Chapter 49 Death or Shame

As long as there is a battle, there will be winners and losers. There is no general who always wins, and there is no undefeated army.

Many times when you lose a battle or need to retreat, you will be chased by the enemy, and everyone knows how to take advantage of the opportunity.

At this time, someone needs to cover the retreat, or even someone needs to light the lamp.

Lighting the lamp means that when you know that there will be Japanese planes bombing the retreating troops or Japanese infantry chasing the retreating troops.

You need a troop to walk on the most conspicuous road to attract firepower to bomb and chase the Japanese, and the end can be imagined.

However, this will allow other troops to evacuate to the designated location faster and protect as many living forces as possible.

Perhaps some people think that which troop is chosen to light the lamp is in bad luck.

But sometimes you look at those who are selected or volunteer to light the lamp to protect you, and see them die to protect you.

People who have not experienced it will never know what it means. Sometimes living is much more uncomfortable than dying. It is too heavy for the living.

Many people in this small group of prisoners have experienced this kind of separation of life and death.

After escaping from the hospital, they temporarily joined the special forces company. Although they fought side by side, except for a soldier who originally belonged to the Eighth Route Army, there was always a vague gap between the others and the soldiers of the special forces company.

After all, everyone has different beliefs.

Their leader is a middle-aged man with an unremarkable appearance. Although long-term malnutrition has made him look extremely thin. But from the previous combat performance, he must have been a well-trained soldier in his early years.

If someone can see Zhang Zhiyi's resume, they will find that his experience in the past few years is wonderful and tragic.

He participated in the Central Plains War and went to Chang'an in 1936. He was in the Purple Mountain and Lanfeng Battles, and after 1938, he moved to Taihang Mountain.

Later, he was captured by the Japanese. After the prisoners knew those experiences, they all followed the old soldier's lead.

Although they didn't know each other for a long time, they hit it off at first sight, and everyone had similar experiences. They planned to escape from the Japanese prison together, eating and living together like brothers.

Originally, he thought that if he could successfully reach the base of the Eighth Route Army, he would see with his own eyes what the difference was between this place and preserved fruit.

The hatred of the family and the country still exists, and Zhang Zhiyi does not plan to retire.

It's just that after years of running around, it's time to find a place to settle down, not to mention that he now has brothers who depend on each other for life and death.

But now he has changed his mind. He swore to live a good life with these brothers who were imprisoned with him.

The Japanese fighter planes just now will definitely attract a large number of devils to chase.

Among the 29 people, four were injured and one died on the spot. They would definitely not be able to run far with the wounded.

He didn't want to abandon his brothers, and he didn't want to do it again. That year, his troops were almost wiped out, and only a few people survived in the world. Every day was a torment for him.

So those who escaped together discussed it and decided not to leave! Build positions on the spot to block and buy time for the Eighth Route Army.

Fighting the devils anywhere is fine, and you are Chinese no matter which unit you join. Since there is a high probability of death, it is better to die gloriously and with some value.

They are tired of being driven around like pigs.

Zhang Zhiyi looked at Zheng Yingqi and Li Yunlong and said nonchalantly: "Sir, go. We will try our best to buy you some time."

"It can be seen that you have done a great thing, otherwise the devils would not chase you like this."

"We are dead, and we owe you for being rescued by you. My brother can't leave now, and I won't abandon anyone."

"But you have to leave the mortars. Without heavy firepower, you can't hold on for long. Leave more grenades. That thing is not much different from Sandezi's original goods. I really miss it."

At this time, the prisoner who was originally a soldier of the Eighth Route Army ran over from Dai Yu excitedly.

When he was first imprisoned, he disdained to be with these people. But after a long time of contact, he found that these people were different from the "friendly forces" he imagined.

During the days together, he was always taken care of by everyone because he was the youngest.

But just now, after hearing what Zhang Zhiyi said, those people wanted to stay behind to cover the retreat, and it seemed that they did not intend to take him with them.

"Zhang Zhiyi! You said you would go to the base with me to have a look! Why did you change your mind now! If you don't leave, I won't leave either!"

As soon as the young soldier finished speaking, a figure came over from the side. He put his arm around the young soldier's shoulders and said in dialect with a smile:

"The Qinggou kid pretends to be a hammer, adults, please punish him."

Facing the familiar dialect in the past, this time there was less laughter as usual, only the carefreeness of looking at life and death lightly.

After being rejected, the young soldier's eyes were full of tears, and he was about to argue but was interrupted.

Zhang Zhiyi looked at his brothers, and none of them was timid because of the upcoming hard battle. He looked directly at Zheng Yingqi and made his final request.

"Sir, you can take this guy with you. He is different from us veteran soldiers. He is our hope."

Looking at the other party's burning eyes, Zheng Yingqi nodded. Just as he was about to arrange the handover of weapons, the injured special agent company soldier came over with the help of his companions.

The two soldiers each took out a letter, which was prepared before departure.

If there is one person in the special agent company who can go back alive, these letters can be handed over to their relatives. Even Li Da, the chief of staff, asked Huang He to write a letter to the brigade commander on his behalf.

Although he did not speak, Zheng Yingqi understood what they meant. After receiving their letters, he returned to the team seemingly calmly.

Zheng Yingqi was not unfamiliar with lighting lamps. Because when the Eighth Route Army fought with the devils, they also faced similar problems, especially when they were fighting against mopping-up operations in enemy-occupied areas.

When the devils failed to block our troops from retreating, they might vent their anger on the local people. So when the troops retreated, they would take the people with them.

At this time, we must not tell the people who were behind, and we must not let the troops behind come into contact with the people.

Because those people would cry when they knew, and the soldiers would not be able to help seeing the people crying.

Zheng Yingqi had experienced such things several times, but even he would feel so distressed that he almost fainted every time.

The soldiers in the team lived with him day and night. Some of them were even selected and trained by him personally. Now watching them die, how could a normal person bear this?

Seeing the little soldier who couldn't help sobbing, Zhang Zhiyi frowned and said seriously:

"Cry? What's the use of crying! Hold back your tears! Live well! Kill the enemy for me!"

Death or Dishonor.

The editor told me this afternoon that it will be available tomorrow morning.

I beg you to not let me suffer too much.