Chapter 14 "I just don't believe our nation will collapse"

  Tujia old hunter Peng Lao Die carried a hunting rifle, with a machete inserted in his waist, and a medicine basket full of herbs on his back. He was walking hastily along the riverbank when he suddenly discovered a girl grasping tightly onto the grass by the river, struggling in the water. Peng Lao Die quickly ran over and stretched out the gunstock of his rifle towards the girl.

  Yamei grasped the gunwale and climbed up, her green headscarf caught in the grass.

  Old Yang put the cooked rice into a bucket and shouted: "Little Cow! Where has this little calf run off to?"

  Old Yang shouldered his pole and walked out of the dormitory.

  Old Yang walked out of the dormitory with a pole on his shoulder, and suddenly found that in the distance, on the mountain slope, a young cow was arguing with a middle-aged woman. The middle-aged woman handed a pair of cloth shoes to the young cow, but the young cow threw the shoes on the ground and ran back to the dormitory. The middle-aged woman chased after him to the door of the dormitory, stopped in her tracks, and didn't dare go in, covering her face and crying.

  Old Yang walked while looking back, his face full of confusion: "What's going on here?"

  Old Yang carried his pole and walked towards the barracks.

  Inside the barracks. Some soldiers were lying on their bunks sleeping, some were reading letters from home, and others were whispering to each other. Several sat on their bunks playing dice.

  Lao Cao was sharpening his big knife on a whetstone, making an ear-piercing sound.

  Huang Xintian stood in front of a small Buddhist shrine on the wall, burning incense and worshiping, his mouth still chanting unintelligible mantras in the Tujia language.

  The boy lying on the upper berth had to cover his head with a quilt.

  Huang Xintian muttered to himself, suddenly jumping up and performing a Tujia funeral dance, singing as he danced:

  "Human life is hard to escape from the cycle of birth and death."

  Even with spirit, it is still not solid.

  Like plum blossoms struck by lightning

  ……

  "Can't you let people sleep?!" he shouted at Huang Xintian and Old Cao, throwing off his quilt in annoyance.

  Lao Cao continued to sharpen his big knife, making a piercing sound.

  Huang Xintian continued to sing and dance as if no one was around:

  “……

  Like tender flowers being swayed by the wind.

  Forget it, forget it, just forget it.

  Life is like a spring grass.

  Ordinary spring grass, who doesn't age?

  The green is high and the blue is higher.

  ……”

  Cui Zi put on her shoes and walked out muttering: "I really can't take it anymore!"

  Lao Cao looked at Huang Xintian with a sneer and said: "Old Huang, what's wrong with you?"

  Huang Xintian stopped dancing and said with a solemn expression: "I am mourning for my deceased brothers."

  Lao Cao restrained his smile, nodded very seriously and continued to sharpen his knife with his head down.

  Huang Xintian continued to jump.

  Zhou Guangren pushed open the door and came in, with a white towel wrapped around his head like a Japanese person, and bumped into Shuangzi who was just about to run out of the door.

  Zhou Guangren excitedly shouted: Good news! Director Chiang -

  Everyone on the kang jumped down and stood at attention. Lao Cao and Huang Xintian also quickly got up and stood at attention, and Zhangzi stopped in his tracks and stood still.

  Zhou Guangren smiled: "Don't worry everyone, the Chairman has issued a commendation order for us, saying that our great victory in Changsha this time is truly worthy of praise."

  Everyone let out a sigh of relief as Zhang walked out of the barracks, and Huang Xintian continued dancing.

  Lao Cao was puzzled: "Second Ghost, what are you yelling about!"

  Zhou Guangren was very dissatisfied: "Old Cao, who called you 'Second Ghost'? I'm Zhou Guangren, how many times do I have to tell you?"

  Lao Cao: "What's 'Shu Kan Jia Wei'?"

  Zhou Guangren: "We won the battle and should be commended, the Chairman is very pleased."

  Lao Cao grumbled: "He's happy, but many brothers' corpses are still exposed in the wilderness."

  Zhou Guangren was also deeply saddened: "Yes! I hope they can ascend to heaven soon."

  Old Cao corrected him: "What heavenly rise! You should rest in peace as soon as possible!"

  Zhou Guangren was dissatisfied: "Why is it peaceful to enter the earth? They all say 'the spirit in heaven', but I haven't heard of 'the spirit in the earth'!"

  Lao Cao: "You two devils, what do you know! Humans are made of earth and water, when they die, they naturally turn back into earth."

  Huang Xintian stopped dancing and interjected: "How can people be made of earth?"

  Lao Cao: "If it's not a local product, then what kind of product is it?"

  "It's made of bamboo!" Huang Xintian said calmly.

  Lao Cao and Zhou Guangren were both shocked, their mouths wide open in unison: "Ah? Bamboo!"

  Dongzi walked out of the barracks and saw Qin Zhiyong crouching alone in the yard, staring blankly. He went over: "Squad leader, you're back. What did Captain Sun want with you?"

  Qin Zhiyong: "The squad leader said he's going to select a few people from our class for reconnaissance missions, the devils are going to attack Changsha again."

  "Are we going to fight again?"

  Qin Zhiyong nodded.

  Old Yang arrived at the camp with a pole, saw Qin Zhīyǒng and Duōzi, and warmly shouted: "The tooth sacrifice is done! The tooth sacrifice is done! There's meat! Come quickly!"

  "Hey Old Yang, come back and join us in fighting the little devils. What's the point of carrying a pole all day and shouting 'Fight, fight'?"

  Old Yang chuckled twice: "Hehe! There's meat, hurry up!" He said, carrying the pole and rushing into the camp.

  In the barracks, Old Cao and Huang Xintian were still arguing endlessly about what kind of person someone was.

  "Yes! Bamboo! It's bamboo!"

  Old Cao stared with his eyes: "Tell you Old Huang, it's Nüwa Niangniang who made people out of yellow earth and water! Yellow earth and water! Do you understand?"

  Zhou Guangren crouched on one side, watching the two of them, and couldn't help but want to laugh.

  Old Yang came in with a pole, put down the pole, saw Old Cao and Huang Xintian arguing face to face with red ears, squatted beside Zhou Guangren, lit up his pipe, and asked Zhou Guangren: "What are they quarreling about?"

  Zhou Guangren: "Origin of Humanity."

  Old Yang didn't understand: "Huh?"

  "Hey, you don't understand either."

  Huang Xintian held the small Buddha in his hands, unwilling to show weakness: "According to our Tujia people's legend, it was Yī Luó Niángniang who created humans. She made a skeleton with bamboo, used lotus leaves for the heart and lungs, used hyacinth beans for the intestines, and used a gourd for the head. She opened seven holes on the head and blew in some divine breath, and thus humans were created."

  Old Cao was stunned: "Broad...broad beans?"

  Huang Xintian: "Don't you believe?"

  Old Cao looked at Old Yang and laughed loudly: "Old Yang, did you hear that? Cowpeas, Old Huang said your intestines were made by his mother's cowpeas, haha!"

  Huang Xintian: "There's a song to prove it." Huang Xintian started dancing and singing, "The ground is empty and quiet, Moke Tieba calls Yiwoba to become human again. Yiwoba becomes human again, busy for ten days and nights, first picking calabaza to make a skull, the calabaza skull is really cool——"

  Old Yang stood up, took off the wine gourd on his back, pulled Huang Xintian who was dancing, and pointed at the gourd to say to Huang Xintian: "Old Huang, are you saying your brain is made of this?"

  Lao Cao and Lao Yang burst out laughing together.

  Old Yang pointed at Huang Xintian's head: "I think you're just a gourd brain."

  Old Cao stopped laughing: "Old Yang, you said it was Nüwa who created humans with yellow earth and water."

  Old Yang slowly said, "Using yellow earth and water to create humans is not false, but it's not Nüwa Niangniang, it's the old mother of Mount Li who used yellow earth and water to create humans. I heard this from my grandmother when I was young."

  Lao Cao almost jumped up in a collapse, crying and laughing: "Where did another Lishan old mother come from! It's Nüwa Niangniang!"

  Old Yang insisted: "It's Lao Shan Old Mother!"

  "Ah, it's Yiru Nangnang!"

  Lao Cao: "Nüwa Niangniang!"

  Zhou Guangren couldn't help but laugh at the side.

  Lao Cao: "What's with you, Luo Niangniang! Bullshit!"

  Huang Xintian was furious and pulled out his hunting knife: "You dare to insult our Tujia people's gods!"

  Lao Cao also picked up his big knife without showing weakness: "What's wrong? Want to fight? Come on!"

  Old Yang shouted loudly: "Old Huang! Put down your knife! I'm here, you dare to move Old Cao!"

  Zhou Guangren slowly stood up, using a tone of reprimand: "What are you doing?! Fighting over this kind of thing, isn't that humiliating? Does that look like the behavior of comrades in the same trench?"

  Lao Cao and Huang Xintian both slowly put down their weapons after hearing this.

  Zhou Guangren continued to scold them mercilessly: "You're all old soldiers, do you look like old soldiers?! Old Yang, you're still pulling the strings. We're all brothers who have rolled around on the battlefield together, and we can fight over some unfounded myths and legends, no wonder the Japanese say that we Chinese are infighting, a scattered sand!

  Three people were trained until they all had some sweat on their faces.

  Lao Cao's face turned red and his neck thickened: "Then tell me, which one of us is right?"

  "Nobody is right!" - Zhou Guangren

  Lao Cao: "None of these are correct? Then tell me, where did humans originally come from?"

  Old Yang: "Yes, did you know?"

  Zhou Guangren sneered: "Not having read books is really deadly. Give you all some advice, listen carefully."

  Old Yang impatiently: "Come on, Second Ghost, stop playing dumb."

  "Remember, man is evolved from apes!" - Zhou Guangren

  The three of them were stunned, looking at each other in confusion, and then burst out laughing.

  Old Cao thought he had misheard and asked Old Yang: "What did he say changed? A monkey?"

  Old Yang burst out laughing: "Monkey! He said it's a monkey transformation!"

  "Right! Monkey!"

  Old Yang slapped Zhou Guangren's head: "I think you little devil has turned into a monkey."

  Old Cao smiled and asked: "Second Ghost, who told you this? Was it also your grandma?"

  Zhou Guangren was laughed at and got a bit annoyed: "What did the Japanese say? What's going on?"

  The laughter of three people stopped abruptly.

  Lao Yang's face turned serious: "Say it again, who told you?"

  Zhou Guangren was somewhat out of breath: "Is day - what Japanese people say."

  Old Cao rushed forward and slapped Zhou Guangren: "Damn it, you also believe in the devil's words! You're really a dog traitor!"

  Zhou Guangren covered his face and backed away: "I am not a traitor!"

  Old Cao reached out and yanked off the white headscarf wrapped around Zhou Guangren's head, cursing: "Look at your behavior, always wrapping a tattered scarf around your head, no wonder they call you a traitorous dog, I've disliked you from the start."

  Old Yang also took a step forward: "It seems that you are in the Cao camp but your heart is in Han, aren't you a Han traitor who hasn't had enough? What did he just say about us?"

  Lao Cao: "They say we didn't study."

  Lao Yang slapped Zhou Guangren's other cheek and cursed: "You're just a bookworm!"

  Lao Yang and Lao Cao beat Zhou Guangren with a loud slap, scolding him as they hit: "What's wrong with me not having read books? You little devil has read books, go find them!"

  Zhou Guangren was knocked to the ground.

  At this time, Dongzi pushed the door and came in, saw Zhou Guangren being knocked to the ground, and hurriedly blocked Lao Cao and Lao Yang: "Why are you hitting people?"

  Old Cao: "What's wrong with hitting someone? Just hit them! If you keep talking, I'll hit you too!"

  Gongzi took one look and knew it was bad, so he quickly ran out of the barracks.

  Outside the barracks, Sun's advisor was walking and talking with Qin Zhiyong.

  "Has everyone made their selection?"

  Qin Zhiyong: "Alright, Lao Cao, Huang Xintian, Shuanzi each take a squad. Oh, and there's also the two devils..."

  Sun's advisor: "Who is the second devil?"

  Qin Zhiyong: "It's Zhou Guangren."

  Sun's advisor: "Oh."

  "Everyone calls him 'Second Ghost', he can speak the language of the ghosts, and at critical moments, he might be useful."

  Sun's advisor: "Right, right."

  "Class Monitor, they're fighting!"

  "Who started fighting?"

  Zhangzi saw Sun's strategist and hastily paid his respects.

  "Wait, don't be in such a hurry, speak slowly."

  At this time, Zhou Guangren ran out of the barracks, cursing as he walked: "Damn it, we used to get beaten by the Japanese, and now we're getting beaten here too. I'm not taking it anymore!"

  Zhou Guangren saw Sun's advisor and hastily stood up.

  "Zhou Guangren, who hit you?"

  Zhou Guangren explained the whole story, and Sun Zongcai smiled: "Everyone come in."

  Sun led them into the tent.

  The Japanese army's garrison, the Japanese soldiers were busy burning the bodies of their fallen comrades. The bodies were piled up on a two-meter-high stack of sorghum stalks. Several soldiers poured gasoline from oil drums onto the sorghum stalks and set them on fire. A huge blaze erupted instantly, with thick smoke billowing upwards.

  Soldiers sat on the ground watching the distant fire, some of them with tears streaming down their faces, sobbing uncontrollably.

  Kuroda stood behind the soldiers, gazing at the big fire, and Shima led the horse over.

  Kuroda looked at Oshima: "Being a signal soldier is very hard every day, isn't it?"

  "At least I won't have to go kill people anymore."

  Kuroda: "Has your leg injury healed?"

  Xiao Dao: "All done! Congratulations on Dong Zheng's promotion to Deputy Squadron Leader!"

  Kuroda looked again at the corpses burning in the great fire: "Several officers have fallen..."

  Xiao Dao also looked at the bonfire: "This time in Changsha, the casualties are heavy!"

  Kuroda: "Yes, this time the Chinese army's resistance is unusually fierce."

  Kojima looked sad: "Of all the people who were conscripted from our village together, only Uehara, Maeda and the two of us are left."

  Kuroda nodded.

  Kojima: "Yamazaki died in battle in Shanghai, Fujiwara died in battle in Wuhan, Kawashima..."

  Kuroda interrupted Oshima's words: "Those who died are glorious, and their families will be proud of them."

  "Shō-tō: 'If I die, Mother will only feel sad. But why did those people who died have to die?'"

  Kuroda looked at Kojima with an unusual gaze: "Kojima, it's okay if you say that to me, but don't tell anyone else."

  "Mom always hoped I'd become an architect."

  Inside the national army barracks.

  Old Yang is serving rice for everyone. Everyone sits around Sun Zi, eating and listening to Sun Zi's words.

  Sun Zhenmo: "...... Zhou Guangren is right! Humans evolved from monkeys. To be exact, humans evolved from ancient apes."

  Everyone was shocked and stared with wide eyes, Zhou Guangren was very pleased with himself.

  Sun Zong's advisor smiled wryly: "Evolutionary theory, you wouldn't understand even if I explained it."

  Lao Yang: "Do all Japanese people understand?"

  Sun Zhenmo was deeply moved: "From apes evolving into humans, this is common sense for ordinary Japanese people. Japan has gone through the Meiji Restoration and has surpassed us in many aspects such as national defense, industry, and education."

  Old Yang: "No wonder those little devils are so arrogant, they've been preparing for a long time."

  "Right, Japan has been preparing for years to invade China and knows the situation in China like the back of their hand. But many of our soldiers don't even know where Japan is."

  Huang Xintian: "Where is Japan?"

  Everyone burst out laughing, and Sun's advisor also couldn't help but laugh through tears.

  Old Yang ridiculed Huang Xintian: "You gourd head, on the island ah, this is also unknown."

  Sun Zhenmo: "Right, Japan is a mountainous island nation."

  Lao Cao was surprised: "Does Japan also have mountains?"

  "Yes."

  Lao Cao: "Isn't it on the island?"

  Zhou Guangren hastily replied: "There are also mountains on the island. The highest mountain is called Mount Fuji, with an elevation of over 3,000 meters, and it's Japan's highest peak."

  Lao Cao glared at him, and Zhou Guangren was so frightened that he didn't dare speak again.

  Old Yang was astonished: "More than 3,000 meters? Taller than Mount Li!"

  Zhou Guangren pouted.

  "Higher than Mount Hua."

  Old Yang: "Ah!"

  Qin Zhiyong curiously asked: "Do Japanese people also farm?"

  Sun's advisor: "The Japanese cultivate land and also fish."

  Huang Xintian: "Do they have faith?"

  "They only believe in the Emperor of Heaven, they believe in slaughter, they think they are civilized, but they believe that by relying on brutal massacre, they can conquer a nation..."

  The Japanese army's garrison, corpses on the bonfire were still burning. Several Japanese soldiers hummed "Lan Wang Xiao Diao" together softly.

  Soldiers Nishizono, Uehara, Nakamura and Maeda were talking in hushed tones.

  Saigū-ji Temple regretfully said: "We will never hear Gotō's songs again."

  Uehara: "Yeah, I kinda miss him. He's a good guy, just a bit dim-witted."

  Nakamura: "So useless he can't even handle a woman! How pathetic!"

  Uehara: "When you think about it, that Chinese nurse was really something!"

  Maeda felt a bit uneasy: "Yeah, this time's enemy seems pretty tough!"

  Everyone stopped talking and fell silent for a while. Uehara suddenly felt deeply moved: "I really wish we were fighting to defend our own country too!"

  At this time, Iwai walked over and heard Uehara's words. He shouted loudly: "Hey, Uehara, superior private, come here for a moment!"

  Uehara stood up: "Yes!"

  Uehara squeezed out of the crowd and stood in front of Iwai.

  Iwai Hyōdō glared at him: "Hey, what did you just say? Repeat what you said earlier!"

  Uehara felt a bit uneasy: "Yes! We hope... we are also fighting for our own country's defense."

  Iwai: "Then tell me, why are we fighting?"

  The soldiers all looked at Uehara with tension.

  "Actually... I don't know how to say it... actually, Japan wasn't invaded..."

  Iwai slapped Uehara's face: "Bastard! You deserve to have your head chopped off for saying something like that!"

  Uehara stood up straight and replied loudly: "Yes!"

  Iwai: "Are we not fighting for the defense of Japan, for the Emperor?"

  Kuroda glanced at Kojima, who somewhat unnaturally avoided eye contact with him.

  Iwai shouted loudly at the soldiers: "Assemble!"

  Iwai led the soldiers of the company in formation before a burning fire heap.

  Iwai, facing the soldiers, said with great passion: "Since the Sino-Japanese War, how many imperial heroes have died on foreign soil and become guardian spirits of the nation, exchanging their fleeting lives for the prosperity of the Great Japanese Empire today! Remember them!"

  Many soldiers were choked with sobs.

  Iwai, Kuroda and other lower officers drew their swords, raised them to the forehead, then lowered them to the right and down, performing a sword salute towards the pyre.

  Iwai led the singing of "Across the Sea", and all the soldiers followed suit.

  Across the ocean

  Corpse floating on the sea surface

  Crossing over high mountains,

  Corpses lie scattered all over the fields.

  To sacrifice one's life for the Emperor

  To die for one's country is a glorious death!

  ……

  Hei Tian hummed a tune in his mouth, but in front of him, the images of Xiao Bai, Feng Lianchang and Sun Canmou kept flashing.

  Xiao Bai was covered in blood, holding an axe and walking step by step closer...

  Feng Lianchang raised his shotgun and continuously pulled the trigger...

  Sun's advisor sternly sneered...

  Kuroda shivered, but he plucked up his courage and sang louder:

  “……

  To sacrifice one's life for the Emperor

  To die for one's country is a glorious death!

  ……”

  Inside the military camp. Sun's staff officer said confidently: "...... This can't intimidate us! The Japanese soldiers now are not as arrogant as they were when they occupied Nanjing, their morale is much lower than before, I believe that soon many Japanese parents will receive the ashes of their sons!"

  Lao Cao was somewhat surprised: "Parents? Lian Chang, even these little devils have parents?"

  Sun's advisor was surprised: "There is."

  Lao Cao: "Also born of parents?"

  Sun Ziming smiled: "Of course, there are not only parents, but also brothers and sisters. Do you think they all came from nowhere?"

  Old Cao indignantly said: "I thought they were all beasts transformed!"

  "Son's advisor: 'They are a pack of beasts, a gang of ferocious and heavily armed wolves. Old Yang, do you still remember that captive?'"

  Old Yang nodded.

  Sun's advisor: "His last weapon is his teeth. What if the enemy is a wolf?"

  Lao Cao: "We'll become wolves too!"

  Sun's advisor shook his head.

  "Let's become lions!"

  Sun's advisor shook his head again.

  Huang Xintian: "We should become hunters!"

  "Right! We can't become beasts like them, we must be the hunters who beat the wolves. To beat the wolves, we need to understand their characteristics. Japanese soldiers are as ferocious, cruel, fierce and cunning as wolves; at the same time, they are also tenacious, brave, serious and well-trained, every soldier takes the country's affairs as his own."

  "Are we going to be able to beat them?"

  "Then it depends on whether we have the determination and courage to sacrifice our lives for the country."

  Everyone listened quietly.

  "If everyone doesn't take the survival of the country as their own business and just wants to go home and get married, then the day when we become slaves to a foreign power is not far off. Even our children and grandchildren will have to be slaves to the Japanese!"

  Old Yang's face turned bright red as he lowered his head.

  "I was once very pessimistic, thinking that our nation had no hope. The soldiers would disperse as soon as they heard the sound of the 38th gun. They were a group of scattered and disorderly troops, like a plate of loose sand! Sun's eyes welled up with tears. "From Shanghai to Nanjing, from Nanjing to Wuhan, we have been retreating all the way... In Wuhan, an old man with white hair grasped my hand and asked: What will happen to us if you withdraw? I can never forget his pleading gaze..."

  Sun's advisor was too sad to continue speaking.

  Everyone listened with a serious face.

  Sun's advisor's voice became hoarse with excitement: "But through this battle, I saw again the blood of our nation, the 'soul' of our nation. In this anti-aggression national war, some people knelt down, some hid, but more people fought for the survival of the nation, in battle, in bleeding, in sacrifice. I just don't believe that we Chinese will willingly let our descendants all become slaves to Japan! I won't believe it even if I die! I just don't believe that this nation will perish! I just don't believe that this nation which once had Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang and Shi Kefa will perish! I won't believe it even if I die!"

  Everyone who heard it was deeply moved and excited.

  "Want our descendants to be slaves of Japanese devils? What a joke!"

  Lao Cao: "Fight the devils to the end!"

  Old Yang sighed: "But where can we find Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang and Shi Kefa now?"

  "We are! Everyone present is."

  Everyone's eyes widened in shock as they stared at Sun's advisor.

  "As long as we persist in resisting the war and vow to die rather than become slaves of a lost nation, we are all Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang, Shi Kefa!"

  Old Yang was half-believing and half-doubting: "Is someone like me also?"

  "Of course! I believe that the final victory will surely be ours! One day, our national flag will be planted on top of Mount Fuji! One day, the Chinese nation will stand tall in the world like a giant!"

  Japanese military base.

  Under the moonlight, Xiaoyao Island and Hei Tian were arguing fiercely.

  Kojima: "...... Isn't what Uehara said wrong? Isn't that the case? What have we been doing here all these years?"

  Kuroda was somewhat enraged: "Don't say any more! For victory, we can't choose our methods!"

  "What were they dying for? Seeing Chinese soldiers fighting to defend their own country, they bravely sacrificed themselves and endured hardships. They wore straw sandals, some even barefoot... it's really admirable..."

  Kuroda Kaito: "Kojima! You're getting more and more outrageous!"

  Kojima gazed coldly at Kuroda: "Does Dongzheng still think he's Momotaro? In fact, the real demons are us!"

  Kuroda's face turned red with rage, and he bellowed: "Shut up! Don't say another word! What were you thinking about when you were nursing your wounds?"

  Kuroda raised his fist at Oshima and then slowly lowered it.

  Kojima looked at Kuroda, smiled wryly and said: "Your Excellency, in the hospital you can't think of anything else because your ears are filled with the cries of the wounded. Do you know what those wounded soldiers shout before they die? It's 'mother', do you know that? It's 'mother'! Not 'Emperor'..."

  Kuroda rushed up and punched Shima's face hard, knocking him to the ground, with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

  In the barracks of the National Army, Sun's staff officer beat his fist and led everyone in singing loudly:

  Charge! Charge! Charge!

  Charge forward!

  Charge! Charge! Charge!

  Sacrifice requires bravery.

  Not afraid of his plane circling and dropping bombs in the air

  Not afraid of his fierce gunfire;

  Not afraid of his machine gun bullets raining down like rain

  Not afraid of his poisonous gas fog!

  ……”

  Old Yang shouldered his pole and walked out of the barracks with a heavy heart.

  Under the moonlight, a sentry stood guard with his rifle, the bayonet gleaming coldly. Old Yang gazed up at the moonlit sky.

  A majestic and stirring song resounded from within the barracks:

  “……

  We just charge forward!

  Charge forward!

  We just attack,

  Charge forward!

  Fill in the Yellow Sea and fight to the Japanese Imperial Palace

  Killing across the four islands of this continent, the ground is covered in red.

  Triumphant return for our nation's honor.

  Who says there are no great heroes in our great Chinese nation!

  ……”

  The singing voice lingered in the air above the barracks for a long time...