1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 43 Frontline Reporter!
They arrived near the command post and began setting up tents to camp.

The soldiers looked at the cultural troupe with curiosity. Their boring stationed life had finally brought a bit of fun, so they were naturally curious.

The tent has just been set up.

A phone call urgently summoned the political commissar who was still giving instructions. He ran over and took the call.

"Hey! This is the Shengli Cultural Troupe!"

Zhou Zhigang coughed once:
"You performed 'The Song of a Strong Army' very well. Your performance along the way has been praised by many leaders. The cultural troupe's performance tour will end in a few days. In view of your performance, we will arrange for some members of the cultural troupe to stay at the front line to teach and promote the song."

"...Should I choose the people myself?" the political commissar asked.

"Well, you can choose whichever you prefer." Zhou Zhigang paused for a moment, then said, "The front lines are about to open... Before the war, many propaganda officers from the cultural troupes were transferred to become propaganda officers!"

The political commissar was taken aback; "You mean our regiment is also going to transfer propaganda officers? And I'll be the one to choose them?"

"You don't need to choose, I've already made my choice, it's Zhou Xu!"

The political commissar paused for a long while: "He's still so young, he's only just come of age..."

"This is an instruction, and the frontline experience is excellent, not to mention frontline reporters. Let's leave it at that for now."

The political commissar sighed.

To be honest, after spending a lot of time together, the political commissar actually quite liked Zhou Xu. He had created two works that achieved good results, and this kind of writer is likely to have a bright future.

However, they were transferred to the front lines again. The artillery fire was indiscriminate, and quite a few frontline reporters and propaganda officers were killed.

……

after awhile.

The political commissar composed himself and went outside the tent.

He shouted, "Gather together!"

Everyone immediately came over and lined up in an orderly fashion for the cultural troupe.

The political commissar said, "Our performances over the past two weeks have been quite successful, including 'The Song of a Strong Army,' 'I Love Wuzhishan, I Love Wanquan River,' and so on..."

The commander said that after the visit, a few people would stay here to continue teaching the soldiers to sing, to boost their morale, quickly build up their fighting spirit, and convey their combat beliefs...

I won't go into details here; please raise your hand if you'd like to volunteer.

As they spoke, hands began to rise one after another, and after a while, more than twenty hands were raised in total.

The political commissar said, "Good, I am very pleased. You are all people who are willing to dedicate yourselves to the motherland, but we only need about ten people! Those who are only children, please step aside; those who are unmarried, please step aside..."

They gradually lowered half of their hands.

"Thank you to these ten comrades for their contributions. Let's dismiss everyone for today. Go back and pack your things. The performance will continue as usual for the next few days..."

As the crowd prepared to disperse, the political commissar called out, "Zhou Xu, come here for a moment!"

Zhou Xu walked over with his camera.

The political commissar looked at him, saying that staying on the front line was both a good thing and a bad thing.

It depends on the person.

He felt that Zhou Xu was young and an only child, so this kind of thing should be the task of other propaganda officers in the art troupe, since Zhou Xu was more likely to attract attention.

In addition, he had the best performance in new recruit training among all the creative staff in the cultural troupe.

Moreover, he frequently writes various group reports and articles, and his writing skills are very strong. Staying on the front lines to write various propaganda articles might have a different effect.

In the end, the decision was made to transfer him. The political commissar didn't know whether to say it was good or bad. He took a deep breath and said, "It's like this. The political department has issued an order that the front line is short of front-line reporters. Considering your special circumstances, we are going to transfer you there to be a front-line reporter."

"Huh?" Zhou Xu was taken aback at first.

Originally, he thought he could go back after reporting all the way! Now that he's suddenly being transferred to the front lines, it would be strange if he wasn't surprised. But Zhou Xu's mindset has changed a lot now.

He used to be afraid of death, but after actually joining the army and hearing the pre-battle encouragement, he still became timid and actually looked down on himself.

I'm just going to the front lines as a reporter, not to fight the enemy.

“If you… if you’re not willing, I’ll go and talk to the commander…” The political commissar said helplessly, “Actually, you’re an only child, so talking to the commander doesn’t count as desertion.”

Zhou Xu said, "Obeying orders is a soldier's duty, and you yourself said it was the commander's order! I won't trouble you to make the trip!"

The political commissar looked into his eyes, where there was a hint of hesitation mixed with determination amidst his youthful innocence.

"Okay, I understand," the political commissar said. "I won't try to persuade you anymore. Being a frontline reporter is a great resume, and wartime reporters can also play a huge role!"

Zhou Xu knew that there was a severe shortage of war correspondents at the front lines of the Vietnam War at the time, and Yan Ge*, who wrote "Youth," also took the initiative to apply to his superiors to go to the front lines.

Although I didn't apply voluntarily, as a special investigator, I couldn't just refuse.

Besides, he was the youngest writer in the cultural troupe, so it was only right that this opportunity came to him.

"By the way, you're not carrying a gun, are you? I'll write a letter to my superiors requesting that you be issued a handgun."

A reporter from the PLA Daily, who was embedded with the army, wrote an application to the 54th Army's front-line command post, requesting to be issued a pistol for self-defense. After the application was approved, the Propaganda Department of the Army's Political Department gave him a Type 54 pistol and 20 rounds of ammunition.

"Handling a gun? That must be quite troublesome, right?"

"Your assigned position is a wartime hospital, which is also likely to be bombarded and attacked. It is a normal requirement to carry a gun to protect yourself! It would not be necessary if you were in the rear, but it is reasonable on the front line."

Zhou Xu knew that the political commissar was probably thinking that he was just a kid... well, he was only eighteen years old this year, so in the political commissar's eyes he was just a kid.

I felt bad about putting him on the front lines, so I just wanted to make it up to him.

Zhou Xu hadn't handled a handgun many times, but it would be good to have one for self-defense.

"Thank you, Political Commissar."

"It's alright, call me when you have time, but... there aren't many opportunities to call from the front lines. Anyway, try to contact me as soon as you're safe!" The political commissar took one last look at Zhou Xu's slightly trembling fingers.

Even when people force themselves to endure things they fear, it's obvious.

He said he didn't care, but his fingers were still trembling with fear of death.

"Ah."

in the afternoon.

The political commissar wrote an application letter.

Zhou Xu was not a frontline combatant, so he had to write an application letter to apply for a gun and needed approval from his superiors before he would receive a gun.

the next morning.

The old commander saw the application letter written by the political commissar.

This old leader happened to be the same leader who had bumped into the Victory Cultural Troupe last time.

"Zhou Xu? Zhou Xu from the Shengli Art Troupe has been transferred to be a frontline reporter?"

"There's no electronic information right now, so we can't get the data right away," the correspondent said. "It seems so. Every military region's cultural troupe or company propaganda officer sends out wartime reporters! The Victory Cultural Troupe is no exception."

"Oh! It seems he's quite an ambitious young man. I thought his song was pretty good when I saw it last time."

It's obvious that the old commander thought Zhou Xu had applied to be on the front lines himself, but that's about right, since Zhou Xu at least didn't back down, right?
"He applied for a gun; it seems he's going to a field hospital! That's quite close to the front lines, so let's approve it."

The application was approved very quickly.

The political commissar also received the notification. Looking at the envelope, he was overjoyed and immediately prepared to run over and inform Zhou Xu.

(End of this chapter)