Chapter 9: Fellow Practitioners of Martial Arts

  Ma Yuanhai listened to Chen Haisong's words, which were very much in line with his own thinking, and laughed: "Heh, not bad, not bad, the analysis is very thorough, it seems that you have put in a lot of effort. Are you interested in coming here to work for me?"

  "I thank the commander for his favor, but I am a Han Chinese. According to our military rules, Han people cannot hold positions above regimental commander, and among all the regimental commanders, only Liu Chengde is a Han Chinese. I do not want to put the commander in an awkward position."

  Moreover, my parents are already over sixty years old, and the family's farmland needs to be taken care of. After this campaign against the Red Bandits is over, I will resign from the army and return home to farm."

  "What a pity, it's a waste of your clever plan."

  "I am ashamed."

  "Zhong Liang mentioned that your fist and footwork are quite good, is it a family tradition?"

  "Yes, I am a native of Shaanxi Province. The Guanzhong region has a strong martial arts tradition. My ancestors were escorts and the skills have been passed down through generations. In my family, we are known for our expertise in Tongbei Quan, Piguai Quan, Fanzi Quan, and Dahong Quan. Locals give us some reputation and fellow practitioners show respect. Our business and martial arts transmission are quite prosperous."

  I was mischievous since childhood, disliked reading books and doing business. All my interests were in martial arts practice, often looking for people to compare skills with. In my youth, I coincidentally encountered the early years of the Republic of China, when Guanzhong suffered from war and chaos, and people's lives were difficult. My family closed down the escort agency and moved to Xunhua to engage in farming.

  "I couldn't bear the loneliness, so I left home and traveled to various mountains to pay respects, meet friends through martial arts, and got to know some heroes of the martial world. With their guidance, my skills were able to improve, and I barely qualify as a martial artist."

  "Hmm, so it seems we're fellow travelers. I also didn't study from a young age, because Muslims aren't keen on studying books; if you want to read, you go to the temple to recite scriptures. How could I sit still?"

  Every day, he would learn boxing and hunting with a group of idle young masters from the Ma family, wandering around everywhere. Although he was illiterate, he had also developed good boxing skills and excellent marksmanship.

  One time, several of us went to the Lund original forest to hunt bears. The forest was too big, blocking out the sky and sun, we turned around inside for a month but couldn't get out, so whatever we saw we would shoot, if we didn't hit anything then we'd go hungry.

  Just as I was about to come out, I encountered a bear. I had no strength left and my gun had no bullets, so I could only hide and run away. The bear chased me out. Haha... It's rare to meet someone who understands me today. Let's go out and exercise our limbs.

  "How could someone of my lowly status ever dare to have such thoughts?"

  "Don't think too much, today we're meeting as warriors. Let's go." He pulled his hand and they walked out together.

  Two people walked out of the house hand in hand, startling the gate guard waiting outside. The commander rarely personally escorted someone out of the house, and even held hands with them - this friendship was not shallow. Ah, he had also stepped down from the platform and gone to the back hall, it seemed that the great god had arrived.

  Ma Yuanhai led Chen Haisong through the small garden to an open space. "This is my little school field, usually exercise, practice boxing, and practice gunplay, how's that!"

  "It's rare for someone of your age to still be so obsessed with martial arts, I've given up on it a long time ago."

  "Want to have a fight?"

  "My fists and feet are blind, I'm also younger than you, how can I take advantage of you? Why not call a master from your army to try a match, and let them give me some pointers."

  "All right, Ma Xiu--, you come and meet the commander of the Tiger Camp." A sturdy man responded and came forward.

  He first saluted Ma Yuanhai with a military salute, then made a fist at Chen Haisong and said, "Guard Company Commander Ma Xiu asks the Tiger Camp Commander for guidance."

  Chen Haisong also cupped his hands "Don't mention it, just a friendly spar."

  Two men came to the center of the arena, clasped each other's fists and made a polite gesture. Ma Xiu was about to show off his skills in front of the commander, let out a loud shout, took a big step forward, and launched a swift and fierce Black Tiger Heart-ripping Strike.

  Chen Haisong also wanted to make a name for himself, and with a loud shout, he launched a punch with his wrist, while his feet swept forward. Ma Xiu didn't hesitate either, withdrawing his front legs and kicking out with his hind legs, launching a series of rapid attacks.

  Chen Haisong first swept his leg and fell to the ground, half-turning his body to let Ma Xiu's kick pass, then swung his back leg forward with the rotation of his body, landing squarely on Ma Xiu's chest as he charged forward. With a slight exertion of force, Ma Xiu was suddenly lifted off the ground and landed three meters away, sprawled out on the floor.

  Chen Haisong hurried over to help Ma Xiang up, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry". Ma Xiang still didn't understand how he had ended up with a kick and retreated to the side with a red face.

  Ma Yuanhai saw clearly that this was just a variation of the chain leg, but the tiger camp's movement was faster and larger in amplitude. Ma Xiao didn't have time to react before being kicked away.

  This is kung fu, the moves are just that simple, it's just a matter of strength, speed and frequency. That one kick can't be done without ten years of hard practice, I'm afraid no one here can surpass him.

  He burst out laughing "Tiger Camp's leader is indeed a hero, ordinary boxers can't reach your level, I think you're already a master. Just throw a punch and let the kids open their eyes."

  "Obedience is better than respect." Chen Haisong opened his stance and performed the complete "Shaolin Fierce Tiger Fist" from Junwu Middle School.

  The 72 moves were performed in one breath, sometimes like floating clouds and flowing water, sometimes like the vast ocean's shocking waves. Chopping, hacking, punching, grabbing, hooking, lifting, dodging, leaping, kicking, and jumping, all were executed with precision and finesse. Not a single thread was out of place, not a single facial expression changed, not a single heartbeat skipped. Watching this, Ma Yuanhai nodded repeatedly, exclaiming in admiration.

  Then the two men again crossed swords, and the high-intensity scientific training of the special forces had made their weapons an integral part of their bodies. Without much effort, Chen Haisheng was slightly ahead once more.

  Ma Yuanhai, who often boasted of his marksmanship, was quite depressed, and Chen Haisong repeatedly said "Victory is not military".

  At noon, Ma Yuanhai, with a happy heart, treated his guests to a feast. The military was rough and unrefined, so the dishes were simple, just large plates of hand-pulled mutton and pot helmets.

  Chen Haisong didn't like the Qinghai-style hand-pulled noodles, which were both smelly and raw, far inferior to Lanzhou's hand-pulled noodles that were soft and not greasy. With just one bite and a pull with his mouth, all the meat came off, leaving a fragrant taste in his mouth, with only a smooth and shiny rib bone left behind.

  You can't be too picky when you're a guest, but eating a meal that makes your cheeks and teeth ache is not good.

  The dishes were cleared away and spring tip tea was served. The two of them picked their teeth and chatted.

  Chen Haisong somewhat liked the frank and generous high-ranking enemy commander in front of him, who was influenced by modern thinking and did not have strong class hatred and camp boundaries like people of this era.

  He just felt that the Ma clan army he was in was also a part of China's military strength, and would still be an ally fighting side by side on the battlefield against Japan in the future. Now it was only because Chiang Kai-shek had made use of them that they clashed with the Red Army, which could be completely won over.

  They just need to be guided to put aside regional concepts, dilute ethnic hatred, and consciously integrate into the big family of the Chinese nation, put aside small group family interests, and pay attention to the future destiny of the whole country.

  "The situation between China and Japan in the direction of Beiping is tense, a full-scale war may break out at any time."

  We are also a national army, can't just hang around the house all day. A nest is overturned, and there will be no intact eggs left.

  If all countries were to perish, where would we, the people of faith, find a place to settle? We can't just follow in the footsteps of our ancestors and retreat back to Central Asia, can we?

  If we are indifferent to this country and have no sense of belonging, then the country will not treat us well, nor will people from other ethnic groups respect us.

  "This involves the whole group, the status of the entire nation in the future state, it's better for the commander to make early preparations."

  "I think it's impossible for us to defeat them, Japan is such a small country with so few people, how can this big China swallow it up?"

  It is precisely because Japan is a small country with poor resources that it is eager to find a large and populous but poor and backward country from which to plunder resources and dump goods.

  And we China just happen to meet his conditions. Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has had a clear plan: first occupy Korea, have a bridgehead for attacking the mainland, then occupy Northeast China, where there is land, forest, iron ore and coal mines, which can help him produce food, produce steel, and settle surplus population, the third step is to conquer China.

  "I heard they only have a dozen or so divisions, while we have tens of millions of troops. Does he dare to come?"

  The outcome of war is not determined by the number of troops but by their quality.

  His division has more than 25,000 people, each class is equipped with rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers, and all levels have strengthened artillery and engineering. The firepower of one of his regiments is more than that of our entire division.

  Moreover, they are well-trained, have a strong work ethic, adhere to the spirit of Bushido, and dare to fight to the death.

  "Let's take a look at our army, each occupying a place and ruling for themselves, they have been fighting internal wars for decades. Apart from bullying the common people, when encountering strong enemies, they surrender immediately. Once war breaks out, I reckon the Chinese army will definitely flee in all directions, large tracts of land will be lost, and the common people will suffer."

  "Is it that serious?"

  "How many planes and tanks does China have? Have you seen any tanks?" Ma Yuanhai shook his head in confusion.

  "I've never seen an officer as high-ranking as you, let alone a soldier."

  Once it appears on the battlefield, a huge iron monster spewing black smoke, rumbling towards you with crushing force, machine guns and artillery fire have no effect on it. It can also open fire and sweep with machine guns. Soldiers have no choice but to run or die.

  Unless we use a specialized anti-tank gun to take it down, but we don't have one.

  At home, each does his own thing, attacking each other. Others are sharpening their knives, while we're still playing with twigs, poking at each other. Once the fight starts, how can twigs resist steel blades? Alas...

  "Isn't that going to destroy the country?"

  "The country will not perish, after all our territory is vast and the population is large, it cannot be occupied. The good thing is that when the nation is in danger, Chinese people unite and gain strength. When the whole of China rises up to fight Japan, Japan will be unable to withstand."

  If we can hold out until then, the losses will be too great. So I say that we must also make preparations for joining the war, training soldiers, training officers, and replacing equipment with more advanced ones. Otherwise, going to war would result in enormous sacrifices."

  "After finishing off the Red Bandits, I'll have to report this matter to Officer Ma."

  After chatting for a while, Chen Haisong excused himself due to the large number of wounded soldiers waiting for rescue and the busyness in the army. At the village entrance, he took his own war horse, sword, and gun, and rushed eastward on horseback.