Chapter 136: Convoy

Chapter 136: Convoy

"Report to the chief!" Obviously, the engineer cadre did not have much combat experience, because I saw that he actually saluted the deputy division commander, and then reported straight to "straight" and "straight": "The order given to us by the superior is to blow up the bridge at four o'clock, if we don't blow up the fighters......

As he spoke, the engineer cadre took out the order from his jacket pocket and handed it to the deputy division commander, saying: "This is an order given to us by the superiors!" ”

"Comrade Sapper!" The deputy division commander frowned while looking at the order in his hand and said: "Can you delay the bombing of the bridge, although you have an order, we can no longer watch them come back from the other side of the bridge......

The deputy division commander's voice was a little choked up at the end, and his tone seemed to be begging the engineer cadre. A division commander actually begged a sapper in a low voice, such a thing is really rare on the battlefield.

The engineer cadre hesitated, looked at the other engineer soldiers, muttered a few words to them, and then said to the deputy division commander in embarrassment: "Chief, we don't want to leave the infantry big brother on the other side of the bridge, but ...... Regarding this order, the superiors have made it very clear that this steel bridge is the only way for the Vietnamese army to pursue our army, and it is very likely that the Vietnamese army will send a special team to occupy it, which is why we are in a hurry to blow up the bridge...... If the Vietnamese army occupies this bridge, the consequences will be unimaginable! ”

After listening to the words of the engineer company commander, the deputy division commander was also stunned, as a critic officer, of course he also knew how powerful this was. I couldn't help but regret stamping my foot and saying, "Alas! I knew I should have brought a troop up, look at me...... As soon as I heard that you were going to blow up the bridge, I jumped in the car and came alone......"

"Comrade! Comrade ...... "In a hurry, the deputy division stopped us when he came up and grabbed us, and said with a pleading look on his face: "Can you ...... Stay and do a favor? ”

I glanced at Li Zhifu, and then at the soldiers behind me, and the soldiers couldn't help but be silent.

They all know what the deputy division commander wants us to do here, and they all know that we can ignore it, after all, in this era, the military uniforms of our army's cadres from the commander to the platoon commander are all the same, so let's just pretend not to know that he is a deputy division commander.

But I think that if things continue like this, either the bridge will be bombed and friendly troops will not be able to cross, or it is very likely that the steel bridge will be occupied by Vietnamese agents!

Neither of these possibilities was acceptable to me, so I said to the fighters: "Comrades! We know you would love to just go back to our homeland, to your homeland. But we can't just watch our comrades-in-arms on the other side of the bridge and never return to their homeland. Of course, this time it wasn't a task we had to complete, so ...... Comrades who are willing to stay can stay, and those who are not willing to stay can follow other troops back to China! ”

"Battalion commander, I'll give the order! We can't die without help! ”

"That's it! If the battalion commander doesn't go, we won't leave! ”

"We will do what the battalion commander wants us to do!"

……

The fighters didn't think much about it at all, and expressed their wishes one by one. This makes me feel even more ashamed of these fighters, they trust me so much, and I have repeatedly pushed them to the crest of the wind.

"Thank you! Thank you......" The deputy division commander also knew that we were willing to stay, so he hurriedly shook my hand, and then turned to the soldiers to shake hands and said: "Thank you, comrades! Thank you, comrades......"

"How many cars do you have?" I asked the deputy division commander, "Will you know what the last car is?" ”

"There are ...... in total"

The deputy division commander looked at the guards behind him, and the guards answered: "There are more than 30 cars!" And then there was no more follow-up.

I couldn't help frowning, knowing that they didn't know much about their own troops, so I didn't ask any more.

I looked at the terrain and it was fine! The steel bridge is only more than 20 meters long, and on the opposite side of the bridge is a stretch of road and more than 400 meters of open land, and if there are Vietnamese agents on the opposite side, we can spot them at a glance. This also made it impossible for us to build a position across the bridge.

But I also think of two difficulties, one is that we have to cover the engineering unit to successfully blow up the bridge, and I am still very sure about this, after all, the explosives have been installed, and the more than 200 people in my battalion are not vegetarians now.

The other is that we have to wait until the convoy that the deputy division commander said comes, and if they don't come for a long time or if something happens on the road, then we may have to wait......

So I turned my head and asked the deputy division commander again: "Do you have any contact with the automobile unit?" ”

"Yes!" The deputy division commander nodded, and then replied in embarrassment: "But I came in a hurry, and the communication troops didn't follow......

That's when I couldn't stand it anymore, as a commander...... How can you not bring this or that, not even the communication soldiers! But as soon as he thought that the sappers were only a little short of blowing up the bridge, and the deputy division commander might have been too late if he was a little late, he didn't say anything more, waved his hand at the soldiers, and ordered: "Deploy along the river, pay attention to all suspicious targets on the opposite side!" ”

"Yes!" The warriors answered the call and unsheathed their sapper shovels and began digging into the one-man bunker.

The reason for constructing a single bunker instead of digging a trench is that it takes at least twenty minutes to dig a trench, and it may not be clear that the convoy has already arrived. And I also told the deputy division commander in this way that we can only stay here for twenty minutes at most, if it is a little longer...... Then I'm sorry, I can only think about my own fighters......

Helping others is indeed a good virtue, but there must be a bottom line.

But I soon realized that my fears were unfounded, for ten minutes later I could hear the faint roar of cars from the south, and then I saw a line of cars slowly coming towards us on the road.

"Is that your team?" I asked the deputy division commander next to me.

"Yes! That's right! The deputy division commander raised the telescope and looked at it, and said with relief: "It's finally here!" ”

"There is a situation...... At this time, Li Shui's 'wave' voice suddenly came from the walkie-talkie: "Eight o'clock direction!" Suspicious target! ”

Looking in the direction indicated by Li Shui's 'wave,' I saw a group of dozens of "People's Liberation Army" running out of a forest on the left towards the convoy.

So I quickly understood the reason why Li Shui' 'Bo' designated them as "suspicious targets" - first, if it was our troops, they should have emerged from the road, not from the woods, during the retreat of the whole army. Secondly, it is incomprehensible that for a retreating army, they do not run to the bridge, but to the convoy.

Perhaps, this can also be explained by the fact that they want to hitchhike, but I think ...... They are more like they want to 'mix' in the convoy and cross the bridge with our soldiers. At that point, we'll be in a trap because we're mixed up with fighters from both sides.

But all this is my speculation after all, and we can't be sure of the true identity of that group of infantry......

"Battalion commander!" Li Zhifu also discovered this situation, he looked at the two teams getting closer and closer and couldn't help but ask anxiously, "What should I do?" To fight or not to fight? ”

Beat? Or not to fight?

As a commander, you must make a judgment as quickly as possible, and even if that judgment is later proven wrong, it is better than making a wrong judgment after hesitating!

So I immediately ordered into the walkie-talkie, "All of them!" Don't shoot and wait for orders! ”

As I spoke, I raised my rifle and pulled the trigger in a series of shots at the "People's Liberation Army."

"Bang bang bang...... several bullets flew out, and at that moment all the ten bullets in the magazine hit the feet of the running "People's Liberation Army......

I am gambling on the psychological quality of this "People's Liberation Army."

If they were Vietnamese agents, there was a good chance that I would have thought I had seen through them because of these shots. Of course, if the Vietnamese agents are good enough, they will not be moved, and they will even identify us in Chinese. But I believe that not all Vietnamese agents have such good qualities......

As I expected, two of the "People's Liberation Army" raised their AK47s in their hands and fired a volley of bullets at the car...... So everyone confirmed that they were indeed agents of the Vietnamese army.

"Hit!" As soon as I gave the order, the fighters pulled the trigger on the "People's Liberation Army."

The gunfire soon rang out, and more than 200 soldiers of our battalion lined up on the riverbank, and the bullets piled up like a torrential rain, and although it was difficult for the AK47 to hit the target at a distance of 300 meters, its bullet rain was still very lethal at a distance of 1,000 meters, so it only took one minute to knock all those "People's Liberation Army" to the ground.

Of course, some of them fell to the ground looking for a chance to escape, but I still have a dozen or so members of the 'shooting' team under me! The sniper rifles in their hands were not vegetarian, and with a crisp and clean gunshot, the only dozen or so surviving Vietnamese agents also fell under our guns.

Seeing this, the deputy division commander next to me couldn't help but take a 'gasp' and asked, "Comrade! Your army is very combat-ready! The enemy is more than 400 meters away from us, and you can still shoot one ......"

I smiled lightly, and my heart was only more than 400 meters, which may be difficult for an AK47 or 56 and a half to hit, but it was a piece of cake for an SVD sniper rifle.

After this burst of gunfire, the group of cars sped up as if frightened and drove towards the steel bridge, but at this time, many Vietnamese troops suddenly burst out of the woods, some of them divided into two parts, one team rushed towards the steel bridge, the other group rushed towards the road, and high-altitude machine guns and mortar shells also flew straight to the bridge......

The soldiers didn't need my order at all, they turned their guns and fired at the Vietnamese soldiers who had just come out. It should be said that the total number of Vietnamese troops will not be less than ours, they will lose because they have just come out of the woods and the firepower has not been launched in time, so the Vietnamese troops who rushed ahead fell a dozen at once, and the rest were so frightened that they either fell to the ground or withdrew into the woods.

As a result, the Vietnamese army could only watch as the cars drove over the steel bridge one after another and drove into our army's position. When the last car crossed the bridge, I immediately shouted into the walkie-talkie: "The fourth and sixth companies retreat, and the fifth company takes cover!" ”

"Yes!" The warriors answered, and some grabbed their weapons and retreated with the convoy.

The reason why the 4th and 6th companies were allowed to retreat first was that I noticed the piles of explosives next to the steel bridge. I don't know if those sappers have a grudge against the steel bridge or are worried that the bridge is too strong to blow up, but the explosive 'medicine' is seven or eight hundred kilograms...... As soon as so many explosives explode, I am afraid that the distance of the 'wave' will be more than a few hundred meters. And we had to run at least two hundred meters back to turn into the col. If the whole battalion retreats together after the fuse is lit, I am afraid that they will all be blocked on the other side of the road and cannot move. At that time, even if we did not die under the guns of the Vietnamese army, we were afraid that we would be killed by our own explosives.

Seeing that the 4th and 6th companies had successfully retreated, I yelled at the engineer cadres: "Ignite!" ”

The engineer cadre nodded, and two fuses were lit with one hand...... I guess the reason they had to set up the two fuses was because they were worried that if one of the fuses went wrong and failed to detonate the 'poison', these sappers were still 'quite 'careful' in this direction.

As soon as I saw that the fuse was lit, I didn't dare to slack off, and shouted into the walkie-talkie: "Retreat!" ”

The engineering troops climbed into the cars and jeeps that had already started in a panic and drove along the highway as soon as they slipped away. The deputy division commander also had a conscience, and did not go ahead of us, and there was no jeep to run with us.

However, at this time, where would the soldiers take care of those, all of them used their strength to eat 'milk' and ran to the rear, just waiting for us to rush into the mountain col, only to hear a "boom" behind us to shake the earth, the steel bridge related to the overall situation of the withdrawal was blown to pieces in the flames, and those steel bridge fragments with flames flew everywhere above our heads and on the edge of the col, the farthest was thousands of meters......

At this time, I don't know who reported the coordinates, but our artillery once again exerted its might, and with a whistling sound in the sky, the shells piled up across the river in pieces, and once again exploded to the earth. It was only after the explosion stopped that the soldiers got up from the ground with a sigh of relief.

"Comrade! Thank you so much! As soon as I got up from the ground, the deputy division commander held my hand tightly and said, "If it weren't for you today, the convoy of my department would have stayed in a foreign country forever!" ”

"It should be! You're welcome! I replied.

"Comrade! Come on! Then the deputy division commander pointed to the car parked not far in front and said, "Take our car!" Let us give you a ride......"

Glancing at the beaming warriors beside me, I nodded.

"Oh!" The soldiers cheered and ran towards the car, at this moment of returning to their hearts, the soldiers only wanted to return to their homeland as soon as possible, so there was no reason to be unhappy if there was a car to sit.

Those soldiers in the car also knew that we had saved their lives, so of course they would not refuse, and they all pulled the soldiers up very enthusiastically, and even took the initiative to give up their seats to our soldiers.

At the invitation of the deputy division commander, I got into his jeep, and with the roar of the motor, the cars drove north one after another like a long dragon. The last ones remained, of course, were the engineer units, who retreated and detonated one by one the explosive 'charges' that had long been buried in the roadbed. When I looked back from a distance, the whole highway became section by section, like a dead snake chopped open on a board......

No wonder the Vietnamese army will be stunned by a ruin when they come back, I can't help but shake my head secretly, just imagine that our army can even do more than 100 meters of highway blasting once, then I really can't think of anything left for the Vietnamese army.

"Little comrade!" The deputy division commander handed me a cigarette, enthusiastically lit it for me, and then opened the conversation. "What kind of army are you? How could it be so late to retreat? ”

"Oh!" I spat out a puff of smoke and replied, "We are from the 639th Regiment of the 213th Division, and we have been delayed for a little time because we can't find our own troops in Lang Son......"

"What? You guys are from the 639 regiment? The deputy division commander looked at me and said, "Then do you know Cui Wei?" ”

"I am!" I couldn't help but wonder how the deputy division commander could know my name.

"You are...... You are Cui Wei, you are the second battalion of the 639 regiment? The deputy division commander looked at me with a look of surprise on his face.

"Yes!" I nodded: "We are the second battalion!" ”

The deputy division commander suddenly laughed: "And such a coincidence, I can meet you here!" ”

Then, before I could react, the deputy division commander shouted at the soldiers in the car: "Comrades! Didn't you keep clamoring to meet the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 639th Regiment and Cui Wei? Sitting next to me is Cui Wei, and sitting next to you is the soldiers of the second battalion! ”

"Coax!" After a while, the whole convoy immediately became noisy, and looking ahead, people in each carriage were shaking hands warmly, and some of them continued to lean out and salute me.

I looked at the deputy division commander a little inexplicably, only to see him laugh and say: "Battalion Commander Cui, don't be surprised, our troops just entered the battlefield yesterday to cover the retreat of the troops, and they have always been stationed at the border as a reserve team before!" ”

"Oh!" I nodded, just now I was wondering that the soldiers of this army are so clean and complete, and there are very few wounded soldiers, it turns out that they have not fought and just come up.

"Camp Commander Cui!" The deputy division commander smiled and said: "Your deeds can be spread all over the rear, and the newspapers have also been published on the radio, saying that you were still a small soldier when the battle first started, and you became the battalion commander in just ten days with your own merits...... Many warriors don't believe you, they want to see you as a legend with their own eyes, and some even want to compete with you. I didn't expect that this first time we met, I was still being saved by you...... I don't know how this group of guys with high eyes and low hands will feel! ”

It turned out to be like this, I smiled helplessly, I didn't expect that I would be so famous in the rear.

Then I suddenly remembered that in modern times, I had read such a source - when our army was retreating, a unit that was on a covering mission was cut off by the Vietnamese army, and the rear road suffered heavy casualties.

It can't be this army!