"No, he didn't hit me!" For a moment, Shang Yujun stared at the black smoke and dust streaked across the grass, forgetting everything in his mind, leaving only the thought of getting out of danger. The knowledge of movement under enemy fire, which he had learned during his four years of military school life, immediately came alive, and he quickly jumped up, bent down and ran forward, and then quickly fell down.

"Knock knock knock! —" Another long shot slammed into the wind and landed behind him, sending the stumps of gravel and grass flying high into the sky. "Not good!" He screamed in his heart, got up again, sprinted forward for a while, and fell down again. Suddenly he remembered his troops and straightened up.

"Full platoon - maintain a sports formation under enemy fire! Move forward quickly——! He shouted behind him; Noticing that behind a dwarf tree four or five meters away, the two widening eyes of Li Yue, the ninth squad leader, flashed in horror.

Another barrage of machine-gun bullets hit him, and he rolled over several times in succession, dodging this new attack. The horror that filled my heart when I was hit by the first blow of the Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun still existed, but because I had dodged three blows from the Soviet army in a row, the excitement and joy of surviving by luck also swelled in my life.

"War is neither life nor death, but a state that puts your life between life and death...... You can dodge a lot of bullets, but you may not be able to dodge the last one. If you want to live, you must always keep a clear head and not let your actions slip every second. He thought, feeling as if he had grasped the essence of war. And it's not yet an essence that makes him completely hopeless.

His heart was slightly excited, and his ears were still listening attentively to the firing of the Soviet army's Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun, "War is an act of survival rather than death," a thought quickly passed through his mind, making him realize that he was about to get closer to a newer discovery, "Why did I keep thinking about death before the war?" I don't want to die. I don't think I deserve to die. What I want to find is the answer: the art of war is not the art of death, but the art of life. War is about evading and triumphing over death. He understood that this was the discovery, and his heart beat violently, "I couldn't go to war before the war, because I didn't know anything about war at that time. "But today when I go to war, I know what war is, and I have found my place in it." ”

For at least five minutes he lay on his stomach in the bushes of dwarf pines, recognizing the great joy of the discovery. In spite of the incessant gunshots, and though the distant landscape was still shrouded in a black veil of death, the few fat leaves on the grass in front of him had regained their bright dark green luster in the sunlight; Later in the movement, his feelings, perceptions, and thoughts were fixed on that discovery. A simple desire and will to survive dominated him, causing him to pay attention only to the gunfire and impact points of the Soviet troops. His energy was so focused that he could not be long before he could tell whether they were dangerous to him by the slightest difference in the sound of gunfire. Each time he deftly dodged the Soviet bullets, he would be given new strength and confidence, which in turn would make him more calm and calm in dodging the Soviet bullets. He did not spend a lot of energy to take care of the soldiers of the whole platoon, but his actions themselves had already affected them, and gradually the whole platoon understood: the platoon commander's military technique and intuition about the impact point of the Soviet troops were first-class, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with following him to leap forward and lie down and lie down!

The real test comes in the latter part of the journey. Because the 3rd Platoon of the 8th Company was disconnected from the front team by the Soviet Army's Gaoping dual-use machine gun, and the front team did not expect to leave a road sign when they changed the marching route, the 3rd Platoon and 9th Company of the 8th Company still took the original route. As soon as they got rid of the entanglement of the Soviet army's Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun on the No. 3 peak of Xilian Mountain, they were intercepted head-on by another Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun on the main peak of Xilian Mountain in the southeast. Shang Yujun encountered several very dangerous situations along the way, and once he was completely desperate, and the Soviet shooter turned his gun away again. But because they didn't know about the change of the marching route of the troops in front, in the end, they led the Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun of the Soviet army on the Big Nose Peak to the 632 highland area! It wasn't until the whole platoon successfully entered the gully on the west side of the leg of the 631 Heights that Shang Yujun's highly tense heartstrings relaxed. Before he could realize the great joy that this incident brought him, Lu Liwei, the seventh squad leader, pointed to the east and said quietly and in surprise: "Platoon leader, look! The 7th and 8th companies have gone up! There are no Soviet troops on the heights! Shang Yujun looked to the east and southeast. He saw two towering peaks. He knew that they were 632 and 633 Heights, and suddenly felt that his heart stopped beating, and he jumped in ecstasy! "Without the Soviets, that is to say ......", he did not think about it, because another thought had already come to him - "I live!" Alive! Alive! I have conquered death! ”

He looked around. Although the Gaoping dual-purpose machine guns of the Soviet army at Big Nose Peak were still firing wildly at their area, the black veil that shrouded their vision had disappeared, and the sun above their heads was bright and joyful!

Cheng Yukun and Liang Tenghui followed the 3rd platoon into the gully. Then, the 2nd and 1st platoons also rushed to Cheng Yukun to stand in the forest at the mouth of the ditch. He had already seen Deputy Regiment Commander Liu in the rain crack ditch at the top of the mountain leg on the east side of the gully, and he also saw the mung bean-sized figures of the officers and soldiers of the 7th and 8th companies who had climbed the 632 and 633 heights through the thin fog in the mountains.

Cheng Yukun was happy in his heart: he had brought the 9th Company to the 632 Highland area! Since the 7th and 8th companies did not fight, the 9th company would not be sent to fight by the deputy regiment commander!

The training officer Cui Shi'an hurriedly ran out of the depths of the ditch and shouted excitedly: "Company Commander Cheng, have you all arrived?" ”

Cheng Yukun felt a "chuckle" in his heart. This person has always been very quiet, and being so excited today can't help but make him nervous immediately. But he replied, "Report to the instructor, we are all here!" ”

Cui Shi'an didn't stop, turned around and ran along a rain crack ditch under the leg of the mountain to the top of the leg of the mountain, an ominous premonition made Cheng Yukun's heart hang in his throat!

Soon, Cui Shi'an hurried down the rain crack ditch again!

"Company Commander Cheng; The deputy regiment commander ordered your company to immediately go and seize the 634 heights, the sooner the better! He stood still in front of Cheng Yukun, blushed, and said loudly.

"Got it!" Cheng Yukun subconsciously replied, and for some reason he turned his head first, and glanced at the 634 Heights in the southeast that was half-covered by the 633 Heights. I touched the safety of the submachine gun on my chest again. Suddenly, his state of mind changed! Since the 7th and 8th companies had occupied the 632nd and 633rd heights, and the 634th heights were closest to the Soviet defensive depth, the latter heights became a very dangerous place in his eyes!

It turns out that you thought that you couldn't fight, and the company couldn't fight, so Deputy Commander Liu wouldn't send the 9th Company to fight, but you were wrong!

"Ulante, quickly call the three platoon commanders and the deputy company commander!" He called out to his communicator.

At this moment, his mind has quickly turned into the mind of a real military commander: at present, except for a high-level dual-purpose machine gun of the Soviet army on the leg of the Big Nose Peak, there has not been a single Soviet army in the entire 632 highland area! The deputy head of the regiment told them as soon as possible, and he himself thought that the sooner the better! Only by quickly controlling the 634 heights can we take the initiative in the future!

Deputy Company Jiang Yusheng and the three platoon commanders were all standing in front of him in less than half a minute.

Cheng Yukun immediately issued an order to them: "1 platoon leader, I order your platoon to run immediately and occupy the 634 heights!" 2 rows 3 rows, follow up in the back! …… Let's do it! ”

The officers quickly dispersed into their ranks. The 1st platoon in the direction of Mizoguchi immediately made an move. Row 2 followed.

"3 platoons, keep up with 2 platoons, keep in battle formation!" When he ran forward with the 2nd platoon, Cheng Yukun did not forget to shout at Shang Yujun in the depths of the forest with a hoarse voice!

The reasons that prompted him to turn the 1st platoon into the sharp knife platoon were as follows: the 1st platoon arrived last, the closest to the ditch, and the change from the rear to the front was the most in line with his idea of "the sooner the better"; The second and most important - although he doesn't like the 1st platoon commander Li Ansheng, the latter is the only one among the three platoon commanders who has ever fought!

It was only when he left Mizoguchi that he remembered to glance at his trainer. One of Liang Tenghui's arms was still supported by Zhang Wei, and his face was even whiter and ugly than when he saw it on the big mountain sorghum of No. 1 Ridge. Liang Tenghui also looked in the direction of 634 Heights. Cheng Yukun's heart moved: this person seemed to have finally woken up from a sleepwalking state!

In the forest three or four meters behind them, Shang Yujun also issued an order to the whole platoon, "Run forward, keep up with the 2nd platoon", while involuntarily looking through the woods towards the 634 heights in the southeast direction. He didn't see the whole picture of the high ground clearly, but he suddenly realized that the heaven and earth, mountains, rivers, grass and trees in front of him, together with the sun overhead, were suddenly covered with a black veil of death!

At this time, at the headquarters, Peng Tao stood next to the huge military map in the "bedroom", holding a telephone receiver, and was closely watching the combat operations of the 5th Regiment and 3rd Battalion in the 632 Highland Area.

On the other end of the phone was the commander of the 631 battalion on the 3 heights. The 3rd Battalion had spent the morning taking the last two small heights at the easternmost end of Ridge 1 - Heights 629 and 630 - and taking full control of them, and his interest was now turned to the area of Heights 632 to the southeast. The commander of the 3rd Battalion held a high-powered telescope in his hand, and from time to time reported what he observed to Peng Tao by phone: "Regiment commander, they have occupied the 632 heights and have not encountered the Soviet army!" ”

"Regiment commander, they went to the 633 heights, but they still didn't meet the Soviet army! ……”

Every time the commander of the 3rd Battalion reported a new situation, Peng Tao's eyes quickly found the corresponding position on the map, and the excitement in his heart increased by one point!

Peng Tao couldn't help but be excited: from 8 o'clock in the morning to the present, although the Soviet army has not stopped shelling the first line of the No. 1 ridge, the infantry counterattack has not begun, which made him calm down his once extremely nervous mood; After the 3rd Battalion captured the 629 and 630 heights, only three small highlands remained in the 632 heights area on the hills that had not been completely occupied by the Chinese army in the No. 1 Ridge area. Naturally, his attention shifted all to the area; The 3rd Battalion of the 5th Regiment had not only reached the area under Soviet artillery fire and Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun fire (the above had been reported to him by the 2nd Battalion on the 342nd Heights and the 3rd Battalion on the 631st Heights, respectively), but had also quickly occupied two of the heights closest to the 1st Ridge, eliminating the possible threat posed by the Soviets from that direction to the main position of the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Ridge.

"3 battalion commander, pay close attention to the next move of the 3rd battalion of the 5th regiment!" He gave another order to the commander of the 3 battalion.

"Yes!" The commander of the 3 battalion replied.

Now Peng Tao has reason to be proud of the decision made in the morning to send Liu Zongsheng to lead the 5th Regiment and 3rd Battalion to recover the 632 highland area. Liu Zongsheng was Liu Zongsheng in the end, he did not scatter his troops in the vast area between the mountain streams - 342 heights - 631 heights and legs, just as Zhu Yongde, the commander of the 4th regiment, led his troops to scatter on the way to the 001 heights (the latter news he got from He Chaozong); Of course, Liu Zongsheng was not able to arrive at the area where the attack started at the time he had set, because the time he had set was not sufficient. A commander like Liu Zongsheng will never let your rules bind his hands and feet when he arrives on the battlefield, but Liu Zongsheng's battle progress after reaching the 632 Heights area is fast enough! From the point of view that the purpose of war is nothing more than victory, he should only be happy to have a commander like Liu Zongsheng who can flexibly and flexibly carry out orders and accomplish tasks according to the time and place!

In the receiver of the phone, the voice of the commander of the 3rd battalion became excited again: "Report to the regiment commander, they are moving to the 634 heights again!" ”

Peng Tao's gaze fell on the small highland on the map, which was located at the southernmost point of the 632 Highlands area. For some reason, one of his hearts suddenly hung high in his throat!

"What's going on over there in 634?" He asked the commander of the 3 battalion.

"Nothing." The commander of the 3rd Battalion replied, "Only the Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun on Big Nose Peak has been shooting at them!" ”

Peng Tao didn't say anything more. However, a sentence had clearly sprung up in his mind!

Let the silence of the 632 Highlands area continue!

Not only him, but the people of the entire 632 Highlands area are also silently reciting this sentence in their hearts - let the silence here last forever!

Cheng Yukun then caught a glimpse of Shang Yujun, the leader of the 3rd platoon, in the crowd - Shang Yujun's child-like face was paler than when he saw it on the No. 1 Ridge Mountain Beam, and he didn't receive an order at all, so he automatically took the 3rd platoon to follow the 2nd platoon and the 1st platoon into the Linggu Valley because the 1st platoon was broken up, and he wanted to find someone to bring it up again, and the deputy company Jiang Yusheng was the first to appear in his field of vision, so he handed over the 1st platoon to Jiang Yusheng; And because the road ahead was blocked by the minefield of the Soviet army, the 1st and 2nd platoons that had retreated hid in the 99 Ridge Valley between the 632 and 633 heights under the blow of the Soviet Army's Gaoping dual-purpose machine guns at Dabifeng, and he thought for a moment that the whole company should move eastward from this ridge valley to the east side of the 633 Heights, and then turn south to attack the 634 Heights. The above decision was all forced by the battlefield situation, passive and unthoughtful, but undoubtedly correct - it at least gave the company a clear direction of action that had just been disrupted by Soviet fire from two directions.

A small-caliber shell fell into the grass on the half-slope of the 632 Heights and blew up a small pine tree; At this moment, the sensation of Cheng Yukun's legs recovered. He was about to descend the mountain, following the whole company into the ridge valley between the 632 and 633 heights, and then stopped, looking with high vigilance towards a crack under the Big Nose Peak—there were some black dots of people popping up, stretching along the Big Nose Peak to the big mountain leg on the west side of the 634 and 633 heights, running lifelessly!

Cheng Yukun's brain melon "boomed": It was the Soviet army from Xilian Mountain who came to reinforce the 634 heights!

Before the new enemy situation appeared, Cheng Yukun's estimation of the enemy situation in the direction of the 634 Heights was limited to the gunshots and mine explosions heard in front of him, and the deterrence they caused in his heart was no greater than the high-level dual-purpose machine gun on the Big Nose Peak, so he reflexively made the choice of letting the whole company move to the east side of the 633 Heights and attack the 634 Heights a few minutes ago. Now it is different, if he thought that the whole company could still defeat the Soviet army on the 634th heights and seize the high ground when he made the above decision, once the newly emerged Soviet army in the direction of Xilian Mountain reached the high ground, he could not believe that his 9th company would be able to complete the task of seizing the high ground!

"9 in a row! 9 in a row! I'm Liu Zongsheng! If you hear it, please answer! Please answer after listening! ”

The walkie-talkie, which had been hiding in the crack in the stone behind him, suddenly exploded. Cheng Yukun heard that it was the deputy head of the regiment calling him!

"I'm 9 Companies! …… I'm Cheng Yukun! He took the receiver handed over by the walkie-talkie operator and replied with a crying voice.

Immediately, Liu Zongsheng's changed tone of voice became louder and more impatient: "Cheng Yukun, have you seen any reinforcements from the Soviet army in Xilian Mountain?!" ”

"See!"

"Hurry up and seize the 634 heights, don't delay for a moment! Be sure to get to the heights ahead of the Soviet reinforcements! I'll kill your head if you make a mistake! ”

"Yes!"

Cheng Yukun finally replied, threw the receiver to the walkie-talkie, and didn't think about whether his leg had regained sensation, so he ran down the mountain in a puff of smoke.

The deputy commander's order magnified the fear in his heart many times! Now he could not hear the whistling sound of bullets fired by the Soviet army's Gaoping dual-purpose machine gun at Dabifeng Peak, or the sound of small-caliber shells flying from the direction of Xilian Mountain that were becoming more and more dense and exploding. There was only one thing left in his life consciousness: hurry up and occupy the 634 heights!

(To be continued)