Volume 1: The First Battle Chapter 19: Battle of Jiulong River (Part 3)
"Hey..." Captain Zhang slammed his fist on the trench in front of him, then grabbed a pack of explosives and shouted, "Everyone in the first platoon, follow me!"
"Company commander!"
"company……"
The soldiers rushed forward and pulled Captain Zhang back. Zhao Yongxin snatched the explosive pack from his hand and said, "Captain, I'll be the one to go. I'm the platoon leader. Are you going to take all my soldiers away just by shouting?"
"That's right!" Liu Mingquan also ran over and said, "All the soldiers in the company listen to the company commander. If you are gone, who will lead this company to fight?"
"Bullshit!" Captain Zhang was a little confused. He took off his hat and threw it to the ground. He squatted on the ground and said dejectedly: "If we can't blow up the bridge, the whole regiment will be gone, and we will have nothing to lose."
"Captain! Let me go!" I calmly pushed everyone aside, walked up to Captain Zhang and said, "It was me who suggested that you blow up the bridge later. Let me take care of the trouble I caused!"
"Platoon Leader Cui!"
"Platoon Leader Cui, this is not your fault..."
…
"Stop talking!" I gritted my teeth and said, "I can't let my comrades die because of my mistakes! Even if they have to die, don't let me watch, and die after me!"
Captain Zhang was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay! This task is handed over to you. But it's not because your suggestion is wrong, but because I think that only you can complete such a difficult task!"
Then Captain Zhang stood up and patted me on the shoulder and said, "Platoon Leader Cui! I am the captain. You are not the one who gave the order, so I am the one who is wrong. Don't feel too burdened. Complete the mission and come back alive!"
"Yes!" I saluted solemnly, grabbed a pack of explosives and was about to jump out of the trench, but suddenly I saw the river water rushing towards the stone bridge, and I couldn't help but retreat.
"What's wrong?" Liu Mingquan asked with his eyes wide open.
"Any requests?" asked Captain Zhang.
"No!" I shook my head.
"Old squad leader!" Under everyone's puzzled eyes, I called the old squad leader and ordered: "Prepare two explosive packs and wrap them tightly with oilcloth! And let the second squad leader prepare for battle!"
"Yes!" The old squad leader responded and went to make preparations.
Soon, I saw Hu Zi coming up with ten soldiers. Hu Zi was the second squad leader? I had been a platoon leader for most of the day without knowing what was going on, and I just found out that Hu Zi was the second squad leader.
"Huzi!" I looked at the big man in front of me who was both my teacher and my friend and said, "Do you listen to my orders?"
"Report to the platoon leader!" Hu Zi stood up and said, "Don't think I am confused at ordinary times, but I am very decisive in a battle. Platoon leader, give the order!"
"Okay!" I nodded and said, "Huzi, you will lead your comrades to charge down, but don't charge at the stone bridge. Turn around halfway. Remember there is a cave at the foot of the mountain? Take the soldiers to hide there for a while, and then return to the position after the enemy planes leave."
"What...what?" Hu Zi was dumbfounded when he heard it. He was stunned for a while, and said reluctantly: "You want me to be a deserter? In front of so many comrades? I...I won't do it!"
"Stop talking nonsense, this is an order!" I emphasized.
"Yes!" Hu Zi saluted helplessly and responded, "I promise to complete the mission."
"Platoon leader." At this time, the old squad leader ran up and handed me two explosive packs, saying, "They are all wrapped in oilcloth and the fuses are also wrapped. Here, just untie one layer when you want to pull it."
"Yes!" I nodded, picked up the explosive pack and said to Hu Zi, "Go down in five minutes. Remember, don't rush to the stone bridge!"
After running a few steps along the trench, I turned around and looked at my comrades who I had only been with for less than two days. I raised my fist and said, "Comrades, help me kill a few more enemies and avenge me! For the motherland, for the people, and for the new China!"
After saying this, he ran forward without looking back, and behind him came a shout:
"For the motherland, for the people, and for the new China!"
"Hey! You bastard!" I cursed in my heart: "Why didn't anyone stop me!"
But it was too late to regret now. I had just acted too great. If I went back this time, I would be kicked to death! I had no choice but to run along the trench to the back mountain. The road was full of broken limbs and blood of the volunteer soldiers. It seemed that the bombing had also caused a lot of losses to the soldiers!
The hilltop was not big to begin with, and soon we ran to the side of the hill. Looking down, we saw the Longxing River flowing slowly at the foot of the hill, with corpses floating down from time to time. Because this section of the river was not defended by the Volunteer Army, the enemy's bombing did not reach here. Occasionally, a few enemy planes flew over, but they quickly turned around and joined the battle on the other side.
I estimated the time, and Hu Zi would start his feint attack soon! I gritted my teeth and jumped out of the trench, and ran down the mountain. With a strange cry of "Woo...", a plane flew over my head, and I fell to the ground with a scare. However, the plane didn't take me seriously at all, and turned a corner and flew away, perhaps thinking I was a deserter!
But this made me look very embarrassed. I looked around and luckily no one saw it!
I struggled in my heart for two minutes before I mustered up the courage to rush down again.
"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang..." I have a bad habit of making a lot of random noises when I'm nervous. My colleagues have laughed at me many times for this. Of course, that's a modern scandal.
After a while, I ran to the river safely, but the river water... Looking at the floating ice floating down from time to time, I couldn't help but shudder. Damn, if it wasn't for that bad idea I came up with, and so many comrades died, I wouldn't have suffered this hardship!
Forget it, I'll just die! The sooner I die, the sooner I'll be reborn. I won't have to suffer in this world anymore. Maybe a miracle will happen and take me back to the happy modern world!
Thinking of this, I tied the explosive bag to my chest with my marching belt and made a slipknot. I took a few long breaths and jumped into the river with a plop. The biting cold first attacked my face and hands exposed outside my cotton-padded jacket. I hardened my heart and swam towards the river before I lost consciousness from the cold. There was no other way. I could only swim faster in a place with fast-flowing water to reach the stone bridge.
After swimming for a while, I thought about it and felt something was wrong. I remembered that the soldiers placed the explosives on the second stone arch on the stone bridge. If I went to the middle of the river, I was afraid there would be no way to detonate the explosives. So I stopped and turned over on the spot, floating motionless in the water, with only my mouth and nose exposed to breathe, pretending to be a dead body and drifting downstream with the current.
Although I am a journalist in modern times, I am quite good at swimming because I often go to the beach to swim. Speaking of my swimming ability, I have to thank the beauties wearing bikinis at the beach. If it weren't for the endless motivation they gave me, if it wasn't for the desire to show off in front of them, if it wasn't for the desire to take advantage of them while teaching them how to swim, I, a lazy person, would never learn how to swim!
Why didn't I practice winter swimming in modern times? Although I was motionless, every muscle in my body was trembling. The cold river water poured into my body through my collar, sleeves, and trouser legs, mercilessly taking away every bit of warmth from my body. My cotton coat gradually swelled up because of absorbing the river water, which made me sink slightly, and it became more difficult to breathe.
Following the sound of rushing water, I turned a corner along the river, and the battlefield soon appeared in front of me. Several enemy planes flew over me, as if they were showing off their achievements, playing various tricks in the air. But I had no time to pay attention to these. I only thought about two things in my mind, that is, to use all my strength to resist the coldness of my whole body and wait for the appearance of the stone bridge.
"Clang, clang, clang, it's so cold, it's so cold..." My bad habit appeared again, but this time I was shouting in my heart because my mouth was too busy to breathe.
It felt like I had waited for a century before the stone bridge finally appeared in my sight. But at this time, I also saw the tanks on the stone bridge and the teams of infantry following behind the tanks...
