Chapter 164 The Moon Over the Past
With Japan's surrender, the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party became very delicate. The United States undoubtedly supported the Kuomintang, and the Soviet Union also expressed its support for the Kuomintang in order to maintain a peaceful environment in the Far East.
On one side, the National Party, comprised of large landowners and capitalists, sought to establish a dictatorship; on the other side, the Labour Party proposed a "democratic coalition government," which was clearly a challenge to the National Party's one-party rule.
The tense situation between the two parties has led centrists to worry about a large-scale civil war, and they are therefore trying their best to promote peace talks. The Chinese Workers' Party has also expressed a positive attitude. If the Kuomintang can change its anti-communist policy, the Chinese side can consider recognizing the solution of "dictatorship plus some democracy".
Although the CCP is eager to facilitate these negotiations, it is taking precautions and is therefore actively preparing for the negotiations while simultaneously strengthening its defenses.
Xie Ning was extremely busy, seizing a large amount of Japanese military equipment. Some of it was ready to use, but much of it needed repair. In short, everyone at the arsenal was running around like crazy, and they didn't even have time to pay attention to the news of the successful signing of the agreement.
After all, she had long known that this negotiation was just a delaying tactic by the Kuomintang. In the later stages of the war, most of the Kuomintang troops had retreated to the Northwest and Southwest regions. It would take time to reach the areas controlled by the Labour Party. With Japan's surrender, the Kuomintang could not immediately send its troops and administrative personnel to the former Japanese-occupied areas. However, the Labour Party had already taken control of most of the rural areas in North China.
Therefore, they need time to slow down the Labour Party's progress and accelerate their own strategic planning.
"Vice Minister Xie, prisoners have been brought in from the front."
Xie Ning frowned. "Wait."
Then he took out a pencil and marked on the map. Nationalist troops were closing in on Guangdong, Hubei, Henan, Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu. The railway lines included Pinghan, Jinpu, Tongpu and Zhengtai. The Nationalist army would not give up, after all, the Labor Party occupied too many transportation lines, which greatly restricted their actions.
The situation in Beining, Jiaoji, and Pingsui will not be peaceful.
Every shot and every bullet must be guaranteed. Xie Ning, holding the manuscript paper, stood behind the telegraph operator. "Telegraph..."
After making these arrangements, Xie Ning finally had time to check on the young soldier standing outside the door. "Where are the prisoners? How did they get brought here?"
Shouldn't they be sent to prisoner-of-war camps to do labor?
“They were transported from the front lines. They are maintenance technicians from the rear. We were short of people here, so they were sent over. They said it was for you to arrange.”
Xie Ning looked helpless. She did say that they were short of people, but they couldn't just send prisoners of war directly. Who knew if they were reliable? At least they should be reformed before being sent to her.
Before even reaching the room, Xie Ning heard wailing coming from inside. Xie Ning vaguely felt that it was familiar, so he peeked in and saw two young men with long beards holding Cheng Youmin and crying.
We're so short-handed that Cheng Youmin has even brought his students to help.
Cheng Youmin tried to pry open his subordinates' two heads, but couldn't. When he looked up, he met Xie Ning's amused gaze. He immediately got angry and pointed at Xie Ning, saying, "Stop hugging me, your teacher is here!"
Xie Ning blinked, her gaze slowly moving downwards, and then she met two pairs of eyes swollen like walnuts. She really didn't recognize these two bearded men. When had she ever had a bearded student?
The two stared at each other for a moment, and then the two bearded men burst into even louder sobs, from crying while hugging Cheng Youmin to howling while hugging Xie Ning's legs.
Xie Ning clung to the door frame, speechless as she watched the two boys crying and wailing. If she hadn't remembered them before, she now remembered them perfectly. These two were the most prone to crying in her class, especially when they cut their hands during hands-on practice.
She assembled the assemblies while shedding tears, making Xie Ning think she was some kind of tyrant who exploited ordinary people.
"If you cry again, you'll have to eat bitter melon this meal!"
These two were the ones who hated Aunt Liu's bitter melon the most back then.
Hearing this, they stopped crying, but still sniffled and said, "Teacher, now you can't even eat chaff, let alone bitter melon."
"That's right, the higher-ups aren't even issuing us enough food, let alone pay our military salaries. We're all so thin we can't even carry the equipment anymore!"
Xie Ning glanced at the team leader, who was hiding in the corner and chuckling, successfully making the man blush.
"How did you end up working for the Nationalist Army?"
"We were arrested. They were conscripting men everywhere. I was arrested in my hometown, and Ji Qian was arrested on the road. If we hadn't had some skills, we would both have had to carry guns and go to war. It would be one thing if we were fighting the Japanese, but why are we fighting our own people?" Qin Teng sniffed and said.
They all thought that everything would be fine after the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan. Who would have thought that they would be captured by the National Revolutionary Army and recruited into their ranks?
"Haha—cough" When Qin Teng blew a snot bubble, the regimental commander next to him finally couldn't help but laugh. When Xie Ning looked over, he coughed a few times to cover it up before saying, "This time we encountered a group of Nationalist soldiers who were trying to encircle us. It was these two young men who helped us send a small team to launch a surprise attack from the rear."
They said they wanted to join the Eighth Route Army.
The group leader paused, glanced at Xie Ning, and smiled, "They want to come here to find their teacher."
How did you know I was here?
Ji Qian honestly replied, "Someone came to me to talk about peace and mentioned you, but I was afraid they would harm me, so I took my mother and sister to the countryside."
If he had known earlier that the man wasn't a fraud, he would have come. Perhaps he wouldn't have had to live such a long and arduous life. Now, he doesn't even know where his mother and sister are. Thinking of this, Ji Qian's nose tingled again.
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