Chapter Nineteen

  Yu Xiaoqing nodded again, "Hai Zhengchong, you are the first main force team, and the first to launch a real battle. I hope you not only have the appearance of a soldier but also the heart of one."

  He strode out, looking like a sturdy warrior. However, his subsequent actions changed my impression. He walked up to the sand table, gave me, a junior lieutenant, a salute first, which I could only awkwardly return. Then, without any courtesy or emotion, he got straight to the point: "I don't look back because I'm on the offense. We'll improvise with emergency equipment to create bulletproof shields and continue charging; call in long-range firepower to launch smoke bombs at the second line of defense for cover; as for the third line, you don't need me to worry about it, your long-range firepower will be taken care of by Commander Yu himself."

  I looked at him, this wasn't a pushover, what he brought to the table wasn't just his rough appearance and the scars on his face. This was a fierce man, I would have an even harder time.

  He almost suicidally attacked, in order to let the second main force continue to occupy a defense that they had easily captured. Such a fierce and fearless attack could have at least allowed them to entangle with the Japanese army's second defense, but on the south side of the mountain, where there was originally a blank spot in firepower, some strange objects suddenly appeared. Those things were flat in shape, like giant turtle shells, and when bullets hit them, they only made a metallic sound, but from the gap at the bottom, light machine gun flames emerged. As a result, Hai Zheng's final attack was not only suicidal, but also ineffective. He was hit by me when his blocked soldiers were dying in the crossfire of the Japanese reinforcements' second defense.

  He stared at the dead bodies, not at me. He was still a man with self-control and didn't lose control like He Shuguang did. "Captain Long, you came up with a good idea for your subordinates, but who has ever seen a walking bunker?"

  "Shi la shi la said: 'I've seen it. Along with those earth-made helmets, they're placed in the fortifications, very primitive, but you have to see when they're used. Bamboo inner mountain will definitely die defending, but not dying there without moving, defense is not equal to giving up mobility.'"

  Yu Xiaoqing waved his hand, "Go down. You've done your best, it's just that he's too shameless." Hai Zhengchong gave a salute and retreated neatly, with his head held high.

  I was quiet for a while. I was very tired, and the sweat dripping down my dirty face made me feel like I was about to melt away. I would rather continue to huddle under the South Heaven Gate and endure loneliness. Yu Xiaoqing was very calm, but he was usually not calm. It was as if nothing had happened at all, and it was just as peaceful as usual. The others were restless, but silent, which was even more unsettling than the noise.

  Yu Xiaoqing said, "Yu Dazhi, Yu Tuanzhang, this kid is very cunning and shrewd, just like the South Heavenly Gate he's defending now - it looks weak but is actually strong. You can't defeat him." Our second-in-command team leader could only stand at attention, neither saying yes nor no. Then Yu Xiaoqing turned to me, "What's your age?"

  He was so polite all of a sudden, I was taken aback, "Actually, I'm twenty-five."

  "You're too cautious. You dislike me, yet you fear me. If I were to come at you, I'm afraid your losses would be total - that's called waiting for death with folded arms. It seems like you want to keep that trouble-making head of yours intact."

  He died and laughed bitterly. I didn't make a sound because Yu Xiaoqing was telling the truth. He wanted to come up, but I'm afraid he would crush me to death if he pressed down.

  "Get someone of similar age to you, Zhang. The newly promoted commander of the Special Task Battalion, Zhang Lixian, was born in 1915 and has been following me since 1931. I remember that you were a student soldier, and he is also a student soldier - let's have a look at each other, you young students. Zhang Lixian, take over as commander of the Second Main Force Regiment."

  Chang Li-xian stepped forward, not saluting anyone, but only spreading his hands on the sand table, treating it as a huge chessboard. "I request that the Japanese Second Division be hit with yellow phosphorus shells, and American bombers can attack again. Please use gasoline incendiary bombs to attack."

  I reminded him that the remnants of the First Main Force Division were still entangled with the Japanese in his attack zone. He said, "I know. But if not this way, the inch-by-inch mountains and rivers won by the blood and flesh of the whole division will be in vain. To die for one's country is to achieve one's aim."

  I said in a low voice: "You weren't roasted alive, of course you're satisfied."

  He didn't say a word and just made a gentle gesture. Yu Xiaoqing gave the answer after whispering to the US military adviser, "Okay."

  I won't speak either. He's like a beautiful bamboo, I'm like withered grass, but it's not because of this that I dislike him. That guy's slender fingers picked off the markers indicating the Japanese army's troop strength on the sand table, including the last marker for the main force regiment. In my impression, he's sharp-witted but ignorant and numb, he must have never experienced a comrade dying by his side, let alone his own death. I too stared at him with a scorched, withered expression.

  He too was homeless, he too was angry, he too was bewildered. Under the same emotions, they did different things. The wandering dragon found a home, Hao Shouyi decided to be a good person, and Dead Dead decided to share the same fate with us who were unbearable. And he and his master fell in love with weapons because of this, they brought the most lethal thing, and then shot at anything without hesitation.

  That little guy spread his hands again, it's my turn - he didn't get what he wanted. I said: "Your bomb shells, even if thrown on a simple position like the flag-raising slope, there will still be people who can survive. People are all able to live somehow." He agreed with me.

  The tunnels that had been covered during the burning were opened, and Japanese soldiers wearing gas masks swarmed out from inside, crawling out of the makeshift tunnels made from gasoline drums, pushing aside corpses lying on top of weapons, and picking up still-smoking guns. The South Gate was once again filled with noise, as the second line of defense and the tree fort at the South Gate opened fire on the charging troops.

  Zhang Lixian was calm and collected, as the cannon fodder that fell under the hail of bullets did not disrupt his decision-making. He and his team, who were personally dispatched by him, did not join the charging crowd, but instead flanked to the side of a huge boulder on the mountain slope. A temporary liaison point was quickly established. The guy was obviously a fan of using advanced weapons, Bazooka rocket launchers, 60mm mortars, flamethrowers, and other unseen gadgets were assembled behind him, and then began to eliminate and annihilate the remaining firepower points in the second line of defense that were still spewing flames. The US military liaison officer accompanying him started calling for air support, this time it was a fighter jet making pinpoint strikes on the mountain top tree fort, unable to destroy but at least able to suppress.

  The current battle situation looks very strange, the second main force troops seem to be fighting against the Nan Tian Men itself. On a piece of scorched earth, they slowly advance. The Japanese army still pops out from their spider web-like tunnels everywhere, causing great casualties to the attackers, but as soon as an exit is discovered, it will be sprayed with burning solidified gasoline. They not only have to annihilate the Japanese hiding inside but also use this to discover other exits, then dig open every place where oil smoke emerges and throw in hand grenades and TNT explosive blocks.

  At last they could charge almost unimpeded, except for the half-mountain stone reverse slope fortifications where machine guns were still roaring. This was my last means of resistance, I brought in eight heavy machine guns, sealing off any attacker who wanted to take down the mountain top by crossing the giant stone. The shooting range of each gun port in the dark fort under the stone was extremely narrow, only around ten or twenty degrees, but precisely because of this, the shooters were extremely focused, and every wave of Zhang's troops that came up was swept away before they could even deploy.

  The compressed air bottle on the flamethrower's back was hit, and that nearly got everyone around him. The bazooka man and his rocket launcher rolled down the slope. Zhang Lixian organized his men to build a human ladder, one by one, earthen explosive jars were passed up - looking at the earth, but inside were all high-intensity explosives. Then those things were lowered from the rocks towards the dark fortifications.

  The fuse sputtered and smoked.

  I stood up. I was already dead, killed by the continuous bombing of hundreds of kilograms of explosives. I wanted to do something about it, but couldn't. All I could do was watch as he died, worried about his head. He shamelessly smiled at me, making me look like a wronged little kid.

  Zhang Lixian bowed to his commander, "The second defense line has been cleared. The enemy is stubborn, and the second main force battalion has suffered more than half casualties."

  Yu Xiaoqing said in a low voice: "You are also too extravagant."

  "Sorry," Zhang Lixian said.

  Die Die was staring at me as I retreated from the sandbox. I glared at him, whispering reproachfully: "I know what you're thinking. But you're wrong, they're strong enough to take down the South Heaven Gate... as long as we're their stepping stone." Die Die ignored me, looking across the sandbox because Yu Xiaoqing was staring at him.

  Yu Xiaoqing said: "Tell your subordinates that he is not a useless person! I was wrong, apologize!"

  Die la die la smiled at me with the corner of his mouth, "Did you hear that? Then don't talk nonsense." I really didn't care what Yu Xiaoqing thought of me, and just forced a smile. Die la die la walked towards the sandbox, limping even more severely than me, because both of his legs were lame. Yu Xiaoqing also walked towards the sandbox, unbuttoning the first button that was always fastened, exercising his joints, saying: "The kids have all played, now it's our turn."

  "The little kid has already made several thousand people disappear, now it's our turn." said Si Le. Yu Xiaoqing glared at him fiercely, I reckon if there weren't so many outsiders around, Old Yu would have grabbed something to throw at him.

  Yu Xiaoqing said: "I'm stopping the attack." But stopping the attack didn't mean giving up on it, the attacking troops entrenched themselves at the second defense line that was level with Bàn Shān Stone, transforming it into a stronghold suitable for launching an upward assault. Yu Xiaoqing wasn't like Zhang Lixian who loved using new toys, he utilized everything that could be used, the Japanese machine guns, trench mortars and infantry cannons were turned around to face the opposite direction to rebuild their nests, the newly arrived 0.5mm machine guns and 20mm autocannons from the east bank targeted Sanfang, even the abandoned mobile pillboxes and breastplates left behind by the Japanese were picked up by him for reuse. The three defenses at Nán Tiān Mén now looked like a porcupine surrounded by a group of fierce boars.

  Yu Xiaoqing said: "You are already powerless to stop crossing the river, I will use the whole division's special task force, search team and guard team to supplement the attacking forces. The pontoon bridge has not been built, the tank team cannot cross the river, but can establish a fixed firing position on the flag-raising slope. My division can dispatch most of the direct-fire heavy firepower to cross the river by boat, rebuild positions. Our artillery and the US military's air force will continuously bombard and harass the top of Nantianmen Mountain, pinning you down, unable to redeploy."

  "Dead, dead, mumbling: 'Hmph, you can do it.'"

  After the US military plane's repeated arrival and departure, the mountain top of Nantianmen was like a volcano that had just erupted, with smoke columns almost blocking the sky on the west bank. The tanks in formation began to fire artillery bombardments from the position of Jiqislope under Yu Zhi's command, occasionally shells fired by direct-fire cannons on the top of Nantianmen would explode among them, and the wet soil would hit the tanks as well as us in the trenches.

  We huddled in the safe trenches, I was among them, Dead and Dead were also among them, we cooked, laughed and scolded, teased the restless dog meat. This bloody battle had nothing to do with us——I stared blankly at the dusk accompanied by black smoke from the trench, smelling the scent of burnt offerings floating in the air, was it really irrelevant to us?

  The tank that was hit retreated in flames, crushing the narrow trench above my head. The burning remnants jumped off the vehicle and fell at my feet - I stared blankly at him, is this really none of our business?