The cold and damp winter rain enveloped the earth, and a pile of firewood was burning in the house in the nameless village, making the whole house feel warm.
The damp gray military uniform hanging on the dead branches next to the fire was rising up with misty steam under the fire. Yang Ling was sitting steadily on the wooden bench, holding a rag in his hand and carefully wiping and maintaining the new uniform.
Thirty-eight covers.
Guns are the second life of soldiers. They can not only kill enemies on the battlefield, but also protect themselves. Therefore, Yang Ling will maintain his firearms whenever he has free time.
Because he knows that only by caring for your gun as carefully as you would a child, can it keep its chain intact and provide you with sufficient safety at critical times.
The old smoker's tattered military uniform was full of traces of gunpowder smoke, and his unshaven face was full of the vicissitudes of time. He sat opposite Yang Ling, blowing out smoke rings. The smoke rings slowly rose, expanded and then dissipated.
It seems to be telling many wordless stories.
From time to time, Lao Yanqiang looked up at Yang Ling, who was wiping his 38 rifle calmly, and then turned his gaze to the dancing flames on the fire, wondering what he was thinking about.
Lao Yanqiang has been fighting in the army for many years. The people around him have changed one after another. Others have died, but he is still alive. He is not only experienced in the battlefield, but also sophisticated and tactful.
With his qualifications and abilities, he could actually seek a higher position, but he knew that he was not qualified to be a leader, so he could only protect himself, but not others.
Therefore, he would rather be a company commander who is neither big nor small. He will not scheming with others because of interests, nor will he be ordered around because he is a rotten garlic. He is free and lazy. He is used to such a life.
He has no thoughts of national justice and patriotism in his mind. He will work with whoever pays the military. He used to fight the civil war with the general, and now he fights the Japanese with the chairman of the committee. In fact, in his mind, they are all the same. They are just making a living. He does not care about the war.
Victory or defeat, what he cares more about is his own life.
Although Yang Ling saved his life several times, he was very grateful, but gratitude did not mean that he could risk his life in Yang Ling's hands.
Yang Ling stayed in the enemy-occupied area and wanted to take the opportunity to trick the Japanese again. Lao Yanqiang felt that it was not reliable. They only had about forty brothers in total, but the Japanese were overwhelming.
They were no match against the well-equipped and numerous Japanese soldiers, and the result was obvious. Although he believed in Yang Ling's abilities, he was more worried about his own life. He felt that it would be safer to retreat to Jiangyin after all.
Lao Yanqiang put down the dry pipe gun in his hand, his eyes passed over the dancing flames and landed on Yang Ling who was carefully wiping his rifle. He broke the silence and said, "Brother Yang, why don't we retreat to Jiangyin first."
Yang Ling stopped wiping, raised his head and asked, "Why do you want to withdraw?"
Lao Yanqiang hesitated for a moment and then replied: "We are just a few dozen brothers. The Japs are overwhelming. I don't think we need to die in vain."
Faced with the old smoker's worries, Yang Ling smiled knowingly and said: "It is precisely because we have a small number of people that this is our advantage."
Lao Yanqiang raised his head and asked in confusion: "How come there are advantages to having fewer people?"
In the old smoker's habitual thinking, more people are more powerful, and fewer people are definitely at a disadvantage. He was waiting for Yang Ling's explanation.
"How many people did we invest in the Battle of Shanghai?" Yang Ling stretched out his finger and said, "More than eighty divisions, seven or eight million people."
"But as for the Japanese, they invested less than 300,000 troops one after another, but we were still defeated."
"So the victory or defeat of a war sometimes does not depend on the number of people, but is the result of a combination of factors such as weapons and equipment, the military quality of soldiers, and the environment."
After hearing Yang Ling's words, Lao Yanqiang nodded thoughtfully. He also participated in the Battle of Shanghai. Although they had the advantage in numbers, the Japanese artillery fire came down all over them. They did not get any advantage, but suffered heavy casualties.
heavy.
"Although we only have about forty brothers now, although we seem to be a small number, we are all veterans who have crawled out of the dead. We have sufficient ballistics. Although we cannot defeat the large groups of Japs, it is still easy to eat up the small groups of Japs.
.”
Old Smoker also agrees with Yang Ling's analysis. Although they are small in number, their combat effectiveness is definitely not weak.
"There are so many Japs now, and those with great strength are like a charging bull. Compared with the Japs, we are like inconspicuous flies, with very little strength." Yang Ling made an inappropriate metaphor.
"Even if our force, as weak as flies, retreats to Jiangyin to join the battle, do you think we can stop the Japanese who are as strong as bulls?"
The old smoker shook his head, there were too few of them.
"But if we stay behind the enemy lines, find out the weak point of this brute bull, and give him a hard blow, the effect will definitely be much greater than going back to join the battle. Moreover, our number is small, even if the devil, this brute bull, finds out about us.
Just harassing flies, do you think they can catch us?"
Before Lao Yanqiang could answer, Yang Ling answered for him: "They will definitely not be able to catch us. We have so few people and such a small target. If we hide anywhere, they will be blinded."
"Now it's winter rain again, and it's our territory, so it's more conducive to us..."
Yang Ling analyzed the advantages to Lao Yanqiang one by one, and soon Lao Yanqiang's brows relaxed. According to Yang Ling, staying behind enemy lines was safer and more useful than going back.
"Then when are we going to kill the Japanese?" Yang Ling's words had already made Lao Yanqiang give up the idea of withdrawing immediately, and became more impatient to go fight the Japanese.
After all, as Yang Ling said, they are like inconspicuous flies now. Even if they trick the Japanese, they will not be able to do anything to them for a while.
Facing the excited old smoker, Yang Ling shook his head: "We can't act now."
"We have been working hard for a while, and the Japanese have already been prepared. If we attack now, we will not achieve the best results. Brothers have been working hard these days and need to rest."
"Why don't we rest for a few more days, wait for the Japanese to lower their defenses, and at the same time, let's find out the surrounding situation, and then attack again. The so-called silent attack is enough, and it will be a blockbuster. If we want to harm the Japanese, we have to do something big and make them suffer.
Half a year!"
Hearing what Yang Ling said, Lao Yanqiang became excited and eagerly hoped that day would come as soon as possible.
Just as Lao Yanqiang and Yang Ling were talking, the door was pushed open, a cold wind poured into the house, and a soaked Yang Dashu appeared at the door.