A Romance in Red: White Dragon Stronghold

A story of the spontaneous resistance of overlooked people at the bottom of society, a people whose struggle reflects the spirit of the nation. No grand lectures, no deceptive calls to resist Japan. This story parts the clouds to reveal the true character of ordinary Chinese people once the veil is lifted. In Northeast China, Zheng Feilong is born to the thirteenth concubine of Master Zheng. He studies martial arts at Shaolin from a young age and is taught by Master Bai and the Tenth Concubine. By chance, he meets Fang Lei, leader of the White Dragon Stronghold, and the two become close friends. As Japanese aggression in the Northeast intensifies, the September 18 Incident breaks out. The Zheng family falls into misfortune, and Feilong heads south out of the pass. Along the way, he meets friends such as Black Cat, Flower Eagle, and White Snake, and rescues people from both the Nationalists and the Communists, including Zhou Tiankui and Li Guo. At last, he finds Fang Lei and rebuilds the White Dragon Stronghold. Using it as a base, they unite wealthy merchants, ordinary people, and forces from every level of society, repeatedly springing ingenious surprises and fighting the Japanese with force until victory in the War of Resistance. The story begins with Japan’s invasion of China in 1894 and ends in 1945. It follows Zheng Feilong and his fiercely patriotic friends as they fight the Japanese, while his relationships with Duoduo and several other Chinese and Japanese wives, concubines, and confidantes provide the emotional thread. The backdrop is a nation humiliated, with the entire population taking up arms. What makes this story different is that the White Dragon Stronghold answers to no one: it is ordinary people fighting the Japanese.