Double-Cut During the War of Resistance: My Wife Came from 1937

The subject matter is quite sensitive; content set in the Republican era often results in a 404 error, making it impossible to write many things. Yesterday, one chapter was sent back for rewriting, so I can only write about urban life. Many large sections of the earlier chapters also need to be rewritten.

……

129th Division.

771st Regiment Camp.

After seeing Xia Weiwei off, Division Commander Liu and Chief of Staff Ni rode away from the division headquarters and hurried here.

As for Deputy Division Commander Xu, he and the political commissar headed to the location of the 769th Regiment.

Like the division headquarters, the regimental headquarters of the Eighth Route Army were stationed in rural areas.

As soon as Division Commander Liu and Chief of Staff Ni arrived at the village entrance on horseback, a group of people came to greet them.

Leading the group are Brigade Commander Chen, Political Commissar Wang, and Deputy Brigade Commander Xu from the 386th Brigade.

Beside him were Regiment Commander Xu, Political Commissar Wu, Deputy Regiment Commander Han, and Chief of Staff Liu of the 771st Regiment.

"Whoa!"

Division Commander Liu and Chief of Staff Ni stopped their horses and jumped off.

"Commander! Chief of Staff!"

Upon seeing the newcomers, everyone quickly stepped forward to greet them and welcomed them inside.

Division Commander Liu returned the salute and said with a smile, "Something important came up today and I was a little delayed. Have the soldiers been waiting?"

"It's still early, not even lunchtime yet!"

Regiment Commander Xu replied, "Besides, the commander hasn't arrived yet; let them all wait."

Upon entering the village, Commander Liu saw that sheds had been erected along the streets to provide shelter from the wind and rain.

Inside were rows of simple tables.

At that moment, the soldiers of the 771st Regiment were sitting on benches in the shed, wrapped in their military overcoats, waiting.

Commander Liu frowned and said, "Why did you come outside? Isn't it cold?"

Political Commissar Wu quickly explained, "At first, I also thought of doing it indoors, but it was really not spacious enough inside, and the soldiers all felt it was too lively outside."

"Swish, swish, swish!"

Upon seeing the arrival of the group of leaders, the soldiers who had been chatting amongst themselves all stood up and saluted.

Division Commander Liu returned the salute again and said, "Comrades, please be seated!"

"Commander, this way please!"

Commander Xu pointed to the distance and extended an invitation.

The group of nine people sat down, and Deputy Head of the Delegation, Han, began to prepare the dishes.

This time, a lot of cooked food and canned goods were used, and the food was served very quickly.

The first thing served was a plate of fried peanuts and stir-fried soybeans, which are typical appetizers to accompany drinks.

Then each table was served a plate of luncheon meat, a plate of braised chicken liver, two Daokou roast chickens, two Sichuan pepper chickens, a large bowl of canned yellow peaches, and a large bowl of captured Japanese beef stew.

The frozen pork that Ma Hongwei brought over was used to make braised pork, stewed pork bones with potatoes, vermicelli, and cabbage, as well as dumplings with pork and radish filling.

In addition to dumplings, staple foods also include steamed buns and rice.

As for braised pork, braised beef, and canned dace with black bean sauce, I didn't eat them this time.

Since it was a celebration banquet, each table also had some homemade sorghum liquor or sweet potato liquor.

Each person only received a small amount, just half a bowl, so they wouldn't get dizzy from drinking too much.

Commander Liu asked, "Weren't the villagers invited?"

"We invited them, but none of them came."

Political Commissar Wu said, "Those villagers said that our soldiers usually help them a lot, chopping firewood and carrying water for them. The soldiers finally have a chance to eat meat, so they don't want to compete with the soldiers for food."

Commander Liu asked, "Do you have any extra roast chickens?"

"There are quite a few division commanders!"

Regiment Commander Xu nodded.

"so……"

Commander Liu instructed, "Later, take some roast chickens and distribute one to each household."

"Yes, sir, I'll take care of it right away!"

Commander Xu immediately stood up.

Commander Liu reminded him, "Remember to have the guards remove the packaging."

"I see!"

Commander Xu nodded, turned and left.

After he left, Commander Liu, who usually didn't like drinking, stood up with his rough earthenware bowl in his hand and said to the soldiers, "Recently, our Eighth Route Army has fought many battles with the Japanese army, and each time our Eighth Route Army has won. We owe this achievement to all of you comrades."

"I salute you all here, comrades. I hope you can continue your efforts, fight the Japanese devils even more, and strive to drive them all out!"

After saying that, he brought the earthenware bowl to his lips and took a big gulp of wine.

"Drive the Japanese devils out of China!"

"Down with Japanese imperialism!"

The soldiers shouted slogans with high morale, then stood up and took a sip of wine from their bowls.

"Eat as much as you want today!"

Commander Liu said with a smile, "There will definitely be enough meat, but not alcohol. Drinking too much will cause trouble. When we drive all the Japanese devils away, then you can have a good drink, and we'll give you plenty of alcohol!"

"Alright, it's getting cold, everyone eat quickly, don't get cold!"

Then, the soldiers began to eat heartily.

This is the first time many of them have ever eaten food like this.

In the past, it was difficult for them to even get some meat, but since last month, they have been able to eat canned meat and canned fish.

I never expected to be able to eat fresh pork this time.

And there are so many chickens.

The chickens Ma Hongwei brought were all cooked and weighed 1.5 jin (750g) each. With four chickens per table, that's over 6 jin (3 catties).

Add in other meats and canned goods, and you're sure to have a delicious and satisfying meal.

"You two are really good buddies!"

"The five champions!"

"Eight horses!"

"..."

Although there wasn't much alcohol, the soldiers still happily started playing drinking games.

……

the other side.

Commander Xu, along with several soldiers, went to the Special Supplies Storage Section and requested more than a hundred roasted chickens from the road crossing.

He had already explained Commander Liu's orders clearly, so these roast chickens were taken out without any packaging.

Commander Xu personally knocked on the door of the first fellow villager's house.

The door opened, and an old man with a white beard asked in confusion, "Commander Xu? What's going on here?"

"Uncle Qin, it's like this!"

Commander Xu said slowly, "Our Division Commander Liu heard that you weren't coming to drink and eat meat with us, so he specially asked us to send you some roast chicken as well."

He took a roast chicken from the willow basket his subordinate was holding and handed it to the old man.

"Commander Xu, we can't accept this!"

Old Qin shook his head and refused.

"Uncle Qin, just take it!"

Commander Xu insisted on shoving the roast chicken into the other man's hand, saying, "This is our division commander's order; every household has one. I dare not disobey his orders!"

"The roast chicken has been delivered. We still have to go to other villagers' homes, so we'll be leaving now!"

As he spoke, he led several soldiers toward the house next door.

"A righteous and benevolent army! A righteous and benevolent army!"

As he watched the backs of the Eighth Route Army soldiers, Old Qin's eyes immediately welled up with tears, and two streams of turbid tears flowed down his cheeks.

He grew up during the Qing Dynasty and later lived through the Republic of China era.

But whether it was the Qing Dynasty or the Republic of China, it was always "bandits passing by like combs, soldiers passing by like fine brushes, and officials passing by like shavings."

Those people would be lucky if they didn't rob their grain, livestock, and poultry, let alone help them or cook chicken for them.

Only the disciplined Eighth Route Army could inspire a sense of closeness in them.

Just as those amiable Eighth Route Army officers said, these were the people's own soldiers.