On May 14, 1992, Marshal Nie Rongzhen unfortunately passed away at the age of 93. The next day, Nie Marie Nie's office received a condolence message from a Japanese woman named Mihoko: "I suddenly received the bad news of her father's death, and I feel deeply sad. From the day I returned to China to today, I have always respected him as my spiritual support. That terrible war made me become an orphan in mainland China. Thanks to your rescue, I have today..."
Who is Mihoko, and why did she call Nie Rongzhen "father"? This has to be traced back to a past 40 years ago.
html At 22 pm on August 20, when the First Battalion of the Third Regiment of the First Division of the Jin-Cha-Hebei Military Region was launching an attack on the Jingxing Coal Mine occupied by the Japanese army, the crazy Japanese invaders, in order to block our army's advance, did not care that their expatriates had not yet retreated, and they used mortar to bomb the Dongwangshe Village where the expatriates lived. The mining area instantly turned into a sea of fire.
Japanese deputy stationmaster Kiyori Kato and his wife were unfortunately killed in the Japanese artillery fire. They left behind two daughters, the older one was four or five years old, the younger one was still in cradle, and their heels were injured by the bombing. Our officers and soldiers discovered these two children while attacking. In the spirit of humanitarian , the officers and soldiers rescued them at the risk of their lives.
The next morning, the commander of the First Military Sub-district of the Jin-Cha-Hebei Military Region, Yang Chengwu After learning about the two children, he immediately ordered the two children to be sent directly to his front command post, and then he reported the matter to Nie Rongzhen. After hearing this, Nie Rongzhen said happily: "Very good, very good! The Third Regiment did a very meaningful good thing. You must take good care of the children and send someone to escort me immediately."
Nie Rongzhen
In the evening, the personnel of the Fourth Division Field Mobilization Committee used a basket to carry the two children to the front-line command center. Nie Rongzhen immediately found a doctor to rescue the injured sister and asked a breastfeeding woman to feed her. Then he bent down and asked his sister, "What's your name?"
My sister couldn't understand Chinese, and she was frightened, and just kept saying, "Xingzi, Xingzi."
Nie Rongzhen saw that the child was frightened, so he didn't ask anything else. He asked someone to find some candy and local specialty snowflake pear and handed it to her sister for food. But his sister refused to eat pears. After a while, Nie Rongzhen realized: "Oh, Japanese children love to clean." So he washed the pears with water himself, and then his sister ate them happily.
Not long after, my sister was no longer afraid of this tall Eighth Route Army uncle who had been smiling on her face. She also liked to hold Nie Rongzhen's hand and follow him everywhere.
At that time, Sha Fei, director of the Jinchaji Pictorial, happened to be in the command post. With the unique keenness of the journalists, he took more than 20 photos of Nie Rongzhen and his sisters. While taking pictures, he explained to his assistant: "We are fighting with the Japanese now. These photos may have no effect, but if they are posted to Japan in a few decades, they may work!"
Nie Rongzhen and his child
Because the front-line war is very tense, it is not realistic for the two children to stay in the front-line command center. How to arrange them requires Nie Rongzhen to make a quick decision. Nie Rongzhen originally wanted to adopt the sisters, but considering that the war would not end, the border area was harsh, the enemy "sweeping" frequently, the troops were often transferred, and it would be difficult to take care of the two little girls. Moreover, the two lonely children stayed in a foreign country, which would cause them pain in the future. In the end, he decided to send the sisters back to Japan.
So Nie Rongzhen wrote a letter to the Japanese Tatsuyama Brigade stationed in Shijiazhuang, asking the Japanese army to pass the little girl to their Japanese relatives. The content of the letter was as follows:
Japanese officers and soldiers:
1 The riots invaded our China, and the war lasted for four years. There are countless people who are killed, injured and disabled in China and Japan, and there are countless people who are displaced in China. The responsibility for such a tragic incident should be entirely borne by the Japanese.
…
This lonely young girl, one is only five or six years old, and the other is still in her infancy, wandering and helpless, and her love is very pity. After I was taken into custody and raised, I sent it back to my relatives and asked me to support me. Fortunately, I would not let those innocent orphans fall into foreign lands and be buried in a ravine.
The spirit of the Eighth Route Army is the most benevolent and righteous, with a beginning and an end. We must fight to the end for the survival of the Chinese nation and the permanent peace of mankind, and we must fight to the end with the brutal and violent day. Looking deep in my heart, I suddenly woke up and worked together with the Chinese soldiers and people to seek liberation. Japan is very lucky, and China is also very lucky...
Letter from Nie Rongzhen to the Japanese army
The next day, Nie Rongzhen found a reliable fellow villager and asked him to carry two children in a basket and send them to the Japanese army stationed in Weishhui Town . Nie Rongzhen's letter was not sealed. He believed that if this was the case, no matter how senior Japanese officers ignored it, they could always see the letters when they were transmitted by the lower-level personnel. Nie Rongzhen also put some pears in the basket so that the children could quench their thirst on the road. Finally, he caressed the heads of the two children and bid farewell to them.
Looking at the children's distant figures, Nie Rongzhen couldn't help but sigh, "Although the enemy cruelly killed countless compatriots and children, we must never hurt innocent children and the Japanese people!"
Nie Rongzhen said goodbye to the children
After the fellow villager sent the child to Weishui Town, the Japanese leader heard the letter Nie Rongzhen gave him solemnly and bowed deeply to the direction of Nie Rongzhen's headquarters. He also took out a stack of banknotes to the fellow villager. Not long after, the two children were transferred to Shijiazhuang by the Japanese army.
Since then, Nie Rongzhen has been caring about these two children, but there has been no news from them. 40 years have passed in a flash.
One day in early summer in 1980, Nie Rongzhen was interviewed by the vice president of the People's Liberation Army Daily Yao Yuanfang , and took the photos of him and his two children taken by Sha Fei that year and said with emotion: "War is cruel, the children are innocent. I wonder how these two children are? Where are they now?"
Yao Yuanfang then wrote an article titled "Japanese girl, where are you? 》, accompanied by photos taken by Sha Fei that year, was published in " PLA Pictorial " and "PLA Daily", emphasizing that Nie Rongzhen has not forgotten the past 40 years later and hopes to find the Japanese girl of that year. After the article was published, it immediately caused a strong response in the country and Japan.
htmlOn May 29, the full text of Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun published Yao Yuanfang's article, with the title "Orphans rescued from the war, General Nie called on the Xingzi sisters forty years later." They also sent reporters to Beijing to ask Nie Rongzhen in detail about what happened that year, and said that they must find these two little girls.
Not long after, a reporter from Yomiuri Shimbun found his sister Mihoko in Kyushu City, Japan. She is already the mother of three children and runs a small grocery store with her husband. Her sister Mihoko died of illness in the Japanese military hospital in Shijiazhuang that year.
Japanese reporter found Mihoko
It turned out that Mihoko was only 4 years old back then, and she didn't remember very clearly about Nie Rongzhen's rescue of her. After reading the report of "Yomiya Shimbun", her uncle Kato Kanto was confirmed by comparing the photos of that year and that Mihoko was the "Kakiko" mentioned by Nie Rongzhen.
Mihoko was also very excited. She wrote a letter to Nie Rongzhen:
His Excellency General Nie Rongzhen:
This letter is disrespectful, please forgive me. I hurriedly read "Japanese girl, where are you?" 》 report, I was surprised. Am I the "Xingzi" the general is looking for?
I was only four years old at that time and my sister was one year old. I can’t remember the situation at that time. My father was an employee of the Jingxing Railway Jingxing Station of Jingxing Mine Railway in Hebei Province. On August 21, the 15th year of Showa, he died of injury and his mother was killed by artillery shells.
According to my uncle, I was taken away by the Eighth Route Army and sent back. Unfortunately, my sister died on September 24 at the Shimen Railway Hospital of Beijing Railway Bureau. When I returned to China, I often told my grandma about "eating pears" and "sitting on a basket".
Grandma is a poor man. I grew up in an economically impoverished family environment and experienced countless unspeakable pains. Now, I have become a family and have three daughters. Thank you for saving my life. When Japan and China resumed diplomatic relations, I mourned in an instant. It would be great if my parents were alive!
If possible, I think of the visit of my parents and sister to express my gratitude for my health and to give full tribute to me. If the situation allows, I would like to visit China to visit your Excellency. I would like to thank you for your life-saving grace.
wish you more robustly.
Mihoko
Nie Rongzhen was very happy after seeing Mihoko's letter. On June 12, Nie Rongzhen proposed to invite China-Japan Friendship Association to consider the issue of inviting Mihoko to visit China. He believes that this is of great significance to further consolidate and develop China-Japan friendly relations.
Not long after, the China-Japan Friendship Association officially sent an invitation letter to Mihoko on her visit to China. On July 10, Mihoko brought her family to Beijing, and Nie Rongzhen sent his daughter Nie Li to the airport to greet him on behalf of him. On July 14, Nie Rongzhen officially met with Mihoko's family. When Mihoko saw Nie Rongzhen, she was so excited that she burst into tears. Not only did she kneel down in front of Nie Rongzhen, she also touched Nie Rongzhen's hand with her forehead to express her greatest respect. Mihoko said to Nie Rongzhen: "You are my life-saving benefactor. You saved me so that I can have such a happy and fulfilling family as today!"
Nie Rongzhen met Mihoko
After she sat down, Mihoko presented Nie Rongzhen with a lifelike statue of a Japanese girl in a kimono. This is called "human shape" in Japan. It is about one and a half feet tall. It is the most precious gift given to guests by Japanese people.
Nie Rongzhen gave Mihoko a picture of the "Three Friends in the Year in the Cold". He said: "In the cold winter, all flowers have withered. Only pine trees, bamboo branches and plum blossoms can withstand the test and keep their vitality. I wish China-Japan friendship can withstand the test as much as pine, bamboo and plum ."
Mihoko said to Nie Rongzhen: "Some days After learning about this, this veteran was very moved and ashamed and realized the crime of the war of aggression against China. "
Nie Rongzhen replied: "Let's turn war into jade! The Japanese nation is a hardworking and wise nation. I hope that the people of China and Japan will be friendly for generations and never fight each other."
The meeting lasted for about 40 minutes, and at the end of the meeting Afterwards, Mihoko was full of tears and held Nie Rongzhen's hand and said, "Please take care of your health. I hope you can visit the Japanese city."
Nie Rongzhen talked with Mihoko
Nie Rongzhen shook his head and said, "Thank you, from the map, it's very close, but I'm in poor health and no chance, you will have a chance."
After that, Mihoko also visited Shijiazhuang and other places. When she returned to China, she said: "This time she met Marshal Nie, she was like her kind father, and Nie Li was like her own sister. When she met, she could not control her feelings and couldn't help but burst into tears."
Later, Mihoko visited China twice and visited Nie Rongzhen.
Later, after Nie Rongzhen passed away, Mihoko not only sent a message of condolence, but also set up a mourning hall at home, and held a memorial ceremony in accordance with traditional Japanese customs to express the special feelings of the Japanese daughter towards her father from a foreign country, and wish the tree of Sino-Japanese friendship to evergreen.
Nie Li (right) and Mihoko (middle) took a photo
Author profile: Brother Di, an office worker born in the 1990s, has been writing for two years and has published many 100,000+ articles on major self-media platforms. If you are interested in self-media, writing, and making money, and want to rely on off-get off work hours to do side jobs every month, you can search and follow my official account " Di Ge Sayings Shi " to discuss and make progress together.
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