In the scorching summer, in the hinterland of eastern Anhui, a tactical contest assessment of a synthetic brigade of the 71st Group Army is in progress.

Sun Jinlong (above, photographed by Huang Zhenyu), the commander of the "Jinan Heroes Company" of the brigade, led the company to the final stage. With the rational use of tactical tactics and the skillful cooperation of the officers and men of the company, he completed the combat task in the shortest time and with the least personnel damage, and won the first place in the competition.

Sun Jinlong has won many honors in his struggle to take root in the grassroots and strive to build a strong military: he won 11 championships in competitions above the group level, and won one personal first class, one second class, and three third class. His company has been recognized as an advanced company of "four iron" for four consecutive years... On the road to building a strong military in the new era, Sun Jinlong led the officers and soldiers of "Jinan Heroes Company", Keep launching new charges.

　 "We must guard the honor and continue the glory of the heroic company"

Sun Jinlong was an excellent sniper. In 2019, Sun Jinlong was transferred from the vice company commander of the reconnaissance company to the commander of the outfit step company. When Sun Jinlong took a new post, he changed from "elite sniper" to "novice armor". He had obvious shortcomings in three major disciplines of armored driving, shooting and communication. At the beginning of taking office, in a tactical assessment, Sun Jinlong was judged unqualified in command decision-making and tactical application, which led to the bottom of the company's final performance, which made him ashamed.

Sun Jinlong's unit is the "Jinan First Regiment" with outstanding military achievements. The "Jinan Heroes Company" where he is the company commander is the top honor company of the Ministry. After that defeat, Sun Jinlong stood in front of the banner of honor in the company history museum, and remembered the heroic history of the company's ancestors, and renewed his fighting spirit. He made up his mind: "We must guard the honor and continue the glory of the heroic company."

Sun Jinlong first sorted out his own problems and made a "military order" that "all the courses will be good in 60 days". During that time, he practiced in the training ground during the day and studied in the conference room at night, exchanging high-intensity training for ability improvement.

In order to improve the hit rate of infantry chariot artillery, Sun Jinlong led all the artillery commanders to continue practical exercises until he could turn the muzzle to the right place at one glance at the target. The backbone of the soldiers who have served for many years gave him a thumbs up. The soldiers asked him for tips. Sun Jinlong spread out his hands to show them. The palms were full of blood bubbles and bleeding scars. He said: "There is no shortcut for preparing for war, only hard training."

Soon after, the brigade organized a shooting assessment for the armored infantry company. Sun Jinlong served as the artillery commander, fired the first gun of the company, hit the target accurately, and the morale of the officers and soldiers of the company was high. Finally, the company won the first place in the whole brigade in the assessment.

　 "Bloody courage is not just words, but deeds"

"Bloody courage is not words, but deeds," Sun Jinlong said.

In 2016, Sun Jinlong represented China in the International Army Small Arms Skills Competition held in Australia. Ten days before the game, he accidentally sprained his right ankle.

Sun Jinlong persevered. When shooting in the kneeling position, his right foot was too painful to kneel down, so he forced himself to use his left foot instead. In order to get used to it as soon as possible, he kept shooting position even when he ate every day. In the game, he was the only striker supported by his left foot. He led the team to win three gold and four silver medals and one medal of honor, making the five-star red flag fly high in the international arena.

The blood of soldiers is always tested in the face of urgent, difficult and dangerous tasks. In the summer of 2020, because of training injury, Sun Jinlong implanted a steel nail in his shoulder. After receiving the task of flood fighting and disaster relief, he did not hesitate at all, but resolutely went to the front line: "I am the company commander, where my company is, I will be there."

"We should race against time and against the flood!" Sun Jinlong was both a commander and a combatant. He ran forward and backward, completely ignoring the pain. On the dam, he put a bandage on his left hand and commanded with his right hand; If the left shoulder cannot exert, the right shoulder should be used to carry the sandbag. In the end, the officers and soldiers of the company fought for more than 20 consecutive days and completed the rescue task with high standards. Since then, Sun Jinlong has a new name - "Iron and Steel Company Commander".

For this title, Sun Jinlong said: "I will work hard in the battle position with an iron will to make a steel nail that will never rust!"

"As a company commander, I will bring out a group of elite soldiers who can fight and win"

"Self training is far from enough, and improving the overall combat effectiveness of the company is the goal." As a leader, Sun Jinlong always insists on setting an example, "Let everyone see me do, learn from me, and do what others are required to do first."

Every time during training, Sun Jinlong always demonstrates to the soldiers and sets standards. Cao Shihao, a soldier, remembered that a simple action, "Lie down and stand up", the company commander took himself to practice all day, and his pants were worn out. After the training, Sun Jinlong will convene the heads of all disciplines to make a summary. He always asks everyone to talk more about problems, find out shortcomings and solve them one by one.

"The company commander is more than ten years older than many soldiers. His 5km cross-country performance has always led the company. All kinds of basic training will be practiced with us. Why don't we work hard?" said Zou Gangping, a soldier.

"All is to win. The company commander is the coach and even the commander. Single outfit training is the basis, and commanding the whole company to achieve tactical goals is the key," Sun Jinlong said. On the journey of building a strong army, Sun Jinlong is like a steel nail, riveted on the battlefield to aim at actual combat and train his troops hard.

In recent years, Sun Jinlong led the company to overcome many combat shooting problems and explore a way of training with one specialty and many abilities. Every year, Sun Jinlong takes the field training ground as a "big sandbox" to test the level of coordination and improve the command ability. In the evening, he led the backbone to simulate on the sand table, and in the daytime, he commanded the whole company to conduct field inspection on the training ground until he reached a high level.

"When I was a soldier, I wanted to be a good soldier with excellent skills. Now, as the commander of the company, I want to bring out a group of elite soldiers who can win." Under the leadership of Sun Jinlong, the "Jinan Heroes Company" has trained three excellent coaches of the group army, 25 of whom have won gold and silver in competitions at all levels, and five of whom have obtained advanced qualifications in professional skill appraisal.

(Gao Junfeng and Pang Zhongxiu participated in the collection)

People's Daily (August 5, 2023, Version 6)

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