One month later.
A midsummer afternoon.
An Eighth Route Army soldier walked hurriedly on the mountain road under the scorching sun, his whole body drenched in sweat.
A ruined village sat on the hillside ahead, quiet and lifeless.
Piece after piece of crops, scattered high and low, lush and green, surround the ruins.
He walked towards the ruins with a suspicious look on his face, looking around in confusion.
I walked into the ruins and there was dead silence all around. I stopped unconsciously and looked around at the devastation, not knowing what to do.
A voice suddenly sounded behind him: "Why are you here?"
He turned around with a start and saw Ma Liang appear among the ruins with a hoe in hand. He was darker than before, obviously from the sun, but also seemed stronger.
The communicator Xiaodou finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Are you a ghost?" Then he leaned against the wall in the shade and drank from the kettle.
"Why are you here?" Ma Liang approached lazily.
"Why are you here, Platoon Leader Hu?"
"Keep going south and don't turn. Look for it by the river."
"What are you doing with a hoe?"
"Who cares? I'll use it as a pillow for my nap."
“…” Xiaodou was speechless.
Crossing the ridges and crossing the gullies, heading south, Xiaodou didn't expect that the first, second and third shifts of the ninth row would take turns to go to Qingshan Village to farm every day. No wonder the crops were so green and there was no waste. According to Ma Liang, there was a permanent early warning sentry stationed near the intersection of Lushuipu and Luoye Village to the east of Qingshan Village. The first, second and third shifts also took turns. Even if they didn't meet them in Qingshan Village, if they kept going east, they would not be unable to find the ninth row because it was their first time.
I followed a humble path through a large forest, and my view suddenly opened up. The forest suddenly broke apart, and it was obviously artificial, because the ground was full of tree roots and stumps left by logging. Even some large shrubs were not spared.
Opposite the large open area formed by deforestation is a lush riverside peninsula. There seems to be knocking and smashing sounds coming from behind the dense vegetation on the peninsula, accompanied by faint laughter. It seems that this is the garrison of the Ninth Platoon, because there are no living people in the Qingshan Village area except the Ninth Platoon.
Just as he was about to raise his foot and continue walking, a shout came from the other side of the open space: "Stop!"
This voice... Mule! Xiaodou stared at the opposite side with wide eyes, but could see nothing but lush green, so he shouted back: Mule, is that you? I am Xiaodou.
"I knew it was you, kid."
"Then why are you still shouting?"
"I'm free, hehehe..."
“…” I haven’t seen them for a month, why are these people in the ninth row so nervous
After passing through the open area, we finally saw a half-man-high building hidden in the green, a bunker. The main body was dug into the ground, with thick logs supporting the corners and the internal pillars. The top was laid with two layers of logs, and then covered with soil, like a big mound. The surface was covered with vegetation, and there were shooting observation holes in the east, west and north directions. Judging from the size of the appearance, the internal area seemed to be quite large, at least a dozen square meters, completely controlling the entrance range of the peninsula.
When they arrived at the back of the bunker, they found that the rear exit was connected to a communication trench towards the peninsula, which led directly to the woods. Luo Fugui lazily appeared in the trench and gave Xiaodou an ugly smile.
Following the communication trench and passing the woods, a clearing appeared, and at the same time, four wooden houses and a small house made of earth and stone were seen, scattered in the clearing without any rules. Shi Cheng led his men to build a new foundation in the middle, with pickaxes, digging and hammering, and the noise heard outside came from this.
Xiaodou was a little dumbfounded. He didn't expect that Class 9 really planned to live in this deserted place. They were so idealistic. They were all crazy.
…
Xiaodou came here for several things this time. First, he wanted to determine the permanent location of the 9th Platoon in order to establish contact with the regiment headquarters. Second, he wanted to ask the 9th Platoon if they had encountered any difficulties and whether they needed support from the regiment. Third, he wanted to tell Hu Yi that the issue of bringing supplies into the mountains had not been finalized yet because the issue of the source of supplies had not been resolved. These three points were the reasons why he was sent here by the regiment headquarters.
After telling Hu Yi all this, he also told Hu Yi that the Second Company Commander Gao Yidao asked him to give Hu Yi the Second Company's contact information and approximate location, and also asked him to pass on the situation of the Ninth Platoon to the Second Company. After saying all that needed to be said, Xiaodou finally took out a folded note. When he went to the division, Doctor Zhou asked him to bring this back, of course, for Hu Yi.
On the east side of the peninsula, Hu Yi, wearing a shirt, sat under the shade of a tree and unfolded a piece of paper. The words on it were clearly visible:
Lanling's fine wine is as red as tulips, and is served in a jade bowl with an amber glow. If the host can intoxicate the guests, they will not know that they are away from home.
The four lines of poetry, written in such a sloppy style, were naturally written by Dr. Zhou. Under the shade of the tree, a knowing smile appeared on his resolute face. Although I don't know which ancient poor man wrote this poem, it doesn't matter. What matters is that Dr. Zhou doesn't have wine to drink. She wants wine. This free-spirited drunkard has such a simple request for happiness!
Slowly fold the paper, then tear it apart piece by piece, let go, and white crumbs begin to fly.
Looking up, the beach was dazzlingly bright under the sun. The little girl, with her bellyband and shorts wrapped around her petite body, rushed into the sparkling waves again with her braids raised, splashing water everywhere, happily enjoying the coolness and tossing around in the river unscrupulously.
Li Xiang appeared behind Hu Yi holding a wooden sign, handed him the sign, and then handed him a piece of black charcoal and asked, "Squad Leader, is this the size you want?"
Without saying a word, he took the wooden sign in his hand, picked up the charcoal, thought for a moment, and solemnly wrote two big black words: Wine Station.
The soldiers of the Ninth Platoon were bored and clamored to give the base a name, and Hu Yi actually agreed. After much deliberation, everyone decided to call this place "Jiuzhan", which was simple, straightforward and easy to name, and meant the Ninth Platoon Base.
Li Xiang walked back holding the sign while reading. He could recognize some characters, but he didn't understand why the squad leader wrote "Jiu Station" as "Jiu Station". Was it a typo? The character Jiu was not difficult to write. The squad leader seemed to know more characters than he did. How could he make such a simple mistake? He couldn't figure it out! However, Li Xiang's personality determined that he didn't ask on the spot. He just followed the order. Anyway, the characters were different and the pronunciations were the same. There was no difference.
Coming to the only big tree in the middle of the open space, they used a nail and a hammer, and with a few clanging sounds, they nailed the wooden sign to the thick tree trunk. The two large charcoal-black characters "Wine Station" looked extremely eye-catching, and the small riverside peninsula got its name from then on.
…
Six soldiers were marching among the mountains. Looking closely, one could see that three of them were carrying javelins. They were from the second squad of the ninth platoon.
Today, the third shift was on duty to take care of the crops in Qingshan Village. Shi Cheng's first shift stayed at the base to build a new house, while Liu Jianqiang's second shift took on the task that all three shifts had been looking forward to all day, shooting from behind.
Since Hu Yi investigated the construction of the Japanese artillery tower, he found that the construction speed was too fast, which was not a good thing. If there was no task assigned by the political commissar, it would not matter. We must try to slow down the enemy's construction speed. After a meeting, it was decided to take the method of shooting from behind.
The enemy works both day and night. Harassment during the day is risky because the enemy will chase us out, so we harass at night. We also work in three shifts, approaching before sunset every day and firing at the construction site after dark, forcing the enemy to stop work at night and extend its construction period.
Considering that the soldiers on shift were too tired, the Lushuipu direction was directly abandoned. The Luoye Village direction was the last to be built, so this place was the first to be built.
As it got dark, Liu Jianqiang led five soldiers to climb up a hill and began to observe in secret.
Half of the gun tower has been erected at the mountain pass. The first floor has been built and the second floor is half built. This gun tower is quite large and looks like it will be at least three stories high when completed. Laborers are busy around the gun tower, moving stones and digging earth. Even the trench around the gun tower is almost formed.
The Japs only had one squad, but the puppet army had a company. The days of black gunning had made the Japs very skilled, so they were all resting with their Type 99 light machine guns at a distance behind the artillery tower, while the supervision and sentry duties were all left to the puppet army.
Liu Jianqiang mounted his rifle and took aim. He found that there were fewer puppet soldiers in front of and near the artillery tower. Most of them had huddled as far back as possible. There were only a dozen or so wandering around looking around. They were also afraid, especially as it was getting dark.
A soldier came up to Liu Jianqiang and said, "Squad leader, is it my turn to fire the gun today?"
Except for the ninth squad, the first, second and third squads also rotate in shooting secretly, and each squad has a turn every three days. The first squad has both long and short guns, which is inferior to the second and third squads, which only have one long gun. So every time they come to shoot secretly, they take turns to use it, and the new recruits line up to satisfy their cravings.
As a squad leader, you have to think about your brothers. Liu Jianqiang handed the Type 38 rifle to his men and instructed them, "You can aim, but don't get too excited. Don't fire your guns until it's dark. Do you understand?"
"Understood." The soldier happily took the gun.
After a while, several bonfires were burning around the artillery tower. The Japanese were really stubborn. Several people had been killed or injured by the guns, but they still worked every night. I wonder if they had signed a military order to set a deadline, or if it was because the lives of the puppet soldiers were worthless.
However, the situation today was a little different. The outposts were withdrawn, the number of bonfires increased, but within the shooting range there were only a dozen puppet soldiers mixed in with the civilians, wandering around and monitoring. The enemy had learned their lesson, and it was really hard to fight them this way.
The soldier who was aiming at the target had sweat in his palms. Not only was the target not close, but it was also moving around in the crowd. Not to mention that he was a rookie recruit, even if it was a veteran who took over, he would not dare to fire the gun if he did not have good marksmanship, as it was too easy to accidentally injure civilians. The civilians were all compatriots who were forced to do this. How could he do that
Liu Jianqiang finally understood that they were using the laborers as shields. How could they fight? He sighed deeply and whispered, "Stop fighting. Bring me the gun."
The six figures on the top of the mountain lay quietly, looking at the bonfire at the pass. After a long time, they reluctantly stood up and disappeared into the night...