As dusk approached, the rain still didn't stop, but the small village outside the jungle seemed much more lively.
Smoke was rising from those thatched houses one after another, and the shepherd boys drove the buffaloes that were not afraid of the wind and rain back to the village. Even the militiamen who went to search the mountains with guns also returned to the village in groups.
The squad leader Dao and the others who were hiding in the tree nearby didn't move. Naturally, Wei Ran and Li Dazhai didn't move either. They each took out a piece of compressed biscuit and took a sip of the rainwater in the kettle that was filled with the smell of water purification tablets.
While eating, I waited patiently for the sky to get darker.
At eight o'clock in the evening, someone knocked lightly on the trunk of the tree. A moment later, Wei Ran and Li Dazhai, who had already filled their stomachs, came down from the tree each holding weapons and backpacks.
"Let's set off along the dirt road so that we can go faster." Squad Leader Dao said in a low voice, "We will try to get to the designated place before dawn."
"Aren't we waiting for Platoon Leader Luo?" Xiao Xifeng couldn't help but ask.
“No more waiting”
After finishing speaking, Squad Leader Dao patted Wei Ran on the shoulder and ordered in a low voice, "You and I are in the front, and the rear of the team is handed over to Squad Leader Cha and Deputy Squad Leader Hai Dongqing."
"good"
Wei Ran responded in a low voice. Counting himself, there were only 7 people in total, but there were three squad leaders among them, which was considered a luxurious configuration.
Without too much delay, Squad Leader Dao and Wei Ran were the first to head out of the jungle, carefully walking through the muddy paddy fields, covered with a much weakened rain curtain, and finally walked onto the flat but equally muddy road.
dirt road.
After Squad Leader Cha and others also walked onto the dirt road, the group of seven people reduced their formation and began a rapid march along the slippery and sticky dirt road.
At this time, thanks to the iron-footed horses tied to their respective shoes, and also thanks to the strong rainfall, otherwise, they would not only have to pay attention to slipping and falling, but also have a headache to deal with the problem of footprints.
On the other hand, although this dirt road is muddy, it is much more comfortable than in the jungle. At least there are no shrubs and vines that block the sky and the sun like a natural city wall, and there are no locusts and camouflage that will sneak up on you at any time.
Excellent venomous snake and venomous insect.
But correspondingly, after starting to run, Wei Ran suddenly remembered Zhao Shengli on the moss battlefield, and his pair of iron feet that almost blew him apart.
Compared with him, the speed of the knife squad leader was not slow at all, and was even faster because of the good "road conditions".
In this way, Wei Ran was able to catch up, Squad Leader Cha and Hai Dongqing were able to catch up, and the prisoner Li Dazhai was also able to keep up. Even Xiao Xifeng was not a big problem, but Lu Yao was able to escape.
By half an hour, I was already panting and out of breath.
"No..." Lu Yao said panting, "I...I can't run anymore...stop..."
"Shut up." Squad Leader Dao had already stopped talking, "Help him lighten his load...and He...Xiao Xifeng, help him lighten his load too."
Before he finished speaking, he had already taken away the Bayi stick that belonged to Xiao Xifeng without any explanation, and at the same time explained in a low voice, "When you need to turn on the radio, don't be so breathless that you can't speak.
.”
Hearing this, Xiao Xifeng, who was gritting her teeth and persisting, closed her mouth tightly and nodded vigorously.
At the same time, Wei Ran couldn't help but take away the Bayi bar that originally belonged to Lu Yao, tied it directly to his backpack, and then hung several bullets inserted on his chest.
The magazines and grenades were either stuffed into the backpack or into the empty ammunition pouch on the waist.
Also helping the two of them share the weight were Squad Leader Cha, Hai Dongqing, and Li Dazhai.
For a time, the water bottles Xiao Xifeng and Lu Yao were carrying, the raincoats they were not wearing at all, the American windbreakers and even the spare batteries for the equipment were all shared among the three of them in their bags.
After losing so much weight at once, the pressure on Xiao Xifeng and Lu Yao was relieved a lot. Especially when the team started running again, Squad Leader Cha and Hai Dongqing did not forget to drag one of them to run with them.
Although their pressure was relieved, Wei Ran, who had so many extra burdens on his body, could not help but feel the joy of running up the mountain with Zhao Shengli again.
I still need to exercise more when I go back. Morning exercise is no longer enough...
Gritting his teeth and persisting, Wei Ran secretly made a decision while trying his best to adjust the rhythm of his breathing and steps.
Running, or long-distance running, was difficult at the beginning. After they ran for an hour continuously, at least Wei Ran gradually got used to it.
On the other hand, Lu Yao, whose arm was being held by Hai Dongqing behind him, seemed to be left with only the sound of numb footsteps and almost exhausted breathing.
He is indeed a new recruit... Wei Ran muttered secretly, but he did not mean to look down on him.
After running for more than half an hour, when the muddy road was about to turn, the squad leader slowed down and whispered, "Let's go back to the woods and rest for ten minutes."
As soon as these words came out, Lu Yao seemed to be energetic immediately, and even his footsteps seemed to be much lighter.
Following Squad Leader Dao, they waded through the paddy fields again, and everyone got into the dense jungle. The rainfall above their heads was also reduced a lot due to the shelter of the tree canopy.
Rolling up his sleeves and looking at his watch, Squad Leader Dao said, "We only have ten minutes. While we are resting, I will talk about the road ahead. Wei Ran, you are responsible for keeping watch."
"Yes" Wei Ran agreed to the task in a low voice.
The rest of the people immediately took out their raincoats and put them on, and then formed a circle, surrounding Squad Leader Dao and the map he had spread out.
Soon, as Lu Yao turned on his flashlight, which was only the size of a pen, Wei Ran vaguely heard the explanation of Squad Leader Dao while guarding the surrounding area.
"We are at this location now. If we continue to walk along this road, we will have to go in a long circle, and further on we will lead to the Panlong River, which is the place where those yellow dogs are focused on guarding against."
The knife squad leader paused and continued, "So from here, we go through paddy fields and several villages to the next road. Although this road is always going down the mountain, dogs are generally kept in these villages along the way, so everyone must move quickly.
The movement is small, and once discovered, we immediately run to the virgin forest in the southwest."
"Understood!" The others lowered their voices and responded in unison.
Immediately afterwards, as the small flashlight went out, the people gathered around dispersed one after another. In the darkness, Hai Dongqing and Squad Leader Cha also found Lu Yao and Xiao Xifeng respectively, and helped them massage their almost cramped bodies.
Legs.
After a brief ten-minute break, everyone did not leave the jungle at all. Under the leadership of Squad Leader Dao, they left from the other direction, waded through knee-deep paddy fields, and continued to move towards the destination little by little under the cover of the rain curtain.
Close the distance.
After carefully circumnavigating several small villages that were not too big in size, everyone once again walked onto a dirt road and started running again.
But this time, less than an hour had passed, and there was a faintly dancing light right in front!
"hidden!"
Wei Ran was the first to issue a reminder. Almost immediately, everyone left the muddy dirt road and jumped into the paddy fields. They took off their backpacks and lay down in the lush rice fields, letting the cold muddy water soak their entire bodies.
Putting the submachine gun on his backpack and getting ready to shoot, Wei Ran took out a magazine and a grenade and placed them in the most convenient position at hand.
After waiting for a while, a passenger bus about the same size as a later Iveco drove over with five trucks behind it. Through the rain, they could even see the flickering light of cigarette butts in the window of the leading bus.
"Could he be a high official?" Lu Yao, who was lying between Wei Ran and Squad Leader Cha, asked in a low voice.
"Quiet," squad leader Cha warned before Wei Ran could speak.
Under the attention of a group of seven people who could kill at any time, these six cars were about to drive past them.
However, what they didn't expect was that at this moment, the penultimate car actually got stuck on the road section directly opposite Wei Ran and others! This was obviously an accident, and it was an accident that made everyone nervous.
Under their gaze, several vehicles in front and behind also stopped. Immediately afterwards, more than 20 people jumped out of these trucks. Under the dazzling anti-aircraft lights, they used ropes to connect the trapped vehicle to the vehicle in front.
Together, the soldiers walked behind the last car and started to help push it.
In the first car, a man wearing a raincoat also got out. He lit a cigarette slowly and stood on the roadside facing Wei Ran and others and started peeing. At the same time, he urged loudly in Vietnamese,
"Hurry up and don't waste time!"
The soldiers responded immediately upon hearing this, pushing the trapped car harder and harder.
However, despite this push and pull, the car stuck in the mud did not move at all except for using its tires to roll up a large amount of mud and throw it at the soldiers pushing the cart.
"Unload the car!"
Someone at the rear of the car shouted in Vietnamese, and immediately, several people climbed into the car and moved the things inside.
Through the light, Wei Ran and others could clearly see that those unloaded from the carriage were almost all mortar shells of various calibers!
He turned his head slowly and looked at the squad leader on the other side, who also shook his head slowly.
With the absolute numerical advantage, the seven of them can't do anything at all. Now they can only wait and wait for the monkey soldiers to get the car out as soon as possible!
Soon, boxes of ammunition were brought out and piled in the back of the car. There were also a few monkey soldiers. They also cut some bushes from the roadside and even moved some stones originally used to block the edges of the terraces to lay on them.
underneath the tire.
Amidst the relatively orderly chants and the roar of the engine, the trapped car was finally dragged out. Some of them used too much force and accidentally fell into the mud head-on, which attracted ridicule from their companions around them.
.
After another five or six minutes, the soldiers returned the ammunition they had just removed to the vehicle and disconnected the traction rope from the vehicle in front.
Soon, with the roar of the engine, the convoy set off again and finally disappeared into the rain.
"Speed up, we shouldn't be far from the ammunition depot."
The squad leader Dao finished speaking in a hurry, led everyone back to the dirt road, and continued to run faster than before despite the rain.
This was destined to be a tiring night, and the few breaks in between didn't last more than half an hour.
When the heavy rain stopped at 5:30 in the morning, Squad Leader Dao had already led everyone off the dirt road and back into the jungle.
"Rest for fifteen minutes. As long as we climb over the mountain in front, we will not be far from our destination."
The squad leader took advantage of the break and whispered, "Everyone must be careful next time. According to my experience, there must be minefields surrounding the ammunition depot of these white-eyed wolves, and there will be many yellow and black dogs on patrol."
"And we also need to confirm the accuracy of the intelligence," Squad Leader Cha reminded, "We need to grab a tongue to confirm that we have not found the wrong location."
"Leave this matter to Wei Ran and me."
The squad leader thought for a while and asked, "Lu Yao, Xiao Xifeng, what are your requests?"
"If the ammunition depot is on the other side of the mountain, I need to establish radio communication on the top of the mountain. That is the best location." Xiao Xifeng replied.
“Not available there”
Lu Yao gave his own suggestion, "During the test firing, our artillery may hit the top of the mountain, where it may be accidentally injured."
"Then go to the other side of the mountaintop"
The knife squad leader gave his advice, "You shouldn't be able to hit the reverse bevel, just pay attention to falling rocks."
"Our command aircraft can communicate over long distances"
Lu Yao pointed to the 861 command plane hung on his chest and whispered, "One or two kilometers is not a problem, so Xiao Xifeng doesn't need to be too close. He can stay halfway up the mountain."
"Hai Dongqing, you and Li Dazhai will be responsible for protecting Xiao Xifeng when the time comes." Squad Leader Dao immediately issued the order, "In addition, you will be responsible for responding."
"Yes!" Hai Dongqing and Li Dazhai responded in unison.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Eat something and take a rest."
After the squad leader finished speaking, he finally took out a piece of compressed biscuit and tore open the outer packaging.
After a short rest, everyone set off again. However, the last distance was not easy to walk.
Although the cover of morning fog at this time is enough to help them hide their figures, they must always be alert to possible landmines.
Along the way, weiran alone had discovered two or three American hand grenades or Type 67 wooden handle grenades, or even homemade mines with cast iron shells.
These mines may not be very lethal, but they all make enough noise. Once they detonate, they may immediately alert the surrounding militiamen and even the garrison.
Precisely because of the existence of these warning mines, they were also slowed down, but even so, they reached the halfway point of the last mountain at 7:30 in the morning.
On this last stretch of the road, Xiao Xifeng and Lu Yao not only had to carry the equipment that was originally carried by others, but also carried additional backpacks belonging to Wei Ran and Dao Squad Leader. Even Li Dazhai,
They all carried Hai Dongqing's backpack.
Compared to those at the end of the queue, Wei Ran, who was traveling lightly and simply, was more cautious and cautious.
At this time, he and Hai Dongqing were each holding a silent submachine gun, watching each other's left and right. In front of him, in addition to a silent pistol, the knife squad leader only held a thin weapon chopped off on the road.
The bamboo pole, like a "blind man", carefully picked up the fallen leaves along the way while observing the surrounding vines and shrubs.
Just when they were about to climb to the top of the mountain, Squad Leader Dao stopped.
At this time, in front of him, less than one meter away from his toes, in the dark brown leaf litter, there was a section as long as a matchstick, with crystal drops of water hanging on it.
Turning around and pointing to his eyes and to the left and right, Squad Leader Knife slowly squatted down and carefully observed the surrounding situation.
After a moment of thinking, he gently lifted up the fallen leaves, revealing a very thin wire.
Instead of rushing along the wire to search for possible explosives, he then began to clean up the fallen leaves on the ground.
Soon, a dirty Type 58 anti-infantry mine revealed a Tianling cap that was almost the same color as a fallen leaf.
The squad leader was still not in a hurry to remove the mine, but continued to clean up the fallen leaves around him.
As the layers of fallen leaves were removed, he found two more brown nylon threads buried in the soil that seemed to have passed under the anti-infantry mine.
Following the nylon line, he found a Type 67 grenade tied to the roots of the bush and covered with moss under the bush on the right.
Continue to search along the nylon thread on the other side, where it is directly tied to the root of another shrub.
He took out a pair of needle-nose pliers and carefully cut off the grenade's firing wire. Then, he found a "bow" made of bamboo pieces from under the Type 58 mine, only about the size of a shoe.
Obviously, if he had directly eliminated the Type 58 mine just now, the bow string would have been cut off, and the grenade would have detonated.
What's even more amazing is that after he disarmed the homemade bamboo trap, he found that the Type 58 mine only had a top shell.
The mine clearing does not end here, there is still a wire ahead.
However, as he peeled off the cocoon little by little, Wei Ran discovered that the wire was just a wire, with both sides tied to the roots of the shrubs and not connected to any explosives at all.
Obviously, if someone tried to cut the wire, they would step on the mine shell and let the bow below trigger the grenade.
In fact, the minelayer may have deliberately exposed the flaw to let people discover the iron wire and the mine shell. His purpose may be to blow up the people who were preparing to clear the mine!
After disarming this cunning mine, Squad Leader Dao did not relax his vigilance. Instead, he picked up the bamboo pole again with increasing caution and inspected the ground step by step.
Soon, the one-meter-long bamboo pole was thrust into the fallen leaves on the ground. The knife squad leader also stopped again and carefully cleaned up the fallen leaves and the bamboo strips underneath, revealing a tree that was about one meter and a half wide.
, a one meter deep trap.
At the bottom of the trap, there were many sharpened bamboo pieces standing upright, and there was also a faint smell of feces.
These people have set traps in the minefields in the hinterland. Are they prepared to retreat here and continue to hold on if they are defeated?
Wei Ran muttered secretly, paying more and more vigilance to the movements around him.
The knife squad leader frowned and thought for a while, then looked behind him in the direction of the grenade he had just eliminated, and then pressed against the edge of the trap to check the situation in the bushes.
In less than five minutes, he found an American-made M14 anti-personnel mine.
The unsafe mine was buried on the left side of the trap. Squad Leader Dao led everyone forward and carefully bypassed the trap.
From here onwards, they never encountered landmines again. Instead, they saw many trenches and tunnels that had been built in advance and had accumulated a lot of rainwater.
There is no doubt that there is no one in these trenches, let alone any weapons or supplies.
Perhaps, as Wei Ran guessed, these white-eyed wolves were preparing to be beaten to the door of Hanoi's living room again.
They covered each other all the way to the top of the mountain, but Wei Ran couldn't help but was stunned. At this time, on this side of the mountain were layers of paddy fields shrouded in fog, especially less than 10 meters away from the top of the mountain.
Holding a half-sized buffalo.
Next to the buffalo, there was a thin child wearing a bamboo hat, tattered clothes and bare feet, with a hatchet on his waist.
At this time, he was holding a half-gnawed sugar cane and looking at them with a blank expression and fear!
Is this... the Cha Xifeng of later generations? Wei Ran couldn't help but think that he didn't expect to meet him so soon.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Don't shoot, be careful."
The knife squad leader first reminded me in Chinese, then changed to Vietnamese and asked in a low voice, "If you don't want to die, slowly raise your hands."
Hearing this, the young Zha Xifeng raised her dirty hands and the sugar cane in her hands without thinking.
After looking at the bagasse at the opponent's feet, Squad Leader Dao walked over and asked in a low voice, "Where is your weapon?"
The young Zha Xifeng swallowed hard, with tears in her eyes, and said tremblingly, "Pocket, pocket, don't kill me, please, don't kill me."
"Keep quiet, don't cry, make noise, or run away, and we won't kill you."
The squad leader's tone was particularly gentle at this time, and he slowly took out the two Type 67 grenades from the opponent's pocket.
Immediately afterwards, he took out two compressed biscuits from his own pocket and put them into the other person's pocket, and then took out a handful of fruit candies from another pocket and put them in together.
"Do you want to survive?"
Squad Leader Dao asked while stuffing a fruit candy into the other person's mouth.
"I think, I think." The young Cha Xifeng nodded immediately and replied, "I want to survive!"
"Leading his oxen to the other side of the mountain"
The squad leader switched to his native language and gave the order, and then continued to ask in Vietnamese, "What's your name?"
"Nhan(sound: Nahan)"
This little guy had a candy bar in his mouth and a sugar cane in his hand, but he didn't dare to eat it or put down his arm. He answered the question of the squad leader calmly.
At the same time, Wei Ran, who also understood Vietnamese and knew what happened to the child's mother, secretly sighed.
This more difficult word also means forgiveness, tolerance, but I just don’t know who the child’s mother was forgiving when she named him this name. Was she forgiving those violent Americans, or was she forgiving this person?
A child that shouldn't have been born, or to forgive herself.
In his wild thoughts, Hai Dongqing led the calf back to the top of the mountain, returned to the other side of the mountain, drove the calf into a trench with water, and tied the rope through the nose ring to
On a small tree.
At the same time, the squad leader Dao also followed up with a child named Forgiveness, and at the same time asked casually, "Nahan, how old are you?"
"10 years old" Nahan replied tremblingly.
"Where are your parents?" Squad Leader Dao patiently asked the next question.
"I don't have a father"
Nahan replied subconsciously, and then added, "My mother is dead. She was beaten to death by the villagers."
"Being beaten to death by the villagers?" Squad Leader Dao raised his eyebrows, "Why?"
When these words came out, Nahan burst into tears that he had been holding back for a long time, and said with a tearful voice, "They say my mother is a friend of the Chinese people and a traitor to us."
"Why is this little black dog still crying?" Lu Yao asked curiously in a low voice.
"Shhh"
Wei Ran made a silent gesture and continued to listen to the conversation between Squad Leader Dao and Nahan.
Sighing silently, Squad Leader Dao helped the other person wipe away his tears, motioned for him to sit next to the buffalo and asked in a low voice, "Do you usually guard here?"
Nahan nodded and said without any concealment, "Until the sun goes down."
"Tie him up," Squad Leader Dao said in his native language.
Hearing this, Hai Dongqing immediately took off the handcuffs hanging from his waist, leaned Nahan against a small tree with thick thighs, and then took out a pair of socks that he didn't know whether he had worn or not and stuffed them into his chest.
mouth, and took off Nahan's cloth belt and tied it around his mouth.
"Do you still have this little black dog?" Squad Leader Cha asked puzzledly.
"Keep it"
The squad leader sighed, raised his finger in the direction and murmured to himself, "Over there, less than 10 kilometers away in a straight line is Ha Giang City. My mother-in-law is from Ha Giang. She and I met during the Vietnam War against the United States.
I am a militia translator transporting supplies, and so is she."
After a short pause, the squad leader said quietly, "If her child and I are still alive, we will be exactly the same age as this little guy."
Hearing this, everyone's breath froze, but Squad Leader Dao seemed to have guessed what everyone wanted to ask. While wiping his face with the green towel around his neck, he continued to mutter to himself, "Dead, all dead.
Well, in 1979, the shells that these beasts fired at were killed, people were gone, and their homes were gone."
