Chapter 14: The Gallant Steed Returns to its Manger

  The deeper they went into the mountains, the harder it got. There was no road to begin with. Ma Qianan followed Li Fengshan and others, climbing over hills and traversing ridges for an entire afternoon and night, before finally arriving at the First Route Army's secret camp in the early hours of the next morning. According to Chen Tiantian, there were several other secret camps within a hundred-mile radius, but this one was the largest.

  When marching, Ma Qian often observed the surroundings, with a vast expanse of white, fulfilling the poem's phrase: "A thousand mountains and birds in flight, ten thousand paths with no human tracks." After walking over a hundred miles, not a single household was seen, only an abandoned triangular hut on the verge of collapse, clearly a long-abandoned hunting rest stop, without even a glimpse of human presence.

  All the way, they didn't encounter any armed forces like punitive expedition or vanguard, it seemed that the enemy's search focus had not extended to here yet, which made Ma Qian's tightly held heart slightly relaxed.

  In the history of Chinese revolution, there are three major hardships. The first is the Long March, the second is the three-year guerrilla war in the south, and the third is the 14-year bitter struggle of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. Now the first two hardships have been overcome, the Central Red Army and the Southern Guerrilla Corps have gained legal recognition, acquired rear bases behind enemy lines, and have territory and population, no longer wandering without a place to settle. Only the Anti-Japanese United Army is still struggling under the absolute military pressure of the RB army, the contrast between the strength of the Anti-Japanese United Army and that of the devils is simply worlds apart. Under heavy pressure, the Anti-Japanese United Army lost all its guerrilla zones, was driven into the deep mountains, unable to contact the masses, could not get direct support from the people, relying solely on an increasingly small number of personnel to carry out resistance, with a spirit that can be admired but consequences that are worrying.

  If this continues, the annihilation of this anti-Japanese league is only a matter of time. This is also the reason why Ma Qianlian is worried and anxious. Time is running out, and this trend must be changed.

  As they marched forward, Li Fengshan kept teaching Ma Qian'an some hidden tricks for concealing their tracks. For example, when walking on relatively flat areas like small lakes or plateaus, the person in the back had to step exactly where the person in front stepped, making it seem like only one person's footprints were left behind, in order to confuse and mislead the enemy about their numbers. Additionally, he taught him how to disguise their campsites, dig hidden dens, and other things that left Ma Qian'an amazed.

  "Let me tell you, these secret camps come in all sizes, the big ones can hide hundreds of people, and the small ones can only hide a dozen or so. If no one points them out to you, even if you're standing right in front of the entrance, you won't be able to find them."

  "But I heard that many secret camps were destroyed, is it true or false?"

  "It's all because of those traitors, I'm talking about the ones who surrendered and became Hanjian. Before our secret camp was destroyed, the little devils didn't dare to camp in the mountains at night, they were afraid that any hill might be our secret camp. Now the devils are pleased, they also dare to go up the mountain at night, forcing us to move deeper into the mountains. Last winter was terrible, nothing to eat, oh! Don't even mention it, just two taels of millet per day, and often interrupted."

  Chen Tian Tian cursed, "These traitors are rotten to the core, and they're so slippery, I hate them to death."

  Li Fengshan listened and said with a complacent expression: "So, I'm better than them, at least I didn't betray you, what else are you not satisfied with? Just be content with that."

  "Morality! Why compare with them, why not compare with us? Your demands on yourself are too low, no wonder you never make progress." Chen Tiantian seized the opportunity to boast and continued to speak loudly to Li Fengshan.

  Li Fengshan smiled and didn't get angry, as long as he didn't mention his wife and Han Pingchuan's affair, he really didn't have much temper when facing this sweet little sister.

  Chen Tian was not sweet at all, but rather spicy. However, she wasn't an unreasonable person. When she heard Li Fengshan boasting, deep down she agreed that his anti-Japanese spirit was much stronger than those who had surrendered and betrayed their country. Nevertheless, she didn't want to let Li Fengshan get the upper hand in their conversation.

  "What progress can be made? With food, drink, women and the devils to fight, this life is already like this, what further progress can be made?" Li Fengshan continued to tease, enjoying himself immensely.

  No one mentioned the warriors who stayed behind to fight along the way, it must be a common sight. It's also possible that everyone was afraid of upsetting Chen Tian Tian, so they didn't mention it.

  As they walked, Ma Qian'an noticed that Li Fengshan and his group suddenly quickened their pace, their expressions also becoming cheerful, just like a traveler returning home after many years away. Ma Qian'an guessed that they had arrived at their destination.

  As expected, Li Fengshan turned around and rushed towards Ma Qian'an with a fist, saying: "Brother Ma, I'm here. Let's go to my place first?"

  Ma Qian was about to follow him, but Chen Tian Tian pulled her back, "No way, you guys go your way, we'll go ours. We have time to catch up later. The commanders don't even know we're back yet, we need to hurry."

  "That's not going to happen." Li Fengshan didn't mince words either, turning his face towards a nearby small hill covered in thick white snow and shouting: "Cui Zhi, we're all back, open the entrance of the underground bunker!" He then strode into the dense thicket on the hillside.

  Ma Qian was extremely curious and stood there without moving, staring as Li Fengshan and the others disappeared into the mountain slope like a group of elves.

  "Is this the secret camp? I can't see anything at all?"

  "A small cave, the entrance is very small, not much bigger than a washbasin. It's hard to climb up and down, this is their old nest, they don't live here now." Chen Tiantian explained familiarly.

  "Commander, they're not here? Which one is it?"

  "Our place is really good, a big cave, much bigger than here." Chen Tiantian drew a large circle with both arms, "About ten miles away from here."

  "Still ten miles? Spare me, I'll go rest at Li's place for a while."

  "Hurry up, you're so slow, even I can walk faster than you!" Chen Tian Tian came at him again with her sharp tongue.

  This secret camp was a cave, Ma Qian'an followed Chen Tian Tian into the cleverly disguised entrance of the cave, and after stumbling through the darkness for a long time, they finally arrived at a huge hall deep within the cave. Several piles of weak bonfires emitted a faint red glow, with thin smoke rising straight up to the top of the cave and dispersing into countless small crevices. A group of soldiers surrounded the fire, some whispering to each other, others quietly roasting their cotton-padded jackets. Upon seeing Ma Qian'an and Chen Tian Tian arrive, those who knew them greeted them with a soft hello, while Ma Qian'an smiled and nodded frequently in response.

  Chen Tian Tian secretly sneered: "Self-inflicted romance, that's someone greeting me, why are you blindly nodding?"

  Yang Jingyu had already received the notice, seeing them come in, he waved his hand and said with a smile: "Come on, you're back? That's great, I've been thinking of you guys all along."

  Yang Jingyu was in a position deep in the cave, he sat on the ground, his injured leg had been re-bandaged and applied with herbal medicine, and was writing something under the light of a single torch on a simple low table.

  At this time, on Yang Jingyu's face had faded away the ferocity of battle, only a kind smile remained.

  Ma Qianan took a few steps forward, grasped Yang Jingyu's large hand and shook it vigorously several times, somewhat excited. "Commander, is your injury serious?"

  "It doesn't matter, let's talk about you guys. How was the battle against Cao Jun? And you, Anzi, why are you so impulsive and scolding others?"

  Ma Qian'an felt embarrassed and argued: "Who scolded? It's only been such a short time, how did it spread like this?"

  Yang Jingyu waved his hand, "Oh, it's okay, I was just teasing you, tell me about your situation."

  Ma Qian'an and Chen Tiantian exchanged a glance, taking turns to report on the situation of the blocking battle. When Ma Qian'an mentioned that he had ordered his comrades to pretend to surrender, both of them lowered their voices to prevent others from hearing.

  Yang Jingyu listened, subconsciously tapping the pen in his hand on the table a few times, thinking for a moment, and instructed: "Tiantian, go and invite Secretary Wei to come over, we'll discuss it."

  Ma Qianan had already guessed who Wei Secretary was. The Wei Secretary who could discuss important matters with Yang Jingyu could only be Wei Zengmin, the secretary of the South Manchuria Provincial Committee, deputy commander of the First Route Army, a steadfast fighter, born in 1909, according to historical records, after Yang Jingyu's sacrifice, he insisted on leading the First Route Army to continue fighting, until the next year when ammunition and food were exhausted, refusing to surrender, due to severe illness caused by hunger and cold, he died for his country at the age of 32. It is said that he also attended university, and there is only so much information about him. This is another hero of the Anti-Japanese League.