Chapter 3 Refining 23. Jin Qiu's Sudden Attack (5)

  The road up the mountain is rugged and varied, and the road down the mountain is not a flat plain either. Due to the simple reason that the earth has gravity, going down the mountain is more difficult than going up. The search team behind was not just bragging, they were all core members of various scouting teams, and when running, they were like big wolves, absolutely faster than four mechanized infantry soldiers. Although their distance was far away, but soon they approached me quickly, especially when I went down the mountain, the dogs were much more useful than humans, almost jumping down frantically. Soon I heard the dogs' calls, seemingly just around my ears, and I knew that running with them would be impossible.

  I emerged from the low artificial forest belt on the edge of the original forest, and my original plan was to rush into the mountains. But as soon as I came out, I was stunned by the swamp. It wasn't a temporary small swamp that I faced at first, but an absolute permanent large swamp.

  Black mud, green reeds, and the buzzing of black-and-white mosquitoes - everyone knows that ahead is death without a word. Behind is the dog master, even if captured, there's no need to say anything.

  To hell with your grandma! I'd rather die than be taken captive by you guys. I gritted my teeth and steeled myself, then went in!

  The swamp is not all traps, mainly it's just years of accumulated mud, but there are also a lot of traps. I don't know why I didn't sink in at the beginning, one reason I think is that I was much lighter and more agile back then. If it were now, I would have sunk in after two steps. But I had to move forward, not moving forward meant being captured, and being captured was a shame I couldn't accept! How could Chinese Army Special Forces appear as captives? What's the point of our predecessors having a medal on their chest if that's the case?! Not being captured is an important part of our unit's political education, and it's also one of the repeatedly emphasized key guiding ideologies in our military education. As for why we can't be captured, my understanding back then was that if you were captured, you would bring influence to your fellow brothers. If you really became a captive like Wang Lianju, then you would truly be a murderer who harmed your brothers! This is something I absolutely cannot do! Even in training exercises, we can't be captives, or how would we face people afterwards? What if Small Zhuang became a captive? Would he still have any dignity left?!

  When I was 18 years old, it was this idea. I stepped into the swamp, one foot was knee-deep and another foot was knee-deep, but I still moved forward! The dogs all gathered on the mound of the swamp and barked loudly, but I didn't look back!

  PLA special forces elite soldiers would rather die than retreat! Even if we die, we must advance and never be captured! I kept repeating this simple phrase in my heart, gritting my teeth as I advanced. Soon, I arrived at a swamp near the central grass hut. I quickly climbed up and lay down inside, not daring to let the search party see me. The dog saw me but didn't count - dogs don't have the right to speak. If people saw me, it would be trouble. According to the drill rules, I was supposed to be "killed" without running away, but I didn't want to die so quickly. What's the point of dying at the beginning of the first drill? You haven't even done anything yet!

  I lay in the damp but hard reeds, taking deep breaths. The barking of dogs was not far away. Then the barking stopped, it was a person who had stopped them. And then I heard that it was no longer the sound of dogs, but the sound of people.

  "What about him?"

  "I don't know?"

  "What's going on? How did it suddenly disappear? We were chasing after it just fine! Shut up! What are you yelling about? Stop yelling!"

  I gently parted the grass with the muzzle of my 81 rifle, giving myself a narrow slit for my eyes. I saw dozens of search parties wandering around the edge of the swamp, their faces were bewildered, not knowing where I had gone. The feeling of playing hide-and-seek came back to me all at once, and the fear was gone, it was just the thrill of a child's game. I smiled, aiming at each member of the search party one by one with my 81 rifle, which didn't have its safety on, pulling the trigger, and softly saying: "Ta-ta-ta! Ta-ta-ta!"

  An officer suddenly turned his gaze towards the swamp, and I was startled. My heart thought "Oh no! I've been discovered!" But he didn't shout or call out, just kept looking in my direction with a puzzled expression, then looked away at other directions. Finally, he asked, seemingly to himself: "Did someone go into the swamp?"

  Another officer said with a big laugh: "No way! If he's human, he should know not to come in here. Coming in means death! What's wrong with his brain?"

  "What if?" muttered the officer. A junior lieutenant thought it made sense: "Let's give it a try!"

  Then they all shouted: "Come out! We've seen you!"

  I just smiled wryly, what's the point of your old routine? You shout a few times, is that all? After shouting for half a day without any response, an officer said: "Forget it, forget it, maybe the dog chased the wrong way. Who knows if they've invented some new weapon specifically to deal with dogs?"

  Everyone else thought it made sense. But the lieutenant was still uneasy in his heart, after all, he was a cadre and knew that the lives of soldiers were more important than anything else. If it really was him who led the team to chase out the situation, this trouble would be big. The exercise was so simple, but a bunch of sequelae came with it. The lieutenant shouted loudly: "Hey, if you're inside, listen to me! Hurry up and come out! I'm the platoon leader, this time we won't tear off your chest badge (our exercise rules are that if you're captured or killed, you have to tear off your chest badge, they take it to report rewards, can have a holiday, can go into the city, I'll just go to the reception team). We'll pretend we didn't see you! Hurry up and come out! This is an exercise, it's not worth risking our lives!"

  I'm still not moving, you said no tearing then don't tear it?! Besides, I am a proud special forces warrior, can I beg you to let me live?! If you say we're not going out, then we won't go out. The people's warriors keep their word. I just lay there silently. The lieutenant shouted for half a day but there was no response.

  The dog was panting with its tongue out, feeling anxious but not daring to move, sitting on the ground staring at my grass thicket. I didn't dare move either. That lieutenant was really great, and I was very moved today. Because he had shouted his voice hoarse, his voice was loud, and the worry in his eyes was really like Chen Pai's. At that moment, I felt a warmth in my heart, and I had an urge to go out, but I still didn't move. In the end, everyone left naturally, but that lieutenant was the last to leave, and he even turned back to take one last look, a big glance, scanning the entire marsh, lingering for a long time.

  My words reached the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them again. He turned around and left. Only then did I let out a breath. It was only then that I began to check my equipment. The backpack was gone, we had used it as cover during our rest, so all our living supplies were gone. There was one water bottle, one 95 automatic rifle and one 81 automatic rifle, several empty magazines, a special forces dagger, one pistol with several empty magazines, a compass, a simple hand-drawn map of the area...and that's it? Four smoke grenades, one red, three yellow. The red one is for when you're in dire straits and need to signal for help in the woods, the yellow ones are for training purposes, once the yellow smoke appears, it means you've secured your target. And then I had nothing left on me except this 100+ pound flesh that was just starting to take shape, an 18-year-old life.

  I hesitated for a while and then decided to set off. Where to go? I didn't know either, just looked at the map and compass. I knew my current location was near Highway 3, if I crossed this swamp, it would be into the mountains, and then there would be Bridge No. 7; another route was to turn back, continue walking along the edge of the highway, but this road was very dangerous, because the search team must be around here looking for me everywhere, this is one of our goals every time we have to clean up, Dog Head High School Team will definitely not let me go. I decided to go there and wait for them, even if it's destined to be cleaned up, I still have to wait. What else can I do? After all, I'm a warrior, won't I really go into the mountains and become a wolf if I don't return to the troops?

  I rolled up the map and compass, slung two rifles over my back, and grabbed a hard, long stalk of grass as a probe. At that time, I really didn't know what fear was! But I only had one thought in mind, which was to never be caught by these guys, absolutely not! I have a soldier's faith! I also have the oath of the Army Special Forces!

  I'll just go. Holding a grass cutter to explore the way, I carefully made my way into the marsh, testing each step. If the old Red Army veterans could cross two large grasslands, what's the big deal about me, a small soldier, walking through this small marsh? This kind of thinking has been deeply ingrained in my mind, and it's absolutely rooted there. For example, even though many years have passed, I've never said anything like this before, but when writing this passage, these words just kept pouring out, unstoppable. That's what it's like for people who have served in the army.

  I just kept probing my way deeper into the marsh, walking and walking. Either I'd sink in a little shallower and could pull my legs out right away; or I'd sink in a bit deeper and would have to lean over to one side, using my body weight to pull my legs out.

  I just kept moving forward. Later, I was really tired and the trend of getting deeper and deeper became more serious. I crawled forward on my stomach. The physical principle doesn't need to be explained again, right? It's a matter of pressure and area, and I really needed to rest on my stomach. So I moved forward with two guns on my back, panting heavily.

  Although very tired, there is light in his eyes.

  The light of indomitable will.

  I can still see it now, as if there was a small, thin soldier crawling in front of me. His whole body was muddy and he didn't have any personal appearance, but he was still crawling, absolutely refusing to give up!

  Because he knew he was a soldier, a Chinese soldier. And soldiers can't give up.

  No matter what, even death itself.