Yuan Xibo (1887-1958) was a native of Daqiao Town, Jiangdu District. He opened a Futai South Goods Store on The Middle Street of Daqiao Town, and was the chief director of the Daqiao Town Chamber of Commerce for 20 years, and was quite prestigious in the local area.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in accordance with the central authorities' strategic plan to cross the river to the north and open up the anti-Japanese base area in northern Jiangsu, the New Fourth Army actively made preparations for crossing the river to the north after establishing the Maoshan base area in southern Jiangsu. In January 1939, Wei Yongyi, commander of the three detachments of the Advancing Column, and Hui Yuyu, director of the Political Department, led more than 270 people to cross the river and come to Daqiao Town, Jiangdu County. On the one hand, they mobilized the masses and propagated the party's anti-Japanese ideas, and on the other hand, they visited local gentry and celebrities to publicize the party's united front policy and mobilize them to use their special status to contribute to the anti-Japanese struggle and national salvation. Yuan Xibo and others were deeply impressed by Comrade Hui Yuyu's in-depth revolutionary principles and corporal Li Xian's personal charm, and expressed their willingness to actively participate in the ranks of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and to make a strong contribution to the war of resistance.
According to Comrade Hui Yuyu's memoirs "Friends" in his later years, "The three detachments actually had less than three hundred people, neither clothed nor grain and grass, short robes, uneven, and extremely poor weapons." "The quartermaster general was so poor that he grabbed his fist with both hands, and the three detachments crossed the river, and the two or three hundred troops and the young people who came to defect had to eat, and it was unrealistic to go to the Jiangnan headquarters to ask for grain, and it was only possible to raise money by themselves."
In order to provide daily military expenses for the three detachments of the Ting column, Yuan Xibo first persuaded the directors of the Chamber of Commerce to donate one hundred yuan a day to solve the urgent need at that time. In addition to normal expenses, when Tingzhong encountered the need for emergency fundraising, Yuan Xibo also either paid for it himself or helped raise funds, and every time he responded to every request. As Hui Yuyu said in his memoirs: "The first three months of our crossing the river were all wrapped up by Yuan Xibo and several other enlightened gentlemen."
When the three detachments first came to Daqiao Town, it was the cold spring, and when it was warm and cold, some of the soldiers lacked cotton clothes. Yuan Xibo also took the initiative to undertake the task of purchasing military uniforms, from purchasing cloth, dyeing, and even processing ready-to-wear clothes, he did not hesitate to work hard and do it himself, and in just over twenty days, he rushed to produce 300 sets of cotton military uniforms.
In order to ensure that Tingzhong had a relatively stable channel of financial revenue, Yuan Xibo also took the initiative to suggest to Comrade Hui Yuyu, then director of the Jiangdu People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Committee, that the donation of fields and acres be expropriated to save the dead. According to Comrade Hui Yuyu in his memoirs: "Yuan Xibo also suggested that we levy the land endowment. He said: If you do not recruit, those troops (referring to the Kuomintang diehards) who are acting recklessly under the banner of anti-Japanese aggression will also be recruited, so why should they be cheaper? In this way, the four corners per mu of donations were reduced from the past to two corners, and the Henan region of Jiangdu and the new and old islands could collect 70,000 or 80,000 yuan per year, which basically solved the financial source of the longitudinal.
Yuan Xibo saw that there were more people in the advancing column and fewer guns, and he consulted with Dong Tong Xichen and others, and offered more than twenty long guns and a shell gun hidden by the merchant group to the Tingzhong. These guns were not obtained after repeated extortions by the county security regiment and the Kuomintang troops.
In May 1939, Comrade Chen Yi went north to Jiangdu to inspect and live in Wujiaqiao. After hearing about the deeds of Yuan Xibo and others, he immediately met with Yuan Xibo and He Jimen and other enlightened gentry. Later, at the anti-Japanese oath-taking meeting held by the Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps in Daqiao Town, Comrade Chen Yi boarded the Fayuan Temple's Wannian Platform to deliver a speech, calling on the military and the people to unite as one and fight the war to the end, igniting the raging fire of the anti-Japanese resistance. After the meeting, Comrade Chen Yi paid a special visit to Yuan Xibo's home, and Yuan also set up a banquet. In February 1940, the Jiangdu County People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Committee was established, and after Yuan Xibo was elected as a member, he often traveled between the bridge and the Wuqiao Bridge to assist in the anti-Japanese rescue work.
In the same year, a Japanese army raided the town of Daqiao. It seems that some information was obtained, and the New Fourth Army was carried out door to door. At this time, a senior cadre of the New Fourth Army was staying at Yuan Xibo's home, and the situation was very critical. At this time, Yuan Xibo immediately made a decision and asked them to use a wheelbarrow to send the chief director of the Chamber of Commerce out of the town to do business. So the two guards became coachmen, one pushing and the other carrying. The chief, acting as Mr. Bookkeeper, carefully followed by his side, and finally concealed the Japanese army, turned the danger into a disaster, and ensured the safe passage of the chief.
Because of Yuan Xibo's positive performance during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in 1956, when Hui Yuyu, then governor of Jiangsu Province, came to inspect the bridge, he still did not forget this "friend" and specially summoned him to comfort him while talking about the good stories of the War of Resistance. Yuan Xibo was also arranged as a librarian of the Jiangsu Provincial Museum of Culture and History, and was elected as a member of the Jiangdu County CPPCC Committee and a representative of the people of Daqiao Town. (Zhu Yuqi)