In 2014, the National Archives declassified a photograph of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which, according to the introduction, was taken in the winter of 1944 and featured a Chinese expeditionary force that went to the Burmese battlefield to fight against Japan. When this photo spread to China, it quickly became popular in China.
In August 2014, volunteers from the Guizhou Veterans Care public welfare project visited the home of a veteran who had participated in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The old man was already 83 years old at the time, in addition to bringing some condolences to the old man, they also asked the old man if there was anything that needed help, and the old man said that he wanted volunteers to help collect some photos from the Anti-Japanese War period as a spiritual sustenance.
It happened that the volunteers received a document issued by the relevant departments in Guizhou, "Notice on Finding the Owner of the Photos of the Chinese Expeditionary Force", and a photo was attached to the document. So, they remade the photo and brought it to the old man.
When the 83-year-old saw the photo, he burst into tears, and he took the photo and said to the volunteers: "The baby soldier in this photo is either someone else or me." ”
A photograph of Chen Youli taken by an American
So who is this old man? What kind of story is hidden behind this photo?
A little boy who is scattered in his escape
The doll soldier in this photo is Chen Youli, a veteran of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, who was born in April 1931 in Pingshan Township, Hezhang County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province.
In that era of war, when warlords were dividing the hegemonic side, and warlords constantly launched wars for turf for their own interests, thus competing for the right to speak in politics, China at that time was filled with the smell of gun smoke everywhere.
In that war-torn era, China was at war, and the most miserable were the people living at the bottom, who lived a precarious life all day long, and Chen Youli's mother died when he was very young.
Chen Youli's father also died soon after, and the young Chen Youli became an orphan, and he had to live with his grandparents.
However, at that time, Chen Youli's grandparents were old after all, and the two old people's lives were also very tense, and he could not eat or drink Lazar and counted on the two old people.
In order to reduce the financial burden of his grandparents, Chen Youli has to go out every day to find food, help the neighbors do some chores, or do some odd jobs in the town, as long as there is food to eat, he is willing to do any work to help his grandparents supplement the family.
In 1937, Japan launched an all-out war of aggression against China, burning the flames of war to the entire land of China, and the Japanese invaders went on a rampage on China's territory, committing all kinds of evil deeds, and Chinese people suffered a lot and lived the life of a slave of the country, which made the lives of people who were already living in the depths of the water even more frosty.
Chen Youli
In the face of the enemy's frenzied killing, the Chinese nation is facing the crisis of national subjugation and extinction, and at this critical moment of life and death, the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have finally put an end to their former suspicions and ushered in the second time of cooperation to jointly resist the Japanese aggressors, established a patriotic united front in China, and united all the Chinese people to go to the country to suffer.
Japan launched a series of wars in China one after another, which met with stubborn resistance from the Chinese military and people, thus breaking Japan's three-month battle plan to destroy China. The Japanese Army was deeply trapped in the torrent of the common resistance of all Chinese people to resist Japan, and the War of Resistance Against Japan entered a stage of stalemate.
In order to plunder more strategic resources, Japan turned its attention to the Nanyang region. Before long, Japan sent troops to Burma, plundering Burma's resources and occupying the Burma Road in an attempt to cut off the communication lines for Chinese aid from Britain, the United States and other countries.
In order to crush the Japanese battle plan and cooperate with the Allied battle plan, the Chinese government formed the Chinese Expeditionary Force to go to the Burma battlefield to assist the Allied forces in fighting Against Japan.
The Chinese Expeditionary Force went to Burma to fight against Japan
Soon, the Japanese burned the war to Chen Youli's village, and the villagers fled for their lives. While they were fleeing, Chen Youli and his grandparents were separated.
In order to solve the problem of food and clothing, he joined the Chinese Expeditionary Force and became the smallest child soldier in the company
So, Chen Youli fled alone with a large number of refugees, living a life of hunger and fullness, and finally they fled to Yunnan, where Chen Youli had not eaten for several days.
In order to be able to stutter, Chen Youli found the Chinese Expeditionary Force stationed in Yunnan, and he strongly demanded that he join the army. But how can an 11-year-old carry a gun to fight?
Therefore, at that time, the troops did not want to accept him, and he said to the leaders of the troops: "I can eat any suffering, I can suffer any sin, you let me stay, as long as I stutter." ”
In the end, Chen Youli was taken in by a kind groom of the 200th Division of the 5th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, who helped groom herd his horse. Later, the leaders of the unit saw that he was obedient and willing to endure hardships, so they arranged him to serve as a company commander in the 200th Division, and began his military career from then on.
At that time, the commander of Chen Youli's unit was Gao Jiren, the commander was the famous Qiu Qingquan, and Chen Youli, who was only 11 years old, became the youngest child soldier in the company.
Qiu Qingquan
Although he was just a little doll who didn't know anything at the time, he was very hard-working, and he successfully completed every task given by the company commander in the army. In addition, while following the troops on a long journey, he learned combat knowledge and was ready to go to the front line to kill the enemy!
The Chinese Expeditionary Force, commanded by Lieutenant General Stilwell, chief of staff of the Allied Chinese Theater of Operations, and Commander Luo Zhuoying, entered Burma to launch operations against Japan. Chen Youli followed his troops to participate in the defense of the Nu River at the Huitong Bridge on the Western Yunnan Highway.
In this battle, although the Chinese army suffered heavy losses, it successfully blocked the Japanese army on the west bank of the Nu River, thus changing the situation on the battlefield at that time.
The Allies seized the initiative on the battlefield in Burma. Subsequently, Chen Youli followed the large army to take the opportunity to retake Songshan, Longling, South Tianmen and other areas.
With the development of the world war situation, the World Anti-Fascist League was formed around the world, and these anti-fascist countries united to resist the aggression of the fascist countries.
In 1942, 26 countries, including China, the United States, britain, and the Soviet Union, held a meeting in Washington, D.C., and signed the Declaration of the United Nations, marking the final formation of the world's anti-fascist united front.
The arrival of American war correspondents
In order to show the people of the world the brutality of the fascist state and expose the cruelty of war.
In November 1944, American war photographers came to China to report on the situation of China's War of Resistance Against Japan, thus calling on people all over the world to unite against the anti-fascist war.
American war correspondents came to China with their cameras to photograph war scenes everywhere, saw devastated post-war scenes, and faithfully recorded the brutality of the Japanese invaders. In the form of pictures and texts, he showed the people of the world with great emotion to the people of the Chinese the people of Japan's war of aggression.
Later, these American war correspondents came to the Chinese Expeditionary Force garrison, and when they entered Chen Youli's company, the youngest child soldier in the company successfully attracted their attention, and they could not believe their eyes.
These American war correspondents found it very incredible that there were such small soldiers in the army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
In the eyes of these reporters, Chen Youli is still just an innocent child, but on his thin shoulders he carries the burden of defending his family and defending the country, and these American war correspondents can't help but lament the harm caused by the war.
In the critical moment of the destruction of the country and the death of the family, these dolls who should have studied in school and enjoyed a happy childhood also had to put down the pen in their hands, pick up the steel gun to kill the enemy, and personally experience the guns and bullets to experience the cruelty of war.
But these reporters do not know that Chen Youli, who is only 13 years old, although he is not tall enough to have a gun, he has been a veteran of the army for more than a year.
The battlefield is the most tempering, and the cruelty on the battlefield makes him fade the innocence and innocence that a child should have, and become bold and resolute.
Although Chen Youli's thin stature seemed to be incompatible with other soldiers in the army, the military uniform was particularly inappropriate on his body, and even the newly haired hat could not be worn, in order to fix the hat, he folded the old and new hats on his head.
Chen Youli has been carrying two water bottles on his back, one with water and the other with salt and peppers.
Doll Soldier statue
At that time, the combat conditions were very difficult, their daily dry food was two hard steamed buns per person, in order to prevent the dry food from falling, they hung the dry food in the dry food bag around their necks, even such an environment was Chen Youli's dream, and he worked as hard as he wanted in the army.
Some people may sigh: "Chen Youli knows how to be loyal to the country at such a young age, which is really rare." ”
Imagine that a teenager who is only a teenager is the age of ignorance and ignorance, what lofty ideals and ambitions can he have to serve the country.
The reason why Chen Youli joined the Chinese Expeditionary Force and lived a life of nine deaths was nothing more than two steamed buns a day, although it was very dangerous to face the rain of guns and bullets in the army every day, but he was able to eat enough.
If Chen Youli had left the army, perhaps before the enemy had killed him, he would have been starved to death long ago.
This is the bloody reality, under the cruel war, where is the real paradise? People live a life of fear and precariousness every day.
Becoming a "model" for American journalists
Later, in order to collect war materials, these American war correspondents asked to take pictures of them, and after their careful selection, they finally chose the youngest Chen Youli to be their "model".
With the consent of the company commander of Chen Youli's unit, the American reporter took the first picture of him in the trenches, and then let him take a second picture at a fork in the road.
At the request of the American war correspondent, Chen Youli gave a thumbs up and smiled, and took that precious photo with the "click" of the reporter's camera shutter!
After the photography, the American war correspondent gave him two biscuits as a reward, and he was very happy to hold the biscuits, because he had never eaten a biscuit when he was so old. He hasn't seen the picture since.
Child soldiers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force
After being defeated and captured, he joined the People's Liberation Army
In 1944, the 20th Group Army and the 11th Group Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were ordered to cross the Nu River and fight with the local Japanese army, followed by smoke in Tengchong, Songshan, Longling, Pingga and other key areas in western Yunnan. Later, due to the change of the war situation, Chen Youli's 5th Army was also ordered to enter the battle.
With the mutual cooperation with the Allies, the Japanese army was gradually defeated, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force took the opportunity to recover many lost lands. In order to expand the results of the battle, Chen Youli's unit took advantage of the victory to pursue the Chinese Expeditionary Force's Western Yunnan Counteroffensive and successively participated in the reconquest of Songshan, Longling, and Qicheng.
In August 1945, through the joint efforts of all the Chinese and the world anti-fascist allies, the Japanese invaders were finally defeated, and Japan announced its unconditional surrender.
Chinese finally ushered in the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and Chen Youli and his troops were still on the Sino-Burmese border at this time.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party finally parted ways because of China's future direction and once again moved toward opposite sides. The second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party ended in failure, and China entered the period of liberation war.
In 1947, Chen Youli was ordered to rush from Yunnan to Shandong with a large army, and after they arrived in Shandong, they actively built fortifications to form a confrontation with the East China Field Army and the Central Plains Field Army led by the Communist Party of China.
In 1948, the East China People's Field Army launched the Huaihai Campaign, a strategic offensive against the Kuomintang army.
The defeat of the Kuomintang army eventually ended in defeat, and Chen Youli followed the troops to surrender to the People's Liberation Army, and he became a prisoner. Inspired by the People's Liberation Army, he chose to join the People's Liberation Army as a People's Liberation Army soldier.
After joining the People's Liberation Army, he followed the troops to participate in the Battle of Crossing the River and the liberation of Shanghai, and made contributions to the founding of New China.
In 1950, the Korean Civil War broke out, and the imperialists led by the United States blatantly interfered in the internal affairs of Korea, and they formed the so-called "United Nations Army" to openly attack the Korean Peninsula and lead the war to the Sino-DPRK border, in an attempt to use the Korean Peninsula as a springboard to once again threaten China's security.
In order to safeguard the peaceful life that they had bought after many years of hard work and thus consolidate the nascent people's political power, the Chinese people formed Chinese the Chinese People's Volunteer Army to go to the Korean battlefield to resist the United States and aid Korea to defend their homeland and defend the country.
In October 1950, Chen Youli crossed the Yalu River with a large army and participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and he participated in dozens of large and small battles in two years. After the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Chen Youli followed the troops back to the embrace of the motherland and returned to his hometown as an ordinary peasant.
Chinese Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River
Seventy years later, I met my younger self again
Seventy years of wind and rain, seventy years of vicissitudes. With the development of society, Chen Youli originally thought that the scene of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression would be forever sealed in the long river of history.
In 2012, the Guizhou Veterans Care Public Welfare Project was launched in Guiyang, the purpose of which is to send warmth to those battlefield heroes who have killed the enemy on the battlefield, so the Guizhou Veterans Care Project often arranges volunteers to go to the homes of battlefield heroes to comfort them.
In 2014, the National Archives declassified a photograph of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which, according to the introduction, was taken in the winter of 1944 and featured a Chinese expeditionary force that had taken part in the burmese battlefield to fight against Japan, who was under the age of 14.
But because of the frequent war era at that time, it is not known whether the little soldiers in the photo survived the war.
After this photo was made public, it attracted widespread attention in Chinese society.
People are speculating about who the little warrior in this photo is? Whether he is still alive or not, with these questions, many enthusiastic people have called for the whereabouts of the little soldier in the photo.
There was no vigorous war scene in that photograph, only a picture of a child, behind whom was a group of soldiers in a hurry, dressed in a thick and fat cotton coat and wearing a military hat on his head without any other clues.
Moreover, after 79 years of vicissitudes and long years, it is easy to find the person in the photo, and looking for a needle in a haystack in the vast sea of people is like finding a needle in a haystack. The relevant departments searched in many ways, but in the end there was no clue.
With the launch of the Guizhou Veteran Care Project, volunteers came to Chen Youli's home to not only clean up for the elderly, but also to bring condolences to the former war hero and ask if the elderly had anything else to help.
Chen Youli elderly photo
Chen Youli was very grateful for their care and enthusiastic help and said to them: "With the care of the party and the government, I am now very happy. Can you help me collect some photos of the War of Resistance, I can recall some things from the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. ”
The volunteers took Chen Youli's wishes very seriously, and they immediately began to help Chen Youli's old hero collect photos of the War of Resistance, just at which point they received a "Notice of Collection for the Owner of the Photo of the Chinese Expeditionary Force" with a photo attached to it.
The volunteers looked at the photos behind them and thought it was very interesting. Looking at the age background of this photo, the person on the photo may still be Chen Youli's comrade-in-arms. So they remade the photo and put it into a collection of photographs of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression collected for the elderly.
After Chen Youli took the photos, he looked at them one by one and was very happy to see them. Just as he was turning to the photograph of the expeditionary force, he picked it up and carefully studied it and fell into contemplation.
Chen Youli and a photo of himself
At this time, the unknown volunteers also told the old man about the origin of this photo and asked the old man: "Grandpa, do you know this person?" ”
Looking at the little boy in the photo, the tears suddenly flowed, and the elderly Chen Youli said to the volunteers: "The baby soldier in this photo is not someone else, it is me who joined the army at that time."
Although this photo is bland, people can see the optimism characteristic of Chinese on the face of this young child. This group of "black-eyed, yellow-skinned" Chinese will not give up the "hope of life" no matter what kind of tragic situation they face, and will persist in fighting to the end.
At this time, the old man Chen Youli was 87 years old, and he never dreamed that after seventy years apart, he could see his young self again in such a way. So he asked the volunteers to help him take another photo, and he picked up the photo and asked him to take a picture of his past self with his present self.
Chen Youli is photographed with a photo of his youth
This bland photo bears witness to the strength and forbearance of a country and a nation when the country is in trouble. At the moment of crisis in which the war was raging and the nation was in danger, the smile of an ordinary teenager in the war illuminated the future of the country and strengthened the confidence of the entire nation in winning the War of Resistance.
People who have not experienced the War of Resistance will never know the cruelty of war. Even more, in order to resist the Japanese invasion, the people of Chinese rushed to the battlefield to kill the enemy and serve the country, and the Chinese people paid a heavy price under the smoke of gunfire and wolf smoke, and paid tribute to the old man Chen Youli.