In the restaurant, Zhang Wenhao, who had never figured it out, sat on the dining chair, and in addition to his family of three, there were only Lei Zhanjun and Li Biao.

Lei Zhanjun poured a glass of white wine for Zhang Xingping with his own hands, and said: "Brother Zhang, if you can come to me today, it proves that you still recognize me as a brother in your heart, for so many years, I owe you and my brothers too much" Saying, Lei Zhanjun's eyes were a little red, and he said in a hoarse voice: "The last time we drank, it was the night before we went to the 469 Heights, in a flash, so many years have passed."

Zhang Xingping stood up and picked up the wine glass, but for a moment he was in a trance, and after a while, he sighed lightly and said, "The war army is all in the wine." After that, when he raised his head, he poured a glass of white wine into his stomach.

Zhang Wenhao was dumbfounded, and he was even more stupid when he listened, while his mother on the side kept holding his hand and asked with concern whether he had suffered in the detention center.

In less than ten minutes, Zhang Xingping and Lei Zhanjun had each drunk nearly a pound of liquor, and they rarely spoke to each other, they were silently pouring wine, clinking glasses, and taking a sip of it, both of them had red eyes, as if they had a thousand words stuck in their throats, but they didn't know where to start.

When the two of them had already drunk nearly two catties of wine each, Lei Zhanjun suddenly howled, lay on Zhang Xingping's shoulder, and wept bitterly: "Brother Zhang, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for the brothers, and I'm even more sorry for the thirty-six brothers who died because of me, if I had listened to you back then, I wouldn't have drilled into the encirclement they set, and I can't forgive myself in my life when I think of those thirty-six brothers who sleep in the southwest!" ”

Zhang Xingping silently wept, looked at the wine glass on the dinner table with blank eyes, and muttered: "People can't be resurrected after death, and besides, the retreat route was formulated by the superiors, you just obeyed the orders of the superiors." ”

When Lei Zhanjun heard this, he cried out in pain, and shouted heartbreakingly: "I should listen to you, Brother Zhang, I should listen to you, I should give up the retreat route formulated by my superiors, I should retreat from the back of the 469 Heights, I should not go into the valley and enter the ambush circle of the Vietnamese, I still remember the situation when we quarreled, I stubbornly and stupidly said that I would retreat from the front, because it was the order of the superiors, and the frontal retreat could reach the military headquarters as soon as possible, I thought that the Vietnamese had been repulsed, and I couldn't imagine it." , they have laid a net waiting for us to drill."

"You said that you can't retreat from the front, because the Vietnamese are better at jungle warfare than us, and they like to break up in the jungle and ambush inexperienced soldiers of our army, so they have to retreat from the shady side of the 469 heights, and return to the military headquarters through the trail around the 469 heights, but I am too stupid, I don't want to listen to your advice, all I think about is to quickly withdraw the whole company from the front line to the military headquarters to rest well, I didn't expect it"

Lei Zhanjun was talking, sat up and poured himself a glass of liquor, raised his head and drank it all, and choked with extreme remorse: "Retreat from the high ground, as soon as I entered the valley, I was stupid when the Vietnamese fired the first shot, after the first shot, there were gunshots on all sides, I couldn't see where they were, and I didn't know where their bullets came from, they were on all sides of us, shooting wildly at us in the encirclement, I organized soldiers to resist, but they became headless flies at all, I didn't know where to fight, let alone where to break through, There were constantly comrades-in-arms around me who fell, until the moment I was shot in the chest, I thought I was going to die, if it weren't for Brother Zhang."

"Zhanjun" Zhang Xingping patted Lei Zhanjun's shoulder with tears in his eyes, and choked up: "Don't say it, don't mention it again after so many years." ”

"Nope! I must say! Lei Zhanjun roared and said: "I have been holding these words in my heart for so many years, and I have never had a chance to say them, today I must say a good thing, otherwise my heart will be uncomfortable!" ”

Lei Zhanjun poured another glass of wine, drank it all, and continued: "I thought I was going to die, at this time, it was Brother Zhang, you rushed over to plug my wounds, carried me, and organized the rest of the brothers to break through, I was still very sober at the time, so many brothers are gone, I have no face to steal life, I begged you at the time, please put me down, let me stay here to atone for the other brothers, so that you can lead the rest of the brothers to break through, you don't do it, I desperately want to jump off your back, and even take me and you to the ground, You rushed up and slapped me twice, calling me a coward, a bastard"

Speaking of this, Lei Zhanjun lay on the dinner table and cried silently, unable to speak, except for Zhang Xingping, everyone present was surprised and shocked, even Zhang Wenhao and his mother Song Huafang did not know Zhang Xingping's past, Song Huafang only met Zhang Xingping after he retired from the army to work, and Zhang Xingping for so many years, he never told his mother and son about joining the army that year, Zhang Wenhao only knew that his father had participated in the war in the southwest, but he never knew that his father had fought so bloodily.

Lei Zhanjun lay on the table, calmed down a little, and said: "You said at the time, the lost brothers are enough, you don't want to lose anyone again, even if I'm a bastard, you can't leave me there, after saying that, you carried me up again, and organized the remaining brothers to break through in the opposite direction, you are right, the 469 Heights at that time had lost its strategic significance, and the Vietnamese, who had suffered our big losses on the heights before, knew that we were going to retreat back to the military headquarters, so they laid heavy troops in front of us, You led your brothers to successfully break through in the opposite direction, and took a small road to bypass the 469 Heights and the valley in front of the highlands, so that the brothers could return to the military headquarters safely, and my life, the lives of all the living brothers, was saved by you; I buried the lives of the other thirty-six brothers."

Zhang Xingping shook his head and said: "War army, I blamed you back then, if you listened to me, maybe we would be able to withdraw to the military headquarters one by one, but I was also wrong, I shouldn't blame you, because you are the company commander, and it is your duty to obey the orders of your superiors." ”

Lei Zhanjun sighed deeply, wiped away his tears, and said to Zhang Xingping with great guilt: "Brother Zhang, I know that the reason why you chose to retire from the army as soon as possible after the end of the war is because of the death of those thirty-six brothers, so many people have retained, and even the chief has personally retained you, but you are disheartened and insist on leaving, if you don't go, your future today is unlimited, and you will not be an ordinary worker in Jiangcheng, and let a clown who jumps off the beam bully, this is all to blame me."

Zhang Xingping suddenly smiled, looked at his wife and children, and said with a stupid smile: "Zhanjun, speaking of which, I have to thank you, if I didn't come back back then, how could I have the opportunity to meet your sister-in-law, and my obedient, sensible and competitive son, this is nothing to exchange, besides, you also know my character, staying in the army, it is not necessarily a good thing for me." ”

Zhang Wenhao only felt that his eyes were hot, and the tears that had been rolling in his eyes for a long time finally flowed, he never thought that his father was also a hero who put life and death aside and made great contributions to the defense of Xinjiang and the country, let alone that his father gave up so much, and he lived so mediocre today, but because of the existence of himself and his mother, he had no complaints.

"Brother Zhang." Lei Zhanjun said at this time: "Even if you complain about me in your heart for the rest of your life, my Lei Zhanjun will treat you as my eldest brother without complaint, but in the future, you must not treat me as an outsider again, if you need my help with anything, please think of me immediately, we have all shed blood for the country, in peacetime, even if we lack the necessary respect, we must not let those bastards step on our heads and abuse us wantonly!" ”