Chapter Five: Iron Bone Wrap

  "Help me..." The person pulling at Cheng Ziqiang's pant leg was Lieutenant Colonel Yuan Shijiang.

  Cheng Ziqiang helped Yuan Shijiang sit up, and found that apart from a long strip of glass on his shoulder, he was not injured anywhere else. However, Wang Yitian, who was not far away, was not so lucky. He was almost cut in half by an iron plate that came flying from somewhere, and lay there with his eyes wide open in anger, the muscles on his face still twitching convulsively. He must have died just a few seconds ago.

  "I think you're not suitable for this job, why don't you go home too?" Cheng Ziqiang said to Yuan Shijiang.

  Yuan Shijiang saw the miserable scene around him, turned around and vomited first, then said to Cheng Ziqiang: "I'm really not the material for this, damn it, this is what the hell is war, completely different from the movies."

  Cheng Ziqiang couldn't help but feel sentimental and wanted to help Lyu Cuicui up, but then he heard Yuan Shijiang say: "Help me out."

  Cheng Ziqiang first helped Liu Cuicui up, then came over to help Yuan Shijiang stand up. Just as they were about to leave, Yuan Shijiang grabbed his hand and said: "You're not an ordinary person, you must have been a soldier before."

  Chung Tzu-chiang withdrew his hand and said: "It's been a long time ago. In... the Twenty-fifth Asian Infantry Regiment of the Ugly Kuni Alliance."

  "I said why are you shouting 'The enemy is bombarding'." Yuan Shijiang glanced at Wang Yitian's corpse not far away and said: "Stay, I'll let you be my deputy officer. Let that brother send off Liu Cuicui." He meant the grass-headed snake by 'that brother'.

  Cheng Ziqiang smiled wryly and said, "I'm a Chinese after all, I don't dare say this isn't my war. But to be honest, I'm really tired of it... War is the ugliest thing in this world."

  Yuan Shijiang said: "To be honest, I don't care about war. My legs are all shaky now. Don't laugh at me, but I'm literally pissing my pants. This battalion commander was also bought by my dad, but thinking about it, why can't I just desert? Is it worth spending a few thousand bucks for this? And those Japanese devils have been bullying us to the extreme. We're men, after all! Back in school, those Japanese classmates used to bully me, and now that I've got a gun, they still bully me. If we don't stand up for ourselves, when will we ever be able to hold our heads high?"

  "Right! Can't go on like this!" Lieutenant Lang Yiwu didn't know when he also got up, after all, young people have blood. "Even heavy artillery has been used, it seems that this battle must be fought." At this time, as soon as a military officer made up his mind, it had a great effect on boosting the morale of the soldiers. Just as they were talking, the surviving soldiers around them also gathered over.

  Cheng Ziqiang hastened to wave his hand and said: "Quickly disperse and rescue the wounded, don't gather together, otherwise if another shell falls everyone will be finished!"

  Yuan Shijiang also saw it and hurriedly followed shouting: "Brothers, disperse quickly and save the injured brothers."

  Cheng Ziqiang let out a sigh, feeling that if they didn't do something about it, these few blockhead officers would eventually lose their lives. He called over the two of them to crouch down and picked up a small stone to draw a rough map on the ground, letting Lang Yiwu and Yuan Shijiang take a look: "I think you guys don't have much combat experience, so I'll tell you this. The artillery fire earlier was very likely from warships, because according to the 'Pingjiang Protocol' 35 years ago, Japanese troops stationed within Japan's borders were not allowed to carry artillery with a caliber exceeding 75mm. But the artillery fire earlier was very intense and powerful, so I'm guessing it probably came from the Yoshino cruiser that visited a few days ago, because only the 203mm naval guns on the Yoshino had this range and power. What I've drawn here is a rough map of our base's surroundings. If my guess is correct, these places here, here, and here are the most likely locations for Japanese artillery observers to be hiding. I estimate that he's currently observing the effects of the artillery fire, and if he finds out that this base hasn't been completely destroyed, he'll very likely call in another round of artillery fire. So we must immediately organize a search party to go up the mountain, or else everyone will have to die here unless we leave now."

  Yuan Shijiang couldn't understand the rough sketch at all, but seeing Lang Yiwu nodding repeatedly, he said to Lang Yiwu: "Lieutenant, one of our men is dead and I don't have any other officers under me, so you'll have to take care of this matter."

  "Yes! Sir!" Lang Yiwu responded neatly and stood up to gather his men.

  Yuan Shijiang did not expect that Lang Yiweng, this military police lieutenant, would agree so readily and neatly. He felt a surge of joy in his heart, mixed with a few parts of surprise. After all, the military police were usually very arrogant and didn't take ordinary officers seriously.

  Cheng Ziqiang saw through his thoughts and said: "An officer, whether or not he has professional quality is not the most important thing. The key is to have a strong will. A strong will is where an officer's personal charm lies. An officer is the backbone of the army! As an amateur, you're doing pretty well."

  Yuan Shijiang vaguely understood what it meant to be a soldier, and he continued to ask: "What's the point of that... So, what do you think we should do next?"

  Cheng Ziqiang smiled and said: "Why should I say it, you are now the highest commander here."

  Yuan Shijiang said: "You'd better not try to bribe me. Didn't I earn this position as battalion commander? In this matter, I don't understand anything."

  Cheng Ziqiang had to patiently say: "First, we must restore the communication system and contact our superiors to request support and further orders. Second, take stock of the combat personnel and supplies, reorganize and redistribute ammunition. Third, rescue and evacuate the wounded."

  Yuan Shijiang also learned quickly, and immediately shouted loudly, "Come on!" His surviving guard ran over shakily, Yuan Shijiang assigned the tasks that Cheng Ziqiang had just said, and finally added one more, "Get me a set of clean clothes, my pants are cold and damp inside... Also, get something for Cheng... what's his name?"

  Cheng Ziqiang added: "Cheng Ziqiang."

  "Alright, Cheng Ziqiang, get a set of military uniform and insignia for Deputy Commander Cheng... Ah yes, what was your rank when you were in Uygur?"

  "Army Captain." Cheng Ziqiang felt that something was off and hastily asked: "What are you doing with my military uniform?"

  Yuan Shijiang smiled strangely and said, "What? Of course, it's to recruit you into the army. Don't think about running away, here we have a trend of catching deserters, and also a trend of catching strong young men, that is to say, don't think about making excuses."

  Cheng Ziqiang was taken aback and lost his smile: "I've heard of conscripting strong men, but I've never heard of conscripting them as officers." Yuan Shijiang suddenly spoke seriously: "Just consider it a favor to me, is there anyone else here besides you who knows how to fight? And with the Japanese causing so much trouble now, hiding won't solve anything."

  Yuan Shijiang's words weren't entirely unreasonable, but Cheng Ziqiang could only smile wryly and say to him: "You'd better take care of the wound on your shoulder first, you've lost a lot of blood and it's affecting your brain."

  "Ah...... yeah." Yuan Shijiang turned his head to take a look, and that glass was still firmly stuck in his shoulder. He immediately felt dizzy, his legs went soft, and he almost fell down, but after all, he was a military officer, so he gritted his teeth and managed to stand upright.