Chapter 184: Retreat

We began to retreat only on the fourth day, and we were the latest to receive an order to retreat.

The reason why I received the order so late is that this process is really dangerous......

The fighters were ready early and waited for the order from their superiors to retreat, but the order to wait left and right just did not come down. Especially when they saw that the troops stationed around them were retreating one after another, and after two days, they were almost all gone, and we were left, the soldiers were even more anxious.

But at this time, we lost contact with our superiors.

"How? Still can't get in touch? I asked Company Commander Luo.

I don't have much hope for my life back home, but I don't want to stay in Vietnam and die.

Company Commander Luo shook his head and said, "Maybe it's to keep the radio silent!" ”

This is a bit troublesome, knowing that when the regimental headquarters maintains radio silence, it is either a mission or a march. What will the march be at this time? It is quite possible that we are retreating, if our regiment has already retreated and we are still waiting......

"Company commander!" Xiao Shi said a little anxiously: "Otherwise, we will withdraw with the other troops!" You see that the rest of the troops are almost finished......"

"How does this work?" The instructor responded: "Without the order of the superior, you are not allowed to withdraw a single step!" If all the troops, like us, disregard orders and disobey orders, then it is not a mess! ”

Although I think the instructor is a bit stubborn to obey orders, I have to admit that what he said is right, the most taboo thing about retreat is to retreat without listening to the command.

"So be it!" I thought about it. I said, "Let's try to get in touch with the 447th regiment." Ask what's going on! ”

"Hmm!" Company Commander Luo nodded. The order was passed down immediately.

Later, I learned that it was fortunate that we "tried" it like this, otherwise our company would have been left in Vietnam and waiting to die.

"Platoon commander! Look at ......" At this time, Wang Kechang pointed to a section of road a few hundred meters away and said: "The engineering troops have begun to retreat......"

I lifted up my binoculars and looked, and it was really ...... The reason why I can recognize them at a glance is because the engineer units are non-combat units, and they are more likely to carry engineering shovels, mines, explosives and other equipment, while equipment such as rocket launchers and light and heavy machine guns are basically absent.

The engineering units were arranged for the retreat of the troops, and their retreat meant that the retreat in this area had come to an end. And we're still waiting in this unknown village......

This news made the soldiers even more anxious, and they all walked around like ants on a hot pot. 、

After a while, I saw Company Commander Luo walking back worriedly, and said: "I have contacted the 447 regiment, they don't know the reason, but they will help us contact the headquarters!" ”

Hearing this, the soldiers settled down a little, and it would always be much easier for the 447th Regiment to contact its superiors with a regimental command than it would be for our company to find its superiors.

"Company commander!" Before we could catch our breath, the correspondent Xiao Liu came up with a walkie-talkie and said nervously: "I got in touch, it's the phone number of the division headquarters!" ”

Company Commander Luo hurriedly took the walkie-talkie and reported the number. But what I heard from the walkie-talkie was a question: "What kind of reputation are you doing?" Why hasn't it been withdrawn yet? ”

"Report to the chief!" Commander Luo Lian's face was full of wrongs, and he responded: "We didn't receive an order to retreat!" ”

There was silence on the walkie-talkie. After a while, I heard a voice from the walkie-talkie: "Immediately retreat ten kilometers and join the 5th Company of Engineers stationed in Hebian!" ”

"Yes!" Company Commander Luo answered, and after hanging up the phone, he didn't even have time to assemble the troops, so he waved his hand and gave an order to the soldiers: "Retreat!" ”

That's what the fighters were waiting for, picked up their equipment and spread their legs and ran on the road.

Later, we learned that the reason for this situation was that our unit had previously been assigned to the 447th Regiment, so the 447th Regiment thought that our company was under the command of the 118th Regiment, and the 118th Regiment thought that we were still under the command of the 447th Regiment, and even our battalion commander thought that we had been sent home by the militia first......

It doesn't seem that they can be blamed for this, after the battle of the pass, we were carried to the rear by the militia to rest, didn't we? And the 118th Regiment still had to clear the remnants of Sabah at that time, who would have known that our unit was sent to the local area.

Merely...... This can also be seen from a certain aspect that the command of our army units is confused.

Along the way, there were small flags planted by the engineer troops, and even the sappers who had laid mines in some parts had already begun to pull out their flags and seal them......

At this time, we are crying out in our hearts, if we wait for more than ten minutes to wait for the devils to come up, don't we have mines in front and pursuers in the back? I'm afraid it's hard not to die.

Driven by this fear, we can say that we are running all the way...... The 10 kilometers would normally take us two hours to walk (Vietnam's roads are difficult to walk), but we arrived at our destination in less than an hour, and this was when we had to avoid minefields along the way.

When we arrived in Hebian, we learned that this is another small village in Vietnam...... It is said that it is a village, but it is nothing, because there are only three or four thatched huts in front of and behind here, and all of them have been blown up by artillery fire.

There are many villages like this in Vietnam, and if this is in modern times...... Then there will be many problems, such as the difficulty of seeing a doctor in such a remote village, and the inconvenience of shopping. But at that time, Vietnam was still in a relatively primitive state of life, so these were not a problem.

Having trouble seeing a doctor? When they get sick, they either wrap a bag in the bed, or get some herbs to hold up.

Shopping is inconvenient? Most of them grow their own fields and vegetables, and it is good to be full, and they don't need to shop at all.

Therefore, we are not surprised by such a village, and we will not pay much attention to it when we pass by, if it were not for the fact that we are stationed here, we would not know that it has a name called "Hebian".

Before we could get close to the village, we saw a road bridge, and from a long distance I saw the engineering troops busy up and down the road bridge. Needless to say, they must have been planting explosives to prepare to blow up the bridge.

As soon as the soldiers saw this frame, they unconsciously sped up, and at the same time shouted to the engineer troops on the bridge: "Comrade, wait, we haven't passed yet!" ”

"Comrade, don't blow up the bridge yet!"

……

Actually, I know that this is still far from blowing up the bridge, not to mention that there are still engineering troops behind us who are sweeping the tail, so it is impossible for the devils to chase through the minefield so quickly.

But I can understand the mood of the soldiers, which is like an arrow...... They were afraid that they all thought in their hearts: it is not glorious to pin your head to the waistband of your pants on the battlefield, but don't make any mistakes on the way back. It's about to go home, and it's too unjust to lie down here.

It's just that the soldiers of the engineering unit didn't understand, and they all thought it was funny when they looked at us, and joked at us when we ran closer:

"Hey! I said infantry brothers...... Didn't you charge into battle in the position? Why are you so timid now! ”

"Isn't it that after losing battles too much, you are used to running away?"

There was even a sapper who pretended to wave a flag and shouted at us: "Hey, don't come, don't come...... The fuse has been lit and is about to explode! ”

Then the other sappers burst into laughter.

The soldiers and I were already out of breath by this time, and where did we have time to pay attention to them, and after running across the bridge, we stopped to rest.

But...... In some ways, I think it's also a kind of psychological maturity on the part of the fighters.

There is a saying that the more inferior you are, the more afraid you are of others, because it hurts others to talk about it.

It's a bit strange, but it's real. For example, a poor man wearing a fake or something is afraid that others will find out, but a rich man wearing a fake can be calm, and he has confidence in his heart, and what others say is a joke.

I think the same is true of the soldiers, I remember when I first joined this unit, the most unseen thing about the soldiers was that they were timid, that they were afraid of death, and if someone said so...... It's like having a grudge, you have to scold each other for a while, or even do something before you stop.

But now...... It doesn't matter if the sapper troops laughed at the fighters so blatantly. If we have the confidence, whether we can fight or not, whether we will be brave or not, we know for ourselves, it is not that others can erase our credit and achievements by talking about it.

"You are the troops of the second company!" After a while, a middle-aged soldier shook hands with us and said, "Welcome, comrade! I am Zhang Xuezhong, the commander of the 5th Company of the Engineer, and my superiors have already informed us of your situation first, so you should retreat with our troops! ”

The soldiers and I couldn't help but be overjoyed when we heard this, because we all know that the engineering units are usually equipped with cars because they have to carry a lot of mines, explosives, and so on...... In other words, we won't have to walk this time.

After a while, Company Commander Zhang asked with some confusion: "Comrade...... What about the rest of your troops? ”

These words choked the soldiers, and the troops soon fell into silence, and it took a long time for Company Commander Luo to reply a few words heavily: "It's all here!" ”

"What? A company is ......" Company Commander Zhang quickly understood what was going on, and stopped talking in time.

The fighters who were still laughing at us just now also understood, and the mockery on their faces quickly turned into apologies.

I couldn't help but look to the other side of the bridge, and silently said in my heart: "Brothers who remain on the battlefield, we are already on our way home, your souls...... Come with us? (To be continued......)