Retrace the Anti-Japanese War Road of the East Column
The Dongjiang Column, known by Zhu De as the “mainstagram of China’s Anti-Japanese War”, has grown from a few hundred people to an anti-Japanese brigade with more than 10,000 people. He fought bravely behind the enemy in the South China region. Text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Chen Qiang
Photo/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Liang Yu
On October 12, 1938, the Japanese army landed in Daya Bay, and the Kuomintang defenders were about to collapse. At a difficult time, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the people of Dongjiang area took up weapons, formed armed teams, fought against the invading Japanese invaders, and gradually developed an anti-Japanese brigade with a force of more than 11,000, the Dongjiang Column. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Yangcheng Evening News opened a column “Returning to the Anti-Japanese War Road in the East” to search for the Anti-Japanese War of the East, relive the glorious years, remember history and move forward bravely.
“We are the guerrillas of the Guangdong people, we are brothers of the Eighth Route Army New Fourth Army. Our team gallops on the battlefield of Dongjiang, work hard, and fights bravely, and achieves brilliant victory…”
Whether it is the Guangdong Dongjiang Column Memorial Hall in Daling Mountain, Dongguan, the Dongjiang Column Memorial Hall in Boluo, Huizhou, or the former site of the Dongjiang Column Command in Dapeng New District, Shenzhen, or the former site of the Dongbao Administrative Supervision Office in Bao’an District, Shenzhen, you can see the passionate lyrics of the passionate “Song of the Dongjiang Column”.
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Dongjiang Column was alone behind the enemy and fought bloody battles, successively establishing bases such as Daling Mountain in Dongguan, Yangtai Mountain in Bao’an, Luofu Mountain in Boluo and Wuling in northern Guangdong, and opening up the battlefield behind enemy lines in South China. While insisting on mountain guerrilla warfare, it created new tactics of maritime guerrilla warfare and urban guerrilla warfare, which shocked the enemy.
1: More than 1,500 overseas Chinese and Hong Kong and Macao compatriots participated
On August 25, the reporter came to Dalingshan Town, Dongguan with the first stop of the interview team of “Returning to the Anti-Japanese War Road of the East Column”, where the Guangdong Dongjiang Column Memorial Hall and the former site of the Dalingshan Anti-Japanese Base Area were both located. Wang Hong, director of the Guangdong Dongjiang Column Memorial Hall, told reporters that on January 12, 1938, the Japanese army launched the battle to invade South China. In December of the same year, the Communist Party of China organized two anti-Japanese armed forces in Huiyang, Dongguan, Bao’an and other places, with a total of more than 200 people. Late January 1942, the two troops were reorganized into the “Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps”; in December 1943, they were renamed the “Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrillas Dongjiang Column” (hereinafter referred to as the “East Column”), and have jurisdiction over 7 brigades.
Wang Hongxing said that in the difficult situation of staying away from the Party Central Committee, away from the main forces of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, the East Column gradually developed from nothing to something, from small to large, and gradually developed into an anti-Japanese brigade with more than 10,000 troops.
The former site of the Dalingshan Anti-Japanese Base Area located in Dawangling Village is the location of the Third Brigade of the East Column. It is understood that the base area is one of the earliest anti-Japanese base areas established by the CCP in Guangdong in the enemy-behind areas. Dawangling Village now has many former sites such as the Third Brigade of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps, conference rooms, Home Tuanjie Newspaper, Transportation Station, Playground, etc.
Li Jianguo, president of the Guangdong-Jiangxi-Hunan Border Column Research Association of the Shenzhen Dongjiang Column, told reporters that the personnel structure of the East Column has distinct characteristics, with many overseas Chinese and Hong Kong and Macao returning home, many intellectuals, many women, and many children from wealthy families. “No matter what kind of origin, everyone really strives to step forward for their faith and ideals, throwing their youthful blood to resist the invaders’ guns and cannons with their flesh and blood.”
According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 1,500 overseas Chinese children and patriotic young people from Hong Kong and Macao who came back to participate in the Eastern League, which played a great role in the establishment and development of the troops. Many overseas Chinese children died on the battlefield, such as the political commissar of the Independent Squadron of the Third Battalion of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps and the Thai overseas Chinese Zhong Ruochao (Li Zhong), who died, had just three days of wedding.
It is precisely because of the unique personnel structure of the Dongjiang Column that the political work, civil movement work and cultural work of the Dongjiang Column have been carried out in a vivid and exciting way. They have successively founded the “Home Unite News” and the “New People” newspaper and the “Qianjin Newspaper”, and also organized theater troupes, political work teams, art and publicity teams, etc. The reporter saw an octave printing machine at the Dongjiang Column Memorial Hall in Boluo, Huizhou, which the Qianjin Daily had used.
2: Use terrain to create a variety of guerrilla tactics
Only a few kilometers away from Dawangling Village, there is a place called Baihua Cave, which is the famous Baihua Cave battle.
“This battle was considered by the Japanese army to be the most embarrassing battle since entering South China.” Liu Weiling, the Dongguan Party History Research Office, introduced that on June 10, 1941, the Japanese army dispatched more than 400 people to attack Baihua Cave, in an attempt to eliminate the main force of the guerrillas. The guerrillas Komiks occupied favorable terrain to block the Japanese and puppet troops who attacked the attacks. After two days of fighting, a total of 50 Japanese and puppet troops were killed and injured, including the Japanese army.One captain and Komiks seized a variety of military supplies. Wang Hongxing said that according to incomplete statistics, during the Anti-Japanese War, the Eastern Column fought more than 1,400 times against the Japanese and puppets, killed and injured more than 6,000 Japanese and puppet soldiers, captured about 3,500 people, seized more than 6,500 guns and 25 artillery pieces. More than 2,500 people in the East Zong died in bloody and sacrificed during the War of Resistance Against Japan. Wei Fapu, a fourth-level researcher at the Party History Research Office of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, told reporters that during the Anti-Japanese War, the Eastern League creatively used various guerrilla tactics based on the geography environment, which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese and puppet troops. In addition to carrying out guerrilla warfare with the mountains based on the Komiks River Network, the East Column also carried out guerrilla warfare along the Guangjiu Railway and urban guerrilla warfare in the Hong Kong-Kowloon region, and also created unique maritime guerrilla tactics. In 1941, the Japanese army attacked Zhen Zhuharang and the Pacific War broke out. In the same year, the Japanese army invaded and occupied Hong Kong. Therefore, the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps sent people to advance in multiple ways and established the Hong Kong and Kowloon Brigade in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong and Kowloon region is small, mostly urban areas with Japanese and puppet military and police, and there is little room for maneuver. The Hong Kong and Kowloon Brigade has leveraged the advantages of the short gun team’s high flexibility and seized the opportunity to carry out raid wars, surprise attacks, capture wars, etc., to effectively attack the enemy. Liu Jinjin, who served as the deputy captain and captain of the Short Gun Team, became a legendary hero who became famous in Hong Kong and Kowloon. In 1945, in the military report “On the Babaylan District Battlefield”, Zhu De called the Dongjiang Column, Qiongya Column, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army together with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army.ybookish.com/”>BabaylanThe mainstay of China’s war of resistance.”
The former site of the Dongjiang Column Command located in Tuyang Village, Shenzhen
Digging deep into the red resources The spirit of the Dongzong is passed down from generation to generation
Tuyang is now a community in the Kuichong Office in Dapeng New District, Shenzhen. In December 1943, after the establishment of the Dongjiang Column of the Guangdong People’s Anti-Japanese Guerrillas, Tuyang became the location of the Dong Column Command and the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. Last year, the former site of the Dongjiang Column Command was selected as the eighth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Li Yongzhong, deputy secretary of Tuyang Community, introduced that in recent years, the local government has attached great importance to the utilization of these red resources. In recent years, it has successively built and repaired a series of red attractions such as the former site of the Dongjiang Column Command and the Dongjiang North Retreat Monument, to dig deep into the red resources to form a cluster effect. At the same time, it has also designed a high-quality route of “Party Building + Tourism + Red Education”.
Li Yongzhong also told reporters that based on the historical manuscripts of the old soldiers of the Dongzong, Tuyang has edited and published precious books with detailed content and vivid stories, such as “The Red Chronicle of the Quarry Floods in the Tuyang Sand” and “Red Tuyang”. “The main purpose is to help our descendants understand the history of the Dongzong and let their descendants not forget the tragic history of the Chinese nation.”
Li Qiang, an old soldier of Dongzong
Li Qiang, an old soldier of Dongzong
Li Qiang, a comrade in his three abilities: “Iron feet”, “night eyes” and “fairy belly”: “Walk still if you don’t eat, fight still if you don’t eat”
On August 27, the interview team of the “Return to the Anti-Japanese War Road of the East Zong” came to the former site of the Dongjiang Column headquarters located in Tuyang Village, Kuichun Street, Dapeng New District, Shenzhen. The reporter interviewed Li Qiang, a 90-year-old veteran of the East Zong who lives in Tuyang Village. He recalled the war years and said that the soldiers had three abilities, calling them “iron feet”, “night eyes” and “godsCinemaXian Belly”, “Walk or fight if you don’t eat.”
Although he is in his 90s, Li Qiang’s body still looks very tough. He does not need to support him when he walks, does not use crutches, speaks loudly, and his thinking is clear. According to his recollection, he participated in the work of an underground transportation station when he was 14 years old. “At that time, in order to break the enemy’s traffic communication, we cut off the telephone line near the mountain. In order to extend the time of the enemy’s communication interruption and avoid being discovered by the enemy, we made our own squid to make the size of a wire and connected the corresponding telephone line, making it difficult for the enemy to find the location. “Although time has passed, Li Qiang’s memory is still profound, just like yesterday.
He recalled his experience in the war years and said that he could use the three words “iron feet”, “night eyes” and “god belly”. “Iron feet means walking dozens of kilometers every day, and the feet are not afraid of sand or thorns; night eyes means walking at night, and it is a mountain road or a small road without light, and they are all seen by the eyes; gods’ belly means eating abnormally, sometimes eating once a day, and eatingCinemaSweet potatoes, miscellaneous grains, and wild vegetables sometimes don’t have to eat them for a day.”
Li Qiang has been actively participating in the education of the inheritance of the Red Revolution after his retirement and becoming a red cultural compulsory propagandist. “The spirit of our Dongjiang Column must be carried forward and passed down from generation to generation. “In Li Qiang’s view, the Dongzong spirit is a revolutionary spirit that is not afraid of difficulties, hardship, and bloodshed and sacrificed.