Time passed little by little, and the sky gradually became brighter.
The mountains are already foggy, especially in this late spring and early summer season. The red sun that has jumped over the top of the mountain is blocked by a light mist, emitting a faint light that is not dazzling at all.
Whether it was the soldiers standing upright or the civilians waiting quietly on the roadside, they all stood quietly, looking to the other end of the mountain road, eagerly looking forward to the return of the soldiers who went on the expedition.
"Coming, coming." The people standing at the corner of the mountain road shouted loudly.
The family members couldn't help but become restless.
Not long after, a group of soldiers walked slowly over in neat formation along the mountain road from the other side of the mountain.
The queue was very long, stretching for hundreds of meters, and two people walked slowly over in a row.
But the common people standing on the roadside, ready to beat gongs and drums to welcome the returning soldiers from the expedition, were stunned. What kind of group of soldiers was that!
Some of them were on crutches, some had empty sleeves, some had bandages around their eyes, their hands were tightly held by the soldiers around them, and a few were even carried on stretchers by two soldiers. But
No matter who it is, they all have the same characteristics. On their chests, there is a box wrapped in white linen hanging tightly against their chests and hugged by them with one hand.
They were wounded soldiers of the Independent Regiment. They could have sat on the carriage and returned to the Independent Regiment, but instead they collectively got off the carriage five miles away and lined up silently, just because they wanted to carry the dignity of soldiers with them.
Brothers go home. Those brothers lying in the small boxes lined up out of the station and went to the battlefield a few months ago. So, when you send them back, you must walk back with your heads held high.
And the reason why they are ranked at the front is because all the officers and soldiers of the Independent Regiment unanimously believe that they are the ones who should enjoy the honor of ranking first. No matter in which army, the one who ranks first is the most heroic
of troops.
The whole place was silent as they watched more than a thousand wounded soldiers slowly walking towards the gate of the base holding more than a thousand coffins. Everyone's hearts suddenly tightened at that moment.
Although it was already known that the Independent Regiment suffered heavy casualties, with 1,300 killed and hundreds seriously injured, when they saw this scene in front of them, the hard faces of the five hundred officers and soldiers standing on both sides were all covered with tears. Their comrades were back!
.
"Everyone, salute." Liang Wenzhong, who was standing beside Liu Lang, ordered with a heartbreaking cry and a heavy cry.
"Whoa!" The soldiers on both sides of the road raised their right arms in unison.
The restless family members behind could no longer control their excitement and ran over one after another, trying to find their relatives in the queue. Although they already knew that the independent regiment suffered heavy casualties, the casualty rate of recruits who joined the army last year was as high as 100.
Seventy percent, but in the end I still held on to a bit of luck.
But most of them were disappointed in the end. Most of the wounded soldiers walking slowly they did not know. Except for less than a hundred wounded soldiers who were recognized, the rest did not find their relatives.
Listening to their relatives calling their names, many wounded soldiers began to shed tears, but they did not move, and did not even glance in the direction of their relatives. They still lined up neatly, following the large troops, slowly
Walk towards the base.
Before the military order to escort their brothers home was handed over, they were still performing their tasks.
One hundred meters behind the wounded soldiers were the infantry battalions of the independent regiment, from the first to the third battalion, followed by artillery companies, engineer platoons, field hospitals, baggage companies and regimental security platoons, protecting hundreds of large vehicles.
Go last.
Like the wounded soldiers, all the soldiers marched towards the base in neat lines with firm steps. Without orders from the regimental commander, they are still on the way to perform their tasks.
The people who had not found any trace of their loved ones and had already learned that their loved ones had sacrificed were finally desperate. They took out the fire paper and incense candles they carried with them, and silently cried and paid homage on the roadside.
Dots of firelight illuminated the heroes' way home.
Yes, the people who came from all over to celebrate the return of the army from the expedition didn't know it, but the people at the base of the Independent Regiment knew that the regiment leader Liu Lang had already issued a military order. When the army returned from this trip, they would first sacrifice the heroes and then celebrate the victory.
Liu Lang wants everyone to understand that the heroes who have passed away are always more important than their so-called achievements. They will not be forgotten and will be remembered forever, and they will give full play to the glory that a hero deserves.
If a nation chooses to forget, it will eventually be eliminated by this great era of competing ethnic groups. The Chinese nation will never be that one.
The wounded soldier walked slowly ten meters away from Liu Lang, who was standing upright, and stopped.
The leader of the wounded battalion was none other than Ji Yanxue. He strode forward two steps and Ji Yanxue saluted Liu Lang with a standard military salute: "Reporting to the commander, the wounded battalion has returned from escorting its fallen comrades and requested to enter the base."
"Yes." Liu Lang returned the military salute and said in a deep voice.
"Fire a gun to salute the brothers who have returned from the expedition." Liang Wenzhong ordered loudly again.
Two rows of soldiers standing on the side of the road raised their guns at the same time and fired into the sky.
The sound of gunfire completely broke the silence of Qingshan, and the thick smell of gunpowder smoke lingering in everyone's nose made people feel even more tragic. They walked out of the gunpowder smoke and returned in the gunpowder smoke.
After emptying out the five bullets he had made in Hanyang, he put the gun away and put it back on his back, then escorted the wounded soldiers who were ordered to enter the base and walked inside.
Afterwards, groups of soldiers stopped in front of Liu Lang, leading the officers to salute and report. Liu Lang returned the salute one by one, and then entered one by one.
The final baggage train stretched for nearly ten miles, and included not only the more than 700 large vehicles before Liu Lang left, but also nearly 200 more vehicles and more than 2,000 civilians.
It turned out that some of these people were family members of wounded soldiers. A considerable number of wounded soldiers who did not want to go home simply took their parents, wives and children over. Some of them were relatives of the 500 recruits who joined the army in Tongguan when the independent regiment passed by Tongguan.
The Gou family had been waiting for the Independence Regiment for many days, because they heard that their relatives would be buried in the Independence Regiment Martyrs Cemetery, so the Gou family organized each family of the fallen soldiers to send one or two people to follow the Independence Regiment back.
When watching the ceremony at the base, they also want to see their loved ones laid to rest.
In addition to the people from all directions who came to welcome the returning army from the expedition, there were suddenly tens of thousands more people. Although Liang Wenzhong, who was responsible for staying behind in the independent regiment, was prepared, he was still in a hurry.
Although the common people were not allowed to enter the base, they were visitors, and Liu Lang certainly could not ignore them.
Fortunately, County Magistrate Wang of the Guangyuan County Government and Security Commander Zhan Chengfang are smart people. They had prepared a large amount of labor supplies a few days ago and brought dozens of chefs and a security battalion of more than 300 people to help.
Now I have used them all.
They started killing pigs and slaughtering sheep at a mountain col directly outside the base of the Independent Regiment, one kilometer away from the martyrs cemetery selected by Liu Lang.
But inside the base of the Independent Regiment, there was a lot of laughter and crying. The family members and soldiers who finally found their relatives hugged each other and laughed, laughing and crying. Because, around them, there were more people
, holding a small urn with a name written on it and crying until her heart broke.
Liu Lang stood with his hands behind his hands, silently watching the scene in the square.
Laughter is the right of the victor, but as everyone knows, behind the laughter is also full of sorrow. Without sacrifice, there is no victory. Liu Lang has never understood this so deeply.
Laura raised the camera and pointed it at the back of Liu Lang standing upright. In the camera, there was an old lady with gray hair, pressing her face against an urn, not crying loudly, only crying.
Hot tears rolled silently down her old cheeks and onto the cold little box. But through the lens, anyone could feel the old man's deep-rooted grief, which came from a mother who lost her son.
This is war. Everyone only sees the heroism of heroes and the celebration after victory, but few people think that behind every hero, there is a mother whose heart has been broken.