Chapter 135: The Last Batch

I saw a post looking for comrades-in-arms in the book review area, and forwarded it here, asking interested and informed book friends to help fulfill the wishes of veterans:

Because of my work, I interviewed an old volunteer soldier today, who is 85 years old. He was a soldier of the machine gun squad of the 12th Army, and entered the war in Korea in 51 years, and now the old man is seriously ill and dying, and his only wish is to be able to find his comrades-in-arms who were in the same squad as him back then, and he is also his savior. When they retreated from Seoul that year, they fought a blocking battle, and there were only three people left in one company, and the old man was also injured and returned home early, and it was his comrades-in-arms at that time who carried him out of the pile of dead people and found the medical team. The last words they said were: "When you come back from recuperating from your injuries in China, bring me a lighter." Since then, he has lost contact, the old man is from Ma'anshan, Anhui Province, called Wang Chuanlin, and his comrades-in-arms are only known to be from Tianjin, called Yue Baowen. Facing the camera of the TV station, the old man burst into tears, insisted on putting on a military uniform, bringing a commemorative medal, and saluted our camera with a trembling military salute.

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Chapter 135: The Last Batch

By the time we arrived at Bawai Mountain, it was already three hours later, and as my soldiers and I feared, there were no troops stationed here at all, all kinds of equipment that had been discarded along the way, only a dozen or so sappers were pulling out small red flags on the mines.

"Comrade Sapper!" Li Zhifu ran up and asked, "Have you seen the troops of the 639th Regiment?" ”

"639 regiment?" A few sappers shook their heads and said, "There are quite a few troops withdrawing, but we don't know which one it is, so it's chaotic!" ”

"Why haven't you retreated yet?" One of the sappers came up and asked, "All the troops here were withdrawn an hour ago, what are you looking for?" Don't run around, there are mines everywhere! ”

"Battalion commander! Now what? Li Zhifu turned around and asked me dejectedly.

"Still can't contact the regimental headquarters?" I asked the correspondent next to me.

At this time, the hardest thing was the correspondent, they all ran for a while, then turned on the walkie-talkie to contact for a while, as soon as they were empty, they contacted the regimental headquarters and division headquarters, and they were already busy sweating profusely at this time.

The communication soldier shook his head in distress and replied, "They should be in retreat, there is no response at all!" ”

"Battalion commander!" Another signal soldier interjected: "Our troops must have thought that we had retreated with the troops of the 43rd Army, but the 43rd Army obeyed the order to let us return to build and retreat, so we can't get on ...... either end."

"Hmm!" I nodded, and the signal soldier had a point. It's just that I'm a little helpless, it's just that the retreating troops are in chaos like this, and it will be a few days away......

"You'd better hurry up and retreat!" The engineer cadre said: "We are already the last batch, and the more devils may come up soon!" ”

"Retreat!" I turned to the guide and asked, "Do you recognize the way back?" ”

"No problem!" The guide nodded confidently.

"Wait!" Just as we turned to leave, the engineer cadre stopped us and said: "Don't walk around, the place where the little red flag is planted is full of mines, and only the middle road is safe!" ”

"Hmm!" Listening to the words of the engineer cadres, we couldn't help but be surprised - fortunately, we came up and met these sappers earlier, if it was later and they had already pulled out the little red flag......

"Retreat!" As soon as I gave the order, the warrior did not dare to delay any longer, and under the guidance of the guide, he pulled his legs and ran towards the north.

Along the way, there were small red flags planted by the infantry, and the soldiers ran back and forth on a road more than one meter wide in the center of the small red flag.

Although the soldiers were already very tired, especially the soldiers of the Fifth Company, they had fought to the death with the Yue devils just yesterday, and they didn't have much time to recover their strength, but this did not affect their marching speed at all.

I can understand the psychology of the soldiers, and they are going home! Who is tired...... Everyone can't wait to grow more wings and run back to their own country immediately. So after that, many people commented that this retreat was like a rout, but there was actually some truth to it. Because the retreat of the warriors was really not orderly, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was chaos. Just like us now, we can't even find our own troops......

But this is really not a rout. What is a rout? It was a kind of retreat that was routed, and of course we were not defeated, but on the contrary, the Vietnamese army let us be defeated. Does the Vietnamese army want to send a large force to pursue our army? Anyone knows that this is very difficult to do, and the reason is very simple, our artillery is stronger than the Vietnamese devils, and this alone can block the pursuers of the Vietnamese army.

"Boom Boom ......" On our march, explosions were constantly heard from the direction of Lang Son, which only caused the soldiers to look back.

"Battalion commander!" Some soldiers asked worriedly: "Is it that the devils are catching up?" Fought with our troops in Lang Son? ”

"Don't worry!" I replied angrily: "That's the engineer comrade blasting!" ”

"Oh!" As soon as I said this, the fighters immediately became excited again: "Well exploded!" It's better to blow up the whole Lang Son! ”

"That's it!" The hometown man replied: "Actually, these things are not the Yue Army, how can the Yue devil have that ability!" You see they are so poor that they can't even afford to wear shoes, and they can afford to build these things? What power stations, factories, railroad tracks, all built by our country, and those bridges...... What we blew up is actually our own stuff! ”

"Even if it all blows up, it's left to these white-eyed wolves!" Li Zhifu interjected: "Look at these dogs, they still beat us with our things!" ”

"Do you say that the more devils dare to be arrogant?" Junko asked.

"I can't tell!" The hometown replied, "But I think this feud must have been settled, and it won't end so easily......"

"What are you afraid of them doing?" Alziri shouted: "Comrades! If this devil still dares to be arrogant, let's fight back, okay? ”

"Good!" The warriors replied in unison, all with a triumphant smile on their faces.

When I listened to the soldiers' discussions, I could only smile bitterly in my heart: the people of my hometown are right, this war will never end so easily, but I don't think he would have imagined that this war would last so long for ten years in the end......

"Battalion commander!" At some point, Liu Yun had already run to my side and shouted.

Not to mention, although Liu Yun and Yichen are both female soldiers, they are no worse than male soldiers when they start, isn't it? Not only did she not fall behind in a hurried march like this, but she was able to talk to me as she ran.

The soldiers running in front of me snickered, and all of them consciously distanced themselves from us, and even the guards and communicators who had been following me hid far away, which immediately made me feel a little embarrassed, and Liu Yun's face was a little more flushed.

"Let's take it!" I asked without a word.

"It's fine!" Liu Yun nodded, and then asked hesitantly: "You...... Do you have any plans for going back? ”

"What are your plans for when you go back?" This really stopped me.

Ever since I went back to the past and went to war, I either marched or fought, and even when I had a break, it was a break between battles, and I really didn't think about what I was going to do when I went back.

Go home? My parents may have settled down now, but can I go back? Go back and tell them I'm their son decades later? I remember that my father gave birth to me when he was 20 years old, and I am afraid that I am only older than my father now!

If I could, I felt like I should take a trip to Baektu Mountain because there was a damn hole there that would allow me to go back to the normal world......

"Battalion Commander ......"

"Hmm!" Liu Yun's words pulled me back from my contemplation, and I shook my head and replied, "I don't know!" ”

"Don't plan to go back to see your family?" Liu Yun's expression was a little stunned.

"I ......," I said with some embarrassment, "I don't know where my family is......"

"You're an orphan?"

"So to speak......" I didn't know how to explain to Liu Yun, so I answered casually.

"That'...... Then come to my house! Liu Yun suddenly came up with such a sentence, but soon found that it seemed too straightforward, so he hurriedly explained: "I mean...... My dad can talk to you very well, so you can talk to him......"

"Hmm! Captain Liu Jun is very good. I didn't want to make the atmosphere so awkward, so I changed the subject and said, "He must have fought a lot!" ”

"Hmm!" Liu Yun nodded: "It's been decades, but the most memorable thing for him is the time to resist US aggression and aid Korea." The old head of the regiment who has been hanging him will incense the old head every New Year's holiday! And at this time I will suffer, because he will be drunk every time at this time......"

I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this, I didn't know what I felt when I knocked over the five-flavor bottle, this Liu Shunyi is really affectionate, I still remember the previous "old leader" after so many years, I can't help but feel a little guilty in my heart when I think of this, I feel as if I have deceived my old comrades-in-arms......

Liu Yunzheng was talking about Xing, and suddenly leaned into my ear and said, "Tell you a secret!" Your name happens to be the same as the old leader's name, do you say it's a coincidence? ”

"Huh? Really? I feigned surprise and said, "Is it such a coincidence?" ”

"Hmm!" Liu Yun nodded vigorously: "So sometimes I wonder if my father likes you very much because of this, do you remember?" The first time you see him, he's drunk again. He doesn't usually drink much, because he is afraid of delaying his business. But I saw you that day...... He couldn't help but drink a few more glasses! ”

I didn't know what to say, so I could only smile and respond.

At this time, there was a sudden whistling sound of cannonballs in the air, and I hurriedly pressed Liu Yun to the ground, and the soldiers also fell to the ground one after another. Only a chaotic sound of "boom ......" was heard, and more than a dozen shells exploded near us.

Although these shells were not accurate, and the number of shells was not large, they caused a chaotic sound of mines on the side of the road, and a few mines were detonated by falling stones, and suddenly there were explosions everywhere, and we could only lie in the middle and did not dare to move because of the mines.

These were cold artillery shots by the Vietnamese army, and I quickly made a judgment from the landing point of the shells, presumably because the Vietnamese army knew that our army was retreating, and did not dare to chase too quickly and too closely, so they fired a few shells to get away with it!

But if the cold cannon will hit us on the head, it will be too coincidental! In such a big place as Lang Son, these dozen shells can fall near us.

Looking up at the road ahead, I quickly understood that there was an intersection ahead, where two roads converged into one and headed north...... The map of the Vietnamese army definitely has the coordinates of this traffic point, so it is not surprising that the shells will fall here.

I couldn't help but secretly complain, these shells are not terrible, we can encounter such shells on the battlefield several times at will, and the terrible thing is that we are surrounded by mines, mines planted by our army engineers, in case this causes a chain explosion......

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but shout at the soldiers: "All of them! Rush me as fast as you can......"

"Yes!" The warriors answered, and with a sudden leap jumped up from the ground and rushed towards the intersection. I stretched out my hand and pulled Liu Yun, who was lying beside me, and ran forward with her.

"Woo ......" was another roar, and shells exploded around us, but all of us didn't lie down, we all ran forward with cats on our waists.

Fortunately, there were not many people in our battalion, and after so many fierce battles, there were only more than two hundred people in the whole battalion, so after a short time they rushed through the intersection and turned into a mountain pass.

At this time, there was a "boom" explosion behind him, and a chain explosion occurred in the mine, and it did not stop for a long time.

"It's dangerous!" Li Zhifu poked out his head to take a look, then quickly retracted his head, and said with palpitations: "I almost sacrificed so much, if I was a martyr at this time, it was really not worth it!" ”

"It's okay!" Alziri responded beside him: "I will help you take care of your family!" ”

"your crow's mouth!" Li Zhifu laughed and scolded, and the soldiers also laughed indiscriminately.

At this time, when we were completely unprepared, the sound of "swishing ......" rockets suddenly came from the air, and then we only heard a burst of noise from the south, and the Vietnamese artillery fire did not move again.

It was obvious that at this time, our artillery returned fire on the Vietnamese artillery with rocket artillery, and the soldiers could not help but cheer loudly: "Well fought!" The artillery brother is angry for us! ”

"Kill these shit!"

"The more devils hit us with one shell, we will return him ten rounds!"

……

I took off my military hat and patted the dust, and angrily ordered them, "What is it called?" Keep moving! ”

"Yes!" The warriors answered, and went on their way with joy.

I couldn't help but feel a little funny in my heart, where they looked like soldiers at this time, they were simply a group of children who vomited with others...... But then again, they can actually be regarded as children, except for a few veterans such as Hometown and Li Zhifu, the rest are seventeen or eighteen years old. What if they were only high school students in modern times, and they were already fighting the enemy on the battlefield with guns on their shoulders!

Walking along the road, there are blown up power poles everywhere, the wires are long gone, and the shelves used to place the transformers are also empty, presumably for the sappers to "collect" away. When we turned onto the railway along the small red flag on the road, we found that the tracks had also been dug up, and the remaining roadbed and sleepers that could not be taken away were also blown into a mess.

At this time, I truly realized the true meaning of the sapper's phrase "not a single hair will be left for the Vietnamese army". I had heard that the PLA soldiers had taken a large amount of loot when they withdrew from Vietnam in the counterattack, but at the time I only thought that they were taking away the captured loot, valuable planted machinery, ore, etc., but I didn't expect that even the wires and rails would be left behind. There's even a way to blast the many poles one by one, which is a bit embarrassing.

However, I think that this is not that our army does not care about this little money and small interests. Think about it, the value of the wires obtained from blasting a telephone pole may not be enough to buy back the explosives used in the blasting. Many people may find it a little puzzling to exchange eggs for stones, but it is not difficult to understand when you think about it carefully - Vietnam is a poor country, and after these things have been destroyed by us, how much manpower and material resources they have to invest in restoring their previous level! Although we did not occupy the entire territory of Vietnam in the war, we can drag you down economically......

Facts have also proved that this direction is extremely correct, and Vietnam has been in a stalemate with our country for ten years, and its military strength has deteriorated year by year, and finally this meaningless war has ended because it is unable to maintain it.

From this point of view, our senior decision-makers have long had foresight in this regard. That is, when our army retreated, every occupied city was turned into ruins, every mine was turned into a wasteland, and even the ore had to be taken away...... In fact, it is not just to vent anger, but also a strategy.

It was only after a quick march on the highway that a few hours later we finally met a friendly group of motorized troops at an intersection, and it was only then that my heart settled a little.

The road was full of bomb craters, and the military *** part of the car was the remains of the wounded and martyrs who could not travel on foot, so the car drove very slowly. This allowed us to march behind the car, albeit with a little more dust. That way, we don't at least have to worry about going the wrong way and getting lost, and we won't be alone......

"Didi...... Tick ......"

As we passed a steel bridge, the sappers on the other side of the bridge whistled and waved red flags at us.

"Battalion commander!" A communicator who could read the flag came up to me and reported: "Comrade sappers are telling us to hurry up and cross the bridge, it's almost time for the blasting!" ”

"Hmm!" I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this, it turned out that we still caught the last train, and if it was too late, maybe we would be left in Vietnam forever.

The soldiers couldn't help but look at each other as they listened, and all smiles of joy were on their faces.

Alziri also quipped: "It's okay! Stay in Vietnam, let's marry a Vietnamese woman and settle down! ”

"It's almost the same as being a prisoner!" The other warriors laughed and cursed.

But laughing and laughing, we didn't dare to slow down, and the team followed by the car and ran across the steel bridge. At this time, we did see several soldiers of the engineering unit preparing to detonate the explosives at the edge of the explosives. The trucks and motorcycles behind the sappers were also activated, ready to be evacuated as soon as the explosives were ignited.

Suddenly, a jeep "squeaked" and stopped at the bridge, and then an old soldier who looked like a cadre hurriedly ran down and shouted: "Who commanded the bombing of the bridge?" Who commanded the bombing of the bridge? ”

One of the sappers grabbed a cadre and replied: "It's me!" ”

"I am the deputy commander of the 203rd Division!" The old soldier said anxiously: "We still have a lot of vehicles and troops that have not crossed the bridge, please don't blow up the bridge!" ”

"What?" I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this, it turned out that we were not the last batch......