Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

(This chapter continues the story of the dark room, so some names have been changed haphazardly. Please forgive me.)

October 15, 1953, Hailirentang, Beiping.

This was the clearest day since the beginning of autumn. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting golden dappled patterns on the red carpet.

The hall was packed with people. A banner hung above the stage: "Summary Meeting of the Victory of the Northern War of the Republic Army".

Below the stage stood the commanders of various corps, their uniforms adorned with medals.

The back row consists of model workers and combat heroes from all over the country.

Li Changhe sat among the representatives of heroes and model workers. His military uniform was faded from washing, but the medals on his chest were polished to a shine.

Zhang Changkong sat next to him, his air force uniform crisp and his cap badge gleaming in the sunlight.

Zhao Ping'an sat in the last row, on the side. He had chosen this seat himself.

At 9:00 AM sharp, members 01, 02, and 03 walked onto the stage. The entire audience stood up and erupted in thunderous applause.

Number 02 waved his hand, gesturing for everyone to sit down.

"Comrades, we have waited three years for this meeting."

He paused.

"Three years ago, right here, we saw off our first batch of troops. At that time, some people said that the Americans had airplanes and artillery, and that we couldn't win."

Now, the General has returned from the front lines. Let him tell everyone how we won these three years of battles.

The general stood up and walked to the podium.

He didn't bring the manuscript.

"Comrades, I spent three years in Korea, fought hundreds of battles, and witnessed countless sacrifices."

I won't be talking about grand principles today; I'll just talk about a few people and a few events.

"The first one is Changjin Lake."

His voice lowered.

"Minus thirty degrees Celsius. The cold is unimaginable to those who haven't been there."

Diesel fuel freezes into a paste, making it impossible to pull the bolt of a gun; even spitting on the ground can create ice shards.

The Americans said that they couldn't fight in this weather, so they stayed in their sleeping bags with heaters on, waiting for it to warm up before coming out.

"And our soldiers? They're also in minus thirty degrees Celsius."

They lay prone in the snow for hours on end, waiting for the enemy to come up. When their hands became frozen and they couldn't fire, they warmed them in their clothes before taking them out.

My feet are numb from the cold, so I stand up, stomp them a couple of times, and then lie back down.

"As soon as the bugle sounded, they crawled out of the snow and charged forward. The enemy said, 'This is the Ice Sculpture Company.' I said, 'These are our soldiers.'"

The audience was silent.

"The second one is Tieyuan."

The general raised his voice slightly.

"Four American divisions pressed forward, with over a thousand tanks and hundreds of aircraft sorties every day. Their General Van Fleet said they would 'plow Tieyuan flat with artillery shells.' And they did plow it flat, for fourteen days. How many shells fell? Countless."

"Our soldiers held their ground for fourteen days without getting a full night's sleep."

The position was bombed flat thirteen times, and the engineering company repaired it thirteen times with excavators.

"Once, I went to the front lines. There was an engineer company commander, in his early twenties, his face covered in soot and his eyes were bloodshot. He hadn't slept for three days and was still repairing the fortifications. I said, 'You should rest.' He grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and said, 'Commander, I'll sleep after I finish this section.'"

"Is that section finished? Yes, it's finished. Is he asleep? No. It's been blasted flat again, so it has to be repaired again."

The general's voice trembled slightly.

"And then?"

"Later, they held out for fourteen days. The Americans retreated. The engineering company commander survived."

He looked around the room.

"The third one is Shangganling."

The general's voice deepened.

"Forty-three days. The U.S. military fired 300,000 shells, which lowered the two hilltops by two meters."

Stones were ground into powder, and clay was fired into glass. Since people couldn't stand on the ground, our soldiers hid in the tunnels.

"But it wasn't easy inside the tunnel either. Dozens of people were crammed together, the air was stuffy, and it was hard to tell day from night. When some people couldn't take it anymore, they would sing, sing 'The East Is Red,' 'The Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention,' and sing folk songs from their hometowns."

As they sang, dawn broke.

"There was a medic who stayed in the tunnel for thirty-five days. Wounded soldiers were brought in, bandaged, their bleeding stopped, and they were evacuated. He worked day and night. In the end, he collapsed next to the stretcher. The first thing he asked when he woke up was, 'Have the wounded been taken away?'"

He raised his head.

"Comrades, we've held Shangganling. For forty-three days, not a single American soldier set foot on it. When our soldiers crawled out of the tunnels, some were too weak to stand, some had tears streaming from their eyes from the lamplight, and some couldn't utter a single word while clutching their comrades' belongings."

"But they stood up. They stood up again."

The general remained silent for a few seconds.

"Comrades, I stand here today and say these things to let you know that our soldiers are the best soldiers in the world."

"But we must also know that soldiers are able to win battles not only because they are brave."

Also, because they had guns, cannons, tanks, and airplanes. They had dry rations when they were hungry, warm clothes when they were cold, medicine when they were wounded, and pre-dug tunnels when they were defending their positions.

He paused.

"These guns, these cotton-padded clothes, these medicines, these tunnels—these were all built by our comrades in the rear, day and night."

"The workers in Shenyang worked in three shifts, 365 days a year without stopping. The workers in Anshan worked for more than ten hours at a stretch in front of the furnace, where the temperature was 40 degrees Celsius. The workers in Daqing dug wells in the freezing cold, their hands cracked and chapped, but they kept working even with bandages. And then there were those comrades in the warehouses, on the transport lines, and in the hospitals. They didn't go to the front lines, but everything they did was delivered to the front lines and into the hands of the soldiers."

He looked down at the audience.

"On behalf of all the soldiers of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, I would like to extend my highest respect to our comrades in the rear—all the workers, farmers, technicians, medical personnel, and transport team members!"

He turned around, saluted the stage, then turned around again and bowed deeply to the audience.

The entire audience erupted in thunderous applause.

Zhao Ping'an was in the last row and clapped along. The person next to him whispered, "Comrades in the back, are you talking about us?" Zhao Ping'an didn't speak, he just nodded.

After the applause subsided, the general continued.

"I stand here today not to talk about how many battles I have won. I stand here for those who will not be able to come back."

He turned around, faced 01 on the stage, and gave a military salute.

"01, I brought them back. The living and the dead, I brought them all back."

01 Stand up and return the greeting.

The audience erupted in applause once again.

Next, Commander Deng read out the list of those who had made meritorious contributions and received awards.

"Special Class Heroes: Yang*si, Huang*guang, Qiu*yun..."

As the names were read out one by one, some were present, and some were no longer there.

Each name read aloud was met with applause from the audience. The applause was even louder for those names that were no longer in service.

Li Changhe heard the name of the third company commander among them. He was stunned for a moment, then clapped frantically until his hands ached.

After the list was read out, the combat heroes went up on stage one by one to receive their awards. Li Changhe also went up, and his hands trembled slightly as he received the bright red certificate.

Zhang Changkong went up as well and accepted the First-Class Merit Certificate. When he came down, his eyes were a little red.

Zhao Ping'an watched from the last row and clapped along.

The conference lasted for three hours.

Finally, 01 spoke.

"Comrades, the Northern War has been won. This is a victory for the Republic."

"This war tells us that the Republic has stood up."

Any aggressor, no matter how powerful, who dares to impose war on us, we will definitely drive them back.

"Let us remember those soldiers who sacrificed their lives. They gave their lives for the peace we enjoy today."

The entire audience stood in silence for three minutes.

After the meeting, people gradually left. The General was surrounded by a group of reporters, while Li Changhe and Zhang Changkong were pulled aside by their comrades to take photos. Zhao Ping'an walked out with the crowd, and just as he reached the door, 02's secretary called him back.

"Minister Zhao, please stay for a moment. There's a short meeting tonight."

Zhao Ping'an nodded.

7 p.m., Haili Flower Hall.

Office 02 is small, with a desk, a few chairs, and a map on the wall.

At this moment, Number 01, Number 02, Number 03, and the General are all present.

As soon as Zhao Ping'an entered, the general stood up, took his hand, and led him inside.

"Comrade Ping An, come and sit down."

Zhao Ping'an sat down in the chair, looking somewhat awkward.

02 He personally poured Zhao Ping'an a cup of tea.

"Comrade Ping An, I saw you sitting in the last row at that conference during the day."

Zhao Ping'an remained silent.

02. Sit down opposite him.

"I know why you're sitting there. Those are the war heroes; it's their turn to go on stage."

Your contributions are not appropriate to mention in that setting.

01 nodded.

"The fewer people who know about what Comrade Ping An has done in recent years, the better. It's not that we don't want to give you honors, it's to protect you."

03 spoke up: "Tanks, airplanes, artillery shells, tunnel boring machines, cotton-padded clothes, medicine... where did all these things come from? To the outside world, we can only say that we made them ourselves, as a result of the support of the entire nation for the front lines. We can't say that one person brought them all."

The general continued, "During the day, when I thanked my comrades in the rear from the stage, I was referring to you who are the ones truly doing the work. But I can't name names. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't."

Zhao Pingan raised his head.

"Leaders, I understand."

02 looked at him with a gentle gaze.

"Comrade Ping An, we've called you here today to tell you in person: the nation owes you a great debt. This debt cannot be made public now, but we will remember it, and history will remember it."

01 Stand up and walk up to him.

"Comrade Ping An, what you are doing is more difficult than killing the enemy on the battlefield. (Several dozen words were deleted here due to a 404 error)."

He stretched out his hand.

Zhao Ping'an stood up and clasped his hands together.

01. Holding it very tightly.

"The nation thanks you."

Zhao Ping'an felt a lump in his throat and couldn't speak.

That night, the group talked for a long time.

Before leaving, 02 took a small box out of the drawer.

"Comrade Ping An, this is for you."

Zhao Ping'an opened it, and inside were three medals: the First-Class August 1st Medal, the First-Class Independence and Freedom Medal, and the First-Class Liberation Medal.

02 said: "The formal awarding of the medal will be announced later when there is an opportunity."

But you can take these three. They're a small token of our appreciation from us old folks.

Zhao Ping'an stared at the three medals in silence for a long time.

"02, I..."

02. Pat his hand.

"No need to say anything. Go back and get some rest. There's a lot to do tomorrow."