In the fiery military academy, forge skills and wills
Between the vast mountains and rivers, witness the blood and glory
"Mountains and Rivers"
Zeng Jian/Author
Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House
Published in January 2022
This book restores a period of vigorous, smiling and tearful contemporary military school life.
A certain artillery academy on the edge of the Xiang River welcomed a new group of cadets, including Li Dalin, who was as silent and tenacious as "Xu Sanduo"; Wang Zhengjun, who was clever and loved to speak cold words; Zhou Shanren, who was affectionate and righteous; and Zhao Duo, who was inferior and timid but sincere. Three years of comrades-in-arms became brothers. In the fiery military school, they studied together, trained together, shared secrets together, and were tested together, with struggles and pursuits, but also full of confusion and troubles.
"With the youth of the military academy, there will always be a homeland and mountains and rivers in the heart." They entered the military academy with great enthusiasm, and rushed to the vast mountains and rivers without hesitation...
About the Author
Zeng Jian
A native of Hong'an, Hubei Province, he joined the army in March 1990. Lu Xun College of Literature of Beijing Normal University jointly organizes graduate students and master of arts in modern and contemporary literary creation. He is a member of the Chinese Writers Association, a former creator of the Creative Studio of the Political Department of the Shenyang Military Region, and a contracted writer of the Liaoning Writers Association. He successively studied at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts, the 13th Advanced Research Class of Lu Xun College of Literature, and the 28th Advanced Research Class (Advanced Study Class). He has published more than 3 million words of novels in "People's Literature", "Contemporary", "October", "Chinese Writers", "People's Liberation Army Literature and Art", "Yalu River", etc., published novels "Guns and Roses", "Growing toward the Sun", "Black Stone Shop", novel collections "Outposts on Ice Rows", "Wranglers in Military Uniforms", "Jade Dragon Lake" and so on. Many of his works have been reprinted by Xinhua Digest, Novel Selection, Novel Monthly, Novella Selection, etc., and have been selected as an annual anthology of novels and annual anthologies of Chinese military literature. He has won the first prize of the all-army military theme short story award, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Outstanding Literary and Art Works Award, the Liaoning Literature Award Novella Award, the Short Story Award and many other literary awards inside and outside the military.
"Eleven young boys, with different loves and lives,
But with the youth of the military school, there will always be a homeland and mountains and rivers in the heart. ”
Recommended by famous artists
Zeng Jian's "Mountains and Rivers Looking" is also a story about military academies. But this story is not the romance of Chen Hua's "That Military School Love Song". Li Dalin is almost another "Xu Sanduo", he is wooden and slow, but he is also persistent and strong. He achieved his dream with perseverance. Eleven young boys have different loves and lives, but with the youth of military school, they will always have a home country and mountains and rivers in their hearts.
——The famous critic Meng Fanhua
Zeng Jian, as a writer who grew up in the military camp, is artistically refined, he is like a creeping warrior, usually we will not notice his figure, only when he passes through the rain of bullets and bullets, successfully approaches the target, and blows up the bunker, we will applaud his victory. "Mountains and Rivers" is another bunker he conquered. This time, he set his goal at the military academy, and the image of a resolute soldier and the strong comradeship of warmen were vividly written by Zeng Jian in this specific space, which made people move!
——Famous critic He Shaojun
If the PLA is a melting pot, then the military academy is the cradle of officers. "Mountains and Rivers" is based on the writer's own personal experience as the background, restoring for us a period of contemporary military life that is vigorous and unforgettable. Among them, the struggle, pursuit, confusion and troubles all stir up the writer's youthful blood and cast it in the middle, and the strength penetrates the back of the paper; there is the competition between lovers, and there is more hard work between classmates; there is the sincerity behind the lies, and there is more after depression... At the beginning, the proud sons of the army entered the military academy with great vigor, and today they are even more recklessly rushing to the vast mountains and rivers...
——Famous critic Zhu Xiangqian
Excerpts from the text
The sky is clear.
I set off from Jincheng, took a green-skinned train, went to a military academy in Changsha, and embarked on a journey that changed my destiny. After two days and one night, I drilled out of the train, like a huge womb, reborn, and into a new life.
The heat on the platform was rolling and the eyes were full of pedestrians, and I blended in and made noise or commotion with them. For the next three years, my life was in full swing.
The military academy is stationed in Blackstone Shop. What makes me most unforgettable about the black stone shop is the weather, which is far more memorable to me than the story that happened to us: summer is like a big steamer; in winter, it is like an ice cellar. But the weather is single in the end, nothing more than cloud, sunshine, clouds, rain; wind, flowers, snow, moon, and then temperature, humidity, it is difficult to talk at length.
I'll tell the story anyway.
Out of the train station, I took the No. 1 bus to the Black Stone Shop. The sunlight above my head was shining directly, roasting my neck, and I was trying to find a shade on the side of the road, when a man shouted at me: Is it the Ninth Squadron? It was the Ninth Squadron who followed me. Then I remembered that my notice had indicated the squadron, and that I was a member of the Ninth Squadron. I fixed my eyes on him, dressed in a military uniform, with a bald head shining, reflecting the light of the sun, and the world in front of me had two rounds of the sun. I followed him, my eyes blinking.
I am the district captain of the Ninth Squadron. He introduced himself. I only know squad leaders, platoon leaders, company commanders, battalion commanders, regimental commanders, brigade commanders, division commanders, and army commanders, and I don't know what the position of district captain is, seeing that he is so old, he should be a very big official. But how could a very big official personally pick me up outside the school gate, and it was on foot, which was not in line with military intelligence. He seemed to see my doubts, and introduced himself, saying that my surname is Qu, my name is Ming, and I am your district captain. I shouted politely: Hello Captain Quming District! My voice made my heart tighten: Qu Ming, the sound seems to be delisted, is he giving me a dismount? Is he suggesting to me that if I were to squirm, he would have left me open?
Before going south, the platoon commander of the old unit warned me: In the military academy, we should be cautious in everything, just like being a new recruit, talking less and doing more. He said that the first three months after the registration was a dangerous period, and the retired cadets of the military academy were similar to the return of the merchants, which was simple.
Not far away, the strong smell of stinky tofu wafted out of my saliva. I've been hungry for two days and one night. I glanced at the stinky tofu stall, and the captain of the canal district glanced at me. He said, let's go. As he spoke, he took the bag in my hand. I followed him. His steps were fast, and the wind was blowing from his two ribs. It was his baldness that gave me the illusion that I thought he was an old man, and on closer inspection, there was not a trace of wrinkles on his face, and his skin was like a blown ball, tight and rosy. He was so young.
I said, thank you Captain Canal. He said it wasn't the canal captain, it was the district captain. The captain is the main battalion, and I am only ranked, not a few years older than you. I just graduated this year, stayed on to teach, and I am still in my internship.
The heat was unbearable, and listening to his introduction like a tongue twister, I was a little annoyed in my heart, but I didn't dare to show it. I know very well that I now have only one foot to step into the gate of the military academy, and the other foot, after three months of intensive training, after various re-examinations and examinations, all passed, in order to enter. The old platoon leader said that in the first three months of school, farting is not the time, talking louder, dragging on, may be eliminated miserably. The old platoon leader came out of this school, and before leaving, I exchanged a plate duck and two bottles of beer for his many valuable experiences and some exhortatory words.
At this moment, I was complaining in my heart, what is the surname is not good, I have to be surnamed Qu, and I am also the captain of the district, is this not embarrassing for me, a Hubei person? Hubei people are not divided into canals and districts, and I, a Hong'an person, can't tell the difference.
The captain of the canal area was of medium stature, a face was angular, although he had been smiling, but behind the smile, there was a sense of majesty, which brought me the first trace of fear after entering the military academy, like the fire under the sky, and the cold in my chest.
The captain of the canal district asked me, have you eaten? I saw a sign next to the road indicating that the south side was the college canteen. Many students, in a row of two and three in a row, came from the side of the canteen. Their feet, very loudly on the cement floor, indicate that they have taken off their yellow rubber shoes and put on the leather shoes that symbolize future officers, and also show their mental state after a full meal. Apparently, the academy has eaten. I was like a visitor who hadn't made it to dinner, pretending to have eaten in order to take care of my face. The captain of the canal district smiled at me and said, "Well, let's go straight to the squadron." Only then did I find that his lips were shiny, like a woman smearing lipstick, it seemed that he had just eaten, and the food was good.
Editor: Xu VV
Photography: Yan Jin