When I was 5 years old in 1938, I went shopping with my older brother to a bustling town and saw a mother carrying a bundle of clothes on her back, holding a child in her arms, with a girl of about five or six years old behind her, crying all the way. Her mother turned around ferociously and scolded, "If you don't run fast, the Jap soldiers will kill you when they catch up."
It was the first time I heard about "Jap soldiers killing people." I overheard people by the roadside saying that they had fled from Jiangnan, and the child's father had been killed by the Jap soldiers; saying that the Jap soldiers killed people on sight, looted whatever they saw, and burned down houses; and saying that the Jap soldiers would arrive soon. A few days later, I heard that countless people were fleeing on the main road, with no place for the people to hide like birds and beasts. It was said that the devils were massacring Nanjing, with corpses floating in the river and blood flowing like a river.
Not long after, Japanese planes bombed the town, and my grandfather was nearly killed. Many relatives' houses were burned down. Bad news came every day, the Chinese army couldn't beat the Japanese army, and many defeated soldiers evacuated from remote villages overnight. People called them the "Eighth Route Army," these troops were all known as fighting against the Japs, but in reality, they were just as troubling to the people as the Japs, looting whatever they saw, catching chickens, ducks, and geese at sight, and even killing and eating seedling pigs. When the soldiers entered a house, they would search for rice in the rice jar, pull out grass from the haystack, and didn't bother about the quantity or the price. If anyone dared to argue, the soldiers would shout, "Damn, I'm risking my life to fight against the Japs, and you want money for your stuff?" One day, when the soldiers came to our door, our whole family was having a meal. Seeing the soldiers, we all put down our bowls. My older siblings all hid, and the soldiers, like starving wolves, snatched and gobbled up the rice from our bowls. What's even more infuriating is when they reached people's houses.Disorderly search, under the pretext of investigating traitors, rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for gold, silver, and jewelry, raping women who were hiding; after being defeated in battle, seeking a concubine, the commander of the Eighth Brigade, Yang Zhonghua, found a third miss from a wealthy family to be his fourth concubine in the local area.
Therefore, during those days, my father and the others all hid in the fields and grass; Jin Ying, my mother, and my aunts all lived together in one house. People were both afraid of the invaders coming to kill and burn, and resentful of the national army searching and pillaging. They heard that there were even worse communist forces coming, called the "Marauding Army" and "Ravenous Brigade," who would take people away and eat all the grass. The common people were even more frightened upon hearing this, crying and praying to the heavens and Buddhas, hoping that the "Marauding Army" and "Ravenous Brigade" would not come.
In the autumn of 1940, something happened in our family:
One evening, my father suddenly had a migraine. My aunt had a common remedy for this ailment, and my mother asked Jin Rong to go to my aunt's house to get the medicine. My aunt's house was only three miles away from ours, but it required passing through a haunted and deserted graveyard where ghostly flames flickered. Most people dared not pass through at night and had to take a longer detour of another mile and a half. My mother also advised him to take the longer route, but Jin Rong, who was only twelve years old, had always been proud of his courage and, at the same time, was anxious about his father's illness, so he insisted on crossing through the desolate and windy graveyard.
In the misty moonlight, he approached the middle of the graveyard and suddenly caught sight of what looked like statues of mud or wooden carvings sitting among the grass, not moving at all. If it were someone else, upon encountering such a ghostly sight, they would surely turn and run away. But Jin Rong did not run back, instead, he steadied himself, suppressed his fear, and bravely...He walked calmly through the crowd of graves. As he approached a group of people sitting around a grave, suddenly, one person stood up slowly. Their body was so close to Jing Rong's that they could almost grab him, but Jing Rong didn't seem overly nervous.
The person called out softly, "Hey, neighbor!"
Jing Rong grunted and stood still.
The person continued in a calm voice, "Neighbor, don't be afraid. We are the Eighth x Route x Army.""Well, I'm not afraid," Jin Rong, although he had not heard of them, immediately asked, "Aren't you the Communist Army?"
The man replied, "Yes, we are the young soldiers led by the Communist Party." Jin Rong thought to himself, "I have long heard of your great names, and finally met you tonight."
"Hey, do you know East Zheng Village?" the man asked in a northern accent.
"I do!"
"How far is it from here?"
"About ten miles."
"Could you lead us there?"
"Yes," Jin Rong thought to himself, "Rumors are not false; you really take people away when you see them."
"That's great!" The soldier gestured to get up, and the rest of the men followed Jin Rong to the east. It turned out to be a small unit that had lost its way in the maze of rivers and paddy field paths.
Although Jin Rong knew of the village, he had never been there himself, and now with chaos of war, trenches and barriers being built, waterways, bridges, and fords had all changed. Furthermore, in accordance with the commander's requirements, they had to try to avoid the landlord's villages and thieves' dens along the way. So, the ten-plus mile journey took four hours. They finally reached their destination and joined the main force.
Following the instructions of the senior officer, their small unit settled in a farmhouse outside the village. Perhaps the troops in the village were already stationed there, and the person who spoke to Jin Rong first might have been a platoon leader. He held Jin Rong's hand and said, "Young fellow, thank you so much. You will stay here for the night and return at dawn."Jin Rong nodded, it was only like this even in such a late night, and he didn't even care about his father's headache. As the troops approached a large farmhouse, Jin Rong thought to himself, "We're about to kick the door! We're about to shout 'x, open the door!' because that's what usually happens wherever the Kuomintang troops go."
However, the platoon leader lightly knocked on the door three times with his finger, and an old lady's voice came from inside."Who is it?"
The platoon leader and Qia answered, "Fellow villager, please open the door. We are the Eighth Route Army!"
The person inside kept saying, "Ah, guests are here! Guests are here!"
A young farmer big brother opened the door, and the big sister-in-law lit the lamp, inviting the troops into the house with a smile. Jin Rong secretly wondered: Why didn't these young men and women hide?
The small troop settled in and started cooking. They resembled one big family with the farmers; the old grandpa carried grass, the old grandma made the fire, the young big brother fetched water, and the young big sister-in-law washed rice. The troops didn't want them to work, but they insisted on helping out. They talked affectionately, discussed matters amicably, borrowed grain and straw, and weighed everything carefully, measuring each item by weight. Even two bowls of pickles scooped out from the farmer's jar were priced and considered fully paid for, and they refused to eat without paying.
The platoon leader bought eggs from the old lady; she could only find three, and the platoon leader paid more than the market price for them and cooked them all. Jin Rong thought to himself, "Only the platoon leader can eat these three eggs."When it was time for the troops to eat, they also invited Jin Rong to join them. The platoon leader dug out three cooked eggs from the hot rice and stuffed them into Jin Rong's hand. Jin Rong tried to pass them to other soldiers, but they insisted on staying in his hand. Jin Rong felt embarrassed to eat them, so one soldier stuffed them into his pocket.
Jin Rong lay on the straw mat with many other soldiers. One soldier lying next to him said, "We are the troops of the Communist Party, led by Chairman Mao and Commander Zhu. We fight the Japanese and resist the invaders. We help the poor seek liberation and revolution. We are not afraid of hardship or death, and we cannot take anything from the people for granted. We have the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention." Jin Rong was utterly fascinated by what he heard.
As soon as day broke, Jin Rong got up to leave. The platoon leader wanted him to stay for breakfast before leaving, but Jin Rong insisted on leaving before breakfast. However, the platoon leader grabbed his hand, and Jin Rong thought, "Are they really not letting me go home?" Soon after, a soldier ran in with two pancakes he bought from the village and forced Jin Rong to eat them, while the other soldiers did not eat anything. Jin Rong ate.Half of them had to leave, and the platoon leader stuffed the rest into his bag. The platoon leader and the soldiers shook hands one by one to bid him farewell, and Jīnróng left the troop, reluctant to leave the unit that felt like family.
Because Jīnróng hadn't returned home all night, his mother had been anxious all night. As soon as the day broke, she asked Jīnyīng to go to her aunt's house to inquire. Her aunt replied, "Jīnróng didn't come last night!" This made the whole family very anxious.
Father didn't even care about his headache and went straight to the chaotic cemetery, followed by the whole family. They searched through the grass in the cemetery, but there was no sign of anyone. However, they found many footprints among the graves. Everyone speculated that he might have been kidnapped by thieves in the cemetery. Jīnróng's mother, aunt, Jīnyīng, and others were so anxious that they even cried.
Just when everyone was getting anxious and noisy, Jīnróng came home full of pride. As soon as he entered the door, he first divided three cooked eggs and fried dough sticks among my sister and me, and then recounted last night's adventures to the people in the house. Parents, neighbors, and classmates all felt unexpectedly amazed and hoped that there really could be such a legendary army, like the army of the Bodhisattva.Sure enough, within a few days, we really saw groups of soldiers with "Eight Route" chest badges walking through the village bridgehead from the field roads. During the day, they didn't enter the homes of the common people, but sent a few cooks to borrow stoves and cook water from the common people's homes in a friendly and polite manner. The majority of the troops gathered at the threshing ground to eat dry rations, and they paid for the grass they used. They had a kind and respectful way of addressing people of all ages, and when asking for directions, they would bow first and return borrowed items after use. Children like us who gathered to watch were given biscuits to eat, so we were very happy. Whenever we saw the army coming, we would swarm up to meet them.
When they marched at night, they initially camped on the threshing ground, but later, after my father and some of the elders invited them several times, they entered the houses and slept on the floor. Yet as soon as day broke, they got up, gathered grass, swept the floor, fetched water, chatted with the locals, helped with cleaning, inquired about the hardships of the poor, and didn't speak any frivolous words with the women. When they left, they bid farewell one by one, apologizing. They left some of the elderly confused, saying that neither in the past nor at present had they ever seen or heard of such an army.
Later, whenever the army passed by, not only us children and the elderly, but even the younger folks and newlywedsYoung women not only did not hide, but also surrounded the road to watch. They even took the initiative to lead the way for them. Kim Jong-suk and other women also took the initiative to help them wash and mend their clothes, and the laughter and joy completely forgot the fear and panic when the national army arrived.