More than 100 prisoners of war marched in two columns on the mountain road, and more than a dozen Japanese soldiers armed with rifles with bayonets on their shoulders walked on either side of the line. The procession of prisoners of war meandered along the mountain stream, and Kei Yamada, the military officer, followed the food cart at the end with a blank expression.

After walking for more than an hour, the POW team came to Xipingwang. It was a newly built stronghold of the Japanese army, with a large half-built pillbox, surrounded by a three-meter-deep trench with a civil machine-gun nest built on the edge of the trench, and two rows of unfinished barracks.

After the procession stopped, the Japanese soldiers in charge of escorting the prisoners of war drove them to disperse to work, and the two prisoners of war easily removed the tables and chairs from the cars, set up parasols, put kettles and cups on the table, and retreated silently. Keiichi Yamada sat down in his chair and raised his hand to point to Mantang.

The hall was puzzled and stunned. Zhang Baowang immediately whispered to Mantang: "This is for you to serve Juncao, pour water and serve rice, fan a fan or something, you can not work, it's a beautiful difference." ”

Mantang immediately understood that Yamada had something to say. He obediently walked under the parasol and stood respectfully beside Keiichi Yamada with his hands down. Yamada sat leisurely in his chair, his eyes looking around casually, and asked softly, "Mantang-kun, how did you and Tie Zhu become prisoners of war?" ”

As soon as Mantang was about to speak, Yamada immediately whispered a warning: "Don't face me, look away when you speak, and pick up that fan...... Yes, fan me, attention! No one here knows that I speak Chinese. ”

Mantang fanned Yamada and scolded at the same time: "Ri he is a mother, he was arrested Ding Bei, he can't do it, he will be shot if he escapes, no, as soon as the war starts, you Japanese will be arrested, anyway, his mother is unlucky......"

"Oh, I see, you were captured, and then you caught up in the battle, and ended up as prisoners of war, right?"

"That's right, since I went out that morning to help you deliver food, my brothers and I haven't come home yet, and I don't know what happened to my father and mother."

Yamada sighed softly: "It's not too unlucky, at least you're still alive." War is like that, no one can be their own master, and so am I. I don't want to fight yet, I dream of going back to Osaka to run my shop, but no, I have to be a soldier here, it's fate! ”

"Come on, brother, you still can't be your own master? Be content, sit in the shade and enjoy the shade, and I will stand and fan you......"

"Well, if you don't think this job is good, I have the right to change it for you, how about you dig a trench?" Yamada took a sip of water quietly.

"Don't ...... I just said that, you can't give this errand to someone else, and you can change my brother in a while, and let him rest for a while. ”

"You can think about it, if the iron pillar comes, you will have to go to work, there can only be one person here."

"Then do it, who made him my brother, I still have to bear the guilt."

"Mantangjun, do you think I'm sitting here with a parasol to put on a show? You're wrong, I'm pitiful to these prisoners of war, and let the frail and sick people take turns here to take a breath. You know that Zhang Baowang, right? I called him here a lot, and I could see that this man was a man, and I didn't want him to die. ”

"Hmph, in this hellish place, these prisoners of war will have to let Watanabe toss to death sooner or later. By the way, man, why are you here too? ”

Yamada sighed deeply: "I also realized that the commander wanted us to treat the Chinese people in the war zone well, and even ordered us to distribute military rations for disaster relief and restrain the soldiers not to disturb the people, but now it seems that it is a complete hoax, the purpose is to gain the support of the Chinese people and fight against Chiang's army." But after the Henan campaign was over, our base camp would no longer restrain the troops, and the resentment that the soldiers had been holding back for a long time finally broke out, and they committed a lot of atrocities. ”

"I'm also regretting it, I really shouldn't have helped you work for some food, what's this called, I won't have the face to go back to the village in the future, it's ugly, I'm a traitor, and I can't hold my head up in the next life. Brother, do you know who I'm most afraid of seeing? It's the translator Gao Sheng, as soon as I saw him, I thought of myself, and I wanted to find a mouse hole to get into, and I didn't have the face to see people......"

"Mantangjun, you and Tie Zhu are both good people, Gao Sheng is different, this guy has a bad character, he is a real bad person, and I also hate him."

"Brother, you say, he is also a Chinese, right? How can it be worse than the Japanese? ”

"Mantangjun, it's not right for you to say that, good people and bad people do not distinguish between nationalities, China, like Japan, has both good and bad people."

"Well, that's right, you're not bad as a Japanese, you're a good person, it's interesting."

Man Tang suddenly felt a little dizzy, his body shook a little, and he almost fell.

Keiichi Yamada looked into the distance and asked with concern, "Are you okay?" ”

"It's okay, let the spear plow out of the ditch on the top of the head, like his mother's plowing, I've been dizzy for the past two days."

"Here's for you." Keiichi Yamada has one in his right hand, and the whole hall sees a small medicine bottle in his hand.

"What the hell?"

"Iodine, disinfect the wound on your head, don't get infected. After a while, you go to the car and take two nests and hide them on your body, and when you eat, you only have one for each person, and you can't eat enough at all. If you have anything to tell me in the future, as long as I'm on duty, just nod at me, and I'll call you to your side, remember! ”

"Brother, let me tell you clearly, I don't plan to stay here with Tiezhu, this is not a fucking place for people, if I don't run, I'll die here sooner or later, I want to go home......"

"I'm afraid not, it's too dangerous, I'll be shot if I catch it, you and Tiezhu are my friends, I can't let you take this risk!" Keiichi Yamada looked coldly at the Japanese soldiers standing guard in the distance.

After finishing work in the evening and returning to the dormitory, the full hall called Tie Zhu, Zhang Baowang, Li Changshun and Sun Xincang together, took out the nest head given by Yamada, and divided half of each person. These days, everyone is almost crazy with hunger, and when they see the nest, they want to stuff it in their mouths.

Zhang Baowang stopped everyone: "Hide it, eat it in the middle of the night, don't let people see it." Manhouse, you come with me! ”

The two came to the courtyard.

Zhang Baowang looked around and whispered, "Mantang, where did this nest come from?" ”

Mantang said: "Yamada gave, oh, just that Japanese military Cao, he can speak Chinese, I used to know him." ”

Zhang Baowang said vigilantly: "Although this devil does not beat people, he is stronger than other devils, but in the end he is still a devil, don't be a trap to lure us into the bait!" ”

"No, this person seems to be reliable, there are good people in the Japanese, this brother is very interesting, when the battle is over, I want to bow down with him, and I will be a brother in the future, don't worry, I know it."

Zhang Baowang sneered: "You can do it, I recognized a brother in the devil group within two days of coming, what do you want to do?" ”

Mantang stared at Zhang Baowang's eyes: "I want to run, Yamada can help, Brother Baowang, let's go together with the five brothers." ”

"Mantang, I've been here for three years, and it's not new to run away, there are people running at both ends in three days, but there is one thing, I haven't seen anyone run away. Not once was he not arrested and shot on the spot in front of the whole battalion of brothers, and I have seen this kind of thing a lot. ”

"Brother Baowang, what's going on? Do you think you can live without running? Horizontal and vertical is a death, why not try? If you catch me and accept your fate, isn't it just shooting? That's better than selling coolies hungry all day long and letting the devil toss to death! ”

Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded outside the courtyard, and more than a dozen Japanese soldiers, led by a second lieutenant, rushed out of the camp gate and ran north.

At this time, Gao Sheng came out of Watanabe's office and shouted to the prisoners of war in the courtyard: "What are you looking at? What to see? What's there to see? Now I declare that after today's release, I will go back to sleep! ”

Zhang Baowang said: "Do you see it? Someone must have run away, and the devil soldiers chased after them, and it seems that there are many people who run away. ”

In the early morning of the next day, all the prisoners of war were gathered in the open field of the courtyard, the Japanese soldiers had bayonets on their guns, and they were on guard on the perimeter, and the Type 92 heavy machine guns on the watchtower were aimed at the crowd. Two wooden stakes were temporarily erected in the middle of the open field, and Watanabe led two military dogs and several other Japanese officers into the courtyard.

The prisoners of war waited nervously, not knowing what was happening. Watanabe waved his right hand with white gloves, and the gate of the camp opened, and four Japanese soldiers with guns walked in with two prisoners of war, and they tied them to wooden stakes. The prisoners of war in the empty field were agitated, and everyone knew that the devil was going to kill someone.

Zhang Baowang whispered to Mantang: "These two brothers are from the fourth district, I know them, and it seems that they didn't make it, so they must have been told by Gao Sheng last night." ”

Watanabe stood in the middle of the courtyard with his legs crossed and reprimanded the prisoners of war in Japanese, and Gao Sheng immediately translated loudly: "Everyone listen carefully, Watanabe Taijun told everyone that last night another **** soldier tried to escape and was caught red-handed by the garrison. Watanabe Taijun believes that the two fugitives knew the fate of the escape, but still wanted to run, which was obviously an intentional offense to the authority of the imperial army. In this case, today I will call everyone to open their eyes and see what happened to the fugitives, by the way, Watanabe Taijun thinks that bullets are precious, and they do not deserve to be shot, and today the Imperial Army is ready to give them a different way of dying, you all look carefully! ”

At this time, a Japanese second lieutenant suddenly gave an order, and the 10 Japanese recruits were divided into two groups, screaming and stabbing the two prisoners of war with bayonets in turn. In order to prevent the victims from dying immediately, the bayonets of the Japanese soldiers all stabbed the victims in the abdomen, and the two prisoners of war let out a terrible scream, and the blood flowed in an instant...... A Japanese recruit, who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, took a trembling step and shrank back in horror, his spear hanging weakly......

The Japanese second lieutenant was furious: "Eight grids! The young soldier's nose and the corners of his mouth were spurted with blood, he covered his face in horror and stepped aside, and the Japanese soldiers behind him rushed up as if they had just taken stimulants, and they rushed up to the victims, screaming and stabbing the victims with guns, and the two prisoners of war were stabbed in the abdomen and their internal organs flowed out. One of the men shouted hoarsely, "Little devil, I'll fuck your mother!" Grandpa will do it with you when he arrives in the Netherworld......"

As soon as the Japanese second lieutenant waved his hand, the two wolf dogs barked wildly and pounced, grabbed the internal organs of the tortured person and tore them desperately, dragging the intestines seven or eight meters away. The two prisoners of war struggled desperately, letting out heart-pounding screams.

More than 800 prisoners of war of the national army in the courtyard bowed their heads in pain, unable to bear to look at them anymore.

The two torturers finally stopped screaming, and both swallowed their last breath with their eyes open. Zhang Baowang has lived here for three years, and he has seen a lot of such scenes, and he has carefully observed that most of the prisoners of war have seen such a tragic execution for the first time, and they have no such psychological preparation, they are all frightened, and many people are trembling all over, and they don't even dare to raise their heads.

The executed Japanese recruits ran out of the prisoner of war camp in a procession.

Zhang Baowang's face was blue, and he was about to beckon the prisoners of war to come forward to collect the corpses, but he found Tong Mantang with his legs spread without changing his face, standing there steadily, he held his arms in front of his chest, and stared at the interpreter Gao Sheng defiantly.

Zhang Baowang was secretly surprised, and said in his heart that this person was not ordinary, he was definitely a brave man, as if nothing could scare him. Zhang Baowang thought that if Gao Sheng fell into the hands of Man Tang one day, he would take out Gao Sheng's intestines without mercy.

For the past few days, Mantang has been thinking about how to escape. He was observing the pattern of the changing of the guard of the Japanese sentries and the position of the sentinels at the gate of the prisoner of war camp, as well as the damn watchtower, which was five or six meters above the ground, and on it were usually two devil sentries operating a Type 92 heavy machine gun, and the open field outside the prisoner of war camp had a field of view of 300 meters, and once the heavy machine gun on the watchtower fired, no one could run through this open field. It seems that if you don't kill the sentry on the watchtower, running away is an empty word.

The house needs weapons, and he can't do anything without them, and he's waiting for his moment. Mantang always told Tie Zhu to endure everything and don't cause trouble, otherwise it will bring trouble to the escape plan.

I want to think so, but things still come, and it's not easy to endure it.

One night, just after the wind was over, the prisoners of war in the courtyard returned to their houses one after another, and the whole hall found that the corner of Tiezhu's eye was blue, as if he had been beaten.

Mantang immediately became angry, he grabbed the iron pillar and asked, "Say, what's wrong with your eyes, who hit it?" ”

Tie Zhu looked casual: "Brother, don't do anything." ”

"Fart! What's wrong with the corners of your eyes? Who did it? ”

Tie Zhu looked around and whispered: "Brother, let's not talk about it, if you can bear it, don't you make trouble." ”

"I want to see what's going on, my brother let the family beat ...... Fuck, is this worth it? Say it quickly, or my brother will beat you up! The whole house roared fiercely.

"Hey, I blame myself for this, I was in the yard just now, I was hiding behind the thatched house and eating the nest head given by Yamada, but the second team saw a dog day, and this dog day came to rob it, and I was punched if I didn't give it."

"Then why don't you fight back? Beat him up! ”

"I fought back, it's really not good, the dog is half a head taller than me, and his arms are thicker than my thighs, he gently threw me out like a chicken, I really can't beat this dog, and the nest head still let him snatch it away. Brother, forget it, just feed the head of the nest to the dog......"

Mantang was so angry that he almost went crazy: "Damn, tomorrow you carry the nest head, I will follow you, I will meet this dog's day!" ”

In the evening of the next day, Tie Zhu walked in front as instructed, and walked around the crowd of prisoners of war, his eyes fixed on Tie Zhu with his spare eyes. Sure enough, a tall and strong man stopped Tie Zhu, this guy is 1.85 meters tall, with a pimple, wide nose, big eyes and square mouth, and the open button military uniform exposes the developed pectoralis major muscles and thick chest hair, he saw Tie Zhu seemed to be too lazy to talk nonsense, and went straight into Tie Zhu's arms, Tie Zhu desperately protected his nest head with both hands and struggled: "What are you doing, Ming robbery?" ”

The man grabbed the collar of the iron pillar with only one hand and lifted him up: "Little Wang Ba Lamb, what happened to Lao Tzu who grabbed it?" ”

Mantang rushed over like a leopard, punched the man in the corner of his left eye, and the man's attention was all on the nest head in Tiezhu's arms, and he was caught off guard by a heavy punch, and his body shook and almost fell.

Man Tang has been aggressive since he was a child, and he has some combat experience, and he knows that with this man's body, he is afraid that he will not be able to put down one punch, and he must strike a few more times while the iron is hot, and he must not be given a chance to breathe. So Mantang gave him another punch according to his nose, who knew that this punch was empty, the man's body did not move, but his neck was slightly crooked, Mantang's fist actually passed by the man's cheek, his body could not be restrained for a while, and at the same time as he was about to fall forward by inertia, his soft abdomen was hit hard by the opponent...... Just like that, the fight was over.

Man Tang fell to the ground, rolling on the ground in pain with his hands on his abdomen, and the indescribable pain made him sweat profusely, unable to say a word.

Tie Zhu was also anxious when he saw that his brother was knocked down, he scolded and hit his head, the man dodged slightly, and a flying leg kicked on Tie Zhu's chest, Tie Zhu fell on his back, and he couldn't get up again.

The prisoners of war laughed when they watched the excitement around, life in the prisoner of war camp was very boring, and the prisoners of war wished that there were fights every day, and it didn't matter who beat whom, as long as it had an entertainment effect.

The man's name is Xue Zhankui, 30 years old this year, the captain of the second brigade of the prisoner of war camp, before he was captured, he was a sergeant squad leader of the new 24th Division of the 9th Army of the National Army, and was captured during the Zhongtiao Mountain Battle in the 30th year of the Republic of China. Xue Zhankui is a native of Weijialin Village, Shen County, Hebei Province, who practiced martial arts as a teenager, played well, and was a person with a short temperament. With Xue Zhankui's kung fu, a wild child like Man Tang who has never seen the world and is only good at fighting in the village has no qualifications to fight at all, but just now Xue Zhankui was too concerned about the nest head in Tie Zhu's arms, so he was caught off guard by a punch from Mantang, otherwise ten Mantang would not want to get close to him.

At this time, although Xue Zhankui knocked down the two cousins, his anger was still unsubsided, no one dared to beat him when he was so big, but today he was punched in the face in front of everyone, which is simply a great shame, even if he tore the full hall apart. Xue Zhankui can't just forget it, he picked it up and was ready to spare a few more punches in his face, as long as these punches go up, this kid's face will become a rotten persimmon, and he will regret it for the rest of his life, eat the leopard's guts, dare to do something with Uncle Xue?

However, Xue Zhankui's wrist was suddenly grabbed, and he subconsciously used the wrist removal technique, ready to counterattack and capture the opponent, but who knew that the opponent's arm strength was amazing, and he didn't move at all. Xue Zhankui knew that this time he had met a real opponent.

Standing in front of him was Zhang Baowang, the captain of the first brigade of the prisoner of war camp.

"Xue Zhankui, I can see that your kung fu is not bad, but don't break the rules, my two brothers have never practiced martial arts, you just beat people to death with one punch, and your face is dull." Zhang Baowang said politely.

Xue Zhankui withdrew his hand, and Li Changshun and Sun Xincang hurriedly stepped forward to help Man Tang and Tiezhu up. Hundreds of prisoners of war from the two brigades surrounded the field three layers inside and three layers outside, and no one expected that Zhang Baowang, who was usually not amazing in appearance and had an easy-going personality, would have the courage to argue with Xue Zhankui, and this kind of excitement was not encountered in a century.

Xue Zhankui was also secretly surprised in his heart, what a fucking eye-seeking, this Zhang Baowang, who is not visible on weekdays, is actually a practitioner? And he successfully deceived everyone, and rushed to this, this person is really not to be underestimated.

Xue Zhankui looked at Zhang Baowang and said, "Captain Zhang, these two little rabbit cubs are your people, right?" I can put it in my head, the Japanese allocated so much food to the prisoner of war camp, and the more than 800 brothers in the prisoner of war camp could not eat enough, and some people had to eat less if they ate more. ”

Zhang Baowang said calmly: "Xue Zhankui, there must be evidence when you speak, why do you say that my hands and feet are not clean?" ”

Xue Zhankui pointed at the iron pillar and said, "I've been staring at this kid for a day or two, he has already eaten his share of the nest head when he was eating, why did he turn into a nest head when he was out of the wind?" Did it fall from the sky? ”

Zhang Baowang smiled: "Oh, it's for this, then let me tell you, the nest head of the iron pillar was saved from the mouth of a few of our brothers, he is young and needs to be taken care of, this is always okay, right?" ”

"! You fool around, you just have such a little food per person, I don't believe you can save it from your mouth and give it to others, and he is not your father. Xue Zhankui said arrogantly.

Zhang Baowang's face sank: "Xue Zhankui, keep your mouth clean, will you speak human words?" ”

"Hey, hey! Uncle, I'm polite to say this, you haven't seen a time when I'm unreasonable. ”

Zhang Baowang was completely enraged: "Okay, I want to see and understand, surnamed Xue, you can make a move, I will play with you today." ”

Xue Zhankui unbuttoned his clothes and threw off his military jacket, revealing a strong and well-developed chest muscle and six angular abdominal muscles. He squatted down, stretched out his arms and stood up a portal and said: "The surname is Zhang, this is a prisoner of war camp, the devil wishes that we all died, so we can save some trouble, and we don't need to set up life and death documents." ”

Zhang Baowang took a step back, held his breath and turned sideways to meet the enemy in a T-shaped step, and both sides of the fight entered a state of imminent battle......

At this time, a whistle suddenly sounded in the courtyard, and I saw the interpreter Gao Sheng blowing the whistle and running with a few Japanese soldiers, and the prisoners of war who were watching the brawl automatically moved out of the way.

Gao Sheng roared as he walked: "You turtle grandsons, you're full, aren't you?" And have spare time to fight and fight? His grandmother's, all of them were turned off for me and starved for two days! He raised the leather whip in his hand and drove away the prisoners of war who were watching the excitement.

Gao Sheng's "trumpet" refers to the two iron cages placed behind the watchtower, which are specially prepared for the punishment of prisoners of war. The iron cage is only one meter square, the prisoner can only sit, can not lie flat at all, except for a few iron bars on the top is not covered, the prisoner is exposed to the sun and rain, no food and drink, the number of days of detention depends on the mood of the Japanese officer, ranging from one to seven days, and few people who are weak can survive five days.

Several Japanese soldiers stepped forward to separate Zhang Baowang and Xue Zhankui, ready to drag them into the trumpet. At this time, there was applause above everyone's heads, and the prisoners of war looked up to find Watanabe Shaosa sitting on the watchtower, and it seemed that he had been watching for a long time.

Gao Sheng waved his hand to stop the Japanese soldiers, and looked up at Watanabe waiting for orders.

Watanabe seemed to be in a good mood, he nodded to Gao Sheng and said, "Gao, you don't have to punish them, I'm very interested in watching these two people compete, to be honest, I've never seen real Chinese kung fu." ”

The hundreds of prisoners of war in the courtyard fell silent all of a sudden, Watanabe was the supreme commander of the prisoner of war camp, and his words here were holy decrees, disobeying Watanabe's orders, and there was only one result, and that was death.

Gao Sheng was stunned for a moment, but he immediately reacted: "Everyone gathered around to make room for these two, Watanabe Taijun is rare to have this kind of Yaxing, everyone may not know, Watanabe Taijun is also a master of judo and kendo, can be interested in watching the Chinese competition, that is enough to give face!" ”

Zhang Baowang retracted his fists and said to Xue Zhankui expressionlessly: "The surname is Xue, let's settle the account later, let's stop here today, I won't accompany you." After speaking, Zhang Baowang turned around to leave.

Xue Zhankui sneered: "The surname is Zhang, are you afraid?" ”

"Whatever you think, Xue Zhankui, do you like to let people play monkeys?"

"It doesn't matter, I don't have time to think about anything other than beating you up right now. Of course, if you don't want to fight today, you can compensate me in front of these brothers, and our accounts will be settled. ”

Zhang Baowang turned around: "Xue Zhankui, you are a person who practices martial arts, you should know the rules of martial arts, you can't force each other hard in everything, I don't fight with you, but I may not be afraid of you, understand?" ”

At this time, Watanabe, who was on the watchtower, spoke a few words of Japanese.

Gao Sheng nodded and shouted: "Watanabe Taijun said, refuse the contestant, shoot immediately!" Zhang Baowang, Xue Zhankui, have you heard? ”

Xue Zhankui sneered: "Zhang Baowang, did you hear that?" It's better to be beaten twice than to be shot, right? ”

Zhang Baowang helplessly hugged his fist at Xue Zhankui: "Xue Zhankui, you remember, we are soldiers, soldiers can die on the battlefield, but they can't die in this ghost place, and they will make people laugh when they die." If I make a heavy move, you can bear more. ”

Xue Zhankui was too lazy to talk nonsense, he took a step forward, turned his palm into a knife, and slashed at Zhang Baowang's throat with his palm. This trick is very vicious, the human throat is an extremely vulnerable part, once hit, it is easy to die. Zhang Baowang raised his left arm to block the opponent's sharp knife palm, and at the same time, his right fist shot out like lightning, slamming Xue Zhankui's lower abdomen, Xue Zhankui quickly dodged and dodged Zhang Baowang's heavy blow......

Gao Sheng climbed up to the watchtower panting with a chair on his shoulder, and he respectfully put the chair away and invited Watanabe Shaosa to sit down and watch.

Watanabe stared intently at the martial arts arena and said, "Gao, these two people are good at kung fu, we didn't even know it before, this is your dereliction of duty." ”

Gao Sheng felt very aggrieved, and he pleaded: "Taijun, my job is to translate, and the second is to pay attention to whether the prisoners of war have any attempts to escape, as for whether they will fight, it seems that it is not my duty. ”

Watanabe coldly threw out a sentence: "You are also Chinese, they are your compatriots, you should know these people better than us." ”

Zhang Baowang and Xue Zhankui have been fighting for seven or eight rounds, and Zhang Baowang was punched in the corner of his mouth, oozing blood. Xue Zhankui didn't take advantage either, the corner of his eye was punched back by Zhang Baowang, the edge of his eyebrow bone was broken, and the blood flowed down and covered his eyes. Both sides of the fight quickly wiped the blood with their sleeves, bowed their bodies again, and slowly turned in circles, looking for the other's flaws. The hundreds of prisoners of war of the first and second brigades were excited, and thunderous applause cheered for their respective captains.

Zhang Baowang stared at Xue Zhankui's face and was thinking in his heart, this kid's kung fu is not weak, but his brain is not very good, like an elm pimple, he can't get through it, what is it if he fights like this? Whoever wins the battle is Bo Japanese Ichiraku, providing them with rare entertainment. Why didn't he, Xue Zhankui, understand this? Zhang Baowang felt humiliated, and he had to end the fight as soon as possible or lose both. Zhang Baowang cheered up and deliberately sold a flaw, exposing all his positive body in front of his opponent.

Xue Zhankui didn't know what to do, he took a step forward, his right leg flew up like lightning, and swept an arc in the air towards Zhang Baowang's face, Zhang Baowang squatted slightly, lowered his head to avoid the blow, and then crashed into Xue Zhankui's arms, and launched a hand-to-hand combat stunt, he raised his knee and slammed Xue Zhankui's crotch...... Xue Zhankui was shocked, and hurriedly retreated to defend, who knew that Zhang Baowang's knee attack was a false move, his trump card was an elbow attack, Zhang Baowang grabbed the empty force and waved his right arm, and an elbow hit Xue Zhankui's nose bridge, only to hear a muffled sound, Xue Zhankui's nose bridge bone was almost broken, and suddenly blood sprayed wildly, making a fussy face, and he fell on his back dizzily.

Watanabe, who was on the watchtower, suddenly jumped up from his chair and shouted in Chinese: "Zhang, good kung fu, very wonderful, very good!" ”

A large group of prisoners of war also let out a roar of applause when they saw that their captain had taken advantage. Several prisoners of war in the second brigade were Xue Zhankui's close friends, and at this time, they rushed into the field, picked up Xue Zhankui stupidly, and wiped the blood on his face for him.

Watanabe instructed Gao Sheng: "Gao, you go and get some bandage medicine, so that Xue can recuperate from his injuries, and he won't have to go to work tomorrow." As for Zhang, he will be able to get some more food rations in the future, and the victor will have the right to have enough to eat. ”

Zhang Baowang was surrounded by a large group of brothers and returned to the barracks, and said excitedly: "Brother Baowang, you are a real person, I didn't expect you to have such good kung fu." ”

The brothers also shouted: "This time, the surname Xue can have a long memory, let him know how many eyes Ma Wang Ye has." ”

"Brother Zhang, look at who dares to bully our team of people in the future!"

Zhang Baowang waved his hand, everyone calmed down, he said with a bitter smile: "Brothers, don't make a fuss, today's fight is not what I want to fight, it was the devil Watanabe who forced me to fight, in the end, it is still the Chinese fighting the Chinese, there is nothing to be happy about." In fact, Xue Zhankui is not a fancy fist embroidered legs, his kung fu is quite good, especially the leg method, very skillful, I just got lucky, brothers should have a little mouth, don't shout all over the world! ”

Tie Zhu has not participated in everyone's jokes, and he reminded everyone worriedly: "I don't understand, why did the devil Watanabe's temper change today?" Don't be holding back on a dog day, right? ”

Zhang Baowang restrained his smile, he looked at Tie Zhu and said softly: "Tie Zhu, you kid usually don't talk much, but you know it in your heart, this is a good thing, it is good to think about everything." Brethren, I have been here for three years, and I have not shown my fists and feet, because I am afraid that the gun will hit the first bird and invite trouble. In the past, there were many brothers who practiced kung fu in our prisoner of war camp, but none of them survived, do you know what I mean? ”

Man Tang said: "Understand, the devil hopes that we Chinese will be better and better, and if they see who can fight, they will change their methods to kill you, saving you from going out and fighting them again." ”

Zhang Baowang nodded: "That's right, that's the case, so the devil Watanabe will definitely make up his mind with me and Xue Zhankui, and if we don't kill us, I'm afraid this matter won't be over." ”

The brothers were silent, and there was a deathly silence in the room.

Cai Jigang sat on the sofa in the living room, casually flipping through the press release that Zhao Xiangzhu had just written.

Zhao Xiangzhu sat opposite Cai Jigang and was carefully proofreading his manuscript, the title of which was "The First War Zone Bitterly Presents Abuses and Regroups," and the subtitle is "General Chen Cheng Answers Reporter's Questions." Now that the press release is about to be sent to Chongqing to see the newspaper, Zhao Xiangzhu is doing the final proofreading, which is her work habit, and she will never allow a typo or punctuation error in her own manuscript.

Cai Jigang frowned and closed the manuscript: "Xiangzhu, I declare in advance that I am not a press censor, and of course I don't want to interfere with press freedom, I just think that Chen Cheng involved the personal relationship of senior officials when answering your question, does this belong to personal privacy?" Is public reporting appropriate? ”

Zhao Xiangzhu disagreed: "There is nothing inappropriate, senior officials are public figures, and their behavior is related to the national economy and people's livelihood and military affairs, so the more public figures, the more open and transparent their behavior must be, so that the people always know what they are thinking and doing, which is not too much?" ”

Cai Jigang shook his head with tears and laughter: "Public figures have no privacy, this is the law of journalism in European and American democracies, what about us in China...... The people are still in the transition stage from discipline to constitutionalism, according to Max Weber's view, it is a kind of authoritarian system, although we have a written constitution and a certain degree of constitutionalism, and there is also considerable freedom of the press, but we cannot exceed the bottom line of tolerance, do you agree? ”

Zhao Xiangzhu looked at him with a smile and teased: "My dear, what is the bottom line of tolerance?" Can you tell me about it? ”

Cai Jigang smiled: "Xiangzhu, you are knowingly asking, no one tells you what the bottom line is, this question is affected by the leader's cultural vision, personal cultivation, mood at the time and personal values, in short, there is a lot of variables, there is no set of strict laws to restrain ** and leaders, we still have to be careful." ”

"Yo, why didn't I see before, you still have a lot of research on political science? I thought you were only interested in military strategy. ”

"I can hear it, you are making fun of me, I admit, people like me who have come back from studying in the United States are a little bookish, thinking that they know a lot about political science and modern sociology, but when they return home, they see that this is not the case. As soon as Western values and Western political theories were brought to China, they changed their taste, which really fulfilled that sentence, orange is born in Huainan, and orange is born in Huaibei. When I served in the Tax Police Corps, it was said that most of the officers in this unit were European and American students, and they were all good students when they studied abroad, but as soon as they returned to China, everything changed, and they were all informed, embezzled, infighting, telling lies, bragging, and deceiving superiors and subordinates. I often wonder if it is China's system that has created China's national character, or whether China's national character has transformed China's system. ”

Zhao Xiangzhu thought for a while and said: "My point of view is that under the autocratic system, what kind of ruler there is, what kind of people there are; In a democracy, there are rulers for what kind of people. Do you agree with this? ”

"I basically agree, my thinking is that it is probably not a good idea to only emphasize the system, and it should be said that democracy is a good system, but it is not perfect. You see, the German people willingly elected Hitler to power, but that was in strict accordance with democratic procedures, which should be regarded as a mistake of the democratic system. ”

Zhao Xiangzhu closed the manuscript paper and changed the topic: "Let me ask you, what do you think of Chen Cheng's answer to the reporter's question?" ”

Cai Jigang carefully considered the words: "His attitude is very sincere, and he dares to tell the truth...... However, in terms of his status in the ** and the army, this is nothing, and officials with lower ranks than him dare not tell the truth like this. Another point is that Chen Cheng said that the attack on the sporadic units of the national army by the victims was done by the local bad bullies, which I dare not agree with, I met such a group of people on the way to the west to retreat to the Kunshan Mountain, and according to my observation, they are indeed not local bad bullies, they are really ordinary peasants. After the breakout, I went to the various units to conduct a survey, and found that this was by no means an accident, but a common phenomenon that appeared in the battle of Henan-Zhong, and the conclusion of the investigation frightened me. ”

Zhao Xiangzhu asked with concern: "What is the conclusion?" ”

"The people are separated from Germany and hate the national army more than the Japanese army!"

Zhao Xiangzhu gasped: "Oh my God, the Anti-Japanese War has been fought for seven years, how could this happen?" It's horrible. ”

Cai Jigang painfully admitted: "Yes, it is very scary, for a country, this is more frustrating than losing on the battlefield." The drought in Henan, millions of victims, starvation everywhere, not only did not provide relief, but expropriated violently. At the critical moment, the Japanese army took out military rations to help the victims, and this trick was really ruthless, and we were completely defeated militarily and politically. ”

Zhao Xiangzhu gently hugged Cai Jigang: "Jigang, I know you are very depressed, but it's not your fault, as a soldier, you have fulfilled your responsibilities." ”

Cai Jigang closed his eyes and slapped his chest a few times with his fist: "It's jammed here, and I have a breath here...... This battle of Henan-Zhong, I really don't know how it was commanded, it's so stupid that it can't be more stupid, do you think that the responsibility for the defeat can be explained by the disagreement and command mistakes of the two commanders? Jiang Dingwen is certainly an idiot, but the problem lies at the top and in the Military Command Department. To tell the truth, I have never seen such a stupid commander order 29 infantry divisions to defend 29 counties, and divisions are not allowed to cooperate with each other, not to take the initiative to attack, not to maneuver to help, and wait for the Japanese army to come and break through. There is another thing that is even more absurd, we have already built a strong fortification between Dengfeng and Linru relying on the terrain, but after the battle started, the military command department ordered the main force of our army to fight a decisive battle with the enemy in Yuxian, Mixian, Xuchang, Luohe and other places, you know, it is a large plain without any fortifications! Therefore, as soon as the battle began, our main corps was divided and surrounded by the Japanese 3rd Tank Division, and their tank clusters were like no one on the great plain where there was no danger to defend......

Zhao Xiangzhu covered his mouth in horror: "Is this true?" There are so many details that the press has never heard of......" she immediately took out her interview notebook and prepared to take notes.

Cai Jigang pressed the interview book: "My ancestor, you are too naïve, this kind of thing must not be reported!" Otherwise, it will be a major leak, and I will be court-married. ”

Zhao Xiangzhu asked suspiciously: "What do you mean, whenever we lose the battle, we can't investigate the mistakes in command, as long as we investigate them, it will be a leak?" ”

"That's not what I said, but that's what it means. You think, once the newspaper discloses these details, the Military Command Department will inevitably track them down, how can you a young reporter know so many combat orders? Who revealed it to you? Do you have any proof? Moreover, this matter involves personnel issues at the highest level, and the matter is far more complicated than you think. ”

Zhao Xiangzhu closed the interview book in frustration: "Alas, I'm really boring as a military reporter, there is the Central Propaganda Department above, there are press censors below, the reporter's hands and feet are tied to death, and there are forbidden areas everywhere, what else can I report?" ”

Cai Jigang said in a low mood: "Then don't be a reporter, resign and go home to be a wife, I, Cai Jigang, can afford to raise a wife." ”

"Phew! It's because you think about it, I don't want to live like this. Mr. Cai Jigang, your wife is not a yellow-faced woman in the countryside, she is a highly educated professional woman, and she will never stay at home and rely on her husband to support her, you must understand this. Zhao Xiangzhu protested.

Cai Jigang sighed: "I'm sorry, I'm in a bad mood, don't be angry with me, you know, I'm a soldier, I only focus on the war, it's my business, but you see, we were defeated on the battlefield, this is because our soldiers failed to do their part, and they really don't have the face to see people!" ”

Zhao Xiangzhu leaned his head on Cai Jigang's chest and listened to the beating of his heart: "Jigang, your heartbeat is strong and powerful, like a beating war drum." I want to tell you that as a soldier, you are the best, and no one can beat you! She hugged her husband tightly, as if Cai Jigang would suddenly disappear.

Cai Jigang didn't speak, just gently stroked his wife's long black hair, and lowered his head to smell her faint fragrance.

There seems to be a voice asking: Where will the next battlefield be?

Cai Jigang replied in his heart: Changsha and Hengyang......