More than seventy people went out to fight the devils in this village, and none of them came back
—— A fragment of the novel "The Big Knife"
The children of the village walked the streets and alleys, collected a large bag of iron, and sent it to the forest blacksmith at the east end of the village.
Lin blacksmith had been sick and bedridden for more than half a month, but at this time he struggled to get up, let the apprentice open the furnace, burned the fire blue, and then lifted his spirits, jingling and beating the eleven pounds of scrap iron into seven pounds of steel, and it took another day to beat into a large knife, and the body of the knife created seven relief stars, called the seven star knife.
After receiving the last hammer, Lin Blacksmith really couldn't hold on, and fell backwards with a bang, fortunately the apprentice supported him, but he could no longer move, and the work of opening the blade had to be handed over to his apprentice.
However, Lin Blacksmith was still not at ease, and forced the apprentice to carry him to the edge of qingshui Creek, pointing, watching the apprentice polish the large knife and open the blade, his daughter-in-law took out a tin candlestick from the dowry of that year, made the handle of the knife to decorate, and pulled out a foot and a half of red silk to make a hanging wrist, this big knife can be considered to be completed.
When the forest blacksmith worked hard to create this seven-star knife, the Feng cobbler in the village just got an old cowhide, so he cut the best skin on his hind legs, melted the copper buttons on his own skin, and remade a pair of brass nails to make a pair of sheaths.
The two teachers have cooperated for many years, and there has been a tacit understanding for a long time, the knife and sheath are together, and the seams are tightly sewn, just like heaven.
The Seven Star Knife was sent to the village chief, Old Father Hu, and Old Father Hu's spirit was lifted.
He was almost seventy years old, and his body had always been tough, but when he heard that the provincial city had been occupied by the Japanese, he panicked in his heart, fell down, and since then he had to be helped to walk, and now he held the seven-star knife in his hand, and suddenly felt that his soul had returned.
In the end, the Seven Star Knife was packed in a long box by Old Father Hu and others and delivered to lieutenant Wen Ruoming's hands, along with 70 strong men- almost all the strong men in the village.
Wen Ruoming's tears came down, he took off his hat, held the Seven Star Sword in both hands, knelt on the ground, raised the Seven Star Sword above his head, and said: "Dear old and young masters, the boy is incompetent, he went to a university, not only could not benefit Sangzi, but also harassed the villagers and fathers to pay and send troops." When I came this time, I took away the grain and people in the village, and if I knew that these seventy men were the lifeblood of the village, I could not repay them, so I could only kowtow to the villagers. ”
With that, Wen Ruoming put the Seven Star Sword in front of him and prostrated his head three times at the villagers.
Old Father Hu waited for Wen Ruoming to finish prostrating his head, and then he lifted Wen Ruoming up with both hands and said, "Ruo Ming, just now I was receiving it for the old and young masters in the village, but at this moment you are a chief, you should not perform this great gift, this big knife, and these seventy strong people in the village, I will hand it over to you at this time, just as the so-called Qingshan where to bury loyal bones, why do you need to wrap the body of Ma Ge, you go here, or fight, or die, or mutilation, it is not allowed to live secretly!" Otherwise, even if anyone escapes with his life and comes back, he will never be allowed to enter the village and enter the household, nor will he be allowed to write into the genealogy and township history! ”
Wen Ruoming picked up the Seven Star Sword, drew the knife out of its sheath, slid down with the blade in his left hand, pulled out a bloody opening on the palm of his hand, and then threw it to the ground, sprinkled a string of blood spots on the yellow soil in front of him, and said: "Ruo ming is not talented, take the children of the village to the expedition today, don't dare to say anything else, and the little devils refuted the fire, Ruo Ming was the first to rush up to block the gun!" ”
Old Father Hu's eyes revealed deep sorrow and reluctance, but finally he said: "You are the chief, when it comes to guns, let them go first, let them go first." ”
Saying, let the daughter-in-law who was holding him bandage Wen Ruoming's wound. Feng Cobbler cleanly went forward to wipe the blood from the Seven Star Knife clean, inserted it back into the sheath, and placed it back in the wooden box.
Immediately, after consulting Wen Ruoming's opinion, Old Father Hu laughed and announced: All Zhuang Ding will go home tonight, there are daughters-in-law's daughter-in-law, and those who do not have daughter-in-law are looking for a good match, since they are leaving, they must leave the incense, and the seeds in our village cannot be broken.
That night, almost every household in the village killed chickens and cut meat, wafting out the aroma of wine, the people in the village, whether men, women, old or young, got drunk, Wen Ruoming was also pulled by the east family, the west family pleased, drunk drunk.
Wen Ruoming was not originally a person from this village, but he passed by the team half a year ago and rested here for a few days, because of the strict implementation of military discipline, he left a deep impression on the villagers, read the family tree, and only then did he recognize his hometown and regard this place as his hometown.
According to seniority, Wen Ruoming could only be a platoon leader, but there was a lack of grass-roots officers at that time, and Wen Ruoming had gone to college, so he made an exception and became a lieutenant company commander.
When stationed in this village half a year ago, there was a machine gunner who did not take care of his trouser belt and damaged the body of the widow in the village, but the widow was carefully cultivated by Hu Laopa and was ready to be used to report to the archway.
This crime should be shot, Wen Ruoming himself also stripped off his arms, let his subordinates fiercely whip himself twenty lashes, when he was about to be executed, the villagers saw the real character, they all pleaded, all said to leave this boy a life to fight the devil.
In fact, Why doesn't Wen Ruoming want to keep more people? And the man was a veteran, the machine gun hit fast and accurately, talented.
However, the military order was like a mountain, and Wen Ruoming still ordered the execution of the shooting.
After that, Wen Ruoming led the team to the battlefield, the team was beaten to pieces, he was also shot, and then he was stunned by the shells, and when he woke up, he was already in the hospital.
The shot that Wen Ruoming was hit by three or eight shots at close range, penetrating the wound, and there was no internal organs, but there was too much blood loss, and he had been recuperating in the hospital.
Suddenly, one day, a colonel came to the hospital, his legs were a little lame, he spoke his hometown dialect, and as soon as he entered the hospital, he waved his cane wildly, beat up the officers on the bed, and scolded: "Now the front line is tight, you are still lying here!" All of them moved for me, just a few nearby counties and cities, all recruited for Lao Tzu to buy horses! You can recruit enough sixty people, just him as a company commander, can recruit enough two hundred people, just Tema as a battalion commander, you recruit people, Lao Tzu prepares arms, gathers enough a regiment, and continues to fight with the little devils! ”
The big guy originally had a fire in his heart, but then he was incited by the colonel, and everyone screamed, got dressed and walked on the spot, and scattered to recruit soldiers and horses.
Wen Ruoming thought that the place he was familiar with was Huling Village, so he came alone.
Wen Ruoming only arrived at the mouth of the village that day, and saw a big man who was even more rake- and his back was quite familiar, so he went forward to greet him, who knew that the guy turned around and startled him, wasn't this the machine gunner who was shot by himself half a year ago?
The guy also recognized Wen Ruoming at the same time, so frightened that he threw down the rake in his hand and ran, Wen Ruoming chased after him with a pistol, and this chase chased after the widow's house in the village, and when he slammed the door shut, he also closed the door and closed the door bolt.
Wen Ruoming kicked his feet hard at the door, and the door did not recoil his own wounds hurt, and he had the heart to shoot, and he was afraid of hurting others by mistake. I had to scold at the door: "Zhao Dade! Your brothers are dying in battle! You have the heart to put your arms around a woman here and live a little life! If you still have a bit of a man's taste, just find a rope to hang yourself. ”
After scolding, he kicked again.
At this time, someone in the village went to report to Old Father Hu, and only then did he send someone to invite Wen Ruoming to the ancestral hall in the village.
It turned out that the machine gunner Zhao Dade did not die after the shot, but just fainted - it was another damn three or eight shots, and the villagers rescued him and felt that he should not die, and the widow also wanted to follow him, so the village was the master, so they let the two of them get together.
Knowing Wen Ruoming's intentions, Old Father Hu said: "I think this is also Providence, he violated the discipline of the team, and he was also shot, since you came to recruit soldiers this time, you took him away. ”
Wen Ruoming originally wanted to continue to enforce military discipline, but since Old Father Hu opened his mouth to intercede, in the future, the recruitment of soldiers would have to rely on the village, so he chose to acquiesce, and later saw that the widow's stomach had slightly bulged, and the heart of shooting at Zhao Dade's head could not be hardened.
Huling Village is not a large village, the full population is not more than three hundred, at the beginning, Wen Ruoming estimated that he could only fall into a platoon leader this time, who knew that once the village was mobilized, in less than three days, it gathered about eighty people, and also raised a lot of grain, including two or three white-bearded, and a few others who did not have hair, were all scolded by Wen Ruoming for a while, scolded away, and then counted the number of people, plus Zhao Dade and Wen Ruoming themselves, no more, no less, and made a seventy-two brake.
When the moon was empty, Wen Ruoming drank slowly and returned to the ancestral hall. Since the first time he came to this village, he has lived in a box room in the ancestral hall, just like his own home.
He drank so much that as soon as he entered the room, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep. But after all, he was a person who escaped death on the battlefield, even if he was asleep, he was unusually awakened, and when he fell asleep, he suddenly felt that someone was stealing the door bolt outside, and he wanted to ask who it was, but he heard a woman who lowered his voice outside and asked: What are you here for?
Then I heard another girl ask, "I still want to ask you, you fox." ”
The previous female voice laughed and said, "I'm a fox, you big girl, I don't know shame!" ”
Wen Ruoming smiled and secretly thought, "I only said that I would let my brothers go back tonight to keep a seed, but I didn't expect that I would also provoke peach blossom luck." But after all, he had been to college, and he didn't want to leave the child without protection, so he pulled out his pistol, pulled the bolt, and deliberately shouted fiercely: "Who's outside?!" Lao Tzu is going to shoot! Frightened outside the sound of "A", a chaotic footstep, all fled far away.
Wen Ruoming only then raised the gun, opened the door to the courtyard, and arched his hand to the four sides: "More sisters and sisters to raise love, but Ruoming is uncertain about life and death, do not want to leave us with drag, all go back, all go back, next time really want to shoot, ha ha." ”
Talk, go back to the house to sleep, really one night and no one disturbs.
Early the next morning, the village sent someone to bring breakfast — four noodle nests, a large bowl of porridge, a plate of pickled radish, and a salted duck egg.
The woman who delivers food is the only daughter-in-law in the village who can show her face everywhere, and she also helps in the village on weekdays, doing things that are inconvenient for men to do from house to house, and her reputation is not very good.
The woman put the meal on the table as well, and then broke the salted duck egg, peeling the duck egg shell little by little, looking at Wen Ruoming from time to time, her cheeks were crimson, as if she had something to say, but she couldn't say it.
Wen Ruoming has been living in the village for several days, and whenever he is an outsider, he purrs and drinks porridge whenever he picks up the soil bowl.
The woman peeled the duck egg and put it into Wen Ruoming's porridge bowl, slid her fingers over the back of his hand, and finally said grumpily: "The men of the family don't stand up to things, they just want to beg you to keep a seed, and you still have to shoot and beat people." ”
Wen Ruoming was shocked, it turned out that there was her last night, so he pretended to be relaxed and smiled: "Sister, I am a soldier, not a person from our village, I can't do this kind of bad family thing, you have to forgive me." ”
The woman said, "I also understand this, Zhao Big Man just because he let you shoot a shot, fortunately did not kill." ”
Wen Ruoming did not want to dwell too much on this matter, so he laughed a little, and no longer explained, just took a big bite to eat, all finished eating, the woman came to clean up the dishes, Wen Ruoming put on his shoes, stepped on the gun, put on the seven-star knife, walked out of the door, and stood on the courtyard platform like an iron tower, waiting for his team to assemble.
The woman packed up the dishes and chopsticks, walked past him, stopped, and asked, "How many of you are going to come back?" ”
Wen Ruoming replied, "Brothers in the village, I tried my best to keep them back, but when I went, I had no intention of coming back, as a soldier, I deserved to die last time, and this time I can't steal my life." ”
The woman shed tears, but didn't say anything more.
When the hour came, the strong men in the village were accompanied by their families, and there were also good companions, wearing new clothes worn only after the festival, carrying the swords and spears handed down from their ancestors, or looking solemn, or tearful-eyed mother-in-law, but all stepped on the hour, and none of them were late.
Wen Ruoming counted the number of people, and found that there was actually one more, it turned out to be a boy who had been scolded out last time, and he had not yet reached sixteen, so he reprimanded: "Who specifically let you come, get me out." ”
Saying, make a color, Zhao Dade came over to the neck collar of the boy, Wen Ruoming kicked out the ass, fell a big heel, everyone saw it, they all laughed, bringing joy to the dull air.
The boy got up from the dust and wanted to squeeze into the team, but he was caught by two strong men, both of his toes hurt, and the tears came down, shouting: "Sir, you let me go, I have left the seeds last night, and I can't go now, what face do you let me stay in the village in the future." ”
Wen Ruoming scolded, "Where are the seeds you left, stay in the team, and come back to the team in two years." ”
As he spoke, he whispered to Old Father Hu, "He should still stay, and I can't take away all those who can carry guns, because I see that the farmers are busy, and the village must leave a few people to support him." ”
Old Father Hu nodded, summoned two women, and got the boy back.
Wen Ruoming once again examined his new company and ordered it to be pulled out. The strong men slowly walked toward the outside of the village, and the villagers who sent them off also slowly walked out of the village with the team, not knowing who started the head, and the villagers who sent off began to cry out.
So someone in the Zhuang Ding team scolded: "Where the stupid ladies of the family cry, the evil Lao Tzu can't get up." ”
Scolding, his own eye sockets were also moist.
On that day, 72 Hanzi set off from their hometowns and rushed to the anti-Japanese battlefield until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and none of them could return to their hometown alive.