Fourteen Years of War: The Land Returns to the Blade

The guns of September 18 thundered, and overnight the land of Northeast China fell. Liu Zhenbang’s father, Liu Tieshan, defied orders to retreat and led his troops in a lone stand against the enemy, fighting to the death and giving his life for his country. His home was burned, his family scattered, and the young man bore the burden of a blood feud. Under his hunter grandfather’s tutelage, he mastered marksmanship that could hit a target at a hundred paces. From a veteran, he learned a fierce and formidable blade technique. When his younger sister, who had gone to school in Shenyang, disappeared amid the war, he set out on a journey spanning thousands of miles to find her and save the country. Amid the blizzards beyond the passes, he meets Su Wanqing, a lone girl whose entire family has perished. In this age of chaos, they entrust their lives to one another. He also swears brotherhood with three passionate young men from very different backgrounds. Experts in demolition, assault, and reconnaissance, their ragtag squad is forged in the flames of war. They travel from the forests of Northeast China, crossing the Great Wall, to lie low and hone their skills in a blacksmith’s shop, then journey to a distant island in search of the remnants of his father’s unit. As war spreads across China, they fight bloody battles in Songhu, defend Nanjing to the death, and witness the Nanjing Massacre. They fight fiercely in the Battle of Wuhan, and amid the artillery fire of the battlefield, they marry. The siblings take different paths in serving their country: his sister breaks through the blockade and heads to Yan’an to join the revolution, while his sworn younger brother infiltrates enemy ranks, hiding in the shadows to gather intelligence. With the country in ruins and his family lost, the young man sheds his boyish innocence. In the Burma campaign, he crosses the deadly wilderness of the Savage Mountain and faces the hell of Songshan. Fourteen years of war and smoke sweep across the land. Brothers are buried on the battlefield, lovers stand by each other through life and death, and family members gaze toward one another from afar. This is the story of a generation’s suffering and resistance, of ordinary people who, with their flesh and blood, upheld a boundless dawn for a shattered China.