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an angle of forty-five degrees, so the commissar refused to let him accompany us.
    Dr. Wang's right knee was injured and he had lost consciousness the night before. At the sight of us he wailed, "Please take me along, Commissar Pei! I'm still useful." His pockmarked cheeks were bathed in tears. Beside him lay a leather medical box, which I picked up and strapped across my shoulder. I helped him to his feet and together we climbed the incline to catch up with the retreating troops, gripping the branches of osier shrubs all the way.
    When we got back to the trail, there was no trace of our men. My heart lurched; scared and outraged, I was reduced to tears.
    "Don't cry, Yuan," Pei said to me.
    "I never thought they'd abandon us like this! We're their comrades," I said.
    "I screw their mothers!" cursed Tiger, his baby face streaked with tears.
    Together we entered the valley. After a few minutes' walk, when we had just passed a stretch of marshy land, a voice shouted from the edge of a larch wood, " Commissar Pei 's coming!"
    "Take us with you, Commissar Pei!"
    Voices followed one another. Then from the grass some men rose to their feet, waving and shouting. A few staggered toward us. We went down the slope to see them. Thirty yards later I felt dozens of eyes staring at us from three directions.
    "Have pity!" a man moaned.
    "Please, I'm my parents' only son."
    "Send us back to China!"
    "Oh, don't leave us behind!"
    "I'll recover soon. Commissar, please assign a stretcher to me."
    "Don't dump us in Korea!"
    There were about three hundred men in the valley, mostly wounded by artillery, some burned by napalm, and many poisoned by mushrooms and herbs, their lips purple and their faces swollen. A few weeks ago they had all been strong men in the pride of their youth and vitality, but now they were more piteous than a swarm of lepers. For a moment I was so horrified that words failed me.
    To my surprise, Pei Shan announced loudly, "Comrades, I won't abandon any of you. We shall fight our way out and get back to our base."
    Some men began sobbing and cursing the American imperialists and their own superiors who had deserted them. After they had assembled around Commissar Pei, we divided them into three teams. Now I had to assume some kind of leadership because I was an officer. We covered the dead with sheets and thin quilts, roughly dressed the wounded, and assigned the men to help each other in pairs. Before we set off, the commissar gave a short speech. "Comrades and brothers," he said, "it's obvious we're surrounded. Now in front of us are two enemies: one is the American invader and the other is hunger. We must grit our teeth to endure hunger. For the time being this is all we can do. We're going to set out now. On the way every Party member must help others and must be a model of bravery and loyalty. We're going to use the cover of darkness to slip through the gaps in the enemy's lines – "
    He was interrupted by an American plane flying slowly overhead, which was broadcasting a message urging us to capitulate, promising to treat us humanely. An endearing female voice said in standard Mandarin: "Chinese soldiers, your national leaders say you volunteered to come to Korea, but in your hearts you all know you didn't come here of your own free will. Your leaders stuck the name of the People's Volunteers on you and sent you here as cannon fodder for Stalin and Kim Il Sung. Now, you have no food or warm clothes, you dare not speak your minds, and you cannot write home. Think about it, brothers, are you really volunteers?"
    Hearing those words, a few men broke into sobs. As the plane was banking away temporarily, Pei said, "Don't be taken in by the enemy. Remember we're Chinese and must never betray our motherland. If I find anyone who wants to surrender, I'll shoot him on the spot." He slapped his pistol.
    At this point Tiger appeared. From somewhere he'd gotten hold of a mule with a lopped tail, which must once have belonged to a