When everything is ready, the Independence Regiment's public memorial ceremony will be held at dusk.
All the soldiers wore white sleeve bands, and all the people attending the ceremony wore a small flower on their chests. The families of the fallen soldiers chose the memorial method in their hometown according to their own customs.
Thirteen hundred graves cover the sunny side of this hillside three kilometers away from the base of the Independence Regiment.
"Entering the spirit" shouted the host Liang Wenzhong.
In groups of two, whether they are colonels or privates, they solemnly hold the coffin and march up the mountain. From top to bottom, they place the coffin into the tomb, and then cover it with the independent regiment's flag that has already been made.
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Under the silent gaze of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, Liu Lang was alone, holding a coffin and walking forward. He gently placed the coffin into the largest grave pit at the foot of the entire cemetery hill, and gently covered it with an independent regiment flag with his own hands.
On the coffin.
All the soldiers couldn't help but be envious. Who has the privilege to have the regimental commander personally hold the coffin? If that brother knew that he would receive this honor after his death, he would probably have died with a smile on his face!
Rejecting the help of others, Liu Lang took a military shovel and filled the slightly larger tomb alone, and then faced the tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians standing in front of him.
"Today is the day when the 1,342 martyrs of our independent regiment return home. I propose to observe three minutes of silence for the 1,342 martyrs of our independent regiment."
After finishing speaking, Liu Lang took off his military cap, held it in front of his chest, and bowed his head solemnly.
All the officers and soldiers imitated Liu Lang's actions, and all took off their military caps, held them in front of their chests, and bowed their heads solemnly. Others present took off their hats if they had hats on their heads, and bowed their heads if they didn't.
Even the big black man standing outside the crowd also took off his hat to express his respect to these foreign warriors.
Three minutes later...
"End of silence." Liu Lang raised his head and said loudly: "In the battle at the Great Wall, our independent regiment first wiped out the Japanese fourth brigade, and then with the cooperation of friendly forces, defeated the Japanese eighth division, killing more than 20,000 enemies.
, and achieved the greatest victory in the war against foreign invaders since the founding of the Republic of China. However, victory did not rely on words, but relied on the sacrifices of the soldiers.
The cemetery behind me is the best proof that without their sacrifice, there would be no victory that inspired the whole country.
However, sacrifice means that a mother has lost her son, a wife has lost her husband, and a child has lost his father. At noon, I watched the family members holding the coffins of the martyrs and crying loudly. Among them were old people and women.
When I have children, my heart hurts more than anyone else. Because they are also my brothers, brothers who train on the training ground, eat from the same pot, and fight in the trenches.
Our independent regiment walked out of this gate and stepped onto the battlefield with 2,500 people. In the end, they were able to walk back on their own, but there were only more than 1,100 people, and many people lost their legs, arms, and eyes. They can no longer hold a gun and step onto the battlefield.
As the highest officer of the Independent Regiment, my heart is as sad as their relatives.
But, will we stay away from the battlefield because of grief? No, I will tell you loudly, tell each of you, absolutely. Because, my brothers and I are not only sons, husbands and fathers, we are also
Chinese people, when the Japanese invaders raise their butcher knives again and aim at our nation, we will still shoulder our guns and step onto the battlefield to fight the Japanese invaders without hesitation.
If we are afraid of the grief of our families and do not dare to step onto the battlefield, then when the Japanese aggressors’ butcher knife points at us and our families, who will resist for you and me? No, when everyone chooses to retreat, then there will be no one left.
Protect this country, protect this nation. We can only move forward, facing the Japanese invaders' blades, even if we die, even if we can no longer touch our children's faces."
"Forward, forward, forward." The soldiers were infected by Liu Lang's words and raised their arms one after another and shouted.
Ye Qisun and his students, who were standing in the crowd, also raised their arms high and shouted with tears in their eyes.
County Magistrate Wang and Zhan Chengfang also raised their arms high and shouted in unison like the people around them.
This may also be the first time that two veteran bureaucrats who have been bureaucrats for many years have lost their composure like this, raising their arms and shouting together with the mud-legged people they have always looked down on.
Regardless of whether Liu Lang was making a show or not, the cemetery where 1,300 people are buried shows that they do not cherish life, but they are never afraid to sacrifice their lives. Only this kind of army is the strongest army in China.
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A huge sound echoed in the valley.
When the sound subsided, Liu Lang continued: "You may have been wondering just now, who would have the honor of being buried alone in this big tomb and having me, the leader of the regiment, personally support the coffin. I can tell you that in the coffin
Who is the person.
More than half a year ago, they were bandits hated by the people in northern Sichuan."
The crowd became slightly restless.
"Yes, more than half a year ago, they were bandits in Heilong Mountain. After the battle in Heilong Mountain, they became prisoners of war of our independent regiment. Perhaps to forgive their sins, perhaps for their families, perhaps to survive, they joined my independent regiment.
The regiment dares to die and becomes a member of my independent regiment.
You may wonder why I am not talking about him but them, because there is not one person in the coffin, but seven people.
Yes, in the battle of Gushan, 206 people from the death-defying company were trapped in Gushan. They withstood successive attacks by more than 2,000 Japanese invaders and killed more than 700 Japanese invaders. However, under the bombardment of dozens of Japanese heavy artillery, they were killed.
They also ran out of ammunition and food, and all the fortifications were destroyed. As a last resort, 28 people and 34 seriously injured people retreated into the tunnel. However, in order to kill the Japanese invaders as much as possible, under the leadership of company commander Zhou Shiyu, seven soldiers
A wounded soldier took on the task of stopping the enemy.
It's said to be blocking the enemy, but it's also luring the enemy. I still remember the last message the death-defying company sent me, dictated by company commander Zhou Shiyu: Fire artillery at our position. Yes, that evening, my independent regiment
The artillery company fired with all its strength for the first time, but our artillery shells did not explode at the enemy's position, but at our soldiers. Because there, in addition to our 8 people, there were hundreds of people who had already rushed into our position.
The eight warriors of the Japanese invaders showed the unyielding spirit of the Chinese nation with their spirit of firing at me.
As reporter Ryu Seol-won wrote, that evening was the most brilliant fireworks I have ever seen. Those fireworks were the spiritual light of the eight warriors of the death company that will last forever in the world. Hundreds of Japanese invaders were killed by our artillery fire.
All of them were reduced to ashes, and among our eight warriors, except for Captain Zhou Shiyu who luckily survived, the other seven were all sacrificed.
After the war, our independent regiment organized manpower to collect the remains of the soldiers, but it was impossible to find all seven of them. Their flesh and blood had long been integrated with the positions where they fought, and we, the land of China, were integrated, and it was difficult to distinguish them from each other.
We can only use the soil stained with their flesh and blood to build a hero's grave on the ancient mountain battlefield, and bring a small part of it back to the Independence Regiment Martyrs Cemetery as a memorial."