Volume 2 The Second Battle Chapter 15: Blowing up the Bridge (Part 1)
"Captain, commander!" I hurriedly caught up with Commander Chu who was running in front of me. "Captain, there is the sound of a motor behind us. Maybe the enemy is coming. Should we..."
"What's the hurry?" Unexpectedly, Commander Chu seemed to have known about this for a long time. He calmly pointed at Jin Qiulian who was leading the way not far ahead and said, "Comrade Jin Qiulian has thought of all this. Look how calm the comrades of the People's Army are. Why are you so anxious?"
"Ah? You thought of it?" I couldn't help but feel a little confused and a little dissatisfied: "This puppet soldier is driving a car and escaping behind us. Don't we need to prepare a surprise attack to kill him? At least we can help our comrades!"
"No need, Platoon Leader Cui!" Jin Qiulian, who was running in the front, turned around and smiled and said, "There is a bridge not far ahead. We just need to blow up the bridge. This way we can stop the enemy without affecting our march."
So that's how it is. I thought to myself that Jin Qiulian is really capable. She seems to have estimated very accurately where the bridge is and when we can catch up with the puppet army.
"I'm talking to Platoon Leader Cui!" Jin Qiulian suddenly ran to my side and whispered, "Fighting requires not only accurate shooting, but also using your brain!"
"Huh? Are you saying I don't use my brain or something?"
"You said it yourself." Before I could answer, Jin Qiulian ran away with a snicker.
This little girl made me feel depressed. You know what, I really felt like I was outdone by her.
After running for a while, we found a highway bridge in front of us. Although there was no water under the bridge, the surrounding terrain was steep and difficult to walk on. If the bridge was really blown up, the vanguard of the puppet army behind us would have no choice but to abandon their cars and tanks and escape on foot. Once they lost their cars, there was no way they could outrun the volunteer soldiers known as the "Iron Feet".
As soon as she reached the stone bridge, Jin Qiulian started to get busy. She climbed up to the bridge arch to place the explosives and fixed them with stones. She looked very skilled. I guess she must have done a lot of such work before. You can't tell at her young age...
"Platoon Leader Cui." Regimental Commander Chu looked around and seemed to think that there was no danger in blowing up the bridge, so he ordered: "The troops go first, your platoon covers Comrade Jin, and after blowing up the bridge, you are not allowed to delay or fight, and catch up with the troops immediately."
"Yes!" I answered simply, thinking that it would be a piece of cake to catch up with the troops after blowing up the bridge. I was just about to sit down and rest for a while.
He picked a few stones at the bridge head, asked the old squad leader, Hu Zi, Fang Zi and a few others to sit down, shared a few cigarettes, and then joked to Jin Qiulian who was still busy under the bridge arch : "Comrade Jin, you should hurry up! The puppet troops are coming up!"
There was no answer from her for a long time. I guess she was concentrating on setting up the explosives downstairs.
"This girl is not simple." The old squad leader grinned with his wrinkled mouth, "My daughter is only her age. She was so scared when she saw me shooting a gun that she cried and hid. But she is playing with explosives."
"She!" Hu Zi said, "She's also a very accurate shooter. If it weren't for her last time, we would have almost..."
"Hmm!" I pretended to cough and interrupted Hu Zi's words. Hu Zi is really something, bringing up such embarrassing things.
"Be prepared for battle!" I said, throwing away the cigarette butt in my hand in boredom. "Find a good position at the bridgehead and arrange crossfire, just in case."
"Yes!" Everyone responded and went to find shelter. Soon, a platoon of more than 30 people built simple fortifications for the three teams at the left, middle and right positions of the bridgehead and were ready to fight.
I was really looking for trouble. In fact, the main purpose was to prevent everyone from gathering together and let the outspoken Hu Zi talk too much. However, I didn't expect that this arrangement would later prove to be very necessary.
The rumbling sound of the motor became louder and louder. I couldn't help but look at Jin Qiulian who was still struggling under the bridge arch. I was secretly wondering, isn't it just a matter of placing the explosive pack and pulling the fuse to blow up the bridge? Why does it take so long?
The sound of a motor suddenly rang out, and a military vehicle loaded with puppet soldiers appeared at the corner of the mountain road, wobbling. Then another one appeared, and another one after another, forming a long line that was too numerous to count. Each vehicle was packed with people, and even some of the tanks were filled with puppet soldiers. The sound of gunfire from behind was getting closer and closer.
"Is it done?" I crouched down and ran to the bridge head, shouting towards the dark arch of the bridge.
"Okay, okay!" Jin Qiulian stuck her head out, pulled out a string and ran back.
"Why does it take so long?" I asked impatiently as I ran to the shelter.
"Do you think it's easy to blow up the bridge?" Jin Qiulian snorted. "This stone bridge is very solid. It was built only two or three years ago. The regiment didn't give us much explosives. We have to find the right position and find a way to make the explosives explode at the same time. Otherwise, some of the explosives will be blown away and then explode, and the bridge will be broken."
"Ah? So there is such knowledge." I couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Where did you learn it?"
"What's so difficult about this?" Jin Qiulian said easily, "I've been playing games for many years. When I was a kid, I followed my grandfather to fight against Japanese soldiers. Later, I fought against puppet troops, blew up bridges, blew up railways, and attacked enemy munitions . I did that all the time!"
"Oh!" I answered and didn't dare to say anything. They say that you can't judge a person by his appearance. Today I really experienced it. The Japanese surrendered in 1945. This little girl in front of me also fought against Japanese soldiers. That means has fought for six or seven years! Don't look at her young age, she is still a veteran. My military service is much longer than hers.
"Rumble..." The roar of the cars became louder and louder. The roads in North Korea were in poor condition, with thick snow piled on the bumpy roads. In addition, the puppet soldiers were in a hurry to escape and drove the cars quite fast. For a moment, the cars were shaking up and down like drunkards, and the Taegeukgi erected in front of the car also swayed left and right with the swaying of the car body.
Because the car was bumpy and there were too many people on board, a few puppet soldiers would fall off the car from time to time, and then run wildly along the way in panic, shouting loudly: "Jucha... Gei Olase'nan (Stop, wait for me)"
Seeing the embarrassed looks of the running soldiers, the soldiers on the car laughed and reached out to pull them up. However, what the soldiers who were madly chasing the car did not know was that perhaps it was better for them not to get on the car, because the car had already driven onto the stone bridge.
With a loud bang, when the car drove onto the stone bridge, Jin Qiulian detonated the explosives without hesitation, but the stone bridge did not break as everyone thought...
