Chapter 43: Hero (6)

  "Take Number One away, we'll cover for you," Wu Minghui said to the two guards.

  Two guards lifted Ou Yang Yuan Ye and left, those staff officers were now completely ignored. Ou Yang Yuan Ye saw that his guard squad was almost abolished, his chief of staff had become a soldier fighting on the front line, in more than 30 years of military service, how could he have fallen so low? A surge of anger rose up, but for now, he had to abandon his men and leave. As a high-ranking commander of the troops, Ou Yang Yuan Ye knew that he couldn't make decisions based on emotions. When the Blue Army discovered his fake command center, they would definitely try every means to find him and eliminate him.

  When the two guards were covering Ouyang Yuan Ye and hadn't gone far, the two guards had already "bought it". At this time, Xiao Lie saw a blue army soldier rushing over. Without thinking, he took the risk of being hit and fired his gun at the blue army soldier first, then pulled Ouyang Yuan Ye and ran.

  Xiao Lie didn't know how far he had run, and only stopped when he thought it was safe. Panting heavily, he didn't realize that the person he had dragged along with him was his superior officer. He also didn't know that this man in his fifties held a military rank high enough to make him look up to him. All he knew was that he was an old man, and wasn't it a Chinese tradition to respect the elderly? So he thought he should save him first. But Ou Yang Yuan Ye's shoulder badge only indicated that he was a fifth-grade officer.

  "You're quite good at running." Ouyang Yuanye said, panting with exhaustion.

  "You wait for me for a moment, I'll go back." Xiao Lie said.

  "Where are you going?"

  "I'm going to save my comrade."

  "Oh, you're going back? I advise you not to go back."

  "Why?"

  "Because they fought hard for us to come out just to let us live, their opponents were a bit stronger than them, now I estimate that they should all be wiped out."

  Hearing the old officer say this, Xiao Lie also knew that he was right, after all, he had seen the other's strength before.

  "Now where are we going?" Xiao Ran asked, showing enough respect to the old officer that he could be his grandfather just by age.

  "Do you have a compass on you?"

  Xiao Lie searched for half a day and then shook his head.

  "Didn't your scouts bring a compass?"

  "I'm not a scout, I'm a demolition soldier. Our squad leader and the others died in battle, and only I was left. I wanted to avenge them, so I chased after the enemy and met up with the reconnaissance company's people along the way. So I joined forces with them."

  Ouyang Yuanye listened to Xiao Lie's words and looked at him with interest, then said: "Little ghost, what is your name?"

  "My name is Xiao Lie, Sergeant Brother, and you?"

  When Xiao Lie called himself Officer Big Brother, Ouyang Yuanye only realized that his epaulette was a fifth-level officer, which means he had no idea who he was.

  "Just call me Ouyang. We've got to find our own troops now, we have nothing. If we can't find our own troops, it's not a small matter in this wilderness."

  "Hey Ouyang, which direction are we heading?"

  "That way." Ouyang Yuanye pointed to a path leading into the mountains.

  Two men walked in a line, one in front of the other. Afraid of running into the Blue Army on the road, Xiao Lie handed over to Ouyang Yuanye a pistol he had captured as a means of self-defense.

  Ouyang Yuanye saw the pistol and couldn't help but smile wryly, never thinking that a commander of an elite unit would now have to rely on a low-ranking soldier for protection. He glanced at the map, realizing it had been three hours since they were ambushed, and the longer he was separated from his troops, the greater the likelihood of the Red Army's defeat. Thinking this, he quickened his pace, but before long, he felt a sense of powerlessness.

  Two people finally arrived at Dashan Kou in the evening, but a roadblock had been set up there. Xiao Lie approached cautiously and found that it was the Blue Army. He returned and reported the situation to Ouyang Yuanye, who felt a bad premonition when he heard the news. This was the Red Army's hinterland, now occupied by others, which meant the Red Army was in trouble. The only shortcut had been taken over, and if they wanted to find their own troops, they would have to cross an 80-kilometer-wide desert that stretched for 60 kilometers. For drivers, 60 kilometers were nothing, but for two people who were already exhausted, it was like climbing a mountain.

  Ouyang Yuanye repeatedly compared all the routes, and that desert was the safest zone. Because of the large-scale march, the desert was not feasible at all, and a small team wanted to pass through there, but the cost was not necessary to pay. However, for two people who were already inside the enemy's interior, passing through there, the Red Army would never have thought of it.

  If I'm not mistaken, there's an oasis on the edge of the desert where you can get supplies, and it's also a secret supply point for the Red Army. It's a safe house for the Red Army scouts. Once we reach the oasis, everything will be okay.

  Thinking of this, Ouyang Yuanye made up his mind. Xiao Lie didn't have any opposing opinions. Since the officer had a map, he didn't have anything to say.

  When night began to fall, the two people finally arrived at the edge of the desert. At this time, a strong wind started blowing. The temperature in the desert is very high during the day, but it drops sharply at night, and with the convection of cold and hot air, sandstorms are easily formed there. When encountering a sandstorm, it's best to stay still on one side and wait for the wind to pass before doing anything else.

  "This wind is even fiercer than the one at our base." Xiao Lie sighed.

  "Let's rest here for a night tonight," said Ouyang Yuanye.

  Xiao Lie took off the camouflage uniform from his body and handed it to Ouyang Yuanye, saying: "Brother, it's cold at night, you put on this uniform, I'm fine."

  Ouyang Yuanye accepted it without hesitation.

  Xiao Lie opened the water bottle and found that there was only half a bottle of water left, and the dry rations were also scarce.

  "Officer big brother, you drink."

  Ouyang Yuanyeshook the water bottle and took a sip, saying: "Tomorrow we will be crossing a desert. We must keep walking without rest. If nothing unexpected happens, we should arrive at our destination by tomorrow night. If we slow down along the way, we'll still have to walk tomorrow evening. Water is very important there. To be on the safe side, from now on, let's collect our urine for emergency use."

  "Ah, pee?" Xiao Lie said in a somewhat unbelievable tone, although he had read about this in books, it was another matter altogether when it actually happened to him.

  "Hmm, didn't you receive wilderness survival training before?"

  Xiao Lie shook his head.

  "Then just listen to me." Ouyang Yuanye smiled and said.

  Xiao Lie nodded slightly.

  "Little devil, do you have a girlfriend?" Ouyang Yuanye asked on a boring evening.

  "It's gone now."

  "Is that what happened before?" Ouyang Yuanye asked again.

  "She was on our side of the base, but we couldn't be together and I also couldn't let her wait for me. So she left."

  "Isn't it said that after two years of compulsory military service, you can start dating?"

  "But I still have some things that haven't been settled yet, and I don't know how long it will take to settle them. So, I shouldn't hold back one person, besides, she should also have her own life."

  "Are you waiting to become an officer or what, so that you can talk about romance?" Ouyang Yuanye felt a bit gossipy, but in this desolate mountain, the wind was howling, and besides, it was a young soldier he didn't know, which made him feel a bit more relaxed. Usually, he was surrounded by fellow officers, and when he saw subordinates, he had to put on a stern face. After a long time, he felt that it wasn't very meaningful, and the only time he could relax was when he went home, but how many times could he go home in a year? When he saw Xiao Lie, he couldn't help but think of his own son, who must be about the same age. But that kid was stubbornly refusing to join the military or do business, and all day long, he only thought about traveling around the world. Maybe it was because of family reasons, the relationship between father and son wasn't very good.

  "I just wanted to find news of my brother in the troops, I heard he sacrificed himself, but I should ask my mother, even if he really sacrificed himself, we have to see his body, but someone told us that we can't see anything. So, I came here. Before finding my brother, I don't want to talk about anything." Xiao Lie said calmly.

  "But have you ever asked her if she's willing to wait for you? Have you ever asked her what she wants?" Ouyang Yuanye said, "Sometimes, when you realize your mistake, it's already too late."

  "I think so too, but I don't have to worry about it anymore because she's already married."

  "Oh, I'm married."

  "Ouyang brother, you take a rest, I'll go on patrol." Xiao Lie said and then left.

  Xiao Ran wrapped himself in a camouflage scarf, covering his nose and mouth. The wind and sand swirled around him, the howling sound of the wind in the sky was like a monster roaring, everything around him was dark and gloomy. In such weather, even if the troops wanted to take action, they had to consider whether they could withstand the wind and sand. But now there was no need to think about these things, several days of tension and high-intensity exercise had made him tired. He felt like a clumsy little bird on the battlefield, today during the charge, he even forgot the basic charging posture, everyone saw him fearlessly advancing in front of the blue army's gunfire. But he didn't tell them that at that time, he was actually scared stiff, it was his first time seeing such a scene, although the other side was shooting rubber bullets or blank cartridges, in such a scenario, there was still a hail of bullets, he was afraid, so afraid that he forgot to avenge his squad leader and comrades. The more afraid a person is, the faster they run, then foolish people will always have foolish luck. So because of his fear, he ran the fastest, and unexpectedly managed to run to the enemy's face without a scratch, and then gave the enemy a hand grenade, so he became a hero in other people's hearts.