Interview by Samuel Hui and Pan I-jung, August 2013
Background
I was born in a poor peasant family located at Huangchuan of Henan province on December 12th, 1919 (Chinese lunar year).
When I was a little boy, I worked as a child cowherd. After I grow up, I became a long-term laborer working for rich family. Because Henan province was located at interior China, my family was not affected by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. I was conscripted into the Kuomintang army in 1939. Although I had a younger brother and a younger sister back then, I never had chance to meet them again for my entire life.
We were sent to Luoyang for basic training. I remembered I was assigned to the 2nd Company, 1st battalion, 101st Regiment, 47th Division of the 9th Army. The treatment to us ordinary soldiers in the beginning was very bad. When I was taken by the conscription officers, they tied me up with other conscripted soldiers together on the march. When I told them that it was unnecessary to tie me like that, they answered me that it was a method to prevent us from escaping. Each of us was given one rice bag to be carried on our shoulders and began to march.
It took us about one month to arrive at Luoyang. I served three months as a soldier without any payment. In the beginning, the weapon I used was a Chiang Kai-shek rifle. After that, I became a machine gunner equipped with M1919 Browning machine gun. Later on, I began to operate ZB26 light machine gun.
I began my first combat mission in during the Winter Offensive launched by the Republic of China Army against the Japanese occupation force in 1939. We successfully defeated the Japanese at the county of Xin and Bo Ai located near the border of Henan and Hebei provinces. However, we were unable to hold our positions against the advanced weapons of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Under each Chinese company, I remember there were nine squads. Among those nine squads, only three were equipped with light machine guns. For this reason, the firepower of the Chinese army was not able to compete with the Japanese. When I was conscripted, I felt it was horrible to serve as a private of the Republic of China Army. However, I began to change my opinion about the war when I began to meet the Japanese face-to-face on the battlefield.
My unit was deployed to fight guerilla warfare at Zhongtiao Mountains and Taihang Mountains located between Shanxi and Henan provinces. With the cooperation of other ROC Army units, we were able to defeat the Japanese 13 times. During that period of time, we were treated by local population as heroes. For fighting against foreign invaders, I began to be proud of myself and my unit.
After I was promoted to squad leader, I remembered we were deployed to defend the Yanmen Pass of the Great Wall. We fought against an entire Japanese division to protect the ROC flag flying above the gate of Yanmen Pass with only a battalion. The Japanese soldiers were determined to shoot off our flag. However, the soldiers volunteered to go and raise the fallen flag one by one after their comrades were killed by the enemy machine guns. Eventually, we drove the Japanese away, but only 60 officers and enlisted men survived the battle.
It was extremely hard for us to survive a guerilla war against the Japanese. Without enough food and supplies, we had to actually smuggled rice and flour from the south of the Yellow River. By May of 1941, the Japanese finally forced the entire Kuomintang army out of Northern China through launching the Battle of Southern Shanxi. We were then re-deployed to Luoyang in 1943. During that period of time when I was fighting at Zhongtiao Mountains, we rarely received assistance from the Communist-led Eighth Route Army. In fact, they attacked us instead of Japanese sometime. They were really a group of trouble makers.
Longling Campaign
After the fall of Luoyang during the Ichiago offensive, my unit was ordered to walk south into Yunnan province. As soon as we entered Baoshan, we were all transferred to the 71st Army commanded by General Chen Ming-jen. I was then assigned to the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 71th Regiment of the 91st Division. At Baoshan, we began to receive weapons and equipments from the American. I remembered what we received were .30 Springfield rifle and M1 Thompson machine guns, and I used them both on the field against the Japanese. In addition, our treatment improved gradually. We were allowed to have much better foods and supplies then the time when we were at Northern China.
During the Battle of Longling, I remembered about 6,000 soldiers were killed to get rid of the Japanese in the mountains and hills. The Japanese soldiers were equipped well, but they were out of supply at that time. Still, they defended their positions with strong determination. We received air supports from the American P-51 Mustangs as well. We had to use white cloth with signal on it to direct the American aircrafts to attack the enemy. I never had any experience of being hit by friendly fire, and did not witness any of it during the battle. The American pilots fought pretty well to protect us in the sky.
To destroy the enemy within the strong defended city, our troops dag an underground tunnel which led directly to the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army in Longling? Eventually, they blew up the Japanese headquarters with explosives, and we were able to push into the city. The Chinese had attacked the Japanese in three waves. While the first two waves failed, the third succeeded. I participated during the third wave of attack. The Japanese was no longer as invincible as it was during the earlier phase of the war.
After the Battle of Longling, our 71st Army was on the march to victory. We were never defeated by the Japanese again on the battlefield since then, and we were ordered to re-take Guangxi province from the enemy. During our counterattack in 1945, we encountered very little resistance from the Japanese army. However, we did have a skirmish at Kunluan Pass and Yangshuo with the Japanese. It was during one of those two skirmishes which the index finger of my left hand was damaged. Still, we entered big cities lie Liuchow and Kweilin relative peacefully. My unit was able to accept Japanese surrender at Kweilin, and this is my experience of the end of the Second World War.
I think the scale of my superiors within the 71st Army were very good. They were not only professional military leaders, they treated we common soldiers very well. I still remember the names of my battalion, company and platoon leaders. They were Chao Shi-Po, Chang Yin-chung and Wang Shun-chi.
Personally, I don’t like any political parties in China, and I did not join any of them in Taiwan. The Kuomintang had made a lot of mistake, and it did not take care of us veterans in Taiwan very well. However, I do think President Chiang Kai-shek is a great man who led our entire nation in a war against foreign invaders. It is very hard for me to find any other people in the history of modern China to actually surpass him. After all, he was the only leader with enough courage to fight the Japanese at that period of time. Even until today, I still hate the Japanese. If there was no Japanese invasion, we would never be driven to Taiwan in 1949. I had a chance to re-visit my home briefly after the Japanese surrendered, and all of my family members were gone. I did not know where to find them. This is the reason why I still refuse to buy Japanese products today. I am proud to serve under the flag of the Republic of China as a common solider. As you can see, I am a poor old man now, but I still spent my own money to purchase a huge ROC flag. To me, it is the prettiest flag in the world because it symbolized the blood of us Chinese soldiers. If China is able to be united peacefully in the future, I wish this flag to be re-used as the national flag. If not, maybe they can make a new flag with the combination of the ROC and PRC flags.