In 1942, Ho, then only 17, saw little hope for himself in his home province of Shandong, which was a no-man's land being fought over by the Japanese, Chinese Communists, and Chinese Nationalists. He and several like-minded fellow students fled to Anhui, behind the Chinese front lines, to continue their schooling.
民國三十一年，年僅十七歲的何延泰，眼見山東家鄉夾在國軍、共軍及日軍三方混戰中幾無寧日，於是和幾位志同道合的同學約好，一起到後方的安徽省去讀書。