Chapter 96: New Year

The afterglow of the sunset radiated the last ray of light on the snow. The trumpet blew a slow melody in the cold wind. It seemed to have an invisible force, and the desolation of destiny that penetrated into the world and the desolation of life and death, arousing the soldiers' faint homesickness.

This is the first time I have buried a body. I used to know that fighting is not easy, but I only know that it is not easy to bury a sacrificed comrade in my own hands! It is not easy because I have never thought that a funeral would be as simple as it is.

All we have to do is dig a large pit several meters deep, first lay a layer of corpses at the bottom of the pit, then sprinkle a layer of soil, then lay a layer of corpses, and then sprinkle a layer of soil... Not long after, such a simple pit buried more than 50 volunteer soldiers who died in this battle, some of which were fragmented organs.

After that, sprinkle a little melted water to show off, and then insert a wooden sign next to the pit to write down the number of people. This wooden sign may be crushed by a tank tomorrow or blown away by a shell, and no one in the heroes in the pit will know about it again.

Only then did I realize that the heroes we modern people are actually very ordinary, because people like them are everywhere on this battlefield, and they are just a few who can remember their names and deeds...

After the trumpet ended, the soldiers stood silently in front of the grave for a while, and then dragged their tired bodies towards the tunnel.

"Battlefield Commander Cui! Company Commander Zhao..." Shortly after entering the tunnel, the instructor gathered several of us cadres together.

There is a slightly larger space at the connection between several tunnels. The ammunition box is placed in the middle and a map is placed. A black kerosene lamp illuminates the surroundings. There are two simple small wooden stools next to it. This is our battalion command center.

I struggled to find a piece of land beside me and sat down. The scalds on my body made me complete this simple action very painful. Although I didn’t have the lottery in that battle just now, I found that my whole body was in pain after getting up after the battle. When I pulled my clothes and saw that all the parts that were leaning against the ground were burned with blisters.

"Comrades!" Seeing that everyone was here, the instructor waved his hand and said, "Today every comrade fought bravely and tenaciously. We have eliminated a large number of enemies and held their positions. Everyone is worthy of being outstanding Communist Party members and Communist Youth League members, and is worthy of being soldiers of our Volunteer Army."

"But!" After pausing, the instructor continued: "This afternoon battle caused us to lose 57 comrades, including the company commander Huang Chuanyu and instructor Ye Chengsong... They are all good cadres of the Party and our good comrades!"

The instructor's words made everyone silent. In an instant, the tunnel was so quiet that even the sizzling sound of the kerosene lamp burning could be heard.

"The situation we are facing is very serious." Xu Feng broke the silence and went straight to the point: "There is only 125 people in the entire battalion, which is not as many as one company as before, and the bullets were almost exhausted in the afternoon. Comrades must be prepared to sacrifice. Even if they hit the last person, they must not let the American devils pass through our positions!"

"Yes!" the soldiers responded firmly.

"Battery Commander!" The third company commander Wu Zhong was a thin black man with a bad appearance. At this time, he heard the battalion commander's words and stood up, holding his fist and said, "Our volunteer army is not afraid of death, are they still afraid of difficulties? Without ammunition, we can search for the enemy's dead. If we can't find it, we can fight with the enemy with stones. As long as we have a breath, we cannot lose it!"

"Yes! We need to learn from Captain Huang!"

"The person is in the position!"

...

The soldiers expressed their determination to die.

If it were in the past, when I saw the scene in front of me that could only be seen in TV or movies, I might feel it was fake, and maybe it was artificial. But now I can clearly feel their roar and fearlessness from the heart! I understand them. They are a group of simple people, a group of people who can pay for everything and even their lives for their faith...

In the past, when I heard the older generation talk about them not closing their doors at night and not picking up their leaves, I was always unwilling to believe it because I could not believe that in an era with such poor living conditions, there could be no thieves, and how could I see money on the ground without picking up. But now when I see them, I believe it.

"Battery Commander, Instructor!" Zhao Yongxin stood up and said, "There is a saying that steel should be used on the blade. All our comrades are good comrades who are not afraid of sacrifice. I'm thinking about it. We can't just talk about not only fearing sacrifice or difficulties. Should we think of ways to let comrades eliminate more enemies and let comrades die more valuable! This will not disappoint the expectations of our superiors for our battalion!"

"That's it!" Hu Zi also squeaked beside him: "The superiors asked us to hold our position for three days, tomorrow is only the next day. Even if we are not afraid of death, we will not be able to complete the mission if we sacrificed all of them. I, Hu Zi, is a rough man, and I used to not want to fight against the enemy in nothing before! But after following Captain Cui for so long, I have understood a truth. Sometimes I have an idea, and not only a hundred reactionaries are there!"

"What?" Hu Zi said this, and everyone turned their eyes to me. I never thought that Hu Zi would point his finger at me as soon as he changed his mind. It seemed that I must have a way to deal with it.

"Yes! Commander Cui! Let me introduce some experience!" The instructor politely handed me a cigarette, and then distributed a few to other comrades. After that, he carried the kerosene lamp to light it one by one, and said, "Company Commander Zhao, Commander Li (Huzi's name is Li Erhu)'s words make sense. We must have courage and a spirit of not being afraid of death, but we cannot do it recklessly, we must have a clear mind and the correct direction."

After a pause, the instructor lit the cigarette in his mouth and continued, "Everyone has seen Captain Cui's ability, I won't say much, just let Captain Cui tell his opinion!"

"Okay!" Hu Zi took the lead in applauding, looking at the excitement in his eyes, as if as long as I am willing to speak, it is absolutely right.

I couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Battery Commander, Instructor! Actually, I don't think the situation is as bad as we thought!"

"Well? Why do you say it?" I couldn't help but stunned all the soldiers present. In theory, we fought in the afternoon. If the company commanders had not rushed through the fire zone and bombed the enemy with their own will, we would have even been in danger of being wiped out.

The soldiers were thinking that if the enemy would do the last time tomorrow, and our army had almost exhausted bullets, it would be difficult for us to defend the position. But I said that the situation was not that bad, which made the soldiers look at each other.

"That's how I think!" I gritted my teeth and stood up with pain in my arms and said, "Although I didn't see much of the Americans bombing our plane today, the bombing points of the enemy plane were only concentrated on the fortifications at the fortifications at the fortifications of the most advanced areas. The comrade who was guarding us just now told me that their fortifications were intact, and I felt strange in my heart, when did this American become so ammunition-saving. Later I thought about it, it was not that they were short of ammunition, but that they were short of aircraft!"

"Lack of airplanes? Are you saying that the enemy lacks airplanes?" The instructor couldn't help but show a hint of joy on his face. He knew very well what it would mean to us if the enemy lacked the support of the aircraft.

"That's right!" I nodded and walked to the table and pointed to the map above and said, "Battery Commander, instructor, look! Our troops have been attacking the Han River, and the forwards have even approached the 37th Line. Our supply line is 500 to 700 kilometers from the Yalu River to the 37th Line! Such a long supply line is our weakness. We are almost out of bullets until now, right? But if the enemy wants to block such a long supply line, they will also explode during the day and then at night, how many planes will be needed!"

"Yes!" The instructor couldn't help but slam his head: "Why didn't I think it was no wonder that the Americans had been waiting for the plane for so long today! I was so depressed that the enemy's plane came so slowly this time! The feelings are that these turtle sons are too busy!"

"Huh?" I was stunned when I heard this. I didn't expect this. As the saying goes, three cobblers beat one Zhuge Liang, and it seems that something really happened.

"If the enemy really lacks planes, it's easy to do!" Xu Feng spoke at this time: "Even if there are no bullets, we can rush up and fight with those Americans for bayonets!"

"But Captain Cui!" The instructor quickly added: "Even if this is the case, we can't take it lightly. Although the enemy lacks planes, it should not be a problem to adjust it once or twice, then..."

When he said this, the instructor stopped talking and said nothing. I knew what he meant later. If we come here again, just like in the afternoon, we would have almost lost our trouble even if we could defend the position.

"I want me to say..." Hu Zi interrupted while listening, "The plane is nothing. The most annoying thing is the one that makes people feel angry. I can't even get up and fight with those Japanese! "

"Huh!" I had an idea when I heard this and quickly added: "If you don't go from the ground, we can go from the ground!"

"From the underground?" The instructor suddenly woke up: "You mean - the tunnel!"

"Yes!" I looked over my head and said, "We can dig a tunnel from here. Don't be too big. It's slanted. The soldiers can climb up and then open several exits at the top of the mountain. If the enemy comes like this, we will climb up and beat him up! I just don't know if it will be dug this night?"

"Let's do it now!" Xu Feng stood up with a shout: "The whole army will not rest tonight, and strive to dig a tunnel to the top of the mountain before dawn."

"Yes!" The soldiers did it as soon as they said, and soon called their respective teams to start. They were very busy with digging and logging.

In order to speed up, the instructor also arranged for the first company to dig from bottom to top, the second company to dig from top to bottom, and the third company was responsible for transporting soil and logging. Originally, I wanted to take the sniper rifle out and hit a few American sentinels to make them sleep poorly, but when I thought that if I shot the Americans a few shots and shot them into a fire... Although the volunteers could not hurt a few in the tunnel, if the tunnel was dug collapsed halfway after being bombarded, then I would have dragged everyone down.

So in the end I joined the ranks of soil transport and logging, but the injury on my body was so painful after walking a few steps. But when I thought of my comrades who had his legs broken during the battle and still insisted on fighting, and when I remembered the comrades who stuffed bullets into the hole of the gun in the leg, I gritted my teeth and endured it. Compared with them, this was really nothing.

The soldiers were full of energy. Finally, in the second half of the night, with the soldiers cheering, the two tunnels were dug through.

For this reason, the company commander of the Second Company, Wu Zhong, complained: "If it weren't for the darkness, it would have been dug through long ago!"

But he didn't know that for them who had no surveying and mapping tools, it was not easy for them to dig smoothly by just a few soldiers who had made mud and water to control the angle with bamboo poles and plumb lines.

There were a few soldiers who were very childish and were excited to drill up and down the tunnels that had just been dug. If they weren't afraid of being teased, I think they would have played hide-and-seek here.

The next morning, we were awakened by the whistling sound of the plane. The first reaction of the soldiers was to grab the gun and rush out of the tunnel, but what surprised the soldiers was that the enemy did not come up. What was dropped on the plane was not bombs, but paper like snowflakes, rolling and floating, all over the sky.

I picked up a picture casually and was shocked to find that it was written in traditional Chinese with four big words "Congratulations to Xinxi" and the back of it reads "New Year is coming soon, but your wife can't pay the bill at home, so you may die on a foreign battlefield."

There are also some propaganda posters with a Chinese woman that read: "She can only ponder about flowers alone, because you have been forced to South Korea as a volunteer army to fight for the Soviet Union!"

I couldn't understand it at all. Our volunteer army was obviously coming to North Korea to fight, but why did it go to South Korea? But after thinking about it, I understood that maybe the Americans who designed this poster only knew that there was South Korea but not North Korea.

At this time, a soft female voice came from the other side of the mountain, speaking in stiff Chinese: "Chinese soldiers! You are celebrated the New Year today, but it's so hard for you to stay in the mountain! You can't eat, drink water, and your feet are frozen and swollen."

"Our United Nations military came to liberate North Korea. The United Nations has declared you to be the invaders!"

"Surrender! Chinese!"

...

"Oh!" After hearing this, the soldiers reacted for a long time. The old squad leader grinned and said, "Look at us, we just remember that we have forgotten the New Year's Day when we are fighting, and we also need the American devils to remind us..."

"It's the New Year!"

"It's the New Year..."

The soldiers told each other, but they didn't know what to do, because no one had New Year's goods and no good things to take out to celebrate. I only felt sad in my heart!

"CCP soldiers, thank you for your hard work." At this time, a female voice came from the other end of the US military. What surprised everyone was that the person who shouted this time was actually siping a very authentic Beijing accent: "CCP soldiers, it's the New Year! You eat fried noodles and drink cold water. We eat canned food, rice, white noodles, and bread. You surrender and don't kill them."

"CCP?" The old squad leader couldn't help but say in confusion: "Why does this call look a bit like the Kuomintang! They also came to North Korea to fight?"

"Korean Party?" I also felt a little surprised when I heard this. In modern information, I knew that the Kuomintang did want to participate in the war, and MacArthur also had this meaning, but the US Congress did not want the war to expand or complicated it, so it rejected this proposal. But how could there be female Kuomintang soldiers here to persuade them to surrender?

"Comrades, don't look!" Instructor Zhao might have overslept, and then ran out in panic and snatched the flyers in our hands in a few seconds: "Comrades, these are reactionary flyers and reactionary slogans. We must not read, listen, spread, and not be the enemy's voluntary propaganda soldiers..."

"Instructor!" Xiao Shandong touched his head and smiled silly: "It's easy to not read it, so how can he not listen?"

"This..." Instructor Zhao couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then he realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"Chinese Communist soldiers..." The horn opposite shouted again, and I frowned and grabbed my rifle and walked up to the top of the mountain.

"Where are you going?" Hu Zi followed behind.

"Isn't it the New Year?" I waved the rifle in my hand and said to the soldiers behind me: "Comrades, let's set off firecrackers!"

"Okay! Go and set off firecrackers..."

When the soldiers heard this, they followed excitedly. They climbed up the mountain and saw that there were three jeeps parked side by side more than 600 meters away. A big horn was hanging on the roof of one in the middle, and the sound came from there.

It's really from the Kuomintang. I looked through the sight. Although they deliberately wiped off the blue sky and white sun sign on the car, they couldn't make a mistake in the military uniform. I think they were playing the edge ball.

Isn't this? They are here to promote, not to participate in the war!

"Battery Commander!" Hu Zi urged, "Let's fight! Look at what a big deal, everyone is waiting to see the firecrackers!"

"Fight the recruits." I replied: "Let them practice their marksmanship!"

"Battery Commander!" A new recruit next to him shouted: "It's too far away, it's a waste for us to fight. Let's keep bullets and hit the American devils!"

"That's right!" Thinking of me picking up my rifle and banging a few times, with a loud bang, a jeep next to me was hit by the fuel tank and exploded. The other two jeeps were so scared that they jumped out of the car and turned around and ran away. One of the women was obviously an announcer, and they fell several times in panic...

The soldiers laughed at their embarrassed look.

"Oh!" The old squad leader grinned: "This firecracker has fireworks, it looks good!"

Hu Zi simply opened his voice and shouted loudly to the Kuomintang: "It's New Year! Happy New Year, the new recruits, brothers of the Kuomintang!"
Chapter completed!