Chapter 60 Chapter Nineteen

The guard platoon leader divided the team into three parts on the stream beach: one squad was the vanguard, another squad surrounded Jiang Tao, reporters and communications staff and walked in the middle, and the other squad was the rear guard.Then the team set off. Not long after he was on the road, Jiang Tao's spirit was disturbed. What drew his attention from the inside to the outside were the little red and white flags that lined the path.The slope of the road at the beginning was relatively gentle, and the moonlight shone faintly on the small flags, turning the white flag into gray and the red flag into gray and brown, but each flag was finally distinct.He knew what these little flags signified, and he didn't have too many strange feelings in his heart.Going further up, he entered a dense forest. The forest was dark and the slope became steeper. He couldn't see the road or the small flags on the roadside. His heart suddenly became tense!

"Er Zhu, do you have a flashlight? Take out the flashlight and show the way!" Although someone was walking in front, he stopped and shouted. He still had no doubt at this moment that he was heroic.The fear that had just arisen in his heart was temporary and had nothing to do with bravery! Liu Erzhu, who was following behind him, took out a large flashlight with four batteries from his satchel, pushed on the switch, and handed it to him brightly.Jiang Tao used it to shine forward, and found small flags among the grass and tree trunks again. He tried to calm down and climbed up. The woods are getting denser and the light is getting darker.The path twists and turns, flickering in the grass.Jiang Tao thought he was no longer afraid, but the panic that had arisen in his heart did not disappear.In the depths of the dark forest, no matter where the beam of his flashlight shines, he will suddenly find a small white flag marking the limit of death in the grass!They flashed in front of his eyes and disappeared, giving him the feeling that they were waiting for him on this road long ago, as long as he was careless, he would be blown to pieces by them!

"What's wrong with me?... Am I afraid? Am I still afraid of landmines?" He stopped again and asked himself sternly, irritated by the sudden cowardice in his heart.Every soldier has to go through a minefield when he goes to the battlefield. Could it be that he is not as courageous as them?Not long ago, he firmly believed that he would not be afraid of death, and that it was very normal for soldiers to die on the battlefield. Of course, he couldn't bear to be afraid of the landmines under his feet at this moment! He collected himself, exhaled a breath, and continued to walk upwards.He felt that he had conquered his fears enough to not even care much about the little red and white flags that kept looming out of the darkness.But gradually, he couldn't help but understand that even if he wasn't afraid of the mines on both sides of the path, he still had to be on guard against them all the time.Those annoying little red and white flags didn't stop popping out of your feet from time to time just because you weren't afraid of them, making him shudder instantly.And, as soon as you find one little flag that wants to slip out of your search and blow you up, you'll find a second, and a third, like that.Death is no longer an imaginary thing, it becomes an almost palpable reality right in front of you.Whether you think you are brave or not, the result is the same!

Jiang Tao's mood changed.Going further, he not only admits that the minefields on both sides of the path can cause his own death, but also quietly tolerates the existence of the little fear that has not been driven away.His destination is still Highland 634, and it is still his failure to ride Panling today—no, Height 634—that fuels his passion for life, together with the shame that failure brought him, but after arriving Before the destination, his heart can only temporarily shift to the path under his feet that every soldier has to walk when going to the battlefield from here.He clearly realized that there is no 634 Heights, no failures and shames in his life, but only this path in the minefield that could blow him up at any time!

In less than an hour of marching in such a state of high energy, Jiang Tao experienced the physical exhaustion that every soldier must experience when climbing a mountain.In addition to eating some food in the morning, he has not eaten a grain of rice for a day, and he is a little unable to support himself when he continues to walk up. The feeling of exhaustion, this night march finally became a very simple chore in his heart.Fortunately, the woods were finally gone, and the team came to a section of the mountainside with a gentle slope, sparse trees, moonlight and small red and white flags became clear again.Looking up, the mountain ridge of Qipanling was still high above, and Jiang Tao felt a hopeless and angry thought: it was too early to reach the mountain ridge!Look where I've been tonight!If I can't reach the 634 heights, I will be killed by a landmine!

Under such a situation of being ashamed, annoyed, and unclear, he was also at a loss as to how he ended up on such a path tonight!Am I not a confident, determined, first-class military commander who will definitely become a famous commander in the future?Didn't I already lead a regiment to a major victory on the Qipanling line?How did I end up on such a dead end again?As a soldier, Jiang Tao still doesn't think he is afraid of death, as long as he can die in a great war.But today he is going to die on such a nameless path leading to the battlefield. No one needs him to die like this. His death like this is worthless and can only be regarded as a kind of misfortune!

"Erzhu, is there any dry food? Give me a bag!" He realized that he was exhausted, stopped, and said loudly to Liu Erzhu. Liu Erzhu took out a pack of compressed dry food from his satchel, peeled off the plastic paper and handed it to him.Jiang Tao began to gnaw, and his mind gradually cleared up. At this time, he heard several dull noises in succession from the mountains in the south.He understood that this was a new round of shelling after the enemy's artillery fire on duty at night fell silent for half an hour, but he didn't quickly understand what the louder and louder whistling sound meant. "Lie down—" the guard platoon leader walking in front shouted loudly.The people who were marching in column all the way fell to the ground one after another.Jiang Tao remembered what was going to happen, but he couldn't get down quickly. It was a small gray and white flag that just came into view on the side of the road ahead that hindered him-if he jumped down recklessly, he would have crushed that flag superior!It's too late to think about lying down!A person suddenly jumped on him from behind, and he heard the shells falling and exploding not far away!After a deafening bang, a huge air wave pushed him and the person behind him forward to the ground at the same time!Jiang Tao fainted, and immediately woke up again!

The gravel and mud from the shells rained down on his head, face, and the surrounding ground!The man was still pressing on his back, with his head hanging crookedly on the right side of his neck.A stream of warm liquid that woke him up from a coma is still splattering!Jiang Tao opened his eyes, and immediately saw Liu Erzhu's two wide, lifeless eyes on his right shoulder.That hot, viscous liquid was spurting from a black hole in the back of his head! "Erzhu—" Jiang Tao screamed heart-piercingly, his voice became hoarse, and he felt only one thing in his whole body and mind: Liu Erzhu died!

A few more shells fell nearby and exploded, and the soldiers lying on the front and back paths failed to rush over to help him immediately.The fire was crackling and burning beside him, Jiang Tao was lying on the spot trembling all over, his soul experienced the most terrifying moment in his life! "Death....Is this death?...Liu Erzhu is dead, he jumped over to cover me just now!..." For a moment he thought indiscriminately, and when he heard another shell screaming and falling, he immediately closed his eyes in despair. eyes. "Boom—" the shell fell into the woods on the left and exploded.His eyes widened again, and his interrupted thoughts came alive. "...If Liu Erzhu hadn't rushed forward to block the shrapnel, I would have died!..." The last thought was so real and terrifying, it changed many deep-rooted thoughts in his heart in just a short moment!

In the past, he thought that as a soldier, he was born brave and not afraid of death, but now he understands that is not the case. In the face of sudden death, he himself trembled with fear; he also said before that he would die for his country on the battlefield , actually didn't believe that a person like him who was destined to do a big business would really die like an ordinary soldier, but today he understands that this is not the case.No matter who you are, as long as you are on the battlefield, you will die at any time under the enemy's bullets, artillery fire, or on the minefield path under your feet; before, he always valued career and success more than his own and other people's lives. Important, but at this moment I suddenly realized that compared with the loss of life, other losses of people - fame, honor, future - are nothing!

"Life, this is the most fundamental and most precious thing a person has, everything else is attached to life.... Losing life, you lose everything, you lose the whole world..." These ideas that came out one after another seemed very clear and simple, but they were indeed things that he hadn't seriously thought about before and didn't understand.It was precisely because they were as simple and clear as common sense that his heart trembled deeply at this moment. Another round of bombardment by the enemy's night watch artillery was over.The grass and trees ignited by the shells are still burning in clusters on the hillsides on both sides of the path.The soldier lying on the road ran over, removed Liu Erzhu's body from him, and laid it flat on the other side of the path.Jiang Tao was lifted up by the guard platoon leader and sat beside Liu Erzhu.Under the indifferent moonlight, Liu Erzhu's originally burly body seemed to have shrunk, his head was resting uncomfortably on a rock, and there was a pool of dark things protruding from the ground. Covered with a layer of white paper, both eyes are still wide open, but there is no life, no feeling anymore! "Erzhu!——" Jiang Tao's throat was hoarse, and he burst into tears.The fear did not completely disappear, but the sorrow filled the heart with a surge.He didn't expect to cry at the most terrifying moment just now, but now he can't care much about it.He not only cried for his escape from the clutches of death, but also cried bitterly for Liu Erzhu, who died on his behalf.He suddenly felt that from now on, his life was no longer his own, but the lives of Jiang Tao and Liu Erzhu! "Commander, what should we do?" When his mood finally calmed down, the guard platoon leader asked. Jiang Tao didn't answer right away.He sat there quietly, staring at the patch of moonlit pavement in front of him, and many new thoughts came to his mind.He already understood what had brought him down this death-trapped path under his feet.vanity.Along with his ignorance of war, of the exact meaning of life and death.It was they that jointly caused Liu Erzhu's sacrifice, and also made him almost die unexpectedly! But now it is equally dangerous to go back the same way!They have already walked two-thirds of the way on this big hillside, and the distance going down is longer and more dangerous than going up.They can only continue to go up to Qipanling Dashanliang! "Send two people to send Comrade Liu Erzhu down the mountain! The rest of the people continue to move forward!" He stood up, glanced at the top of the Panling mountain beam line, and simply said to the guard platoon leader, and then took the lead! He can't help but go up!His vanity and ignorance have made the small team he led into a situation where they can't retreat. In order to reduce the possibility of other people's sacrifices, he also wants to lead them to continue to move forward! No, not quite.For this night march, Liu Erzhu had already given his life.Even in order to make his sacrifice worthwhile, he still wants to take this small team to Qipanling and to the 634 highland! The guard platoon leader arranged not two soldiers, but four people to transport Liu Erzhu's body down the mountain, and then rushed to the head of the regiment leader, shouted, and the team moved up again! "War. . . . Yes, I thought I understood it before, but in fact I didn't. But I went onto the battlefield in a state of not knowing it.  …War is not just battle plans, orders and battlefields Discipline. War is not a history of war, a biography of famous generals, and the names of victors. War is a realistic and specific environment for soldiers who go to the battlefield. Every step forward, you may lose your most precious things ——Life....The most easily deprived in war is human life, but because of this, life should be double cherished in war. … "I have never been able to understand why Liu Zongkui and the third battalion of the C regiment fought well all day, but why they flinched at the last moment.... I especially can't understand why Liu Zongkui would rather go to a military court after the war than let himself Soldiers from the army will attack Height 634 again....Now I understand a little bit....Liu Zongkui knows how to cherish other people's lives, and this is exactly what I don't understand at all. I understood that he was a brave man in the last war Man, it's a pity that he didn't see through it. His bravery at that time was out of cherishing the lives of soldiers. … "Did I really make a mistake in commanding the 3rd Battalion of Regiment C today?...Yes, I just don't want to admit it....When Liu Zongkui called me for reinforcements, I could have asked the division commander or army commander for reinforcements, and then Send reinforcements to Height 632. If I had done that, Height 634 might have been taken. . . . What hinders me is my abominable vanity. I am afraid that the head of the army division will doubt my command ability. My real mistake was: when I threw the 3rd Battalion of the C Regiment to the 632 Highland area, it was like throwing a chess piece on the chessboard, and I no longer cared about its life or death. I never thought that it would be the lives of hundreds of people. I I have always been unwilling to let myself suffer shame. In fact, this is the greatest shame....I can't blame others. Today I defeated myself...." Jiang Tao took these new ideas and climbed up the mountain ridge of Qipanling step by step.The failure was once again affirmed by him from the bottom of his heart, but the resentment towards Liu Zongkui was greatly eased.He didn't know if he could really reach Height 634 tonight, but just those new thoughts above made his heart deep, empty and wide.Jiang Tao had a feeling: Compared with the experience of this night, his life of the past thirty-four years was worthless.