Five years later, Li Xiaohuozi, a former soldier of the 3rd Battalion of the 1776th Regiment of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, was in Shanghai, but he didn't know Shanghai anymore. In his memory, Shanghai is the 9th Chinese military battalion, and the 9th Chinese military battalion is Shanghai. Shanghai, made up of high walls, iron thorns, and a sun that rises and sets, does not have so many high-rise buildings, nor is it so bustling and prosperous. He was stunned by the sight before him, and suddenly realized that his Shanghai was gone, and in its place was a strange and strange world. He couldn't figure out where he lost Shanghai?

He's going to find it, and he's going to go through all the alleys under the building. Why can't you find it? He remembers it clearly! That Shanghai was in the concession, and the Pacific War had not yet broken out, and the Japanese soldiers could not enter the concession, and they were guarded by Western devils and Annam patrols. They lived in a small red brick building, facing a dark apartment on the north side, and there was a little girl on the third floor of the apartment.

It's time for a little girl to grow into a big girl, right? Five years have passed, and if she were still alive, she would be eighteen or nine years old. Even if she sees her again, she won't make faces at him. She would probably have passed by him with her nose covered and covered by her nose like the neon-lit lady who came and went in her neon shoes, with her heels rattling and her fashionable fur coat. She may not recognize him, she may not recognize him, his Shanghai and hers are not the same thing.

His Shanghai is an unyielding roar, a national flag raised with blood and life in the military barracks. And her Shanghai is a burst of enthusiasm after the flowers, wine and light singing and dancing. He could imagine how an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old Miss Jiao could squirm and flatter in the song of "Drizzle".

Yes, he didn't go to her, he didn't go to her Shanghai, he wanted to find the Shanghai in his heart, the 9th Chinese military battalion that had detained 386 officers and brothers of the 3rd Battalion of the 1776th Regiment. There he burned a handful of paper and offered a cleave of incense to his beloved battalion commander and to his martyred brothers.

It was a winter evening, and the cold wind carried the fine particles of ice in the air that had not yet formed snowflakes, and beat him in the face, making him shiver. The torn cotton jacket was wrapped and wrapped, and the hemp rope on the jacket was tied and tied, and I still felt the cold wind and snow particles burrowing into the flesh.

He couldn't help but stand under a gatehouse with a neon sign of "Domestic Products Persuasion Company", leaning against the wall of the water doorman at one end of the gatehouse, looking across the street. The streets across were full of shops and shops, and with the thousands of Chinese characters that Camp Commander Lin Qiming had taught him, he recited the names of each shop in his heart to divert his attention and keep the cold from attacking.

"New Shanghai", "Greater East Asia", "Tokyo • Osaka Children's Products Reward Selling", "This number is the unified management of yarn, silk and satin, makeup powder, shoes, hats and shirts from all countries in the world", "Advocate domestic products, boycott Britain and the United States, and truly sacrifice blood capital; China and Japan work together to coexist and prosper and cope with the world's business wars......

It's really funny, not only advocating domestic products, but also promoting China and Japan, and dealing with the world business war, what does it mean to string it together? I don't understand. Especially when the world business war is bizarre......

Just thinking about it, someone kicked him and scolded viciously:

"Stinky three, get out!"

He glanced back at the gatekeeper who had kicked him, and quietly walked away from the gatehouse. This is not the first time he has encountered such a situation, and in the five days since he was released from prison, he himself does not know how many times he has been scolded and driven away like this.

Standing in the biting cold wind again, the fine snow particles had turned into flakes of snowflakes and fell on the street.

He faced the wind and snow, hugged his shoulders, and looked for to move forward, to the Shanghai in his heart, the snobbish Shanghai in front of him did not know him, but the Shanghai surrounded by high walls knew him, there was his battalion commander, there were his brothers, and there was his sixteen-year-old dream of freedom.

However, as soon as he moved out of the bustling street, he fell at the mouth of a stone-paved alley......

When he woke up, it was the middle of the night, and he was lying in the arms of an old man who was picking up rags. The old man fed him the leftovers of the soup he had begged for in one bite, and covered him with a broken sack with the words "Pacific Warehouse" printed on it. Next to him was a garbage bin, and the old man used a few pieces of stained cellophane to prop up a snow-free world on the side of the garbage bin against the wall.

The circles under his eyes were moist, and the corners of his mouth twitched for a long time before he said softly to the old man:

"Thank you!"

The old man said:

"It's all come to this, who's thanking who?!"

He was silent.

The old man said,

"On this snowy day, I can only rummage through the garbage cans, but I don't dare to run around like this, I don't say that I can't get food, and I may not be able to stand up if I fall down!"

He said with difficulty:

"I ...... I'm not begging, I'm ...... I'm looking for ...... A military battalion...... Clause...... The Ninth Chinese Military Battalion, after 'August 13', I ...... Where did I stay...... Stayed for a year. ”

The old man was stupid all at once:

"You...... Have you participated in the Songhu Campaign? ”

He nodded solemnly.

"That part?"

"1776 Regiment III...... Three battalions! ”

Tears flowed in the old man's eyes:

"I ...... I also participated in the Songhu operation, the 57th Regiment of the 1663rd Division! After...... Later, he entered the third military battalion, and the devil fled before occupying the concession...... Escaped. ”

He was stunned, opened his hazy teary eyes, and looked at the old man blankly for a long time before he threw himself into the old man's arms without emotion.

The old man stroked his head with regret and said:

"Kid, don't go to the military barracks, it's all ...... is gone, on the day of the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 30, the devils occupied the concession, and all the Western devils surrendered to the Oriental devils...... Most of them fell into the hands of the Japanese, and even our famous deputy Xie Jinyuan and the 800 lonely soldiers were also transferred to the Japanese Nanjing prisoner of war camp. Child...... Child, you ...... You can think of it as a dream! I...... I thought it was a dream! ”

It's a dream. A heart-wrenching dream. It's as if nothing ever existed. It seems that the fierce battle in Rihui Port and the persistence of DXN Company are all imaginary illusions; As if there had never been any Chinese military battalion. The Shanghai in his heart, and the national flag he and his brothers and commanders presented for the free sky of Shanghai, are all stories made up by the world.

But I couldn't convince myself.

Even if everything in the past was a dream, he still couldn't get rid of it. Through the cellophane hanging from his head, he clearly saw that on the white snow stood Battalion Commander Lin Qiming, Battalion Deputy Fei Xingyuan, Company Commander Lu Xiping, Company Commander Tu Guoqiang, and many familiar officers and brothers.

Snowflakes fell one after another, and the cold wind blew slowly and slowly. The snowflakes that swirled wildly stirred up the world in which he and the old man were in a fog.

He lay in the old man's arms in that confusion, chewing on old dreams, just like lying in the arms of Battalion Commander Lin Qiming back then. In the warm arms of the old man, he found Shanghai in his heart, and felt that he was in the ninth Chinese military battalion again.

At that time, everything was so good. The sun is always bright red, the queue is always neat, Battalion Commander Lin gave the order to "raise the flag", and the brothers all raised their unyielding heads against the rising sun in the east, stiffened their bodies, and carried the heavy national disaster of an era according to Camp Commander Lin's order. Yes, it is a heavy national disaster of the times. Battalion Commander Lin said. Battalion Commander Lin also said that the country and the nation will never forget them, never!

He smiled proudly, and in his smile, he shed bitter tears for his iron shoulders when he was sixteen years old, and for the glorious years that he and his brothers had together......

For the 52nd anniversary of the Songhu Anti-Japanese War and Xie Jinyuan

It was made on the 48th anniversary of the martyrdom of the martyrs of Zhugudao

August 13, 1989 - January 4, 1990

in Nanjing Orchid Garden