Under the hazy night, crowds of people were surging on the Xiaguan River Beach and wailing all over the place. The sound of gunfire coming from the city became more and more intense. The soldiers and civilians in the dark night were terrified, and their desire to survive forced them to take desperate risks.
Many broken soldiers and civilians demolished the houses close to the city wall, and jumped into the water with a plop, holding wooden boards and other things that could float. It felt like falling into the dumplings.
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the river was biting and windy, and the waves were strong. Many people seemed to have fallen into hell. When the wave passed, people disappeared. The river surface was already covered with floating corpses. Under the reflection of the fire, the river water was stained red with blood.
As soon as the only ferry docked, tens of thousands of people rushed over. The soldiers went crazy and fired continuously. The ground was stained red with blood. They stepped on the corpses and rushed onto the ship.
Many people clung to the edge of the boat and refused to let go. The boat, which could only carry three to four hundred people, squeezed five or six hundred people onto it. The boat staggered away from the shore, leaving a lot of crying and swearing.
An overloaded ferry couldn't bear the weight and overturned as soon as it reached the center of the river. Thousands of people on the river beach watched helplessly as the compatriots splashed in the river, shouting, and soon there were no more
There was no sound, only the innocent souls in the river.
Scenes of tragic scenes unfolded in the dark night. People were still jumping into the water, trying to swim to the other side, but only one out of ten succeeded, and most of them sank to the bottom of the river to feed the fish.
Many desperate people looked at the surging river and knelt on the ground, crying and crying that God would not give them a way to survive. Some people began to turn back into the city and ran to the refugee area to escape. At this night, everyone was running for survival.
The brothers in the guerrilla camp led by Yang Ling blew up yards and walls, and took small paths to reach the crowded river beach. Looking at the roaring river, these soldiers who were not afraid of the brutal Japanese army felt the despair in their hearts.
"Brothers, follow me, a ship will come to pick us up!" As a commander, Yang Ling could clearly feel the uneasiness and despair in the hearts of the brothers, and stepped forward to comfort them in time.
Yang Ling was able to set an example during the war, and he treated the soldiers kindly like brothers. In such a chaotic situation, the brothers in the guerrilla camp chose to trust Yang Ling instead of disbanding and fleeing for their lives.
With the trust of so many brothers, Yang Ling was moved and vowed to take them out of the Shura Hell alive.
They searched upstream of the river beach and finally found a place with few people and stopped. They still held hands and did not dare to let go. In this chaotic situation, once they left the team, it meant that they would never find the team again.
Yes, very dangerous.
More than a dozen of the wounded they rescued from the battlefield failed to survive due to lack of medicine, and those who were still alive were dying, but Yang Ling never wanted to give up on them.
"Sir, don't worry about us burdens. You can run for your lives." Seeing Yang Ling patrolling over, a wounded soldier with a broken arm said this.
Yang Ling knelt down to comfort him and said, "Recuperate in peace and don't think about anything. They are all brothers in my guerrilla camp. I, Yang Ling, will never abandon any of my brothers until my death."
Yang Ling's words reached the ears of the uninjured brothers, and they were also moved. They were not afraid of fighting to the death with the Japanese army on the battlefield, but they were often worried about being injured and being abandoned. They had been abandoned too many times.
Now Yang Ling's promises and actions are so real that these brothers are willing to follow such a leader wholeheartedly, because they share life and death and can unite to overcome any difficulties.
The mood of the brothers in the guerrilla camp remained optimistic under the influence of Yang Ling's personal charm. However, the tens of thousands of civilians and defeated soldiers near them were desperate. Many soldiers with mental breakdowns shot themselves, and some fired madly at the crowd.
, tragedies keep happening.
Looking at this scene, Yang Ling felt deeply powerless. Although he had the intention to stop and save countless innocent people, his personal power was too weak.
Zhang Hongying has been busy in fear these days. Although the officials vowed to live and die with the city a few days ago, she still feels strong uneasiness in her heart.
Now that the officers had run away, she felt so helpless and wanted to cry when she saw the blocked streets and when she and the people in the field hospital were crowded away.
When she was most helpless, Yang Ling once again appeared in front of her like an armored general, using his not-so-broad chest to protect her from the wind and rain. Although she was still in danger, she felt in her heart that she had never been in danger.
An unprecedented sense of stability and security.
"Hongying, I see you are very tired. Do you want to take a nap first?" Yang Ling walked to Zhang Hongying and sat down. Looking at her haggard and tired look, he put a tattered military blanket on her body.
Zhang Hongying shook her head: "How can I sleep now?"
Yang Ling sighed. In this situation of life and death, perhaps he could only sleep after crossing the river. Seeing Zhang Hongying's tired look, he felt full of pity in his heart.
"Brother Yang, will there really be a ship to pick us up?" Zhang Hongying leaned on Yang Ling's shoulder and asked worriedly.
Yang Ling replied firmly: "Believe me, someone will definitely come to pick us up, and we will cross the river safely."
While Yang Ling and others were waiting for the ship on the cold river beach, several small steamers came from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Behind these steamers, there was a long list of merchant ships and fishing boats.
"Drive faster! Hurry up!" Yang Dashu kept urging. According to the agreement with Yang Ling, they came to pick up people from Xiaguan. As soon as it got dark, they increased their power and pulled all the collected boats over.
The old smoker leaned against the edge of the boat and smoked a long cigarette, his eyes constantly looking ahead, worried that the gunboats blocking the river would rush over and fire on them.
But it was obvious that their worries were misplaced. The gunboats that blocked the river had long since fled for their lives. Now there were only a small number of boats controlled by various units on the entire river that were constantly transporting soldiers from their respective units to escape.
Lao Yanqiang and the others arrived at the Xiaguan River without any danger, and were not attacked by the gunboats blocking the river.
"Company commander, company commander, look!" the sentry standing on the bow of the ship exclaimed.
Lao Yanqiang hurriedly put down his pipe and ran to the bow of the boat with Yang Dashu and others. They looked around and saw that under the light of the fire, the entire river beach was crowded with thousands of people. The dark area made them fall.
Take a breath of cool air.
"What the hell, is this happening?" Seeing so many people crowded on the river beach, Yang Dashu was full of questions.
Lao Yanqiang murmured to himself: "I'm afraid the city will be destroyed..."
A large number of ships arrived on the Xiaguan River and were quickly discovered by people on the river beach.
"Ship! There's a boat over there!" someone exclaimed and jumped up happily.
"We are saved! We are saved... Bodhisattva bless, Bodhisattva bless..." Some people cried with joy and even burst into tears.
This feeling of surviving in a desperate situation made them keep waving their arms towards Lao Smoking and others, praying for a way out.
"Don't come near!" Lao Yanqiang looked at the people waving and shouting wildly on the river beach, and hurriedly ordered not to get close. Once he got close, the boat might be overturned.
"Where are the battalion commander and the others? It's too dark to see." Lao Yanqiang and the others searched for Yang Ling and the others among the crowd, but looking around, the river beach for more than ten miles was full of crowded heads, and they could see clearly.
"Batalion Commander, there is a boat! There is a boat coming from upstream!" Wang Huzi shouted excitedly.
Yang Ling also hurriedly pulled Zhang Hongying to stand up. When he saw the long row of boats on the river, he couldn't restrain his joy.
"Liu Yidao!" Yang Ling immediately shouted: "Establish a defensive position!"
"Wang Beard! Set up the machine gun for me!"
"yes!"
Under Yang Ling's instructions, hundreds of brothers from the guerrilla camp forcibly built a simple defense circle on the river beach to prevent people from robbing the boat.
Seeing that everything was ready, Yang Ling ordered: "Brothers, shout our guerrilla camp and my name loudly! Let them bring the boat over!"
"Guerrilla camp! Yang Ling!"
"Guerrilla camp! Yang Ling!"
…
The chorus of hundreds of people's shouts quickly suppressed the chaotic sounds. Lao Yanqiang and the others also heard the sounds and hurriedly moved the boat closer.
When the refugees and defeated soldiers saw the boat coming, they all crowded towards it like crazy! Yang Ling immediately ordered a warning shot.
"Da da da!"
"Bang! Bang!"
The sound of gunfire frightened those who tried to get closer. Yang Ling jumped on the sandbag and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Women, children and wounded soldiers all come to the front! Those with guns in their hands gather over there!"