Against this background, many touching stories between the Eighth Route Army and the common people emerged in that era, and the story of an old man from Shandong was even more lamentable.

Help the Eighth Route Army

During the Anti-Japanese War, a military-civilian relationship was established between the Eighth Route Army and the common people. In order to help the Eighth Route Army fight against the Japanese invaders, many ordinary people spontaneously provided assistance within their capabilities to these Eighth Route Army.

Against this background, many touching stories between the Eighth Route Army and the common people emerged in that era. Among them, the story of an old man from Shandong is even more which is very sad.. This old man accepted the entrustment of the Eighth Route Army soldiers during the Anti-Japanese War. He kept his promise and guarded the tomb of the unknown anti-Japanese hero for 74 years. It was not until he was 92 years old that a miracle happened.

This old man is called Niu Yuqing. He was born in an ordinary peasant family in Shandong. Niu Yuqing and his family originally lived a poor and peaceful life in the countryside, but the iron hoofs of the Japanese invaders shattered the peace. From then on, the land of Shandong was filled with brutal Japanese troops. Niu Yuqing and his family often suffered "big raids" by the Japanese army. The food that the family had worked so hard to hoard was often wiped out by the Japanese army. The situation of other villagers was not much better.

The Eighth Route Army became the hope of the villagers to drive away the Japanese invaders. In order to help the Eighth Route Army fight the Japanese, many villagers spontaneously provided the Eighth Route Army with intelligence about the Japanese army and at the same time helped the Eighth Route Army transfer the wounded . Therefore, the Eighth Route Army and the local villagers quickly established a close relationship.

Niu Yuqing was already an 18-year-old boy at this time. He admired the bravery of the Eighth Route Army very much. Although he was not physically strong enough to carry a gun on the battlefield, as long as he could contribute to the Eighth Route Army, Niu Yuqing's heart would also is full of pride . Such an opportunity soon appeared. One day in 1941, the village chief knocked on the door of Niu Yuqing's house.

A Promise

When Niu Yuqing heard that the person was the village chief, he opened the door immediately. He was a little excited at this time, because the village chief had a good relationship with the Eighth Route Army. If the village chief came to find him, he might have a lot to do with the Eighth Route Army. Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, the village chief asked straight to the point: Niu Yuqing, has your cellar been repaired?

Niu Yuqing nodded and told the village chief that his cellar was not only spacious, but the entrance and exit were extremely hidden. It was buried under a pile of straw and could not be detected by ordinary people. The village chief was very satisfied after hearing this, gave him an "eighteen" gesture and left. Niu Yuqing was also secretly surprised. He didn't expect that there would be 18 wounded people who needed to be temporarily hidden this time.

Soon, these 18 wounded people came to Niu Yuqing’s house, and Niu Yuqing placed them all in the cellar. Within a few days, the Japanese army's mopping up brigade came to Niu Yuqing's village. They carefully cleaned the villagers' homes and left proudly with the poultry and grain they had plundered. Although Niu Yuqing was also distressed about the looted food from his family, he could rest assured as long as the Eighth Route Army soldiers were safe and sound.

Unexpectedly, after opening the cellar, he found that one of the 18 wounded people had died.. The wounded man and two people in the team were actually three brothers who joined the army together. As a result, one of the brothers died in the cellar due to excessive injuries, which made Niu Yuqing feel very sad. However, the other two brothers patted him on the shoulder and said: It doesn't matter, at least you saved the other 17 lives. We will bury our brothers here with you, and after we have driven away the Japs, we will come back and toast together in front of our brothers’ graves!

At this time, Niu Yuqing regained his energy. He and the Eighth Route Army soldiers buried the sacrificed soldier, and then watched them embark on the dangerous battlefield again. Niu Yuqing also regarded this promise as the top priority in his life. He often came to the tomb of the unknown hero to guard his tomb.

A miracle happened

Every year on Qingming Festival, Niu Yuqing would come to this simple tomb, waiting for the other two brothers who had made an appointment with him to return here. But time has passed year by year, and the two brothers have never been able to reappear .

In 1945, the Anti-Japanese War was victorious; in 1949, the People's Liberation Army defeated the Kuomintang and successfully established New China. Until this moment, the two soldiers were still silent, and Niu Yuqing also knew that all three brothers might have been sacrificed. However, many years of guarding the tomb has become his habit. Whenever he is worried, he will bring a jug of wine to the tomb of the unknown hero and tell his thoughts like he would a relative. The weeds in front of the tomb were also cleaned up by Niu Yuqing, and there was no trace of desolation.

In the blink of an eye, 74 years have passed, and Niu Yuqing has transformed from the young man he was back then into a gray-haired old man. However, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ushered in a miracle. After the news that the 92-year-old man guarded the tomb of the Eighth Route Army for 74 years was unearthed and reported by the media, it triggered a strong response across the country. People have provided their own help for the old man to find his identity as a hero.

According to Niu Yuqing’s memory, the three brothers seemed to have the last name Zhang . This significantly narrows the scope of the search. Soon, according to clues provided by the majority of netizens, Zhangjia Village in Linqu County became the most likely place where the hero was born. One day, a middle-aged villager from this village came to Niu Yuqing and said that the descriptions of their third grandfather and Niu Yuqing were very similar. As for the other two brothers of the third grandfather, one died in the Anti-Japanese War and the other died in Liberation War.

At this point, Niu Yuqing finally learned the names of these three Eighth Route Army soldiers: Zhang Weishun, Zhang Weixin, and Zhang Weij. Later, the tomb of martyr Zhang Weiji was moved to the Martyrs Cemetery, and the story of Niu Yuqing guarding the tomb for 74 years has become a good story.