Interview by Samuel Hui and Pan I-jung, November 2013

Where did he grow up?

I was born in Suining county of Sichuan province in 1922. My father was a merchant selling tea and alcohol in the town. For this reason, I grew up in a wealth family. However, things changed before I even graduated from the middle school. After my father passed away, my mother and all of her children were kicked out from the family. At that time, my older brother was a company commander of 47th Army under General Lee Chia-yu, a local warlord in Chengdu. My mom gave me some money and asked me to go live with my brother in Chengdu. I never had chance to go back to my hometown ever since that date, and I never met my mother again.

How was his family affected by the Japanese invasion?

After the Second Sino-Japanese War started, my older brother was sent to fight the Japanese in the frontline. I never know what had happened to my brother, and I guess he had sacrificed for his country.

Why did he decide to join the army?

When I was in Chengdu, I though the Japanese bombers attacking the city, and they were so cruel to the Chinese civilians. I still remembered a woman’s leg was blown up onto the top of a tree in Shaocheng Park. It was the largest park of the city at the time.

To defend my nation, I first served as an enlisted man with the 41st Anti–aircraft artillery regiment. My mission was to take reload the 76.2mm anti-aircraft gun the Soviet Union supplied to China during the Japanese raid against Chengdu. However, we were never able to shoot even one Japanese aircraft down from the sky. One time, a Zero fighter even landed on one of our airfields in Chengdu. After taking away a flag on the field, the Zero fighter flew away without facing any opposition.

How did he get into the military academy and when did he graduate?

After reading the slogan “Never entering this gate if you are afraid of death” and “Please try other way if you wish to be promoted and gain wealth” outside the gate of the Whampoa Military Academy, I began to believe that the best way to save my country is to become a regular military officer. My experience with the 41st Anti–aircraft artillery regiment allows me to take the entrance examination as a high school student.

I entered the main branch of Whampoa Military Academy (Central Military Academy) on May of 1941. After spending two years and two months in the academy, I graduated on October of 1943. I really appreciate my instructors in the academy for training me to become a real warrior. Ever since I left the military academy, I always walk with my head up.

Did he have any interaction with American instructors or advisors?

I was assigned to the 106th Regiment, 36th Division of the 54th Army after I completed my course with the Central Military Academy. At my regiment, there were eight American advisors to train our soldiers how to fight. I served as platoon commander under the 3rd Platoon of 1st Battalion.

What I know about those American advisors is that their English writing skill was not very good. I guess they did not receive good education back home and my English was better than them in some way. However, they were good people and provided us the helps we needed during the battles.

When we marched across the Gaoligong Mountain, the American sang the Chinese patriotic songs such as the “March of Volunteers” with us. At that period of time, we Kuomintang soldiers sang that song as well. We never knew the Communist Party of China will use it as the national anthem after 1949.

About 18 young officers graduated from the Central Military Academy on October of 1943 including me were assigned to the 36th Division.

How were training and equipment affected by the Americans?

Unlike the X-Force also known as the Chinese Army in India, the Y-Force received less American equipment. Only the M2 60mm mortar and grenade were supplied to us. To prepare us for jungle warfare, we also received shoes made in rubber. However, we were never assigned other modern equipment such as M1 helmet. Still, it is better than nothing.

Before the arrival of the M2 60mm mortars, we did not even have enough 81mm mortars to use in the battles. For this reason, many of our mortar operators had to fight as infantry on the battlefield.

Did he participate in the initial crossing of the Salween and the fighting over the Gaoligong?

Yes, I did, and it was a tough fight. After crossing the Salween River with rubber raft, we claimed the Gaoligong Mountain immediately.

If so, how would he characterize the terrain, the weather, and the enemy? What were the greatest challenges?

The enemy resisted fiercely, but our biggest obstacle was the terrain and weather. I remembered that the sun was bright when we were at the bottom of the mountain. As we claimed higher, the weather turned colder. More of my men were killed by the cold weather than the Japanese army.

When I see my soldiers collapsing one by one, all I could do was to encourage them to keep going. If they fell in asleep, they would never be able to wake up again. I still dream about them today and always cry about it at night because I feel so sorry about them.

After getting on the top of Gaoligong Mountain, we engaged the Japanese soldiers for the first time ever since crossing the Salween River. We wiped them out easily with our mortars. The Japanese fortification over there was strong, but the Japanese regiment commander seemed to be very corrupt for smoking opium. His men ran away as soon as the fortification was destroyed.

Did he participate in climbing the wall of Tengchong? Did he participate in the brutal house-to-house fighting? What does he remember of the way the Japanese built and defended their bunkers or block houses?

Yes, I was shot off from the wall when I was climbing it. Fortunately for me, I was able to hide under a statue of Governor Long Yun, and so I was able to protect myself from the bullet. Because I was only 163 cm tall at that time, I always blamed my mother for giving me a shorter body than my brother. However, my doctor told me that I could be killed if I was just one centimeter taller since my forehead was scraped by one of those bullets.

I also participated in the house-to-house fighting after we broke into the city. We surrounded the Japanese from three sides while leaving one of the gates open. By allowing some Japanese soldiers to escape, we can be able to reduce the casualties of our own soldiers. Still, those Japanese soldiers who managed to escape from Tengchong attacked out field hospital and killed some of our wounded soldiers. The Japanese soldiers were so brutal.

How did his men perform?

Most of my men did not get good military training before they were sent to the battlefield. I know many of them did not even know how to throw grenade properly. They did not know too much about patriotism, but most of them wanted to fight the Japanese. From my view, they are mostly honest fellow countrymen. I always treated them as my own brothers. After my retirement from the ROC Army in 1980s, I even helped some of them to find job in Taiwan.

What did he think of his officers?

I respect my commanders very much. My division commander was Lee Chi-peng and my regiment commander was Ku Pin. I fully admired General Song Xilian who led the 11th Army Group into the Salween Campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army in Western Yunnan. He was an outstanding commander during the Was of Resistant, and I still can’t figure out why he was captured by the Communist forces during the Civil War? Why a patriotic commander like him would surrender to the People’s Liberation Army? I want to find out the answer, but still can’t.

However, we 36th Division were never beaten on the battlefield. Neither the Japanese nor Communist had ever defeated us. After the Battle of Longling, we awarded the Colors of Honor with Tiger Emblem (the R.O.C. Presidential Colors of Honor with Tiger Emblem) from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

What did he think of American air support?

Without the air support provided by Chennault’s 14th Air Force, I hardly believe we could actually defeat the Japanese in Tengchong. I had actually helped our American advisors to lay strips of white cloth on the ground to direct the attack against enemy targets. For this reason, I think the contribution of the American airmen should not be forgotten in the history of the Republic of China.

What did he do after the Battle of Tengchong?

We continued our campaign further south into Wanding and Mangshi. We encountered few enemy resistant from this time on because all Japanese units in Western Burma had been annihilated.

Eventually, we met with the X-Force near Ledo Road on January of 1945. While I recognizing that soldiers of X-Force were Chinese like us, they had much better equipments than us. Our mules looked all like little puppies when compared to their horses.

I am also an eye witness to the open ceremony of the Stilwell Road on January 25th of 1945. Even though General Stilwell was in bad relationship with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, I still have to say that Stilwell had his contribution to China. The plastic pipeline built along Redo Road is still useful in China today. After the open of Stilwell Road, the Allied was able to transfer more gas and other strategic materials into China. We no longer had to fuel our vehicle with charcoal. Many drivers became rich for driving those materials into China from India.

What did he do after the war?

Our 54th Army was in charge to accept the Japanese surrender in Guangzhou of Guangdong province after the end of war. Then we were deployed to Hong Kong. At there, we were transported to Shanghai, then Qingdao to fight the Communist.

Like all you people know, we lost the Civil War and retreated to Taiwan in 1949. However, I am still very proud of myself for serving as a young officer under the Republic of China Army to fight both the Japanese and Communist during and after WWII. For serving my country, I will have no regret of my life even if I die next moment.

I had been through the toughest battlefield of World War II, and most young people in Taiwan and even mainland China can never imagine about it. 18 of us graduating from the military academy were sent to the 36th Division for the Salween Campaign. By the end of war, only four of us left. One of us was later captured and executed by the Communist in Civil War while other three came to Taiwan successfully. I am the only one who is still alive today to tell the story.

After Deng Xiaoping opened China’s door in 1979, I had returned to mainland China one time. When I was in Hangzhou, a Communist cadre called me a “defeated soldier”. However, I told him immediately that I had US$20,000 with me in my pocket, but he had nothing. For this reason, I want to say that the Republic of China was probably the true victor of the Chinese Civil War because we people in Taiwan at that period of time had much better life than our brothers and sisters in mainland China.

I admitted that China is a very powerful country today, but it is necessary for me to point out that this could happen all because Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek refused to surrender to Japan during WWII. It was the Government of Republic of China which led the entire nation in this war of aggression. Also, it was soldiers from the Nationalist Army like me who had fought battle face to face with the Japanese soldiers on the field, not the Communist. If we fought like those Commies, we could have avoided the death of a lot of our good men. I guess this is the reason why many people call Mao Zedong a good strategist.