian Yunqiang.

Hatred took root in everyone's hearts. Old Tang had just died. He was such a good person... Why should we just let it go like this?

The young sentry, his face still swollen, immediately retorted, "If you want us to fight, we fight; if you want us to shake hands, we shake hands! What are we, and what is Old Tang?"

He threw off the gauze covering his face and shouted, "I'm going down there again, and I'm going to kill at least one more Vietnamese to appease the spirit of Platoon Leader Tang!"

"Shut up!" Qiu Lian's face trembled with rage as he pointed at the camp and shouted, "Get the hell back here!"

"But……"

"Get back!"

Although Qiu Lian was furious, he did not slap the little sentry again.

It seems that he was actually quite dissatisfied.

Old Jiang and Old Xu immediately chuckled awkwardly, realizing they had said something inappropriate and unsure what to do.

Yu Qie gritted his teeth: Just this morning, he had invited Lao Tang to Beijing for drinks. Less than half a day later, Lao Tang had left him forever.

He and Lao Tang only met once, but that one meeting already represented a lot.

Yu Qie spent the entire night at the front-line outpost. The next morning, he was taken to a safer camp, where he met not only his comrades from the General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe, but also Gong Xue, Gu Yue, and others whom he knew well.

It is absolutely safe there.

In the middle of the night, Lao Jiang and Lao Xu came to apologize to Yu Qie one after the other: "We didn't expect that you, Teacher Yu, would go directly to the battlefield and almost get hurt. The front-line command called to inquire about the situation and gave us a good scolding; if Teacher Yu sees us later... please say a few more words to us."

“Look, Old Tang just sacrificed his life. We should definitely remember Platoon Leader Tang more, rather than dwell on those accidents.”

“It was my own choice, so you can’t blame me,” Yu Qie said with a smile. “You can all rest assured that what happened today was completely accidental. No one should bear any responsibility.”

Soon after, Xian Yunqiang, a reporter from the Military Pictorial, also came to find Yu Qie.

Upon seeing Yu Qie, he burst into tears, saying, "I shouldn't have taken you to the front lines. I've been operating in Laoshan for two years, and this was the most dangerous time. A bullet grazed my scalp, and I almost thought we were both going to die."

Instead, Yu Qie comforted Xianyun Qiang.

What kind of person is Xianyun Qiang?

He became a reporter and photographer for the "Military Pictorial" at a young age. The camera was bought for him by his superior; it was a Japanese camera that cost over ten thousand RMB!
Either Xian Yunqiang is a later version of "Zhao Mengsheng," or Xian Yunqiang has excellent photography skills, which is why the publicity department values ​​him highly.

Aren't I the same way?

Yu Qie felt somewhat guilty towards Lao Tang. At that moment, on the hilltop, Yu Qie was about to give chase when Lao Tang stopped him, saying, "Your courage to come to the front lines is the greatest encouragement to us. Why should you risk your life?"

This rugged man from Shandong province said something quite poetic: "War is a matter for people like us. You scholars can get out of here."

Then, Lao Tang led his team to charge and encircle the enemy... These were the last words he said to Yu Qie.

Lying in bed, Yu Qie couldn't help but recall this incident.

If he had gone up with them, would Old Tang have been spared?
The ending of *The Battle of Laoshan* has not yet been released; it's a novella to be published in three installments. In the final installment, Yu Qie describes the lives of the "Sharp Knife Company" soldiers outside of combat:
Among them, Zhang Xingwu started a business and gave speeches everywhere; Shi Guangzhu, a war hero, went to a school for the blind because he was blind, married a girl from Beijing, and became the first blind person in my country to be admitted to university (Pengcheng University).

The other characters also have their own wonderful stories... The reason why "The Battle of Laoshan" is hailed as the pinnacle of "new military literature" is because it was the first to tell the story of the veterans' lives "after the battle".

This was extremely important in an era of reform and opening up and a large number of military personnel being demobilized, as it precisely met their needs.

Now, Yu Qie has experienced the last battle in the two-mountain war, and his feelings are particularly complicated.

The two comrades sent to comfort him said it was true: this was probably the last battle, and Old Tang sacrificed himself before dawn. His life came to an abrupt end, and there was no more "after the battle".

Yu Qie summoned Xian Yunqiang and asked to see the photos in his camera.

Xianyun was stunned and said, "The photos need to be developed; you can't see them now."

Oh!
Back then, it was still a film camera!
"So what did you film?"

"Teacher Yu, what do you need these for?"

"I can't sleep, I keep thinking about Lao Tang."

"Me too!"

Xianyun Qiang simply moved over to Yuqie's place, stopped sleeping, and started reminiscing about the scenes he had filmed:

The radio at the tent camp crackled to life, and the comrades hurriedly prepared to set off!
I remember this incident vividly.

The group scrambled through the minefield, covered in mud and water, stepping one after another in the footprints of those who had come before them!

Yu Qie also remembers this.

Finally able to take a short rest, some soldiers crawled into the barrels... Before the battle began, everyone quickly assembled at the front line to await orders; those who had collapsed from exhaustion immediately got up...

Rain and gunfire mingled, bullets and our stretchers lay scattered through the jungle...

On the way back, smoke rose in the distance, and everyone remained silent, heading straight back to camp...

Yu Qie can never forget it.

This brief conflict, unlike the large-scale conflict four years prior, continued to torment many at the outpost. During the two rounds of mountain battles, China lost thousands of outstanding officers and soldiers, most of whom lay buried nameless on the hilltops, missing out on the so-called "opportunity of the times."

Commercial housing, the Olympics, stocks... none of that matters to them. They just stay here, day after day, year after year.

From that moment on, Yu Qie made up his mind to avenge Old Tang. In this encounter, he only used two of his six bullets, leaving four still available.

His bullets were NATO standard, quite different from those used by both sides (Soviet caliber). If he had really done something, the Vietnamese might not even know it was him. Yu Qie checked the bullets in the gun, and Xian Yunqiang also noticed that bullets were missing, so he asked, "You actually fired a shot from up there?"

"It's really open, but I don't know if it hit anyone."

"With your marksmanship being so good, how could you miss someone?" Xianyunqiang said.

"Hard to say." Yu Qie shook his head, looking at the remaining four bullets. "If a pistol could kill people, then I could be considered a sharpshooter."

Then, the whole night passed. Yu Qie was taken to the base camp, which was located on the border of Yunnan Province, not far from Laoshan.

Three years ago, Thai Prince Atit inspected our soldiers here, and then went to the Songmaoling front line. He looked at Songmaoling, which had just experienced a fierce battle, through a 40x telescope and asked, "The terrain here is so dangerous and complicated, how did you manage to take it down?"

"Yu Qie, guess how we answered?"

"I do not know."

"It relied on the unity of the people, discipline, and fearlessness of death."

"..."

"So, it's inevitable that people will die in war. At least Platoon Leader Tang died a worthy death. Didn't you donate money to him privately? You've done more than enough."

The person who came to persuade Yu Qie was Gu Yue.

He played bridge with Yu Qie for two days and even wanted Yu Qie to give him a bottle of Moutai liquor. "Look, this is a place that even the Prince found surprising, Teacher Yu, don't be upset!"

Like Yu Qie, Gu Yue had visited four years ago and was now back again. Gu Yue remained popular, but Yu Qie received an equally enthusiastic welcome. News of the skirmish at the Laoshan outpost had spread throughout the front lines, and everyone knew that Yu Qie had returned to the battlefield.

Here, Yu Qie's fame reached its peak in recent years.

The soldiers didn't know what Nobel was, and they had no idea what Stockholm was... They only knew that Yu Qiezhen had carried a gun with them.

Xian Yunqiang's "The Last Battle" series of photos was quickly sent to the *Military Pictorial*, causing a sensation on the front lines and throughout the country. Even the Vietnamese knew that Yu Qie had come to Laoshan and had once again retreated unscathed, causing a major blow to their morale. Leaders who came to visit the troops and offer their condolences inscribed a message for Yu Qie:
"To be both a centurion and a scholar."

It tells the story of Yu Qie's literary and military talents. Now, this calligraphy has been donated by Yu Qie to the Military Museum, and together with the tattered bamboo curtain he left behind four years ago, they will all become future military relics.

However, Yu Qie always felt that something was missing.

He was very unhappy and kept thinking about the good wine he owed Lao Tang.

Gong Xue also came to persuade Yu Qie: "The purpose of war is peace. Now that the war is about to end, isn't that a good thing?"

Yu Qie was naturally unwilling to give up: "I still have one score to settle!"

This year, the comrades who came to Laoshan to offer their condolences were mainly actors from the General Political Department Song and Dance Troupe, and the tense atmosphere of impending battle that had prevailed a few years ago was gone. Yu Qie went to the front-line camp and found that even three-story buildings had been built there, and the soldiers' conditions were much better than before.

He and the other actors performed a chorus of "My Motherland." He also performed a classic scene from "The Kiss of Death" with Gong Xue: the female medic gives a kiss on the forehead of a dying young soldier.

The performance was met with thunderous applause!
However, Yu Qie was still dissatisfied. He stayed at headquarters for a full week, hoping for news of more small-scale battles so he could take advantage of the chaos. He even polished his rifle handle until it was smooth, but the news only got worse. By late May, the two sides reached a preliminary agreement. The Vietnamese army promised to cease all provocative actions against the Chinese border, while the Chinese side stated it would reduce its troop presence on the border as appropriate.

On June 1, shocking news arrived: the two countries officially signed a border ceasefire agreement.

There's no hope of revenge!
The agreement stipulates that both sides must withdraw to within the border line and establish a demilitarized zone.

"Vietnam announced that it will adjust its military deployment in the coming period, first by withdrawing the elite troops stationed on the border... They are looking for concrete measures to resolve the issue, and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Cao Thach is preparing to accompany the leader on a visit to China... The conflict, which has lasted for nearly ten years, is finally coming to an end."

What exactly did this conflict bring to people?
Yu Qie didn't know what the Vietnamese were thinking. Back at headquarters, many of the people at the outposts were bewildered, simply unable to believe that the two sides, who had been fighting for so many years, could sit down together.

Xianyun pointed to the news in the Daily News and said bitterly, "We can't fight anymore, we can't fight anymore!"

He didn't know whether to be sad or happy. Suddenly, he looked at Yu Qie and said, "Now, Teacher Yu's novels will be openly and legitimately circulated in Vietnam. Perhaps one day you will go to Vietnam to sign books for readers. I wonder what you think?"

Yu Qie said, "I wanted to take Lao Tang's machine gun with me and sweep a bunch of people across the way, especially to find out the people who clashed with the Fourth Company back then... but I was powerless to do so. I'm just a novelist."

Upon hearing this, Xianyun Qiang also felt sorrow.

Unexpectedly, the prediction came true. Under the prevailing trend of peace, Yu Xie's novels indeed became popular openly in Vietnam. Because those who had previously read the novels were all "Yu-ism followers," they could only read them secretly.

Now that restrictions have been lifted, a surge of reading has ensued. The "cat-ear cave people" have come out, exchanging novels and candy. The most popular item among the Vietnamese is any novel by Yu Xie.

Moreover, while Yu Qie's several victories angered some Vietnamese, they also made some Vietnamese admire him.

This was especially evident among the female soldiers. As soon as the restrictions were lifted, the female soldiers immediately succumbed to their physiological instincts.

"Yu is a perfect man in every way, a soldier, and in peacetime, he is also a writer who could win the Nobel Prize in Literature—that is the kind of person he is."

However, the soldiers at the outpost still couldn't accept it. The shelling of Laoshan continued unabated, historically not ending completely until the beginning of the following year.

Ironically, it was the people in the foxholes at the forefront who reconciled first. These people had a tacit understanding and had stopped attacking each other years ago, so they were happy that the conflict had ended.

The same Vietnamese Foreign Minister, after visiting China, suddenly had a whimsical idea: perhaps the wounds between the two sides need a landmark event to end. If Yu Qie could donate his books—not anti-Vietnamese military novels, but novels reflecting social development—wouldn't that become a milestone for peace?

The Vietnamese also wanted to reform and open up, which they called Doi Moi (Renovation and Opening Up), and they almost completely copied their northern neighbor. Since 1986, Vietnam has reduced its army by half. After decades of war, its economy has almost completely collapsed, and it can no longer continue fighting.

This ingenious idea was passed down through the ranks and eventually landed on Yu Qie.

Yu Qie felt it was utterly ridiculous.

At the beginning of this year, he made a wish to his future self - he wanted to win the Nobel Prize, could it be the Peace Prize?

This is so different from his original idea; it's a complete mess.

On June 3rd, this official order was issued. Teams jointly organized by both sides were to distribute literary works representing peace in areas where conflict had not occurred for many years.

(End of this chapter)