There was a not-too-low mountain not far from their village. Every time the Japanese came, everyone would run up there with their belongings. If you stood in a good position on the top of the mountain, you could even see what was happening in the village.
By the time Liang Shengdi sat down on the mountain, panting, it was already bright.
Then I heard Zhang Xiaonu slap her thigh and start crying.
"Oops! My chicken! I didn't bring it up!"
As she spoke, she wanted to rush down again, but was stopped by a group of fellow villagers nearby.
"Wenxuan's mom! Are you crazy? Don't go down now!"
"That's right! There's nothing we can do if the chicken is gone! Our lives are more important!"
"Yes! My pigs are still in the pen! They're newly born sows... If the Japanese mow them down, there won't be a single one left! Woo woo woo..."
"And that field... the rice seedlings have just been planted... my back still hurts... oh... this year is over..."
…
Originally, they wanted to stop Zhang Xiaonv from going to her death, but as they talked, everyone became sad, and there was a whimpering sound on the top of the forest.
There are all kinds of crying, including crying for one's parents' home, scolding one's husband's family for being heartless, and fighting with men.
Not all villages are lucky enough to receive the news in advance, and not all people can escape in time after receiving the news in advance.
Standing on the top of the mountain and glancing down, I could hear cries and shouts coming from the villages behind me.
Especially those living at the entrance of each village, they had no time to run away. Before they could react when the Japanese invaded the village, they might have already died.
There were also some elderly people who held on to their own food bags and livestock, begging the devilish devils to leave some life-saving rations for them.
But the reason why the Japs are Japs is because they have no humanity left, right?
They would rather drag out the bloody bags of grain than leave you a grain of rice or a living being under this eaves.
…
"Wuwu...Dad...Mom...Big Brother..."
"Let me go! Let me go! It's all your fault! It's all your fault! I don't have any parents anymore..."
"Fengjuan... wuwu... Fengjuan..."
Nowadays, transportation depends entirely on walking, and marriages basically take place nearby. Many daughters-in-law's families are in the surrounding villages, and many daughters are married nearby.
At this moment, there was black smoke and gunfire everywhere, and the crying on the mountaintop could not be stopped at all. Some wives even started beating the men, and frantically said they wanted to go down to save people.
The men were slapped on the face and body, but they still held the person tightly with their arms. The village chief said that no one was allowed to go down the mountain.
The old village chief sat under a big tree with a gloomy face, puffing on his pipe, and said after a while,
"The lives of your parents and brothers are all on my shoulders. I don't have the guts to shout to every village in the middle of the night, and I'm a coward. I don't dare go down and fight the devils with bayonets at this time."
"I'm the village chief of Sihe Village, so I can only take care of Sihe Village first. No matter who goes down now, everyone in this mountain will die!"
"You who want parents, brothers, and daughters, look at whether your own children can succeed! They have to live too!"
The old village chief's daughter also married in the neighboring Hexia Village. As he spoke, his eyes were bloodshot. The village chief's wife sat beside him, wiping away tears, wailing for her own fate and for her daughter's life.
The women who were clamoring to go down the mountain were speechless when they saw their children kneeling around them. They could only hug their children tightly and wailed there.
Zhang Xiaonv hugged her own grain bag and sat in the corner with her son and daughter-in-law. From time to time, she glanced at Liang Shengdi who was leaning against Lin Wenxuan and was drowsy, and then she sighed in her heart,
Fortunately, the daughter-in-law married a woman from another place. Before, she didn’t have a family, which was considered a disadvantage and a lack of help. Now, she doesn’t have a family, which means she is no longer a burden, but has become a great advantage.
As for Zhang Xiaonu, her parents passed away early, her brother and sister-in-law were not close, and her parents' home was far away. Even if she wanted to, she could not reach them, so she was not too sad.
It's just fate.
“Stop crying!”
Standing on a big tree and looking down, the village chief's son, Lin Youliang, whispered to the crowd,
"There's smoke in the village! The Japs have entered our village!"
…
The people of Sihe Village, young and old, were dragged into the mountains, thanks to the desperate calls of the village chief in the middle of the night. The Japanese soldiers could only take some livestock, but they couldn't find anyone or a single grain of rice.
He was so angry that he had no choice but to set fire to the village.
Kill all, rob all, burn all.
The Three Alls Policy never ended.
The people on the mountain stopped crying loudly and started crying quietly with their hands covering their mouths, but their grief and anger grew stronger and stronger.
That was the home where their ancestors had lived for generations, and it was burned down so wantonly, but they were powerless to do anything about it.
"Dad! Some of them seem to be running towards the back mountain."
Lin Youliang was still lying on the tree trunk to keep watch. Seeing the Japanese soldiers setting fire and running towards the other side of the mountain, his heart suddenly became nervous and he quickly lowered his head and called his father.
"several?"
"There are only... four... five... no, six, a total of six devils who entered our village, and now they are all coming here!"
Six Japanese soldiers armed with bayonets and grenades were no small number for the villagers.
The old village chief had been smoking his pipe since he came up the mountain. He had smoked all the tobacco in the pipe. He smacked his lips and didn't take a new one out of his pocket. Instead, he stuffed the pipe into his wife's hand beside him, wiped his mouth and stood up.
"Anyone over eighty is not allowed to move. Anyone over forty, take your weapons and follow me to the mountainside to guard. If the Japs come, hit them on the head with your hoes!
Those under forty will stay on the mountaintop to watch over your mothers, wives, and children. Anyone who takes a step back will be extinct!
"Dad! You stay at the top of the mountain, I'll go!"
"Daddy, let me take your place!"
"father……"
When Lin Youliang heard that his father was going to fight the Japanese, he slid down from the treetop and took the lead in shouting that he wanted to replace his father. In an instant, the whole mountain was filled with shouts of "son replacing father".
Then he was interrupted by the old village chief who was cursing.
"Don't be a fucking filial son at a time like this!
We old folks are living, and you're going to die? What if we can still reproduce? Who will carry on the family line?
"Get out! Get out! Stay on the mountain! If all the old ones of us die, you will come up to fill our gaps!"
"There's food! Climb up and keep an eye on it! Be careful not to get spotted, the Japs' guns don't have eyes!"
"Old brothers! Follow me!"
The old village chief took a sickle and led the way up the mountain. Behind him, all the able-bodied men, aged between 40 and 80, followed the village chief down with their weapons.
Leaving behind the sobbing of the family.
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