When the whole platoon withdrew from the sniper position and climbed diagonally up the northwest slope of the rift ditch, Shang Yujun glanced back at his team. It was the first time he had taken a hard look at his team since entering the battle today. After a four-hour long march in the morning, a fierce battle in the afternoon, and having not eaten anything after nibbling on a few pieces of dry food in the morning in the mountain stream, it had become a hungry, exhausted, and bruised team. In the increasingly strong mountain wind, the soldiers climbed up numbly, mechanically, and staggeringly, and the ragged military uniforms fluttered one by one. Shang Yujun's gaze slid over the familiar faces that had become unfamiliar at this time, and he recognized Li Yue, who frowned, pouting his lips angrily as if something was going on; Recognized Qu Baoxiang, the deputy of class 8 who somehow fell into the team of class 9, this person who usually likes to show off the most and raps the most has a pale face today, his eyes are dull, he is panting heavily, and every step up has to exert all his strength.

Influenced by his simple, excited, and fierce state of mind, Shang Yujun felt that this team, which was tormented by hunger, exhaustion, and pain, and full of despair because he knew that they were carrying out the last attack, was actually a team like himself that had no fear of death, and only had the determination to fight to the death against the Soviet army!

Now he recognized Zhang Zhongliang, a new soldier from Class 9 who had asked him for a transfer from the back of the line, and his twin brother Zhang Zhongming, who had asked him to transfer last night. Realizing that the eyes of the two people were dodging and getting farther and farther away from the team, a wave of anger quickly rose from Shang Yujun's heart.

"9 squad leader, order the rear tail to follow, don't pull too far!" He shouted at Li Yue, and stood where he was, seeing with his own eyes Li Yue repeat his orders to the Zhao brothers, and let them follow the team before moving on.

Thanks to the cover of this rain fissure gully and the ridge line on the east side of the rain fissure gully, which separated the northern and northwestern slopes of the high ground, the Soviets in the third trench above the platform under the main peak never detected them. In less than 20 minutes, they climbed to the junction of the fissure and the east-to-west extension of the second trench. The fissures and trenches had been cut off here, and the slopes up and west were full of minefields, and a mine tripwire half-hidden in the grass was clearly visible. Shang Yujun realized that his and Gong Wenxuan's original plan to follow the rift and go all the way up to the third trench of the Soviet army had failed. At present, there is only one route left to attack the Soviet troops above the high ground, and that is to move eastward along the second trench and launch a frontal attack upward under the third trench!

The team has come to a stop in the final rift. The warriors crouched down at the edge of the ravine, looking at him nervously, waiting for orders to make their next move. Shang Yujun called Gong Wenxuan and Li Yue to his side, turned east from the rift into the second trench, and crouched on the ridge line that separated the northern and northwest slopes of the high ground, and observed the movement of the third trench of the Soviet army 50 meters above.

If there were still people in the first trench occupied by the 1st and 2nd platoons sporadically firing at the Soviets in the third trench when they had just climbed up from the bottom of the hill, there was no such sporadic resistance at the moment. The Soviets also probably felt that the attack power of the Chinese army under the mountain had been exhausted, and the riflemen and submachine gunners stopped firing, and only the heavy machine guns in the middle of the third trench and the two light machine guns at the east and west ends continued to pour bullets down the hill and on the 633 heights in the north, not out of necessity but out of fear.

Once the whole platoon jumped over the ridge line in front of it and moved eastward through the second trench, it was impossible to hope that it would not be detected by the Soviets. At that time, the Soviets will turn all their firepower and destroy this last attacking team from a high position and at close range!

Only by crossing the 50-meter distance between the second and third trenches before the battle began, rushing into the third trench and engaging the Soviets in a short fight, they may have the possibility of finally taking Heights 634 in a melee. To cross this distance, it was first necessary to move eastward along the second trench to the north slope of the heights directly below the Soviets, where there were two communication trenches on the left and right connecting the second and third trenches, and they could divide into two roads and follow the two communication trenches about 40 meters apart to touch up the third trench. The problem was that the Soviets would never watch them move east through the second trench to their front, and then follow the two communication trenches all the way to their own front!

"Platoon commander, we can't attack now!" Gong Wenxuan, who had been silently observing the enemy situation and terrain, turned around and said, "We should wait until it gets dark before starting to act, when the Soviet army can't see us clearly, and the certainty of success is greater!" ”

Gong Wenxuan's suggestion is undoubtedly correct. Shang Yujun thought. But before finalizing the battle plan, he still glanced back at Li Yue, the 9th squad leader beside him. Ever since he entered the sniper battle in the afternoon, especially when the whole platoon began to attack above the high ground 20 minutes ago, Li Yue had given him a vague feeling of unhappiness.

"Squad leader 9, what is your opinion?" He asked Li Yue, his voice raised.

"I ...... I agree with the 8 squad leader. Li Yue's expression was a little unnatural, hesitated for a moment, and said. Shang Yujun didn't immediately take his eyes off his face, so he found that after saying the above sentence, Li Yue's face appeared on his face as if he was angry about something, his eyes became firm, and his lips pursed.

"Alright, let's wait until it gets dark. The specific plan was as follows: The troops were divided into two routes, all the way to the east along this trench, until they touched the communication trench on the east side, and launched an attack on the third trench. The other trail follows the first one, stops at the traffic trench to the west, and attacks upwards! His gaze took turns scanning the faces of the two squad leaders, and he made up his mind decisively, "...... What else do you two have to say?! ”

"I asked to take 8 classes to do the first way." Gong Wenxuan said that his face flushed slightly due to the excitement in his heart, "In order to ensure that at least one of the two attacking teams can rush into the Soviet trenches, I suggest a division of labor." …… I mean, let's give the Soviets a 'sound of the east and west'. I took the 8th squad to attract the attention of the Soviet army from the east as much as possible, and the platoon commander and the 9th squad leader took the 7th squad and the 9th squad to quietly touch the Soviet army's traffic trenches in the west! ”

Being the first way is undoubtedly the most dangerous, Shang Yujun's heart became slightly excited. But he was the supreme commander of this offensive team, and he couldn't grab an errand with Gong Wenxuan who was very likely to be the first to die. He inadvertently glanced at Li Yue, who seemed to want to say something, but finally didn't say anything.

"Well, that's it. Let's go back and get ready! He didn't care if Li Yue had the courage of Gong Wenxuan. The battle readiness meeting before the all-platoon attack was over. The three of them returned to the chasm, Gong Wenxuan returned to Class 8, Li Yue returned to Class 9, and Shang Yujun returned to Class 7 soldiers led by him.

"Brethren, prepare for battle before dark! Submachine guns and rifles are replaced with new magazines, and all the grenade covers are opened! If you want to eat dry food, hurry up and eat some dry food, drink some water, and act as soon as it gets dark! He didn't say much, but only said the most necessary words out loud to the soldiers of the 7th squad and the whole platoon.

He knew that the deeper meaning of his words was immediately understood by the warriors. No one said anything, no one showed excitement or anything else, no one ate dry food or drank a sip of water, everyone just "clicked" the magazines of their submachine guns and rifles as he commanded, and opened the lids of the grenades so that the white ropes with the fire rings were exposed. Then, all submachine guns and rifles that did not open the spurs "snapped" and opened the spurs.

The sunset sank completely. A few fiery red clouds were still floating in the sky of the towering peaks of Xilian Mountain, and they did not dim for a long time. They dragged out the twilight so long that it was like night would never come again. Shang Yujun put away his submachine gun and grenades, sat down with his back against the rift, and his eyes inadvertently browsed the world reflected by the afterglow of the fall. He saw the firmament, the clouds, the peaks, the ravines, the forests, the streams, vaguely, and he also saw the cities and the countryside; He felt that he should think of something at the last time, such as the poetry that had once crossed his mind on the way up the mountain, but a simple hungry thought appeared on the surface of his consciousness, and the urge to think of something above disappeared. He took out a packet of compressed dry food from the bag he was carrying, mechanically peeled off the moisture-proof plastic paper, and gnawed it down. At this moment, his heart was very clean, spacious, and calm.

8. Gong Wenxuan, the squad leader, is a typical elder brother-type person. At home, he was the firstborn; When he arrived in the army, he became a squad leader in less than a year; He is a native of Cangzhou, Hebei Province, and the land that is always reminiscent of the Peking Opera "Lin Chong Runs at Night" has always believed that the ancient way is warm-hearted, bright and frank, and jealous and hateful is the true character of a man, which makes his eldest brother's consciousness more imperceptibly integrated into the chivalrous and martial spirit. Gong Wenxuan came to serve in the army and asked for nothing: his father worked as a miner in the Kailuan coal mine, he only studied until the third grade of junior high school, his education level was not high, and he never thought of taking the military academy to become an officer. All of this has made his eldest brother quickly mature at the age of 21. However, the leadership consciousness connotated in the eldest brother's surname, sympathy for the weak, and fighting grievances, but it was contrary to the order in the life of the army where obedience was the first priority, so after four years in the army, Gong Wenxuan's file bag contained several punishment decisions caused by Lu Jian's injustice and drawing his sword. During the pre-war expansion period, it was also cleared out of the old company and transferred to the newly formed 3rd Battalion and 9th Company.

Gong Wenxuan was silent for a while in the new company. On the one hand, he has to become familiar with his surroundings; Second, his self-esteem had been tarnished by the transfer. Like everyone else, he believed that there was a "problem" with all those who had been "supported" from their former units before the war, and that he was deeply humiliated to be among them. But his unusually active tendencies did not keep him silent for long. He had to play a new role as a protector, hating people, sympathizing with and helping others. Gong Wenxuan soon hated the company commander and the training officer, and his feelings for the platoon commander were more complicated - at first, he instinctively felt uncomfortable with a 17-year-old person as his leader, and often deliberately put a little veteran in front of Shang Yujun, but when he found out that the platoon commander was actually like an ignorant big child, until he was "bullied" by the company commander and the training officer on the way to the battlefield, he only had sympathy and a strong sense of protection in his heart.

So, on the last night before the war, after the whole battalion arrived at the mountain stream, he took the initiative to pull Li Yue, the leader of the 9th squad, and went to Shang Yujun in front of the cave together, and made a heroic and fearless confession, which gave "gassing" to the platoon commander who seemed to be not so confident and capable in terms of little brother. His confession was accepted by Shang Yujun, and from this moment on, his sense of role as a leader and protector, which had been suppressed since he arrived in the new company, was fully restored, and he was enthusiastic, healthy, and vigorous in spirit and surname.

However, after a sniper battle in the afternoon, especially after the last attack on the high ground began, Gong Wenxuan realized that he had misestimated Shang Yujun, although the platoon commander had choked up loudly after the sniper battle, but whether it was the bravery shown in the battle, or the words and deeds during the last attack of the whole platoon, he found that Shang Yujun was not as weak as he imagined, on the contrary, he was a person who was stronger and more powerful in his heart than he was on the outside. Gong Wenxuan's latest conclusion is: Without him by his side, the platoon commander can also lead this platoon well!

His role consciousness in front of Shang Yujun changed unconsciously. In the past, he wanted to assist or even replace the platoon commander in command of the platoon as a protector, but now he automatically demoted himself to the position of squad leader under the command of the platoon commander. Since his enthusiasm for life and eldest brother's character could not stop him from helping others, he made himself an important adviser beside the platoon commander. After the last attack began, he had already put forward three suggestions to Shang Yujun: first, he quietly touched the rain crack ditch on the northwest side of the highland, second, he suggested that the attack be carried out after dark, and third, when Shang Yujun decided to attack the highland in two ways after dark, he also suggested that the "two roads at the same time" be changed to "Shengdong attacking the west", and took the initiative to undertake the task of leading 8 squads to "Shengdong". He was deeply satisfied that the above three suggestions were not only accepted by the platoon commander, but the first two were immediately put into practice, and the third was about to be implemented. At this moment, his opinion of Shang Yujun has completely changed: he believes that he is smart, and Shang Yujun can accept his suggestions, which not only shows that the platoon commander is also smart, but also shows that he respects himself beyond ordinary people. At this time, Gong Wenxuan's heart was no longer full of respect for Shang Yujun, but also flesh-and-blood family affection. Of course, he understood the deeper meaning of what the platoon commander had just said to the whole platoon, and Gong Wenxuan thought excitedly at this moment: It was the war that brought two people like Shang Yujun and Shang Yujun together, and today they are all very likely to be sacrificed in the last attack on the high ground, so they are no longer ordinary comrades-in-arms, but brothers who share life and death together. Shang Yujun agreed that he would lead the 8th squad to carry out the task of "Shengdong", and what Gong Wenxuan gave Gong Wenxuan was another kind of exciting feeling: the traffic trench on the east side of the northern slope of the high ground was directly below the heavy machine gun in the middle of the third trench, and once they entered the traffic trench and took the lead in firing, it was very unrealistic to rush out from under the enemy's fire net -- such a task that had little hope of survival and heavy responsibility (otherwise it was not enough to cover the main force of the platoon from the west side of the communication trench and suddenly jumped onto the third trench of the Soviet army), the platoon commander did not give it to him, Who can you give it to?!

It was getting dark.

It was suddenly blackened. The last few fiery red clouds floating high in the western sky had just dimmed, and the dark and chaotic shadows of the night rushed over the mountains.

As if hearing a silent command, Shang Yujun suddenly stood up from the rift.

Gong Wenxuan and Li Yue, the leader of the 9th squad, also stood up.

Realizing that the final attack was coming, the entire platoon of fighters also stood in silence.

A dark shadow came up breathlessly from the bottom of the mountain along the chasm.

It was the company communicator Ulante.

"The 3rd platoon commander, the company commander asked me to ask...... Why haven't you attacked yet! …… The company commander asked me to convey his exact words, 'If anyone cowers and flees from the battle, he must enforce battlefield discipline!' ’……”

The company commander saw that they had been in this chasm for a while and didn't trust them anymore! Shang Yujun thought. A cloud of anger surged up in his heart.

"You go back and tell the company commander that we'll attack now!" He spoke to Ullant in a stoic, stiff tone, not hiding his dislike for the man who gave orders down the hill. He wanted to explain the reason why the whole platoon was delayed in this chasm, but suddenly he thought of the attack that was about to begin, and he was reluctant to say anything.

No need!

Gong Wenxuan took the 8th class into the second trench; He left Ulante behind and hurried to the front of Class 8.

Above the heights, apparently as night fell, Soviet fire re-intensified.

The chaotic bullets cut countless bright bullet tracks, weaving a network of fire covering the entire northern and northeastern slopes of the heights.

"Platoon commander, we're on!" Gong Wenxuan shouted in a low voice beside him, then waved his hand behind him, bowed his back, jumped over the ridgeline first, and walked quickly east along the trench.

He was a little anxious. As soon as he left the platoon commander, such a thought popped up in Gong Wenxuan's heart. It was the words of the company commander conveyed by Ulant just now that made him suddenly impatient. There is a suspicion of the platoon commander and their team that is clear in Cheng Yukun's words as soon as he hears it, including suspicion of him; At this moment, he had such a deep family affection for the platoon commander, and the company commander's distrust of Shang Yujun made him more uncomfortable than his distrust of him. What's more, the reason why the company commander sent Ulant up the mountain was the suggestion he made to the platoon commander before dark, and it was he who proposed to postpone the attack until after dark, so he felt that he had brought unhappiness to the platoon commander and the whole platoon. He had to take the 8th squad into action at once, let Ulant see it with his own eyes, and then go back and tell the company commander if all the people in their platoon who were still alive - from the platoon commander to the soldiers - were cowardly cowards who fled from the battle.

(To be continued)