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Chapter 50: The mouth is harder than the knife, the man is more fierce than the tiger
In the vast rural areas of Bingyang County, the militia is divided into two types: basic militia and armed militia.

The basic militia consists of farmers who meet the basic age and political requirements. They are registered every year and are organized to undergo two or three military training sessions during the slack season without affecting labor production.

It can be said that according to the slogan of "everyone is a soldier", all members who participate in labor in various production teams in rural areas, if they have no problems with physical fitness and family background, will basically have the experience of registering and becoming basic militiamen.

For example, an ordinary rural production brigade like Lijiazhai usually has the configuration of a basic militia company. The company commander is a member of the brigade branch, and the brigade secretary also serves as the instructor of the militia company.

For so-called towns like Zhongping Village, which are the seat of the commune, because of their large population, they generally set up a basic militia battalion. The instructor of the militia battalion is concurrently the brigade secretary, and the battalion commander is selected by voting of all members of the brigade party branch. He takes office after being approved by the commune armed forces department. Under normal circumstances, the basic militia battalion or basic militia company is under the leadership of the production brigade.

It is different for armed militia. There are age restrictions and quota restrictions. Xie Hushan doesn’t know about other places, but in recent years, as the population of Zhongping Village has grown, the conditions for selecting armed militia have become increasingly high.

Firstly, only elite militiamen aged between sixteen and thirty are selected; secondly, they must be of good family background and have relatives who are soldiers or party members; thirdly, they must have excellent military training results; and finally, they must not be illiterate but must have at least an elementary school education, know at least three hundred words, speak clearly, and be able to read simple documents and repeat them.

The selected armed militiamen are organized into armed militia companies. This armed militia company is registered and filed by the county armed department, is responsible for distributing weapons and guns, and is directly led by the commune armed department. Under normal circumstances, the production brigade has no right to mobilize it.

In addition to the regular training of the basic militia, the armed militia will also arrange for nearby garrisons to conduct irregular training for them, including live-fire shooting, live-fire throwing, night backpack training, and even frying explosives, making simple explosive packs, etc.

The content and intensity of physical training are almost the same as those of regular troops. Everything is to ensure that if a war breaks out, they can immediately enter combat status and cause effective casualties to the enemy.

Armed militia organizations of this level of training are mostly selected from workers in the city's state-owned factories, because once a war breaks out, the factories will be the primary targets of sabotage and attack.

There are relatively few in rural areas. The condition that determines whether a production brigade can form an armed militia company or an armed militia platoon is not the population and size of the brigade, but whether there are important value targets in the brigade that may cause the enemy to destroy them first.

For example, the reason why the Zhongping Brigade was able to form an armed militia company was because the third largest grain depot in Bingyang County was located in Zhongping Village, and armed militia were needed to take turns on duty to guard the depot to ensure its safety.

Simply put, if a war breaks out, the vast majority of basic militiamen are still the masses and can be evacuated first, while the armed militia are a bit like the county brigades, district squads and other local armed forces during the Anti-Japanese War. They must cooperate with the regular army and engage in battle as soon as possible.

This is why Han Laoer, Daxi, Ma San and others often discussed how to rush thousands of miles to the enemy's rear to conduct guerrilla warfare and take down the enemy's artillery towers if the Russians went south.

Every year, they crawl on the training ground with fake explosives between their legs, practicing countless times how to blow up tanks and bunkers, just to prepare for the real war when it comes.

Ge Baosheng deliberately described the militia under Li Hu as the masses, saying that he alone could wipe out Li Hu's entire militia company. This was certainly intended to provoke the other party, but there was also the factor that the armed militia looked down on the basic militia.

Just like the equipment of the two men, he, as the company commander of the armed militia, can carry with him a Type 54 rifle issued by the county armed forces department.

Li Hu, a basic militia company commander, could only carry a Type 56 rifle at most. Before he went out with a gun, he had to inform the commune’s armed forces department.

"Okay, then let's gather together and practice. Not to mention in Lijiazhai's territory, we have more people and can bully the fewer. Let's have a five-on-five match." Li Hu said while gritting his teeth.

The other side has said that he is one person against my entire company. If I really use the majority to bully the minority, then once the news gets out, I, as the company commander, will become a laughing stock among the militia companies.

Ge Baosheng was originally using the method of provoking the opponent. Seeing that the other party proposed a five-on-five fight for the sake of face and fell into his trap, he was very happy in his heart, but his face became more and more embarrassed. He persuaded the other party in a gentle voice:
"Li Hu, why don't you add a few more people to your side? Don't care too much about your face. There are five of you, and these bastards won't show their faces even if they win. Think about it again, think about it again..."

"Stop talking nonsense! Wait here! If you are afraid of losing, leave early, and go to the market next time, avoid Lijiazhai!" Li Hu said firmly, and then called out to his young militiamen:
"Let's go!"

"Well, Captain Li, have your men help your main comrades." Xie Hushan stood behind the chopping board, holding the pickaxe handle, and smiled and called Li Hu, who was about to lead his men to leave. Li Hu asked a few people to help the militiamen who were knocked down by Xie Hushan and others. Xie Hushan grabbed the young man who was knocked down by Lao Meng by the collar and held him in his hand:

"But it's not that easy for him to leave. Everyone saw that he just injured the donkey..."

"The fight damaged the production tools. The brigade will come forward and give an explanation once they find out that he injured the donkey of Zhongping Village. Besides, even if the man ran away, the brigade will not run away. Don't be so petty!" Li Hu interrupted Xie Hushan and said, "Hurry and release him!"

Xie Hushan explained seriously:

"Captain Li, you misunderstood. This donkey is not from our Zhongping Brigade. What happened? My feet hurt yesterday, and I felt that I couldn't pull a cart today, so I wanted to hire a donkey cart to help me pull my belongings to the market. Fortunately, a donkey from the Lijiazhai Brigade happened to be hospitalized in the Zhongping Veterinary Station and would be discharged today. I gave one dollar to the driver of your brigade who helps keep the animals company, and hired him to drive the donkey cart to help me pull the belongings for the stall. We agreed that he would help me pull the things back after the market, so the donkey was tied here with me first..."

Li Hu's face turned green with anger before he finished listening. He looked at the donkey on the open space next to him, whose front hooves were bent and dared not touch the ground, and was trembling with pain...

Is this the animal from my Lijiazhai Brigade? And he was just discharged from the hospital today?

This bastard went to the veterinary station specifically to hire a driver from his own team to pull his cart?
"I think the donkey's front leg was injured. It may not be able to pull the cart when we close the stall at noon. Why don't you send a few people from your team to carry the donkey back. The injury is not serious. I think it will recover after the autumn harvest and it won't delay the slack season to fatten up in the team." Xie Hushan picked up the other person in his hand and said with a smile:
"The donkey is fine, but the nature of this incident is bad. The person who beat the donkey and the donkey that was beaten are both from your Lijiazhai. This matter must be made clear in public. Don't let the driver come to drive the cart at noon and blame us in Zhongping Village."

"So the solution is this. Either you do a good job of appeasing them and admit on behalf of the Lijiazhai Brigade that this is an internal conflict between the people in your brigade and the animals, and it has nothing to do with us, then I will naturally release them."

"But if you feel that this guy has been wronged, that's easy to deal with. The two brigades can each report the case and let the special commissioners take the man away for trial. Send the donkey to the veterinary station for a thorough examination. Let the government conduct a thorough examination and then decide whether the man or the donkey is innocent."

"Finally, we agreed on one dollar for a round trip. I've only taken a one-way trip. Your team still owes me fifty cents. Remember to return the fifty cents to me when we disperse."

The young man who was held in Xie Hushan's hand no longer cared whether his head hurt or not. His whole body began to tremble like a donkey being beaten. He stared at the donkey and then at Xie Hushan, hoping that this guy was lying!
If this damn brigade knew that he came out to fight, not only did he not win, but he also injured his own brigade's livestock, wouldn't the brigade secretary and the production team leader hang him up and line him up to be beaten?
The donkey's medical expenses will definitely be charged to him in the end. When he thought that most of the team's dividends at the end of the year might have to be spent on the donkey's medical treatment, he extremely regretted listening to the instigation of Li Changfu from the bun stall and deliberately causing trouble for a few buns!
But no matter how badly he gets punished within the team, it is better than the other party reporting the case. If it is really handled through official means, he will be accused of destroying production tools and may have to stay in prison for a while!
So he looked at Li Hu. Although he didn't say anything, tears were faintly visible in the corners of his eyes. He almost choked up and said, "Company Commander, for the sake of the party and the country, give your brother a hand!"

"Okay, this is well done. It makes my brothers shoot themselves in the foot! Don't you just want to say that it has nothing to do with your Zhongping Village? We admit defeat on the bun stall issue! Let's stop here! Let them go, and we will take the donkey cart away ourselves. The only thing left between us is to disperse!" Li Hu gritted his teeth and spoke. As a militia company commander and a member of the Party branch of the Lijiazhai Brigade, he could make decisions on behalf of the brigade on such internal disputes that did not involve other brigades.

Xie Hushan did not speak, but looked at Ge Baosheng, who nodded at him. Li Hu's words meant that the Zhongping Brigade had completely gained the upper hand and was in control of the situation, and the conflict would not escalate any further.

There is only one last question left, and the five people will represent Zhongping to win this fight.

Seeing Ge Baosheng nod, Xie Hushan let go of the young man and patted the dust off him with a sigh on his face:

"You said that this matter caused me to shout over and over again not to hurt the donkey. Good fellow, you, a young comrade, are really cruel to your own brigade's livestock. That's called sacrificing one's own family for the sake of justice. By the way, Captain Li, I think the donkey needs to be hospitalized. If not, ask your brigade to prepare some medical expenses and send it to the veterinary station. My uncle is the station chief. I will ask him to give you a discount on the medical expenses. We are all from the same village, so don't be polite."

"You kid must wait for me when you disperse. I will beat you into submission with my own hands!" Li Hu pointed at Xie Hushan and said, then prepared to leave with his men.

Xie Hushan looked at Li Hu and smiled:

"I have fought hundreds of times since I was a child. I have lost some fights, but I have never given in. They always say that I am tougher than a knife and more ferocious than a tiger. Your name is Li Hu, so you better be careful."

(End of this chapter)