Set during the War of Resistance, when gasoline needed to be shipped from the rear-area city of Lanzhou to Chongqing, the story follows a group of resistance fighters who, to cut costs and avoid Japanese bombing, chose to use the ancient sheepskin rafts of the Yellow River as their transport. After overcoming countless hardships, they successfully delivered the gasoline to Chongqing, creating the celebrated tale of “sheepskin rafts outdoing warships.” The story realistically portrays how, during this extraordinary period, Communist Party members and Kuomintang military intelligence agents clashed and supported one another, sometimes shedding blood and making sacrifices over political views and the greater cause of the nation. The novel aims to combine a weighty sense of history with the suspense of espionage, while also showing humanity and humor.
