Chapter 9: Bloody Battle at the Mouth of the Gate (Part 3)

  Among the mountains, a wheel of deep red sunset fell to that side of the mountain, sprinkling a touch of residual redness on the mountains.

  The battlefield has quieted down, after a day of clamor, this evening moment's serenity is especially precious.

  The warriors finished their dry rations, leaned against the bunker, closed their eyes and rested. A day of fierce fighting had claimed many young lives, and even those who survived were covered in scars, their physical strength almost completely exhausted.

  The old locust tree that could still be seen yesterday was reduced to fragments in the artillery fire of the Japanese army, leaving only a charred wooden stake there, as if to demonstrate the cruelty of war.

  A faint, mournful sound drifted in, floating through the battlefield, slowly passing through the trenches, over the piles of corpses stacked like mountains in front of the position, drifting into the sky and gently spreading out in all directions.

  The melody is like a lament, as if telling the endless hardships and nostalgia for hometown that cannot be let go, every note brings a tremble to people's hearts.

  People slowly opened their eyes and looked in the direction of the music.

  Some hunched figures, white beards, wrinkled faces, and the erhu that never leaves their side!

  And also the familiar "River Water" to them all!

  "Old squad leader!" some soldiers muttered under their breath.

  He was just an ordinary cook, a veteran artist who escaped from the Northeast. From the day he joined the army, the erhu had never left his side. The sobbing and gentle sound of the erhu was perhaps his nostalgia for his hometown and his accusation and hatred for Japanese invaders.

  The warriors closed their eyes, and their hearts slowly immersed in the music, their bodies gradually recovering. They knew that even more arduous battles were waiting for them ahead.

  The old man's slanted figure in the sunset flickered with a faint light, along with the Huqin in his hand that had been polished to shine, as he drew and released it, bringing up a piece of sunset.

  ……

  Qin Yang sat in the command center with his upper body exposed, letting Dai'er treat the wound on his left arm.

  As soon as the sky brightened, the Japanese army began its crazy revenge. More than a dozen field guns continuously fired shells at the 29th Army's position, and Japanese soldiers with rifles launched wave after wave of charges. By noon at twelve o'clock, the Japanese had already carried out more than ten group charges.

  Relying on the thin fortifications, a regiment stood like a rock, unmoving and withstanding the Japanese army's wave-like attacks. The officers and soldiers of the 29th Army defended this land under their feet with their own bodies and hot blood.

  Originally, Zhao Dengyu did not allow Qin Yang to participate in the battle again, but Qin Yang, who had tasted the sweetness of victory, could not agree, and repeatedly asked Zhao Dengyu to go out to battle.

  Zhao Dengyu couldn't argue with him anymore and had to agree to go to the front line, but on the condition that he would bring the special task force that had just arrived from the headquarters.

  The Special Operations Battalion was an elite branch of the 29th Army, with every soldier equipped with a rifle and a large knife on their back. They were all selected from various battalions and companies as elite soldiers, skilled in knife fighting and marksmanship. The battalion commander, Wang Baoliang, was particularly renowned for his exceptional knife skills, and there was a legendary story circulating within the Special Operations Battalion about "Flying Horse Cutting Melon".

  That was the beginning of the Special Operations Battalion, because the soldiers were all selected from various branches as top-notch fighters, each with a proud air about them. Seeing that their battalion commander was slender in build, some of them didn't take him seriously. Wang Bao-liang noticed this but said nothing. It wasn't until one training session when several soldiers provoked him and he knocked them to the ground with just three moves. Then he leapt onto his horse, galloped forward, and with a single swing of his large knife, split a watermelon placed on a wooden stake into two equal halves. The two halves of the watermelon that fell to the ground were almost exactly the same size. He did this ten times in a row with the same result. From then on, all the soldiers looked up to their battalion commander with admiration and respect.

  In the morning battle, Qin Yang did not bring the special warfare team with him. He knew that in this kind of positional warfare, the special warfare team could not play out its own advantages and might even be exposed to the enemy's attention. So he ignored Tie Tou and Dai Er's repeated pleas and left them at the command post, instead bringing the Special Operations Battalion to the front line position.

  The battle was extremely fierce, the position changed hands several times, and the soldiers of the 29th Army fought desperately, repeatedly taking back the position from the enemy's hands. By 4 pm, nearly 500 people had been killed in action, and more than 300 Japanese soldiers had also fallen.

  "Qin big brother, does it still hurt?" Looking at the child-like open wound, Dai'er's heart ached and her tears were about to fall. She was no longer afraid of killing people, what she feared was Qin Yang getting injured.

  Since then, Dai'er no longer called Qin Yang "instructor", but instead referred to him as "Qin big brother", seemingly finding it more comfortable to call him that. Qin Yang didn't mind any of this, and how Dai'er addressed him made no difference to him.

  In Qin Yang's heart, Daier and those girls were all regarded as younger sisters. Although sometimes he was strict with them, it was to give them a better chance of survival on the battlefield in the future.

  He Qin Yang felt that he didn't have a tendency towards sadism yet.

  "It's nothing, this little injury doesn't count for much, don't worry so much, Dai'er!"

  Feeling Dai'er's hands trembling with concern as she gently wiped the wound, Qin Yang was very calm, such injuries were nothing to him, he had suffered more severe injuries during training and was still lively, but he could still feel Dai'er's concern.

  Zhao Dengyu walked in from outside the door and took a few steps to stand before Qin Yang, anxiously asking: "Qin Yang, how are your injuries? Are they serious?"

  Looking at Zhao Dengyu's heartfelt concern, Qin Yang felt a warmth in his heart. This famous anti-Japanese general was straightforward and upright, and they had hit it off immediately. Qin Yang was also delighted to have met someone who shared his values. He nodded and comforted him, "Don't worry, Brother Zhao, this injury is nothing, it won't affect tonight's battle!"

  "Do you still want to join the battle?" Zhao Dengyu and Dai'er said in unison.

  Qin Yang swung his left arm, which had been bandaged by Dai'er, in the air a couple of times to make sure it was not hindered, before putting on his shirt with satisfaction.

  Zhao Dengyu walked up to Qin Yang, staring at him seriously and said: "No way, you can't participate in tonight's battle, you must rest!"

  Dai'er also urged anxiously: "Qin big brother, you've suffered such a serious injury and lost so much blood. If you participate in the battle again and reopen your wound, it'll be dangerous. No way, I absolutely cannot let you participate in the battle again!"

  Qin Yang smiled and stretched out his hand to stop Dai'er from continuing, Dai'er glared at him angrily and turned around to put away the tools.

  "Brother Zhao, I must go to tonight's battle, otherwise I won't be at ease!" Qin Yang said.

  "Why are you, your troops' combat effectiveness is also known, yesterday's battle everyone witnessed, don't they go to you still not at ease?" Zhao Deng Yu was somewhat angry.

  Qin Yang shook his head and walked to the map, pointing at a location on it. "Brother Zhao, look here, this is Xifengkou Town, this is the high ground of Northeastern Great Wall, the Japanese army now occupies this place, overlooking Xifengkou, posing a great threat to us from the side, many of our soldiers were wounded or killed by them today, so this threat must be eliminated!"

  The Great Wall is at an altitude of 1742, and even if we choose the easiest place to climb from the back, there are seven or eight places that are almost vertical, requiring tools to get up. My special forces team has undergone rock climbing training, but after all, it's still a short time, and dealing with this situation may be more difficult. Once a mistake occurs, it will inevitably affect the front special operations camp's strong attack. What we lack most now is time, so we can't let this happen. Therefore, I must lead the team this time.

  After finishing speaking, Qin Yang looked at Zhao Dengyu, waiting for his decision. However, he knew that as an excellent commander, Zhao Dengyu would definitely make the right choice.

  As expected, Zhao Dengyu thought for a while and finally agreed to let Qin Yang take charge of this operation.

  Qin Yang laughed happily!

  Dai'er pouted unhappily!

  Iron Head lay on a hillside, his hands clasped behind his head, with a blade of grass in his mouth, swinging those smelly feet, one special combat boot taken off and thrown onto the top of a nearby shrub.

  He is very happy!

  Today's battle, Officer Qin Yang surprisingly didn't let him participate in the fight, which made him very unhappy.

  Whether the special forces team participates in the war or not is none of his business, but he must participate in the battle.

  Tie Tou originally wanted to plead a few more sentences, but didn't expect the instructor to glare at him and scold: "Get out!"

  The iron-headed man who was originally staring with his eyes wide open and his fists clenched, stood there with his mouth agape, then slunk away dejectedly.

  Others may not take him seriously, but Instructor Qin is definitely someone to be listened to. After all, he's the instructor! He had originally planned to sneak into the special forces team and follow them to the front lines unnoticed. But unexpectedly, Instructor Qin seemed to have a premonition, grabbing his ear from the crowd and pulling him out.

  "Take another unauthorized action and you're out of the special forces team, go wherever you want!"

  Looking at the instructor's dark face, Iron Head knew that the instructor was really angry and had no choice but to lower his head and return.

  The special forces are now his home, leaving the special forces is no better than killing him with a knife!

  Iron Head was lost in thought, a pair of special combat boots on big feet entered his line of sight. His smelly feet that were swinging slowly came to a stop. Then with a sudden burst of energy he flipped over and stood up.

  "Coach!"

  Looking at Tie Tou standing in front of him with his head down, and then looking at his feet which only had socks on, Qin Yang held back a smile and asked: "Where are your shoes?"

  "In... in... there!" Tie Tou pointed at the tree.

  Qin Yang raised his head and saw the special combat boots swaying on the dwarf tree. He sprang into action, kicking against the trunk of the dwarf tree several times, propelling himself upwards, grabbing the shoe with one hand, and then landing smoothly on the ground with a beautiful backflip.

  Walked back to Tie Tou's side, handed the shoes over to him. Qin Yang scolded with a smile: "You little rascal is getting more and more capable, still needs an officer to help you pick up your shoes!"

  Iron Head stroked his bald head and chuckled.

  Qin Yang looked at Tie Tou in the same way, turned around and walked towards the barracks, leaving a sentence for Tie Tou: "Meet at the command post at 10 o'clock tonight, all special combat troops will be there!"

  "What?! Ironhead couldn't believe his ears and asked again."

  Qin Yang didn't say anything and gradually disappeared into the distance.

  Tie Tou raised his hand and slapped his own bald head, which hurt so much that he opened his mouth: "Ah, it hurts, not a dream, looks like there's a mission, heh heh, Instructor knows what Tie Tou likes!"

  Hehe smiled and ran towards the special forces camp...

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  Does everyone like it? Those who like, raise your hands. Those who agree, remain silent. Those who disagree, oppose. Hehe, looks like everyone likes it. Let's get the votes, and there's more exciting stuff coming up next!

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