In the early morning of February 11, 1944, the roaring barracks wake-up call sounded at Guilin Yangtang Airport, and Lieutenant Donald Kerr quickly dressed and ran out for flight training. This is his 3rd year in China, and as a member of the Flying Tigers who came to China to support him, he has been fighting for the anti-fascist war.
Donald Kerr
After the morning training, Kerr received an urgent order: immediately led 20 fighters to cover 12 bombers and rushed to attack the Japanese-occupied Kai Tak airfield in Hong Kong. Time was tight, and Kerr didn't have time to eat breakfast, so he gathered his team members and set off. Since 1942, hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport was occupied by the Japanese army, this airport has become a transit point for the Japanese army to transport supplies, and the ability to blow up here will greatly weaken the strength of the Japanese army in the Pacific Theater.
Kerr flew the fighter plane to the front of the formation, and he knew that this time the task was very difficult, but he was not afraid. Before long, kai tak airfield was close at hand, and the Japanese had already spotted them, and more than 20 fighters flew up to intercept Kerr's formation.
Flying Tigers
In an instant, the two sides met, the flames were everywhere, Kerr piloted the fighter plane in the sky and the Japanese, but this mission to cover the bomber bombing the airport, Kerr in order to cover his teammates, his own aircraft fuel tank was unfortunately hit, suddenly the plane ignited a fire, Kerr's right leg was burned by the fire.
At this moment, Kerr immediately parachuted to escape, and the plane immediately exploded into a ball of fire, he was glad that he had escaped, but then he began to despair. Kerr slowly descended, but at his feet was the Japanese Kai Tak airport runway, and he could even see the Japanese soldiers on the runway shouting at him.
The Japanese army occupies Hong Kong
Just when Kerr thought he was going to be captured by the Japanese and was desperate, a south wind blew through, and Kerr drifted toward Guanyin Mountain south of the airport. And this surprise attack on the airport, because Commander Kerr parachuted prematurely, the operation failed. After shooting down 12 Japanese aircraft, the Flying Tigers had no choice but to retreat in the direction of Guilin.
Kerr landed on Guanyin Mountain, 5 kilometers away from Kai Tak Airport, and he saw the Flying Tigers retreating, knowing that the mission had failed. He didn't have time to regret it, and now he had to think about how he could avoid the Japanese. However, Kerr's right leg was injured and slow to move, and it was only a matter of time before he was found by the Japanese at such a close distance.
Japanese army
Kerr was struggling to find a place to hide, when suddenly he heard something strange, Kerr was terrified, and he felt that the Japanese army had come behind him. Just when Kerr was terrified, a small hand pulled him from behind, and he looked back to see a boy, who was only eleven or twelve years old, wearing sewn clothes and a large hat on his head, but his face was full of determination.
Feeling that the boy had no ill will, Kerr showed him the Chinese rescue letter from the inside of his clothes, and the boy took one look at it and pulled Kerr in one direction, he seemed to be familiar with the jungle, and after a while the boy hid Kerr in a cave. Kerr, who was temporarily out of danger, wanted to thank the boy, but because of the language barrier, he had to give up.
Flying Tigers distress book
And when the boy heard him talking, he immediately ran out of the cave, and Kerr didn't know what was going on, what would the boy do when he ran out, in case he reported himself to the Japanese? He could not fall into the clutches of the Japanese army, and the more kerr thought about it, the more frightened he became, and at this time he was thirsty and hungry, tired and afraid, and his heart was full of mixed feelings.
Believing that he could not sit still, Kerr dragged his injured leg out of the cave, by which time the sun had set and there was pitch black silence all around. As Kerr walked deeper into the mountain in the darkness, he found another cave. At this time, he did not know that it was the little boy who allowed him to be rescued, it turned out that the boy's name was Li Shi, and his real identity was the small correspondent of the Ninth Brigade of the East River Column.
The Dongjiang Column was a people's anti-Japanese army created and led by the Communist Party of China in guangdong, and Mr. Zhu once said that the Dongjiang Column, the Qiongya Column, the Eighth Route Army, and the New Fourth Army were the mainstays of China's War of Resistance. In the Hong Kong area of Guangdong, the Dongjiang Column is a name that can make the Japanese feel afraid.
After the little correspondent Li Shi hid the kerr, he immediately went down the mountain to report the situation to Li Zhaohua, a cadre of the Hong Kong Ninth Brigade. Li Zhaohua, a lesbian who was only 20 years old at the time, immediately brought some medicine and food up the mountain for the night after learning about the situation, but Kerr was no longer in the original cave. Li Zhaohua searched the mountain all night, and when the sky was dark, Li Zhaohua finally found the cave where Kerr was hiding.
Kerr was terrified when he heard the movement, and Li Zhaohua comforted Kerr in fluent English in order to dispel Kerr's panic. Kerr felt incredibly kind when he heard the English, and he let down his guard. Li Zhaohua stepped forward to distribute the food to Kerr, and then took out the medicine and simply bandaged the wound.
The first from the left is Li Zhaohua
After Kerr finished eating, he was a little curious about the girl, he saw that the girl's clothes were worn, carrying two loads of firewood on her shoulders, and he looked like a village girl, but he was very sure that the girl was not a village girl, and she could speak English in China, and she was definitely a high-level intellectual.
Kerr could not suppress his curiosity and inquired, but his inquiry did not respond in return. And he saw a serious look on the girl's face, and Kerr realized that it was definitely not a good thing. After bandaging Kerr's wounds, Li Zhaohua told them where they were now.
The Japanese army knew that the American pilots were still on this mountain, so they mobilized a large number of Japanese troops to search the mountain, and in another hour, the Japanese army would search here, where should Li Zhaohua hide this foreigner? After some thought, Li Zhaohua thought of a way.
Hide Kerr in the places that the Japanese have searched, and you can safely hide for a period of time. So Li Zhaohua carried Kerr on his back and went around the rear of the Japanese army from a rugged place, where Li Zhaohua found an abandoned carbon hole and hid Kerr in it. Li Zhaohua's method was very effective, and Kerr stayed here safely for more than a week, and the Japanese army still did not find Kerr's whereabouts.
Kerr, who had been hiding in the carbon cave for more than a week, could not stand it, his leg injuries were getting more and more serious, Kerr wanted to go down the mountain for treatment, and he had also asked Li Zhaohua's identity many times, but Li Zhaohua was unwilling to disclose any information, and did not agree with him going down the mountain, why is this?
It turned out that the Japanese army did not find Kerr's whereabouts, they were even more crazy, the entire sea surface was blocked by the Japanese army, the planes hovered in the area where Kerr parachuted at all times, and a large number of Japanese troops searched door to door in the mountains, and the situation was very grim.
The reason why the Japanese army went to such great lengths to capture an American pilot was because since 1941, after the American pilots flew to China to support, the Japanese army could no longer run rampant over China, and the Flying Tigers became the number one enemy of the Japanese air force.
Now there is a Flying Tiger team member who has landed in the Japanese occupation zone, if he catches him, it is enough to make the Japanese do a lot of things, and even affect the signs of the gradual collapse of the Japanese army.
Faced with such an urgent situation, the Dongjiang Column must rescue Carl as soon as possible, and Zeng Sheng, who was the commander of the Dongjiang Column at the time, issued an order to Huang Guanfang, the leader of the Hong Kong Ninth Brigade's short gun team, and Liu Heizai, the deputy captain, to rescue Kerr. After studying the Hong Kong Ninth Brigade, they decided to attack the west and create chaos in the city of Hong Kong, and to transfer the Japanese army back to Hong Kong, so that Kerr could escape the encirclement.
Liu Heizai
On February 21, 1944, many anti-Japanese and anti-Japanese leaflets suddenly appeared in the streets of Hong Kong, which greatly annoyed the Japanese army, and many Japanese puppet troops began to search door to door, but the number of round-up troops against Kerr in the mountains did not decrease, and Kerr's situation was still not optimistic.
Kerr has survived day after day in the carbon hole, not knowing what is going on outside, but also knowing that he is in a critical situation. Fortunately, every day Li Zhaohua would come to deliver food, and Kerr was able to persevere in the cave. Huang Guanfang and Liu Heizai saw that distributing Japanese flyers in Hong Kong did not seem to work, so they began to plan an even more sensational event.
Two days later, Liu Heizai, the deputy captain of the short gun team, put on a Japanese military uniform and came to the home of a traitorous translator, Lu Tongyi. After entering Lu Tongyi's home, Lu Tongyi saw that the Japanese were coming and hurriedly greeted him to his home. After Liu Heizai closed the door, he punched Lu Tongyi to the ground, beating him dizzy and confused.
By the time Lu Tongyi reacted, he had already been tied up. At this time, Liu Heizai said to Lu Tong, "Dog traitor, do you recognize me?" I am Liu Heizai, and now I sentence you to death on behalf of Chinese people! ”
After executing Lu Tongyi, Liu Heizai threw him into the street and left a note: "Shoot the traitor Lu Tongyi, and pay Liu Heizai."
The flyers and the death of the traitors finally brought the Japanese army to a halt, a large number of Japanese troops began to be transferred back to the city, and the rescue of Carl could finally begin.
On February 24, 1944, Li Zhaohua came to the carbon cave and said to Kerr: "Let's go, send you home." Li Zhaohua led Kerr through the rugged mountains, through rocks and dense forests, and they avoided the remnants of the Japanese army. It wasn't until the next night that Kerr finally reached a safe place, the camp of the Harbor Nine Brigade.
Here, Kerr met Huang Guanfang and Liu Heizai and other team members, and even met the little boy Li Shi. After communicating with these people, Kerr learned their true identities, they were guerrillas under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
Asked why Li Zhaohua speaks English, Liu Heizai explained: "Most of our team members are well-educated progressive young people and overseas Chinese. They all said goodbye to their relatives and comfortable environment when the motherland was suffering, and came to the motherland to become ragged guerrillas. ”
Member of the Dongjiang Column
Only then did Kerr take a closer look at the guerrillas, who were wearing worn-out clothes, not even uniform uniforms, and some of the fighters wore improvised straw shoes on their feet. Kerr was touched by their ardent patriotism and selfless dedication, but Kerr still had some questions that he did not understand, he asked Liu Heizai: "I am not Chinese, it is not your duty to save me, why do you have to risk your life to save me?" ”
For Kerr's question, Liu Heizai smiled: "When you were suffering in China, you risked your lives to help us, and now that you are in difficulty, how can we see death and not save us?" ”
Kerr also laughed after listening to it, he had never known China in 3 years since he came to China, but at this moment, he seemed to understand China again.
In the days that followed, Kerr remained in the guerrilla camp, and the team members were trying to find a way to send Kerr out and back to the Flying Tigers. However, the situation in Hong Kong is still not optimistic, the Japanese army is still strictly guarding the water surface of Hong Kong, Huang Guanfang and Liu Heizai discussed, decided to do a big thing - blow up the Kai Tak airport, attract the attention of the Japanese army, and take the opportunity to send Kerr out.
On March 2, 1944, under the cover of night, Huang Tingfang and Liu Heizai led three team members to the vicinity of Kai Tak Airport, quietly solved the Indians guarding the airport gate, and after the five of them entered the airport and began to place explosives on each plane. While crossing the runway of Kant Airport, Liu Heizai was almost about to be discovered by the Japanese soldiers patrolling, and the nerves of the people were tense, and once they were discovered, they could not withdraw.
But fortunately, Liu Heizai was relatively dark, and the Japanese army did not find an abnormality, so they escaped the disaster. After Liu Heizai placed the explosives, they quietly withdrew from the airport, and after the explosives were successfully detonated, after a loud noise and a cloud of fire, the Kai Tak airport was damaged.
When the Japanese army found that the airfield had been bombed, it was in a state of confusion, and immediately transferred all its troops to the airfield, and the Japanese troops in Sha Tin Saigon were withdrawn. The guerrillas of the Hong Kong Ninth Brigade seized the opportunity to set up two small boats and rowed in the direction of Shenzhen. Kerr was about to get out of danger, and everyone was a little happy.
Japanese patrol boats
However, an accident occurred, and as the team members drove on the sea in a small boat, they were confronted by a Japanese patrol boat. This was the last Japanese to withdraw, and I didn't expect to collide head-on. Without much thought, the partisans immediately split into two directions, fleeing quickly in a safe direction with Kerr's boat, and another small boat desperately headed for the Japanese patrol boat, where they shot to attract the attention of the Japanese, and when the distance was closer, the grenade was thrown out.
After the two ships met, the guerrillas jumped on patrol boats and engaged the Japanese in close combat, buying kerr valuable time to escape. Kerr looked back at the fading flames, and he shed tears. Although the time spent with these members is short, they are willing to give their lives to cover for irrelevant people.
Such a tragic scene deeply stung Kerr's heart, and he finally understood why they dared to throw their heads and spill their blood, all because they shared a common belief. Years later, Kerr wrote a sentence describing them: these people were desperately short of supplies, backward equipment, and war was cruel and painful for them. But they have the most powerful weapons, and the common faith allows them to come together to support each other, which I have never seen before, and victory may be far away, but victory will come eventually.
After a night, Kerr arrived at the headquarters of the Dongjiang Column, and he was finally safe. Here Kerr was treated, and he also met many members of the Dongjiang Column, including a teenager who bought some candy for Kerr with the only 5 cents he had left while kerr was recuperating.
candy
When Kerr received the gift, he was stunned, how exactly are Chinese children educated? Knowing that Kerr is the benefactor who came to help them fight the Japanese, we must repay the benefactor well. This gift touched Kerr, who had been treasured and reluctant to eat.
On March 20, 1944, Kerr's leg injury was almost healed, and it was time to return to the team. On this day, when Kerr was leaving, the members of the Dongjiang Column came to bid him farewell, and Kerr's eyes were filled with tears. At 4 p.m., Kerr successfully returned to the familiar Flying Tigers, but he was not so happy.
Soon after, Kerr retired and returned to the United States, but Kerr still missed the people who were far away on the other side of the ocean. He wrote about his experience, and when he wrote about saying goodbye to the team and returning to the team, he described his feelings this way.
When I parachuted into Kowloon, I looked forward to such a day all the time. But when that day really came, I felt sad, it was a lifelong experience that I would never forget, and the selfless help and friendship of those people to strangers of another race was something I would never find in my life.
In the 1960s, Kerr still missed the people who had helped him, and he decided to leave for China to see them again. Kerr came to Hong Kong to find the fighters who had rescued him, but by then the Dongjiang Column had moved to Shandong, and he could only return to the United States with disappointment.
Lieutenant Kerr
When Kerr's life was coming to an end, he still couldn't let go of this obsession, and he told his children that they must go to China to find a former savior for me. His children have always been remembered, and finally in 2005, Kerr's children came to China. Under the search of many parties, the Kerr children met some of their father's saviors, but the village girls Li Zhaohua, Huang Tingfang, Liu Heizai and others were no longer alive.
Fortunately, the little boy who found Kerr is still alive, the boy who first extended his assistance to Kerr is dying of old age, and the Kerr child saw Li Shi, which can be regarded as the completion of his lifelong obsession for his father Kerr.
In Kerr's pen, he described the members of the Dongjiang Column led by the Chinese Communist Party as follows: "Faith, which makes them more dedicated than all their opponents, is embodied in their group warfare as a kind of unconditional self-sacrificing comrade-in-arms who belong to the noblest humanity and humanity in the human spirit."