Luo Zhengxiong: They arrived a few days earlier than Yu Hai.

The evening breeze is whining, the desert after a noisy day is gradually quieting, the sky has faded the last touch of red glow, and the sand dunes painted by the sunset show a rare tranquility.

This is the beginning of the night, and between day and night, the desert has a moment of respite.

Luo Zhengxiong didn't dare to let everyone rest, and he had to dig up the ground before the desert could send out his obscenity. More than 40 warriors were divided into three groups, and one group was led by him to collect firewood in the nearby sea buckthorn bushes. One group was led by Zhang Xiaotian, the commander of the second battalion, to dig the ground. The other group is the cooking class, busy setting up tents and pot racks in the camp. After a long journey of four days and three nights, the first meal in this desert should be memorable. As soon as the stove was erected and the first firewood was lit, the roaring northwest wind arrived. This wind came without any warning, just now the four fields were quiet, the sand was raised, and it could fall vertically, and in a blink of an eye, the northwest wind swept the sand and dust, roaring. The warriors who entered the desert for four days and three nights did not panic, but habitually raised their collars, craned their necks, and bowed to the leeward to grab things. Luo Zhengxiong brought a total of thirteen camels and three horses. Immediately, it was the materials and equipment given by the division headquarters. Before entering the desert, division commander Liu Zhenhai called him again and told him about the task and importance of this expedition. The Takla Desert is known as the Sea of Death, when the 5th Division and 15th Regiment crossed the Great Desert on foot, and with extraordinary perseverance and unimaginable speed, they were the first to arrive in Hotan before the Kuomintang reactionary rebellion, smashing the enemy's rebellion in one fell swoop, and completing a great feat in human history. This time, they entered the Great Desert to map out the important topographic maps of the Great Desert, including dried lakes, ruined city ruins, and oil fields and mines. The thorough conquest of the Takla Desert is the first strategic goal set by the Corps Command, and now that the 100,000-strong army is about to march into the Gobi Desert, it is very important to grasp first-hand topographical and geological data.

"You must have firm faith, and you must step out of a path in the vast Gobi like an iron camel, and have faith?" Liu Zhenhai suddenly stared at him and asked.

"Yes!" Luo Zhengxiong snapped upright, "Please rest assured, chief!" Liu Zhenhai slapped him heavily on the shoulder: "Zhengxiong, it's up to you." ”

In private, they are more like brothers.

The wind is still howling, wave after wave, this is a kind of wind called "iron broom", it is not common, but it is not so scary. It's like someone taking a huge iron broom and sweeping the world. When the wind hits your body, it feels like an iron brush brushing you, Luo Zhengxiong has taught it more than once. I didn't expect that as soon as I arrived in Honghaizi, the "iron broom" greeted them, so that everyone could feel the cruelty of this expedition in advance. Luo Zhengxiong put away his thoughts and ran back to the camp from the sea buckthorn bush. The men of the second battalion commander Zhang Xiaotian were fighting against the strong wind to dig the ground. Luo Zhengxiong jumped down, felt that the ground was a little smaller, and said: "Dig three more steps to the left, such a small land, a sand will be filled." Zhang Xiaotian rolled his hands into a horn and shouted into his ear: "This is where female soldiers live, they don't like to be big." "What female soldiers and male soldiers, when they come here, they are all sand wolves!" Shouting, he grabbed the shovel and dug to the left. At this time, some soldiers ran over and said that Du Lili was crying, and they couldn't persuade them. Luo Zhengxiong scolded a dirty word: "When is this, I still have time to cry my nose, bring her to me." The soldier took the order and left, Luo Zhengxiong was thinking about how to clean up Du Lili, and the second battalion commander Zhang Xiaotian shouted into his ear: "Du Lili is a new soldier, don't scare people"

Only then did Luo Zhengxiong realize that he had made another mistake just now. This time, half of the division was given to him, half of them were recruits, and they had not yet been trained, and as soon as they arrived at the unit, they were assigned to the Second Special Regiment, and division commander Liu Zhenhai repeatedly stressed that he must pay attention to his work style and must not play a temper again. "Okay, you go to work, if she dares to cry again, let the guide send her back immediately." Zhang Xiaotian, the commander of the second battalion, crawled out of the ground and ran south, but Luo Zhengxiong suddenly threw away the shovel and nested in a one-person deep nest.

To be honest, Luo Zhengxiong didn't know anything about this expedition, especially after seeing the recruits given to him by the division, he lost confidence more and more. How can this be considered a soldier? The soldiers in Luo Zhengxiong's heart, not to mention that they are all burly and strong, can at least stand as a tree, and together they are a mountain. The soldiers will block, the water will cover the earth, Luo Zhengxiong has never felt that there is a river that cannot be crossed, the reason is that he picks troops first when he fights, and chooses axes before chopping wood. But this time, the division gave him this hand, and people didn't let him choose, they wouldn't let him order, and he gave him a bunch of flowery men and women as if he was fresh, and said that he was all intellectuals. Can intellectuals fight wars and endure hardships? Joke! Let's just say this Du Lili, Luo Zhengxiong didn't have a good impression of her at first sight. The moment she jumped off the camel, Luo Zhengxiong thought that she was a literary soldier who ran to the army to condole, and looked at it again, not like, the literary soldier walked like a literary soldier, unlike her, looking left and right, one step and three states, just like the new daughter-in-law entered her mother-in-law's house, nothing is new. finally walked up to Luo Zhengxiong, did not report to him, did not salute him, and asked stupidly: "Are you doing revolution here?" Luo Zhengxiong gave her a salute: "Yes!" ”

Frightened, she took a few steps back, and suddenly smiled again: "You are standing guard, hehe, I heard that the troops are standing guard like this." After laughing, without waiting for Luo Zhengxiong to criticize her, she ran to the yard to see the flowers.

The small courtyard of the regiment headquarters is full of all kinds of flowers, this is the idea of the second battalion commander Zhang Xiaotian, Luo Zhengxiong is most annoyed by these flowers and grass, Zhang Xiaotian said that this can enrich everyone's life and boost morale. Luo Zhengxiong scolded in his heart: "Encourage a fart!" Relying on flowers and grass, can it be called morale? But he said, "Okay, I'll give you this task, and I won't spare you." "It's not planted, but the flowers in this courtyard have bloomed, and Luo Zhengxiong also has an itch in his heart, and he can't help but want to touch it or smell it, but he endured it and didn't send his footsteps to the garden once.

Under the summer sun, Luo Zhengxiong stared at Du Lili's back for a moment, and suddenly shouted as if he woke up: "Battalion Commander Zhang!" "Battalion Commander Zhang, who was giving a lecture to the recruits who had reported for duty on the first day, heard the sound and rushed to ask for any orders. Luo Zhengxiong suddenly said in a very abnormal tone: "What's the girl's name?" ”

Battalion Commander Zhang turned around and glanced at Du Lili, Du Lili had already dressed most of her body into the flowers, I don't know if she embellished the flowers, or the flowers reflected her, Camp Commander Zhang's eyes emitted a rare light, the light after the male was stimulated by an unexpected object. "Report to the regiment leader, her name is Du Lili, and she is a new intelligence soldier from the division headquarters."

"Intelligence soldiers?" Luo Zhengxiong was very puzzled, what did the division do to his intelligence soldiers, now it is not to quell the rebellion, nor to siege the city. Besides, such a little girl who is more squeamish than a flower can be an intelligence soldier?

"She was bombarded by the commissar in a fit of rage." Battalion Commander Zhang whispered.

"Oh?" Luo Zhengxiong glared at Battalion Commander Zhang vigilantly, Battalion Commander Zhang obviously meant what he said, and recently such things happened one after another, which made the cadres at the regiment and battalion level below surprised and frightened. No one could hope that the division headquarters suddenly sent a few beautiful female soldiers, but they really came, but they couldn't touch the depths. Could it be this little girl? Luo Zhengxiong couldn't help but think for a while, but this little girl didn't look like a broken soldier who let the division headquarters blow down. Luo Zhengxiong had an idea and ordered: "Take her to train immediately, and double the training amount than others." ”

"Yes!" Zhang Xiaotian, the commander of the second battalion, didn't expect Luo Zhengxiong to give such an order, and after saluting, he walked towards Du Lili, "Recruit Du Lili listens to the order and returns to the team within three minutes." ”

Du Lili is concentrating on standing in front of a flower that she has never seen before, this flower grows gracefully, the branches of the flower tremble, and there is a unique beauty of the bones, but the flower is as holy as snow, so clean that it makes people short of breath. In particular, the aroma it spews out is light and elegant with the power of penetrating the heart and spleen, and it soothes the whole body when you take a sip, which makes people leisurely intoxicated.

"What kind of flower is this?" When Du Lili heard the voice, she turned around in amazement and asked selflessly.

Zhang Xiaotian blushed: "This is called Tianshan Snow." ”

"Tianshan snow?" Du Lili's voice had a bone-eating smell, which made the young Zhang Xiaotian's eardrums tremble slightly, and the microwave swayed lightly. Over there, Luo Zhengxiong was already blackened with anger, and he couldn't see Zhang Xiaotian's humiliation in front of women.

"Attention all, urgently assemble." Luo Zhengxiong himself didn't know why he had to issue such a password that day, and then he thought that from the first glance, he wanted to blast Du Lili back.

It's a hassle to take her with you. Luo Zhengxiong in the nest let out a deep sigh.

I don't know when the wind is light, and the dark night is rumbling, and Luo Zhengxiong's body and neck are covered with a thick layer of sand. got up and shook off the dust on his body, Luo Zhengxiong looked out, Zhang Xiaotian was taking Du Lili and a few people to move things to the dug ground. The first group of firewood gatherers also returned, and the firewood was piled up into a hill, and the guide, Uncle Temur, was directing the other group to set off bonfires. Lighting a bonfire in the desert is particular, not where you want to be, according to Uncle Temur, one is to be auspicious, the other is to be festive, so as to burn a group of people's hopes. His daughter, Akhalgul, is cooking fragrant lamb with the cooking class.

Akhalgul is a girl who is a little too beautiful, this beauty is unexpected, Han men like Luo Zhengxiong and Zhang Xiaotian can't expect it, if it weren't for entering Xinjiang, no matter how wild their imagination is, they can't think of a girl like this. It's a pity that this beauty made Ahargul wrapped in a scarf, and from the first day of meeting to the present, her smile was hidden behind the scarf, only revealing Luo Zhengxiong's black grape-like eyes. Coupled with the strict discipline of the troops and the respect for the Uyghur compatriots, Luo Zhengxiong did not dare to look his eyes squarely, but in his heart, he felt that the beautiful Akhalgul was kind and affectionate, and with her as a guide, the severity of this expedition was half gone.

Seeing that the gale did not make this newly formed team mess up, Luo Zhengxiong felt a little comforted in his heart. He jumped out of the ground and shouted at the guards standing guard in the distance, "Can you see them?" ”

The voice of the guard came from under the darkness of the night: "I can't see it, Commander." ”

On the night after the storm in the summer of 1951, Honghaizi's first meal was of great significance to Luo Zhengxiong's life. When Akha Gul handed him a bowl of mutton, he saw the stars flashing in the distance, which was the first light in the sky after the storm receded, but Luo Zhengxiong felt hopeful. Ahargul speaks Chinese very fluently, but Luo Zhengxiong likes to thank her in broken Uyghur, and Uncle Temur on the side smiled and said: "When you see the first star, the light is already beckoning to you, eat, let your soldiers have their fill." ”

Luo Zhengxiong was about to speak, when Du Lili, who was squatting behind Zhang Xiaotian, suddenly shouted: "Oh my God, sand." Then I heard the sound of the bowl being thrown on the beach. In the dark night, Luo Zhengxiong clearly felt a few pairs of black eyes move, which was the dissatisfaction of Uncle Temur and Ahargul, and the dissatisfaction of the entire desert.

"Pick it up." Luo Zhengxiong walked over and stared at Du Lili. Du Lili didn't seem to feel his majesty yet, and muttered: "The bowl is full of sand, how can you eat it?" ”

"Pick it up!" In the dark night, his lion-like voice suddenly exploded, this voice was very familiar to Zhang Xiaotian and them, and every soldier of the Sharp Knife Regiment in the past had a thunderous tremor, but to Du Lili, it was so strange and terrifying.

"I won't pick it up, who are you giving a black face to." The second battalion commander Zhang Xiaotian was just about to give her a look, but Luo Zhengxiong had already lifted Du Lili and threw her out of the crowd like a chicken. With the light from the bonfire, the soldiers of the Second Special Regiment saw that Luo Zhengxiong bowed his waist, picked up the bowl, picked up the mutton scattered on the ground, and then said to the soldiers: "This is the first meal we ate in the desert. At the moment there are only 46 of us, and the political commissars are still on the way, and I firmly believe that our team will grow and become an iron camel in the desert. After eating this mutton, we are tied to the desert, and the hardships and dangers ahead, needless to say, I only hope that by the end of the mission in the future, all 46 of us will still be there. After speaking, he took the wine from the cooking squad leader and sprinkled it lightly on the dunes. In the rippling aroma of wine, Luo Zhengxiong grabbed the mutton that Du Lili sprinkled on the ground and gnawed it.

The meal was a bit heavy.

Du Lili was wordlessly deprived of the right to eat.

Honghaizi is a dead sea, it is said that in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there were still green waves and water and grass here. Not far from Honghaizi, it was once the official residence of a prince, and now his descendants are still in charge of Xinjiang. When Luo Zhengxiong and the others quelled the rebellion, this descendant also gave a lot of help. The sand sponge is extended, the world is changing, and the endless desert is endless, how many stories are buried? The red sea with fertile grass and beautiful water back then is now hideous and terrifying, and there is a murderous motive hidden in the calm. In the middle of the night, Luo Zhengxiong, who was already asleep, was awakened by the noise, turned over and asked the guards, is it Yu Hai and they have arrived? The guard said timidly: "No, it's Du Lili." ”

The noise was really made by Du Lili, Du Lili was hurt by that fall, and she felt aggrieved, but she didn't dare to mess around, she can now understand Luo Zhengxiong's power, this black-faced demon king, looks like he really wants to eat people. Du Lili was huddled in the nest with a stomach in her heart, she was the first time to see the nest, and it was also the first time to "enjoy" the nest, it was really unthinkable, people can be like mice, nest in this black and tide crypt. Du Lili's heart is boundlessly dark, how can she sleep in such a dirty place? If I had known this, I wouldn't have been a soldier if I killed her. It's a pity that it's late, Du Lili suddenly remembered her father, but her father was right: "As a soldier, you think that military uniform is easy to wear, I'm afraid that if you wear it on your front feet, you will cry and bleed in your eyes on your back feet." Du Lili endured it and didn't let the tears burst out, but she really wanted to cry.

Dreams can sometimes deceive people, and no matter how beautiful the dream is, as soon as it touches reality, it will all change.

Du Lili felt that the first dream in her life was to let this desert go to waste.

Her stomach was growling with hunger, she hadn't eaten for two days, she couldn't eat, how could she swallow such rough food, and how could she stand a mouth full of sand? There was something squirming in her eyes, not a grievance, but a hungry, hungry golden flower. At this moment, there was a strange sound in the nest, like a mouse stealing food, more like two hard things biting and grinding, very harsh, Du Lili listened, it was actually the fat man next to him grinding his teeth. Du Lili became popular all of a sudden, among the five female soldiers who came with her, she hated fat people the most, not to mention that this guy was extremely short, and his heart and eyes were also very short, only that body of flesh was her strength. Du Lili first punched the fat man: "Hey, wake up, take care of your teeth." The fat man turned around and threw Du Lili a back that was wider than a man, a pair of fat legs were bent, and the whole person was like a big snail. Seeing that she didn't react, Du Lili pushed again: "What's the matter, I'm still eating in my sleep." The fat man suddenly stretched out his leg and freed up a fart. Du Lili couldn't stand this, at the moment, she pulled up the fat man: "Are you a human or a pig, get out!" The fat man was too heavy, Du Lili wanted to drag her up, but she dragged her to the ground, the fat man turned over, fell asleep again, and a thick leg pressed on Du Lili, Du Lili couldn't get up when she thought about it.

Du Lili's cry came out like this. When Zhang Xiaotian heard the sound and rushed over, the nest where the female soldier lived had already rolled into a ball, and Du Lili and the fat man were fighting. The fat man's name is Zhang Shuangyang, from Minxian County, Gansu Province. She had gone to the army to look for her brother, but unfortunately his brother died while quelling the rebellion. Zhang Shuangyang cried and told the chief that she wanted to be a soldier and didn't want to go back to Minxian County. Originally, she couldn't be assigned to the Special Second Regiment, and the female soldiers who entered the Special Second Regiment were all strictly selected, and although they looked a little weak, they all had unique skills. Helplessly, before leaving, a female soldier was suddenly "selected" by her superiors and left, which was also a special need of the troops, and no one dared to intercept her, so Zhang Shuangyang was temporarily added.

"Zhang Shuangyang, come out!" Zhang Xiaotian saw Zhang Shuangyang's fat ass sitting on Du Lili, which made Du Lili call her father and mother, and immediately punished Zhang Shuangyang outside the nest. Du Lili's eyes were red and swollen, she had obviously cried, but she was a hero this time, and she wanted to pounce on Zhang Shuangyang. Zhang Xiaotian stopped her: "What do you want to do, do you want to punish you outside?!" Du Lili glared at Zhang Xiaotian: "I ask to change the dormitory immediately, I will go crazy if I live with such a person." ”

Zhang Xiaotian ignored Du Lili, he saw Luo Zhengxiong rushing towards this side in the night, and hurriedly greeted him and blocked Luo Zhengxiong. "There was a little friction between the female soldiers, it's okay, I've already dealt with it, the regiment commander, please go back and rest."

Luo Zhengxiong was about to get angry, but suddenly found that there was a figure moving in the dark night, just a few dozen meters away from the camp. "Who?" He shouted, drew his gun, and lunged in the direction of the shadow. Zhang Xiaotian also felt that something moved in his eyes, and rushed over as if reflexively. When the two ran past the sand beam, the black shadow was gone. It was quiet, and there was no sound except the night wind.

Weird? Their eyes met and quickly separated. "Search!" Luo Zhengxiong said, and the person had fled into the night.

In the area of Honghaizi, the terrain is very complicated, not only the ruins of the ruined city, but also the dry well and deep cave, more terrible, in the late Qing Dynasty, there was a bloody battle between clans here, hundreds of people were slaughtered overnight, and the bones were buried under the abandoned city wall, and then Honghaizi became a sea of blood and light. The night was cloudy, and the desert revealed its deep and sinister side, Luo Zhengxiong and Zhang Xiaotian searched separately, and felt a cold air coming out of their heads with every step. Although Xinjiang has been liberated, the remaining Kuomintang reactionary forces and rebels are always waiting for an opportunity to counterattack, and the reason why they march in two directions is to prevent the enemy from finding out the true intentions of the Second Special Regiment, let alone how many members of the Second Special Regiment there are. The Second Special Regiment was not only responsible for surveying the desert Gobi, but also on a more secret task, which Luo Zhengxiong did not dare to tell his comrades, including Zhang Xiaotian, the commander of the second battalion, and Luo Zhengxiong also concealed it. As soon as he thought of this layer, Luo Zhengxiong couldn't help but take a cold breath, he must always be vigilant, and he must think about the safety of the whole group. That's why he said that before the meal.

Until the sky turned white, I still couldn't find anything. After the two met in front of a dry well, Zhang Xiaotian wanted to say something, but Luo Zhengxiong stopped him with his eyes. This is Luo Zhengxiong's habit, he never speaks out about what he doubts, and he does not allow his comrades to say it. Sometimes suspicion is less harmful than speaking out.

The conquest has not yet begun, and we must not mess with people's hearts first!

Back at the camp, the female soldier Zhang Shuangyang was still standing outside, and the two of them let the black shadow stir up, but forgot about it. It's rare that this girl is very obedient in the wind for half the night, and her body is still straight. Luo Zhengxiong glanced at it and didn't speak, it was not appropriate to say anything at this time, so it was better to leave it to the second battalion commander to deal with. However, he has a lot of opinions about this girl from a small county town.

A new day began soon, and unexpectedly, Luo Zhengxiong gave an order, the whole regiment assembled, the soldiers divided into two roads, and ran in the desert.

Luo Zhengxiong consciously assigned Du Lili to his side, and assigned Zhang Shuangyang to Zhang Xiaotian, and sure enough, within half an hour, Du Lili fell behind. Luo Zhengxiong ignored this Miss Border City and continued to run forward with the team. At noon, he saw the guide Akha Gul holding the sweaty Du Lili and limping towards the team. Luo Zhengxiong's gaze stared at Akhalgul for a long time before slowly moving away, and then he gave an order: "All attention, the target ahead, Sea Buckthorn Beam, rush." ”

Akhalgul and Du Lili were left far behind.

At this time, an eagle hovered above Luo Zhengxiong.

The sky is extraordinarily blue.

The sun is blazing.

Luo Zhengxiong, who was running at the front of the team, was thinking about something else, why didn't the political commissar Yu Hai arrive, didn't something happen?