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

An hour later, the troops who had finished the exercise lined up and assembled on the Gobi Desert outside Death Valley.

The gale was still raging, but the atmosphere on the ground was so intense that it seemed capable of melting ice and snow.

Hundreds of armored vehicles of various types were neatly lined up. Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers, wearing training uniforms covered in oil and sand, stood ramrod straight in front of the vehicles.

No one spoke; only the sound of the strong wind whipping the red flag fluttering in the wind.

Lin Yang, Li Yunlong, and Kong Jie, three generals with absolute prestige in the army, slowly stepped out of the jeep and strode towards the assembly position.

As they approached, an invisible aura of solemnity and majesty spread across the entire battlefield like a tide.

Kong Jie walked to the front of the group, his sharp eyes scanning the entire scene.

"Attention, all! Salute!"

Swish!

Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers raised their right hands in unison, their movements powerful and vigorous, their eyes filled with boundless respect for these veteran generals.

Kong Jie shouted, "Comrades! Today's exercise was absolutely brilliant! The Red Force defended resolutely, and the Blue Force attacked decisively. In particular, the Blue Force's elite platoon dared to draw its sword in dire straits and dared to break with convention, demonstrating the formidable might of our Independent Armored Division!"

Kong Jie turned around and pointed to Lin Yang and Li Yunlong standing to the side.

"Today, the leaders of the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of Heavy Industry have personally come to our Great Northwest to test your combat capabilities! Give them a warm welcome!"

Thunderous applause resounded throughout the Gobi Desert.

Lin Yang returned a standard military salute. Instead of heading towards the podium, he strode directly into the neatly arranged ranks of soldiers.

Li Yunlong, with his hands behind his back, followed Lin Yang like an old lion surveying its territory, his bull-like eyes scanning the faces of the young soldiers.

When they reached the formation of the Blue Team's elite platoon, Lin Yang stopped.

Standing at the very front were Lin Weidong and Lin Jianguo.

Their training uniforms were soaked through with sweat and sand, turning into hard slabs of mud. Their faces were covered in black engine oil and traces of gunpowder smoke, but their eyes shone like cold stars in the dark night.

In this formation, apart from Kong Jie and a very few high-ranking generals, no one knew the true identities of these two young men.

But in the eyes of the veterans and platoon leaders around them, there was no air of superiority in their gazes toward Lin Weidong and Lin Jianguo, only a deep and heartfelt respect and admiration.

In the military, the purest machine of violence, nobody cares who you are. The only way to earn respect is by how hard your fists are and how ruthless your tactics are.

Lin Weidong destroyed a Soviet tank at the age of fourteen and led a crack platoon through a deadly quicksand zone at seventeen. The scars on the back of his hands and his consistently first-place finishes in live-fire exercises are the reasons he earned his place in this iron-willed unit!

Company Commander Gao Dashan stood aside, looking at Lin Weidong as if he were looking at a priceless treasure.

Lin Yang stood in front of his son.

The father and son stood facing each other in the wind and sand.

Lin Weidong stood ramrod straight, like a javelin. He didn't call out "Dad," nor did he make any affectionate gestures; he simply shouted, "Reporting, Commander! Lin Weidong, Platoon Leader of the Independent Armored Division's Vanguard Platoon, and driver Lin Jianguo, are here to receive your inspection!"

Lin Yang's cold face remained expressionless. He reached out and patted the thick layer of sand off Lin Weidong's shoulder.

"Are you afraid of dying when we cross the quicksand zone today?" Lin Yang's voice was deep, yet it clearly reached the ears of every soldier around him.

Lin Weidong stared straight ahead and answered loudly, "Reporting, Commander! Those who fear death shouldn't be soldiers! As long as we can achieve our tactical objectives, even if it's a mountain of knives or a sea of ​​fire, our elite platoon will brave it! The only thing we fear is tarnishing our uniforms!"

"good!"

Li Yunlong suddenly roared from the side, his face turning red with excitement.

He strode forward and slapped Lin Weidong hard on the chest, so hard that Lin Weidong swayed slightly.

"Good lad! You've got guts! Back when I was attacking Ping'an County, my men had the same fighting spirit as you!"

Li Yunlong turned to Lin Jianguo and slapped him again: "Your driving skills are absolutely amazing! You can drive a tank through quicksand like an eel. I've never seen such skill in my life!"

As he spoke, Li Yunlong ripped off a somewhat old leather water bottle hanging from his waist. It was a spoil of war he had captured on the battlefield against the Japanese, and he had always carried it with him.

Without hesitation, he shoved the kettle into Lin Weidong's hands.

"Here you go! This is a small token of my appreciation. If you ever end up on the battlefield and encounter those Russians, give them a good beating! Show the might of the Chinese soldiers!"

Lin Weidong accepted the water bottle with both hands and gave a solemn salute: "Thank you, Commander!"

Lin Yang looked at the two children in front of him, and at the young soldiers around him whose faces were covered in dirt but whose eyes were incredibly resolute.

He knew that his previous worries were unnecessary.

The petty schemes and intrigues in Beijing, the ugly faces of those who fight each other for power and profit, can never corrupt the true backbone of this country.

This army, armed with the most advanced industrial system and possessing the purest steely will, is the absolute source of confidence for Lin Yang and the entire Chinese nation to stand at the top of the world.

"You have not disgraced your ancestors."

Lin Yang spoke slowly, his voice carrying a soul-piercing power amidst the wind and sand.

"Remember this. Behind you lies the magnificent landscape of our motherland. Where your tracks have rolled, lies the boundary of truth."

Lin Yang took a step back, stood at attention, and faced the group of young soldiers.

He solemnly raised his right hand and gave a military salute to the Lin family disciples he had personally trained.

brush!

Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers returned the salute at the same time.

The fierce wind whipped up a sky full of yellow sand, covering the desolation of the Gobi Desert.

In this vast expanse of land, only the roar of steel and the iron will of soldiers echoed long afterward under the sky.

The handover between the old and new generations takes place in this wind-swept Northwest.

In the purest way, the most perfect inheritance was completed.

The autumn wind of 1972 was more bleak than in any other year.

In the hutongs of Beijing, fallen leaves are swept up by the autumn wind, swirling around the gray brick walls. In the compound of the Ministry of Heavy Industry, several old Chinese scholar trees have lost most of their leaves, their bare branches pointing straight to the somewhat gloomy sky.

Although the external shadow of war has temporarily dissipated and the introduction of advanced Western equipment is proceeding steadily, this does not mean that the internal storm has subsided. On the contrary, in some unseen corners, undercurrents are surging in a more covert and vicious manner.