Accompanied by her daughter, Yang Liangping visited the Lien Heng Memorial in Hangzhou. Elderly Yang Liangping conversed with her grandchildren in Xinchang.
■ Follow-up to "Yunnan War Veterans' Weibo Search for Relatives"
In May of this year, 92-year-old war veteran Yang Liangping returned from Baoshan, Yunnan, to his hometown of Xinchang, Zhejiang Province. Having experienced the Battle of Shanghai, the Nanjing Defense Campaign, the Taierzhuang Campaign, and the Songshan Campaign until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Yang Liangping had not left the battlefield for eight years. From the war-torn Jiangnan region to the frontlines of the Western Yunnan resistance, Yang Liangping measured every inch of land on foot.
However, it took the elderly man 74 years to return home.
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His home is in Xinchang, Shaoxing.
On the afternoon of May 15, the silver-haired Yang Liangping stood by the West Lake, breathing air he hadn't smelled for over half a century. Suffering from diabetes, the elderly man's vision had severely deteriorated, but he remained spirited. Dressed in a gray suit, wearing a new straw hat, and adorned with a commemorative badge of the "Chinese Expeditionary Force" presented by civilian volunteers, this was the elder's most elegant attire. This veteran, who rose from a soldier to a lieutenant colonel officer, never received any military medals. The old man said that he usually kept the commemorative badge in his pocket, but specially wore it for this trip.
Walking with a cane along Beishan Road, the lake views were blurred before him, while daughters, nieces, and grandchildren, as well as volunteers caring for veterans, gathered around him, bringing a smile to the elderly man's face.
In 1937, Yang Liangping left his hometown for Shanghai, then came to Nanshingqiao in Hangzhou, where he joined the Zhejiang Security Corps for a month and a half of basic military training. Here, the 18-year-old Xinchang native, Yang Liangping, learned how to shoot, and was then assigned to the 36th Division of the 71st Army of the National Revolutionary Army, hastily sent to the Shanghai battlefield. Since then, through constant warfare, he lost contact with his family. "He is the most combat-experienced surviving war veteran in Baoshan area, a living history," Yunnan scholar Li Zheng thus evaluated the elder.
In March of this year, with the help of Li Zheng and through the relay efforts of volunteers (as detailed in the Times report on March 23, "Yunnan War Veteran's Weibo Search for Relatives"), Yang Liangping reconnected with his relatives back home. On May 8, accompanied by Li Zheng and his daughter Yang Jianghua, Yang Liangping boarded the flight back home. This return trip was to fulfill two of the elder's greatest wishes: one was to visit Xinchang, Shaoxing, and pay respects at his parents' graves; the other was to visit Nanjing and reunite with his long-separated wife, Chen Xun, after sixty years apart.
It was the most perilous time for the nation.
Over the past ten days, the elder visited Shanghai, Xinchang, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. Along the way, he repeatedly recounted stories from the past to his relatives, volunteers, and media, often bursting into tears. These memories, which had been suppressed within him for over seventy years, finally erupted.
In 2010, a junior member of his family asked the elder about the history of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, prompting the elder to reveal his hidden past for the first time. For a long time, he was known locally in Baoshan, Yunnan, as the "Shanghai Master" due to his expertise in carpentry and lacquer work, earning respect. He was even named a national model worker in 1958 and met Chairman Mao Zedong. With his current wife, he raised a son and a daughter, leading a peaceful life in Baoshan. On February 25 of this year, Yunnan scholar Li Zheng interviewed the elder, learning of his wish to return home, helping him search for his relatives and unlocking the elder's sealed memories.
As a soldier, Yang Liangping endured the "most perilous time for the Chinese nation." It was 1937 when Yang Liangping retreated with his troops from Shanghai to Nanjing, and then from Nanjing to the banks of the Yangtze River. That December, passing through Nanjing, Yang Liangping witnessed many corpses floating near the Xiaguan dock, "later realizing that this was the Nanjing Massacre." "Shanghai fell, Nanjing fell, that was the most perilous moment," the elder choked back tears as he said.
After eight years of fighting, Yang Liangping bore more than a dozen bullet scars. The most dangerous injuries came from the Battle of Shanghai and the Songshan Campaign.
In 1937, participating in the Battle of Shanghai, the elder remembered, "for such a long time, no civilians were seen, we fought in trenches every day." One day, a bullet struck the back of the elder's head, piercing through his steel helmet, leaving a scar on his head. On May 9 of this year, the elder visited the Shanghai Resistance War Memorial Museum, where he saw an exhibited steel helmet and burst into tears.
In 1944, the elder joined the 88th Division of the 71st Army of the National Revolutionary Army, fiercely battling as part of the Western Yunnan Expeditionary Force. During the Songshan Campaign, both of his legs were pierced, and he was sent to a hospital run by Americans in the rear for treatment before returning to the battlefield.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the army was transferred from Mangshi Airport to Northeast China. Yang Liangping learned that this mission was to "fight against the Chinese," "How could Chinese fight against Chinese?" Yang Liangping then deserted and left the army.
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At the graves of his parents, the elder wept uncontrollably.
The turmoil continued, and Yang Liangping, now a commoner, concealed his past. He went to Nanjing and worked for the Nanjing Jingpu Railway Bureau. In 1949, he married Chen Xun. In 1952, they separated in Shanxi. Later, Yang Liangping moved to Western Yunnan. The pain of war gradually subsided, Yang Liangping formed a new family, constantly longing for his unreturnable homeland.
On May 10 of this year, the elder returned to Xinchang, welcomed by a large family of over a hundred people. Among the Yangs of Xinchang, there were seven siblings in the elder's generation, now only he remains alive. "74 years! 74 years!" The elder continuously muttered these words as he revisited familiar places. The next day, the elder arrived at his parents' graves, crying out his heart: "I haven't come back for seventy years, please forgive me. I am an unfilial son... I went to fight the Japanese, I couldn't help it..." The surrounding relatives all shed tears.
The ancestral home of the Yang family was originally located in Taiping Gang Alley, Xichang Street, Xinchang, consisting of three old houses, which are now high-rise buildings. With only a little light perception left in his eyes, the elder relied on his hands to feel the arms of his nephews and nieces, the old well at the entrance of his former home, and the railings of the bridge in his hometown, perceiving the familial ties that had been separated for 74 years.
In his hometown of Xinchang, the elder stayed for five days. At first, the elder could not understand the local dialect, volunteer Ling Rong said, "Relatives spoke the local dialect and let him guess. As long as it was something delicious, the elder could basically guess it!" Gradually, the elder recalled some of the local dialect. By the time he reached Hangzhou, the elder could already say some authentic Xinchang short phrases. Shen Bo, his great-niece working in Hangzhou, exclaimed upon meeting the elder, "The accent hasn't changed."
Yesterday, the elder rushed to Nanjing to reunite with his wife, Chen Xun. Respecting the elder and his family's wishes, neither the media nor the volunteers followed. Thus, the elder's two major wishes were fulfilled.
Reluctantly leaving Xinchang, Yang Liangping left a message for his descendants: "To be a person and do things, one must rely on conscience, be honest, speak honestly, and act sincerely." The words of this veteran were resolute.
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