White Olive Tree

Chapter 51

Chapter 51
The alarm blared, and rapid and turbulent footsteps came from behind Song Ran.
The soldiers and civilians who were attending the wedding a moment ago poured out of the alley.  Several groups of soldiers quickly lined up and rushed towards the direction of the gunfire, and the groom in red was inside; civilians, including women, shouted to direct the rear; teenagers and girls gathered the children and hid in the air-raid shelter.
At the entrance of the hospital, Li Zan and several Cook soldiers who got off the hospital bed drove away on motorcycles.
In the direction where the motorcycle taillight disappeared, the shells streaked across the sky, like shooting stars in the middle of the night.
Song Ran put on her bag and ran towards the university. In the distance behind her, the artillery shells made a mournful cry when they took off, and then exploded with a loud bang when they landed.  The houses on both sides of the road shook violently, and layers of mud fell from the walls, hitting her on the head.
There was still a street away from the university. Suddenly a car passed by behind him. Song Ran held his waist and shouted: "Jose! I'm here! Jose!"
The car suddenly braked and turned around. Song Ran ran to the other side of the street. Before the car stopped in front of her, she pulled out the passenger seat and jumped in.
Jose said: "I was just going to pick you up from the university!"
"I know, so I ran towards it." She quickly put on her helmet and put on her body armor.
Heading towards the battlefield, the night sky ahead has been ignited by the flames of war.  On the horizon, artillery fire and smoke exploded into rising mushroom clouds; in the night sky, staggered artillery shells woven into a silver net like a meteor shower.

You can only speak by shouting:
"Why did it suddenly break out?!"
"The rebels launched a large-scale sneak attack!"
"Is the situation serious?"
"It's okay! The government troops were the first to get the information and were already prepared!"
Song Ran asked: "What about the Ku soldiers?"
"They only fight terrorists!" Jose shouted, "If the terrorists don't take action in this battle, they won't take action for the time being!"
"What if we are dispatched?"
"It's up to you to die!"
Song Ran gritted her teeth, her hands and feet trembling slightly.
Outside the car window, it was as if a picture of the floating world unfolded along the way - teenagers of fifteen or sixteen years old were carrying the elderly on their backs and dragging children to evacuate and evacuate into air-raid shelters. Women were carrying simple handmade stretchers from home, ready to go to the front line to carry the wounded at any time.  , men in their forties and fifties were running on the streets with guns looking for lone homeless people.
And men in their 18s, 19s, 20s, and 30s are all on the battlefield.
Approaching the battlefield, the ground under the wheels began to tremble, and gravel danced on the broken cement road.  Song Ran put on earplugs to protect her ears.  Jose stopped the car, and Song Ran quickly jumped out and ran with him to the rear of the government's fire line.
The rear seemed to be in chaos, with people coming and going, everyone looking serious and walking in a hurry, but everything was in order.  The signal corps came and went to deliver news. The generals in the temporary headquarters were formulating strategies according to the war situation. Some soldiers gathered in rows and waited to go to the front line. Some had already loaded their guns and ran towards the front line, while the soldiers in the trenches in the distance were making their way to the front line.  Meet the enemy.  Snipers, artillery, armored troops, tank troops, and soldiers of all types were stationed in their respective positions, like tightened screws.
After Song Ran finished shooting a circle in the back, Jose gestured to her and asked, "Would you like to go take a look in the trench?"
She nodded vigorously.
The two men approached the front along the ditch and alley, firing bursts of gunfire, causing debris and mud to crackle and hit their helmets.  Finally, he sneaked into a trench near the rear.  A trench more than one meter deep and one meter wide was dug underground, and sandbags more than half a meter high were piled on the ground. Soldiers carrying guns and ammunition lurked and shuttled quickly inside.
Close to the front line, the sound of artillery fire was deafening, and it was difficult to shout to each other.  Song Ran followed Jose's gesture and groped forward along the winding trench.  In the trench, soldiers whose hands and feet were blown up and who were shot were carried away on stretchers by medical soldiers. More soldiers with minor injuries and bleeding were still fighting.
Song Ran saw a sniper with a bleeding forehead leaning against the wall and receiving a simple bandage. She glanced at him one more time, and the sniper saw her, smiled at her, and winked.
Song Ran also smiled and said, "You are so brave."
The sniper said: "You are braver, my dear girl."
Song Ran and Jose found a corner location and took diagonal shots, recording a microcosm of this long front across the city of Aare.
Rifles, grenades, machine guns...
Mortars, thunderbolts, howitzers, cannons, rocket launchers...
The flying gunfire ignited the night.  The sky tore and the earth trembled.
It was useless to put earplugs in. Song Ran's brain was shaking, like shaking half a bucket of water.  Splashes of gravel and dirt blurred her vision and knocked against her goggles.  The helmets and body armor were already covered with soot and dust.
She lay down in the trench, holding the machine, focusing on adjusting the parameters and shooting the best angle.
But at this moment, a hand grenade in the picture ahead was thrown into the ditch, and landed right in the middle of a group of soldiers who were about to step forward. Before everyone could react, a soldier next to him hugged a sandbag and rushed towards the grenade.  .
There was a muffled "bang", the sandbag on his abdomen exploded, and the soldier's body suddenly bounced and he lay motionless on the ground.
The medical soldier immediately went over and turned him over. Song Ran saw clearly from the camera that it was the sniper who had bandaged his forehead just now.  He had no external injuries, but his face was pale, and he might have injured some internal organs.  Song Ran ran over and asked, "Are you okay?"
He was being carried on a stretcher by medical soldiers. His expression was originally painful, but when he saw her, he tried his best to smile: "If I get better, can you go on a date with me?"
The nervous and worried comrades on the side all burst into laughter.
Song Ran didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "But I already have a boyfriend."
"Oh..." He raised his eyebrows and said sadly, "Honey, this news hurts me more than the bomb just now. It just killed me."
Song Ran felt sad about his injury, but couldn't help but laugh.
He waved to her and was carried away by the medics.
The battle continued until early morning, and the sound of bombing gradually became smaller.  The soldiers began to cross the trench under the cover of their own tanks and bullets, pushing the line of fire forward.
Song Ran stopped following.  She stayed behind to take photos and records, watching them advance inch by inch, occupying more ruins and buildings in the city, and opening up positions bit by bit.
It is said that soldiers are warriors of steel, but they are not steel.  Bullets will penetrate their chests and fire will burn their faces.
A young body of flesh and blood marched forward bravely in the face of a hail of bullets.  The so-called regaining the territory is just relying on them to move forward step by step, pushing forward with their bodies, measuring with their footsteps, and clinging to the land under their feet.
Amidst the gunfire, Song Ran heard the roars and shouts from the front; he heard a wounded soldier in the trench who was gasping for breath reciting a long Dongguo language; gradually, he heard the soldiers who had just been bandaged and were about to return to the battlefield.  The soldiers also chanted that language.
They are determined and determined.
Song Ran had heard this sentence before, on the university campus, during the defense parade on the street,
Next to him, Jose also started to read, but he was translating to Song Ran in English:
"If we lose, the history of our country will be wiped out. My dear motherland, if she perishes, all the suffering that has happened on this land will be wiped out. All the pain and torture her people have endured will be wiped out.  Forgotten, forgotten by the whole world.
You must not retreat.  Even if I die, my soul will get up and fight.  Even if we die, we must tell those who come after us that we have fought against the world.  I fought against my enemies for her!  "
Song Ran's eyes were hot, and the battlefield in front of him was a little blurry, as if he was soaked in water.
She said: "Jose, I hope you win. You must win."
However, this war was far from being won smoothly.
It's daybreak and it's dark again.
The sun rises again and sets again.
On the night of the third day, although the government forces tried their best to push the fire line forward seven or eight kilometers, the rebels still resisted stubbornly and tore through the remaining northern city of Ale.
Government troops also persisted.
The battle ahead was extremely fierce. They used their last strength to fight to the end.  The soldiers were covered in blood and mud, their eyes were bloodshot, and they were holding on with the belief that they would die.
Song Ran managed to sleep for three or four hours during the day. When he came to the rear again, he found that because some of the injured were discharged, many young students and middle-aged people, and even women, had taken their place.
In a crowded alley, a soldier was explaining various knowledge and precautions to the temporarily formed "recruits".  Song Ran saw a short-haired girl in her early twenties standing in the middle, listening and thinking seriously.
When the team disbanded, Song Ran caught her eye and asked, "Are you scared?"
The pretty girl shrugged: "Is there a scarier moment than this? But I choose to stride through it."
Song Ran laughed and pointed at the gun in her hand: "You know how to use it."
"You don't have to worry about this." The girl said with a hearty smile, "In today's Dongguo, even children can use guns. Everyone is an expert and knows how to use various guns. You can tell the type and distance just by listening to the sound."
Afraid that Song Ran wouldn't believe it, she turned around and looked around, just in time to see a clever child running past holding a gun picked up from the battlefield recovery area, and called out: "Hi, kid!"
The little boy stopped and looked at them with his big black eyes, not happy: "What are you doing? I have something else to do."
A cannonball was fired just in front, with a "boom".
The girl asked: "Tell this sister, what was that just now?"
The little boy sighed, rolled his eyes, and said, "The M777 howitzer is probably five or six kilometers away." After speaking, he raised his eyebrows and said, "Can I leave?"
"Go." Seeing him running away, the short-haired girl shouted, "Don't get hit by bullets!"
The little boy turned around and complained: "Worry about yourself!"
Song Ran: "..."
"Okay. I have to leave too." The short-haired girl left with a gun on her back.