The wine station is destined to be a sleepless night.
The sky at dawn was still covered with large patches of clouds, so the morning glow was very faint and subtle, like a distant melancholy vaguely lingering in the horizon.
Some wars have no winners and end in dismal disgrace; the ninth war was a failure, and the second war was also a failure.
Xu Xiao's forehead was wrapped in a bandage with dried blood, his military uniform was covered in dirt, and several buttons were missing, but he was still energetic and full of fighting spirit. He endured the swelling and pain on his body, climbed up to the high roof with a grimace, straightened his thin back in the morning breeze, and let the sound of the military bugle echo in the wine station.
He was not sad at all. Last night, he followed his tall squad leader and bravely rushed towards the independent regiment's most powerful general. That feeling made Xu Xiao feel more excited, proud, and thrilling than rushing towards the Japanese. Although his fists could not affect the iron tower-like Gao Yidao at all, and although he was blown away several times by Gao Yidao's infinite power, the tall and roaring squad leader refused to fall down, so Xu Xiao got up and went up again and again.
Fighting Gao Yidao was actually more honorable than killing the devils. Xu Xiao simply thought that he was now a man with balls!
No one could have imagined that in the battle last night, the most ferocious man in the Ninth Company was not the angry bear, but Li Xiang, who was now lying in the wounded area. I don't know how many brave men from the Second Company were knocked down by him.
Li Xiang lay beside Ma Liang on a stretcher, his face swollen and deformed, mumbling to himself endlessly: "I didn't mean it that way... but I couldn't stop... I couldn't stop... I hated myself... I even remembered how many punches I threw..."
Ma Liang was helpless. He suddenly took out a pistol bullet from his pocket and threw the bullets one by one onto the ground next to the stretcher, one bullet every few seconds with regular and even intervals. The bullets landed with clear sounds one after another. Li Xiang finally stopped talking to himself and closed his eyes quietly.
Wu Shitou still had no expression, but he was actually in a very happy mood. He stood on the observation deck above the stone house, staring stupidly at a wooden house. The window of the wooden house had been broken, turning into a square hole, and Xiao Hongying lived inside.
During the battle last night, Wu Shitou ignored everyone and went straight to remove the window. He had to remove that window. How could the window of the confinement room be closed? The confinement room in Dabei Village never had windows closed! So the windows of the confinement room should not be closed!
But after he smashed the window, the girl didn't come out. It was clearly night, but she didn't come out. She just lay on the windowsill and flicked Wu Shitou's head hard, who was standing stupidly outside the window, and asked Wu Shitou if it hurt. Wu Shitou said it didn't hurt, so she flicked his head again, Wu Shitou said it hurt, but she flicked Wu Shitou's head a third time!
Tian Sanqi stood quietly on the beach on the east bank, not watching the river flow, nor able to see the rising sun rising through the clouds. He always stood with his head held high, but he was melancholy.
He used to be a soldier in the Second Company, and once said that he would be the ghost of the Second Company if he died, but last night, he actually took action and punched his former comrades, feeling sad but unable to complain. The surprised expressions of his comrades in the Second Company were still vivid in his mind, but Tian Sanqi showed no mercy.
How could he show mercy? He was the second platoon leader of the ninth company, and the soldiers in the second platoon were falling down. They were all his subordinates, Tian Sanqi. If he didn't take action, would he still be Tian Sanqi? In the chaos of the battle, there was no time to cut off ties. He fought all the way from the back to the vanguard, and no one knew his pain.
Before he knew it, he heard a noise behind him. Tian Sanqi turned around and found that his second row of soldiers had appeared not far behind him, all of them with bruised faces and noses, looking at him quietly.
In the wooden house of the ninth company headquarters, sat the haggard Team Leader Zheng, who had not slept all night. His eyes were red and he was still in a daze.
The door opened and the clerk walked in, looking haggard and dishevelled. Team leader Zheng had to force himself to look up and ask, "What's going on?"
"Xiao Li is fine. The women who chased him used brooms and baskets. The wound on his forehead was not caused by them. He fell while running. I just went to the village on the other side. Sun Cui said that she didn't know about the villagers entering the liquor station last night."
"That's not what I'm asking about." Team Leader Zheng suddenly raised his voice, "I'm asking about the conditions of all the wounded! I didn't ask you to go to the wounded area to see Xiao Li! Why did you go to the village on the other side?"
The clerk was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Team Leader Zheng to be so angry with him. He was stunned.
Suddenly, the door opened again, and a tall and strong man walked in. His dark face didn't seem as symmetrical as it was last night, and there was a bloodstain on one of his eyebrows. He came to the table and sat down without asking. He looked at the clerk standing on the side, and then looked at Team Leader Zheng with a red face and thick neck. He realized that the atmosphere was not right, so he stretched his neck and glared at Team Leader Zheng and asked: "Hey? Your right cheek... Was it scratched?"
Team Leader Zheng did not answer, but took a deep breath and said, "Captain Gao, what are you doing here?"
"Did you sleep well? I came here... to comfort you. What happened last night is my fault, Gao Yidao. I was too impulsive. It has nothing to do with you, Team Leader Zheng. I will take all the responsibility!"
"… "
"Don't you trust me? Or do you look down on me?"
"Captain Gao, please stop trying to comfort me. OK?"
Relax? Team Leader Zheng thought, you also said to me last night, "relax", and now you are trying to relax me again. Are you trying to trick me on purpose? Normally, in this situation, even Gao Yidao should be locked up, but Team Leader Zheng is really exhausted and doesn't want to add to the trouble, so he said, "I've thought about it. What happened last night must be reported to your regiment as soon as possible. It cannot be reported unilaterally. The 9th Company must send someone, your 2nd Company should also send someone, and I will send someone from the investigation team. The three of us will go together to report. I don't want to be involved in this matter. Your regiment can make the decision. If your regiment wants to report it, I will bear the responsibility myself, and no one else needs to bear it."
Gao Yidao stared at Team Leader Zheng for a long time with his eyebrows tilted, and suddenly said, "I don't like him either. But those who say he is in cahoots with the Japanese are blind!"
Team leader Zheng still frowned, staring at Gao Yidao for a long time, and suddenly said: "No one likes me. But I didn't say anything, I'm not blind!"
Gao Yidao left, and the wooden house remained quiet. Team Leader Zheng remained silent, and the clerk had no choice but to ask, "Team Leader, what should we do next?"
"How do we proceed?" Team Leader Zheng gave a bitter smile. "How we proceed is not decided by me, but by the report materials."
"Then... can we deny the question about the sheep head case?"
"You can deny it when you meet him for the first time."
"How do you plan to work today?"
“It can’t be arranged!”
The clerk was stunned again.
Team leader Zheng shook his head subconsciously: "It's already like this, it's really... This is the first time I feel so humiliated... Can I still work here? I can't stay in the wine station anymore. Go pack up and prepare to evacuate."
…