afterglow

Chapter 183 Chapter [-] Waiting for a rabbit?

If you ask what is the experience of serving as a military observer, the answer is probably "a strange feeling that you are clearly on the front line but stay out of it."

Adala drove Zhou Changfeng and Chen Guangyun from the second line to the first line, and what he saw along the way brought the former's memory back to Demaji more than half a year ago.

One after another trucks were driving back, with wounded soldiers staggering on both sides of the carriages, and the bodies of dead soldiers in the middle.

There were continuous wailing sounds from the tents of the field hospital, mixed with indistinct cries.

The blood-stained doctor in the white coat was stretching outside the tent, the nurse was hurriedly trotting with medicines and equipment, and the wounded soldier in better condition sat and smoked against the trees.

Ahead is the supply station, where mules, horse-drawn carriages, and trucks transit.

Trucks transport ammunition here from the train station, and on the return journey, they pick up wounded soldiers and corpses in the field hospital; horse-drawn wagons, mules, and pack horses transport ammunition to various places on the front line one after another.

Moving forward is the artillery position. Each artillery piece is more than ten meters apart, surrounded by sand bags and anti-aircraft camouflage nets.

The ground is full of yellow shell casings. The artillerymen probably have nothing to do. They are doing their own things at the moment. Some are smoking, some are eating canned food, and some are writing in their diaries.

Chen Guangyun stretched out his fingers and said, "Look, a bunch of 16-type mountain guns are all bought from us. Oh, there are not a few over there, those are German FK[-] field guns, old ones from the European War. It's a joke."

"The twelve-type mountain cannon is just as old."

"Selling things must give priority to selling old goods in stock."

After arriving at Gilmino Village on the first line, the scene here surprised Chen Guangyun.

There are dense bomb craters, large and small, and gun parts, tattered clothes, and fragments of limbs can be seen everywhere.

The silted water in the crater was a strange black-red color and exuded a disgusting smell.

In a sense, the village of Gilmino can be said to have ceased to exist. The hundreds of houses in the village are only ruins, and all of them are as black as if they had been burned.

A series of meandering trenches outline the shape of wavy lines around the village, looking down from the sky, like wrinkles on the forehead.

"parking."

The off-road vehicle parked next to a "house" with only half a wall left.

Zhou Changfeng jumped out of the car, stepped over a pile of broken bricks, climbed up the wall, and looked around.

Foxholes as security positions, barbed wire barriers, side-firing machine gun fire bunkers, multiple traffic trenches, diagonal positions, mortar bunkers...

He commented to himself: "The defensive position is well arranged."

Then comes the boring and tiring work.

Go around in the car, and then ask the officers here about the battle situation, ask a few questions here and there, and record them carefully.

It’s okay to meet enthusiastic ones, but if you meet those “plagiarists” who don’t want to see them, you may still get a blank stare.

This dull and boring day lasted for a total of four days, and the battle line hardly changed.

The battle area was exceptionally quiet, but only relatively quiet. Although neither side had any large-scale operations, a small group of reconnaissance units had been wandering within the vast range of hundreds of square kilometers.

Obviously, both sides are adjusting their deployment and accumulating strength.

On the ground, there is only small fights, but the battlefield in the sky is extremely fierce. Lying on your back and watching the air battle every day has become a pastime for the soldiers on both sides.

Early morning of the fourth day.

Zhou Changfeng and Chen Guangyun were going downstairs to discuss the use of the Republican Army's artillery recorded yesterday, but they were blocked by the children who came over.

"Sir, are you going to the front again?" A teenager asked curiously.

"Of course, this is our task." Zhou Changfeng took out a large handful of candies from his inner pocket.

Over the past few days, although he hasn't had much contact with them, these inexpensive fruit hard candies and milk candies are enough for him to get acquainted with the children in the apartment.

The little girl named Alisa raised her head and said seriously, "Mom said it might rain today, so you should come back early."

After listening to Adala's translation, Chen Guangyun laughed, "That's not sure, when will I finish my work and come back."

The engine of the off-road vehicle blared, and it pulled into the street outside the apartment building.

Zhou Changfeng was designated to go to Alibeiluo Village today. According to the news he inquired, a short and fierce battle broke out there yesterday morning. The attack of the tank unit sent by the National Army was foiled. Five T- 26 and CV-33 were destroyed.

This village is far away, 14㎞ northeast of Guadalajara, next to a small lake.

Dark clouds rolled in, the sky was dark, so gloomy that it seemed that water could be squeezed out at any time.

On the way, the off-road vehicle carrying Zhou Changfeng and Chen Guangyun encountered two "cavalrymen", or signal soldiers on horseback.

"What happened?" Adara put one hand on the steering wheel and waved the other.

"The No.17 Brigade lost contact with the company in Alibeiro Village. It may be that the telephone line was blown up. We are investigating." A tall signal soldier replied.

Adala didn't ask any more questions, because this was a very common situation. In the war zone, the interruption of wired communication happened almost every day.

On the dirt road, the car continued to move forward.

However, after only a few hundred meters, when the car passed a small slope... a sudden change occurred!
I saw a few trucks parked on the side of the road behind it, as well as twenty or thirty Italian soldiers!
They seemed to have been waiting here for a long time, and the faces of the soldiers were all relaxed, as if they were here for an outing.

Just imagine, a car has just turned over a mound, and by the time the driver sees the enemy waiting below, it will be too late.

Chen Guangyun yelled: "Fuck! You broke into the wolf's den!"

Seeing that Adala wanted to draw out his gun, Zhou Changfeng shouted sharply: "Let go of the gun! Don't resist!"

The Italian army didn't shoot at all, and several soldiers immediately rushed forward, dragging Zhou Changfeng and the three of them down without any explanation.

A group of Italian soldiers looked at each other in blank amazement at this unexpected "captive".

They swerved to the rear of the battle line and broke the telephone line, and then set up an ambush here, intending to capture a few Republican signal soldiers or officers who were rushing to the front.

As a result, neither of them waited, but instead arrested two Ming army officers?The truth is off the charts.

Two hours later, they were escorted to the village of Cap Ellen.

This place was only affected by the flames of war a few hours ago. Facing the menacing National Army and Italian Army, a platoon of the Republican Army was outnumbered. Except for a few who broke through, most of them were killed.

Several houses and windmills were still burning, and more than a hundred villagers who had not evacuated were driven to the square in the middle of the village by the wolf-like soldiers.

Two Fiat M7914 heavy machine guns were arranged in front of each other, and their black muzzles pointed directly at the crowd, as if they were ready to devour them at any time.

Zhou Changfeng and the others were brought to the edge of the well by several soldiers, and an Italian major in olive green military uniform, black riding boots, and a big-brimmed hat came leisurely.

With a playful look in his eyes, "Look what we caught? Oh, two lost Chinese."

[picture]

(End of this chapter)