Chapter 2: Grim Situation

  "Is your name Lin Feng?"

  Pai Zhang finally spoke up, Lin Feng let out a sigh of relief and, imitating the class leader's report from earlier, shouted: "Reporting to Pai Zhang, I am Third Platoon First Squad warrior Lin Feng!"

  "Hmm!" Lin Feng was very satisfied with this answer, nodded and asked again, "Local?"

  "Report to the squad leader, I am from Huaiyin Town!" Lin Feng replied in a standard and proper manner.

  "Alright, alright!" The long queue waved his hand impatiently. "I ask you something and you just say it, don't always report this and that. You're not tired of talking, I'm tired of listening!"

  "Yes, Commander!" Facing the commander's seemingly gentle attitude, Lin Feng still didn't dare to be careless, who knows when this violent guy would go crazy.

  He furrowed his brow, just about to say something, when he saw a soldier with an assault rifle slung over his chest hurry over, so he shut his mouth.

  The soldier who ran over, Lin Feng didn't recognize him. In fact, he didn't know most of the people in the team, including the squad leader Wang Yuzhu who had just helped him out of trouble yesterday, a new recruit who had only been there for one day, how many people could he know?

  Lin Feng didn't recognize him, but Pai Chang recognized that this soldier was Xiao Zhang, the communications officer of their company.

  At this time, why did the regiment send a messenger over? Is there a new change in the battle situation or is there a new deployment at the regiment headquarters?

  Xiao Zhang ran to the front of the squad leader, without waiting for the squad leader to ask, raised his hand and saluted, saying loudly: "By order of the battalion commander, the regimental commander orders you to quickly rush to Luhe Bridge to reinforce the defense, your squad's position will be taken over by another squad!"

  Zengfang Bridge

  Upon hearing this order, the queue immediately became much longer.

  What is Luhe Bridge?

  The Luo River flows from west to east through the northern part of the county town, less than five miles away from the county town. It is the last line of defense for the outer city's defensive position. Since the superior has already made a decision to let the garrison troops go and reinforce, it means that the front line must have been unable to hold on.

  The county town was guarded by a battalion of the security regiment. According to the previous deployment, two platoons from the first and second companies had built two defense lines north of the Luohe River, while another platoon from the second company relied on the natural barrier formed by the Luohe River for defense. This formed three defense lines around the county town, with the third company as a reserve team staying in the county town. Such deployment made it possible for the three defense lines and the reserve team in the county town to reinforce each other, advancing or retreating as needed.

  Actually, at the very beginning, the outer defense line was defended by the Central Army, and the Security Regiment, as a local force, only assisted in the defense, mainly deployed in the county seat. However, several days ago, there was a sudden large-scale withdrawal, leaving behind only one combat team. The Security Regiment, however, received an order requiring them to defend the county seat to the death, without retreat, and those who disobeyed would be charged with treason.

  After receiving the order, the security team scolded their mothers, but the order had to be executed. The problem is that the security team stationed in the county seat said it was a regiment, but in fact, there were not even half of the people, why?

  At that time, there was a well-known phenomenon in the local troops, which was that officers "ate empty flowers". The so-called "eating empty flowers" refers to the fact that officers would falsely report the number of people in their unit to their superiors in order to embezzle military pay. What was reported was a full battalion, but in reality there were very few people, and the excess military pay that came down was the "empty flower" that the officer could safely pocket.

  This phenomenon is well-known in local troops, but everyone tacitly understands that as long as the lower levels behave themselves and don't cause trouble for their superiors, the higher-ups won't pursue the matter.

  This seems like no big deal in peacetime, but when it comes to wartime, the problem is exposed.

  The Japanese army launched this war of aggression against China with long-premeditated plans, deploying troops for years, and with well-equipped and well-trained soldiers. Since the outbreak of the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident", they have been attacking cities and seizing territories, with a momentum that has caused our forces to retreat step by step.

  Even the Central Army could not stop the Japanese army's aggressive pace, how can a so-called "battalion" with less than two companies of security guards hold the county town?

  So the security team started grabbing able-bodied men all over the world, and Lin Feng was caught at this time to make up the number.

  The regular army withdrew, and the security team thought it would be difficult to defend the county town with this rotten foundation. Now, the headquarters suddenly ordered to increase defense, and the platoon leader knew that it had reached the last moment, and this time they might not come back again.

  Lin Feng was a new recruit and didn't understand the situation, but seeing the squad leader's expression turn ugly after receiving the order, he sensed something was off. He felt a bit apprehensive in his heart, but didn't dare to ask the squad leader about it. He wanted to ask the platoon leader, but when he saw the squad leader's dark and stern face, he didn't dare make any small movements.

  Under the city gate tower, three rows have assembled.

  The three rows were mostly new recruits who had just been caught and had not yet received training, they were very disorganized, the team was not neat, people were still talking loudly, whispering to each other, it didn't look like an army at all, but rather a group of bandits wearing military uniforms.

  Lin Feng stood in the middle of the team with a broken Han Yang rifle on his back, his face filled with excitement.

  Class monitor Wang Yuzhu stood beside Lin Feng and saw his excited expression, very puzzled, so he asked in a low voice: "Aren't you afraid of death?"

  Lin Fengdao: "Afraid!"

  "What's got you so excited?"

  Lin Fengdao: "Later on the battlefield, I'll fire a black gun first and kill that ***!"

  Wang Yuzhu was taken aback, "Who's been killed?" He immediately understood that Lin Feng still remembered the humiliation of being flogged on the city wall and hastily said: "Don't be reckless, you'll end up in a military court and get shot!"

  "Hmph, who knows if I'll even make it to that time, might as well die first and vent my anger." Lin Feng said with a round-eyed stare, seemingly nonchalant.

  Just as Wang Yuzhu was about to say something, the squad leader standing in front of the team shouted: "Attention! Right face!" After the team quieted down a bit, he bellowed again, "All of you be quieter, the battalion commander will arrive soon. Take a look at what kind of state you're all in? If the battalion commander sees this, I'll lose face!"

  After being scolded loudly for a while, the team finally calmed down and seemed to be in order.

  Before long, Lin Feng saw a group of soldiers surrounding a robust and muscular black man with a tiger's back and bear's waist walking over.

  This tall man is about thirty years old, wearing a military uniform, but with his shirt unbuttoned, revealing a white undershirt that is turned out from the neck to the waist, making him look particularly striking. His hat is not on his head, but instead is tucked into the belt of his military gear at his waist. His hair is styled in a flat-top crew cut, standing straight up, giving off an air of aggression. He walks with the distinctive gait of a soldier, exuding energy and vitality.

  This is the company commander. Lin Feng had never seen him before and didn't know who he was, but seeing the platoon leader hastily running over, he still understood a thing or two.

  "Report to the company commander, the second platoon has been ordered to reinforce the Luohe River Bridge and is now assembled. Please give orders!" The platoon leader did not report directly to the battalion commander but instead saluted a neatly dressed first lieutenant who was standing beside the battalion commander and reported loudly.

  The battalion commander did not give a direct order, but instead turned around and saluted the regimental commander: "Please instruct, sir!"

  Lin Feng saw these officials grinding and hesitating there, feeling very disdainful in his heart, and secretly glanced at his squad leader.

  Wang Yuzhu's heart was tense, afraid that Lin Feng would come up with another trick, and he quickly gave a signal, meaning: "You'd better behave yourself, don't cause any trouble!"

  Lin Feng's mouth slightly and imperceptibly curled up, without any other movement.

  Wang Yuzhu finally put his mind at ease, thinking to himself: "This kid is really a jinx, not even willing to live in peace for a moment, who knows when he'll stir up some trouble again."

  At this time, the battalion commander's eyes scanned the second row of troops, seeing that although the team was not very neat, he also knew that this was just a temporary gathering, and in just a few days, they had already made such progress, which was already quite good. So he didn't say anything else, but nodded to the third company commander and said: "Your troops, you give the order!"

  "Yes!" he replied, then turned around and ordered the row of soldiers, "Fall in!"

  "Yes!" The long queue responded in unison and ran back to their team...

  The company commander came to the front of the troops, but instead of giving orders immediately, he first scanned the troops from left to right, his eyes pausing on each soldier's face. Then he opened his mouth and shouted the command: "At ease!" Only then did he say, "Brothers, I know most of you have just arrived at the company and were supposed to undergo a period of strict training before being sent to the battlefield. But the enemy is already at our doorstep, we don't have time for that!" He paused for a moment, his eyes scanning the troops again, before continuing, "Are you afraid?" Without waiting for the soldiers' response, he said, "Don't tell me you're not afraid - everyone is afraid of death, even the Central Army, which has undergone strict training. And what about you new recruits? But I'm going to tell you something..." His eyes suddenly became fierce and his tone rose sharply, "You can't be afraid! You have to go forward, no matter how scared you are. You have to know that behind you are your families, your parents, your sisters and wives, your children. If you're afraid of death and don't dare to go up, then all you can do is wait for the enemy to come over, occupy your home, slaughter your parents, harm your sisters and wives! The Central Army has retreated, what will we do? Will we abandon our families and follow the Central Army in retreat, or will we risk our lives to fight against the little devils?"

  "It's all over!"

  The whole army was filled with righteous indignation and shouted in unison, and for a time the morale was greatly boosted.

  All the soldiers shouted "Fight to the death", only Lin Feng cursed in a low voice: "Fool!"

  Wang Yuzhu, who was beside Lin Feng, heard Lin Feng's whisper and suddenly sweated on his forehead. He thought to himself: "This little ancestor is too bold! If Lian Zhang hears this, he'll be killed directly. This is confusing the military heart before the formation!"

  Wang Yuzhu's worries were not excessive, this is a team that has just been replenished to full strength, new soldiers are twice as many as old soldiers, and they have not undergone proper training. Such a team is the most difficult to lead, new soldiers on the battlefield may not be able to execute the commander's orders as strictly as old soldiers. At this time, if you can find a "chicken" and kill it to intimidate the monkeys, the effect will be better. Lin Feng did not know the weight of his words at this time, he might have been caught by the company commander and killed to serve as an example. He is rushing towards the muzzle!

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