Chapter 16: Shouldering Heavy Responsibilities (Continued)

  "It's settled then! We're preparing to send you to SL, contact our headquarters." Yang Jingyu said.

  Ma Qian'an shook his head repeatedly, "This won't do, it's not suitable, such an important task should be assigned to old comrades. I've only been here for a few days, I'm afraid I'll mess things up and delay the matter."

  Yang Jingyu patted a stack of yellow paper on the table with his big hand and said seriously: "The revolution does not distinguish between priority, your performance in these few days has proven that you can take on the task, we all believe in you. All conditions combined, only you are the most suitable. You see, you can speak goose language, and you're very smart, who else if not you?"

  "Wei Zhengmin pointed to Yang Jingyu and said, 'Xiao Ma, don't be afraid, dare to take responsibility. When we were as old as you, we also organized and led uprisings, didn't we? What can't you do?'"

  Ma Qianan was actually delighted, and Wei Zengmin had indeed been doing liaison work with the central government throughout history. Due to various reasons, all personnel sent out did not return, and those sent by the Hebei Provincial Committee and Jilin Provincial Committee to find him were also unsuccessful. As a result of missteps, this lone army was abandoned here until the entire First Army and Third Army were wiped out, leaving only the Second Army led by Quan Riren with over 100 people retreating into the territory of the Soviet Union, thus preserving some strength.

  According to historical records, when his secret camp was attacked, he had already passed away due to illness for some time. The remaining 6 soldiers did not have time to transfer the documents and fought bravely against the enemy, sacrificing themselves heroically. The documents were seized by the Japanese-Manchu authorities and stored in the Manchukuo archives. After the liberation of Northeast China, they were sorted out, and people came to understand General Wei's words and actions at that time. As General Wei Zengmin wrote in his report to the Central Representative in April 1940: "...In the autumn of 1935, we completely lost contact with the Central Committee and therefore could not receive specific instructions from the Central Committee... We were like a small boat losing its helmsman in the vast ocean, like a blind child stumbling around, not knowing where to go. At a time when the great revolutionary wave was surging forward, we seemed to be trapped inside a copper wall and an iron wall, with no communication or news from any direction, stuck in a state of prolonged isolation... Our greatest hope every day was that we would not experience another long-term disruption in our connection."

  Ma Qian'an decided not to let history repeat itself and wanted to complete this task as soon as possible. If he could connect with the central government smoothly, maybe... maybe...

  Ma Qian's heart was stirred, thinking that he might have the chance to rewrite history, his mind racing with excitement. Looking at Yang Jingyu's expectant gaze, he blurted out: "Commander, Secretary Wei, I'll take on this task!"

  "Ah, that's right. What do you need? Just tell me, Old Cao." Cao Yafan finally got a chance to speak up, and he wouldn't let it go to waste. "If you're going, I won't pursue the matter of you being rude to me." Old Cao still didn't forget to put pressure on Ma Qian.

  "Cao Jun Chang, are you going to turn against me? I even saved your younger brother!" Ma Qian teased Cao Ya Fan, relying on Yang Jing Yu's backing, without showing any respect.

  "Alright, I, Cao, remember your kindness. Alas, if it weren't for you, so many excellent warriors would have been sacrificed." Cao sighed.

  Ma Qianan was indeed opposed to this approach of abandoning the wounded in his heart, but his dislike couldn't replace reality. He looked up at Cao Yafan and asked, "Commander Cao, although the wounded men stayed behind voluntarily, I always feel that this is too cruel. Don't mind me, I'm just casually saying it. Our Anti-Japanese League shouldn't lack human feelings, right? This approach has a great impact on the psychology of new soldiers. Getting injured means being abandoned, and who would feel good about that? When we're promoting heroism, are we also considering the mental state of some soldiers?"

  Ma Qian's words, though spoken with caution, still gave the people present a severe shock. Everyone lowered their heads and remained silent.

  Finally, Yang Jingyu broke the silence and said: "Anzi, what you said is right. Everyone here is our precious wealth. We can't let our soldiers bleed and cry. We will study a way to minimize the use of this method in blocking battles as soon as possible.

  "Hey, young horse, benevolence doesn't wield the sword and righteousness doesn't manage wealth. You're still young, after experiencing more battles you'll understand, sometimes you're powerless. I won't say anymore, I will seriously consider your proposal." Cao Yafan helplessly retorted.

  When Ma Qian'an heard Cao Ya's words, he felt a slight shock in his heart and realized that he was still too tender. Compared to these generals who had fought countless battles, his naivety was evident. He was still talking about human feelings, wasn't it inappropriate? From the expressions of several generals, they must have experienced the pain of being unable to turn the tide of battle, watching their soldiers fall one by one, and feeling like their hearts were being cut with a knife. Why would he want to bring up this topic again? Ma Qian'an regretted mentioning it.

  Ma Qian lay awake all night with regret.

  Yang Jingyu and Wei Quanmin also did not sleep all night, they were sorting out files and writing reports. That night, Ma Qian'an slept beside Yang Jingyu, the meticulous general occasionally tucking in the coat that covered him.

  The sleeping horse, An, occasionally heard a few generals discussing in low voices, sometimes with some debate, but all of them lowered their tone, afraid of waking up the sleeping soldiers.

  The next day, after breakfast, several people gathered together again. Today was the formal meeting. Looking at Ma Qian's wide open mouth and yawning, Yang Jingyu smiled and said to him, "Anzi, didn't you sleep all night?"

  Ma Qian'an hastily swallowed back the yawn he had been halfway through and said vaguely, "I've slept, I've really slept."

  Wei Zhengmin exaggeratedly yawned and smiled: "Hmph, really sincere."

  Ma Qian'an's face turned red, knowing that his play had been exposed by them.

  "Little Ma, we know you can't sleep. We're discussing this openly in front of you, you understand what that means?" Cao Yafan said while digging out tobacco with his pipe.

  You know, can't you not know? Not turning your back on me is trusting me, it's giving me pressure. "Hehe! Thanks to the leader's trust, this time I have no choice but to go, if the task isn't completed well, I'll be in trouble! Give me some sunshine and I'll shine, give me some grass and I'll run forward."

  "You, are truly unaware of the blessings you have. In SL, that is a peaceful country, without war. You can stroll through big cities, without worrying about someone searching your body for no reason, without worrying about being beaten or arrested or killed, without worrying about your safety. That is the life we all yearn for!" Yang Jingyu's words were filled with longing.

  The general's longing was just to be able to walk freely on the streets, but such a low requirement could not be met even here, and this was still on our own land. Ma Qian felt a hidden pain in his heart.

  The letters have been written, one is for the person in charge of the Far Eastern Border Region of the Soviet Union, whose specific name is unknown and not filled in. The second letter is for the representative of the Central Committee to the Communist International, whose specific name is also unknown and not filled in. In fact, Ma Qianan knows these two unfilled names, one is Ivanov, the secretary of the Border Region Committee, and the other is Ren BS, who was then the representative of the Central Committee at that time. But can he say it? It's impossible to say.

  As Ma Qian'an hid the letter on his body, Wei Zhenmin said to him: "Your official title is the first route army's special liaison officer for Su, and you are only responsible to me and Commander Yang. We have assigned an assistant named Liu Qingyuan to you. This guy is familiar with all the terrain on our side, he is clever and politically reliable. I hope you can make good use of him."

  "Yes, I guarantee it!"

  Yang Jingyu then detailed the matters that needed attention, instructing very carefully. Because he also didn't know what unpredictable problems would arise after encountering the SL people, he allowed Ma Qian to make some adjustments as long as they did not harm the interests of the Anti-Japanese United Army.

  After finishing the shift, Yang Jingyu said in a slightly tired voice: "Repeat once, what if we can't escape when we encounter devils?"

  "Destroy the letter at once, die rather than let it fall into enemy hands."

  Yang Jingyu's warm large hand grasped Ma Qian'an tightly, his eyes full of unhidden expectation "Hmm, very good, we hope you can complete the task and come back alive."

  Ma Qianan suddenly spoke with a hint of trepidation, "Commander, if I die and fail to complete the mission, I hope you can continue to send people over. This is very important, I have a premonition that your decision is correct, it's the only way to save the army."

  Yang Jingyu was stunned and didn't speak for a long time before saying in a low voice: "What nonsense are you talking about."

  Liu Qingyuan walked in, and Ma Qianan looked him up and down, feeling somewhat disappointed. The name sounded good, he had thought it was a clever young guy, but who knew it was a sleazy middle-aged uncle with big yellow teeth and eye discharge still hanging from the corner of his eyes.

  Liu Qingyuan came in, familiarly squatting beside the several generals, blinking his small eyes, pulling out his own small tobacco pouch, and without any politeness, reaching into Cao Yafan's tobacco pouch to dig around. Cao Yafan was startled, hurriedly covering his own tobacco pouch, and repeatedly replied: "You old Liu, you're still not satisfied with taking advantage of me, yesterday you already dug out more than half of it, what more do you want?"

  Yang Jingyu and Wei Duomin smiled as they watched the two of them fighting over a pack of cigarettes, presumably knowing that this was going to happen.

  Liu Qingyuan finally got his wish, stretched his neck comfortably and took a sip, slowly exhaling the thick smoke. He then flipped his eyelids, glanced at Ma Qian'an, and asked Wei Zhengmin: "Is this the leader assigned to me? A young whippersnapper."

  Wow! He's quite a character, despicable, greedy for cheap things, disrespects leaders, arrogant, and pretentious. Ma Qian'an restrained himself from kicking him, thinking, what kind of person is this?