CHAPTER XXIX

Defend the soul

Su Mei retrieved the surveillance video of various intersections in the city that day and made a road map of the old man's walking.

The old man was the first to appear near the martyr's cemetery, walked along the street to Jiefang Road, rummaged through several garbage cans along the way, picked up food from them, and then joined the anti-Japanese demonstration.

He was a little hunchbacked, and he walked in the team with his chest held high and his head held high, and he was in good spirits.

The Hengdian police used the most stupid and effective method, invested a lot of police force, took the old man's photo and visited the neighborhood near the martyr's cemetery, and finally determined his identity.

The old man's name was He Weiguo, and he was an anti-Japanese soldier of the expeditionary force.

The song he sang in the parade is now rarely sung by many people, and the song was originally called "The Song of the Educated Youth in the Army", and later became the military song of the new First Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

In 1942, He Weiguo was only 14 years old when his home was destroyed in the war and left his hometown. In that year, he joined the 38th Division of General Sun Liren's New First Army and went to the Yunnan-Burma battlefield to fight against Japan. After dozens of large and small battles such as the Battle of Mandalay, the Battle of the Hukang River Valley, and the Battle of the Menggong River Valley, he then moved to India, and was awarded four times for military exploits and received many awards and commendations.

After the surrender of the Japanese invaders, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party went to war, the Kuomintang army was defeated, and He Weiguo went to Taiwan.

During the war, He Weiguo was seriously wounded in the head and abdomen, and there were two pieces of shrapnel in his skull. Severe brain damage left him with a mental disorder, and he spent most of his life in a psychiatric hospital in Taiwan. With the development of medical technology, it was not until later in life that the shrapnel in He Weiguo's skull was swallowed and removed, and after a period of treatment, he recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

The medical staff asked him, "Do you have any other wishes?" ”

The old man replied, "Go home!" ”

He Weiguo's life was tormented by mental illness, this old man was not married, had no children and no daughters, and only had a younger brother in the mainland. However, the only relative had passed away in the 90s, and after the approval of Taiwan's "Retirement Association" and the mediation of the Veterans' Home, after some cumbersome procedures, the old man finally returned to the mainland to settle down.

There is an old locust tree at the entrance of the village, and the earthen house behind the locust tree is his home, which is now long gone.

The nephew, who works in the field, gets a job for the old man, guarding the martyr's cemetery.

After returning to the mainland, this lonely old man has been working as a caretaker of the cemetery. There is a cemetery behind the martyr's cemetery, no name, no surname, no monument and no grave, this cemetery without any sign is buried with the ashes of Taiwanese veterans, this cemetery is privately managed, not set up by the state, belongs to a local charity.

He hunched his back, swept up fallen leaves, and did not speak all day.

In the nameless cemetery, his comrades-in-arms are buried.

One year, during the Qingming Festival, students came to sweep the graves one after another, and two naughty students accidentally broke into the cemetery behind the cemetery. The old man was relieved that someone had finally come to pay his respects, but after some conversation, the student asked in surprise: "What, the Kuomintang also resisted Japan?" ”

The old man was silent.

old man

After a long silence, he continued to sweep the fallen leaves, not refuting anything.

The special case group learned from relevant departments in Taiwan that He Weiguo suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder caused by war, a mental illness that is a sequelae of war, and although it has been cured, there is still a possibility of recurrence. Once he relapses, he will lose himself and be trapped in a memory of the past, such as the War of Resistance Against Japan.

Perhaps, an explosion from the shooting site in Hengdian made him think that he was still living in the War of Resistance Against Japan. The smell of gunpowder smoke and gasoline and the sight of the actors in Japanese military uniforms prompted him to be schizophrenic and reach a breakdown point. And then he stayed in this deranged state of mind. He hid in the bamboo forest in a panic, trying his best to calm himself, he did not forget that he was a soldier, did not forget his skills on the battlefield, he made a noose trap to kill a Japanese soldier. Unfortunately, the soldier was actually an actor.

Su Mei said: "I have a question, He Weiguo is an octogenarian, does he still have the ability to kill people and commit crimes?" ”

Director Chen said: "I used to be a prison guard, and there was an old man in his 80s, and his son was the principal of the primary school, so he let the old man watch the gate at the school. By the way, when he was arrested, the old man also injured a policeman. I went to prison and was in the bed every night**......"

Hualong interrupted Director Chen's words and said, "It's not appropriate for you to compare an old rascal with an anti-Japanese veteran. ”

"The murderer had extraordinary military training and had a great hatred for the Japanese, and for him, this was not murder, it was war," Professor Leung said. ”

"It's not easy to catch him, he knows how to survive on the battlefield and hide himself," Bao said. ”

He Weiguo had gone insane and left his residence in the martyr's cemetery. The special case team asked the Hengdian police to pay attention to searching for abandoned unfinished buildings, cement pipes on the construction site, and remote places such as bridges and caves and mountain forests, which are likely to be his temporary foothold. At the same time, for the sake of safety, the special case team suggested that the major crews in Hengdian suspend the filming of anti-Japanese war dramas.

However, the major crews did not follow the advice, they considered the cost, after all, the suspension of filming would cause financial losses.

Two days later, in full view of everyone, the filming site where the bearded director was located was attacked. At that time, the pyrotechnic master had set up several explosion points, and had just detonated the prop bomb with a wire control. Most of the shells of these prop bombs are made of foam, filled with dirt and dust, creating a realistic effect of dust flying in the sky after the explosion. They filmed a major scene - the heroic underground military engineering team disguised itself and blew up the devil's turret.

When it exploded, an arrow came from nowhere, hitting a Japanese actor in the eye.

The sound of the explosion was accompanied by the screams of the actors, and everyone was stunned, and then the actors were rushed to the hospital, and the bearded director led people to search, and an old man ran to the mountain path in panic.

The Hengdian police and the special case team then arrived, and through the description, they confirmed that the old man who attacked the Japanese actor was He Weiguo.

He Weiguo fled to the annex

Nearby, a hill, this veteran who has experienced dozens of battles and battles has superb killing skills, which makes the police dare not underestimate the enemy.

The first encirclement and suppression ended in failure, and hundreds of policemen surrounded He Weiguo on the top of the mountain, slowly approaching step by step.

The old man actually escaped, wounded an armed policeman and snatched a pistol.

This time, he grabbed a real gun.

At that time, the situation was very unfavorable to the old man, the armed police approached the mountain in an encirclement trend, the old man set a fire, it was summer, the weather was dry, the fire was raging, and it soon burned, and then spread to the whole mountain. The officers and soldiers of the armed police urgently retreated, He Weiguo attacked a lone armed policeman with a bow and arrow, snatched the gun, and he did not run down the mountain, where there was a dead end, but hid in a cave.

The fire was extinguished by firefighters, because He Weiguo was in possession of a firearm, which was extremely dangerous, and the Hengdian police urgently reported to their superiors and asked for assistance, and the second round-up began. In addition to hundreds of armed policemen, the field troops' anti-chemical warfare company and reconnaissance company were also dispatched in this encirclement and suppression, and more than 1,000 rounds of bullets were fired, and even bazookas and mortars were used.

One soldier asked, "Who are we arresting so many?" ”

The company commander said, "Catch a man, an old man." ”

The soldier said, "So many heavily armed policemen can't handle it, and they have to send our company up just to catch an old man?" ”

The company commander said: "This old man is a veteran who has participated in several wars, you have to be careful." ”

The soldier said, "I'm alone, I'm not afraid." ”

The company commander said, "If he aims at your head, he will never hit you in the leg." ”

At the filming scene at the foot of the mountain, the bearded director changed into an armed police costume and carried the camera.

The pyrotechnic master said, "Director, why are you going, and you have changed this outfit." ”

The bearded director said: "As a director, don't think that I have no ideals, no ambitions, always make garbage TV series, I also want to make some positive films." If this scene can be filmed, I will not be the director in vain. ”

The pyrotechnician's eyes widened and said, "You're going to sneak in and be a war correspondent, it's very dangerous." ”

The bearded director said, "War correspondent, that's a good word. ”

The pyrotechnic master said: "I also change clothes, and I will be your assistant, but we can only post on Weibo." ”

The armed police officers and soldiers blocked He Weiguo in the cave, and Director Chen invited a local villager to inquire and learned that there was no other exit from the cave, but the terrain in the cave was complicated, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so it was not appropriate to attack rashly. An officer shouted to the cave with a bullhorn, demanding that the old man lay down his arms and surrender immediately.

There was silence in the cave, and the officer shouted again, and in response to a gunshot, the officer immediately fell to his stomach and his hat was knocked off.

Professor Liang looked at the cave and said to Hualong, "Put on body armor, lead a team of armed police, and shoot him to death." ”

Hualong unloaded the magazine and said, "I'm sorry, Uncle Liang, if you want me to kill an anti-Japanese veteran, I can't do it." ”