Chapter 64 third chapter

At this time, from the verdant mountain slope in the north of the 342 highland, there is a team meandering down. This is a small team, a hungry and exhausted team with torn military uniforms and a haggard appearance. They walk staggeringly, and some of the wounded are supported by others. Looking from a distance, their steps The posture is very similar to a strange dance.But they were a relaxed and happy team. When they walked down the mountain ridge riding Panling, someone who took the lead yelled, and the others followed suit.As a result, youthful laughter and anger reverberated for a long time on the mountainside, which was still lush and green even after being looted by artillery fire.

Jiang Tao was walking in the middle of this team. Compared with half a month ago, his changes were so significant and profound that it was difficult for former acquaintances to recognize him at a glance.He had lost weight, and his originally smooth and delicate face had turned into a rough and hard lid. His face was unshaven, and there was a scrape the size of a copper coin lying on the top of his left temple, which was extremely eye-catching.Instead of a jacket-style camouflage jacket, general breeches, a beautiful belt full of bullets, and a small pistol in a suede holster, he was wearing an ordinary military uniform that was crumpled by war and smelled of sweat and alkali. , plus a submachine gun for soldiers.After traversing mountains and mountains for a long time, he was sweating profusely like everyone in the team, and his wet military uniform shone brightly in the sun.He was obviously exhausted, gasping for breath with every step he took.However, the truly astonishing change was spiritual: the former aloofness, indifference, and contemptuous expression of the proud son of heaven disappeared, and a new, inner radiance of contemplation, overwhelming the other expressions, quietly emerged from him. in the face and eyes of the...

Since that day at dawn on the 634 highland with Liu Zongkui, Cheng Ming, and Shangguan Fengfeng division, for half a month, Jiang Tao's experience is like this: at dawn that day, he stood on the main peak of the 634 highland and reported to the command post of the third battalion of the C regiment. Even after the news of the recovery of the highland last night, he asked the division commander for a battalion to replace the first battalion in organizing defense in the 164 highland area, and asked the deputy head Zhao Yong to bring a battalion to the 632 highland area to replace the one with too many casualties. The third battalion of the C regiment.When this change of defense was completed, he had already returned to the command post of the A regiment in Maoerling, and heard from He Yan the commander's extremely high evaluation of the role of the A regiment in yesterday's battle.On the same night, the division commander personally came to the command post of the A regiment and conveyed to him the decision of the military party committee that he and Liu Daoming were not allowed to go to the front line again!At this moment, Jiang Tao understood many things: In yesterday's battle to regain Gongmu Mountain, due to the bloody battle between Liu Zongkui and the third battalion of C Regiment in the 632 highland area, he and A Regiment were no longer the supporting roles of B Regiment but the protagonists; Liu Zongkui He and the third battalion of the C regiment won the 634 highland not only to help him complete all the combat missions in the Qipanling area, but also made him the number one hero and star in the Gongmu Mountain War!

Jiang Tao's inner difficulties began at this time.Before the war, he was eager to make himself a shining new star in the army through this war. Now that this goal has been achieved, once the post-war period comes, honors, rewards, and promotions will follow one after another. Great progress.However, since the experience of last night, not only can he no longer be full of enthusiasm and joy for all the above, on the contrary, he suddenly feels pain for what he has obtained and is about to obtain. The real problem is what happened last night when he took his team over Qipanling and came under Highland 634: He had previously experienced minefields, shelling and the death of Liu Erzhu on the northern slope of Highland 631, and he had already accepted a The most precious thing for a person is the concept of life. He admitted that he failed because he did not know how to cherish the lives of others. At the same time, he also decided that it was impossible for the third battalion of the C regiment to recover the 634 Heights tonight.But when they reached the ground of Height 634, they encountered something that surprised him even more: Liu Zongkui, who was injured last night, did not stop attacking Height 634. A passage allows Jiang Tao to go all the way to the 634 Heights.Then he saw Shangguan Feng and other six people on the main peak of the highland.Jiang Tao was very excited for a moment, he thought he saw a miracle with his own eyes.It wasn't until he came to Height 634 in person that he realized how fierce the battle took place yesterday: on such a small mountain with a small area and high altitude, there were more than 200 soldiers and officers from both sides of the enemy and us. The corpses, plus the enemy corpses up and down the foot of Yingzui Peak and the dead reinforcements from both sides in the pine forest on the east side of the highland, he estimated that the total number of dead would not be less than a complete infantry battalion!But what really made him feel unbelievable was what happened on the main peak of the highland!The main peak is surrounded by cliffs, and the enemy's heavy machine gun is mounted on it. There is only one chasm that can go up. Under such circumstances, how did they attack Shangguan Peak last night?Later, he sent people to the third battalion of the C regiment that had withdrawn from the battlefield to find out, and heard various contradictory statements.One of the sayings is: Shangguan Peak and the others were able to attack the main peak because there were no enemies on the main peak of the highland, and the remnant enemy killed their chief and fled before they went up.Jiang Tao suddenly realized, but the doubts in his heart were not resolved. He found that what really surprised him was not the result of this attack, but the operation itself: after the entire company lost all casualties, the attack stopped, and he knew that the terrain of the main peak was dangerous and there were dangers. The enemy is guarded with heavy machine guns, attacking is death, and if they can survive without attacking, why do Shangguanfeng and the others risk their lives to attack?Didn't Shangguan Feng know how to cherish his own life? !

And Liu Zongkui.It was from the commander's evaluation of the battle on the first day that he understood the significance of the battle of the third battalion of the C regiment in the 632 highland area.Without this battalion appearing in this area, or this battalion will collapse under the pincer attack of the enemies of Tianzi Mountain and Jade Ridge, the fate of the B regiment being wiped out in the No. 001 highland area will be difficult to change, and Qipanling will be attacked from the front. Make sure you can really hold such a long mountain ridge.Not only the team led by Liu Zongkui is a mystery, but Liu Zongkui himself is even more of a mystery: if he hadn't personally used a heavy machine gun to neutralize the threat of reinforcements from the direction of Tianzishan to the 9th Company of the Third Battalion of the C Regiment Underground at 634 Heights, the 9th Company would have They will all be destroyed in the afternoon, and Shangguan Peak and the others will have no chance to attack the main peak. Not only will they not be able to take the 634 highland, but the 633, 632 and even 631 highlands will be attacked by the enemy immediately, and the consequences will be disastrous.How did this man with a low appearance, low education level, and unpleasant speech bring out such a team capable of fighting vicious battles?How can we bring out platoon leaders and soldiers like Shangguanfeng and the other six?Also, late at night, he refused to let the troops attack Height 634, and he was wounded on his own neck. Why did he go to the minefield on the northwest side of Height 634 to open a path and go to the higher ground?Didn't he expect that as long as he was a little careless, he would die in the minefield or the 634 highland?What is his purpose in doing this?Jiang Tao couldn't find the answer, so he had to accept the following answer that shocked him: Liu Zongkui, like Shangguanfeng, wanted to die bravely in his last action.Not for victory, but simply to perform one last soldier's duty, to die a heroic death!

From the second day after the Battle of Gongmu Mountain started, Jiang Tao's name began to appear in major newspapers across the country.But at this time, his heart fell into a deep inferiority complex and self-condemnation.In the past, he always thought that he was the bravest and most outstanding soldier, but now he realized that not only was he not heroic or outstanding compared to Liu Zongkui Shangguanfeng, but even compared to any of the most ordinary soldiers in the third battalion of C regiment. Not even a qualified soldier.He sees the loyalty, bravery and loftiness of others, and at the same time sees his own selfishness, cowardice and insignificance, but these latter qualities are contrary to his self-esteem, pride, and heroism beliefs in his life, and he himself cannot bear it. of.The war did not end, the enemy fought me fiercely after a brief respite, and battles took place on the front line every day.At this time, Jiang Tao began to show a surprising new style: in the past, he liked to issue orders in the command post, but now whenever there is a situation on the battlefield, he will go there in person, squatting in the trenches with the soldiers, drinking raw water, and lying in the ground. Take part in the battle in the bunker.He has long been no longer afraid of the small red and white flags on both sides of the path to the battlefield, nor the mines and artillery fire laid by the enemy.His new style of work is not only a realistic need - he must resolutely defend every inch of the country, and go directly to the battlefield to command his heart to be more at ease - but also a desire filled with inferiority and fierce self-condemnation. "Your life is not more precious than others," he often said to himself fiercely, to resist the premonition of death that surged up from time to time during the battle. "Even if you can't be as brave as Liu Zongkui and Shangguanfeng, at least don't be defeated by the enemy." Scared to death!..." His new style brought him unexpected results: every time he appeared on the battlefield, he would inspire the soldiers and inspire their bravery and sacrifice, thus winning Victory in every battle.Jiang Tao used to read historical books, and he often didn't understand some of the practices of the famous general Ma Fujun Zhao She and General Fubo Ma Yuan: every time they went to war, they always put all the gold and silver rewarded by the king or emperor at the gate of their house, and let the soldiers pick it up .However, Li Guang, who is known as a parachutist, always "soldiers eat as much as they can" and "soldiers drink as much as they can" when they camped.Today, he vaguely felt that he understood a little bit: the behavior of these famous generals is by no means explained by "the heart of the soldiers", which is to truly respect the soldiers and regard the soldiers as the foundation of combat and victory.Suddenly, Jiang Tao realized with excitement that he had just grasped a little bit of the subtleties of the general's way.

The biggest gain is: he can finally understand Liu Zongkui and Shangguanfeng, and he can also understand the officers and soldiers of the grassroots troops like them.Liu Zongkui represented a large number of people who he had been unable to understand and grasp in the army for many years, while Shangguanfeng represented a large number of newcomers who had an age gap with him and could not be understood by him. Bravery, or the heroic behavior of him and the Shangguan peaks in recovering the 634 highland this time, became a mystery that made his heart tremble afterwards.However, when he placed himself between the battlefield and ordinary soldiers day after day, and he himself became an ordinary soldier in the battle, the answers to these mysteries that could never be found in the past have been answered.

"...You can't understand them because you always think about everything from a personal perspective, including war and death. If you leave this perspective, you can't understand anything. Liu Zongkui and Shangguanfeng are different. They are not for themselves at all. Putting themselves into every war, they entered the war purely in the sense of defending the motherland, and undertook the heaviness, suffering and sacrifice of the war.... What they showed was not their personal strength, but the deep, A great and invincible power, it is this kind of power that has enabled this nation to overcome internal and external troubles and survive generation after generation, and will survive forever, constantly creating and continuing its own glory... You think you are outstanding and unique Different, you have a special mission, and you think that war is a field for you to display your talents and realize your lofty aspirations. In fact, you are wrong. War is just a special way for one nation to show its strength and determination to another nation, and to safeguard its own interests and dignity. Way, you are just a member of Liu Zongkui and Shangguanfeng. Your identity and mission are the same as theirs. You are only using your life to defend the motherland in this historical era. This is what you do as a soldier. The true destiny of your life is also the glory of your life.... You are not yourself, you are just a member of the nation, only like Liu Zongkui and Shangguanfeng, who completely integrate themselves into the array of soldiers, you There is strength...”

On the fifteenth day of the war in the Gongmu Mountain area, Regiment A officially received an order to withdraw from the battlefield.At this time, both Jiang Tao's appearance and heart have been completely changed by the war: he no longer thinks that he is born brave, but he is more heroic than ever before; He was more outstanding before; more importantly, the superficiality, arrogance and violence that had dominated his life disappeared, and his heart became broad, deep, and soft. He understood people and things from a different perspective, so he suddenly had the demeanor that only a senior military commander would have.An obvious fact is: Although Jiang Tao did not die in this war, like many martyrs, the original Jiang Tao disappeared forever.