The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 579 Sun Xinchun’s Care!!!

As descendants of the "Jingxi Liu Family", Liu Wen, Liu Wu, Liu Shuxian and Zhong Xingguo's generation have already emerged and shouldered the responsibility of the family's rise and fall.

They not only inherited the family's fine traditions, but also demonstrated outstanding talents and responsibilities in their respective fields.

It is worth mentioning that Liu Xiaotao, who was once regarded as a "playboy", has also made a gorgeous turnaround.

His transformation is amazing, just as the ancients said, "When a scholar is away for three days, he should be looked at with new eyes."

Today, Liu Xiaotao has proved himself with practical actions on the front lines of the two mountains, and he is not just there to eat for free.

Time passes quickly, like a blink of an eye.

Liu Xiaotao has been on the front line of the Two Mountains for more than a year.

Over the past year, Liu Xiaotao has experienced countless life-and-death tests and witnessed the bravery and sacrifice of many of his comrades.

The fighting on the two mountain fronts never stopped. Artillery fire from both sides often whizzed over the positions, and the deafening explosions seemed to tear the earth apart.

However, Liu Xiaotao and his comrades refused to give in.

At first, Liu Xiaotao was not used to the cruelty of war.

Liu Xiaotao was once awakened by artillery fire in the middle of the night, his heart pounding like a drum and his palms sweating.

But as time went on, he gradually learned how to stay calm in the hail of bullets and how to find a gap for survival on the brink of life and death.

Liu Xiaotao is currently the leader of the reconnaissance platoon. Scouts are the spearhead of the troops' combat operations.

The division headquarters assigned three tasks to their reconnaissance battalion: one is to conduct close reconnaissance and grasp the enemy situation in front of them; the second is to organize ambushes at key points to prevent infiltration by agents; the third is to open up offensive combat channels to ensure offensive combat operations.

Outbound and close-range reconnaissance is the main form and means for scouts to carry out their missions.

In the past year, Liu Xiaotao has crossed deep, high-density minefields 17 times;
Cross the subtropical jungle infested with poisonous insects and filled with miasma; lurk under the nose of the enemy with strong barriers and surrounded by dangers to conduct close reconnaissance.

Each of these actions is a baptism of blood and fire, a test of life and death, a tempering of will and courage, and a challenge to the limits of their physical body for Liu Xiaotao and his colleagues.

Especially facing the accidental lightning injuries and bloody limbs, Liu Xiaotao will always remember them and feel shocked in his heart...

Just after the Spring Festival last year, Liu Xiaotao and his platoon, led by deputy captain Sun Xinchun, entered a certain area a month in advance to familiarize themselves with the situation.

When the troops first took over the defense, it was the 8th anniversary of the enemy's loss of two mountains. The enemy situation was extremely sensitive, sneak attacks and harassment were frequent, artillery battles between the two sides were fierce, and the troops were in a state of high tension.

In May, the front-line defense gradually stabilized, and the front command carefully formulated a reconnaissance plan code-named "Operation Cheetah".

It is planned to select Liu Xiaotao and several other reconnaissance backbones, and under the cooperation of engineers and communications soldiers, led by Deputy Captain Sun Xinchun, they will secretly sneak into the area between the enemy and us, search for traces of enemy activities, approach the enemy's main position, and observe and grasp the firepower configuration, personnel equipment and activity patterns of the enemy's surface positions.

In mid-May, Sun Xinchun and his team opened up a passage less than 1 meter wide from the front line of a certain battalion's defensive position and secretly entered the gap between the enemy and our side.

The straight-line distance between the enemy and us was about 1500 meters. The area was covered with red thatch more than 1 meter high, making it impenetrable, and there were many poisonous insects such as venomous snakes, centipedes, and leeches.

Each of Liu Xiaotao and his men carried Shedesheng snake medicine with them and applied mosquito repellent on their bodies, and they crept towards the enemy's position in a low posture.

Since this was their first time going deep into this area, they had no idea of ​​the situation. Liu Xiaotao and his team were extremely nervous and had completely forgotten about the threat from poisonous insects.

Sweat soaked their camouflage uniforms and flowed into their eyes, but Liu Xiaotao and the others didn't feel it.

They didn't know how long they crawled, but suddenly a barbed wire fence blocked Liu Xiaotao and his companions' way. When they looked up, they found that they had reached the front line of the enemy's position.

After cutting open the barbed wire, we soon discovered scattered mines of various types. One of them was a wooden shell mine that looked like a small coffin but contained TNT and an explosive device.

Deputy Captain Sun Xinchun was a veteran scout who had participated in many battles. He was very familiar with the enemy's front-line obstacle facilities. He led Liu Xiaotao and his men to quickly sneak into the outer trench of the enemy's position, which was less than a hundred meters away from the main position of the ground army.

Through observation, Sun Xinchun and his team found that the enemy's position did not have many surface fortifications. They mainly used natural caves to station troops and set up firing points between the cracks of huge rocks. They could faintly hear the enemy's voices, but could not see a single person.

When they approached the enemy's main position for the first time, the scouts did not dare to stay for long and quickly withdrew to our position.

The division commander was very happy to learn that they had successfully approached the enemy position. Deputy Chief of Staff Chen decided that night to travel with Sun Xinchun and his team the next day to approach the enemy position again for reconnaissance.

At dawn the next day, Lao Chen and Sun Xinchun's reconnaissance team successfully passed our frontline positions. At this time, Liu Xiaotao and squad leader Liang Xicai of Class 6 were the spearhead group and walked in the front.

When the spearhead group approached the bottom of the ditch, Deputy Captain Lei Sun Xinchun, who was in the middle command position, ordered Liu Xiaotao to transfer to the cover group at the back to protect Lao Chen's safety.

Just as Liu Xiaotao turned around and took two steps, he heard a loud noise behind him and a gust of air almost knocked him over.

Liu Xiaotao turned around and saw that Xiao Zhu, the engineer soldier assigned to them, was standing on one leg where I was just now, holding his other leg with both hands. The calf of this leg was missing...

Seeing this, Squad Leader Liang reacted quickly and hugged the soldier Xiao Zhu from behind.

Liu Xiaotao also reacted and rushed over quickly, grabbing the upper part of Xiao Zhu's knees with both hands.

At this time, Xiao Zhu clenched his teeth and said nothing.

Blood was bubbling and gushing out, and Liu Xiaotao hurriedly pulled out the tourniquet from his waist. He was trained to tie a tourniquet in just a few seconds.
But at this time, the rolling blood and flesh made Liu Xiaotao's hands tremble, and it took him almost a minute to tie the tourniquet.

In order to prevent the action from being exposed and causing accidents, Sun Xinchun and his team had to withdraw quickly after bandaging the wounds of the wounded.

On the way back, Liu Xiaotao carried Xiao Zhu on his back, and every step was extremely difficult.

Xiao Zhu's weight and the rugged terrain made Liu Xiaotao's breathing more and more rapid, but he gritted his teeth and dared not relax at all.

Squad leader Liang was leading the way, looking back from time to time to check the situation, his eyes full of worry.

The sky gradually brightened, the morning mist began to dissipate, and the outlines of the mountains in the distance became clearer.

Suddenly, there was a low roar coming from the front, and squad leader Liang immediately signaled everyone to stop. He crawled on the ground, put his ear close to the ground, listened carefully for a moment, and whispered: "There is an enemy patrol, less than 200 meters away from us."

Deputy Captain Sun Xinchun made a quick decision: "Take a detour and avoid them." The team immediately changed direction and went into a dense bush.

The thorns scratched their clothes and skin, but no one complained.

Xiao Zhu's breathing became weaker and weaker, and Liu Xiaotao's heart became more and more anxious.

He knew that time was life and he had to get Xiao Zhu to a safe area as soon as possible.

Finally, they passed through the bushes and came to a relatively open hillside.

Sun Xinchun took out the map, checked it carefully and said, "We'll be safe if we go a little further." Liu Xiaotao nodded and continued to move forward carrying Xiao Zhu on his back.

At this moment, Xiao Zhu suddenly said weakly: "Platoon leader, I...I may not be able to hold on any longer."

Liu Xiaotao's heart tightened, and he held back his tears and said, "Don't talk nonsense, we'll be there soon, you will be fine." Xiao Zhu didn't say anything else, but just held Liu Xiaotao's shoulders tightly.

The investigators finally returned.

The medical staff quickly took over and sent Xiao Zhu into the operating tent.

The two unsuccessful attempts did not dampen the enthusiasm of the reconnaissance team.

The third time, Sun Xinchun and his team were familiar with the route and sneaked in again secretly, taking photos, filming videos, and drawing reconnaissance maps of the enemy positions.

This time the operation went more smoothly.

Liu Xiaotao and his team hid in the shadows for three days and three nights, made a detailed observation of the enemy's activities, and came to the conclusion:
In this direction, apart from artillery attacks, the enemy rarely sent agents to harass our positions, and no signs of enemy activities were found in the entire middle zone.

With the intelligence support of Sun Xinchun and others, the division commander adjusted the defense plans of each position, adopted the tactics of deploying fewer troops and garrisoning more, and "replenishing energy" at the right time, retaining elite troops in the front-line positions for observation and vigilance.

In this way, casualties were greatly reduced and the defensiveness of our positions was strengthened.

In order to deal a heavy blow to the enemy in front of them and maintain strong military pressure on the enemy, according to the instructions of the front command, the division headquarters prepared to carry out a battalion-scale offensive operation against the opposite highland area during the dry season, code-named "Project 7-1".

出击的目标是以对面高地为核心的5个阵地所组成的敌连支撑点。它位于907高地、923高地至盘龙江的斜坡上，是敌向我17、14、012等阵地偷袭的重要依托，也是敌前沿要点之一，具有十分重要的战术价值。

Liu Xiaotao and his reconnaissance platoon were responsible for opening up a path in advance for the attack team, and for continuously conducting close reconnaissance of the enemy to keep a close eye on the enemy's movements.

The opening of the passage was divided into two lines: the upper line was commanded by Lao Chen, and the deputy captain Sun Xinchun led the 4th and 6th reconnaissance platoons to implement it, mainly coordinating with the 9th Battalion responsible for the main attack mission;
Liu Xiaotao led their platoon to be responsible for the implementation, mainly cooperating with the 7th Battalion which was responsible for the infiltration mission.

During this period, a new group of students came to the Army Academy for internship. One of them was a trainee platoon leader named Yan, who was from Shaanxi. He actively requested to follow Liu Xiaotao and his platoon.

After obtaining the consent of Deputy Captain Sun Xinchun, he was assigned to Liu Xiaotao's platoon.

In addition to the heavy and difficult task of mine clearance, opening up a path also requires close reconnaissance under the watchful eyes of the enemy without revealing any clues, and the operation requires extremely high standards.

For this reason, every time Liu Xiaotao and his team carried out a mission, they always crawled into the jungle with extreme caution. Everyone rolled like a mud man, and would rather go slowly than step on landmines or be discovered by the enemy.

Although this was very difficult, Liu Xiaotao's courage grew as he practiced, and he repeatedly went back and forth between the enemy and our own positions.

On this day, Liu Xiaotao led the reconnaissance team along the No. 17 position on the east bank of the Panlong River and approached the enemy position on the southwest side of the high ground. This meant that the attack channel was basically opened, and his heart was filled with joy and confidence of victory.

At this time, it was getting dark, and the superior called and ordered Liu Xiaotao and his team to end their mission for the day.

Let them hurry up and return along the original route of the passage, and let Liu Xiaotao choose the next route to engage the enemy.

Liu Xiaotao thought about it briefly, and then he immediately ordered the trainee platoon leader Yan to lead other comrades to provide cover at the location;
He took the reconnaissance veteran Wang Jinhu to climb to a nearby small hill and used binoculars to observe the terrain and topography on the front flank of the enemy position.

At this time, Liu Xiaotao discovered that outside a cave entrance on the enemy's flank about 500 meters away from him, there were more than a dozen enemy soldiers sitting together chatting, some of them holding bamboo water pipes.

The enemy's main position seemed relatively calm. When Liu Xiaotao was thinking about the next route to approach the enemy's position, there was a sudden muffled sound, which seemed to be mixed with a person's shouting.

The sudden explosion made Liu Xiaotao shudder and his highly tense nerves became even more tense.

Liu Xiaotao's first instinct was, have we been discovered by the enemy?
Wang Jinhu, who was standing by, was looking around with his Type 81 rifle in hand.

Liu Xiaotao hurriedly pulled the backpack to his chest, took out a grenade, picked up a submachine gun, and prepared to deal with any unexpected situation.

Soon, the surroundings became quiet again. Liu Xiaotao used the telescope to observe the enemy troops in the distance. They were still sitting together and there was no movement.

At this time, a soldier ran over from a distance and hurriedly shouted to Liu Xiaotao in a low voice: "Platoon leader, it's bad, Platoon Leader Yan is injured."

"What?" Liu Xiaotao was shocked.

Although he was surprised, Liu Xiaotao was wrong to judge that Platoon Leader Yan had no battlefield experience and might have stepped on a landmine.

Ordering Wang Jinhu to continue watching, Liu Xiaotao immediately ran back.

Sure enough, Platoon Leader Yan was found in the arms of a soldier, with the sole of his right foot blown open and his left eyelid cut by shrapnel...

Liu Xiaotao rushed over, opened the first aid kit and bandaged him.

There was no bleeding from the shattered sole of his foot. Liu Xiaotao used a dagger to cut open his rubber shoes. Only then did Xiao Yan cry out in pain.

Xiao Yan was seriously injured and his life was in danger at any time.

Liu Xiaotao urgently ordered the soldiers to stuff the first aid kit into his mouth, quickly bandaged it, and then ordered the soldiers to carry him back and report to the brigade headquarters.

Deputy Captain Sun Xinchun immediately arranged a platoon to meet them, while Liu Xiaotao and Wang Jinhu stayed behind to protect everyone's retreat and deal with pursuers who might appear at any time.

Liu Xiaotao watched the soldiers carrying Xiao Yan away, feeling heavy in his heart but not daring to slack off. He turned to Wang Jinhu and whispered, "Jinhu, we have to be careful. With such a big commotion just now, the enemy may react at any time." Wang Jinhu nodded, tightened his grip on the gun, and looked firm and alert.

As the night deepened, the only sounds left in the forest were the wind and the occasional chirping of insects.

Liu Xiaotao and Wang Jinhu walked one in front and one behind, carefully covering the team's retreat.

Every step was taken with extreme caution, for fear of stepping on a mine or triggering an enemy ambush.

Liu Xiaotao's ears stood up high, and any unusual sound could not escape his perception.

Suddenly, there was a sound of light footsteps in the distance, and Liu Xiaotao immediately raised his hand to signal the team to stop.

He held his breath and carefully identified the direction of the sound.

After a moment, he whispered to Wang Jinhu, "It's the enemy. There are not many of them, but there must be an ambush. We have to go around them and can't fight head-on." Wang Jinhu nodded in agreement, and the two quickly led the team to change route and avoid the enemy's ambush.

However, the enemy seemed to have noticed their actions, and the footsteps were gradually approaching. Liu Xiaotao knew that he could not delay any longer, so he decisively ordered: "Everyone, prepare for battle!" The soldiers quickly hid and pointed their guns in the direction of the sound.

Just then, an explosion was heard in the distance and flames shot up into the sky.

Liu Xiaotao was stunned for a moment, then realized that the troops sent by Sun Xinchun to support had engaged in a firefight with the enemy.

He felt relieved, knowing that the opportunity had come, and immediately ordered: "Brothers, take advantage of the chaos to break out!"

The soldiers rushed out of their hiding places like tigers descending from the mountains. Liu Xiaotao and Wang Jinhu took the lead and led the team to quickly break through the enemy's encirclement.

Although the enemy's firepower was fierce, they were unable to organize an effective counterattack in the chaos.

Liu Xiaotao seized the opportunity and led the team to run all the way, finally meeting up with the support troops at dawn.

When Sun Xinchun saw Liu Xiaotao, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You are finally back. Xiao Yan has been sent to the rear hospital and his condition is relatively stable."

Liu Xiaotao nodded. Although he was exhausted, he finally felt relieved.

Reconnaissance operations sometimes require disguised reconnaissance.

The vast majority of officers and soldiers in disguised reconnaissance wore the same clothes as the local people.

But there are also a small number of people who wear ethnic minority costumes, some wear men's clothes, some dress as women, and some pretend to be couples.

That day, Liu Xiaotao received a task. His superiors wanted him to go deep into the market of "ungrateful people" to collect some intelligence.

In order to better integrate into the local environment, their comrades suggested that they pretend to be a minority couple.

Liu Xiaotao was a little hesitant at first. After all, dressing up as a woman was a big challenge for him. But with the insistence of his comrades, he agreed.

They changed into the costumes of the local ethnic minorities, and Liu Xiaotao even put on a flowered headscarf to cover his slightly tough facial lines.

The market was bustling with people. Liu Xiaotao and Wang Gang held hands, pretending to be a loving couple, walking and observing the movements around them.

Just as they were about to approach a suspicious stall, a child suddenly ran over, tugged at the hem of Liu Xiaotao's skirt, and asked in a baby voice, "Sister, your shoes are so weird!"

Liu Xiaotao's heart tightened and he looked down, realizing that he had forgotten to change his shoes and was still wearing the military boots issued by the army.

The comrade reacted quickly. He immediately squatted down with a smile, touched the child's head, and said in dialect: "Little brother, my shoes are brought from another place. Look, they are so special!" The child nodded, not quite understanding, turned and ran away.

Liu Xiaotao breathed a sigh of relief and the two continued on their way.

However, the episode just now did not end there.

After a while, a middle-aged woman came over, looked at them with a smile, and suddenly said, "You two young couples look so loving! But why do I feel like you don't look like locals?"

Wang Gang's heart tightened, but he still kept a smile on his face and answered in fluent dialect: "Sister, we are from other places to visit relatives. We have just arrived and are not very familiar with your place yet."

The woman listened and nodded, seeming to accept the explanation.

Then he invited them to his shop for a visit, but the comrade-in-arms declined politely, making the excuse that he had something else to do, and hurriedly left the market with Liu Xiaotao.

After returning to the camp, Liu Xiaotao reported the intelligence he had obtained to Deputy Captain Sun Xinchun, and also reflected on the detailed mistakes in their mission.

Liu Xiaotao said with emotion: "Discovering in disguise is really a science. If you are not careful, you will be exposed." Sun Xinchun patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Details determine success or failure. You must pay attention to it next time!"

(End of this chapter)