The platoon leader was called Wu Gui. Although he was not well-educated and had risen from the ranks, he was cautious and had a lot of battlefield experience. He arranged the main force of the first platoon in three houses not far from each other, in a triangle shape, so that they could cover each other. Two Czech light machine guns were placed on the two wings, and a few roving soldiers were placed in the houses and courtyards between the three main defense points. The small building where the third platoon was located was behind this triangle, and together they formed a diamond shape. If they wanted to launch a defensive line attack, this arrangement was too conservative and inconvenient to deploy, but if they were to defend, it was impregnable.
After the initial panic, the third company commander and the first platoon leader finally got the defense system going. The machine guns on both wings began to cross-cover fire, and the scattered soldiers' grenades began to fly over the wall. The enemy had few troops, and the short-term trial attack was fruitless. They did not want to fight, and left more than a dozen bodies behind, and decisively withdrew from the contact distance and retreated.
"Captain, commander, the devils seem to be retreating."
"I'm watching, why are you yelling?" The third company commander leaned his head out of the window and looked around. Seeing that the Japs had indeed retreated, he retracted his head, turned around and sat down against the wall, took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
"Da Huangya is a useless piece of shit. Not only did he kidnap the second platoon, he almost got me killed." He extinguished the match he had used to light his cigarette and continued, "Didn't they say the second battalion would come up? Where are they? The Japs have been here, and their second battalion is worse than them, so they can't do anything."
As they were talking, the battalion's communications soldier climbed in through the rear window.
"Report, the battalion commander has ordered that all members of the first battalion hold their current positions, pay close attention, and make sure the enemy does not slip past them. Do not act without authorization."
After listening to the mission report, the third company commander said to the signalman, "Hey, I was just mumbling something, and you're here. You're the battalion commander's tail, so you have sharp ears and eyes. I want to ask you, didn't you say that the second battalion would come up? Why haven't we seen anyone yet?"
"Second Battalion? Oh, it seems the regiment has changed its plan. The regiment commander said that the number of the Japanese vanguard troops would not be too large, and it would not be worthwhile to fight a street battle head-on. So the Second Battalion was ordered to change its route and go around the river, and go along the river bank with the Third Battalion to the dock."
Zhao Yong looked at the rows of bullet holes on the wooden wall of the second floor and the mess in the room, patted the big guy on the shoulder and said, "Oh my god, Commander Hu is lying on the floor, the platoon leader is crawling under the bed, and you are so big and you have been standing in the corner without being shot. Who do you worship? Tell me, I will worship him from now on."
The big guy blushed, and he was still scared. After Hu Yi's reminder, the platoon leader quickly crawled under the broken bed beside him. He was slow to react, and before he could figure out what was going on, a shocking scene had already begun to unfold before his eyes. In the past, he had been suppressed by machine guns in trenches and streets, but he didn't feel anything. He always thought he was brave and fearless. But when all this happened indoors, he was frightened by the weird scene like a new soldier. His legs went weak, and he collapsed against the corner of the wall behind him. Except for his pupils dilating rapidly, he couldn't do anything.
Wang Laokou sat on the broken bed and smoked. "I say, Zhao Yong, can you think carefully before you encounter something next time? As soon as you climbed up the stairs, you hugged the big guy and cried, making me think he was dead."
"He just stood there with his eyes wide open and his mouth agape, like a piece of wood. How would I know..." Zhao Yong stopped talking and sat down next to Wang Laokou. "Platoon leader, we ran in the rain all night last night. Look at our clothes, they are still soaked. We are tired and cold. The Japanese have retreated for now, but our house is high and their guns are firing. We may be shot at by a hidden gun or a grenade launcher in a while. I say we should all go downstairs and sleep. There is a row of enemies in front of us anyway."
Wang Laokou exhaled a puff of smoke, "You are the kind of person who will die. You are so wet that you will fall ill and be unable to get up after sleeping. You are short of medical care and medicine. I will find a pit to bury you in less than three days. Do you believe it?"
Zhao Yong pursed his lips and kept silent. Wang Laokou also thought to himself that Zhao Yong was half right. The Japanese retreated, and this small building also exposed the firepower. When the fog cleared, they would be attacked. The company commander was such a wicked guy. In order to get revenge, he gave the third platoon this unlucky job. It was really frustrating.
Hu Yi loaded four bullets into the gun, filling the magazine, then leaned the gun upright against the wall beside him. He then stood up from the ground, rolled up his sleeves, clapped his hands, and went downstairs.
"Silly boy, you are a soldier now, so you should have the awareness of a soldier. Now get up and work."
The silly boy was afraid that no one would pay attention to him, so when he heard Hu Yi's call, he quickly stood up from the corner, his dirty face was full of joy, and he saluted in a very irregular way: "Yes. Brother Hu, I will do whatever you tell me to do, without any hesitation."
Hu Yi found a bucket, walked to the water tank and scooped water. Without turning his head, he said, "Search all the houses in these two alleys and bring back anything edible."
"Ah? Okay! I'll go now." This silly boy was very knowledgeable and he walked out the door before he finished speaking.
The voice could be heard upstairs. Zhao Yong turned and looked at Wang Laokou, "Platoon Leader, did you hear that? He's just showing off his authority. He doesn't let a single child go. He can't even hold a gun. What if he runs into a Japanese?"
Wang Laokou had no idea what Hu Yi was up to, and was just wondering when he saw Hu Yi coming up with a bucket of water.
Hu Yi doesn't like pity or sympathy. He was born into a barbarian family and only believes in the word "morality". The silly boy's powerful words while sitting in the mud last night made Hu Yi look at him with new eyes. Although he is young, he is still a man. A man should do manly things, regardless of age. Since he was eight years old, he had to carry knives and guns to rob with the barbarians. If he didn't go, he would have no share of food. Who could he complain to? Besides, this silly boy is very smart. His ability to hide and seek for food is definitely better than that of the big guy and Zhao Yong. Even if there are really Japanese devils nearby, Hu Yi believes that he can avoid them first, and the Japanese devils may not be able to find him.
With Wang Laokou, Zhao Yong and the big guy looking at him in confusion, Hu Yi lifted the bucket and poured the water onto the wooden wall on the second floor. With a splash, the water dripped onto the floor again. He turned around, went downstairs and brought up another bucket to continue pouring water.
"He's insane. Did he hit his head just now?"
Wang Laokou couldn't sit still any longer, so he threw away his cigarette, patted his butt and stood up, "Xiao Hu, what are you doing?"
"We'll light the wooden wall over there in a bit. We're afraid the fire will spread over here too quickly, so we'll wet this side first."
Zhao Yong's jaw almost dropped to the ground when he heard Hu Yi's words. "What? You're pouring water first to set the fire? Are you crazy? Platoon leader, he's definitely crazy."
Wang Laokou didn't believe that Hu Yi was crazy. Instead, he thought Hu Yi's words were interesting. "Well, Xiao Hu, don't be impatient. Can you tell me in detail what the idea is so that we can work together?"
Hu Yi put down the bucket, shook the water off his hands, and replied calmly: "Let's set fire to one side of the wall on the second floor. When the Japanese see that the building is on fire, they will not think about this target as long as there is no more shooting. Let's use the fire to dry all the clothes. If the fool can get food later, we can solve the problem of breakfast together. If we rely on the cooks to bring us food, we may starve to death."
"Well, well, what if the fire gets too big and burns down the whole house?" the big guy interrupted stupidly.
Wang Lao was enlightened, his eyes sparkling, "Hehe... hahahaha... big guy, this isn't the house you're going to use to get married, why are you feeling sorry for it? It's better if it burns down, then we won't be targets here." He stepped forward and punched Hu Yi on the shoulder, "Little Hu, you're amazing. I can't deny it. There's a huge gap between you and me." He turned around and instructed Zhao Yong, "If there's a fire, go report to the company commander and say that the Japanese's gun broke the kerosene lamp and everything is normal, so that he won't be nervous."
They worked right away. The four of them started working in the small building. The big guy and Zhao Yong took over Hu Yi's job of fetching water, and even poured water on the ceiling. Wang Laokou tore the torn bedding from the broken bed and piled it in the wooden corner on the dry side, and lit it with a match.
I saw a thin little flame slowly crawling along the edge of the torn quilt, growing little by little, gradually expanding, and finally climbing up the wooden wall and starting to make a crackling sound. In the firelight, four cold, white and tired faces gradually became warm and rosy.