Just before dawn, when they were about to escape the crisis, they ran into a security force coming from west to east along the river.
Hu Yi's heart sank to the bottom. This time there was no time to maneuver. At dawn, the Ninth Platoon would have no way to escape. If they were surrounded and intercepted, they would be crushed to death. At the moment the gun went off, Hu Yi already knew the outcome. Destruction was only a matter of time. No matter whether they fought or ran, no matter which direction they went, it would be the same. They would only be destroyed. The Ninth Platoon would die in the sun.
The sky had begun to turn dark blue, and some scenery could be seen in the woods along the river bank, and a good distance could be seen clearly in the open space outside the woods.
In front of the team, Ma Liang's Mauser pistol was firing blindly at the woods ahead. Further ahead, rifles could be heard firing randomly at this side, followed by the sound of Czech machine guns, which were from the puppet army. Then Ma Liang was heard shouting "Mule", and then the mule's machine gun also fired, firing back through the woods.
The entire team was already lying in the woods. They heard Shi Cheng shouting at his squad to open fire on the spot. The whistling sounds of bullets were disorderly and chaotic. From time to time, leaves were floating down nearby, slowly and silently.
Li Xiang lay on the side and shouted anxiously: "Platoon leader, hide quickly, platoon leader, what's wrong with you..."
Predicting the future is an extremely cruel thing, it will turn people into zombies. Hu Yi was not panicked or desperate, but because he had predicted the future of the entire 9th platoon, there was an unsolvable problem in front of him, which made his mind a vortex of thinking. His fighting instinct prompted him to think desperately, madly thinking about the next direction, the next step, the next plan... However, there was no result, only destruction; or in other words, all the results pointed to destruction. The day was too long.
Bullets whizzed past, flew over my head, flew past my ears, and raged in the woods. I felt Li Xiang began to pull his legs desperately, trying to push me down. I slowly turned my neck and looked at her hiding in the grass. The light was not so bright, just a faint outline, I could feel that she was still firm and cold, and the shape of her short hair at her neck showed that she was quietly watching the dark front of the team.
Moving forward, I saw a pair of pigtails lying on the ground. The girl was still crawling forward, trying to find a more suitable position for fighting. The pigtails were swinging crookedly, making me mistakenly think that there was wind in the woods, and I unconsciously felt cool and cold.
I don't want to know others because I don't want to miss them; because I don't know them, I don't need to care about them, I won't mind, no matter who dies, it's okay. There have been many times like now, I knew I would die, but there has never been a time like now, my heart is suddenly empty and powerless. When I miss someone, my heart hurts, I don't want to close my eyes, I don't want it to be like this, but it has to be like this.
As long as she is there, the sky is there. At night, she is the stars, and during the day, she is the wind. She curses fate with her own life: for the sky, she must live.
With his thoughts clear, Hu Yi no longer hesitated. He pushed away Li Xiang's push, bent down with his rifle, and began to move forward, while ordering: "The rear team will move forward, and everyone will retreat 200 meters, then leave the river bank and move south, aiming at Xiaojiao Village. Ma Liang and Mule will cover my retreat. Let's go now, quickly."
First they went east, then north, then west, and finally south. Fate had no choice but to arrange a reincarnation for the helpless 9th platoon. When the morning sun jumped out of the horizon, the 9th platoon returned to their starting point, which was also their final destination, Xiaojiao Village.
The gunshots and explosions in the middle of the night had already made the villagers panic. When the day broke, they thought everything was over. When the villagers pushed open the door, they were surprised to see a dozen people with live ammunition rushing into the village tiredly. First, a tall soldier with broad eyebrows and narrow eyes, with a cold face, walked to the middle of the village and raised his hand to fire a gun. The sound resounded in the surrounding area, shaking the hearts of the whole village. Then they heard his loud roar: "Listen to me, this is the battlefield in two quarters of an hour. If you don't want to die, get out now!"
Everyone in the village was stunned by these words, even the people in the ninth row who had hurried into the village were stunned.
Shi Cheng stared at Luo Fugui, Luo Fugui grinned at Ma Liang, Ma Liang bent over and panted, raised his sweaty face and looked at Hu Yi standing with a gun in confusion, unable to speak. Li Xiang looked at Liu Jianqiang, Liu Jianqiang looked at Su Qing, Su Qing looked at Hu Yi with a dark face, who was oblivious to the world around him, and said angrily: "Why are you showing off to the people
After catching his breath, Ma Liang finally asked: "Brother, are we going to stop here? We can't stop here, they will catch up with us soon."
Hu Yi seemed not to have heard what Su Qing and Ma Liang said. He looked around with his gun in hand, pointed to the landlord's compound with high walls and thick courtyards, and ordered: "Shi Cheng, take your team to occupy that compound and drive all the people out." His tone was as cold as iron.
"Yes." Shi Cheng waved his hand behind him and led his men straight to the compound.
"Fool, go get some water from the well and fill everyone's kettles."
"Yeah." Wu Shitou turned around and ran to look for a bucket and a well.
"Mule, catch the chicken."
"Yes. What?" Luo Fugui thought he had misheard and his eyes almost popped out.
"Catch the chickens, the more the better. Then take them to Shi Cheng's place and stew or roast them as you wish."
"Boss Hu, just wait and see!" Luo Fugui turned around and ran away happily.
Hearing this, Ma Liang's heart suddenly sank. This was not a good sign. Then he heard Hu Yi calling him, "Ma Liang, look around and pay attention to the movements in the direction outside the village."
"Yes." Ma Liang ran away with his head down.
Although she was not a fighter, Su Qing could still tell that something was wrong. She watched Hu Yi dispatch these missions and finally realized that Hu Yi was going to stay here. She turned her anger to Hu Yi, who had his back to her, and said anxiously, "What on earth are you thinking about getting surrounded?"
Hu Yi didn't look back, but started walking towards the nearest house. He said calmly, "We have been surrounded a long time ago." Then he kicked open the door in front of him and walked in.
He walked through the yard and entered the house, scaring the villagers in the house so much that they hid in the corner. He said in a cold voice: "Why don't you leave quickly? You will die if you don't believe me?" Then he started rummaging through the house in front of the owner, picked up an ugly patched jacket with flowers, and turned around to leave.
The village was in chaos, adults were shouting and children were crying, every household packed up and ran out, the Eighth Route Army was firing guns in the village in broad daylight, how could this be tolerated, the village would be a battlefield sooner or later, people had to run even if they were not allowed to.
After going out of the gate, seeing the panicked villagers running past him from time to time, Hu Yi walked towards Xiao Hongying who was sitting on the millstone to rest and watch the fun.
"Girl."
"Um."
He stuffed the ugly patchwork jacket in his hand into her arms and said, "Take off all your belongings and put on this instead."
Xiao Hongying looked at the clothes in her arms in confusion, blinked her eyes and asked, "Why?"
Hu Yi bent down and started to untie Xiao Hongying's two leggings: "Put them on first."
"This dress is so ugly? Besides, it's too big."
He untied Xiao Hongying's two leggings neatly, pulled her trouser legs straight, and then stood up. Seeing that she was still holding the flowery dress and looking left and right, he couldn't help but frown: "Change it now, this is an order."
Suddenly, she heard a little red-tasseled girl yelling nearby: "I don't want to..." So Su Qing turned the corner and saw Hu Yi standing by the millstone with an expressionless face. The little girl was wearing a very ill-fitting flowered dress, which was patched up and looked as ugly as she could be, like a stupid child in the village. She rolled up her sleeves, raised her braids, and faced Hu Yi with an angry face. Su Qing finally understood why he did this, and took two steps back, returned to the corner, and quietly watched the crowd running out of the village.
"You have to go."
"I'm not leaving."
"This is an order." Hu Yi's face turned even darker.
"No execution." The little girl's eyes became more determined.
"You're just a burden during the breakout, understand?"
"Why didn't you treat me as a burden earlier? Don't lie to me. It's already dawn. Where are you going to break through?"
Hu Yi was silent for a while, then said, "Girl, if I can survive, are you willing to leave?"
The little girl bit her lips tightly and stared at Hu Yi without saying a word.
"You know, I'm a deserter. I'm best at running away. If I don't want to die, there are ways to stay alive. But if you don't leave, I'll be completely helpless, and we'll both die. I know you're not afraid of death, and you know I'm not afraid of death, but if you're alive, I can't bear to die."
"You lied to me."
"I didn't lie to you."
"Then tell me about the plan."
"This place is not far from the river in the north. If I can survive until dark, I will break out to the river to the north. You know I can swim, right? If I can't survive until dark, I will hide in the well and still have a chance to escape. Of course, if I do this... I will be a deserter and will be looked down upon. But you know I am not afraid of being a deserter or being looked down upon, right? So the question now is... Will you look down on me? Do you dare to be a deserter?"
The little girl's anger disappeared, her pigtails drooped down, and her big eyes were filled with confusion. She struggled with Hu Yi's question. Her innocent heart did not know how to bear this question at all, and she was confused.
The village had begun to empty out, and the last few villagers were about to run out. The little girl stood stubbornly in front of him, her pigtails hanging down, and was reluctant to give an answer. The last chance was about to disappear before her eyes, and there was no time to wait any longer.
Hu Yi pulled out the revolver behind him, opened the bolt, and calmly put the muzzle to his head. The little girl couldn't help but stare blankly. She felt a sense of sadness and chillness emerging, and determination was flowing in the narrow eyes in front of her.
"I swear on the blood of soldiers, if the girl doesn't run to the next alley before the count of ten, I will give my life. One."
"Don't scare me, this is my trick"
"If you die, I will die too, at least we can die together"
The chill was spreading, and Hu Yi seemed to be gradually entering a state of numbness, making the little girl experience the same feeling as she had on the playground of Wuming Village. He seemed to be slowly evaporating.
"Four."
"I'm not afraid!" the little girl began to scream, raising her thin legs and kicking Hu Yi's legs hard, trying to tear off his arm holding the gun, but any part she touched was as hard as iron, and the pain made her eyes well up with tears.
"five."
The little girl finally looked at the distance to the next alley in panic. It was not far, but not close either.
"I hate you." The girl with braids started to run towards the alley entrance regardless of everything. She ran so recklessly that she was like the wind, and even her braids began to flutter.
"seven."
Tears began to float in the wind, a crystal drop slowly fell, shining in the sunset glow with the last bit of purity and beauty before hitting the ground.
"eight."
The little figure in the ugly flowery dress, running desperately, started crying. The usual stubbornness and strength were no longer in her voice. She cried very fragilely and naively.
"Nine."
The girl with neck-length short hair slowly appeared at the corner of the wall. She looked at the man with the gun, and also at the small braid that was blowing away like the wind, watching quietly.
…