The sky above our heads looked gloomy, as if it was about to rain. Occasionally, there would be birds busy hunting in the wilderness, but to this wilderness, they were just passers-by looking for food. Just like these passers-by birds.
, the sparse refugees who appeared far away in the fields were also passers-by. After the air raid, the large group of refugees rushing to Nanjing like Tang Cheng and others dispersed. Most of them continued along the road, and only a few dozen lively refugees died.
The beggars insist on going to Nanjing with Tang Cheng.
Tang Cheng, with his arms wrapped in cloth strips, and a dark-faced man with a thick body walked in the front, followed closely by the bespectacled man's family of three. The dark-faced man was everyone's guide, and he was known as a trafficker of smuggled goods.
I went to Nanjing for a walk. Behind me in Tangcheng were about fifty or sixty civilians. Some had gray hair, stooped waists, and carried canes. It looked like they would be out of breath after walking a few steps, and some looked pale.
They must rely on the support of others to stand, and some are still in their infancy and have no ability to move on their own.
Such a group of old, weak, women and children who have difficulty moving around all have large and small suitcases and luggage at their feet. The people sitting on the only two donkey carts either have ribbons on their heads or bandages on their arms.
The small amount of space was used to transport scattered food and children. Tang Chuan and a few brave men found the food and water from the pile of dead bodies. You can't go far without food in your stomach. Although Suzhou is far away from
It's not very far from Nanjing, but most of these refugees are old, weak, women and children, and they have to walk step by step to Nanjing. If they can't find a place to supply food along the way, half of them will starve to death even if they are hungry.
Seeing people's anxious and helpless expressions, Tang Cheng reluctantly accepted his new mission - to escort these refugees to Nanjing. Robert had instilled fraternity in him since he was a child. Escorting refugees to Nanjing was not an easy task.
It is not always full of difficulties and obstacles, but for now, the determination of the Japanese infiltration troops to snipe and kill is indispensable. From Suzhou to Nanjing, it is at least 0 kilometers away. Tangcheng does not know how many miles the refugees behind them can walk every day, but at least not
It would be more than 30 kilometers, so Tangcheng set the duration of this mission at 8 days.
The refugees behind Tang Cheng are all living people of flesh and blood. Their safety is of course one aspect, and their fatigue and hunger must also be considered along the way. That's why Tang Cheng will check the blood-stained food before departure, even in spite of everyone's objections.
We snatched two donkey carts from a group of refugees taking the road to Nanjing. "Let's go". At Tang Cheng's signal, the black-faced man leading the way waved his hand, and the refugees who had been sitting on the ground for a while stood up and lined up loosely.
They followed the man in formation and walked silently.
I don’t know why these people believe that their Tangcheng has no real ability to command the team. He just followed the record in Xie Bo’s field notebook and made a rough division according to the number of refugees. There were only a few adults among the refugees.
Men were separated separately, and an adult man had to be responsible for taking care of at least four to five old, weak, women and children. This ratio sounds high, but the reality makes people see the hardships ahead. The journey of more than 0 kilometers is long and difficult.
It is a wilderness. If the old, weak, women and children cannot find anyone to help them, it will be difficult for them to walk to Nanjing on their own feet.
The arm has been re-bandaged with clean cloth. Tang Cheng, who is also dressed as a civilian, has been walking at the front of the team. His body is not the strongest among these people, but he has a gun in his hand. The shell gun was fired by Tang Cheng.
With Cheng in his belt, M1911 in his back, and two pistols, Tang Cheng is undoubtedly the most powerful person in this group of refugees, and more than half of the refugees behind him think that Tang Cheng is a man with a good heart.
The lone gunman.
Tang Cheng, who temporarily acted as a guard, did not have much interaction with these refugees. Apart from occasionally chatting with the black-faced man who led the way, he spent the rest of the time either immersed in his journey or looking around at what was going on around him. Even when he stopped to rest,
Tangcheng also sat far away from the crowd. After walking for an hour, he would stop and rest for ten minutes. This was what Tangcheng had planned early in the morning. When Robert took the young Tangcheng to preach in Shandong, he walked like this.
Covered almost half of Shandong.
When he stopped to rest again, Tang Cheng, with a cigarette in his mouth, looked at the refugees sitting on the ground behind him. Each of them was very tired, and even looked like they were about to collapse, but the leather in their hands was
But he didn't let go of the suitcases or tightly tied bundles. Tangcheng estimated that those suitcases or bundles contained what these people considered to be the most important and precious belongings, including rare paintings and calligraphy, gold and jewelry. Could it be that these people
Don’t you know that nothing in the world is as good as life? Maybe these people would rather lose their lives than throw away the suitcases and baggage in their hands.
"Uncle, please eat some sweets. Grandpa said that if you eat sweets, you won't miss your mother." The childish voice woke up the dazed Tang Cheng from his meditation. What appeared in front of Tang Cheng was a white and tender little hand. The owner of the little hand was
A child who looked to be only three or four years old was trying hard to stand on tiptoes and bring the candy in his hand to Tang Cheng's mouth. The child was being held by an old man with white beard and hair. From the wisdom in the old man's eyes,
With the warm smile on his face, Tang Cheng judged that the old man should be a man who read poetry and books.
The old man was dressed in simple clothes without glasses. He was carrying a small suitcase in his right hand and holding the three or four-year-old child in his left hand. On the other side of the child was an "old woman" wearing a large hemp-colored shawl. And that
Like the old man, the old woman's eyes were full of love and warmth. These three people should be grandparents and their young grandchildren. Tang Cheng subconsciously put away the shell gun in his hand, then stood up and pointed at the person in accordance with the etiquette of the church school.
The old man and the old woman bent down and bowed. "Hello, sir, nice to meet you! Can I help you?" Tang Cheng reached out to take the suitcase from the old man's hand, but the old man shook his head to stop him.
The old man holding the child seemed to have noticed Lin En a long time ago. When he heard him speak, he responded curiously and gratifiedly, "Thank you, I can do it myself! The box is just some books that the old man was reluctant to throw away."
Judging from their posture and movements, the old couple's physiques are quite strong. In fact, two donkey carts pulling the wounded were walking behind them. Although the carts were very full, there should still be a place to put down a small suitcase.
some.
The child holding the candy bar in his hand looked up at Tang Cheng stubbornly, holding his little hand high. It seemed that if Tang Cheng didn't take the candy bar from his hand, the little kid would keep standing like this. "This is your grandson.
?" Tang Cheng looked down at the child. His immature face was flushed red from the cold. He was wearing a gray velvet hat, a slightly oversized woolen coat, and a pair of exquisite brown leather shoes. From then on.
From the children's clothes and the old woman's big shawl, Tangcheng had already seen that the family of three was either rich or expensive. The European-style big shawl was not something ordinary people could afford, and the brown leather shoes on the children's feet should also be.
It is handmade to order in the UK.
"She's the granddaughter! My youngest son's daughter!" The old man looked at the child with kind eyes. The old woman standing beside him took off the velvet hat on the child's head, and two naughty little braids appeared in Tang Cheng's sight. Tang Cheng
Cheng was stunned for a while, then he leaned down and reached out to gently stroke the back of the child's head. The fine hair under the velvet hat felt a hundred times softer than cashmere, which reminded Tang Cheng, who had recently been immersed in the flames of war, of his distant childhood.
At that time, I was also taken care of by Robert in this way.
"Uncle, eat candy. Grandma said that uncle will laugh after eating candy." The childish little guy still did not give up the idea of stuffing candy into Tang Cheng. He pulled Tang Cheng's clothes hard and made Tang Cheng squat down, smiling.
He put the candy in his hand into Tang Bang's mouth. The candy was very hard, but the sweetness made Tang Cheng's eyes tingle. He thought of Robert again. Every time he got into trouble and was beaten, Robert would always allow Tang Cheng to
Tang Cheng eats a piece of hard candy. In order to eat delicious candy, sometimes Tang Cheng will even make small mistakes on purpose.
Tang Cheng, who was squatting on the ground, put his hand into his underwear pocket and groped for a moment, then took out the piece of dark chocolate that he had been reluctant to eat and handed it to the little girl. This piece of dark chocolate was given to Tang Cheng by Sister Emma when he was hospitalized.
"Wow, it's chocolate, thank you uncle." After getting the chocolate, the little girl was not in a hurry to open it. Instead, she put her arms around Tang Cheng's neck, put her mouth to Tang Cheng's left cheek and kissed her loudly.
"This child has been naughty since he was a child. Don't be surprised." The smiling old woman held the doting little girl in her arms. She looked at Tang Cheng with the same calmness as if she were a family member. Tang Cheng was a little nervous.
Cheng subconsciously touched his face, and when he saw that the old couple didn't look blaming, Tang Cheng felt relieved. Although this small kiss could not completely clear away the depression and heaviness in Tang Cheng's heart, at least it could
At this moment, his body and mind became much more relaxed.
"Okay, we should go." After receiving Tang Cheng's look, the black-faced man urged everyone to get on the road again. Tang Cheng, who was in a much better mood, took the little girl from the old woman's hand and put it on the donkey cart, and snatched it away.
The old man was walking beside the old couple, carrying the small suitcase in his hand with one hand. The old man did not refuse Tang Cheng's help this time, but just looked at each other with the old woman beside him, but the smiles in their eyes were clearly visible.
Among this group of refugees, Tang Cheng is not the youngest, but he is definitely still a child. The old couple who have read poetry and books feel very uncomfortable when the safety of the entire group of people is placed on the shoulders of such a child. Along the way, Tang Cheng
She seldom speaks and looks gloomy. Only an old couple who want to relax in Tangcheng would ask their little granddaughter to send candy to Tangcheng. Unexpectedly, this method works quite well, at least for Tangcheng now.