The green train clattered along the tracks, heading north.
The soldiers aboard were all excited. Quite a few had never been to the capital before, and this time they were going to receive commendations, which made it all the more glorious.
Still, the journey was far from comfortable. This was not a special train, and there were only so many sleeper berths. The seriously wounded and those with limited mobility took the sleepers, while everyone else sat in hard seats. But the soldiers had no complaints. Never mind having a seat—even if they had to stand for dozens of hours, they would not have minded.
The atmosphere was naturally excellent. Everyone laughed and chatted, making the carriage incredibly lively. The topics were admittedly rather limited: either imagining Beijing or reliving the previous battles. Even though those stories had been talked to death over the last two months, it made no difference. The soldiers were in exceptionally high spirits.
The senior commanders and leaders had long since flown to Jingcheng by special plane. The highest-ranking officers traveling to Shangjing with the soldiers were only deputy regimental commanders. At a time like this, there was obviously no need to spoil the mood, so they too were smiling happily.
The carriage Wang Yan was in was filled with men from the Third Battalion at the time—or rather, all from the companies under his command. Over the past two months, those lightly wounded had recovered, the severely wounded had improved, the dead had been settled, and those beyond saving had also passed on.
Seventy-eight men were going to Beijing this time, while another four remained in the hospital. Of those seventy-eight, sixteen would be transferred out of military service after arriving in Jingcheng. The four in the hospital would inevitably be transferred out as