ebookland Chapter 383 The Butcher?!
Chapter 383 The Butcher?!
After another week of rest in the hospital, Zhong Yuemin felt he had basically recovered his strength. The wound on his waist had scabbed over, and his movements were much more agile.
Just as he was planning to be discharged from the hospital the next day and return to his unit, the ward door was suddenly pushed open, and Commander Li and Regiment Commander Liu Yonghua walked in with serious expressions and hurried steps.
When Zhong Yuemin saw that Commander Li had come over, his expression turned solemn, and his heart skipped a beat. He thought that something serious must have happened, so he quickly got out of bed to greet him.
"Lie in bed and don't move!"
Commander Li strode to the bedside, reached out to stop him, and said nothing.
His gaze, however, was fixed on Zhong Yuemin's face, his eyes filled with incredulous astonishment, inquiry, and a complex emotion that was hard to describe. He stared at him for a full five or six seconds.
Zhong Yuemin felt uneasy under that gaze and couldn't help but ask,
"Commander, Regimental Commander... what... what's going on?"
He touched his face, then looked at his hands, and thought, "They're not dirty."
Commander Li took a deep breath and finally spoke, immediately resorting to profanity.
"You little rascal... are you some kind of god descended to earth? Can you predict the future? On the eastern front, a regiment under the 150th Division of the 50th Army really did get into trouble!"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Yuemin was first taken aback, then his heart tightened, and his blood seemed to rush to his head. He hurriedly asked in a trembling voice, "..."
"Is it 44... uh, no, which group? What happened?!"
In his haste, he almost let slip the words "448th Regiment," forcibly swallowing back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Fortunately, Commander Li and his companion did not notice his subtle abnormality.
Liu Yonghua interjected,
"It was the 448th Regiment. During their retreat, the headquarters of the 150th Division and the 50th Army's resident work group had a serious disagreement regarding the retreat route."
"The division headquarters' opinion is very clear: follow the original plan, take the main roads and highways, and evacuate safely and orderly along open areas."
"But the work group, for some reason, insisted on 'expanding the results of the battle,' insisting on taking the back roads and making a roundabout retreat, saying that they wanted to eliminate as many of the remaining enemy forces as possible!"
"The two sides were locked in a heated argument, and finally sent a telegram requesting instructions from the Eastern Front Command."
The crucial problem was that, at this critical juncture, the telegram requesting instructions failed to be sent, whether due to machine malfunction or human error; headquarters never received it.
The head of the 50th Army's working group stationed at the division headquarters, who was in principle the highest-ranking commander of the division, ultimately made a decision on his own, altering the retreat route without waiting for final instructions from headquarters.
Upon hearing this, Zhong Yuemin's heart leaped into his throat, and his palms were drenched in sweat.
The telegram wasn't sent?
Did the working group act arbitrarily?
Could it be... could it be that my previous warnings still failed to change the course of history? Was that tragedy destined to repeat itself? What about those two hundred-plus captured comrades...?
His voice trembled slightly as he pressed for an answer.
"And then? What happened next?!"
Seeing Zhong Yuemin's anxious expression, Liu Yonghua's tone suddenly changed, carrying a sense of relief and lingering fear.
"And then? And then it was all thanks to you, kid!"
Having said that, he couldn't help but pat Zhong Yuemin on the shoulder. This kid always manages to do something earth-shattering and extraordinary.
"Didn't you previously request Commander-in-Chief Yang to send an encrypted telegram to the Eastern Front Command outlining the key points of our Western Front Command's order prohibiting unauthorized changes to the route and mandating a rapid and orderly retreat?"
"After receiving our telegram, the Eastern Front Command was already on high alert for the potential risks during the retreat."
When they discovered the unusual communication with the 448th Regiment and realized something might be wrong, they immediately took the initiative to intervene.
Upon learning that the 448th Regiment's route had been unilaterally altered by the work group and that they had disappeared into the mountains, the Eastern Front Headquarters acted decisively, immediately mobilizing nearby fraternal units that were retreating to rush to the area where the 448th Regiment might be operating and provide support!
Liu Yonghua was still shaken when he recounted this.
"It's truly fortunate that headquarters discovered it in time. The 448th Regiment had indeed encountered an ambush set up by the enemy in the mountains and was completely surrounded."
The battle was fierce, with heavy casualties... but because the supporting troops acted swiftly after receiving orders, fighting relentlessly forward, they managed to rescue the encircled 448th Regiment!
After saying that, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Although we paid a price, at least the entire unit escaped danger, and the worst-case scenario didn't happen. If it had been half a day or even a few hours later, the consequences... would have been unimaginable."
The previous offensive attack didn't result in much loss, but if we retreat now and suffer such heavy casualties, it would be a huge waste.
Hearing this, Zhong Yuemin's heart finally settled back into his stomach with a "thump," and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. It had truly been a difficult journey.
Commander Li had been silently watching Zhong Yuemin until now, when he finally spoke, his voice low and full of doubt.
"Yuemin, tell me the truth, back then... when you insisted that headquarters remind the eastern front, was it because... you had a premonition of something?"
Zhong Yuemin met Commander Li's seemingly insightful gaze. Knowing he couldn't explain, he could only shake his head with a wry smile and mumble, "..."
"Commander, I don't have that ability. I just... I just feel that what happened to Yuan Jun and his men was definitely not a coincidence."
The situation is probably similar on both the eastern and western lines... I was feeling uneasy, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to give a heads-up... and it turned out I was right.”
Commander Li was not convinced by this explanation, but the facts were so clear and undeniable: was it really just 'good luck'?
It's accurate on the first try?!
I didn't press further. Some things, perhaps, don't need to be explained too clearly.
But Zhong Yuemin, this young battalion commander and reconnaissance platoon leader, demonstrated far more than just bravery in this war.
This almost prophetic insight and persistence made even a battle-hardened veteran like him feel a sense of unease and admiration.
Well, the student surpasses the teacher!
After hearing the news that the 448th Regiment had escaped danger without incident, Zhong Yuemin breathed a sigh of relief, but what Commander Li said next made the atmosphere in the ward heavy again.
Commander Li paced back and forth in the ward, then turned around, his brow furrowed, and looked at Zhong Yuemin, his tone tinged with helplessness and seriousness.
"Yuemin, you've narrowly escaped the 448th Regiment incident, but another troublesome matter is far from over..."
He paused, as if considering his words.
"It's about the issues you dealt with in the old town... those 'commoners'."
Zhong Yuemin's eyes narrowed, but he remained silent, waiting for what was to come.
Commander Li sighed.
"People fear becoming famous, just as pigs fear growing fat; sometimes, too much fame isn't a good thing."
"Your 'Mountain Eagle' squad, especially you, Zhong Yuemin, captured the enemy division commander Mei Ronglan alive, achieving a great feat. You've been making headlines, and the enemy hates you to the core. They've already put you on their blacklist."
He walked to the window, looked outside, and said in a deep voice:
"Now, people are making a fuss about this. The Vietnamese newspapers have been putting you on their radar these past few days."
Of course, it wasn't a good title; the headline blatantly stated things like 'butcher' and 'serial maniac.'
The contents were utter nonsense, distorting the truth and claiming that you indiscriminately killed innocent people, sparing no one, including unarmed civilians, the elderly, women, children, and even kids. It portrayed our soldiers as bloodthirsty executioners.
They make no mention whatsoever of the numerous misdeeds committed by these so-called 'common people'!