Chapter 484: How to Deal with Prisoners

Seeing the furious Lu Cheng, the two enemy soldiers seemed to read his mind and simply stayed lying on the ground, raising their hands high.

This scene truly left Lu Cheng speechless; these were no soldiers, clearly more rogue than Xiao Piqiu's gang.

Immediately, Lu Cheng grabbed one man's collar and shouted, "Are you even soldiers! Can you have any backbone! Get up and fight me!"

"Today it's either you die or I die!"

The words Lu Cheng roared were incomprehensible to them; although they could roughly grasp the meaning from his expression, the two pretended not to understand.

One kept shaking his head vigorously; his balls hurt too much, fearing that standing up would get him kicked again.

"Fine, fine! You're pretending to be clueless, huh!"

Lu Cheng stood up, rubbing his arms, and said, "I'm not a soldier; I have no rule here about not killing prisoners."

"Now I'm giving you a chance; since you won't seize it, prepare to die…"

Lu Cheng realized that this group had shot Squad Leader Ma; everyone just now had embraced a death‑defying resolve—why? Simply to avenge Squad Leader Ma.

He, who earlier feared not even death, now kills two prisoners; even if he faces consequences or a military tribunal, what is there for him to fear?

At that thought, Lu Cheng suddenly grew fierce, grabbed a wooden stick, and prepared to smash it onto one enemy's head…

Just as he swung it, a gunshot suddenly cracked open in the forest.

"Lu Jingzhang, stop…"

It was two junior soldiers under Wu Zhekun who rushed in.

While Lu Cheng was buying time earlier, he hoped reinforcements would arrive immediately; now, he would rather have no reinforcements.

"Squad Leader Ma is dead, killed by them; we must not let them return alive!"

After speaking, Lu Cheng ignored the two arriving junior soldiers and swung his stick at them.

However, the instant the stick contacted the enemy's head, his body was suddenly knocked down.

"Lu Jingzhang, they've already surrendered; they're prisoners now. If you kill them, you'll be punished…"

Lu Cheng got up, shoved the junior soldier aside: "I'm not afraid of punishment. Move aside; I must kill them today."

"Lu Jingzhang!"

The junior soldier raised his voice: "Our squad leader said to leave a live one; maybe we can interrogate them for useful information."

"Your squad leader woke up?"

"Yes, our squad leader is awake and waiting for you to return."

While Lu Cheng hesitated for a moment, another soldier, to prevent Lu Cheng from further overstepping, hurriedly escorted the two enemies away.

Under the Rifle's pointing, the two enemies complied, briskly walking toward the original high ground.

Seeing no chance to act, Lu Cheng hurled the wooden stick hard onto the ground.

Returning to the original high ground, the scene still looked as it did after the smoke had cleared.

Weapons, stones, and blood‑stained earth all testified to the ferocious battle that had just taken place.

Seeing Lu Cheng return, Wu Zhekun stepped forward: "You okay, Old Lu? Your face is injured—serious?"

Lu Cheng shook his head: "I'm fine. How about you?"

Wu Zhekun clutched his chest: "I'm okay, I was stunned earlier, now I'm recovering."

Now recovered, Wu Zhekun looked again at the chaotic battlefield, his excitement unmistakable.

We earned a big Merit!

Although some equipment was damaged, we wiped out the enemy, captured a dozen Rifles, and took two prisoners.

"Old Lu, luckily we listened to you just now. What's this called? It's called the brave winning in a narrow encounter!"

This time our squad earned Merit; of course, the service medal will be split half for me, half for you. When we return to the unit, I'll have our Company Commander, then the Battalion Commander, then the Regiment Commander petition the Railway Department for your commendation…"

Wu Zhekun basked in the joy of victory, while Lu Cheng glanced at the two guarded enemies and casually asked.

"When we get back to the unit, how do you plan to deal with these two?"

Lu Cheng's words snapped Wu Zhekun back to reality; they had won, and at a minimal cost, yet the Railway Troops' Squad Leader Ma had fallen here.

Thus the victory was shrouded in a cloud of gloom.

Wu Zhekun did not look at the two prisoners, but at Lu Cheng.

"Old Lu, regarding Squad Leader Ma, I also feel regret and guilt, but rest assured, I'll petition for his commendation; his family, whether work or livelihood, we'll take full responsibility."

"I just want you to understand that this is how the battlefield is—bloodshed and sacrifice can happen at any moment."

Wu Zhekun knew Lu Cheng wasn't a soldier and feared it might leave a psychological scar, so he spoke that way to counsel him.

Lu Cheng couldn't help but sigh; Wu Zhekun had indeed matured a lot and could now take life and death in stride.

In fact, for Wu Zhekun, ever since being transferred to the Frontline, he's been ready to sacrifice at any time.

As long as it's for defending the country, even sacrifice is worthwhile.

Lu Cheng forced a thin smile: "You don't need to lecture me; I'm asking how you'll deal with these two."

This time Wu Zhekun had to look at the two enemies: "Hmm? According to standard procedure, they'll be interrogated first, then detained."

"And after that?"

Lu Cheng asked again, leaving Wu Zhekun a bit puzzled; Lu Cheng was overly fixated on the handling of these two prisoners.

Lu Cheng explained: "I need to give an account to Squad Leader Ma's family, after all."

Wu Zhekun nodded: "That's appropriate. Afterwards they'll be sent to a POW camp for education and labor reformation."

"Finally?"

Seeing Lu Cheng still pressing, Wu Zhekun took a breath.

"Finally, based on their reformation progress, those who perform poorly will continue reformation until fully reformed; those who perform well will, after the war ends, be repatriated to their country."

Getting the answer, Lu Cheng nodded: "So they won't have to die in the end."

Wu Zhekun froze for a moment; he knew what Lu Cheng was thinking, and he felt the same—he'd love to kill the two prisoners on the spot, but…

"Lao Lu, you're not a soldier, you don't understand the military regulations; since they've become prisoners, we can't kill them any more, otherwise it would violate international treaties, even …"

Wu Zhekun didn't say it out loud, Lu Cheng said it for him.

"That doesn't conform to human morality, right?"

Wu Zhekun remained silent.

Lu Cheng also said nothing further.

On the high ground, the wounded were being helped to stand there; those who could move simply cleaned up the battlefield, and there were also these two trucks, whose rear equipment was basically all damaged.

They cleared a spot, then tightly bound the hands and feet of those two enemy soldiers, and threw them into the Carriage, preparing to bring them back to the camp for punishment.

At that moment, Lu Cheng walked into a crater blown by a grenade, picked up an AK‑47 Rifle, which belonged to the enemy and now was essentially a spoil of war.

"The AK rifles produced over there by the old Russian …"

Lu Cheng muttered a line, then raised the barrel and aimed at those two enemy soldiers!