HARBIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) — A wartime document from a Japanese puppet regime has revealed the exact time and location of General Yang Jingyu’s martyrdom, shedding light on the final hours of the celebrated Chinese hero in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The Heilongjiang Provincial Archives in northeast China‘s Heilongjiang Province exclusively shared the document with Xinhua on Wednesday.
According to the archival record compiled on March 16, 1940, Yang, commander-in-chief of the first route army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army (NAJUA), made his final stand at a 490-meter elevation point, located five kilometers southwest of Mengjiang County’s seat (now Jingyu County) in northeast China‘s Jilin Province, at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 23, 1940.
The archive also provided meticulous details of the items Yang carried at the time of his martyrdom, which included a Mauser pistol with 160 rounds of ammunition, two Colt pistols with a total of 70 rounds, 6,660 yuan in “Manchukuo” currency, a notebook and a watch.
The document, classified by Japanese authorities and the puppet state of “Manchukuo” during World War II, exposes the brutal, expansionist nature of the Japanese military and highlights the revered status of General Yang among both the NAJUA and local people, said Zhao Qian, a staff member of the Heilongjiang Provincial Archives.
Yun Zhanjun, director of the editing and research department at the Northeast China Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, said that General Yang’s possessions reflect his unwavering resolve to carry on the long-term struggle against Japanese aggression.
Around 1940, 35 yuan of the puppet “Manchukuo” currency could purchase roughly 50 kilograms of pork, indicating that 6,660 yuan was sufficient to buy a substantial quantity of goods. However, General Yang refused to abandon the operational funds of the NAJUA or his weapons even until his last moment, Yun said.
Born in 1905, Yang Jingyu was a key founder and leader of the NAJUA, a coalition of anti-Japanese guerrilla forces led by the Communist Party of China active in northeast China.
