Veterans relive struggle against invaders
Collective effort of a nation overcame Japanese aggression
Yang Ronghua, born in April 1927 into a poor peasant family in Wutai county, Shanxi, joined the village's theater troupe as a child.
His primary task was writing slogans such as "Down with Japanese Imperialism", "Eliminate Traitors and Collaborators", "Expel Japanese Imperialism from China", and "Save China's Future".
The troupe operated effectively, even performing at the county level. Within a month, 120 outstanding young people from the village enlisted in the army.
Yang later joined the guerrilla forces, standing guard and planting landmines.
He described a perilous mission in the autumn of 1943. The Japanese invaders came out of their watchtower. They carried two landmines and detonators. Following their comrades, they marched on while scouting enemy movements, he said.
During this operation, at one point, they were completely exposed in a massive open area.
"Bullets whizzed past me, whistling overhead and zipping past my feet; some of them came very close to my leg. Among the nine of us, two were killed," he said.
"These passionate young men fought fiercely against the Japanese imperialist aggression and tried to stop the enemy from seizing grain. Their spirit was noble. We should always remember them and pay tribute."
