Start from Changjin Lake

Chapter 82 The Song of the Unknown Soldier
Boom, boom, boom!
The continuous artillery fire blasted over and over again on the road, and the enemy army on the opposite side stood like a sculpture watching the fun, facing the flying flesh and blood, without any mercy.

Everyone was evacuating and retreating, but some people were still blown to pieces while running, some were killed by bomb fragments, and some were holding the toolbox tightly for protection.

Only two of the eight cars escaped the fire and drove into the ravine, heading deep into the mountains through the snow.

"Don't die, let's go!"

He found Gao Xiyou and Song Weiguo in the crowd. Song Weiguo had been stunned by the shells, so he pulled him up and put him on his back, and ran wildly.

In the vast snowy forest, dozens of soldiers were left holding their last belongings and equipment, fleeing in embarrassment, and many of them were injured.

Xu Qing watched a soldier running, and suddenly his upper body fell down - he had been shattered by shell fragments, but he didn't realize it yet, it was just his natural instinct that drove him forward.

He couldn't bear to look any longer, he took a deep breath, stepped on the snow quickly, and rushed to the deep mountains and old forests with Gao Xiyou.

The artillery fire in the rear didn't seem to care about them who were fleeing. Many soldiers just folded their hands on their chests as if they were watching a show.

Xu Qing wanted to turn around and fight back several times, but once he fired, it would inevitably attract more violent artillery fire. He couldn't ignore the lives of the remaining soldiers.

I don't know how many kilometers I ran and how long I ran.

A soldier couldn't run any longer, and fell down on the snowy ground panting heavily. Everyone looked back, but no one was chasing them up, so they looked around for a place to rest.

The company commander of this railway corps is a middle-aged man who doesn't talk much. Ever since Xu Qing hitched a ride with them, they haven't spoken more than five words to each other.

It was such a loyal company commander with an old face and a kind heart. When everyone stopped, he suddenly jumped up from the ground and grabbed Jin Chengze, who was also fleeing here:

"Where's your troops? Where's your troops! Didn't you say that you have two battalions here? Why didn't you fight back, why didn't you know when they got here?"

The whys of the company commander made Jin Chengze, who was originally slightly sullen, speechless.

He opened his mouth to say something, but still sighed heavily, and said dejectedly:
"We...our firepower can't beat their tank battalion, and we don't have a large number of aircraft to detect them. We can only hide in the mountains. Our soldiers..."

"Your soldiers—what's the matter with your soldiers? Look at us, which one of us is better equipped than you! Do we have guns, no. Do we have tanks? None. Not a single one! No I still crossed the river to come here to help you fight! But your troops have so many cannons and tanks, but they didn't shoot a single shot, and they didn't fire a single shot... That's it, let our soldiers... die in vain like this! "

Jin Chengze was ashamed by what he said, and said nothing.

A soldier wanted to go up and pull the two of them apart. The usually loyal company commander was gently pulled, and he sat down on the snow.

His last bit of strength was just holding on.

"Captain!"

He dodged the soldiers who wanted to help him, sat on the ground with his fists clenched, and hammered himself bitterly:

"I'm just uncomfortable...my fighters, our fighters...they...they...how young, but...stay here!!!"

The remaining forty or fifty soldiers were sitting under the trees, lying on the snow, or leaning on the stones, all of them expressionless, like bereavement, or stained with blood, or lifeless on their dark faces. It looked so dead.

Xu Qing gently put Song Weiguo down, and checked that there was no serious injury on his body, but he just fainted, and if he didn't wake up, it might be a slight concussion.

He got up slowly, looking at these figures, old or young, who were still there, he also had a ball of anger burning in his heart!
He knew that no one could be blamed for this, and all the choices on the battlefield were made by himself.

Whether you win or not, it all depends on your life.

He glanced at the surviving fighters present, and few of them were familiar with them:

He didn't see Yang Youzhong, who was in the same car with him, clamoring to kill the enemy on the battlefield, that man from Panzhihua, Xikang Province, he was very kind, and at the last moment he was still moving steel on the running car.

He also didn't see Gao Chengyi from Shandong, who died in the flames without getting out of the car early in the morning...

There was also Pang Laifu who wanted to find an explanation for the blind man. Maybe he got a good name. He lost an arm and was sitting alone under a tree and crying.

He looked again, but couldn't find a familiar person...

Not one or two died.

It's several classes...

Several rows...

Dozens of living lives!
The investigation squad leader was still talking to him one second, and the next second, he was gone.Not a drop of blood, not a single bone remained.

Those cars turned into big balls of fire in the blink of an eye.

If you want to get justice, you can only desperately...

Xu Qing took the gun off his back and held it tightly with his hands.

Upon seeing this, Gao Xi quickly asked, "Leader, what are you going to do?"

He looked up at the way he came here: "The mountain is high and the road is far away, I'm going to take revenge."

Gao Xi was surprised: "There are so many enemies over there, we have already sacrificed many people, it is too dangerous..."

"Do you remember what my name is, what is my name on the enemy's side?"

"quiet……"

It was only then that Gao Xi remembered that the nominal leader of the "sniper team" in front of him had a more secret identity...the ghost killer and death sniper that made Americans fearful.

"That." Gao Xi gritted his teeth and said, "I'm going too—we're all going!"

"It's dangerous for you to follow me."

Gao Xiyou shook his head: "It's not dangerous anymore, so many soldiers are dead, why should I not die?"

Xu Qing saw that he didn't talk much all the way, and looked at his scout soldier with sincere eyes at this moment. He let out a breath and nodded slowly:
"it is good."

Xu Qing thought for a while, looked at the company commander of the railway troop who was sitting on the ground with his face down, walked over, squatted down and said softly:
"Comrade company commander, I'm leaving first."

The company commander raised his head and looked at Xu Qing.

It was only then that he remembered that there were a few fighters who accidentally joined their convoy halfway. He wiped his eyes, stood up quickly and said, "You... it's too dangerous to go on the road alone, let's go together."

"No."

Xu Qing looked at their few remaining weapons and equipment, and shook his head, "You still have two cars, I suggest that you can go to the People's Army's garrison with Captain Jin to repair it first, and use the radio to report the situation here , Let’s see how to arrange the follow-up, don’t delay the task of repairing the railway.”

The company commander looked at Jin Chengze, who also lowered his head: "Then why don't you drive a car?"

Xu Qing politely declined: "We are few people, sometimes walking is safer than driving."

The company commander remembered that before the old leader left, he asked him that if the comrade had a request to leave the team to fight alone, he could agree to him as appropriate.

He thought for a while and nodded: "Then, you must be careful."

"Sure, take care."

"Take care of yourself!"

The two stood up and saluted each other.

Other people also saw that Xu Qing was leaving, and subconsciously wanted to stand up and salute.

Xu Qing looked at these crippled and seriously injured soldiers, and at this moment he was thinking of saying goodbye to his comrades as a show of respect. He didn't want to cry, but he still couldn't help sobbing in his throat...

He took a deep breath, suppressed the redness in his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, you are seriously injured, don't get up, for yourself, for your loved ones, you must take care of yourself!"

As he spoke, he muttered again softly: "Also for the new China."

Someone repeated softly in a low voice: "For the new China..."

"Comrade."

Pang Laifu, who was sitting under the tree, couldn't bear it anymore, he got up with his only remaining hand, and shouted to Xu Qing, "if possible, can you help me? Squad fighters, are they still alive..."

As he said that, his expression became a little weaker, "...or is there any relic left behind."

Xu Qing nodded seriously: "Okay."

"go!"

He called Gao Xiyou, who had already put Song Weiguo on his back, into the woods on one side, and sneaked back the way he had come from the other direction.

They were very careful on the road, because there were no enemy traps along the way, they stopped and went, and it was already half an hour before returning to the original ravine.

At this time, there were no more shells raging on the highway, but there were jagged craters everywhere, scorched land, and the ice and snow on the ground exuded a hot breath.

Xu Qing carefully observed the nearby hills for a long time, aiming his gun at places where people might hide, and looked around from far and near to confirm that the enemy had really left.

Because it was found that there were a large number of tanks and cars on the snow surface of another road in the distance.

"This is our car..."

They slid down the hill and stopped.

The first thing they saw was the car that died in the bombardment of the tank, which was the car they were riding in, but the fat middle-aged driver had no bones left.

Looking at the cars with only sporadic iron skeletons left, the flames were still burning slowly on the road, and the flames shone on their faces. It seemed that a bold and rough song sounded in their ears again: "Autumn wind rises, autumn wind is cool, the national soldiers come up!" battlefield……"

That's just a support worker, an auto veteran.

He's rough, he loves to sing, and he's shy about talking about himself.

Xu Qing suddenly remembered: "What's his name?"

Gao Xiyou paused, and said for a while: "... I don't know."

Xu Qing looked up at the sky.

Everyone died, and they didn't even know the name of the driver, including the names of the many soldiers in the car.

If all the people who witnessed this massacre battle die and forget after a few years, these volunteer soldiers who died under the artillery fire will be permanently forgotten in this foreign and cold land.

In fact, there are more than thousands of loyal bones buried in Qingshan like this...

Xu Qing and Xu Qing raised their hands and took off their hats, mourning silently.

Looking around again, there was no trace of vitality. Some soldiers who had lost their arms, legs, and lower bodies, but were still alive were also silent at this time.

Under the cover of artillery fire, no one was spared.

Looking at the corpses all over the ground, there are more broken limbs and bones that cannot be put together into a complete corpse, and there is even a pool of muddy blood left. This seems to be a piece of land that has been plowed in hell. It is full of the half-life years of these heroic sons and daughters.

Under such fierce artillery fire, there are not many relics left, and it is almost difficult to fulfill Pang Laifu's wish.

Xu Qing and Gao Xiyou collected the only remaining wrecks, covered them with soil, and buried them in an inconspicuous place in the ravine.

"salute--"

They stood upright in front of the new monumentless grave piled up with black and gray soil.

The cold wind was still blowing, and burning car wreckage fell sporadically into the valley below the road. There were also flames burning deep in Xu Qing's eyes. He hummed a song "Song of the Unknown Soldier" softly:
who am I?
I am me and not me.

I am the guardian of my country,
I am the people's service soldier.

My body belongs to me...

My life belongs to the people, to this country.

　[Adapted from the real case of Li Qinglian, a battlefield reporter from the Volunteer Army Engineer Command]

　　
　
(End of this chapter)