Chapter 4 Brothers (Nine Seconds)

The sudden winter snow not only extinguished the fire on the grassland, but made the road for escapers even more difficult.

The exhausted war horse carried the owner staggeringly on the snow field, and every step was trembling. The horse's hooves nailed through the iron palm were particularly easy to slip. The gravels and rat holes on the grassland that did not constitute any threat to the horse's legs were covered by God with a layer of snow several centimeters deep, and it also turned into natural traps. As long as the war horse stepped on the cold and talc, it would be staggered by the stones. If unfortunately stepped into the rat's hole, the fate would be even more terrible. Not only would it throw the owner on its back hard, but it might even be broken and it would never be able to leave this white world alive.

The soldiers of the Independent Battalion and the guerrillas had already brought sufficient spare mounts, but the attack last evening was too sudden, forcing them to choose to break through with all their strength. Not only did the excess mounts fall into the hands of the enemy, but even the dry food and ammunition were only a small part of the dry food and ammunition left. After barely dealing with a dinner and a breakfast, they were already at the verge of being out of ammunition.

What made everyone feel even more desperate was that the horseshoe marks left behind were winding and twisting, extending from under their feet to the place where everyone set out this morning. They were particularly eye-catching on the snowy field that was as flat as a piece of white paper. Any opponent with eyes could find their whereabouts along the horseshoe marks. Even if they dare not get too close for the time being, they would never be able to chase them.

When the sun rose to the height of the head, everyone found the edge of the woods to stop and set the fire to keep warm. The uninjured people took the initiative to disperse with their guns, looking for opportunities to hunt hares, squirrels and other small animals that might come out to feed on snowy days to alleviate the urgent needs of the team. The minor wounded also drilled into the woods and found relatively dry branches from the snow, so that the fire could be maintained until everyone was warmed. Those seriously injured were carried by everyone to the place closest to the fire and washed the wound with barely melted snow water. This was the only help that their companions could provide. No one knew how much effect it could have, but at least they could keep their dignity as humans when they could leave.

"If this continues, sooner or later, the enemy will be caught up with. Unless the Japanese are afraid of being frozen, they will not be willing to chase them at all." Zhou Heicang, the battalion commander of the Independent Battalion of the 211th Division, walked to the fire and handed a marching kettle to Lu Fengzhi, deputy captain of the Black Stone Guerrilla Brigade of the Eighth Route Army.

The pot contains the best Xinghua Village, and there is only a half left. Before leaving Wuyuan, Zhou Heichang purchased a lot. He thought he could take it back to open foreign meat for other backbones of the independent camp, but unfortunately, he encountered an ambush before he could arrive at the destination. All the wine was thrown to the puppet army like other supplies, leaving only the pot he accidentally hung behind the saddle.

Deputy Captain Lu Feng took the kettle with his right hand, poured some on the towel, and then pressed the wound on his left shoulder with a towel dipped in wine. A hot and spicy stinging pain immediately spread from the wound to his whole body. He lowered his head, sucked the air conditioner gently, "Hiss," but refused to let go of his hand, trying his best not to waste the white wine.

"Let me see." Seeing that Lu Feng was so painful that he even sweated, Zhou Heicang squatted down and took the initiative to help check the wound. The position of the bullet was a little low and there was no penetration injury. With the tools and conditions at hand, it was impossible to dig it out. "It's a bit troublesome." He poured some white wine and continued to wipe the blood that was already flowing out of the wound. "But with the scars and uncle is there, there will be no future troubles. Don't be a Mongolian doctor, but he has been dealing with the red wound for a lifetime, and his level is not as good as that of those Western doctors."

"Stop wasting it, leave some for other brothers." Lu Feng waved his hand and whispered to interrupt Zhou Heichang's comfort, "I can feel it myself, but fortunately it's still winter now!"

"It should be enough." Zhou Heicang shook his ear with the marching kettle, and then handed it over to a confidant under his command. "You can wipe it for your brothers. Once each person, no one is allowed to use it."

"Yes." The brother stood up and took the order and left.

Zhou Heitan thought about it again and continued, "It's not a solution for us to continue like this. If the Japanese follow the footprints on the snow, no one can escape."

"Then what you mean," Lu Feng smiled, raised his head and asked, his expression on his face was very frank.

Zhou Heicang immediately felt a little embarrassed, and started to the side, grabbed a dry branch and stirred it repeatedly on the fire. The sudden jumping flame illuminated his angular face and also illuminated the unwillingness and shame hidden in his eyes. He finally got the position of a regular military battalion commander, but he didn't even sit on his butt, so he became a commander alone again. If anyone had changed, he would not accept such an ending.

Deputy Captain Lu Feng has passed the age of obedience, so he can easily guess Zhou Heichang’s true thoughts, sighed, and offered to him: “Give me a map of your hiding place in the desert, and then let’s go separately, so that at least there will be a whole way left.”

"Then, how good is that? You, your guerrillas are fewer, yes, and you are not as familiar with the nearby terrain as our independent camp." Zhou Heicang immediately became excited, waved his hand and refuted loudly, while secretly aiming at Zhao Tianlong from the corner of his eyes.

Zhao Tianlong seemed to have not heard what he was saying. He just frowned, grabbed a handful of snow and continued to wipe Zhang Songling's forehead. The latter had woken up five times in total from last night to now, and the last time lasted about a quarter of an hour. He felt everyone's current situation in a daze and took the initiative to reduce the burden on the team. Zhao Tianlong responded to him with a knife that cut behind his neck, and then connected his left wrist with a leather rope to his right wrist, and never separated again.

"Don't shout loudly, it will affect morale." Deputy Captain Lu Feng pulled Zhou Heichang and reminded loudly, "Divide troops is a last resort. I believe everyone in the team can understand it. After the meal is finished, you will take your own people first and leave me a map. If there is no map, use the branches to draw a picture on the snow. I will find a few people to write it down and wipe it off immediately."

"Yes, yes, I'll find it for you now." Zhou Heicang squatted down again and responded in a very low voice. Then, he untied the belt around his waist, cut it with a knife, and took out a rolled sheepskin from it. "This is passed down by my grandfather's generation, specifically to deal with today's situation. If the Japanese don't catch up with you, you will go north from here, first pass the Dahuang Water, turn east from here, enter the desert from the foot of the Squirrel Mountain, and then continue to go east. He saw a red Gobi, then turn north, and then you can see two small water bubbles, and turn north from there to northwest. About forty miles later, there is an oasis, and then again."

"I will take all the seriously injured numbers to stop the attack." A hand came over from the side and snatched the map away. "I will take all the seriously injured people here to help everyone get time. You can go together so that you won't encounter other enemies again and don't even have the ability to fight back."

Zhou Heichang lowered his head and saw a guerrilla soldier named Han who was talking. The man was pierced through his calf with a bullet. The injury was not serious, especially in winter when the wound was difficult to get infected.

This made Zhou Heichang feel very embarrassed and couldn't take the courage to grab the map back. "I, I hope everyone can try to go together, but, but"

"Han Lin, don't mess around, give me the map." Deputy Captain Lu Feng reached out and promptly rescued Zhou Heichang. "Even if we go together, we will not have the strength to fight back when we meet the enemy again. If we separate, we can at least confuse the enemy and don't know where to chase."

"But?" Guerrilla Han Lin hesitated and was reluctant to hand over the map. Another injured person lying next to the fire snatched the map from his hands and threw it back into Lu Feng's arms. "Don't have it, Captain Lu and Battalion Commander Zhou made sense. According to the rules of Green Forest, everyone should do this."

This person belongs to the independent camp and is Zhou Heichang's confidant, so he will naturally make a more beneficial choice for his family. The guerrilla Han Lin was furious and was about to refute him, but the other party's firm voice came from his ears, "Your leg injury is not serious, follow Captain Lu and the others. I stay and stop you to block you. Anyway, I'm like this, and I may not be able to live a few more days if I escape. It's better to stay and pull a few people."

"I'll stay." A seriously injured guerrilla shouted, then raised his head and poured the spirit that should have washed the wound into his mouth.

"I won't leave, just kill here." A horse thief snatched the wine pot, took a sip, and then passed it to the next wounded.

"There is a fight to block and the soldiers will score." The person who received the wine pot smiled and nodded, as if he was arguing for the next party, and said eagerly.

"Enable a few horses to get minor injuries, and everyone can walk faster."

"The scenery here is nice. I'm tired of walking, really tired."

The seriously injured people lying next to the fire spoke, making choices that were beneficial to both sides for their superiors. In this case, continuing to ask the robes to escape with them is equivalent to pulling the robes to die with them. Neither the guerrilla soldiers nor the horse thieves in the front grassland would make such a shameless choice, although as long as they did not speak, the people around them would never leave them behind.

Zhou Heicang and Lu Feng looked at each other, gritted their teeth and decided to accept the request of the seriously injured, "Leave all the grenades and each person raises them fifty bullets."

"Everyone has eaten a meal later, use snow to build a wall nearby, then pour cold water on it and make an ice bunker for them."

"Leave three war horses and leave them enough dry food for two days to eat. If the Japanese don't chase after them, they will have the chance to leave."

""

The two complement each other and strive to create the best conditions for the wounded to stay and fight and block the wounded. No one mentioned that they would avenge the wounded in the future, as if the latter really had the chance to be missed by the Japanese as they hoped.

"When I have the opportunity in the future, I will never let the man named Peng and his master." The only promise came from Zhou Heichang. Before he was about to part with the guerrillas, he raised his hand and sweared to the sky.

Lu Feng and Zhao Tianlong glanced at him, and no one replied. The enemy was ambushed so coincidental yesterday. If it weren't for the news that everyone was about to pass by in advance, it would be impossible. The only one who knew the whereabouts of everyone was the Jinsui Army Headquarters and the Military Control Commission Jinsui Branch. Just before we set off, Ma Hansan specifically chased Peng Xuewen back.

Only the living are qualified to find out the truth and take revenge. After separation, the two teams tried their best to rush to the distance. That afternoon, they heard the explosion of grenades at different locations about thirty miles away. When they looked back, they saw a colorful dragon jumping up on the vast earth, rolling and flying.

The dragon will never die, a life-long life, and the proud souls on the grassland, whether they are horse thieves, warriors, whether they are Mongolians, or Han people, no matter what beliefs they had before their blood was exhausted.
Chapter completed!