await

The place where Wang Qinggui went after returning was the former battlefield where fourteen comrades-in-arms were buried. Fourteen tombs stood quietly, and the graves were covered with grass. He sat down in front of his "comrades-in-arms" and looked at the fourteen graves, and time seemed to return to before the blockade. Fourteen comrades-in-arms stood side by side in front of him, waiting for the task, Miao Deshui, Xiao Liuzi, Jiang Mazi, Xiao Pan, Liu Wendong, and Hu Dazi...... Familiar faces flashed vaguely in front of his eyes. At last, in a hoarse voice, he said to them, "I'm back, I'm coming back to see you."

At this time, his heart was hot, his nose was a little sour, and he said in a choked voice: Our independent regiment has been reorganized into the 182nd Division, and the team is going south, and when the team comes back, I will lead them to see you. After saying that, tears flowed down his face, wetting the placket of his clothes bit by bit.

He raised his right hand and gave a long military salute to his fourteen comrades.

The autumn sun was good, and it flowed quietly, and the grass on the grave shone with the last touch of green. He looked at these fourteen comrades-in-arms, and was a little stunned for a while, the independent regiment had been their home for so many years, and now that the "home" was gone, he didn't know where to go for a while. Until then, he had always made the search for the Independent Regiment his goal, and he had no hesitation, but now what was his direction?

After bidding farewell to his fourteen comrades-in-arms, his footsteps wandered, and he didn't know how long he walked, and when he stopped at the entrance of a village, he realized that this was the home he had been away from for many years. The two small grass huts that used to be no longer there, they were overgrown with wild grass, and a few unnamed autumn insects made their last chirp in the wild grass. His appearance attracted the attention of many villagers, and when he left home to join the army, the half-grown doll had grown into a young man, and they did not know him, and he did not know them. He wanted to find a familiar face in the crowd, so he saw Yu Sanpa. When he joined the army and left, Yu San's father also gave him two cakes from his own pot. At this time, Yu San's father was old, and he looked at him with faint eyes, and he called out: Yu San's father - and walked over. Yu Sanpa's eyes looked at him blankly, and he said: Yu Sanpa, I am Xiaogui.

Yu Sanpa's eyes were startled, he rubbed his eyes and said: You are Xiaogui, the Xiaogui who joined the army?

Yu Sandad held his hand, finally recognized him, and asked: Why are you back, where is the independent regiment?

He said what he had said countless times to the third father again.

Yu San's father said: So, you have nowhere to go now? Your old house has long since collapsed, if you don't dislike it, you can live in my house.

He couldn't stay, and when he walked back to the village, he realized that he had just come back to take a look, and he hadn't been home once since he joined the army. Where his current home is, he himself can't tell. When he appeared in front of his father's grave in the back mountain, he realized that there was no longer his home here. He knelt in front of his father's grave and shouted tremblingly: Father, mother, Xiaogui has come to see you.

Thinking of his own situation, thinking of his father and mother who died early, his tears welled up again.

After a while, he raised his head and said: Dad, mother, Xiaogui is not a deserter, I am waiting for the team, I have to follow the team, there is my home.

He kowtowed three times to his father. When he stood up, the sun was setting in the sky. At this time, his heart was very peaceful, and a determination had been made. He is going to visit the fathers and mothers of those comrades who have died, tell their families and places the news of their comrades-in-arms, and what he will do for them. He knew the organizational procedures, when he was in the independent regiment, every time a comrade-in-arms died, the superiors would make a count, and then the troops would issue a certificate that said: When and where so-and-so died in the battle. Then the organization will hand it over to the martyr's hometown, and the local government will send a martyr's certificate to the family of the deceased, which is the final result of proving a soldier.

In that blocking battle, they lost contact with the large army, he was their platoon commander, he was a living person, and he wanted to do a good job for his comrades in the aftermath of the martyrs. Wang Qinggui had a goal, and his steps were firm again. The home addresses of the fighters in the platoon, he had long remembered that it was his job to remember the address of each fighter.

He was the first to come to Miao Deshui's hometown, he went to the district first, and he was greeted by a deputy district head, who heard that he was a comrade in the army, and was very enthusiastic about him, shaking hands and pouring water. He told the deputy district head about Miao Deshui's situation, and the deputy district chief lowered his head and said after a while: This time there is another martyr in our district.

Then the deputy district chief looked at him, he understood, and said apologetically: I have also lost contact with the team, and the army cannot issue a certificate, I am the platoon commander of the martyr Miao Deshui before his death, and I can write a certificate.

The deputy district chief scratched his head and said with a very embarrassed look: This is the first time I have encountered this kind of thing, I am not good at making decisions, so I will ask for instructions.

After saying that, the deputy district chief walked out, and came back after a while, and several leaders came back, and they didn't ask about Miao Deshui, but began to interrogate him when he became a soldier, who the head and political commissar of the independent regiment were, what battles he had experienced, and so on.

Wang Qinggui knew that people were suspicious of him, so he told his experience, as well as the final resistance battle and the process of finding the team.

Several district leaders were very polite to him, but they also talked about the difficulties in their work, and it was proved in the past that a martyr was first certified by the army organization and then transferred to the locality. Miao Deshui is a martyr, but Wang Qinggui can't prove it, not only can't he prove Miao Deshui, but even he can't prove it himself. He could not produce any evidence to prove his identity, the only thing he could prove was the military uniform he wore when he was in the independent regiment, and the military uniform was in his baggage at this time, but what could this prove? Many people could get their hands on this suit.

When he left the team, he was like a seed that left the soil, unable to take root or germinate. Several district leaders saw his disappointment and comforted him: Comrade Wang, let's wait together, when the team comes back, open a certificate, and we will beat gongs and drums together to send the martyr's certificate to the parents of the martyr Miao Deshui and send it home.

It seemed that it could only be like this, and the district leader kept him for a day, but he declined. He wanted to go to Miao Deshui's house to have a look, and he knew that Miao Deshui's father and mother were not in good health, and his father had asthma. When he inquired and walked into Miao Deshui's house, he found that the house was very quiet, and there seemed to be no one. When he pushed open the door of the back room, he found a voice on the bed asking, "Who?"

He stood there and saw a blind mother-in-law groping on the bed, this should be Miao Deshui's mother. The blind mother-in-law asked tentatively: Is Deshui back?

His heart was hot, and he wanted to run over and call "Mother", but he couldn't open his mouth like this, he stepped forward and said softly: Auntie, I am not Deshui, I am Deshui's comrade-in-arms, my surname is Wang, I came to see you for Deshui.

Deshui Niang grabbed him, it seemed that she was pulling her son, she touched his face with her hand, and touched his shoulder, and then asked: You are not Deshui, what about my family's Deshui?

He wanted to tell the real situation, but the words stopped again, he couldn't tell Miao Deshui's sacrifice, he couldn't bear it, and he couldn't, so he said after a while: Auntie, Deshui went south with the army.

Deshui Niang: I went south, I said, there has been no news of Deshui for more than a year, it turns out that he went south, he is okay, is he fat or thin, has he been injured......

De Shuiniang's series of inquiries made Wang Qinggui unable to answer, he could only say that he had been behind for a long time, and he didn't know the recent situation.

Deshui Niang cried again, and the little surprise she had just now was suddenly replaced by worry. At this moment, the door "creaked", and Deshui's father returned. As soon as he entered, he leaned against the wall and gasped, and it was only after a while that he spoke: "Are you on the line?"

Wang Qinggui said what he had just said to Deshui Niang again, and Deshui's father hooked his head for a long time before saying: When the team comes back, you tell Deshui and let him go home no matter what; Deshui has not heard from him for more than a year, and his mother is chattering every day, and her eyes are blind from crying.

Wang Qinggui wanted to tell their relatives the news of the sacrifice of his comrades-in-arms, but he couldn't open his mouth at this time. He didn't know what to say, and he didn't know how to say it, he could only cry in his heart, for his comrades-in-arms and for his comrades-in-arms' parents. He originally wanted to visit the home of his fourteen comrades-in-arms, but after arriving at Miao Deshui's home, he changed his initial idea. He couldn't bear to deceive their parents, but he couldn't bear to tell them the truth. Everything will wait for the troops to come back and inform them, maybe a martyr's certificate will comfort them. During this time, give the parents of the martyrs a little good thoughts, let them miss their sons in their imagination, and wait for a miracle to appear. He left Miao Deshui's home with a heavy heart.

Wang Qinggui felt unprecedentedly dazed and heavy. He didn't know where to go, he just waited, waiting for the day when the team would come back.

keep watch

When the snow covered the fourteen graves again, Wang Qinggui came. He wasn't going to leave this time. During the days of waiting for the team, he felt lonely wherever he went, and his eyes always flashed in front of his eyes the old days in the army, and the familiar faces of those comrades in the platoon, he felt that they were always alive, living in the depths of his heart and memory.

He cut down some trees and built a wooden house on the hillside. The wooden house was only a few dozen meters away from the fourteen tombs, and he wanted to make the wooden house closer to the dozen or so tombs, but the slope was too steep. After that, he lived in a wooden house.

During the day, he spent most of his time walking from grave to grave, sitting in front of this grave for a while, and sitting in front of that grave for a while. When he sat down, he said: Xiao Pan, are you homesick for chatting with the platoon commander? Now that our troops are going south, when the troops come back, I will give you a martyr's certificate, and I will personally send you home.

When he said this, he spoke slowly, as if he was afraid of frightening his comrades. He changed another grave and said to the grave, "Little Liuzi, what's the matter, are you still crying?" I remember when you first came to the platoon, participated in the first battle, you were so scared that you peed your pants, held a gun and shot into the sky, I kicked you, do you still blame me?

Sometimes he said it out loud, sometimes in his heart, no matter what he said, he felt that his comrades-in-arms would be able to hear it, and then he said in his heart over and over again: When the team comes back, I will bring the regiment commander and comrades-in-arms to see you. The head of the regiment is so good, he treats us as brothers, he knows that you are all sacrificed here, and you can no longer follow him to kill him, he will probably cry out in the first place. Thinking of this, his eyes were also hot.

The relationship between Wang Qinggui and the head of the regiment, Zhang Letian, is extraordinary. When he first joined the army, he was not tall enough to shoot a gun, and the regiment commander pinched his ears and looked at him for a long time, then smiled and said: This doll is a little smaller, and he can't even hold a gun in battle, so let me be a communicator. Since then, he has become the shadow of the regiment commander, even when he sleeps at night, he also rolls under the same bed with the regiment commander. The regiment commander loved to eat fried soybeans, and at that time, there was nothing to chew on when the army was marching and fighting, and everyone's dry food bag was filled with fried soybeans, and when they ate too many fried soybeans, people kept farting. At that time, he farted with the head of the regiment as if he was competing, one of the head of the regiment, and he also came, and the two of them laughed at you and me. The regiment commander stopped laughing later, and said: Little Guizi, when the revolution is victorious, let's eat pork every day, and the fat slices will let you eat enough, and then your fart will smell of big oil. The regimental commander's words made his stomach rumble.

There was another war, and at that time he had no experience in fighting, so he knew that he was running blindly. Once, he went to the position with the regiment commander to inspect the position, he heard the sound of shells whistling, getting closer and closer, and he was still standing there stupidly, looking up for shells. The regimental commander threw him down at once, crushing him under him. As soon as the two of them lay down, ** exploded less than five meters away from them, and it was the regiment commander who saved his life. Later, he learned to fight, he learned not only to listen to shells, but also to guns, and by listening to the sound of guns, he knew how far away the bullets were from him. Since then, he has served not only as a communicator, but also as a guard for the regiment commander, and many times, it is he who reminds the regiment commander to dodge shells and bullets. Soon, the regiment commander patted him on the shoulder and said, "Little nobleman, you are done." Later, he went down to the company and became a squad leader. It was not long before the famous battle for the liberation of Takahashi began, and they participated in the battle together with the field troops, and finally it was he who planted the red flag on the commanding heights of Takahashi - the water tower. That time he made a great contribution, the regiment commander was happy, the whole regiment was happy, he became the hero of the liberation of Takahashi, and later he became a platoon commander......

The days with his comrades-in-arms were happy, he missed his comrades-in-arms and the regiment commander.

At night, he looked at the starry sky and shouted in his heart over and over again: Commander, where are you, the little noble son misses you.

Every 10 days and a half months, he had to go to the district to inquire about the troops, and second, to receive some rations there. When he came here to live with his comrades-in-arms, he went to the district once, and he told his feelings for his comrades-in-arms and his plans. The district commander also came down from the army, and because he was injured and was no longer suitable for working in the army, he returned to work in the district. The district chief understood him very well, held his hand and said: You go, come to me if you have difficulties.

Every time he went to the district, the district chief would give him ten days and half a month's worth of rations. The district commander also told him the latest news from the troops. The district chief told him one after another that the Huaihai Battle had begun, the troops had won, the troops had crossed the Yangtze River, and the troops had to advance south......

Every time the news made him excited, soon, the whole of China was about to be liberated, and the 182nd Division should come back. At that time, he will meet his comrades-in-arms and the regiment commander, and that is also the day he returns to the team, and how happy he should be with so many comrades-in-arms.

Every time he came back from the district, he wasted no time in telling his comrades the latest news about the troops. He stood in front of the grave, as if facing the soldiers in the queue, and then he was surprised to find that the fourteen comrades-in-arms were divided into two rows around him, very neat. He didn't care so much when he buried his comrades, he just desperately dug the pit and put them in one by one. At that time, he was bent on catching up with the team.

He stood there and said: "Comrades, the whole of China is about to be liberated, and our team is about to return.

When he said this, it was as if he had waited for such a day, and tears hung in the corners of his eyes.

In those days, he couldn't sleep all night, he stood on the hillside, craned his neck to look south, and before his eyes was the inky night sky, and at the end of his vision was the layers of mountains. His gaze seemed to pass through the night sky, through the mountains, all the way to the south, where his comrades were in the heat of battle. He looked forward to the dawn, the time to pass quickly, and the early return of his comrades-in-arms.

182nd Division

During this period, many major events occurred in New China, and Mao ** stood on the Tiananmen Tower in Beijing and announced to the world: The People's Republic of China was founded. The million-strong division fought across the Yangtze River and later liberated Hainan Island, and the mainland has been completely liberated, and there are still sporadic battles to suppress bandits in the surrounding areas.

When Wang Qinggui found the 182nd Division's station, the 182nd Division was full of joy, they had no fixed barracks, and set up tents at the foot of the mountain. It was the guards who brought him to the division commander, whose surname was Tang, red-faced, and spoke in a rough voice. As soon as he saw the division commander, his eyes turned red, as if he had seen a long-lost relative. He explained his intentions, and the division commander shook hands with him, and asked people to pour water for him, and then the division commander ordered someone to take out the roster of the whole division.

He first said the name of the regiment commander Zhang Letian, and Division Commander Tang shook his head and said: I have heard of Zhang Letian, he died before he was reorganized into our 182nd Division.

He was stunned, the regimental commander sacrificed him but he didn't know that such a good person would never be seen again, and then he thought of the fourteen brothers again.

Then he mentioned Zhao Dafa, his company commander. Senior Commander Tang shook his head, it seems that Company Commander Zhao Dafa also sacrificed.

He remembered Kong Hu, the commander of the second company, and Liu Qing, the commander of the third company, who were also "old men" of the independent regiment, and they were all squad leaders when he joined the army.

Division Commander Tang turned out the list of dead personnel, the second company commander Kong Hu died in the battle to liberate northern Jiangsu, and the third company commander Liu Qing was sunk by artillery shells when crossing the river, and people were sacrificed in the river.

He recalled one by one, Division Commander Tang searched for it one by one, and Division Commander Tang's hand never left the list of dead people. He thought about all the people in the independent regiment, but they didn't come back.

His face was surprised and dazed, and Division Commander Tang's expression also became solemn, and Division Commander Tang said: If you want a revolution, you must have sacrifices, and now the officers and men of the 182nd Division have changed a few times.

In other words, none of those who reorganized the former independent regiment were able to come back. Wang Qinggui thought of the blocking battle again, and he was the only one alive in the whole platoon. This is war, and victory is won by blood.

This time, the 182nd Division naturally could not prove anything to Wang Qinggui, he could only prove that before the 182nd Division, the independent regiment was under the control of the local county party committee. If there were still people alive in the Independent Regiment, the outcome would be a different story.

He sat there in a daze, he thought that he would find his home when he found the 182nd Division, but what he didn't expect was that the 182nd Division found it, but it was already a matter of fact. Those familiar comrades-in-arms can never come back. He felt even more sad for those comrades-in-arms who had sacrificed, and even more sad for those comrades-in-arms who could not prove their identities and had already died. They died, but no one could prove them.

Wang Qinggui burst into tears again, and Division Commander Tang's eyes were also red, and Division Commander Tang held his hand and said sincerely: You should go to the county to find out, maybe they can prove that you do not have any situation with the independent regiment before the reorganization here.

What else can be said, the 182nd Division has their own organization, they have their own rules, he doesn't know Commander Tang, and he hasn't spent a day in the 182nd Division, why should people prove it to you, and how can they prove it?

When he said goodbye to the 182nd Division, his heart was very empty and unsettled. He came with hope, and he had been expecting it all these years, surviving day by day, and now the thoughts were gone. He didn't know how to walk back, and how to explain to his comrades when he went back.

No one can prove him, he can't be proven, he can't prove his comrades who died in the blockade. It's like a chain buckle, the buckle is tied in a dead knot here and can't be opened here, and the back buckle becomes a dead knot.

The news obtained from the 182nd Division brought a strong shock to Wang Qinggui - his familiar comrades-in-arms had all died, and he was the only one still alive. He was lucky compared to these sacrificed comrades, but this luck made him worse than dead. If he can't help those sacrificed comrades-in-arms to prove it, what is the point of his life.

For a moment, he didn't know where to go. Before coming to the 182nd Division, he was full of enthusiasm and hope, imagining the scene of the reunion of his comrades-in-arms, and they recalled and remembered together, not only to prove his identity, but also to rest in peace. He will have a home from now on, he will become a member of the 182nd Division, and his life with a home is steady.

However, everything now brought him back to the beginning from the end, all efforts and waiting failed, and his thoughts instantly came to naught.

Then he thought of the fourteen graves on the hillside, and the cabin. When he left his comrades, he had already made a wish to them, and he said to his comrades: Our team is back, I will go to our relatives, and when the time comes, we will come back to see you together, and you should also rest in peace.

Can those comrades-in-arms rest in peace now, and what kind of face does he have to meet those comrades-in-arms who cannot rest in peace?

What is the meaning and value of his own life? He did not know where he was going, and he walked in a daze for several days, unable to distinguish between east and west, north and south. When he came to his senses, he was surprised to find that he had somehow walked to Xinji Village. When he walked here, he remembered Wu Laohan and Xiaolan.

Xiaolan stood in front of her house and looked at him walking on the village road, she didn't seem to believe her eyes, so she looked at him blankly.

Tie the knot

Wang Qinggui himself didn't say why he came to Xinji Village, and he didn't wake up from his trance until he saw Xiaolan. He and Xiaolan stared at each other blankly, and he saw the tears in Xiaolan's eyes. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he felt that he had no strength at all, and he saw that Xiaolan felt like crying for a while. Xiaolan stepped forward and hugged him all of a sudden, and he fell softly into Xiaolan's arms.

That time, he slept in a coma at Wu Laohan's house for three days, he had a high fever, and kept shouting: Miao Deshui, Xiaoliuzi, Liu Wendong...... I'm sorry for you, there's no one left in our independent group......

Of course, this is what Xiaolan told him after he woke up. When he woke up, he found that there was an extra martyr's certificate on the wall of Xiaolan's house, which belonged to Xiaolan's brother.

In front of his eyes, he seemed to see Wu Laohan and Xiaolan looking at the figure at the entrance of the village, they looked at it stupidly, waited stupidly, did not wait for their relatives, but waited for the martyr's certificate.

Xiaolan later told him that her brother couldn't wait to come back, so she began to wait for him, like waiting for her brother. Wu Laohan persuaded her not to let her wait any longer, she firmly believed that he would come back, because before leaving, he said that he would come back when he found the team. Now that the whole country has been liberated, he has also found a team, and it is time to come, and sure enough, he is back.

In the blink of an eye, he had been away from here for three years. For three years, he has been looking forward to the return of the army, and sometimes he thinks of Xiaolan's family in his heart, it was just a flash, at that time he felt that he was still a member of the army, and when the army came back, he would return to the army. It was only then that he realized that after so many years, he had regarded Wu Laohan's family as his relatives in his heart. This is the last line of defense in his heart.

He had no choice but to marry Xiaolan, who was twenty-five years old and Xiaolan was twenty years old. After getting married, he lived an ordinary life with Xiaolan's family.

During the day, they went down to the fields and farmed, and while they worked, he would be in a trance, and he felt that everything in front of him was too unreal, as if in a dream. He looked at the mountains and seemed to be back in the ranks, they were fighting guerrilla warfare in the mountains, and those days were hard and exciting.

In the evening, when he returned home with Xiaolan, he saw Xiaolan's figure turning around in front of his eyes, and he didn't know where he was for a while. When he woke up in the middle of the night and glanced at Xiaolan beside him, he pinched his thigh again to believe that all this was true. Then he couldn't sleep anymore and stared out the window. He thought of his dead comrades, lying side by side on the hillside, alone.

Sometimes in his sleep, he dreamed of Miao Deshui, Hu Dazi, and Xiao Pan...... As in life, they stood in front of him and said over and over again: Platoon commander, we miss you.

He shook and woke up, his face cold and full of tears. Xiaolan, who was lying beside him, also woke up, reached out to hug him, and found him crying. She didn't say anything, just looked at him in the dark night.

Sometimes, he asks: I am left behind, do you believe me?

Xiaolan nodded: You are injured, I saw it with my own eyes.

He said again: I looked for the troops, but I didn't find them.

Xiaolan nodded again.

He also said: I am not a deserter.

Xiaolan still nodded.

After a while, he said again: But I am so unclear, others will think that I am a deserter.

Xiaolan hugged him again and said: Someone else is someone else, anyway, I know you are not.

For Xiaolan's understanding, he hugged her tightly.

More often, he would look at Brother Xiaolan's martyr card on the wall in a daze. That was the proof of Xiaolan's brother's identity, and not only that, but there was also a wooden sign of "Martyr's Home" hanging on the door of their house. He was so envious of that certificate, and he thought of the time when he went to Miao Deshui's house, where his son died and the family got nothing, and they hoped for his son to come back every day, but he could never go back. No one could inform them, and the family waited in vain. Thinking of this, his heart felt as uncomfortable as a pinprick. He was restless, so many comrades-in-arms died, even the regiment commander was sacrificed, but he survived, because of the blocking battle, because of his own backwardness, he should be glad that he was not only alive, but also married Xiaolan and had a family, he also thought he was lucky enough, but he just couldn't settle down in his heart. When you open your eyes and close your eyes, you will see the same as before, either marching with your comrades or fighting...... In short, the things in the army lingered in his head.

In the autumn of that year, after he finished his farm work, he told Xiaolan that he wanted to go out for a walk. Xiaolan didn't stop him, and baked him a stack of cakes, which he brought hot on his body. He did not go anywhere else, but came to the hillside where fourteen of his comrades were laid to rest.

As the sun set in the west, he sat on the hillside, looking at the wild grass growing on the grave, he wept and muttered: Hu Dazi, Miao Deshui, Xiao Pan...... The platoon commander has come to see you.

When he had said this, his heart calmed down, and he sat down for a while in front of each grave, and said a few words, as they had done when they were alive, and as he had spoken, the sky went dark. He lit a cigarette and sat among his comrades, smoking puff after puff. He had already told his comrades-in-arms the news of the return of the troops, and also told the news of the sacrifice of the regiment commander and his comrades-in-arms one after another. There were stars there, three and two shining far away.

He also said, "I am the only one alive in the Independent Regiment, and you can testify that I am not a deserter."

The cabin was still there, and he went to the cabin again and lay down, and in a few moments he fell asleep, and he slept more soundly than he had ever done before. The next day, it was the sound of birdsong that woke him up, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he looked at his comrades on the hillside, and he said to himself: Guys, I'm here.

At that moment, he thought: I'll live here from now on, never leave again, this is my home.

After thinking about it like this, his heart suddenly widened, and the world in front of him suddenly became cute.

Practical

After making this decision, he went back to Xinji Village. He told Wu Laohan and Xiaolan what he thought, Xiaolan seemed to guess his thoughts, and she was not surprised at all, just looking into the distance, just like she was looking at him step by step. Wu Laohan didn't say anything, squatted in the corner and smoked, and the smoke covered Wu Laohan's body.

Married for so long, you haven't had a day of steady. Dad won't go, he's been living here all his life. You go first, and when I'm done with my father, I'll go look for you."

After listening to Xiaolan's words, he cried silently, for Xiaolan's understanding. From the day he met Xiaolan, he decided that Xiaolan was a good person.

He returned to the cabin alone. There is a wasteland at the foot of the mountain, he has long been optimistic about that land, he wants to cultivate the wasteland, support himself, and this will be his home in the future.

Soon, the famous War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea started again, and the troops went to the front again. In those days, he squatted on the top of the hill for a long time, gazing into the distance. He knew that under a certain piece of sky beyond his sight, the troops were engaged in a hard battle, with victories and defeats, bloodshed and sacrifices. Looking at it and thinking about it, he said to his comrades-in-arms on the hillside: Our troops have left again, this time to North Korea, to fight with American devils, and that is our troops......

Now he has always regarded the 182nd Division as his own unit, and the people of the Independent Regiment are gone, but the soul of the Independent Regiment is still there, and the list of those fallen soldiers still records the members of the Independent Regiment. Since he regarded the 182nd Division as his own unit, as soon as he thought of the 182nd Division, those familiar people appeared vividly in front of him again, and those passionate years in the past became his good memories.

When autumn came, the harvest of the land he had cleared, and he rebuilt the cabin. The wooden house is still a wooden house, it is bigger than before, and it is much brighter, and he is waiting for Xiaolan to come and live. Later, he went to a small village eight miles away and asked for a dog, with black fur slippery and slippery, with only four hooves and a circle of white. A man, a dog, they were keeping watch on the hillside. Guarding the fourteen tombs, looking at the distant mountains and near the clouds. Sometimes, he talks to his comrades, sometimes he talks to dogs, and he talks about what he talks about, and he has days and thoughts.

Soon after, some people from the local organization came to see the fourteen tombs, and asked him a lot about them, and he told them again about the previous and backwards of the blockade battle, and the people in the organization carefully recorded them. Including the names of those who died and of course asked about him. The people in the organization left a message, asking him to find the people in the original army, explain his situation, organize him to give him a name, and take some care of him.

After the people in the organization left, he thought of the 182nd Division and the name that slept in the martyr's roster, and he himself would definitely not be able to prove it. He felt that it didn't matter if he didn't prove himself, what mattered was the martyrs, who had been lying here in silence for several years, and whose loved ones were already looking forward to it.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the organization to erect a monument on this mountain, which was a monument to the martyrs, and the monument was written with the deeds of the martyrs and their names. The people in the organization told him that the families of these martyrs would be honored and cared for, and at the same time urged him to go to the army to find someone to prove himself.

From then on, there was an extra monument in his eyes on the hillside, and his hanging heart finally fell, and he was relieved for the martyrs. Looking at it, he returned to the evening when the resistance battle began, the sun was red and bloody, and he and his comrades stood in line on the mountain, listening to the sound of the wind blowing in their ears. It was evening, too, and at that time stood by him fourteen living beings, and now they lay before his eyes. When he thought of this, he felt ashamed that he was still alive.

day

That day, he sat in front of the door of the hut and looked at the path that led down the mountain. He had trodden out the path, and the dog, and they had gone up and down the hill, and below the hill was the field of crops he had cultivated. Every year on the Qingming Festival, ** people will come to offer flowers to the martyrs, and the flowers are placed in front of the monument, which is very fresh. **The leader will talk to him every time, shake hands when he comes, shake hands when he leaves, he salutes the leaders, comes to salute, and then watches the leaders go down the mountain.

These days, he began to miss Xiaolan. The days with Xiaolan are warm, Xiaolan is a good woman, and she is wholeheartedly with him, without regrets. He went to visit Xiaolan and Wu Laohan a few times, and Wu Laohan's health was getting worse day by day. Every time he saw Wu Laohan, his heart sank. He lived at home for three days and two days, and his heart was like grass growing, and he thought about those comrades-in-arms again. When he left the house, Xiaolan baked him a stack of cakes every time and asked him to take them. After he came back, he would eat for many days, and every time he ate those pancakes, he would think of Xiaolan and all kinds of benefits of Xiaolan.

On this day, he saw Xiaolan on the path, and Xiaolan was struggling to walk towards the mountain step by step. At first, he suspected that his eyes were dazzled, he rubbed his eyes with his hands, and when he was sure that it was Xiaolan, he ran down the mountain. Xiaolan changed, she stood in front of him panting, straightened up. He looked Xiaolan up and down, as if he didn't know him. Xiaolan pointed her finger at his forehead and said, "Fool, I have it."

He remembered that it had been half a year since he last came home, he carefully took her hand and took her to the wooden house, and Xiaolan, who was panting, said: Dad went a month ago, and he kept calling your name when he went, but you just didn't go back.

Xiaolan's eyes were red, and he couldn't help but shed tears.

Dad is a good man, saved him, and married his daughter to him, but he came as he said he would, and he left as soon as he said, and the old man never had a word of remorse. He should have been with him when his father left, he held his face, tears running down his fingers. He swore in his heart that he would often visit his father in the future and burn paper and kowtow in front of his grave.

He had a child, and the child was born on a rainy night, and that night it was raining so heavily that he named the child Dayu. A family of three has since gained a firm foothold in the wooden house.

In the winter of that year, when he was half a year old, he suddenly wanted to go out for a walk. In my dreams for a while, I always dreamed of the head of the regiment Zhang Letian, and every time the head of the regiment said to them in a dream: Xiaogui, I miss you. Every time he woke up from a dream, he had to rush into the night in a daze. It was learned from the 182nd Division that the regiment commander died before the reorganization, and the independent regiment had its own sphere of activity and should be concentrated in its own county. He wanted to see the head of the regiment, but he didn't know where the head of the regiment was, and he asked **, but the people in ** didn't know either.

He could only look for it all over the mountains like he did back then. Before leaving, Xiaolan baked him another stack of cakes, and he carried a burden and set off with those cakes.

The snow was deep and shallow under his feet, and his footprints were left in the ditches and ridges, and the mountains and ridges. Every time he went to a village, he would inquire about the independent regiment of that year, and ask whether the independent regiment had fought in this area, and he would use this information to find traces of the independent regiment in those years.

After being instructed, he took a ride in a car and came to a place called Wu City. He was told that the Independent Regiment had fought a battle with the Provisional Third Army in Wu City before its reorganization, and it was soon reorganized. He came to the martyrs' cemetery in Wu City, where many martyrs were lying, and these martyrs were of course related to Wu City. There are monuments in front of the graves of the martyrs, and the names of the martyrs and their deeds are engraved on the monuments.

When he saw Zhang Letian's three words, he was shocked, and the tomb of the head of the regiment, Zhang Letian, was closer to the inside of the martyr's cemetery. He trembled, he didn't expect to really see the grave of his regiment leader, he raised his right hand, saluted the regiment commander, and then shouted sadly in his heart: Regiment leader, Xiaogui is here-

With a trembling of his legs, he knelt down in front of the grave of the regimental commander.

Later, he sat in front of the tomb of the regiment commander and saw the deeds of the regiment commander-

Zhang Letian: 1917-1948 from Zhao County, Hebei Province

On June 14, 1948, in Majiagou, Wushi City, in order to cover the transfer of the field hospital, he was surrounded by a regiment of the Provisional Third Army, and unfortunately died in the breakout.

On June 14, 1948, he was recuperating from his injuries at Xiaolan's house, and his injuries had not yet healed, but he could already go down to the ground with a stick.

He was in front of the regimental leader's grave and muttered: "Regimental commander, Xiaogui has found you." In that blockade battle, I waited for the trumpet to blow, but the trumpet never sounded, so we kept fighting; then I went after you, but I didn't catch up; now I am the only one left in the independent regiment, and I am the only one left, and I feel uncomfortable; you are dead, but I am still alive......

He said while crying, and he hugged the cold stone tablet in front of the regiment leader's tomb, as if he was holding the regiment commander.

He cried again: Commander, I miss you, I haven't forgotten you for so many years. I'm still with the whole platoon, and we talk and chatter every day, just like before. You're lying here alone, so far away from us, and we miss you so much, Captain......

On that occasion, he sat and sat and stood and stood and stood at the grave of the regimental commander, from dawn to darkness and from darkness to dawn. He said everything he wanted to say, and when he was about to leave the tomb of the regiment commander, he gave the regiment commander a long military salute, and then turned back and walked away.

Before leaving, he swore and said: "Commander, I will come to see you often in the future, you are too lonely to stay here alone, I will often come to accompany you."

He is gone, and he is reluctant to leave, and it is difficult to leave.

The first thing he did when he returned to the wooden house on the hill was that he didn't bother to eat or drink water, and came to the cemetery. Sitting among his comrades, as if organizing a meeting of the soldiers, he informed everyone of the message of the regiment commander, and then returned to the cabin as if he had completed his task.

The rain was heavier day by day, and the days went by day by day.

heavy rain

Heavy rain, who has already learned something, began to pay attention to the cemetery. He fell and got up again in the cemetery, and he asked his father: Dad, what is buried in the soil?

Wang Qinggui said: It's human.

Heavy rain asked again: Who is it?

He said: It's my father's comrade-in-arms.

Why are they buried here? The son seems to have endless questions.

He replied: They are dead.

Heavy rain still didn't understand what "dead" was, and he looked curiously at the neat rows of tombs.

The heavy rain was a little heavier, so Wang Qinggui told the heavy rain about the blocking battle, and the heavy rain listened with relish. At first, the child seemed to understand whether he understood or not, but after talking more times, he gradually understood. The child already knew that these father's comrades-in-arms died in the blockade, and they were the same people who could talk and walk before they died, just like their father.

Since then, there have been more questions and content in the child's heart and eyes.

When I was eight years old, I went to school in heavy rain. The school he was going to had to climb a mountain and walk six or seven miles.

Every day when the sun sets, Wang Qinggui will sit on the top of the mountain, look at the path below the mountain, and watch his son's young figure approach little by little. Every time Heavy Rain came back, he had to sit next to his father, accompany his father, and accompany his comrades-in-arms.

My father pointed to a tomb and said, "That's Xiao Pan, the youngest soldier in the platoon, only seventeen years old at that time, and he was clever and naughty......

The father said again: That's a big man Hu, tall and powerful, a machine gunner in the platoon, who doesn't take a breath of air on a five-kilometer rapid march......

It's been a long time, and Da Yu is already familiar with his father's comrades-in-arms, what Miao Deshui, Xiao Liuzi, Jiang Mazi, Liu Wendong...... Da Yu not only remembered their names, but he even saw their voices and smiles under his father's description, as if Da Yu had known them for a long time.

After dinner in the evening, Wang Qinggui always went to the cemetery to sit down, sit in front of this grave for a while, sit in front of that grave for a while, and babble and say something. Heavy rain will also come to sit here with his father, he is used to his father's chatter.

He heard his father say: Jiang Mazi, today is your birthday, if you are still alive, you will be thirty-five years old this year.

Heavy rain saw an extra wine glass and a lit cigarette in front of Uncle Jiang's tomb. When he looked at all this, his heart warmed, and there was something rippling one by one.

One day when I came back from school, Heavy Rain came to my father again, sat opposite my father, looked at my father and said, "Dad-

The father looked up at his son.

The son stared into his father's eyes and said, "Dad, you really fought, aren't you a deserter?"

The father's eyes jumped, he didn't understand why his son asked him that. He stared at his son, hating to slap him twice.

Dayu said: Dad, this is not what I said, it was said by my classmates, they said that you are a deserter, so you did not die.

My father looked into the distance, where the sun was fading. There was a layer of something floating in my father's eyes, and Dayu knew it was tears.

Heavy rain was very sad, for himself and for his father, he walked over carefully, fell on his father's lap, and shouted: Dad, they don't believe it, I believe it. You are the last fighter of the Independent Regiment.

The father's tears dripped down and fell on the son's head, one after another.

After a long time, the father raised his head, stroked his son's head and said: Heavy rain, remember that this is your home, you will grow up in the future, maybe you have to leave here, but Dad will not leave, and Dad will be buried here when he dies. Don't forget Dad and these comrades-in-arms of Daddy.

Heavy rain raised his head and nodded earnestly at his father.

Later, Wang Qinggui began to tell Da Yu about the head of Zhang Letian again. Later, Da Yu learned that the tomb of his father's regiment leader Zhang Letian was in the martyr's cemetery in Wu City. Da Yu is very eager to see his father's head Zhang Letian, in his father's description, Uncle Zhang is a legendary figure, brave and good at fighting, which is full of temptation and fascination for Da Yu. He said to his father seriously: Dad, when will you go to Wu City, take me to see the head of the regiment.

His father solemnly agreed to him.

Before that, every time the head of the regiment celebrated the day, Wang Qinggui would go to visit the head of the regiment, sit next to the head of the regiment, talk for a while, salute the head of the regiment when he left, and walked away in three steps and two turns. Now there is no need to walk to Wu City, as long as they go out of the mountains and get to the highway, there is a direct car to Wu City, which is very convenient.

The day before the head of the regiment's memorial day that year, Wang Qinggui set off with heavy rain. Xiaolan baked cakes for them, this time sugar cakes, and a few hard-boiled eggs.

Heavy rain finally got his wish to see the heroic and legendary head Zhang Letian. The father saluted the regiment commander, and Heavy Rain placed a bouquet of wild flowers in front of the regiment commander's tomb, which was picked from the mountains and specially brought to the regiment commander's uncle. Father was talking to the regiment commander while holding the stele, and his father said: Regiment commander, Xiaogui has come to see you, Xiaogui misses you, the military horn did not blow that year, Xiaogui fell behind, Xiaogui regretted it-

My father wept again, and so did the heavy rain.

That time, he and his father stayed from the rising sun until the sun reached its peak, and they left the head of the group, Zhang Letian. The father is still reluctant to go, and the heavy rain is also one step at a time.

That time, his father took him to a department store and bought him a new school bag and a pencil. It was his first time in a department store and everything was new.

Later, he and his father got on a coach. After getting into the car, his father asked him: Heavy rain, will it come in the future?

Heavy Rain nodded.

The father said again: In the future, when Dad is old and can't walk, you will come to visit Uncle Zhang for Daddy.

Heavy rain nodded solemnly, and his father seemed satisfied, and he sat in the car and took a nap. Da Yu looked out the car window, holding his new school bag in his arms, and he saw that everything outside was fresh.

Just then, the long-distance bus had an accident, and when it made a sharp turn, the car rolled down the hill to avoid a cow on the road.

My father subconsciously grabbed the heavy rain around him, and the heavy rain had already flown out of the car window. When my father climbed out of the car and found Heavy Rain, who had been flattened by the rolling car, he was still holding his new school bag with his eyes wide open and clutching his new school bag in his arms.

It's raining heavily—

He lay on his son's crushed body.

That year, Dayu was twelve years old and in the fourth grade of elementary school.

Since then, Wang Qinggui has lost his son and lost heavy rain.

prove

There were two people and a dog on that mountain.

The dog is a female dog and is able to give birth to a litter of cubs every year. Those pups grow up very fast and can run and jump after two months. Two months later, it was also the time when Wang Qinggui was the most ruthless, he understood that he was not capable of raising this litter of dogs, and the few acres of wasteland under the mountain were only enough for him and Xiaolan to open their mouths, and he was not capable of letting dogs compete with people for food.

Two months later, he held the dog and stood on the road down the mountain, where people often passed by, so he gave the dog to someone who was willing to have a dog, and if there was still one who couldn't send it out, he hardened his heart and blew the dog away. are anxious for the first few days after losing their children, especially barking at night. At that time, he would accompany the dog, stretch out his hand to let the dog lick, and then babble and say: You just accept your fate, dogs have dog lives, and people have lives. I shouldn't have a son in my life, the heavy rain is gone, you're a dog, this is your life, admit it......

The dog gradually quieted down in his chatter, and after a long time, he got used to the life of having no children and no daughters, and ran around Wang Qinggui's knees loyally.

Xiaolan also accepted her fate, when she first came to the mountain, she was only in her early twenties, and she was moisturized, and now she was old. The mountain wind blew her skin rough, and her hands hardened.

Busy in the wasteland at the foot of the mountain all year round, sowing seeds in spring, tending in summer, and harvesting in autumn, the land is wasteland, and the fertility is insufficient, and the crops that grow are also weak, and they are always unable to harvest. Xiaolan also has to go to the mountains from time to time to pick some wild goods, wild vegetables in spring and summer, and some fruits in autumn, these wild goods are reluctant to eat, and they are all carried to the supply and marketing cooperatives twenty miles away to sell, in exchange for some oil and salt or something, with these days there is a taste.

On the day of the heavy rain, he went to Kure City with his father in the summer, and that was the first time his son went far away. She stood on the hill and watched as the two figures, one large and one small, disappeared from her sight. The next day, she still stood on the hill and waited for the two figures, one big and one small, to return, until it was dark. On the third day, Wang Qinggui staggered in front of her with her son in her arms, and she collapsed when she saw her son.

Wang Qinggui nagged at her over and over again: The car is just to hide from a cow, that's it, you see that's it......

She lay on the kang for several months, and she was deformed, and her hair turned white.

Their son was buried at the foot of the mountain, on the head of the wasteland, in the heavy rain, which Xiaolan meant, so that she could see her son every day when she went to work in the fields.

Xiaolan is old, and he is also old.

Every day, she went to work in the fields, and when she was tired and rested, she would sit beside her son and say softly: Heavy rain, mom is here. Are you hot or not, cold or cold, you miss your mother, just open your eyes and see your mother.

Every time on her son's birthday, Xiaolan will also sit in front of her son's grave, and he will accompany her.

Xiaolan said: Heavy rain, today is your birthday - after speaking, she took out a hard-boiled egg from her bosom and put it in the grass at the grave.

Xiaolan said again: Heavy rain, you usually like to eat your mother's boiled eggs, today you have a birthday, just eat another one.

After speaking, Xiaolan cried with a whimper. He crouched there, tears falling down and smashing on the grass. The dog squatted on the side, as if he understood the sorrow of man, and he was also in tears, usually it was the companion of the heavy rain, and when the heavy rain was gone, its companion was gone.

More often, Wang Qinggui would sit on the top of the mountain and look down the mountain, and he didn't know what he was thinking. That day, when he was sitting in a daze on the hill again, he saw several people coming on the path, and two soldiers in the middle. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of the soldier, and he slowly stood up and looked at the comer. When those people approached him, someone introduced: This is Wang Qinggui.

The two soldiers saluted him, and he also raised his right hand and saluted: Report to the chief, I am Wang Qinggui, the platoon commander of the fifth company and the third platoon of the county independent regiment.

The two soldiers stepped forward and shook his hand, looking very moved. One of the soldiers said: Comrade Wang Qinggui, I have wronged you for so many years, and I have come to see you on behalf of the officers and men of the 182nd Division.

As soon as the 182nd Division was mentioned, Wang Qinggui's tears flowed down in an uproar. For so many years, he has been thinking about the 182nd Division, thinking about the 182nd Division, and now he is finally looking forward to it. He couldn't tell what it was like.

It turned out that the army to which the 182nd Division was located, when sorting out the military history, found a newspaper of the military division of that year, which recorded the entire process of the liberation of Gaoqiao by the Independent Regiment and the Field Army, and mentioned Wang Qinggui, as well as a photo of him hanging the red flag on the water tower. The person who saw this newspaper was none other than the commander of the 182nd Division, and he still remembered the scene when Wang Qinggui found the 182nd Division. Now that the evidence has finally been found, the chief has sent people to the local area to solve the problems left by Wang Qinggui.

The people from the Civil Affairs Bureau handed Wang Qinggui a certificate of reinstatement, and then took his hand and said: After so many years, you have been wronged.

Wang Qinggui didn't value the paper certificate, he was excited that he finally found the organization, the organization finally recognized him, and he would be a homeless person in the future.

That time, the leader asked him for his opinion and wanted him to go down the mountain and find him a job within his ability, but he refused without even thinking about it. After so many years, he has become accustomed to being on the mountain, and he can't do without his comrades-in-arms, and he can't do without his son lying down the mountain.

Now local leaders will visit him on the mountain every New Year's Day, bringing some condolences and subsidies. Every time local leaders came, he greeted them with a salute, and when he left, he sent them off with a salute. He won't say anything, and he can't say anything. He was proud of his identity, and he now had the right to salute because he was recognized as a soldier, a soldier.

old age

In the past, when no one believed that he was a veteran, or even suspected that he was a deserter, Xiaolan was the only one who believed in him. When he stood on the cemetery and saluted his comrades-in-arms, Xiao Ban stood behind him and pouted and said: Who said that you are not a veteran, you are the last veteran.

For so many years, Xiaolan has always moved him, and she is holding her ground with him.

The sudden departure of the heavy rain seems to have hurt the vitality of the two people, especially Xiaolan, her body and spirit are really worse than a year. She always felt that the heavy rain was still alive, and every day when she got up, she had to shout: The heavy rain is up, and the sun is drying her buttocks. And then just sit there in a daze.

Their son was buried at the foot of the mountain, the heavy rain was gone, Xiaolan's soul was gone, and she was sleepwalking down and down the mountain.

Wang Qinggui spent more time in the cemetery, pulling a handful of grass, shoveling a shovel of soil, and kept chattering: Look at it, Xiao Pan, there is grass growing in front of your house, I'll help you pull it out, this time it's bright......