Chapter 64 14. General Yang Jingyu's words at the last moment of his life

On February 23, 1940, Yang Jingyu, Commander-in-Chief of the First Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army, was betrayed by a traitor, and died in Sandaoweizi, Mengjiang County, Jilin Province after 55 consecutive firefights with the Japanese field deputy team. For this reason, the government decided in 1946 that Mengjiang County was renamed Jingyu County to commemorate this national hero. Regarding the process of Yang Jingyu's death in battle, there were two different versions of "death in battle" and "suicide".With the deepening of historical research in recent years, it has been proved that Yang Jingyu was shot by the anti-Japanese traitor Zhang Xiruo with a machine gun after 20 minutes of shooting against the Japanese and puppet troops alone.According to the Japanese puppet archives, especially the collation of relevant historical materials in Toyotaka Kato's "Important Photographs of the Manchukuo Police", Chinese historians now have a very detailed account of Yang Jingyu's martyrdom.

However, there is no accurate record of Yang Jingyu's last words before he died for the country. In "Historical Mysteries Before and After Yang Jingyu's Sacrifice", it is described as follows - "Yang Jingyu, who was extremely tired, finally hid under a big tree. The enemy persuaded him to surrender, but the answer he got was bullets. The evil bullets were shot at Yang Jingyu." "Manchukuo Police Important Photo Collection" records that the Japanese commander Kiyoto Nishitani judged that he could not persuade him to surrender, so he ordered an attack, and Yang Jingyu died in the battle.

And in the TV series "Yang Jingyu", the Japanese commander once persuaded Yang Jingyu to lay down his arms, and he was willing to become a brother with Yang Jingyu.Yang Jingyu replied: "If someone invades your hometown, kills your brother, rapes your sister, and makes a pact with you as a brother, will you agree?" Although sonorous and powerful, this is an artistic creation after all. Others said that Yang Jingyu shouted when he was about to die: "I have something to say when I have been in the Anti-League!" What did Yang Jingyu say before he died for his country?

With the help of the Research Institute of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army Teaching Brigade (the 88th Brigade of the Soviet Far East Red Flag), Sa finally got a clue in Japan-the Japanese army had a record of the last battle in the pursuit of Yang Jingyu.During the battle, the two sides did have a conversation, and the one who shouted to Yang Jingyu was the commander of the Japanese army's crusade team Kiyoto Nishiya. The Japanese army even recorded the conversation between the two sides, but it was a pity that it was preserved in Japanese. A Japanese friend who was entrusted by me to find this document called and told me that the document had been found, and briefly described the last conversation between Yang Jingyu and Kiyo Nishitani on the phone.Since this document was made shortly after Yang Jingyu died, its reliability should be relatively high.There are also some content related to Yang Jingyu's sacrifice, such as the traitor An Guangxun who caressed the corpse and cried bitterly after Yang Jingyu's death, which should also not exist in our previous materials.

I decided to pay a visit the next afternoon to retrieve this document, hoping to translate it as soon as possible, so that the general's last words, which may have been hidden for 70 years, can be seen again.Hope to live up to the mission. On the afternoon of March 31, 2011, when I walked out of my Japanese friend's house, it was raining heavily. This rain started to fall intermittently in the morning, and with the wind, it made people feel cold. In late March, Osaka should be starting to warm up, so cold rain is rare.There was still some distance to the front of the car. I hugged the bag to my chest and tried not to let it get wet in the rain, because there was a record in it, which was the Japanese officer who was present when General Yang Jingyu died on February 23, 1940. The last moment of the general's life was recorded.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this article. I am very reluctant to touch this history, as if tearing open a sealed wound.Today's China is a busy country, and I think this kind of sadness in the depths of history is somewhat inappropriate. It was a sad day.The Chinese who fought alone between the white mountains and the black waters, after eight years of hard fighting, have almost reached the point of desperation.On this day, in the land of Northeast China, even our commander-in-chief fought to the last man and died on the battlefield. Two years later, another commander-in-chief of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army, Zhao Shangzhi, also died in battle. He left behind the words: "I am the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army. If I die, I will die in the Northeast."

In the Second World War, France perished, Poland perished, Norway and Greece perished, and none of their commander-in-chief died on the battlefield.In Korea, which was conquered by Japan, the deposed Crown Prince Li Eun not only did not die for the country, but went to serve as brigade leader for the Japanese and became a lifelong pro-Japanese faction. No country has fought as hard as China, even the three northeastern provinces that were considered lost due to non-resistance. The death of General Yang Jingyu, I think, deserves the pride of every Chinese, and makes every Chinese unwilling to look back at the moment when the general sacrificed.

That is a monument to Li Ling of our nation. Therefore, when I opened this record of the general's martyrdom written in Japanese, I had a feeling of clenching my teeth.But I still decided to translate this text, because the information in it records the condition of General Yang Jingyu at the last moment of his life in considerable detail. Although this record may not be surprising, it is passed down from the depths of history. Come echo.Checking our country's existing records on the martyrdom of General Yang Jingyu, and consulting Shi Yijun and other experts in the history of the Anti-Japanese War, we have not seen this material has been disclosed.I don't know if being lucky enough to see it first means I have to take responsibility for it.

The Japanese document recording the martyrdom of General Yang Jingyu is called "Eastern Road Public Security Suzheng Work" No. 222. The original document is stored in the Japan International Good Neighbor Association, and I got a copy.The editor of this document was named Yoshio Tominaga. In order to determine the accuracy of this text, Lao Sa conducted a special investigation on the identity of Tominaga Yoshio. In 1940, Tominaga Yoshio was a senior police officer of the pseudo-Tonghua Provincial Police Department.The director of the police department is the main person in charge of the last pursuit of Yang Jingyu, Ryuichiro Kishitani.Kishitani's Department Headquarters directly governs the five departments of police, security, secret agents, education, and security, as well as the Crusade Operation Headquarters that specializes in fighting against the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces. The "Cuixian Police Brigade" belongs to the crusade headquarters, which still has jurisdiction over nine police brigades, military depots, health squads, and vehicle distribution departments in nine counties in the area, with a total strength of more than 2,800 people , Tominaga Yoshio was the head of the police department directly under the headquarters at that time. (The above information comes from "The Foreign History of the Manchukuo Police" by Mitsuo Makuuchi)

"Eastern Road Public Security and Suzheng Work" was compiled in the era of the Puppet Manchukuo. It is a series of internal files made by the Japanese military and police in the puppet Tonghua Province against the Allies. It records the process of the "crusade" at that time, and Japanese military and police personnel who participated in the war wrote down The form records the activities of a large number of Japanese and puppet police teams.Because it was partially destroyed when Japan was defeated, only a few documents remain and are scattered throughout Japan.The Japan International Good Neighbors Association, a non-governmental organization advocating Sino-Japanese friendship, is located near Ginza, Tokyo, and also preserves several parts of this set of archives.

In this document, the situation of the last battle with General Yang Jingyu is included. Judging from the text, Tominaga was not present at the time, but interviewed and collected the content described by the Japanese military and police present.Since this document itself is a non-public document used internally by the Japanese army, and its content is indeed somewhat different from the information released by the Japanese side, I personally tend to believe that it has a certain historical value. It should be said that Yoshio Tominaga's document disclosed many things that we didn't know about the Japanese army and the Anti-Japanese War. For example, when he described the composition of the pseudo-Tonghua provincial police team, he mentioned that Cheng Bin, the most famous traitor of the Anti-Japanese League, was almost shot dead by the Japanese army when he defected to the enemy. Cheng Bin led 115 people to defect to the enemy in July 1938.Afterwards, the Japanese army organized its troops into the crusade team, and Cheng Bin quickly turned from a rebel general of the Anti-Union Army into a crazy accomplice of the Japanese army. He and his traitors played an important role in the battle that pushed General Yang Jingyu into a corner role. However, it is recorded in "Dongfang Dao Public Security Suzheng Work" that after Cheng Bin and others arrived in Tonghua, "the aforementioned のように黑崎集林队队とこれに胡応したLong Island Work Teamにarrested or いは帰顺した Cheng Bin's following 150 peopleのMeasures については「all members shoot して, sun しshouにせよ」というとういうくく、これもとしてはUsuallyでもあった。 " Translated, it means: "As mentioned earlier, the Kurosaki guerrillas (note: the mobile expedition team commanded by Lieutenant Kurosaki of the enemy's Benxi expedition team) and the Long Island task force (note: the enemy's Tonghua gendarmerie captain) cooperated with it Among Nishida Nakazuo’s subordinates, 150 people below Cheng Bin were arrested or surrendered to him by the special forces commanded by Nagashima Tamajiro Cao (Note: There is a slight discrepancy with the Chinese statistics, which may include other traitors of the Anti-Union). Regarding the handling of them, there are many people who support the opinion of 'shoot them all and hang their heads before the public', which was also the usual handling method at that time." However, in the end, the opinions of Kwantung Army Staff Officer Kanzaki and the enemy Tonghua Police Department Chief Kishitani Ryuichiro prevailed, and they summoned relevant security chief Kumajiro Fumori and security chief Uchi to eat at the Japanese restaurant "Kikusui" in Tonghua City. , At the dinner table, an agreement was made to put all these anti-union traitors into the Police Department.Tominaga recorded in his notes that Cheng Bin and others lived in the normal school outside the south gate of Tonghua that night. On the second day, a grand ceremony was held in the Police Department to accept the traitors of the Anti-Union Alliance. Ryuichiro Kishitani presented Cheng with his saber on the spot. Bin. If it weren't for this record in Japanese documents, it would be hard to believe that Kishitani spent such a large amount of capital on using Cheng Bin's men.But this "Cheng Bin Police Brigade" that was subsequently organized did become one of the most vicious eagle dogs in the Japanese army. This note also records that in the spring of 1939, Cheng Bin's troops were forced to enter the barracks in Huinan County for training and rest, but the reason was a bit ridiculous, and it turned out to be: "One つのエピソードとして among the team members に STD spread したことが记されていた.Cheng troopsのmembersにはyoungerが多い(18—24,5 years old), venereal disease が spread し て い た ため, during recuperation に は の STD の treatment をなければならなかったとうのである. "The translation is roughly: One of the sayings is the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among the players.Many members of Cheng's troops are young (18-24 or 25 years old), because of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, they had to be treated for sexually transmitted diseases during the rest period. Regarding the battle with General Yang Jingyu, in the previously discovered documents, the dialogue between the general and the Japanese army was also recorded.The time took place on February 15th. At that time, the Japanese army persuaded them to surrender. Yang Jingyu loudly asked the Japanese army to send someone to talk to him. Police officer Ito in the Japanese army's crusade team (the Japanese police officer in the "reward department" in Cheng Bin's police brigade, the police lieutenant supplement) He stood up and expressed his willingness to negotiate. At this time, Yang Jingyu shot immediately and hit Ito 300 meters away with his superb marksmanship. Unfortunately, the distance was too far, and the bullet lost its power. Ito, who was shot in the chest, was only injured but not killed.Later, another traitor who was as famous as Cheng Bin, Cui Zhoufeng, the captain of the "Cuixian Police Brigade", was also wounded by Yang Jingyu.Yang Jingyu took the opportunity to get rid of the pursuers and break out of the encirclement. As for Yang Jingyu's last battle, the fake "Concord Magazine" published a report on "Yang Jingyu Crusade Symposium" in Issue 933 in 1940, in which the Japanese police officer Mashiko Rio (Note: The pseudo-Tonghua police team crusade against the headquarters because the commander-in-chief was the guard Section Chief Fumori Kumajiro, hence the name Fumori Task Force, Masuko Rio was attached to the headquarters of the unit, with the rank of sergeant, and was also one of the Japanese police officers who were at the scene when Yang Jingyu died).Said at the symposium, "The distance between the enemy and the enemy is 50 meters. 'It's useless to resist, surrender!' We persuaded him to surrender again, but the answer was a pistol bullet instead. 'Hit! Kill him!'" When the attack reached 30 meters, he was already in a dilemma. At this time, we were divided into two groups. Fierce shooting started from two sides. After fighting for about 10 minutes, the bullets fired from which side hit the enemy. "Bada" fell down Down. I saw it with my own eyes." There is no dialogue between the two sides in this description, but later the Japanese army discovered that Yang Jingyu was shooting at each other, and used the short buffer time to burn the confidential documents they carried with them. However, there are different records in "Eastern Road Public Security and Serious Work", which shows that during the exchange of fire, the commander of the first echelon of the Japanese army Kiyoto Nishiya tried to persuade Yang Jingyu to surrender. The two sides had a short dialogue. The following is the Japanese translation of this dialogue record of— ... かくてright-wing team はかにのの in front of the 30メートルの locationまでclose toした.Captain Nishiya はshooting をtemporary suspensionさせて、次のような言葉のやりとりをした. "Jun ga Commander Yang?" "そうだ, わたしが Commander Yang." "I々はTonghuaのPolice Teamである.My 々のUnitにはかつての君のcomradeであったchengも, Cui Mo, the police teamをcommanderしている.An staff officerもheadquartersに屋る. Kishitani Chief は君の帰shun を Wen く Ying え ru de あ ろう. Today かし て は escape re get ね と こ ろ だ. Death wo urgent が ず と も 帰shun し て ど う か " "今明を晚してもHow to もしいいい. Most of the subordinates を Lost って Self-divided one person が今ここに in るとしいも, Comrade Mada は Everywhere 転战している (Wei Jimin staff officer, Chen Hanzhang third division commander, Jin The sixth division commander of Richeng, その他のことを means すのであろう). It must come to the day of the demise of imperialism. Self-distribution is the last まで resistance するから long-term consideration なくshootって吴れ” というと共に二五打枪で拍って来たので已もなく応战し... Nishiya Inspector は「よし, もうShifang はない. Rong Amnesty せせねぞ、剖てっ」としたしたした of each team. ... Taste side の 一 㼾 は See things he の breast plate を through い た.何は両手を高く挙げてばったり地に怪れ、二度と动かなかった... In this text, there is an original note in Japanese, which is an analysis of the meaning of Yang Jingyu’s “comrade” who is still in battle. Among them, “Staff Wei Jimin” should refer to Wei Zhengmin, political commissar of the First Route Army, who died of illness in 1941. In the secret camp; Chen Hanzhang, commander of the third division, should refer to Chen Hanzhang, commander-in-chief of the third front army of the First Route Army, who died in the battle at Hutou, Hunan Province in December 1940; commander of the sixth division of Kim Il-sung, should refer to the No. Kim Il-sung, commander-in-chief of the Second Front Army of the First Route Army. This text was also quoted in full on pages 171 to 172 of the book "The Foreign History of Manchukuo Police" published by Japan. If you have a serious friend, you can find this book. If you can compare it, you will find this text I copied it exactly, without changing a single word. I tried my best to restore this passage with my own translation—— ...The right-wing team approached covertly to a point 30 meters in front of him (note: referring to General Yang Jingyu).Captain Nishiya ordered a pause in firing, and the two sides exchanged the following words. "Are you Commander Yang? (Note: In Japanese military documents and news, Yang Jingyu is often referred to as Commander Yang, or Commander Yang bandit, so many people at that time only knew Commander Yang, but did not know that Commander Yang's name was Yang Jingyu. This should be a relationship between the two sides. The reason why they all use the name Commander Yang)” "Yes, I am Commander Yang." "We are the police force in Tonghua. In our army, Cheng (Bin) and Cui (Zhoufeng), who used to be Comrade Junzhi, are both in charge of the police force. An Guangxun, chief of staff of the First Route Army, was also working at the headquarters at the political work squad under the headquarters of the Tonghua Police Department's crusade team). Escaping is impossible, so why rush to die? How about you consider surrendering?" "I cherish my life, but it is impossible to do as you wish. Many (my) subordinates have sacrificed, and now I am left alone. Although I am in trouble, my comrades have fought in various places (Original Note: He Perhaps referring to Staff Officer Wei Jimin, Third Division Commander Chen Hanzhang, Sixth Division Commander Kim Il Sung, and others), the day when imperialism will perish is bound to come. I will resist to the end, needless to say, shoot.” As he said that, (Yang Jingyu) started shooting at us with two pistols, and our side immediately began to fight. ... Sergeant Nishitani said: "Okay, there is no other way. This is life and death, shoot!" Under his order, the teams started a fierce attack... Our fatal bullet pierced his chest.He raised his hands up, then fell to the ground, and never moved again... It is speculated that this conversation was conducted in Chinese at the time. When Nishitani mentioned the traitor among Yang Jingyu's "comrades", Yang Jingyu talked about "my comrades fought in various places" in his subsequent answer.The logic of the dialogue between the two sides is clear, and the recording time is not long after Yang Jingyu's death, so the credibility is relatively strong.We can even speculate that General Yang Jingyu took advantage of this short dialogue time to complete the destruction of the documents.The fatal bullet that hit Yang Jingyu came from the traitor Zhang Xiruo. At that time, Yang Jingyu had been out of food for five days, suffering from a severe cold and severe frostbite on his feet, but he still carried a No. 1 sheller, two small pistols, and 230 rounds of ammunition. He did not give up these weapons until the last moment. The death of Yang Jingyu was a heavy blow to the Anti-United Nations, but their battle continued.The first part of the Tenth Army of the Anti-Japanese War guarded the Jiuwudingzishan base area until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.The Japanese army always marked them as "the remnants of Ssangyong (that is, the report number of the Tenth Army Commander Wang Yachen)" on the combat map.Due to their isolation from the outside world, they remained on the spot after Japan surrendered until they were escorted out of the mountain by Zhou Baozhong's traffic officer Tian Zhongqiao (later the librarian of the Northeast Martyrs Memorial Hall). In 1935, the Anti-Japanese Alliance became a lone army. In 1941, Wang Yachen, the commander of the Tenth Army, died in battle. These soldiers of the Tenth Army became the lone army in the lone army, but they persisted for five years. Though the Commander-in-Chief is dead, his soul still fights on this land. In the same document, the Japanese recorded that Yang Jingyu's body was sent to the county seat, and in order to confirm that the Japanese called the aforementioned traitor An Guangxun.In the end, after confirming that it was Yang Jingyu himself, An Guangxun burst into tears unabashedly. After An Guangxun's rebellion, he played an important role in the Japanese army's crusade against the Anti-Japanese War, including in the process of chasing and killing Yang Jingyu at the end.However, his bitter cry reminded us that An Guangxun surrendered after Lizhan was wounded and captured. Perhaps, when he faced Yang Jingyu, he still had a bit of shame and conscience discovered too late. Although, the dialogue between the two sides seemed to be very short, and the general did not say any bold words at the last moment, but he was as firm and strong every time he faced the Japanese army before.But it is in this kind of calm that we feel the general's determination in the face of certain death.The voice "I will resist to the end" seemed to echo between heaven and earth. At that moment, the world might weep for the general.