Lengkou Pass has been known as Qingshui Mingyue Pass since ancient times. It is said that it got this name because the water near the pass is clear and the moon is bright.
A few miles east of Lengkou Pass is the Shahe River, a tributary that flows from the north through the Yanshan Great Wall to the Qinglong River in the Luanhe River system. The water is clear.
In "Shui Jing Zhu" written by Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Shahe River was called Xiaojushui, and it was said that it originated from Lengxi. People called it Lengchi, and Lengkou got its name from this.
In the early morning of this morning, the white fish belly on the horizon gradually spread, and through the dense gray clouds, it illuminated the clear sandy river water that had thawed and started to flow slowly.
On both sides of the river, which was still shrouded in a misty and hazy morning mist, there were no more industrious figures who had been busy in the farmland before dawn.
Even the birds, which are the most joyful and excited in spring, have died down.
On both sides of this gray river, there is an eerie silence.
Suddenly, a sharp and abrupt whistle came from far away in the morning fog, followed by many whistles shouting at the same time, and then came the loud singing of various birds.
Yes, because this language has never appeared on this land before. It is completely different from any language of the Chinese ethnic groups who have lived here for thousands of years. For the time being, it can only be called "bird language" .
After about a few minutes, the west bank of the river started to become noisy, with yawns, coughs, sneezes, and all kinds of chirping birds, such as annoying mosquitoes buzzing around, all kinds of messy footsteps and metal collisions. Ding-ding-dong-dong sounds filled the space.
Not long after, countless densely packed figures walked over from the morning mist, blowing puffs of white air.
They were short but stout. They were all wearing shit-yellow military cotton uniforms. Some of them had their arms open, and even the collars of their white shirts were unbuttoned, revealing a few sparse and weak chest hairs, with their chests and belly raised. Walk in the still cold air to show your strength and fearlessness.
However, Captain Tanimura Taro ignored his companions who boasted about his strong body. He was still laughing at these country boys who did not know the heights of the sky. In this weather, which was probably still below freezing, they were all overconfident in their physical endurance. Stupid new recruit.
"There are no women here. Who are you idiots going to show your strength to? To the superior? If the superior sees it, I'm afraid he won't give you a reward, but a slap in the face for your work. When you really catch a cold, you That’s how great it is.”
Captain Tanimura cursed in his heart, tightened his tight cotton clothes, took his lunch box and towel and went to the river beach to wash up.
After he had finished washing up, he had to rush to the cook as soon as possible to get today's breakfast.
"It looks like today is going to be another tiring day. It's the damn climate in northern China. Why is it still so cold in spring? Even the soil on the ground is frozen like ice. The pickaxes in my unit are all frozen." Two of them were dug up and broken."
Taro Tanimura is an authentic Kuma native. He lives in a warm climate all year round and is extremely uncomfortable with the cold in Northeast China.
Last winter, he accidentally caught a cold, which almost killed him.
A minor illness like a cold wouldn't be a problem at all in his hometown, a small village in Kumamoto Prefecture surrounded by mountains and rivers. He could just go dig some herbs in the mountains and drink them with ginger soup. Full recovery takes a few days.
However, there was no way to find any herbs in this black and white landscape of ice and snow, and the medical soldier in the squadron named Komatsu Katsuichi was also a careless guy. He just gave him a leave note and asked him to drink more heat. Water, just cover yourself with two layers of military blankets and sleep in the barracks.
As a result, in the middle of the night, Taro Tanimura developed a high fever, which made everyone start talking nonsense.
At this time, the half-baked medical soldier named Komatsu Shengyi also panicked, and had no choice but to have someone pull him in a carriage overnight to the military hospital in Harbin. And according to the military doctor in the hospital, if the delivery is delayed for a few hours, the 3rd Squadron of the 6th Division Engineer Wing of the Imperial Japanese Kwantung Army will have an additional non-combat attrition quota.
Therefore, Taro Tanimura, who had walked back and forth from the gate of hell, paid great attention to keeping warm. Even when he washed up in the early morning, he just dipped a towel in some cold river water and wiped his face casually.
Looking at the misty river across the river, Taro Tanimura, who has served for nearly four years, misses his hometown and relatives very much.
Taro Tanimura was different from other fanatical Japanese officers and soldiers. He did not want to be a soldier, or in other words, he did not have a utilitarian heart to establish meritorious service for the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor.
Although he is an authentic farmer, his family is far from poor.
Just because their small village called Dongyang Village has a very unique environment. Not only has a pleasant climate, it is also rich in rice, so you are busy with farm work in spring and autumn. In summer and winter, you can go hunting or picking mountain products in the deep mountains and old forests. Whether it is herbs or mushrooms in the mountains, they are the favorites of city residents.
Taro Tanimura followed his father, who was also the village chief of Dongyang Village, and brought the young men in the village to dump the mountain products that they dumped in the mountains every year. The property they earned from selling to those businessmen was actually more than the income from the farmland.
This kind of day is really pleasant!
Every day I can eat glutinous and soft rice balls made by my mother, sprinkled with a little sesame oil.
If you go hunting in the mountains and catch grouse and hares, you can also have a delicious meal of meat. It is really missed!
When Taro Tanimura thought of this, the image of a girl wearing a gray-white kimono with a bright smile on her face would habitually appear in his mind.
"I'm afraid Miss Jiamei from the Oishi family next door is also married, right? My father didn't mention it when he wrote last time. Is he afraid of making me sad? I wonder which guy in the village is so lucky to marry such a gentle and virtuous person like Miss Jiamei? It’s so enviable for a woman to be a wife!”
The girl next door, Oishi Yoshimi, was Taro Tanimura's favorite girl. If he hadn't been drafted into the army and left for four years, Oishi Yoshimi would have changed his name to Tanimura Yoshimi.
It should be explained here that during this period, Japan implemented a military service system, which theoretically required every male between the ages of 17 and 40 to respond to the country’s call for military service.
However, there are a considerable number of men of working age in Japan who are not willing to serve as soldiers.
Since the Meiji Restoration, the phenomenon of evading military service has always existed in Japan, especially among the middle and lower class people whose families can maintain food and clothing, but whose cultural level is not high. Militarism and bushido spirit have nothing to do with their lives. Instead, because the strong men in the family have to go After several years of military service, the loss of a strong labor force in the family will inevitably have an impact on the entire family.
Therefore, many people use various excuses to avoid being drafted.
The best excuse is to be sick and thin.
