In the vast expanse of Northeast China's snow-covered forests and mountains, on February 20, 1936, a significant declaration was made by a group of people.
"To all fellow Chinese compatriots! To all comrades in the anti-Japanese armed forces across Northeast China! The Japanese imperialist robbers, under the pretext of 'anti-communism and self-governance,' have seized the five provinces north of the Yellow River. Moreover, with the fallacy of 'Japan-China cooperation,' they aim to annex the whole of China. Recently, the Japanese invaders have been intensifying their challenges against the peaceful Soviet Union. Simultaneously, they have colluded with Italy and Germany, preparing for a major war against Britain, the United States, and France, using the lives and properties of millions of our compatriots as sacrifices for this war, turning them into slaves of a conquered nation.... Now, following the shift of the national salvation movement, the organization of the anti-Japanese forces should be further consolidated, and their actions should be unified. We will completely reorganize the establishment and names of our various military forces into the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Armies of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, as well as the anti-Japanese united army ×× guerrilla forces...."
This was the voice of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, led by remarkable individuals like Yang Jingyu.I. The Plight of Northeast China and the Rise of Resistance
By 1936, five years had passed since the fall of the three Northeast provinces into Japanese hands. This land that rightfully belonged to China had been forcibly given the false name of "Manchukuo" by the Japanese. However, much to the Japanese's headache, there was a Chinese military force that never ceased to resist even after the official withdrawal of the Northeast Army. The Japanese referred to the area where this force operated as the "cancerous zone" and called its leader the "cancer of social order in the East Side Road" (the East Side Road refers to the southeastern region of Northeast China, with an area approximately equivalent to half of Jilin and Liaoning provinces combined). The leader of this force was Yang Jingyu.Yang Jingyu's Early Life and Revolutionary Journey
Yang Jingyu was born on February 13, 1905, in Liwan Village, Queshan County, Henan Province (now in Yicheng District, Zhumadian City). Standing at an impressive height of 1.93 meters, he was fluent in the Northeast dialect. Despite not being a native of the Northeast, his life was to be deeply intertwined with the region's fight against Japanese aggression.
Originally named Ma Shangde, Yang Jingyu's life took a revolutionary turn. In 1923, at the age of 18, he was admitted to Henan Provincial Kaifeng Textile and Dyeing Industrial School (now Henan Institute of Engineering). Like many passionate young people of that era, he secretly participated in the revolutionary movement and joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in 1926.
Yang Jingyu's initial forte was not military command but rather mobilizing the peasant movement. In 1927, dispatched by the Communist Party of China, he returned to his hometown Queshan County to develop the peasant movement. In a short period, the membership of the peasant association grew to over 10,000 people. That same year, Yang Jingyu led the Peasant Uprising in southern Henan, leading tens of thousands of armed peasants to occupy Queshan County and defeat a brigade of the Eighth Army of the Beiyang Army.
In 1929, Yang Jingyu left his hometown and was sent by the organization to Northeast China. Initially using the alias "Zhang Guanyi," he established Party organizations in Fushun Coal Mine and gradually got involved in military leadership work. During this process, Yang Jingyu's tenacious character became evident. He was arrested and imprisoned five times, endured severe torture, but never wavered.
After the "September 18th Incident" in 1931, Northeast China fell into Japanese hands. Although the Northeast Army, which had been ordered not to fire a single shot during the incident, withdrew, many brave men, with Ma Zhanshan as a representative, refused to give up resistance. Across the land of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning, numerous regular troops, police brigades, and guerrilla forces emerged, collectively known as the "Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army."
However, lacking unified command and with a single combat tactic, the Volunteer Army, despite their passion, were easily defeated one by one by the Japanese. By around 1933, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army had largely disintegrated.
At this juncture, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish an anti-Japanese national united front under the Party's leadership in Northeast China. Based on the South Manchuria Guerrilla Force and the Hailong Guerrilla Force, the First Independent Division of the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army was established, with Yang Jingyu serving as the division commander and political commissar.
Subsequently, in August 1935, the Manchuria Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish the "Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army" based on the Communist Party-led Northeast People's Revolutionary Army, Anti-Japanese United Army, and guerrilla forces, in combination with other anti-Japanese armed forces. Yang Jingyu was appointed as the commander and political commissar of the First Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. From then on, the name Yang Jingyu became a nightmare for the Japanese Kwantung Army.II. Yang Jingyu's Military Strategies and the Impact on the Japanese
In Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, there are a batch of memorial tablets called the "Ten Brave Warriors of the Human Bullet." Here, "human bullet" has nothing to do with food but was used by Japanese militarism at that time to metaphorically refer to "suicide charges." As the name implies, the "Ten Brave Warriors of the Human Bullet" were ten individuals who launched suicide charges.
According to Japanese records of that time, ten Kwantung Army soldiers, including Corporal Higashi Sei, were counter-surrounded during a pursuit of Chinese troops. In despair, they rushed into the opponent's position - strictly speaking, it was a "suicide" that had no real "attacking" effect. According to research by the Japanese-based writer Sa Su, the Chinese troops that surrounded and annihilated Higashi Sei and his comrades were led by Yang Jingyu.
At that time, there was a saying in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army: "South Yang and North Zhao." "North Zhao" referred to another famous general, Zhao Shangzhi, and "South Yang" was Yang Jingyu. The name "Yang Jingyu" was changed in 1932 because "Jingyu" means "driving out foreign enemies" in Korean.
Zhao Shangzhi was known for his fierce and aggressive fighting style, while Yang Jingyu was characterized by his flexibility and especially his proficiency in guerrilla warfare. Facing the powerful Kwantung Army, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army abandoned the previous mainly positional warfare style of the "Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army" and instead adopted the guerrilla tactics of "retreating when the enemy advances, attacking when the enemy is in chaos," causing great headaches for the Kwantung Army and the puppet Manchukuo troops.
According to the statistics of the Japanese and puppet statistical agencies at that time, in 1935 alone, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army launched 39,105 battles of various sizes across the three Northeast provinces. By 1940, a total of nearly 70,000 battles had been launched. Based on the statistical data released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese lost nearly 270,000 soldiers in Northeast China. After subtracting the 80,000 soldiers announced to have been annihilated by the Soviet Union, the remaining 180,000 should be attributed to the efforts of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and other anti-Japanese volunteer armies. At its peak in 1941, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army pinned down 760,000 Japanese troops in the three Northeast provinces (to be fair, another major task of the Japanese was to defend against the Soviet Union).
Gradually, the Kwantung Army focused their attacks on Yang Jingyu, the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. The extent of the Kwantung Army's hatred for Yang Jingyu can be seen from Japanese records of that time. Starting from 1938, the Japanese Kwantung Army Headquarters mobilized 60,000 troops and police brigades specifically to "suppress" Yang Jingyu (the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army had a peak strength of only 30,000 people). The orders issued were: when encountering the anti-Japanese united army and other forces, let the others go and only attack the anti-Japanese united army; when encountering Yang Jingyu's troops within the anti-Japanese united army, let the others go and only attack Yang Jingyu's troops.
Simultaneously, the Kwantung Army began to review their original combat strategies and made three changes:
In the areas where the anti-Japanese united army was active, they carried out armed military-civilian resettlement and the Baojia mutual-responsibility system. Every two or three hundred households were fenced in with barbed wire to live together, with watchtowers and patrols set up. Civilians were not allowed to carry extra food and clothing when entering or leaving, cutting off all connections between the anti-Japanese united army and the local people.Once the anti-Japanese united army was discovered, they would closely pursue and attack without letting up, forcing the anti-Japanese united army to continuously divide their forces to break through, gradually reducing their strength.They changed the previous indiscriminate killing policy and offered amnesty and preferential treatment to defectors from the anti-Japanese united army.
It turned out that these three measures had an impact, and the most effective was the third one. The damage caused by traitors was always astonishing.III. The Betrayals and the Final BattleThe First Traitor: Cheng Bin
In July 1938, Cheng Bin, the commander of the First Division of the First Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army under Yang Jingyu, defected to the enemy. Cheng Bin was a favored subordinate of Yang Jingyu, known as the "Little Yang Jingyu," and was fierce and accurate in battle. The Kwantung Army captured Cheng Bin's mother and coerced him to surrender.
Cheng Bin ultimately chose to surrender, not alone but with 115 of his subordinates, bringing a large amount of firearms, ammunition, and cash with him. Anji Kiyonaga, the director of the Public Security Department of Pseudo-Tonghua Province, held a grand welcome ceremony for Cheng Bin and announced the establishment of the "Cheng Bin Police Brigade." Anji Kiyonaga also presented his own saber to Cheng Bin.
The first "great merit" Cheng Bin achieved after defecting was leading the Japanese to destroy more than 70 secret camps set up by Yang Jingyu in Mengjiang County (now Jingyu County). These secret camps were the places where the anti-Japanese united army stored food, cloth, medicine, and firearms. After losing the logistical support of the local people, these secret camps were the lifeblood of the anti-JJapanese united army. Overnight, Yang Jingyu's troops were plunged into a desperate situation of being out of ammunition and food.The Second Traitor: Ding Shoulong
In the fall of 1939, the Kwantung Army launched a comprehensive sweep against Yang Jingyu's troops. The vanguard was composed of 10 pseudo-police brigades under Anji Kiyonaga - including Cheng Bin, and all 10 pseudo-brigade commanders were traitors.
Cheng Bin was so familiar with Yang Jingyu and the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army's tactics and routes that he could even predict where Yang Jingyu's troops would move next just by looking at the terrain. During this process, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army suffered huge losses and a significant reduction in personnel.
In January 1940, Yang Jingyu's troops were out of ammunition and food. In the freezing snow environment of minus 20 degrees Celsius, they had to wrap their feet in cloth and walk in the snow, and when hungry, they could only gnaw on tree bark. To solve the problem of troop supplies, Yang Jingyu ordered the main force to break through northward, while he himself continued to engage the enemy with a dozen or so of his closest soldiers.
On January 22, 1940, the second "important" traitor emerged. Ding Shoulong, the staff officer of Yang Jingyu's Guard Brigade, was captured by the Pseudo-Tonghua Province Police Brigade and immediately defected. Yang Jingyu's hidden location and troop strength were then known to the Japanese. The encirclement was significantly narrowed.The Third Traitor: Zhang Xiufeng
On February 1, 1940, the third "important" traitor appeared. Zhang Xiufeng, Yang Jingyu's bodyguard, defected with a large amount of funds and some top-secret documents. Zhang Xiufeng was raised by Yang Jingyu since childhood, and they had a father-son-like relationship. Zhang Xiufeng's defection was completely unexpected by Yang Jingyu. More importantly, Zhang Xiufeng revealed Yang Jingyu's breakthrough route and intentions, further narrowing the Japanese encirclement until they could almost accurately locate Yang Jingyu.The Final Encounter and Yang Jingyu's Last Stand
On February 22, 1940, Yang Jingyu encountered a traitor, and this encounter was fatal.
That morning, alone and having not eaten for five days and five nights (two of his bodyguards had sacrificed while going down the mountain to buy food), Yang Jingyu was in the mountains five miles west of Bao'an Village. Finally, he saw four "villagers" who were chopping firewood. One of them, Zhao Tingxi, was a platoon leader of the puppet army.
Yang Jingyu pleaded with them to go back and bring some food and cotton shoes, promising a generous reward (Yang Jingyu did have a lot of cash with him, but he couldn't buy food).
Zhao Tingxi advised him: "I think you'd better surrender. Now, the 'Manchukuo' doesn't execute those who surrender."
Yang Jingyu replied: "Fellow countryman, I am Chinese! I can't do such a thing. If all of us Chinese surrender, China will be doomed!"
Zhao Tingxi, who had promised to get some food for Yang Jingyu, met another traitor, Li Zhengxin, on his way back. Afraid that the other three would report seeing Yang Jingyu first, Zhao Tingxi immediately told the whole story.
At around 3 pm on February 23, 1940, the Japanese troops arrived and surrounded Yang Jingyu's final hiding place.IV. The Final Moments of Yang Jingyu
Both the "Manchukuo Police History" of Japan and the internal archives of the puppet Manchukuo period, "The Work of Maintaining Public Order in the East Side Road," recorded the final moments of Yang Jingyu's life.
When they were 50 meters away from Yang Jingyu's hiding place, the Japanese commander, Nishitani Kiyoto, ordered the troops to stop advancing.
Nishitani Kiyoto began to shout: "Are you Commander Yang?"
Throughout the South Manchuria region, both the Japanese and puppet troops had become accustomed to calling Yang Jingyu "Commander Yang," completely forgetting to address him by his real name.
Yang Jingyu replied: "Yes, I am Commander Yang."
Nishitani Kiyoto continued to shout: "We are the police team from Tonghua. Among our troops, those who were once your comrades have all surrendered. If you can surrender, Director Anji will surely welcome you warmly. Now, it's impossible to escape from this place. Why rush to die? Consider surrendering, okay?"
Yang Jingyu responded: "I cherish my life, but I won't do as you wish. Many of my subordinates have sacrificed, and now I'm alone. Although facing difficulties, my comrades are still fighting in various places. The day of your destruction will surely come. I will resist to the end. No need to say more. Shoot!"
Gunshots rang out.
Yang Jingyu held two guns and kept shooting. After his right arm was hit, he continued to fire with his left hand.
Seeing that there was no hope of capturing him alive, Nishitani Kiyoto ordered to shoot Yang Jingyu dead. A bullet immediately pierced Yang Jingyu's chest. The shooter was Zhang Xiufeng, a famous machine gunner in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, who had surrendered with Cheng Bin and was once a favored subordinate of Yang Jingufu.
It is said that during the battle, Yang Jingyu, leaning against a tree, shouted: "Which one of you from the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army has surrendered? Come out! I have something to say!"
When Yang Jingyu fell in the snow, the Japanese couldn't believe they had really shot the famous "Commander Yang."
After confirming that the body was Yang Jingyu, according to the Japanese report at that time: "It's Yang. Then all the punitive expedition members let out a manly cry."
If those traitors shed a few tears secretly, it might be believable, but the Japanese would never be in the mood to cry. All they had was curiosity: What supported Yang Jingyu to survive for so long in the freezing snow of minus 20 degrees Celsius? Did he still have "secret camps"?
The Japanese later dissected Yang Jingyu's stomach.
They were disappointed. There were only three things in Yang Jingyu's stomach: cotton wool, straw, and tree bark.
Anji Kiyonaga sighed: "Although he was an enemy, seeing his heroism, I can't help but be impressed. A great hero!"
Among Yang Jingyu's belongings, besides pistols, bullets, and pocket watches, the Japanese found a special item: a harmonica.
The Japanese couldn't understand why Yang Jingyu would carry a harmonica in such an environment where there was not enough food and life was constantly at risk.
The brigade that first surrounded and captured Yang Jingyu included Cheng Bin, but it's not clear which one itexactly was. Cheng Bin managed to escape punishment for a while but was finally identified and executed by gunshot in 1951. Zhao Tingxi was captured by the masses in 1946 and was executed in front of Yang Jingyu's grave. However, due to various reasons such as lack of evidence and the statute of limitations, Zhang Xiufeng and others escaped punishment. Zhang Xiufeng firmly denied shooting Yang Jingyu in his later years (although others all identified him as the shooter).
It is said that when the harmonica was discovered, An Guangxun, the former chief of staff of the First Route Army of the Anti-Japanese United Army who had defected, couldn't help but burst into tears. Yang Jingyu used to take out that harmonica and play tunes for the soldiers of the Anti-Japanese United Army during breaks.V. The Aftermath and the Return of the Anti-Japanese United Army
On August 9, 1945, along the Sino-Soviet border, 1.5 million Soviet troops launched a general offensive against the Japanese Kwantung Army like a tidal wave. Among the million-strong army, there was a force of more than 1,000 people who parachuted behind the Japanese Kwantung Army in Northeast China to carry out a surprise attack.
These troops were all Chinese. They were the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army soldiers who had been forced to retreat northward, fighting all the way until they retreated into the Soviet Union. The old comrades of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army finally fought their way back to their homeland in this manner.
However, in the snow-capped mountains and rivers of Northeast China, the familiar and melodious sound of the harmonica could no longer be heard.VI. Reflections on the Evaluation of Military Contributions During the Anti-Japanese War
There has been a long-standing debate regarding the contributions of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party during the Anti-Japanese War. It has been said that on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang army sacrificed 206 generals, while the Communist Party army sacrificed only one (Zuo Quan, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Eighth Route Army). The implication seems clear. Before this, I have written about many heroic Kuomintang generals, and I also believe that the textbooks in the past may have unduly downplayed the role of the Kuomintang army in the Anti-Japanese War. However, simply measuring the contributions of both sides on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War by the number of sacrificed generals is another form of overcorrection.
First of all, among the more than 200 generals of the Kuomintang army, many died in frictions with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. The Communist Party of China only acknowledges the sacrifice of more than 100 Kuomintang generals in the Anti-Japanese War. Secondly, among the Kuomintang generals, nearly 60 were posthumously promoted to the rank of major general, and many of them had only the rank of regimental commander during their lifetimes. If calculated according to this standard, the Communist Party of China sacrificed nearly 200 cadres above the regimental level during the Anti-Japanese War. The achievements and the scale of the troops commanded by many county brigade commanders have already surpassed those of the regimental commanders or even brigade commanders of the Kuomintang army. However, during the 1955 military rank awarding, only the living were awarded ranks, and those who sacrificed were only posthumously recognized as "martyrs". Thirdly, the Kuomintang army had a complete military rank awarding system. The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were under the leadership of the Kuomintang during the Anti-Japanese War, but only 31 people were awarded ranks during that period, and the others were not given military ranks. So how could they be accurately counted?
The reason for thinking about this is Yang Jingyu. Judging from the number of troops commanded by Yang Jingyu and Zhao Shangzhi, they should have been at the rank of lieutenant general of the Kuomintang according to the sequence. Given their arduous achievements and sacrifices, they should at least be posthumously promoted to the rank of second-class general or above. However, when writing about Yang Jingyu, I really didn't know what rank to assign him. I could only address him as the "commander-in-chief". No one had ever awarded a rank to Yang Jingyu. And I think that when Yang Jingyu and his Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army were fighting the Japanese invaders to the death in the snowstorm, they probably never thought about what rank they actually were.
Finally, let's end with a story about a Japanese. Remember Anji Kiyonaga, the then director of the Public Security Department of Pseudo-Tonghua Province? Because of eliminating Yang Jingyu, he was promoted all the way until he reached the position of deputy governor of Pseudo-Shanxi Province. Due to Yang Jingyu, he developed a strong interest in Chinese soldiers and had been doing research on them ever since. However, in 1945, Japan surrendered. On the eve of Japan's surrender, Anji Kiyonaga wrote a suicide note, poisoned his wife and daughter with potassium cyanide, and then committed seppuku. This incident caused a stir in Japan. It is said that there was a sentence in his suicide note: "Perhaps it was inappropriate for His Majesty the Emperor to launch this war of aggression against China. With Chinese soldiers like Yang Jingyu, China will never be conquered." The authenticity of this last word is unprovable, but the truth is clear: Chinese soldiers in this 14-year life-and-death struggle to defend their nation's existence have been fighting bravely, one after another, and have never stopped. Yang Jingyu was never awarded a rank until his sacrifice, but we have always respectfully called him "General". May there always be such "generals" in China, not only in the past, but also in the present and in the future.
Yang Jingyu's story is a vivid portrayal of the unwavering resistance and heroic sacrifice of the Chinese people during the arduous years of the Anti-Japanese War. His deeds should be remembered and commemorated by all, as they represent the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation in the face of foreign aggression. The sacrifices of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and other anti-Japanese forces, as well as the complex situations and betrayals they encountered, also reflect the harsh reality of the war. The story of Anji Kiyonaga further illustrates the impact that a heroic figure like Yang Jingyu can have on the enemy, even making them reflect on the unjustness of the war they launched. In conclusion, the history of the Anti-Japanese War is a complex tapestry of heroism, sacrifice, and struggle, and Yang Jingyu's tale is a shining thread within it.