Chapter 55 Cremation(9)

If Captain Shi saw a dead city, that city would be the most active in the eyes of Company Commander Tang. The willow trees on the river bank were almost completely cleared by the enemy's artillery fire.Our troops are silent.The enemy has reached the river, but we have not moved.The enemy crossed the river, and our machine guns spit out tongues of fire, hitting the enemy and the river red. "We've won again! We've won again!" The young and old men and women in Wencheng ran wildly to spread the good news, regardless of drinking tea and eating. At night, everyone steamed steamed buns and cooked porridge.At night, carrying steamed buns and porridge, they ran straight to the place where there was fire, and stuffed the steamed buns into the hands of the brothers.

At night, the strong men carried chairs, door panels, and benches to the river to carry the wounded brothers. At night, the old woman, the eldest girl, and even Miss Menglian held oil lamps and sewed socks and sprinkled shoes for the brothers. At night, boys aged eleven or twelve, listening to the sound of gunshots in the distance, refused to go to sleep. They also picked up short sticks and sneaked into the city gate, standing upright with the strong men. chest up. At night, the wind was so cool, and the sound of the guns was so urgent, but everyone felt excited in their hearts, and excitement produced warmth and strength.Their eyes seemed to express: nothing!We will definitely beat all the enemies away!

Part of the enemy has already crossed the river, and several small villages in the east of the city have been wiped out by enemy artillery fire.However, we won another battle. "We won again!" Everyone scrambled for legends. The victory, this time, was hardly convincing; we had only half a platoon and a machine gun, hidden behind some young pines.Let the enemy's road detectives pass by, and let the vanguard pass by, until the brigade is halfway over, our machine gun and all the grenades suddenly went crazy.Our men and guns were all broken there, but it was one hundred and ninety-four enemy soldiers who were "buried" for them!

After five days of hard fighting, only two platoons of the battalion on the river bank remained. The enemy originally wanted to take the lower city with a small force, but our first battalion punished this arrogant mistake with the spirit of daring to die.The enemy reinforces; our reinforcements, however, do not come.The enemy has artillery, we only have light weapons and sufficient ammunition.The enemy's artillery was in full swing, and our people dispersed to fight on their own.The enemy's artillery fire has lost its due effect, and our bullets are like a sentient thing, looking for the enemy's head and chest everywhere.The enemy changed his plan of attack.Divide the soldiers into several groups and cross the river separately.Our scattered soldiers did not have the possibility and strength to concentrate and simultaneously annihilate the various groups of enemy soldiers who forcibly crossed over.Therefore, some enemy soldiers have already crossed the river.

As soon as Company Commander Tang saw the enemy soldiers crossing the river, he knew that we had no hope of getting reinforcements in time.He took all the people who were ambushing near the outskirts of the city to intercept the enemy soldiers who crossed the river.Between the outskirts of the city and the river bank, he supported for three days, and the enemy reached Dongguan.Company Commander Tang hadn't closed his eyes for two whole days and two nights, and he could almost fall asleep standing up, but he still kept smiling.Laughing, he directs; laughing, he shoots; laughing, he advances or retreats.Forward, he is at the front, backward, he is at the end.Seeing his smiling face, the brother felt as if he saw a hot spring, and he felt warm in his heart immediately, and he ignored all dangers.The equipment of our army and the enemy soldiers is almost half a century apart.The difference between our army and the number of enemy soldiers is more than several times.What an arduous task!But Company Commander Tang's smiling face taught the brothers to forget everything and just shoot at the enemy.

With a gun in each hand, when the battle was most tense, Company Commander Tang even pulled out a green onion from his waist and took a big bite.He took a bite of the onion, and tears flowed from his eyes. He felt a little better, and his body was much lighter. After retreating to Dongguan, he taught the brothers to guard the station at Xiguan, and he went to the city to see the county magistrate.Everyone was too tired to lift their feet.He threw the three scallions that he hadn't finished biting to them: "Bite the scallions and run!" His scallions were as effective as elixir, and they immediately lifted everyone's spirits and ran to Xiguan in one go.

Company Commander Tang met the county magistrate on East Street.The county magistrate's eyes were at least as red as the company commander's, and his face looked more tired than the company commander's.The county magistrate is a dumpy man in his forties, very loyal and charitable, but he doesn't know much about modern military affairs. "How? Company commander!" The county magistrate tightly held the company commander's hand. "The enemy has arrived at Dongguan!" Company Commander Tang eased the tension in his tone with a smile. "Really?" The county magistrate pulled his sweaty hands out, hesitated for a moment, turned around and left. "Where are you going? County magistrate!" Company Commander Tang took a step forward.

The look on the county magistrate's face is that of a honest man who occasionally wants to show his intelligence, but dare not be proud, but has to be proud. "They have already prepared the rolling logs and stones!" "Who?" Company Commander Tang couldn't restrain his surprise. "Boys! They have also prepared lime jars, waiting to blind the enemy's eyes!" After finishing speaking, the county magistrate wanted to leave again. Company Commander Tang grabbed the county magistrate: "County magistrate! You should go! Take the strong men with you! Your lime jar is useless at all!"

"Let's go?" The county magistrate blinked as if he had never thought of this word. "Go! Go! The enemy will not enter the city right away," said the company commander very responsibly, "They must have cleared the defenses outside the city before they dare enter the city. Go quickly, there is still time!" "Abandoned the city?" "The strong men have no weapons, no training, and can't fight! Even if they have weapons, they shouldn't defend the city, the enemy will bombard them with cannons!" The county magistrate stood there, looking at his hand, as if he had never seen it before.Company Commander Tang couldn't figure out what this honest man was thinking, so he had no choice but to continue:

"Reinforcements will never come, and the enemy's strength is much larger than ours. We can't hold the city! Go! Go! Don't sacrifice our untrained men in vain!" Obviously, the county magistrate didn't think of any good idea, he just asked: "What about you?" "I'm going to guard the station! We can't defend the city, but before the enemy enters the city, if we can teach them to die a few more times, we have done our duty! Go! County magistrate! On the way, if you meet our division commander or brigade commander Tell me, Tang Lihua has died in Wencheng!" Company Commander Tang held the county magistrate with both hands, and stood there for a while.The company commander bowed his head, the county head nodded upwards, looked at each other, and said in his eyes: "We will always be friends who can live together, die together, and suffer together, if we can't die this time!" "Farewell!" Company Commander Tang seemed to have a lot to say, but he only bid farewell to the county magistrate in such a low voice.Let go of your hands, and run away like a tiger seeing a fat little animal.

The county magistrate took two steps to catch up. He wanted to say something, but he still couldn't find the right words. Company Commander Tang had already disappeared. In the acacia grove outside the station, there were twenty-two people sitting.They all held their guns and fell asleep with their heads down.Company Commander Tang couldn't bear to wake them up, but he had to issue an order immediately; he was stunned for a while.However, they were stunned, as if they felt the arrival of Company Commander Tang.There was no sound or trouble, they all opened their eyes and stood up.A little glance to the left and right, they were immediately lined up quite neatly. "Sit down," Company Commander Tang said in a low voice.When everyone sat down again, he took a closer look: the lieutenant was gone, there were only two platoon leaders left, and the orderlies and fire fighters were all armed with guns!Even counting the orderlies and fire cases, there are only twenty-two people in total!He licked his upper lip, turned his head and looked outside the forest, as if hoping that those friends who shared his troubles would come from outside the forest again, although he knew that those familiar faces and voices would never, ever, never be seen again. Come on, I can't hear you anymore!Turning his head, he focused on the ground, as if he didn't dare to look at the person in front of him anymore, because when he saw a platoon leader, he couldn't help but think of another platoon leader; when he saw an orderly, he thought of the company deputy.Even his mustache and white teeth, platoon leader Zhang's squinting eyes, Comrade Li Wanqiu's six fingers, and... are all alive in his heart, like things on his own body.But where did they all go?Can't think anymore!Thinking about it again, thinking about it, he would burst into tears immediately.Not to cry for fear of death, but to dedicate my heart's tears to friends who are in trouble together.In truth, the glory they received by death was reflected in himself, and in everyone who still sits before him.He, and the twenty-two before him, would find their own glory in the glory of fallen friends.He should laugh, not cry, but he can't laugh!There were no tears in his eyes, but he rubbed them with his hands.He should hurry up and say something to everyone, or he might really burst into tears.Before he could think of a word, he had already called out, "Comrades!" "Comrades!" He repeated, but still couldn't find anything to say, he was stunned for a while, and then slowly squatted down.After squatting, the muscles in his body seemed to relax a little, and he remembered to speak.As soon as he stood up, he stood up again.The smile that used to come and go on his face came to the corner of his mouth and between the nostrils again. "Comrades! Including the fire case, we only have more than 20 people left! We have lost contact with the division headquarters, and the reinforcements may not arrive for a while. There are still a lot of food and things at the station and in the spinning mill. We can’t keep it for the enemy. Go and burn it right away! I can’t ask the higher authorities for instructions, but I think—according to my conscience—this should be done! Platoon Leader Wang, you bring eight brothers to destroy the station! Platoon Leader Sun, You and eight brothers destroyed the cotton mill! I and the rest of the people defended here; this is the company headquarters! Maybe the enemy will come soon, let us resist! With the conscience of a soldier, my order is only one word, die !" After he finished speaking, his eyes, which were red from sleepiness, shone a little, like two flowing clouds.His smile extended from the corners of his mouth and nose to the tip of his eyebrows.Affectionate, benevolent and serious, he looked at the twenty-two warriors as if they were brothers. The twenty-two fighters did not make any movements or expressions, but showed a brisk and complacent look on their faces.If Company Commander Tang's face was the sun, their faces would be like flowers receiving the sun. "Platoon Leader Wang, Platoon Leader Sun! Let's go now!" Company Commander Tang shook hands with the two platoon leaders. As Company Commander Tang expected, the enemy did not dare to enter the city, but first searched carefully in the surrounding suburbs.At Nanguan and Beiguan, they did not encounter bullets or grenades, but only found many unarmed men; they chose randomly, some were left as coolies, and some died under the bayonet. At dusk, Wencheng was as quiet as an ancient tomb.The child hugged his mother's lap, and the old man hid in the darkest place in the house.The young women painted their faces black and put on the most ragged clothes, like mice seeing a cat, hiding outside the door, the toilet, and the most uncomfortable places.No one cared about cooking, making tea, or lighting lamps, but only imagined the horror of the bayonet piercing through the door!They knew that the enemy soldiers were outside the city, and it was too late to escape.They know that our defenders, who have won several victories for them, are already lying on the loess outside the city.They knew that the county magistrate had taken away the students and young men, and there was no one in the city who could fight the enemy soldiers with sticks or flower guns!what to do?what to do?No one has an idea!They no longer have the mind to think about tomorrow, because death is in front of them; they know that they are pigs and sheep chained to the slaughterhouse, and the knife is not far from their necks!A knife, or the best thing; I'm afraid, the enemy has a more powerful torture tool than a knife, and the girl who loves the most decent instinctively feels that their punishment must not be a knife, but an absolutely unbearable insult.Some of them hanged themselves, and some carried the scissors in their arms.Dearest parents, at this time, you can't give them any comfort and suggestions, but just watch them take the smartest or most stupid way.At this time, there is no boundary between cleverness and stupidity; because the enemies who are about to enter the city are animals that are not divided into humans and animals!Weeping, suicide, darkness, terror, the city of Jiaowen was as silent as an ancient tomb.They really had no idea, instead they hoped that the enemy would enter the city quickly, kill them and save them, so give it a try! At this moment, a fire broke out outside the west gate.There was not a single light in the city, but several fires started outside the city; the city was dark, but the sky was bright; people began to come out from the dark corners, and stared blankly at the fire outside the door.Firelight always has a tragic and attractive power, no matter when it is.The fire gave everyone a little thorn, and everyone wanted to shout a few times, spit out the darkness in their hearts, and make themselves as bright as the fire.However, everyone did not dare to shout.Looking at the fire that was burning red for half the sky, they felt extremely cold and kept silent.This tragic and attractive red light also gives people a sense of ambiguity: no one can catch the light, or get close to the fire; fire and light should represent destruction and death! "Burn! Burn!" Suddenly an old man shouted wildly: "Burn the house, burn the city, don't let the Japanese devils leave it! Burn! Burn—" The call received little response.It didn't excite everyone, and it didn't frighten everyone.When the greatest danger comes in front of them, people appear to disregard life and death on the surface.Following this call, everyone said something to each other in low voices; otherwise, there was no movement. The old man—the most upright and strong teacher in the city who had taught a private school—was still shouting, and poured a glass bottle of foreign oil on the straw mattress of the kang, preparing to set it on fire. At this time, the flames outside the city suddenly dimmed a little, and the pitch-black column of smoke, as if being stabbed and oppressed by some unbearable halberd, rose up crazily, as if it wanted to turn the starry sky into darkness.The smoke drilled extremely high, and the tongue of fire below turned dull blood red, spit out from the black smoke, and swallowed it again.The smoke spread from high places, and the flames brightened again, illuminating the sky.At this time, the straw mattress of the old man in the city had been ignited, and the old man was lying on his back in the firelight.Soon, black smoke and flames spewed out from the doors and windows, which were smaller than those outside the city, and the hot air rushed directly to people's faces.Everyone started shouting and running, scrambling to put out the fire.At this time, there were gunshots outside the city. "Company Commander Tang is still fighting! Still fighting!" Everyone's hearts were beating with joy again, almost the same as when they won the battle a few days ago. Outside the city, with the help of railway workers, soldiers set fire to everything that should have been destroyed.When the fire started, they scattered and fought on their own.When the enemy soldiers arrived, they first tasted the bullets fired from the Huai forest. On the one hand, the enemy surrounded Huailin, on the other hand, they searched all the places where people could hide.Whether it's a woods or a single log, whether it's a shallow ditch or a pile of rubbish; whether it's a section of low wall or a small wooden pavilion next to the railway, they all hesitate and fear, and only after two bursts of violent shooting , they dare to move forward.They don't know how many of us there are, but they feel that the trees, ditches, mounds, walls, and everything here have eyes and bullets that will kill them.The fire illuminated the whole station like daytime, but the brighter the fire, the more frightened they were; they could only crawl and lie down on the ground like snakes, and when they saw a black shadow or spot, they put their heads on the ground, and the fire suddenly became bright. , and suddenly became dark again; the fire suddenly moved to the east, and the west became dark; and suddenly moved to the west, and the east became dark; in this light and darkness, east and west, they were confused and afraid, and they just shot their guns to strengthen themselves No matter where the bullet hits or what it hits. Running from one tree to another, Company Commander Tang and his six brothers changed positions and shot in all directions.Company Commander Tang's sweat soaked his socks.The weather was still quite cold, but he only took off his undershirt.His heart was completely empty now, and if he felt anything, he just wanted to drink water; his mouth was on fire.When the enemy's gunshots became quieter, he leaned against the tree and let out a breath; he wanted to drink water even more.A hand came from the tree and placed it gently on his leg.He thought it was the orderly who also joined the fight with a gun.No, the person lying on the ground is not a soldier, but a railway worker. "Here you are! Company Commander Tang!" The worker said in a low voice but clearly: "Three steamed buns, one bottle of water!" Company Commander Tang took the steamed buns, threw them on the ground immediately, and stretched out his hand again. He touched the neck of the glass bottle, which was very cold and slippery; his heart immediately felt cool and smooth.The water smelled of kerosene, but he drank it all in one go. "Ha!" He exhaled.At this time, he felt the sensibility and adventure of workers.Without thinking about thanking him, he taught the workers to walk quickly.The worker handed him a cigarette. Company Commander Tang shook his head. "Go! Thank you!" The enemy's bullets rained in again.Company Commander Tang didn't know how the worker walked away, so he started shooting from behind the tree again.At this time, he felt someone crawling on the ground behind him.He thought it was still the worker, so he didn't even look back.However, there was a voice behind him: "Report to Company Commander, I, I, it's over!" Company Commander Tang turned around quickly, and with the flickering firelight, he saw clearly: it was long, like a shapeless bag, lying on the ground, Not moving at all.His orderly! "Old Liu! Old Liu!" He knelt on one knee and lifted Old Liu's head.Old Liu's eyes were still slightly open, but his whole body was motionless.He felt blood on his hands.He gently put down Lao Liu's head, trying to find a piece of cloth or a piece of clothing to cover Lao Liu's face.At this time, his left half of the body has lost its cover.There was a sudden numbness on his left shoulder, and he shouted "No!" He was about to turn around, and was shot again in his left arm!He knew the enemy had spotted him.He wanted to stand up, but the left half of his body didn't listen to his movements.With the greatest strength, he moved himself more than a foot away.His left shoulder rested on the trunk.He wanted to think calmly for a while, but his heart was extremely disturbed.An indescribable confusion, with the numbness and pain of the left arm, gradually the Lord had his heart.He decided not to think about it.Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the tree trunk with his right hand and stood up.Unsteady.His right arm was wrapped around the trunk.Like a drunken man, he hugged the tree trunk in a circle.He was shot again in the back.His face scraped against the rough bark, and he fell. Burning in the arms, burning in the legs, burning in the heart.There was fire outside the forest, sparks in front of his eyes, and a fire in his heart. The fire urged him to shout: "Platoon Leader Wang! Charge! Platoon Leader Sun! Charge!" He didn't know whether it was himself or someone else who was shouting, but I just felt someone yelling to charge.He stood up and shouted "Kill!" With the "Kill", everything was silent.The fire gradually extinguished, the gunshots gradually stopped, and Company Commander Tang's blood gradually drained away.By daybreak, Wencheng had turned into a dead city.