It should be said that during World War II, the Japanese army attacked China's most successful strategic attack. It was the British army that took over Burma and blocked the only passage connecting our country to the World Anti-Fascist Alliance, the Burma Road.
Readers may not know the strategic significance of the Burma Highway to our country during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; Japan completely blocked all of our sea lanes long before the war of aggression against China, and at that time, the armaments and materials of our army for the War of Resistance depended to a large extent on the assistance of the International Anti-Fascist League. In the case of completely sealed shipping, this Yunnan Burma Highway is like the lifeline of our army's materials during the War of Resistance, if even it is blocked, the domestic cause of the War of Resistance will be difficult to sustain.
In order to rescue this line, the Nationalist government at that time even sacrificed a large number of Chinese laborers to go to the Yunnan-Burma border at the expense of the cost, and opened up a Yunnan-Burma railway. A large number of soldiers of our army were also mobilized to form the Chinese Expeditionary Force and enter Burma to help the British army fight against japanese fascism.
On December 23, 1941, China and Britain signed the Agreement on mutual defense of the Burma Road. The Chinese Expeditionary Force officially entered Burma to help the British jointly resist the Japanese army.
The following year, the Battle of Donggu broke out, which was the largest defensive battle on the Burmese battlefield and the longest battle line, and our army and the British army were on the defensive. To cover the Retreat of the British, the Chinese Expeditionary Force had to cross a place in Burma called Savage Mountain.
Located in Myitkyina, Myanmar, this place is an endless, unexplored primeval forest and a well-known forbidden land for the Burmese people. Within a radius of 500 kilometers, the mountains are densely forested and miasma is rampant. Because it is inhabited by a group of indigenous people who have not yet been civilized and are still in the primitive tribal civilization, it is called Savage Mountain by the Burmese.
When I first heard about the Savage Mountain, our expeditionary force did not feel anything, after all, dealing with mountains and forests is a skill that has been rooted in the bones of our people since ancient times, but it is a big deal to change the mountains and forests in a different place. It wasn't until they actually entered this area that they discovered what was called heaven and earth.
At that time, the troops crossing the Savage Mountain were the direct subordinate units of the 5th Army led by Du Yuming and the newly organized 22nd Division, with a total of about 15,000 people. Before crossing, they thought it was just an ordinary mountain forest, without making any preparations. Their retreat was from May to November, during the rainy season in Myanmar and the most dangerous period in the tropical forest environment.
So, what happened to Du Yuming's troops in the Savage Mountains? In fact, they did not encounter ambushes by the Japanese army and the savage tribes in the jungle, but encountered ants and mosquitoes. There are arguably more ants in the rainforest than there are around us, no matter how tall and tightly tied the boots are, they often march halfway through the march and find themselves covered with ants, these blood-sucking monsters, bit by bit, encroach on the troops, and many soldiers are even sucked into anemia.
In addition, the mosquitoes in the rainforest are much larger than ordinary mosquitoes, resembling dragonflies, and quite toxic, and can also spread malaria. Many soldiers died at the hands of mosquito-borne malaria.
In addition, the original trees in the tropical rainforest are towering, the branches and leaves are so dense that even the sun is obscured, even in the daytime, the jungle is like night, and what dangers lie ahead are basically undetectable. There are also various jackals, tigers and leopards, which are specially stared at the weak, immobile soldiers, waiting for the opportunity to attack. There have been several female soldiers who were dying and were taken away by wild wolves and never returned.
In order to feed themselves, the expeditionary forces began to forage in the jungle, and all kinds of poisons in the forest had not been seen in the country before, and many soldiers were poisoned by eating poisonous mushrooms by mistake, because there was no medicine, and finally they were poisoned alive.
This extremely harsh environment is reinforced, coupled with the miasma generated by the decay of animals and plants in the rainforest. In addition to contracting malaria, many soldiers have suffered from other serious illnesses to varying degrees. Symptoms of dehydration, diarrhea and fever abounded, and even Du Yuming himself contracted a serious illness and paid more than 20 lives to be carried out of the forest.
In the end, after a difficult trek of more than 600 kilometers and 114 days, Du Yuming's team finally walked out of Savage Mountain. In the mountains where 15,000 people entered the mountain, only 3,000 people were left alive, especially female soldiers, and only one survived in the end, her name was Liu Guiying.
Years later, veterans who survived the Savage Mountains still weep bitterly when they recall the experience, and after that, local Burmese officers once again went inside to fight guerrillas. At the mouth of a thorn-covered cave, I opened it to see that it was full of Sensen white bones, and the clothes on these white bones were the uniforms of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
In order to welcome these martyrs back to China, after that, our country specially sent people to find this cave, but unfortunately, the geographical environment there was too complicated, and the tropical forest was different from season to season, and finally it could not be found.
However, in order to commemorate them, our army erected a tombstone on Savage Hill for this group of martyrs. The names of every soldier who died at Savage Mountain are engraved on it. Today, our peaceful life is inseparable from this group of revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives in the older generation, who endured unimaginable hardships for ordinary people before returning to the happy life of modern Chinese people. Drinking water and thinking of the source, this group of soldiers deserves our descendants' eternal remembrance and respect!