Yan Runyu
Pingquan Is located in Pingquan, Yuantou, Yele three villages between a small mountain village, a narrow loess cliff hanging more than thirty holes of earth cave kilns, only fifteen or six households, more than fifty people, in the northernmost part of the villa there is a place called The Cave, there are three holes of earth caves, for the yard of my grandparents in the 30s and 40s of the last century, and there is a small cave called the Zhaoquan Kiln, which has doors and windows, which was built for shepherds to prevent wild wolves from harming sheep. This courtyard is located deep in the mountain bay and is very hidden. The tall trees are densely packed, and the walls are not seen in the day, and the lights are not seen at night. And travel is very convenient and secretive, go out ten meters under the ditch two hundred meters to the east, north, south three directions to walk, to the northwest can be directly to Xiaoyi City's Xiaoyuantou Village, is a place that can be defended and easy to evacuate, more importantly, the owner of the yard is my grandfather Yan Deke, grandmother Wen Yuanru has the integrity and arrogance and boldness of loyalty is particularly commendable.
My grandfather was an ordinary farmer who usually farmed and herded sheep, and was also a respected dental shop in the surrounding tens of miles, that is, a person who traded in the market for both sides of buying and selling livestock. Because he is fair, does not harm the interests of both sides, and does not seek benefits for himself, he is angry in the local area, and people from all sides are willing to associate with him. According to my father, whenever there was a market in the surrounding area for a few days, many people came to the house to eat, and my grandmother did not leave the pot to cook for a day, and her feet were swollen.
In November 1937, our family suffered a major change, after the Battle of Xinzhou, some of the troops withdrew to the south passed through Pingquan, and the family's grain storage was emptied, a large family cut off from cooking, and a strong grandmother borrowed grain everywhere to survive. One day in April 1938, an old relative from Qingyu Village led several people to find his grandmother, saying that his friend wanted to live here for a while, and asked his grandmother to cook and pay for food and accommodation. Because the great-grandmother was the daughter of the Zhang family in Qingyu Village, the grandmother naturally promised that although there was no charge for eating and living, they wanted to open the large cave in the main courtyard, they insisted on not letting it, and only chose the one that took care of the sheep pen. After not asking or saying anything, I found that acquaintances from nearby villages also went to the cave to talk about things, such as Ma Baiwang of Wangling Village, Wang Shaowen of Pingquan Village, Liu Nairen (who was Wang Lei's secretary), and people from The two townships of Putou and Yaozhong who were assigned to Xiaoyi City in 1956. Sometimes going out at night, sometimes for a month or two, with the development of the situation activities are also semi-public, is to establish the "League" in each village and develop anti-Japanese armed forces, their names are gradually known, Liang Shutang was then the secretary of the Lingxi County Party Committee, Wang Lei Lingxi County Governor, Secretary Li Chengkun and their guards, in the spring of 1938, The Japanese soldiers occupied Shuangchi, and the focus of anti-Japanese activities shifted to the area around Qingyu Village. In May 1940, Wang Lei was transferred to Fenyang as the county magistrate, Li Chengkun became the county magistrate of Lingxi, these grandmothers all know that she is a great woman with courage, it is in this courtyard that my grandmother sent me the third uncle Yan Fuchang to become the Eighth Route Army, and later my father Yan Qichang also wanted to be a soldier with the Eighth Route Army 115th Division Literary and Art School, my grandmother told the situation at home, your eldest brother (my eldest uncle) wants to farm cattle and is still sick, your second brother (my second uncle) has become a standing soldier, your third brother (my third uncle) has become the Eighth Route Army, What if you're going to go to this place with the team? In fact, it is said that these guests who take care of, later as long as the guests live in small cave dwellings, the father will work in the nearby mountains, cutting cattle grass, picking mountain fruits, beating plum dates, and also giving half a basket of plum dates to the guests to taste. The cave remained in existence until the late 1960s, when my mother gave birth to four brothers in this cave, and in the early 1970s there were only doors and windows, and there was no trace of it. Later, I learned in the "Memoirs of the Lingshi Revolution" that from 1938 to 1939, there were Villages in The Lingxi Region including Yingwu, Wangling, Zhangjiashan, Nanyu, Pingquan, Zhaojiazhuang, Qingyu, Wenshuyuan and other villages, and the places where they were often active were Leijiazhuang, Yuantou, Dongputou villages. In the military field, a large number of soldiers were sent to the regular troops of the Eighth Route Army, and local armed forces were also established, which effectively dealt a blow to the Japanese army and the stubborn and pseudo-traitors.