Old man Lu Maotang was born in Jiupai Village, Hulin County, Heilongjiang Province (now Renai Village, Dongcheng Town). He was a soldier who participated in the Anti-Japanese War in 1936, when he was only 15 years old. If it were changed to today, a 15-year-old child would still be in school. Even now, there are many 15-year-old children who need their parents to carry their schoolbags when they go to school.
The location of Jiupai (Renai Village)
At that time, many of our ancestors, even young ancestors, regardless of age or gender, took up their crude weapons to fight against the Japanese soldiers who were armed to the teeth. They defended the land beneath our feet with their blood and lives, in exchange for the wonderful life we have today. Today, let us get closer to Lu Maotang, a veteran of the Anti-Japanese War in Hulin, Heilongjiang, who fought bloody battles with the Japanese invaders, and his legendary life.
In 1991, according to the memories of the 70-year-old Lu Maotang, he was born in Jiupai Village, Hulin County in May 1921. When he was 11 years old, the Japanese invaded Hulin County. In October 1936, in his hometown of Jiupai, Hulin County (now Renai Village), after being introduced by Li Yunfang (an early leader of our party in the Hulin area and the then president of the Anti-Japanese Salvation Association), he joined the Youth Battalion (Armed Children's Corps) of the Political Department of the Seventh Anti-Japanese Army and served as a transportation liaison officer. In July 1937, he was appointed platoon leader of the second platoon of the Youth Battalion. In August, introduced by Li Yunfang, Lu Maotang joined the Communist Party of China.
Street scene of Hutou during the Puppet Manchukuo period. The picture was taken from the author's collection.
Due to the special geographical location of Hulin, the Japanese invaders attached great importance to the occupation and deployment of Hulin. A large number of elite Japanese troops and puppet troops invaded Hulin. Although the training of our anti-alliance forces is limited, some of the weapons and equipment are so inferior that they cannot be called weapons. Some troops lack guns and even use red tassel guns . But even with such a huge disparity in strength, the determination of the majority of the Anti-Japanese Alliance officers and soldiers to resist Japan has not diminished.
According to the memories of the old man Lu Maotang, after he joined the Anti-Japanese War, he followed the troops to fight in Jiupai (Renai), Daimugou (now within the territory of 858 Farm), Xiaomuhe and other places. He fought several ambushes and fought against the arrogance of the Japanese invaders. But the most unforgettable thing for him should be the encounter with the Japanese in 1939.
Portrait of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance, the picture comes from the Internet
In the summer of 1939, the Japanese invaders' military attack on our country became more rampant. This article is original by Toutiao Zeshi, please do not infringe. The anti-Japanese guerrilla zones were tightly sealed and frantically raided, which brought great difficulties to the activities of our anti-Japanese coalition forces. In September of this year, Lu Maotang was transferred to the Youth Battalion for the third consecutive term as deputy platoon leader.
One day, Lu Maotang's company encountered a group of Japanese soldiers at Nansuolun Camp (now near Renai Village) in Hulin County. At that time, the enemy was outnumbered and the situation was extremely critical. Lu Maotang and his team were in a very special situation. As we just introduced, this unit is a company under the youth camp. Therefore, the soldiers in the company are not so much soldiers as a group of children. They are all very young. There are a few older ones, less than 20 years old, and the rest are teenagers. The youngest among them is only 12 years old, and some of the children are still very weak.
The cooking class of the Tiger Head Fortress of the Japanese invaders is cooking. The picture is taken from the author's collection
But you may not have expected that this group of child soldiers did not flinch when they encountered the well-equipped Japanese Kwantung Army. Everyone had a heart to resist Japan and save the country, and they were very enthusiastic about the war. Facing the brutal Japanese devils, there was no trace of fear on these young faces.
When the Japanese devils approached our army's target, a fierce battle started. The battle lasted for more than two hours. Several Japanese counterattacks were repelled by our group of child soldiers, killing and wounding many Japanese soldiers.
After all, this was a tragic war. During the battle, although our unit eliminated the effective forces of the Japanese devils, the enemy was outnumbered and our army's weapons and equipment were very poor. We only had sand guns, earth guns, earth cannons, and other weapons. Therefore, our unit suffered relatively large casualties.Company commander Wang De, instructor Shang Qiuyun and comrade Lu Maotang were all seriously injured, and even seven soldiers died gloriously.
The Northeast Anti-Resistance Alliance Secret Camp is located north of Dongfanghong in Hulin. The picture was taken from the author's collection.
The soldiers of the whole company were all red-eyed when they saw the sacrificed and seriously injured comrades. They all wanted to fight to the death with the Japanese devils. All the soldiers focused their hatred on the muzzle of their guns, grenades one after another, and bullets of hatred flew towards the enemy. At this critical moment of life and death, every young soldier is mentally prepared to shed the last drop of blood to eliminate the Japanese invaders at any time.
The Japanese invaders took a group photo in front of the Tiger Head Fortress Shrine. The picture was taken from the author's collection.
At the most difficult and critical moment of the battle, our reinforcements arrived. Our anti-alliance forces cooperated internally and externally to engage in a fierce battle of annihilation, completely wiping out all the Japanese troops.
When the battle was about to end, Lu Maotang was unconscious because he was shot and bleeding excessively. The comrades immediately sent him away for rescue. Due to poor medical conditions at the time, he could not receive timely treatment, so the organization sent him to the Soviet Union on the other side of the Ussuri River. Lu Maotang was later sent to the Iman Border Defense Military Hospital and the Khabarovsk Military Hospital for treatment.
Portraits of Anti-Japanese War Heroes, pictures from the Internet
Shortly after Lu Maotang recovered from his injury, the Soviet government transferred him and other Anti-Union comrades back to China. But the place he returned to was not Hulin, Heilongjiang, and in March 1940, he was transferred by the Soviet Union to Xinjiang, thousands of miles away from Hulin. Comrade Lu Maotang was transferred to the Second Teaching Regiment of Urumqi, Xinjiang. From then on, Lu Maotang, a Hulin native, had to temporarily live in Xinjiang for seven years. In March 1947, Lu Maotang was deported from Xinjiang to Northeast China by the Kuomintang.
In 1948, Lu Maotang returned to his hometown of Renai Village, Hulin County, which he missed day and night, and made a living by farming. According to the old man, whenever he recalls scenes of the past, he misses those comrades who sacrificed their lives and feels very sad. Another thing that made him sad was the old man's mother. In order to hope that her son would come back soon, Mother Lu cried every day until she ran out of tears. In the end, she went blind from crying and passed away with regret without seeing her son come back.
Statues of Anti-Japanese Heroes, picture taken at the Museum Square of the Tiger Head Fortress of the Japanese Invaders
In 1950, Lu Maotang came to Hulin County from Renai and opened an individual quilt factory. In February 1956, Hulin implemented a public-private partnership, and Lu Maotang's factory was jointly operated with the Hulin County Quilt Factory. In June 1961, Lu Maotang was transferred to the Mishan Beidaying Quilt Factory of the Bureau of Agricultural Reclamation. In 1964, he worked as a worker at the Mishan County Agricultural Machinery Repair and Manufacturing Factory. He retired in September 1980. Comrade Lu Maotang died of illness in Mishan, China in March 1992 at the age of 71.
pay tribute to our ancestors!
