Captain Wang's unit was the closest friendly unit to the independent regiment, and its range of activities was north of Qingshan Village. This Captain Wang was the same Captain Wang who was beaten to a pulp by the Japanese on Bald Mountain in the north. He was in a fully staffed regiment with more than a thousand people, which was much more powerful than the independent regiment. Now that they were out of food, they were naturally much more miserable than the independent regiment, and had almost lost their combat effectiveness due to hunger.
If they recognized the members of the independent regiment, they could no longer steal the food. If they did, it would be an internal conflict, and it would not be as simple as taking punishment, but they might even be punished. The strength just now disappeared in an instant, and Captain Wang fell into deep depression again. This result was like a bolt from the blue, and dozens of soldiers under his command were instantly drained of their strength. They all fell silent, and their faces, sallow from hunger, stared blankly at the mountain of food piled on the cart, their throats surging, and they swallowed saliva with difficulty.
Hu Yi looked quietly at the malnourished, skinny soldiers in front of him, and understood their real purpose of rushing over in a swarm: they had mistakenly taken Squad 9 for a wealthy group.
Captain Wang was unwilling to give up. If the urgent problem was not solved, people in the regiment might start to starve to death. In this situation, with a mountain of food in front of him, Captain Wang felt as if his legs were filled with lead, extremely heavy, so heavy that he could not move. He felt that he could not get out of this way. For the sake of more than a thousand brothers in the regiment, his conscience would not let him leave this road, so he did not move, biting his cracked lips tightly, and stood quietly on the road.
Hu Yi was not a compassionate person. He had waded through rivers of blood and rushed out of the smoke of gunpowder time and time again. His compassion had long been washed away by blood and smoke, otherwise he would not be alive today. He could leave some food for Lao Luo and his men, because Lao Luo and his men were few in number and few in number, so it was not a big deal to take some food away. Besides, the little girl still owed Lao Luo and his men a favor, so he paid it back together. As for Captain Wang, he had many people and no friendship, so he could not afford to give it to them.
"Can you ask your men to get out of the way?" Hu Yi spoke, and there was no warmth between comrades in his tone. It was as unfamiliar as the wind that passed by his ears yesterday.
"Can you give us some?" Captain Wang pleaded in a low, haggard voice.
"I can leave a bag for you."
A sack of food weighed nearly 200 kilograms, enough for Captain Wang and his men to have several full meals. However, Captain Wang was not only concerned about his own brothers, he was also concerned about the people in the regiment: "Can we have more..."
Hu Yi answered decisively: "No."
"Can you lend it to us?"
"No." By the time they were able to return the food, the independent regiment would no longer need food. Hu Yi felt that Captain Wang's idea was very naive.
"What do you want me to agree to?"
"No matter what, this food didn't come from the wind. The independent regiment is also waiting for food to save its life."
His bronze face was full of determination, and his narrow and deep eyes were filled with ruthlessness. Just from these, Captain Wang knew that he would not get the desired result. Hu Yi was right, and Captain Wang also understood how difficult it was to obtain food under the current circumstances. However, his troops were really at the end of their rope and had reached a critical juncture.
Looking at the full cart of food and the 9th squad of the independent regiment that he had looked down upon, Captain Wang suddenly felt incompetent and ashamed. The ability is not determined by the number of people, guns, or position. In the current food crisis, the dusty and exhausted 9th squad brought food home on the long mountain road; while he, with so many people, could only dig wild vegetables in the impoverished mountains.
This huge gap made Captain Wang very uncomfortable and he felt suffocated. Hu Yi's words were very blunt and his expression was cold, which made Captain Wang feel even more ashamed. He felt that he seemed to have lost the integrity that a soldier should have, and was more like a shameless beggar.
Plop—
His two knees landed heavily on the ground, creating two shallow pits and splashing a small amount of light dust, which was then blown away by the breeze on the ground.
Captain Wang knelt down, in front of all his soldiers, to Hu Yi. He knelt straight, with his face raised, the corners of his dry mouth twitching unnaturally, and his voice trembled slightly: "I, please, give us half... It's been a few days... Our regiment commander also... I, I just... want all of us in the regiment... to have a few meals... I... I know you... but I..."
The haggard soldiers behind him watched their company commander kneel on the spot, choking incoherently, and instantly turned into a group of sculptures.
Quietly, no one dared to look down on the company commander, no one had the heart to look down on the company commander. He could have just followed Hu Yi's advice and taken a bag of food and left, which was enough for his company to eat for several days, but the company commander wanted to ask for food for the entire regiment, for everyone in the regiment. The soldiers' eyes were a little red and wet, as if sand had been blown into them by the wind. They felt that the company commander was not shameful, not at all, and was taller than everyone else even when kneeling. He was their good company commander, and anyone who dared to look down on the company commander would be torn to pieces on the spot.
Hu Yi had led soldiers for many years and knew what this kneeling meant to Captain Wang. Those were a pair of soldiers' knees, which had special meaning and value. At this point, there was nothing more to say. With a deep sigh, Hu Yi did not help Captain Wang up. He should have been helped up by his own soldiers.
Throwing the rifle in his hand and putting it on his back again, Hu Yi turned around and said solemnly, "Mule, carry your chickens. Fool, you carry the ammunition boxes. Ma Liang leads the team, everyone prepare to turn around!"
Some people in Class Nine were unwilling to accept this, but seeing Hu Yi's unusually gloomy face, they dared not say anything more. They packed up silently and prepared to set off eastward again.
Seeing that several people had packed up, Hu Yi did not turn around again. He just turned his head and said to Captain Wang who was still kneeling quietly behind him: "Everything is yours. I'll give you the ox cart!" Then he immediately started walking and headed east.
…
The sun was shining brightly. Six people, five adults and one child, lined up in a row, walking under the sunshine, facing the warm spring breeze.
Luo Fugui had more than ten chickens on his back, tied and strapped together. As he walked, he whispered to Liu Jianqiang behind him, "Obviously they wanted half of them, but now they're giving them all away. How valuable must Captain Wang's knees be? Why? If I had known this was going to happen, I would have kneeled down to everyone I met, and see if I could get even a hair off my knees!"
"What are you talking about?" Hu Yi's voice came from the front.
"Uh, I mean, did we forget to save some for ourselves? How many days can we eat these ten or so chickens?" Luo Fugui changed the subject.
Before Hu Yi could say anything, Xiao Hongying interrupted him: "If you ask me, we should learn from Uncle Luo and his friends. Can't hens lay eggs?"
It is indeed necessary to prepare for a rainy day. Xiao Hongying's words make some sense. Hu Yi immediately said, "Go to the front and break off some branches, weave a cage, and keep all the hens."
Luo Fugui rolled his eyes. This time, chicken meat became eggs. What a mess of a life! Isn't it so frustrating? He said unhappily, "So, do we have to feed these chickens first? What do they eat?"
Hu Yi turned his head and glanced at Luo Fugui: "You are promising, can you catch them? Don't you like catching them? Let's find a suitable place and put them down to eat wild food. After they finish eating, it will be your responsibility to catch them back. You can catch as many as you want. If there is one less, I will kick you to death!"
Chuck, chuck... Xiao Hongying almost laughed to death after hearing what Hu Yi said. Some people are herding cattle, some are herding sheep, and this time Luo Fugui is going to 'herd chickens'.
Luo Fugui was completely silent, so Liu Jianqiang couldn't help but ask, "Squad Leader, are we still going to Luoye Village?"
Hu Yi was silent, and he was worried as he walked. He had been busy for several days, but he had done something impulsive and ended up doing something wrong. What should he do now? Li Youde was a man who knew how to get things done. If he continued to mess with him, it would be too immoral. He would not be able to embarrass himself unless he had no other choice! Let's go somewhere else...