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BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhuanet) -- General Yang Jingyu was the commander-in-chief of the First Route division of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, during the war against the invasion by Japan. Although he died in 1940, his strategy and tactics of guerilla warfare in the mountainous areas of Northeastern China helped the United Army crush the Japanese troops in many battles.
Huang Dianjun is a 93 year old man from Longquan town, in the eastern part of Jilin province. He might be the only veteran still alive today who fought alongside General Yang Jingyu.
"The Japanese wanted to capture General Yang so badly that they mobilized elite troops to Ji'an county in 1938. But in the end, the General's guerrillas managed to defeat over 4 thousand Japanese soldiers, even though they were outnumbered by the enemy," he said.
Between 1936 and 1939, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army conducted numerous campaigns that seriously threatened the stability of Japan's occupied areas. And the first route army led by General Yang successfully launched several attacks that compelled the enemy to divert forces from other parts of China.
"The stories of General Yang show his military wisdom. This place here is where he formed the headquarters of the northeast Anti-Japanese army in 1934. It's an ideal location as the cliff could act as natural cover for defense, and the jungle allowed them to carry out guerrilla attacks," said Li Libin, vice director of research association of Yang Jingyu.
The Japanese sent large numbers of troops as they tried to encircle General Yang's army, and placed a bounty on his head. They even committed a scorched earth strategy, by looting rural harvests to cut off any means of supply.
In a bid to scare others, the Japanese invaders chopped off the general’s head and exhibited it as a trophy. That couldn't stop the resistance from turning their sorrow into anger. Over the next few months, Japanese forces reported increasing attacks by fierce insurgents.
"If we look into the components of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, it's not hard to understand why we have patriots like General Yang, or those traitors who turned their back on the country. The army was a mixture of people - Communists, peasants, former troops of the warlords, and even bandits, and each group would have had its own objective during the war," Li said.
Today in Jingyu county, locals believe that if the General's patriotism is carried forward, China will never again fall.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
