Chapter 167 The Moon of Yesteryear

The Kuomintang bombing arrived as scheduled. The booming explosions seemed to be coming from the rooftops. A moment later, there was a loud bang, and the bombs landed in the courtyard. The sound made my ears hurt, and dust fell from the top of the cave dwellings.

Xie Ning rubbed her ears, not worried at all. She simply cleaned up and continued to quietly organize the manuscript. She had already received news that headquarters had decided to make a strategic relocation.

The Kuomintang's large-scale all-out offensive failed, and the army suffered heavy losses. In order to reverse the defeat, Chiang Kai-shek personally deployed an attack on Yan'an from the south, west, and north.

With only three brigades on their side facing an enemy force ten times their size, the disparity in numbers was overwhelming, forcing them to retreat.

The next day, Xie Ning went to a meeting to discuss the relocation of the arsenal. Those that needed to be merged were merged, and those that needed to be relocated were relocated. After such a busy period, spring arrived in the blink of an eye. After holding a commemorative meeting for International Women's Day, Xie Ning was also officially notified to follow the work committee to withdraw.

The Front Committee remained in northern Shaanxi to wage guerrilla warfare, while the Rear Committee withdrew to the Shanxi-Suiyuan area.

Early on, Xie Ning had people start packing. She had almost finished packing her own things, and most of the pigs, sheep, and chickens she had raised had been slaughtered and sent to the hospital to take care of the wounded. She kept a small portion for herself, so there wasn't much for her to take.

Since Chuncao couldn't travel with them, and an order for non-combat personnel to evacuate was issued last November, Xie Ning entrusted Chuncao to the orphanage. With Qin Xuan taking care of her, she felt at ease. Qin Xuan did not resign from her position as an orphanage worker, but instead handed over the pickle factory to Cui Liu and took the children with her.

Taking young children on long marches involves not only the hardships of crossing mountains and valleys, but also the need to guard against enemy encirclement and interception and the relentless bombing by enemy aircraft. Yet, not a single caregiver complains of hardship or fatigue.

There were three teams in total. One team was the "Mom" team, which led all the children and traveled with the nursery. Another team was the "Assistance Team," which specifically helped the "Mom" team and the nursery. The third team was the "Self-Reliant Team," which carried their own luggage and weapons on the march.

They were going to cross the Yellow River and head north.

When Xie Ning saw that they were working hard day and night to make bedding and prepare dry food for the children, he asked Xiao Yang and the others to make more rice cakes and send them to the nursery. The rice cakes, when mixed with hot water, become a paste, which is also suitable for younger children.

Having lived here for ten years, Xiao Yang and Er Niu were very reluctant to leave, but when it was time to go, they still had to go. Xie Ning did not go with Xiao Yang and the others, but instead went with the leader in a car.

Therefore, he only brought Erniu, his orderly.

The weather was cool, and because of her weakened immune system, Xie Ning caught a cold as soon as she set off. She was in a daze the whole way, and by the time she recovered, she had already arrived at her destination.

"Ahem—is this the place?"

Xie Ning looked at the open river valley plain in front of her, took a deep breath of fresh air, and felt great that her nose was not blocked. She could give herself acupuncture, but she could not change the fact that her body was deteriorating. No matter how Zhao Le comforted her, she was not stupid and knew her own body.

"Yes! We originally wanted to choose Fuping, because it is next to the Jin-Cha-Ji leadership, making it easier to contact them. It is also an old revolutionary base area with a good mass base. However, the villages are small, the residents are scattered, and the economic conditions are too poor."

This area has a good harvest of both rice and wheat, relatively good economic conditions, a solid community foundation, is an old revolutionary base area, and has convenient transportation. Therefore, we chose this location.

"Indeed, it's quite nice. There's also a river here, which is suitable for irrigation."

Xie Ning's gaze fell on the burned-out houses. "These houses were burned down by the Japanese, weren't they? And they haven't been repaired yet?"

The group's gazes followed the direction of the fire, and the comrade who had brought them there chuckled, "Don't be fooled by how badly these houses are burned; their foundations are very good, they're all made of stone, and they'll be easy to repair."

Moreover, this place has only a few dozen households, a small village with few people, and a good grassroots foundation, making it very suitable for doing confidential work.

Xie Ning felt the warmth of the sun and relaxed completely. This was a sunny mountain bend with a very nice, fresh and pleasant environment.

Although they had chosen this place, Xie Ning and the others went to stay in a nearby village because the house was damaged. It was a month later when they finally settled in Xibaipo.

The house was a flat-roofed brick and wood structure. Xie Ning was allocated a courtyard. The guards lived in the front courtyard, and she and Erniu lived in the back courtyard.

Unable to settle down here, Xie Ning proposed convening a military industry conference to vigorously develop arms production and improve the military equipment support for the front-line troops.

"Changning, the time is not right yet. We are mainly fighting guerrilla warfare. You should start the military production on the spot. The military industry meeting can be postponed. You... illness comes like a landslide and recovery is like pulling silk. You should rest well and take good care of your health. It is more important than anything else. Our army's weapons depend on you."

The commander looked at Xie Ning's sickly pale face and felt a pang of worry. Originally, Xie Ning was supposed to follow the Front Committee, but the Chairman rejected it and transferred Xie Ning to the Work Committee to manage military industry in the rear.

Besides Xie Ning's own importance, there's also her physical condition.

The leader was not very clear about Xie Ning's specific health condition. After all, Xie Ning's information was kept by the Chairman himself and no one else could see it. However, the Chairman had specifically instructed him to take good care of Xie Ning before he left.

Xie Ning had been ill the whole way, and his heart had been in his throat the whole time, fearing that this precious child would be ruined in his hands. But the accompanying doctor couldn't treat him, so finding another doctor was even less likely. This accompanying doctor was personally selected by Dean Zhao.

The leader was so worried that several strands of his hair turned white.

Xie Ning sighed as she left the room. She was actually testing her, since she had been resting ever since she arrived. Even the most oblivious person would know something was wrong, and now she had a feeling that she had just expected it.

Erniu cautiously glanced at Xie Ning, but when she was discovered, she immediately received a slap on the head. "What are you looking at? I'm not going to eat you, why are you being so careful?"

"Sister Changning, you've already made me memorize three English passages, so I have to be careful," Erniu muttered. They've been following Xie Ning for so long, and their skills have improved day by day. She herself knows two foreign languages, not particularly fluent, but enough for everyday conversation.

"Learn more, and it will be easier to arrange jobs for her in the future... After all this time she's been a bodyguard, she can't possibly not get a good position, right? That would be too useless of her."