Chapter 2: Skies and Warriors ()

(...... Many of the soldiers who went to the battlefield for the first time couldn't even eat after they came down, and some started to get sick, and then died in a few days. We said that they were scared to death. Later we knew that they were shocked and injured. We knew that when the enemy was bombarded, they should crouch with their heads with their hands and instead of lying down against the ground... Those who knew these were veterans who had survived for many years of war, and those brothers who went to the battlefield with me were no longer there... Excerpted from "Grandpa's Memories of the War of Resistance")

"I'll go back and take a look first. In our country, this is an unfortunate thing. If it weren't for the closest relatives, everyone would avoid it, for fear of being unlucky..." Cao Xiaomin received a call from home saying that his grandfather had passed away and asked him to go back. He refused his fiancée's request and decided to go back by himself.

"I know, the old man in your family may not accept me easily, especially the oldest grandfather. He participated in that war, right?... But it has been so long, and I think the deeper the damage will be restored; don't worry, they will like me, the Japanese wife..." Iwasaki Kana's voice was still so clear, just as he said in his ear just now, but now Cao Xiaomin has traveled through time...

Grandpa's death was not bad news for Cao Xiaomin, because if the old man was there, he would definitely object to marrying a Japanese girl as his wife; although his objection would definitely be invalid, it would leave some psychological shadow for Kana.

Grandpa Zu actually has no blood relationship with Cao Xiaomin. He is his grandfather's adoptive father; Grandpa was an orphan in the war, and Grandpa adopted him. He only knew that Grandpa Zu was convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes because he was once a Kuomintang officer and was supposed to be shot, but somehow, it is said that the director of the Revolutionary Committee was once a soldier under Grandpa Zu, who saved him... a very messy and complicated period of history, and he himself didn't know much, but he knew that Grandpa Zu later went to prison for twelve years.

The old man was squeezed by his grandmother and mother at home, and even the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law thought about driving the old man out; for this matter, my grandfather almost beat her to death with a cane... Later I vaguely learned that my grandfather and grandfather's biological father were originally comrades in the same trench. My grandfather's biological father died on the battlefield, and my grandfather used meager military salary to support my grandfather's family...

Grandpa Zu suddenly became a hero when Cao Xiaomin went to college. That time, several people came to his family to interview the old man. Only then did everyone know that Grandpa Zu was the only veteran who started the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1937, from the Battle of Songhu to the surrender of Japan in 1945, was an old hero of the War of Resistance Against Japan!

At the request of those people, Grandpa, who was in good spirits, agreed to write a memoir about his journey of the War of Resistance. During his twelve years of prison, Grandpa learned to write. This is something that the old man is very proud of. He can finally write down the experience of those eight years of blood and tears with his pen!

Grandpa Grandpa completed his manuscript, but the people who were said to be from the Propaganda Department never came again. Grandpa Grandpa's manuscript was discovered after his death. He wrapped it well, and used silk and also posted a seal outside the package, which stated that it would be handed over to Cao Xiaomin as the most precious inheritance, his beloved great-grandson.

It was this very attractive memoir with the content. This damn memoir made Cao Xiaomin, who was rushing back, unable to help but stay up all night to read it, and then his eyes went dark... When Cao Xiaomin woke up, he became a newly enlisted man from the security team of Laoqu Township, northern Jiangsu in 1937!

If Grandpa's soul was causing trouble and allowed to travel to this time and space, then he should let himself go back, right? It's really terrible here...

Every day, people carry many wounded people down from the front line, and all kinds of injuries are: bombs, burns, shocks, bayonets, bullets... Without exception, all the wounded people are smelly! He has also seen a living soldier with his legs broken by blown off, but his wound with yellow water and bad blood actually crawled with maggots! This made him not eat for a whole day... The seriously injured are said to be sent to a large hospital in Shanghai; minor wounds like them who can walk and scattered scattered soldiers stay at the front line logistics base waiting to be reorganized into a supplementary force and sent to the line of fire.

In fact, this place is not far from the line of fire. Not only can the sound of cannons can be heard clearly, but the firelight of the distant shells exploded at night can be seen; but it is safer here than on the line of fire, at least not every day. Sometimes the Japanese cannons will bombard the rear positions of the Kuomintang army in boredom. Once the shells landed less than three hundred meters from the camp!

"Hi! Can you hear it?" A hoarse male voice rang in his ears, completely pulling Cao Xiaomin back to 1937.

His eyes were still dull, but Cao Xiaomin nodded at the person and asked, "Do they... still live?"

"Okay! This person is fine!" The officer with sweat and mud on his face seemed to have some blood on his face, pulled him up: "Let's go, come with me..." He did not answer Cao Xiaomin's question.

Many years later, Cao Xiaomin realized that it was not that the officer was rude, but that everyone was unwilling to say those heartbreaking things; many years later, Cao Xiaomin would not confirm his terrible guess about such a newcomer who lost all his companions when he first went to the battlefield.

"You're weird. Dasha was fine last night and had a bite of hot soup. Why did he stand up this morning?" An old soldier squatted on a tree stump, like a storyteller, and said to the soldiers sitting around him in a sensation: "I heard that our camp used to be a mass grave, and that warehouse was originally built by the Feng Shui master to suppress the wild ghosts!...I think Dasha was hitting the evil ghost! You don't know, that ghost is also afraid of people, but the injured person has weak yang energy, so ghosts are not afraid..."

"Yes, there is no scar at all, why did you die?...Don't you be scared to death, right?" A group of scattered soldiers were shocked, and then there were more stories about ghosts...

"...... Many of the soldiers who went to the battlefield for the first time could not even eat after they came down. Some of them started to get sick and died in a few days. We said that they were scared to death. Later we knew that they were shocked and injured. We knew that when the enemy was bombarded, they should crouch with their heads and instead of lying down against the ground... Those who knew these were veterans who had survived for many years of war, and those brothers who went to the battlefield with me were no longer there..." A passage from Grandpa's memoir jumped out again. When Cao Xiaomin followed the officer to a camp, he saw that there were scattered soldiers around him, all of whom were wearing various old military uniforms; some would make continuous retching sounds from time to time...

"Stop scaring people! Are there so many ghosts? Why do I see the Japanese ghost opposite?" The officer glared at the veteran who told ghost stories fiercely and stood among everyone.

"Listen! I'm still a man, who wants to avenge the dead brothers. Stand up and follow me!" The officer suddenly shouted at everyone.

Cao Xiaomin didn't know how many people stood up, and he followed the officer. If he had been hiding and not going to the battlefield, Grandpa Grandpa might not have let himself go back... Cao Xiaomin felt that his time travel was related to Grandpa Grandpa's memoirs and grandpa, so he stood up - Grandpa Grandpa might have hoped that he would go to the battlefield to see it, and then hated the Japanese and let him go back to his original time and space!
Chapter completed!