Chapter 10: Sacrificing One's Life to Block the Enemy

  The group of people who came were the First Route Army of the First Front Army of the Anti-Japanese League, and the familiar figure that Cheng Bing saw was the army commander Cao Yafan.

  Cao Ya-fan's troops have been active in the Changbai Mountains east of Quanyang Town since they parted ways with Yang Jingyu at the beginning of January. Due to being deep in the mountains, there were no large-scale battles with the enemy, and more than 300 people remained, with their strength still intact. Two days ago, a small team responsible for collecting supplies from the troops captured a soldier who had fallen behind Tang Zhen-dong's vanguard on his way back, and obtained the latest battle situation.

  Cao Yafan heard that Yang Jingyu's guard brigade was in a fierce battle with the enemy, suffering heavy casualties. He was anxious and led his troops to surround Tang Zhendong's vanguard team through the captured puppet army guide, capturing Tang Zhendong. With Tang Zhendong's cooperation, they were able to move freely in the area, and the enemy along the way did not suspect that Tang Zhendong had been captured, but instead provided a lot of intelligence, letting Cao Yafan know about the recent battle that had just occurred nearby. According to his own judgment, it was likely that Yang Jingyu's remaining troops were resisting, so Cao Yafan left only a small number of soldiers to guard the prisoners and prevent leaks, while he led the main force to rush over with Tang Zhendong.

  The battle to defeat the puppet Manchurian police department's vanguard team went very smoothly, and the vanguard team was caught off guard. Except for a small number of deaths, most of them did not put up effective resistance and were quickly defeated. The attack on that small group of Japanese soldiers was somewhat hindered, as they took advantage of the terrain to stubbornly resist. The Anti-Japanese Alliance was unable to deal with them at first, so they gave up their attack and retreated.

  Yang Jingyu and Ma Qianan targeted Cheng Bing as soon as the Anti-Communist Alliance launched its attack, firing shot after shot. However, Cheng Bing was too quick and disappeared from view after a few turns.

  Cao Yafan met Yang Jingyu, and the two tightly hugged each other. Seeing the commander who was badly injured and covered in blood, the surrounding Anti-Japanese League soldiers' eyes all turned red.

  Cao Yafan wiped away a corner of his eye, forcibly suppressing his excitement, and began to issue orders commanding the soldiers to retreat.

  News of the ambush quickly reached Watanabe, who was overjoyed and immediately rallied all his troops to pursue wildly. To encounter such a large anti-communist force, in his eyes, was a heaven-sent opportunity; if he could annihilate or severely damage the main force of the anti-communists, he would become a hero of the great RB. Under the impetus of this frenzied idea, Watanabe became a ferocious beast.

  Ma Qian'an settled down the mountain and immediately integrated into this heroic team. After a brief introduction, the Anti-Japanese League soldiers soon knew his great name and wholeheartedly accepted this young man who had come to rescue their commander. The guards gathered around Yang Jingyu and Ma Qian'an, taking on the task of protection.

  Daybreak found Tanaka's swift column and the Aoki detachment hot on the heels of the Anti-Communist League, whose casualties were mounting rapidly.

  When the Anti-Communist League retreated to a mountain valley, Watanabe had already pursued them to the entrance of the valley, and the severe situation forced the Anti-Communist League to leave someone behind to block the attack.

  Cao Yafan stood on a small hill outside the valley, staring at the hundreds of meters away swarming devils, and let out a slight sigh. He said to the soldiers beside him: "Pass down the order, leave some men to fight a blocking battle, but only those who volunteer."

  When the order came down, all the wounded who were struggling to move forward stopped on their own initiative. They silently hugged and bid farewell to their comrades beside them, then resolutely walked backwards with a trail of blood towards the valley entrance.

  Ma Qian'an looked at all this in surprise, grabbed a soldier beside him and asked urgently: "What's going on? What's going on? How can we leave the wounded behind?"

  The warrior held by Ma Qian's hand had tears in his eyes, slowly prying open Ma Qian's hand and muttering: "Don't ask me, don't ask me, can't you see for yourself?"

  A surge of sadness, despair and anger flooded Ma Qian'an's entire body. He suddenly understood what all this meant - these brave warriors had volunteered to stay behind and hold off the enemy so as not to drag down the main force, and they were already prepared to die in battle. The war between the Eighth Route Army and the devils was once again showing its cruelty, and it shook Ma Qian'an's already firm conviction. He felt sorry for his comrades, he admired these men who viewed death with equanimity, but why such a damn order? Leaving behind the wounded, basically without any hope of survival. Although a thread of rationality told himself that this order had its reasonableness for the entire group, his emotions could not accept it, absolutely could not accept it. Ma Qian'an felt his blood rushing to his brain, his whole body trembling involuntarily, not because he was afraid, but because he was angry.

  Ma Qian turned back to look at Yang Jingyu lying on the stretcher, hoping that the general would stop this practice. He was disappointed, and the general, who had been frozen and injured, could no longer hold on and had already fainted.

  Ma Qianan rushed to Cao Yaofan's face, angrily questioning: "Why? Why is this? They are our comrades, our brothers, how can you bear to abandon them?" Ma Qianan couldn't calm down his excitement, trembling as he pointed at the more than ten wounded soldiers who were silently building a defensive position.

  The wounded men were taken aback by this intense questioning and all turned their heads to look at them.

  Cao Yafan knew who the person in front of him was. He was grateful that Ma Qian'an could rescue Yang Jingyu, who had fallen into a desperate situation. Facing Ma Qian'an's difficulties, Cao Yafan did not get angry, but only said: "Little Ma, what are you doing? No time to explain, you'll get used to it later."

  "I'm not used to it! I won't abandon wounded comrades and let them die!" Ma Qian'an continued to shout loudly.

  "Get used to it, you have to get used to it! You joined the resistance league, now you have to follow orders, step down!" Cao Yafan's expression was anxious, eager to get rid of this troublesome young man, and his voice gradually rose.

  "How can you be like this? How can you be like this? What are you doing?" Ma Qian was indignant and determined to intervene.

  "What do you know? Interfere with the command again, I'll shoot you!" Cao Yafan also got angry, and he couldn't help but lose his temper at this guy who didn't know what was good for him.

  Ma Qian glared stubbornly at Cao Yaofan, stretched out his neck and continued to shout: "You'll be killed! Even if you shoot me, I won't let you do this!"

  Cao Yafan was at a loss, he couldn't really shoot Ma Qian'an. He raised his hand, wanting to give this ignorant young man a big slap in the face, to wake him up from his recklessness. But when he saw Ma Qian'an's unyielding and angry eyes, his heart softened, and his palm couldn't swing down. Cao Yafan stretched out his trembling hand, pointing at a soldier lying on the snowy ground, struggling to load bullets into the machine gun magazine: "Little Ma, I understand your feelings, I understand...". Cao Yafan muttered repeatedly, without realizing he had repeated himself many times, "That one, that's my own brother, I know, today we part ways, and I'll never see him again. My mother will be heartbroken."

  At this moment, Cao Yafan thought of his white-haired mother's expectant eyes, and his heart was in severe pain. He closed his eyes, and two lines of hot tears flowed down. "But I have to do it this way! You don't know what the consequences would be if I didn't do it this way - our whole team would be torn apart and killed, who would continue to play RB? Making revolution requires sacrifice, wanting success requires paying a price. They all know this, I know it too, and I want you to know it too. Alright, go quickly!"

  Ma Qian'an was stunned, war does not allow for tender feelings, no matter how many soft emotions there are, no matter how many helpless situations there are, the cruel reality does not allow you to be emotional.

  General Cao's brother was also among those about to die in battle. General Cao used his tears and a deeply emotional glance at his younger brother to prove irrefutably that he was not heartless, that he had not intentionally abandoned the comrades and brothers with whom he shared life and death. All of this was caused by this damned war, by those shameless, greedy, brutal RB devils. General Cao was not wrong.

  Cao Yafan saw that Ma Qian was still standing there and couldn't help but pull him, "Let's go, or we won't make it."

  "No!" Ma Qian stood up straight, looking General in the eye. "I don't blame you now, go! I may not be able to change their fate, nor can I save their lives." Ma Qian paused, taking a difficult breath. "But I can change my own fate!"

  Cao Yafan was silent, staring steadily at this brave young man. This young man could no longer be simply described as brave; he stood tall like a hundred-year-old green pine in the midst of raging winds and snowstorms, meeting death with an air of defiance that intimidated all.

  Cao Yafan suddenly understood Ma Qian'an's determination.

  Apart from the wounded being drawn into this debate, a small troop of over 30 people next to them was also paying attention. From seeing Ma Qian's angry accusations to his decision to live or die with the wounded, there were constant discussions within this small troop.

  "This kid is quite something!"

  "It's nothing! Haven't seen anyone scolding Cao Jun yet, enjoy!"

  "Ah no, that can't be!"

  "What are you dragging on about? If I'm told to withdraw, I'll just withdraw. It's better to live a life of shame than die a good death."

  "Shopkeeper, I think this kid's temper is even worse than yours. If he doesn't die, you two will be a perfect match!"

  "Get lost and go find your mom!"

  The leader of this small team was a burly man with a ferocious face, his thick eyebrows were like two brooms stuck under his broad forehead, and his copper bell-like eyes stared at Ma Qian'an without blinking.

  Cao Yafan adjusted his hat, raised his right hand and gave a solemn military salute to all the wounded. After everyone returned the salute, he turned around, faced Ma Qian and saluted again, saying with a hint of regret: "Comrade Ma, I will remember you, take care!"

  Ma Qian'an suddenly smiled, "General Cao, look at what you're saying, it's as if we're all finished. Don't worry, I know how to fight, three hours, I can hold on for three hours."

  Three hours? I'm afraid you can't even hold on for an hour! Cao Yafan turned back, chasing after the troops in big strides. As he turned his head, tears burst out of his eyes uncontrollably.

  The exchange of fire with the enemy has begun. Ma Qianan didn't even take aim, and with one shot, he knocked down a Japanese military officer 100 meters away. Then, he suddenly turned his head and stared at the burly man with a face full of scars, "Hey, comrade, you've been staring at me for half a day, what's wrong? If you want to leave, hurry up and leave! If not, stay behind! What are you looking at?"