Bachmut Iris

This is a long war literature work based on the Battle of Bakhmut during the Russo-Ukrainian War from 2022 to 2023. The novel explores the last glimmer of humanity in the cruel war scene through the intertwined fates of Chinese mercenary Lin Feng and Ukrainian female teacher Anna. In May 2022, Lin Feng joined the Wagner Group due to huge debts. He was injured in the ruins in the eastern suburbs of Bachmut and was rescued by Anna hiding in the basement. Anna chose to stay in the occupied area in order to protect the students' paintings, and the two people who were supposed to be enemies formed a fragile dependence in the confined space. Lin Feng carries the past of his mother (who is of Ukrainian origin) and the trauma of losing his daughter, while Anna carries her concern for her brothers who participated in the war and her persistence in her country. In the year-long bloody battle of the siege, from peripheral consumption to urban street fighting, from the Soledar Salt Mine to the AZOM Steel Plant, the two met and separated several times in the smoke of gunfire, and were repeatedly torn between camp opposition and moral conscience. They delivered supplies through black market merchants, exchanged tokens between gunfires, and used an unspoken tacit understanding to preserve the last warmth of humanity amidst destruction. The novel strictly follows the real timeline and military details of the Battle of Bahmut, and deeply embeds the fate of fictional characters into real historical events. The work focuses on depicting the survival dilemma, ethical choices and emotional ups and downs of ordinary people in extreme environments, questioning how war alienates human nature and how fragile connections beyond positions are created in the ruins. This is not only a war epic full of tension, but also a tragic elegy dedicated to all ordinary individuals who have been swept away by the torrent of the times.