Start from Changjin Lake

Chapter 29 First Night in North Korea

The train stopped on the tracks near the bridge.

All the soldiers waited eagerly, looking forward.But did not get off immediately.The regiment headquarters under the Corps have sent guards to carry out propaganda back and forth in the carriages, and issued orders:
"At [-]:[-] this morning, start crossing the river on time! All troops are marching on foot, no talking, no noise, no stopping at will, keep quiet!"

As company commanders and instructors, Qianli and Meisheng also kept telling the soldiers of the Seventh Company.

Because of the military situation involved, all the soldiers could also see the nearby bombed ruins and the faintly visible flames and solemn atmosphere in the distance towards the border, and all of them shut down immediately.Even Yu Congrong was quiet.

At 31:[-], the carriage door opened.Soldiers in the front row have already followed the order and got out of the carriage.On Qilian's side, Xu Qing followed Lei Gong, leading the horses carrying a large amount of supplies and heavy guns to the front, and getting ready.

When the artillery battalion in front passed by, he waved silently for thousands of miles:

set off!

So people understood what he meant and started to get off the car in an orderly manner.

When I got out of the car, the air visible to the naked eye seemed to be covered with frost. It was cold, nothing but cold!

"hiss……"

Many people inhaled subconsciously, but they didn't make a sound.

Andong is the northeast border of the motherland, with the Yalu River in front and the West Sea of ​​Korea on the right. The water vapor on the river is blown by the wind, making it even colder.The wind in the river was cold, and it seemed like a knife was hidden in the wind. Most of the soldiers, who were wearing thin cotton clothes, trembled involuntarily.

Xu Qing followed in the crowd, the team moved unhurriedly, and within a few hundred meters they got on the Yalu River Bridge.This is a steel bridge that still belongs to the top-level craftsmanship in modern times. A large number of steel bars reflect the bright cold light under the moon.

rustling...

All the soldiers wore liberation rubber shoes with the logo cut off. Under their feet, there was an ethereal and crisp slight vibration sound on the huge steel bridge deck.It's not heavy, but it's a kind of light sound that everyone can't make on the road or in the fields and has never heard it.

Xu Qing couldn't help but look back: on both sides of the bridge is the dark river, and the shadows of the mountains on both sides of the road when he just arrived can be vaguely seen. Many soldiers are just like him, looking around randomly while walking, and there are also some old gods around , hurried on with a blank expression.

But very few people whispered, everyone tried their best to keep their heads buried in the road, only making a very small noise, and kept quiet.

A row of guns lined up side by side. Yu Congrong looked at the never-before-seen bridge deck and the surrounding river that could not be seen at a glance. He was a little excited and wanted to say something, but he turned his head and looked at the boundless silence. The team held back again.

There are already several battalions ahead, mostly on foot, and every few steps, three or five mules pull carts carrying supplies and ammunition boxes. Occasionally, there are one or two cars, but very few.The lights of the cars were all turned off, and they followed the team at an extremely slow speed.The entire Ninth Corps moved forward silently in such a slightly dignified atmosphere.

The company commander Wu Qianli walked on one side, constantly taking care of the team.He saw Xu Qing and Yu Congrong looking around all at once, and immediately slowed down to their side, making a forward gesture.

Xu Qing nodded quickly.

For a while, only the sound of horseshoes, broken footsteps, and the slight crunch of the ruts pulling some mountain cannons were left in the ears.

Under such a long snake-like team marching, the entire bridge is only 900 meters long. Even if the overall speed of movement is not fast, the end of the bridge was reached within 10 minutes.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they safely set foot on North Korean land without encountering the imagined planes and enemy situations.But as soon as they breathed a sigh of relief, many people were suddenly in a trance, and immediately lifted their spirits:
Because this is no longer China, but a foreign country!

Whether it was a psychological effect or a real feeling, the troops did not stop after crossing the bridge, and continued to march in the established direction.The soldiers kept quiet at first, but as the places they passed along the way came into their eyes, many of them couldn't help whispering:

"This is North Korea?"

"Is this a bombing zone? Why are there so many shell craters?"

"The war has been fought for a long time, it won't go to China, will it?"

The opposite side of the Yalu River Bridge should have been North Korea's first town along the river, Sinuiju, but what greeted everyone was not the enthusiastic North Korean people, but the wreckage of the land that had been bombed along the way...

With the improvement of shooting skills, Xu Qing's eyes are getting better and better now, and he can also clearly see the traces of this journey:

Under the moonlight, the supposedly fertile farmland was empty, only dilapidated farmhouses remained, and there were traces of bombing by aircraft and shells in the fields, which showed that the neighborhood here used to be a settlement of people from this side.But now it is the ruins of the river beach that have been bombed over and over again, with gunpowder smoke all over the way.

Not only ordinary soldiers were surprised, even many non-commissioned officer leaders were quite dignified.As soon as he turned his head, it was obvious that Qianli's face was also frowning. It was obvious that the flames of war had spread to the border between the two sides so deeply and so seriously that no one expected it.

The soldiers were still chattering at first, but as the naked eye saw scattered large or small bomb craters and ruins in the surrounding fields, and more and more appeared in the depths of the North Korean hinterland, everyone also consciously quieted down.

Silence is an expression of respect.

Walked the marching road for about 20 minutes.There are many mountains in North Korea, and there are endless jungles and mountains ahead, and there are few flat roads. This batch of Ninth Corps troops who entered the North Korea made temporary repairs on the open space before entering the mountains.

Xu Qing and the others were resting on the rocks. At this time, officers from a distance, riding a tall horse, came to find them one by one:
"Where is the Seventh Company of your assault group?"

"there……"

An officer rode up to Qianli, and after confirming his identity, he whispered directly to him without any ambiguity:
"Comrade company commander, the division headquarters has instructions: In view of the vision of the enemy aircraft, our army's target is too big. Your company can march lightly, sneak into the Langya Mountains by yourself, and carry out your mission! This is the map and specific information, please keep it !"

Xu Qing and others standing next to him heard it, and immediately knew that they had to trek again, so they went to pack their luggage.

After the officer left on horseback, Qianli took over the map and looked at it: there was a sealed information file in the map, which highlighted the mission locations they were going to go on this trip:
Dayu Cave.

Before that, I only explained Shiji.

Zhisi is the Volunteer Army Command, the abbreviation of the Volunteer Army Command established by our army to enter Korea.

Now I finally know the exact location.It was related to the location of the command post. After reading it, he didn't tell anyone else. He just looked at each other with Mei Sheng, stood up and said softly:

"Everyone is ready to go, we have a task."

Under the watchful eyes of the whole army, the 150-seven members of the Seventh Interlude Company left the ranks straight away, sneaked into the night and the mountains alone, and slowly disappeared.

Before leaving, Xu Qing looked back at thousands of unfamiliar and familiar faces. What was strange was that they didn't know each other. What was familiar was that they were wearing military uniforms, which were equally flimsy.

He wondered how many of these people would survive when they met again.

Walking in the mountains and forests, the vegetation here is relatively sparse, but the visibility at night is also relatively low.

After entering North Korea, everything was very tense. They did not stop or rest after receiving the order, but chose to continue trekking as soon as possible.

Everyone didn't have lights, let alone lit torches at will, so they could only rely on the moonlight in the sky, and slowly groped forward on the mountain trail.

While walking, Yu Congrong gasped and said, "It's really cold here, it's only November, why is it like this..."

Lei Gong shook his head: "Who knows the weather."

At this point, although we are still vigilant and careful along the way, we are not forbidden to speak in a low voice.

Xu Qing thought for a while and asked, "How many cotton clothes did we get from the folks in Northeast China?"

"There are more than 350 pieces, but they are all sent to the regiment." Lei Gong thought about it for a while, "Qianli said that we have allocated [-] pieces, and they are all carried on the third row. We will distribute them when we find a place to rest."

Xu Qing frowned: "But we have more than 150 people!"

"That's the same thing, some can't even divide a few pieces." Lei Gong sighed, "I can only hope that the follow-up logistics team can send the cotton clothes..."

Xu Qing was silent for a while, and asked, "Is the item on me counted?"

Qianli didn't hand in the military overcoat he was wearing directly.

Lei Gong nodded: "That's 21 pieces."

Xu Qing thought about what he said before, shook his head and said, "No, it's 22."

"Okay..." Lei Gong remembered after hearing him say this, and he laughed dumbly, "I promise to do it overnight."

Yu Congrong also came over at this time: "I heard that there are soldiers in all black in the Americans, is it true?"

Lei Gong didn't know either: "Aren't they blue eyes and yellow hair? It's dark. We didn't see them when we were in Nanjing."

Xu Qing replied: "Is that black?"

Translator Zhang Xiaoshan was also on the artillery platoon. On the battlefield, artillery is life, so it is more protected here.He smiled and said, "It's black. It's also a kind of American. I heard that they were not Americans before, and they joined the United States after being invaded by the Americans..."

Lei Gong frowned: "The one who was invaded now in turn invades others?"

"Capitalism is rotten..." Zhang Xiaoshan nodded.

Everyone trekked on the mountain path, and after more than an hour, they finally turned over this mountain and crossed the mountain ridge.Wu Qianli waved his hand at the front, and the team stopped.

Qianli: "Did you see it?"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed. Below the mountain was an endless plain and fields. Looking down from here, they could still vaguely see the Yalu River when they came.But these supposedly beautiful scenes are full of gunpowder and war in the night.

"It was inconvenient for me to speak all the way just now, but everyone saw it. This is the border between China and North Korea, and the North Korean people here were destroyed by the bombs dropped by the US Air Force. Their homes, fields, villages, roads, villages were turned into dust, and their lives were like Grass, I don’t need to say more, I’ve seen it all. Going on this time... Our road will be extremely difficult and difficult, and we may also encounter extremely powerful enemies, but remember! We can’t give up, We can't let our hometown do the same!"

Everyone stared down the mountain one after another, silently.But I also think so in my heart, and I can't agree more.

With a heavy heart, Qianli looked at the night sky, and then slowly said: "Now the moon is gone. Tonight, let's find a place to rest in front. The road down the mountain is steeper, and we will continue to set off after dawn."

The vegetation on the mountain was sparse, and there were some ruined villages left by the bombing. They walked for a while and found an uninhabited ravine before settling down.

Due to the cold weather, the soldiers spread a few quilts on the ground, leaving one shift, and distributed [-] cotton-padded clothes to take turns to be on duty, while the rest crowded on top to rest first.

It is only a few hours before dawn, the quilt is not very thick, but the weather is very cold.Xu Qing felt the constant whistling of the wind in the crowd, and slowly fell asleep.This was their first night in North Korea. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was almost a disaster.

(End of this chapter)