Ha Jin - Ocean of Words

One morning after breakfast I was about to set out with my orderly, Liu Bing, for the Second Battery for a training inspection. Suddenly Ma Yibiao, the battery’s commander, burst into the Battalion Headquarters. “Damn it, Commander Gao. Screw Dragon Head and his mother, damn it!” he shouted, panting hard.

“What’s wrong, Old Ma?” I asked.

“Six of my men lost their hats!”

“Calm down, and explain it slowly. What exactly happened?” As I was speaking, Commissar Diao came in from the adjacent room.

“Early this morning, after the running exercises,” Ma said, his face red, “some of my men went into the latrine to relieve themselves. Six of them were squatting there. Then a hooligan wearing a large gauze mask came in, picked up their hats one by one, and ran away.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe it. “Six men were robbed like that?”

“Yes, it’s damned shameful. They thought it was a joke and merely shouted, ‘A good man doesn’t jump at a squatting man.’ Once they realized it was serious business, it was too late and the hooligan had disappeared.”

“Who’s the robber, do you know?” I asked.

“It’s a louse on a bald head — everybody can see it. He must be one of Dragon Head’s men. Who else wants army hats?”

“I’m going to Dragon Head to question him.”

“Wait a minute, Old Gao,” Commissar Diao broke in. “Don’t be hotheaded. We have to think about the whole thing before taking any action.”

“Why is it so complex, Commissar Diao?” Ma asked.

“Because if we don’t handle it well, it will damage our relationship with the villagers, which is vital for us now.”

“Old Ma, I think Commissar Diao’s right,” I said. Then I turned to Diao and asked, “What do you think we should do?”

“I suggest we hold a meeting this evening. Discuss it first and see what we should do. For the time being, let’s keep quiet about it.”

We all agreed. Together with Ma Yibiao, I went to the Second Battery. On the drill ground made out of a small soccer field, the soldiers were practicing directed fire. In the line of six cannons, the third one stood under its canvas cover. Ma pointed at it and said, “See, four men in the Third Squad have no hats and cannot come outside in the cold, so this cannon is not operated.”

I was enraged again and went directly to the Third Squad. In a small farmhouse, six bareheaded men were sitting on three benches, studying Chairman Mao’s “On Protracted War.” When they saw me come in, they bent their heads lower. I sat down and asked them what the robber looked like.

“We couldn’t see his face, Commander Gao,” said the squad leader, Li Lin. “He wore a pair of sunglasses and a gauze mask.”

“How tall and how big is he?” I asked.

“About a hundred and seventy centimeters tall, I guess, and of slender build.”

“I saw a wart under his left ear,” said a short man, whose name I remembered was Ding Zhi.

“Yeah, I saw the wart too,” another put in.

“You mean here?” Commander Ma asked, pointing his finger at the spot beneath his earlobe.

“Yes.” They nodded.

“Damn his grandma, he’s nobody but Wang Si, one of Dragon Head’s bodyguards,” Ma concluded.

“Good, we have clarified that,” I said. “Did you write your names inside your hats?”

“No.” They all shook their heads.

“Tell everybody to put his name inside his hat,” I told Ma.

Not knowing what the next step should be, we left the squad and returned to the drill ground. I was not very satisfied with the Second Battery’s training in directed fire, but I didn’t say anything, because it took time to master the skills and we would mostly use point-blank shooting in fighting the Russians’ tanks.

That evening all the battery commanders and political instructors gathered at Battalion Headquarters. Commissar Diao presided over the discussion. In the beginning, most of us suggested holding a formal talk with Dragon Head and requiring him to return the hats with a promise that this sort of thing would not happen again. But Commissar Diao disagreed. He argued, “Comrades, we have to think about this matter in connection with the overall situation. If you view it this way, six hats are nothing — ”

“It’s not a matter of hats,” I interrupted him. “I would give him sixty if we had that many extras. Because of the loss of those hats, a squad can’t go into action in such cold weather. Say an emergency arises now; a cannon will be automatically disabled. Isn’t it absurd?”

“I fully understand your point, Old Gao,” he said. “Wait till I finish, and see if I can make some sense.” He turned to all the officers and continued, “We live in the villagers’ homes, and you all know what kind of man Dragon Head is. In a way he’s the head of the village. If we get on bad terms with him, we may turn the whole village against us. We came here to fight the Russians and have no time and energy to deal with Dragon Head. At this moment, the Russians are our enemy. Comrades, we have to learn how to unite with all forces that can be united to fight our chief enemy.

“Please think about our own situation again. In the Fifth Regiment we are the only new battalion and the only artillery unit; if a war breaks out, for sure we will have to play the major part in fighting the Russians’ tanks. We are not afraid of that, since our cannons are designed to destroy them. But what if the Russian foot soldiers launch an attack at our batteries? Do you think the Regimental Headquarters will send over a company beforehand to protect us? I don’t think so. You all know there is simply no infantry unit nearby. Do you think we ourselves have enough firepower to stop the Russian foot soldiers? I don’t think so either. Dragon Head has a company; though not well equipped, it’s the best available. As long as we’re on good terms with him, the militia will fight for us. He likes fighting; all right, we bring his enthusiasm into play. It’s true that the loss of six hats may disable a cannon for a while, but it’s a small matter compared with the overall situation. I think even if we lose a squad permanently, still it’s not as important as to have Dragon Head’s company in our service. Now, everybody can say whatever he wants.”

What could we say? Who could oppose such a balancing, calculating mind? We all agreed with him and were willing to drop this matter. I was very impressed by Commissar Diao’s good sense and was full of respect for this small man.

Although we did not bicker with Dragon Head, still my bad feeling toward him would not die away easily. Bandits, I would say to myself. If this were the Old China, no doubt Dragon Head would become a small warlord. One day at noon I ran into him on the road in front of the village grocery. He walked dashingly, with two bodyguards following. I couldn’t help staring at him, and he must have realized the resentment in my look. His eyes rolled toward me while his hand rose to his temple, saluting me in the mlitary manner. Instantly his guards saluted me too. I was forced to raise my hand in return. They passed by as if on patrol.

The Spring Festival was drawing near, and I was worried. All the three batteries were new, without any savings. How could we celebrate the holiday? Some soldiers would miss home, and their spirits would be low. How could we make them forget home and enjoy themselves, eating well and playing well? Surely we had to stay in combat readiness during the holiday period, but we also had to feast and make every man feel at ease in his own battery. The Regimental Logistics Department sent us four hundred jin of pork. Too little for three hundred men. What should we do? Both Commissar Diao and I were restless.