Chapter 13 Old Memories

  Ma Qianan didn't know what would happen or wouldn't happen after he left, these things can only be known afterwards. What he knew now was that the main force of the Anti-Japanese League had been secured, and the gloomy sky indicated that a big snowfall was approaching, which would erase all traces. Ma Qianan ran wildly, occasionally bending down to grab the accumulated snow on the ground, clenching it into a ball, and throwing it vigorously into the air. His joyful expression infected this small group of people and horses, and they competed to pick up snowballs and throw them at each other, leaving behind a noisy commotion in the empty mountain valley.

  They took the initiative to stay and fight, killing a lot of devils and suffering relatively small losses. Li Fengshan felt that his team had finally shown their face, and he was in a great mood. Looking at his happy brothers beside him, he couldn't help but open his mouth and laugh loudly. He shouted to everyone: "You bunch of rabbits, let's show some spirit! Who dares to look down on us now? Who dares to give us a hard time? Ha ha ha!"

  "It's all right, you see that staff officer next to Cao Jun, every time he sees us, his face is so sour, oh my god, like a pancake. This time we can also stand up straight, in the future, we don't care about him." A little brother wearing a dogskin hat echoed.

  Ma Qian'an felt that there was something behind the words of these people, but he didn't quite understand what it was. In his impression, the Anti-Japanese United Front had done a good job in uniting the various factions, and had incorporated many mountain and forest guerrilla groups. There shouldn't be any reason to discriminate against any particular anti-Japanese armed group. But listening to these people's conversation, it seemed that there really was such a thing. Ma Qian'an also recalled Cao Guanjie's attitude towards them, which didn't seem like the way he would treat his own troops. He neither gave strict orders nor showed special concern, but instead was lukewarm and indifferent, without any warmth or anger. Sometimes, Chinese people's relationships can be quite strange - in certain situations, a superior officer scolding you repeatedly can actually be a sign of closeness, while being extremely calm and composed may not necessarily be a good thing.

  Ma Qianan couldn't help but ask, he chased up a few steps, warmly patted Li Fengshan's shoulder with a smile all over his face, and asked: "Brother Li, why are you so happy?"

  "Hey! We're in luck now!"

  "Fine, be a sore loser then! You don't have to get so worked up about it either! And who looks down on you guys? Who always gives you attitude? Tell me, what's the big deal?" Ma Qian'an pretended to take offense.

  Li Fengshan was momentarily speechless, "What's this? What's going on here? Ah, it's not very nice to say."

  At this time, the fake little kid Chen Tian Tian, who was following Ma Qian An, spoke out in a huff, "Hmph! Robbing men and bullying women, driving Ping Chuan Ge to death, which one of these things is worthy of praise? If it weren't for Commander's magnanimity, not letting us bother you, just the fact that you drove Ping Chuan Ge to death, we would never let you off."

  Chen Tian Tian was the female machine gunner, Xiao Cao's lover, who was dragged down from the front line by Ma Qian An. All along the way, she was worried about Xiao Cao's safety, when suddenly Li Feng Shan boasted of his achievements and expressed dissatisfaction with the Anti-Japanese League comrades, which made her angry.

  Li Fengshan's mood was low and he retorted: "Your Pingchuan brother is not much better, he even seduced my wife!"

  Chen Tian Tian saw Li Feng Shan not giving in, took over the conversation: "That's because I thought you were dead, besides, your wife was also snatched by you, she and Ping Chuan Ge are the ones who had a free love affair."

  "What free love? Don't give him a pretty face, got it, sweet girl? I'm telling you, don't come looking for trouble."

  Chen Tian's face turned red with anger, and she stuttered for half a day. Seeing Li Fengshan ignoring her, she grabbed Ma Qian'an again and said: "Captain Ma, I'll expose his ugly behavior to you, and you give me an explanation, see if what he did is right or not."

  "Sweet girl, you said I didn't oppose it. Anyway, Captain Ma will know about it in the future, but let me tell you, no matter who's right or wrong, don't add any nonsense." Li Fengshan was very angry.

  Chen Tian Tian spoke as she walked, and several bandits beside her heard Chen Tian Tian frame their boss, so they chimed in with different opinions, constantly defending their boss. Especially the second-in-command Qiu Ji interrupted the most, amidst the chaotic narrative and quarrel, Ma Qian understood the general situation.

  In Cao Yaofan's army, there were three brothers: the eldest, Han Pingshan, was a regiment commander; the second, Han Pinghu, served as battalion commander; and the third, Han Pingchuan, was the captain of Cao Guanjie's guard unit. The three brothers were generous, righteous, brave in battle, and had good relationships with others. Last winter, when the main force of the army broke through the encirclement by the Japanese enemy and retreated westward, the eldest and second brothers went to the front lines, while the third brother stayed behind to guard the secret camp and protect the wife of Li Fengshan, the leader of a mountain forest team who had followed our army in their retreat. The so-called "mountain forest team" was a euphemism; in plain language, they were bandits.

  To preserve the anti-Japanese forces and prevent this bandit troop from surrendering to the enemy, Cao Yafan and Li Fengshan agreed to let him lead his troops to break through with our army, while our army left someone behind to protect his wife, who was being held captive. If there was even a slight mistake, our army would deal with it as a crime of damaging the united front, which meant execution by firing squad. After the large troop broke through and headed west, the Japanese army pursued and intercepted us along the way, and we fought fiercely in battle after battle. Er Ge (Li Fengshan) died first, fighting to cover his brother's troops, and then Cao Yafan also sacrificed himself heroically while fighting against the enemy. In this battle, our main force lost contact with the mountain forest detachment that had followed us westward, and at that time, San Ge (Hàn Píngchuān) was also surrounded by the enemy in the mountains and lost contact with the outside world. The Japanese searched the mountains every day, dropping leaflets saying that Yang Jingyu's First Route Army had been completely annihilated. San Ge and Li Fengshan's wife were left alone in a mountain cave, and they told each other the truth - it turned out that this woman was someone Li Fengshan had abducted, and she had always wanted to escape but never could. After waiting for a long time without seeing the main force return, Han Pingchuan thought our army would not come back again, so he planned to take the woman and escape back to his hometown, either to hide his identity or prepare to regroup and fight again - it is no longer possible to investigate this, but Chen Tiantian and Qiu Ji each said things that were beneficial to themselves.

  The escape was not smooth, but the two of them developed feelings for each other and became husband and wife. What they didn't expect was that the army returned to the camp at this time, and what they least expected was that Li Fengshan hadn't died either, and he also returned to the original place to find his wife, who was already pregnant. The truth couldn't be hidden, and Li Fengshan became furious, opening fire and wanting to execute his own discipline on the road, otherwise, he would turn against them and go to the Japanese side. For the sake of maintaining the unity of the anti-Japanese war front, Commander Han didn't wait for a report and executed the third brother's discipline. By the time Cao Yafan arrived, the execution had already been carried out. And Commander Han also sacrificed himself in a subsequent battle breaking through to the south.

  In the midst of the noise, Ma Qian'an listened to the story and didn't speak for half a day. At this time, he understood Cao Yaofan's attitude, Cao Yaofan should have been very close to the three brothers, watching them leave one by one, especially the third brother, his guard captain still died at the hands of his own people, died under Li Fengshan's coercion, it was only natural that he felt uncomfortable. However, in order to maintain the unity of the front and hold on to the anti-Japanese forces, he could only swallow his anger.

  Chen Tian Tian fought a group of thugs with her sharp tongue, not losing an inch. When she got angry, she even kicked and tripped one of the younger brothers, who had a red face and thick neck, to the ground.

  Li Fengshan saw Ma Qianan's silence and felt inexplicably annoyed. He was afraid that if Ma Qianan heard these things, he would also have ideas about him like those anti-Japanese people and no longer be close to him. Towards this young man he had just met, he naturally had a good impression.

  Li Fengshan asked tentatively: "Ma brother, I'm right, aren't I? Who told him to put a green hat on me?"

  Ma Qian'an really didn't know how to answer, because Chen Tian Tian was also staring at him with a piercing gaze.

  When both parties want to hear a verdict, they tend to favor one side and not the other. Both sides have their reasons, and both are wrong. Ma Qian'an decided to mediate, "Brother Li, according to reason, your woman was slept with by someone, you should get an explanation, but you can't kill him either, we're all brothers after all, brothers are like hands and feet..."

  "Women are like clothes, right? An ivory cannot be spat out from a dog's mouth." Chen Tiantian glared at Ma Qian'an.

  Ma Qian'an thought, this woman can't tell good from bad words. I'm not biased towards you, secretly criticizing Li Fengshan, are you dissatisfied now?

  "Sweetie, I was just kidding, you actually believed me? Alright then, women are like hands and feet, brothers are like clothes."

  Li Fengshan is not pleasant, this Ma brother says and says, changing the way he speaks about me, but in fact, he forced others to enforce discipline. Because of this, Cao Jun Zhang was lukewarm towards me. This matter, regret comes too late, actually I regretted it the next day, shouldn't have been so impulsive, harmed Han Pingchuan's life. However, his older brother is also something else, I just made a fuss, he didn't even ask for instructions, immediately had his younger brother killed. Who would have thought it was that fast? It's as if I'm not human inside and out, like I really lost my mind over a woman.

  "Don't call me sweetie, it's so cheesy."

  Ma Qian'an continued, "Don't interrupt, listen to me finish. Hmm, that Han Pingchuan's big brother is too impulsive, this matter should be reported, right? If we wait for Commander Cao to arrive, then Li will also calm down, and there won't be any problem, right? When Li calms down, how can he want his life? Of course, damaging the united front is a crime, and punishment is necessary. Punish him by sending him to the front line, if he's lucky, he'll live; if not, he'll die. Isn't that great?"

  Li Fengshan nodded, "Right, right, that's what happened. Captain Han was too impatient, I didn't make a big deal out of it, and he killed his own brother. Now you're all coming after me, isn't this unfair?"

  "Then you shouted that if you didn't shoot, you would surrender to the RB people. You don't know that this sentence cost Pingchuan brother his life. Are you still denying it?" Chen Tiantian certainly couldn't back down.

  Li Fengshan looked wronged, "How was I supposed to know that your discipline is so strict? If I didn't say it that way, would his brother be able to punish him? Besides, the RB people killed so many of my brothers, an irreconcilable feud, and you think I'd join them? My brothers wouldn't agree either. Just because of one careless remark, who made you take it seriously? Can't you analyze anything? You're all just a bunch of blockheads."

  "You're the one with a pig's brain! You're the one with a pig's brain!" Chen Tiantian glared at Li Fengshan angrily.

  "It's all over now, what's the point of talking? I'm not one who didn't vote for RB, I was also fighting against the devils, why shouldn't they treat me with respect?"

  "Hey, what's all the fuss about? Stop arguing! We're all comrades, let bygones be bygones. Look to the future, our nation is in peril, every Chinese should unite and work together to fight against the enemy. What's the point of dwelling on past grievances? In the face of fighting the Japanese devils, your personal matters are small potatoes, while national affairs are of utmost importance, got it?"

  "Hey, Brother Ma is indeed capable. What's the point of talking about trivial matters? Isn't that right? State affairs are important, state affairs are important." Seeing Ma Qian'an giving him an opportunity to step down, Li Fengshan immediately took advantage of it.

  Chen Tian didn't want to die with Chen Zhima's roasted millet, seeing Ma Qian'an take out the national righteousness hat, it wasn't good to say anything else, so he hummed: "It's quite high-level, like our Secretary Wei, if Li Dabaozi were all like this today, fighting the devils well and not robbing men and women, our resistance league wouldn't be so petty."

  Ma Qian saw the two men calm down, their ears clear and their hearts began to ponder. The development of the Anti-Japanese United Army was indeed difficult. In order to expand its strength, it had to endure all kinds of hardships and win over these bandit troops who had done evil deeds. If they did not reform these bandits with bad habits, disturbances would appear in large numbers, which would only make ordinary people more and more misunderstand the Anti-Japanese United Army, hate the Anti-Japanese United Army, and the support they gained would be less and less. This was a big problem.