march to victory

"Why haven't they responded yet?"

Hearing Zhang Qingshan's words, not only Zhou Ping, but even Zhou Baoyu were stunned. Immediately, the three of them were silent, because they all knew that Zhang Qingshan's words were a kind of unwilling exclamation under extreme disappointment, just because All three of them understood: I am afraid that there will be no survivors on that slope.

More importantly - shock!

Although the Central Red Army also mentioned at the beginning: Sometimes, it is a piece of death.But when they heard that they were about to witness this scene with their own eyes, the three of them were still terrified—how could they all die in pieces?

"Go and see!"

Zhang Qingshan yelled and was about to charge forward.Zhou Ping, who was behind him, was startled and shouted desperately: "There is a swamp ahead, detour! Detour!"

Zhang Qingshan hadn't been dazzled by the horror after all, so he hurried to make a detour to the left.

Zhou Ping followed closely, and he still didn't forget to turn his head and shout to Zhou Baoyu who quickly climbed ashore: "Baoyu, take care of the horses, follow the detour, don't run around."

Zhou Baoyu was complaining and frightened at the moment. Hearing this, he didn't dare to refute. He put on the clothes and pants that he hadn't had time to wash, and hurried to lead the horses of several people, and he didn't forget to shout: "You guys! Don't run so fast, wait for me."

After Zhang Qingshan rushed up the slope, he was stunned on the spot with just one glance, his eyes were full of shock: at one glance, there were no fewer than 20 people.Lying down, lying down, sitting back to back... Different from the few skeletons I encountered before, there were only skeletons left, obviously dead for a long time.And these people were sallow and thin, with their eyes closed, but their expressions were very stable before they died. Some of them had mud on their faces. Obviously, they were very tired after walking here. They couldn't even wash their faces, so they couldn't wait to rest. , and it is certain that they died almost at the same time.What is even more unacceptable is that their clothes should be those of the Red Second Front Army, and they are comrades in the same army as Zhang Qingshan and the other three. Moreover, their bodies are still there. Obviously, they died not long ago.

Zhang Qingshan has also seen and personally experienced life and death. For example, in the Battle of Zhongbao, when the remains of more than 300 comrades who died were parked together, Zhang Qingshan at that time could only feel grief and indignation, but he definitely would not feel weird, because, Wars are, after all, deadly.But in this scene now, there is no blood, no fighting, the expression is serene, but the surroundings are silent. Because of this, people can feel the shock and grief in their hearts, and there is even a faint sense of despair under the blow. ...

"Old Zhang, why... this... this..." Zhou Ping rushed to Zhang Qingshan, and just wanted to ask, but when he saw this scene, he really couldn't ask the rest.

Maybe Zhou Ping has been in the army longer than Zhang Qingshan, and he is better able to bear such a scene than Zhang Qingshan. Therefore, after two consecutive "this", he slapped his thigh and shouted to Zhang Qingshan: "Still stunned!" What are you doing? Hurry up and see if there are any comrades alive.”

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Check, it is necessary to check..." At this time, Zhang Qingshan's mind was completely blank. Hearing Zhou Ping's reminder, he subconsciously nodded like a puppet.But after Zhou Ping walked over quickly, he seemed to come back to his senses and followed to check.

After a hasty inspection, it was confirmed that all 23 comrades had died.But there is one thing that is very strange: the five-pointed red star on their military caps is still there—according to everyone’s unwritten rules, once they feel that there is no hope of surviving, they will take off the five-pointed red star on their military caps and hand them to their comrades. out of the grass.And the five-pointed red stars on their military caps are all there, and they died so peacefully, which is unusual and even more weird.It was as if they had died in their sleep at the same time.

After Zhou Ping heard Zhang Qingshan's question, he thought for a while, shook his head, and said, "Don't talk about this question first, let's make sure how many of these people are wounded, especially the serious and serious injuries must be clearly distinguished. Find out how much food they have left."

Another circle of inspections made the problem even more confusing: there were six minor injuries, but no serious injuries.As for their food, 11 people have no food, but there are still 12 people who still have some food on them.In other words, these people will not die of disease or starvation, which makes it more certain that they died one after another within the same period of time, and died without warning.

Then, here comes the biggest and most suspicious question: what exactly could make 23 outstanding Red Army soldiers die unsuspectingly in such a short period of time?

Zhang Qingshan and Zhou Ping stood at the highest point of the slope, looking at the corpse of their comrade in arms in front of them, smoked out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at each other again. Although they both knew the meaning of this glance, neither of them opened their mouths, as if deeply afraid It's like knowing the answer.

In the end, it was Zhou Ping who spoke first, with a bit of anger and unwillingness in his tone: "Old Zhang, what do you think made it? How could you eat so many of our soldiers at once without making a sound, damn it?" , The reactionaries don’t have this ability, and it’s too weird.”

"There are no traces of battle around, but these people died so peacefully. Obviously, it has nothing to do with ammunition and other weapons... But what it is, I can't figure it out for a while. Old Zhou, what do you think?"

"I couldn't figure it out for a while." Zhou Ping shook his head, sighed, and said, "However, I am sure of one thing: no matter what it is, we must figure it out, otherwise, this will be a huge hidden danger, and it will be harmful to us." A huge threat to the lives of three people."

At this time, Zhou Baoyu, who led the horse to them, asked suddenly: "Do you think it is ghosts who are causing trouble?"

Zhang Qingshan and Zhou Ping gave him a blank look at the same time, and didn't even bother to answer: We Communists are atheists. Although this scene is indeed a bit weird and can't be explained for a while, they believe that the reason why they can't explain it is only because of themselves. I don't know much, or my own knowledge is not enough, but one day I will definitely solve it.

After Zhou Baoyu got two supercilious eyes, he rubbed the back of his head and smiled coyly, and muttered, "Even if it's not a ghost, then they all were poisoned to death, right?"

The speaker has no intention, but the listener has a heart!

Zhang Qingshan and Zhou Ping turned their heads to look at Zhou Baoyu almost at the same time. Their eyes lit up, and they looked at each other at the same time. Still laughing, too disrespectful to those comrades who died.

"Old Zhang, tell me, what kind of poisonous gas is it that can have such a great power, in such a short period of time, and in such a large area, so many soldiers have been attacked without realizing it?"

"As far as I know, there is miasma in the mountains, and... swamp gas in the flatlands!" After speaking, Zhang Qingshan clapped his hands and said with certainty: "Yes! It must be swamp gas!"

"Perhaps the methane gas alone is not enough, and we need to add some other poisonous gas, and then, in the middle of the night, when these comrades are asleep, the methane gas slowly invades, so that so many comrades are killed. Trick. Otherwise, if it is placed in broad daylight, everyone should be able to smell it in advance even if they haven’t seen it. And there must be veterans among these people, as long as they smell poisonous gas or something, they will definitely not sit still.”

Zhang Qingshan agrees with this point of view.After thinking for a while, he asked, "Old Zhou, tell me, where did this methane come from? How should we guard against it?"

"I guess it came out of the swamp where Baoyu fell into it just now. Otherwise, why didn't we see a little bit of swamp wherever there was a slope along the way? We didn't get poisoned by a little bit of swamp gas. So, I don't think it's necessary to take turns guarding, unless there is a swamp where we sleep and rest."

"Well! I agree with this truth." Zhang Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Okay, Lao Zhou, you go to light a fire and cook, Baoyu washes her big leather coat and wild vegetables, and I will dig a big hole ...No matter how you say it, they are also my comrades, if you don’t meet them, forget it, if you meet them, you must not let them throw their corpses into the wilderness.”

"Then we'll sleep here tonight?" Zhou Baoyu glanced at the swamp with some fear.

"No! There are too many unsafe factors in this place, so we have to act fast. If we don't find the next dry place, we have to drive all night."

The three act separately!

In fact, it is said to be a dry place, but in this aquatic grassland, how can there be a dry place like that on land?As for digging a hole, in fact, it is just digging big, and I dare not dig deep, because often when I dig down about one meter, water will seep through.

The soil was a little soft, but such a big hole was not easy to dig. Zhou Baoyu came to help after washing the dishes. It was only halfway dug until Zhou Ping finished the meals.

After the three of them finished their meal, they continued to dig the pit until they finished digging and buried the corpses of 23 comrades-in-arms. It was already dark.

In the small pocket that Zhou Ping kept, there were 23 more five-pointed red stars.

The three of them were not in a hurry to set off, just because Zhang Qingshan suddenly thought of a problem: Since there are all comrades from the same unit here, then they are facing two big problems: First, they are going in the right direction now , at least it shows that the main force is going in this direction, so the next step is to find the exact direction of the main force's departure - the three of them just made sure to go in the general direction, now, they must have an accurate direction, otherwise, In this vast water and grassland, a small deviation will make a difference of thousands of miles; second, determine the time!But this is very difficult, because the climate of the water and grassland is weird. After a person dies, it is difficult to judge how long he has been dead.In other words, how long will the three of Zhang Qingshan chase after?Fortunately, this time issue is not a big issue. Anyway, as long as you find the right direction, you just need to catch up all the way.They believed that the three of them went into battle lightly, and with plenty of physical strength, their foot strength would definitely be faster than the main force that was starving and freezing.

So, after a simple vote, the three of them unanimously agreed to use the torches that they dared not use lightly before, within a radius of [-] meters, to find the direction of the main force's departure bit by bit...