31 years ago today, on October 25, 1994 (September 21, 1994 in the lunar calendar), General Yang Dezhi died. In March, 1939, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan detachment was established in Dongming County, Shandong Province. The third from left is Yang Dezhi, the commander of the detachment. In January 1937, Yang Dezhi, then commander of the Second Division of the First Red Army Corps, and Chen Geng, commander of the First Division, led a group of cadres of the Corps to study at the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political University in Yan'an (referred to as "Anti-Japanese University"). For my father, a Red Army commander who was born as a cowherd, it is a very valuable learning opportunity. However, just half a year after the start of school, the July 7th Incident broke out, and Japan launched a large-scale and all-out war of aggression against China. The Central Military Commission ordered all students of the "Anti-Japanese University" to graduate ahead of schedule and participate in the all-round War of Resistance against Japan. My father rushed back to the 115th Division to report for duty. Deputy Division Commander Nie Rongzhen said, "There are two reasons for you to be the head of the 685th Regiment. First, this regiment was adapted from the second division where you used to work; Second, this regiment is the vanguard of the whole division. Now the troops have arrived in Zhichuan Town between Hancheng and Heyang on the west bank of the Yellow River, and your task is to cross the Yellow River into Shanxi. Now Shanxi and the whole North China are very tight!" After accepting the task, my father quickly set off and rushed to Zhichuan Town day and night. Pingxingguan "was washed with blood by the martyrs." My father chased the troops until he crossed the Yellow River that he saw Chen Zhengxiang and Xiao Yuanjiu, deputy heads of the regiment, in the suburbs of Houma, Shanxi. He led his troops on the northbound train, which was the first train of the entire Eighth Route Army to the front line. After the train arrived in Taiyuan, my father went to the city to see Teacher Lin Biao. Lin Biao told my father to speed up the north and drive the troops directly to the Pingxingguan front line. There is a road in front of Pingxingguan, which winds to Lingqiu and Laiyuan. This is the only way for the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Sakagaki Division to occupy Pingxingguan. From Guanqian to Donghenan Town for more than ten miles, the ditch on the north side of the road is high and steep, making it difficult to climb, while the south side of the road is relatively gentle and easy to attack. The superior decided that the 685th and 686th regiments would attack from the south. My father led the 685th regiment to set off from Shangzhai in the dark, braved the strong wind and heavy rain, and arrived at Lizhuang, the ambush area, at dawn. About eight o'clock in the morning, I heard the sound of a car motor, and then I vaguely saw the guiding car with a sun flag, followed by a large slide of carts and carriages. The car was filled with Japanese soldiers in shiny steel helmets, yellow woolen coats, and rifles with bayonets held to their chests. Our soldiers' bayonet chambers were full of bullets, keeping an eye on cars entering the ambush area one after another. When the first few Japanese cars drove to the foot of the mountain in front of the position of the 685th Regiment, my father gave an order: "Fight!" Machine guns and rifles fired together. The car in front of the Japanese was caught on fire, and the cars, carts and horses behind them collided with each other and couldn't walk. The devils howled and jumped out of the car to scatter everywhere. It should be said that the 21st Brigade of Sakagaki Division is still very effective. As soon as they wake up from their ignorance, their arrogant, fierce, vicious and cruel nature attacks. The commander howled desperately with his saber, and the soldiers hiding under the car came out and climbed the mountain desperately. The enemy wanted to occupy the commanding heights. My father immediately ordered: "No Japanese are allowed to occupy any commanding heights nearby!" At this time, Battalion Commander Liu had commanded the first battalion to divide the enemy on the road into several sections. He immediately commanded the first and third companies and rushed to the two hills beside the road. The devils in the ravine were also climbing the mountain, but before they could climb up, the first and third companies that climbed the mountain first rushed back down, smashing and beating them hard, and wiped out these devils. The fourth company of this battalion moved a little slower and was occupied by the Japanese first. The company commander was wounded in the charge, and the platoon leader took the initiative to replace the command. The attack from both sides quickly captured the hill back, forcing the Japs back to the bottom of the ditch and wiping them all out. The fiercest white-to-white fighting was carried out in the positions of the 2nd and 3rd battalions. Comrade Zeng Xiansheng, the company commander of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion, was nicknamed "Mengzi". Before the battle started, he encouraged the troops to say, "Relying on our glorious tradition of close combat at night, we will use grenades, bayonets and devils to do it, so that they can't die whole." After launching the charge, he took the lead in assaulting the enemy, and within 20 minutes, the whole company blew up more than 20 cars with grenades. In the white-blade fighting, he stabbed more than a dozen Japs to death by himself. He was covered with wounds and blood, and a group of devils approached him. Zeng Xiansheng sounded the only grenade around him and died with the enemy. This is a bloody battle! This is a struggle of will and a test of perseverance! The battle lasted until the afternoon and ended with the final victory of our army. A total of more than 1,000 Japanese troops were annihilated in this battle. The 21st Brigade of Sakagaki Division suffered a devastating blow in the first battle with the Eighth Route Army! My father wrote in his memoirs: "Pingxingguan is a heroic pass, because she was washed with the blood of the martyrs! Pingxingguan is an unforgettable pass, because she records the first great victory of the Chinese people against the Japanese aggressors!" Taking more than 100 people out of Taihang to open up base areas In 1938, Mao Zedong and other comrades issued instructions on vigorously developing guerrilla warfare in Hebei and Shandong plains. According to the spirit of this instruction, the deployment of troops was adjusted accordingly. Among them, the main forces of the 115th Division, the 344th Brigade, and the 129th Division developed from Taihang Mountains to southern and northern Henan. This summer, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De ordered his father to go from the 685th Regiment to the 344th Brigade as deputy brigade commander and acting brigade commander. When my father went to receive the task face to face, Mr. Zhu said, "The area you went to belongs to the border region of Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces, and has an important strategic position since ancient times. Nowadays, it plays a great role in ensuring Taihang Mountain, communicating the connection between mountainous areas and plains, and curbing Japanese troops from moving southward and westward. Therefore, it should be firmly controlled in our hands anyway. You will have no less difficulties this time, claiming to be a brigade, but your political commissar Comrade Huang Kecheng and the main force can't go with you immediately. You can only bring a few troops first, so it is called opening up a base area. After arriving in that area, there will be many traitors, die-hards, all kinds of miscellaneous troops-called'bandits' by the common people-, the working environment will be difficult, and the situation and struggle will be complicated. " According to Mr. Zhu's instructions, his father discussed with political commissar Huang Kecheng, and he and Cui Tianmin, director of the political department, took more than 100 people first. In September, 1938, my father went east to Taihang and led his troops to fight in the plains of southern and northern Henan. In March, 1939, a small number of troops led by my father were reorganized into the Hebei-Shandong-Henan detachment of the Eighth Route Army with two local guerrillas in the Dongming area of southwest Shandong, and he served as the detachment leader. The task of the detachment is to mobilize the masses extensively, carry out guerrilla activities, strengthen the anti-Japanese armed forces and establish * regime. At the end of April, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan detachment attacked Jinxiang County, an important stronghold of the Japanese army, at a long distance, killing and wounding more than 250 Japanese and puppet troops, which not only dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army, shocked the enemies stationed in Jining and Xuzhou, but also established strategic contact and cooperation with the New Fourth Army and Shandong Eighth Route Army. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Eighth Route Army was still in the exploratory stage. My father attached great importance to summing up the experience of guerrilla warfare in the plains. He put forward: Guerrilla warfare can be carried out in plain areas. Our territory is vast, and the enemy can only occupy points and lines, while we can carry out guerrilla warfare by virtue of vast countryside; To mobilize and organize the people to carry out plain guerrilla warfare, as long as the broad masses of the people participate in the anti-Japanese struggle, the "living mountain of people" on which plain guerrilla warfare depends can be formed; The tactics to be implemented in guerrilla warfare in the plains are "don't fight hard, fight soft", "the enemy hits me, but I don't fight; If the enemy doesn't fight me, I will fight the enemy", conducting night warfare, etc., which enriched our army's experience in guerrilla warfare in the plains. At the time of the prosperity and development of the anti-Japanese struggle, in August, 1939, a large-scale erroneous "Sutuo Incident" occurred in Huxi District. In September, the Huxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China called my father and Director Cui Tianmin, saying that the southwest Shandong prefectural committee was a "Trotskyist" organization and demanded that cadres at or above the district level be arrested and sent to Huxi. After receiving the electricity, my father thought it was of great importance. On the one hand, he replied that he could not arrest people without evidence. Please inform me of the specific materials in detail; On the one hand, I telegraphed the 115th Division and Shandong Branch, requesting to send someone to solve the "Sutuo" problem in Huxi as soon as possible. Soon, Luo Ronghuan, political commissar of the 115th Division, Guo Hongtao, secretary of the Shandong Branch, and Zhang Jingwu, commander of the Shandong Column, rushed to Huxi and took emergency measures to stop the development of the incident. The decisive measures taken by my father and others saved the lives of a large number of anti-Japanese cadres. Drinking water is the discipline of the Eighth Route Army. Chairman Mao said in "On Protracted War" that there are three ways for China to defeat Japan, and the main one is "the great unity of the Chinese people". My father knows this deeply. When my father first entered the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region, the people were very nervous because of the excessive levy by the Kuomintang government, extortion by local tyrants and evil gentry, and misconduct by bandit gangs. Almost every village built earthen enclosures to prevent harassment by "soldiers and bandits". Father's team passed through the village, and the fellow villagers immediately closed the enclosure door and refused to enter. My father told my comrades that if they couldn't get into the enclosure, they would do mass work outside. Seeing that the fellow villagers didn't attack them, they slowly opened the enclosure door during the day, allowing them to pass but not stop. Later, they gradually took the initiative to let the Eighth Route Army rest inside, and sometimes sent some boiled water. My father asked the troops to pay for all the water they drank, and the villagers were surprised by the troops who paid for boiled water. Taking advantage of the rest, the soldiers told their fellow villagers that although the symbol of "National Army" is also on their hats, we are the "Eighth Route Army", a team led by the Communist Party, and we are here to fight devils and bandits with them. It is the discipline of the Eighth Route Army to drink water and give money. After doing the work, the fellow villagers believed that the Eighth Route Army was "not bad", but doubted whether it could beat the Japanese. At the end of April, 1939, my father led a team to attack the Japanese defenders in Jinxiang County at night, and then attacked a Japanese motorcade. Although the results were not great, our soldiers chased, shouted and fired guns, which greatly damaged the enemy's prestige and grew the ambition of the people. The fellow villager believed it now, "The soldiers of Shen Honglie (then chairman of Shandong Province of Kuomintang) slipped away when they heard the sound of Japanese riding boots, and the Eighth Route Army drove the Japanese cars. It's really amazing!" Civilian armed forces have complex composition and diverse political tendencies. My father and Director Cui Tianmin paid special attention to the differentiation work, and tried their best to strive for what they could. Many "Niu Mao Commanders" successively expressed their obedience to the leadership of the Eighth Route Army. There is a landlord's daughter named Zhou Jianglan in Huxi area. She is a typical rural woman in Shandong Province with a stubborn personality. When the devils came, she resolutely resisted Japan, sold land, bought guns and recruited people, and pulled up a team of more than 200 people. After the establishment of the Hebei-Henan detachment, she cooperated with the detachment in several actions, and then offered to hand over the team to her father. After I went home, I sold the land, and then sent the money to the detachment of Hebei, Shandong and Henan for supplies. From 1941 to 1943, the Japanese and puppet troops carried out five "public security strengthening campaigns" and hundreds of "mopping-up", "clean-up" and "encroaching" against our base areas. Due to the enemy's economic blockade and "Three Lights Policy" imposed on our base areas, coupled with years of severe drought, people's lives are extremely difficult. This is the most difficult period for the anti-Japanese base areas in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region. When the autumn harvest season arrived in 1941, my father received reports of food shortages in several districts. Duan Junyi, deputy director of the Hebei-Henan Administrative Office, managed to urgently raise a batch of grain, which was escorted by the troops. As soon as the grain transportation team came back, my father immediately instructed to distribute the grain to the common people. When the villagers saw that the grain bags were covered with blood and became bags of "blood food", they were all shocked. It turned out that grain transportation had to pass through the enemy's fortified strongholds and roads. The four-wheeled ox carts walked slowly, and the drivers whipped and shouted to alarm the enemy in the strongholds. The Eighth Route Army escorting the grain truck walked while fighting, and some soldiers were shot. The crowd driving the truck carried the wounded and sacrificed soldiers onto the grain truck, and many grain bags were soaked with blood. After listening to the origin of "blood food", the crowd present burst into tears, holding sorghum and corn soaked in the blood of Eighth Route Army soldiers. Some old people can't afford to kneel down with their families facing the north to pay homage to the heroes. There are still many stories about the life and death shared between the Eighth Route Army and the people, which have been passed down to this day. During the arduous eight years of War of Resistance against Japan, my father fought and worked in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region for five years and three months, and participated in the establishment of the Eighth Route Army in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region and the plain anti-Japanese base area in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region. On the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the population of the border region reached 20 million, making it the largest anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines in China. Just after New Year's Day in 1944, the Central Military Commission telegraphed my father to lead his troops to defend Yan'an. With infinite attachment to the soldiers and civilians of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, my father led five regiments and Hui detachments of Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region and embarked on a journey to Yan'an. [Biography] Yang Dezhi was born in January 1911 in Nanyangqiao (now Zhuzhou County), Liling County, Hunan Province. In January 1928, he participated in the Southern Hunan Uprising and the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, went to Jinggangshan in April, and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October. Later, he moved to southern Jiangxi and western Fujian, and participated in the struggle to create the Central Soviet Area and all previous anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns; In the Long March of the Central Red Army, he led the "Red Regiment" to take on the advance task, and served as the division commander in 1936. After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japan, he served as the head of the 685th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and his unit was one of the two main offensive regiments in the Pingxingguan battle; In 1938, he served as deputy brigade commander and acting brigade commander of the 344th Brigade; In 1939, he served as the detachment leader of Hebei, Shandong and Henan detachment; In 1940, he served as commander of the second column of the Eighth Route Army and commander of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, and participated in the establishment, development and consolidation of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Anti-Japanese Base Area; In April 1944, he served as the brigade commander of the First Teaching Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Suiyuan Joint Defense Force. After the victory of War of Resistance against Japan, he successively served as commander of the first column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, commander of the second column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army, commander of the Second Corps of the North China Military Region (i.e. "Yang Luogeng Corps"), commander and party committee secretary of the 19th Corps. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as commander of the 19th Corps, commander of the Shaanxi Military Region, member of the Northwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and member of the Northwest Military and Political Commission. He was awarded the rank of general in 1955. Died of illness in Beijing on October 25, 1994. [About the author] Yang Jianhua, born in 1953, joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 1969 and graduated from the Basic Command Department of the Military Academy in 1986. He has served as staff officer, deputy director and director of the Intelligence Department of Wuhan Military Region; Deputy division commander of an infantry division of the 54th Army; Deputy Director, Director and Deputy Director of the Operations Department of the General Staff; Deputy Chief of Staff of Nanjing Military Region, Standing Committee of Nanjing Military Region Party Committee and Minister of Joint Logistics Department. Deputy to the 12th National People's Congress. In 2002, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. Yang Jianhua31 years ago today, on October 25, 1994 (September 21, 1994 in the lunar calendar), General Yang Dezhi died. In March, 1939, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan detachment was established in Dongming County, Shandong Province. The third from left is Yang Dezhi, the commander of the detachment. In January 1937, Yang Dezhi, then commander of the Second Division of the First Red Army Corps, and Chen Geng, commander of the First Division, led a group of cadres of the Corps to study at the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political University in Yan'an (referred to as "Anti-Japanese University"). For my father, a Red Army commander who was born as a cowherd, it is a very valuable learning opportunity. However, just half a year after the start of school, the July 7th Incident broke out, and Japan launched a large-scale and all-out war of aggression against China. The Central Military Commission ordered all students of the "Anti-Japanese University" to graduate ahead of schedule and participate in the all-round War of Resistance against Japan. My father rushed back to the 115th Division to report for duty. Deputy Division Commander Nie Rongzhen said, "There are two reasons for you to be the head of the 685th Regiment. First, this regiment was adapted from the second division where you used to work; Second, this regiment is the vanguard of the whole division. Now the troops have arrived in Zhichuan Town between Hancheng and Heyang on the west bank of the Yellow River, and your task is to cross the Yellow River into Shanxi. Now Shanxi and the whole North China are very tight!" After accepting the task, my father quickly set off and rushed to Zhichuan Town day and night. Pingxingguan "was washed with blood by the martyrs." My father chased the troops until he crossed the Yellow River that he saw Chen Zhengxiang and Xiao Yuanjiu, deputy heads of the regiment, in the suburbs of Houma, Shanxi. He led his troops on the northbound train, which was the first train of the entire Eighth Route Army to the front line. After the train arrived in Taiyuan, my father went to the city to see Teacher Lin Biao. Lin Biao told my father to speed up the north and drive the troops directly to the Pingxingguan front line. There is a road in front of Pingxingguan, which winds to Lingqiu and Laiyuan. This is the only way for the 21st Brigade of the Japanese Sakagaki Division to occupy Pingxingguan. From Guanqian to Donghenan Town for more than ten miles, the ditch on the north side of the road is high and steep, making it difficult to climb, while the south side of the road is relatively gentle and easy to attack. The superior decided that the 685th and 686th regiments would attack from the south. My father led the 685th regiment to set off from Shangzhai in the dark, braved the strong wind and heavy rain, and arrived at Lizhuang, the ambush area, at dawn. About eight o'clock in the morning, I heard the sound of a car motor, and then I vaguely saw the guiding car with a sun flag, followed by a large slide of carts and carriages. The car was filled with Japanese soldiers in shiny steel helmets, yellow woolen coats, and rifles with bayonets held to their chests. Our soldiers' bayonet chambers were full of bullets, keeping an eye on cars entering the ambush area one after another. When the first few Japanese cars drove to the foot of the mountain in front of the position of the 685th Regiment, my father gave an order: "Fight!" Machine guns and rifles fired together. The car in front of the Japanese was caught on fire, and the cars, carts and horses behind them collided with each other and couldn't walk. The devils howled and jumped out of the car to scatter everywhere. It should be said that the 21st Brigade of Sakagaki Division is still very effective. As soon as they wake up from their ignorance, their arrogant, fierce, vicious and cruel nature attacks. The commander howled desperately with his saber, and the soldiers hiding under the car came out and climbed the mountain desperately. The enemy wanted to occupy the commanding heights. My father immediately ordered: "No Japanese are allowed to occupy any commanding heights nearby!" At this time, Battalion Commander Liu had commanded the first battalion to divide the enemy on the road into several sections. He immediately commanded the first and third companies and rushed to the two hills beside the road. The devils in the ravine were also climbing the mountain, but before they could climb up, the first and third companies that climbed the mountain first rushed back down, smashing and beating them hard, and wiped out these devils. The fourth company of this battalion moved a little slower and was occupied by the Japanese first. The company commander was wounded in the charge, and the platoon leader took the initiative to replace the command. The attack from both sides quickly captured the hill back, forcing the Japs back to the bottom of the ditch and wiping them all out. The fiercest white-to-white fighting was carried out in the positions of the 2nd and 3rd battalions. Comrade Zeng Xiansheng, the company commander of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion, was nicknamed "Mengzi". Before the battle started, he encouraged the troops to say, "Relying on our glorious tradition of close combat at night, we will use grenades, bayonets and devils to do it, so that they can't die whole." After launching the charge, he took the lead in assaulting the enemy, and within 20 minutes, the whole company blew up more than 20 cars with grenades. In the white-blade fighting, he stabbed more than a dozen Japs to death by himself. He was covered with wounds and blood, and a group of devils approached him. Zeng Xiansheng sounded the only grenade around him and died with the enemy. This is a bloody battle! This is a struggle of will and a test of perseverance! The battle lasted until the afternoon and ended with the final victory of our army. A total of more than 1,000 Japanese troops were annihilated in this battle. The 21st Brigade of Sakagaki Division suffered a devastating blow in the first battle with the Eighth Route Army! My father wrote in his memoirs: "Pingxingguan is a heroic pass, because she was washed with the blood of the martyrs! Pingxingguan is an unforgettable pass, because she records the first great victory of the Chinese people against the Japanese aggressors!" Taking more than 100 people out of Taihang to open up base areas In 1938, Mao Zedong and other comrades issued instructions on vigorously developing guerrilla warfare in Hebei and Shandong plains. According to the spirit of this instruction, the deployment of troops was adjusted accordingly. Among them, the main forces of the 115th Division, the 344th Brigade, and the 129th Division developed from Taihang Mountains to southern and northern Henan. This summer, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De ordered his father to go from the 685th Regiment to the 344th Brigade as deputy brigade commander and acting brigade commander. When my father went to receive the task face to face, Mr. Zhu said, "The area you went to belongs to the border region of Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces, and has an important strategic position since ancient times. Nowadays, it plays a great role in ensuring Taihang Mountain, communicating the connection between mountainous areas and plains, and curbing Japanese troops from moving southward and westward. Therefore, it should be firmly controlled in our hands anyway. You will have no less difficulties this time, claiming to be a brigade, but your political commissar Comrade Huang Kecheng and the main force can't go with you immediately. You can only bring a few troops first, so it is called opening up a base area. After arriving in that area, there will be many traitors, die-hards, all kinds of miscellaneous troops-called'bandits' by the common people-, the working environment will be difficult, and the situation and struggle will be complicated. " According to Mr. Zhu's instructions, his father discussed with political commissar Huang Kecheng, and he and Cui Tianmin, director of the political department, took more than 100 people first. In September, 1938, my father went east to Taihang and led his troops to fight in the plains of southern and northern Henan. In March, 1939, a small number of troops led by my father were reorganized into the Hebei-Shandong-Henan detachment of the Eighth Route Army with two local guerrillas in the Dongming area of southwest Shandong, and he served as the detachment leader. The task of the detachment is to mobilize the masses extensively, carry out guerrilla activities, strengthen the anti-Japanese armed forces and establish * regime. At the end of April, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan detachment attacked Jinxiang County, an important stronghold of the Japanese army, at a long distance, killing and wounding more than 250 Japanese and puppet troops, which not only dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army, shocked the enemies stationed in Jining and Xuzhou, but also established strategic contact and cooperation with the New Fourth Army and Shandong Eighth Route Army. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Eighth Route Army was still in the exploratory stage. My father attached great importance to summing up the experience of guerrilla warfare in the plains. He put forward: Guerrilla warfare can be carried out in plain areas. Our territory is vast, and the enemy can only occupy points and lines, while we can carry out guerrilla warfare by virtue of vast countryside; To mobilize and organize the people to carry out plain guerrilla warfare, as long as the broad masses of the people participate in the anti-Japanese struggle, the "living mountain of people" on which plain guerrilla warfare depends can be formed; The tactics to be implemented in guerrilla warfare in the plains are "don't fight hard, fight soft", "the enemy hits me, but I don't fight; If the enemy doesn't fight me, I will fight the enemy", conducting night warfare, etc., which enriched our army's experience in guerrilla warfare in the plains. At the time of the prosperity and development of the anti-Japanese struggle, in August, 1939, a large-scale erroneous "Sutuo Incident" occurred in Huxi District. In September, the Huxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China called my father and Director Cui Tianmin, saying that the southwest Shandong prefectural committee was a "Trotskyist" organization and demanded that cadres at or above the district level be arrested and sent to Huxi. After receiving the electricity, my father thought it was of great importance. On the one hand, he replied that he could not arrest people without evidence. Please inform me of the specific materials in detail; On the one hand, I telegraphed the 115th Division and Shandong Branch, requesting to send someone to solve the "Sutuo" problem in Huxi as soon as possible. Soon, Luo Ronghuan, political commissar of the 115th Division, Guo Hongtao, secretary of the Shandong Branch, and Zhang Jingwu, commander of the Shandong Column, rushed to Huxi and took emergency measures to stop the development of the incident. The decisive measures taken by my father and others saved the lives of a large number of anti-Japanese cadres. Drinking water is the discipline of the Eighth Route Army. Chairman Mao said in "On Protracted War" that there are three ways for China to defeat Japan, and the main one is "the great unity of the Chinese people". My father knows this deeply. When my father first entered the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region, the people were very nervous because of the excessive levy by the Kuomintang government, extortion by local tyrants and evil gentry, and misconduct by bandit gangs. Almost every village built earthen enclosures to prevent harassment by "soldiers and bandits". Father's team passed through the village, and the fellow villagers immediately closed the enclosure door and refused to enter. My father told my comrades that if they couldn't get into the enclosure, they would do mass work outside. Seeing that the fellow villagers didn't attack them, they slowly opened the enclosure door during the day, allowing them to pass but not stop. Later, they gradually took the initiative to let the Eighth Route Army rest inside, and sometimes sent some boiled water. My father asked the troops to pay for all the water they drank, and the villagers were surprised by the troops who paid for boiled water. Taking advantage of the rest, the soldiers told their fellow villagers that although the symbol of "National Army" is also on their hats, we are the "Eighth Route Army", a team led by the Communist Party, and we are here to fight devils and bandits with them. It is the discipline of the Eighth Route Army to drink water and give money. After doing the work, the fellow villagers believed that the Eighth Route Army was "not bad", but doubted whether it could beat the Japanese. At the end of April, 1939, my father led a team to attack the Japanese defenders in Jinxiang County at night, and then attacked a Japanese motorcade. Although the results were not great, our soldiers chased, shouted and fired guns, which greatly damaged the enemy's prestige and grew the ambition of the people. The fellow villager believed it now, "The soldiers of Shen Honglie (then chairman of Shandong Province of Kuomintang) slipped away when they heard the sound of Japanese riding boots, and the Eighth Route Army drove the Japanese cars. It's really amazing!" Civilian armed forces have complex composition and diverse political tendencies. My father and Director Cui Tianmin paid special attention to the differentiation work, and tried their best to strive for what they could. Many "Niu Mao Commanders" successively expressed their obedience to the leadership of the Eighth Route Army. There is a landlord's daughter named Zhou Jianglan in Huxi area. She is a typical rural woman in Shandong Province with a stubborn personality. When the devils came, she resolutely resisted Japan, sold land, bought guns and recruited people, and pulled up a team of more than 200 people. After the establishment of the Hebei-Henan detachment, she cooperated with the detachment in several actions, and then offered to hand over the team to her father. After I went home, I sold the land, and then sent the money to the detachment of Hebei, Shandong and Henan for supplies. From 1941 to 1943, the Japanese and puppet troops carried out five "public security strengthening campaigns" and hundreds of "mopping-up", "clean-up" and "encroaching" against our base areas. Due to the enemy's economic blockade and "Three Lights Policy" imposed on our base areas, coupled with years of severe drought, people's lives are extremely difficult. This is the most difficult period for the anti-Japanese base areas in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region. When the autumn harvest season arrived in 1941, my father received reports of food shortages in several districts. Duan Junyi, deputy director of the Hebei-Henan Administrative Office, managed to urgently raise a batch of grain, which was escorted by the troops. As soon as the grain transportation team came back, my father immediately instructed to distribute the grain to the common people. When the villagers saw that the grain bags were covered with blood and became bags of "blood food", they were all shocked. It turned out that grain transportation had to pass through the enemy's fortified strongholds and roads. The four-wheeled ox carts walked slowly, and the drivers whipped and shouted to alarm the enemy in the strongholds. The Eighth Route Army escorting the grain truck walked while fighting, and some soldiers were shot. The crowd driving the truck carried the wounded and sacrificed soldiers onto the grain truck, and many grain bags were soaked with blood. After listening to the origin of "blood food", the crowd present burst into tears, holding sorghum and corn soaked in the blood of Eighth Route Army soldiers. Some old people can't afford to kneel down with their families facing the north to pay homage to the heroes. There are still many stories about the life and death shared between the Eighth Route Army and the people, which have been passed down to this day. During the arduous eight years of War of Resistance against Japan, my father fought and worked in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region for five years and three months, and participated in the establishment of the Eighth Route Army in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region and the plain anti-Japanese base area in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region. On the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the population of the border region reached 20 million, making it the largest anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines in China. Just after New Year's Day in 1944, the Central Military Commission telegraphed my father to lead his troops to defend Yan'an. With infinite attachment to the soldiers and civilians of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, my father led five regiments and Hui detachments of Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region and embarked on a journey to Yan'an. [Biography] Yang Dezhi was born in January 1911 in Nanyangqiao (now Zhuzhou County), Liling County, Hunan Province. In January 1928, he participated in the Southern Hunan Uprising and the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, went to Jinggangshan in April, and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October. Later, he moved to southern Jiangxi and western Fujian, and participated in the struggle to create the Central Soviet Area and all previous anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns; In the Long March of the Central Red Army, he led the "Red Regiment" to take on the advance task, and served as the division commander in 1936. After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japan, he served as the head of the 685th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and his unit was one of the two main offensive regiments in the Pingxingguan battle; In 1938, he served as deputy brigade commander and acting brigade commander of the 344th Brigade; In 1939, he served as the detachment leader of Hebei, Shandong and Henan detachment; In 1940, he served as commander of the second column of the Eighth Route Army and commander of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, and participated in the establishment, development and consolidation of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Anti-Japanese Base Area; In April 1944, he served as the brigade commander of the First Teaching Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Suiyuan Joint Defense Force. After the victory of War of Resistance against Japan, he successively served as commander of the first column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, commander of the second column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army, commander of the Second Corps of the North China Military Region (i.e. "Yang Luogeng Corps"), commander and party committee secretary of the 19th Corps. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as commander of the 19th Corps, commander of the Shaanxi Military Region, member of the Northwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and member of the Northwest Military and Political Commission. He was awarded the rank of general in 1955. Died of illness in Beijing on October 25, 1994. [About the author] Yang Jianhua, born in 1953, joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 1969 and graduated from the Basic Command Department of the Military Academy in 1986. He has served as staff officer, deputy director and director of the Intelligence Department of Wuhan Military Region; Deputy division commander of an infantry division of the 54th Army; Deputy Director, Director and Deputy Director of the Operations Department of the General Staff; Deputy Chief of Staff of Nanjing Military Region, Standing Committee of Nanjing Military Region Party Committee and Minister of Joint Logistics Department. Deputy to the 12th National People's Congress. In 2002, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. Yang Jianhua