A dwindling band of brothers
Updated: 2015-08-12 07:44
By Wu Fang(China Daily)
|
|||||||||||
Wang Qichao, a veteran of the National Revolutionary Army, lives with his wife in a dilapidated 100-year-old house. Photo by Wu Fang / for China Daily |
Sole survivors
Many of the veterans were the sole survivors of entire companies or even battalions. Wang Qichao was his company's only survivor after a battle that raged as the National Revolutionary Army, the military arm of the Kuomintang, attempted to defend Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, between June and October 1938.
The 96-year-old native of Wanghu, Shucheng county, Anhui, was just 19 and on the verge of graduating from high school when he enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1938. The teenager quickly found himself involved in what would turn out to be the fiercest battle of his military life.
"The shells fell like rain, and our brigade was reduced from more than 2,000 men to nothing," he said, pointing to a bullet scar in his right leg that he sustained during the battle.
"The blood flowed like a river, and all the river channels were filled with the bodies of Japanese soldiers," he said. "My fellow soldiers died one after another, and I was prepared to die as well. I was so lucky to survive."
After the battle, Wang was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy, and was promoted to platoon leader upon graduation. "We hosted a bonfire party and celebrated all night when Japan announced its unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945," he recalled.
Huang Yueyi had a close brush with death, when a shell landed right in front of him during a battle in Youfangdian, Henan province, but failed to explode. "I was lying in a trench with another soldier when a bullet tore right into him," the 90-year-old veteran said. "Those are things you try not to remember, but every time you think about it, you feel only pain."
He declined to talk in detail about the battles in which he took part because he has tried to block out the memories and put the events behind him forever.
Today's Top News
Pearson to sell stake in Economist Group
Heatwave in Egypt kills at least 61
Yuan may stumble, but will not fall
Third Greek bailout deal submitted to parliament
Chinese yuan extends sharp fall, long-term depreciation unlikely
A dwindling band of brothers
'Missile fragments' recovered from MH17 site
Beijing to close roads, metro stations for parade drill
Hot Topics
Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
Editor's Picks
Worlds apart in a different class |
Road map points way for new industrial cluster |
Plan to teach pupils practical skills welcome |
Civility strikes back |
Changing color of China's blue-collar workers |
Frozen assets may not beat the biological clock |