Chapter 68 - The Mannerheim Line Welcomes You (1/2)

Chapter 68: The Mannerheim Line Welcomes You X

The woman sitting across him asked him a few other questions. Questions liked why he was here, was there someone else with him, was he a communist… Zhang Heng answered all her questions honestly. For the past few days, he did not just loiter in the forest. While traveling, he had been carefully planning how he could handle a situation like this if he ever got into one.

Hence, the woman could not fault him. Throughout the conversation, Zhang Heng managed to acquire some information about her as well. Her name was Maji, a surgeon. After the feminist movement, women’s status in society greatly improved. Despite all that, it was a rarity for a woman to become a surgeon in this era. After graduation, Maji had to leave her motherland for Switzerland, spending some time there before moving back to Finland to work in a hospital.

When the war broke out, she did not leave Finland, instead, choosing to stay behind as a volunteer. She was the only doctor for the entire base camp. And the man with the mustache, Ah Ji, was the second lieutenant in this camp. His job was to command the guerilla troops.

As she was finished with her questioning, Maji squinted and stared hard at Zhang Heng.

“I know what you want now. However, I can’t make the decision right now. Go back to where you come from. I will relay everything that you told me to Ah Ji.”

“How is she doing?” asked Zhang Heng before leaving the cottage.

“About her… real lucky she was.. brought back in the nick of time. The surgery was a huge success. I have given her a good few pints of blood. Two days ago, we received a batch of anti-inflammatories from Switzerland. She should be fine. I think she should regain consciousness by tomorrow morning,” Maji replied while staring blankly.

Zhang Heng could sense that her mind was elsewhere when she answered his question. She might have been thinking about personal business or about the guerillas. Whatever it was, he knew that this was not the right time to ask. Simply nodding his head, he headed back to the storeroom.

This time, he waited for a long time before someone knocked at his door. When dawn had broken, a guerilla fighter came into the storeroom and delivered the first meal of the day. His breakfast included a bowl of venison soup, half a loaf of bread, and blueberry jam.

The food they served here was way better than the Soviet rations he was forced to live on. This was the advantage of fighting as Finland’s warriors. Though the guerillas had to continually hide deep in the mountains, they would constantly receive supplies from the villages nearby them. These villagers were unyielding, often informing them of the Soviet’s positions in the forest.

For the past few days, Zhang Heng had been hiding here and there. It had been a long time since he had a proper meal. As he had done everything he was capable of, it was useless to worry about things he couldn’t control. He might as well sit down and enjoy the great food in front of him.

It wasn’t until the afternoon before Maji visited again.

“I’m really sorry we can’t send you to the back of the battle line. This is a pivotal moment for the war right now. We don’t have enough people to escort you to the back of the line.”

“Just point me in the right direction and give me some supplies. I think I can travel there by myself.”

Maji simply smiled.

It then dawned on Zhang Heng, as he finally knew the reason behind it.

“Your ident.i.ty is suspicious and we don’t even know where you come from. Though we can’t fault anything that you’ve told us, it is basically impossible for us to verify your information as well. Besides, now you know where the guerilla base came is, there’s no way that we will let you go just like that,” said the doctor.