Chapter 12 A Tale of Two Little Japanese Girls

During the Jingxing battle, Yang Chengwu was very busy at the command post, calling for instructions one after another.As soon as he put down the phone, the ring rang again. It was Qiu Wei, the head of the regiment. He said: "The first battalion cleaned up the battlefield and found that the Japanese deputy station chief of Jingxing Railway Station, Kato Kiyotoshi, and his wife were killed. Daughter, the older one is five or six years old, and the younger one can't walk, Commander Yang, what do you think?" Holding the receiver in his hand, Yang Chengwu didn't answer for a while, and a burst of pity came to his heart.Two more children lost their parents and became orphans. Whose fault is it?They are all crimes committed by a small group of Japanese war fanatics who provoked the war. The children are innocent and victims.Thinking of this, he said to Head Qiu, "Send the two girls to the command post immediately."

After a while, a report came from outside the door, and two soldiers walked in with two little girls in their arms.Yang Chengwu looked at the two children carefully. The older one had a short boy's hair cut off, and he was wearing a dirty and ragged little dress. There were tears on his beautiful face, and a pair of big eyes flashed with fear. . Yang Chengwu reported the incident to Nie Rongzhen by phone.Nie Rongzhen asked Yang Chengwu to send someone to send the two girls to the military command post immediately.A day later, the three soldiers sent the little girl to the Jinchaji Military Region. Nie Rongzhen hugged the little girl with one hand, stroked the hair of the older child with the other hand, and put candy into their mouths.The child ate the candy and looked at this fatherly uncle with a naive smile on his face.They quickly became familiar with these uncles and uncles, talking non-stop.After talking with the children, the cadres of the enemy workers learned that the older child was named Mihoko and the younger one was named Rumiko. When the Jingxing Station exploded, a house collapsed. Rushed into the flames and rescued the children and their parents.Their father, Kato Kiyotoshi, and mother were seriously injured in the bombing, and died in the third regiment dressing place because the rescue failed. The worker cadre bowed.

Seeing this scene, Nie Rongzhen couldn't help feeling sad and shed a stream of tears.He sent guards to a nearby village to invite a sister-in-law, and asked her to take good care of the child. He also asked the cook to cook delicious meals for the child, and brought biscuits and pears. A few days later, Nie Rongzhen wrote a letter to the Japanese officers and soldiers, telling the story of rescuing the two children, and asking them to try to send them back to Japan to be raised by relatives.The letter, together with the two children, was quickly sent to the headquarters of the 110th Division of the Japanese Army in Shijiazhuang, so that the children could return to their Japanese relatives.

On May 29, 1980, the former war correspondent Yao Yuanfang published an article in the "People's Daily" entitled "Little Japanese Girl, Where Are You?" The article wrote: This happened forty years ago, and I kept thinking: what would happen to the two orphans after they were sent back to the Japanese military camp?Can this weak life survive the chaos?Did they return to their hometown after the war?Today, when the relationship between the people of China and Japan is getting closer, this idea is even more profound. ... From then to now, it has experienced forty years of changes.Two little Japanese girls, where are you now?At that time, one of you was five years old and the other was only a few months old. Now you are both in your forties.I look at your childhood photos and look for your traces on the map of Japan: maybe laboring in a manufacturing factory in Osaka, or fishing at sea in the choppy Soya Strait?Maybe you are working intently in a research institute in Tokyo.In this bright spring, you may bring your children to watch the cherry blossoms in Ueno.I also fantasize that you will be among the hundreds and thousands of Japanese tourists who come to China.

Ah, little girl, where are you now? ……… The day after the People's Daily published Yao Yuanfang's article, a reporter from Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" reported "Orphans Rescued from War, General Nie Calls for Xingzi 40 Years Later".After searching carefully, I found the older girl in Kyushu——Mihoko.Now she is the mother of 3 children and runs a small grocery store with her husband. Her injured sister died in a Japanese hospital in Shijiazhuang due to her injuries. After finding Mihoko, Yao Yuanfang couldn't calm down. He wrote "Bless You, Mihoko!" " article, the article wrote: "She may remember the mountains, rivers and vegetation in northern China, the gurgling water in the Taihang Mountain Canyon, and the fish floating in the stream. The uncle of the Eighth Route Army once led her to touch the fish by the stream; I remember the icy snowflakes and the Chinese rattan basket she sat on; what is especially unforgettable is the uncle who gave her life—Commander Nie.”

When Mihoko learned that Nie Rongzhen still misses and calls her 40 years later, she immediately wrote a passionate letter to Nie Rongzhen with excitement, expressing her thoughts and gratitude: The letter from Mihoko was forwarded to Nie Rongzhen by the Yomiuri Shimbun of Japan.Although Nie Rongzhen is in his eighties, he is in good spirits. After receiving the letter, he told the reporter of "Beijing Evening News": "Yesterday I read Mihoko's enthusiastic letter, and saw her recent photos and childhood photos, very similar to her. The way I was when I was a child. After 40 years of absence, I finally found it. This is rare. I am very happy. I wish Mihoko and her family happiness."

When Mihoko and her family visited my country in 1980, Marshal Nie Rongzhen received them. Mihoko was very excited, tears filled her eyes, and expressed her gratitude repeatedly.According to Mihoko, the former Japanese soldiers who participated in the battle of the Zhengtai Railway told her repeatedly that they were sorry for the Chinese people and were very sorry.Marshal Nie replied, let us turn hostility into friendship.May the people of China and Japan continue the friendship from generation to generation and never meet each other in arms. One day at the beginning of February 2002, Laizhu Xinping was entrusted by Mihoko and his wife (because Mihoko’s husband was sick and needed Mihoko to take care of her at home, so she couldn’t come), she traveled all the way to one of the main battlefields of the “Hundred Regiments War” in Shijiazhuang’s mining area. In East Wangshe Village, find Li Mingxiu, understand and confirm the details of the "General's Rescue the Orphan" in the Hundred Regiments War, and look for the cemetery of Mihoko's parents back then.

The China-Japan Friendship Association in Ducheng City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan found the East Wangshe Village, the battlefield at that time, through relevant local departments.At Li Mingxiu's home, the over 70-year-old Lai Xinping saw the relics of Kato Kiyotoshi preserved by Li Minggang (Li Mingxiu's elder brother): a drinking cup and a used medicine box.During the symposium, Li Mingxiu wrote a banner "May the people of China and Japan continue to be friendly from generation to generation", and asked Japanese friends to donate it to Mihoko and his wife. On February 4, Li Mingxiu went with them to check the cemetery of Mihoko's parents near the station.Japanese soldiers have a habit of taking the ashes of the war dead back home after cremation, but because of the continuous rain and the ongoing war, they had to bury them on the spot, and after so many years of transformation and changes, they can only remember the general location of the station.

Mr. Laizhu talked with Li Mingxiu and learned that Mr. Laizhu is a member of the Japanese Communist Party with a party age of 52 years; Li Mingxiu is a member of the Chinese Communist Party with a party age of 42 years. The hands of the two old people who hit it off were tightly held together. On February 15th, Mr. Laizhu sent a photo and a letter from Japan, saying that Mihoko expressed her gratitude to Li Mingxiu for preserving her father's relics, and said that when her husband's health improved, he would definitely come to Dongwangshe Village to see Look. When Mihoko came to the mining area, she was only one step away from Dongwangshe Village. The old man Li Mingxiu still regrets it, and it has been more than 20 years since then.This time, Li Mingxiu was very happy to learn that Mr. Laizhu was entrusted by Ms. Mihoko. The old man had a wish to hand over the relics to Mihoko who had been separated for more than 60 years.

The story of Nie Rongzhen and Mihoko in the Hundred Regiments War, 40 years later, has become a good story of friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people.