Volume 1 Chapter 5: Old Foes and New Allies (1)

  Chen Zizhong had to move into a field hospital, his feet were severely frostbitten and he couldn't take off his US military boots, so the soldiers used bayonets to cut open the boots layer by layer.

  "Like his mother's trotters." Chen Zizhong turned away, avoiding looking at the feet that had frozen into a deep purple color.

  Chen Zizhong was unwilling to go to the field hospital. Living in a hospital meant being separated from the soldiers, and being separated from the soldiers meant not having to fight. If he didn't hold his gun for one minute, he would feel like the lice on his body had multiplied several times over, itching to death. The soldiers of the third squad were never kind-hearted. They turned against him, tied him up with a stretcher, and carried him towards the field hospital. Chen Zizhong was furious, scolding, spitting, threatening, and even pretended to cry loudly, but the soldiers just smiled in response, leaving Chen Zizhong completely out of temper.

  Seeing Chen Zizhong not making a move, the soldier carrying the stretcher said: "Squad leader, I think Deputy Ding and us are not on the same page."

  As soon as Ding Rujin was mentioned, Chen Zizhong, who had been dozing off, suddenly woke up and lazily asked, "Why not be of one mind?"

  "Company commander sacrificed, whole company cried, he didn't cry, instead muttered something about 'three thousand men can swallow Wu', what does that mean?"

  "Is that it?"

  "That's it!"

  "Dog hair disease! Who says it's hard to cry? I didn't learn how to cry until I was eight years old. I was a naughty kid and got beaten by my dad many times, but not even half a tear came out. The more he beat me, the angrier he became. One time, he almost killed me."

  The warriors laughed and said, "Is it better to spank or flick with fingers?"

  The warriors laughed, but Chen Zizhong was secretly worried. When liberating the Northeast, the troops suffered heavy losses, and the captured Nationalist soldiers became the main source of troops. The troops were educated on the battlefield, and some units had a proportion of liberated soldiers exceeding half. At the meeting to vent grievances, the liberated soldiers from poor families spoke out against their suffering, and many later became grassroots cadres in the troops. Ding Ruguang was different, his family background was better off, and the meeting to vent grievances would not have much effect on him. Having shouldered a gun for nine years, Chen Zizhong clearly recognized that it's not about being afraid of standing on the wrong team, but rather being afraid of deeply rooted foolish loyalty. People like Ding Ruguang, who were educated and had received real favors from the Nationalist Party, would find it difficult to change in a short period of time.

  Ding Ruguang didn't say much, Chen Zizhong didn't mind, the three rows of soldiers were all dumb, but his habitual thinking made him uneasy. The attitude towards new and old soldiers was undoubtedly the most obvious example, and some conflicts had also occurred before going to Korea.

  The bayonet company values the spirit of bayonet charging, first because ammunition is precious, and second because bayonet fighting is a perfect combination of bloodiness, willpower, and combat skills, which can best demonstrate the comprehensive quality of soldiers. It can knock out an army that never yields in the shortest time.

  The most tragic battle for the Bayonet Company was the assault on the fortified position. At first, they launched a company-sized charge, sending six platoons to take turns charging, but each time they were pinned down by the enemy's strong firepower. After six failed attacks, if it were another unit, they might have hung their heads in defeat and considered the morale of the soldiers, arranging them as reserve troops. But the Bayonet Company was stubborn, and the soldiers were furious, shouting angrily. Xu Kai gathered the remaining soldiers from each platoon to launch repeated charges, and finally took down the mountain on the ninth attempt.

  That time, the third squad's new recruits were practicing stabbing, Chen Zizhong and Xu Kaiyuan watched from a distance, Ding Rugang was also on the side, after practicing for a while, Ding Rugang couldn't help but walk up to the class leader of the new recruits and say: "Comrade Class Leader, your stabbing practice is not correct."

  "Attention! Prepare to use bayonets! Defend against left thrusts! Thrust! What's wrong with you?"