Chapter 57 Chapter Sixteen

At eleven o'clock in the evening, the fighting on the southern leg of the 631 highland also stopped.The night covered most of the mess up and down the mountain legs: shell craters opened one by one in the east and west; trees that had been blown up in the middle, and clusters of tree stumps, lay in the cracks in disorder; far and near Nearby, clumps of bushes were still burning, and the flames were flickering.Since the enemy's night-time artillery fire started to shoot, this place has become one of its targets. A shell just landed on the waist on the east side of the mountain leg, not far away from the heavy machine gun that frightened the enemies on the mountain leg of Yingzui Peak in the afternoon. At twenty meters, although no one was injured, a pine tree as thick as a teacup was set on fire, and the wind from the northwest canyon blew the smoke eastward in clouds. The man sitting stiffly behind the heavy machine gun The lifeless face was hidden for a while, and appeared again for a while...

Xiao Bin, who rushed back from Height 633, hurried up the mountain with his correspondent, stopped in front of the heavy machine gun, and called out: "Deputy Head!" The man behind the heavy machine gun didn't answer.Following his dull gaze in the dim night air, Xiao Bin saw the 634 highland looming in the southeast night! An hour ago, the defensive battle on the 633 Heights ended, Xiao Bin hastily deployed the night defense of the Eighth Company, and rushed to the battalion command post on the mountain leg of the 631 Heights.In the afternoon and evening, he was on Height 633, and he knew everything that happened up and down Height 634. The reason why he hurried back to the battalion command post was to inform the deputy commander of the situation and see if he could take action against the Height. Some remedy!

But the deputy head is no longer the original deputy head, not even the deputy head when he left in the afternoon!As the gunshots on the entire battlefield gradually faded away, especially since no gunshots were heard from the direction of Height 634, the heavy heart in the deputy commander's chest seemed to be finally broken, and his mind seemed to have entered a state of extreme unconsciousness. It seems that life has left him, and what remains here is just an empty shell! "303, 303, I'm 304! Please answer! Please answer!..." He didn't disturb Liu Zongkui, and called Jiulian himself through the walkie-talkie.He hoped that things were not as bad as he thought, that Jiulian might still be alive, the latter news might revive the deputy head from his current miserable state of mind!

But he was still disappointed!For a full ten minutes, he has not heard an answer from Height 634! Putting down the handset, Xiao Bin saw the thick and dirty bandage wrapped around the deputy head's neck.The deputy head is injured!The deputy head heard his call to Jiulian, but he didn't seem to hear anything! "Weishui! Weishui! I am the Yellow River! I am the Yellow River! Please answer!...Comrade Liu Zongkui, this is Jiang Tao, I ask you, no, I order you to talk to me!..." Beside the operator, the The radio station placed on the ditch cliff suddenly sounded the anxious, angry, and hoarse shouts of the head of regiment A.From the indifference of everyone including the radio operator, Xiao Bin realized that this was not the first time Jiang Tao had yelled at the deputy head.He instinctively stretched out his hand, but he heard the man behind the heavy machine gun suddenly stop drinking:

"Don't move! - Don't talk to the Command Post of Regiment A!" "Deputy head!" Xiao Bin called out.He wanted to remind Liu Zongkui to pay attention: refusing to answer the other party's call before the superior command post has not issued an order to shut down the radio station is a serious violation of battlefield discipline! "I'm the deputy head! I'm not allowed to talk to the Command Post of Regiment A, so don't talk to them!" Liu Zongkui was furious as if he had guessed what Xiao Bin was thinking.Through the night, which was more than ten meters deep, Xiao Bin also felt the ice-cold gaze of the deputy head. "I order, turn off the radio!" he said again.

Turning off the radio is tantamount to breaking away from the command of the superior command post, which is a more serious violation of battlefield discipline. The deputy commander will be severely punished for this after the battle.Thinking of this, Xiao Bin did not carry out Liu Zongkui's order, but he also realized from Liu Zongkui's rage: the spirit of the deputy head has not completely collapsed!There was even a hint of deliberation in his decision!Xiao Bin neither answered Jiang Tao's call nor turned off the radio, but reached out and turned the volume knob of the radio to the smallest scale.

Now Jiang Tao's shouts could not be heard up and down the mountain legs. Xiao Bin looked up to the southeast of Highland 634. He felt that he understood Liu Zongkui: Height 634 was not captured, and the deputy head of the group could not answer Jiang Tao's question.The only remedy right now is to transfer part of the troops from the Seventh Company and the Eighth Company, led by him, to attack the 634 Heights!He also specifically thought of which route to approach the highland is the best: the mountain leg on the southeast side of the 633 highland is currently blocked by the heavy machine guns of the east three highlands, and the new offensive team should open a minefield from the gully on the west side of the 633 highland. Come along the passage, approaching the 634 highland - the night will cover their actions, and the possibility of success is much greater than the daytime!

He approached Liu Zongkui and expressed his opinion.Immediately, he heard a deep, decisive answer: "No!" Xiao Bin never understood the meaning of the word "no" until midnight.He thought of many explanations. For example, after a day's battle of the Seventh Company and the Eighth Company, the casualty rate exceeded one-third. According to general military theory, it is difficult for a team with one-third of the casualties to fight hard. For example, even if the deputy regiment leader agreed with him, it would be difficult for him to lead the team to open a passage from the enemy's minefield and take down the high ground before dawn. The time set by the A regiment for them to end the battle It was 14 o'clock in the afternoon, and the time stipulated by the army commander to end the offensive battle in the Qipanling area was 24 o'clock in the middle of the night. In any case, they would not be able to complete the combat mission within the above two hours.But all these explanations failed to completely convince him. Xiao Bin felt more and more clearly that the reason that prompted the deputy commander to make the above decision was probably very simple: he did not allow himself to lead troops to attack Height 634 because He didn't want to attack Height 634 again.Xiao Bin couldn't believe this explanation was true: the command post of regiment A didn't formally order them to stop attacking, the deputy commander's doing so was tantamount to abandoning the battle without authorization, and he would be prosecuted for dereliction of duty after the battle!

... As early as in the afternoon, the enemies of Emerald Ridge and Tianzi Mountain attacked the 632 Highland area. Jiang Tao only gave him a symbolic aid of one platoon. Liu Zongkui made up his mind: he will die like a soldier in today's battle! He did not know that from this moment his spirit had passed into a miserable state.As the supreme commander of this small force, he could neither help the Ninth Company which was in a desperate situation at the 634 Heights, nor could he control the development of the entire 632 Heights area, so as to save the whole battalion from the fate of being destroyed. When that heavy machine gun used fierce firepower to snipe at the enemy on the foot of Yingzui Peak in the south, it had already admitted in its heart the failure of their battalion in the 632 highland area...

However, his heart was irritated, and his despair was full of self-condemnation.He couldn't forget that when the troops were moving from Bajiaoping to Heifengjian last night, he had made up his mind to protect the lives of the entire battalion as much as possible.But today, it was he who personally brought them into the "death trap" in the 632 highland area; his past experience had long reminded him to be vigilant against Jiang Tao, but this morning he still believed in the person from the A group. According to the news from the command post, I really thought that there were no enemies on the 632, 633, and 634 highlands. As a result, the whole battalion braved artillery fire and sniping with high-level dual-purpose machine guns to come here, and fell into such a desperate situation at this time.Now he can't do anything for the soldiers, and Jiang Tao, who can do something for them, refuses to lend a helping hand, leaving only a dead end for their battalion.He was sorry to everyone in the battalion, especially those officers and soldiers who respected and trusted him.Since the officers and soldiers of the entire battalion are destined to die for their country in the 632 highland area today, he, the person who brought everyone bad luck, should die before others!

Once he was concentrating on shooting the enemy on the mountain leg of Yingzui Peak, Liu Zongkui even forgot those thoughts above, and the despair and self-condemnation in his heart turned into anger, which directly acted on the heavy machine gun in his hand.He would die in a crossfire with the enemy, and longed to die that way.When the confrontation was at its most intense, he didn't realize that his bloodshot eyes had widened and he yelled viciously; every string of bullets fired from the other side landed in front of the heavy machine gun position with a "slap", or clanged. Hitting the gun not only did not bring him fear, but on the contrary only played the role of stirring up the anger in his heart and fanning the flames more vigorously.He didn't even feel that he and this heavy machine gun had attracted blows from the enemy's high-level dual-purpose machine gun and shells one after another on Yingzui Peak. Over time, the landscape around the battalion command post has been greatly changed, causing casualties.Liu Zongkui first paid attention to the enemy on the mountain leg of Yingzui Peak trying to cross the gully and jump to the 634 height, and then it was only a heavy machine gun and two light machine guns that turned their guns towards him from that mountain leg.He didn't know that less than half an hour after he fired the heavy machine gun in his hand, the enemy's attack on the Ninth Company's sniper line was disintegrated. He only knew that the enemy's heavy machine gun and two light machine guns were still there. The threat must still be there.Until the enemy's heavy machine gun and two light machine guns went silent one after another, he still didn't stop firing in that direction - he had previously estimated the situation of the Ninth Company and the whole battalion as extremely serious, of course he didn't believe that only one heavy machine gun and eight A light machine gun from the company contained the enemy supporting the 634 highland in the direction of Tianzi Mountain. He couldn't relax his vigilance, especially he couldn't stop the fierce fire attack on the remnant enemies on the legs of Yingzui Peak! It was at this time that a bullet flying from the leg of Yingzui Peak hit him in the neck.Liu Zongkui felt that someone had suddenly pierced his throat with an iron drill.He fell to the ground on his back, and a thought quickly flashed through his mind - I'm going to die!This thought did not make him feel the peace and relief he expected when he was killed in battle, but it gave him a stronger anger-the whole battalion is still fighting bloody battles, and the Ninth Company needs the support of your heavy machine gun , but you died! —He passed out in this anger. He was not in a coma for a long time, and the severe pain woke him up.The enemy's bullet only left a penetrating wound on the muscle layer on the outside of his neck, and did not really cut his throat.Liu Zongkui struggled, and sat upright with his back against the ditch wall behind the heavy machine gun position. The first thing that came to his mind was his extreme disappointment and anger at himself: the gunshots in the entire 632 highland area were still fierce, and every minute there would be people brought by him. The officers and soldiers who came into this "death trap" sacrificed, but the most damned thing he came back to life! It was getting dark.Whether it was the heavy machine gun in front of him or the enemy's light and heavy machine guns on the legs of Yingzui Peak, they all stopped firing.Not long ago, there was no enemy in sight on this mountain leg that threatened Jiulian the most.Liu Zongkui sat there dumbfounded, listening to the voices from the entire battlefield, unknowingly fell into an unprecedented state of powerlessness and depression, and this was a man who had experienced fierce battles, suffered injuries, and was exhausted in both energy and physical strength. It is a phenomenon that often happens to people who are extremely desperate and filled with despair.His troops are still fighting desperately. Many cadres and soldiers have died, and more people are dying. He made up his mind to die but failed.At the same time, he didn't have the strength to rush to the battlefield to fight, and his heart was being numb by all the setbacks and failures! However, in the time that followed, he could still hear it. Up and down the 632 and 633 highlands, the imminent crisis disappeared a few hours ago. The 7th and 8th companies withstood the enemy's crazy attack, and their positions were not lost. , That is to say, the worst situation he had expected - the situation where the entire battalion was annihilated - did not appear; but in the direction of Height 634, the gunfire suddenly became more intense due to darkness.Liu Zongkui's heart suddenly became excited: he heard that the remaining strength of Jiulian was very limited, and what they were doing was the end of a tragic offensive battle! His attention was all back to the direction of the 634 Heights, back to the last batch of officers and soldiers of the Ninth Company who fought bloody battles.At the same time, the gradually recovering vitality flooded in the mind and body again.He hoped that the gunfire of the Ninth Company would continue, and he even thought that as soon as the Seventh Company and the Eighth Company could draw some troops, he would let them go to the 634 Heights to reinforce the Ninth Company!But before the fighting in the direction of the 632 and 633 highlands ceased, the gunfire from the 634 highland direction, which could indicate that the Ninth Company was still fighting, stopped, and only a heavy machine gun and a few submachine guns were still firing there.That was the enemy shooting, he could tell from the direction they were blowing.Liu Zongkui's heart fell into complete despair again: Nine companies have been shot! 634 Highland is still controlled by the enemy! Not at any other time, but precisely at this time, Xiao Bin reported to him the sad news of the death of the instructor Chen Guoqing from the 633 height!After dark, Xiao Bin sent someone to sneak into the cedar forest in the eastern valley of the 634 highland, and verified the news that Chen Guoqing and the platoon he led were all killed in the country.The two events that happened in succession completely changed Liu Zongkui's heart! Before the last bad news came, Liu Zongkui's grief, indignation and despair were only filled with the following regrets: because he failed to be more alert to Jiang Tao, he brought the whole battalion into the 632 highland area in a daze today. If he is more vigilant, he will choose another route instead of the route he took in the morning to attack the 632 highland area. If it is close to the 632 highland area, of course it will not fall into this dead zone; secondly, he knows that the Ninth Company cannot fight, but let this company attack the 634 highland, which finally brought about its total destruction.Now he realizes that he made another big mistake in the afternoon: he agreed with Chen Guoqing to take a platoon supported by regiment A to the 634 Heights to participate in the battle, and he directly caused Chen Guoqing's death! Liu Zongkui couldn't explain why it was not someone else but Chen Guoqing, a bookish instructor, who suddenly felt a heavy sense of guilt at the sacrifice of his instructor.On the first day this white flour student was born as an instructor in the third battalion, he was suspicious of him and did not welcome him.The reason is not only that he can tell at a glance that Chen Guoqing is "not a real soldier" and "doesn't know how to fight", but also lies in the almost instinctive distrust in his heart of all the children of high-ranking cadres.But after some dealings, he quickly discovered many things in Chen Guoqing that were different from Jiang Tao's.Jiang Tao is noisy, Chen Guoqing is quiet; Jiang Tao is arrogant, Chen Guoqing is modest; Jiang Tao is flashy, Chen Guoqing is simple.And the most important thing is that Chen Guoqing is not as vain and selfish as Jiang Tao, and has many kind feelings and thoughts in his heart.Even so, he did not change his view of Chen Guoqing: after all, the latter is a high-ranking official who is incompatible with his kind of workers and peasants.They are familiar with the third battalion of the C regiment after entering the Gongmushan theater as the reserve team of the A regiment.If it is said that last night Chen Guoqing pointed out with great foresight that the whole battalion might fight in the 632 highland area, which made him admire him for the first time. When the platoon entered the battle, he had to admit that his original views and attitudes towards Chen Guoqing were completely wrong.Among all the people, Chen Guoqing could be regarded as the best person, regardless of whether he was also a high-ranking son, but he easily sent such a person to the battlefield and pushed him to death! ... Before the Ninth Company was completely destroyed and Chen Guoqing's sacrifice was known, although he was desperate for the situation of the whole battalion in the 632 highland area today, this despair aroused his strong sense of attack, and he eagerly longed for the whole battalion to fight against the enemy. The bloody battle to the end; however, when the above two things happened, the consciousness and impulse to attack disappeared, and a new and extremely heavy sense of guilt seized his heart! ——In this short period of half a day, the third battalion of the C regiment has sacrificed enough people!He can no longer let others continue to die because of his mistakes!He has no such power! ——Today they paid the greatest sacrifice in the 632 Highland area!Not taking the 634 Heights was not because they didn't try their best, but because their strength was exhausted!With a battalion of troops, they tenaciously resisted the enemy's attacks from the two directions of Jade Ridge and Tianzi Mountain. In any sense, they are all worthy!There is no reason for anyone to ask this heavy-casualty force to continue attacking Height 634!There is no reason! The night was getting deeper and deeper, and the gunshots up and down the 632 and 633 heights also stopped. An enemy heavy machine gun on Height 634 yelled for a while, then fell silent again.Liu Zongkui sat there dumbly, his miserable heart had turned in another direction—— Who made the Third Battalion of C Regiment fall into the situation it is in today?Who made him a sinner? ... Jiang Tao first sent them to poke the hornet's nest in the 632 highland area, and when they were desperate here and asked him for help, he only gave them a platoon in symbolic form!Liu Zongkui has not forgotten that what he hopes to get is a battalion of reinforcements: from morning until now, the 164 highland area and the 342 highland area have not encountered enemy attacks. Jiang Tao can give him a battalion or apply for another battalion reinforcement from the division. .But he just doesn't do it!If Jiang Tao did this, Jiulian would not be destroyed on the 634 highland, and the 634 highland would not be controlled by the enemy until now, especially——he would never make the last mistake again, letting a scholar like Chen Guoqing lead One is on the battlefield! It was at this time that Jiang Tao called him loudly through the radio!Liu Zongkui was startled at first, but soon heard the tension and uneasiness hidden in Jiang Tao's heart from the anxiety and anger in Jiang Tao's voice!Liu Zongkui quickly thought of the real reason why Jiang Tao called him at this moment: the fighting in the 632 highland area has stopped, Jiang Tao must have been reported, and now he is required to continue organizing troops to attack the 634 highland!Twenty-four o'clock at midnight was the last moment for Jiang Tao to end the battle. Jiang Tao hadn't completed the combat mission if he couldn't take down the 634 heights before! Ah, ah, Jiang Tao also had such a moment!In an instant, a little joy hit Liu Zongkui's heart and expanded.Jiang Tao probably never thought that his success or failure in the Gongmu Mountain battlefield would be manipulated by others!Jiang Tao never cherished other people's lives, and now he still doesn't cherish other people's lives, so why should others care about his success or failure! Since leaving Heifengjian in the morning, Liu Zongkui has made enough mistakes so far; for his mistakes, the entire battalion has paid a heavy price.As an experienced battlefield commander, he understands how much casualties an enemy's heavy machine gun on Height 634 will continue to bring to the attackers!No, he couldn't let the people who survived the bloody battle die in large numbers again! Let Jiang Tao attack Height 634 by himself!Today, all the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the C Regiment have done everything they can do!They are neither worthy of the motherland nor worthy of the title of soldier! Even if Jiang Tao starts to act now, he won't be able to take the 634 Heights before 24:00 midnight!He can only use this method to punish Jiang Tao for the living and dead of the whole camp! Of course he knew what the consequences would be.After the war he will be tried by a military court.Jiang Tao will not let him go.No, Jiang Tao can't control him this time. Every time he conflicts with Jiang Tao, the winner is always Jiang Tao, but today he wants to be the winner! Even Jiang Tao became quiet for a while, and stopped calling him.In the night sky in the southeast, faint moonlight floated dimly.Together with the dim night, they vaguely reveal the shadows of mountains, canyons, and forests near and far.The moon, which has been reluctant to show its face for a long time, is still hidden behind the thick clouds, cruising slowly and alone.Liu Zongkui sat motionless, he knew what he was waiting for. Waiting for midnight to come at twenty-four o'clock.Waiting for the moment that will give Jiang Tao a heavy blow.He himself is becoming sober and powerful when this moment is approaching, becoming a real man again to meet his final destiny. The automatic timer of the multi-function combat watch on his wrist rang. "Di--" "Di--" twelve times in a row.Liu Zongkui sat, realizing that he was not excited. The moment has come.It also belongs to him. He stood up, stopped, glanced at the 634 highland in the southeast direction, and walked down the mountain leg without hesitation.His first wish has been fulfilled, and now he is going to fulfill his second wish... Tonight he will go to the 634 Heights, with those who died because of his mistakes——Chen Guoqing, Cheng Ming, Liang Pengfei, and on the march last night The platoon leader Shang Guanfeng, who was only seventeen years old, was with every soldier he didn't know the name but felt guilty about. Behind him, a small team followed silently. They followed the route that the 9th company and 1st platoon had traveled, along the depressions and gullies on the west side of the 632 and 633 highlands, and went south to the place where Lin Hongsheng, the 1st platoon leader of the company, died.He also thought of the route that Xiao Bin thought of... Liu Zongkui lay down next to Lin Hongsheng's body, calmly took out a paper clip from the pocket of the army coat, and patiently squeezed it straight... Every returning veteran has a few paper clips in his pocket, and pinching them straight to find squint-fuse mines is much easier than using a standard mine detector.As for the detonating mines, you should carefully touch and grope the grass in front of you with your hands, then put your teeth together and gently bite off the tripwire... There is a friendly and strong smell of soil, grass, night dew that wets the soil and grass leaves... There is a feeling that all the burdens of thirty-four years of life have been lifted in an instant, A feeling of returning to your hometown...maybe you won't be able to clear every mine in front of you, but that's not important...we came from the soil, and we will return to the soil, as long as it's the soil of the motherland... He slowly took a breath, and stuck the homemade lightning probe into the dirt in front of his face...