Wang Zhuoya: The Spirit of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army Remains Ever New
In May 2016, during an inspection tour of Heilongjiang Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army spirit, the Great Northern Wilderness spirit, the Daqing spirit, and the Iron Man spirit [1] have inspired several generations. Today, we must continue to use these spirits to educate the vast number of Party members and cadres, guiding them to carry forward fine traditions and take the lead in promoting new trends and a positive atmosphere throughout society.” As a people’s anti-Japanese armed force established and led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army (NAJUA) fought bloody battles for fourteen years under extremely arduous conditions against an enemy several times its size. In doing so, it forged the NAJUA spirit, the basic connotations of which are "firm conviction in loyalty to the Party, the national integrity of rushing to meet the national crisis, and the heroic mettle of fighting to the very end." The heroic exploits of the NAJUA soldiers have long been frozen in the gallery of history, yet the spirit they left behind transcends time and space, remaining forever new, and serving as a spiritual treasure that inspires generation after generation to forge ahead.
Firm Conviction in Loyalty to the Party
“How can one not fear hardship and danger? That which we rely upon is loyalty.” Loyalty to the Party is the foundation of a Chinese Communist’s character, the principle of governance, and the key to success. It is the spiritual code that allows the Party to unite and lead the people of the whole country to overcome all hardships and obstacles on the road ahead. During the fourteen years of the arduous struggle in Northeast China, firm conviction in loyalty to the Party was the powerful spiritual pillar supporting the NAJUA soldiers in their persistence and unrelenting fight to the end.
Faced with the enemy’s military suppression, economic blockades, and political inducements to surrender, Yang Jingyu, Commander-in-Chief of the First Army of the NAJUA, always harbored the lofty ideal of communism, and his revolutionary will for national salvation against Japan never wavered. Even when trapped in a desperate situation of ice, snow, and depleted ammunition and food, Yang Jingyu sustained himself on tree bark, cotton batting, and grass roots, fighting tenaciously until his final breath. He used his life to interpret the clanging vow: “I do not regret losing my head or spilling my blood, for a loyal and unswerving will shall never be shaken.”
In the face of the brutal Japanese and puppet forces, the revolutionary conviction of Zhou Baozhong, one of the primary leaders of the NAJUA, remained equally steadfast. In an instructional letter to the Party cadres of the Fifth and Seventh Armies of the NAJUA, he wrote: “Various difficulties in the Northeast guerrilla movement are unavoidable. Therefore, every Bolshevik among us who is loyal to the Chinese war of national liberation must lead the NAJUA units and the masses in the struggle to save the nation with an attitude of strong endurance and long-term vision, and through strong and flexible means.”
Zhao Yiman, a female political commissar of the NAJUA, was severely wounded and captured while covering the breakout of her unit. In prison, Zhao Yiman remained unyielding despite months of horrific torture. She never disclosed any Party secrets and rebuked the Japanese invaders, saying: “You can turn entire villages into rubble and mince people into meat, but you cannot eliminate the faith of Communists.” It was precisely by relying on firm faith in Marxism and adherence to the lofty ideal of communism that the soldiers of the NAJUA never changed their hearts, shifted their purpose, or compromised their integrity, even when the disparity in strength was extreme and the survival environment was hallucinatingly harsh.
The National Integrity of Rushing to Meet the National Crisis
National integrity is the sublime character of individuals and collectives who stand up and disregard their own lives in times of national peril; it is the sense of responsibility that closely links individual destiny with the future of the nation. At the critical juncture of national survival, the soldiers of the NAJUA placed the interests of the state and the nation above personal interests. They followed one after another, viewing death as a return home in the struggle against Japanese imperialist aggression, demonstrating the national integrity of: “I shall dedicate my life to the country’s service, regardless of whether it brings me fortune or misfortune.” [2]
After the September 18th Incident [3], Northeast China was tragically trampled under the iron heel of the Japanese invaders, and thirty million compatriots in the Northeast fell into a miserable state of "water and fire" (extreme suffering). People of high ideals such as Yang Jingyu, Zhou Baozhong, Zhao Shangzhi, and Li Zhaolin threw themselves without hesitation into the front lines of the struggle, establishing and organizing various anti-Japanese armed forces such as "Volunteer Armies," "Self-Defense Armies," and "National Salvation Armies" in various regions, dealing heavy blows to the Japanese invaders. To expand the Anti-Japanese National United Front [4] and unite all anti-Japanese forces, NAJUA leaders such as Yang Jingyu, Wang Detai, Zhao Shangzhi, and Li Yanlu issued the Manifesto on the Unified Army System of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. It proposed: “All Chinese compatriots and all anti-Japanese armed forces, regardless of religion, political affiliation, social group, or individual status, regardless of faction or wealth—as long as they are for anti-Japanese national salvation, our NAJUA will act in unison with them.” The national consciousness of the people of all strata in the Northeast was greatly awakened, and they joined the torrent of national salvation one after another. Under the organization and leadership of the CPC, the various armed forces across the Northeast were integrated into the revolutionary "Iron Army" known as the NAJUA.
The soldiers of the NAJUA always took “saving the nation from peril as a sacred duty, dying for the country, and swearing to resist Japan to the death” as their primary tenet. In an environment described as “fire warming the chest while the wind chills the back,” they fought bloody battles against a ferocious enemy, pinning down and consuming a large portion of the Kwantung Army's [5] effective strength. Furthermore, the NAJUA soldiers shared a common hatred with the people of the Northeast against the external enemy, building a "Great Wall of Steel" to save the nation and defend national dignity with their flesh and blood, writing an earth-shaking patriotic chapter across the "White Mountains and Black Waters" [6].
The Heroic Mettle of Fighting to the Very End
Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: “We Chinese people have the mettle to fight the enemy to the last drop of our blood.” This heroic character of defying brute force and fighting to the end was fully displayed during the fourteen years of the NAJUA's arduous struggle. Moving through the "forest seas and snow plains," the NAJUA often faced the severe test of frigid weather reaching forty degrees below zero. Meanwhile, the Japanese invaders implemented the policy of “collective hamlets” [7] in the Northeast, adopting inhuman policies such as forced consolidation of villages and the baojia system of collective responsibility [8]. This left the NAJUA in a long-term predicament with no internal supplies, no external reinforcements, and a loss of contact with the Party Central Committee.
Under conditions of extreme natural hardship and severe lack of material resources, the NAJUA soldiers fought life-and-death battles against Japanese invaders several times their number with heroic mettle, and countless soul-stirring heroic models emerged. Due to betrayal by a traitor, Chen Hanzhang, Commander-in-Chief of the Third Regional Army of the NAJUA, was surrounded on three sides by Japanese and puppet forces. Facing the enemy’s inducement to surrender, Chen Hanzhang cursed: “Shameful traitors and running dogs, the people will punish you sooner or later! We would rather die than be slaves to a lost nation!” After nearly two hours of fierce fighting, Chen Hanzhang was wounded by gunfire; he used his last bit of strength to lean against a tree and continue fighting. The enemy used daggers to slash his face and brutally gouged out his eyes. Chen Hanzhang continued to curse the enemy until his heroic death.
The "Eight Female Drowning Martyrs," led by Leng Yun, engaged in a fierce battle with Japanese and puppet forces to take the initiative in drawing enemy fire and covering the breakout of the main force. When they had fought to their last bullets by the river’s edge, the eight female soldiers faced the enemy’s demand for surrender with unyielding resolve. Shouting “Down with Japanese Imperialism,” they walked hand-in-hand into the freezing Wusihun River and heroically died for their country while singing The Internationale. In those dark, stormy years of the Northeast resistance, countless revolutionary heroes like Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi, and Chen Hanzhang, along with heroic groups like the “Eight Women Jumping into the River,” followed one after another in the struggle for national liberation, building eternal spiritual monuments with their blood and lives.
The NAJUA spirit was nurtured in the history of the arduous struggle of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. The spiritual outlook and noble character it demonstrates possess permanent value that transcends time and space, constituting a most precious spiritual asset for the Chinese nation. Currently, the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, which are accelerating. Our country’s development is entering a period where strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. We must continuously draw spiritual strength from the heroic deeds of the NAJUA revolutionary predecessors. Facing all hardships and obstacles on the road ahead, we must carry forward the fighting spirit of the NAJUA soldiers—“For truly great men, there is no fear of sacrifice; we dare to command the sun and moon to bring a new day” [9]—daring to struggle and becoming adept at struggle, opening up new prospects for our cause through tenacious struggle. Furthermore, we must learn from the NAJUA soldiers’ persistent pursuit that “revolutionary ideals soar higher than the heavens,” taking the strengthening of ideals and convictions as a lifelong task, consolidating the foundation of faith, replenishing the "calcium" of the spirit, and steadying the "rudder" of thought, vowing to fight for the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a lifetime.