A lonely grave a thousand miles away
The Japanese mopping-up troops finally retreated like the tide, leaving behind a land devastated.
Volume 3, Chapter 13
Gu Tieshan and Shen Lanjun led the surviving soldiers through the once-familiar forests. The air was thick with the lingering stench of blood and acrid smells. The once lush forests were now scarred by artillery fire, with broken branches and stumps a horrifying sight.
Along the stream lay the bodies of civilians—women, the elderly, children… They had no time to escape; their lives were taken by the Japanese bayonets and machine guns. In the mountain hollows, the remains of Anti-Japanese Allied Army soldiers lay scattered, some still in firing positions, others locked in combat with the Japanese, indistinguishable until death. Many bodies had been devoured by wild animals, their features unrecognizable.
No one spoke, only heavy footsteps and occasional suppressed sobs. They began the silent burial. There was no coffin, not even enough shrouds. They could only use bayonets and their hands to painstakingly dig shallow pits in the frozen, hard earth.
They found Geng Dashan. His body was almost unrecognizable; only his tattered uniform and the bent rifle beside him confirmed his identity. Gu Tieshan personally pieced him together, carefully wrapped him in a captured Japanese raincoat, and placed him in the pit. He remembered Geng Dashan's kind smile and his dying words, and his throat felt as if something was tightly blocking it.
Zhao Xiaoshuan was buried next to Geng Dashan. This clever and brave young man ultimately proved his loyalty in the most heroic way. Shen Lanjun placed a bunch of hardy, dried wild chrysanthemums, which she had found in a crevice of the rocks, on his grave.
Clumps of yellow earth fell, covering the faces of their fallen comrades. Rows of new graves lined the hillside, like rows of silent soldiers, still steadfastly guarding this land.
"Brothers, sleep now." Gu Tieshan's voice was terribly hoarse. "Your blood will not have been shed in vain. As long as there is even one Chinese left, the Japanese devils will never be able to peacefully occupy our homes and destroy our country!"
Shen Lanjun gripped his hand tightly, tears streaming silently down her face. Looking at the desolate graves stretching for miles, her heart ached. This was not merely the sacrifice of comrades, but a microcosm of the profound suffering of the Chinese nation. The black earth was truly soaked in blood; fertile fields stretched for miles, now graveyards.
During the brief rest period, the command center conducted a post-war debriefing without the sound of gunfire.
"The Soviet liaison officer indicated that they were engaged in the 'Great Patriotic War,' with their strategic focus in Europe, and that logistical support to the Far East... required 'overcoming difficulties,'" the comrade in charge of external liaison said gravely. This meant that the most relied-upon external channels had become extremely unreliable, and the replenishment of medicines, weapons, and ammunition would become even more difficult.
At the same time, various forces, like sharks that have smelled the scent, began to move about.
The bandit leader "Zhen Sanjiang" sent a shifty-looking messenger who implied that the Anti-Japanese United Army was now weak and should accept the Japanese army's "reorganization." He offered to act as an intermediary, but after Political Commissar Yang sternly refused, the messenger left dejectedly. Clearly, he had secretly sided with the Japanese.
Another bandit group, led by "Grasshopper," acted much more ambiguously. He visited in person, bringing several animal skins as gifts, and talked at length about "brotherhood" and expressed his willingness to "cooperate" and "make a fortune" together. However, his eyes were shifty, and the cooperation he proposed was nothing more than wanting to use the Anti-Japanese Alliance's intelligence to attack other small bandit groups or rob caravans to strengthen their own forces, while avoiding any mention of actual anti-Japanese actions.
“These opportunists are unreliable,” Gu Tieshan said incisively. “‘Zhen Sanjiang’ is an open wolf, and ‘Cao Shangfei’ is a covert fox. We can take advantage of the conflict between them, but we cannot place any hope in them.”
Even more nuanced was the situation within the puppet Manchukuo regime itself. News from Wang Degui and other informants revealed the brutality of the Japanese sweep, particularly the massacre of ordinary Chinese civilians, which instilled a sense of unease among many puppet officials. Takeshita Hiroki's facade of appeasement was torn away, and Onizuka Ichiro's purely forceful suppression drastically increased the cost of governance. Centrifugal tendencies within the puppet system intensified, but most remained fearful and hesitant to voice their opinions.
The situation became extremely complex. The enemy was not only the Japanese army in the open, but also covert spies, wavering bandits, ambiguous "friendly nations," and a puppet regime full of uncertainties. Every step was fraught with danger, requiring extremely high political wisdom and strategic maneuvering.
The dozens of newly recruited soldiers stood on the training ground, their faces still bearing the grief of losing loved ones and the resolute determination to seek revenge. Most of them were young, some even teenagers, but the fire in their eyes was no different from that of the veterans. Looking at them, Gu Tieshan seemed to see his younger self, the shadows of Geng Dashan and Zhao Xiaoshuan.
He and Shen Lanjun climbed the hill where their comrades were buried once more. A cold wind swept through the withered grass on the graves, making a mournful sound. The distant mountains were like dark eyebrows, the forests vast and desolate; the land, temporarily free of the sounds of gunfire, appeared empty and lonely.
“It’s temporary,” Gu Tieshan said softly, as if speaking to himself and his loved one beside him. “The Japanese are licking their wounds and redeploying their troops. A bigger storm is brewing. We can’t wait until the storm comes before we find shelter.”
Shen Lanjun nestled against him, her gaze extending beyond the mountains before them: "We need new roots. We can't rely solely on this mountainous region that has been repeatedly swept away. Tieshan, I feel a new phase is about to begin."
Her premonition was quickly confirmed. Political Commissar Yang convened a meeting of all officers at the brigade level and above. Under the kerosene lamp, Political Commissar Yang's expression was serious yet impassioned.
"Comrades!" He unfolded a telegram (sent through secret channels), "Our superiors have instructed us to break out of our current passive situation! The enemy is using an 'iron wall encirclement' against our base, so we will respond with 'the enemy advances, we advance'!"
His finger pointed heavily at the area on the map that represented plains and towns: "Advance into the heart of enemy-controlled territory! Advance into the North Manchurian Plain, into the mining areas and railway lines surrounding the cities, into all places the enemy considers absolutely safe! Establish new guerrilla zones there, mobilize the masses, and expand the armed forces! We must bring the flames of resistance to the very gates of the Kwantung Army headquarters!"
The meeting was initially silent, then erupted into a low, powerful murmur of discussion. This was an extremely bold, and also extremely dangerous, strategic shift. It meant leaving the familiar mountainous region and entering the indefensible plains, facing a more stringent baojia system (a system of mutual responsibility among local officials), a more developed transportation network, and more Japanese and puppet army strongholds.
Gu Tieshan and Shen Lanjun exchanged a glance. Their eyes held no fear, only a sense of relief and a resolute eagerness. They knew this was the right path, the only chance of survival in this desperate situation, and the way to deliver the heaviest blow to the enemy.
The wind howled across the hills, swirling up layers of snow, brushing past countless lonely graves, carrying the entrustment of heroic souls and unfulfilled ideals, blowing towards a wider and more treacherous world in the distance.
A new journey has begun.
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