Chapter 9: The Unbearable Burden

  Every word of Brother Xu was heard by Wen with extraordinary care. Suddenly seeing the calm and composed Xu Weizhong appear like this, it seemed as if there were some unspoken secrets, and he couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

  "Never mind, let's just stop talking about work, and don't consider other personal matters!" In the backlight, Xu Weichang seemed a bit hesitant and slightly depressed.

  "Xu Ge, don't you still trust me? I guarantee that as long as the report is sent out, even if I die, I will go do it!"

  "No, no, Wen, you absolutely cannot sacrifice yourself. The revolutionary task is long and arduous, aren't you looking for the revolutionary troops? This time, as long as we can send out the intelligence, it will be a great contribution to the revolution!"

  "Really, Brother Xu?"

  "It's true, this intelligence concerns the lives of many revolutionary comrades and the survival of our troops. You've accomplished a great feat by completing your mission!" Xu Weichang patted Xiang Wen's shoulder forcefully, his eyes filled with trust.

  "What else can't you tell me, Brother Xu? As long as it's work arranged by you, I'll definitely get it done!"

  "No, no, what I said just now was all about revolutionary work, don't bother yourself with my personal affairs."

  "Xu Dage, I regard you as an elder brother and a teacher. You can consider me your reliable younger brother!" Xiang Wen's expression was sincere.

  Should he entrust his personal affairs or not, Xu Weichang, who had always been resolute, was momentarily wavering.

  In the intervals of fighting, as soon as he thought of that smiling face, Xu Weichang's heart felt sweet and soft.

  Once in prison, she may never be able to come out again. For the revolution, it's a sacrifice that can't be regretted, but what about her? She was already so lonely, how could she cope?

  Zhou Ying!

  Zhou Ying is the only concern of Xu Wei Chang apart from his anti-Japanese struggle.

  That was during a large-scale anti-Japanese demonstration in Beiping last year, when the Beiping authorities dispatched a large number of military police to suppress and forcibly disperse them. In the process of retreating, Xu Weichang inadvertently took refuge with a girl.

  After evading military pursuit, the two of them smiled at each other in recognition for the first time as they shared their experiences from this revolutionary struggle.

  The girl's name is Zhou Ying, a student of Normal University Affiliated Middle School.

  Her short hair was neatly trimmed, her skin was fair and smooth. That day she wore a well-fitted blue blouse with a black skirt.

  The more we talk, the more congenial; the more we chat, the more delightful.

  The seeds of love were thus unintentionally planted in the hearts of a young couple.

  After learning that Zhou Ying was an orphan who had been living with her uncle's family since childhood, Xu Weichang showed more fraternal care for this quiet and beautiful girl. In their spare time, the two often talked together about Lu Xun, Gorky, the October Revolution, and the Soviet Union; sometimes they would also talk about their future, at which times Zhou Ying was like a gentle little bird leaning on Xu Weichang's sturdy shoulders, never hiding her admiration for this man's revolutionary passion, his "planning and design" for the country and society, and even his every word and deed.

  After leaving Beiping to join the revolution, no matter in Lu Zhong or Lu Nan, no matter how intense the war was or how complicated the struggle was, he would find a way to mail a letter to his beloved girl every month. Sometimes, for safety and the needs of the struggle, he could only use some secret language that only two people could understand, and sometimes he had to use technical means to avoid the enemy's inspection.

  Every month, a letter became the unknown emotional sustenance of revolutionary Xu Weichang.

  At this moment, thinking of his gentle girlfriend, Xu Weichang's heart ached with pain.

  After falling in love, she became more lively and cheerful, a change from her previous melancholy. He knew what his love meant to a girl who had lacked parental affection since childhood.

  How could a young girl like her withstand such a blow when she had left this world for her ideals?

  For a moment, Xu Weichang fell into deep thought.

  After a long time, he made up his mind, looked up at Xiang Wen, and made what might be the last choice of his life:

  "Wenwen, I'll just say something unpleasant!"

  Then, he roughly talked about his experience of getting to know Zhou Ying, including her basic character and family.

  "I'm the only family she has left in this world, if she finds out I'm gone, her world might be plunged into darkness. I don't want to see her like that, after all, she's still so young and innocent. Wenwen, please write a letter to her every month for some time to come, using my tone!"

  Unexpectedly, what Big Brother Xu entrusted to him was such a matter.

  It's easy, isn't it just writing a letter every month; but it's difficult, the tone and emotions there, how to grasp them?

  Wen felt the weight on his shoulders once again.

  But what he saw was Xu's trusting and determined eyes, which warmed his heart.

  "Xu Gege, don't worry, I will definitely make it happen. When you get married in the future, be sure to toast me a glass."

  Xu Weichang's eyes welled up with tears and he nodded vigorously.

  Gently patted

  Then, Xu Weichang also simply told the trustworthy little brother in front of him about where he and Zhou Ying had exchanged letters, Zhou Ying's hobbies, and his own writing style.

  For revolutionary Xǔ Wěi Cháng, this was the most important entrustment in his life. For young progressive youth Qiào Xiàng Wén, this was a particularly difficult task.

  It wasn't until many years later that Qiao Wenchuan truly felt the weight of Xu Dage's entrustment, and how much trust it represented. This trust was sometimes a kind of suffering, a rope that bound his soul and would not let go.

  The sun sets in the west. The climate of southern Lu is just as strange, with warm sunshine at noon, but still counting down to nine cold days by dusk and night.

  Tonight, two people talked a lot, sometimes excited and sometimes sighed, and the more they talked, the more topics they had.

  Xiang Wen's admiration for Xu Dage grew stronger, and Xu Weizhong's appreciation for Xiang Wen also deepened.

  But nobody knew it was their last conversation.

  The next day, when two guards took Xu Weichang out of the prison gate, they sent Wen to the door of a small cell, and the two people exchanged a silent glance.

  Little did they know, this was their last encounter in this world.

  Because Murata was unable to extract more valuable intelligence, the headquarters intelligence agency was very annoyed and finally decided to send Xu Weichang to Jinan for interrogation by the headquarters.

  For several days, the headquarters used every inhuman means on the unyielding revolutionary Xu Weichang, but still couldn't get a single word out of him.

  Later, Xu Weichang and several other comrades were secretly executed by the Japanese army in Jinan at the age of 26.

  A gentle breeze blows, and the water flows babblingly.

  The scenery of the whole mountain is bathed in the morning dew. Occasionally, some birdsong and fragrance of flowers float out from among the transparent leaves.

  Peace is different from others, Zuo Yu's heart is heavy with thoughts, got up early, and didn't have the heart to appreciate the beautiful scene in front of her.

  Ever since the instructor entered the city, Zuo Yu had been somewhat restless.

  He has been regretting that he did not firmly stop Xu Weichang from going deep into the tiger's lair to gather intelligence at that time.

  To say, they have been partners with Xu Weizhong for more than three months, but the feelings between the two people, apart from the captain and instructor, one in charge of combat and the other in charge of ideology, have added a few points of brotherly affection.

  I remember that when the team was first formed, Zuo Yu had a few reservations about this bespectacled university student from Beiping, and even gave him a nickname "Glasses" behind his back, but only mentioned it to a few trusted subordinates.

  The change occurred after that press conference.

  It's strange to say, since he personally listened to the instructor's explanation of the anti-war situation, the daily military's combat norms, the pros and cons of positional warfare and guerrilla warfare, etc., he couldn't help but admire the ink in other people's bellies.

  One can't help but admire the guerrilla fighters from peasant families, most of whom couldn't even write their own names. No matter how much rhetoric was used, it was all superfluous to them. The instructor always managed to use examples from everyday life, one story after another of families torn apart, to arouse the soldiers' indignation and sense of justice.

  In the midst of gentle and repeated persuasion, why do we need to fight? Why, while dealing with the Japanese devils, should we not be completely obscured by the surface appearance of a unified resistance? Why must we merge with the masses? What is the difference between our army and the puppet troops? These principles gradually sank deep into the hearts of the soldiers.

  I remember a director wrote a small script, inviting the regiment's cultural troupe to perform for the soldiers. Many of the soldiers were stunned by what they saw, and one soldier suddenly stood up, grabbed his knife and rushed onto the stage, chasing after the actor playing the Japanese ghost and hacking at him.

  The instructor hastily stepped up onto the stage and shouted loudly at the soldier:

  Attention!

  The warrior was fixed on stage just like the petrified soldier, and the warriors and villagers below watching the play burst into laughter.

  This is Xu Weichang, a clever and talented college student.

  Of course, just relying on these things is not enough to make the fighting hero who participated in the revolution for five years and killed the Kuomintang now come to kill the devils surrender! The commander of the Duli guerrilla column, Zuo Yufu, will not be convinced!

  That time, the detachment was surrounded by the enemy's fierce firepower and mortar support during the battle with the Japanese puppet army, and the encirclement circle became smaller and smaller.

  At the critical moment, Xu Weichang urgently selected a batch of soldiers with good marksmanship from each class and personally led them. In the process of attracting the enemy on the left side of Yu Zheng, they quickly circled back to a small mound on the side of the enemy, hid well, and ordered the sharpshooters to aim specifically at the enemy's machine gunners and artillerymen, shooting one by one as soon as they showed their heads.

  The enemy's position immediately became chaotic like a pot exploding.

  Seeing the enemy's machine gun and mortar had fallen silent, Guo Wang swiftly ordered the bugle sounded for a charge.

  A counter-attack broke through the enemy's encirclement in a flash.

  Afterwards, the soldiers told us that the instructor used his 38 big cover to kill two devils, one of whom was an enemy sergeant in charge of artillery fire.

  This battle made the warriors convinced, and their left battalion commander was even more convinced from then on.

  The instructor's ideological and political work is well done, the key to the battle is stable, and the tactics are used properly, otherwise, that battle would be too precarious!

  From then on, no one dared to call him "Four Eyes" behind his back. One time, two soldiers were discussing their instructor, Zuo Yu overheard them, didn't say a word, and kicked one of them in the butt with one foot, then another, and immediately ordered him to write down the instructor's name 100 times.

  Later, Commander Yang of the branch team found out about this and criticized him as a negative example. People discussed that the leadership was not right, you can ask someone to write a self-criticism, you can ask for their name, but how can you kick them?

  "Tomorrow will definitely be a fierce battle, Instructor, Instructor, even if it's not an order from above, I'll think of every way to rescue you!" Zuo Yu said to himself.

  What kind of military operation is the Lunan Guerrilla Brigade preparing to launch? Can they rescue the Weichang Camp? Tell me tomorrow.

  "Marching North and South" is a serialized military novel originally published on (Starting Point Website). Search for "Marching North and South" to share, if you have any better suggestions, please let me know in time, I would be grateful; if you think it's readable, don't forget to cast your precious vote, because your support and encouragement are my greatest motivation for future creations. QQ: 394915357 or join the Q exchange group: 171584042 for more wonderful stories, happy sharing with you, my friend.