Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 957 Cemetery (Ask for a monthly pass!)

At five o'clock in the morning, the sky was still pitch black, but Tang Dao had already put on his starched military uniform and stood on the path in front of the small wooden house of the regiment headquarters.

This is a notice issued by the regiment headquarters two days ago. Today, all members of the Four Elements regiment must dress cleanly. It doesn't matter if the military uniform is damaged, but it must be clean.

On both sides of Tang Dao's back, stood the rest of the chief officers of the regiment headquarters, the officers and soldiers of the regiment headquarters, and all the officers and soldiers of the guard company!
Regardless of whether Tang Dao or all the other four-row regiment officers and soldiers wore white cuffs on their right arms, all the officers and soldiers lined up in two neat rows on both sides of the road.

But behind Tang Dao, there are more than a thousand ordinary people wearing ordinary clothes, but many of them have their heads wrapped in white linen.

They are all family members of the Four Elements Group recruiting recruits in Xuzhou this time.

They didn't need to travel at night in such a nearly dark morning. They were all picked up by the Four Elements Group from a small town a few miles away last night.

Those family members of soldiers who died in battle actually stayed up all night, keeping vigil for their relatives in accordance with the customs of their hometown.

Because today is the time to send them off for the last time.

And farther away, teams of soldiers had already lined up, without the squad leader yelling loudly, the soldiers completed their lines in silence.

Tang Dao ordered that, except for the necessary precautions, all officers and soldiers must participate in this spiritual ceremony!
This is also the first time that the Martyrs Cemetery built by the Four Elements Regiment on the green hill a few miles away has been put into use. It is not only the officers and soldiers of the Four Elements Regiment who died in the Battle of Eastern Jin that entered the spirit. All the officers and soldiers who died since then, looking further away, there are even soldiers who died in the Sixing Warehouse.

Most of their remains were buried on the spot, and a small part had the opportunity to be carried out of the battlefield to be incinerated into ashes, and had been carefully preserved by the baggage company.

Those who have ashes will enter the ashes, and those who do not have ashes can use their belongings or clothing. These are what Tang Dao once emphasized. And make a book for registration, so that he can have the opportunity to hand it over to his descendants in the future, and it can be regarded as a little thought for his relatives.

For this reason, the supply company specially arranged a supply squad of 15 people to do this work. Since the previous battles of the Four Elements Regiment, the items and clothing of hundreds of sacrificed officers and soldiers have been preserved intact, even during the most difficult battles.

In the eyes of many people, this is tattered, but in the hearts of officers and soldiers, this is the last proof that those brothers who have been sleeping underground remain in this world.

Perhaps one day, they will also become a member of that little cloth bag.

But it doesn't matter, the later brothers will protect the traces they left just like them.

If there is not even this, there is also the soil brought back from the battlefield, which is soil stained with their blood, and the heroic spirits of the martyrs will not go far.

This is a funeral of more than 800 people. No one dares to pay attention to it. The first infantry battalion, the second infantry battalion, the third infantry battalion, several companies directly under the regiment headquarters, the squadron, the student company that has not yet been reorganized, and a team of more than 3000 people , except for the sound of footsteps and breathing, no one dared to break this peaceful morning at will.

Even the 600 young recruits recruited from Licheng within the past three days, the 400 young recruits recruited from surrounding villages and towns, and the recruits who have not even had time to wear military uniforms, whether they are stubborn or rough-tempered, this For a while, I didn't dare to take a breath, and imitated the veterans over there to stand up like a good baby, except that the team was not very neat.

In the past few days, the veteran squad leader who either stared at them with wide eyes or sternly reprimanded them unexpectedly did not get angry, and stood beside them, looking straight ahead.

In fact, family members and soldiers were not the only ones participating in this grand ceremony.

People in the nearby villages of more than ten miles knew that the Four Elements Regiment would bury the officers and soldiers who died in these two days, and many people spontaneously organized and rushed here overnight.

In their words, although the soldiers of the Four Elements Regiment are not their relatives, nor the children of their villages, they are heroes who have served the country, and it is the duty of all Chinese to see them off.

Because the mountains are high and the roads are dangerous, and there are few mountains, the Taihang Mountain area is poor, and the stone mountains in Dakouzidong account for the majority, making it even poorer!

The folks couldn't bring the steamed buns and meat handed down from their ancestors as sacrificial offerings, so they brought yellow and white linen.

That is the linen cloth imitated by the spinning wheel at home. Each household produces three feet, and then tears it into many strips!
The people who came stood on the mountain along the way to the martyrs' cemetery, and hung the sackcloth all over the branches!

The mountains are full of plains!
Even the dark night can't stop these snowflakes flying all over the mountains!
The sentinel in charge of security on the mountain stood upright amidst the mountains, desperately suppressing the tears that flickered in his eyes.

But this time, it's not because of sadness, but because of strong feelings.

Such a death in battle should not be in vain to come to this world.

. . . . . . . . . .

Time passed by, and the sky was getting brighter.

The mountains are already foggy, especially in this season of late spring and early summer, when the red sun that has jumped over the top of the mountain is blocked by the faint mist, emitting a faint light, which is not dazzling at all.

"Report to the group seat! The time is up, can you let the brothers who are escorting the brothers and heroic spirits go!" As the general coordinator of this spirit ceremony, Zhuang Shisan trotted all the way from a distance and reported to Tang Dao at attention.

"Sure!" Tang Dao nodded, waving an order.

"Fire the gun! Send off the brothers!"

The two rows of guards of honor composed of officers and soldiers of the guard company heard the order, took a step back and pointed their guns at the sky.

The guns are not Czech semi-automatic, nor are they all Liao-made single-shot rifles that have been installed, and they are not [-]-style. They are all old Hanyang-made guns!

Because they were afraid that the heroic spirits who died in battle would not be familiar with them, and the gunshots made by Hanyang would definitely allow them to find their way home.

"Bang! Bang!"

The gunshots completely broke the silence of Qingshan, but the strong smell of gunpowder lingering in everyone's nostrils made people feel even more tragic.

Those people, silent in the smoke of gunpowder, still want to say goodbye in the smoke of gunpowder!

This, perhaps, is the fate of a soldier.

The coffins of the officers and soldiers who died in this battle were all custom-made in the past two days. Maybe the wood is not very good, but they are all old wood. Those who return to Dakouzidong Town must be buried instead of cremated, and the coffin must be justified.

If there are only ashes and personal clothes, then the box in charge of relieving the soul must be made of high-quality stone, so as not to decay for too long, in case his descendants find him in the future and want to transport him back to his hometown!

Therefore, more than 30 coffins are very heavy, and those responsible for supporting the spirits are the battalion, company, platoon, and squad leaders of the three major infantry battalions participating in the battle.

Because the Japanese army lacked artillery this time, and they were mainly attacking, all the sacrifices came from the front-line infantry, and the rest of the auxiliary troops such as the artillery company and the special service company had only casualties.

They are officers and brothers, and the brothers will naturally have to see them off in person on their last journey.

"Get up!" Lei Xiong, the leader, roared angrily, his arms bulging.

"Okay!" roared again, and the spirit-supporting procession composed of all the infantry battalion officers of the Four Elements Regiment began to march.

Followed by a larger number of troops, about hundreds of people.

It's just that there is no coffin on their shoulders, but each of them holds a stone box covered with a white cloth with one arm.

Regardless of military position, except for the officers who are helping the spirits, these soldiers holding white cloth wrapped boxes are the closest comrades-in-arms of the sacrificed martyrs!
And among the soldiers lined up to see him off there, there was only one person in the special squadron.

Because the Special Squadron is considered the most elite group of the Four Elements Regiment, they are all veterans without exception, and they have sacrificed the most comrades in arms.

The spirit box of Leng Feng's younger brother Xiaoshitou held in Lao Hei's hands, Gu Xishui's is Yaomei's, Niu Er's is Liu Datou's, and Lu Sanjiang's is his old squad leader's.
Ming Xin seemed a bit lonely, but he was the most enviable person on the field.

Because, since he entered the special squadron, the special squadron has not yet been killed in battle, only two were seriously injured and three were slightly injured.

The soul-sending team went first, Tang Dao led the army, and then followed the entire army of the Four Elements Regiment!
"stand at attention!"

"salute!"

All the soldiers in charge of security along the way straightened up and saluted the troops.

And the people standing on the hill spontaneously lit joss sticks and paper money, and the dots of fire illuminated the way home for the heroic spirits!

By 8 am!
The sun is shining on the hillside where the tomb has been dug!

According to the list after the re-examination by Tang Dao last night, a total of 839 tombs were dug on the hillside. Because of the lack of time, the stone tombstones were not rushed out. There were only 839 wooden boards standing in front of the tombs. Each board was neatly written with a brush. It is written with the names of the officers and soldiers who died in battle, the date of death in the battle, and their place of origin.

This is a lot of work, but it is Tantai Yunshu's commitment to it.

In his words: "The old man's words, presumably those heroes will not despise them!"

This is probably one of the reasons why Li Jiujin could only silently endure Lao Tantai's spitting all over his face.

There was no sensational roll call, Tang Dao just walked past the coffin and the spiritual box carefully held by the soldiers, just like he once took them to the expedition.

Only this time, no one stood at attention and saluted him.

Tang Dao looked up at the names lined up in the first row on the hillside, those familiar, unfamiliar, and almost forgotten names, and suddenly felt a little dazed.

When he first entered the Sixing Warehouse, Liu Datou, the deputy platoon leader, looked hostile to him as an outsider, and the 16-year-old Leng Shitou's green face seemed to be still vivid in his memory.

But they are all gone!

From then on, she will sleep in this cemetery.

Fortunately, they don't have to endure the pain of the war so hard anymore, and they can still stay together to chat and fart.

This is not a kind of happiness.

The dead are gone, and the living have to continue.

Tang Dao stood in front of a soldier in the queue and stood still.

"Entering the Spirit" followed Master Zhuang with a roar.

The coffins are still the officers of the six-person spirit support team, but the spirit box is changed from one person to two people, solemnly holding the spirit box and lining up up the mountain, from top to bottom, put the coffin and spirit box into the tomb, and then cover it white cloth.

This is also because the time is too short. Originally, according to Tang Dao's idea, the military flag of the Four Elements Regiment was to be covered, but there is not much cloth in this barren mountain, so there is time to make the military flag.

"Leave this to me!" Tang Dao took a spiritual box from the soldier behind him.

Under the silent gaze of thousands of soldiers and civilians, Tang Dao was alone, holding a spirit box up the mountain, and gently put the spirit box into the largest tomb in the middle of the foot of the entire cemetery, and the only tomb without a tombstone. The military flag of the regiment lightly covered the spirit box.

All the soldiers couldn't help being envious, who on earth had the privilege to let the regiment chief hold the spirit in person?If that brother knew that he would receive this honor after death, he would probably have died smiling!

Rejecting other people's help, Tang Dao took a military shovel and filled the slightly wider tomb by himself, before facing the thousands of soldiers and civilians standing in front of him.

"Today is the day when the 893 martyrs of my four-element regiment go home. I propose to observe 839 minutes of silence for the 3 martyrs of my four-element regiment."

After speaking, Tang Dao took off his military cap first, put it on his chest, and bowed his head solemnly.

All the officers and soldiers imitated Tang Dao's movements, took off their military caps in unison, put them on their chests, and lowered their heads solemnly.For the others present, those with hats on their heads took off their hats, while those without hats lowered their heads.

3 minutes later!

"The silence is over." Tang Dao raised his head and said in a loud voice: "Since our Sixing Regiment became an army, we have traveled all the way from the Sixing Warehouse to Songjiang, to Guangde, to Wuhu, to Zhengzhou, and then to Jindong. The Japanese invaders fought six large-scale battles and numerous small-scale contact battles. They wiped out more than ten thousand Japanese invaders independently and cooperated with friendly forces to wipe out more than ten thousand Japanese invaders.

I can replace the entire army of my Four Elements Regiment and proudly tell the whole of China that we have fought continuously along the way and created unprecedented brilliant victories!
However, victory is not achieved by lip service, but by the sacrifice of soldiers.

The martyrs cemetery behind me is the best proof that without their sacrifices, there would be no brilliant victory for our army.

But sacrifice means a mother without a son, a wife without a husband, and a child without a father.

Last night, seeing the family members wailing and holding the coffins of the martyrs, including the elderly, women, and children, my heart ached as the head of the regiment more than anyone else.

Because they are also my brothers, a life and death brother who trains on the training ground, eats in a pot, and fights in the trenches.

As the highest official of the Four Elements Group, my heart is as sad as their relatives.

However, do we stay away from the battlefield because of grief?No, I will tell you out loud, tell each of you, never.

Because, me and my brothers, not only son is husband and father, we are also Chinese.

The Japanese aggressors have raised their butcher knives at our entire Chinese family. We will not wait for the slaughter. We will hold up our knives and guns more resolutely and tell them with blood that we will never give in.

If we are afraid of the grief of our family members and dare not step on the battlefield, when the butcher's knife of the Japanese invaders is pointed at us and our family members, who will stand up for you and me?
No, when everyone chooses to retreat, there will be no one to guard this country and this nation.

We can only move forward, facing the blade of the Japanese invaders, even if we sacrifice, even if we can’t say sorry to our wife, even if we can’t kiss the child’s face again. "

"Go, go, go." Infected by Tang Dao's words, the soldiers raised their arms and shouted.

Standing on the flanks of the soldiers, Tantai Yunshu, Teacher Xiao He and his students also raised their arms high and shouted with tears in their eyes.

At that moment, even the common people shouted along with the soldiers.

Regardless of whether Tang Dao intends to be sensational or not, the cemetery lined with more than 800 tombstones shows that they do not cherish life, but they are never afraid to give their lives. Only such an army is the strongest army in China.

A loud sound echoed in the valley.

. . . . . . . . . .

ps: It’s over, it’s over, I’ve stayed at home for a whole 10 days, except for instant noodles, and I can order a takeaway once in a while, my mind is really buzzing!I have to worry about my daughter's online class at my grandparents' house. I can't even do math in my second year of high school. Can you believe it?I feel like I've been out of shape this week, and I just can't find it, so let's take a look!
By the way, let me tell you first, Fengyue's new science fiction book "I Can Embalm Everything" will be released on December 12st, and please support and subscribe by then.

(End of this chapter)