February 7, 1941.
Winter has arrived in the north, but the south enjoys a spring-like climate all year round.
The sky was a pure, flawless blue, with the occasional white cloud adding a touch of gentleness to the beautiful scenery.
A LaVille V15T light military truck was parked in front of the thatched hut.
"Click!" The car door opened, Lin Feng loaded some food into the car, and then shouted, "Xiao Mei, are you ready? We're about to leave."
Upon hearing the sound, hurried footsteps came from the room, and Nguyen Thi Mai ran out of the room, her face flushed.
She was carrying two bundles, both containing Lin Feng's and her change of clothes.
"Almost done cleaning up."
Lin Feng replied, "Okay! Then get in the car quickly, the reinforcements from China are arriving today."
Nguyen Thi Mai nodded and sat down.
"Bang!" The car door slammed shut.
The car started slowly and headed towards Bataan.
Not long ago, Lin Feng received a message from Chen Sanyuan saying that the 1st and 7th Divisions had arrived today, which excited him so much that he didn't sleep during the day.
Finally, I can fight alongside my brothers!
Three hours later, the truck slowly drove into Bataan town.
As soon as the truck came to a stop, a group of beggars surrounded it.
Everywhere you look, there are disheveled refugees dressed in tattered clothes.
Most of them fled from the north because food was scarce. They would rush over as long as there was a bite to eat.
This situation made Lin Feng frown, and he said to Nguyen Thi Mai beside him, "You stay in the car, I'll go down and take a look."
Nguyen Thi Mai nodded.
Lin Feng jumped out of the car, looked around, and frowned more and more as he looked at these people: "Where are you from?"
One of the older men looked up; his face was covered in dirt, but his eyes were bright and alert.
He exclaimed excitedly, "Commander-in-Chief...?"
Lin Feng was taken aback, then realized: "You're from the North China Field Army!?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The veteran nodded happily. "Commander-in-Chief, I was a soldier under Regiment Commander Shen of the 1st Division. I had the honor of meeting you once."
Oh no!
The reinforcements have turned into refugees!
Something really bad must have happened!
Lin Feng's heart sank, and he immediately searched everywhere for Zhang Xiaowu, the commander of the 1st Division.
He wanted to know exactly what had happened.
He found it very quickly.
Looking from afar, a thin man stood at the front of the crowd. He was wearing only a thin shirt, and his eyes were lifeless, as if he had lost his soul.
His face was dark, his features were strong, and his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's.
"Xiao Wu!!!!???"
Lin Feng examined him carefully and then confirmed that the man in front of him was Zhang Xiaowu, the commander of the 1st Division!
"Commander-in-Chief!!!"
Zhang Xiaowu turned around and immediately ran towards him!
He was incredibly fast, like an arrow released from a bow! In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Lin Feng and hugged him tightly!
"Waaah—"
Zhang Xiaowu burst into tears, crying out, "Do you even know what this journey has been like...?"
"What commander-in-chief? My name is Lin Feng, and I am a division commander."
? ? ? ? ?
What's the meaning?
When did the commander-in-chief become a division commander?
And they even changed their names??
Hearing this, Nguyen Thi Mai's lips curled into a slight smile, and she muttered under her breath, "You stinky man, so your identity is the commander-in-chief..."
Lin Feng patted Zhang Xiaowu on the back to comfort him, "Don't be afraid, once we get to Bataan, we'll be home."
"Don't get agitated, tell me what happened."
Zhang Xiaowu then came to his senses, wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and began to recount the hardships he had endured along the way—
"When our two divisions arrived at Fangka Town, the guide said we had to cross mountains and valleys."
"I thought this would get us to Bataan faster, so I set off with the team. Little did we know that the mountain was much bigger than we had imagined."
“Everywhere was jungle, with dense and tall trees. There were many of us, but little food, and people often got lost. As a result, we were trapped in this deep mountain.”
“We were starving in the mountains for seven or eight days and couldn’t hold on any longer. Fortunately, Wang Lichen and his men arrived in time, otherwise we would have died in the wilderness by now.”
At this point, Zhang Xiaowu was filled with remorse, hating himself for not doing his best to rescue his brothers.
After listening, Lin Feng fell silent. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry, I've dragged you all into this."
Zhang Xiaowu shook his head: "Commander-in-Chief, please don't say that. If anyone is to blame, it's us for not taking precautions in advance. After all, we northerners have never been to the jungles of the south before and have no idea about the situation there."
Where is Shixiong?
Lin Feng looked around but did not see Zhu Shixiong, the commander of the 7th Division.
"Commander Zhu is injured."
Is it serious?
"It's just a skin wound; it'll be fine after a couple of days of rest."
Upon hearing this, Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
It was a false alarm after all.
“Commander-in-Chief,” Zhang Xiaowu continued, “we suffered heavy casualties this time. In addition to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives, many others were carried away by wolves.”
"Those children..."
Lin Feng sighed; he hadn't expected the situation to worsen like this.
Although I had a premonition, I still couldn't hide my sorrow when I actually faced it.
"Xiao Wu, send someone to count the number of missing persons from the two divisions."
"I will arrange for the Vietnamese guerrillas to handle the food, lodging, and the search for the missing persons."
"no problem."
Lin Feng gave the instructions, then turned and waved to Nguyen Thi Mai before heading to the guerrilla command post.
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