Company Commander Chai Shao of the 15th Company of the 4th Battalion of the 58th Regiment
Our company commander Chai Shao is from Jilin in Northeast China. He has a fair face, is about 1.78 meters tall, and speaks pure Northeastern dialect . He participated in the War of Liberation and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. He has a low level of education. He speaks straightforwardly and does not understand or make detours. He had an injury on his waist and was limping on one leg. When we joined the army, he was 33 years old, with the rank of captain and three stars.
When we first joined the army, the main task of the army was to build the underground railway in the capital Beijing. When we completed the recruit training mission and were transferred from the 1st Battalion and the 15th Company to the 4th Battalion and the 15th Company, and were preparing to learn the theory of mechanical construction, Company Commander Chai poured cold water on us newly transferred soldiers. He started by saying: "We 15 Even if you are a dung picker, if you don't want to pick dung, you can be transferred back." The soldiers looked at him and laughed. He didn't care what the soldiers thought. Amidst the laughter of the soldiers, he was minding his own business. Talking about the tasks and goals of picking up manure.
At that time, our company was stationed in Beiluo Village next to the Liuli River in Fangshan County, Beijing. Company Commander Chai loves soldiers, but he is always worried that some veterans who are about to retire will violate the discipline of the army and have sex with girls in the village at the station. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would always climb up to the roof of the company headquarters and look around the village. Abruptly, he shouted loudly: "Correspondent! Hurry! Go to the sorghum field in the south and have a look. Why is the sorghum moving around? Is there a veteran there who is having sex?" Correspondent Tan Jizhu responded and left. He ran back and reported: "Report to the company commander! There is no one over there! It's the wind that's causing the sorghum to move." Hearing that everything was fine, he was satisfied and climbed down from the room, mumbling. Said: "Don't pay attention to these veterans, they are just looking for trouble!"
15 Some comrades in the company headquarters, front row, from left, instructor Zhang Guangyu, company commander Chai Shao
, back row, left, bugler Wu Rongyu, clerk Wang Jimin, materials officer Ma Changsheng, correspondent Tan Jizhu
Company Commander Chai developed the habit of sleeping lightly and rarely during the war years. If you happen to be standing guard near the company headquarters on any night shift, he will always ask when he hears the slightest movement: "Who is standing guard?" After you answer his question, he will give you an instruction. Two sentences, turn over and go back to sleep. Company commander
has experienced two wars: the War of Liberation and the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea. After entering Vietnam, he was used to facing the harsh natural and war environment. He didn't take it seriously, turned a blind eye, and talked and laughed happily. Once, an air battle had begun near the company camp, and the enemy bomber was flying low above our heads. He walked out of the company headquarters unhurriedly, holding a small teapot in one hand, drinking water and looking up. He turned around and said to us very calmly: "It's okay, don't move! Follow my command." At that time, his calmness was different from that of another commander who was shouting in a panic: "Plane! Plane!" while looking around. The fear of looking for a place to hide in the west was in sharp contrast with the loss of temper.
The company commander's cultural level is not high and he always teaches the soldiers according to his own theory. In Yen Bai, it rained heavily one evening, with lightning and thunder, and the camp was completely dark. The brothers in our singing group are about to return to their respective classes from the rehearsal place. On the mountain road, as soon as we turned on the flashlight, the company commander shouted at the door of the company headquarters from a distance: "Who is using the flashlight? It's about to turn off! Don't draw the thunder down and kill you!" "After hearing his shouts, we didn't dare to say anything even though we knew we lacked some science, so we had to turn off the flashlights obediently and go down the mountain in the dark.
The company commander did not have a sullen face all the time. Sometimes he would also make some jokes with the soldiers. Once, when Yin Zhijie, our strong man from Class 8, was serving rice from a basket, he accidentally knocked off the small nails on the basket and put it into his own bowl. While he was devouring his meal, he felt the small nails piercing his throat. In desperation, , he swallowed even the rice and nails into his stomach with all his strength. After the company commander heard about this, he would often run up to Yin Zhijie and say, "Yin Zhijie, Yin Zhijie, how could you eat the nails in? How could you do this?" His tone of voice was full of ridicule, but also full of infinite hope. Brotherly love.
The company commander shares the joys and sorrows with the soldiers and never specializes. He couldn't stand the behavior of some company commanders who pretended to be public for personal gain and enriched themselves. After entering Vietnam, a certain commander in the company often asked the cooking team to cook a few delicious dishes for him alone, and Moutai was used to entertain Vietnamese guests, and he drank it himself. He asked the company commander to drink together, but the company commander not only refused to drink, but also accused the commander in front of all the soldiers: "So-and-so, you are drinking the blood of the soldiers!" This made the commander angry. The member's face was red and his ears were red, and he couldn't get up or get down.
At the beginning of 1968, the company commander was promoted to deputy battalion commander of our battalion. From then on, we left Company Commander Chai, who had been with us day and night for more than two years. Fifty years have passed, and the voice and smile of the old company commander often appear before our eyes, and his comrades miss him.
In 2019, I had a phone call with the company commander’s family who lives in Wufangyuan, Shijingshan, Beijing. My old sister-in-law told me: Company Commander Chai has been bedridden for many years due to illness, but he is still in good spirits and can still eat well. I immediately sent the book "Battlefield Observations" I wrote to Company Commander Chai as a souvenir.
On July 31, 2020, Shi Fangfu, the son-in-law of Company Commander Chai, sent a WeChat notification: The old company commander passed away at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital at 12:15 that day. He was 89 years old. He passed away peacefully.
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