Chapter 4 Summary

At the factory where Hideyo works, the Korean Communists make a raid to kill all the Japanese youth who work there. Hideyo successfully hides and escapes with three friends, Makoto, Shinzo and Shoichi. The four young Japanese friends return to their village and find their houses ransacked by the Korean Communists. Hideyo takes food and supplies, including his family's savings book. The four friends change out of their Japanese school uniforms into Korean clothing. They follow the railroad tracks south, toward Seoul, and along the way, they discover that Japan has lost the war.

The four friends encounter two Russian soldiers and pass themselves off as Korean Communist members. The soldiers tell the boys where to find a small river and that the Communist Army Headquarters in Tanch'on is hiring laborers. Hideyo and his friends discover that the labor involves the disposal of...