Chapter 3: Deserters

The bare branches of the larches shiver in the cold wind, and the evergreens gently shake their branches and leaves in the evening breeze, as if trying to shake off the snow on their bodies. The stars and the crescent moon reflected the snow on the ground, casting a pale cold light over what should have been a dark winter night, and also illuminating the way forward for us.

Most of the volunteers go out day and night, and many people think that the volunteers are good at fighting night battles, but I think that the volunteers are forced to fight night battles because of the situation, and they are forced to do so. If it is in the daytime, no matter how valiant the fighters, it will be difficult to gain an advantage under the high-tech equipment of the US army. At this time, night vision devices were still a novelty, and they had not yet been equipped with the US troops, so as soon as it was dark, the US planes, artillery, and tanks all lost their effectiveness, and they had to fight hard with the volunteers. Therefore, most of the volunteers marched or launched an offensive at night.

So, at this time, I should have been hiding in the warm quilt, but at this time, I was climbing over the mountains and mountains in the ice and snow.

Although it was not snowing, the chill was like an all-pervasive elf, snatching the only bit of warmth from my cuffs, collar, and brim of my hat from everywhere it could. If the white-haired girl still dares to sing "the north wind blows, the snowflakes float", I swear I will pull her here to see what the real cold is......

Everything seemed to be in a dream, and I looked at the scenery around me, at the soldiers marching in front of me and behind me, at the weapons and equipment they were carrying, and I still couldn't believe that all this was true.

I walked forward mechanically with my feet, but my head kept searching for various fragments of the fall from Mt. Paektu, and in the end there was only one plausible and at the same time very helpless explanation, that is, I fell into the legendary cave, and the mysterious power of the cave brought me here, and possessed a volunteer soldier who froze to death. So I went to the Korean battlefield...... became a volunteer soldier......

This thought almost broke me down for a while, because I knew very well how terrible this war was, and I also knew that a third of the people who walked into this war would never return to their homeland and never see their relatives again. Wrong...... I can't see my relatives anymore, I'm back to 58 years ago, even my late grandfather was only a teenager at this time, maybe still somewhere in China, struggling for my father's birth!

"I don't know if in the modern world, there will be my name on the monument to resist US aggression and aid Korea." I smiled self-deprecatingly, "I knew this would happen, I should have looked at those lists before, but I shouldn't be on the list of heroes." Just kidding, I've been holding a pen all my life, and now let me hold a gun? It is still possible in the list of deserters. ”

"I don't want to be a deserter, but how difficult it is to come by guns and bullets on the Korean battlefield, the fierce US imperialism completely controls the air supremacy, and they can bomb our army's supply lines at will, so every gun, every bullet, every dry ration, every cotton coat, every pair of rubber shoes, that embodies the lives and blood of the logistics comrades-in-arms who transport military supplies! Therefore, in order not to let these precious guns, ammunition, and supplies be wasted on me, a person who has never been on the battlefield, for the victory of the Korean War, and for the happiness of hundreds of millions of people across the country...... I'll just grieve myself and become a deserter......"

This reason seemed to hold water, so I slowed down slowly, not looking around, trying not to appear to be a thief, and pretending to be out of breath.

Speaking of my ability to pretend, there is still a glorious history, I think when I was in college, I once succeeded in convincing five girls who were honest and honest with a false and serious appearance, and almost deceived their hearts. I said that it was almost because in the end I found out that I was the one who was deceived......

The heroes don't mention the courage of the year, and now I worship almost all the gods I can think of in my heart: gods! Let me succeed in pretending one more time!

As I watched one volunteer soldier after another step past me, my heart beat faster...... In these years, there was only one end for being a deserter and being caught, that is, being escorted to the side of the road and shot to show the public.

"Comrade ......" Just when I was about to reach the end of the team, a familiar voice couldn't help but make my heart tighten, and I turned my head to see that the old squad leader's eyes that emitted a strange light were staring at me with a smile.

I looked at the old squad leader, and then looked at myself, and soon understood the problem, the old squad leader's marching quilt, shovel, submachine gun, grenade, dry food bag, ammunition bag, kettle, add up to seventy or eighty pounds, you say that I am a young man with nothing on me, how can I not run an old man with a weight of more than seventy pounds......

I blamed myself deeply, how could I forget the traditional virtue of respecting the old and loving the young? If I had walked up to the old squad leader with an angelic smile from the beginning, I would have said in the gentlest voice: "Uncle, things must be very heavy!" I'll get some for you. "Now, then, my plan to show weakness is seamless.

This is a big mess, and he died before he left the school......

"Comrade ......" didn't expect the old squad leader to pat me on the shoulder and said kindly: "I'm tired!" Homosexuals...... It's not easy to walk around before the ghost gate closes...... If you persist in persevering, when you catch up with the large army, you will be called to the hygienist to show you......"

I was stunned for a moment, and I couldn't help but feel a little ashamed, I didn't expect to feel the care of my comrades-in-arms before I felt the cruelty of the battlefield.

"It's okay, it's okay......" I lowered my head and whispered, the old squad leader's caring eyes seemed to be particularly dazzling in the night.

"Stop moving forward and stand by ......"

"Stop moving forward and stand by ......"

……

I don't know how long I ran, but just as I was secretly amazed that the body I possessed had such strong endurance, one after another the fate of stopping the progress was passed down in front of me. Although it is a rest, but no one dares to find a place to sit, not to mention the snow everywhere, such a cold weather is just afraid that as soon as you sit down, you will freeze and never get up again, so everyone is gently stomping their feet in place, and the heat is in their hands, and some simply hug a few big men together to keep warm......

At this time, I took a look at the company, and there were more than 160 people, and there was a long line from beginning to end. According to the normal establishment, a company should have about 120 people, and an army should have more than 30,000 people. However, the volunteer army was generally excessive, and none of the four armies that entered the DPRK at the earliest had less than 40,000, so it is reasonable that there were more than 160 people in one company.

Look at their equipment, I only know the 38 big cover and the middle official that I often see in the movie, and the machine gun will be called out by the crooked handle, there are seven or eight of them! The fighters each had three or five grenades on their chests, and most of the platoon commanders and company commanders were armed with box guns or submachine guns. To my surprise, I also saw two mortars.

Although these equipment cannot be compared with the planes, artillery and tanks of the US military, they are not inferior to the level that the Chinese people imagine to be millet plus rifles.

I still remember that after returning to China, Ridgway wrote a book called "The Korean War", in which he always emphasized how poor the equipment of the American army was, how insufficient supplies were, and how the soldiers were cold and starved. Of course, if a person who returned to China in disgrace after the defeat of the war, if he said how well his equipment was, how good the food was, and how thick the cotton clothes were, then anyone would suspect that his head must have been damaged by the volunteers.

In the same way, if the Chinese people emphasize how poor the equipment of the volunteers is, it will better reflect the heroism of the volunteers and the spirit of the volunteers in defeating the strong with the weak, not to mention that the equipment of the volunteers is not on the same level as that of the US army.

"Xiaoshan Shandong......" The old squad leader waved his hand and caught the little man running in front of him: "What's the matter, why don't you move forward?" ”

"I can't find a large army." Xiao Shandong smiled: "Isn't this on the avenue?" The company commander said that the footprints in front of him were trampled on, saying that the Korean People's Army and the transferred villagers who had retreated from the defeated battle now did not know how to leave. ”

"I'm in trouble!" The old squad leader frowned: "There is no map and no radio, this person is not familiar with the place, and he is still in North Korea, and he can't understand what we say when he asks for directions from a fellow countryman......"

I have also heard of the poor communication equipment of the volunteer army, and it seems that only the battalion level has telephones, and the regiment level has radios, so there is often an old saying: If the troops below the volunteer battalion are released to fight, they can't call them back. Moreover, when the Volunteer Army entered the Korean War for the first time, the company-level units did not have a map at all. If you can't find a large army at this time, it's really as the old squad leader said - trouble!

"I, I can speak ......" I twitched my frozen nose and said, "I can speak Korean, I'll go and ask!" Where are you going? ”

"Can you speak Korean? That's a good feeling! A hint of discoloration flashed on the old squad leader's face, and then he said with a wrinkled smile on his face: "This is going to Wenjing, let's find a fellow and ask ......."

"Wen Jing?" I couldn't help but be stunned, the reason why I know this place name is because the first shot of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was fired in Liangshuidong near Wenjing.

I also read the information two days ago, the original plan was to march to Wenjing with the 118th Division of the 40th Army of the Volunteers, but I found that the enemy had occupied Wenjing one step ahead, so I hastily built fortifications in Liangshuidong to prepare to ambush the enemy troops who continued to advance north......

"What's the number? What day is it? I asked anxiously.

"Twenty-fiveth, October twenty-five." Although the old squad leader felt that this question was a little strange, he still answered.

This is the anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, that is, the day of the war.

"Then you are the 118th Division of the Forty Army?" My voice was already a little shaky.

Looking at the old squad leader who nodded, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart: I'm about to go to the battlefield so soon, it's only been a few hours since I came to this world, and I won't even be given the opportunity to be a deserter......

"Comrade, comrade......" The old squad leader looked at me with a pale face and asked, "What's wrong?" What's wrong? ”

"No, no." I shook my head weakly and slowly spit out a few words: "The big army is in Liangshuidong, not in Wenjing." ”