In a blink of an eye, it’s Chinese New Year again!
The Si Xing Tuan Station still held its annual New Year celebration under the auspices of Lei Xiong.
But this time it was far less lively than last year.
It's not that there is no financial support, nor that there are not many people, but that more than two-thirds of the regular troops have arrived in southern Hebei, and there are less than 2,000 veterans still in the garrison.
However, there were more than 4,000 new recruits. In addition to the recruits recruited from southeastern Shanxi, a considerable number of them came from southern Hebei and arrived at the station led by some squad and platoon leaders.
Firstly, it is to represent the veterans in the regiment's New Year celebration, and secondly, it is to allow them to come to the Si Xing Regiment Martyrs Cemetery to pay homage to their predecessors.
After a year of renovation, the current Martyrs Cemetery is much more magnificent than before. Thousands of tombstones are made of granite. Each tombstone not only has the name and place of birth of the martyrs, but also their life achievements and achievements.
Detailed description of where he died in battle and so on.
"They are dead, but we are still alive. What those of us who are still alive can do for them is to let more Chinese people remember them. As long as there are still people who know them, they will exist forever." This is Tang Dao.
This is a reply to the many officers and soldiers who do not understand that they have invested a lot of financial and material resources in building a martyrs cemetery.
Every round of new recruits who are about to go to the battlefield come to the Martyrs Cemetery, pass each tombstone in a queue and watch the deeds of the martyrs. They are awarded titles in front of the tombstones, which is their graduation ceremony.
Due to the complicated battlefield situation in southern Hebei, all the recruits in 1939 had no chance to continue this tradition. It was not until after New Year's Day and the New Year was coming that Tang Dao ordered the recruits who enlisted in the second half of 1939 to trek back to their bases to complete these recruits.
The last subject we must take.
There are still more than 200 recruits who died in the battle in the first half of the year. After discussion with Tang Dao and their families and respecting their wishes, half of the ashes were buried in Zishan, the current location of the Sixings Regiment headquarters, and half of the ashes were transported back to Dakouzi.
Dongzhen Martyrs Cemetery.
It was not only completing the last subject that the recruits had not completed, but also standing on the top of the towering Taihang Mountains with their seniors who had never met, waiting for the dawn.
The night of New Year's Eve was somewhat quiet.
After seeing off Mrs. Leng and the third child, Tantai Mingyue stood alone in the small courtyard, looking at the horizon.
She knew what Tang Dao was doing. He would not stand in the quiet yard missing his lover like she did.
Because he doesn't have time.
At this time, Tang Dao should be in the war room, discussing combat arrangements with Ye Chenghuan and others who had arrived.
This is the first time that Tantai Mingyue and Tang Dao have been separated for so long. Since the two got married, the couple have not been together for more than 15 days, and this time they cannot even celebrate the New Year together.
Touching her belly that has not yet swollen, Tantai Mingyue feels both sad and slightly happy!
Tang Dao is going to be a father, but he doesn't know it yet.
Tang Dao did not let Tantai Mingyue go to southern Hebei to celebrate the New Year. One reason was that the Japanese North China Front troops mobilized frequently half a month ago. More than fifteen military columns came from the three eastern provinces. This was at least the arrival of a division-sized force.
The second reason is that due to the current battlefield situation, Tang Dao is determined to build a large combat readiness hospital at the station to treat the seriously wounded on the front line. The equipment is not bad. Miss Laura secretly transferred a lot of equipment and equipment from the famous Western Medicine Hospital in Pingbeicheng.
Medicines were delivered, and the United States also imported a lot of them.
But medical staff is a big problem. The overall design of the hospital that Tang Dao is going to build is to be able to accommodate 3,000 seriously injured people and 6,000 lightly injured people. The number of medical staff must reach 2,000 people. And because it is wartime, the hospital buildings cannot be exposed.
outside the mountain to avoid being bombed by the Japanese army.
Once the hospital is completed, it will serve the entire southeastern Shanxi defense line!
This is definitely a big project. Zhuang Shisan, who was originally responsible for logistics, now has to take care of the food, drink, sleep, and sleep of more than 10,000 recruits, technicians, and engineers due to the lengthening of the entire regiment's front line, even though the logistics department is now full of personnel.
There were as many as a hundred people, and they were so busy that their feet never touched the ground.
Lei Xiong was responsible for the defense of the Fourth Line Regiment in the southeastern Shanxi defense line. Ye Chenghuan's main focus was on assisting Tang Dao in commanding the entire regiment's operations and on training new recruits, squads, and platoon leaders. He could not find time to manage this major project.
.
In the end, it could only be left to Tantai Mingyue, the commander of the medical company, to prepare for the construction of a combat readiness hospital.
For this reason, the headquarters of the Eightyth Army issued a call to the educated youth who arrived in An County, called on young people studying medicine to go to the front lines of the Taihang Mountains, and issued a call to the whole country for the urgent need for medical care.
In three months, more than 2,600 doctors and nurses entered the Zhongtiao Mountains and then the Taihang Mountains from An County and Shaanxi Province through the Yellow River Defense Line.
After screening, more than 1,800 people finally stayed at the Dakouzidong Town garrison, and the remaining 800 or so people were divided among the various group armies in Zhongtiao Mountain.
Once the problems of people, equipment, and medicines are solved, that is only the first step for this large-scale frontline combat readiness hospital that can accommodate nearly 10,000 people.
Long before he decided to build this hospital, Tang Dao had already decided that the combat readiness hospital should not be exposed to the wild, but should be hidden underground.
For this combat readiness hospital, the Si Xing Regiment Station started construction three months ago, digging out a 3,000-acre earth hill away from the Si Xing Regiment Station.
For this reason, the Fourth Army Regiment issued a recruitment order to the surrounding villagers and summoned nearly 6,000 young people, plus more than 200 engineers and soldiers from the Fourth Army Regiment. Before the new medical staff had time to show their talents, they had to carry shovels and pickaxes.
Join the construction team.
This does not include a 600-man escort company sent by the escort battalion.
And Tantai Mingyue, the first director of the combat readiness hospital, was the housekeeper of nearly 10,000 people, and Lao Tantai felt sorry for his daughter. He left all his own affairs to Teacher Xiao He, but he came to Tantai Mingyue.
As a deputy, otherwise Tantai Mingyue would have to be at the big construction site with only two days off even on New Year's Eve.
Afraid that Tantai Mingyue would be lonely, Mrs. Leng took her three children to the small courtyard where Tantai Mingyue and Tang Dao were stationed in the afternoon. Together with Wei Donglai's wife, who was also alone and pregnant, a
The old man, three women and three children spent a not too lonely New Year's Eve.
Lao Tantai didn't know why, but he drank a few more drinks, and now he fell into a deep sleep.
Perhaps, only Tantai Mingyue understands that even though Lao Tantai is usually cheerful, why doesn't he miss his old wife at this time?
Because of the war, the couple who had been together for decades had to be separated thousands of miles apart. Although they occasionally exchanged letters, they were rare after all. Especially in this New Year when the whole family was reunited to watch the New Year together, the feeling of longing would only become stronger.
If it were just a feeling of longing, Lao Tantai would still be worried.
The only youngest son is also on the front line now. A month ago, Leng Feng's third battalion headquarters was also ordered to arrive in southern Hebei. As Leng Feng's correspondent, Tantai Mingjing naturally followed him.
Tai Mingjing, a newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers, was very happy, thinking that after a year of hard training, he could finally show off his skills on the front line, but he didn't know how worried his old father was.
If there wasn't still a daughter here, Lao Tantai, who was eager to protect the calf, might have chased her to Zishan again.
Tantai Mingyue was pregnant only after Tang Dao left for more than a month at the end of October. She originally wanted to tell Tang Dao the good news immediately, but Tang Dao was still in Jincheng at that time, and Tantai
Mingyue didn't want to use the secret radio station because of their personal affairs, and wanted to give him a big surprise when Tang Dao returned in the New Year.
As a result, before Tang Dao returned, the garrison troops of the Si Xing Regiment rushed to Jinan in batches, creating a situation where dark clouds were approaching and a war was approaching.
At this time, Tantai Mingyue was even more afraid that Tang Dao would be distracted, so she simply suppressed the news and decided to wait until after this battle before telling Tang Dao.
However, Tantai Mingyue overestimated her own strength. On this quiet night of New Year's Eve, she still missed her father so much.
"Son, you said that your father didn't know about you until now, and he didn't tell you to send a telegram on New Year's Eve. Are you considered a heartless person?" Tantai Mingyue touched her belly that had not yet shown her pregnancy, and smiled softly.
.
Suddenly, Tantai Mingyue froze, and his eyes turned red.
Because, she suddenly felt a trembling in her stomach, which was a response from her and Tang Dao's bloodline.
Her child was responding to her, when he was just a tiny embryo.
"You are a girl, right? When you hear what I say about your father, you want to jump out and object, right?" Tantai Mingyue's eyes were filled with tears, and her face was full of happiness. "Okay, okay, if mom doesn't tell me, he is, wait.
Your father knows that you are coming, and your father will definitely be happy."
On this night to welcome the new year, Tantai Mingyue had a somewhat sad but happy conversation with her unborn child.
And in Zishan hundreds of miles away!
Tantai Mingyue guessed wrong.
Tang Dao had already walked out of the war room hidden in the underground bunker and stood at the foot of the green mountain. He seemed to feel something in his heart and turned to look to the southeast.
"Captain, let's go. It has just rained heavily and we have arranged for the cooking team to cook dumplings. Eating dumplings during the New Year can be considered a celebration of the New Year." Ye Chenghuan, who was following Tang Dao, shouted.
"You guys go first, I'll go for a walk by myself!" Tang Dao waved his hand, rarely remaining silent.
Ye Chenghuan took a look and saw that with his wisdom in life, he didn't know what Tang Dao was thinking at this time. Without saying anything, he quietly nodded to Gu Xishui behind him and motioned for him to accompany Tang Dao while he took the lead.
I led a group of battalion and company commanders to the regimental headquarters cooking class not far away to eat first.
In view of the frequent mobilization of the Japanese army, and taking advantage of today's Chinese New Year, the Si Xing Regiment recalled all battalions and company commanders who were still in the field, and the combat meeting was held from 3 pm to 11 pm.
It’s unclear how tense the atmosphere of the meeting was, but a group of old smokers led by Li Jijin showed off their talents. Fortunately, the underground bunker has a fairly good ventilation and exhaust system, otherwise the blue smoke would be diffused inside.
The smoke made people mistakenly think that the Japanese had thrown a gas bomb inside.
Although there are no lights in the mountains, fortunately the moon is very round and clear today, so the sight is not bad.
Tang Dao walked along the mountainside path with his hands clasped behind his back, while Gu Xishui followed behind him. A guard squad soldier was positioned less than 15 meters behind the two of them in a warning formation.
"Xishui, you've been having a combat meeting all afternoon and half at night, aren't you tired? You still have to listen to me nagging! You didn't look at Leng Feng, Jiu Jin and the others are slipping away very fast." Tang Dao didn't even turn around, he said calmly.
said.
Gu Xishui was not surprised either. Tang Tuanzuo's ability to identify people 50 meters away just by the sound of their footsteps was no secret in the Four Elements Group. This required both super hearing and familiarity with each person.
, Pureness is talent, no one can envy it.
"Hey, I smoked nine kilograms of second-hand smoke from the company commander and the others for a day, and I can breathe fresh air with you, regimental commander. I'd better stay away from them." Gu Xishui replied with a smile.
"Xishui, where are your parents?" Tang Dao suddenly asked in a low voice.
"My parents" Gu Xishui's face darkened.
After hesitating for a while, he finally said: "My parents had harsh words when I joined the army. If I join the army, I will be treated as if I had not given birth to a son. Before the Songhu Battle, I could still learn about their current situation from my fellow villagers. The Songhu Battle
After that, I never heard from them again!
However, there is no need to worry, everyone. Based on my understanding of my stubborn old father, he must have quickly sensed the crisis after the defeat of Songhu and the defeat of Jinling, and moved his family south. My father has close friends in Hengyang, Hunan Province.
It's possible that he defected there. There are guards from the Ninth War Zone there now, so he should be safe for the time being!"
"Hengyang?" Tang Dao frowned deeply when he heard this place name.
In fact, this city, which was known as the "Eastern Moscow Defense War" in time and space, has the record of the most casualties between the enemy and the enemy in the entire history of the Anti-Japanese War, and the Chinese army's longest frontal battle in a city offensive and defensive battle.
But the price paid was 50,000 Chinese military casualties and the entire city being razed to the ground!
"It's their parents' business to be limited by their cognition. As sons of man, we should only do what we should do. You will report the names of your parents, brothers and sisters to the night director's office tomorrow, and I will let the 9th War Zone thank you.
The brigade commander searched for them in Hengyang and told them to continue south to Kuncheng!" Tang Dao said.
"When we meet again after the war, believe me, your parents will eventually understand their son's choice."
"Thank you, sir!" Gu Xishui nodded fiercely.
Tang Dao's words spoke to the young commander's heart. His biggest wish was that one day his parents would understand his original choice as a son.
Although he has not been worried about the safety of his parents and family all the time in the past two years, he knows that Tang Dao is not a god. It is good to be able to manage the southeastern Shanxi defense line with a group, and it can also manage thousands of miles away, so
I never mentioned it to Tang Dao.
But on the occasion of the New Year, when Gu Xishui just raised his head and looked at the bright moon, thinking about his parents and relatives, he couldn't help but feel sad. Unexpectedly, Tang Dao had a keen intuition and sensed it instantly and took the initiative to ask. Gu Xishui then confessed.
"It's okay, I was thinking about my parents who were far away in my hometown just now. They want to raise their children but they don't want to be loved. They age one year every new year. We don't have as much time with them as we thought.
However, in these years when mountains and rivers are broken, you and I, soldiers, can only keep this regret in our hearts and defend our territory." Tang Dao sighed.
"Yes! I don't know when this battle will be over. I'm afraid that after the war, I will become an uncle like Brother Jiujin. If I go home, my parents will probably not recognize me." Gu Xishui also said.
sighed.
"Haha! If you talk about Lao Li behind his back like this, do you think he will beat you if he finds out!" Tang Dao smiled.
Gu Xishui, who just followed him two years ago, is only a 19-year-old young man. Although he is now the commander of a mountain infantry company in charge of more than 300 elite troops, he is actually only 21 years old and has been in the army for 12 years.
Li Jijin is already in his early 30s, so to Gu Xishui, he is indeed considered an uncle-level figure.
"Sir, you are wrong. Brother Jiujin also told me to wait. His daughter is eight years old this year. In 10 years, she can recruit me as his son-in-law." Gu Xishui also said with a smile.
"Xishui, let some things go by themselves. When the war is won one day, and you visit Yaomei again as a child, she will definitely not want you to be alone in middle age. Your happiness is her happiness.
." Tang Dao cast his gaze towards the bright moon in the sky.
"True love is never about possession, but about comrades like you and me, supporting each other side by side through the ups and downs of life."
Every time Gu Xishui returns to his station, there will inevitably be a lonely figure standing for a long time in front of the tombstone covered with military medals in the Martyrs Cemetery.
The disabled soldiers who guard the cemetery use silk cloth to wipe the precious military medals hanging in front of the tombstones of their comrades twice every day.
That represents not only honor, but also remembrance.
Time may be good medicine and will heal wounds, but it cannot cure longing.
Gu Xishui has always been a persistent person in this regard, and few comrades would touch his wounds and say these things in front of him, even to comfort him.
"Sir, of course I understand what you said, but you don't know how regretful I felt at that moment when I could kill all the Japanese but couldn't save her. At that moment I swore that if I was there
Even if I can't save my beloved even if I kill all the Japanese on the battlefield, I will kill all the Japanese in the world.
Maybe I will let go of this obsession when the war is won, but now, I can't!" Gu Xishui's eyes were slightly red, but he remained firm and persistent.
It was a young man's promise to his flower of love that had just sprouted but quickly withered. And only young people.
Tang Dao stopped trying to persuade and patted Gu Xishui on the shoulder: "Believe it or not, just now when I was walking here under the moon and missing Tantai, I actually felt that she was also looking at the bright moon in the distance and missing me."
"I believe it!" Gu Xishui nodded.
"Sir, you really make us envious that you are favored by a talented woman like Company Commander Tantai!"
"Haha, you kid will do whatever it takes to flatter the director of the future combat readiness hospital. Don't worry, I won't pass on your flattery back." Tang Dao laughed loudly.
Everyone in the world has seen Tang Dao galloping on the battlefield and being invincible. Little did they know that one of Tang Dao's greatest achievements in this world was to marry Tantai Mingyue. Gu Xishui's words of praising Tantai Mingyue really meant it.
Tang Dao was heartbroken.
"Then sir, you misunderstood me. I'm telling the truth. But by the way, I would like to remind you that the dumplings will cool down very quickly after they are cooked. If we don't go back, we won't have that steaming atmosphere anymore." Gu Xishui said with a smile.
"Okay! Go back and eat dumplings, and wait for the Japanese to come, and then eat a big plate of dumplings!" Tang Dao swept away the feeling of longing for his parents and wife that had surged before, and he was full of ambition.
Thousands of miles away that Tang Dao couldn't see, two Japanese army lieutenants were also clinking glasses under the moonlight!
