At the foot of a mottled south-facing wall, a bear covered in dust was sitting lazily, not wanting to open its eyes due to the sun; a petite girl with braids was sitting a few meters away at the other end, squinting her eyes and looking up at the blue sky, actually listening to the sound of gunfire, her originally bright flowered shirt was torn and stained with large patches.
Xiong suddenly asked without opening his eyes: "What did you whisper to her?"
"Nothing… None of your business."
"I just don't want to do this anymore! Do you understand? You've ruined my plan!"
"What a bullshit plan! Then just run away. I promise to pretend I didn't see it. Is it really necessary to do this?"
Xiao Hongying didn't even look at Xiong. She picked up a piece of dirt from the wall behind her and crushed it slowly in her small hands. She let the dust slip through her fingers and fall on her shoes and pants. She wanted to make them as dirty as the earth.
"I was going to disappear anyway! Who told those short-lived ghosts to say hello to me? Can anyone call a mule? Can anyone recognize me?"
"Mule. Mule. Mule. Silly mule. Dumb mule. Shameless mule. A big mule can't give birth to a little mule. An aunt rides on a mule and beats a mule..."
Xiao Hongying began to mutter unscrupulously. She guessed that the bear was quietly grabbing a handful of soil, and then suddenly lay down at the foot of the wall.
Sure enough, a cloud of flying ash came with the wind, and all the sand and soil flew over her back, but hit the face of Ma Liang who had just appeared in the corner.
The bear patted the dust in his hands, squinted his eyes and leaned against the wall to rest. Xiao Hongying lay under the wall and giggled nervously. Ma Liang shook his face, with dust on his shoulders. He stared at the bear dozing in the distance for a few seconds, but in the end he didn't say anything. He came to the space between Xiao Hongying and the bear, sat down on the ground against the wall, and lowered his head to bask in the sun amid the chaotic gunfire.
"Where's the fox? What's going on? I heard a charge."
"Yeah. Charged. Two platoons. Charged without even seeing the enemy."
"You mean..."
"I didn't say that."
So the sun continued to shine, and the long earthen wall continued to be mottled. Three wilted guys, big, medium and small, with a wide distance between them, were each silent at the foot of the wall, as if they could not hear the chaotic gunshots echoing around them at all. They formed a huge contrast with the panicked and hurried soldiers of the third company nearby in the gunshots, as if two worlds overlapped. They looked like the hopeless soldiers of the ninth squad, only two years older.
…
The fire from the north outside the town finally began to fire into the town, towards the firing positions in the town that were originally intended to cover the charge. Soon the counterattack of the 3rd Company stopped, because the 3rd Company could not afford to fight back. The amount of ammunition they carried was not at the same level. They evacuated the roof and hid under the wall, and could only listen to the Czech light machine gun and a Civilian 24 heavy machine gun arrogantly showing off their three or two rounds, sometimes tearing the windows, sometimes ripping off the tiles, and sometimes bullet holes jumping onto the wall.
Hao Ping took off his military cap and held it in his hand, not realizing that he was about to turn it into a rag. He just kept cursing the fourth platoon leader who had just come up to him, asking him why he kept fighting with the security forces who had already cowered in the west of the town.
The fourth platoon leader wanted to explain but didn't dare to. Once a fight started in the alley under the eaves, it was not easy to stop. It was difficult to command and coordinate. Once they were involved, it was not easy to withdraw from the fight. Unless he ignored the cold bullets and ran back, he would suffer casualties, which he was unwilling to do.
Most of the three platoons led by Yang Deshi arrived at the north of the town. Some soldiers were still carrying buckets of paste and wet brushes, and some soldiers fell down in their hurry and dropped the large stacks of propaganda slogans tucked under their armpits. The red and green slogans filled the hurried streets. Some soldiers who were running stopped to help pick them up, as these papers were not cheap!
Even the numb Hu Yi was stunned. This didn't look like Xinglong Town, this looked like a base!
Yang Deshi's glasses quickly appeared in Hu Yi's sight. Their eyes met for only a moment and then moved away.
"Su Qing? Why are you here too?"
Yang Deshi instinctively wanted to reach out and shake hands, but then he realized that it was inappropriate in such an environment with gunfire, so he awkwardly moved his hand to the side and said, "Um... your class is responsible for protecting Officer Su!"
Su Qing wanted to refuse, because there was an evil ghost standing beside her, who else needed protection? So she stole a glance at him not far away, but he did not express any attitude, so she swallowed the words she was about to refuse and accepted Yang Deshi's kindness.
Only then did Yang Deshi turn to the sweaty Hao Ping and ask: "What's going on?"
"There are enemies outside of town. Their strength is unknown and we don't know where they came from. We must retreat!"
"They are from the defeated army." Hu Yi suddenly interrupted.
The scene was silent for three seconds. Hao Ping coughed lightly and focused the audience's attention again: "No matter who the enemy is, the key now is to leave. The north has been proven to be unsuitable. We have to go through the town and fight our way out from the south."
"The heavy machine guns are in the west. As long as we move our positions slightly, the large area in the south will also be within its firepower range." Hu Yi interjected again.
There was silence for three seconds, and Hao Ping let out a sigh of relief: "We will withdraw to the east! That... platoons one, two, and three, you..."
"There are at least four light machine guns on the east side, arranged in an inverted triangle. If you want to leave the east side, you must be prepared to slowly withdraw."
Hao Ping was a little impatient. Suffering a setback, he felt that Hu Yi's words were sarcastic: "You know this again? Are you a fortune teller?"
Hu Yi was not polite and continued expressionlessly: "I have already told you that they are from the defeated army, not ordinary security forces. I also told you that the heavy machine guns are to the west. Didn't you hear it yourself?"
"So you know everything?" Hao Ping continued to frown at Hu Yi, and then said for another three seconds: "Oh, right... I just remembered that you were in the same group with them in the past!"
The scene was quiet again, so quiet that only the sound of chaotic gunfire could be heard.
Without comparison, you don't know how precious it is. Hu Yi now knows what a good person Gao Yidao is. For the sake of fighting and glory, he can put down everything, even his pride. He is a truly pure soldier. At this moment, Hu Yi decided to forgive Gao Yidao for his shameless actions in the past, but not for the next time.
"So what?" Hu Yi suddenly asked Hao Ping: "So what?"
The bronze expressionless face became a little stiff, and the narrow eyes were gray. He looked like a man standing on the edge of a cliff.
Seeing that Su Qing was about to stand up, Yang Deshi stepped forward and said seriously: "Hao Ping, you are going too far! Where is this place? What time is this!"
It was strange. Su Qing actually felt an indescribable discomfort, like her own, and like his. Before she could sort out this feeling, she found that he had turned around and walked away in silence. The soldiers hurriedly made way for him. His back was as dark as the shadow under his feet in the sound of gunfire under the sun, and it was defiant in her deep black pupils...