At three o'clock in the morning, Wei Ran was woken up by Squad Leader Cha. He gently put the American windbreaker on the sleeping Lu Yao, and then quietly got out. Following Squad Leader Cha's password, they changed their duties.
Hai Dongqing and Zhang Hongliang from Erban Gang.
At this time, the rain that has been raging all night has not stopped. This time is also the darkest, most humid and cold time in the jungle, so although he is wearing damp autumn clothes and long trousers underneath, he is wearing two equally damp layers outside.
Huhu's camouflage, even wrapped in the raincoat Zhang Hongliang left for him, still made him shiver from the cold.
Huddled under a big tree with a dense canopy, Wei Ran picked two banana leaves on the way to the future, folded them into the shape of a funnel, stuck them in the lunch box cover of the kettle, and hung them on a vine not far away.
Catching the cold yet clean rainwater.
He himself leaned against the damp tree trunk, first took a sip of the tea that had already been brewed and the fragrance was gone, leaving only a bitter taste. Then he threw a hawthorn-flavored hard candy into his mouth while tasting the sweetness.
Smell, while listening to the movement around you.
Half an hour, an hour, two hours, until the light dimmed at half past five in the morning and everyone else woke up one after another, he had already refilled the two kettles with rainwater and dropped a net in each.
Water tablets.
As early as an hour ago, the rain stopped again without warning, but in a very short period of time, thick morning fog filled the surrounding area again.
They each gnawed half a piece of compressed biscuits as they did yesterday morning. The difference is that this time, the squad leader cut a few crispy and juicy banana cores from the surroundings, and also brought back a bag of wild bananas that were green in appearance but sweet and refreshing.
fruit.
"What is this?" Lu Yao asked in a low voice while eating, "It's sticky and quite sweet."
"Milk Fruit"
The squad leader Dao replied in a low voice, "It's also called Star Apple, you can call it anything you want."
Hearing this, Lu Yao spit out the huge fruit core, followed the example of the others, and threw the peel and the fruit into the gap leading to the underground river not far away.
Fortunately, he knew that this was not a place for small talk, so after satisfying his most basic curiosity, he did not continue to ask questions.
After filling their stomachs, they peeed into the underground river in batches. They restored the camp to its original state and disguised themselves. Then, under the leadership of Squad Leader Dao, they continued to move towards their destination in the morning mist.
But this time, even Lu Yao, who was protected in the center of the team, could see that the leader of the team, Captain Dao, was much more cautious and slower than yesterday - even though he couldn't see Captain Dao who was obscured by the fog at all.
, not to mention Wei Ran, who was swimming less than ten meters away from them.
At the edge of this team, Wei Ran stepped forward 20 meters to make sure there was no threat, then quickly returned to the right side of the team, took out his camera, pointed it at a group of silhouettes advancing in the hazy fog, and pressed the shutter.
Putting away the camera, Wei Ran picked up the submachine gun hanging on his shoulder again. After waiting for a while, he got to the end of the team. He first glanced at the squad leader who was responsible for breaking up the rear, and then he relaxed a little and slowed down.
I followed from a distance, and by the way, I didn’t forget to take photos of the people at the end of the group through the fog.
However, just when he put away the camera and picked up the silent pistol again, the sound of a firefight came from directly in front of him without any warning!
For a moment, the clicking "sewing machine sound" when the submachine gun fired seemed to be amplified countless times and almost pierced everyone's eardrums.
What made everyone even more nervous was that before the sound of submachine gun fire stopped, they heard the loud and piercing sound of AK rifle firing from diagonally opposite!
Something bad happened! Wei Ran immediately threw off his backpack and ran towards the direction of the fire from the side.
Before he could find the enemy, Wang Beizhan had already controlled the machine gun in his hand, and with the help of the deputy machine gunner Zhao Yuejin, he began to suppress the fire. The leader, Squad Leader Dao and Hai Dongqing, each threw out a gun in no particular order.
A grenade!
"Boom! Boom!"
After two consecutive explosions, screams came from the fog, and Wei Ran finally determined the enemy's location.
The cat ducked through the dense bushes and spiderweb-like vines. He hid behind a thick tropical tree, raised the submachine gun in his hand, aimed at an enemy in black clothes who had already raised an AK rifle, and pulled the trigger.
The trigger.
"Click, click, click, click."
After a series of bursts of fire, the enemy was shot in the chest and fell to the ground. At the same time, Wei Ran had moved his gun and pointed it at an enemy holding a Type 67 grenade, deliberately waiting for the enemy to pull the grenade's firing line.
After that, he decisively pulled the trigger and accurately hit the enemy's arm and ribs holding the grenade less than 20 meters away.
As expected, the grenade that was about to explode fell to the ground amidst the screams of the opponent. The enemies hidden around him also left their hiding spots in panic like wasps that had exploded their nest.
Amidst the continuous firing of silent weapons by Wei Ran and the squad leader Dao on the other side, the shadowy enemies were shot one after another. In the mist-filled jungle, only the remaining screams were left.
Almost as soon as the fire ceased, Wei Ran, Squad Leader Dao and Squad Leader Cha rushed over in no particular order.
At a distance of less than 20 meters, several people dressed in black clothes, black trousers, and bamboo hats dressed as militiamen were already lying down. Only one of them was still wailing, and she still held a hand in her hand.
Holding two wooden handle grenades.
"Crack!"
After two faint gunshots that almost overlapped, Wei Ran shot the woman in the temple, and the bullet fired by Squad Leader Dao penetrated the opponent's hand that was originally preparing to pull the grenade and pull the line of fire.
Frowning and looking at Wei Ran, Squad Leader Dao didn't say anything. He just walked over quickly, checked the backpacks of these militiamen and said, "They should be militiamen delivering food to nearby positions. The food is still hot."
, the cooking place is not far from us, and the position must not be too far either, we must leave here as soon as possible."
After he finished speaking, Platoon Leader Luo and others also ran over.
"Gather water and food, then lay mines!"
The sword squad leader issued the order without explanation, and then climbed up a nearby banyan tree nimbly and placed one facing the enemy on it.
"Is anyone injured?" Wei Ran asked as he stuffed an anti-infantry mine under the body of one of the corpses.
"Zhang Hongliang was shot in the arm"
Hai Dongqing said while collecting the trophies, "Squad leader Cha is bandaging it, it's not a big problem."
"What happened just now?" Platoon Leader Luo asked while helping Bray.
"As we were going forward, we turned a corner, and then we happened to bump into these people who were resting under a tree."
Hai Dongqing explained helpfully, "It's just bad luck. Our luck is bad, and their luck is bad too."
"It's time to set off, we'll talk about the rest later."
While the squad leader was talking, he had already taken out a box of canned American lunch meat from his pocket. He dug out a piece the size of an egg, crushed it and sprinkled it near the accompanying line of the directional mine.
Without daring to waste too much time, Wei Ran took a bamboo tube filled with the aroma of rice and a bamboo tube filled with water from Lu Yao and stuffed them into his bag. He still wandered near the team and started running.
Along the way, Squad Leader Cha and Li Dazhai at the end of the team would drop an anti-infantry mine every now and then.
Precisely because of the existence of these mines, less than five minutes later, the explosions from behind made them realize that pursuers had appeared!
Platoon Leader Luo caught up with Squad Leader Dao, who was at the head of the team, and said, "Someone needs to lead the pursuers away."
"I come!"
Squad Leader Dao and Squad Leader Cha who came with him all competed for this nearly fatal task.
"Old knife"
Platoon Leader Luo paused, then changed his title and said, "Old squad leader, I leave Lu Yao and Xiao Xifeng to you. You have to ensure that they complete their mission and that they return alive."
Squad Leader Dao opened his mouth to say something, but Platoon Leader Luo said, "If we can get rid of the pursuers, we will rush to the destination to join you. If there is an accident, we will also wait in the cave at the rescue point.
I'll take care of you."
After saying that, Platoon Leader Luo turned around and ordered, "Zhao Yuejin, Wang Beizhan, Zhang Hongliang, stay behind with me!"
"yes!"
Several people whose names were called responded in unison without hesitation.
"Zha Yongfang, Hai Dongqing, Li Dazhai, He Yong, Lu Yao, from now on, everything will be under the command of the squad leader."
"Yes!" These people gritted their teeth and responded.
"In 1979, Squad Leader Dao was my squad leader. I was the soldier he led. You can completely trust him."
Platoon Leader Luo stopped as he spoke, "Comrades, I'm waiting for your victory fire."
"Promise to complete the task!" Squad Leader Zha and others stopped and saluted in unison.
Taking a serious look at Platoon Leader Luo, Squad Leader Dao also saluted, and then took another step without waiting for the other person to return the salute, speeding up the pace with everyone including Wei Ran who was secretly taking pictures just now.
Soon, the sound of landmine explosions was heard again behind him, as well as the intensive gunfire of machine gun fire.
In the accompaniment of the sound of firefights, Wei Ran automatically ran to the front, Squad Leader He Dao served as the vanguard in the thick fog, while Squad Leader Cha and Hai Dongqing stayed at the rear to take charge of the rear.
In the middle of the team, Lu Yao, who seemed to have belatedly realized that he was the target of special protection, gritted his teeth. Together with Xiao Xifeng, who also gritted his teeth, he followed the captor Li Dazhai and accelerated his pace.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of firefights behind them became farther and farther away, and eventually completely disappeared from their ears. All that was left around them was the thick mist, and the occasional strange calls of monkeys hidden in the mist and in the canopy of trees.
Voice.
Ten minutes, half an hour, one hour, two hours, finally, when the fog in the forest finally dissipated, Squad Leader Dao had already led them to the top of a hill with dense vegetation. He stood here and let his sight pass through the forest.
Through the gaps between them, they could even see the paddy fields outside the forest and several thatched houses surrounded by the paddy fields, as well as the villagers wearing black clothes and black pants and carrying weapons on the fairly spacious dirt road at the edge of the paddy fields.
Even the shepherd boy leading the buffalo.
"Wait first"
The squad leader rolled up his sleeves and looked at his watch, "We will continue moving forward at dusk. Now let's eat something and drink some water."
"Captain Dao, Platoon Commander Luo and the others..." Lu Yao couldn't help but asked in a low voice, "Will they..."
"Believe them"
The person who answered this question was Squad Leader Cha, "Although they may not have enough firepower due to their small number, they can still run away without any problem, and the fewer people there are, the more convenient it is, so don't worry, they will definitely be fine."
“Let’s eat something first”
As Hai Dongqing spoke, he took out an aluminum lunch box from his backpack, picked up a few sticks of moist beef jerky and gave each person two sticks.
After taking the snack, which tasted pretty good, Wei Ran took out the bamboo tube filled with the aroma of rice from his backpack, pulled out the banana leaf blocking the mouth of the tube, and distributed some of the rice inside to everyone.
.
Also sharing the rice was the taciturn Xiao Xifeng, while Lu Yao and Squad Leader Zha pulled some green, glossy cold vegetables from the bamboo tubes they opened into each person's kettle and lunch box.
"What kind of dish is this?"
Lu Yao took out a stainless steel long-handled spoon from his chest hanging, scooped up a mouthful of vegetables, put it into his mouth and asked while chewing.
“Salt dish”
The knife squad leader randomly cut two branches to serve as chopsticks, and said as he shoveled rice and vegetables into his mouth, "Though the more difficult soldiers are not short of rice, they don't have much vegetables, let alone meat. Only those who can eat
This salt dish can be seen everywhere.”
As if to dilute the concerns about Platoon Leader Luo and others, Squad Leader Cha also took up the topic and whispered, "Those yellow dogs, when they are hungry, not only snatch the food from the black dogs in their own territory, but sometimes they also ask us for food."
Of."
"Can't"
Hai Dongqing also followed up and said, "The distance between the trenches at the front and the positions of those white-eyed wolves in the position that Platoon Leader Zhang and the others are responsible for is less than 30 meters.
As long as we throw a box of cans over here, at least a whole class of wolves will rush to grab it. Just because of this box of cans, those who can't grab it dare to beat their own people to death."
"They are still asking us for help."
Xiao Xifeng also joined the conversation and lowered her voice and said, "Once Lu Yao and I were observing in the trenches on the front line. The other side shouted through a loudspeaker and asked if we could throw them two packs of cigarettes or compressed biscuits."
"Did you throw it away?" Li Dazhai, the prisoner who was also pulling food into his mouth, took over and asked.
"Lu Yao threw it away"
Xiao Xifeng explained angrily in a low voice, "He pooped into two cans, stuffed a grenade into each, and threw them over, killing and injuring the boss. At that time, both light and heavy machine guns and mortars from the opposite side opened fire.
Just because of this, we each had to bear a punishment. Then we were sent to the front observation center where you...chacha squad leader is responsible."
"Why did you punish him for throwing a grenade?" Wei Ran asked curiously.
"The grenade is his"
Lu Yao grinned, picked up the glory bomb hanging around his neck and said, "I'm just a grenade, I can't throw my wife away, right?
At that time, Xiao Xifeng had several pills stuffed in his pocket, and I thought he wouldn't need them, so I threw two pills out for him to listen to the sound."
Hearing this, Wei Ran and the squad leader next to him looked at each other. The latter took a big mouthful of rice and chewed it while muttering in a low voice, "You are not assigned to my position, otherwise I will beat you all day long."
Eight times.”
Lu Yao grinned and responded with a silly smile, but did not dare to challenge him. He was not stupid, so he could tell that the old squad leader was not joking at all.
Wei Ran, on the other hand, frowned as he stared at the glory bomb on Lu Yao's neck.
The black paint on this glory bomb has been worn away, but even so, you can still clearly see the two lines of small and elegant characters engraved on it, "Long live the jungle tigers, artillery."
"Is there a leech on my face?"
Lu Yao misunderstood Wei Ran's eyes and nervously touched his face painted in camouflage with his hand.
"I'm looking at the words engraved on your glory bomb."
Wei Ran lowered his head as he spoke, and continued to use the branches to push the warm rice and cold salt vegetables into his mouth.
"I found someone to engrave it at the shop in front of the Youth League branch. It was originally a dime a word."
Lu Yao picked up the spoon again and explained in a low voice while eating, "Later, after I finished carving, the old man didn't take the money and let me fight on the front line. I hope I will never need this glorious bomb."
"You won't need it," the squad leader said firmly in a calm tone.
"Captain Dao, tell me about Platoon Leader Luo? He used to be a soldier under you?" Lu Yao changed the subject and asked in a low voice.
"Shhh"
Squad Leader Dao glanced at the militiamen running out of the small village outside the jungle, lowered his voice and said, "This is not a place for chatting. Let's eat and sleep. We may have to travel all night."
Hearing this, the others tacitly agreed and didn't speak again. They finished the not-so-rich meals in their respective lunch boxes in a few mouthfuls. Then they opened the seized bamboo tube, poured the water inside into the lunch box, shook it, and then drank it into their stomachs.
.
After filling their stomachs with a rare hot meal, everyone worked in pairs, each found a tropical tree with a dense canopy and climbed in, secretly peeping at everything around them through the branches and leaves.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the heavy rain struck again, driving away the oppressive heat and the mosquitoes that had been lingering in the ears. At the same time, it inevitably cooled the hearts of everyone hiding in the canopy.
Hiding in the canopy of the tree, Wei Ran pinched some instant sour plum powder that had returned to the water and caked it into water bottles filled with rainwater, then tightened the lid of the pot and shook it, then handed over the newspaper bag containing the sour plum powder.
Capturer Li Dazhai on another tree branch.
The latter took the paper bag, squeezed some sour plum powder into each of his two kettles, and then returned the paper bag.
"I heard Platoon Leader Luo talk about him and Squad Leader Dao." Li Dazhai waited for Wei Ran to put away the paper bag, then leaned towards him and whispered.
"Squad Leader Dao never told us," Wei Ran responded in a low voice, "He never told us."
"Many people died that time"
Li Dazhai said in a low voice while observing the rain curtain outside the tree canopy, "I heard from Platoon Leader Luo that he was a recruit at the time and that the squad leader was a militiaman at the front.
Later they were ambushed by Vietnamese monkeys, and at least half of a platoon fell down."
Not sure if he was shivering because of the low temperature, Li Dazhai continued to talk to himself, "They were in the third squad of that platoon at the time. Before the third squad leader was shot and died, they asked the squad leader Dao, who was still a militiaman at the time, to act as the squad leader.
, lead their class to continue fighting."
"What happened next?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.
"Later, only Platoon Leader Luo of that class survived. It was Squad Leader Dao who carried him back, more than ten kilometers of mountainous roads. Squad Leader Dao carried him for two days."
Li Dazhai said with admiration, "Later, Platoon Leader Luo was sent to the hospital, but Squad Leader Dao didn't know where he went. Some people said he went..."
As if realizing something, Li Dazhai added additionally, "Platoon Leader Luo didn't say what happened next, but whether it's true or not, I heard many old comrades mention it in a vague way, as if he went back to bury it again.
We fired a lot of directional mines and set off a few fires."
"Then what?"
"Then, I heard that even the division commander was alarmed and made an exception to leave him as an instructor in the reconnaissance company." Li Dazhai said with admiration.
"No punishment?"
"Punishment? What punishment?"
Li Dazhai said matter-of-factly, "Let's not mention that before that, they were just a militiaman who was not under the control of the army. This is not ten years ago. You just follow the wind and you are raining, and you arrest people without providing evidence?"
"makes sense"
Wei Ran nodded. Regardless of whether this matter is true or false, the more difficult it is, the monkey won't say anything. Naturally, his own people will not say anything.
"Don't tell Lu Yao about this."
Li Dazhai took off his mask and put it in his pocket and gave the last instruction, "He is just a loudspeaker. If this matter reaches his ears and then spreads out, what will happen to him may happen."
"I definitely won't tell him"
Wei Ran responded with a smile, and at the same time secretly added in his mind, "You are also a big speaker."
However, considering that these people are only 20 years old, it should be normal for them to be playful and noisy. They are required to be calm and sophisticated, they are required to be strict with their mouths and not talk nonsense, and they are required to be honest and not throw shit into the opposite position.
and cans of grenades, asking for this and asking for that.
If they had done it all, the price they would have paid would probably be far beyond what they should bear at their age.
But unfortunately, in this era, on this battlefield, in this era that has just changed people's minds, there are really such a large group of young people who have done everything they were not required to do.
In the dense canopy of trees where it was raining heavily outside and light rain inside, Wei Ran and Li Dazhai fell silent one after another. The only thing left was the sound of water droplets hitting the raincoats they brought to keep out the cold, which was masked by the sound of the rain curtain.
Click sound.
Glancing at Li Dazhai, who seemed to be sleeping while riding a tree branch and hugging the trunk, Wei Ran quietly took out his camera, zoomed in, and gently took a picture of the other person's young face, smeared with American oil paint.
A close-up of vigilance and exhaustion coexisting.
Still cautiously putting away the camera under the cover of his backpack, Wei Ran let his sight pass through the gaps in the branches and leaves to look at another tree. In that tree were hidden Squadron Leader Dao, Leader Cha and the out-of-touch Lu.
Yao.
Are they also whispering stories about a certain comrade? Wei Ran couldn't help but think.
