Chapter 15 The Last Soldier Early Spring 1947

In the early spring of 1947, the County Independence Regiment fought a vicious battle. Their enemy was a division of the Temporary Army. It was an encounter that lasted a day and a night, with more than half of the casualties on both sides.At dawn, the head of the regiment, Ma Lin, gave the order to break through. Wang Qinggui's platoon was appointed as the assault death platoon. At that time, his platoon was almost fully staffed, and they rushed out all the way.Behind is the main force of the independent regiment, covering the wounded and heavy artillery.The artillery was acquired after Japan surrendered, and it is very precious.

There were dozens of wounded in that fierce battle.The field hospital is in a village, the wounded are put into the field hospital .In the independent regiment of more than 400 people, more than half of them were killed and injured in that battle, and there were only more than 200 people left. The third platoon where Wang Qinggui was, and he had only 15 people left.He was the platoon leader, and when he saw the fourteen brothers rushing out with him, he always felt like crying. Something was stuck in his throat, but he couldn't cry.The smoky faces of the brethren felt that way too. In the Northeast Plain in 1947, the main forces of both sides were fighting stalemate on the Northeast battlefield. The County Independence Regiment was a local force that was dealing with the enemy's temporary armies. The Four Field Armies were preparing to counterattack with all their strength, and soon after, the famous Liaoshen Campaign began.It was a Jedi counterattack, and the entire Chinese nation blew the first clarion call to liberate the whole of China.

At this time, the independent regiment shouldered all the tasks of containing the temporary three armies. According to the words of the regiment leader Marin: We want to stalk, even if we delay, we must drag the temporary three armies, and we must not let the temporary three armies enter the customs. The Temporary Three Armies also regard the Independent Regiment as a real opponent. They wholeheartedly want to eliminate the Independent Brigade, and then enter the customs to rendezvous with the main force.The independent regiment was stuck in the throat of the Temporary Army as if it was stuck in its throat, unable to be touched or grasped.

In the early spring of 1947, a regiment of the Temporary Army discovered the field hospital, and their team divided into three groups to find the field hospital temporarily staying in the small village.After receiving the information, the independent regiment quickly organized the transfer of the hospital.That day was also evening, and the sun was slanting to the west, dyeing half of the sky red.A regiment of enemies chased them in three directions.Two bullock carts pulled all the belongings of the hospital, and the wounded were naturally on stretchers, moving towards the mountains. A regiment of the temporary army is getting closer and closer, like a hungry cat smelling fishy smell, it looks impatient.The Fifth Company where Wang Qinggui was in was ordered to stop the enemy. The Fifth Company was well-known in the Independent Regiment. The company commander Zhao Dafa was in his early thirties with a beard all over his face.The fifth company is the team of the independent regiment. At that time, it was not called a regiment, but a small team. The current leader Zhang Letian was the leader of the small team. Zhao Dafa was still a soldier at that time.The fifth company can be said to be the backbone of the independent regiment, the ace company.At this time, the independent regiment and the field hospital were in danger, and the task of stopping the enemy fell on the fifth company.

At this time, the fifth company has long been irregular in personnel, with forty or fifty people, two machine guns, and sufficient ammunition, and the independent regiment gave them all the ammunition. Zhao Dafa gritted his ribs and looked at the dozens of people in front of him. Wang Qinggui was familiar with the company commander's expression. Zhao Dafa had this expression every time there was a bad battle or a big battle.Seeing the company commander like this, the soldiers naturally looked solemn. They understood that a life-and-death battle was imminent. Zhao Dafa hummed and said, "The bastards from the Third Army are here again. The hospital and the main force are being transferred. As long as we persist here for two hours, we will be considered victorious."

Speaking of this, he used his eyes to communicate with those dozens of pairs of eyes looking at him, and then said: In two hours, we must not let those bastards take a step forward. those bastards hang on Wang Qinggui's platoon was assigned to the main position, and the other two platoons were on the hills on both sides of the main position. Zhao Dafa finally added: When to withdraw from the position, listen to my trumpet, three long and two short, and then we will meet at the back mountain . Beside Zhao Dafa stood the trumpeter Xiao Dezi, who was carrying a brass horn on his back, and the brass horn flickered in the setting sun, dazzling the eyes.A piece of red silk was tied to the handle of the trumpet, and at this moment the piece of red silk was so red that it seemed unreal.The members of the Independent Regiment are too familiar with the sound of Xiao Dezi's trumpet. Whenever they charge, retreat, get up, or rest, they listen to the command of this trumpet.

The team just kept going. When Wang Qinggui rushed to the main position with only fourteen soldiers left in the whole platoon, the west-slanting sun seemed to jump like that, and the sky darkened. The blood-red sun was only a crescent crescent on the western mountain top up. Next, they saw the team of the three temporary armies running towards here in three ways, some on horseback, some running, they looked excited and anxious. The battle started, the number of gunshots could be heard at the beginning, and then it became one sound, like a gust of wind, and like a thunderstorm, in short, the sky and the earth suddenly became chaotic.It was getting dark, and the enemy's mortar shells rained down on the position. They had no cover at first, and trees or stones became their fortifications. Later, the craters made by those shells became their cover. Jumping to the pit, the gun in his hand shot at the enemy, and he shouted while shooting: Hit—hit me hard.Later, he couldn't hear the machine gun go off, and when he turned his head to look, the machine gunner, Big Hu, had already fallen there and remained motionless.He ran over and pushed the big man, and finally touched something sticky with his hand. He knew it was blood, and he couldn't control it anymore. He wanted to let the machine gun fire to suppress the enemy.The machine gun went off in his arms.Every inch of the ground on the battlefield was hot, even the air scalded his throat, the barrel of the machine gun burned a layer of skin off his hands, his ears were buzzing, and there were only explosions and gunshots.Wang Qinggui's eyes were red, he could vaguely see the enemies in the flames, some were retreating, some were rushing forward, he swept the muzzle of the gun, during this period, he did not know how many magazines he changed, the positions on both sides At the beginning, he could take a look, but the two sides were also full of flames, but now he can't care about other places, only the enemy in front of him.Fighting, killing, I don't know how long it took, the position suddenly fell silent, there was no sound at all, only his machine gun was still ringing.He stopped and listened intently, his eardrums were still buzzing, it was the sequelae after a great battle, he had encountered it before, and it would heal after a while.

He called: Miao Deshui, Xiao Liuzi... No one answered, dead silence. Burnt branches beeped loudly. He still hadn't heard the three long and two short bugles, he hadn't heard them during the battle, and he still hasn't heard them now. He shouted again: Jiang Mazi, Xiao Pan, Liu Wendong... He yelled to all the dozen or so people in the platoon one by one, but no one answered him. There had been gunshots just now, and there was a sudden silence. He was a little scared and a little panicked.The machine gunner Hu Dazi died, he knew that, but what about those people?Could it be that the bugle call to retreat has already sounded, but he didn't hear it, and everyone else withdrew?Impossible, if the soldiers heard it, they had to tell him.

Wang Qinggui didn't know the time at this time, it was so quiet that time seemed to have stopped.He called out the names of the entire platoon again, including the big man lying beside him, but no one answered, not even the enemies down the mountain. He yelled in his heart: Not good—— Holding the machine gun in his arms, he ran towards the back mountain through the night, where the company commander Zhao Dafa asked the team to assemble.The people in the Independent Brigade are no strangers to the terrain here, they have been dealing with the three temporary armies here, they are familiar with every ditch and every beam here, and many soldiers' homes are in nearby villages.

He ran across a mountain and forded a river. In a flat field, he found a team of horses, and they ran forward in a hurry.He understood that this was the cavalry battalion of the third army, and the direction they ran was the direction in which the main force and the field hospital were withdrawing.He was so anxious that he wanted to tell the news to the company commander Zhao Dafa, and they wanted to take a shortcut to intercept the enemy.He ran to the back hill in one breath.At dawn, he finally ran to the back mountain in one breath.The stones at the foot of the back mountain are still there. They camped here a few days ago, and the ashes are still there, but what about the company commander?It was as quiet here as the battlefield, and he called out: Company Commander, Xiao Dezi... only his echo echoed in the empty valley.He thought: It's broken, the company commander and the others may still hold on to the position, why did he escape?After thinking this way, he ran to the position again.