On June 15, our newspaper, Ms. Wang Xuan, CCTV's "My Anti-Japanese War" crew, accompanied Yang Guangrong and Lu Qingyi, two veterans of the Anti-Japanese War, to Hengyang to pay homage to the martyrs, and fulfilled their dreams.

The old man Lu Qingyi in memory. Photo by Reporter Fan Yuanzhi

　The "Jiangxi Guild Hall" above was destroyed by the Battle of Hengyang.

　Hengyang City before the Anti-Japanese War.

　　The former site of the Central Bank of Hengyang Pedestrian Street, Lu Qingyi sent out the "last sound" here.

　　Children sleeping in a refugee camp.

　"Little Shanghai" damaged by the war.

68 years ago, the battle of life and death in Hengyang City shocked China and the world. On June 15, our newspaper, Ms. Wang Xuan, CCTV's "My Anti-Japanese War" crew, accompanied Yang Guangrong and Lu Qingyi, two veterans of the Anti-Japanese War, to Hengyang to pay homage to the martyrs, and fulfilled their dreams. (See our newspaper on June 17, "Hengyang Anti-Japanese War Veterans Return to the Beacon Scene after 68 years")

　　From July 2 to 3, a reporter from the urban weekend went to Xiangtan to interview the elderly Lu Qingyi again. According to statistics from Hengyang scholar Xiao Pei, there are only a dozen veterans who have personally experienced the Battle of Hengyang in Hunan Province. The story of 84-year-old Lu Qingyi is extremely precious.

　　More details of the Hengyang Battle have been written and preserved by witnesses. In 1946, Jiang Hongxi, who participated in the Battle of Hengyang, recalled writing "Blood and Tears Reminiscing of Hengyang". The manuscript was compiled and published by his grandson Lu Hualei in 2005 and was reprinted in June 2012. On June 15, Lu Hualei also went to Hengyang with our reporter to participate in the event. And the story of this young man and the manuscript is equally precious.

　　1 Xiaobing: "I usually like to read classical novels the most, and I also read Zhang Henshui"

　　From Changsha Lantern Street to Hengyang North Gate Military Camp

　　I lived in Changsha Lantern Street when I was a child. After the Wenxi fire, our entire family slowly moved to Xiangtan. My father left home to Shaanxi when I was a few years old and never came back. I have been living with my mother. When I was fourteen years old, my mother also passed away and I became an orphan. This year, I just graduated from junior high school.

　　I went to Changsha to join my uncle. At this time, Fang Xianjue, who was guarding Changsha City, started a crash course for the radio operators, and I signed up to be a soldier in the squad under Commander Fang. Although I was hard at the army and occasionally when I was hungry, this place seemed to be my second home.

　The following year, I joined the army to participate in the Battle of Changde. After the war, the 10th Army was transferred to Hengyang for rest. On June 1, 1944, we took a train to Hengshan Station and marched to Hengyang in the afternoon of the same day. The barracks we stationed at were outside the north gate.

　　Before the Battle of Hengyang, it was "Little Shanghai"

　　At that time, Hengyang City was the second largest industrial city in China and was called "Little Shanghai". When I arrived, the streets of Hengyang were completely maintaining normal living order. Although Japanese planes continue to launch air strikes, the shops are all bright and luxurious, and there are many kinds of things to sell, and the market is very prosperous. The cars in the city drive to the air defense in the suburbs during the day, and return to the city to open a store in the afternoon until midnight. Some stores are open all night, which has a bit of a "city that never sleeps". There are many fashionable women on the street, and there are also cheongsams. I am too young to look closely.

　　We only have free activities on weekends, and I go to the movies with my seniors almost every week. There is a foreign movie I like very much, called "Love in Love with the Calf", which talks about mother-son love, reminding me of my mother. There are also many people in Hengyang who like to watch movies.

　　Amateur life: I like reading novels, but I still have to learn English

　　However, my favorite thing is reading books, especially classical novels, I have read "Journey to the West" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". I also like Zhang Henshui's novels. As soon as I was on vacation, I went to the bookstore. At first I bought it. Later, after the Japanese besieged the city, the people slowly evacuated, so I ran to get the books every now and then.

　　I have to tutor in English in my spare time. I have a bad cultural foundation and must understand some English words when sending newspapers. At that time, there was a fellow villager named Li Zhenxiang who took good care of me, like my eldest brother. Every time when both of them have time, he will teach me English.In 1948, we went to Guangzhou together. I was a technician who repaired machines. He was the company commander in the communications company. Later, I heard that the troops were going to Taiwan, so I went back to Xiangtan with another fellow villager Song Dingguo. At that time, I persuaded Li Zhenxiang to go home with me, but he still left with the troops. I wonder if he is still alive now?

　　2 Guarding the city: "My life is from Fang Xianjue's agreement"

　　The Dragon Boat Festival, I hid in a small treasury and sent a telegram

　　1944 Dragon Boat Festival was June 25th, and it was very hot. The Kuomintang almost never had a holiday, but it still gave some meat to eat. Although the city has been besieged, the city of Hengyang is still full of festival atmosphere, with people selling rice dumplings, mugwort leaves, calamus, and angelica. The people of Hengyang are also happy. I miss homesick when I look at them.

After the Battle of Hengyang began, the Japanese guns were shot straight and horizontally every day. The people of Hengyang were almost always fighting. In addition, the bombing of planes, the entire Hengyang City was burning without any houses.

　In this case, our sending station moved with the military headquarters to the Central Bank in Hengyang City. In front of the Central Bank is a business hall, one with a deep storefront and the other with a high storefront. Behind is the vault, which is only 6 square meters, and there are steel plates all around the head. Even if the shells really fall on it, they will not hurt people. It can be said that they are foolproof. Our radio station is here. Hengyang City has to contact Chongqing and friendly forces. In addition to me, there are other radio operators and webmasters, and there are 5 people in total. A 3-meter-high T-shaped antenna extends from the central bank to receive signals. The radio station only has 15 watts of electricity, which is smaller than the current light bulb. It takes a transfer through the Zhijiang Air Force radio station to reach Chongqing.

　　Back to the vault is the basement, where Commander Fang and other senior generals usually stay. The basement is originally owned by the Central Bank. At that time, most buildings in Hengyang had basements, which were used to avoid air strike alarms.

　　Commander Fang has always been very kind to me

　　Fang Xianjue is strict with all officers and soldiers, and he himself is a powerful general. It turned out that he was the commander of the 10th Division. During the 3rd Changsha Battle, he successfully defended the wonderful peak of Changsha. Our radio operators can see him every day, but they are not afraid of him, especially since I am the youngest, Commander Fang has always been very kind to me. But he had almost no smile on the company commander and regiment commander in front of him. He said one is one, two is two, and he had to make a count when he said it. No subordinates did not obey his orders. If anyone does not do well, he will punish him, but never starts to curse.

　　The Japanese are bare-handed and only have a white cloth on their body

　　The Japanese have a kind of bushido spirit when fighting, and are not afraid of death. I had never taken a gun at that time, nor had I touched them head-on on the battlefield. However, when the war first started, I often ran to the third floor of the Central Bank and looked at Wuguiling on the front line of the battlefield with a telescope. I saw the Japanese people bare-handed, with only a white cloth on their bodies, and charged up the mountain with guns.

　However, this could not scare the 10th Army. After the Battle of Changsha, we all know this set of Japanese soldiers. And there is already a set of methods: don’t fight if you can’t see it, don’t fight if you don’t reach the cordon, don’t fight if you can’t fight if you can’t fight to death. At that time, the 10th Army mainly came from the 3rd Division of the Kuomintang, and it was a very faithful force since the Northern Expedition in 1922. When fighting, generals are not afraid of death, and soldiers are not afraid of death. This is a tradition. The engineers of the 3rd Division were also very powerful, and the fortifications they built were called "Fang Xianjue's trench" at that time. All Japanese think it is exquisite.

　　The last day, I took out the "last sound" of Hengyang City

　　Chief Fang and the 10th Army defended to the 47th day, there were less than 2,000 people left in Hengyang City, and there were 6,000 wounded and some people, which can be said to have no ability to resist. There were 17,000 friendly troops outside the city, but there were more than 100,000 Japanese troops, and they could not fight in.

　At 3 pm on August 7, the commander of the headquarters took the telegram to the vault and told me: "After sending this telegram, you will destroy the radio."The messages are all passwords, and I don’t know that this is the “last message” in Hengyang City. After the telegram was sent out, several of us decided to do so: not obey the orders and leave the radio station. We also wanted to hear if there would be any friendly forces. But after that, there was no news about the 74th and 62nd Army, who had contacted each other every day. It was after I escaped from danger that I saw the Chongqing "Central Daily" No. 9 left to me by my colleague, and I learned about the specific content of Fang Xianjue's "last phone call".

　At that time, all the armed soldiers had been sent out, and there was no soldier beside Commander Fang. He reached a ceasefire agreement with the Japanese to not kill prisoners and treat wounded soldiers. My life was from Fang Xianjue's agreement.

　　　3 After the war: "The Japanese are exactly the same as the Chinese, and they are also very embarrassed"

　　The Japanese soldiers were in charge of us, and the Japanese military police were in charge of them

　　When the Japanese soldiers came into the city with the sun flag, I was at the gate of the Central Bank. There are no people in the city, and there are no militias who help us dig trenches and carry stretchers. The streets are full of people in military uniforms. As soon as the Japanese soldiers arrived, we asked all of us to gather. At that time, only a few adjutants of Commander Fang, some civilians, correspondents, staff and miscellaneous soldiers were left in the military headquarters. The senior generals were not there and were locked up elsewhere.

Japanese soldiers were carrying guns and bayonets, but they did not raise them up and point them at anyone, because the soldiers we did not participate in street fighting had no weapons. It seems that the Japanese soldiers are also under the jurisdiction of the Japanese military police, and the clothes they wear are different.

It seems that the Japanese are exactly the same as the Chinese. After dozens of days of bloody battles with sun and night dew, their clothes were also dirty and looked as embarrassed as us. We were immediately taken to a Catholic church in Hengyang and locked up, with several prisoner camps in the city.

　In fact, the Japanese are not fierce, but they will be in charge of your every move. If you say you can't walk around, you can't walk around, and you must report your urine and defecation. There are machine guns guarding you at the entrance of the church. We don’t understand the Japanese’s speech, but there are Chinese traitors who translate it on their behalf.

　　I killed two Japanese soldiers and finally escaped from Hengyang City

　I only stayed in the church for five or six days. It was just the time to "paohe" (seize the valley). Seeing that I was young and had a good temper, the Japanese soldiers chose me to search for food. There were about 20 people who were selected with me.

　　We followed the Japanese soldiers out of the city gate and followed the Junlu (Dalu) toward Lingling all the way west. If they want to eat, we will cut rice and eat some of them ourselves. If they want to eat some fish and meat, they will instruct us to steal the things of the people. These twenty or so people cannot talk to each other, but we all have a tacit understanding: if the first Japanese relax, we will escape.

　The road is surrounded by mountainous areas, very high. There are Chinese planes bombing during the day, so I can't leave, so I can only leave at night. One day after breakfast, the Japanese were resting, and we asked us to go to the mountain to grab the grain of ordinary people. We sent two Japanese soldiers to follow us for more than 20 people, and to the foot of the mountain, one of the Chinese prisoners they trusted, and then let the other follow us up the mountain. Once we got on the mountain, we beat him to death. The two Chinese soldiers at the foot of the mountain also killed the Japanese soldiers with rifles with two enemies. We escaped into the mountains together.

　At that time, there were Chinese guerrillas in the mountains. The Japanese were afraid of being ambushed and dared not leave the military route, so they did not catch up. At that time, I was penniless. All the bonuses that Commander Fang had given before were confiscated by the Japanese. He only had one set of clothes on his body. Many of the novels he had collected before were left in the military camp. But along the way, as long as there are people who say that we are guarding Hengyang City, the people will enthusiastically take out food for us, even meat.

　A few days later, we finally escaped from Hengyang City and arrived in Wugang, where Wang Yaowu's 74th Army was there.

　　Interview notes

　　"How many Fang Xianjue in China? Everyone should admire him!"

　　Lu Dad couldn't tell that he was eighty-four years old at all. Every time I get off the bus, I subconsciously want to help him, and he always waves his hand and says no, no. He walked steadily, "We who grow crops are healthy even." That day, he was about to offer flowers in front of the Anti-Japanese Monument. Many volunteers were scrambling to help him, but he quietly asked them to "hold" them, saying nothing, and not doing the waving move.

　　I have hardly seen him have too obvious emotions, and they are always faint. He only struggled to raise his tone when others could not understand his Xiangtan dialect. This is exactly the same as another veteran, Yang Guangrong.

　For example, when the two were sitting side by side to take a photo of flowers, under the flash, Old Yang's waist was straight, and his slightly red face was smiling; the thin Lu Dad looked like he was watching TV at home. Later, when he formally paid homage to his fallen comrades, Mr. Yang recited the tribute and tears fell down; Lu Dad, who was standing behind him, just stood with his hands hanging down. Afterwards, I asked him if he had heard the tribute with a strong accent from Mr. Yang Handan. He smiled softly, "Of course I understand. He wrote so well. I was very moved by a top student in Huangpu."

　　Lu Dad has a habit of action: every time he is asked an irrelevant question, he will lean back and mutter, "Then oh 4 (dialect: how) is possible." But then he calmly explained. The interviewers came one after another, "Did you see Fang Xianjue at that time?" "How did the last call be issued?"... I was upset when I heard the same question, but Lu Daddy still started from the beginning every time, and the content and tone did not change at all until he was interrupted by another question from another person.

　　Lu Tai lives in Jiangshe Town, Xiangtan City. His yellow and black bungalow was shrunk between a vast blue rice field. I was carrying things and only dared to stare at the road beneath my feet. "It will be repaired here next year!" Because I was too afraid of falling into the water, I didn't hear whether he was happy or apologizing. Just after turning the last turn, Lu Zi was already greeting on the small flat ground in front of the house: "Old man, you are back!" - I was sure this was a happy voice. At the same time, several chickens and a dog appeared, and Lu Dad's tall son also came out.

Breathing in the clean air in the countryside, I suddenly remembered the fellow villager Lu Dad was obsessed with, "I don't know what he went to Taiwan for, how good he would go home." After experiencing a life-threatening teenager, being an ordinary farmer in the land is the peace and happiness he subconsciously pursues? Unfortunately, I have no way to guess.

　However, before I came back, when asked at the gate of the former Central Bank site if Fang Xianjue was a good general, Lu Dad suddenly said loudly: "How many Fang Xianjue in China are there? Everyone should admire him!" This was the only time I interviewed him personally for two days, and the only time I was excited when I saw him.

　　■ Text/Intern Wang Anqi

　　Related links

　　Jiang Hongxi and "Blood and Tears Reminiscing Hengyang"

　　Jiang Hongxi, from Siyang, Jiangxi. In 1940, he participated in the War of Resistance Against Japan and was affiliated with the 10th Army of the National Revolutionary Army. He experienced the Third Battle of Changsha, the Battle of Changde and the Battle of Hengyang. After the Hengyang battle in 1944, he seriously injured his right leg and was disabled for life. In 1946, I recalled writing "Blood and Tears Reminiscing of Hengyang" to commemorate those subordinates who "like the superiors, colleagues, and especially those loyal and brave children who have never forgotten me." He died in Henan in 1989. In 2005, Jiang Hongxi's grandson Lu Hualei began to organize and publish the manuscript. In 2007, Wang Xuan, the leader of the plaintiff's group of the China Bacterial Warfare Victims Litigation, translated the book into English and cooperated with Lu Hualei to complete the book "Personal Experience of the Battle of Hengyang in 1944", which was published in June 2012.

　　June 29 (Day 7)

　　22:30, the Japanese position sounded the military horns, conchs, ox horns, porcelain bottles of husbands, gongs, big drums, ox roars, horses, and shouts of killing.Fireballs and torches shone like daytime, a group of cattle and horses, with sharp blades tied to their heads and horns, and fire was lit all over their bodies, followed by red hair and strange clothes, dressed as demons, and rushed towards the position. The position was trampled and destroyed, and there was chaos.

July 1 (Day 9)

　　Night, the Japanese army gathered soldiers and made loud noises at Dingjia Wharf, Wangjia Wharf, and Guangdong-Han Wharf on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, and put candles on wooden pot lids, tables, etc., and put down them from the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River, creating the illusion of forcing crossing the river. Our army fought overnight before they realized they were deceived. A few days later, the Japanese army put many dogs and cattle into the river. When our army heard the sound of paddling, we thought it was really the enemy crossing the river this time, and then fired fire. After dawn, our army's downstream defenders fished up the animals and ate them all.

July 18 (Day 26)

　　Earing night, the moon was in the sky, the commander of the army (Fang Xianjue) and his staff watched the moon on the central bank platform and sang the song "Qingfengzhai". The Japanese army fired several shots on the east bank of the river.

　　August 2 (Day 41)

　Late at night, 2nd squad 2 of the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion (Li) led a few soldiers to go down the river to net fish. He was discovered by the Japanese army and mistakenly wanted to cross the river. Dozens of flashlights shone straight on the river surface, and the squad leader and a soldier were shot together. The surviving fish came back and cried loudly.

August 7 (Day 46)

The commander of the 28th Regiment defending Daximen (Zeng Jing) saw the enemy's rapid attack on the military headquarters and led dozens of brothers to rescue the commander (Fang Xianjue), asking the commander to protect him and break through the encirclement. He was scolded by the commander: "Don't worry about me, you must keep your position and go back quickly."

　　"My relative!"

　　When I first saw it, it was still a broken and yellowed paper. The blue cotton thread bound on one side has fallen off and breaks, and it is at risk of breaking up. My mother brought reading glasses and asked me to help me thread the needle and thread it. She carefully "installed" it again. This time it was white cotton thread, which interacted with the original blue cotton thread, which added a lot of color to the booklet.

　It was the summer of 2005. In the evening, the sun sets and the smoke from cooking is curling. I lay on the roof of my own bungalow. I read a book. A few days ago, I read Lu Yao's "Life" and now I am watching "Blood and Tears Remembering Hengyang". After reading it, I burst into tears. I unconsciously clenched my fist and smashed it hard on the roof and moaned bitterly, shouting: "My relative!"

　When I was moved by the manuscript, I immediately went to my uncle's house in the neighboring village to borrow a computer and started sorting it out. That summer, my mother and I pondered the sloppy words while crying. (Excerpt from Wang Xuan and Lu Hualei: "Personal Experience of the Battle of Hengyang in 1944")

Source: 84-year-old veteran of Hengyang Anti-Japanese War: I photographed Hengyang City Huasheng Online Hengyang Channel http://hy.voc.com.cn/view.php?tid-19770-cid-129.html