Volume 1: The First Battle Chapter 24: Battle of Jiulong River (VIII)
The loess walls, thatched roofs, and pit fires crackled in the dark. The bright red flames flickered on the sleeping faces of the soldiers, reflecting the blood and bandages on their bodies.
Snoring continued, and the air was filled with the unpleasant smell of medicinal herbs, blood, and smelly feet. But who cared? The warmth and safety here were like heaven compared to the life-and-death battle just now.
This hut was arranged by our superiors for our company to repair. The owner of the hut had long disappeared due to the war, but even so, our superiors still instructed us not to take anything from the common people.
This may be the style of the People's Liberation Army, but it is because there is not a single thing to eat in this hut. If there was, it would have been snatched away by the hungry and tired soldiers. People are almost starving to death, so how can they care about so much!
From time to time, we heard the sound of gunfire and shouts of killing from the front. In this battle, the enemy's puppet 6th Division, which had withdrawn from the north, was quickly attacked by our reinforcement 118th Division and quickly abandoned its light and heavy equipment and fled in all directions.
The enemy reinforcements are still putting up a desperate resistance on the other side of the river, trying to use their advanced equipment and favorable terrain to block our troops north of the Jiulong River. But in this dark night, I don't think they can hold out for long.
Most of my company suffered casualties . Including the wounded who were found on the battlefield, there were only about 40 people left in the company, and only 30 of them were capable of fighting, and all of them had injuries of varying degrees.
The soldiers hadn't had a good sleep for a few days, and they had fought several battles in a row. Now that they had a chance to rest, they all buried their heads in sleep. But I was the only one staring at the ceiling with my eyes wide open, and the bloody scenes on the battlefield just now kept flashing through my mind, thinking about their pain, thinking about their wailing, thinking about their blood...
I know very well that I was not in control at the time, I did it subconsciously. The way I killed the enemy, and the judgment when I responded to the enemy... If I were a reporter before, I would never be so skilled and accurate. What happened to me? How did I become such a skilled killer?
"Password!"
The sentry's shout outside the door made the sleeping soldiers sit up reflexively and grab their guns as quickly as possible, even though there were no bullets in those guns.
"Liberate New China!"
"Serve the people! It turns out to be the old squad leader. What did he bring with him?"
"Food." The old squad leader's kind laugh came from outside the door: "You must be starving. Come, I'll give you one first."
“There’s food!”
“There’s food!”
…
When the soldiers in the room heard that the old squad leader brought food, they all excitedly sat up from the pit. With a gust of cold wind, the old squad leader hurriedly threw a large bag of things on his back into the house, and then squatted in front of the kang fire and rubbed his hands impatiently!
The soldiers rushed forward and divided up the pile of things, but were stunned when they got the things.
"I'm talking to you, old squad leader!" Hu Zi was the first to speak: "Are you confused? Can you eat this iron lump?"
"That's right, old squad leader!" Zhao Yongxin fiddled with the thing in his hand and asked curiously, "If you say this thing is a bomb, I would believe it. You didn't take the explosives back as military rations! I'm afraid if you take a bite of it, I'll be left with a bang!"
“Haha…ha…” A burst of laughter broke out in the cabin.
The old squad leader was embarrassed for a moment, and said awkwardly: "Aren't these all assigned to our company by the regiment? They said they were captured from the enemy and called it... 'canned food'. I don't know how to eat it. The regiment commander also said that these were given to our company because of our bravery in combat. Other comrades haven't received any yet!"
"Canned food?" I sat up when I heard that, and then I realized that in addition to the American planes and cannons, the volunteers had never seen canned food.
"Platoon Leader Cui, do you know how to eat it?" Maybe the little Shandong guy was very hungry, and he couldn't wait to hand me one.
"Oh, it's beef, made in the United States, good stuff!" My saliva started to flow as soon as I took the can. I casually pulled out the bayonet hanging on my waist, not caring that there were black blood stains on the bayonet, and stabbed it into the can. Then I pried it up, and a fresh fragrance soon wafted out.
"Wow... good stuff!"
"Platoon Leader Cui is indeed wise!"
…
Seeing this, the other soldiers followed suit and couldn't wait to open the cans and gobble them up. In an instant, the hut was filled with the aroma of canned food.
"Hmm, hmm... delicious!" Hu Zi finished it in no time, sucking his fingers and saying, "American food is delicious. If it were me, I would have to grab more of this stuff in future wars!"
"Platoon Leader Cui." Liu Mingquan, with a bandage on his head, came over while eating and asked mysteriously, "I heard that Platoon Leader Cui suppressed an entire enemy company by himself and killed dozens of enemies. How did he do that?"
"Of course it's true!" Hu Zi got excited when he heard it, grinning and said, "Do you know what happened when I pulled this guy up? Over a dozen puppet soldiers were lying on the ground, all stabbed with bayonets! The blood was flowing, not to mention that Platoon Leader Cui himself was covered in blood, but the mud and stones were all red!"
Everyone turned their eyes to me at the same time, their eyes full of admiration. In this life-and-death battlefield, being able to kill the enemies, especially killing more enemies, can win the respect of your comrades.
"Platoon Leader Cui, tell us, what are we going to do?" everyone asked.
"Yes, Platoon Leader Cui!" Company Commander Zhang fiddled with his injured left hand hanging around his neck, nodded and said to me, "War is about preserving yourself and destroying the enemy. Platoon Leader Cui has done a good job of this. Platoon Leader Cui, please share your combat experience! Let the soldiers learn from it!"
"Captain!" I lowered my head, looked at my right hand and said, "I... I am thinking about the soldiers who died under my command. They also have parents. Some of them are just teenagers who can't even hold a gun steadily!"
There was no sound in the hut immediately, and the deathly silence quickly spread to the surroundings...
