Chapter 33

In the restaurant, Zhang Yunfeng, who couldn't understand what was going on, sat on the dining chair. Aside from his family of three, there were only Lei Qianjun and Li Biao.

Lei Qianjun personally poured a cup of white wine for Zhang Xingming and said, "Big Brother Zhang, for you to come and find me today shows that you have more or less acknowledged me as your brother. After so many years, I owe you and your brothers far too much …" As he spoke, Lei Qianjun's eyes turned slightly red. With a hoarse voice, he said, "The last time we drank was on the night before High 469. In a flash, so many years have passed …"

Zhang Xingming stood up and raised his wine cup. For a moment, he seemed to have lost his mind. After a moment, he sighed softly and said, "Qianming, it's all in the wine now." As he spoke, he raised his head and downed the cup of white wine.

Zhang Yunfeng was dumbfounded by what he saw, and he became even more confused by what he heard. His mother, on the other hand, was holding his hand and asking him in concern if he had suffered in the jail.

In less than ten minutes, Zhang Xingming and Lei Qianjun had each already drunk nearly a jin of white wine, and the two of them rarely spoke, only pouring, clinking and gulping down wine in silence. Both of their eyes were bloodshot, as if a thousand words had been stuck in their throats.

When the two of them had drunk nearly two catties of wine each, Lei Qianjun suddenly burst into tears. Leaning on Zhang Xingming's shoulder, he cried out painfully, "Big Brother Zhang, I'm sorry to you, I'm sorry to my brothers, and even more so, to the thirty-six brothers who died because of me. If I had listened to you back then, I wouldn't have escaped their encirclement. I will never forgive myself in this life! "

Zhang Xingming wept silently, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the wine cup on the dining table, murmuring, "Death cannot bring one back from the dead. Besides, that retreat route was set by our superiors. You just obeyed their orders."

When Lei Qianjun heard this, he cried out in pain, "I should have listened to you, Big Brother Zhang! I should have listened to you! I should have given up the retreat route set by my superiors! I should have taken the escape route from the dark side of the 469 plateau! I shouldn't have entered the valley and entered the ambushing circle of the Vietnamese! I still remember the quarrel between us back then, I stubbornly and foolishly said that I would retreat from the front, because that was my superiors' order, and the retreat was the fastest to arrive at the military headquarters! I thought the Vietnamese people had already been pushed back!"

"You said we can't retreat from the front, because the Vietnamese are better at fighting in the jungle than we are, and they like to break up into pieces and ambush our soldiers who are inexperienced, so we had to retreat from the dark side of the 469 plateau and go back to the army through the narrow road. But I was too stupid, I didn't want to listen to your advice, and all I wanted to do was quickly retreat my company from the dark side of the 469 plateau and rest up, I didn't expect …"

As Lei Qianjun was speaking, he sat up and poured himself a glass of white wine. He raised his head and drank it all, choking with regret as he said, "As soon as we stepped down from the high ground and entered the valley, the first shot the Vietnamese fired, I was stunned when the first shot was fired. After the first shot, the sounds of gunfire came from all directions and we couldn't see where they were nor where their bullets came from, they were all around us, frantically shooting at us in the encirclement. I organized the soldiers to resist, but they simply became headless flies.

"Qianming …" Zhang Xingming patted Lei Qianjun's shoulder, tears brimming in his eyes as he sobbed, "Enough. Let's not bring up the matters of the past anymore."

"NO!" I will say it! " Lei Qianjun roared, "I've kept these words in my heart for so many years and have never had the chance to say them out loud. Today, I must say them to my heart's content, or else my heart will be clogged up!"

At that time, my mind was still clear. With so many of my brothers gone, I had no face to live, but at that time, I was begging you, please let me down, let me stay here to atone for my sins, let me lead the rest of your brothers. If you don't do it, I will risk my life to jump down from your back, and both you and I will fall to the ground together, slapping you in the face.

Other than Zhang Xingming, everyone present was shocked and shocked. Even Zhang Yunfeng and her mother, Song Huafang, did not know of Zhang Xingming's past; Song Huafang had only known him after Zhang Xingming had retired from the army, and over the years, Zhang Xingming had never told his mother and son about his enlistment into the army. Zhang Yunfeng only knew that his father had once participated in the war in the southwest, but he had never known that his father had once gone through such a bloody battle in the past.

You said that you had lost enough brothers, and you didn't want to lose anyone. Even if I was a bastard, you still wouldn't be able to keep me there, and after saying that, you carried me on your back and organized the rest of the brothers to break out of the encirclement. You were right, the 469 Highlands lost its strategic significance, and the Vietnamese who suffered greatly from us earlier knew that we had to retreat back to the Military Headquarters.

Zhang Xingming shook his head and said, "Qiuming, back then, I had indeed blamed you. If you had listened to me, perhaps we would have been able to withdraw back to the Board of War as well, but I was wrong. I shouldn't have blamed you, because you're the company commander.

Lei Qianjun let out a deep sigh, dried his eyes, and said to Zhang Xingming with incomparable guilt, "Big Brother Zhang, I know that the reason why you chose to retire immediately after the end of the war was because of the deaths of the thirty-six brothers. Lei Qianjun let out a deep sigh, dried his tears, and said to Zhang Xingming with incomparable guilt," Big Brother Zhang, I know that the reason why you chose to retire immediately after the end of the war was because of the deaths of the thirty-six brothers.

Looking at his wife and son, he chuckled foolishly, "Qianming, speaking of this, I still have to thank you. If I hadn't come back that year, how would I have had the chance to meet your sister-in-law, and me, the obedient, sensible, and diligent son. This is something that I can't exchange for anything.

Zhang Yun Feng felt his eyes grow hot, and the tears that had been swirling in his eyes for a long time finally began to flow down. He did not think that his father was also a hero who had put life and death aside, who had contributed greatly to the protection of his country, and never would he have thought that his father had given up so much, living in such a mediocre manner today, but because of the existence of his mother and him, he did not complain at all.

"Big Brother Zhang." At this time, Lei Qianjun spoke up, "Even if you blame me for my life, I, Lei Qianjun, will not complain about you treating you as my blood brother. However, you must not treat me as an outsider in the future, and if there's anything you need my help with, please think of me immediately. We have all served the country in the past, and even if it's a peaceful era, I will not allow those bastards to step on our heads and humiliate us recklessly!"