Russia, Britain and the United States have completely opposite goals, while our goals are very clear to all Chinese. Their actions are guided by different ideological goals. They are driven by a common goal; Our lives are subordinated to this goal.

The contradictions between them are growing, and will continue to grow, and now our unprecedented unity has reached a rock-solid level, for which I have fought for many years in this arduous and great movement. Attempts to bankrupt our coalition of enemies, diplomatically or otherwise, are utopian.

It's just a fantasy, that's fine, if it's panicked and pessimistic and disappointed about the future, it's even worse. Only by striking a military blow to the enemy, by demonstrating to them our indomitable spirit and inexhaustible might, can we hasten the end of this alliance, which will collapse as soon as the cannon of our victory is fired. Nothing has the same impact on Western democracies as a show of power.

Only the bravado of the Western countries, coupled with our military strikes, could bring Stalin to his senses, and nothing else could do this. Note that now Stalin is not fighting in the forests of Bryansk, nor on the Ukrainian plains. His troops are now on the territory of Poland, Romania and Hungary. After direct contact with these "foreign nations", the Russian army already felt that its troops were insufficient, and to a certain extent, its morale was low and the morale of the army was weakened.

However, I don't pay much attention to the Russians and Americans right now. Now my eyes are on the Japanese, and only our nation has the ability and responsibility to win. At present, the whole country has become a military camp, and by this I mean the whole country, in addition to the part that Chongqing has taken over, and most of the territory controlled by the communist guerrillas.

These places are the heart of Chinese civilization. This is where material and spiritual forces come together. The material power of victory has fallen into our hands. Whether we can use these material forces as soon as possible to defeat the enemy is now up to us soldiers. Please believe that once our army is dealt several fatal blows, the KMT-CPC alliance will definitely collapse. Their respective self-interested interests will prevail over the strategic illusion of dealing with the problem.

In order to bring about the early arrival of our moment of victory, I now make the following proposals; Our tank squadron is to start an offensive in northern Jiangsu, so that on the one hand, it can ensure the safety and reliability of Jiangsu and Shanghai; On the other hand, we can also make good preparations for attacking the Shandong base area. Note that it is there that there is an abundance of food, which is the blood that beats in the arteries of war.

I would rather give up some areas than lose the food-producing areas, because it will guarantee the indestructibility of the national government and the livelihood of our millions of soldiers and people. In addition, the army group was to concentrate all reserves and launch a decisive offensive on the two flanks of the communist army using the existing military bases.

The troops of the headquarters were to break through the communist lines, insert themselves into their rear and seize the initiative; Then, with the support of the army group, cut off the communist front. The problem of transporting reserves was the biggest of all for the communist borders. The distance of the transport was not in his favor; On the contrary, it is good for us.

There were seven lines of defense defending Nanking, which had in effect turned Nanking into an impregnable city, so that we could draw considerable forces from the southern and northern battlefields and throw them into the western theater in violation of the rules of the art of war. We have time, while it will take two or three months for the Communists and Chang Kaishen to redeploy their reserves, and it will only take five days for us to move our troops; Because the movement of our troops is not long, it is quite possible for us to do it, even though we are contrary to the traditional approach of strategy.

Saburo Iguchi: But it's better to align this issue with the traditional approach to strategy.

Wang Wei: Now we are not talking about specific details, but about the whole and the overall situation. In the end, the details can be solved by a small number of specialized personnel in small groups at the various staff departments. Our army now has more than a million people, and these people have been organized into a powerful offensive iron fist. Our task is to turn this counter-fist into a devastating blow of victory.

Now we are on the verge of August 1938. We, the Chinese nation, are united and of one heart and one mind. Our military industry, with the support of Japan's allies, produced four times as many weapons as it did before 1938. Our army is twice as strong as it was that year. Our hatred has terrified our enemies, but our determination to win is unwavering. So I ask you: Can't we win peace with war? Can't a great military victory be a political victory?

Qiao Shanmu: As the director of the General Office of Party Affairs just said, the current military should also be a politician.

Spee: Don't you agree?

Qiao Shanmu: I agree.

Wang Wei: General, I ask you to prepare specific suggestions for me tomorrow.

Saburo Iguchi: Yes, President Wang. Let's come up with a general idea, and if you can agree, we'll work out the details.

At the end of the meeting, and the participants had departed, Wuhan Zhen called two stenographers and said: "Please translate what I have dictated below into a cipher at once, and then distribute it to all the senior generals of the army in the name of the Presidential Palace in Nanjing, and I will now dictate: On February 15, our President made a historic speech, and after expounding the situation on all fronts, he emphasized: 'The alliance of the Central Powers is an alliance of contradictions and bizarre that has never been seen before in the world.'"

"Who do you think of me over there?"

Excerpt from the identification of party members by co-captain Li Guangyuan:

"In 1933 he joined the Kuomintang. A native of Hefei, Anhui Province. The character is unwavering in the character of JAC. Good relationship with colleagues. Be conscientious and responsible for your responsibilities. No mercy to the enemies of the nation. He is an excellent athlete and has won the Anglo-American tennis championship in Shanghai. single and unmarried; Social relations are innocent and undefiled. He has been awarded by the President and the Commander of the Garrison"

As soon as it was dark, Li Guangyuan returned home. He loves the early spring of February, when the snow has almost melted and the towering pine treetops reflect the morning light every morning, as if summer has arrived, and he can go to Matsue to fish or relax on a deck chair.

He now lives alone in a small house in the suburbs very close to Qingpu, and his housekeeper, who has suffered from a nervous breakdown from the endless bombing by enemy planes, went to live at her niece's house in Jiaxing a week ago.

Now it is the young daughter of the owner of the "One and One" restaurant who cleans up his room.

"She's probably from Ningbo," Li Guangyuan thought as he watched the girl clean the living room with a mop, "dark skin, big eyes." She speaks with a Shanghainese accent, but despite this, she is probably from Ningbo."

"What time is it?" Li Guangyuan asked.

"It's about seven o'clock."

Li Guangyuan smiled slightly, he thought: "It's a happy girl, she can actually say 'around seven o'clock'." The happiest people in the world are those who have the freedom to spend their time without fear of consequences. But she did speak Shanghainese. There are even some Qingpu dialects mixed in."

Suddenly he heard a car approaching, and cried out, "Girl, go and see who's coming?" ”

After a while the girl walked into his small office, where he was sitting in a sofa chair by the fire. The girl said, "It's a gentleman from the police station who came to you."

Li Guangyuan stood up, stretched his waist, his joints creaked a few times, and then walked to the front hall. In the front hall stood the sixth-level squad leader, carrying a large basket in his hand.

"Mr. Wing Commander, your driver is sick, I brought the rations for him"

"Thank you," replied Li Guangyuan, "and put it in the kitchen." This girl will help you."

When the squad leader left, he didn't send it. He opened his eyes when the girl gently walked into the office.

The girl stood by the door and whispered, "If you wish, sir, I can stay here for the night."

"This is the first time the girl has seen so much food," he thought, "poor girl."

He opened his eyes, stretched again, and replied, "Girl, you can take half of the flour and bacon, and you don't need to stay."

"What are you talking about, sir," she replied, "I'm not here for what to eat."

"Then you're in love with me, aren't you? You love me so much that you're going crazy? Even dreaming of me, an old man, is that true? ”

"My favorite thing in the world is a man of a certain age"

"Forget it, girl, let's talk about age later. What will be your name when you get married? ”

"Master, I told you... My name is Ma Chunli."

"That's right, that's right, I beg your pardon, Chun-Li. Get the bacon, and don't be coquettish here. How old are you? ”

"Nineteen years old"

"Well, it's already a big girl. It's been a long time since you've been here from Ningbo, right? ”

"It's been a long time. I came when my parents moved here."

"Alright, Chun-Li, you can go, go and rest. I'm afraid that the enemy planes are about to start bombing, and you will be scared when you walk alone during the bombing."

After the girl left, Li Guangyuan closed the thick light control curtains, covered the windows, and then turned on the table lamp. When he leaned over the fire, he found that the chopping wood was exactly what he liked: neatly arranged in the shape of a well, and the birch bark that lit the fire was placed on a rough pale blue plate.

"I didn't tell her about that. Perhaps, yes. By the way, this girl has a good memory." As he set fire to the birch bark, he thought, "We are always like some old teachers when we think about young people, and the onlookers will probably find it ridiculous." But I'm used to seeing myself as an old man, I'm forty-five years old."

After waiting for the fire in the stove to burn, Li Guangyuan walked to the radio and turned it on. He heard the radio broadcasting old lyrical songs.

Li Guangyuan remembered that one day, Ding Mocun said to his staff officers, "Of course, it is unpatriotic to listen to the enemy's platform, but sometimes I would like to hear what those people are talking nonsense." I also got some information from the servants and drivers of Ding'ao Village that he had eavesdropped on the enemy's platform.

If "No. 76 No. 2" tries to prove his innocence in this way, it shows that he is a coward and that he has no confidence in tomorrow. On the contrary, Li Guangyuan believed that he did not need to conceal the fact that he had listened to the enemy's Taiwan. As long as he rudely ridicules the radio commentary and comments on the enemy station, he will certainly be able to dispel Li Shiqun's suspicions, because he is a person who does not have any unique new tricks in thinking.

A soft piano performance ends the lyrical song. Announcers on radio stations in the remote border began broadcasting the frequencies on which the radio was listened to every Friday and Saturday. Li Guangyuan recorded the numbers: this was the information sent to him.

He had been waiting for this information for six days. When he copied, he arranged the numbers in a neat line, and there were many numbers, probably because the announcer was afraid that he would not have time to copy, so he reread the numbers again. After a while, the music of beautiful lyrical songs began to sound again.

Li Guangyuan took out a volume of Water Margin from the bookcase, interpreted the numbers into words, and checked the words with the code hidden in the middle of this classical masterpiece.

"Who do they think of me?" He thought, "Think of me as a genius or an omnipotent person?" It's incredible."

Li Guangyuan's thinking is grounded, because he was given the following tasks through the border radio station:

"According to our intelligence, a number of high-ranking officers of the Security Service and Intelligence Service have appeared in Shanghai, who are looking for contacts with spy agencies stationed abroad. Among them, members of the Security Service had attempted to get in touch with the members of the Lighthouse. It is important that you find out what these activities are:

1) Hypocritical reporting to cover people's eyes;

2) the initiative of individuals of certain senior officers of the Security Service;

3) Perform the tasks of the central government.

If these members of the Security Service and the Intelligence Service are on a mission in Shanghai, it is important to find out who has entrusted them with the task. Specifically: who among the top leaders in Nanjing is trying to get in touch with them. ”

A long sound of air raid sirens sounded in the distance, and the anti-aircraft guns immediately roared as well.

The power station cut off the circuit, and Li Guangyuan had to sit by the stove all the time, staring at the blue flames floating on the black-red charcoal fire.

"If I close the cigarette hole now," Li Guangyuan thought lazily, "I will die in three hours, or I will pass away."

Once upon a time in my hometown, my grandmother and I were almost killed by gas, because we had sealed the stove too early, and the wood in the stove was still burning out, and it was still bubbling with such blue flames. The kind of gas that poisons us is colorless and odorless, I think..."

After the charcoal had completely turned black and the floating flame had disappeared, Li Guangyuan closed the cigarette hole and lit a large candle stuck in the mouth of the wine bottle. Unexpectedly, the candle oil flowed down the wall of the bottle, condensing into a strange shape over time, and the peculiarity of the shape surprised Li Guangyuan.

He had lit so many candles that the bottle was almost completely invisible, and what he saw now was a strange uneven vessel, like an old amphora, only white and red. After that, Li Guangyuan specially invited a friend who went to Suzhou to bring him many colored candles. Later, he gave these strangely shaped bottles of candle oil to his friends and guests.

Two explosions sounded in quick succession somewhere nearby.

"This is our blasting bomb," he concluded, "what a blasting bomb." The lads blew up so well. It's just wonderful. Of course, it would be a mistake to let the bomb go off in the last few days. I'm afraid our people won't even find any trace of you. Overall, sacrifice in obscurity is unpleasant.

Now it's time to get out of a desperate situation no matter what. If you live alone, it's easier, because it's not so scary to die. But it would be terrible to see your own son die and die. Some idiots wrote in it: in the arms of a beloved loved one he died quietly. But I think that dying in the arms of your own children and grandchildren, seeing them for the last time, feeling that they are right next to you, and yet you know that this is the goodbye, this is the end of your life, they will feel miserable and sad, and I think there is nothing more terrible than this."

Once, at a reception at the embassy of the Nationalist Government in Nanjing, Li Guangyuan, together with his superiors, spoke with a young Soviet diplomat.

Li Guangyuan habitually frowned, listening to the Russians and the head of the Political Intelligence Department debating whether people have the right to believe in items that ward off evil spirits, belief in charms, omens, and so on, in the words of the embassy secretary, "the internal organs of savages."

In this rather funny argument, his superior, Ding Mocun, was also very measured in his words as usual, but his words were well-founded, and his attitude was very humble and easy-going. Li Guangyuan was very annoyed when he saw that he was dragging this Russian young man into an argument. He knew that Ding Mocun also had a history of studying in the Soviet Union, and at that time, he was still his own person, and it was the CCP that sent him to the Soviet Union to study. It's just that soon, after returning home, he defected.

"Blinding your opponent with the headlights," he thought, "and then scrutinizing him: a man's character is best seen in arguments." Ding Mocun is good at this, and no one can compare to him."

"If you know everything in the world," Ding Mocun continued, "then you have the right to refute the idea that people should believe in the miracle of evil spirits." But do you really know everything so well, I don't mean ideology, I mean physics, chemistry, mathematics"

"Which physicist or mathematician," the embassy secretary said in a hurry, "must wear something around his neck to ward off evil spirits before solving the problem?" It's just ridiculous."

"He should stop after he asks a question," Li Guangyuan thought to himself, "but he couldn't help it, and came to ask himself a question." What is important in an argument is to ask questions; As soon as a question is asked, the opponent will naturally have to answer passively, and the answer is always much more complicated than the question."

"Maybe some physicists or mathematicians really wear amulets, but they don't show them off and deliberately attract attention. Perhaps you are also negative about this possibility? Ding Mocun asked another question.

"It's naïve to deny the possibility. The category of possibility is a roundabout interpretation of the concept of the future"

"That's a good answer," Li Guangyuan thought to himself, "but he should kick the ball to the other side, for example, and ask, 'Don't you agree?'" But he didn't ask, and as a result, he put himself in a position of being beaten again."

"Shouldn, then, we also put amulets in the category of incomprehensible possibilities? Or maybe you don't agree? ”

At this time, Li Guangyuan came out to help.

"The traitor has won the argument," he assessed, "but, in fairness, it should be said that the Russian answer to the traitor's very successful question was no less wonderful." We've already talked about this topic, but if the Russian side uses questions to seize the initiative in the offensive, I don't know what our situation will be like."

"Little brother, do you understand?" Li Guangyuan's eyes were asking. The diplomat froze for a moment, his teeth clenched, the muscles of his cheeks bulging out; Li Guangyuan could see that his enlightenment had been understood by the other party.

"Don't be angry, comrade," he said to him, looking at the departing young man, "I do this much better than others, but you don't say anything about the amulets that I always meditate on my faith when I am in a very difficult situation and I am completely conscious of taking risks." Faith, only faith is the best talisman.

Twenty-three years ago, he saw his wife for the last time in Harbin; At that time, he was leaving for Shanghai first; Then he went to Paris to carry out a task assigned by his superiors in relation to the Belarusian diaspora. It was a windy, terrible, distant day. From that day on, his wife's voice and smile were deeply engraved in his heart, and she became a part of his "self" and became one with him

Li Guangyuan remembered the scene when he and his son met by chance in Hangzhou in the middle of autumn.

He remembered how his son had come to the hotel under the pseudonym "Wang Siyuan" to find him, and how they had whispered on the radio; and the pain he felt when he broke up with his son.

Li Guangyuan knew that his son was now in Yan'an, and knew that his son's task now was to protect the base area and prevent the enemy from blowing it up, just as he and other comrades protected Shanghai from being destroyed.

He knew that his son was completing a complex and difficult task, but at the same time he knew that although it was not too far from Shanghai to Yan'an, he could not meet his son because it would put him in a very dangerous position