Changjin Lake: From Xinxingli to Seoul

Chapter 12 Urgent Telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China! Head north to Korea!
After the target practice session, what followed was the tedious training.

After the Ninth Army Corps had been training for more than half a month, everyone thought that at least three months would pass peacefully, but the situation in North Korea suddenly changed...

Late at night, the moon and stars were few.
"Urgent telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China!"

"Stop training immediately and proceed to Yanzhou Station to depart north!"

"Urgent telegram from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China!"

"Stop training immediately and proceed to Yanzhou Station to depart north!"

"..."

The messenger, riding a large chestnut horse, galloped through the camp, shouting loudly.

Seventh Company
"What's going on? Is someone attacking the camp?!"

Yu Congrong suddenly got up, grabbed his gun while naked, and rushed out to see what was going on.

Not only him, but many soldiers of the Seventh Company sprang up reflexively and grabbed their guns first.

"What's the rush! Listen carefully!"

After listening calmly, Wu Qianli immediately grabbed Yu Congrong's hand and reminded him.

"Comrades, it's not an attack on our camp, it's that we're heading north."

After hearing this clearly, Mei Sheng gave a reminder.

"It's only been half a month, how come it's gone so fast?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Congrong muttered to himself while putting on his pants.

"The Korean War is finally coming..."

Wu Wanli was not surprised at all, and merely sighed inwardly.

"Yu Congrong, you've put your underpants on backwards."

He Changgui looked at Yu Congrong with a wry smile and gave him a reminder.

"It's too late! Three more minutes, hurry!"

At this moment, Tan Ziwei appeared outside the door and shouted loudly.

"Did you hear that? Your clothes are inside out. We'll fix them when we get on the bus."

"Get your gear ready, let's go!"

Wu Qianli's expression was serious as he gave the order.

"Yes!"

The soldiers of the 7th Infiltration Company responded loudly and immediately sped up their pace.

Soon, the soldiers finished getting ready and marched in neat formation toward the station.

It was pitch black in the middle of the night, and the torches were not enough to illuminate the darkness. The sounds of horses' hooves, orders, and shouts blended together.

There were also many malnourished night-blind people, who were completely in the dark, causing some chaos in the camp.

"Do you remember how many times Comrade Wu Wanli has sung the Chinese Military Spirit these days?"

Upon seeing this, Wu Qianli asked loudly.

"Remember!"

The soldiers of the Seventh Company responded in unison.

"Get ready, get up!"

Wu Qianli raised his right hand and shouted.

"If our motherland is invaded, every patriotic man should stand up for himself!"

"Drink this bowl of hometown wine, for the brave warrior will never return!"

"The mighty Yellow River and the mighty Yangtze River give me life and strength!"

"Let the blood stain the most beautiful flowers and be scattered on my chest!"

"Red flags flutter, bugles sound! Swords are drawn, thunder roars and lightning flashes!"

"........."

"Forward! Forward! Forward! The spirit of the Chinese army!"

The chorus of the Seventh Company's song, like a ray of dawn piercing the night sky, stood out prominently in the somewhat chaotic military camp.

Upon seeing this, the various units began to sing military songs in unison, or shouted "One, two, three, four!" in unison.

With the help of the red glow of the torches, accompanied by songs and commands, the Ninth Army Corps finally arrived at Yanzhou Station in an orderly manner.

"Is everyone here?"

Wu Qianli glanced around, lingered for two seconds longer when he saw Wu Wanli, and asked loudly.

"The Seventh Flanking Company was expected to have 157 men, and 157 men are present!"

After Mei Sheng finished counting, he shouted loudly.

"Um--"

Suddenly, a deep rumble shattered the silence, like the roar of an ancient behemoth. The steam engine began to boil, its massive pistons swaying up and down, slowly awakening the long steel dragon.

"The train has departed. Those who haven't slept well can rest now."

Wu Qianli felt the swaying of the boxcar and spoke slowly.

As the steam pressure continued to build up, the first wisp of white smoke shot out from the locomotive's eye, like a dragon's tongue, announcing that the Chinese People's Volunteer Army had embarked on its journey!
"Brother, won't it be very cold up north? What if we don't have winter clothes..."

Wu Wanli frowned and reminded him.

"Don't worry, I reckon the commander has thought of that too."

"Just before we got on the bus, Lao Tan told me that our orders were to go to Shenyang in Northeast China first, where we should be able to change into cotton-padded clothes."

Wu Qianli glanced at Wu Wanli with some surprise, then smiled and comforted him.

"Go to Shenyang to change into a cotton-padded coat..."

"What about equipment? Are we supposed to go to war with this?"

Wu Wanli murmured, sighed, and pointed at Yu Congrong's Type 38 rifle.

"Comrade Wu Wanli, I know your concerns."

"But we were the first to be approved for troops, which is already a good result. I estimate that the firepower of the companies in the subsequent troops will not be as good as ours."

"At least we have artillery platoons."

Mei Sheng patted Wu Wanli on the shoulder and said in a low voice.

"Yes, given the friendship between our two countries, wouldn't our Soviet big brother possibly share some weapons and equipment with us?"

Yu Congrong slapped his thigh and asked.

"There's no news yet, and we don't know what will happen later."

Wu Qianli shook his head with a wry smile and said.

“If we don’t demonstrate our military might, how can our Big Brother respect us? Aid is also tiered.”

Wu Wanli glanced at Yu Congrong and said slowly.

"Comrade Wu Wanli's ideology is sound!"

"As German Chancellor Bismarck once said, truth lies only within the range of artillery fire!"

"And when I was studying in the Soviet Union, my teacher told us the same thing so bluntly in my international politics class."

Mei Sheng glanced at Wu Wanli with appreciation and nodded in agreement.

"Truth lies only within the range of cannon fire; that's a good saying..."

"I've heard that some foreigners always think that we defeated Japan because of the American atomic bombs and the Soviet army."

"If we defeat the American devils, will no one look down on us Chinese anymore?"

Wu Qianli clenched his fist and sighed.

"More than that, this was a war to establish a nation, in which we defeated more than a dozen foreign powers..."

Upon hearing this, Wu Wanli sighed inwardly.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Weren't the Nationalist Army's American-equipped divisions supposed to be incredibly powerful?"

"We had tanks, planes, and artillery—we had everything, yet we were still defeated!"

Lei Gong said domineeringly.

"Exactly, just do it!"

"At worst, I, Old Yu, will leave this hundred pounds of flesh and blood on the Korean battlefield and never come back!"

Yu Congrong, his fighting spirit ignited, retorted fiercely.

"The Seventh Flying Company!"

"I do not believe there are any tasks that cannot be completed, any difficulties that cannot be overcome, or any enemies that cannot be defeated!"

Mei Sheng clenched his fist, raised it to his right hand, and shouted.

"To fight for one's country is the greatest honor!"

Wu Qianli also raised his right hand, looked at the soldiers of the Seventh Company, and shouted loudly.

"To fight for one's country is the greatest honor!"

"To fight for one's country is the greatest honor!"

"To fight for one's country is the greatest honor!"

"..."

The soldiers of the 7th Infiltration Company stood up, clenched their right fists, waved them, and shouted loudly.

"Um--"

At this moment, a roar pierced the sky, like the howl of a steel behemoth, or the angry roar of the new China, as the train sped towards the northeast.

(End of this chapter)