At the end of 1939, General Yang Jingyu organized a crusade against the Japanese puppet army in southeast Manchuria. In an extremely difficult environment, he commanded the troops to break up, fought guerrilla warfare, and led the guard brigade to fight in the area around the Maojiang River. Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiufeng, the platoon leader of the guard platoon, was also a "righteous son" who had been raised by him since he was 15 years old, taking more than 9,900 pieces of ocean with the funds of the Anti-League, and instigating other people in the guard platoon to defect to the enemy with him. On February 1, 1940, Yang Jingyu's whereabouts were exposed by traitors.
General Yang Jingyu, who had not eaten for several days, ate bark, grass roots, turf, etc. in order to kill the enemy with strength, and for a long time he was circling with the enemy, and the only remaining guards around him were sacrificed one after another, and finally only he was left. On February 23, General Yang Jingyu, after five days and nights of circling the enemy alone, ran out of ammunition and was shot by his former subordinate Zhang Xiruo, and was martyred at the age of 35.
After the sacrifice of General Yang Jingyu, the inhuman traitor Bai Wanren cruelly cut off his head and transported it to Tonghua Street for public display. The Japanese Kou cut open his stomach, and there was not a single grain in his stomach, but all undigested bark and cotton wool, which surprised the Japanese troops present. In order to commemorate General Yang Jingyu, the county where he died was renamed Jingyu County, and the unit he was in before his death was renamed Yang Jingyu Detachment. After the founding of New China, Tonghua built the Yang Jingyu Martyrs Cemetery.
Although General Yang Jingyu died, he will always live in people's hearts. There was an old warrior who silently guarded the mausoleum for him for 62 years. When he was old, he gave this heavy responsibility to his son.
The man's name was Xu Zhenming, and he was born in Ganyu County, Lianyungang in 1925. The death of his parents put his life in trouble. In July 1942, our army launched a fierce battle with the Japanese army in Ganyu County, and Xu Zhenming, who was only 17 years old, did not hesitate to sign up for the army and followed the troops to the south and the north. When they first joined the army, the instructors often told these recruits about the deeds of General Yang Jingyu. Since then, he has particularly admired General Yang Jingyu and asked him to learn from his predecessors. Soon, Xu Zhenming was awarded the first class in the campaign to ambush the Japanese Kou, but he was also wounded.
Xu Zhenming not only participated in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, but in October 1950 he also accompanied the 38th Army of the Chinese Volunteer Army to fight on the Korean Peninsula. He has experienced battles such as the Battle of Songkuo Peak and the Battle of Flying Tiger Mountain, and has been awarded the first class merit. In 1958, Xu Zhenming changed careers. He had three choices in front of him, one was to be the director of the guest house, the second was to be the president of the welfare institute, and the third was to be the director of the Yang Jingyu Memorial Hall. Without the slightest hesitation, he chose the last position. Since then, he has begun to guard the mausoleum of General Yang Jingyu.
At first, it was a bare mountain, but Xu Zhenmin led the staff of the memorial hall to plant flowers and trees, making the originally desolate martyrs' cemetery lush. Whenever foreign friends, Chinese tourists or state leaders came to pay homage to General Yang Jingyu, he would act as a narrator about how our army fought against the enemy. He personally experienced the War of Resistance Against Japan, knew very well how cruel the war was, how difficult and heroic and tenacious the Chinese military and people were in the War of Resistance, and was undoubtedly the best explainer.
In 1980, Xu Zhenming reached the age of retirement. He could not rest assured, so he asked his son Xu Yongjun to continue to guard Yang Jingyu Cemetery. Still unwilling to leave, he eventually stayed in the cemetery as a janitor, and almost every day he had to go to the tomb of General Yang Jingyu to see and clean up. In 2020, the elderly Xu Zhenming was awarded the title of "Model of the Times" by the state, and his deeds were well known and touched countless people. He and General Yang Jingyu did not know each other, but they guarded the tomb for him for 62 years. The elderly Xu Zhenming deserves people's admiration and learning!