"They say the Red Army is the army of the poor, helping the poor."
"I just returned home in a daze, still sighing that I was really lucky."
After speaking, the old squad leader was silent for a moment:
"The next day I found out that not long after I left, those young soldiers were surrounded and killed by those white dogs in the mountains."
"They say the bodies were hung on the city walls for public display."
"After hearing this, I went to the county town overnight... all of them had their bellies cut open and were hung on the city walls; they were all just seventeen or eighteen-year-old kids."
"The bark and straw from their stomachs hung through the gaps in their bellies like that."
The old squad leader suddenly slapped himself, his voice trembling:
"They died without having a single full meal!"
"In their stomachs, it was either bark or straw."
"That piece of cornbread, which they didn’t bear to eat themselves, was given to me without hesitation."
"How could I have eaten it!!!"
The old squad leader spoke with immense regret, even though so many years had passed.
He still couldn’t forget that half piece of cornbread.
Chi Feng understood why the old squad leader gave him that half piece of cornbread.
It was an obsession buried deep in his heart.
The old squad leader wiped his tears:
"You say human nature is selfish? But there is indeed such a group of people who would rather eat bark and straw themselves, to give the food to the common people."
"Where else in the world is there such an army?"
"Are the common people all fools? No, they’re not."
"They know who is good to them."
"It’s just that the common people are used to suffering, accustomed to it for so many years."
"But now... the Red Army has come."
"They say they want the poor to have a good life, they want the children to be able to study, they say they want this world to have no more landlords that eat people..."
The old squad leader looked at the distant mountains:
"Later, I found those young soldiers at the mass grave and buried them."
"And then... I too joined the Red Army."
"For over ten years now."
"This army’s original intention has never changed, simply to let the common people live good lives."
"That’s why I believe in them."
Saying this, the old squad leader took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Chi Feng with a smile:
"I received this letter last month, now my kid is going to school in the base."
"He is literate now; this is written by him to me."
A look of pride appeared on the old squad leader’s face:
"Who would have thought, a family of farmers for generations now has a scholar."
"Look at my kid’s handwriting, it’s prettier than those landlords’."
"When I was young, that landlord who beat me could only write his own name; now my son can write hundreds of characters."
"He’s much more promising than those landlords."
The old squad leader praised his child, and Chi Feng looked at the crooked handwriting inside the envelope but was full of longing, and also smiled as he said:
"Your son really cares about you."
"Hoping you’d come back."
Just after saying this.
Chi Feng and the Blue Star friends in the live broadcast couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness.
Seeing Chi Feng suddenly silent, the old squad leader smiled broadly:
"If I go back, what about the main force?"
"My kid being literate now is a hundred times better than me and will be more promising in the future."
"Surely will live a good life."
"Won’t have to suffer like me."
"The road we walk today, the children won’t have to walk in the future."
Many Blue Star netizens in the live broadcast were moved to tears.
A bullet comment slowly floated past:
[They’re not unafraid of death; they’re more afraid of future generations continuing to live in darkness.]
In the live broadcast, there was complete silence.
The sound of the gathering whistle came.
The old squad leader swiftly packed up his cloth bag and patted Chi Feng on the shoulder:
Chi Feng nodded, took a deep breath, and stood up.
The troop set off again.
This time, the doubts in their hearts had diminished and a firm resolve had settled in.
As the troop advanced.
Until seeing the situation around the corner in front of them, Chi Feng stood frozen, along with the Blue Star friends in the live broadcast, realizing why the troop had just stopped.
Turning past the great mountain ahead, at the corner.
The sunset shone through.
In the sunset, a large gathering of villagers was in the front.
Holding straw sandals in their hands, pushing small carts, bringing home-made dry food.
No matter how hard they tried to give it.
Not a single soldier in front accepted it, as several cadres stayed behind persuading the villagers.
On the winding mountain road, the farewell convoy stretched endlessly.
Chi Feng and the Blue Star friends in the live broadcast, following Chi Feng’s perspective, were full of shock as they followed the troop. Discover more novels at n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
This immersive experience made them understand why this army could make countless people willing to sacrifice for it, why this army was so loved by the people.
Unknowingly, farewell songs echoed through the mountain forests.
The sunset dyed the mountain path blood-red.
When even the final cook of the troop turned around the mountain pass, the villagers still stood with torches, gazing longingly at the direction the Red Army had left, waving flags with "Long Live the Red Army" written in red characters.
When the progress in the game reached the modern era of ’Earth.’
The Blue Star players in the [Republic], searching for this piece of history in the game, found out that later the [Republic] adapted the situation and song at that time into a song.
It was later named.... [Ten Farewells to the Red Army].
The soldiers who had already reached the banks of the Xiang River, tirelessly dug defensive works.
Preparing to block the chasing enemy.
Chi Feng dug trenches, and suddenly a commotion came from afar.
In the distance, the pre-battle mobilization voice faintly reached them:
"Comrades... the central column is..."
"The task is to hold the position... there is no..."
"... absolutely no retreat!!!"
As that voice fell, the soldiers in front quietly responded:
"Swear to defend the crossing of the central leadership...."
"Swear to defend the crossing of the central leadership!!"
"Swear to defend the crossing of the central leadership——!!!!"
The voices spread in circles, louder and louder, with more than six thousand shouted, shaking the heavens and the earth, Chi Feng’s blood surged, unknowingly shouting countless times.
Until the sound gradually faded away, it was only then known that it was actually the division commander Chen Shuxiang doing the final pre-battle mobilization.
With the sun fully rising.
The whistling roar from the sky had already come, followed by the dense thuds nearby.
Then there were shells landing within fifty meters of the front line.
Countless shells roared in, plunging the entire position into a sea of fire, while on the distant horizon, countless soldiers swarmed like a tide.
"Prepare for battle!!!!"