Literary Master 1983

Chapter 107 "Laoshan Records: The Propaganda Revolution Initiated by the Writer"

"Military Newspaper"?
This newspaper is the highest-level propaganda publication in the military and does not mainly publish literary works.

On the contrary, the newspaper rarely publishes literary works.

Yu Qie began to pay attention to the newspaper, but he saw nothing for three consecutive days. On the fourth day, Yu Qie went to see his courtyard and found some more letters and newspapers.

The reason was that after Yu Qie had a place to live, Zhang Shouren brought the letters to Yu Qie directly to Yu Qie's courtyard in piles. He asked the magazine for money to build a mailbox for Yu Qie and hung it at the door. It was locked and only Yu Qie had the key.

Some readers would send food coupons, money and other things to the author, but Zhang Shouren had a good reputation in this regard and never embezzled money.

That day, Yu Qie finally saw the "Military News", and Zhang Shouren thoughtfully cut out the part about him.

The title is "Laoshan Documentary: The Propaganda Revolution Initiated by Writers", and the photo shows antennas and loudspeakers erected everywhere in front of the positions of both sides, and "a company of the 119th Regiment is playing songs to the Vietnamese."

At the beginning of the main text, Liu Jiaju said, "After returning from the front line, I went there twice more, and each time I made different discoveries."

"Although the atmosphere on the battlefield was becoming increasingly tense, the songs and novels played everywhere made me think I was in a library. The two sides fought back and forth here, in bunkers transformed from natural caves or cracks in the rocks, very close to each other. At the closest point, the two sides were less than 10 meters apart, and we could clearly hear the shouting or talking of the Vietnamese soldiers on the other side."

"This means they can also hear our skits, novels and songs. Since we climbed the 211 high ground in late April, this has gradually become our common publicity strategy."

"How far has the situation come?"

"We played the song "The 15th Moon", and the Vietnamese listened without firing a shot, 'You miss me, I miss you, I guard the baby's cradle, you patrol the border of the motherland...' I wondered if they knew what our lyrics were about. I often doubted whether they would sing this song."

"We played Yu Che's new work "Death Kiss", and the battlefield was also quiet. I asked the company commander here, is there no one over there? The company commander immediately ordered to turn off the radio, and then I was surprised to find that after more than ten seconds, candy was thrown from the other side."

"So, we continued to play the novel Kiss of Death. But it was a short story after all. After that, the Vietnamese threw us another tape. The soldiers told me that it was a Vietnamese song from Vietnam. They were not allowed to bring radios or watch anything from the outside world... They were eager for us to play it for them. We all kept this tacit understanding."

"The second time I came, I captured a group of Vietnamese prisoners. They said that ours was a soft offensive, which violated the humanitarian spirit on the battlefield. They asked the soldiers to cover their ears and not listen to the radio from China... I thought of when I first went to Laoshan a few months ago. We were the ones who were not allowed to listen to the radio. Now it's all the opposite."

"Who caused all this to happen? There was indeed a young man who caused it, Yu Qie, and he noticed this."

"Then, most importantly, we have better songs and richer novels, but the other side can't come up with the same things. I didn't expect that this war in the south could have an impact on the creators. As a writer, I am also proud of it today."

Liu Jiaju lamented, "We have cat-ear caves, the Vietnamese have 'bat caves'; we have Hill 211, the Vietnamese have 'death beaches'; we have a series of art works, but the Vietnamese have none... Does this mean that they are bound to lose this war?"

“Art has become part of the war, in a very literal sense. Art is art, and it is more than art.”

Liu Jiaju's documentary is of course not limited to these. He also mentioned how Yu Qie taught the battalion and company-level cadres of the 119th Regiment, and how, under the bold decision of his superiors, a new batch of Laoshan condolence performances would invite singers to perform a chorus directly in the cat ear cave.

To make the singing sound reach the other side completely. How romantic and confident it is.

It was an unprecedented spectacle. Yu Qie was so excited that he wanted to go there again, but he was afraid that he had been blacklisted by the Vietnamese. Feng Gong went to the front line at that time, but was seen by the sharpshooter but was not shot.

If Yu Qie is discovered, he will probably be killed by his foreign fans. If he has a gun, he will also shoot the Vietnamese fans. This kind of abnormal relationship between authors and book friends is unprecedented.

In July, he went to Thailand for a visit, so it would be best if he concealed his identity. Thailand was a country that was infiltrated like a sieve, and if Yu Qie was killed by Vietnamese agents, he would be finished.

Liu Jiaju's article had a great impact, otherwise it would not have been published in the Military Newspaper. The superiors warmly praised the role of the condolences from people from all walks of life.

Liu Jiaju later wrote to him again, telling him an interesting story that happened when he was not present.

At a celebration banquet held by the troops at the border, many military writers attended as usual. The organizers were surprised to learn that Yu Che did not come.

"Where is Yu Qie?" they asked.

Liu Jiaju was still in the south at the time. He said: "Yu Qie is not a member of our army, nor is he a former soldier... In fact, he is the only 'military' writer who has never been in the army. This is amazing."

"Ah! I really want to give Yu Qie a big gold star and leave a place for the hero... I'm going to say this now. He is our comrade-in-arms."

Everyone present raised the first glass of wine, and the leader of the front line said, "Drink for the heroes!" After that, everyone drank it, and then picked up the second glass in their hands. The leader said, "I wish you will make new achievements." When it came to the third glass, the leader said, "I wish you will always love the motherland and be heroes forever!"

These words were not said in vain, and Yu Qie soon received the reward.

In June, Tokyo, Japan will hold an international writers' conference, which will be led by Ba Lao, and some Chinese writers will be selected to attend the conference in Tokyo. After the list is submitted, the editors-in-chief and deputy editors-in-chief of some first-tier and second-tier publications will vote together.

Some people said, "We are still missing a young person here."

Opposing opinions said: "How can a young writer go to Japan for exchanges? Even if it is Yu Qie, his works are not famous abroad. It is inappropriate to choose a young person. This is his first time going abroad, representing young Chinese writers, and he is going to such an important country as Japan..."

There are also supporters: "Japan has cartoonists, young authors, and even actors... Why can't we go to a young person? Do we only have old men?"

Everyone argued fiercely, but gradually the opinion was in favor of taking Yu Qie with them, because Yu Qie was very talented and had a strong relationship with the master.

Ma Shi Tu was attending a meeting in Yenching and playing bridge with his superiors. If he knew who took the lead in opposing Yu Qi's advancement, it would probably not be acceptable.

(End of this chapter)