42: Chapter 42 Protracted War

Wang Ye carried Li Yan's body on his back and hid in a dirt hole within the trench.

The sounds of shells exploding rang out continuously.

In the livestream room, a heavy atmosphere permeated.

They had also thought that Li Yan had survived.

As it turned out, Li Yan hadn't been able to hold on.

That sentence, 'Live on well for me,' brought tears to their eyes.

"I'm crying my eyes out; why do they have to stab us in the heart like this?"

"He clearly survived, so why did he suddenly cough up blood?"

"Is this intentional by the developers? It was the same last time; do they have to die right in front of us?"

"Sigh, there are too many accidents and too few miracles."

The shelling lasted for over twenty minutes before it finally stopped.

Wang Ye leaned dazed in the hole, letting the dirt cover him.

At this moment, the company commander from before came looking for him.

"Wang Yuan, are you alright?"

"It's time to retreat," the company commander said, his voice laced with anxiety.

He was afraid Wang Ye was dead.

"Are we retreating now?"

Wang Ye snapped out of it, crawled out of the hole, and looked at the company commander as he asked.

"Yes, our casualties are too high; we definitely won't be able to hold out this afternoon."

"We'll pull back first, and tonight, men from other units will take this place back," the company commander answered his question.

"Alright."

Wang Ye nodded.

By then, the surviving soldiers had gathered and were retreating toward the rear.

They had an entire regiment defending the frontmost positions, but their organizational structure had been wiped out in just one morning.

Only these remnants remained.

During the retreat, Wang Ye was still carrying Li Yan's body.

"You can't run fast carrying his body. Why don't you find a place around here to bury him?" The company commander stopped and looked at Wang Ye.

"I want to find a good place to bury him so I can find his grave later," Wang Ye shook his head.

"In these few days, not to mention tens of thousands, at least several thousand have died on the battlefield, and they're all buried right here."

"Bury? Will the Little Devils actually bury the bodies?"

"Nonsense, the Little Devils are afraid of plagues too. If they don't bury the bodies and a plague starts, everyone's finished," the company commander curled his lip and sneered.

But in that sneer, there was also a hint of sorrow.

After all, most of those who died on the battlefield were their own people.

Their own people's bodies had to be collected by the enemy, and they were only buried out of fear of starting a plague.

"I still want to find a proper burial ground for him, so he can rest in peace."

"Sigh, it's his good luck to have met you. If I die, I doubt anyone will collect my body," the company commander said with a bitter smile.

Listening to the company commander, Wang Ye felt a mix of emotions.

"Company Commander, do you regret becoming a soldier?"

"Regret? There's no such thing as regret. In these times, you can't survive even more if you don't become a soldier."

"Then why do you fight the Little Devils?" Wang Ye continued to ask.

"Why fight the Little Devils? Right now, those Little Devils are invading us, killing wherever they go."

"My hometown in the Northeast was occupied by the Little Devils a few years ago. They set up some damn Manchukuo there, and my whole family was killed by those bastards. You tell me why I fight the Little Devils," the company commander said, his face showing no sadness, his tone very flat.

"Those Little Devils were rounding up people everywhere in my hometown. I almost got caught back then. If it weren't for my regimental commander, I would've been taken away to God knows where."

"Unfortunately, the regimental commander died. He once said he wanted to fight his way back to his hometown, but..."

The company commander didn't say anything more.

Wang Ye fell silent.

They retreated all the way into the town.

When the garrison in the town saw them, they all came out to meet them.

A regiment of troops had been defending the front line, and in the end, only a little over a hundred people retreated.

You have to know, a regiment has at least over a thousand people.

Some soldiers saw Wang Ye carrying a body and asked curiously.

Wang Ye answered them one by one.

They all fell silent after hearing him.

On this battlefield, having someone to collect their body was something they didn't dare to imagine.

Because none of them knew if they would be able to return alive.

At noon, the Little Devils occupied the frontmost positions.

Then, they paused their offensive.

In the afternoon, there would be even more brutal battles to fight.

They withdrew from the town.

Wang Ye found a quiet spot on slightly higher ground and erected a tombstone for Li Yan.

"Grave of Comrade Li Yan..."

"Company Commander, what's the date today?" Wang Ye turned to the company commander and asked.

"Today... let me think... today is the twenty-third day of the seventh month, in the twenty-sixth year of the Republic."

"This month is still the Ghost Month. I hope Brother Li Yan's heroic soul can rest in peace," the company commander murmured.

Wang Ye carved the date with a bayonet; he had taken this bayonet from a Little Devil.

When they retreated, they had scavenged quite a bit of weaponry and ammunition from the Little Devils.

"A pity there's no wine, otherwise we could offer a cup to our brother," the company commander sighed as he watched Wang Ye sitting on the ground.

"Company Commander, do you know where Raozhou is?" Wang Ye suddenly asked.

"Raozhou, I know that place. It's quite far from here; we passed through it before coming to Shanghai. Why do you ask?"

"Li Yan's hometown is there. Before he died, he asked me to help him send something home. I want to send it to him after this battle is over." Wang Ye pulled a handkerchief with traces of blood from his chest.

"I see. After this battle, if we can make it back alive, I'll take you to Raozhou to give the things to his family," the company commander said with a bitter smile.

If we can survive...

Wang Ye looked at the company commander and nodded vigorously.

Afterward, the two of them left.

Leaving only a solitary grave standing alone in the desolate plain.

Perhaps many years later, this solitary grave would be covered by weeds and enveloped by earth.

Wang Ye returned to the camp where they were resting and reorganizing.

Because the unit had been decimated, the remaining soldiers who were disabled were sent to the rear, while the healthy ones were incorporated into other friendly units to continue fighting.

Unfortunately, Wang Ye was healthy.

Aside from some external injuries, he had almost no other issues.

The same was true for the company commander.

Wang Ye also learned the company commander's name.

Huang Jingchang.

It was a good name.

"Big Brother Huang, we've been assigned to the same regiment. How is this 16th Division?"

"It's alright. They're all Xiang Army, from the same division."

"Xiang Army? Big Brother Huang, aren't you from the Northeast? How did you end up in the Xiang Army?"

"In previous years, the unit moved all over the country. Later, the unit was wiped out in Guangzhou, and not many people were left. Since I couldn't go back home, I joined the Xiang Army," Huang Jingchang explained.

"Is the Xiang Army's equipment very poor?" Wang Ye thought of the broadsword he had held at the position that morning.

"Hanyang-made rifles, not too bad. Compared to brother units in other places, we're actually doing a bit better."

As the two of them chatted, someone soon came to lead them.

They were taken to their new unit.

They were incorporated into a regiment of the 16th Division.

This regiment had just come off the front line and had lost many men.

However, it was much better off than Wang Ye's previous regiment, as its organizational structure hadn't been destroyed.

There were others from different units being incorporated along with them.

There were even units that had been dispersed.

After being rescued, they were incorporated into the units that had saved them on the spot.

Regardless, they were all fighting the Little Devils; it didn't matter which unit they fought in.

After resting for a day, they were sent to the southeastern side of the battlefield the next day to block the Little Devils' advance.

Because yesterday afternoon, the Luodian positions had been occupied by the Little Devils.

But that same night, friendly units had retaken the positions.

Without the fire suppression from enemy planes and artillery at night, the Little Devils simply couldn't hold their ground.