Liu Zongsheng had already regained his composure amid the sound of shelling. He had gone into the deep waters of war, or rather, the deep waters of war had come up and completely submerged him, so that he was no longer afraid. As the Chinese artillery bombardment entered the **, what he heard was no longer the sound of every shell flying and exploding, but a "buzzing" sound that filled the sky and the earth. In his heart, he was thinking only about some very specific things related to the shelling.

“…… Did the Soviet army have any artillery worth mentioning? …… Their artillery was already so weak that it was almost negligible. …… According to the intensity of the artillery fire, it can be concluded that today our army used one rocket artillery battalion, two 152 howitzer battalions, and one 122 cannon battalion for one target on the 342 heights, plus an unknown number of regimental mortar detachments. With so much artillery firepower, the 342 heights were attacked at a high density, and every square meter of soil on the heights would be repeatedly ploughed by shells. …… It is conceivable that the same will be the case with Heights 164 and 631. If the Soviets do not have enough artillery, and a regiment of the 3rd Regiment attacks the Soviets of one and a half companies that have been severely damaged by artillery fire at Ridge No. 1, there will be no problem in winning, and then the chances of our battalion participating in the battle will be very small," he thought, "and if the Soviet artillery fire is not so weak that it poses a real threat to our artillery group and the attack detachments of the 3rd Regiment, the battle process will be complicated, and the possibility that our unit will be sent to a certain high ground by Peng Tao is very great!" ……”

He finally found an explanation for his stay on the hill. Based on his experience, as long as there is an artillery shell flying in the direction of Mount Kibiv or in the area of Mount Xilian south of Mount Kibiv flying towards the artillery position of the Chinese army or the area where the 342nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the 342nd Underground Ground are deployed, he can accurately judge the type and caliber of the artillery to which it belongs based on the sound of its flight and landing explosion, so as to roughly guess the scale of the Soviet army's participation in this war!

Cui Shi'an returned to him from the earthen hill. Liu Zongsheng looked at his watch, now that five minutes have passed, if the Soviet artillery counterattacks, it should also start!

Xiao Qiang also came. He climbed the earthen hill and hurriedly urged: "Deputy commander, let's go back to the shelter department and hide!" ”

"No, you and the trainer go back first!" Liu Zongsheng replied in disgust, and took two steps towards the highest part of the mound.

As a result, Xiao Qiang and Cui Shi'an did not leave.

30 minutes passed, and the Soviet artillery was still silent!

Liu Zongsheng's heart became tense again. If the Soviet artillery counterattacks at this moment, the timing is the best, and the shooting of the Chinese artillery group has gradually become the end of the crossbow!

After another ten minutes, the Chinese artillery attack ended. There was silence that followed, and he hadn't had time to get used to it, "Da-da——! "Gunshots rang out on Heights 342." What's going on? He looked nervously to the south, and his first thought was that someone from the Soviets, or the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment, which was supposed to attack the heights now, had gone off; But then, he heard a series of crisp gunshots from the direction of the high ground. "No, it's the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment that has begun to attack the 342nd Heights," he thought after being taken aback. He thought he could wait for more intense gunfire, but as the minutes passed, the hill fell silent again!

"How? …… What happened?! His heart tightened, he took the telescope handed by Wei Changgui, and looked towards the 342 heights, and many unpleasant possible surnames were also churning in his mind, "Hasn't the attack of the 3rd Regiment and 2nd Battalion started yet?" …… They are not yet close to the 342 heights? …… No, it's time to attack! While the Soviet army has not yet woken up from the horror of the shelling, hurry up and press it with lightning speed, and don't wait for the Soviet army to catch its breath! ......" telescopes quickly searched the surface of the freshly ploughed high ground by the shells, and piles of scorched earth and clumps of fireworks appeared on the mirror. Suddenly he saw a soldier with a gun, his face under a steel helmet was very young, and the side of his face reflected the yellow morning light, and he seemed to be smiling; Then another soldier appeared to his right, with his submachine gun on his shoulder, holding a thin rod in his hand, staggering and jumping among the broken trenches and burning bushes, and finally stood with the soldier in front of him, and thrust the thin thing in his hand into the ruins of the peak, and then spread his hand, and let the banner rolled up in the pole unfurl against the morning light in the east and the morning wind. The thin thread that was tied to Liu Zongsheng's heart was pulled very painfully by one hand again - it was a national flag, a red and blue two-color "human" national flag!

"Deputy Regiment Commander, the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment has gone up!" Xiao Qiang shouted in front of him, his words were filled with not only joy, but also surprise and excitement, "The offensive battle on the 342 heights is over!" ”

He didn't notice that Cui Shi'an, the instructor standing behind them at this moment, also put down his binoculars, and bright tears overflowed from behind his glasses!

It took Liu Zongsheng a long time before he put the telescope down. The moment he saw the national flag of the word "human" planted on the peak of the 342 Heights, he realized what had happened, and his heart was immediately filled with a tide of joy. But reason has not yet accepted the facts that have been understood, but has become suspicious of them in astonishment. “…… What's going on? Wasn't there a platoon of Soviet troops on the 342 heights? Could it be that the Soviet army was all wiped out by artillery fire? …… It didn't look like a real battle, it looked like a live exercise...... "In the end, he still accepted the fact that the high ground was taken by the soldiers of the 3rd Regiment and the 2nd Battalion without bloodshed." “…… The point is that the Soviets have no artillery," he thought, believing that he had captured the crux of the matter, "without artillery they would not be able to suppress our artillery group and strike at our attacking troops and support their infantry in battle......"

The absence of artillery would also make it impossible for them to carry out a counterattack on Ridge 1 after the loss of the high ground. Such...... The war in the entire No. 1 Ridge area may be over! The latter thought really moved him. He knew why: if it was almost certain that the offensive battle at No. 1 Ridge was over now, the small army he led would really not have to go to war as Peng Tao said yesterday! He doesn't have to worry about all sorts of unexpected misfortunes for him!

He didn't want Xiao Qiang and Cui Shi'an to see his excitement at this time, so he delayed for a while before he withdrew his gaze from the 342 heights. Another thought immediately came to mind: if they can't fight, what will Peng Tao let them do next?

I thought about this problem on the road last night: the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Regiment is a supporting role for the 3rd Regiment, and if it cannot fight, it may be sent to take on the task of the transport team - to deliver ammunition, supplies and fortification materials needed after the transfer of men to the battalions of the 3rd Regiment that has occupied the No. 1 Ridge, and transport the wounded and martyrs. Now this possibility of surnames has become very realistic!

He turned around slowly, looked at his watch with a calm and cold expression, raised his head, and said to Xiao Qiang: "Immediately notify the cooking class of each company to cook!" …… It's 7:20. Before eight o'clock, the company will finish eating! After eight o'clock, we are ready to go on a mission! ”

There was another fierce and victorious gunfire on the No. 1 Ridge, and Peng Tao would not leave them much time!

At 5 o'clock in the morning, Shang Yujun was awakened by a sharp and rapid whistle. He thought he had overslept and jumped up from the grass in front of the cave!

He realized that war was about to start, and a heaviness he had never experienced before pressed against his heart. He thought that he would hear the roar of artillery fire on the whole line, but he only heard the company commander shouting in the forest where the 2nd platoon was camping: "...... Mom, get up and dig a hole for me! …… Can't the shells kill you?! ……”

The light in the forest was dim, and the cold air made Shang Yujun shiver, and his mind immediately cleared up. The war has not yet come, the time has not yet come! His heart lightened again. Then from the woods in the 1st and 2nd rows, there was a chaotic noise: the soldiers were cursing; Pickaxes and pickaxes are digging the earth with a "bang...... A familiar, slightly flustered footstep came towards where he was. His mind calmed down a little again, and it was Cheng Yukun who came over. In the darkness, from a long distance, Cheng Yukun saw him and shouted in a rough voice: "Is it the third platoon leader?" ”

"It's me, company commander."

"Have you dug all the holes?"

"It's all dug up."

"I want to check!" Cheng Yukun approached, not believing his words, "You take me to each class to have a look!" ”

He didn't want to look down on the company commander. He was taught not to look down on anyone.

But since he arrived at the mountain stream last night, he has looked down on the company commander a little. …… Shang Yujun didn't say a word, so he mechanically took Cheng Yukun to the campsite of each class, and let Cheng Yukun check it hole by hole.

After Cheng Yukun finished the inspection, he left without saying a word. Shang Yujun returned to his cave. Suddenly, the heaviness that he had never experienced before pressed down on his soul again. This time, he even had a feeling of being out of breath!

Die. It comes down to it. Last night, he lay down on the grass in front of the cave, and before falling asleep, he thought he had understood and accepted the war at the same time. Now that it had just become an imminent reality, he realized anew that even if he had accepted it on the basis of reason, it was still difficult to accept it in the realm of emotion and reality.

"Dead ...... Yes, in the days and nights before the war, it was not war that I had always shied away from. But today it is still coming......" he thought wildly, feeling his heart tingle a little bit by something sharp, "today it has a real surname that cannot be denied not only to me, but also to us all platoon and company. …… But I'm only 17 years old, I'm only 17 years old, and I'm going to die......"

"Where will I die? It won't be long before we will be bombarded with heavy artillery from both sides, and then our woods will be on fire. …… Can this hole of mine really withstand the bombardment of Soviet artillery fire? …… Oh no, I might die on some hill on the first line of Ridge, or be hit by a bullet, or step on a mine. …… I would fall in a ravine, on a hillside, with a small tree with green branches and green leaves......"

It was in this kind of cranky thinking that he spent the last period before the war began. But these imaginations invisibly relaxed the overly nervous emotions in his heart. For, as soon as his mind enters the imagination of death, death itself becomes less real again.

He heard the first shell fired by the Chinese artillery as it flew over the treetops overhead. Suddenly, his heart seemed to be clenched by a cold iron hand!

It was the sound of a piece of red-hot iron "sizzling" through the vast expansive, thick liquid air, and it dragged on for so long that he suddenly had a painful feeling of being burned and pierced, and his whole body trembled. It vanished, and the ground beneath it trembled slightly; He thought that a second cannonball would follow, but no, as if it had been a long time, before a second sound flew over the woods, not loud at all, but lower and closer than the first, and the explosion made the ground beneath him tremble even more. "Artillery is testing fire." He suddenly understood, and the thought of "the war has begun" suddenly popped up in his heart. The third shell was fired longer than the second, giving him time to take a deep breath quietly. It exploded, but he didn't hear it flying. Shang Yujun suddenly felt that he was not so heavy and nervous: the sound of the cannonballs flying and exploding was not as dense and violent as he imagined, they were firing from east to west, which was frightening, but slightly disappointed!

The sound of shells flying and exploding has become dense and violent. After another test-fired cannonball landed, the whistling sound and explosion sound of various types of cannonballs gradually connected into a magnificent and majestic piece, unable to distinguish each other, unable to distinguish the order, the ground under Shang Yujun's body trembled violently, and his body also trembled violently. He had just accepted and adapted to the artillery test firing, and now it was not too difficult to accept the salvo of 10,000 artillery. But as the ability to think was restored, the tingling feeling in my heart became strong again.

"It's a mortar. …… This is a 152 plus howitzer shell. …… This is another howitzer shell. …… The Soviet artillery is about to counterattack! …… Counterattacks are normal and consistent with the general theory of war. …… As long as the Soviets return fire, there will be casualties in the mountain stream......" he thought, and an urgent premonition of death ensued. "I could have died right now, but I wasn't prepared for anything! ……”

The shelling continues. Minute after minute passed, and the Soviets did not fight back. That intense tingling sensation was replaced by another great confusion. "Why didn't the Soviets return fire? …… It is abnormal for the Soviet troops not to return fire, and it is incompatible with the general theory of war. …… The Soviets will definitely fight back, but they haven't done it yet! ……”

He spent most of the shelling in this panicked, heavy, heart-piercing painful sensation. Gradually, he realized that the sound of shells flying and exploding had become sparse. And at the edge of the woods, a group of warriors were shouting and cheering, which caught his attention: "Good boy, what a spectacle! ”

"This smashed to the 342 heights, enough for the son of the red turtle!"

"Rocket artillery is amazing!"

The woods outside the cave entrance were lit up by the tails of the last rocket shells that pierced the gray-white sky of dawn. Shang Yujun poked his head out of the hole, and with the help of the fire of the rocket shells, he saw Gong Wenxuan, the leader of the eighth squad, and more than a dozen other soldiers in the platoon, who had already drilled out of the hole, stood at the edge of the forest, and happily watched the scene of the Chinese army's shelling of the 342nd height. Those cheers came from their mouths. Shang Yujun was shocked and remembered his responsibilities as a platoon commander.

"Eighth squad leader, what's the matter with you——!" He leaned half of his body out of the hole and shouted at Gong Wenxuan. The fact that the Soviets did not have counter-shelling does not mean that they will not do that, in case the shells come over, where will these people hide?!

"Platoon commander, come out, it's okay!" Gong Wenxuan turned around and shouted at him, "Look at how lively the artillery is, it's much better than the movie!" ”

Shang Yujun came out of the hole. The soldiers of his own platoon had violated battlefield discipline, and he could not help but come out and bomb them back. Gong Wenxuan's attitude also made him unhappy: this person, his reaction to your orders always makes you feel that he is your eldest brother, not that he wants to listen to you, but that you have to listen to him.

"You all go back to the cave for me!" When he came to the edge of the forest, he shouted in annoyance, and at the same time involuntarily looked towards the 342 Heights to the south, and his feet could not move.

The shelling is nearing its end. In the gray morning, Heights 342 burned high like a torch, reflecting half of the southern sky in red. It was as if the high ground itself was much closer to them, and everything became clearer. Shells still hit the ground in the torch and exploded, and with it many earth, stones, and branches rose into the air with the smoke and dust, and slowly fell against the glorious background of the firelight.

Shells fell one after another, as did soot, dirt, stones, and branches. Such a picture is not only spectacular, but also thrilling!

"Platoon commander, what do you think it is?!" Qu Baoxiang, the deputy of the eighth class, who was unwilling to be lonely, squeezed to his side, pointed at the 342 heights, and shouted in shock.

Shang Yujun looked intently, and what made Qu Baoxiang scream was some strange bits and pieces that were raised in the firelight, which were neither like stones nor trees. Before he could react, Gong Wenxuan said in an affirmative tone: "That's an artillery soldier selling barbecue!" …… But the fire is too big! ”

Several warriors laughed along with him. Shang Yujun understood the meaning of Gong Wenxuan's words, and the feeling of being stabbed in his heart was strong again! "Give me all back! …… The Soviets may retaliate! Eighth squad leader, you take the lead and go back first! He was really annoyed, and shouted orders to the soldiers, who were almost all older than him.

(To be continued)