China News Service, Beijing, March 25th: Title: 100-year-old veteran Xu Mengxi: As soon as he graduated from Huangpu, he went to guerrilla behind enemy lines to fight against Japan
China News Service reporter Li Hang and Wang Chao
"If you want to be a soldier, serve as a soldier to protect your family and the country." Xu Mengxi, who is over 100 years old, said in a recent interview with a reporter from China News Service that everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country, and peaceful reunification is the continuation of the Huangpu spirit.
Xu Mengxi was interviewed by reporters. Photo by Wang Chao
Xu Mengxi was born in Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province in 1919. In his youth, Xu Mengxi witnessed the brutal atrocities of the Japanese army with his own eyes, and resolutely joined the army with the heart of saving the country. Xu Mengxi joined the Zhejiang Provincial Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps in 1938 and served as the division chief of the brigade. The chief of staff is in charge of the army's food, accommodation and other logistical support work. Xu Mengxi is dissatisfied with this and wants to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy.
In 1939, Xu Mengxi plucked up the courage to report to his superiors that he wanted to take the admissions examination for Whampoa Military Academy. After being approved, he passed the exam as he wished and officially became a cadet of the Third Branch of Whampoa Military Academy. Xu Mengxi was enrolled in the infantry department, and his main courses were infantry drills, field service, shooting training, military politics, topography, etc. "We have vegetables and tofu every day, but very little meat. We live in Datongpu and the cover is relatively thin. I was sick for two months in the military academy because it was too cold." Xu Mengxi said that the conditions in the military academy are not as good as those in the military academy. It is very difficult to be in the army in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation.
After graduating from the military academy in 1941, Xu Mengxi joined the Loyalty and National Salvation Army at the invitation of Bao Buchao, a sixth-term graduate of Huangpu, and engaged in guerrilla work behind enemy lines in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. He was good at using favorable factors such as climate and terrain to deal with the Japanese army.
"The Japanese army attacked Shangrao and wanted to attack Jinhua and Longyou. I was ordered to stop them. They had planes, cannons, and machine guns. If they couldn't defeat them in the open, they would attack them covertly. I was very familiar with the terrain in this area. I set up an ambush first and took advantage of the terrain and machine guns. The Japanese army was at war." Talking about her experience in the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Mengxi started talking and became excited again.
Due to their familiarity with the surrounding environment, Xu Mengxi's unit successfully blocked the Japanese army many times and became an important force in the local area to contain the Japanese army. On one occasion, Xu Mengxi led his troops to attack a Japanese transport team and seized rich supplies such as chickens, ducks, pork, salt, and cloth. Xu Mengxi said, "These things were snatched by the Japanese troops nearby. We do not have a fixed camp and cannot take the things away, so apart from eating a little for ourselves, the rest are distributed to the surrounding people."
"The Japanese are very good at fighting and have good minds. Before dawn, the Japanese army set out from Longyou and wanted to 'eat' me. I looked from the top of the mountain and the Japanese were right in front of me, only ten or twenty meters above my head. I was shot by them and my hat was knocked off." Xu Mengxi said that he experienced many thrilling life and death moments during the Anti-Japanese War, and this was the most unforgettable one for him, and he still remembers it vividly.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Mengxi could not bear to participate in the civil war and left the Kuomintang army. In 1950, Xu Mengxi was admitted to Kaifeng Administration College of Henan University, where he mainly studied Marxist-Leninist theory, and then worked in accounting at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative of Huaiyang District, Henan Province. After many twists and turns, in 1982, Xu Mengxi retired from Shangqiu Pharmaceutical Purchasing Station and settled back in his hometown of Chun'an County.
Xu Mengxi and Cha Yiqing's wedding photos. Photo provided by interviewee
After the reform and opening up, Xu Mengxi regained contact with his former Huangpu classmate Hong Jiacheng in Taiwan, and the two often exchanged letters. As cross-strait relations improved, Xu Mengxi invited Hong Jiachen and his wife to visit relatives on the mainland many times. In 2003, old friends finally reunited after half a century. Seeing the rapid changes in their hometown, Hong Jiacheng and his wife were very excited and lamented that the mainland has achieved earth-shaking changes after the reform and opening up. Xu Mengxi also kindly invited Hong Jiazhen and his wife to return to their hometown to settle down. Xu Mengxi said that the blood of compatriots on both sides of the strait is thicker than water, and the brotherhood of compatriots on both sides of the strait is inseparable.
Xu Mengxi took a photo with her friend Hong Jiazhen. Photo provided by interviewee
In 2015, Xu Mengxi won the commemorative medal for the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission. After experiencing the war years when relatives were separated and mountains and rivers were shattered, Xu Mengxi lamented that today's happy life is hard-won. Now, Xu Mengxi's biggest wish is for the early reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. He believes that this is also the best continuation of the Huangpu spirit. (over)