Chapter Thirteen: A Narrow Escape

  After leaving the dock, Wang Fan's heart was slightly relieved, but Lu Gong and others' hearts were hard to put down. They really didn't know where Wang Fan would take them. Just now they heard him speaking Japanese with the devils, not understanding a single sentence.

  At this time, Wang translator started chatting with the devils, but this time it wasn't Japanese, but Chinese: "Where are you from? Where is the person who opened the boat?" The devil looked at him in confusion and spat out three words: "Hua Guniang?" Wang translator shook his head and asked tentatively: "Do you know that the top four graduates of your Japanese Army Officer School's 9th graduation ceremony were all Chinese? Later, to save face for the Japanese who were extremely embarrassed, the fourth place was changed to a Japanese person, do you know?" The devil listened to him speak a long string of Chinese and looked at him with confusion, blinking his eyes, and shouted to the person steering the boat: "What is he saying?" The devil holding the helm didn't even turn around and said: "I don't know." Wang translator started laughing, thinking that these devils couldn't understand Chinese. So he switched to Japanese and said to the devil: "I was saying that tonight there is no moon, the river surface is dark and you can't see anything, I wonder if it's like this in Japan too?" The devil listened to him say this and became interested: "I grew up drinking water from the Yodo River." Wang translator said: "Ah, so that's how it is. These Chinese people don't know about this river in Japan, let me tell them. You not only have this river but also the Tama River." The devil smiled and said a sentence after saying "ah", then hugged his gun and shrank his body, looking at the river surface, the wind on the river surface was too cold.

  The devils can't understand Chinese. Wang thought to himself as he translated. He ignored them and turned his attention to Lu Gang, who had been listening to him talk to the devils all along.

  "I'll save you." After saying this, Wang translator nervously glanced at the devils with his eyes and saw that they were standing there staring at the water splashing against the side of the boat, chatting idly, without any reaction to what Wang translator had said. This time, Wang translator completely put his mind at ease.

  "I'll save you." The words exploded like a thunderclap above their heads, leaving the three of them stunned and speechless. They stared at him with questioning eyes. Wang didn't want to say more, fearing it would arouse the devils' suspicion. He simply said: "Tomorrow the devils will start a new massacre, an order from the devil commander's headquarters, a big sweep, and then they'll kill all of you young men, not sparing a single one."

  "What makes you think I believe you?" Lu Gang asked with his arms crossed.

  "I had just returned from studying in Japan 39 years ago and was caught by them at the dock. That day, I shouldn't have spoken Japanese at the dock." Wang translated, "Later, under the guard of the devils, I went home to see my old father. My father only said one sentence when he saw me, 'Son, remember you are Chinese, never do anything that goes against your conscience.'"

  Kobayashi said: "Then isn't your father still in the hands of the devils?"

  "No, he's dead, hanged himself. The neighbor told me later that Father didn't want to see me being a traitor for the devils, afraid others would curse his backbone. Never mind, today we must find a way to break out of the devil's lair together, I can no longer be neither human nor ghost." Wang said resolutely.

  "A thousand cuts and ten thousand slices of the Japanese devils, these beasts." Li Baochang cursed fiercely, believing his words. Wang Translator followed him in cursing, the Japanese didn't understand so they treated them as if they were nonexistent, moreover the engine noise of the speedboat was loud. Wang Translator echoed: "Cursing well, but now we need to think of a way, how to deal with these few devils."

  "Do you really want to save us?" Kobayashi asked incredulously.

  "Hmm, we're all Chinese, why would I cheat you?" Wang said, adjusting his glasses.

  "Where are we going now?" Lu Gang asked.

  "Li Baochang said, 'Gan Erzi, your relatives are in Yiyang. If you pass through here and go around Cao Cao Street, it should be okay to get past, but I'm afraid there might be devils blocking the way.' Lu Gan said he had never been to Yiyang before and couldn't find his relatives anywhere."

  "They are heading towards Huarong." At this time, Xiao Lin looked at the speedboat and shouted as it turned a corner.

  "Of course it's going to Huarong, he said to send these things to Huarong." Lu Gong replied.

  "They know this waterway, you will all swim, or find an opportunity to jump into the water." Wang translated.

  "Diving, can you?"

  "I won't."

  "It won't work, this is a lousy idea. We can't even get close to the shore from here, it's still a long way off. It's not feasible, no way." Li Baochang firmly opposed.

  "Brother, be honest with me, were those four little Japanese devils you guys took care of during the day?" Wang asked suddenly, ignoring Li Baochang. Lu Gang and Xiao Lin looked at each other, then at the devils, and finally at Wang, whose face was filled with a kind smile. They nodded in unison. Li Baochang hugged them excitedly and laughed, saying this was his son, he had guts. Wang also laughed, and Lu Gang couldn't help but laugh along with them, while Xiao Lin's smile turned into a hearty laughter as well. The four of them burst into a fit of laughter, causing the devils to ask Wang what they were laughing about. Wang told them he was telling them legendary stories from Japan. One of the devils said, "Ah, you continue, we have many stories of our great Japanese Empire, tell them so they know we are the greatest nation in the world." Wang let out a loud laugh and turned to face the three of them, saying, "They are the most barbaric nation in the world, do you know? You two young ones are the best, do you know? Capable of rivaling the devils. As far as I know, besides our National Army, there's also the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, do you know?"

  "I heard Geng Yingchang mention the New Fourth Army before, do you know about the New Fourth Army?" Lu Gong said.

  "There is also the Eighth Route Army." Xiao Lin chimed in from beside him.

  "I'm not quite sure, I've heard of it but haven't seen it." Wang translated and continued to praise them, saying: "Your skills are impressive, four devils were gone in an instant. At the time, I saw that skinny kid come out and say he did it, I didn't believe he had the ability, but I admire him. He's a real man, I'm not as good as him, no skills, no courage, and no gun. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, whether you can escape or not depends on you now, do you understand?"

  "Brother Stick, another four miles, can you handle it by yourself?" Little Lin couldn't help but worry.

  "You little brat, are you not a human? Is your father not a human either? You really let your brother go fight alone against four people. You little turtle egg, I'll beat you to death!" Li Baozhang slapped Xiao Lin's head, making him shrink his neck. The devils next to them were amused and saw the devils laughing, they also followed suit. Wang Translator told the devils that it was because their Japanese stories were too good to hear, that's why they laughed. The devils said "ah" several times, asking Wang Translator to continue speaking.

  Wang turned around and asked Lu what he thought.

  "Don't worry about the four little devils, we can take care of them when they're not paying attention," Lu Gang said to Wang. He nodded and said, "It's the only way, wait for an opportunity, I'll go check out the driver's cabin. I know how to drive this, I drove it in Japan before." After finishing speaking, he greeted the devil next to him and entered the driver's cabin.

  Lu Gang's heart was racing with excitement, he didn't expect to meet someone like Wang Fan. At this moment, thinking of escaping from the tiger's mouth, he thought of his father and mother who were killed by the devils, his father couldn't die too, it would be great if he were by his side. But after such a long time, not even seeing his father's shadow, didn't know where his father was? Maybe he had escaped back to the village and was waiting for him to return. And what about his sister and Geng Yingchang, didn't know how they were doing now, what situation were they in? Just as he was thinking, Wang Fan came out and said, "The devils are heading towards Huairong direction, there's a machine gun in the cabin, we must act quickly, or else if time is delayed, it will be too late when Xi Dao finds out."

  "These three devils, we'll take care of them together. You go to the control room and stabilize that little devil first, and after we've finished with these two, we'll deal with him later." Lu Gang said calmly, staring at the deck. Wang Translator said, "Alright then." Li Baochang and Xiao Lin exchanged a knowing glance, pretending nothing was wrong as they cleaned up the things in the basket. Wang Translator stretched his waist and said to the three devils, "The story is over, it's about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, do you know?" The devils all nodded, saying they knew, that he was a Japanese hero. Wang Translator said, "One day I'll tell you a story about Tokugawa, how about that? It's too cold here, I'm going to go warm up." and walked towards the control room.

  After dinner, Nishijima and Matsuo went to the riverbank. When they returned, he saw that telegram. He imagined tomorrow those people would be reduced to ashes under his guns and cannons, a look of infinite glorious satisfaction on his face.

  He called out for Wang Fan Yi, but no one answered. He saw a fire on the riverbank and followed the direction of the sparks to find Wang Fan Yi was not there either. When he asked where Wang Fan Yi had gone, the Japanese soldier in charge of food told him that Wang Fan Yi had taken three Chinese people to the riverbank.

  He came to the dock again and asked the ghostly sentinel, who said that the motorboat had left the shore early and didn't know where those people went. The ghost replied that he only knew that Wang, the translator, took three Chinese onto the motorboat and left. He was furious and shouted at the communication soldier. Contacting the motorboat unit stationed on the grass street by the river, ordering them to set off at full speed to intercept and search for the motorboat heading in an unknown direction.

  Suddenly, the sound of a motorboat engine broke the silence. Two motorboats trailed a rolling white wave behind them as they sped across the dark river surface, their lights scanning back and forth, illuminating the water ahead.

  They sailed blindly on the river, without finding their target. They reported the situation to Xi Dao, who ordered them to approach the Factory Wharf. He didn't believe that the motorboat would disappear from the surface of the water and thought that there were four devils watching from the boat, so he assumed that the Chinese wouldn't dare do anything to his soldiers. During this time, while waiting for the motorboat to arrive, Xi Dao was thinking. If they escaped towards the direction of the Reed Street, it would be a dead end. If they fled in the direction of Nanxian or Changde via waterway, there was a high possibility that they could escape, as there were no patrol boats on this route. Just as he was considering this, he saw a faint light in the distance on the river surface, gradually moving towards him, and heard the sound of engines getting closer and closer. After a while, two motorboats docked at the wharf.

  Nishijima told Matsuo to stay here and guard, he adjusted his military uniform, grasped the hilt of his sword, jumped onto the boat, and ordered it to set off in the direction of Nankai County.

  Just as Xi Island was about to set off, Lu Gong and his men made their move. This was a perfect opportunity.

  Two devils were drowsy. One devil stood at the back of the boat and urinated. Lu Gang made a signal with his eyes to Li Baochang and Xiao Lin, and went towards the urinating devil alone. They knew that Lu Gang was going to take action, so they quietly took out a jar from the basket. At this time, they saw Lu Gang grasp the devil's throat from behind with both hands, the devil struggled and wanted to shout but couldn't. Lu Gang's hand tightened again, then he pushed him into the river with a sudden force, and the devil disappeared in the ripples on the surface of the water. Li Baochang and Xiao Lin didn't think much and rushed up together, smashing the jar on the heads of the two sleeping devils, knocking them unconscious.

  The devils in the chartroom and the wheelhouse did not find out what was happening on the after deck, they were still talking and laughing. At this time the three of them came in, before the devils could understand what was going on, they were beaten to death by Lu Gang.

  Wang Fan was shocked and ran out, looking at the two devils lying on the deck. He asked Lu Gang what to do? Lu Gang didn't say a word, came to the devil's side, picked him up and threw him into the river, then picked up another one and threw it into the river. Li Baochang was stunned by this scene, he whispered: "I didn't expect this kid to be so fierce, so ruthless, really worthy of being Lu's son, good job, Lu family didn't raise him in vain." At this time, Lu Gang suddenly knelt down on the deck and kowtowed three times towards the direction where his mother was buried: "Mother, I want to avenge you, I must kill that Xidao." After shouting, he burst into loud crying. The crowd persuaded him to get up. The boat turned around and headed in the direction of Mao Grass Street. This was Li Baochang's suggestion. Li Baochang asked Wang Fan if this thing was easy to operate, Wang Fan told him how to drive it one by one. Li Baochang said let him try, Wang Fan handed it over to him. Seeing Lu Gang and others playing with the machine gun, he quickly pulled them back, took the machine gun and said: "This is not a toy, this is called a machine gun, when fired, it will make a series of 'da-da-da' sounds, one sweep can kill many people, the devils used this to kill many Chinese people on the dike today." "Have you played with it?" Lu Gang asked. Wang Fan said no. Xiao Lin said he had seen a company commander fire a machine gun, but hadn't tried it himself.

  Lu Gang picked up a rifle from the boat and told Li Baochang that he and Xiao Lin would use it. He said that when they were fighting against the devils in Nan County, he had killed one of them. When Lu Gang mentioned this, Xiao Lin naturally became excited and started talking about Xiaogouz's death. Unfortunately, they never met Xiaogouzi's parents and didn't know whether they were dead or alive, only heaven knew. Li Baochang said that Xiaogouzi's parents had gone to their eldest daughter's house in Yiyang, and Lu Gang and Xiao Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

  Wang Fan was fiddling with the machine gun, left and right, when suddenly it misfired. The ear-piercing gunshot ripped through the night sky, giving them all a big fright. Wang Fan's face turned pale in an instant, and the gun fell onto the boat.

  Wang translator stood up with a start, picked up the glasses that had fallen to the ground and put them back on his nose, saying "good luck". Lu Gong teased him: "Working for the devils doesn't even know how to play this, it's really a waste." Xiao Lin laughed and said: "Fortunately, your eyesight is not good, otherwise, you would have been finished with one shot, and we three would have become good dishes in the devil's mouth." Wang translator smiled awkwardly, making excuses for himself: "It's okay, I didn't hit our own people, but I know how to deal with this thing now." Li Baochang was a bit worried: "Will it attract the devils?" As soon as Li Baochang spoke, everyone stopped laughing. His words reminded Wang translator, who quickly told Li Baochang: "Quickly, turn off the light and speed up!"

  The sound of gunfire indeed drew the attention of the Western Island. The soldiers made preparations for battle, and he ordered all boats to advance quickly in the direction of the gunshot.

  Two strong beams of light shone on the river surface ahead, and the waves rippling at the side of the boat sparkled like silver and snow as they rose and fell.

  Xī Dǎo's nerves were stretched taut at this moment, and he listened carefully to every unusual sound on the river. He heard the roar of an engine from a motorboat. At the same time, Wáng Fānyì shouted loudly: "Not good! The enemy patrol boat is coming! Quick, quick, turn right!" He rushed over and turned the rudder to the right front, but it was too late.

  Their boat was shrouded in the light of two boats from Xidao Island.

  Xī Dǎo saw the situation he didn't want to see, there were no more soldiers on the boat, and the person operating the boat was that man from the kitchen today. He was furious and ordered his men to open fire. At a critical moment, Lǐ Bǎo Zhǎng quickly accelerated and dodged the enemy's bullets, all of which fell into the river.

  "Quick, get down!" Wang Fan yelled at Lu Gang and Xiao Lin. He fumbled around and picked up the machine gun, firing it after a few tries. He moved the muzzle, aiming at the lights on the enemy boat, but kept missing. Lu Gang said to him, "You're shooting at the devils on the boat, I'll take care of the lights." After finishing speaking, he fired several shots, but also missed due to the intense shaking of the boat, which made Lu Gang extremely annoyed. Wang Fan lowered the muzzle again and swept it across the enemy's boat, firing away, with sparks flying everywhere, but not a single devil was hit, making him shout in frustration. Xiao Lin, who was crouching beside him, saw this and said, "Shouting won't do anything, you need to aim." "I did aim! It's not my fault I missed, this crappy gun, I'm done with it, you try, you're good at it!" Xiao Lin took the machine gun without hesitation and fired a burst of shots at the approaching boat, "Rat-a-tat-tat", all that could be heard was Li Baochang shouting loudly, "Good job, kid!"

  Xī Dǎo didn't understand, this group of people who seemed to be from the countryside were actually capable of driving speedboats and playing with guns. A bullet whizzed past his ear with a terrifying sound, almost taking his life, startling him into a cold sweat. He had no choice but to become more cautious, retreating from the bow of the boat back to the driver's cabin. He ordered the soldiers to continue firing at Lú Gāng's boat. Bullets sparked on the stern and body of Lú Gāng's boat, shining like stars.

  Several devils shooting at Lu Zhuang and others from the driving room were suddenly knocked down by a burst of chaotic gunfire from Xiao Lin, and instantly rolled into the river. Coincidentally, Li Baochang saw Xiao Lin's chaotic masterpiece and shouted: "Good boy, good eyesight! Good, fight to death, kill those dog bastards!" Xiao Lin heard this and got even more excited, turning the gun barrel to another boat and firing another burst of chaotic shots, shooting even more happily, but didn't manage to kill a single devil again, as they all ducked down. Wang Fanyi crawled out from the cabin and brought over a box of bullets.

  He slowly moved to Lu Gong's side and asked Lu Gong: "Has it been extinguished?"

  "It's gone, can't you see?"

  "Just shoot, there are plenty of bullets here." Wang said. Lu Gang ignored him and continued to aim.

  "Or let me try?" Wang said.

  "The machine gun can't even shoot well, and you're still playing with it, get out of the way." After finishing speaking, Lu Gang aimed at a boat's lamp again, pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew out with a loud noise, hitting the lamp's bracket.

  "That's almost it, just move it up a bit." Wang said.

  "Alright, stop bothering me, okay? Go check if Xiao Lin has any more bullets and send them over." Lu Gang couldn't hit the light bulb, so he started getting annoyed and aimed at the enemy's head instead. He didn't want to shoot at the light bulb, it was too small, and the enemy's skull wasn't easy to aim at either, especially with the boat moving around.

  Wang Fan translated left Lu Gong and crawled to Xiao Lin's side, Xiao Lin just finished the bullet. He handed a box of bullets to Xiao Lin. At this time, the devils' speedboats accelerated and surrounded their boat from the left and right sides, the devils' bullets flew around them, making it impossible for them to lift their heads. Wang Fan saw the devils' speedboat getting closer and closer, he opened Xiao Lin's hand and snatched the machine gun, stood up, and swept the left speedboat with a burst of fire. It was really effective, the lights on the Xidao boat went out, but Wang Fan was hit by the devils, several bullet holes in his chest flowed with blood, soaking his front chest, he struggled to support himself with the machine gun against the shipboard, and another wave of bullets came, he fell into the river.

  The machine gun fell in front of Xiao Lin, watching Wang Translator disappear before his eyes. Xiao Lin's heart was about to burst, and he shouted: "Dad, he's gone, he's dead, he fell into the river!" His voice was trembling with sobs.

  Li Baochang focused on driving the boat, he didn't hear what Xiao Lin was saying: "What did you say? I couldn't hear, you fight your devils and I'll drive my boat, kid, did you hear?"

  "Dad, he's dead, fell into the river." Xiaolin finally burst out crying, he raised his voice, while going to grab the machine gun in front of him, and loudly shouted: "Gangzi brother, he's dead, fell into the river!"

  At this time, Li Baochang finally heard it, and Lu Gang, who was shooting at the devils, also heard it.

  They saw a dark patch on the port side of the boat, slowly spreading out and flowing towards the edge of the boat, dripping into the river.

  "What to do? Uncle Li, Wang the translator is dead." Lu Gang shouted. Xiao Lin sobbed silently and grasped his machine gun, crouching on the boat. Lu Gang yelled loudly: "Uncle Li, say something! What are we going to do? The devils' ship is still chasing us!"

  The devils' bullets made their boats boom loudly.

  Li Baochang said, "Don't rush, rushing is useless. Protect yourselves well and don't let the devils' bullets hit you, did you hear? Xiao Lin, gunner, you think of a way to shoot out that light on the right side, got it? If they have no light shining on us, we'll have a chance."

  Lu Gang retreated into the driver's cabin, holding a gun and shooting at the lights on the right side of the boat from the window, still unable to hit them.

  Li Baochang said: "Little Lin, stand up. I'll make a turn and you get up to wildly shoot at the enemy's lamp with your rifle. I don't believe that the machine gun bullets can't hit those annoying ghost eyes. Listen to me count one, two, three."

  Kobayashi stood up and shouted: "Good! Father, I've stood up."

  Li Bao slowed down the speed, listening to Xiao Lin saying he got up, shouting one two three, and suddenly made a sharp turn, putting the entire boat in front of the enemy's motorboat. Xiao Lin picked up the machine gun and fired a burst, sweeping away the enemy's lights. Just as Lu Gang shouted "good", just as Li Bao was about to turn the bow to the left, the enemy's machine gun also fired, bullets flying everywhere, unfortunately, one bullet hit Li Bao's back, blood gushing out, Li Bao's body shook, and he fell onto the steering wheel. At this time, in the darkness, Xiao Lin and Lu Gang heard a "thud" sound, Li Bao, who was hit by a bullet, heavily fell to the ground beside Xiao Lin and Lu Gang. Xiao Lin shouted "Dad", Lu Gang shouted "Li Uncle". Li Bao woke up, opened his eyes with difficulty, and said: "You escape, turn right, don't go over...over...the Matou Street ferry, there are...are...enemy there." After finishing speaking, he closed his eyes.

  Xiaolin was overcome with grief, hugging his father and wailing. Lu Gang's eyes were brimming with tears as he saw the boat drifting aimlessly on the river, unmanned. With a lump in his throat, he grasped the steering wheel tightly, remembering Li Baolang's words, and turned it to the right. The experiences of the past few days flashed before his eyes, and he couldn't understand why things had become so tragic - losing loved ones one after another, their village burned to ashes. He seethed with hatred for the Japanese devils in his heart, wanting to go back and fight them to the death, but he knew it was futile. Geng Yingchang, Li Baolang, and his father had said, "As long as there are green hills, we won't be afraid of running out of firewood." Now that Li Baolang was dead, Xiaolin was just like him - homeless. His only thought now was to escape the pursuit on Xi Island with Xiaolin and seek revenge later. With this in mind, Lu Gang accelerated the boat to the right, when suddenly a burst of gunfire erupted from behind, and he turned to see Xiaolin standing at the stern of the boat, firing his machine gun wildly at their pursuers until all the bullets were gone. Only then did he put down the gun and kneel down, crying out for his father. What was strange was that except for the roar of their own boat, there was no other sound on the river, and Xiaolin's gunfire hadn't drawn any return fire from the Japanese devils. Lu Gang wondered if the devils had retreated?

  Lu's guess was correct. Just as Xiao Lin, filled with resentment, ran to the stern of the boat and fired a burst of wild shots, Xishan and his men were on their way back to their base.

  Xi Island saw the lights on two boats being knocked out, and in his haste, he habitually called for the signalman, but no one responded. He wanted to contact the motorboat unit at the Mao Grass Street ferry terminal to have them intercept. The signalman was not by his side, unable to make contact, all around was dark, the motorboats ahead were no longer in his line of sight. Helpless, he could only order a return voyage. He didn't want to chase anymore, it was pitch black and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, afraid of causing unnecessary trouble, he thought that hurrying back to the base and contacting the motorboat unit again to have them intercept wouldn't be too late.

  Although Western Island heard a burst of machine gun fire from the Lugou Bridge, they were already far beyond the range of the guns.

  Lu Gang shouted loudly in the driver's cabin, but Xiao Lin didn't respond. He was still in a state of grief. When he heard no response from Xiao Lin, he turned his head and saw that Xiao Lin had knelt down on the deck, motionless. Seeing him like this, looking at Li Baochang's lifeless body lying there, Lu Gang felt a sharp pain in his heart, and he stopped calling out to Xiao Lin. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he continued driving forward, not knowing how the waterway here would lead him to shore. He had heard Li Baochang's last words, "Turn right and then go straight."

  Kobayashi arrived, holding his father's body, stroking his face, speechless with grief.

  "Xiaolin, don't be sad, we'll find a place to land soon and bury Uncle Li," said Lu Gong. Xiaolin held his father tightly and didn't respond, his mind was a complete blank, his eyes staring blankly at the ripples on the water's edge.

  Lu Gang suddenly saw a few places in the distance ahead, flashing lights that appeared and disappeared. Lu Gang saw hope. He shouted: "Little Lin, we're almost ashore, do you see? There's light over there!" After finishing speaking, he began to accelerate, but at this critical moment, the boat threw its anchor, went out of power, and stopped moving. Lu Gang was so angry that he slapped the steering wheel hard, helplessly staring at the dark mass in front of him with a line of lights shining through. He came to the driver's cabin and squatted beside Little Lin, saying softly: "The boat can't move anymore."

  Two young men were silent in the darkness. The quiet surface of the river made them feel that a gloomy mist was enveloping them from all sides. As drowsiness crept over them, Lu Gang pulled out three Japanese woolen blankets from the cabin and gave two to Little Lin, telling him to cover Li Shu with one. When they woke up, the eastern part of the river had already turned white like a fish's belly, and a few egrets and a flock of chirping sparrows flew overhead.

  At this time, the roar of the speedboat engine came from behind. The two of them looked back and saw that two devils' speedboats were rapidly approaching them from afar.

  It turned out that after Xi Island returned to the base, they contacted the motorboat team on Mao Grass Street. That night, they listened to the order and did not search with all their might. The river surface was too cold, the wind was strong, and the waterway was unfamiliar, so they just searched symbolically once without result and then returned to the base. It wasn't until dawn that they resumed the search, and after traveling a distance, they finally found Lu's boat.

  Lu Gang saw the enemy's speedboat approaching from behind and told Xiao Lin, "This boat has two life rings, which Wang, the translator, called life jackets that can be worn to jump into the water." Xiao Lin asked what about his father? Lu Gang hesitated for a moment and said, "At this point, we can only let Li Shu suffer, preserving our lives is crucial." Xiao Lin said, "No way, I'd rather die with my father together." Lu Gang retorted, "If your father heard that, he would beat you to death for being an unfilial son." Xiao Lin asked why? Lu Gang said, "Your father still hopes you'll avenge him, and my mother is waiting for me to avenge her too." Alright then, Xiao Lin, let's fight them off first, then grab the life ring and jump into the river. Xiao Lin remained silent, stood up, went to his father's body, knelt down, and kowtowed three times. Then he picked up the machine gun, while Lu Gang picked up that rifle.

  At this moment, the artillery guards stationed on the shore discovered the enemy's motorboat through binoculars. At first, there was one, and later two more were found. The gunners became excited, and the battalion commander ordered each to take aim at the target on the river surface, first a trial shot, then a burst of salvoes.

  The enemy's motorboat was approaching, and Xiao Lin and Lu Zhuang were about to pull the trigger to shoot at the enemy when suddenly a shell landed beside their boat with a whistling sound, creating a water column several meters high. Several more shells flew towards them, almost capsizing their boat. The intense bombardment continued, and by chance, several shells hit the pursuing enemy motorboat, sinking it in the river and killing several enemies. Those who survived struggled to stay afloat.

  Lu Zhuang and Xiao Lin were thrown into chaos by the sudden barrage. All the enemy motorboats had been sunk, but the shells kept coming, filling them with terror. Lu Zhuang yelled at Xiao Lin, "Quickly grab the life ring and jump into the water!" Xiao Lin looked at his father's body and cried out, "Father, I'm unfilial!" Just as a shell hit their boat, igniting the ammunition inside, and before a massive explosion erupted, Xiao Lin and Lu Zhuang hugged each other, holding onto the life ring, and leaped into the icy water.

  As soon as the sky brightened, the enemy's planes reappeared in the air above the factory. Xidao saw them and nodded his head to the devils on the plane. The plane flew towards the direction of the reeds in front. At this time, the motorboats arrived. A devil reported to Xidao that except for two boats that went to chase after the escaping motorboats, all the boats had arrived.

  "Listen to my orders," said the Western Islander. "All the Chinese in the Reed Marsh are our enemies, not a single one can be spared. Once they finish their bombing mission, we will charge at the enemy." The devils responded in unison and ran up to the motorboat in an orderly manner, waiting in formation.

  The arrival of the enemy plane caused panic among the people in the reeds. Commander Geng ordered every soldier to direct the civilians not to panic and disperse to take cover. Lu Wei tightly followed Commander Geng, watching as bombs fell from the Japanese planes. Commander Geng grasped Lu Mei's hand tightly and ran sideways before turning around and quickly jumping into a bomb crater with her. Lu Mei stretched out her hand and touched a bloody severed leg, scaring her into a loud cry. Seeing this, Commander Geng pulled Lu Mei to jump into another crater.

  Four enemy planes flew back and forth in the sky above the reeds, dropping bombs four times. The reeds were filled with the sound of explosions and people's cries for help, which was terrifying and chaotic. People were screaming and calling out for their parents as they fell to the ground, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

  After the bombing, people fell down again under the devil's machine gun sweep, their bellies were shot through, feet broken, heads cracked, blood filled the reeds, and in the air was the devil's sneer, while in the reeds were the people's mournful cries.

  At this time, Jia Xiaomai ran to the side of Geng Yingzhang. He took out a few bullets from his pocket and said: "Commander, I picked up so many bullets." Geng Yingzhang looked at him, his head was bleeding. He silently accepted the bullets, one by one, loading them into the magazine, as if filling in hatred. He stood up to search for planes in the sky, but there were no planes in sight.

  Gun smoke wafts through the reeds above, a gray and hazy sky, flames engulfing the reeds. The living are beating around the burning fire, the wounded are in agony, some women holding children calling out to their deceased loved ones, some with vacant expressions, dull eyes, mechanically moving their feet, looking around here and there, muttering something under their breath, clearly they have suffered a huge shock.

  What a tragic situation, unbearable to see, Geng Yingchang's heart was bleeding. He raised his gun and fired a shot into the air, the dull sound of the gunshot seemed to be venting all his pain and helplessness, painful for the bloodshed of his compatriots, helpless to kill the devils. He let out a long sigh, sat down on the muddy ground with his head in his hands and burst into tears. Lu Wei saw him like this, her eyes were filled with crystal-like tears, her beautiful face was covered with tear stains, without saying a word. The surviving soldiers walked over, quietly surrounding them.

  Geng Yingchang realized that everyone was staring at him, and he calmed down. In a place surrounded by water, to the point where they could only be slaughtered by the devils? He was unwilling but what else could he do? He raised his head and muttered: "How many people have died?" Jia Xiaomai lowered her head and wept, saying: "Countless, probably several thousand. Everywhere is littered with corpses, some with legs, some without, some with hands, some without..." "Don't say anymore." Geng Yingchang let out a loud cry and then heavily buried his head in his knees, his shoulders shaking violently. Lu Wei, who was close to him, felt that Geng Yingchang's whole body was trembling. She knew he was suffering greatly inside, and she thought of her brother, father, and Xiao Lin, and even more so, her mother. Her tears flowed again.

  The people around saw Geng Yingchang like this, silently and wordlessly, each dispersed. Jia Xiaomai took away the gun from Geng Yingchang's side, an old soldier next to him saw it, tapped his head: "What are you taking it for? Give it to me." He snatched it over, grasped it in his hand, and left. The dispersing soldiers helped the wounded clean their wounds, some helped the refugees find a new place to hide, some sat on the reeds with their hands clasped together praying, some ran to the edge of the reeds and shouted loudly towards the riverbank. Among the shouting crowd, some people tried the water temperature, stopped shouting, and said: "It's also waiting for death here, maybe if we're lucky, we can swim across." After finishing speaking, they jumped into the water, and some people hesitated for a while before following them into the water.

  The entire reed forest was shrouded in the aura of death, suffocating everyone. A layer of terror had settled on each person's heart, and no one knew when the devil's slaughter knife would be put down.

  To think that the real devil will put down his butcher knife is just a self-deception of kind-hearted people.

  At this time, the soldiers who were shouting loudly by the river discovered that dozens of motorboats were speeding towards them. They hastily turned around and ran towards Commander Geng, shouting: "The devils are coming! The devils are coming!"

  The hysterical cries merged into a single sound, and the entire reed forest was filled with such shouts.

  Geng Yingchang heard it and quickly pulled up Lu Wei, got up and ran with her. Through the gaps in the reeds, he saw the devils on the motorboat opening fire on the crowd swimming in the river. In a moment, the people on the river sank to the bottom of the water, and the bloody water dyed the river red.

  The devils' speedboat charged into the reeds.

  "Charge at the enemy!" Xi shouted. The devils jumped off the motorboat, shouting loudly as they charged and killed in all directions among the reeds.

  They stabbed people at sight, regardless of age or sex. Where the butcher knife was wielded, there were continuous miserable cries, corpses all over the fields, bent reeds, and dyed red cattails. The devils chased after escaping refugees and National Army soldiers, not sparing even those who lay on the ground unable to move with a last breath of life, stabbing them at encounter, intestines spilled all over the ground, blood splattered everywhere.

  A devil saw a woman holding a child, he rushed up and stabbed the woman's belly with one knife. The child in her hand fell to the ground and cried loudly. The devil picked it up and threw it into the air, then used the tip of his spear to pierce the falling child. The child let out a loud cry before losing its breath. Its intestines spilled out from its belly and hung outside, splashing blood all over the devil's face. The devils watching beside him burst into laughter. The devil who speared the child swung his gun backward with force, throwing the child's corpse onto an empty space.

  Suddenly, two gunshots rang out, and the two devils fell to the ground as they saw their emperor go. It turned out that the old warrior hiding in the reeds had seen this scene, he was stunned, a strong anger burning inside him, he raised his gun and fired two shots, settling them, but also exposing his own target. Just as he was about to pull Jia Xiaomai to change places, the devils who reacted quickly had already surrounded them. Not allowing them any resistance, just as the old warrior was about to pull the trigger, his body had already been pierced by three or four sharp bayonets of the devils, and Jia Xiaomai was also stabbed by the devils. As the bayonet retreated, blood gushed out. The wounded pair retreated, stretching out their hands to grab something to support their bodies, but behind them were only weak reeds, they fell heavily to the ground, along with the reeds blown down by the wind.

  In the chaos, Geng Yinglong pulled Lu Wei to run towards the reeds by the river instead of running forward like everyone else. He thought that the enemy's attention was temporarily focused on the crowd, and if they followed the enemy's pursuit route, there would be only one dead end for those who were unarmed. The only way out was to dodge the enemy's sharp edge and run towards the river. Sure enough, the enemy chased after the fleeing crowd in a straight line. Geng Yinglong hid with Lu Wei in a dense thicket of reeds not far from the river, where many corpses lay scattered about. Seeing Lu Wei shivering, Geng Yinglong took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, then held her tightly, and only then did she calm down slightly.

  The devils are still wreaking havoc. The mournful cries kept entering the ears of Gengzi Hall and Lu Wei, and the sound of gunfire and bayonets piercing human flesh was like a stabbing pain in their hearts.

  The commander of the torpedo boat, Nishijima, listened to the cries for help from the reeds and watched as they fell one by one. His heart was filled with great satisfaction. Matsuo came over to report on the battle: "Commander, all the enemy in the reed marsh have been eliminated." Nishijima looked through his binoculars and ordered: "Not a single person is to be left alive." He commanded his troops to continue clearing up, stabbing each corpse with an extra blow.

  Geng Zitang saw the devils gathering around the corpses, adding knife wounds to them. He quickly pulled over several nearby corpses and said to them, "Sorry." Then, he stacked them one by one on top of Lu Wei and himself, saying to Lu Wei, "Wei Mei, don't move, it's just this trick. If the devils' bayonets stab you, you can't move either, or you'll be dead." Lu Wei nodded after hearing him. She didn't feel as scared with Geng Yingchang by her side. After experiencing these few days of gunfire and flying bullets, she had accepted the cruelty of this reality. She had to survive; her mother was dead, but she still had her father, brother, and little Lin. Thinking of this, she deeply buried her head in her elbow, and a humid air seeping from the ground made her feel stifled and nauseous. She struggled to suppress her adverse reaction.

  The enemy's footsteps came to their front, fiercely stabbing the corpse. Geng Yingchang suddenly felt severe pain and knew he had been stabbed. He endured the pain, only hoping that Lu Wei was okay. The enemy stabbed for a while before leaving. Geng Zidang understood that it wasn't time to turn over yet. If they moved, their lives would be over. He tightly pressed Lu Wei under his arm.

  He and Lu Wei both hoped that the devils would leave quickly, but listening to the commotion outside, the devils had no intention of leaving. The surrounding area still echoed with the voices of the devils and the painful cries of fellow villagers being stabbed again. Geng Zitang gradually couldn't hold on anymore, his eyes weakly drooping down, he fainted.

  After an unknown period of time, he seemed to feel someone calling him in the daze. He opened his eyes and felt a thread of light entering his eyes in a trance-like state. The blurry scene looked like a piece of fire burning, slowly rising like clouds, shapeless and pouring down like rain. His whole body was weak, as if stepping on a soft cotton quilt, he fell back down and fainted again.

  When he woke up again, the sky was already dusk. The west side of the river surface was covered with a thick layer of dark clouds, like a big quilt spread on the water surface. The only line of light that seeped through between the black cloud layer and the water surface seemed especially distant and vague to Geng Zitang.

  The quiet river, the quiet reed marsh, the low-humming wind blows and dances around the reeds, the broken and fragmented reed leaves fly everywhere in the air, drifting down onto the corpses and the gentle surface of the river.

  "Geng Yingchang, Geng Yingchang, the devils have left, the fire is out, wake up quickly. The devils have left, the fire is out." He heard Lu Wei's voice.

  A wave of pain hit him, and he reached back to his waist, where a wide strip of cloth was wrapped around it. This was what Lu Wei had tied on him when he was unconscious. Lu Wei was unharmed, shielded by Geng Zitang's body and covered by a corpse, avoiding the enemy's bayonet. After the enemy left, Lu Wei tearfully bandaged him, his waist still bleeding profusely until the cloth stopped the blood.

  "Are the devils gone? Is the fire out? They're gone, it's good that they're gone." Geng Zitang weakly asked a sentence, as if asking himself.

  Lu Wei said the devils have left, and also said that this place was set on fire by the devils. After finishing speaking, she cried again. Geng Zitang struggled to sit up with Lu Wei's support, and in her intermittent speech, he understood the truth of the matter.

  Geng Zidang, who was in a coma, had no idea that the empty reeds in front of him, which could be seen all the way to the western horizon, were cut out by Lu Wei at the risk of his own life.

  Xi Island ordered the reeds to be set on fire and then boarded a motorboat and sailed away.

  When the outer layer of Lu Wei's surroundings was engulfed in a raging fire with thick smoke billowing, Lu Wei happened to be lifting off one by one the corpses on Ge Zitang's body. Seeing that the blood on his waist was still flowing out, she didn't rush. She had learned battlefield first aid knowledge while studying at school, and now it came in handy. She took off Ge Zitang's clothes, tore them into strips, and wrapped them around his waist to stop the bleeding. After doing all this, her legs felt a bit numb as she stood up, and this one stand made her break out in a cold sweat. She saw the rolling thick smoke carried by the wind, and the soaring flames that were especially piercing at dusk. She called out to Ge Zitang but got no response, and just as she was frantically running around, she spotted a shovel among the pile of corpses not far away. She ran over to grab it and started hacking at the reeds with all her might, hacking... The fire finally stopped in front of the circular area she had hacked out, and the shovel slipped from her hands. Lu Wei fell onto the wet ground with a thud, staring at the fire that was slowly dying out at her feet. A faint smile appeared on her dark face, and her bright eyes sparkled with tears under the illumination of the flames.

  Geng Zitang took Lu Wei's hand and looked at her palm, which had blisters from the friction. He asked if it hurt. Lu Wei shook her head and said: "Commander Geng, the devils have left, what are we going to do? I don't know where my father and brother are."

  "It's okay, Wei Mei, it's okay, they'll all be fine." Geng Yinglong didn't know how to respond and could only perfunctorily say: "Are you hungry? Come on, help me up, I'll go with you to find something to eat."

  "Where's the food, Geng Ye Chang?" Lu Wei helped Geng Zitang up and looked around. Geng Zitang smiled and said: "Your nose isn't as keen as mine, I'm a dog. Let's go find some."

  Geng Zitang picked up a stick to use as a crutch and pulled Lu Wei along with him to search for food. In the dim light, they couldn't find anything edible, but instead saw some charred and dry skeletons in the distance, which scared Lu Wei so much that she closed her eyes tightly and didn't dare to look, nervously pulling Geng Zitang as they moved forward.

  As they approached a dense thicket of reeds, they heard a rustling inside. Geng Yinglong's instincts kicked in, and he grabbed Lu Wei, slowing down their pace. He whispered in Lu Wei's ear, "Don't worry, we'll have something to eat tonight. There must be an injured wild duck in there, just waiting for us to come and eat it." As they spoke, Geng Yinglong quickly propped himself up with his crutch and entered the thicket. Suddenly, he felt a hard object pressing against his chest. Just as he was about to reach out to investigate, a voice rang out: "Don't move, or I'll kill you!" The voice sent shivers down the spines of anyone who didn't know what was going on in this eerie environment. Geng Yinglong calmed himself and realized it was Jia Xiaomai's voice. He said, "Jia Xiaomai?"

  "Ge Yingchang, is that you?" The dark figure lying in the darkness spoke up, and his hand relaxed, causing the gun to drop. Overjoyed, he dropped the wooden stick and bent down to pull Xiao Mai, who let out a cry of pain. When asked, he said that his stomach had been stabbed by the devils. At the time, he fell to the ground, and the devils didn't stab him again, thinking he was dead. As he fell, he saw an old soldier beside him. After the devils left, he took off his clothes and tightly bound his stomach with them. He heard the sound of wailing all around and didn't dare go out, so he guarded the old soldier until the devils set fire to everything. With great difficulty, he stood up, enduring the pain to drag the old soldier here. This place was safe, with a natural, wide mud ditch separating it from the original patch of reeds, which blocked the spread of the flames. The little warrior spoke and spoke, then burst into tears. Lu Wei listened, wiping away his own tears.

  "It's good to be alive, little brother." Geng Zitang hugged Xiaomai to comfort him. "Right, it's good to be alive, and being alive, we can avenge ourselves." Lu Wei was infected by Geng Zitang's words, she said: "I want to avenge my mother."

  Geng Zitang stood up and shouted towards the reeds: "Is anyone there? Is anyone still alive?" Lu Wei and Xiaomai also joined in shouting, but as they searched along the way, all they saw were corpses lying on the ground, some charred yellow, some intact, and others with severed heads. The sight was unbearable.

  Looking at this scene, Geng Zitang said sorrowfully: "Wei Mei, remember, this revenge must be reported. What we need to do now is to think of a way out, I'm hungry, first solve the problem of food and clothing, Xiao Mai, is there anything to eat?

  Xiao Mai pointed to a place not far away, and they saw a black thing. Lu Wei took a look and found it was a big bird, which she recognized as a wild duck. Her brother often brought her and Xiao Lin here to hunt for wild ducks during holidays.

  Lu Wei carried the wild duck, feeling a thick layer on his hands. He put it under his nose and smelled a bloody smell, then hastily handed it to Geng Yingchang. Geng Yingchang held it in his hand, touched it, and found a hole on its chest. He inserted his finger into the hole and pulled out a piece of shrapnel. He said to Lu Wei, "What's this? Wasn't it killed by the enemy's bomb? Little brother, do you have any matches?"

  Wheat said: "I don't smoke, oh, old soldier does, daytime I see him light up a cigarette."

  Geng Yingzhang patted the old soldier's pocket, and indeed there was one. He opened it to find only one match inside. Geng Yingzhang felt a strong gust of wind around him and called Lu Wei over to block the wind for him. Geng Yingzhang struck the match, but it went out after producing just a flash of light. "With so many people in the reeds," he said, "I don't believe there isn't one person who can't find a match on them." He stood up, took his cane and was about to leave when Lu Wei stopped him, saying he wanted to go with him to look for more matches. Geng Yingzhang didn't object, and they searched along the unburned reeds until they found a box of matches on a man's body.

  When they returned, the wheat had cleaned up the wild ducks. A fire was lit and the ducks were roasted over it. In the firelight, the wild ducks dripped with oil, making the flames burn brighter, and the three people's faces were red as if they had just drunk strong liquor, the fragrance of the meat made them forget their situation.

  Geng Yinglong thought of his hometown and couldn't help but sing "Songhua River". Lu Wei and Xiaomai heard such a sad song for the first time.

  Wheat couldn't take it anymore and said to Geng Yingchang, "Commander, don't sing anymore, you're making me want to cry. My dad said that in the Northeast there were so many soldiers, but now they're all gone?" Geng Yingchang stopped singing after hearing this and picked up the wild duck from the fire pit.

  The wild duck was fragrant, with oil sizzling, and Gengying tore off two large legs. Lu Wei had one, and Xiaomai had the other. He picked a piece of breast meat for himself and started gnawing on it, saying to Lu Wei: "That day your program was really good, Wei Mei, sing us another one, okay?" Lu Wei put down the duck leg she had just taken a bite of and asked: "Really? Then I'll really sing!" The girl showed her pure and innocent look, cleared her throat, and started singing.

  A flock of wild geese flying across the distant sky

  There is my brother on the small boat.

  Clear lake water is my dream

  There is my brother in my dream.

  Sister, I am swimming in one of brother's lakes.

  Brother...

  She stopped singing, thinking of her brother, Xiao Lin and her father. She asked Geng Ying Chang: "Geng big brother, where are they?" Geng Ying Chang stared at her blankly, knowing who she was referring to. He had nothing to say, so he tore off another piece of wild duck meat and started eating.

  Wheat said, "My stomach can't take it anymore." Geng Yingchang said, "You say it's not good, your stomach is like this, and you still want to eat. Can't you chew slowly? If you keep eating like a wolf, what comes out will be what goes in." Wheat laughed. Lu Wei didn't laugh, she slowly got up and walked towards the riverbank, gazing at the river surface, her mood as turbulent as the ripples on the water that couldn't calm down for a long time.

  At this time, Lu Wei standing by the river could hardly know what had happened to Lu Gong and Xiao Lin in the river.

  Lu Gang and Xiao Lin jumped into the river and swam with all their might towards the faintly visible shore.

  They were unused to lifebelts and had discarded them as cumbersome.

  Lu Gang shouted at Kobayashi: "Kobayashi, take off your shoes." Then they rubbed each other's feet and took off their shoes.

  The river water in May was a bit cold, but the young men were full of energy and the chill didn't matter to them. They rowed forward, sometimes doing the backstroke, sometimes opening their arms and pulling through the water.

  Kobayashi fell behind, and Rukawa waited for him by treading water in place.

  When Kobayashi swam up beside him, Lu Gong asked if he had any problems. Kobayashi spat out a mouthful of water and said there was no problem, telling Lu not to worry about him.

  "Brother Stick, I just can't put my mind at ease about my dad, and didn't let him have a good place to go." Little Lin was about to cry.

  "Kobayashi, I've been thinking the same way. It's come to this now. Neither of us wants it to be like this, damn it! It's all because of those Japanese devils. Kobayashi, revenge is only a matter of time. Just remember that as long as we're still here and those little devils are still around, I'll make sure to kill every last one of them." Lu Gang took a mouthful of river water and spat it out, his hands churning the water with force.

  "From now on, I'll only listen to you, Brother Gun. Whatever you want to do, I won't say a second word." Xiao Lin raised two fingers of his left hand from the water, and Lu Gun also raised two fingers of his left hand from the water.

  They swam and talked in the water like this.

  Something floating and sinking on the surface of the river caught the attention of Jiang Lao Da's wife, who was washing clothes by the ship's side. She put down the water bucket she had just carried up and quickly told Jiang Lao Da that there were two people on the river surface. He looked in the direction his wife pointed and indeed saw two people. He hastily called out to his son, Jiang Pazi, to prepare for a rescue.

  Jiang's son threw the life ring to Lu Gang and Xiao Lin in the river, Lu Gang grabbed it, but Xiao Lin was far from the life ring and sank. Jiang shouted loudly: "Jiang's son, hurry up and save people!" Jiang's son didn't say a word and jumped off the boat into the river, pulling Xiao Lin onto the boat.

  Old Mrs. Jiang saw that they were two young boys, and looking at their pale faces, she quickly instructed Jiang to bring out clothes and blankets for them to warm up with. She then ran to the kitchen to boil a pot of hot ginger tea and handed it over to them as they gradually warmed up. She asked them why they were swimming in the river at this time? Lu Gan drank the ginger tea without saying a word, while Xiao Lin burst into tears upon hearing her question.

  "Old Jiang's wife asked Lin in surprise: 'What's wrong with you?'"

  Kobayashi was about to answer when Lu Gang asked her: "What kind of people are you?"

  The old lady laughed and said, "Ah, you're Chinese, haha, just kidding. Do you know the Shaoyang Baoqing area?" Seeing they didn't respond, she continued, "We're a family of boat people, living on the water all year round. Last month we transported some goods to Chongqing, and then did some more business in Chongqing. Now we've come to Yiyang to transport some wood, and then send it to other places. That young man is my son, only 16 years old. Jiang, come over here, meet these two brothers."

  Jiang's son still had a tender look on his face, and he was quite tall. Lu Gang looked at him and said thank you, but he became embarrassed and walked away again. Jiang's wife said that this child just didn't like to talk much, at home without companions, often getting into trouble, not fond of reading books, but loved playing with water. When he was ten years old, after his grandparents fell ill and died, they simply took him on the boat and lived together on the water.

  Lu Gong smiled and shook his head at Jiang Ya Zi, who stared at them with a big smile on her face.

  Jiang's wife was a talkative person, thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with dark skin but still looking good. Along the way, she kept chatting with Lu and others, while Jiang's son stood beside her listening. After hearing their stories of blood and tears, she shed sympathetic tears. She said: "How about this? You have no home to return to, just follow us. Old Jiang, we're short-handed anyway, let's keep them, what do you say?" Old Jiang happily agreed.

  "It can't be helped, it can't be helped." Lu Gang put down the teacup in his hand and waved his hand.

  "What's wrong with you? If you follow us, you'll lose out!" Jiang Lao Da's wife said.

  "No, no, I'm telling you, the dock in front of Cao Cao Street is guarded by devils, we can't get through." Jiang Lao Da asked if they were serious. Xiao Lin said it was true, there was a devil's torpedo boat unit there, and the devils who chased them earlier came from there. After hearing this, Jiang Lao Da called his wife over to discuss it, then said: "Let's go take a look at Chi Shan first."

  "Uncle, you want us to follow you, I have a condition," said Lu Gangjiang.

  "Haha, look at you with your delicate features, but you still have a lot of tricks up your sleeve." Old Jiang chuckled and said. Old Jiang's wife asked Lu Gang, "What conditions? Tell us about it."

  Lu Gang looked at Xiaolin and said: "It's like this, we have to find his father's body, and also we need to go back home once, to find my father and sister together."

  Kobayashi said to Lu Gang: "The devils are still there, if we go now, won't we run into them?"

  Jiang Lao's wife heard Xiao Lin's words and was a little afraid, so she said in a conciliatory tone: "If there are devils, we won't go. Let's wait for a while until it's peaceful again and then come back to take a look, okay?" Lu Gang shook his head. Jiang Lao looked at them and said: "In that case, let's do this: since they have shown such filial piety, we'll first go up to Chi Shan to gather some information about your hometown situation. What do you think?" Lu Gang found this suggestion acceptable. The boat headed towards Chi Shan.

  They arrived at Chishan Town and inquired along the way. Someone said that the devils were repairing a cannon tower in Changyuan Town, and there were many devils there. Later, they unknowingly came to the place where the artillery troops were stationed. Lu Gong asked the sentry if Commander Geng was here? The sentry didn't recognize Commander Geng, wouldn't let them pass, saying this is an artillery unit, what does it have to do with infantry? Even if he comes, he won't come here. They had no choice but to return to the boat. Old Jiang said to them: "It's not that I don't want to help you, in such a chaotic era of war, being able to get out alive is the best." Old Jiang's wife also comforted them saying: "Don't worry, your father and sister are fine." Lu Gong and Xiao Lin had no choice, they saved themselves but still made such demands, this was also Lu Gong's anxious mood thinking about his father and sister. If they rashly returned to the village to find them, who knows what might happen, wouldn't that put them in harm's way? After discussing it, Lu Gong and Xiao Lin told Old Jiang: "We'll follow you."

  Jiang Lao Da and his wife smiled at each other. Jiang Lao Da shouted loudly: "Jiang Er Zi, set sail!"

  Geng Zitang and his companions stayed in the reeds for another day and night. They had been hoping to see a boat on the river, even just a small sampan, but there was none. Fortunately, among the reeds were countless wild ducks that had been killed by the enemy's shells, which kept them from going hungry.

  The next morning, when Lu Wei was picking up firewood and tossing her long hair out of her face, she saw a boat coming towards them on the river. She was overjoyed, hugging the firewood and shouting for Geng Yingchang. Geng Zitang, who was plucking wild duck feathers, stopped what he was doing and asked Lu Wei, "What's going on? Did you see a snake or something? You're making such a big fuss."

  "Ship! Ship! I see a ship!" Lu Wei exclaimed excitedly.

  Geng Zitang and Xiao Zhanshi suddenly became excited, they supported each other to come to the riverbank.

  Sure! Here is the translation:

  Indeed, a boat was sailing towards this side. Slowly it drew near, and nearer. Geng Zitang saw a woman with a heroic bearing standing at the bow of the boat, wearing a red dress. He called out: "Hong Jie."

  Hong Jie delivered the goods to Changde and stayed there for a few days due to ship repairs. During this time, she also organized some local fundraising activities. Later, the ship was repaired, but it couldn't leave immediately. Government personnel told her that Hengshan Yong was attacking Nanzhou and Anxiang, so it wasn't the right time to return. Until one day, government personnel told her that the Japanese army in Nanzhou had withdrawn, she bid farewell. Hong Jie didn't take the waterway directly to Chongqing, she was worried about Teacher Yang and the two young men, so she decided to go see them.

  Hong Jie heard someone calling her, and as she looked in the direction of the sound, she saw someone waving at her from the edge of a reed thicket ahead. She told the helmsman to turn the boat around and head quickly towards the reeds.

  The unexpected encounter left them with mixed emotions. Hong Jie didn't expect to run into Geng Zitang and Lu Wei here. As they disembarked, the sight of the charred remains on the shore shocked everyone, evoking a mix of anger and sadness that couldn't be put into words. After listening to Geng Zitang's account and witnessing the scene before her, she asked him with tears in her eyes, "Where is Teacher Yang? And what about Lu Gang and Xiao Lin?" Geng Zitang didn't respond, merely shaking his head. Lu Wei burst into tears and flung herself into Hong Jie's arms, as Hong Jie stroked her hair and looked at Geng Zitang, saying, "Your troops have been dispersed, I heard they've all gone to Chongqing. What do you think? Do you want to go to Chongqing? I'm actually planning to send this shipment of anti-Japanese goods to Chongqing."

  "Are you going or not? Wei Mei," Geng Zitang asked Lu Wei. Lu Wei said, "Geng Da Ge, I want to go back and find my dad and brother."

  Geng Zitang looked at Hong Jie with concern and said, "I'm afraid the devils have set up a cannon tower in the village." Hong Jie thought for a moment and said, "Commander Geng, get on the boat first. Go up and wash up, you all look like a mess, dirty and ugly. Wei Mei, come, get on the boat. You, help that young brother and Commander Geng onto the boat, clean their wounds, bandage them, and make them something to eat." She turned to face Commander Geng and said, "Later, I'll send someone to take a look around the village." After finishing speaking, she pulled Lu Wei up onto the gangway.

  The boat sailed to the shore. As soon as it docked, Lu Wei rushed down the gangway without waiting for it to be secured, and Geng Zitang followed closely behind. His wound had been bandaged and was no longer painful. Hong Jie called out to him while ordering the soldiers to search the village in a hurry. The group followed Lu Wei into the entrance of Li Baolong's uncle's house, only to find it burned down, with charred wooden beams scattered all over the place. Lu Wei cried out for her father and brother, but there was no response. Geng Zitang and Hong Jie found a bloodstain in the kitchen, then rushed to the back room and arrived at the entrance of the cellar, where they found no one inside.

  They walked up to the embankment, and what they saw left them aghast. Thousands of corpses were piled up in front of them. The bloodstains on the women's bodies had dried, some with their bellies slit open, intestines exposed, swarms of flies buzzing around the piles, crows perched on trees, croaking away. At this point, Lu Wei couldn't care about being scared, rushed down to the embankment, and began searching through the corpses one by one, tears streaming down her face. She searched all the way to the riverbank but didn't see her father or brother's figures anywhere. She wailed, crying out, and the only response was the desolate wind blowing from the river.

  Geng Zitang walked over and said in a low voice, "Wei Mei, they're not here. Maybe they're all still alive." Lu Wei heard this and said, "Commander Geng, can you accompany me to our village to take another look? They must have returned home. What do you think, Commander Geng?"

  Geng Zitang nodded and followed Lu Wei in the direction of home, while Hong Jie and the soldiers were vigilant about the surrounding situation, closely following behind them.

  As they passed through a field of rape, Hong Jie felt something was wrong. She saw a pair of feet sticking out from the field. She pulled at Geng Zitang and pointed to the field. Geng Zitang grabbed Lu Wei and followed them into the field. Several corpses immediately appeared before their eyes. Lu Wei saw Lu Shuisheng lying on his side in front of her mother's grave, let out a loud cry, and rushed towards Lu Shuisheng's body. Hong Jie held her back.

  His body was stiff, with bullet holes and bayonet marks. Gao Zidang looked at the riverbank next to him, a tree branch lying on the riverbank had two corpses hanging from it, his heart skipped a beat, thinking they were Lu Gang and Xiao Lin, he rushed over to take a look, but it wasn't them, his heart finally relaxed. The soldiers pulled the two bodies out of the water, Gao Zidang picked up the abandoned farm tools next to him, silently digging into the earth, the people around him saw him doing this and followed suit, silently digging, the sound of the hoes hitting the mud seemed like the sound of hatred erupting from their chests, they wielded their tools as if holding a hard, sharp blade, digging fiercely towards the little devils. At this time, Hong Jie saw that Gao Ying's waist had seeped out a red blood stain, she called out to him, "Don't dig anymore, Commander Gao, you're bleeding again. Put it down, stop digging."

  Tang Tzu didn't listen to her and continued digging. Lu Wei walked over, snatched the hoe from Geng Ying Chang and started digging again. Geng Zi Tang looked at Lu Wei, his eyes becoming moist.

  The grave was finally dug, and the water burial was placed in the pit and filled with soil, level with Sun Huamei's tomb. Lu Wei knelt in front of her parents' tomb for a long time, refusing to leave.

  At this time, a burst of gongs and firecrackers came from afar. They saw a group of people walking towards them.

  Recently, they saw that these people were carrying some digging tools. They came to collect and bury the dead, Lu Wei recognized them, they were all from her village. She ran up to ask if her brother was in the village, and got a response of either shaking their heads or silence. It's no wonder, the bitter experience of the past few days had left them with lingering fear, the gloom on their hearts couldn't be shaken off, who had time to care about others? They didn't have their usual smiles, their faces were numb, and they walked by her with heavy hearts, heads hung low, towards the riverbank outside the dike.

  However, an old man turned back among them and said: "Pole son, didn't you follow us to cross the river and arrive at this side? What's wrong, disappeared, dead?"

  Geng Yingchang hastily stopped him: "No, no, he wasn't found here. If he was really killed by the devils, we must see his body if he's dead or alive. Is that right? You came from their village and didn't see Lu Gong or Little Lin, and Li Baolong didn't return?"

  "No, I really didn't see anything." The man said as he was about to leave.

  Lu Wei still had to cross the river to find his father and brother in the village, that person heard Lu Wei wanted to cross the river and said to them: "I heard the devils built a cannon tower on Ming Mountain in Nanzhou, who knows when the devils will come again, you'd better hurry up, you soldiers can't even fight against the devils, don't lose your lives again."

  Geng Yingchang felt a burning sensation on his face and was very uncomfortable. Lu Wei still insisted on crossing the river, but Hong Jie pulled her back, saying: "Wei Mei, forget it, let's go, come with me to Chongqing to clear your mind. Your parents are dead, your brother is not here, and finding him won't be easy. Now you're all alone, go out and take a break, wait until the devils are driven away and things are peaceful again before coming back, maybe your brother will have returned by then."

  Geng Yingchang also advised her, and Lu Wei, a young girl with no big ideas, listened to their advice and followed them. When they arrived at the boat, she asked a soldier to take two bundles of silver dollars and give them to the villagers who were collecting bodies. After the soldier finished delivering them and came back, the boat started and headed towards the middle of the river...

  Lu Wei stood at the bow of the boat, gazing out at her hometown growing increasingly distant, tears streaming down her face.

  When passing through the reeds where they had stayed for several days and were now scorched, Geng Ying's face was filled with sorrow.

  There are brothers who were killed by devils' cannonballs here.

  There are fellow countrymen who were burned to death by devils.

  Here lies his hatred, and also left behind his humiliation.

  He was deeply in pain, wanting to shake off the cruel scene. However, he couldn't shake it off, and the strong man burst into tears. He snatched a soldier's gun, raised it towards the gloomy sky, and pulled the trigger with a loud cry, venting his anger and deep sorrow.

  Among the gunshots, Lu Wei knelt down, facing the direction of her hometown, facing the direction of her parents' tomb, she had no more tears, only the light of hatred hidden in sorrow.