Chapter 3

  "Pull out!" Thinking of this, I asked anxiously: "Is... what's in front of us the Seventh High Ground?"

  "Really!" Scar said with some incredulity, looking at me and saying: "Look at how you fought, you almost lost your life, and you still don't know what a strategic location this is!"

  The surroundings immediately burst into laughter.

  "No, not... that..." I was at a loss for words. Should I say it was the old man who told me? That I came from tens of years later in time and space? But then these people might not only disbelieve me but also think I'm crazy.

  He shot me a glance and said irritably, "Spit it out if you've got something to say, can't you see everyone's busy fighting?"

  "Commander! This battle cannot be won!"

  "What? Can't even fight?" Knife Scar had been holding a grudge against me, and now he was furious. He couldn't be bothered with being polite to me anymore, pointing at me and cursing: "You've really disgraced the people of Fujian! Is this how you're supposed to be a soldier? You're afraid of this and that after just a few battles..."

  "Wait a minute, I...I didn't mean it like that!" Now this really makes me feel quite wronged.

  "What did you mean?!" Scar ignored my explanation and shouted at me, "You're afraid of death, aren't you?! You... get out of here!"

  He spat on the ground with great disdain, and the surrounding warriors also gave me a bad face, as if I had done something treacherous.

  Seeing this, I couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in my heart. From childhood to adulthood, when have I ever been underestimated by others like this? So I puffed out my chest and said: "Squad leader, when I say we can't fight, it's not because I'm afraid of death... A beheaded head is just a bowl-sized scar, what's there to fear? How could Yang Xuefeng, a man who stands tall and proud, be afraid?"

  "So you'd better say... why can't we fight?"

  "This...” I hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "This is strange. I arrived at the battlefield relatively late. When I passed through our artillery position...I seemed to hear them say that they had just taken down No. 7 High Ground, how come there's another No. 7 High Ground now?

  。”

  His complexion changed: "Didn't you hear it wrong?"

  "Of course I didn't mishear!" I patted my chest and said: "The one who said this is my fellow countryman, we bumped into each other and chatted for a few more sentences. He also said that the No. 1 High Ground used to be the old street! How come it's now... Think about it, if they mistook the No. 1 High Ground for the No. 7 High Ground, and the No. 7 High Ground for some other high ground, then this artillery preparation..."

  Scar jumped up and pulled me along: "Come on, let's go see Lianzhang!"

  Rushing to the front of Lian Zhang, Knife Scar stood at attention and reported: "Report to Commander Lian, the situation is urgent. Comrade Yang Xuefeng just came from the artillery position, he said... it seems that the higher-ups got the numbering of the high ground wrong!"

  "Second company, move out!" The battalion commander, who was tying his leg wraps, replied slowly and calmly: "We soldiers only need to follow orders and fight. How could our superiors make such a mistake? Let's not worry about this too much!"

  The scar-faced man cast his gaze at me, I gritted my teeth and nodded with a confident air.

  Actually, I'm not uncertain either. I just thought... if this is true, then if I don't persist, won't I be sending myself to my own death? If it's not true, then at most they'll just lock me up, and I won't have to fight anymore!

  "Be careful!" said Knife Scar, handing over a cigarette: "There's a saying that goes 'a careful man can live for ten thousand years', but we'd better... make a phone call to confirm with our superiors, eh? We've got time now anyway."

  He took a leisurely look at the table, lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a ring of smoke before turning to the side and calling out: "Little Chen, get the battalion on the phone!"

  The microphone was handed over to Lian Zhang in no time. Lian Zhang shouted into the microphone, "Headquarters? We have a comrade here whose reaction is high and his number is incorrect... Please ask the higher-ups to verify with the artillery department, yes, yes, resolutely obey orders."

  ！”

  Lian Chang put down the microphone, bowed his head and continued to tie his leg wraps, saying in a careless tone: "Do what you need to do! The battalion headquarters said they would go verify, but without orders from above, everything will proceed according to plan! Also, this kind of problem may affect the soldiers' morale and enthusiasm for attacking the enemy. If it's not necessary, don't speak randomly, understand?"

  "Understood!" I and Dao Hen helplessly straightened up and retreated.

  I originally thought Knife Scar would complain to me for a few sentences, but unexpectedly he didn't say anything.

  I couldn't help but ask: "Paichang, say something!"

  "What's up? What's good to say?" Scarface looked puzzled.

  "You're getting scolded!" I said: "Isn't this all because of me? You should at least scold me a few times..."

  "It's not certain who's right or wrong yet!" Dao Hen smiled faintly and said, "Besides, this doesn't concern you at all. I'm the one who decided to take you to see Lian Zhang, aren't I?"

  Now that you mention it, I have nothing to say.

  "Don't think too much!" Scar said with a pat on my shoulder: "Go make good battle preparations!"

  I walked back to the squad with a gloomy face, holding my gun, only to find that the surrounding soldiers were looking at me with strange eyes, and some people were even whispering something. I vaguely heard the words "coward", which was not a pleasant feeling in my heart. I thought to myself, what kind of world is this? I might die here, and before I die, I'll be scolded as a coward...

  But what I'm most worried about isn't this, what if... the old man's words are true? What if the cannonballs really do hit their own heads?

  I nervously looked up at the sky, even though I knew that even if shells were coming over, I wouldn't be able to see them...

  "Assembly!"

  The warriors rushed up with a whoosh, and the company commander drew his pistol, majestically waving it at us, lowering his voice to say: "Comrades, after the artillery preparation, take down No. 7 high ground in one go!"

  "Take down No. 7 High Ground!"

  "Avenge our fallen comrades"

  ！”

  ……

  The warriors were all clenching their fists and rubbing their palms, but I was worried, looking at the team leader for a while, then looking around.

  I noticed that Scar's eyebrows were also furrowed, and he seemed to have the same concerns as me. Moreover, he intentionally led us to a nearby cave. From this point on, I could see that Scar was not very confident in his superior's command either.

  I've also heard this from the old man, I remember that at the time the old man seemed to recall something and said with a very serious tone: "The ten years of turmoil had just ended, there were hardly any soldiers who had been trained, when fighting broke out it was chaotic, many cases of friendly fire..."

  This time it won't be... I don't dare think about what will happen later, if I die at the hands of the enemy, I can still pass as a martyr, but if I die at the hands of my own people...

  But what can be done? Not escaping means waiting for death here, and if we escape, it's desertion, which is also death!

  I only clutched the rifle in my hand tightly, staring intently at the cave not far away from me, waiting for any unusual movement to dash into the cave.

  "Get ready for battle!" The company commander looked at his wristwatch and gave the final order.

  The warriors made a final check of their equipment, their eyes fixed tightly on the No. 7 highland hundreds of meters away in the thin fog, but I was the only one whose mind was not on the enemy at all, and my nerves were tense, waiting for the arrival of the shells.

  But whether left or right, waited for a long time, did not see the arrival of shells, nor did they receive orders to charge.

  "What's going on?" The company commander looked at his watch and muttered to himself, it was clear that the scheduled artillery preparation time had arrived, but the artillery fire did not arrive as scheduled.

  While they were in a state of bewilderment, a messenger rushed up and panted: "The plan is cancelled, the plan is cancelled... Li Lianzhang, the regiment commander orders you to pull the troops back and wait for further instructions!"

  "Hmm!" Captain Li gave an order with some annoyance, while glancing at me.

  I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, knowing that this must be the vanguard rushing to inform their superiors before the battle began.

  "What's going on?"

  "Why don't we just give up?"

  ……

  The warriors sat down at the gathering place and whispered to each other, I just wanted to say something, but was stopped by a glance from Knife Scar.

  It wasn't until now that I remembered Lian Chang's order from just now... I almost made another mistake.

  "Comrades!" The company commander ran back and stood in front of us, shouting after receiving a phone call: "Something big has happened! We just received news from the higher-ups that the artillery unit's high ground number is different from ours! Damn it... the shell almost landed on our heads just now!"

  A loud "wow" sound, and the warriors suddenly discussed it, each congratulating themselves on narrowly escaping disaster.

  "Comrades!" The company commander continued waving his hand and said: "Here, we want to thank a comrade... This is..."

  "Yang Xuefeng!" Scar said with some pride: "Yang Xuefeng of the second row!"

  "Right!" The company commander nodded to me: "It was Comrade Yang Xuefeng who reported the situation to us, which made our troops... no, it should be our entire camp avoid a friendly casualty. This fully shows that to become an outstanding revolutionary soldier, just knowing how to fight with guns is far from enough. One must also have excellent observation skills and a careful and serious attitude. Comrades, you must learn from Comrade Yang Xuefeng!"

  "Wow..." A burst of applause erupted around me. Those warriors who had looked down on me before now had eyes full of admiration and envy.

  I couldn't help but feel a little amused by this, there's a saying that goes "the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit", I originally thought this phrase could only be used on the battlefield, but it seems it also applies to mental states. Isn't that so? Just now I was being criticized for "disrupting morale" and now I've become someone with a "careful and serious" attitude.

  "Good kid!" Scarblade patted my shoulder heavily and said, "Thanks a lot this time. Otherwise, our troops would still be unaware of how many casualties we'd have! Consider it a debt that our troops owe you!"

  I silently let out a bitter laugh: even if the troops owe me, what can they do? Can they keep me from going to the battlefield? Can they keep me from sending myself to my death? Can they send me back home?

  Home... I used to think it was so close, that I could go back anytime I wanted, but now it feels so far away.

  I have to admit that at this moment I regretted, why did I always love to hang out outside and not willing to go home in the past. If I could go back home now...