Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Five

  We finally arrived at our destination... the 9th Artillery Battalion's position.

  But just as I thought, all we could see was a sea of wolf-like: looking back, it was all scarlet, some were blood, some were fire... The blood was the blood of warriors, and the fire was the burning of cars and artillery. In this scarlet, we searched and found one corpse after another, just like lifeless sacks casually piled up in the camp.

  It was clear that when the Vietnamese army launched its attack, the artillery battalion's soldiers were having lunch... They weren't eating compressed biscuits or canned goods, but rice... genuine rice, along with vegetable soup. These were things we couldn't even dream of, yet here they were scattered all over the ground.

  Why can the artillery have dinner?

  The reason is actually very simple, they have cars! Each big cannon needs to be pulled by a car, right? Then it's easy to put some supplies or cooking utensils on the car.

  Another reason is that the treatment of artillerymen is not comparable to ours, infantry. In the army, the most bitter, the most tired and the most dangerous are the infantry, right? We are facing the enemy's machine guns and cannons in the front line, while the artillery is behind us firing according to coordinates...

  To say danger! There is also, after firing several rounds, our army's artillery position may be discovered by the Vietnamese devils, and then the artillery position becomes the target of enemy bombing.

  It's just that everyone knows that the number of artillery pieces in our army is several times that of the Vietnamese army, which also benefits from the Soviet Union... The Soviet Union is a country that attaches great importance to the development of artillery, and at this time, most of our military equipment was modeled after the Soviet Union, so it also inherited the Soviet system's emphasis on artillery development, and even surpassed the Soviet Union in terms of artillery firepower.

  So on the battlefield of the Sino-Vietnamese War, our artillery was always suppressing the Vietnamese army, especially after we introduced two artillery radar systems.

  But it was precisely for this reason that the artillery battalion's vigilance was relaxed.

  Just like now... I followed the troops forward, and on the way, I saw that the corpses in everyone's hands didn't hold guns, but mostly held chopsticks and bowls. Even some soldiers had their mouths stuffed with blood-stained rice after they sacrificed themselves...

  I took a look around at the distribution of corpses and could roughly imagine the scene during the battle.

  The Vietnamese army surrounded the camp before launching an attack, with the aim of not allowing the artillery battalion to have any opportunity to organize resistance.

  When the Viet Minh troops rushed in, the artillerymen had not thought that there would be enemies appearing in front of them at this time.

  The outer troops were even sacrificed under the enemy's gunfire without understanding what was happening.

  The middlemen wanted to go get guns... but only a limited number of people managed to do so in time. These few people lay on the ground and fired back, but compared to the dense hail of bullets pouring down on them from the enemy, it was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water - utterly ineffective at suppressing the attack. In the end, all resistance turned into various postures of sacrifice, scattered everywhere, some lying horizontally, others vertically, both inside and outside the vehicles.

  The people inside are not only taking the time to grab guns, but also have some time to find cover or escape... Not to mention that the PLA will not run away, soldiers who do not care about their lives only exist on TV, movies or dramas.

  Their cover was that row of cars or cannons, and the only places to hide were under the cars, in the driver's cab, or behind the cannons, but unfortunately, these things could serve as cover, but they were also a source of explosion.

  The Viet Minh guerrillas didn't even need to attack them, they just needed to fire a few incendiary rounds at those vehicles or artillery and it would turn into a disaster...

  The warriors didn't dare to approach the charred corpses, nor did they dare to imagine their mournful cries before death, but they hadn't received any orders to retreat, so they could only stand still among the blood and bodies.

  Wow!

  ……

  Very soon, as if it were contagious, the warriors vomited one after another in the air filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood. Not only new recruits but also old soldiers who had fought battles and seen red were no exception.

  I also want to vomit, but I don't know why I can't vomit.

  Because at that time I was regretting... Just now, I saw Du Yan escape, why didn't I chase after him? Why did I just watch him run away like that? I should have captured him alive and then cut the flesh off his body piece by piece with a knife, only then can I vent my hatred!

  Other troops also arrived one after another, looking at the scene in front of them, they all didn't say a word, or just couldn't bear it and vomited.

  Nor did he know who shouted: "Damn it! Let's go find those Vietnamese devils and take revenge!"

  The proposal was soon met with a strong reaction from the warriors, who raised their hands and shouted:

  "Right, let's go find those Japanese devils and avenge ourselves!"

  "We'll fight it out with them!"

  "Avenge our comrades in the artillery regiment!"

  ……

  Suddenly it was a sea of people, with emotions running high. Then, following the order of an officer, all the soldiers marched forward with their guns at the ready... I just stood there in a daze.

  Do they know where the Vietnamese devils are? Or do they know which way the Vietnamese devils are escaping?

  If even their whereabouts are unknown... how can they be avenged?

  It's even more strange that our leader is loudly commanding us to follow him...

  Fortunately, the team leader appeared at this time.

  "Comrades!" The team leader stood on the hood of a destroyed car, waving his hand and shouting at us: "Everyone quiet! The blood debt owed by the Japanese devils must be repaid, but not now! Brute force won't work, we need to keep our heads clear, make detailed battle plans, otherwise we'll only mess up our own formation and suffer greater losses! For the heinous crimes committed by the Japanese devils, we must turn sorrow into strength and make them pay in blood!"

  "Blood debt must be repaid with blood!"

  "Blood debt must be repaid with blood!"

  ……

  The warriors shouted again and again.

  Actually, if we look at this matter objectively... I also know that this is a battlefield, on the battlefield we kill the enemy, the enemy kills us, it seems to be a matter of course. If it were me... encountering such a good opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the enemy, I would not let it go either and would also have a big killing spree.

  So, talking about what crime and what blood debt, seems a bit unreliable.

  But on the battlefield, we are faced with so many corpses of our comrades, watching so many comrades die miserably... where will we still think about these principles?

  At that time, we only had one belief - **to beat those devils, they killed so many of us, and we would risk our lives to fight them!

  Later I learned from Dau Khe the detailed plan of this sneak attack by the Viet Minh on our artillery battalion:

  This time, the Viet Minh sappers had a reinforced company, one platoon to block the 120th Battalion on the right flank of the artillery regiment, and another platoon to block the 118th Battalion on the left flank, which was my battalion. The other three platoons snuck up to the artillery regiment's sentry posts from three sides and then launched a surprise attack...

  Of course, a platoon's strength was used to block a battalion, and the difference in strength was too great. However, the Vietnamese army did not really want to stop us or occupy any place, they just wanted to buy time for their main force.

  The results of the Vietnamese army's attack were two-fold: one was that the two platoons of blocking troops inflicted heavy casualties on our army, and the other, even more striking, was that the three platoons that launched a surprise attack on the artillery battalion achieved unprecedented success... The artillery battalion's 18 towed artillery pieces and 35 vehicles were completely destroyed, with over 120 people killed. And this battle... reportedly lasted only ten minutes.

  This is also the most surprising place for me and my superiors. Since our army entered Vietnam, although we have encountered hard nails, we have never encountered an army that can fight quickly and retreat quickly, making people unprepared.

  Later we found out that this was called "special warfare", and the Vietcong had learned it from the Americans. It seems that after fighting for decades, the Vietcong not only learned something from China, but also learned something from their enemy, the Americans.

  Our army's gains are insignificant compared to the Vietnamese army. The 120th Regiment was unable to break through the enemy's firepower under the sudden and intense fire from the Vietnamese army, despite suffering over 20 casualties. Our army... although we suffered heavy casualties, this is due to the company commander's leadership, with over 40 wounded or killed, but also killing the most enemies, not only successfully breaking through the enemy's firepower blockade, but also annihilating over 50 enemies. Of course, this includes the over 30 Vietnamese troops who were annihilated by us on the streets while retreating.

  So, from the overall situation on the battlefield... it was our army that fought the most bravely, and for this, our company commander even received recognition and rewards from his superiors.

  When I heard the news, I couldn't help but exclaim: What is this? Even the comrades-in-arms who have seen him in battle know what kind of person he is, and yet they're giving him an award?

  But I was too lazy to argue with Lian Zhang about these things, and it wasn't until then that I deeply realized how correct the saying "wealth and fame are external things" is.

  Now I care about only one thing, and it has always been just one thing, that is to keep my life!

  Of course, it would be even better if I could return to modern times!

  How I wish to return to modern times, back to that warm home, back to that peaceful world... no need to fight, no need to stay up all night, no need to worry about where a bullet or shrapnel would come from and end one's life.

  If I could, if I could go back to modern times, I'd be willing to give up everything. No more inheritance, no more luxury cars or beautiful women... even if it means facing the old man every day, I'm willing!

  Damn! What a huge poisonous oath this is!

  However, this is just a dream, an extravagant hope... I don't know when I can go back, nor do I know if I can go back, but what I do know is that I'm about to be crushed by this world, and I won't be able to hold on much longer!