Mei Sheng said: "There are still ten party members left in the company, don't get stuck at the critical moment." ”

"Yes!"

Mei Sheng said: "Yu Congrong, call Xia Yuan." ”

"Yes." Yu Congrong nodded, and after a while, Xia Yuan walked over, saluted and saluted, "Instructor!" Captain! ”

"Sit."

Mei Sheng pointed to the stool next to him and said: "Xia Yuan, you and Wan Li are the latest to join the Seventh Company, your growth is what I and the company commander have witnessed all the way, the times create heroes, I discussed with the company commander, the second platoon commander died in the battle in Xinxing, the second platoon can't do without the platoon commander, Qianli recommended you to be the platoon commander of the second platoon, what do you think?" ”

Xia Yuan was very surprised, hesitated, and said: "Instructor, I have only joined the Seventh Company for a short time, and I have only experienced so many battles, let me be the platoon commander, will it..."

Not so good, he didn't say.

Mei Sheng's voice was a little deep, "I know your concerns, and the company commander also knows it, but you don't have to have any psychological pressure, the soldiers of the Seventh Company have watched you grow all the way to the present, and the soldiers like people with strong abilities, so your ability is very strong." And on the night of the 30th, you contributed to the battle in Xinxingli, you led the two to capture the American position, and held on until the reinforcements arrived, laying the foundation for the follow-up volunteer soldiers to tear apart the enemy's defensive line. You have the ability to command, and what you have done in the past is enough for you to be a company commander. ”

"So if you say that someone else is the platoon leader, maybe the other fighters will have objections, but if it's you, there will be absolutely no objections."

Mei Sheng said again: "The company commander also asked Yu Congrong to ask the division headquarters about this matter, and when the division commander heard that it was you, he immediately said, don't say that you want to be a platoon commander, even if you are a company commander, you will also arrange it for you, so you don't need to have any burden, this matter is settled, and when you set off again, you will finalize this matter." ”

Xia Yuan opened his mouth, turned his head to look at Wu Qianli, Wu Qianli nodded: "Take the soldiers to work hard and win the battle!" When the war is over, you will definitely be given the title of Battle Hero. ”

Xia Yuan no longer hesitated, nodded heavily, got up and saluted the two, and then retreated.

Walking out of the tent, Xia Yuan felt that the sky in front of him was so unreal.

Become a platoon commander yourself?

He faced the sun, and while showing a smile on his face, he also felt that the courage on his body was getting heavier and heavier, and being a platoon commander meant that the burden on his shoulders was heavier.

"I'll take you home!"

Xia Yuan clenched his fists firmly, looked around, and decided to collect some leftover canned food eaten by the American army, don't dislike the leftover canned food they eat, even if it is leftovers, it is more nutritious than fried noodles and potatoes. In the later period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, that is, the fifth battle of Tieyuan Blockade, Li Qiwei used magnetic tactics to drag the volunteer soldiers, the division can be said to be experienced in a hundred battles, very keenly aware of something, ordered the large army to evacuate to the rear, at that time many soldiers in the army suffered from severe night blindness, could not see anything at night, and needed to use a stick to pull the soldiers with night blindness.

Li Qiwei's magnetic tactics were aimed at the Volunteer Army, and when he summed up the previous battles, he keenly found that the Volunteer Army's offensive only lasted seven days, and the offensive weakened after seven days, which was due to the fact that the Volunteer Army's logistical supply could only last for seven days, so after seven days, the Volunteer Army needed to go back for logistical supply.

Ridgway seized on this loophole and, in the fifth campaign, used magnetic tactics against the Volunteer Army. The so-called magnetic tactics are that when the volunteers attack, the enemy army begins to retreat, and does not fight with the volunteers, but retreats, and the enemy army is a mechanized and motorized force, which is highly mobile and the volunteers cannot catch up at all. And the distance they retreat every day is 30 kilometers, and this 30 kilometers is exactly the distance of the volunteers overnight, dragging the volunteers in this way, but as soon as you stop, or retreat back, the enemy will immediately follow, you are turning your head to fight, and the enemy will immediately retreat.

Magnetic tactics are similar to guerrilla tactics, the enemy advances and we retreat, the enemy is tired and I fight, and the kite pulls, that is, you know that you can't run more than four wheels on two legs, and once you wait until seven days later, your food is finished and your body is tired, it is time for a big counterattack.

At this stage, many fighters suffered from night blindness and could not keep up with their nutrition, and even many fighters were beaten by this tactic for several days without food, grenades and bullets.

Night blindness is an absolute disaster for volunteers who are good at night operations.

It's not just night blindness, if you don't take in nutrients for a long time, you will be weak and your resistance will decrease, so in the later stage, the fried noodles of the volunteers will also be mixed with some other things, or add some sugar and salt as seasoning.

Xia Yuan thought that while he still had enough time, he should search for more food, even if he couldn't eat enough, but he could take in some nutrients, especially pickled canned food, even if he ate some salty taste and drank some salty soup, it was okay.

There are a lot of leftover canned food in the camp tents of the US army, and in the corners of some camp tents, expired canned food can also be found.

This kind of canned food leftovers, Xia Yuan does not dislike it, it is better than nothing, although fried noodles are hungry, but nutrition is scarce, the canned food of the US military is a good source of nutrition, and the weather is cold, even if the canned food is unsealed and left there for a while, it will be frozen, and there is no worry about whether the food inside will spoil, it is expired canned, and the food inside is still fresh.

The canned food only spoiled on the date, and when it arrived at Changjin Lake, the canned food was frozen, which was equivalent to refrigeration.

After collecting a lot of leftover canned food, Xia Yuan found the cook, sat beside him, opened the sleeping bag and let him look at it: "These are leftover canned food eaten by the US military." ”

Sensing the strange gaze of the cook, Xia Yuan said again: "Don't dislike these, these things are nutritious, and the weather is cold and freezes them again, don't worry about spoilage, when cooking rice, fried noodles are cooked with these things, which is more nutritious than eating fried noodles alone, and the most important thing is to bring a little saltiness." ”

The cook seemed to understand something, and he said, "I've collected some myself, but not as much as you." ”

He opened his pocket, revealing several unsealed cans, all of which had not been eaten halfway.

He smoked a cigarette and said, "These foreign devils eat really well, they eat half of such a good thing and lose half of it." ”

Xia Yuan smiled and did not refute, in fact, these canned foods were eaten by the US military during the field war, and most of them had their own meals and steaming food in the barracks, and many US troops did not look down on these canned food, and even hated eating these canned food.

"Bring these canned food, I don't know how far the battle will end, the troops can't be supplied in the later stage, and it's nothing to eat some leftover food from the enemy to supplement nutrition."

"Don't worry."

Xia Yuan put the can next to the cook, turned to leave, and as soon as he returned to the camp, Xia Yuan felt that the atmosphere of the Seventh Company was a little wrong.

Pinghe held the gun and said, "The higher authorities have issued a new combat order." ”

Xia Yuan was stunned for a moment, his brows furrowed, as if he had thought of something.

Pratunam Bridge!

With the withdrawal of the 1st Marine Division to Gutuli, the only bridge between Gutuli and Jinxingli became a battleground for the warring parties.

Three bombings of the Watergate Bridge, the battle will be even more tragic.

Could it be that the 7th Interspersed Company is going to blow up the Watergate Bridge?

As soon as he sat down, his butt was not hot, and the voice of the password transmitter sounded: "The Seventh Interspersed Company!" Gather! ”

The soldiers in the camp moved quickly, after sacrificing seventy-seven people, there were only eighty-one people left in the seventh interspersed company, and only one or two people were left in some teams, Wu Qianli looked at the weather-beaten team in front of him, and his eyes stayed on Xia Yuan.

Wu Qianli raised his voice too loudly and shouted: "It's up to the superiors to decide!" Comrade Xia Yuan was appointed as the platoon commander of the second platoon of the seventh interspersed company of the 1st Regiment! The inauguration ceremony is now held! ”

"Xia Yuan is out of the ranks!"

The warrior's gaze converged on the slightly majestic figure, and his gaze was filled with admiration.

In the battle of Xinxingli, a three-person team resisted the fierce artillery fire of the enemy and the impact of the coordinated infantry, and still stubbornly held on until the reinforcements arrived, which opened a hole for the volunteers in the battle of Xinxingli.

As Mei Sheng said, it doesn't matter who is the platoon leader, only Xia Yuan is in charge, and there are no objections in the team.

The inauguration ceremony is simple, it is an oral teaching. This is in times of war, special events.

With fierce applause, the inauguration ceremony ended.

After the inauguration ceremony, Xia Yuan wanted to familiarize himself with the second platoon first, after the battle in the new star, the second platoon suffered twenty-one casualties, and now there are only nineteen soldiers left, that is, two squads.

The deputy platoon commander's name is Wu Wenxiang, not Wu Qianli's Wu.

Wu Wenxiang said: "Platoon commander, there are only two squads of soldiers left in our platoon. ”

Xia Yuan said: "How many squad leaders are there? ”

Wu Wenxiang: "One." ”

Xia Yuan was silent for a while, raised his head and said, "Then divide the second row into two shifts, you bring one, I bring one, and order me to come down." ”

Wu Wenxiang nodded: "Yes!" ”

Nineteen people, plus Xia Yuan, twenty people, are tentatively divided into two classes, one class of ten people.

Xia Yuan didn't have time to seriously familiarize himself with the soldiers of the second platoon, and the order from his superiors had already been issued, and the 7th Interspersed Company was going south to intersperse with the 1081 Heights area of Watergate Bridge to carry out the task of blowing up the bridge.

The sky is getting late, the severe cold is coming again, with the passage of time, the temperature in the Changjin Lake area will drop to minus 40 degrees in the middle of the night, the seventh interspersed company is to be interspersed, walking on the mountain road, the snow on the mountain is not enough to the knee position, and you can't see the road under your feet at all.

In the face of such severe cold, wind and snow, the 7th Interspersed Company left Xiajieyu-ri and moved along the mountain road towards the Watergate Bridge between Gutu-ri and Jinxing-ri.

The location of the Watergate Bridge is located in the Huangcaoling Pass, which is the only road to Xingnan Port and is an absolute choke point.

As the only passage connecting the Changjin Lake area to the outside, the bridge of less than 9 meters, the bridge of less than 9 meters, on both sides is a steep cliff, and the bottom is a raging river.

However, once the United Nations forces cross this bridge, they will be flat, and whether they take the land or the port of Wonsan, they can retreat calmly without the slightest constraint.

Blowing up the Watergate Bridge became an imminent matter for the volunteers.

The time of the "three bombings" of the Watergate Bridge by the Volunteer Army was, on December 1 and 4, 1950, and the bridge was blown up twice. However, on December 5, the U.S. Army Engineer Battalion rebuilt the bridge.

The third time the bridge was blown up was on the night of December 6.

In order not to delay the combat time, Wu Qianli asked the soldiers to throw away unnecessary things and rushed to the Watergate Bridge, along the way the soldiers rushed to the direction of the Watergate Bridge in the snow.

The cold air kept blowing and sore his cheeks.

From time to time, the roar of US planes can be heard in the sky, and even at night, US planes are constantly reconnoitring, and even indiscriminately bombing the high ground around the highway, throwing artillery shells and napalm one after another.

Forced to the dawn, through a vast expanse of snow, their vision appeared a black scorched earth, the snow reached this side, there were faults, melted into water, frozen into ice, there was no snow on the mountains, the melted snow merged into a frozen stream between the valleys, the air could smell a smell of burnt and gasoline, the scorched earth on the ground crunched, scattered on the scorched earth with a few patches of snow.

Wu Wanli looked at the scorched earth in front of him and asked Lei Gong: "What happened here, how did it become like this." ”

Lei Gong's voice was slightly deep: "This is the napalm of the US military, which can incinerate everything in sight." ”

Wu Wanli clasped his hands and craned his neck to look.

"It was about two hours before the U.S. bombing was encountered, and the ground was already cold."

Pinghe reached out and touched the ground, but there was no trace of temperature.

Wu Qianli asked, "Where do you go further?" ”

Mei Sheng looked at it with a glimmer of light, his eyes were a little blurry, and he handed the map and compass to Yu Congrong: "Yu Congrong, look where we are going?" ”

Yu Congrong took the map and studied it, then looked up at the surrounding terrain, and his eyes stayed on the distant mountains:

"The compass is frozen and can't be used, and at our current speed, it should be about to arrive at Huangcaoling."