Chapter 19: Encounter with Malayan Fishermen (1)

  The sun was setting, and Tianhu quickly pressed down Long Fanglan's head, crouching onto the "oil barrel boat". The searchlight on the Japanese ship stopped moving for a moment, then suddenly fired a series of shots, hitting the oil barrels and causing water to splash everywhere.

  It seemed that the Japanese were testing whether there was anyone on the boat. After a while, they turned off the searchlight. The oil barrel boat began to slowly tilt to one side.

  "Not good, some of the oil barrels have been shot through and are leaking into the water," Tianhu exclaimed, "Hold onto the barrel edges, be careful not to slip into the sea."

  The sail was lowered, and more oil barrels were hit by bullets, causing the boat to move very slowly. "At this rate, we won't make it to shore before dawn, and we'll become live targets for the Japanese," Long Fanglan worriedly said.

  "We have no choice but to abandon the damaged oil barrels," Tianhu thought for a moment before saying.

  "Then let's do it. If all else fails, we can swim ashore with the oil barrels," Long Fanglan encouraged Tianhu.

  Tianhu quickly removed several of the damaged oil barrels and threw them into the water, then raised the sail again. The oil barrel boat was now much smaller, and Tianhu and Long Fanglan could only sit together, holding each other.

  However, this made the boat less cumbersome, and it moved faster. After drifting for a night, they finally approached the shore of New Mountain at dawn. A thick fog covered the sea.

  Just as Tianhu and Long Fanglan were about to reach the shore, a large ship suddenly appeared out of the fog, heading straight for them with a loud rumbling noise. The oil barrel boat was too small, and in the dense fog, the large ship couldn't see them at all.

  Tianhu and Long Fanglan quickly used their hands as paddles, exerting themselves to row the oil barrel boat away from the ship's path. They managed to avoid a head-on collision, but the waves created by the passing ship swept them several hundred meters away, causing the cloth strips binding the oil barrels to break apart.

  The oil barrels scattered everywhere, and Tianhu and Long Fanglan both fell into the water. Each holding onto an oil barrel, they swam towards each other.

  After much difficulty, they finally reunited. Tianhu hastily said, "We must quickly swim ashore; otherwise, more ships will come, and we'll either be crushed or swept away by the waves."

  Long Fanglan's hair was disheveled, covering half of her face. "Help me untangle my hair, I can barely see," she cried out.

  Tianhu stretched out his hand to help Long Fanglan untangle her hair, saying, "You swim in front, and I'll push you from behind."

  Long Fanglan didn't say anything else, quickly swimming forward. After about an hour of swimming, the sun had risen above the horizon, but they were still several nautical miles away from the shore of New Mountain.

  A Japanese warship was slowly approaching from Malacca, heading southwards. If they were discovered, all their efforts would be in vain. Just as they were getting anxious, a fishing boat suddenly appeared out of nowhere, slowing down beside them.

  Two fishermen threw down two life rings tied with ropes and shouted, "Put on the life jackets, we'll pull you up!" Tianhu and Long Fanglan were overjoyed, quickly putting on the life jackets and grabbing onto the ropes.

  The two fishermen quickly pulled them aboard, then docked the fishing boat at the shore. "We would have either drowned or been shot by the Japanese if it weren't for your help," Tianhu gratefully said to the fishermen, looking out at the warship passing by the spot where they had just been.

  "Where are you from?" one of the Malayan fishermen curiously asked. "Why were you in the sea so early?"

  "We're from Singapore, and we sneaked across the sea," Long Fanglan explained. "Singapore has been occupied by the Japanese, and the British have surrendered. All the roads are blocked, so we had no choice but to escape by sea."

  "Are you from the Singapore Volunteer Army?" one of the fishermen asked.

  Tianhu nodded in response.