The Forty-Eighth Chapter: The Quarrelsome Friends

  Three people saw Pan Huiqin beside Li Zhilong, and they all frowned at the same time, looking around behind Li Zhilong. Li Zhilong looked at their appearance and laughed: "Don't worry, Jin Huishu didn't come." Pan Huiqin and Gong Xiujuan both smiled, and the two girls' smiles were unique. Pan Huiqin was a subtle smile, while Gong Xiujuan was a loud and cheerful laugh, with a mischievous look on her pale face. "I knew you were afraid of her, so I would have brought her here."

  "If we lose, you'll be responsible." Zhuang Jihua joked casually. He wasn't actually afraid of Jin Hui-shu; in his eyes, she was just a feminist who only made empty declarations. In his previous life, he had encountered several feminists at an American university, and they gave him the impression that God should have put the uterus in men's bodies. This Jin Hui-shu was far from being as extreme as them - at most, she just seemed overbearing with her words. What annoyed him was having someone like her around, making it impossible to do anything.

  He Zhenhan and Yang Qigang didn't find it funny, both of them had a frosty face, obviously they just had a fight. Li Zhilong immediately noticed the awkward atmosphere among the three, so he asked: "What's wrong, Qigang, what happened?" Yang Qigang said bluntly: "Comrade Li Zhilong, this is the front line, pay attention to your influence." After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.

  Li Zhi Long was initially inexplicably strange, and then his face gradually turned red. A surge of anger, Pan Huiqin also felt a bit awkward, the atmosphere fell again. Gong Xiu raised an eyebrow and shouted at Yang Qigang's back: "We are here to fight on the battlefield, what is your attitude? You are a revolutionary soldier, it's best to revolutionize the feudal ideas in your brain first."

  He Zhanchan was about to leave, but Zhuang Jihua stopped him, saying: "You've come to the fields at just the right time, let's have a chat...". He Zhanchan cut him off, saying: "I don't have anything to talk to him about." Li Zilong also spoke bluntly: "Wen Ge, I heard you were here, so I came to take a look. This has nothing to do with anyone else." Upon hearing this, He Zhanchan didn't say anything, but just let out a cold snort and left.

  Zhuang Jihua shook his head inwardly as he looked at Li Zhilong, thinking that their relationship hadn't been so tense when they were students. How did it become like this after graduation? Was this how the tragedy of the KMT-CPC conflict began? Zhuang Jihua's mind flashed with several thoughts about what to do next, but he immediately dismissed them. Mediating between Li Zhilong and others was not something he thought highly of himself for. Following Chiang Kai-shek would be sweet at first but bitter later, while following Mao Zedong would be bitter at first...and probably not so sweet later either. Sighing, Zhuang Jihua thought to himself that he'd think about it again later.

  "I said don't come to the prisoner-of-war camp, but you insisted on coming, now look at the criticism we're getting." Pan Huoqin complained to Li Zhilong.

  Hearing his lover say this, Li Zhilong felt even more uncomfortable.

  "What's wrong with that? He's just being nosy, we're a propaganda team, here to spread the revolution to the prisoners of war." Li Zhilong argued strongly, his blue veins on his forehead twitching.

  "You're still talking." Pan Huiqin's eyes turned red with grievance.

  Zhuang Jihua felt a little flustered in her heart, Pan Huiqin was not usually like this, she was a pretty straightforward girl, how could she cry so easily, this was not a place to cry.

  "In the fields, you didn't say anything wrong. Spreading revolutionary ideas to prisoners of war is also a task for your propaganda team. It's just that I didn't know you were here, if I had known earlier, I would have gone to ask for your help." Zhuang Jihua hastily persuaded.

  "Let's go and spread revolutionary propaganda among the captives, okay?" Gong Xiu Hua became excited, but then looked worried again.

  "But what should we do? Sister Huiqin is also holding a banner and giving a speech?"

  "Consider changing your ways, go back to farming and stick to your old profession." Zhuang Jihua said to Li Zhilong.

  "This is an old routine, acting? This is a propaganda team, the drama troupe hasn't arrived." Li Zhilong said irritably.

  "Dead brain, how could Pan classmate look up to you." Zhuang Jihua laughed and scolded: "Your propaganda team can organize some small programs, such as singing, skits, dancing, put revolutionary principles into these programs, isn't that achieve the purpose of publicity?"

  In this era, although the comfort troops were rare, they did exist. However, their nature was purely comforting. Incorporating propaganda into comfort is likely a communist innovation. Among various national armies, only the communist army has artistic troupes and song-and-dance troupes as part of its formation; other countries seemingly do not have such formations, at least I haven't found any.

  Li Zhi Long somewhat understood, thought about it and then became worried: "Comedic skits can be arranged in one go, but where do I find the dance and song? I'm talking about dances and songs with revolutionary principles."

  Zhuang Jihua was also worried, actually in his previous life he could sing some revolutionary traditional songs, among his clients there were several who came from a military background, when singing karaoke with them he would often join in and learned some. But these songs seemed not very suitable, apart from the party colors being too obvious, they were also somewhat out of date, like "The East is Red", "On Top of Beijing's Golden Mountain" etc., what could be sung?

  "Ask the skylark if she knows," said Gong Xiu Hua. Then he explained to Zhuang Ji Hua that the skylark was Ah Ying, a member of the propaganda team.

  Zhuang Jihua only then realized that the members of this propaganda team were not just students, but also workers and shop assistants who were active in the labor union. The Guangdong District Committee mobilized all Communist Party members, Communist Youth League members, and activists in the city to support the Eastern Expedition. Not only did they form a propaganda team, but they also formed a support team to transport supplies to the front line. This Ah Ying was an activist from the Shunchang Textile Factory Workers' Union and was known as the best singer in the propaganda team, earning her the nickname " Skylark of the Propaganda Team".

  Li Zhi Long dragged Zhuang Ji Hua to the propaganda team's campsite and asked him to help choose songs. At first, Zhuang Ji Hua didn't think much of it, but after thinking about it, he realized that even the song of the skylark might not be able to surprise him.

  When Gong Xiu brought Aying over, Zhuang Jihua didn't pay much attention to her, only giving her a slight once-over. Aying looked very ordinary, with a fringe on her forehead and a braid at the back of her head, looking like she was eighteen or nineteen years old. Her features were not particularly outstanding, but could be described as proper. Her eyes were quite large, and her skin was slightly rough, which was a mark left by years of working. When she saw Zhuang Jihua, she didn't show any shyness, only quietly listening to him talk about his requirements for the song.

  Then Ah Ying sang a song "Tears of Searching for Relatives", which is a Cantonese folk song, telling the story of a person who has traveled to Nanyang and returned to find their relatives. Ah Ying's voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of sadness, a hint of melancholy, and a hint of longing, accompanied by a sorrowful smile, making people's hearts ache and tears fall. Zhuang Jihua thought that even if this were placed in the previous life, it would be considered a songstress of love songs, and fans would go crazy.

  It's settled, Zhuang Jihua said to Li Zhilong, find two more songs of Workers' Tears and Peasants' Tears, then it will be done. At that time, I'll let those captives cry, and they will know why we need a revolution.

  The next day, Zhuang Jihua invited Huang Mingcheng's worker picket team to participate in the propaganda meeting. He asked Cao Yuan to accompany Huang Mingcheng at the front and pulled Li Zhilong to the back of the team. He planned to talk to Li Zhilong and remind him to be more cautious, as he was the main character in the Zhongshan warship incident. After observing for several months, Zhuang Jihua had grasped Li Zhilong's shortcomings, such as being careless about details and having a somewhat arrogant attitude when pleased.

  As the program went on, the atmosphere on the scene became more and more lively. Li Zhilong was getting more and more pleased with himself, so Zhuang Jihua, who had been watching him coldly, began to pour cold water over his enthusiasm.

  "In the field, there's something I want to advise you on, but I don't know if I should say it." Zhuang Jihua said calmly.

  "What's wrong with you, being so evasive? You've been through the Cultural Revolution, you've even been a hero on the battlefield, how can you still be so timid and reserved?" Li Zhilong criticized, he had long been dissatisfied with Zhuang Jihua's way of speaking, which was always half-truths and half-concealment. In his opinion, revolutionaries should be open and aboveboard, saying what they mean.

  "Well, I've said it, don't get angry."

  "Oh, you have an opinion about me? Then go ahead and say it, I'm not a narrow-minded person." Li Zhilong saw that Zhuang Jihua was going to fire at him. But to be honest, Li Zhilong also admired Zhuang Jihua, they had been classmates for so long, but he had never seen Zhuang Jihua being troubled by anything, even the article incident last time, such a big thing, if it were him, Li Zhilong, he would have argued with others, at least Yu Saodu wouldn't have let it go easily. But Zhuang Jihua seemed to not take it to heart, neither the school's gossip nor the newspaper articles affected him, except for Yu Saodu who came to his door.

  "In the field, although Zhe's suggestion was not made at a good time, his opinion was correct." Zhuang Jihua tactfully said: "Everyone knows about your relationship with Pan Huiqin. I believe that in other situations, Zhe would never say such things, but this is on the battlefield, where others are fighting for their lives, what about you?"

  Li Zhi Long was about to retort when Zhuang Ji Hua stopped him.

  "Those who know say you're leading the propaganda team to make revolution, those who don't know say you're using public power for personal gain, and there are even more unpleasant rumors; if someone has a grudge against you, they'll secretly report it to your superiors in the party. The consequences..." Zhu Jihua stopped talking, Li Zhilong was an intelligent person, no need to continue.

  This remark made Li Zhi's back sweat, actually this was not his intention. When he knew he had to lead the propaganda team, he went to Director Zhou to propose going down to the troops or following the political department into action, unwilling to lead the propaganda team. Unexpectedly, he received severe criticism from Director Zhou. He felt that the propaganda team didn't have much to do, wasn't it just painting a few slogans and making speeches? It was all easy as pie; thus he had some unfulfilled ambitions, which is why he stuck with Pan Huiqin day and night.

  "Do you know what the biggest difference is between you and Wushan? It's stability. Wushan thinks very carefully before and after doing things, almost considering every detail. You are very enthusiastic about people and things, but tend to overlook details; anything is made up of details, so there is a Western proverb that says details determine success or failure." Zhuang Jihua saw Li Zhilong listening very seriously: "In the fields, we are friends, so I said so much. If you think I am truly good for you, then you must remember that details determine success or failure."

  Li Zhi Long was somewhat moved, this is indeed a heartfelt words that only friends can say.

  "Cultural Revolution, I accept your criticism. From now on, I will be careful. Before the Eastern Expedition is over, I will not meet with Huiqin or any other female comrade alone again. I will truly do a good job of propaganda team work."

  Little did he know, his words made Zhuang Jihua even more disappointed, but Zhuang Jihua could no longer say anything; Li Zhilong only understood the significance of Zhuang Jihua's words about details determining victory or defeat a year later, but by then he was already imprisoned in the Humen Fort.

  The propaganda team's work was effective, their programs touched the numb inner world of the captives, and in the following days Zhuang Jihua asked Cao Yuan to give lectures, Yang Qigang and He Zhenhan to observe, and the soldiers of the Seventh Company to communicate with the captives, and the captives' thoughts began to become active.

  Good things come in pairs, and just as Zhuang Jihua was somewhat satisfied with the rectification of the prisoner-of-war camp, another piece of good news came from the front.

  Hong Zhaolin and Yin Ji launched a counterattack on Tamsui, the Eastern Expeditionary Army's deployment had not yet been adjusted in place. The 7th Brigade fought fiercely with Yin Ji's troops at Shenmu Village, three miles from Wangniugang; The 2nd Regiment also encountered Hong Zhaolin's troops at Xinpu and Shakeng. The 2nd Regiment retreated repeatedly under the impact of Hong's troops, and Wang Boling panicked, personally running into the city to ask Chiang Kai-shek for help. Sun Liang, the commander of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion, also abandoned his troops and escaped into the city, and the soldiers of the 5th Company immediately retreated. Hong Zhaolin broke through from the gap left by the 5th Company, and the 2nd Regiment was forced to retreat to Tamsui City. Chiang Kai-shek executed Sun Liang in anger, intimidating the troops, and adjusted the support of the 2nd Regiment with Wei Lihuang's team from the 7th Brigade, which stabilized the position of the 2nd Regiment, but the offensive of the 7th Brigade also weakened, being blocked by Yin Ji at Wangniugang. The entire line north of Tamsui City was fiercely fought until nightfall that day.

  The next day, Chiang Kai-shek left only one regiment to guard Danshui City and ordered the entire First Division to attack Hong Zhaolin. After a five-hour fierce battle, Hong Zhaolin could no longer hold on and retreated towards Changshan Kou and Xianrentai, attempting to rely on the terrain of Xianrentai to block the pursuit of the Eastern Expeditionary Army. Unexpectedly, the Second Division of the Guangdong Army, led by Zhang Mingda, crossed Danshui River and broke through the blocking force of Li Kecheng at Guoling, launching an attack towards the rear of Xianrentai at Xiaolou and Laohkou. This forced Hong Zhaolin and Yin Jixing to hastily retreat from Xianrentai. The Hunan Army and the Seventh Brigade of the Guangdong Army pursued them fiercely, inflicting heavy casualties on Hong Zhaolin and Yin Jixing before they could retreat to Pingshan. The Battle of Danshui ended with a complete victory for the Eastern Expeditionary Army.

  Along with the telegram came an order, Zhuang Jihua was promoted, he was appointed as the third battalion commander, replacing Wang Jun's position; The seventh company commander was succeeded by Hu Zongnan, and the deputy company commander was concurrently held by Song Xilian. Li Tiejun, the deputy platoon leader of the first platoon, took over as the platoon leader, and Wang Jingjiu, the deputy platoon leader of the second platoon, was transferred to the third platoon as the deputy platoon leader before Du Yiming returned to the team to take charge of the third platoon. Then the order came that the seventh company immediately select soldiers from the prisoners of war to supplement the troops, and hand over the prisoner-of-war camp to the Guangdong Army escorting the logistics team. Zhuang Jihua led the seventh company to escort the logistics team as soon as possible to rush to the front line.