Taking deep breaths still couldn't relieve the pain in my chest. All the joints in my body seemed to be stiff, and I was so weak that I often couldn't keep my balance.
He took a wrong step and his exhausted body fell out. A large amount of choking dust rose up on the dry earth and was inhaled into his mouth, which could not be closed, and into his throat, which was on fire, and he coughed in pain.
He gritted his teeth and climbed up. His sweaty military uniform was covered with dry dust, which turned into mud adhering to the surface, forming a dark brown color. It dried and became stiff in an instant.
He continued running. His cracked lips were no longer noticeable on his sweaty and dusty face, but his narrow eyes beneath his thick eyebrows were still firm and cold.
The team was stumbling in chaos, Ma Liang was leading the team, and it had to be said that this boy had great endurance, and he had to stop occasionally to wait. The little girl was also running in front, and after she understood the situation, she finally jumped off the mule's back, and swung her two thin legs violently. Although she was small and weak, she joined the team later, so she had more energy, and she ran gracefully and fell beautifully. Soon she rolled into a small earth man.
They had stopped shooting backwards and were just running. The mule had obviously lost its speed, but it could still barely stay in front of them because of its long steps. Xu Xiaoze had fallen behind and had to be lifted up by his thin shoulders or by the back of his neck from time to time. He cried, and his tears formed large stains on his face. He felt that he was a burden and was holding back the ninth platoon. He thought that the platoon leader was running at the end of the platoon because of him. He did not dare to cry out loud, but desperately used his last bit of strength and followed with red eyes.
Looking back, the Japanese troops were still swaying vaguely a mile away. They were actually still able to keep up. These were not human beings. They looked down on the Ninth Platoon too much. What a bunch of lunatics!
"Reach the ridge ahead... Rest!"
Hu Yi shouted forward, but to his own ears the sound did not seem as loud as he had imagined. The ninth row of soldiers, who were on the verge of exhaustion, suddenly became a little more energetic.
…
The west wind blew, and the yellow sand danced from time to time, casting a halo on the scorching sun.
On the desolate hill, the soldiers fell down in the dry water and were unwilling to get up.
The enemy in the telescope chased to a high ground about 700 to 800 meters away and suddenly stopped, then fell down in a mess as if hit by a bullet. The invincible Japanese were also finished and could only look up at the sky and gasp.
"Sergeant, hit him. It looks like we can't get rid of him." Liu Jianqiang said weakly to Hu Yi while lying in a cave.
Hu Yi continued to observe, without looking back or speaking.
Luo Fugui sat against a rock, holding the kettle high up, staring at the bear for a long time. Finally, a drop of water slid down, but it did not enter his mouth. Instead, it hit his dirty purple lips, leaving a little cool mark, which almost made the bear angry.
He licked the wetness on his lips and yelled to Xu Xiao: "Give me your water bottle."
As soon as he finished speaking, a kettle landed on the bear's chest with a clang. The girl who threw the kettle said at the same time: "You can only drink half!"
Ma Liang came to Hu Yi and sat down sideways: "The Japanese have three Type 99 rifles, and we have two machine guns. They have a grenade launcher, and we also have Li Xiang. If we can't do anything, we can just fight. They may not get the upper hand."
Although the firepower of both sides was not much different and the number of people was equal, there was definitely a gap in combat effectiveness. Even without considering the training level, the Japanese had more than fifty veterans, while the ninth platoon had only about twenty veterans with combat experience. A head-on fight was definitely not optimistic, and Hu Yi was unwilling to get hurt unless it was absolutely necessary.
Click—the watch case jumped up lightly with a crisp metallic sound, and the hands on the dial showed the time, 2:30 in the afternoon.
"No fighting. As long as the enemy moves forward, we will keep going. Ma Liang, when you leave later, make a big circle to avoid running out of this deserted place. If there are any reinforcements outside this place, they can only be from the enemy, do you understand?" Hu Yi put away his pocket watch and took out the compass and handed it to Ma Liang while speaking.
"Brother, do you want to delay it until dark?"
"right."
Understanding Hu Yi's idea, Ma Liang took the compass and began to play with it happily. He had always hoped to capture one of these things in battle, but his dream had not yet been realized. Today, he had the opportunity to use this thing once, which could satisfy his craving.
"Hey? You damn mule, how come you drank it all?" Xiao Hongying shook the kettle which had been silent for a while and suddenly cried out.
"Didn't you tell me to drink half?" Luo Fugui's tone showed that the bear's condition had improved a lot.
"I said half of the half pot of water!"
"It's only half anyway, what's the difference?"
"You—" The little girl was so angry that she wanted to rush over and tickle his heart, but she was too weak to do so.
…
The Japanese lieutenant felt dizzy and had acid reflux in his stomach. He had fought many battles, but he had never felt so tired and weak as he did now. This guy can run too fast. People say that the Eighth Route Army is a rabbit. Today I believe this is true. It is not objective to describe the Eighth Route Army as a rabbit. Can a rabbit run so far
Facing the sun and the wind, climbing over mountains and ridges, if it weren't for the pride of the Imperial Army and the unyielding Bushido spirit that supported them along the way, they would have vomited blood long ago. These cowards who only know how to run away, how hateful!
The Eighth Route Army was on the ridge about 700 to 800 meters away. Half an hour had passed, but there was still no sign of them advancing. The unwilling Japanese lieutenant saw this and gnashed his teeth. Feeling that he had recovered some of his strength, he gave the order to advance. No matter what, he had to let these local Eighth Route Army see the tenacity of the Imperial Army and make these cowards tremble completely. The Japanese lieutenant began to roar again, trembling—local tyrants!
As a result... the local tycoons were so scared that they started running away again.
Later, those who could no longer be chased started walking, and those who were running away also started walking.
Later, everyone walked slowly.
Finally, the Japanese second lieutenant finally found a sense of déjà vu.
The Eighth Route Army stopped on the high ground at a ridge seven or eight hundred meters away. The mountains were still the same mountains, but the scorching sun had turned into a setting sun. Hadn't they returned to the place that made the local tyrants tremble
Bageya Road—the whole mountain was filled with the echo of the Japanese second lieutenant’s hoarse voice.
When they chased the Eighth Route Army, they ran. When they stopped, they stopped too. One team tried to outflank from the left wing, but the Eighth Route Army turned right. They pulled back the team and tried to cross to the right, but the Eighth Route Army turned left again. They kept walking, stopping, stopping, and walking. The light was good, and the mountain was barren. It seemed that the Eighth Route Army even had telescopes. They ran for most of the day and walked for an afternoon. Now they really can't walk anymore. Their feet are full of blisters and they are in excruciating pain.
The Japanese second lieutenant stood on the high ground, looking helplessly at the sunset. Someone from the shameless Eighth Route Army actually shot at him. A bullet hit the ground more than ten meters away from him. Then another gunshot came from the ridge.
The second lieutenant did not listen to the Japanese's dissuasion at all. He did not move and still stood on the high ground, looking down at the mountain ridge seven or eight hundred meters away with contempt. He was so angry that his lungs were about to explode.
Stay calm, stay calm, he repeatedly suppressed his anger and told himself this. The Eighth Route Army refused to fight, they were waiting for dark. The sunset was already at the edge of the mountain, and it would be impossible to chase them after dark. This pursuit was doomed to be fruitless.
Another small burst of dust was heard nearby, and then another shot from Tomosaka's rifle was heard from the opposite side. At such a long distance, the shooter could hit such a close range. He was really a good shooter. The Japanese second lieutenant looked at the bullet landing point, but still had no intention of lying down to avoid it. He just grabbed the canteen he carried with him and wanted to drink in the sunset. Unfortunately, he forgot that the canteen was empty long ago, and not a drop of water flowed out.
He licked his cracked lips, put down the empty kettle and looked across for a while, then suddenly turned around and walked towards a hidden location, took out a map and unfolded it, trying to recall the route he had taken during the day, carefully looking for his current location on the map, and finally his eyes were fixed on a deserted area at the edge of the map that was not marked in detail.
The fingertip gently drew a circle around this location. There was no river, no village, nothing but barren mountains. Maybe there really was nothing. Maybe there was a stream or a spring, but it was not marked on the map. The Japanese lieutenant was unwilling to give up, so he expanded the scope a little bit and looked at it carefully again. Finally, the fingertip stopped at a location where only three words were written: Qingquan Valley.
This is a place name, but it is a place name related to water. Qingquan Valley? Is there a clear spring? Unwilling to retreat, the Japanese lieutenant decided to take a gamble and give it a try.
…
The moon on the 15th is fullest on the 16th, so today's moon seems to be about 13th or 14th. It is bright and shining, and its cold light makes the desolate mountains look dim.
More than fifty figures walked in the moonlight, very slowly and tiredly, each of them with a hunched back and no energy at all.
Soon after, a soldier's voice was heard: "Stop advancing and rest where you are." The team immediately fell into disarray and exhausted under the moonlight.
"Girl, turn on your flashlight."
A beam of light illuminated a map. Some details showed that it was a map used by the Japanese army, but most of the annotations on the map were in Chinese characters. The soldier's fingertips touched a position, slowly slid out a section, and stopped at the three characters of Qingquan Valley. Then he opened the compass with his other hand and took a look. He tried to recall for a while and said to himself: "The direction should be correct. Although the speed is a bit slow, we should be able to arrive by dawn."
"Brother, this Qingquan Valley is just a place name, what if there is no water?"
"It doesn't matter if there's no water. Once we get there, we'll be out of this barren mountain area. We can continue to go west. There's a village over there."
The flashlight beam disappeared, and the sleepy team struggled to stand up and continued their arduous march westward under the moonlight.
…
The morning light gradually illuminated the barren mountains, indicating that today would definitely be a good day.
A long valley quietly became clear, with pebbles scattered all over and a dry mark piled up, indicating that there was once a rushing mountain stream here.
The soldiers, who had been thirsty all night, could no longer resist the temptation of hope. They staggered down the hillside, fell, rolled, and slid forward, raising large amounts of floating dust and dirt, as they rushed towards the rugged rocks. If there was a spring, it would only be there.
A huge crack in the rock, a dry deep pit, the soil at the bottom of the pit was cracked and so dry that there were no insects. This was the origin of Qingquan Valley.
The soldiers in the morning glow were dumbfounded. Their feet, legs and whole bodies ached just from standing. They were too sleepy to open their eyes, too thirsty to talk and too tired to walk anymore.
A soldier suddenly shouted: "Something's happening!"
The depressed soldiers fell to the ground with a crash.
In the morning glow, in the dry downstream, a team of more than 50 people coming up was also frantically looking for shelter. The same feeling of exhaustion, those more than 50 steel helmets, appeared again at 700 to 800 meters.
What a damn encounter!
…