Not long after he set out on the road, Peng Tao's spirit was disturbed.
One class is the vanguard, and the other class is the defender. But what turned his attention from the inside to the outside world were the small red and white flags that appeared on both sides of the path. The slope of the road was gentle at the beginning, and the moonlight shone faintly on the small flags, turning the white flags into gray and the red flags into gray-brown, but each flag was finally distinct. He knew what these small flags symbolized, and he didn't feel much strange in his heart. As he walked further up, he entered a dense forest. The forest was dark and the slope became steeper. He couldn't see clearly either the road or the small flag on the roadside, and his heart suddenly became nervous!
"Er Zhu, do you have a flashlight? Take out the flashlight to illuminate the road!" Even though someone was walking in front, he still stopped and shouted loudly.
At this moment he still had no doubt that he was brave. The fear that just arose in his heart was temporary and had nothing to do with heroism!
Liu Erzhu, who was following him, took out a large four-battery flashlight from his bag, pushed the switch, and handed it to him openly. Peng Tao used it to shine forward and found small flags among the grass and tree trunks again. He tried to calm down and climbed up.
The woods are getting denser and denser, and the light is getting darker and darker. The path was winding, appearing and disappearing in the grass. Peng Tao thought he was no longer afraid, but the panic that had arisen in his heart did not disappear. Deep in the dark forest, no matter where his flashlight beam shines, he will suddenly find a small white flag in the grass marking the limit of death! They flashed before his eyes and disappeared, giving him the feeling that they had been waiting for him on this road. If he makes one mistake, he will be blown to pieces by them!
Marching in such a highly stressful state, within an hour, Peng Tao experienced the physical exhaustion that every soldier must experience when climbing a mountain. Apart from eating some food in the morning, he hadn't eaten anything all day long. He couldn't stand it if he continued to walk up. He was sweating profusely, panting, and his head began to feel dizzy. He had symptoms he had never experienced before. The feeling of exhaustion. This night march finally became a simple chore in his mind. Fortunately, the walk through the woods was finally over, and the team came to the mountain: a road with a gentle slope in the middle, sparse trees, and the moonlight and red and white flags became clear again. Looking up, he saw that the mountain ridge of No. 1 Ridge was still high up. Peng Tao actually had a hopeless, helpless and angry thought in his heart: It's still too early to reach the mountain ridge! Look where I am tonight! If I can't reach Highland 634, I will be blown up by a landmine!
In this situation of shame, anger, and confusion, he was also confused as to why he had embarked on such a small path tonight! Am I not a battlefield commander who is confident, determined, and has first-class military qualities, and is determined to become a famous commander in the future? Didn¡¯t I already lead a regiment to achieve a major victory on the first line of Ridge? Why did I end up on such a dead end again? As a soldier, Peng Tao still does not think he is afraid of death, as long as he can die in a great war. But today he was going to die on such an unknown path leading to the battlefield. No one needed him to die like this. His death like this has no value at all and can only be regarded as a misfortune!
"Er Zhu. Do you have any dry food? Give me a pack!" He realized that he was exhausted, stopped, and said loudly to Liu Er Zhu.
Liu Erzhu took out a pack of compressed dry food from his satchel, peeled off the plastic paper and handed it to him. Peng Tao started to take big bites, and his mind gradually became clearer.
At this time, he heard several dull sounds in succession from the mountains in the south. He understood that this was the Soviet night watch artillery fire that was silent for half an hour and then started a new round of shooting, but he did not quickly understand what the subsequent "hoo ho" whistling sound getting louder and louder meant.
¡°Lie down¡ª¡ª!¡± the guard platoon leader walking in front shouted at the top of his lungs. People marching in single file fell to the ground. Peng Tao remembered that something was about to happen, but he couldn't get down quickly. It was a small gray-white flag that just came into view on the roadside in front of him that hindered him - if he jumped down desperately, he would fall on that flag. On the flag! It's too late to think about lying down! A man suddenly jumped on him from behind. He heard artillery shells falling and exploding not far away! After a deafening roar, a huge wave of air knocked him and the person behind him forward to the ground at the same time! Peng Tao fainted and immediately woke up again!
The gravel and mud thrown up by the shells rained down on his head, face, and the ground around him; the man was still pressing on his back, and his head hung crookedly on the right side of his neck. A stream of warm liquid that woke him up from his coma was still sputtering! Peng Tao opened his eyes and immediately saw Liu Erzhu's two wide, dull eyes over his right shoulder. Those hot, viscous liquids spurted out from a black hole in the back of his head!
"Er Zhu¡ª¡ª!" Peng Tao screamed heartbreakingly, and his voice became hoarse. All body and mindI feel one thing: Liu Erzhu is dead!
Several more shells landed nearby and exploded. The soldiers lying on the path in front and behind failed to rush to help him immediately. The fire crackled around him, and Peng Tao lay trembling on the spot, his soul experiencing the most terrifying moment in his life!
"Deathis this death?Liu Erzhu is dead. It was he who rushed over to cover me!" He thought randomly for a moment, and when he heard another artillery shell falling down with a cry of "hoohoo", he immediately He closed his eyes in despair. "Bang¡ª¡ª!" The shell fell into the woods on the left and exploded. He opened his eyes again, and his interrupted thoughts became active.
¡If Liu Erzhu hadn¡¯t rushed forward to block the shrapnel, I would have died!
This last thought was so real and terrifying. In just a short moment, it changed many deep-rooted thoughts in his heart!
In the past, he thought that as a soldier, he was naturally heroic and not afraid of death. Now he understood that this was not the case. In the face of sudden death, he himself was trembling with fear; before, he also said that he would die for his country on the battlefield. , in fact, I didn¡¯t believe that a person like him who was destined to do a great cause would really die in battle like an ordinary soldier, but today he understood that this was not the case. J. As long as you are on the battlefield, you will die under the bullets and artillery fire of the Soviet army at any time, and die on the minefield path under your feet. In the past, he always regarded career and success as more important than his own life and the lives of others. At this moment But suddenly I realized that compared with the loss of life, other losses of people¡ª¡ªfame, honor, and future¡ª¡ªare nothing!
"Life is the most fundamental and precious thing a person has. Everything else is attached to life. If you lose life, you lose everything and the whole world. "
The thoughts that came out one after another seemed very clear and simple. However, they were indeed things that he had not thought about seriously in the past and did not understand.
It was precisely because they were as simple and clear as common sense that his heart was deeply shaken at this moment.
Another round of Soviet artillery fire on night duty ended. The grass and trees burned by the shells were still burning in clumps on the hillsides on both sides of the path. The soldier lying on the road ran over, removed Liu Erzhu's body from him, and laid it flat on the other side of the path. Peng Tao was helped up by the guard platoon leader and sat next to Liu Erzhu. Under the indifferent moonlight, Liu Erzhu's originally burly body seemed to have shrunk. His head rested uncomfortably and crookedly on a stone, and there was a pool of dark things underground. Her childish face, which she hadn't completely taken off, seemed to be covered with a layer of white paper, but her eyes were still wide open. Just no more anger, no more feelings!
"Two pillars!¡ª¡ª" Peng Tao's throat cracked and he burst into tears.
The fear has not completely disappeared, but sadness has filled my heart. At the most terrifying moment just now, he didn't expect to cry, but now he couldn't care less. He not only cried because he escaped from the clutches of death, but also cried bitterly for Liu Erzhu, who sacrificed his life in his place. He suddenly felt that from now on, his life was no longer his own, but the lives of Peng Tao and Liu Erzhu!
"Captain. What should we do?" When his mood finally calmed down, the guard platoon leader asked.
Peng Tao did not answer immediately. He sat there quietly, staring at the small patch of moonlit road in front of him, and many new thoughts came to his mind. He already understood what led him to the path full of death traps beneath his feet. Vanity. Along with his total ignorance about war, about the precise meaning of life and death. It was they who jointly caused Liu Erzhu's sacrifice, and also caused him to almost die!
But now it is also dangerous to go back the same way! They had already walked two-thirds of the way up this large hillside, and going down was longer and more dangerous than going up. They can only continue to go up to the big ridge of No. 1 Ridge!
"Send two people to take brother Liu Erzhu down the mountain! The rest of the people keep going!" He stood up and looked at the No. 1 mountain beam line above. Simply said to the guard platoon leader, and then took the lead!
He has to go up! His vanity and ignorance have put the small team he led into a situation where they can't retreat. In order to reduce the possibility of others sacrificing, he will lead them to continue moving upward!
No. Not quite yet. Liu Erzhu had already sacrificed his life for this night march. Even in order to make his sacrifice truly worthwhile, he had to take this small team to Ridge No. 1 and to Highland 634!
The guard platoon leader arranged not two soldiers, but four people to transport Liu Erzhu's body down the mountain. Then he hurried to the front of the regiment leader, shouted, and the team moved upward again!
"War. Yes, I thought I understood beforeActually, I don't understand it. But I went to the battlefield without understanding. War is not just battle plans, orders and battlefield discipline. War is not just a history of war, biographies of famous generals, and respected names of victors. War is a realistic and concrete environment for soldiers who go to the battlefield. Every step you take, you risk losing your most precious thing - your life. The easiest thing to be deprived of in war is human life, but because of this, life should be doubly cherished in war. "
"I have never been able to understand why Liu Zongsheng and the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Regiment had fought well all day, but why they chickened out at the last moment. I especially can't understand why Liu Zongsheng would rather go to a military court after the war than let himself suffer The soldiers will attack Highland 634 again. Now I understand a little bit. Liu Zongsheng knows how to cherish other people's lives, and this is exactly what I don't understand at all. I knew during the last war that he was a brave man Man, it¡¯s a pity that he didn¡¯t see it through. His bravery at that time was out of cherishing the lives of soldiers.¡¡±
"Did I really make a mistake in commanding the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Regiment today? Yes, I just don't want to admit it. When Liu Zongsheng called me for reinforcements, I could have asked the division commander or corps commander for reinforcements, and then Send reinforcements to the Highland 632 area. If I had done that, Highland 634 might have been taken. The reason that hindered me from doing this was still my abominable vanity. I was afraid that the military division commander would doubt my command ability. My real mistake was: after I threw the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Regiment into the 632 Highland area, I just threw a chess piece onto the chessboard and no longer cared about its life or death."
"I never thought that it was the lives of hundreds of people. I have always been unwilling to let myself suffer shame. In fact, this is the biggest shame. I can't blame others. I defeated myself today. " Peng Tao said With these new ideas, we climbed step by step towards the big mountain ridge of No. 1 Ridge. Failure was once again confirmed from the bottom of his heart. The resentment towards Liu Zongsheng was greatly relieved. He didn't know if he could really reach Highland 634 tonight, but just the new thoughts above made his mind become deeper, broader, and broader. Peng Tao had a feeling: Compared with what he experienced today, his life of the past 34 years was worthless.
This night, if someone looks down at the entire No. 1 Ridge battlefield from the air, they will find that in addition to the two small teams led by Liu Zongsheng and Peng Tao, there is also a third small team that is marching slowly from north to south.
It¡¯s around 11 o¡¯clock in the night. The six people who stayed in the first trench were silent for a while, and then Shang Yujun suddenly said: "Brothers, let's take action!"
Zhang Zhongliang, who had been hiding behind Zhang Zhongming, snorted and stopped immediately.
It seemed that he finally understood the fate of this small team at this time, and his usually timid heart became stronger. Shang Yujun led the team behind him towards the high ground. He thought clearly: He did this not because of the intimidation from the instructor just now. On the contrary, in the past few minutes, he found that he was very eager to launch another attack on the main peak of the highland!
He knew the outcome of this new attack in advance: the main peak of Highland 634 was surrounded by cliffs, and the only way to get up there was by taking the path that the Soviet army had just taken. As long as the Soviet army blocked the chasm with a submachine gun, no one could reach the top. But there was another, more compelling thought in his mind, driving him towards an attack that had no chance of victory: as long as he lived. Since the main peak of Highland 634 was still in Soviet hands, he should not stop attacking. Many people throughout the company - deputy company commander, 1st platoon commander, 2nd platoon commander, Lu Liwei, Gong Wenxuan, Li Yue, Qu Baoxiang, etc. - all tried their best to win Highland 634. strength, but he has not yet exerted his final strength.
And he was so tired, after a day of bloody fighting, that he longed for rest as much as for a final attack. But a soldier's sense of duty cannot let him rest. It reminded him: As long as you attack the main peak one more time, you can get the rest you so much desire.
Before departure, their position was at the west end of the first trench. After setting off, Shang Yujun naturally chose the following route: first turn west into the Yucrack ditch on the northwest side of the highland that he led the 3 platoons through before dark, and then walk upwards.
This is an extremely tired and silent team. People just moved forward mechanically, not saying a word to each other, and not thinking about anything anymore.
No more attachment to life. No more fear, panic and pain of death. There are no memories of the past. No more thinking. Yet there is still a passion in life. What is an idiom? Treat death like going home. Regard death as home. You are naturally calm on the way home.
¡°That¡¯s it¡the moonlight has not yet melted into the night. Above the rolling ridgeline in the distance. A vast expanse of pure waterThe deep ink blue has just replaced the original chaotic darkness.
The upper and lower sides of the crack are still dark, and you can't see your fingers. As they staggered, their faces and necks occasionally hit the thick, thorny branches of bushes on the ditch cliffs, causing immediate burning pain here and there. But the feeling of pain has also become dull. Life is not worth cherishing, let alone letting the branches of a shrub or thatch leaves with toothed edges tear the skin again and again.
windy. The wind is not strong, blowing from the southwest. Once you cross the mountain ridge on the northwest side of the highland and enter the chasm, you can hear the rustling of vegetation. Take a few steps to a higher place and you will be bathed in the night breeze as cool as water. The wind sweeps away the smoke and blood on the battlefield, brings fresh and pure air, and blows away the chaos in people's consciousness one by one
"Where are we going? Are we going to attack the Soviet troops on the main peak of Highland 634? Why should we attack them? Because wherever they go, they bring hunger, terror and death?"
A long, thorny branch of an unknown shrub suddenly hit his eyes like a whip, causing not severe pain but pungent soreness and rolling tears. Shang Yujun never thought of stopping but stopped. Then, the same tiredness that penetrated every cell in his body gave him these new thoughts about the attack
ps: Time flies too fast, there are too many natural and man-made disasters, and the faces that have passed away are blurred so quickly. The Ya'an earthquake broke out, with more than 100 casualties. I suddenly discovered: We can no longer remember the people whose lives were taken away by h7n9 avian influenza. The Chinese girl who exploded in Boston will also be forgotten. Huang Yang's death has accelerated his fading out of the media and public view. Please mourn the dead and pray for the living.