Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

Three old generals, whose combined age was nearly two hundred, burst into laughter in this simple room deep underground. Their laughter contained the relief of surviving a calamity, a感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion) about the passage of time, and above all, an unwavering bond of brotherhood.

Lin Yang stood by the door, silently watching this scene, a gentle smile playing on his lips. He turned to Tian Yu and whispered a few words of instruction. Tian Yu nodded and turned to go to the logistics department to prepare food and drinks.

"Yangzi, don't stand at the door. Come and sit down!" Ding Wei pulled over a few stools and invited everyone to sit around the wooden table.

He looked at Lin Yang, his eyes filled with endless gratitude and awe.

"Yangzi, three years ago, if it weren't for your order, if it weren't for Zhuzi leading the special forces into the air-raid shelter, my bones would have turned to ashes in Shenyang long ago. I will always remember this life-saving grace, brother," Ding Wei said solemnly.

Lin Yang pulled over a small stool and sat down, waving his hand: "Brother Ding, let's not talk about these things between us. You've guarded the northern border for half your life; even if you haven't made any great contributions, you've certainly put in a lot of hard work. How could I just stand by and watch you be ruined by those political opportunists?"

A short while later, Tian Yu walked in carrying a large tray.

The tray didn't have any delicacies on it, just two plates of freshly roasted peanuts, a plate of thickly sliced ​​canned luncheon meat, and a bowl of soup made from dehydrated vegetables. But right in the center of the tray were three bottles of Fenjiu liquor, covered in dust and with yellowed labels.

"This was sent to the base by Yangzi a few years ago. We've been reluctant to drink it, but since you old comrades are all here today, it's time to open it." Tian Yu put down the tray, smiled, and left the room, closing the iron door tightly to leave the four men alone.

When Li Yunlong saw the three bottles of Fenjiu, his eyes lit up like light bulbs. He grabbed one bottle and eagerly bit off the cap.

A rich and mellow aroma of wine instantly filled the small room.

"This is good stuff! I've been drinking sweet potato liquor every day in Fujian, my mouth is practically boiling with staleness. Come on, fill it up!"

Four chipped enamel mugs were filled to the brim.

Ding Wei picked up his teacup, looked around at his three brothers-in-arms, and his expression became extremely solemn.

"This first drink is a toast to our old brothers who couldn't come back with us from the Korean War!"

Without any hesitation, the four men tilted their heads back and drank the fiery liquor in one gulp.

The liquor went down their throats like a fire burning in their stomachs, instantly igniting the passion and vicissitudes in the blood of these veterans.

Li Yunlong put down his teacup, grabbed a peanut, threw it into his mouth, and sighed as he chewed.

"Damn, time flies. In the blink of an eye, the days of carrying Hanyang rifles and fighting as a guerrilla in the Taihang Mountains seem like a lifetime ago."

He turned to Ding Wei and said, "Old Ding, you must have been cooped up underground for the past four years, right?"

Ding Wei touched his cane, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

"Suffocated? At first, I felt suffocated." Ding Wei gave a bitter laugh. "Back then, in the air-raid shelter in Shenyang, I really thought I was going to die. Every day, those rebels would press me to the ground and kick me, forcing me to admit that I was a capitalist roader. At that time, I thought to myself, I, Ding Wei, have fought all my life and haven't died under the enemy's gun, but I'm going to die a pathetic death under the belts of my own people."

Ding Wei poured himself another half glass of wine and took a sip.

"Later, Yoko rescued me and brought me here. To be honest, when I first came to Base 211, I was resentful. I felt that the country was in such a mess, and no one was taking care of it. Why should I be forced to hide underground like a coward?"

Ding Wei's tone suddenly became extremely solemn.

"But when Tian Yu pushed me in my wheelchair and took me to see the core assembly workshop, and showed me the model of the hydrogen bomb waiting to be detonated... I felt completely relieved."

Ding Wei pointed to the thick rock formations overhead, his voice trembling slightly: "Old Li, Old Kong, you're out there leading troops, you only know this thing is powerful. But you haven't seen it with your own eyes, what kind of people built this thing!"

"Those great scientists, internationally renowned figures, are here eating cornbread and sand every day. Their hands are cracked from the cold, and they've even broken the abacus beads. But their eyes light up whenever they talk about nuclear weapons!"

"I lived here for four years. I watched them build the hydrogen bomb, I watched them develop missiles. I suddenly realized something."

Ding Wei turned to look at Lin Yang, his gaze intense: "Future wars will no longer be the piecemeal tactics we used to employ, relying on rifles and bayonets to charge into battle. They will be clashes of steel and fire, a strangulation of technology and industry! Yangzi insisted on preserving heavy industry and the military industry back then; that was preserving the lifeline of our nation!"

Hearing this, Kong Jie nodded in deep agreement.

He picked up his teacup and clinked it against Ding Wei's, took a big gulp, and his expression became serious.

"Old Ding is right. If industry can't keep up, the soldiers on the front lines will risk their lives to make up for it."

Kong Jie put down his teacup and wiped his mouth with his rough hands.

"In the past few years, I've truly experienced what industrial dominance means while I'm on the northwestern frontier. The Soviet T-62 tanks have armor as thick as tortoise shells, and their cannons are a whole size larger than ours. When our patrols go out, the soldiers are carrying Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, looking at the steel monsters on the other side, and they really have no confidence."

At this point, Kong Jie changed the subject, and a genuine sense of pride suddenly appeared on his previously solemn face.

He looked at Lin Yang and said loudly, "However, we've stood up straight now. Yangzi, I have to toast you in person! If it weren't for that batch of new tungsten alloy armor-piercing rounds you secretly sent, we would have suffered a great loss on the border!"

Kong Jie recounted in detail the encounter that occurred a few months ago when Lin Weidong's new recruit company patrol encountered Soviet tanks on the border.

When talking about Lin Weidong's amazing shot that instantly destroyed the arrogant Soviet T-62 tank from 800 meters away, blowing off its turret, Li Yunlong slammed his hand on the table in excitement.

"Good! Good lad!" Li Yunlong roared, "That little brat Wei Dong has the same style as me back in the day! I told you, none of the Lin family's offspring are cowards!"

Kong Jie smiled broadly: "Yangzi, you have no idea. Wei Dong and Jianguo, those two kids, haven't had a single good day since they came to my armored division. In the dead of winter, when it was below minus thirty degrees Celsius, once during a field training exercise, the track of Wei Dong's tank broke. In the middle of nowhere, there was no time to wait for rescue."

Kong Jie's voice became somewhat hoarse as he spoke.

"That kid Wei Dong, to hammer the broken track pin back in, took off his gloves and smashed it with a sledgehammer with his bare hands! In the end, the track was reattached, but his palms were frozen to the sledgehammer, tearing off large chunks of skin, leaving them bloody and mangled. That kid gritted his teeth, didn't utter a sound, and completed the training run in the tank!"

The room fell silent as Kong Jie recounted his story.

Li Yunlong and Ding Wei fell silent, their eyes filled with shock and heartache.