The sky was blue, so blue, so blue.

I was lying on the rooftop balcony of the officers' club at the division's rotation base, with the sheets fluttering in the wind behind me, and the intoxicating roar of huge siege guns could be heard in the distance.

After a full week of rainy weather, the sun almost melted me.

Five days ago, in the middle of the night, I was carried down from the pile of dead bodies, and when I checked it, there were only a few abrasions on my body, and the doctor said that I had a little concussion, and I would be fine after resting, because the hospital bed was tight, and I was quickly rushed to the rotation base.

The regimental flag painted with the king of Kunshamen drooped in front of the gate of the officers' club, and with me, lazily soaking up the sun.

Before leaving, a sixteen-year-old girl from Shandong cried and told me that after the war, I must go to Lushun's Cui Maze to find her, and I told her that if I am still alive after the war, I must go back to marry according to the agreement with my father, and then find a way to find her.

I hate to call those women "comfort women" or "military chickens", they are no different from our sisters and fiancées, they are also women with feelings and thoughts, but fate has never treated everyone fairly......

The instructions of Wu Wei Gong conveyed by the superiors were as follows: Although there were strict control and preventive measures to introduce prostitutes and labor troops in each rotation rest base, the disease problem was not hindered, but the red face and water were ruined, and the people's hearts were corrupted, which hindered the development of the martial might of the imperial soldiers.

All is true, but I just want to lie in the crook of a woman's arms now, and forget for a moment the faces of dead men I know or don't know, the muddy water and flesh that used to fly around me, and the hoarse screams of the owners of those charred limbs...... Perhaps, I should add some alcohol and forget whether I am alive or dead.

But now I'm sober.

I, Li Ruishi, deputy battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 31st Regiment of the 93rd Brigade of the 11th Infantry Division, and a temporary battalion commander, were just promoted to the rank of captain yesterday, but until today, I do not have a single able-bodied soldier under my command.

The 1 battalion was finished, just four days ago.

In the afternoon of the same day, our battalion was responsible for attacking Fort No. 13 and removing the threat of flank fire for the main force of the regiment to attack Fort D. I was the commander of the second company at that time, and the soldiers in the company were basically rookies, and a third of them had a history of fleeing before the battle.

I led my company to attack the trench in front of the multi-faced fort, and the first company followed, and immediately encountered the enemy's counterattack, because the company retreated, my company was almost eaten by the Russians in one go, but fortunately, the battalion commander brought two other companies at the critical moment and saved me once.

The company commander handed over the remnants of the first company to me, and personally led the third and fourth companies to rush to the Duomian Fort, which seemed to be destroyed at once by the enemy's electric mine array and projectile mines.

At that time, I sent someone to ask the regiment commander, and the regiment commander ordered me to act as the battalion commander and lead the rest of the men to complete the task before a certain point and a certain minute, otherwise it would be dealt with by military law. When the correspondent braved the ferocious fire of the enemy fortress to deliver the order to me, the time limit to complete the mission was only five minutes.

I had no choice, I was determined to die, and led more than 100 people around me to rush up on the stumps and flesh of my comrades, and a bunch of strangely shaped objects suddenly fell from the sky, and my eyes were black and I lost consciousness.

Later, I learned that only 67 of the more than 700 people in the battalion, including me, survived the battle, and half of them were seriously injured and needed to be hospitalized.

Regardless of whether we had completed our mission or not, the main force of the regiment had to launch an attack as originally planned, and as a result, under the fire of Fort No. 13 and the east side of Fort D, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions each lost more than two-thirds of their personnel, and the attack completely failed, and the regimental commander and regimental deputy were killed together.

After that, the division sent a rescue team to save their own people who were still alive on the battlefield at night, and Nie Wenqing and I were among them.

The midshipman Warrant Officer Nie Wenqing, who was very close to me, was lucky enough to lose only a third of his right ear.

Now he's sitting next to me, his hands on the ground, looking up at the blue sky, and his expression is calm.

"The 93rd Regiment died miserably this time, and Kunsha Mentian failed to bless us."

He stared blankly at the regimental flag, Kunshamentian, who was wearing the Ming Guang armor of the Tang Dynasty, his eyes were wide with anger, and his beard was upturned, as if he was angrily refuting Nie Wenqing.

"Captain Lee, I've always been cared for by you......"

"For something else, your tone is like life and death."

I interrupted him unceremoniously, I'm easily angry now, but I don't want to throw fire at anyone.

I'm tired.

Nie Wenqing lowered his head, the sunlight slanted across the outline of his face, and I suddenly felt that that face was indeed very beautiful.

"I've been officially promoted to second lieutenant, and tomorrow I'll be a member of the general affairs section of the brigade administration."

"It's over, that's good."

I knew that Lu Dao would be like this, after all, I am a graduate of Lu University, how can I always be on the front line and consume it with the soldiers?

In short, I no longer have to worry about the eyes of the Earl Nie Shicheng wandering between me and the coffin containing his son.

I should be content now.

"We'll see you again later."

"Yes, please take care of me in the future."

Nie Wenqing bowed down to me respectfully and handed me a machine gun bullet.

"What is this?"

"I once almost killed you because of a bullet like this, please accept this, it carries my apologies to you, and my gratitude to you - it was you who turned me into a real soldier."

I felt the muscles in my face relax slightly.

"So, have you finally succumbed to fate?"

"This is the only way I go."

Nie Wenqing stared at me intently, his gaze full of steely firmness.

"It's still a long time."

"I've decided."

"So, let's go together."

I held out my hand, which he held in confusion and excitement, a little shaky, but hard.

"Do you know the way? Nie Wenqing, you can burn even more fiercely. ”

"What?"

"You'll understand slowly in the future, now, let's go have a drink, and then go to the martial arts hall to find someone to fight, what do you think?"

"Listen to you."

I grabbed him and ran to where we were going.

I felt that I would have an ally, perhaps, a friend.

We did not drink alcohol, and the waiter at the club told us that the commander had ordered that no one should drink alcohol until the capture of Mount Kimir.

"The liquor was all taken away by the people of the military hospital, there were too many wounded, and there was not enough medical alcohol......"

The waiter added quietly.

"Haven't you taken Mount Kimir yet? It's been five days......"

Nie Wenqing snorted.

I patted him on the neck: "Don't think about it, it's the 13th Division fighting now, I don't know how lucky they are, they've been firing artillery day and night these days, I see those cannon pipes are burning red - let's go directly to the martial arts hall." ”

Nie Wenqing had no objection.

The plaque of the martial arts hall is said to have been written by the division commander, Major General Zheng Hong, and it is powerful and powerful, revealing a wild and heroic spirit.

The door was opened, and there was a table by the entrance, and a sergeant, wearing a red armband, sat the administrator.

"Please register."

The administrator handed over the notebook.

"Do you want to do boxing or do you want to practice equipment?"

"You have to practice stabbing and kendo."

"Please go over there and change your clothes."

Nie Wenqing and I changed into martial arts uniforms and protective gear, carried wooden guns and knives, and went to the equipment area, where several pairs were already practicing stabbing, and a man wearing a "coach" armband on his arm and a face guard on his head was sitting in the corner.

"Let's get started."

I dropped the wooden knife and picked up the wooden gun made in imitation of the Hanyang 97 rifle, and in order to achieve the realistic effect, the wooden gun was also inlaid with iron blocks in different parts, so it was very weighty to hold. The tip of the spear is wrapped in a soft pad, and even so, if it is stabbed directly into the body, it will still cause some damage, so it is necessary to wear a full set of ancient armor-like protective gear and put on a fence-like protective face.

We were three steps away from each other, the tips of our guns pointing at each other.

"You attack first."

I said to Nie Wenqing, of course I think my stabbing skills are far superior to him.

Nie Wenqing let out a loud shout and strode over.

"Flawed!"

I let out a loud shout, a flash and a stab, and the tip of the spear was inserted into his waist guard under his left rib, cleanly.

"It's too unkind to bully a rookie."

I couldn't see his face behind the mask, but I felt that there was a familiar temperament in his bright eyes—a temperament I had just discovered somewhere.

The coach dragged the wooden gun backwards and walked slowly in front of me.

"Any advice?"

I glanced at him, he glanced at me.

"Have fun."

"Let the horses come."

"You come first."

"You're welcome."

My right hand pressed the butt of the gun on my waist, inhaled slightly, and screamed "killingly", and the gun fired angrily, aiming at the opponent's chest like thunder and lightning.

Wait a minute! I can't see his movements clearly!

The gun was empty, and I was stabbed hard in the middle of the stomach.

It's a character.

"Change the wooden knife."

I dropped the wooden gun, picked up the wooden knife on the ground, and threw one at him.

Kendo originated in Japan, after the First Sino-Japanese War, the improved kendo gradually became popular in our country and Korea, not only there are many kendo associations and dojos among the people, many schools also include it in the physical education curriculum, in the army, officers who have the privilege of wearing sabers are especially fond of this kind of martial arts, both physically and mentally.

"There's no need to compare, just look at the momentum of the frame you hold the knife and know that you are far below the third stage."

"That's right, before graduating from the Army Academy, I was admitted to the second stage of the Sword Federation."

"I am the eighth dan of the Greater China Kendo Federation and the seventh dan of the Continental Branch of the Japan Kendo Association."

"What?"

The other person takes off the face shield.

Everyone present immediately stopped practicing and saluted him together.

That coach was none other than Commander Zheng Hong of our 11th Division.

"Commander, I don't know Taishan ...... I have eyes"

Senior Commander Zheng smiled and patted me on the shoulder: "It's nothing, I'm depressed, I want to come here to find a master, but I haven't seen anyone who is qualified, by the way, Warrant Officer Nie Wenqing Thanks to you for taking care of me, I thank you on behalf of Earl Nie Shicheng - he is my old boss." ”

"It's a subordinate business......

"Come to me in the evening and have a few drinks."

"But the commander has an order ......"

"It's the wine that the commander gave me, it's a good thing."

It is better to be respectful than to obey fate.

I'm a, lucky man.