Canteen System Assistance Notes

Just like to their own warriors.

Even though my screams were embarrassing.

Saburo Sakaki sat in the large courtyard that had been converted into a hospital, looking up at the square sky. The haze had dissipated, and now the sun was climbing high in the sky, casting a hot light. However, Sakaki liked this kind of heat that made people sweat.

This excessive warmth could give him some practical feelings about everything he was going through.

"Hey! Sakaki Saburo!"

Two people walked into the hospital entrance. They were the two Eighth Route Army soldiers who had "interrogated" him before, one old and one young. The younger one seemed to be an officer of the Eighth Route Army, while the older one could speak Japanese not very fluently. It was said that he was half-conscious.

When he was unconscious, they came to visit him many times.

If he were to continue saying "these are the enemies of the Empire" and glare at them, ignoring them, something that goes against the spirit of "Butodo", Sakaki felt that he still couldn't do it.

"Yours, all good!"

Sakaki spoke Chinese with difficulty. Recently, he asked the nurse who was taking care of him for a Chinese textbook and started to learn Chinese by himself. However, it was impossible for him to master the language in just over a week. There were still many Concordat habits in his expression.

“It’s “Hello.”

The young Eighth Route Army soldier walked up to him and asked, "How is your recovery, Mr. Sakaki?" "Mr. Guo, thank you. My recovery is going well."

Sakaki bowed to Mr. Guo, trying hard to pronounce his words clearly. He didn't want to bother the translator nearby to convey his thanks. "Mr. Sakaki, your Chinese is starting to look a bit better. Have you been studying Chinese lately?"

"Hi, I'm using 'Chinese Language Basics' to learn Chinese." Sakaki Saburo raised his head and asked seriously, "Although it may be a little strange, I still have some questions I want to ask Mr. Guo!"

"What's the problem?"

Hearing Sakaki Saburo's sincere tone and straightforward question without any politeness, Comrade Guo's expression did not change. He blinked and replied, "No problem, it's just that this place is not suitable for chatting. Let's talk outside."

After registering at the gate and receiving a voucher, Saburo Sakaki and the two Eighth Route Army soldiers walked out of the landlord's compound that had been converted into a hospital. From the hospital to the nearby hillside, a narrow path had been trampled by pedestrians, and the three of them walked along this path towards the top of the mountain. The slope of the path was not steep, so Sakaki could still see the two Eighth Route Army soldiers. After walking for a while, the "Mr. Guo" said casually: "Mr. Sakaki, if you have any questions, let's talk while we walk."

"Hai, okay, why did you save me?" Sakaki Saburo asked the question that puzzled him the most. "The medicine used to save me is extremely precious, and aren't we enemies?"

That's right, we're enemies. When we meet on the battlefield, there will be no mercy." Guo's tone remained unchanged, even pacing as if he didn't care, as if stating common sense. "But now you're a captive who's laid down your weapons. Naturally, we must treat you well. The Eighth Route Army treats prisoners well, and it's not just talk."

"Even though, enemies, I was your enemy before?" Sakaki asked in surprise.

"Of course, this is our discipline and our philosophy." He remained as calm as before. "Of course, if you have blood on your hands, then after the trial, we will naturally punish you accordingly. But that is another matter."

This is simply a joke! Saburo Sakaki felt that Mr. Guo's answer was totally unreasonable. The Imperial Army and the Eighth Route Army were sworn enemies. How could they chat and talk with their enemies so calmly? Sakaki imagined that if the positions of both parties were reversed, he would definitely want to kill every invading enemy without leaving a single one alive.

"Don't you hate me?"

He growled, suppressing his excitement, as if the person before him was a teacher, not an enemy soldier. "Don't you want to take revenge on me like those people did?!"

The excitement seemed to have worked. Guo Sang and the Eighth Route Army soldier who could speak Japanese turned around and looked at him in surprise.

Fast and anxious, after the translation was completed, Guo Sang narrowed his eyes, as if

It was as if he was examining something extremely rare. At that moment, Sakaki felt the deep meaning in his gaze.

"Mr. Sakaki, follow us."

After saying that, Guo Sang and the other Eighth Route Army soldier turned around and stopped talking, just climbing the mountain. They were moving very fast. Sakaki Saburo's injuries had not yet fully healed, so he could only limp behind them, as if he was chasing an answer, or a verdict, that was crucial to him.

Fortunately, the slope wasn't high, and once they reached the top, the view suddenly opened up. Guo Sang and another Eighth Route Army soldier were standing on one side of the slope. Sakaki Saburo saw Guo Sang stretch out his arm, pointing somewhere down the mountain, and whispered, "Mr. Banmu, look over there."

Following the direction he pointed, Sakaki saw a small village—no, not a normal village, but a charred expanse of earth. No greenery, no thriving crops, no curling smoke. Only a few broken walls and ruins gave him a glimpse of its former self. Everything was just like when Sakaki Saburo had fled the previous village. There were no extraneous sounds, only a silence that felt more like a terrifying deathly stillness.

At the other end of the village ruins, there are several newly erected tombs.

"That was a piece of land in Jiayu Village. It was burned down by the Japanese before." Guo Sang stated calmly as if he was stating a very simple fact.

Chapter 122 The Real Red Army

"Jiayu Village is one of the larger villages in the area. The fields here are quite fertile, and it's not far from Shimen City. Normally, the people make their living from farming, and those who can spare some raise livestock to sell in the city. There's also a river here, so the land is irrigated. Even in bad years, even with the exploitation of the landlords, the people here can still barely survive."

Guo Sang spoke slowly, and the other comrade in charge of translation explained it all slowly in the same calm tone.

"Perhaps this is a bit like your hometown—that's how it should have been, until earlier this year. The Japanese army in Shimen launched attacks to eliminate the local guerrillas. This village, unwilling to reveal the guerrillas' location, unfortunately became the target of Japanese retaliation."

"We evacuated as many people as possible from the village, along with food and property, but our forces were not strong enough at the time, and the village was occupied by the Japanese. They could not find food or livestock, so to vent their anger, they killed the elderly who had voluntarily stayed in the village, and then set fire to the village.

"At that time, we didn't even dare to cry, because we were afraid that crying would attract attention, leading to the discovery of the hiding place of the people and everyone being arrested. Everyone watched helplessly as the fire spread from one end of the village to the other, and the smoke rose high and dark.

“When they came back, many people couldn’t cry anymore.”

Sakaki's eyes widened. Rumors of burning, killing and looting had long been spread among the army. He had heard of it, but it was just hearsay after all. He had not witnessed the scene.

I have never participated in it, so I don’t have any real experience.

Today, the scene of a massacre is right in front of us, so close that there is even a wisp of gray smoke rising from the embers.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"So, Mr. Sakaki, do you think we still have no hatred towards the Japanese?"

"Forget me. Many of our soldiers are from the local area. They have all suffered atrocities at the hands of the Japanese army and persecution by the Japanese and puppet troops. They initially joined us with the simple idea of ​​driving out, defeating, and annihilating the Japanese devils, driving them out of their hometowns and driving them back to Japan."

"Yes...I'm sorry."

Saburo Sakaki was stunned, his face flushing red for a moment. Instinctively, he felt that all this should not have happened to the Imperial Army, but the irrefutable facts were before him. After holding it in for a long time, he could only apologize vaguely. But soon, Sakaki gritted his teeth and continued asking questions.

"So, Guo Sang, do you want to take revenge on us?" "Of course."

"Then why didn't you kill me? Even with your discipline, there must be more ways to kill me. For example, if I was infected with bacteria, you could just not treat me... You wouldn't even have to dirty your hands. But why didn't you do that? Why?"

Sakaki didn't raise his head, maintaining a bowed posture, closing his eyes and asking questions loudly, like a focused student, or a prisoner awaiting judgment. The Eighth Route Army before him was full of fog, all things he couldn't understand or imagine. The seeds they left in his mind were like stubborn weeds, sweeping through his barren and monotonous thoughts, waiting for the sound of spring thunder.

An answer.

"Huh? You ask that....hahahahaha!!"

The Eighth Route Army soldier surnamed Guo didn't react for a moment. After confirming with the translator, he burst into laughter. "Is this what you wanted to ask, Mr. Sakaki?"

"Hey, please give me some advice!"

"Then stand up straight and speak."

"No, please allow me to refuse! Please answer this question of mine!" Sakaki Saburo became stubborn, maintaining a standard 60-degree bow. "This is very important to me!"

—-—--——-

Perhaps moved by Sakaki Saburo's serious attitude, the Eighth Route Army's "Guo Sang" was silent for a moment and then calmly responded:

Yes, we do desire revenge, to kill the invaders and avenge our fellow countrymen who have been slaughtered, but as the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army, we will not retaliate against a captured enemy soldier. Again, we have discipline and principles for treating prisoners well. There is no contradiction between our heroic and fearless fighting on the battlefield and our kind treatment of prisoners off the battlefield.

"It's true that some soldiers didn't understand, couldn't wrap their heads around these things, and some even attacked prisoners. They had suffered at the hands of the Japanese army, and we completely understand their motives and intentions. It's human nature to seek revenge, to seek resentment, but as a Party member and an Eighth Route Army soldier, they needed to use their brains to think about all this.

"We don't need subordinates who only follow orders. We want comrades who have the ability to think independently and gather together for common aspirations and goals," Guo Sang tapped his forehead and continued:

"If they can't understand this, we will help them, teach them literacy and arithmetic, educate them on our ideals, beliefs and discipline, explain why we do this and what the purpose is, and ultimately strive for the recognition of every soldier - not to lump together killing the enemy on the battlefield and treating prisoners well, but to organically distinguish and identify them."

"What's more, even if we want revenge, simply avenging Japanese soldiers like you is not enough. Each Japanese soldier is just a knife and a bullet. We were cut by the knife and hit by the bullet. Does it count as revenge if we just retaliate against the knife and the bullet?"

Sakaki raised his head in shock, and then waited for Guo Sang's next words.

"True revenge is to end the root causes of this war of aggression. Revenge on imperialism, militarism, and those high-ranking plutocrats is the only way to achieve the revenge of the communists!"

—―--—--―

The three of them looked at each other, and Saburo Sakaki saw eyes that were unreserved, clear, and sincere. This was an experience he had never had before. Since he left his hometown, went to military school, and then came to serve in the army and participated in this inexplicable war of aggression, he had never seen such eyes.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly started laughing, his shoulders twitching, his hands covering his mouth, his whole body shaking, tears streaming down his face. The Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Red Army.

What a magical word, what a miracle. But they were simply utterly foolish, utterly idiotic. In a world like this, they still clung to such a vain and vain creed, even going to great lengths, not only practicing asceticism like idiots themselves, but also tirelessly persuading others, even enemies like themselves, to join their ranks. It was simply unforgivable and a waste of effort!

But how I envy them, yearn for them, and even envy them.

A thunderclap roared through Saburo Sakaki's mind, resonating throughout the day, rolling through the wilderness of his thoughts. A torrential downpour fell within him, brand-new, intense, explosive thoughts gushing out, wave after wave battering the fixed notions he had formed over twenty years. Yet he felt no shock or shock at all; all he wanted was to run, shout, and dance wildly in this torrential downpour of thoughts.

but......

The gravity of reality immediately swept over him. The Imperial Army had a million strong army, an air force that could obscure the heavens, and a navy with powerful ships and artillery. But the Eighth Route Army, while formidable, was ultimately confined to the hilly plateaus and rural areas of North China. Sakaki Saburo knew the past weakness of this distant nation. Would such a beautiful and idealistic spark, in today's situation, be as fleeting as the falling cherry blossoms?

Looking at the confident Guo Sang, Sakaki hesitated for a while, but ultimately did not say this.

Chapter 123: Banbi Mountain Stronghold

"Have you finally decided to go back?"

"Hey, Guo-san, thank you so much for taking care of me." Sakaki Saburo packed up his personal belongings and made a package. "If it weren't for your generosity and kindness, I would have died long ago."

"The Eighth Route Army's policy is that if you insist on returning, we won't stop you and will even give you some travel expenses. However, I must remind you that based on our previous records and the situation on the Japanese side, returning prisoners, especially those like you who have been away for almost a month, can easily..."

That "Guo Sang" wiped his neck and said, "It's easy to be 'sacrificed for the country'."

Sakaki Saburo paused, a bit hesitant, a bit uncertain. But when he saw his pen and diary still lying on the furoshiki, he finally gathered himself and replied, "I'm so sorry, Guo-san. After all... I have people waiting for me at home. Besides, I'm a pilot after all. If a pilot parachutes into the mountains, it's possible that he won't be able to return for a long time."

"So I shouldn't die," Sakaki said, slinging the packed bag onto his back. "Whether you rescued me, an enemy soldier, or answered my impulsive request and retrieved my pen and diary, if you follow the Japanese way of saying it, you too possess the spirit of 'Bushido.' I have to go back and tell my family and friends what kind of spirit you possess, operating in the mountains of North China."

He stood up and bowed deeply to Guo Sang and the translator: "Thank you very much."

The absolute distance from the Eighth Route Army's mountainous area to the Japanese-controlled territory wasn't very far; if calculated only in a straight line, it was perhaps less than twenty kilometers. Guo-san, the elderly soldier who served as interpreter, and the soldiers who provided security were accompanying Sakaki Saburo. At their current pace, they would reach the end of the Japanese-controlled territory in about two days.

"There's a Japanese stronghold over there, right next to the road. It's very easy to find. We'll take you there, and you can go back over the hill by yourself."

Guo Sang seemed to be an officer of the Eighth Route Army, but he always referred to himself as "commander." Their army had no ranks, only positions, and the relationship between superiors and subordinates was one of equality. The Eighth Route Army translator was an "instructor" in a smaller unit, serving as the commander's deputy. His rank was obviously lower than Guo Sang's, but their interactions were completely devoid of the respectful and courteous manner of the Japanese army.

These days, Saburo Sakaki finally figured out and understood this point. To be honest, he feels very comfortable and it is quite enviable.

"Hey, I understand. My body has recovered. Climbing these mountains is no problem anymore."

The Eighth Route Army's black rubber shoes and their own boots rolled over hills and streams one after another. Soon, the narrow stream valley became a slightly wider river valley, and everyone's pace became faster. "Was there... a battle there?"

There were many craters at the foot of the mountain, and even a few on the road—but the craters that would interfere with traffic had been filled in by the new soldiers. In addition, Sakaki also saw traces of smoke-scorched earth piles, broken trees, and a new grave mound.

"Oh, it's been a month, it's okay to tell you."

The translator pointed to an area ahead. "The day you were being chased and attacked by the comrades from the Farmers' Association, we surrounded a squadron of invading Japanese soldiers in a village just above and let them escape to seek help. Then, more than a squadron and a half of Japanese soldiers came out of Zhengding City, and we took them out as well. The corpses of the Japanese soldiers who were eliminated are in that grave."

"If you go back and they ask you about the battle, just tell them they're welcome."

After saying that, he started laughing, which made Sakaki very embarrassed.

This must have been the source of the gunfire he'd heard that day. If there were more than two squadrons, that meant five hundred men had been killed. Sakaki did some quick math in his head and couldn't help but wonder, if the expeditionary force was to achieve its goal of "annihilating the Eighth Route Army, which was disrupting public order in the north," how many troops would it really take?

Is the Japanese army strong enough?

With such doubts, after crossing the hill and the valley, Saburo Sakaki finally saw a wide dirt road in his eyes. This dirt road, which could accommodate two horse-drawn carts, was considered a high-grade highway north of Shimen.

Putting aside the main forces such as the 120th and 359th Brigades, this is probably a clear dividing line between the local military district troops and the guerrillas who lack heavy firepower. Lacking artillery, they have a hard time facing the Japanese troops who come to support quickly through the highway. Therefore, this is also the intersection of the forces of both sides.

“That’s basically it.”

Guo Sang waved his hand, and everyone stopped. Sakaki Saburo also turned around. "Mr. Iiki, we'll almost get you here. Go down the mountain and follow the road for about four miles. You will reach a stronghold called Banbi Mountain. There are Japanese troops stationed there. You can contact them. We've put a canteen of water and a few biscuits in your bag. Then it's time to say goodbye."

"However, next time we meet, we will show no mercy on the battlefield," the translator added.

"Hey, I'm really grateful for being able to do this."

Sakaki Saburo bowed again to express his gratitude. He straightened up and met those clear and frank eyes: "But I hope we never meet on the battlefield again - this kind of war is not a good thing, I think." "Ha, Mr. Sakaki, are you tired of war and want to go home?"

"Is that so?"

After the explosive thunder, Saburo Sakaki's mind had calmed down a lot. He answered uncertainly, then said goodbye to everyone, turned around and walked towards the dirt road at the foot of the hill.

A strange guest came to the Banbishan stronghold today.

He was a man wearing a pilot's leather jacket, but carrying a bag similar to that of an ordinary civilian. He had no good conduct certificate or other identification, but he spoke perfectly good Japanese and could answer questions about Japan fluently. This man, who claimed to be an army pilot, was called Saburo Sakaki. After waving his hand outside the base and passing inspection under the aim of several rifles, he sat quietly inside the base, not moving much.

The soldiers in the stronghold discussed it, and the sergeant in charge volunteered to ride the only bicycle in the stronghold to Shimen City to report on the situation. While the other Japanese soldiers didn't object, they secretly despised the sergeant's attempt to enrich himself through his official duties. Who would want to stay in such a dangerous and desolate place if they had the chance? Why not seize the opportunity to have some fun in Shimen City?

However, the man who called himself a pilot did not mind the harsh environment here. He said he was willing to wait, and then he found a room in the base and lay down to rest.

Since the guests themselves didn't care, the other soldiers didn't bother to care too much. They yawned and circled the patrol routes around the stronghold, doing their day-to-day work. Everything seemed to be unchanged and nothing would change.

But soon, the sergeant hurried back from Shimen, bringing a message asking the suspected pilot Sakaki to stay in the base first, and someone would come to pick him up soon.

Chapter 124: Baga Company

Banbi Mountain is one of the few highway strongholds of the Japanese army. It is located on the side of the road from Shimen to Pingshan County, with a slightly higher terrain. It was originally a checkpoint of the local Salt Administration - this is not the kind of checkpoint with a barricade and a few small houses. As a powerful Salt Administration of the Republic of China, this place once had barracks, dungeons, and offices. It was previously a place for the Salt Administration Police Team to be stationed, enough to accommodate a hundred people.

Because of its size, complete facilities, and the presence of a telephone line, it was requisitioned as a Japanese stronghold. Later, a small squadron was stationed there, and patrol teams would come to stay: they were the main force used by the Japanese to control the surrounding villages and collect food.

However, since 37, the situation here has become increasingly strange: a large section of the enameled telephone line leading to Shimen Zhengding would disappear every few days. After the stationed team joined forces with other Japanese troops to drive away a criminal gang that cut the wires, the wires were rarely lost, but the telephone started to be disconnected every few days. Upon inspection, it was found that the criminals did not steal the wires after cutting them, but started to pretend to reconnect them.

Gan.

Things seem to be improving lately, though. Since the arrival of summer, the number of telephone lines being cut, stolen, or reconnected has decreased. Aside from a strange rustling sound during calls, there's nothing unusual. It's just that more and more raiding parties from Banbi Mountain seem to have been tipped off about their whereabouts, and are being ambushed or spurned. Anyway, the ones who are left dejected or fleeing after being beaten are the city lords; it's none of our business.