Chapter 1 Leaving Home (Part 2)

  "Yā jí gěi gěi —", kill, set fire. One line of dialogue, two actions. Zhang Songling, who was temporarily assigned to the bitter role, repeated practice until the performance began, but still couldn't find the right feeling.

  It's not that he lacks artistic talent, but rather that he has had too little contact with society. The reason he was so enthusiastic about joining Zhou Ju and others' propaganda team earlier was that he felt the dignity of being Chinese could not be violated by the enemy. As for how despicable a particular Japanese soldier was, he didn't have a very direct concept in his heart.

  When Zhang Songling was studying in the provincial capital, he had occasionally heard people mention the Jinan Massacre. However, that human tragedy occurred in the summer of 1926, more than ten years ago, and the specific details have been blurred by time. Chinese people don't like to hold grudges, especially when they know they can't avenge themselves, so they usually choose to actively forget. On the other hand, the Japanese shops in the provincial capital always had some novel items for sale. Their appearance was much more beautiful than domestic products, and their workmanship was also more reliable than domestic products. The Japanese shop assistants, although haughty when walking on the street, were humble and courteous to customers who entered their stores. Even if you just went in to take a look without buying anything, they would still respectfully see you off.

  This spring, the Japanese held a large-scale exercise in Qingdao, with their cannons almost pointing at the noses of the Shandong people. At that time, Zhang Songling was greatly shocked. However, the final result of this exercise was all thunder and no rain. Seeing that they could not intimidate the military and civilians of Shandong, the Japanese fleet retreated on its own initiative, with neither side suffering any damage.

  As for the others, what Long City blood war, what Shanxi blood war, and the Japanese army stepped up to North Ping tightly, almost surrounded the 29th Army on three sides, those were all messages heard from newspapers and radios. For Zhang Songling, although each time made him indignant, he couldn't apply specific impressions to a particular Japanese person. In his simple and shallow consciousness, he always felt that the news in the newspapers and radios was a bit exaggerated. The Japanese army did rampage through China, but their goal was to conquer China, rule China, not to make irreconcilable enemies with China. So the most they should do is buy people's hearts, gain the recognition of Chinese civilians. Not the opposite, unless, unless the Japanese were born beasts, and couldn't be understood by human thought.

  When Zhang Songling was young, he was so confused and didn't perform well. Fortunately, other members of the Blood Flower Society were already familiar with their signature play, and whether Zhang Songling's portrayal of the ghost role was good or bad had little impact on the final performance. Especially when team leader Zhou Jue took the stage, his clear tenor singing voice pierced through to the heart. The pain and hatred of the Northeastern people losing their hometown were directly delivered into the chest of every audience member.

  "My home is on the Songhua River in Northeast China, where there are forests, coal mines and vast fields of soybeans and sorghum."

  "My home is on the Songhua River in Northeast China, where my fellow villagers are, and also my aged parents..."

  "(Note 1)"

  Zhou Ju is not a Northeasterner, but he sang this song very well. As soon as he opens his mouth, whether playing the role of Northeasterners Lu Qing and Liu Jing or playing the Japanese devil Zhang Songling, no one can ignore him anymore.

  Due to the sudden breakage of the railway, many passengers were left stranded at Ping'an Village Station. Everyone was originally filled with annoyance in their hearts, but after watching the performance by Blood Flower Society, they gradually calmed down.

  Some people were whispering to each other, asking around when the train would be able to depart. Others chose to go to Ping'an Village to look for cars or horse-drawn carriages, to continue their journey in another way. Most passengers chose to quietly wait in the waiting room, hoping that a miracle of resuming traffic would happen soon. Anyway, in this chaotic world, switching to other modes of transportation is not necessarily more reliable than trains, and far less safe. Moreover, during the waiting period, there were also wonderful performances by students to watch, and time didn't seem too hard to pass.

  Unfortunately, everyone waited from the afternoon until sunset, but still didn't get any news about the road reopening. Instead, there were rumors that a Japanese army of unknown size had arrived in Fengtai from Rehe and was facing off against the 37th Division of the 29th Army. Recently, locals have also seen large numbers of Japanese troops heading south towards Beiping at various mountain passes leading out of the Great Wall. At this moment, whether it's for business or visiting relatives in Pingjin, it's not a good time to go. The best choice is to buy a train ticket and head back south to where you came from!

  "The railway is broken, the train from the north can't come over. We can't go back and forth either!" Someone who didn't quite understand how trains worked whispered their subjective opinions to each other.

  "Yes! I don't know where it was cut off. Is anyone going to repair it?" Other passengers echoed in agreement. The answer was soon found, and it was said to be from within the train station itself. On the railway heading north, there were three key bridges, for some reason, all of which had simultaneously become hazardous. Not only could passenger trains not pass through, but even goods being transported from the south to Beiping were also blocked halfway."

  "It must be the little Japanese who did it. They're afraid the central government will send food and ammunition to the 29th Army!!" Someone with a keen mind clearly sensed the ulterior motive behind the railway stoppage at this critical juncture.

  "It's not that they didn't prepare, it's just what they did! They wanted to swallow up Beiping, and it wasn't something they thought of in just one or two days!" The surrounding travelers immediately loudly confirmed, directly placing the blame for everyone being blocked on the road on the Japanese army.

  This accusation, without any evidence, may have wronged the Japanese. But at this critical juncture, who else could have cut off the railway besides the Japanese? The Chinese people wouldn't be idle and destroy their own railway for fun. As for Song Zheyuan's 29th Army, they would rather keep this main artery to receive supplies from the rear, how could they possibly take the initiative to cut it off!!

  "Those Japanese devils have never done anything good in China!" The crowd grew angrier as they thought about it, and began to curse quietly.

  As soon as this is mentioned, the responses are all connected. In these years, except for a small number of bookworms, anyone who goes out frequently has seen the crimes committed by the Japanese. Especially those who have been to Rehe and Chahar, every time they come back, they will have nightmares that last for several days in a row.

  But scold if you will, everyone knows that the government is powerless against the Japanese. From the Jinan Massacre in 1919 to the present day, the Nationalist Government has never achieved a single victory over Japan, whether militarily or diplomatically. This includes the 29th Army, which is currently struggling to hold on in the Pingjin area; apart from occasional local resistance, for most of the time they have been forced to retreat under pressure from the Japanese army.

  The Jinan Incident, the National Revolutionary Army endured all kinds of humiliation, only to have the Japanese enter the city and slaughter over 11,000 soldiers and civilians. Afterwards, the government didn't even have the courage to let the Japanese apologize, instead hastily concluding with a single word: "misunderstanding".

  The September 18th Incident, 1.6 million Northeastern garrison troops were chased and beaten by less than 200,000 little Japanese devils, losing the entire Northeast in less than half a year. Although Deputy Commander Zhang apologized and stepped down after the incident, he was reinstated to his original position not long after.

  During the Great Wall War, the 29th Army's big knife did behead many little devils. But there were treacherous officials beside Chairman Chiang, and while the 29th Army was still fighting the devils to the death in the front, He Yingqin had already begun to flirt with the Japanese in the rear. As a result, the blood of 18,000 soldiers of the 29th Army only got a Tanggu Truce. The devil's flag was inserted directly into Miyun and Huairou. Not only did they cede all of Rehe and Chahar, but also took away more than half of eastern Hebei.

  As a humble commoner, everyone stands low and looks near. The fact that the central government's humiliating and heavy great strategy is incomprehensible, but the fact that the government army cannot defeat the Japanese is becoming clearer and clearer. So no matter how sharp the 29th Army's big knife is, if they resist to the end, what awaits this army will definitely be a dead end.

  So, since the railway has been cut off, there is a risk of war breaking out at any moment. Everyone should be smart and think of ways to turn back home! National affairs will naturally be taken care of by Chairman Chiang, President Song, and President Han, such big shots. It's not worth it for ordinary people like us to worry about it, nor is it worth the heartache.

  The surrounding singing, however, made the traveler who had already made his choice unable to move his feet. Those young dolls were like they didn't know tiredness, didn't know fear, still singing, repeating the song that had already made everyone's ears sore, over and over again. What did they want to do? What were they after? Didn't they really not know that Beiping was a den of dragons and tigers at this moment? They were all bookworms, the smartest bookworms!

  The sunset's golden light had begun to shine, softly illuminating the faces of Zhang Songling and the others, making their soft facial hair sparkle with clarity. The current song was "Return My Rivers and Mountains", a grand chorus, bold and stirring, just to his taste, so he sang with great enthusiasm.

  "The banner is fluttering, the horse is whinnying, the spear is on the shoulder, the sword is at the waist,"

  With passion like a raging tide, good men serve their country this morning.

  Rise quickly, don't be an old and sick husband; unite quickly, don't become scattered sand that's laughed at...

  On the temporary stage drawn with chalk, every face is extremely young. Young to the point where even the childishness on their own bodies cannot be concealed. But they are completely unaware of this, just loudly singing, wholeheartedly singing, one after another, one song after another, like a cuckoo crying blood.

  "The country is destroyed, the family is broken, disaster is at our doorstep."

  To survive, one must throw away his skull!

  "Why doesn't Dai Tianchou avenge himself? If he doesn't kill his enemy, his hatred won't be dispelled..."

  Thinking of these young faces, it won't be long before they are stained with gunpowder and blood, and buried in the yellow earth. The travelers who were about to leave suddenly felt a pang in their hearts, sour and painful, piercing to the bone marrow.

  Indeed, the reality of it all has disappointed everyone, made them desperate and numbed their hearts. But at this moment, even those who are most desperate about the situation don't have the courage to mock the students' naivety. Almost simultaneously, the passengers lowered their voices again. Some people hastily walked past the stage with their luggage, escaping as if they didn't dare look back.

  Most of the travelers then reopened their wallets, took out a portion of the various tickets inside, and quietly put them into the donation box in front of the stage.

  "Thank you, thank you..." The emcee, Han Qiu and Liu Jing, had tears in their eyes as they continuously bowed to the audience. The traveler who had just donated money, however, refused to accept their gratitude, took a few steps back, faced the stage, and bowed deeply!

  Everyone didn't have the courage to go through the national difficulties with them, at least they should smile and see off the young people. Some people secretly wiped away the tears from their eyes, walked out while beating the rhythm they had just learned with both hands.

  More people chose to murmur in agreement:

  "The country is destroyed, the family is broken, disaster is looming."

  Save from sinking, rely on fellow countrymen

  "How can I avenge myself on Di Tiankui? If I don't kill the enemy, my hatred will never be dispelled..."

  Note 1: On the Songhua River. This song was born in late 1936 and quickly became popular all over the country. It played a crucial role in rallying the people during the War of Resistance against Japan.

  Note 2: The movie's theme song "Take Back Our Rivers and Mountains" was created in 1932. It is said to have been used as a military anthem by the Student Army.