The next day, less than ten minutes after breakfast, the command platoon was fully armed and assembled at the entrance of the village.

This is the first time that Wang Ke has accompanied Staff Officer Hu of the artillery unit into the mountains since he became the acting command platoon leader.

"Stand at attention, look to the right, look forward! Take a break, stand at attention!" Wang Ke clenched his fists and ran to the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun on one side. Five or six steps away, he stood still with a "pop".

"Reporting to Staff Officer Hu, the artillery company command platoon of the direct-affiliated team has been assembled. Please give instructions, acting platoon leader Wang Ke."

"Set off."

"Yes!" After Wang Ke said this, he turned back, ran to the front of the queue and stood still. Then he shouted: "Turn right and walk!"

It is impossible to walk in unison on this mountain road. It is very difficult to walk fast and steadily.

The command platoon set off, two columns, headed by reconnaissance squad leader Song Ruimin and wireless squad leader Huang Zhonghe. Song Ruimin carried a command bag and binoculars on his right shoulder, and carried a kettle, dry food and a gun on his right shoulder. Huang Zhonghe carried a kettle of dry food on his back.

There was a two-watt radio station with a five-wing antenna overhead that wobbled as it walked.

Nineteen people form a special team.

What is different from the past is that everyone in the command platoon wears leggings. These straps are from the time when they helped the munitions section and the ordnance section organize the warehouse, the old squad leader Huang Zhonghe couldn't bear to throw away those torn gun cleaning cloth strips

, I bought a bag of grass-green paint, and then I dyed the white cloth and dried it in the sun, then wound it into a small bundle of three or four meters.

After training in the mountains, everyone understood the use of leggings. Wrap the calves of the military trousers in circles and tie them together. In this way, when training in the jungle or mountains, there is no need to worry about the thorns of the jujube trees scratching the military trousers.

Haha, the people in the command platoon today look very much like the old Eighth Route Army in those days, attracting soldiers from the company who are not artillery platoons to stand in the distance and point.

Wang Ke followed the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun and walked at the back of the team.

"Platoon leader, our landlord told us to enter from the mountain pass on the opposite side. Within two kilometers, turn right and you will see Eagle Mouth." Wang Ke and Hu Zhijun said, pointing to the mountain pass on the opposite side of the road.

"Eagle's mouth?"

"Platoon commander, do you know?"

"Well, the deputy company commander and I studied that area on the map that day. But from the map, that place doesn't look like an eagle's beak, but more like a knife."

"Then why is it called Eagle Mouth?"

"Yeah, I don't understand either. Maybe it's just a random place name." The old platoon leader Hu Zhijun turned around and said to Wang Ke. Today he was carrying a pistol, a bottle of water and a satchel with dry food on his chest.

A telescope hangs.

Wang Ke didn't have a gun, except for a water bottle, a satchel with dry food, the military dagger he carried with him, and a drawing board with a map of the area.

As he said that, he crossed the highway and followed a path made by the shepherd.

The grass on both sides of the road got deeper and deeper, already covering the knees, and slowly only a shallow mark was left on the road. Song Ruimin, who was walking at the front, found that the trees were getting denser and denser, and the team slowly shuttled through these trees.

and among weeds.

When I turned around and looked behind me, I could no longer see the road, and was surrounded by dense woods and grassy beaches.

"Wait a minute, reconnaissance squad leader." Wang Ke stopped the team when he saw it. He and the old platoon leader Hu Zhijun came from the rear to the front of the team.

"Reconnaissance squad leader, are you sure you are walking in the direction of the eagle's mouth?" Wang Ke took off the picture board, held it flat, and took out the compass from his pocket.

Song Ruimin scratched his head, looked around and said, "There is no way to judge the terrain now. I walked in along the path."

"Then look at the front of this road." Wang Ke pointed to a few dozen meters ahead of the path. A white thing could be vaguely seen through the cracks in the tree trunks.

"what is that?"

Huang Zhonghe, the old squad leader next to him, said in surprise: "That's a highway."

"Ah?" Several soldiers nearby screamed. After walking less than a kilometer, they turned back to the road in the mountain pass.

"No way? How could I be such a bad guy?" Song Ruimin also shouted. In his impression, he not only walked in along the path, but also walked roughly in the same direction. The middle road became blurry as he walked.

At that time, he hesitated a little. Under the deep grass, everything looked like a road, but nothing looked like a road.

"Hurry up and get your position." Wang Ke ordered. Now standing deep in the dense forest were three generations of scouts. Everyone gathered around him.

Song Ruimin quickly took out the compass, determined a direction of magnetic north, and then quickly placed it on Wang Ke's drawing board.

Both compasses pointed to the same place. Wang Ke quickly straightened the map. Based on the winding distance he had just traveled, Song Ruimin pointed to the edge of the green symbol on the map and said: "Staff Hu, platoon leader,

We should be here."

"That's not right, the eagle's mouth is over here. In other words, we just came in and we went off the road unknowingly?" Hu Zhijun looked at the map, then looked at the road, and said to Wang Ke.

"Yes, platoon leader, it seems we have been led astray by this sheep trail."

Wang Ke looked at the map, then looked at the surrounding trees, and said decisively: "We are going to Eagle Mouth now, and we have to correct it about ten degrees to the left. Fortunately, it's not far. We can go straight through here and walk more than a thousand meters.

, you should be able to see the eagle’s beak.”

"Okay, everyone, don't worry this time. I will lead the way with the compass. If I go wrong again, you will punish me." Song Ruimin turned around and dug directly into the grass with his feet, ready to set off.

"Wait a minute, reconnaissance squad leader, have you seen the poplar tree in the five o'clock direction?" Wang Ke pointed forward.

"Saw."

"Go directly to that tree, don't take any more trails." Wang Ke said to Song Ruimin. Because at this time he found that the trees around were basically oak and ailanthus trees, only there was a tall hairy tree in the distance.

The poplar trees are very conspicuous.

"Okay." Song Ruimin agreed, and just as he was about to take a step, Gu Maolin squeezed in from behind.

"Squad leader, I'll work with you to open the way ahead." As he said this, Gu Maolin pulled out a sickle from his waist. When he was about to set off in the morning, he took the sickle from the landlord's uncle Geng's house.

"Okay, everyone, follow up. Don't fall behind, and pay attention to the white poplar tree in front of you."

The team continues to set off.

Yougu Maolin waved his sickle in front to clear the way, and Song Ruimin pulled the cattle lock column to follow behind to escort the team. The team quickly walked about seven or eight hundred meters, but stopped again.

"What's wrong? Reconnaissance squad leader."

"Report to the platoon leader, there are three white poplar trees in front of me, I don't know which one is the right one." Gu Maolin shouted over his shoulder.

Wang Ke was so angry that he wanted to curse these three losers. He walked for more than an hour and still couldn't find the right road! At this speed, let alone finding the training ground, how many hours would it take just to find the eagle's mouth?

Wang Ke and old platoon leader Hu Zhijun came to the front of the team again.

"Let everyone rest where they are. The telephone squad leader and the wireless squad leader come to the front." The old platoon leader Hu Zhijun shouted. After hearing the sound, he fell down with a "plop, plop". In this deep grass, which direction did he lie down?

They are similar to "grass carpet".

Wang Ke looked and saw that there was no sound. Marching like this would definitely be much more tiring than walking on a flat road.

Arriving at the front of the team, Wang Ke took a look and saw that there were indeed three white poplar trees in front of them, and they were all similar in size and height. He didn't see anything just now, but when he turned out of the woods, three trees suddenly appeared.

tree, now I can’t go back and look for that tree again.

"Old platoon leader, look, from the map, we are heading in the right direction. There should be an unnamed highland on the left. But why can't we find this unnamed highland?" Wang Ke was also a little anxious. He looked around and saw that he

Trying to see the nameless highland from the bulge of the tree crown.

"Gu Maolin."

"arrive!"

"Can you see that there is an unknown small highland on our left?" Wang Ke asked. No one else in the platoon knew, but only Wang Ke knew that Gu Maolin's clairvoyance was still very good.

When Gu Maolin heard this, he immediately stood up on his tiptoes and looked around ahead. "Platoon leader, there is nothing like a flat plain ahead."

How is this possible? Wang Ke asked again. "Then look, are there any rivers within a few hundred meters of this place?"

Because in Wang Ke's memory, there is a river near Eagle's Mouth.

"Report to the platoon leader, no."

Weird, weird. The old platoon leader Hu Zhijun took the board over. As soon as we walked into the mountain valley today, the entire platoon turned around. If we really reached the southern border, it would be completely impossible to move forward.

Wang Ke closed his eyes. He wanted to activate his navigation system now. The map would be correct. At least he had to see where the nameless highland was. When he closed his eyes, an unknown highland indeed appeared in his mind. Wang Ke slowly

He slowly turned around and took a step towards the unknown high ground. When he opened his eyes, he was stunned. The place he was facing now turned out to be the left rear he had just passed.

In other words, I have walked through it myself. That’s right. A few hundred meters ahead, there should be the river. After crossing the river, turn right and you will see the Eagle’s Mouth. But why don’t you hear the sound of the river?

Wang Ke closed his eyes again, and this time he felt it, right in front, not far away. But it was not a river, it was like a broken mirror, speckled, several hundred meters long, it was a swamp. What's wrong with this place?

Will there be a swamp?

"Gu Maolin."

"arrive!"

"Let's go to the front and clear the way!"

"yes."

Then, Gu Maolin was in front, waving his sickle to cut left and right, and Wang Ke was behind, directing him to walk forward. Soon, a road nearly three hundred meters long came out.

Suddenly, Gu Maolin's feet went soft, and his left foot came up empty. Then, his shoes got wet.

There was a puddle under the grass, but what surprised Gu Maolin even more was that when he turned around, he found that acting platoon leader Wang Ke was walking with his eyes closed.

"Hey, did you fall into the water?" Only then did Wang Ke open his eyes.

"Platoon leader, you saw it, why didn't you remind me?" Gu Maolin was so impressed that he knew a long time ago that Wang Ke could recognize the road with his eyes closed.

"I want to verify, is there water under the grass?"
To be continued...