Chapter 259: Inner

(...Intra-fighting is the business of conspirators, but people who come out of a trench treat each other as their own brothers. Not many people can understand the discomfort when those veterans suddenly find that their guns are about to face their brothers who live and die together... Excerpted from "My Memories of the War of Resistance - Cao Xiaomin")

"After this operation, you will definitely be exposed. This will be a considerable loss to the organization, but it is good news for you personally. You can go to Yan'an, the revolutionary holy land that you have longed for..." The voice of the comrade who was connected kept ringing in his ears. When he thought of returning to his team, when he thought of going to Yan'an this time, when he thought of meeting Chairman Mao... Liang Xiaokuan couldn't help but feel excited.

When he received the task and asked him to use his special identity to kidnap Cao Xiaomin, Liang Xiaokuan was shocked. Didn’t this expose him? But when the connector explained the instructions above, Liang Xiaokuan knew how heavy his task was: this time Cao Xiaomin’s cave sweeping operation almost arrested all the leaders and secretly developed armed forces in the entire northern Jiangsu region. If all these arrested comrades were killed this time, the situation created by years of operation in the northern Jiangsu region will be destroyed. The situation is urgent. The northern Jiangsu region has no other operational power. This time, the superiors have decided that even if they exposed all of their lurkers, they must capture Cao Xiaomin alive!

Who is Cao Xiaomin? He is just a reactionary with deep blood hatred. He tied up and killed him! Liang Xiaokuan kept saying to himself in his heart. But another voice kept shouting: "Did you forget how you share weal and woe in the ruins of Nanjing? Have you forgotten how you support the enemy's bayonet in Bazi Mountain? Have you forgotten how you work together to get 100,000 refugees to cross the Yangtze River in Coal Port? Are the cold wind in the reed marsh and the beacon fire at the foot of Zhangba Mountain forgotten like this...

If Cao Xiaomin in the rear was killed at this time, can the front line still stand it? If the Japanese really drove straight into the sky, can Baoying still be able to defend it? The scenes I saw along the way from Wuxi to Nanjing appeared repeatedly in my mind. The refugees who walked by Baoying gradually became mixed with those who were killed by the Japanese, and they could no longer tell which tragedy was.

There was no one who came to meet in the distance. Liang Xiaokuan lowered his head and looked thoughtful and did the final inspection on the position. For so many days, how many people worked day and night to repair fortifications; those hidden machine gun positions, those fake traffic trenches that misled the Japanese into, and those poisonous stings on the trenches walls... What a perfect fortification. After so many days of repair, it cannot be used to fight the Japanese for life and death... I felt so sour and more and more uncomfortable; Liang Xiaokuan had no specific purpose, just wandering in the trenches alone.

Those officers and soldiers who thought the superiors came to inspect the war preparations all smiled at him, with peace and warmth - that was the unique peace and warmth of people who held the belief of death before the war! In the faraway Yan'an, there were many yearnings and many comrades looking forward to it; isn't the trenches in front of him full of the friendship of brothers?

Suddenly, Liang Xiaokuan turned his head and walked towards the nearest traffic trench that left the position. He could no longer stay in the trench. The friendship between the brothers in the trench would make him unable to become a revolutionary again!

They are fighting for a corrupt dynasty! They are not fighting for this country and the people of this country! They are just a group of stupid soldiers with no ideals and no position!... The extremely depressed heart started to shout. If they were not shouting to themselves in this heart, reminding that Liang Xiaokuan could not betray these brothers; yes, it was betrayal, it was betrayal, it was betrayal!

The cracked guns and cannons from time to time came from afar telling everyone on and behind the positions that the Japanese would arrive at any time, and the Chinese people should prepare to take blood at any time.

Should I really leave at this time? Should I really kidnap Cao Xiaomin?... Liang Xiaokuan was still hesitating, and suddenly he saw a group of people coming over. He was the one he wanted to meet, so he silently recited the secret code and Liang Xiaokuan greeted him...

It was you!? Liang Xiaokuan was surprised, but soon he realized that this was not the comrade he wanted to meet, this was the one who had withdrawn from the front line...

"Xiao Kuan, I'll leave it to you later..." He looked blankly, "Shan Er" just couldn't stop looking back to see other ways behind him; Liang Xiaokuan knew what he was looking at - every time he turned into a safe place, the brothers would turn back like this, they wanted to see more brothers coming back...

"The Japanese's artillery fire is so powerful, and there are planes. The brothers we retreated into the city are half less..." "Shan Er" finally spoke: "The 'Drunks' and they cut off the rear for us. They thought they could come back. Unexpectedly, a group of Japanese soldiers penetrated behind the east of the city. The guerrillas did not trip them up, but they ran into it and fought a fierce battle. There were probably less than two platoons who could come back this time..."

Seeing that the Japanese had seized the way, the troops led by "Shan Er" could go around and escape, but they fought because they were not the last troops to evacuate. Behind them were "drunks", "old bed bugs", "machetes", "Liu Junling", and "Xiaobei"... They had to defeat the Japanese who were around behind them before they could leave!

Looking at his mud and blood-stained, his head and face were covered with various minor injuries, and his military uniform was torn to pieces with many cloth strips, Liang Xiaokuan knew that his troops must have had a fierce confrontation with the Japanese, and hedging face to face, killing the hand-to-hand battle that was so violating that he had forgotten his life and death... Why didn't he detour, why did he have to fight to the death? Because behind him there were brothers who were going to retreat!

Are only those comrades in Yan'an who have never met before are brothers? Are there no officers and soldiers in front of them who were blackened by the fire of war?! Am I not one of them? The injured brothers in front had all retreated before noon. This time, no brothers were brought back because no one was injured and carried back. In the fierce battle on the southern front, this time, this was seen too many.... Isn't such a war of resistance for this country? It's not for the nation?! Liang Xiaokuan couldn't convince himself!

"Will you kill Cao Xiaomin if you tie up Cao Xiaomin? Will the impact be too great?" "If everything goes well and can be exchanged for the arrested comrades, then everyone will be happy; if the reactionaries do not exchange, then... anyway, everything can be pushed to the anti-Japanese alliance in the north of the Jiangsu Province, and it has nothing to do with our party and army; we probably won't openly tear us apart at this time..." Liang Xiaokuan's ears answered the leaders who asked some questions about the possibility of Cao Xiaomin's life and death after receiving the task. Why do you ask those questions? Isn't it a matter of completing the task? Are you still worried about this enemy?

"...That time, the daggers of those gun dealers were pressed against the battalion commander's throat. Guess what the battalion commander said? 'I order! Open fire, no one left!'... Later, he saw that we didn't shoot, and shouted, 'What are you waiting for!? Shoot!... I didn't die in Sihang Cang, I have lived for a few more days, everyone will fight!..." This was what Liang Xiaokuan told him when he was inquiring about the situation before his parents were killed when he was infiltrated into Cao Xiaomin's army. These were once the stubborn reactionaries that made him secretly hate him to the core... But isn't this what an iron-blooded soldier should do? What if the Japanese were holding their weapons in front of him? In Nanjing, Liang Xiaokuan saw the iron-blooded blood of Cao Xiaomin and his group of brothers, and their bravery and unyielding in front of the Japanese...

If Cao Xiaomin is kidnapped, he will definitely be able to rescue the arrested comrades, which is a risk worth taking; but it is obvious that kidnapped Cao Xiaomin may not be able to rescue those comrades; because they may only be able to kidnap a body... But now there is no way to discuss with their superiors and no way to change the plan. What should I do? Liang Xiaokuan's forehead is covered with cold sweat.

A group of "Single-Ear" soldiers silently lowered their heads and walked across the position and disappeared into the visual impairment; but in Liang Xiaokuan's eyes, the limping team seemed to be walking around and endlessly...

The gathering staff finally arrived. There were not many people and about one shift. Liang Xiaokuan knew all these personnel, but they never thought it would be them just like they never thought Liang Xiaokuan.

"Comrade Liang really didn't expect that we all thought that the officers and soldiers like you who had been following Chief Cao before the Nanjing Defense War would not have our people!" A veteran was a little excited: "Comrade Liang, our mission this time is..."

"Let's talk about it on the road, let's set off now..." Liang Xiaokuan said this and then turned around silently and took everyone away.

"What a pity. I've been preparing for so long and thinking about fighting with the Japanese all day long, but I didn't expect the Japanese to leave when they fight..." A soldier muttered behind him, and every sentence hit Liang Xiaokuan's heart.

Because Liang Xiaokuan brought the spy company and often had special tasks, there were no interrogations in the guard posts behind him; but Liang Xiaokuan still felt guilty. These were obviously his brothers, so why did they feel guilty when they passed by them? No, these were obviously lackeys of the reactionaries, so why did they feel guilty in front of them? Their hearts were filled with various contradictions, which made his steps extremely heavy.

"We are leaving, just like deserters. I really feel sorry for those brothers..." "What brothers? That's the enemy, the Japanese are the enemy, and they are also..." The two of them whispered behind Liang Xiaokuan...

"Fart! Come out in the same trench and fight with the Japanese together; give each other's lives to each other on the battlefield. What are you not brothers? You can go back and report, and you can complain behind your back. I don't care whether they are reactionaries or not, I will treat them as brothers!" A man suddenly felt a little excited.

Liang Xiaokuan walked at the front of the team. He suddenly laughed, laughing miserably, and no one saw the comrades who followed him...
Chapter completed!