There was a majestic mountain range between California and Oregon. Qi Rui put down his binoculars and could see the vague mountain peaks in the winter drizzle with his naked eye. The rain clouds only floated past the middle of the mountain, which further highlighted the majesty of the mountain range.
[Are we finally here?] Qi Rui felt an indescribable sense of relief in his heart. Just by observing with the naked eye and binoculars, they had entered an area not suitable for motorized troops to travel. Of course, if he looked carefully, he could probably find some rugged trails for the trucks to pass. Qi Rui was not interested in this at all. It was no longer the work of motorized infantry, but the professional field of engineers.
Qi Rui retracted his body from the observation window on the roof and returned to the vehicle. Immediately, other soldiers took over Qi Rui's position. As the first vehicle of the entire convoy, in addition to opening the road, it also bore the responsibility of observation. The political commissar stuck to his post in the first vehicle, and the morale of the troops was greatly boosted. Even if each shift had to be outside for half an hour, no one had the slightest intention of slacking off.
"Commissar, where should we drive?" As soon as Qi Rui sat down, the squad leader in the driver's seat asked Qi Rui through the window between the driver's seat and the vehicle.
Qi Rui poked his head out of the window, half-lying in the driver's seat, and pointed to the front. "Drive to that slope and stop. We don't have to drive to the foot of the mountain today. "
"Do we camp when we arrive?" The squad leader continued to ask.
"When we arrive, we will go down and scout the terrain." Qi Rui was not completely sure if they would camp there. To be honest, in such a terrible weather, the wilderness was not suitable for camping. Qi Rui initially knew that the truck could be used as a mobile tent, but that was all he knew. It was summer during the drill in Asia, and the inside of the vehicle was stuffy. It was more suitable to set up a tent in the wilderness. However, after a few days of marching in the winter, Qi Rui understood the huge advantage of motorized infantry. Camping in the wilderness, even a waterproof tent would not be able to withstand the wind and rain. The truck was a natural shelter from the wind and rain. It was Wei Ze's order to forcibly equip each truck with two mops. Now, Qi Rui completely understood how meticulous his father Vézé could be.
"Those cavalrymen are behaving themselves now." The squad leader couldn't help but laugh. In the first few days, the cavalrymen were eager to fight the motorized infantry. They galloped in front of the trucks, displaying the mobility of the cavalrymen. Five days later, the cavalrymen obediently followed behind the truck, not taking the initiative to move forward without orders.
"Don't talk about the cavalry like that. We've been freezing outside for a day, and I'm afraid we're not as good as them," Qi Rui didn't sound like he was mocking them at all. In fact, he really wanted to give them an explanation.
"Commissar, it's not that I want to criticize them. Why did they boast in the first place? Are they asking for it? "It was obvious that the displeasure the cavalry's arrogance brought to the class leader had not subsided yet.
Qi Rui patted the class leader's shoulder, "We're all comrades, we should care about each other. It wasn't easy for the cavalry to endure the wind and rain along the way. Everything has a development process. Were we that confident in ourselves from the beginning? "
"Commissar, only you care about those birds." The class leader couldn't help but sigh.
"Let's be serious. Do you feel more at ease now that there's a team of horses in front?" Qi Rui asked the class leader.
The class leader didn't say anything. According to military common sense, the vanguard of a large-scale advance was the most likely to be attacked by the enemy. The size of the truck was huge, and it was even more huge with the shed. As the truck at the front, the class leader didn't even need to make rational analysis. He could sense the danger just by relying on his military intuition. If it wasn't for the fact that the commissar gave the class leader a backbone, he would have already been nervous.
Looking at the empty front, the class leader only needed to imagine the cavalrymen exploring the road further away, and he naturally felt a sense of security. However, reality quickly made this illusion of safety bounce back. The cavalrymen that should have appeared in front of them were nowhere to be seen, and the rage in the class leader's chest burned.
"Don't shit if you don't have the ability! Why were they shouting so happily before! "The class leader muttered.
Qi Rui didn't want to cause a conflict within the army at all. He wanted to persuade the class leader to calm down, but he didn't expect the class leader's anger to be aroused instead. Qi Rui felt very regretful in his heart. This really wasn't his intention. As the number one figure in the army, the commissar not only had to solve the military problems of the army. For example, if no one was willing to be in the first and most dangerous car, Qi Rui had to take the lead and stick to the first car. Members of the Restoration Party had the obligation to set an example. Before a more effective solution came up with, the commissar had to take the lead. This was the rule set by Vézé. The reason why the commissar could have a position above the military commander was because of the commissar's performance. It was because of the commissar's efforts and sacrifices.
If that was all, as long as they were not afraid of death, they could be qualified for the position of commissar. But this was not the case in reality. The position of the commissar relied on solving ideological problems, allowing the entire army to have a more scientific attitude, and allowing the entire army to have a stronger subjective initiative. This was the fundamental reason for the establishment of the political profession.
Before Qi Rui came to North America, he talked about this issue with his father, Vézé. Vézé's explanation was not complicated. "A commissar is not a person who can create the world by talking. Why can the commissar become the number one person in the army, and not the military commander who actually commands the battle? It is because the commissar can make the comrades in the army understand the truth. Although the commissar himself has great decision-making power, the commissar himself should not be an impartial judge, but a leader who can lead everyone to a more materialistic dialectical way of thinking. "
This statement made Qi Rui feel very confused, but when he put it into practice. Qi Rui discovered the truth. Of course, he could use "right and wrong" to judge the actions of the class leader or the cavalry unit. At least on the surface, it seemed easy. But in reality, it was not necessarily so.
The arrogance of the cavalry was indeed disgusting, but the cavalry also paid the price for their arrogance. His father, Vézé, said that "specific analysis of specific problems". To put it more bluntly, it was "one thing at a time." Even if the cavalry was indeed arrogant, what did it have to do with them marching in the winter rain?
Even if they had ponchos, marching all day in the winter rain would inevitably cause them to suffer from the wind and cold. To maintain the body temperature of the people and horses required a lot of physical energy. Even if the cavalry was not arrogant, they were already facing a very harsh test. The result of arrogance was that the cavalry had to run more distance purely to show off. Such a distance was actually negligible compared to the distance that the cavalry had to complete.
More importantly, it brought about practical results. Arrogance brought about irresponsibility to oneself. Squandering power brought about a hundred catties on top of a hundred catties, but this hundred catties on top of a hundred catties was often the straw that broke the camel's back. Based on what had happened, even if the cavalry was not arrogant, they would not be able to outrun the motorized infantry in the current situation.
Qi Rui completely understood this reasoning, but this was Qi Rui's problem, not the class leader's. "Arrogance" could bring about terrible consequences. In the class leader's heart, all of the cavalry's previous achievements were erased. What triggered the class leader's intense hatred was only the cavalry's very short period of arrogance. This emotion was mixed with the class leader's nervousness. The cavalry's fatigue was real, and the class leader's unstable emotions due to fear and nervousness were also real. The reason why the class leader could not forget the cavalry's arrogance was because the class leader himself was looking forward to someone standing in a more dangerous position. If this problem could not be solved, the class leader's mood would not improve.
Thinking of this, Qi Rui could only sigh. "It's not easy for us, it's not easy for the cavalry either. In order to win the war, everyone has to persevere. I think we should slow down a bit so that the cavalry can walk less on this rainy day. This way, we can also put some sentries in front. We have to run 80 kilometers a day on this kind of rotten road. If we let the cavalry run in front of us, they really won't be able to keep up. "
These words did not involve who was right or wrong, but rather proposed a solution. The class leader listened to it and nodded. The class leader did not really have any deep hatred with the cavalry, but he was under too much psychological pressure. Hearing that the cavalry might appear in front of him, the class leader did not say anything harsh. On the battlefield, one mistake could lead to death or injury. The cavalry in the front naturally had to face the threat of death. As someone who fully felt the pressure of death, the class leader could not say nonsense like "the cavalry should die".
"Political Commissar, you … still take care of everyone." The class leader finally found an excuse.
As soon as the word "take care" was mentioned, Qi Rui felt a dull pain in his heart. He could not forget the great pain Chu Xue felt when she pretended to be strong and said "don't worry, I can take care of myself". With this soul-touching reflection, Qi Rui had to admit that he was probably not a person who knew how to take care of others.
Now that he was suddenly called "taking care of everyone" by his subordinate, Qi Rui could only smile bitterly.
That afternoon, when there was a temporary pause, Qi Rui went to the back to discuss with Ma Xiaoming, and then they went to find the cavalry unit. After 12 days of continuous marching, most of the time was in the winter rain. The cavalry had already obediently followed behind the motorized unit. Horses were far more delicate than cars. They would also get sick when marching in the wind and rain, and they were even more susceptible to getting sick than humans.
As soon as they received the order to stop, the cavalry couldn't care about their own fatigue first. Instead, they had to take care of the horses according to the rules. They unloaded the equipment from the accompanying truck, quickly built a simple stable that could shelter the horses from the wind and rain, wiped the rain off the horses, checked the horses' shoes, observed the horse dung, and prepared food and warm water. A group of cavalrymen quickly got busy.
After listening to Qi Rui's suggestion, Cavalry Battalion Commander Wu Chaoyang didn't immediately answer. He pondered for a while before replying, "Political Commissar, if we let the cavalry scout in front and don't slow down, we can still go for two to three days. But after these two to three days, we have to rest no matter what. "
Hearing this answer, Qi Rui breathed a sigh of relief. He said to Wu Chaoyang seriously, "I know it's hard for our comrades to march in this kind of weather, and the horses are almost at their limit. So don't worry, we'll probably only go for two days. Also, you said last time that we'll use trucks to transport the horses. It's either that or this. We'll now transport a part of the scouting team's horses to the front. Before we set off tomorrow, we'll first use trucks to transport the horses for a certain distance, and the main force will wait for the cavalry to get off before setting off. This way, the cavalry won't have to run so fast. They can move forward more leisurely. What do you think? "
Seeing that Qi Rui didn't mock the cavalry, but came up with a rather considerate strategy, Wu Chaoyang also had his own ideas. "Put the cavalry down in batches to ensure that the troops don't break along the entire line. If the distance is too far and the enemy finds an opening, it'll be bad. "
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