In those days, cadres visiting relatives could apply to bring their own 54-style pistols home. The third platoon commander of our company was a native of Shandong and was born in a very poor family. When he was 12 years old, because of the poverty in Shandong, he decided to escape the famine by train and went to Heilongjiang to join a distant relative. At the age of 18, he was lucky enough to enlist in the army from Heilongjiang to become a soldier.
About his upbringing in our company, we enlisted in the army a few years later than him, and we don't know very well. However, he is the sharpshooter in our company, and he can easily handle all kinds of **, including semi-automatic rifles, Type 56 submachine guns, and 54-style pistols. He was a taciturn man with a lot of action. When our company was stationed in Chifeng, he served as a squad leader, and in order to race against time, his calf was smashed, but he still persisted for half a year before being forced to go to 204 Hospital by the old instructor.
At the hospital, after the X-rays, the doctor asked in surprise, "When did you get hurt?"He replied, "More than half a year ago." The doctor's eyes widened: "This is an open fracture, how did you walk such a long way?"."It's unbelievable.
The third platoon leader has a fiery personality, and during his tenure as squad leader, the soldiers in the squad were beaten by some local people when they went out. He angrily grabbed the soldier and said, "Take me to that guy." He stepped forward and made the other person kneel and beg for mercy. Because his actions violated discipline, the instructor insisted that he be demobilized and returned home. The old company commander said: "Others have a home to return to, where will he go home?"The old company commander said: "Leave him, this kid is a good soldier on the battlefield." "It was in the year when our old company commander was about to return home that this soldier in the northeastern provincial capital, who enlisted in the army in 1962, was finally promoted despite some dissent. 
When the old company commander said goodbye, he suddenly knelt down on the platform and said with tears streaming down his face: "Company commander, you are my great benefactor!."The old company commander smiled indifferently: "Get up, we are the people's army, don't do this." Promotion is a matter decided by the organization, do it well, the battle in the south may give our master a chance to go up to the round battle and become a hero. The third platoon commander stood up without hesitation and responded loudly: "Yes, company commander, I will definitely become a hero." ”
In the year of Tigan, the third platoon leader first visited relatives and went to Heilongjiang, and then wore brand new cadre uniforms to visit his mother and two younger sisters in his hometown in Shandong. Because he did it, on the way home for a short time, he married a beautiful daughter-in-law in his hometown, and with a bag of candy, he showed everyone the bride's **. The soldiers asked curiously: "Three rows, what does it feel like at night in the cave room?"He smiled and replied, "I'll know when you have the chance." ”
specially sent a bag of peanuts and a bag of candy to the old company commander and told him that he had married a daughter-in-law. With the arrival of the New Year, the fighting in southern Xinjiang has escalated, and the troops may participate in the war at any time. The third platoon commander knew that he had an impatient personality, and once he went to the battlefield, it was unlikely that he would survive. So, he took a leave of absence and went home to visit his old mother and daughter-in-law, who had just been married for more than a year. On the way to his hometown, he received a letter from the old company commander, which wrote: "I have no chance to go to the battlefield, if our master goes up, you will beat me hard, learn Xi from Wu Zhizhou, and fight with American soldiers for four days and four nights." The third platoon leader put the letter in his pocket, carried a 54-style pistol at his waist, and boarded the train to Jinan.
After about 10 days, the atmosphere in the company suddenly became tense. The new company commander said during the roll call: "From today onwards, it is not allowed to talk about the third platoon commander, because it is a violation of discipline to talk about it." ”
The third platoon leader had an accident after returning home. The general gossip came that when he returned home, he impulsively pulled out his pistol because of an argument between his wife and mother. As to whether it was a fire or other reasons, because there were no witnesses, only his wife's mother cried to the investigators, saying that her son did not mean to take the fire.
In the face of the incident, the third platoon leader said goodbye to his mother, boarded a train bound for the northeast, and climbed into the freight box. After several formations, early one morning, he got off the freight yard and knocked on the door of the old company commander's house.
Dusty, he pulled off the collar badge and cockade on his military uniform, although his heart ached, he was reluctant to throw it away, touched it with his heavy hands, burst into tears, and then put it in his jacket pocket. As for what he said to the old company commander, the old company commander also passed away two years ago, and we only know that he stayed at the old company commander's house for one night, had a drink, and when he left in the early morning, the old company commander gave him ten ten-yuan bills, which is equivalent to the old company commander's salary for more than a month. He knelt down and said, "Company commander, I'm sorry for you, let's repay you in the next life!."Walking out the door, he walked in the direction of the railroad station.
In the lazy morning in the east, when the sun rises, a crisp gunshot breaks through the silence of dawn in an unactivated wagon near the railway freight yard.
The police team had already surrounded the old company commander and quickly climbed into the trunk of the truck.
As a result of being dismissed from his post as a cadre, the old company commander spent his life on the railroad and became a car inspector. Until the last moment of his life, he never mentioned the third platoon leader, but only called him Xiao Zhang. Lying on the hospital bed, the old company commander said to himself many times: "Xiao Zhang still has 9 bullets left, and if he shoots, 9 people will fall, and he can't shoot easily." The old company commander said with emotion: "You kid is really sorry for the organization!."I'm sorry too. ”