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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter One Hundred and Ninety: Battle of the Floating Bridge (Ten)
A crowd rushed toward the training ground entrance, quickly forming a line to await the Leader. Of course, I didn't have the qualifications to join them, so I stood by, watching eagerly, wondering what rank the Leader would be.
Before long, a Security Vehicle led the way into the area, followed by another vehicle and then an Iveco. There were more vehicles behind, but I couldn't see clearly; I only noticed that as the first vehicle came to a stop, people on board jumped down and waited in front of the Iveco until it was parked securely. At this moment, members of the Regimental Standing Committee also approached to greet them.
Through the throng of people, I spotted a shining star—ah, it was a Major General. Clearly, the higher-ups were taking this seriously. The leaders at the front saluted and shook hands for a while before finally entering the observation point. Once they settled in their seats, I saw the General asking his subordinates something; I guessed he was inquiring about when the Allies would arrive. I noticed a secretary-like person stepping aside to make a phone call.
The members of the Regimental Standing Committee didn’t dare sit down; they stood by the cool pavilion, ready for the Leader's summons. The Commander and Political Commissar appeared especially tense; perhaps they were not accustomed to such scenes. The sun had risen high, and both wiped their brows while watching the training ground entrance.
After a while, the General's secretary ran out with his phone in hand, shouting, "Please clear the area for the Leader; they are arriving!"
The Commander immediately responded, "Report! The venue has been prepared!" The secretary exchanged a few more words on the phone before returning to the pavilion.
Soon enough, I heard the familiar sound of vehicles approaching from outside the training ground—it was unmistakably our standard trucks, rumbling loudly and warmly.
The first truck appeared at the entrance of the training ground. Strangely enough, it showed no signs of slowing down as it headed straight toward the designated shore.
The Commander looked quite awkward; he had intended to go greet them but found that the truck simply passed him by and drove directly to the shore. It turned around at a distance, positioning its rear almost at the water's edge.
The Commander stood frozen in place as one truck after another rolled in behind it, all making similar maneuvers—driving to the shore, turning around, and lining up with their backs facing the river.
These were all transport boats! Just like those from Bridge Two Squad. Looking at the equipment on board—the modified 74 Full-Shape Boats—and seeing rows of soldiers standing ready inside each truck gave me an uneasy feeling. I hurried over to stand beside the Commander. "Commander, something feels off!" I whispered.
"Hmm?" The Commander turned around, looking puzzled. "They're all equipment transport trucks. If those tailgates open up, their cargo will go straight into the water. This doesn't look good!"
The Commander gasped sharply. "This is meant to be a show of force!" Just as he finished speaking, I saw an off-road vehicle drive through the gate last. Instead of stopping when it reached us, it slowly parked next to the last truck. At that moment, a loudspeaker on board suddenly blared to life.
"All personnel! Entering water—commence operations!" A deep male voice echoed along the riverbank.
Bang! Bang!
All trucks instantly dropped their tailgates. Soldiers on board shouted loudly as they quickly pushed equipment into the water using gravity. Since the rear wheels of each truck were nearly submerged, their tailgates dipped into the river by quite a distance. The sound of equipment splashing into water filled my ears; within one or two minutes, all trucks had unloaded their cargo. Soldiers donned life jackets and jumped into the water like dumplings being tossed in; at that moment, I noticed that there were even trucks carrying speedboats among them—and some soldiers had already climbed aboard and started them up.
Directly entering water for immediate operations and building bridges on-site! They were clearly trying to intimidate us! I suddenly felt that things were going awry and glanced back at the Commander; his expression was equally grim.
This is completely out of the ordinary! With a general present, one would typically report in first, exchange pleasantries, greet the host, and then begin sparring. What is this unit leader thinking? Doesn’t he fear that the Leader might have thoughts about this? A flurry of questions raced through my mind, but I couldn't help but admire him; he truly is a remarkable figure!
The last truck arrived with several people, both officers and soldiers. They brought along something resembling a telescope and a tripod, which they set up by the riverbank. I recognized it as a laser rangefinder; we had one too, but not quite like that. Several individuals also disembarked from the off-road vehicle, among them a person bearing two bars and four stars who walked directly toward the pavilion. "Report! The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Provincial Military District is leading the team for drill training. Please give instructions, Leader!" He stood at attention not far from the general and saluted.
The general stood up and returned the salute. "Come, sit down. You've had a long journey!" The officer with two stars and four stripes took a seat to the left of the Leader. "What are you all doing here?" the general asked with interest.
"Report, Leader! We're not putting on any show; we just want to let everyone know that we can forge paths through mountains and build bridges over water! This is what we do! And we do it best!" The officer smiled.
"Oh, interesting!" The two men fell silent and turned their attention to the field.
One of the individuals remaining on the shore was a tall, robust black man in camouflage uniform, standing out like a tower. He wore insignia of two bars and three stars on his shoulders, and I guessed he must be the unit leader. He grabbed a walkie-talkie and immediately joined those by the truck, murmuring incessantly.
Incredible! Didn’t you see there’s a general just sitting over there?! I instinctively turned to glance at the observation booth; there was quite a buzz there too—everyone seemed surprised by this turn of events! Meanwhile, the general remained calm and composed, watching the scene as if nothing unusual was happening.
The Commander felt truly awkward at this moment; he didn’t know whether to seek out his classmates or approach the general. In truth, it wasn’t just him; all of us felt uncomfortable. What could we do? It was our home turf, yet they didn’t even acknowledge us while they went about their business.
Even more amusing was Gao Ge on the opposite bank; noticing activity here, he kept shouting into his walkie-talkie, "Company Commander Wang, has it already started? Should we get in the water? Why haven’t we seen any signal flares?"
I couldn’t help but respond, "The Allies have arrived and are already performing; just watch closely!"
Indeed, it seemed that the Allies had taken this place as their own home. Speedboats were darting across the water while soldiers jumped onto Bailey Bridges, busily connecting them in an energetic display. I felt an odd illusion that these people were actually the hosts here while we were merely distant guests standing by as spectators.
"Commander, what should we do?" I asked anxiously as I instinctively moved closer to him.
"Don't worry; let's just observe for now." The Commander had calmed down from his initial confusion. He squinted his eyes; I knew that whenever he did this, his mind was racing with thoughts. Seeing him like this made me feel slightly more at ease—if he wasn’t worried, then perhaps I shouldn’t be either.
At that moment, the Allies had fully commenced their bridge-building operations; they had already set up a dock bridge and connected several Bailey Bridges extending across to the opposite bank.
I instinctively glanced at my watch; it hadn’t even been ten minutes since the first truck arrived! Remarkably swift! This was undoubtedly a result of years of training. I looked over at the big black man again just as he waved his hand decisively. "Just like that! Full speed ahead!"
With that, he turned and walked toward us—finally going to meet him! Before I could react, however, the Commander didn’t approach but instead ran over to stand by the observation booth. It dawned on me that he wanted to avoid any appearance of collusion in this prearranged scene. Despite being classmates, it seemed he didn’t dare treat Leader lightly.
"Report, Leader! Our unit has been ordered southward for relocation. Currently, we've encountered a river obstacle during our march and have initiated bridge-building operations on-site. We expect to complete an 80-ton floating bridge in five minutes; please give instructions!"
"Oh!" The Leader's eyes lit up at this report regarding simulated enemy drill mode—it piqued his interest. "Was this planned in advance?"
"Report, Leader, we have no plans, and we don't know where we'll unload. Everything is being prepared on the way!"
"Mm, strong practical ability. How many people?"
"Report: just one battalion came out for training!"
"Oh!" The Leader elongated the sound, raising his head to observe the situation at the River Surface with a prepared telescope. "Not bad, very tight. Your training is much more practical than ordinary drills. The troops should be like this; when they come out, they should be useful! We need real skills, not just showpieces!" The Leader excitedly put down the telescope.
"Train for battle! Battle tests training!" Big Black Man roared.
"You have capable subordinates, right?!" The Leader turned to Two Stars Four and said. The two exchanged a knowing smile and fell silent, looking towards the River Surface.
Well, they had stolen the spotlight. I noticed Commander awkwardly standing nearby, not daring to lift his head. After Big Black Man finished his report, he turned and walked over to stand next to Commander. "Hello, old classmate!" Big Black Man extended his hand. Commander remained silent but also reached out to shake hands with him. Of course, if I were Commander, I wouldn't be happy either; coming here without prior notice put him in a very passive position as the host. However, with the Leader nearby, he felt too embarrassed to say anything.
Time passed in the awkward silence of our Entire Unit. I think everyone felt uneasy about it? We all expected a competition between the two units when they met, but it ended up like this. They built the bridge; what were we supposed to do? This question lingered in everyone's mind.
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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