At the same time, after crossing the border of China and heading towards Vietnam for more than ten kilometers, if you look carefully on the winding mountains, you will find some dark shadows moving slowly, with a little firelight, not bright, but enough to dispel some darkness.
Groups of people were wearing dark green camouflage uniforms. Some were sitting by the fire, warming themselves, some were eating cold, hard, and choking rations, swallowing them with difficulty, and some of the wounded were bandaging their wounds. Even though their veins were popping out of their bodies and they were grimacing in pain, they didn't say a word.
They are a company belonging to the 149th Division of Yunnan Province, China. This is a temporary rest area they built on the march.
"Everyone, take a good rest and get enough rest. After a 20-minute break, we'll continue our journey. We must reach Hill 798 before 11:00 AM tomorrow."
Messengers moved among the crowd, conveying orders from above.
"Xiao Su, what are you doing sitting here?" A figure nervously patted the young man sitting in an open area. "What if the enemy discovers us?"
"No, Brother Zhang." The young man turned around and smiled. The bright moonlight shone on his face. His facial features could not be seen clearly under the camouflage, but his eyes were surprisingly bright.
This person is Su Congwen, who is missed by his family.
"I've looked around. Although this place is quite open, the mountain over there blocks the view. You can't see here at all," Su Congwen explained. "I just want to sit here for a while."
"Ah." The man he called Brother Zhang sighed and sat down next to him. "Xiao Su, are you missing home?"
"Brother Zhang, don't you want to?" Su Congwen asked back.
"Why wouldn't I miss her?" Brother Zhang carefully took out a photo from his pocket and handed it to him with a look of pride and satisfaction on his face. "Look, this is my daughter. When I left, she had just learned to speak and could even call me daddy."
After he finished speaking, he paused, a look of worry on his face. "I don't know if I can go back. Will my daughter still remember me after I go back?"
"We will return," Su Congwen said affirmatively. "Brother Zhang, we must have confidence. We have the upper hand in this war. Judging from the current situation, the Vietnamese side is already in decline."
Although at the beginning of the war, China occupied more than 20 important cities and towns in the north of Vietnam in a short period of time and declared victory within a month.
Chinese forces then began systematically destroying northern Vietnam's infrastructure before withdrawing. Following the Chinese withdrawal, the Vietnamese People's Army declared victory in the war. This further deteriorated relations between China and Vietnam, reaching their lowest point, and the war was far from over.
Brother Zhang waved his hand and said, "Xiao Su, I'm just a rough guy. My family is poor, so I chose to join the army. I'm not like you. You're a student at the military academy with a bright future. You shouldn't risk your life with the rest of us."
The students who participated in the war at Chuncheng Army Academy were assigned to various companies. Su Congwen was the only military academy student in their company. At first, the people in the company thought that Su Congwen was a weak scholar who was not even capable of fighting. However, after seeing his brave performance of always rushing to the front, everyone changed their opinion.
"You are knowledgeable, cultured, and well-informed. The company commander has already said that you are a high-level talent and don't need to work so hard. Just stay behind and offer advice."
There was a look of envy in Brother Zhang's eyes. "If you work hard, maybe you can become a general in the future. We are different. This is our only destiny in this life."
"Brother Zhang, everyone's life matters. You and I are no different." Su Congwen smiled and looked into the distance. "No matter what the reason for joining the battlefield, we have only one goal: to defend our country and protect our people."
Su Congwen applied to rush to the front line on his own initiative. He was not a timid person. Since he was here, he would not let his comrades stand in front of him.
"Besides, don't generals become generals by fighting on the battlefield?" Su Congwen put his hand on his shoulder, "Brother Zhang, try your best to kill the enemy. Maybe you can do it too."
"That's true." Brother Zhang chuckled, "If I could become a general, smoke would come out of my ancestral graves. No, my ancestors would probably crawl out of the ground."
Su Congwen couldn't help but smile.
"By the way, Xiao Su, do you want to see this?" Brother Zhang took out something like a magic trick.
Su Congwen's eyes widened. "Telescope? Where did you get it?"
"Yes." Brother Zhang said excitedly, "The company commander said that there is no problem now. Let us take a look at this telescope we confiscated earlier. It will only take a few minutes. I snatched it from so many people. Hurry up, hurry up."
"Aren't you homesick?" Brother Zhang pointed ahead. "A dozen kilometers ahead is the border. I think we'll see something there."
Su Congwen was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, "Brother Zhang, the straight-line distance this telescope can see during the day is only 7 or 8 kilometers. Besides, it's night now, so you can't see that far."
"How will you know if you don't try?" Brother Zhang didn't understand these things and directly shoved the telescope into his hands. "Take a look, just treat it as a wish. The closer you can get to home, the better."
Su Congwen paused and said, "Okay."
He also wanted to be closer to home, even if it was just to deceive himself.
Su Congwen picked up the telescope and looked around. He thought it was just pitch black, but in this darkness, he saw some blooming points of light, red, green, yellow, blue...
What's this?
Su Congwen was stunned. In his pupils, he saw those spots of light rising into the air, blooming, and falling.
This is... fireworks! Huge bursts of fireworks!
"Did you see anything?" Brother Zhang asked curiously.
Su Congwen put down the binoculars and turned to look at Brother Zhang. His throat was hoarse and he asked impatiently, "What day is today?"
"What?"
"I wonder what day it is today!"
"What date? Today is February 15th?" Brother Zhang was stunned by the question. Then his expression suddenly changed, as if he had thought of something. His eyes widened as he said, "February 15th, February 15th, today is New Year's Eve!"
"New Year's Eve, it's Chinese New Year!"
Brother Zhang couldn't help but scream, but he still remembered to suppress his voice, but his face was full of uncontrollable excitement.
Is it Chinese New Year? Su Congwen looked dazed and confused. Is it Chinese New Year?
During the days of marching and fighting, the most important thing for them was to survive and return home alive.
It turns out that the New Year has arrived without us noticing.
"Let me see, let me see." Brother Zhang anxiously took the telescope and raised it to look, "They're setting off fireworks, real fireworks!"
As he spoke, his excited voice began to have a hint of tears.
The mountain breeze blows, and a long border line of more than ten kilometers separates people who miss each other.
Su Congwen took out his small notebook from his pocket. The corners of the notebook were worn out. He slowly wrote a line of words.
On February 15, 1980, New Year's Eve, at the China-Vietnam border, I looked at my hometown, and my heart had already crossed mountains and rivers.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
