Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

The destination we are going to this time is not close, it is more than fifty kilometers away.

If Lin Qiang had led his team from Zhaojiayu, they could have shortened the journey by half. However, the team marched in the opposite direction at the beginning and was forced to retreat after encountering the Japanese.

The direction of retreat cannot be the independent regiment's defense zone. After all, the independent regiment has been divided into small groups, and the Japanese cannot be informed of this news.

During this period, they moved around a lot, resulting in the distance from Heiyun Village reaching more than 50 kilometers.

This distance was nothing for the soldiers, but they carried a lot of supplies and their marching speed was not fast.

There were Japanese soldiers conducting a cleanup operation nearby. In order to avoid encountering the Japanese soldiers again, the team's route was deep in the mountains.

The soldiers were convinced by Lin Qiang and had no complaints about any arrangements.

Qiangzi even set an example. Although he complained a lot along the way, he was the one who took turns with the mortar and heavy machine gun.

There is plenty of dry food and water, so there is no need to worry about food and drink.

In other words, the marching route is more difficult and the speed is not very fast.

This was not considered a difficulty. We had canned beef for every meal and life was so comfortable.

As the sky gradually darkened, the tall trees blocked most of the light, making the already dim forest appear even darker.

For safety reasons, Lin Qiang stopped the team and asked them to rest on a relatively flat slope to spend the night.

The soldiers all came from rural areas, so simple things like making fire and cooking were easy for them.

Although he didn't have a map, Lin Qiang knew that this place was not in the enemy-occupied area. Even if the Japanese wanted to clear the countryside, they would not risk coming so far.

Without any safety concerns, Hu Zi asked someone to quickly build a stone stove, collected a pile of firewood, and started cooking soon.

It’s called cooking, but it’s actually just a big hodgepodge.

Put the canned beef and some wild vegetables in a pot, add water and boil it. Break up the steamed buns you brought with you and put them in, and dinner is ready.

The cooking pot was brought from the village, and the steamed buns were stuffed into the arms of the soldiers from the village who joined the team by their families before they left.

The bowls were lunch boxes captured from the Japanese, and the chopsticks were randomly broken branches.

It was a simple meal, but the soldiers ate it with gusto.

At this time, a soldier came up to Lin Qiang, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, "Platoon leader, tell me, what is it like to fight the devils with bayonets on the battlefield?"

Qiangzi came over with a lunch box and said, "I've told you many times along the way that every battle the platoon leader has experienced, I was not there."

The soldier didn't give Qiangzi any face and said directly: "Brother Qiangzi, you said a lot, but I always feel that you are bragging."

"You kid..."

Lin Qiang waved his hand to interrupt, looked at the new recruits who had come over, and asked with a smile, "Why, you all want to listen?"

"Yes, platoon leader, we all want to listen."

"I just want to know what's going on. If I have to fight with bayonets on the battlefield in the future, I won't be so scared."

"Brother Qiangzi also said a lot, but every time he just said how many devils he killed, it sounded weird."

This sentence seemed to remind Qiangzi of some past events. In just a moment, he became depressed and walked to the fire and sat down without saying a word.

He didn't continue eating, but just sat there, staring at the dancing flames.

It was as if the flame could allow him to see the person or thing he wanted to see.

Lin Qiang knew what was going on. The soldier's words reminded him of his comrades who had died over the years.

War is cruel.

One thing is undeniable: people will die in war.

"Since you want to listen, I'll tell you."

A memory flashed through his mind, and Lin Qiang captured every detail.

Although it was not something he had experienced personally, he could still empathize with it.

"Actually, when you actually fight the devils with bayonets, you won't have time to be afraid. But you will definitely be afraid when you think about it afterwards. The devil's bayonets are longer than ours."

"Let me tell you about me."

"I remember it was during an encounter. The fighting broke out so suddenly that our soldiers had no time to react. Many of them were killed by the Japanese machine gun fire. We were very close to the Japanese at the time, and in the chaos, we couldn't hear the commander's orders. We just saw some people rushing into the Japanese team and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with them."

"At that time, I was just like you, a new soldier. What I carried on my back was not a gun, but an axe I brought from home when I joined the army."

"The Japanese reacted very quickly, drawing their bayonets and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with our soldiers."

"I froze in my tracks until I saw a comrade fall in front of me. I didn't know where I got the courage from, but I picked up the big knife on the ground and rushed into the enemy's ranks."

"I didn't think about anything at the time, and I didn't feel scared. I only heard the constant clashing of bayonets and the painful wails. I couldn't tell whether the blood on my body was my own or the blood of the Japanese."

"The ground was all blood-red, with corpses lying all over the place. I felt scared at that time, but the Japanese soldiers would not retract their bayonets just because you were scared. I could only swing my sword and kill as many Japanese soldiers as possible."

"I still remember it to this day. There was a Japanese lieutenant who was very skilled with a sword. Several soldiers were killed by him one after another. At that time, I was already blood-thirsty and rushed towards him with my sword raised. I didn't expect that the bastard reacted so quickly and started to fight me hard. At that time, I thought, this is enough. I'm going to die anyway. If I can drag a Japanese lieutenant with me before I die, then I'm going to win."

"I didn't feel any pain when the Japanese slashed my body twice. It was just like a burn. I just wanted to kill the bastard in front of me and then follow the main force to fight my way out."

Lin Qiang stopped talking here, and his thoughts seemed to go back to the battlefield where he personally participated in that brutal battle.

One soldier couldn't wait to ask, "Platoon leader, what happened next? Did you wipe out all the Japanese?"

"no!"

Lin Qiang lit a captured cigarette, took a puff and said, "We still don't know exactly how many Japanese soldiers there were. We only know that we killed them one after another. Later, the regiment commander ordered a retreat, which ended the hand-to-hand combat."

Then another soldier asked, "Platoon leader, who won in the end, you or the Japanese lieutenant commander?"

"Of course it's me!"

As Lin Qiang spoke, he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the scars on his ribs. "These, these, were left in that battle. I killed a Japanese lieutenant, and when I returned to the base, I was directly promoted to squad leader."

There was a detail that Lin Qiang did not mention. He was able to become a squad leader partly because of his performance on the battlefield, and another part, which was the most important part, was that the losses in that hand-to-hand combat were very heavy, and several platoon leaders and company commanders were killed.

These events happened to him, but Lin Qiang felt that he was more like a storyteller, telling the stories of someone.

It's not for showing off anything, I just want people to know, remember this incident, and remember the contribution made by someone.

Finally, Lin Qiang slowly said, "Remember, you can't retreat in a bayonet fight. There's no way to retreat. The only way to survive is to kill the devils in front of you."