Chapter 116: The Commander Ran Around!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Commander, Commander!”
Wu Jianfeng hurriedly ran all the way to the second battalion headquarters.
He barged into the battalion commander’s office, leaving the clerk, the communications officer, and even some officers in the headquarters astonished by his abrupt entrance.
“What, what, are you trying to ruin my place?” The battalion commander, a major of similar age to Wu Jianfeng, sat behind the desk and asked with a bemused smile.
“Hey, what are you up to? Commander, my boss, I’m here to ask for your help in putting out the fire!”
After saying that, Wu Jianfeng glanced at the curious onlookers outside and shooed them away, stating, “Go away, I’m discussing military secrets with the commander.”
Once the curious individuals had dispersed, Wu Jianfeng turned his attention back to the commander.
By now, the commander had already gotten up from his chair. He reached into a drawer, took out a cigarette from the box, and looked at Wu Jianfeng, saying, “What’s the rush? You’re already an experienced company commander. The water is over there. Go and pour it yourself.”
“Sigh, how can I still be in the mood to drink water at this time!”
“Heh, you’re not even in the mood to drink water? What’s the matter?” The commander was intrigued, lighting the cigarette in his mouth and offering the cigarette box to Wu Jianfeng. “I’m not interested in smoking either.”
“I have one, thank you. It just so happens that I’m upset. I’ll take one,” Wu Jianfeng said, taking a cigarette from the box and lighting it. Then, he proceeded to tell the battalion commander everything about Wang Ye’s situation.
“Damn it! It wasn’t easy for the Second Battalion to produce such an excellent soldier. How could he be snatched away like this? I must talk to the regiment commander about this!” The Commander’s calm and relaxed demeanor quickly vanished after hearing Wu Jianfeng’s words. His face turned serious, and he became visibly agitated.
The idea of such a valuable soldier being taken away was inconceivable and unacceptable.
These were soldiers from his battalion, and they had been under his command since he joined the army. He took pride in training them, and the new recruits were also molded by him.
The Chief of Staff might be powerful and his superior, but even his superior couldn’t do something like this. It was a matter of principle, and as a battalion commander, protecting his soldiers was his duty.
He immediately decided to take action, saying, “No, Wu Jianfeng, I’ll accompany you to the main committee. We need to get this issue resolved. You have my promise, and I won’t go back on it!”
The Commander then grabbed his hat and prepared to leave.
However, Wu Jianfeng quickly interjected, “No, the commander and I are trying to smooth things over. We should find the main committee first and let them judge. The commander has already promised me, and we can’t break our word!”
The Battalion Commander paused, holding his hat mid-air. He then turned back and agreed, “Alright, then let’s find the main committee first. I don’t believe there’s no room for reasoning!”
With that, he hurriedly took Wu Jianfeng and left the office, heading towards the Iron Bones Hero Regiment’s base area, which was quite expansive.
In reality, the 400-meter obstacle course that Wang Ye and the others used wasn’t from the second battalion. They only used it that day due to convenience and its proximity to the recruits’ training area.
After leaving the office, Wu Jianfeng and the battalion commander got into the company commander’s car.
Though the distance wasn’t far, Wu Jianfeng had run all the way to the battalion headquarters. However, driving would undoubtedly be faster.
The car started moving, and the battalion commander drove them straight to the regiment headquarters.
On the roof of the regiment headquarters, the regiment commander and the chief of staff were still there, observing the situation, eager to see if Wang Ye would attempt the challenge again.
“Humph!” A cold snort sounded from the side. The regiment commander’s attention shifted away from the binoculars, and he glanced toward the source.
The chief of staff noticed the regiment commander’s change in focus and quickly informed him, “Wu Jianfeng went to get Lin hai!”
The commander remained silent but returned his gaze to the binoculars.
Indeed, a car was approaching from the camp road.
Although the binoculars couldn’t reveal the person inside the car, they could clearly see the vehicle.
As the leader of the team, the regiment commander recognized whose car it was.
Wu Jianfeng had just run over there, and now the second battalion commander’s car was on its way.
A mere coincidence? Absolutely not. It was evident that Wu Jianfeng had gone to gather reinforcements.
“Argh, what a headache!” The regiment commander lamented to himself.
He regretted why he had agreed so readily to the Chief of Staff’s request.
All he promised was a carton of milk, but now the Chief of Staff was adamant, and Wu Jianfeng was not someone to be taken lightly. He went straight to the second battalion commander.
“Hehe, it’s a little chilly today, and the wind is blowing. 1 think I’ll head back and have my wife make some ginger soup for me!” The regiment commander decided to leave, losing interest in watching Wang Ye run.
Regardless of whether Wang Ye would run again or if he could surpass the veterans, the regiment commander had no desire to stick around any longer.
If they stayed, the Second Battalion might come over again, leading to more trouble.
The Chief of Staff had a valid point. In principle, if the recruits displayed exceptional performance, the regiment headquarters had the right to choose them first.
Wu Jianfeng, as the company commander of the new recruits, had lower priority compared to the regimental headquarters.
The only issue was that he had already agreed to the previous arrangement!
Both sides had valid arguments, but he felt he was in the wrong for agreeing initially.
Thus, he decided to leave for now as a show of respect. As for what would happen tomorrow if he ran today, he would deal with it later.
Right now, he truly had a headache.
“Why did you call me down?”
Wu Jianfeng and the second battalion commander were standing by the car downstairs.
At that moment, the committee chairman walked out of the room, glanced at the two of them, and then asked Lin Hai, the second battalion commander, why they had called for him.
Lin Hai explained that they had come to seek the committee’s judgment on a matter.
They hadn’t entered the room earlier because they were afraid of encountering the regiment commander and the chief of staff first. They had planned to talk to the committee first and then bring the committee along to meet the higher-ups.
However, they had no idea that as their car was about to arrive, another car had already driven away from the other side.
“Chairman, we’re here to seek your judgment!” Wu Jianfeng’s subordinate, Lin Hai, spoke directly.
Wu Jianfeng didn’t say anything, as it was Lin Hai’s matter, and he was there as a support.
The chairman was puzzled by the situation, not having been on the roof earlier and unaware of what had occurred.
Lin Hai proceeded to explain everything to the chairman, recounting what Wu Jianfeng had told him.
Upon hearing the story, the chairman sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
“Wu, he’s just a soldier. He’s part of our Iron Bones Hero Regiment. You…”
The second battalion commander interrupted the chairman, passionately expressing his viewpoint, “Director, how can you say that? This is our Second Battalion. It may not be a big deal to you, but it’s extremely important to us. These are soldiers that my Second Battalion has taken under its wing and trained. More importantly, our regiment commander agreed to the arrangement!”
The battalion commander realized that he would have to endure the situation for now.
“Sigh… This is what happened!” The committee member sighed, feeling overwhelmed by the situation.
“Alright, let’s go. Once we go up, we’ll talk to the commander about this,” the chairman said, determined to resolve the matter.
Though he had a headache, the issue needed to be addressed.
Therefore, he was ready to pass the responsibility upwards.
If they wanted to solve the problem, they would have to deal with it directly with the higher-ups.
He would be a witness, and as for how to handle the matter, he would leave it to the regiment commander to figure out.
After all, it was the regiment commander who had agreed too quickly in the first place.
Now that something like this had happened, he would have to deal with the consequences himself.
The committee member was not willing to clean up the mess.