Chapter 81 Trauma

(...A person who has been hurt by war will not recover so easily; so every life that survived in that era should be respected by future generations. People who did not experience the war era are not qualified to despise any humiliation of survival in that era... Excerpted from "Grandpa's Memories of the War of Resistance")

It was already dawn, and Cao Xiaomin and his friends rushed to the road all night, but finally they were unable to reach the meeting point at the agreed time; but when they walked to the abandoned village of the Shao family, all the soldiers who greeted them suddenly appeared! They did not leave, and they were still waiting for their brothers to come back!

"Look, who is here!" Situ Xing said to Wang Ye: "We are getting more and more people..."

The person who came was named Wang Shang, who was a clan brother who joined the army in the same village. He was re-elected as the squad leader of the 51st Division.

"The troop was injured, but he refused to leave, and the brothers of the model camp refused to leave. In the end, the troop had to decide like this and send us to search for you all the way and find you to go back together..." Wang Shang brought a lot of news, including the good news that the remaining brothers finally retreated from the battlefield safely, but there was also bad news about the "Second Master" dying for his country... During the years of war, all kinds of bad news will always be heard. Being able to complete a war alive is a miracle of life!

There were all people, but everyone could not leave - the twenty-two women Cao Xiaomin brought back could not walk anymore.

Cao Xiaomin didn't know what he was thinking at that time, but he had a subconscious mind: Grandpa didn't know what to do, he had to do it himself; the old man didn't know how to deal with these rescued women, so he couldn't take them away, which means Cao Xiaomin had to take them away... So he brought them all back.

However, these women who had been tortured by the Japanese had to live for a night of survival, but now they are unable to stand firmly.

It is impossible to carry more than twenty people away. Even if they can be lifted, such a way of marching cannot escape the eyes of the Japanese; even if everyone wears the Japanese military uniform, the Japanese are not that easy to cheat. According to Cao Xiaomin's plan, they must dress up as Japanese who go out to "fight for wild food" and escort more than twenty "flower girls" to march, just like they left Suzhou last night. There was no way, everyone could only continue to rest for a day.

Staying behind enemy lines for one more day will aggravate the danger a lot. Not to mention whether the Japanese will find out, food alone is enough for Cao Xiaomin to have a headache. Now they have more than 100 people, and they only eat sweet potatoes, radish and other crops left after the harvest of crops, and less than two boxes of canned beef and biscuits brought from the Japanese. Cao Xiaomin was very worried that the other officers and soldiers would have any objections to him taking these women away. In addition to slowing down, these women would bring them more exposure and danger of fighting.

The women who were rescued were also very uncooperative. They were not as grateful to their benefactors as Cao Xiaomin imagined and obeyed orders in everything. On the contrary, these people with tragic experiences that were unbearable to look back seemed to reject them, such soldiers; was they seen their bodies like those beasts? Is it because they also wore Japanese military uniforms when they appeared? Or was they too scared?... Cao Xiaomin couldn't figure it out, and he prepared a lot of speeches to comfort them, but he couldn't use any sentence - all the rescued women hid in a big bush, and anyone who walked in would be driven away by their hatred eyes...

"Why do you think they are so afraid of us?" Cao Xiaomin walked to the "drunk": "We saved them, but they hid from us and screamed when they saw us... What are they afraid of? Will we invade them?"

The "drunk" just sighed and said nothing.

Perhaps the "drunk" has experienced similar things? Why is he so cruel and ruthless on the battlefield, but he shows such compassion when facing the women who were violated?... Cao Xiaomin did not ask, and the veterans had unknown hidden pains hidden deep in his heart. He was unwilling to say that it would be better not to ask...

"Battery Commander, do we really want to take them away?" Situ Xing walked over and said, "If we don't take them, we might be able to go to Wuxi in one night... But, two days, can we arrive in two days now?"

"You said, throw them here and let them die?" Cao Xiaomin asked in a deep voice: "Do you think they can survive?"

"Uh... no, battalion commander, I am afraid that the brothers who guard Wuxi will wait for us and will not retreat; if I guard every day, how many brothers will die?" Situ Xing said, "I just hope to get on the road soon..."

Cao Xiaomin didn't say anything, just stared at Situ Xing's eyes coldly...

"No other meaning... I mean, just take them with me..." Situ Xing walked away with no fun.

There are definitely many people who want to get rid of these rescued women and escape quickly. Maybe Cao Xiaomin's team has hidden a crisis of disintegration - they can wait for the brothers to come back, but those women are outsiders; and they were trampled by the Japanese, dirty, and shamed the Chinese... Maybe many brothers think so. Cao Xiaomin felt very depressed. He knew that it was stupid to take such a group of women on the road; but isn't this what soldiers should do? Strike the invaders and rescue every compatriot who falls into the claws of the devil... Is war just an act of showing heroism or a gambling for those who dare to make a fortune?

...A person who has been hurt by war will not recover so easily; so every life that survived in that era should be respected by future generations. People who did not experience the war years are not qualified to despise or even hostile to any humiliation of survival in that era... This memory of grandfather's grandfather tells the story of a woman he knew was occupied by Japanese officers during the enemy occupation and gave birth to two children, but after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the mother and son were drowned alive by the people. The woman once covered the defeated and separated few of them...

Isn't this the case for these women now? They have no room for resistance to those beasts with bayonets, and they cannot even seek death. They are cruelly raped and sexual abuse. Maybe it is difficult for them to return to normal life. Now they even only believe in the sisters who have the same experience, and they refuse anyone... But, they did nothing wrong! He cannot leave them behind, he is a soldier.

"Brothers, how do you all become soldiers? For what?" Cao Xiaomin summoned everyone: "Tell me..."

The brothers have many reasons: in order to eat military rations, to be officials, to avoid being bullied, they killed people and hide in the army, and for the sake of revolutionary ideals...

"I want to tell everyone that soldiers should be just a special profession. A profession born because the people want a stable life is similar to bodyguards, but we have to protect everyone..." Cao Xiaomin said: "We have all heard the saying that soldiers regard obeying orders as their duty; I said, wrong! The duty of soldiers is to protect the people!... We should do our best to do that. Maybe we can't do it, and we can't do it well, but we should do that!... Maybe we should hurry to Wuxi to meet with other brothers, but what after the reunion? We are not the only way to gather more power to protect the people?! Now, there are people here who need our protection. If we abandon them and leave ourselves, are we still soldiers?! We die in battle, it should be because we are soldiers; they should not be insulted and killed, because we did not do it well!..."

"Sir!...Don't leave us..." Cao Xiaomin's speech was interrupted. A girl with tears on her face, one of whom had been ruined by the Japanese staggered over, and there were more people behind her... The girl suddenly rushed to Cao Xiaomin's arms who had just turned around and cried bitterly. A group of women behind her cried in a group!

These tortured hearts will not trust anyone easily, but they have not completely lost their instinct to survive. They are still afraid of being abandoned and being thrown back into the hands of those beasts! So they came secretly when they discovered that the army was assembled. They heard Cao Xiaomin's speech. They finally found someone who would not discriminate against them, would not abandon them, and a trustworthy person...

Behind Cao Xiaomin, the soldiers, especially the passionate young men from the Central Training Corps, could not control their excitement at this moment and began to shed tears.

In this turbulent era, there are many people who use various slogans to incite the people, such as revolution, and overthrow the dark rule... But the king's flag changes on the city wall, which "revolutionary" has not finally become a new generation of oppressors? Who is fighting for the people wholeheartedly?... Cao Xiaomin himself didn't know that his back was already in the hearts of the soldiers behind him at this moment...

As night fell, a special team began to set out towards Wuxi. This team had soldiers and women. They walked very slowly, but they supported each other and took care of each other carefully, without leaving anyone behind...
Chapter completed!