Chapter 23

  According to plan, Ma Zhongying and his 240 core officers took the train directly from Andijan to Moscow. The commander of the Soviet Central Asian border guard was very interested in this Chinese doll commander and insisted on meeting him. At the banquet, the commander couldn't help but raise his glass and say, "Young Nichra, I can tell you that the commander of the Hutou River Battle was me, and the friendship between soldiers is forged in battle." Cai Xuecun acted as translator and told Ma Zhongying that Nichra meant general in Russian. Ma Zhongying liked this word very much and lost interest in the young man, loudly saying: "I am already 23 years old, the era of doll commanders has ended!" The commander and Soviet military officers all laughed, "In our Russia, a 25-year-old youth can still be called a young man."

  Girl.

  What interested Ma Zhongying the most was General Blyukher. When had Blyukher's Cossack cavalry ever been defeated? The general once loudly roared in front of Stalin, wanting to personally lead troops to teach this naive Chinese kid a lesson and take Xinjiang at the same time. Stalin held that famous black pipe, smiling, only Blyukher could be so "audacious" in front of Stalin, their friendship had been deep since the civil war era. Stalin said: "Comrade Blyukher, you are also like a child, can't bear any grievance."

  "The Red Cavalry is the mainstay of Soviet power!"

  "I understand Comrade Marshal's feelings."

  There was a writer named Babel who, in "Red Cavalry", wrote about the cruelty and darkness of Cossack warriors to portray the inner beauty of the protagonist. Bulgakov immediately became angry and attacked Babel in "Pravda".

  Gorky stepped forward and told Budyonny that this was a rare masterpiece, not a libel on the cavalry but an artistic praise. The case went to Stalin, who could only dispose of it with a smile.

  Stalin knew his marshals well, and the Red Cossacks were like his own sons. The marshal's anger was short-lived, as Ma Zhongying not only defeated the Cossack cavalry but also blocked the powerful armored forces on the west bank of the Toutun River, destroying many tanks and armored vehicles. Marshal Budyonny went with many high-ranking Soviet military leaders to watch the wreckage of the tanks being towed back from China. Budyonny's hatred for the Chinese commander turned into nothing in an instant, replaced by a kind of inexplicable excitement that was almost ecstatic! Cavalry! Great cavalry! Forever invincible! Only the sons of the desert and the steppes can appreciate the beauty and nobility of a fine horse! Defense Minister Marshal Tukhachevsky looked at the tanks destroyed by the cavalry with a heavy heart. This was exactly what Marshal Budyonny wanted to see. Tukhachevsky had clashed with Budyonny during the civil war, when they fought together against the White Army and drove out the invading Polish army, advancing on Warsaw and shocking the world. European newspapers called Tukhachevsky the "Red Napoleon". To be precise, Marshal Tukhachevsky's reputation far exceeded that of Budyonny, even making Stalin feel uneasy. Tukhachevsky had a profound influence in the military. The Red Army was initially organized by Trotsky, and Tukhachevsky was one of its founders. Tukhachevsky was a complete professional soldier, uninterested in politics and insensitive to it. He was one of the few explorers of tank warfare and three-dimensional warfare before World War II, when Britain, France, and Germany were still in the theoretical discussion stage. Tukhachevsky had already begun conducting three-dimensional military exercises, combining armored forces with air forces, which would lead to a military revolution. Budyonny was a strong supporter of Stalin, and at a defense conference, he openly criticized Defense Minister Tukhachevsky: tanks and armored vehicles were bourgeois military theories, while cavalry represented the proletariat. The two sides were deadlocked. At this time, news came from Xinjiang, China that the armored forces had been defeated, and Marshal Budyonny was overjoyed. Finally, there was an example of cavalry defeating armored forces, and more importantly, the classical myth of cavalry that had spread across the vast steppes for thousands of years.

  It's easy to imagine the warm welcome Ma Zhongying and his entourage received in Moscow, as Marshal Budyonny hugged Ma Zhongying like an old friend, punching this sturdy Chinese young man with his fist. Stalin coughed twice, "Comrade Budyonny, your emotions are fluctuating too much." The marshal showed a kind of silly and honest smile that only a grassland herdsman would have.

  Ma Zhongying day and night thought about airplanes, they were arranged to go to General Budyonny's cavalry troops. It was a perfect combination of modernized weapons and classical cavalry, with light machine guns and small cannons on horseback, firing a rain of bullets and shells in the whirlwind charge. Ma Zhongying was itching to fight, General Budyonny was generous and majestic like a king, "Children! ——" The Cossack soldiers all raised their heads, even the horses looked at the general with infinite respect, the general hugged Ma Zhongying loudly saying: "Don River's children, he is the first hero to defeat the Cossack cavalry - Ma - Zhong - Ying!" The general applauded first, the entire grassland issued a rain of applause and stomping. Warriors meeting on the battlefield was one thing, coming to the grasslands as guests was another, bloodiness and friendship were wonderfully combined together.

  Ma Zhongying's wish was fulfilled, and the Cossacks smiled with hope that the distant hero would choose their horse, which would be a great honor! Ma Zhongying ran towards the horse group by the river, he had already set his eyes on the gray horse in the group. The gray horse, just the gray horse, is the one that rides death in the Bible, something a Muslim does not believe in. That gray horse from the Don River grasslands was a standard thoroughbred, with a long neck, a small and compact head, and a round buttock like a big wheel, shining brightly, enough to stir up a man's masculine power! But its coat color made people fearful! The Orthodox Cossacks always kept their distance from it, that was a dark beauty. This Chinese Muslim had a special affection for it, even without a saddle he jumped on and rode with the wind along the Don River. The Cossacks all shouted out. On both banks of the Don River there were often steep slopes and cliffs that could break a rider's neck. No one dared to ride fast along the riverbank. The marshal ordered them to chase after him, a group of Cossack soldiers disappeared into the wilderness.

  Two hours later, Ma Zhongying and Da Hui Ma returned along the riverbank. The dust on their bodies showed that Da Hui Ma had jumped over many cliffs and steep slopes; what was even more surprising was that Ma Zhongying was holding two wild rabbits in his hands, the rabbits were trembling all over, with bright black eyes. Marshal laughed loudly, "When I was young, I could also ride horses to catch rabbits, only the best Cossacks have this skill."

  Ma Zhongying said: "We people of Hezhou ride horses and catch rabbits every year, even kids know how to do this."

  "What does 'Hezhou' mean?" The marshal felt curious.

  Ma Zhongying said: "It is the first state of the Yellow River."

  "Oh, it's the big son of the river." The marshal was very clever.

  Ma Zhongying finally got his wish, and even more so, they visited an airplane manufacturing plant. Such a large factory, like a city, is an aerospace industrial city producing airplanes. In the Aerospace City, they met another group of Chinese people who were sent by Sheng Shicai to learn aircraft manufacturing. Sheng Shicai wanted to build a factory in Dihua to manufacture airplanes.

  Ma Zhongying felt that this prosperous world was not so simple, building airplanes in such a backward place. It's simply a myth. Ma Zhongying had been to Beiping and Nanjing, China's big cities were almost devoid of modern industry except for the hustle and bustle. These industrial myths opened his eyes wide. He gazed at the blue sky with an urgent feeling in his heart, as if the vast sky was his own backyard.

  At the flight school physical examination, half of the people were unqualified, and Ma Zhongying thought about going back to Xinjiang to replace them with another batch. "I have more than 10,000 people, not enough? China has plenty of people." The school told him: "Among tens of millions of people, only a few pilots can be selected, you brought 240 people and half of them were already selected, that's a miracle. Do you know what it means to have 120 pilots? That's an entire air force division." "Haha, one division, I'm still the division commander, did you hear that? You must study hard, our 36th Division will become an air force division! Let our brothers who stayed in the country do the ground support work for us!"

  After the theoretical course, a lot of time was spent preparing for flight training. Each instructor brought one student, and after being taken twice by the instructor, Ma Zhongying flew into the blue sky alone, doing several somersaults in a row, scaring the people at the command center. "This Chinese guy is too bold." "He's from the cavalry, he thinks he's letting horses run wild in the sky."

  A photo of Ma Zhongying flying a plane was published in a Soviet newspaper and soon landed on Sheng Shicai's desk, leaving him with mixed emotions. The text described the learning situation of 120 students from the 36th Division. What would the 36th Division look like with 120 planes equipped? Sheng Shicai didn't dare to think about it and immediately called his secretary to inform the Soviet Consul General that the agreement to jointly develop the Koktokay tin mine had to be reported to the Nanjing National Government, as the Xinjiang Border Defense Headquarters did not have the authority to sign such an agreement. This agreement had been put away in a drawer for a month, and its terms gave Sheng Shicai a big headache - it was like Yuan Shikai's Twenty-One Demands signed with Japan! Due to the special relationship between the Soviet Union and Sheng Shicai, Consul General Dihua naturally enjoyed the right to communicate directly with Stalin. The Consul General told Stalin that Ma Zhongying flying a plane had a great impact on Sheng, and many cooperative projects might be terminated. Stalin was very calm, "Sheng Shicai is an old fox, he needs some stimulation."

  Stalin soon received another stimulus, those 36 Chinese pilots of the regiment mastered the plane at a speed twice that of Soviet pilots. "How is this possible? They are almost illiterate." Stalin frowned.

  The secretary had a more detailed report, and the secretary told Stalin that these Chinese people had an amazing memory, "It's like a group of beasts rushing into the vegetable garden, everything can be swallowed and digested, the test scores of the flight school are unbearable, the students of the Soviet Union were all thrown behind, our teachers are very emotional, Comrade Stalin, this is very humiliating." Stalin was no longer smoking, holding the black pipe in his hand like a small pistol. "The teacher comrades are reasonable, let them solve this problem themselves." The secretary said: "There is another thing that must be reported to Comrade Stalin, Ma Zhongying surpassed our air hero Vodopyanov in flight performance and became the hero of the pilots' hearts." Stalin lit up the black pipe again. The secretary left, and Yevnov, the head of the KGB, immediately came in, and Stalin said: "We should find a way to eliminate Ma Zhongying's influence."

  Vladimir Vasilyevich Konovalov: Soviet Air Forces Hero, who flew over the North Pole.

  This was a very vague instruction, and Yevnov pondered for half a day before making up his mind.

  A few days later, Ma Zhongying got a chance to fly. It was said that it was a special favor for him, and other Chinese students no longer had the opportunity to soar into the sky again. Yevnov deliberately arranged for Marshal Dukhachevsky to come and watch this training on the day of aviation flight training, and it would be interesting to let Ma Zhongying's plane crash in front of the Minister of Defense. The Minister of Defense, Dukhachevsky, saw the Chinese cavalry hero and walked over to ask about the situation at the Tutuo River Battle. The marshal did not believe in the myth that cavalry determined the future of war at all. Ma Zhongying told the marshal frankly: "Tanks and armored vehicles are not scary, what we fear is airplanes. We can win because when tanks attack, planes fly away." The marshal loudly said to his subordinates: "Did you hear? Cooperation between armor and air forces can lead to victory."

  Ma Zhongying flew the plane into the blue sky, his movements swift and sharp. Dukhachevsky muttered to himself: "He's really good, the plane is shining like a sword in his hands." The generals were all surprised. The two most famous marshals of the Soviet Union, with planes and cavalry as their symbols, should never mention cavalry, including horse swords and whips, in front of the air marshal; nor should they mention planes, including bombs dropped from planes, in front of the cavalry marshal. The air marshal stared at the blue sky and couldn't help but shout: "What a great plane! It's like a fine steed!"

  A very tragic voice came floating down from the vast sky...... It was a gray horse, a gray horse, a single gray horse.

  In the Bible, God rides a gray horse as Death's excellent rider, running and running... Why does God's gray horse run so fast? It chased after Marshal Tukhachevsky at the same time it caught up with Marshal Zhukov. This outstanding founder of tank warfare not only caused Stalin to become suspicious but also made Hitler jealous, Germany launched a massive intelligence war, soon Stalin had Tukhachevsky killed.

  Hitler can now boldly attack the Soviet Union, and General Budyonny commands one million brave Cossack cavalry to counterattack the German Guderian's armored tide. The five Soviet armies were completely annihilated, 670,000 people were killed, 330,000 people were captured, and General Budyonny was heartbroken and forcibly taken away by a helicopter sent by Stalin. Guderian reached the pinnacle of the art of war in this largest encirclement battle in human history, the Battle of Kiev. In his report to Hitler, Guderian wrote: "I sat in my tank, hoping to have a mortal duel with a real opponent, but I encountered Don Quixote riding a Don River horse. Why did Marshal Tukhachevsky, the father of tank warfare, die so early?"

  Even Dukhachevsky himself could not have imagined that the gray horseman of death would come to haunt him, he rubbed his eyes, and indeed saw a gray horse in the sky, it was really a gray horse. Dukhachevsky ordered the command center to let Ma Zhongying jump with a parachute, the plane was going to crash! Yenov was frightened, thinking that Marshal Dukhachevsky had discovered the KGB's plot, professional military personnel were very disgusted with the secret police. The command center could not command, the fighter planes were flying wildly in the air, becoming a wild horse, and in a few minutes the pilots would pass out. Jumping with a parachute was also useless, the parachute could not be opened. That lost soul of a fighter plane slid crookedly towards the sky above the Neva River, then crashed down, sinking for a long time before exploding with a loud bang.

  Ma Zhongying returned to the military camp two days later. The news of his death had already been reported to Stalin. The consul general in Dihua had just received a telegram about Ma Zhongying's death, followed by another one saying that he was alive again. The consul general was used to this kind of thing and told Sheng Shi Cai: "Don't have any doubts about us, you know Ma Zhongying, death is always around him, nobody can do anything about it." Sheng Shi Cai signed the agreement on developing the tin mine, "I, Sheng so-and-so, am sincere to the Soviet Union." The consul general also didn't mince words, "We will definitely satisfy your wishes."

  The prosperous world only knew that this was Stalin's distrust of him, using Ma Zhongying to restrain him, he couldn't just wait for death. The special agents sent by him infiltrated into various departments of the 36th Division, carrying out division and disintegration, making it impossible for Ma Zhongying to remotely control his own army. The agent who was sent back from the Soviet Union as the acting commander of the division could no longer exercise power, and the 36th Division was controlled by the extremely cunning and short-sighted Ma Hu-shan. This was exactly what Sheng Shicai needed. The 36th Division was a group of lions led by the stupid bear Ma Hu-shan, which suited his heart's desire. The law of survival of the fittest in nature does not apply to humans. Stalin chose the villain over the hero. When everything became history, Sheng Shicai finally understood Stalin's painstaking efforts.

  He learned from the CPC cadres who came from Yan'an that Stalin had also arranged for the CPC leaders in this way. Stalin liked bookworm Wang Ming, and Wang Ming's followers almost lost all of the CPC's assets; Stalin liked Zhang Guotao, and Zhang Guotao caused splits on the Long March; Stalin liked worker-turned-official Qu Qiubai, and when Qu Qiubai served as General Secretary of the CPC in Shanghai, he rented a room to raise prostitutes. After being captured, Qu Qiubai refused to confess, but eventually gave himself away. Zhou Enlai said that he was not even worth as much as a prostitute. Sheng Shicai finally understood Stalin's intentions because he was no longer a true military man. He could not bear the humiliation given by Stalin.

  I can no longer be a real soldier, nor will I allow the existence of true soldiers, for their presence is an insult to me. He killed off high-ranking generals who fought on his behalf, such as Zheng Runcheng and Liu Bin, and he hated Ma Zhongying even more, detesting him to the bone. Ma Zhongying was detained in the Soviet Union, while the 36th Division was left without a leader. Under the instigation of provincial special agents, Ma Hu-shan led his troops in a mutiny, providing an opportunity for Sheng Shicai. Sheng Shicai once again sought aid from the Soviet military. The Soviet tank corps entered China via two routes and annihilated the 36th Division. The officers and soldiers of the 36th Division, who had been swayed by provincial special agents, tasted a different flavor. They were turncoats, and Sheng Shicai would not allow them to fight on the front lines, as it was too dangerous. The turncoats said: "We're not afraid of fighting, handling knives and guns is our specialty." Sheng Shicai said: "Fighting in a hail of bullets is for heroes, you can't do that." The turncoats said: "We used to be Ma Zhongying's bodyguards, but we won't work for him anymore. We'll work for Director Sheng instead."

  Sheng Du said: "The gunners are all sons of bitches." The traitor said: "We're just sons of bitches, the sons of Hezhou have all gone to Xinjiang with Commander Ga, there's no one left in Hezhou." The traitor suddenly stopped talking. Sheng Du smiled strangely, making them feel embarrassed. "All the sons of bitches are dead, how come you're still alive?" Sheng Du didn't let them go to the front line, instead he had them follow the provincial army and the Soviet border guards in searching for the remnants of the 36th Division in Hetian Kashi.

  "This is a punishment more severe than death." "This job can't be done by others, only you can do it, you are the ones who have escaped from death, what are you afraid of? A prostitute sells her body, once is selling, ten times or a hundred times is also selling." Sheng Duban said this with a vicious tone. Sheng Duban had been manipulated by Stalin in such and such a way, compared to them he was fifty paces laughing at one hundred paces. Sheng Duban longed for death just like them.

  He continuously fabricated false cases, resulting in the slaughter of over a million people; he manipulated such enormous death, yet himself was not associated with true death. Since life and death are equivalent, death can be artificially destroyed. Sheng Duoban discovered the secret of human life and became an outstanding master of death. Death is not simply about losing one's head or being shot; death is an art. Before being executed, the deceased not only acknowledged all predetermined crimes but also framed their relatives and friends, losing everything precious in life. After processing before death, the prisoners no longer had the courage to be heroic on the execution ground. Sheng Duoban changed death; death was just death, and death had no meaning.

  When Stalin carried out the Great Purge, he paid great attention to this issue. Stalin did not allow his political enemies to become Decemberists or Pushkin. Stalin successfully controlled the process of death. At that time, Einstein's theory would be applied to the military, and the mushroom cloud of atomic bombs would dehydrate life. Scientists have released unprecedented energy from matter, while politicians have not only made human life lose its meaning but also made human death ugly beyond recognition.

  The year the atomic bomb was successfully tested on Bikini Island, Sheng Shicai left Xinjiang to take up his post as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in the Nationalist government in Chongqing, becoming a meritorious official who was received by Chiang Kai-shek.

  "I heard you've invented a method for dealing with the cause of death, and it's very effective. The Communist Party members caught by Dai Li are as hard as stone, dying to the end, singing 'The Internationale' and shouting slogans, disgusting to death."

  "Let them rot before executing."

  "Communist Party members don't buy this."

  "To make them fall psychologically in life, let them be imprisoned together as men and women, best if they are the wife or elder of a friend, after a long time, a relationship between men and women will occur."

  "Mr. Sheng is indeed a hero among men, Ma Zhongying is brave and good at fighting, how can you not be unlucky when you encounter him?"

  "Ma Zhongying was killed by Stalin, I didn't kill him." Sheng Shicai said, "This is the most regrettable thing in my life. I eliminated all of the 36th Division, but Ma Zhongying slipped away."

  "Stalin has eliminated your archenemy for you; what are you regretful about?"

  "Stalin's death was genuine."

  Chiang Kai-shek was confused, "Just execute him by firing squad, what's with all these fancy names, damn it."

  After the 36th Division was disarmed, Ma Chung-ying was trapped in Moscow. Sheng Shicai requested that the Soviets hand over Ma to be dealt with, but Stalin refused, saying: "Sheng Shicai used to be an outstanding and bloodthirsty military man, he knows how important blood is to people, he wants to use Ma's blood to save himself, we cannot satisfy his cruel demands. Let Ma die like a hero."

  Yanov had poison ready for Ma Zhongying. Death came suddenly and Ma Zhongying was completely unguarded.

  That day, in Crimea, a Tatar asked him: "Rider, where are you from?"

  Hezhou, Gansu.

  The Tartars let Ma Zhongying see their horse herd. In the horse herd, there was a big grey horse with a crescent-shaped scar on its neck.

  The Tartars said: "That crescent moon is Batu Khan's bite; after Batu Khan bites, the moon will not fall."

  The Tartars say: "Our heroes were all in ancient times; now they are no more."

  Ma Zhongying said: "The Golden Horde and the Blue Horde were formed by horsemen piling up saddles, where there are horses, there are good riders."

  The Crimean Peninsula is full of Tatar horse herds, and he felt the strong impetus of the surging horse blood when he was in Qinghai, and the horse blood is connected to the ocean on the edge of the mainland.

  The Tatars say: "Krim was originally the name of our Khan, and after Krim Khan and his riders disappeared, this place got its name. The riders galloped on land between the great oceans for several centuries, they were tired, Krim Khan brought them to the Black Sea, the Black Sea is the last ocean of the riders."

  The ocean is flowing with the blood of war horses and riders.

  The blood of the Hezhou riders is in Qinghai Lake, their bones are on Mount Qilian and Shenma Valley. Ma Zhongying said: "In our old home, the lake is green and the mountain is white."

  The Tartars say: "If you run from the great ocean to this side, your blood will thicken and the sea water will turn black."

  The Crimean Peninsula is deeply embedded in the Black Sea like a horse's mouth, and the sea water makes a rustling sound like tall grass.

  The Tatar said: "Tomorrow we will leave here, Stalin does not trust us Tatars and wants to move us to Siberia."

  Ma Zhongying said: "Who can move this name Krim?"

  The Tatar said, "If the horse herd doesn't go on the road, that big grey horse is the lead horse. Nobody can tame it. If we can't tame it tomorrow, the army will shoot at it." The Tatar said, "I don't want it to get shot. If there's no other way, I'll slaughter it with a knife and throw it into the Black Sea."

  The Tartars drove a herd of horses here, and the big grey horse ran alone along the sea shore; that was how our domesticated horses became wild.

  Ma Zhongying planned to go find that Tartar tomorrow and ask him to give the big gray horse to himself, but death arrived before his wish. He returned to the hotel, where Dr. Su wanted to examine him, and he went with the doctor to the hospital. The doctor told him that he had contracted a contagious disease and needed to be hospitalized for treatment. After taking medicine and lying on the bed, he really felt sick, and the nurse told him it was typhoid fever, which could cost him his life if not treated properly. Although he realized death was approaching, he didn't care; he thought about that crazy big gray horse, wanting to ride it when he died, letting the horse carry him into the Black Sea. If he couldn't make it to the ocean, then he would disappear like a whirlwind and lightning.

  Ma Zhongying had made preparations for his death. But the poison, which was even more humiliating than death, had taken effect and he was writhing in agony on the bed. The KGB personnel were ready to take pictures and return to Moscow to report their success. However, Ma Zhongying unexpectedly defeated death and jumped out of the window. The hallway was filled with the sound of alarms, which was a special room for the KGB to secretly execute dangerous elements.

  Ma Zhongying ran across the lawn and barbed wire, into the forest. The agents caught up with him and opened fire, drilling many black holes in his back, from which blood bubbles emerged. The secret police closed in tightly, Stalin had given instructions that this man was to be taken alive, not killed by bullets. Poison could make him die quietly, but bullets were different, they belonged to the military. Letting this man die as a soldier would not conform to Stalin's intentions, because he had fought against the Soviet army in Dihua and defeated Blyukher's cavalry division. In reality, Ma Zhongying alone had fought against the Soviet army on the Crimean Peninsula, which was unacceptable to Stalin. Since the Crimean Khanate, Russians had successfully replaced the Golden Horde and the Blue Horde, and the scene of Eastern riders roaming across Central Asia and Eastern Europe would never appear again.

  The troops pursuing Ma Zhongying were rapidly increasing, the security forces' motorcycles blocked the traffic arteries leading to the port, air force reconnaissance planes flew low, and Cossack cavalry patrolled between the steppes and mountains.

  Ma Zhongying was panting heavily, he was about to spit blood, he was still dozens of kilometers away from the coast, he fell on the rocks, the Big Dipper shone brightly, turning into a steel knife. At this time, the big gray horse came to his side, lying on the ground, he climbed onto the horse's back, and the horse ran lightly. This is the last day of the big gray horse, after dawn, the owner will slaughter it, and then the owner will leave home and move to distant and desolate Siberia.

  When the pursuing soldiers arrived, the big grey horse leapt into the Black Sea with its rider. The rider did not bite open the horse's neck, and the medicine took effect, causing the rider to start vomiting blood. The blood fell on the horse's mane, majestic and powerful. Later, the horse disappeared, and the rider continued to slide deeper into the Black Sea, opening up a very deep and wide gully in the water surface, just like a giant wheel passing by. Later, the rider also disappeared, and when he disappeared, he had vomited out all his blood, and with a slight shake of the waves, the blood was evenly distributed and could no longer be seen. This is how the rider's blood and bones disappeared.

  On this day, the Tatars were all relocated to Siberia. The Black Sea coast no longer saw Eastern horsemen, and the peninsula that stretched into the sea was still called Crimea, with waves rustling like horse manes.

  The Soviet consul assured Sheng Shicai: Ma Zhongying is dead this time, and he will be buried in the Black Sea with his horse.

  "Where did he get the horse?"

  "Crimea is a Tatar's pasture, and the great grey horse of the Tatars has carried him into the Black Sea."

  "Tartars are descendants of Genghis Khan, there is a problem here, he did not die."

  "Aren't you afraid of him?"

  "Even Death itself can't do anything to him, how can I be at peace?"

  We must study how Ma Zhongying escaped from death.

  There were many high-ranking intellectuals in the prison, and many of the 36th Division's captured personnel worked day and night to produce a detailed document. The conclusion of the document was shocking: the one who repeatedly brought death to Ma Zhongying during the Huang He Mutiny was actually Ji Hongchang, a famous general of the Northwest Army, but Ji had been executed by He Yingqin several years ago.

  This is an invincible death that no one can conquer. A huge threat hangs over the supervisor's head like a dark cloud.

  Ma Zhongying's death left Sheng Shicai with a deep sense of grievance.

  The consul said: "Destroying a person's soul can only happen when he is alive, and once he dies, it's too late. Man creates death at the same time as creating life, and what is most precious to man is not life itself, but the creative spirit that exists between life and death."

  "What about failure?"

  Failure is also a creation. We judged Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev and shot them, but we didn't shoot Trotsky. He was a military man, fought in battles, the Red Army was organized by him.

  "Bukharin and those people are intellectuals, the soul of an intellectual is in his brain, it can be let out; while a soldier's soul is his war horse and steel sword, just separate them from their weapons."

  "Have you been in the army?"

  "I used to be a soldier. Like you, I also entered politics, this is our misfortune."

  The consul clinked glasses with him. He downed the vodka and saw the consul off to his car. Outside, the sunlight was dazzling. Sheng Shicai, clad in full military regalia, returned inside and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror - the uniform adorned with a short sword, pistol holster, dense black whiskers, and big eyes made him look like an excellent soldier! Sheng Shicai asked the guards: "Did you hear what the consul said?"

  The guard said: "The consul eats no grapes and says the grapes are sour."

  The guard said: "I was on duty for Zhang Xueliang, Young Marshal is a complete playboy, far inferior to the director."

  "What about Ma Zhongying?"

  "Ma Zhongying was fierce, but he's dead now, his troops have dispersed, and he's become a character in plays."

  The guard's words went off the track, and Shengshi suddenly lost interest. He walked into the No. 2 prison with a sullen face to interrogate Yang Boqing and Wu Yingji. These two people had come to Di Hua as representatives of Ma Zhongying for peace talks, but the talks broke down and they were detained in prison.

  Sheng Shi asked them what they thought about Ma Zhongying's defeat. They said, "When fighting against the Soviet Red Army, Ma Zhongying already knew he was going to lose."

  Sheng Shi said: "He galloped through the four provinces in the northwest, was he looking for failure? He sent someone to contact the Soviet consul, what explanation is this?"

  They said: "During the Central Plains War, Ma Zhongying began to accept revolutionary ideas and joined the Communist Youth League. He sought Soviet support, not asking them to send troops. Feng Yuxiang was appointed by the central government as the border defense supervisor, Ma Zhongying could still rise up in revolt, entangled with the Northwestern Army, foreign troops entered China on their own, Ma Zhongying certainly couldn't just stand by and watch. With a single division's strength to contend against a great power, he was destined to fail."

  Wu Yingqi followed Ma Zhongying for the longest time. Sheng Shicai kept an eye on him, and he also kept an eye on Sheng Shicai's sword and pistol. He said: "This failure is different from the past. When fighting against Feng Yuxiang and Ma Bufang, he was only 17 years old, a young man with great ambitions, determined to succeed. After entering Xinjiang, he suddenly saw the outline of his fate. This tragic ending is not just him, but also his kind of people. This kind of person is doomed to fail."

  "Why?"

  "Because they were too powerful."

  "You are a graduate of Kiev Military School, with higher education, don't you understand Darwin's theory of evolution? Survival of the fittest."

  "That is the law of nature, human society is just the opposite. Lao Tzu said: The way of heaven reduces what is excessive and supplements what is insufficient, the way of man reduces what is insufficient and supplements what is excessive. Therefore, after Ma Zhongying galloped through the four provinces in the northwest and defeated all heroes, he realized that his long-awaited last ocean was in the garden of the true master, which is the haven for riders."

  "Ma Zhongying eventually went to the Soviet Union after all."

  "He went to seek genuine help, not to rely on others."

  Wu Yingqi kept staring at Sheng Shi's sword and pistol.

  "Wu Yingqi said: 'Can your gun fire?'"

  "When it's time to sound, it will sound," Sheng Shi said, "Being able to yield and stretch is also a true hero."

  Yang Boqing said: "Now is the time for Director Sheng to take action. Actually, you should have reviewed our case earlier."

  "You're very clever."

  "We have secrets on our bodies."

  "What does it mean?"

  "You can relive the dreams of soldiers from our mouths."

  Sheng Shi ordered the guards not to make a sound. Yang and Wu were strangled for two hours before they died, each time being strangled to 70-80% and then loosened, waiting for them to gasp for air before strangling again. Death thus slowly entered their bodies.

  That was in the winter of 1939.

  That year, Hitler's Germany invaded Poland, and the Soviet army attacked from the eastern front. In history, Poland had been divided by Germany and Russia three times. History has a surprising similarity: in 1905, Japan and Russia fought a decisive battle in Northeast China; in 1934, the Japanese army invaded North China, and the Soviet army secretly entered Northwest China. The news of Germany and the Soviet Union's pincer movement on Poland was published in Dagong Bao, which Sheng Shi read very carefully.

  The report said that when Warsaw fell, the brave Polish cavalry charged at the German tanks with swords, and were crushed by the tank tracks. Wherever the Soviet-German army passed, the dead Polish soldiers were flattened on the ground, and pilots could see from the air that the soldiers holding swords had merged with the earth.

  The guards said: "Polish fool, just like Ma Zhongying's soldiers, the tank came over and turned around to run away, the horse runs faster than the tank."

  "Can you run if a tank comes over?" Sheng Shi shouted loudly.

  The soldiers didn't dare to make a sound. When the Japanese tanks entered Shenyang, their commander Zhang Xueliang ran very fast and the Japanese couldn't catch up with him. The guards said: "We didn't run away, we followed Ma Zhanshan to annihilate a division of devils in Linjiang."

  Sheng Shi said: "Poland is a small country, we are a weak country, and soldiers of a weak and small country should be like this!"

  The guards looked at the newspaper again. When Ma Zhongying was fighting against the Soviet army, they saw clearly on Hongshan mouth: the 36th division officers and soldiers were crushed by tanks, blown up to the sky by shells, and the broken limbs flew in the air for a long time like eagles.