Chapter 24 Death or Disgrace
As long as there is a battle, there will be winners and losers. There is no victorious general and no undefeated army.
Many times when you lose a battle or need to retreat, you will be pursued by the enemy. Everyone knows how to take advantage of the situation.
At this time, someone needs to stop the interruption, and even someone needs to light the lamp.
The meaning of lighting a lamp is to know that there will be Japanese planes to bomb the retreating troops or Japanese infantry to chase the retreating troops.
It is necessary to have a troop walking on the most conspicuous road to attract firepower for the Japanese to blow up and chase them. The outcome can be imagined.
However, this will allow other troops to evacuate to designated locations faster and protect as many effective forces as possible.
Some people may think that whichever troop is chosen to light the lamps will be in bad luck.
But sometimes you look at those people who were chosen or volunteered to light lamps to protect you, and it feels like watching them die to protect you.
People who have never experienced it will never know what it means. Sometimes living is far more uncomfortable than dying. For the living, this is too heavy.
Many people in this small group of captives have experienced this kind of separation.
After escaping from the hospital, they temporarily joined the secret service company. Although they all fought side by side, except for a soldier who originally belonged to the Eighth Route Army, there was always a vague gap between the others and the soldiers of the secret service company.
After all, everyone has different beliefs.
Their leader is a middle-aged man with an unimpressive appearance. Although he looks extremely thin due to long-term malnutrition, judging from his previous combat performance, he must have been a well-trained warrior in his early years.
If anyone could see Zhang Zhiyi’s resume, they would find that his experiences in the past few years are both wonderful and tragic.
He participated in the Central Plains War and also went to Chang'an in 1936. He was involved in the battles of Zijin Mountain and Lanfeng, and after 1938 he moved to the Taihang Mountains.
Later, he was captured by the Japanese. After the soldiers who were also captured learned about those experiences, they all regarded this veteran as a follower.
Although they had not known each other for a short time, they hit it off immediately, and they all had similar experiences. They planned to escape from the Japanese prison together, eating and living together, and sharing the same brothers and sisters.
Originally, he thought that if he could successfully reach the Eighth Route Army's base, he would go and see with his own eyes what the difference was between this place and the preserved fruit.
The feud between the family and the country is still there, and Zhang Zhiyi has no plans to step down and return home.
It's just that after running around all year round, it's time to find a place to settle down, not to mention that he now has a brother who depends on him for life and death.
But now he has changed his decision. Before, he vowed to lead a good life for these brothers who were imprisoned with him.
The Japanese fighter jets just now will definitely attract a large number of Japanese soldiers to pursue them.
Among the twenty-nine of them, four were injured and one died on the spot. They would not be able to run far with the wounded.
He didn't want to do such a thing, and he didn't want to do it again. That year, almost all of his troops were wiped out, and only a few people survived. Every day was a torment for him.
So those of them who escaped together discussed it and decided not to leave! They built positions on the spot to block and buy time for the Eighth Route Army.
Wherever you fight against the Japanese, you are not fighting, and no matter which army you join, you are all Chinese. Anyway, there is a high probability that you will die, so it is better to die vigorously and die with some value.
They are all tired of living like pigs, being herded around.
Zhang Zhiyi looked at Zheng Yingqi and Li Yunlong and said nonchalantly: "Sir, let's go. We, the people, will try to buy you some time."
"It's obvious that you have done something big, otherwise the little devils wouldn't be chasing you like this."
"We are dead, and we owe you for being rescued. My brother can't leave now, and I will not leave anyone behind."
"But you have to keep the mortars. You won't be able to hold on for long without heavy firepower. If you keep some more grenades, they will be almost the same as the original ones from Sandoku. I really miss them."
At this time, the prisoner who was originally an Eighth Route Army soldier ran over from Dai Yu excitedly.
When he was first imprisoned, he disdained the company of these people. But after being in contact with them for a long time, he found that these people were different from the "friendly forces" he imagined.
During the time we were together, he was always taken care of by everyone because he was the youngest.
But I just heard Zhang Zhiyi’s words that those people wanted to stay and break up, but they didn’t seem to want to take him with them.
"Zhang Zhiyi! You said you wanted to go to the base area with me to see it! Why have you changed your mind now! If you don't leave, I won't leave either!"
As soon as the little warrior finished speaking, a figure walked over from the side. He put his arm around the little warrior's shoulders and said in dialect with a smile:
"The Qinggouzi baby pretends to be a hammer and is criticized by Master."
Facing the familiar dialects of the past, this time there is no usual laughter and laughter, only the carefreeness of looking down on life and death.
After being rejected, the little warrior's eyes were filled with tears, and he was about to argue but was interrupted.
Zhang Zhiyi looked at his brothers. No one was timid because of the tough battle they were about to face. He looked directly at Zheng Yingqi and made his last request.
"Sir, please take this boy away. Unlike us soldiers, he is our hope."
Looking at the other party's burning eyes, Zheng Yingqi nodded. Just as he was about to arrange the handover of weapons, the injured soldier of the special agent company also came over with the support of his companions.
The two soldiers each took out a letter, which was prepared before departure.
As long as one person from the special agent company can return alive, these letters can be delivered to the hands of relatives. Even Staff Officer Li asked Huang He to write a letter to the brigade commander on his behalf.
Although he didn't speak, Zheng Yingqi understood what they meant and returned to the team seemingly calmly after accepting their letters.
Zheng Yingqi is no stranger to lighting lamps. The Eighth Route Army also faced similar problems when fighting the Japanese, especially during counter-mopping up in enemy-occupied areas.
When the Japanese fail to block the retreat of our troops, they may vent their anger on the local people. Therefore, when the troops retreat, they will take the people with them.
At this time, we must not tell the people who are behind the scenes, let alone let the troops behind the scenes come into contact with the people.
Because the common people will cry when they know about it, and the soldiers will not be able to help themselves when they see the common people crying.
Zheng Yingqi has experienced this kind of thing several times, but even he feels so distressed that he almost faints every time.
The soldiers in the team have been with him day and night. Some of them were even personally selected and trained by him. Now watching them die in front of their eyes, no normal person can bear this.
Seeing the little soldier who couldn't help sobbing, Zhang Zhiyi frowned and said seriously:
Chapter completed!