Chapter 3: Deserter (This chapter is free)

The winter night in North Korea is so cold that it is bone-chilling. The bare branches of larch shiver in the cold wind, while the evergreen trees gently shake their branches and leaves in the evening breeze, as if they want to shake off the snow on their bodies. The stars and crescent moon reflect the snow on the ground, casting a pale cold light on this supposedly pitch-black winter night and illuminating the way forward for us.

Most of the volunteers are hiding out at night. Many people think that the volunteers are good at night fighting, but I think that the volunteers are forced by the situation, or are they forced or not. If it is during the day, no matter how brave the war is, it is difficult to gain an advantage under the high-tech equipment of the US military. At this time, night vision devices are still a new thing, and have not been equipped with the US military. So when it comes to darkness, the US military's planes, cannons, and tanks all lose their function and can only fight hard with the Volunteers. Therefore, most of the volunteers march at night or launch offensives.

So, at this time, I, who should have been hiding in the warm bed, was climbing mountains and ridges in the snow and ice.

Although it was not snowing at this time, the chill was like an omnipresent elf, crazily snatching the only warmth on me from the cuffs, collars, hats, and from everything that could penetrate. If the white-haired girl dared to sing "The north wind blows, the snowflakes float", I swear to pull her here to see what the real cold is...

Everything seemed to be in a dream. I looked at the scenery beside me, the soldiers marching in front of me, and the weapons and equipment they carried, but I still couldn't believe that all this was true.

I moved forward mechanically with my feet, but my head was searching for all kinds of fragments that fell from Baitou Mountain. In the end, there was only one reasonable and helpless explanation, that is, I fell in the legendary cave. The mysterious power in the cave brought me here and possessed me to a frozen volunteer soldier. So I arrived at the Korean battlefield... and became a volunteer soldier...

This idea once made me almost collapse because I knew clearly how tragic this war was, and I also knew clearly that one-third of the soldiers who entered this war would never return to their motherland or their relatives again. No... I can no longer see my relatives, I have returned fifty-eight years ago, even my late grandfather was only in his teens at this time, and perhaps he is still somewhere in the country, struggling hard for the birth of my father!

"I don't know if my name will be on the monument to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea in the modern world." I smiled mockingly: "If I had known this would be the case, I would have looked at those lists before, but I shouldn't have them on the list of heroes. Just kidding, I've been holding pens all my life, and now I'm asking me to hold a gun? There is still a possibility on the list of deserters."

"I don't want to be a deserter either, but how difficult the guns and bullets on the Korean battlefield come. The fierce American imperialism completely controls air supremacy. They can bomb our army's supply line at will. So every gun, every bullet, every mouthful of dry food, every cotton coat, and every pair of rubber shoes condenses the lives and blood of the logistics comrades who transport military supplies! So in order not to waste these precious guns, ammunition, and supplies on me, who has never been on the battlefield, for the victory of the Korean War, and for the happiness of hundreds of millions of people in the country... I will feel wronged and be a deserter..."

This reason seemed very tenable, so I slowly slowed down, not looking around, trying not to show guiltyness, and pretended to be physically weak and panting.

Speaking of my pretending skills, there was a glorious history. When I was in college, I used to successfully convince five innocent girls that I was a gentleman, and I almost deceived their hearts. It was because I finally found out that I was the one who was deceived...

A hero is not talking about his courage back then. Now I worship almost all the gods I can imagine in my heart: Dear gods! Let me pretend again!

Seeing one volunteer soldier after another step past me, my heartbeat also accelerated... In these days, there was only one fate that was captured as a deserter, that was, he was taken to the side of the road and shot to public.

"Comrade..." Just as I was about to end the team, a familiar voice made me feel tight. When I turned around, I saw that the old squad leader's eyes that emitted strange light were staring at me with a smile.

I looked at the old squad leader and then looked at myself, and soon I understood the problem. The marching quilts, shovels, submachine guns, grenades, dry food bags, ammunition bags, and water bottles. Together, there are at least seventy or eighty kilograms. You said that I am a young man with nothing on my body, how could I not be able to escape an old man with a weight of more than seventy kilograms...

I was deeply blaming myself. How could I forget the traditional virtue of respecting the elderly and loving the young? If I had walked to the old squad leader with an angel-like smile from the beginning, and said in the gentlest voice: "Uncle, the things must be very heavy! I'll help you get some." Then now my plan to escape with a weak one is perfect.

Now that I am so embarrassed, I die before I go to the army...

"Comrade..." But unexpectedly, the old squad leader patted my shoulder and said kindly: "You're tired! Comrade... I walked in front of the gate of hell. It's not easy... I insist on persisting and when I catch up with the main force, I will ask the health officer to show you..."

I was stunned for a moment, and I couldn't help feeling a little ashamed. I didn't expect that before I felt the cruelty of the battlefield, I felt the care between my comrades.

"It's okay, it's okay..." I lowered my head and replied in a low voice. The caring eyes of the old squad leader seemed particularly dazzling in the night.

"Stop moving forward, stand by..."

"Stop moving forward, stand by..."

...

I don’t know how long I ran, but just as I was secretly surprised that the body I possessed had such strong endurance, one after another in front of me was passed down to stop moving forward. Although it was a rest, no one dared to find a place to sit down. Not to mention the snow everywhere, it was so cold that it would freeze and never get up again as soon as I sat down. So everyone stomped their feet gently and lit the heat in their hands. Some of them simply hugged a few big men to keep warm...

At this time, I looked at the company and said that there were more than 160 people, and a very long team was lined up from beginning to end. According to normal organization, there should be about 120 people in a company, and more than 30,000 people in one army. However, the volunteer army generally exceeded the amount, and the four first four armies entering the country were less than 40,000, so it is reasonable for a company to have more than 160 people.

Looking at their equipment, I only know the 38 large covers and middle formals that I often see in movies. The machine guns are the crooked handles, and there are seven or eight straights! The soldiers all have three or five grenades on their chests, and the platoon leader is mostly equipped with box cannons or submachine guns. What surprised me was that I also saw two mortars.

Although these equipment cannot be compared with US aircraft, cannons and tanks, it is not as bad as the millet and rifle that the Chinese people imagine.

I still remember that after Li Qiwei returned to China, he wrote a book called "The Korean War", which always emphasizes how poor the US military's equipment is, how insufficient the supply is, how soldiers are froze and hungry. Of course, if a person who returned home in a state of shame after defeat, his equipment is so sophisticated, how good the food is, and how thick the cotton coat is, then anyone will suspect that his head must have been broken by the volunteers.

Similarly, if Chinese people emphasize how poor the equipment of the Volunteer Army is, it can better reflect the bravery of the Volunteer Army and the spirit of the Volunteer Army to defeat the strong with the weak. What's more, the equipment of the Volunteer Army is not on the same level as that of the US military.

"Little Shandong..." The old squad leader waved his hand and caught the little man running past: "How about it, why don't you move forward?"

"I can't find the large army." Xiaoshandong smiled and said, "Isn't this the road? The company commander said that the footprints in front made people mess up, saying that they had retreated from the Korean People's Army and the transferred fellow villagers who had retreated. I don't know how to leave now."

"It's a problem now!" The old squad leader frowned: "There is no map or radio. I'm not familiar with the place. I'm still in North Korea. I can't understand what we say even if I find a fellow villager to ask for directions..."

I have also heard of the poor communication equipment of the Volunteer Army. It seems that only the battalion level has telephone numbers and only the regiment level has radios. Therefore, there is often an old saying: The troops below the Volunteer Army camp will be released and they cannot even be called back. Moreover, the Volunteer Army entered North Korea for the first time to participate in the war, and the company-level units have no map at all. If you can't find the large army at this time, it's really as the old squad leader said - trouble!

"I, I can say..." I thrust my frozen nose and said, "I can speak Korean, I will ask! Where are you going?"

"Can you speak Korean? That's good relationship!" A strange color flashed across the old squad leader's face, and then he said with a wrinkled smile on his face: "This is going to Wenjing, let's find a fellow villager to ask..."

"Wenjing?" I couldn't help but be stunned. The reason why I knew this place name was because the first shot of resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea was fired in two water holes near Wenjing.

I also read the information two days ago. I originally planned to march into Wenjing, the 118th Division of the 40th Army of the Volunteer Army, but found that the enemy had occupied Wenjing first, so I hurriedly built fortifications in two water holes to prepare to ambush the enemy troops that continued to advance north...

"What day? What day is today?" I asked anxiously.

"On the twenty-fiveth day, October 25th." Although the old squad leader thought this question was a bit strange, he still answered.

This is the anniversary of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, which is the day when the war begins.

"Then are you the 118th Division of the Forty Army?" My voice was already trembling.

Looking at the old squad leader who nodded, I couldn't help but whine in my heart: I'm going to the battlefield so soon. It's only been a few hours since I came to this world. I don't even give me the opportunity to be a deserter...

"Comrade, comrade..." The old squad leader looked at me with a pale face in confusion and asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Chapter completed!