Before the Name Is Crossed Off the Fireline List

“When the war is over, I’ll marry you,” Zhong Jiaoyang told Xia Zhenzhen. “I’ll tell all of China about your heroic deeds,” Jing Chen told his comrades. One is a war hero, the other a war correspondent. Once classmates in the Soviet Union, they are now brothers who have faced life and death together on the Korean battlefield. Between them is Xia Zhenzhen, a bright, flame-like young woman from an army art troupe. But war is never a romantic fairy tale. When Jing Chen, trembling, sends the telegram reporting Mao Anying’s death; when his best friend Zhong Jiaoyang becomes one of the “ice sculpture” soldiers at Lake Changjin; when Xia Zhenzhen’s singing is drowned out by artillery fire… Jing Chen finally understands that he cannot remain just an observer. He picks up a gun and steps into the hell he has been filming. Can a war correspondent’s camera capture the hope of survival? Can an art troupe member’s song travel beyond the shores of death? A memory spanning forty years, and an ultimate secret about love and sacrifice… Beyond the Front Lines: Before the Names Are Crossed Off is a moving story that will bring you to tears and make you cherish peace today all the more.