The evening of the collapse of the 10th year of the Republic of China is unforgettable, it is like a frozen life landscape painting, firmly nailed to Yuhuan's mind by the big nail of memory. Many years have passed, so many complicated and noisy things in the world have become a thing of the past, but the scene of that evening is still vivid, as if it had just slipped past and could be grasped with a stretch of hand.

Yuhuan Ji clearly remembers the whole situation of that evening.

It was on a train retreating north. The train started and stopped in the midst of the occasional burst of cold gunfire. The rays of the setting sun reflected the whole carriage red, bright and warm everywhere. Illuminated by the sun, Yuhuan and his younger brother were sleepy for a while.

The air was filled with the sweet smell of stirring milk powder. The sweet smell used to smell good, but because of the old man's head, it became greasy, dirty, and smelled sour with sweat. - That evening, Yuhuan saw Lao Zhang's sweaty arm stirring milk powder in a large iron bucket, and sweat beads dripped straight into the bucket.

Yuhuan wanted her father to intervene, but she finally didn't dare to ,—— her father, who was the brigade commander, was still very busy during the retreat, so not far behind her, she looked at the map with Deputy Brigade Commander Tang and the officers around her, talked about the war situation, and didn't relax until dinner.

Dinner was milk soup and moldy pancakes as usual.

Since the team withdrew from Xuzhou, the people in the car had nothing to eat except milk soup and pancakes.

The situation was very bad, and as soon as the car stopped, several corpses were thrown down, some of them were seriously wounded, some were sick and starved, and many of the brothers who were soldiers could not even eat moldy pancakes.

At this point, my father and Deputy Brigade Commander Tang still maintained their due composure. They thought that the Xihe railway station in front of them was still in the hands of their own people, and they thought that the momentum of the collapse of the Xihe River would be stopped after crossing.

Yuhuan heard his father point to the map before the meal and say to Deputy Brigade Commander Tang and his officers, "Brothers, don't panic! When you get to the stream, you have a way. Our unit got off the train at Xihe Station to rest, and sent a telegram to Dashuai asking for help, and instructed the new Fourth Regiment to assist us in sticking to the line of Xihe and Baikou. ”

Deputy Brigade Commander Tang asked: "What should I do with the family members and wounded of the soldiers in the car?" Can't get off the bus under the stream? ”

My father looked at Deputy Brigade Commander Tang and said in a negotiated tone: "I don't think the family members and seriously injured people in the army should get out of the car, right?" Yes? Forget about the provincial capital behind the straight hair! What does your brother say? ”

Deputy Brigade Commander Tang nodded: "That's fine,—— in this way, we won't have any drag, and we can fight hard in Xihe." ”

My father was not in a bad mood, and waved his hand and said: "Not only do you fight hard, but you also have to use the river as a base for advancement, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack the ......."

That evening, my father and Deputy Brigade Commander Tang, a pair of old brothers who had formed a righteous relationship in Xinhai, thought that their good times were not over, and they both thought that their riding boots could still step on the earth and go to bite the warlords from all walks of life,—— they no longer expected that the tide of the battle would suddenly turn around, and the Xihe Railway Station in front of them would be the last graveyard of their independent brigade.

The father walked into the journey of death with the sound of the wheels.

On the final journey, the father was serene.

Yuhuan sat next to his father, sharing a large tea bowl with his father to drink milk soup, just like in the home of the town guard embassy.

My mother and younger brother were also with my father, and they shared a lunch box to drink.

The younger brother sniffed and poured the milk soup down his neck and belly. The mother, who was suffering from tuberculosis, kept coughing while wiping the milk from her brother's neck, causing Deputy Brigade Commander Tang's wife to stretch out her head to look at them.

My father loved his younger brother the most, and when he saw that his younger brother was drinking so happily, he only drank a few sips of the big tea bowl and stopped drinking,— — and he didn't let Yuhuan drink it again.

The father handed the remaining half bowl of milk soup to his younger brother and asked him to drink it all.

His father only chewed dry pancakes, and pancake crumbs kept falling onto his bent legs.

The father wrapped pancakes in his mouth and whispered, "It'll be fine soon, and after crossing the stream, there will be a good meal to eat." ”

The younger brother said, "Dad, I want to eat big fat meat!" ”

The father nodded again and again: "Okay, okay, other fathers don't dare to say, this big fat father will make sure you eat enough." The father also said to the mother: "Yuhuan mother, this time...... This time you're tired. ”

Mother said: "What's the matter, it's not that our mother is tired of you." ”

The blood-red sunlight through the window squeezed the figure of their family against the wall of the carriage here.

Later, my father smoked alone and silently until the train stopped at Xihe Station, and he never said a word to the family......

The car was forced to stop.

Division Commander Zhang, who had occupied the station five hours earlier, blew up the tracks.

As soon as the train stopped, the people in the wagons opened fire on the train, and the gunfire suddenly exploded, and the windows on both sides were shattered, and the glass pieces flew in all directions, and many brothers in the carriage were shot in confusion.

The father was alert, the cat leaned down and screamed "lie down", and the people in the carriage lay down.

Yuhuan was lying in her mother's arms, and as soon as the gunshot rang out, her mother hugged her and her younger brother under her. Yuhuan remembered that she was not very scared at the time, and desperately tried to pull her body out of her mother's arms, but her mother pressed her hands and arms to the ground. She had no choice but to lie on her stomach and let the fierce gunfire outside tear apart the stagnant dusk.

The father expected that the general situation was not good, and under the threat of the bullet, he turned his body for a while, then opened the curtain and looked out,—— but he didn't know what he saw, after looking, his face suddenly turned pale, and he was stunned for a while, before he turned around, sighed to Deputy Brigade Commander Tang and said, "Finish...... It's over, it's over...... Let's fly the white flag......"

Deputy Brigade Commander Tang didn't react for a while.

The father shouted again: "Go find the white flag!" ”

Deputy Brigade Commander Tang asked, "Big brother, let's ...... Can't we break through? ”

The father said angrily: "Let's take our family with us, and ...... Trapped in the car again, still ...... And break through a fart! ”

After speaking, my father pushed Deputy Brigade Commander Tang away, looked around, reached out and took off the white shirt hanging on the coat hook, leaned out of the window and shook it desperately......

The gunfire of the masterpiece gradually died down.

In the wagons and in the half-bombed station, many soldiers in gray uniforms poured out, like swarms of tigers and wolves.

The gray soldiers held guns and knives, and surrounded the inner and outer layers of the train with murderous aura.

An official holding a white iron horn shouted at the train, telling the people in the train to throw their guns down from the window and then get off the train.

My father and the officers around him did as the gray soldiers asked, and threw their guns out of the window.

When he was about to get out of the car, his father pulled his younger brother and kissed him, and said to his mother: "Don't be afraid, if you are a soldier and eat food, this kind of winning or losing will inevitably ......."

The mother coughed violently and confessed to the father: "If you know, you will ...... Don't be tough with others, and bow your head when it's time to bow your head......"

The father nodded to the mother, and then, he glanced at Yuhuan with a smile and said to Yuhuan, "Help your mother take care of your brother!" ”

Yuhuan stepped forward and took his father's hand and said, "Dad, you ...... You have to listen to your mother, don't resist ......"

The father didn't answer Yuhuan's words, but said: "Don't forget to get out of the car and buy big fat meat for your brother, he is greedy!" ”

My father got out of the car calmly.

After getting out of the car, as soon as he stopped on the platform, his father was twisted by several gray soldiers.

The father was very calm, shook off the gray soldiers who were pulling him, straightened his clothes and hats, and said to the gray soldiers: "Brothers have worked hard. ”

I don't know if it was because of my father's calmness or because of my father's kindness, the gray soldiers had a better attitude and didn't twist their father again.

A small officer ran over and saluted his father.

The father raised his hand and returned the salute.

The junior officer was very polite and said to his father: "General Sun is frightened. ”

The father shook his hand and said, "Nothing, nothing......"

At this time, Yuhuan and the family members of the officers in the car were all looking at the smashed car window, and everyone was very nervous in their hearts.

However, at that moment, Yuhuan didn't expect his father to die.

Yuhuan remembered that his father had never killed them, some of them were released, and some of them were obedient to their father. - The head of Yue Dajiang was returned, and after he came over, his father still let Yue Dajiang be the head of the group.

However, this time it was his father who was going to be obedient, Yuhuan thought, it would not be easy for his father to return to Division Commander Zhang as a brigade commander and town guard.

The mother probably also thought of this, and told Yuhuan to take care of her younger brother and get out of the car herself.

Deputy Brigade Commander Tang's wife saw her mother walking towards the door of the car and followed.

But the gray soldiers guarding the door of the car stopped them and refused to let them go down.

At this moment, the scene on the platform was peaceful, and the petty officer took out a cigarette for his father to smoke and lit a fire for his father.

Father spit out the light blue smoke and asked, "What about Master Zhang?" ”

The petty officer said, "Just here, just here." ”

Father nodded: "Okay, okay, you Master Zhang fought this battle beautifully, I will obey him." ”

Father said this, Master Zhang came over, from the direction of the station, Yuhuan can see clearly. Master Zhang was younger than his father, a short and fat man, walking like a duck, swinging and swinging.

On that evening, Yuhuan didn't know Master Zhang, but Mrs. Tang did. Mrs. Tang said, well, that is Master Zhang, so Yuhuan also met Master Zhang, and never forgot it after getting to know him.

As soon as Master Zhang came over, his father immediately greeted him and saluted Master Zhang.

Master Zhang didn't return the courtesy, and scolded: "Damn, your old grandson also has today?" ”

The father said, "I ...... I'm sorry for the teacher......"

Division Commander Zhang pulled out his gun, pointed the gun at his father's forehead and said, "Just like this bear, you are also worthy of leading soldiers?" ”

The father was forced to bow his gray head: "No... Unworthy, unworthy......"

Division Commander Zhang smiled coldly: "If you are not worthy of leading troops, let's die for Lao Tzu!" ”

After yelling, Master Zhang really picked out the gun, and shot three times in a row, killing his father on the platform at his feet in front of their mother and son. When his father fell to the ground, the blood that burst out of his body splashed onto Commander Zhang's shiny riding boots......

All this happened too suddenly, not to mention the Yuhuan family, even the subordinate officers and soldiers of Division Commander Zhang on the platform were stunned.

Yuhuan trembled, as if he had been shot, and he didn't know what to scream.

The younger brother cried and rushed under the car, but Deputy Brigade Commander Tang's wife grabbed him.

Mother fainted in front of the car......

My father was at Creek River Station, and on that humiliating evening ended his military career forever.

That evening became long and endless, like a thick dark cloud hanging over Yuhuan's head, and Yuhuan never came out of that evening since.

Many things that followed,—— many things that had nothing to do with that evening, reminded Yuhuan of that heavy evening......