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墨書 Inktalez
After the story ended, I suddenly noticed that a number of warriors had gathered around me, some from our squad and others from different squads. Everyone seemed to be quite engrossed in what they had heard.
One soldier from the Second Squad, who might have just arrived, shouted, "Squad Leader Wang can tell stories too? Let's hear another one!"
I chuckled and turned to step outside to blow the evening Roll Call whistle.
However, I soon realized that after sharing the story of the Snake Disaster, the most noticeable change was that everyone started closing their doors and windows to sleep, and very few ventured out at night. Perhaps they were genuinely frightened.
This was actually quite good; safety first, after all.
On the downside, whenever any squad's soldiers felt bored, they would gather around ours, urging my squad members to convince me to tell them stories.
He Baisha even used this as leverage, extorting several cigarettes from soldiers of other squads. If they didn’t comply, he threatened not to call them to listen when I told stories.
I couldn’t help but laugh and chose to ignore him.
The long holiday in the army was rather dull. Each day consisted of cleaning, recreational activities, meals, and sleep, making the holiday feel extremely uninteresting. During this time, our Company Commander visited once; he looked around and left after seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
This monotony continued until the evening of the fifth day of National Day. It had been drizzling since dinner, and seeing that outdoor activities were off the table, I decided to take everyone to the Unit Learning Room to watch television.
The TV was showing a war drama about the Sino-Japanese War, specifically focusing on the defense of Guilin. As we watched, discussions erupted among us. The subtitles revealed that in 1944, the Japanese Army launched a large-scale operation known in China as the Yuxianggui Campaign, capturing Henan and Hunan provinces. Except for facing fierce resistance from the Central Army's Tenth Army in Hengyang, they swept through with ease. Most of the Kuomintang forces fell apart under pressure. The Japanese Army had nearly seven divisions with 150,000 troops and a large number of tanks and aircraft gathered at Guilin, preparing for an assault.
Watching the Kuomintang Army retreating on screen prompted several soldiers to curse. Just as I was about to correct their somewhat simplistic views on history, I noticed He Baisha’s unusually intense reaction.
He stood up and addressed everyone loudly, "You all might not know this, but actually not every Kuomintang army was ineffective. Take the Guangxi Army for instance; their combat effectiveness was quite strong. At that time, only a portion of the Guangxi Army remained to defend Guilin—specifically missing one regiment from both the 131st Division and the 170th Division. The 170th Division was essentially equivalent to just one regiment. Later in battle, it was incorporated into the 131st Division. Initially, the National Government intended to abandon Guilin and Liuzhou completely. However, Bai Chongxi later insisted on holding Guilin to buy time for a counterattack. So against 150,000 well-equipped Japanese troops, Guilin's defenders consisted solely of about 10,000 men from the Guangxi Guilin Army's 131st Division along with local militia who spontaneously entered Guilin City. Their total strength was less than ten thousand—no tanks or aircraft—only some artillery (two cannons and one mountain gun). Most of the Guangxi militia and a few Guangxi Army soldiers were armed with outdated rifles. Nevertheless, these defenders were determined to fight alongside Guilin until death; their morale was incredibly high. They primarily engaged in urban warfare against the Japanese Army by turning all buildings into fortifications and constructing defensive works at every intersection while poisoning all wells as part of a scorched earth strategy. The Guangxi militia even formed death squads numbering in the thousands outside their perimeter with missions to strap grenades or explosives onto themselves and destroy Japanese tanks with their bodies—heroic and valiant."
It seemed that He Baisha was well-versed in this segment of history; I was quite surprised! The soldiers exchanged glances; it was rare to see He Baisha so serious—and speaking Mandarin fluently too.
I felt a spark of curiosity; He Baisha’s background seemed mysterious—could it be that his family history was related to this defense of Guilin? I decided it would be a good time to share a story about my own experiences during the defense of Guilin—not only to correct their misconceptions but also to probe into He Baisha’s background.
I waved my hand for He Baisha to sit down and continue watching television.
After finishing watching TV, I glanced outside; I didn’t know when it had started pouring heavily again. It seemed Roll Call would have to be held inside the barracks. Seeing there was still some time before Roll Call began, I shouted at everyone, "Those who want to hear me tell stories come downstairs to A Row Barracks! We’ll listen after Roll Call."
I turned around and walked away, but to my surprise, a large group of people followed me. Once we entered the Barracks, I sat down on a bed, and soon everyone brought their stools over, including He Baisha, who settled not far from me.
Someone kindly brought me a glass of water. I took a sip contentedly, leaned back against the blanket on the bed, and began to share my experiences with everyone.
It was during the final phase of my training at military school, focusing on Military Topography. Military Topography is a discipline that studies and utilizes terrain in military contexts; it is one of the common subjects in military training. It primarily examines how terrain influences combat operations, including map reading, battlefield measurement methods, and the essentials of creating key maps. The content studied in Military Topography revolves around understanding and utilizing terrain.
The training took place in a town several dozen kilometers outside the city and lasted for two weeks. The initial days were spent learning map reading and various scales on a hilltop, all in preparation for the final subject—Armed Orientation Cross-Country: marching fully equipped from a field Base back to school within a specified time.
It was no simple task! Each class had different routes, and along each route were stone markers resembling boundary stones. Inside these markers was a metal plate; by striking it with a special Paper provided, unique holes would appear. Generally, each class had distinct routes with varying numbers of check-in markers. You had to follow the designated route back to ensure you punched all the holes; deviating onto someone else's route or skipping markers was not allowed! The school kept records of the hole patterns for each route, so any discrepancies would reveal cheating. If caught cheating, you would receive a zero for the course. Thus, everyone took this subject very seriously.
The troops rented several rows of abandoned houses outside the town for accommodation; conditions were quite basic. Everyone slept on straw mats and hung mosquito nets at night—a far cry from the outdoor training sites years later.
Each morning we set out to the mountains for mapping exercises. After lunch, we took short breaks before continuing our training. With no television available after leaving the city, our evenings were occupied with stargazing to identify directions.
Time passed quickly, and soon we entered the field point-finding phase. The so-called field point-finding involved instructors placing several Punch Stakes near the Base and marking them on maps. You would take your map out during the day or at night to scout for them and punch your check-in holes upon finding them. Due to the large number of participants, each class was split into smaller groups for searching. During daylight hours, it was common to see Cadets bustling in and out of their accommodations.
Honestly, my class vice leader was quite capable; Ayu had strong military skills. With him around, most Punch Stakes were found quickly. The other brothers followed along; they would reach their destinations, smoke a cigarette, punch their holes, and return without any issues—just coasting through until night operations began.
Nighttime point-finding was entirely different due to low visibility; often you would struggle to find Punch Stakes just ten meters away. After providing detailed explanations, instructors equipped each Cadet with Flashlights, glow-in-the-dark compasses, snake repellent, and other tools.
For two consecutive nights, instructors led our entire team on operations in the mountains near town. Watching the hills filled with Flashlight beams and bustling crowds of Xuanhua people made me feel as if I were still in the city—yes, in a city experiencing a power outage.
After two nights of instruction, we entered the assessment phase which also lasted two nights. Classes were randomly selected for testing; our class wasn’t called on the first night but was scheduled for the second night as part of the first batch.
That afternoon after lunch, I received notice that our Class 1 would have its nighttime point-finding assessment. The instructor handed me a waterproof map of the entire town with clear instructions: we were to depart at 10 PM and return by 1 AM after punching all our holes to pass.
To prevent cheating, instructors didn’t mark our destinations immediately but would inform us when we set off.
After receiving the map, I returned to my class and called everyone together for a briefing. After handing the map to Ayu, I explained everything in detail. However, everyone seemed indifferent; they all expressed that with Ayu around there was nothing to worry about.
I glanced at Ayu only to find him with his head down in silence.
I poked him, "Hey, I'm counting on you tonight, Brothers."
He still didn't move, so I asked curiously, "Hey, what's wrong with you today? You're not usually this heavy."
Ayu didn't even lift his head. "We might be in trouble."
"We usually use maps for our assignments, but the scale isn't this detailed. This map must be for the instructors. I'm just now realizing a lot of things."
"What things?" a brother named Liang asked.
"There are many grave markers on the map, some of them are densely packed."
"What?! What do you mean, graves?" Fatty Hua started to panic.
"Yes, a lot of graves. I'm worried that our destination and Punch Stake might be in a graveyard."
(To be continued, more exciting content tomorrow!)
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