Companions in Mountains and Rivers

One by one, our predecessors were still fighting against Japan, let alone our generation! The title of the novel opens like a thunderbolt, deeply anchoring a heroic epic of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party's cooperation in resisting Japan on the historical coordinates of national peril. This novel transcends the limitations of partisan narratives and uses Shen Yantang's 3rd National Army Regiment and Lin Yue's Eighth Route Army Detachment as clues to outline the spiritual group portrait of the Chinese people fighting for the national disaster amidst the smoke of artillery fire. The moving part of the novel is that the hero returns to flesh and blood. The scar on the brow of National Army Commander Shen Yantang and the bullet mark on the shoulder of Eighth Route Army instructor Lin Yue are not symbolic decorations, but medals tempered by the flames of war. Chen Xiaoman grew from a cowherd boy to a warrior, and Li Tieshan charged with a sword still wielding his broken hand. The growth and perseverance of these characters turned "anti-Japanese" from a grand slogan to a promise that every ordinary person fulfills with his or her life. The cold-night collaboration in Yanmen Pass, the street fighting in Songhu, and the hand-to-hand fighting in Taierzhuang. The novel uses concrete battlefield details to restore the true past of the Kuomintang and Communist soldiers who "though the parties are different, the mountains and rivers are of the same mind." There is no deliberate praise or criticism, only the firelight of bullets and back-to-back trust, allowing readers to understand that victory is never a miracle of fighting alone. When the medal at the end shines in the sunset, this "elegy" finally becomes a heroic song. It not only remembers the sacrifices in the smoke of gunfire, but also shows that when the nation is in danger, working together is the most indestructible Great Wall. The novel uses blood as ink to write the song of national unity. This is not only a piece of history, but also the spirit of unity of the Chinese nation that will never go out of style.