The Unseen Heroes and Their Glimpse of Glory

A big mountain divides the two sides into two different worlds. On the other side of the mountain is a city with high-rise buildings and bustling traffic; this is the ammunition depot of the British Empire, deep in the ravines and grasslands, rarely visited by people. A platoon is responsible for guarding the ammunition depot, and the soldiers rarely have the chance to visit the city on the other side of the mountain. They can only stand on the mountain post and watch the city from afar, imagining how people live there.

Standing watch in the deep ravines all day is indeed a very boring thing. On New Year's Day this year, several squad leaders in the platoon started to argue over the night watch shift. In the past, when they lived in the military camp, everyone was fine with any arrangement, but now that they are out on a separate mission, everyone started to be particular. And this "particularity" is a bit strange: they all vie for the night watch.

Before dinner, Second Squad Leader and Third Squad Leader both angrily went to find Platoon Leader He Yongjun, saying that the night watch should be their squad's, and both had sufficient reasons, neither willing to yield to the other. He Yongjun initially thought they were competing for the watch to show their style, but as he listened, he felt something was off, so he criticized, "Are you guys just looking for trouble! There's a party on TV tonight, why would you rather stand watch?" Second Squad Leader grumbled, "What's there to watch on TV, you can't even see the faces clearly." This was true. The TV signal in the mountain area was poor, and both the image and sound were unclear, and the soldiers were unwilling to watch.

He Yongjun said, "If you don't want to watch TV, you can have a party." Third Squad Leader said, "The party is also boring. It's either 'drum passing', 'blind man's bluff', or 'karaoke', just a few old faces, just a few old songs, everyone is tired of it."

He Yongjun was not pleased: "Don't want to watch TV, don't want to have a party, then what do you want to do?" He thought for a moment and said, "Alright, since you all want to stand watch, then you all go. Third squad stands the first half of the night, second squad stands the second half. You should be satisfied now, right?"

Third Squad Leader left happily upon hearing this. Second Squad Leader still stood there, looking unhappy. He Yongjun asked him what he thought, and Second Squad Leader said, "Platoon Leader is biased! Why let the third squad stand the first half of the night?" Hey! Even standing watch has to compete for the first and second half of the night, He Yongjun couldn't figure it out.

Things were just strange! At nine o'clock in the evening, it was time for the third squad to stand the first half of the night watch, and the third squad also started to argue over the watch. He Yongjun found out that the soldier who was supposed to stand the first night watch had a cold, so the third squad leader arranged for another soldier to replace him. But when it was time to stand watch, both picked up their guns and wanted to go on watch. As a result, they refused to yield to each other and started arguing.

He Yongjun called the third squad leader to ask, and the third squad leader quickly said it was a misunderstanding about changing the watch without prior notice. He Yongjun felt that things were not that simple, so he asked the third squad leader, "Are you guys hiding something from me?" The third squad leader laughed it off, saying there was nothing, and told the platoon leader to go back and rest early, promising to do his job well.

He Yongjun went back to the dormitory and read for a while, and it was already past ten o'clock. The duty bugler had already blown the lights-out signal. According to the rules, after lights out, he had to check the beds, so he took a flashlight and walked towards the row of houses where the soldiers lived. After checking the first squad, he checked the second squad, and just as he got to the door of the third squad, he saw the third squad leader walking out of the dormitory. He Yongjun asked, "Are the soldiers all asleep?" The third squad leader said, "Except for the one on watch, they're all asleep, not a single one missing."

He Yongjun shone his flashlight into the room and saw two empty beds. Needless to say, one was for the sentry, and the other was for the third squad leader himself, and everyone else was there. He asked the third squad leader, "Why aren't you sleeping?" The third squad leader said, "I have to lead the watch in the next shift, and the bed won't be warm. Come on, let's play a couple of games of chess!"

He Yongjun loved to play chess, and only the third squad leader could match him in the platoon. The two went to He Yongjun's dormitory and set up the game. While playing chess, He Yongjun thought of the two soldiers competing for the watch and asked the third squad leader if it had been handled. The third squad leader said, "It's been handled, and both are satisfied." He Yongjun asked, "How was it handled?" The third squad leader said, "The same way as yours. They both wanted to stand this watch, so I just let them both go."

He Yongjun held the chess piece in his hand, staring at the third squad leader: "So, there are three people in your squad who haven't slept, and I only see two empty beds. There must be something fishy!" He slammed the piece down, pushed the chessboard away, and picked up the flashlight to go out. The third squad leader knew he had slipped up and hurriedly tried to explain, but He Yongjun didn't listen and went straight to the third squad's dormitory.

The result of the bed check was that there was only one person sleeping in the third squad's dormitory, and the other beds were covered with blankets as camouflage, but they were empty. He Yongjun pulled the third squad leader outside and asked sternly, "What's going on here?" The third squad leader saw that he couldn't cover it up, so he told the truth: "They all went to the watch post, and I approved it." "In the middle of the night, what are they all doing at the watch post?" Before the third squad leader could reply, He Yongjun turned and walked towards the watch post.

The watch post was set on a hillside, more than two kilometers away from the living area, a walk of more than twenty minutes. As He Yongjun just climbed the slope, he saw someone coming from the front. In the challenge and response of the password, he recognized it as the second squad leader. He felt strange: when he checked the bed just now, he was lying in bed, how could he be here now? Could it be that he got up as soon as he left?

The second squad leader saw the platoon leader and reported actively, "Platoon leader, I just came back from checking the watch." He Yongjun asked, "Isn't your squad supposed to stand the second half of the night watch? Why are you here checking now?" The second squad leader said, "I know it should be you. But today is a holiday, and you have been working hard, you should rest well. I couldn't sleep, so I came to help you check. You don't have to go anymore." He Yongjun asked, "Are the people there?" The second squad leader said, "People... you mean the sentries, right? Oh, yes, yes!" He Yongjun raised his voice: "I'm asking: are the people in your squad also at the watch post?" The second squad leader hesitated for a long time and didn't make it clear. He Yongjun waved his hand angrily, "I don't want to listen to you, come with me to the mountain to see!"

In just over twenty minutes, they climbed the slope. They saw a crowd of people standing on top, and He Yongjun calculated that the people from the second and third squads together were not that many, which means the first squad must have come too. What were all the people doing here in the middle of the night?

The soldiers did not notice He Yongjun's arrival. They were all focused, looking towards the city on the other side of the mountain, occasionally exclaiming in surprise. He Yongjun stopped and looked over, and the city on the other side of the mountain was brightly lit, with beautiful fireworks flashing in the sky from time to time, spreading all over the sky, changing into various gorgeous patterns. In that wonderful light, there were the smiling faces of the soldiers...

He Yongjun finally understood, and he asked the third squad leader, "You all competed to stand watch at night, just to see this?" The third squad leader nodded and said, "Yes! Everyone thinks it's more interesting to watch this than to watch TV or have a party, and I can't bear to refuse their request."

He Yongjun stood silently for a long time and said, "You should have told me. The soldiers' request is not too much. The holiday night was originally arranged for entertainment activities, and this is just a change of entertainment venue, what's wrong with that? Let them watch well, don't disturb them, let's go."

Subscribe to stay tuned, the next episode will be more exciting.