Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Tiger and Li Chunbo rushed towards Jingmen Avenue at breakneck speed, but what lay ahead was the retreating Allied Forces. It was clear without asking: another defensive line had fallen, and the entire army was in retreat.
Tiger pulled Li Chunbo towards Third Avenue, running as he spoke. "Lion Brother and the others entered the battlefield from Xincheng West Road. When they reached the combat zone, the enemy was likely engaged with the defenders on Xincheng West Road, so they probably couldn't enter Jingmen Avenue and could only conduct harassment operations on Xincheng West Road."
Li Chunbo immediately understood Tiger's implication. Lion Brother and Big Dog could only fight on Xincheng West Road, so the loss of the frontline did not mean they had been sacrificed; it merely increased the pressure on them.
Now, what Li Chunbo and Tiger needed to do was reach Xincheng West Road as quickly as possible to join Lion Brother and Big Dog in their combat area.
The two swiftly made their way to Third Avenue and then headed east. They soon arrived at the intersection of Xincheng West Road and Third Avenue.
As they entered Xincheng West Road, a hail of bullets suddenly rained down on them, causing them to drop to the ground. Looking up, they saw that the enemy was launching an attack from this direction, with two agile warriors drawing fire. Without needing to see their faces, Li Chunbo already knew their names.
Just as a smile began to form on Li Chunbo's lips, ready to shout out to Lion Brother and Big Dog, a grenade exploded about a hundred meters in front of them.
Li Chunbo's face froze instantly. After a moment, he reacted, his eyes stinging as he weakly shouted, "No!"
Tiger remained calmer than Li Chunbo. After blinking rapidly, he immediately grabbed Li Chunbo and dragged him back to Third Avenue. The two leaned against a roller shutter door of a shop on Third Avenue, and Li Chunbo could no longer hold back his tears; he broke down sobbing uncontrollably.
Tiger silently watched Li Chunbo before quickly pulling him up from the ground and charging westward. With the eastern defensive line having collapsed, staying there would be futile; it was better to retreat to the rendezvous point and regroup with the main forces.
Although Li Chunbo felt somewhat dazed, he understood the urgency of the situation. He broke free from Tiger's grip and headed alone towards Dongjiang Road, where the last line of defense awaited.
Dongjiang Road is a north-south highway adjacent to Tianhai Coastal New Area near the railway. Due to the railway's presence, crossing between the eastern and western parts of the coastal new area required passing through New Beiping Road, Ninth Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Teda Street, Jintang Road, etc., all of which intersected with Dongjiang Road.
This meant that as long as Dongjiang Road could be held, the enemy would not be able to advance westward in large numbers. However, if it fell, there would be no place left to defend in Binhai New Area.
At that point, the entire urban area of Jin City would be engulfed in flames of war. The total population of several city centers in Jin was several times that of Binhai New Area; evacuation efforts were still less than halfway complete and could not withstand the smoke of battle!
Li Chunbo and Tiger ran from Third Avenue to Dongting Road and prepared to enter Teda Street, heading straight for the final line of defense at Jingshan Interchange.
“Wait! Stop!” Tiger suddenly grabbed Li Chunbo, his expression serious. “There’s a crying sound!!!”
Li Chunbo calmed himself and focused all his hearing. Aside from the distant sounds of gunfire and explosions, he heard nothing else and shook his head at Tiger.
Tiger frowned slightly and suddenly turned left into an area. Li Chunbo had no choice but to follow him into the place called Milan Century Garden.
The garden was empty; after all, the sounds of gunfire outside were too obvious. Those who could leave had already done so, and those who couldn’t or didn’t want to had likely stocked up on food at home, preparing to hide for a while.
Tiger wasn’t running fast; it seemed he hadn’t pinpointed the exact direction of the sound, scanning around as he moved forward. Li Chunbo initially wanted to stop Tiger since this wasn’t their main mission. Moreover, after what had happened earlier, he felt no goodwill towards those who lingered until the last moment before deciding to flee.
Not only did he feel no goodwill, but he also felt quite disgusted. After all, to some extent, the deaths of Lion Brother, Big Dog, Fox, and White Wolf were partly the responsibility of that family of four!!!
Suddenly, a girl in her teens wearing a school uniform jacket appeared before them. She was squatting at the entrance of an apartment building, crying like a rain-soaked pear blossom. The sight washed away any lingering anger Li Chunbo had.
Tiger immediately ran to the girl’s side and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you separated from your family?”
The girl was startled by Tiger’s camouflaged appearance and flinched back like a frightened deer, bumping into a pillar at the entrance. In pain, she squatted down again, holding her head and sobbing.
Li Chunbo stepped forward gently and said, “Little sister, we are from the People’s Liberation Army of China. It’s very dangerous here; you must leave this area!”
The girl looked at Li Chunbo and sniffled, “We were going to leave, but my dad had something come up at the port, so he went there. Now I can’t reach him on his phone. What if he...”
Li Chunbo and Tiger exchanged glances. From her words, they could infer that her father had likely met with disaster. However, looking at the tearful girl, they couldn’t bring themselves to tell her the truth.
Tiger quickly changed the subject and asked, “What about your mother?” Li Chunbo immediately elbowed Tiger; in such moments, children would naturally think of their parents first. But if she only mentioned one relative, it was likely she came from a single-parent family.
Was Tiger lacking in common sense or emotional intelligence to bring up such a sensitive topic now?
"My parents divorced a long time ago, and I've been living with my dad. My mom is currently living in Xi'an." The girl slowly regained her composure and looked at the two of them with some expectation. "Can you help me find my dad? He used to be a soldier and is in good shape, so he shouldn't be that easy to..."
Tiger couldn't agree to that because going deeper into the port area at this time was against their mission. However, Li Chunbo immediately agreed, saying, "Don't worry, I will do my best to help you find your father, but you need to evacuate to a safe area first."
"Okay..." The girl slowly stood up and looked at the two of them.
Suddenly, the door of another apartment building was pushed open, startling Li Chunbo, who immediately raised his gun to aim. Tiger quickly lowered Li Chunbo's gun because the people rushing out from that building were ordinary residents, their eyes shining with hope.
"It's soldiers! It's really the army!" A young man shouted excitedly. "Comrades of the People's Liberation Army, please take us to a safe area. There’s fighting everywhere, and we want to leave but we’re too scared!"
Li Chunbo frowned slightly as he looked at the group of people and said sarcastically, "When the government called for everyone to evacuate, why didn’t you listen? Did you have to wait until the enemy was at your doorstep before thinking about leaving? What were you doing all this time?"
Seeing Li Chunbo getting agitated again, Tiger quickly intervened and said to the residents, "Everyone, don't worry. We will do our utmost to get you to the evacuation point, but we hope you can cooperate."
The young man, hearing that they could be taken away, immediately smiled and nodded eagerly. "We’ll cooperate! Absolutely!"
Tiger nodded and glanced at the surrounding apartment buildings. "There are probably many others in this area who feel the same way as you do. We must evacuate everyone immediately; the enemy's frontline troops are likely less than a kilometer away! This area could become a combat zone at any moment! It’s too dangerous! So please try to gather more stranded civilians to leave with us."
Li Chunbo took a deep breath and calmly said, "Also, we should avoid exiting through the Dongting Road entrance because there are no stationed troops on Third Avenue anymore. I seriously suspect that the enemy might encircle us from Third Avenue. So it’s best to take another route towards Teda Street and then cross Dongjiang Road; after that, someone will be responsible for arranging your evacuation."
The girl immediately said, "We can pass through the kindergarten next to Building 17 and then go past Binhai Zhidi Mountain Gate; that way we can directly reach Teda Street. However, this route is only about three hundred meters from the Dongting Road exit, and it might be a bit roundabout."
"Alright, let’s go that way. You lead; everyone please follow this girl. We will escort from the back. I hope everyone can move quickly," Li Chunbo said as he exchanged glances with Tiger before running towards the main entrance on Dongting Road. The earlier commotion had been quite loud, and more residents were continuously coming out from Building 66; they needed to ensure these people's safety.
The two arrived at Dongting Road and confirmed there were no enemy troops before quickly moving towards Third Avenue. When they reached the corner of Third Avenue, they stopped. Li Chunbo used the rearview mirror of a parked vehicle to clearly see enemy frontline troops advancing rapidly towards them.
"Damn it!" Tiger frowned and said to Li Chunbo, "You go with that girl; I'll head south to draw their attention!"
“Hey! No…” Li Chunbo reached out to grab Tiger, but missed as Tiger dashed into Third Avenue, engaging the enemy head-on.
“Go!” Tiger shouted as he changed direction and pushed forward. “Didn’t you promise that girl you would help her find her father? Then go fulfill your promise!”
Li Chunbo swallowed hard and called out, “Don’t die! Try to fall back towards the defensive line; I’ll be back soon!”
Li Chunbo sprinted back to the area, urging the last stragglers to hurry towards the west of Dongjiang Road, which was behind the final defense line of Binhai New Area.
The girl anxiously stomped her feet at the defense line. The moment she saw Li Chunbo, she broke into a smile and rushed over, tossing her phone into his hands.
“The first picture is the Family Photo. It’s a few years old, but my dad hasn’t changed much,” she said, gripping Li Chunbo’s hand. “You have to find him and bring him back.”
After glancing at the Family Photo, Li Chunbo replied calmly, “Got it.”
He watched as the girl was escorted away with the other civilians before turning back to rejoin the battlefield. A colonel stopped him, glancing at his rank. “Second Lieutenant, you should stay here and help us defend!”
Li Chunbo shook his head with a wry smile, looking at the smoke-filled land ahead. “Sorry, Colonel. My comrades are already resting there. Even if I can’t bring them back, I can’t just leave them behind.”
The colonel countered, “Are you willing to rest here as well?”
“Yes, it’s just part of my duty!”
The colonel fell silent for a moment, watching Li Chunbo’s receding figure before shouting to all the soldiers in the position, “Order! All personnel must resist fiercely! Jingshan Interchange shall be our grave! We vow to live or die with this position!!!”
Comment 0 Comment Count