Chapter 28 chapter eight

After arriving at Heifengjian last night, Liu Zongkui didn't rest until four o'clock in the morning.He first got in touch with the Command Post of Regiment A through the telephone set up in advance, and reported the news that they arrived on time, and then sent people to contact the Second Battalion of Regiment A under Height 342 and the division hospital at the bottom of the northern valley of Heifengjian. The second dressing station, and an ammunition supply point adjacent to it, are waiting for a platoon battalion command post of the seventh company to build a shelter in the dense forest southeast of Jianxi.When the dispatched personnel came back one after another, the shelter of the battalion command post was also built, and the hands of the watch pointed to three o'clock in the morning.At this time, he and Xiao Bin went to the campsites of each company to check again, and found that the first row and second row of the Ninth Company were sleeping in the woods without digging cat ears.What Liu Zongkui was most worried about was this company, and now he was even more annoyed when he saw this situation. He found the cover department of the Ninth Company, woke up Cheng Ming, and gave him a lecture.Cheng Ming was about to correct his mistake, but he stopped him again: Since everyone has already fallen asleep, let them continue to sleep, and wake them up half an hour before our army's shelling to dig a hole, otherwise no one will be killed that night. Don't want to sleep!

After that, he returned to the shelter of the battalion command post, sat down with his back against the damp earth wall, and made a phone call with the A regiment command post. Yin Guocai, chief of staff of Regiment A, told him: The battalions of the regiment have entered the attack starting area as originally planned, and everything is normal.He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he should also sleep for a while before the war started, so he slid his body under the earth wall, resting his head on a stone, and closed his eyes. He has not fallen asleep for a long time.The tension of the imminent war has always affected him, making it difficult for him to fall asleep; more importantly, as the third battalion of the C regiment arrived at Heifengjian, his thoughts on the war and the fate of this unit also quietly changed.Just like a person who is afraid of the beach walks on the beach and thinks very differently when the sea has no chest. At this time, he is no longer thinking about whether the troops can fight or what Jiang Tao will bring to them. It is not a question of bad luck, but how the troops deal with various possible dangers and how to organize battles.The battlefield is ahead, and the war has materialized.He also clearly recalled the past events of the border war a few years ago. He decided many things at once, such as what to do if the troops strayed into a minefield, what to do if they were suddenly intercepted by artillery fire during the movement, and the first martyr died. Afterwards how to continue to organize battles, and so on.In the end, he even thought of the most powerful infantry weapon they might encounter on the battlefield. It was a high-level dual-purpose machine gun modified by the enemy. The enemy in the war has fully used this kind of weapon that shocks and disintegrates the morale of the infantry, and the enemy will not stop using it in this war. He must warn the commanders of the third battalion of the C regiment in advance to be vigilant against this weapon .

But he still took a nap before dawn, and had a very strange dream.He dreamed that his wife was still alive and sent a letter asking him for money.He hated her and her letters, and made up his mind not to borrow money from the chief secretary to send her. Suddenly Xu Chunlan came to the army to look for him, and he wanted to hide because he hadn't sent her any money.After a while, I saw Xu Chunlan walking towards him with a smile on her face, her face was flushed, and she was free from any illnesses, saying, Zongkui, let's go and I will take you to a good place.He was so happy for a moment, and followed her to a hill with green grass and wild flowers blooming, holding hands like lovers in a movie, and spinning face to face.At this moment, he thought that his wife was dead, and opened his eyes suddenly.

He knew why he woke up suddenly at this moment.The luminous hands of the newly issued pre-war commander's multimeter on the wrist are pointing to six o'clock.There was stagnant silence between the shelter and the surrounding mountains and forests.That moment is coming.He sat up straight and found that Xiao Bin and Chen Guoqing were also awake, so he ordered them to inform each company to prepare for battle, then sneaked out of the shelter, tightened the loose belt, and walked outside to the forest slope, feeling very sad. Because of the bad dream just now. The forest is still dark at night, mixed with damp and cool mist, it is dark, but some faint blue light seeps in, vaguely distinguishing the gray-brown space from the dark-brown tree trunks.The fallen leaves on the ground, which were wet by the night fog, made a crackling sound under his feet.Looking out through the gap in the forest, the trees on both sides of the valley and the stream are still dark, a few big and bright stars are shining on the dark blue sky above the cave slope, one circle has lost its light, and one third of the edge The indistinct silver plate-like full moon still hangs quietly among the black forest tops, without finally setting.

Liu Zongkui boarded a high mound on the edge of the forest.From here, you can not only look southward to the 342 highland on the mountain ridge of Qipanling, but also have a clear view of the whole Heifengjian. The 342 highland stands towering in the blue-grey sky at dawn, and there is still no sound at present; in the woods on both sides of the stream, a soldier stepped out, waded through the dense bushes, and went down to the bottom of the stream to fetch water; In one place, a few soldiers squatted by the edge of the forest smoking, a little bit of dark red fireworks flickered on and off.In the forest on the northeast side of Jianxi, someone was yelling and cursing something loudly. From a distance, it sounded like the voice of Cheng Ming, the commander of Nine Company. People ran in and out of the forest from time to time, accompanied by some dull noises. He knew it was Nine Company One Platoon and 2nd Platoon were digging the bomb holes they had not dug the night before. "So they were already awake," he thought, "or not asleep at all." That last thought made his mood worse. "It is impossible to fully recover without falling asleep, and that is a bad thing for combat." The air smelled of soldiers' sweat, gunpowder, gun oil, and pungent low-quality tobacco, just like before dawn. The cold mist that gradually condensed in the forest mixed together, and it was uncomfortable to inhale into the lungs.None of this was new to him.This is war, the smell of war, the dawn of battle.He thought endlessly, but his heart seemed to be painfully bound by a thin thread because the war was about to start. "What task will Jiang Tao give us today?" He thought of that old question again, but didn't think about it, because it was not a question he could answer by himself. After a while, he thought of the dream about his wife before dawn, "She Why are you still asking me for money today?... She is dead, and my guilty soul is asking me for her," he explained, "but what does she mean by taking me to that place at the end ?...She has recovered from her illness, which means she is dead, and the only place she wants to drag me to is her graveyard. She is blaming me for not going to her grave to take a look. "" No..." Another explanation came to mind, and he quickly dismissed it harshly, "Death. I thought of death because of the coming of the war. She fulfilled my fear precisely in the dream.  … …No, the war a few years ago was bigger than the war in the Gongmushan area. I survived, so will I die in this war? … Xu Chunlan is dead, there is no one left in this world The person I miss, I have no attachment to it, so am I still afraid of death?!..."

He didn't let himself think about it any further.He could already hear the first shells of the artillery trial flying overhead.Liu Zongkui even heard that it was a 122mm howitzer shell from the series of "baba..." with a little trill. The ups and downs of the dividing line between the two can be seen more clearly; a group of purple fireworks flashed in the dim morning depression in the middle of 342 Heights, and then turned into a slanting, slender column of fried smoke rising, and then He heard a long and hoarse explosion. ——It wasn’t the fire, nor the smoke, but the sound of the explosion at the end, which made Liu Zongkui feel that the thin thread that was tied tightly to his heart had been pulled hard, and the breath in his throat was immediately aroused. This sudden tearing pain is urgent and difficult!

"It's begun!" he thought, sternly watching and criticizing the excitement and excitement rising in his heart, "but I'm not as excited as I was when I first fought a few years ago," he recalled for a moment. : The bombardment was about to start, and for some reason, the original nervousness turned into simple excitement and excitement, anxiously looking forward to going into battle soon; later, it was this kind of mentality that made me forget my fear and concentrate on leading the Seventh Company. Pounced on the high ground occupied by the enemy. "It seems that I'm used to war," he thought with disgust, and frowned subconsciously. "It shouldn't be, and I don't like it, but in fact it is like this!"

It took a long time for the second shell to blow up another flame on the top of Hill 342.Xiao Bin, Chen Guoqing and guard Wei Xi also ran to him. "Deputy regiment leader, it's finally started!" Xiao Bin called out happily, blushing, glanced at him, and raised his binoculars to look at the 342 high ground. The trainer Chen Guoqing just kept pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.But it can be seen that this white-faced scholar is more excited than Xiao Bin! Liu Zongkui glanced at them indifferently, and suddenly became dissatisfied with Xiao Bin, Chen Guoqing, and himself: they are all first-level battalion commanders, and they shouldn't be as excited as recruits when the war started!

"Commander Xiao, go back to the battalion command post and tell the companies to take cover to prevent the enemy from counter-attacking!" he said to Xiao Bin. Xiao Bin agreed and ran back to the forest.Liu Zongkui didn't say anything more, and a row of 130mm caliber rocket shells rose into the sky from behind the northern mountains. They carried a hurricane, and trailed short and bright flames from their tails. The crisp sound of cutting through thousands of layers of glass fell on the 342 highland, where a large black and red smoke and dust immediately rose into the sky, drowning the morning fog that originally permeated the mountains and fields, followed by a series of sound waves. The vast space was beating and expanding like drums, causing the ground to tremble suddenly.The black and red fireworks did not completely sink, and new white lotus-like puffs of smoke exploded among them. In the original sound waves, dull, hammer-like blunt waves were added. The explosion sound of things, this is the explosion of 152mm caliber howitzer shells. Every time they sound, the earth that was already trembling violently jumps; Go to Height 342, put out the fires burning on the high ground, and ignite them again, and the sky at dawn is illuminated red like a huge torch.Numerous small-caliber curved-fire artillery and the 122mm caliber cannon that was originally used for test firing also joined in the fun, sliding through the air with a clear friction sound, falling to the high ground, and exploding little by little here and there, the whole world is like The drumhead, which was struck violently by countless drumsticks, vibrated loudly regardless of rhythm.

"Deputy head, go back to the shelter and hide!" Chen Guoqing yelled in Liu Zongkui's ear.According to his military common sense, as soon as the attacking side's artillery attack begins, the defender's artillery will take counter-attack measures to suppress the opponent's artillery fire and attacking troops.Heifengjian is located in the north of Heights 342, and the enemy's shells will hit here at any time! "No, I won't go back!" Liu Zongkui also shouted to Chen Guoqing.A few minutes ago, he thought that the premonition of death had been eliminated from his heart, but he did not expect that when the artillery fire became dense, his whole body trembled unconsciously again. "What's going on!" He got angry, regained his composure, and asked himself angrily, "Are you really worried about being killed by enemy shells?... If you are afraid of death, then you should let them kill you die!"

Chen Guoqing saw that he had no intention of leaving, and he himself did not walk away from the mound. A heroic and fearless expression appeared on his pale face, as if to say: I will not leave either!Let the enemy's shells come over! ...But he has never experienced the moment of artillery fire on the battlefield. The result is not the enemy's shells, but the sound of all the rocket shells, large-caliber heavy artillery shells and small-caliber curved shells flying and exploding from our army. The physical and psychological unbearable sound pressure that filled the entire cosmic space like tangible material fragments made him walk down the mound quickly, leaned over and vomited! Liu Zongkui has regained his composure amid the sound of shelling.He has stepped into the deep waters of war, or rather the deep waters of war have come up and completely drowned him, and he has no fear anymore.As our army's shelling entered a climax, what he heard was no longer the sound of every shell flying and exploding, but a "humming" sound filling the space between the sky and the earth.Deep in his heart, what he was thinking at this moment was only some very specific things related to the shelling. "...does the enemy have any artillery worth mentioning?...their artillery was so weak in the last war that it was almost negligible. But this time they should have artillery, after all, several years have passed....According to The intensity of artillery fire can be determined. Today, our army used one rocket launcher battalion, two 152 plus howitzer battalions, one 122 cannon battalion, and an unknown number of regimental mortar units for a single target on the 342 highland. With so many artillery High-density firepower attacks Highland 342, and every square meter of soil on the highland will be plowed several times by artillery shells.... It is conceivable that the same will be the case with Highland 164 and Highland 631. If the enemy does not have enough artillery, A It is no problem for regiments to attack a company and a half of the enemy who have been hit hard by artillery fire on Qipanling. Then our battalion will have little chance of participating in the battle," he thought, "and if the enemy's artillery fire is not as good as it was a few years ago Weak enough to pose a real threat to our artillery group and the attacking units of Regiment A, the battle process will be complicated, and there is a great possibility that our unit will be sent to a certain high ground by Jiang Tao!..." He finally found an explanation for his stay on the hill.Based on his experience, as long as there is a shell flying towards the artillery position of our army or the area where the Second Battalion of the A Regiment under the 342nd Heights is deployed in the direction of Gongmu Mountain or the Tianzi Mountain area south of Gongmu Mountain, it can fly and explode according to its flight and landing. Sound, accurately judge the type and caliber of the artillery it belongs to, and thus roughly guess the scale of the enemy's involvement in this war! Chen Guoqing came back to him from the mound.Liu Zongkui looked at his watch. Now five minutes had passed. If the enemy's artillery counterattacked, it was time to start! Xiao Bin also ran over.He boarded the mound and urged anxiously: "Deputy head, it's better to go back to the shelter and hide!" "No, you and the trainer go back first!" Liu Zongkui replied in disgust, and took two steps to the highest point of the mound. As a result, Xiao Bin and Chen Guoqing did not leave either. Thirty minutes have passed, and the enemy artillery is still silent! Liu Zongkui's heart became tense again.If the enemy artillery counterattacks aggressively at this moment, the timing is the best, and the shooting of our artillery group has gradually become exhausted! Another ten minutes later, our army's artillery raid ended.Then there was silence, and he hadn't had time to get used to it, "Da da da da da --" Gunshots sounded from the 342 high ground. "What's going on?" He looked towards the south nervously. His initial thought was that someone from the second battalion of the A Regiment who was supposed to attack the high ground had gone off fire; but then, he heard a series of crisp sounds from the direction of the high ground. gunshots. "No, it's the second battalion of Regiment A's attack on Height 342 that started," he thought after a sudden surprise.He thought he could wait for more intense gunshots, but the time passed minute by minute, and the hill fell silent again! "What happened? What happened?!" His heart tightened. He took the binoculars from Wei Xi and looked up at Height 342. Many unpleasant possibilities were also churning in his mind. , "Could it be that the attack of the Second Battalion of the A Regiment hasn't started yet?... They haven't approached Height 342 yet?... No, it's time to attack! Before the enemy wakes up from the horror of the shelling, hurry up and cover your ears with lightning speed Press up, don't wait for the enemy to breathe!..." The telescope quickly searched the surface of the high ground that had just been plowed by the shells, and piles of scorched earth and clusters of fireworks appeared on the mirror.Suddenly he saw a soldier with a gun, his face was very young under the helmet, one side of his face reflected the bright yellow morning light, he seemed to be smiling; then another soldier appeared on his right side, carrying a submachine gun on his shoulder Finally, holding a thin object in his hand, he staggered and jumped between the broken ditch and the burning bushes, and finally stood with the soldier in front, and inserted the thin object in his hand into the hole on the peak. The ruins, and then let go of their hands, letting the flag rolled up on the tip of the pole unfurl against the morning sun and morning wind in the east.The thin thread tied tightly to Liu Zongkui's heart was pulled painfully by a hand again—it was a red flag, a red flag with five golden five-pointed stars on it! "Deputy Commander, the Second Battalion of Regiment A has gone up!" Xiao Bin shouted loudly ahead of him, his words were not only full of joy, but also surprise and excitement, "The offensive battle on the 342 Heights is over!" He didn't notice that Chen Guoqing, the trainer standing behind them at the moment, also put down the binoculars, and bright tears overflowed from behind the glasses! It took Liu Zongkui a long time to put down the telescope.The moment he saw the five-star red flag planted on the top of 342 Heights, he realized what had happened, and his heart was immediately filled with joy like a tide.But the intellect does not accept what is already known, but instead doubts it with astonishment. "...What's going on? Isn't there a platoon of enemies on the 342 Heights? Could it be that the enemies were all wiped out by artillery fire?... This is not like a real battle, but an actual military exercise.  … "He finally accepted the fact that the high ground was taken by the Second Battalion of A Regiment without bloodshed. "...the point is that the enemy doesn't have guns," he thought, thinking he had gotten the point. "Without guns they can't suppress fire on my battery and hit our attacking troops to support their infantry. . . . It will make it impossible for them to launch a counterattack against Qipanling after the loss of the high ground. In this way... the war in the entire Qipanling area may have ended!" It was the latter thought that really moved him.He knew why: if it was now almost certain that the Qipanling offensive was over, the small army he led would really not have to go to war as Jiang Tao boasted yesterday! ... He no longer has to worry about it encountering all kinds of unexpected bad luck! He didn't want Xiao Bin and Chen Guoqing to see his excitement at this moment, so he delayed for a while before turning his gaze away from Height 342.Another thought immediately came to mind: If they can't fight, what will Jiang Tao ask them to do next? I thought about this question on the road last night: the third battalion of the C regiment is a supporting role for the A regiment, and if they fail to fight, they may be sent to take on the task of the transport team——for the battalions of the A regiment that have already occupied Qipanling Delivery of ammunition, supplies and fortification materials needed after transfer to defense, transporting the wounded and martyrs. - Now this possibility has become very real! He turned around slowly, looked at his watch with a calm and indifferent expression, raised his head, and said to Xiao Bin: "Immediately notify the cooking teams of each company to cook!...It is 7:20. Each company has to finish cooking before 8 o'clock! After 8 o'clock, we are ready to go on mission!" ——There was another burst of fierce gunshots on Qipanling. Jiang Tao won't leave them much time! Xiao Bin, who was also immersed in great joy in his heart, looked at him in surprise, and for a moment he didn't understand why the deputy head suddenly wanted to let the troops cook.Liu Zongkui didn't give another word of explanation, so he left them, walked down the mound quickly, and walked in the direction of the battalion shelter.So Xiao Bin didn't think about it anymore, he called the communications squad leader of the battalion department and asked him to go to each company to convey the instructions of the deputy commander. Liu Zongkui sat down by a tree in front of the entrance and exit of the camp shelter, lit his first cigarette this morning, and smoked it slowly while staring into his heart with unpleasant eyes.He felt that his mood had turned sour again for some reason. "...the battle on Ridge Ridge is over. . . but it seems to have come too soon, and too easy, too easy," he thought. "...war is heavy, and a war that ends unexpectedly easily is never a good thing..." But he couldn't find any reason to justify this unpleasant feeling. "Should I make a call and ask the command post of the A regiment?" He thought, and immediately denied the idea, "...No, it's better to let Jiang Tao remember that we are here, I don't want to take the initiative to come to the door...." He finally didn't completely calm down.Deep down, that sense of high alert still exists.But he also understood that no matter what happened today, his decision to hurry up and let the whole battalion officers and soldiers have a meal was correct!