The sky overhead looked like it was going to rain, and the occasional bird was seen in the field, but for this field, they were just passers-by looking for food. Like these birds, the sparse refugees who appeared far away in the wilderness were also passers-by, and after the air raids, the large group of refugees who rushed to Nanjing like Tang Cheng and them dispersed, and most of them continued along the road, and only a few dozen of the refugees who were eager to beg for nothing had to follow Tang Cheng to Nanjing.

Tang Cheng, with strips of cloth wrapped around his arms, and a dark-complexed and stout man walked in the front, followed by a family of three men with glasses, and the black-faced man was everyone's guide, who claimed to have been to Nanjing in the wild when he was trafficking in smuggled goods. Tang Cheng was followed by about fifty or sixty civilians, some of them were gray-haired, hunched over their waists and on crutches, and it seemed that they would have to gasp for a while after walking a few steps, some were pale, and they had to rely on the support of others to stand, and some were still in infancy, completely incapable of self-action.

Such a group of old and weak women and children with difficulty in moving still have large and small suitcases and bags at their feet, and the only two donkey carts on which the people sit either have colored clothes on their heads or bandages on their arms, and the little space left is used to carry scattered food and children. Although Suzhou is not very far from Nanjing, almost all of these refugees are old and weak, women and children, and they have to walk to Nanjing step by step with their feet, if they can't find a place to supply food along the way, they will starve to death half of the people.

Looking at people's anxious and helpless expressions, Tang Cheng reluctantly accepted his new mission - to escort these refugee areas in Nanjing, and Robert instilled fraternity in him since he was a child. Escorting the refugees to Nanjing was not an easy task, although the route was not always full of difficulties and dangers, but for the time being, the sniper and killing tactics of the Japanese infiltration troops were indispensable. There is at least a 200-kilometer journey from Suzhou to Nanjing, and Tang Cheng doesn't know how many miles these refugees behind Lu Dao can walk every day, but at least it won't exceed 30 kilometers, so Tang Cheng set the time of this mission at 8 days.

These refugees behind Tang Cheng are all flesh and blood living people, and their safety is naturally one aspect, and their fatigue and hunger have to be considered along the way, so Tang Cheng will check the bloodstained food before setting off, and even snatch two donkey carts from a group of refugees who took the road to Nanjing despite everyone's opposition. "Go" At Tang Cheng's signal, the black-faced man who led the way waved his hand, and the refugees who had been resting on the ground for a while got up and followed the man silently in a loose formation.

I don't know why these people believe that Tang Cheng doesn't really have the ability to command the team, he just follows the record in Xie Bo's war notebook and makes a rough division according to the number of refugees. The small number of adult men among the refugees is separated, and one adult man is responsible for caring for at least four to five elderly and infirm women and children, which sounds high, but the reality is that people see the hardships ahead. After a distance of more than 200 kilometers and a wild land, it would be difficult for those old and weak women and children to walk to Nanjing with their feet if they could not find anyone to help.

His arms had been re-bandaged with clean strips of cloth, and Tang Cheng, who was also dressed as a civilian, had been at the front of the line, his body was not the strongest among them, but he had a gun in his hand. The 20-shot barge gun was pinned in Tang Cheng's belt, and the M1911 was inserted in the back waist, Tang Cheng, who was armed with two pistols, was undoubtedly the most combat-ready person in this group of refugees, and more than half of the refugees behind him thought that Tang Cheng was a lone gunman with a good heart.

Tang Cheng, who temporarily acted as a guard, did not have much intersection with these refugees, except for an occasional conversation with the black-faced man who led the way, the rest of the time he either buried his head in the road or looked left and right at the surrounding movements, even when he stopped to rest, Tang Cheng sat away from the crowd. After walking for an hour, he would stop and rest for ten minutes, which Tang Cheng had planned early in the morning, and when Robert took the young Tang Cheng to preach in Shandong, he traveled almost half of Shandong.

When he stopped to rest again, Tang Cheng, who had a cigarette in his mouth, looked at the refugees sitting on the ground behind him, each of them was very tired, and even looked like they were about to collapse, but the suitcase in his hand or the tightly bound baggage did not get rid of it. Tang Cheng estimated that those suitcases or bags should contain what these people thought were the most important and precious household items, or they could be treasured calligraphy and paintings, gold and jewelry, didn't these people know that nothing in the world was comparable to life? Perhaps these people would rather lose their lives than their suitcases and baggage.

"Uncle, please eat sugar, grandpa said, you won't miss your mother if you eat sugar." The immature voice woke Tang Cheng from his contemplation, and what appeared in front of Tang Cheng was a white and tender little hand, the owner of the little hand was a child who looked only three or four years old, and the child was trying to stand on tiptoe to put the candy cube in his hand to Tang Cheng's mouth. Holding the child was an old man with white hair, and from the wisdom in the old man's eyes and the warm smile on his face, Tang Cheng judged that the old man should be a person who read poetry and books.

The old man was dressed in simple clothes, without glasses, carrying a small suitcase in his right hand, and holding the three or four-year-old children in his left hand, and on the other side of the child was an "old woman" wearing a large linen shawl. Like the old man, the old woman's eyes were full of love and kindness, these three people should be grandfathers and grandmothers with young grandchildren, Tang Cheng subconsciously put away the shell gun in his hand, and then got up and bowed to the old man and the old woman according to the etiquette of the church school. "Hello sir, it's a pleasure to meet you! Can I help you? Tang Cheng reached out to pick up the suitcase in the old man's hand, but was stopped by the old man shaking his head.

The old man holding the child seemed to have noticed Lynn a long time ago, and when he heard him speak, he replied curiously and gratifyingly, "Thank you, I can do it myself!" The box was nothing more than books that the old man was reluctant to throw away. Judging from the posture and movements, the old couple's physique is also quite tough, in fact, two donkey carts pulling the wounded are walking behind them, although the cart is very full, but there should still be a place to put down a small suitcase.

The child with the candy cube in his hand still looked up at Tang Cheng stubbornly, his little hand held high, as if Tang Cheng didn't take the candy cube in his hand, the little guy would have to stand like this all the time. "Is this your grandson?" Tang Cheng looked down at the child, his young face was red from the cold, he wore a gray velvet hat, a slightly large tweed jacket, and a pair of delicate brown leather shoes on his feet. From the child's dress and the old woman's big shawl, Tang Cheng has already seen that this family of three is not rich but expensive, the European-style shawl is not bought by ordinary people, and the brown leather shoes on the child's feet should also be hand-made in England.

"It's a granddaughter! My youngest son's daughter! The old man looked at the child with kind eyes, and the old woman standing beside him took off the velvet hat on the child's head, and two mischievous pigtails appeared in Tang Cheng's sight. Tang Cheng was stunned for a while, then leaned down, reached out and gently stroked the back of the child's head, the fine hair under the velvet hat had a feel a hundred times softer than cashmere, which reminded Tang Cheng, who had recently sunk in the smoke of war, of his distant childhood, when he was also taken care of by Robert.

"Uncle, eat candy, grandma said, uncle will laugh when he eats candy." The naïve little guy still didn't give up the idea of stuffing sugar cubes for Tang Cheng, and pulled Tang Cheng's shirt hard to make Tang Cheng squat down, and stuffed the sugar cube in his hand into the sugar cube's mouth with a smile. The candy cube was very hard, but the sweetness made Tang Cheng's eyes astringent, and he thought of Robert again, every time he got into trouble and was beaten, Robert would always allow Tang Cheng to eat a piece of hard candy, in order to eat a delicious sugar cube, sometimes Tang Cheng would even make some small mistakes on purpose.

Tang Cheng, who was squatting on the ground, reached into the pocket of his underwear and fumbled for a moment, took out the piece of dark chocolate that he had never been willing to eat and handed it to the little girl, this dark chocolate was given to Tang Cheng by Sister Emma when she was hospitalized. "Wow, it's chocolate, Uncle Xie." After the little girl got the chocolate, she was not in a hurry to open it, but reached out and put her arms around Tang Cheng's neck, put her mouth to Tang Cheng's left cheek and kissed it quite loudly.

"This kid has been very naughty since he was a child, don't be surprised." The little girl who was doting on the smiling old woman was in her arms, but her eyes were as peaceful as her family when she looked at Tang Cheng. Tang Cheng, who was a little twisted, subconsciously touched his face, and seeing that the old couple did not have any reproachful looks, Tang Cheng relieved himself. Although this small fragrant kiss could not completely sweep away the depression and heaviness in Tang Cheng's heart, at least at this moment, his body and mind became much more relaxed.

"Alright, it's time for us to go." Receiving Tang Cheng's eyes, the black-faced man urged everyone to go on the road again, and Tang Cheng, who was in a much better mood, took the little girl in the old woman's hand and put it on the donkey cart, snatched the small suitcase in the old man's hand and walked beside the old couple with one hand. The old man didn't refuse Tang Cheng's help this time, but just glanced at the old woman beside him, but the smiles in the eyes of the two were clearly visible.

Among this group of refugees, Tang Cheng is not the youngest, but he is definitely still a child, and the safety of the whole group of people is pressed on the shoulders of such a child, and the old couple who are full of poetry and books feel very uncomfortable. Tang Cheng rarely spoke along the way, and the whole person looked gloomy, and the old couple who wanted to solve Tang Cheng would let their little granddaughter send Tang Cheng a candy cube, but I didn't expect this method to be quite easy, at least Tang Cheng's face was no longer so gloomy now.