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墨書 Inktalez
“Ah?! What?!” Jinghe could hardly believe his ears.
“You, Fatty! Haven't you been complaining about not having a chance? Well, here it is! Everyone in the unit is watching you; success or failure is in your hands! Hurry up, Fatty!” I shouted at him, pointing to the Floating Bridge behind us.
“Company Commander, but I’ve never done this before!” Fatty hesitated. I could see his lack of confidence. I called out to him, “Fatty, you can do it! I know you can! Come on, I’ll fight alongside you!”
“Yes!” Energized by my words, Jinghe suddenly turned the steering wheel sharply, and the Speedboat shot downstream toward the shore. The soldiers there were already prepared; as soon as they saw the Speedboat approaching, they pushed the Bailey Bridge into the river. Jinghe maneuvered the Speedboat downstream of the Bailey Bridge, gauged the distance perfectly, made a sharp turn, and with a loud thud, bumped into the Bailey Bridge.
That was impressive! “Good! Good! Alright!” I exclaimed, shaking slightly as I grabbed onto a protrusion to avoid falling into the river. I urged Jinghe, “Steady now, maintain speed and head to the center of the river!”
“Got it!” Jinghe replied. At that moment, the Speedboat slowly nudged against the Bailey Bridge, inching toward the last available spot. Despite Fatty pushing full throttle, with the resistance from the Bailey Bridge, it felt like we were moving at a snail's pace. Time ticked away; even though the music from Heavy Metal Storm echoed across the river surface, my anxiety grew as I continuously urged Fatty.
Fatty was extremely nervous too; beads of sweat streamed down his face. I had completely forgotten that he was a reserve boatman who had never practiced before. Aligning with that last spot was as tricky as parking two cars in a single space.
With the Bailey Bridge blocking our view, Fatty adjusted his position several times but still couldn’t get it right. The driver of the nearby Speedboat kept directing him, leaving Fatty flustered and making his movements even slower. In my frustration, I leaped onto the front of the Bailey Bridge and shouted, “Fatty! Let me direct you; don’t rush—just follow my lead!”
“Left! A bit more to the left! Good!!”
“Now a little to the right! Perfect!”
After several attempts back and forth, we finally aligned properly. I turned back to give Fatty a reassuring look. “Fatty! Go straight! It’s all on you now!”
At this moment, Jinghe’s face was flushed red; he gripped the steering wheel tightly while I focused on the junction ahead. Suddenly, Sheng Xiong spoke up for Fatty, “Brother, you got this! Go for it; let’s show these rookies what we’re made of!”
In that moment, Sheng Xiong remembered our new Veterans’ challenge! Hearing this made Fatty’s eyes light up. He took a deep breath and firmly grasped the steering wheel, pushing full power as he nudged the Bailey Bridge toward the gap. I watched as the Bailey Bridge slowly moved forward. Just as it was about to connect with the two adjacent Bailey Bridges, I shouted to both Speedboats on either side, “Give it a strong push!”
The two Speedboats roared to life simultaneously and pushed upstream against both Bailey Bridges. As they tilted apart just enough at that moment, my Bailey Bridge slid right in. With both Speedboats retreating slightly, the current pushed both Bailey Bridges back together with a satisfying clunk—successfully connecting!
Just then, the last notes of music faded away from the river surface—it was done!
The soldiers from the Three Bridge Sections hurriedly rushed forward to secure the connection, while I jumped back onto the Speedboat and took out the Signal Gun. "Bang!" A long Green Signal Flare shot up into the sky. I glanced at the stopwatch left on the Speedboat: 4 minutes and 50 seconds!
I let out a sigh of relief, grabbed the microphone, and shouted through the loudspeaker, "Report to Leader, the water bridge operation is complete. Allies, please return to shore from my position!"
"Whoa—!" All my troops on the shore erupted in cheers. They shouted, laughed, and jumped, gradually merging their voices into one chant: "Sharp Blade Company! Sharp Blade Company! Sharp Blade Company!" The sound soared into the sky and echoed endlessly!
Standing on the bridge, my eyes felt a bit moist. This was a miracle, a miracle created by over a hundred people together. I shouted to the warriors around me, "Brothers, we did it! Glory belongs to you!"
The surrounding warriors didn’t care whether they were supposed to stand aside for the convoy to pass; they surged toward me, surrounding me. First, they lifted me up, then tossed me into the air in celebration. "Whoa! Whoa! Company Commander! Company Commander! Whoa! Whoa!" More and more soldiers joined in this joyful frenzy, and their heartfelt happiness made everyone exuberant until someone mischievously shouted, "Let the Company Commander cool off in the river!"
As a result, I was tossed into the river by my jubilant soldiers. The last thing I heard before hitting the water was Sheng Xiong's frantic shout: "Damn it, you all want to die?! The Company Commander isn't wearing a life jacket! He can't swim!"
And then? Then I knew nothing…
When I woke up, it was already noon. I found myself lying in the Medical Unit's emergency room surrounded by Squad Soldiers. Old Tang was sitting by my bedside. Seeing me awake, he quickly stood up and said, "Finally awake! You scared me half to death!"
The soldiers around us began shouting, "The Company Commander is awake! The Company Commander is awake!" The room instantly turned chaotic…
It was too noisy; my head hurt! I needed some quiet. I looked up and smiled before suddenly exclaiming, "Damn it! You all clearly saw I wasn't wearing a life jacket—who threw me in?!"
Silence fell…
Old Tang was also a bit angry; he turned to everyone and said, "You all really went too far. What if the Company Commander fell in and got caught in the Speedboat's propeller? Can you bear that responsibility? You are simply too reckless! I think the Company Commander has spoiled you all!" He pretended to be furious.
"Old Tang, enough already; he’s not dead yet!" I knew Old Tang was worried I'd genuinely get angry and wanted to cover for the soldiers. I found it amusing; it turned out Old Tang cared for these kids too! I had no intention of pursuing responsibility; I just wanted to know what happened afterward.
"What happened afterward?" Old Tang turned his face and smiled. "Afterward, you have to treat us!"
"What? What do you mean?"
"The Leader said this in front of everyone—cough cough." Old Tang cleared his throat and mimicked the Leader's expression.
“Comrades! Did you see that? There’s always a higher mountain! This Buddy is the Acting Company Commander? I think that title can be dropped!”
“Really?” I was surprised.
“Absolutely!” Old Tang nodded. “The Commander even plays music during training as a tradition, using those few songs you selected, playing them on repeat! Hey, you wouldn’t believe it! I didn’t expect those songs you chose to be so inspiring! I was on the shore listening and felt so pumped up that I wanted to jump into the water and join in.”
“Company Commander Wang! Aren’t you going to treat us now?!” Old Bi suddenly squeezed through the crowd. “What the hell! Sweating like crazy, I’m exhausted.”
“Hey, how did you get here? Where’s the Leader?”
“The Leader left, of course, which is why I could take down the guards to come see you!” Old Bi wiped his sweat. “Damn it, you really stole the spotlight!”
“Hehe!” I chuckled dismissively. It was all just a gamble! Just like playing cards; sometimes you draw a great hand, and sometimes you don’t draw anything at all.
Old Bi rolled his eyes. “Still not satisfied? You’ve done enough already. You single-handedly defeated an entire battalion! Do you know that battalion is known as the Waterborne Tiger Camp?”
Haha, Waterborne Tiger Camp; that name itself is questionable. Aren’t tigers land animals? How fierce can they be on water? If I had to name it, I’d do a better job, I thought to myself as I was about to step outside. Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted outside. “What are you all doing? So many people here, it’s ridiculous! Get back to your Unit now!” a stern voice commanded.
Hmm, that sounds like the Deputy Chief of Staff!
Old Tang waved his hand, and the officers and soldiers inside dispersed like a receding tide.
“Company Commander Wang!” As the crowd thinned out, the room became much emptier, and in walked the Commander along with the Big Black Man!
I quickly got up to salute. “Stay lying down!” The Commander hurried over to support me. “How are you feeling? Is everything alright? I notified the Medical Unit; they’ll call me as soon as you wake up. I just arranged for the Allies to settle in and thought I’d come by to check on you.” The Commander said with concern.
“I’m fine, really. Just choked on some water,” I replied somewhat awkwardly.
“What! You can’t swim?!” The Big Black Man’s eyes widened again. “Hehe.” I could only smile sheepishly.
“The waves of the Yangtze River push forward the waves behind!” The Big Black Man stared at me for a moment before finally saying with emotion, “Old classmate, you’re really lucky to have such subordinates.”
“Hmph,” the Commander snorted. “We graduated together; you’re one rank higher than me now. Who’s lucky?”
"Ha ha, don't worry about that. Who told me I was an Excellent Student back then!?"
...
I felt a bit awkward. In this atmosphere, I didn't know what to say until the Commander noticed my discomfort and patted my shoulder. "Good job, really impressive. You should rest well. After we send off the Allies in a few days, we'll hold a big meeting to commend you."
"Thank you for your concern, Leader, but this is the whole unit's achievement. If there's any praise, it should go to the entire Unit," I said, looking up at the Commander calmly.
"Yes! No taking credit for others and no arrogance! I didn't misjudge you." The Commander dropped that line and walked out with the Big Black Man. I let out a sigh and collapsed onto the bed. Honestly, I felt that what my Unit lacked was just a little recognition; if we could get that back, I'd be grateful!
"Time for your shot!" The Lifeguard rushed in. I sat up and glared, "What shot? I'm the doctor! I don't need one!"
"Old Tang, get back to the Unit!" I got out of bed, ready to return to the Unit. I was overjoyed; these kids had made me proud, and I needed to go back and commend them.
Life really has its ups and downs. Who would have thought that after such a glorious moment for us, trouble would strike again so soon?!
(The Battle of the Floating Bridge is complete. Look forward to the next story, Hyena. Love Like the Wind, The Work of Chasing the Wind will bring more excitement tomorrow!)
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