Ch 13 New Mission

"We will start off at 2000." At six-thirty in the evening, all preparations of crossing the fire line were finished. The division commander shook each of the seven people's hands, "Use this time to have a good rest."

Only after the other six members of the squad had left did Wang Yao started walking back towards the bunker. This was for the best, not having to walk together with Braginsky the Devil. Although both being members of this scouting squad and would have to stay together in the next few days, Wang Yao still liked to enjoy the final vacant hours and avoid him completely.

This was the historical winter of 1941. After several months of arduous battles confronting the German army in the outskirt of Moscow, everyone from the generals in headquarters to the soldiers in trenches knew clearly that this was the time to counterstrike the invaders and wiped them out before Moscow.

On the second day after the quarrel between Wang Yao and Ivan, the twenty-two-year-old platoon leader, Lieutenant Kaletin received an order to send off a squad to the occupied Rogachevo-Bereza region for reconnaissance mission. Whether they were capable to gather sufficient and correct information would determine if they could reclaim Tula—a city 165 kilometers south of Moscow—according to plan.

Lieutenant Kaletin wanted to go with his fellow scouts who each other had withstood the test of many missions. But after several difficult months, some experienced scouts foreverly remained under the frozen soil; some were injured and sent back to the hospital; others never came back from the mission. The new recruits didn't have any experience.

Among all scouts that were good and useable, the lieutenants counted only Kareshev, Sasha, Pavlik, Egorov and Wang. "We need one more." The lieutenant reported to the division commander, "But Lorinaitis fell ill at this moment."

"Braginsky of our cavalry side already reported to me and applied to join your squad." said the division commander. "His home is in Bereza. It helps to bring someone who knows the way around."

As Wang Yao walked out of the division commander's bunker, he saw the scouting squad members hanging out there. The cheerful and chatty Sasha—the young man who went with Wang Yao to testify for Toris—was rolling makhorka* cigarette as he poked fun of Ivan.

"I say, dude! You've gotta get used to our footman's way of scouting! You had your comfy life style on four legs before, but now you only got two to rely on!"

"If I won't get used to it, I wouldn't join the infantry mission." A child-like cruelty resurfaced in Ivan's eyes. "And what kind of rider am I now? My Kostya had already sacrificed…"

Wang Yao kept a sullen straight face, trying not to look at him, turned around and about to walk away. The middle-aged sapper* Kareshev walked up and pat his shoulder, "Young man, this is not a good time to hold grudges. You might regret it and it would be too late."

He—a hero's son—Wang Yao, was never a bad boy that provoked conflicts. Never had he been!

As he walked straight back to the bunker, Wang Yao threw himself on the haystack and was secretly mad at himself: they were about to carry out a mission but here he was, holding grudges for personal matters.

Didn't he always want to be like his father? A cultured, composed and widely-respected character! He was never upset but was always convincing to other people…These were what he heard from his mother and other old comrades since his father came home only once in a while after a long period of time. As the son, he had always admired his father, helped out his mother and took care of his little sister. He never got into trouble with anyone except once when a few hooligans at school called him a wild child without a father. Being always a polite and easy-going character, he went nuts and got into hell of a fight with them. He always took pride for his father but couldn't tell others what his father was doing…*

Every time his father came home in a different look: he could be a business man wearing gold-rimmed glasses this time and a humble street pedlar carrying a shoulder pole the next. There was once that his sister Chunyan* opened the door and was frightened into tears by the big beard man outside. It was around that time when father brought the entire family to Yan'an* where he had new friends and could proudly tell them who his father was. And it was also that time when father gave him the horse Feiyun on his departure: "Son, when you grow up, ride Feiyun and come to my troops!"

But no one undertood these things! If people knew that his conflict with Ivan was simply due to a horse, they would've thought that he acted over-sentimental. Ever since yesterday when Ivan said that "I almost have to suspect if you really had a sort of 'special' past", he decided not to befriend with Ivan anymore.

"I'm a soldier." He said to himself, "I obey the lieutenant's order unconditionally, and will cooperate with my fellow soldiers unconditionally."

He jumped up from the haystack like a military man, covered his winter coat with snow camouflage overcoat, tied hand grenades and a dagger on the waistbelt and put his handgun in his inner pocket. As a scout soon to start the mission, his body merged into the vast snow field as one, becoming an alert snow wizard. He handed all the letters, photos and identifications to the supply chief to hold on for him, only saving one thing in his innermost chest pocket—the pouch that Lerika made for him. Ever since Branginsky shot that dear little white horse that resembled so much of his Feiyun, all there was to cherish in his military life was reduced to this little pouch.

As he was about to set out, Toris who had been lying in bed in a corner called him with a hoarse voice. Toris' cold seemed to be getting worse than yesterday.

Wang Yao quickly walked over, with one hand gently holding the sick friend's hand and the other placing on the patient's forehead. Then he frowned, "The fever still hasn't gone yet. Make sure you take your medications on time."

"Here." Toris reached into the pocket of his military coat which covered him, pulled out a small bag and put into Wang Yao's hand. "I saved up some food these few days. I've got no appetite anyway, so take it with you on the road."

"Isn't this the pocket you used to carry the sugar?"

"Sugar, all given to the kids…It's ice and snow everywhere, Natasha won't find any flowers anyway. Might as well put it into good use…"

Wang Yao looked at his friend's emaciated face from prolonged fever and suddenly wrapped his arms around him into a tight hug:

"Toris! My good friend…If I could distribute this world's happiness, I would give the biggest portion of happiness to you…"

"Take care of yourself on the road…You always think about others and forget about yourself…If only I could've not caught the cold!"

"Listen to what you say! Toris, you are the one who always look after everyone else but yourself. We'll be back when you recover." He smiled to the patient like a little boy, "Maybe then Natasha would understand your heart…"

Wang Yao lifted the curtain and walked into December's glorious bitter cold. The squad was leaving at eight o'clock to the enemy's rear.

Makhorka: A type of nicotine leaf used to roll cigarette. It was smoked casually by the lower classes before normal tobacco became widely available (after WWII), and is still sometimes smoked by peasants and farmers.

Sapper: military engineer

Chunyan: Wang Yao's little sister in the story. The name is from fem!China, as is widely believed among Chinese fans.

Yan'an: A historical city of inner China; also the CCP headquarter between 1935 and 1948.

Wang Yao could not reveal his father's identity because at the time, the Communist and the Nationalist were in a struggle against each other; revealing one's identity could've been extremely disadvantaged if one was in the other's territory. In addition, both parties at the time were at war against the Japanese (the Nationalist was the official government troops while the Communist was mainly involved with guerilla warfares). Revealing one's identity as a soldier would've risked his safety than if he were to pretend as civilian, be it businessman or farmer.