Into Former Battlefields of War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: Let’s Go! Searching for "Li Xiangyang" in Northern Henan

It was precisely this battle that made "Li Xiangyang" famous far and wide!

In July 1943, Japanese troops and their puppet allies set out from Huixian, Linxian and other places in Henan and launched a mopping-up operation against our Linnan base area.

"Li Xiangyang" was ordered to lead six armed work team members to ambush the enemy in the cornfields by the highway between Baiquan and Xiaotun. On that summer night in northern Henan, insects chirped softly, and the rhythmic sound of cornstalks jointing one after another could be heard intermittently. Lying prone on the ground, "Li Xiangyang" pondered: The enemy forces numbered at least 100, and Japanese blockhouses were scattered nearby. How could they delay the enemy’s advance to the greatest extent?

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind: Why not make the enemy fight among themselves like "dogs biting dogs"?

He almost laughed out loud at this idea and whispered to each team member: "We'll attack in two directions. The four of you will fire volleys at the Xiaotun blockhouse, mimicking the sound of machine-gun bursts. The three of us will attack the puppet troops on the road from behind. We'll just be the 'matchmakers'—once they start 'getting along' with each other, we'll withdraw."

Before long, the sound of chaotic footsteps could be heard on the road. The footsteps drew closer and closer, and even the enemies' voices and coughs became clearly audible.

The enemies marched past in rows. Shortly after the last row of enemies had passed, "Li Xiangyang" resolutely ordered: "Fire!"

Three soldiers unleashed a fierce barrage at the enemies on the road, while almost simultaneously, the other four opened fire on the blockhouse.

The sudden attack from behind threw the puppet troops into chaos, sending them screaming and scrambling into the cornfields. Meanwhile, the enemies in the Xiaotun blockhouse panicked: "Oh no, the Eighth Route Army is storming the blockhouse!" They immediately began firing wildly in all directions.

"The blockhouse has been occupied by the Eighth Route Army! Fight back, fight back quickly!" The enemies in the cornfield, unable to figure out the situation, started shooting at the blockhouse.

The gunfire from over 100 men intensified the blockhouse garrison’s panic. Their shots grew even more frantic, with machine-gun muzzles blazing from multiple embrasures, bullets thudding into the cornstalks.

"Bang-bang-bang!" "Rat-tat-tat!" "Da-da-da!" The exchange of fire escalated fiercely between the two sides.

"Let's go! We’ll watch the show from the hills." "Li Xiangyang" led his comrades up the nearby Sumen Mountain.

The "dog-eat-dog" battle raged on until dawn…

"Li Xiangyang," originally named Guo Xing, joined the Eighth Route Army at the age of 16. Renowned for his wit and bravery, he earned the favor of Pi Dingjun, Commander of the 5th Division of the Taihang Military Region, who tasked him with organizing an armed work team in his hometown, Huixian. At 17, Guo received an order from Commander Pi: within a year, he must raise a company-sized force and eliminate over 100 enemies.

Guo Xing was a master of dual pistols, earning the nickname "Two-Gun Captain." Within a year, his team outnumbered a company. Their exploits became legendary: breaking into the Japanese military headquarters alone, raiding enemy outposts single-handedly on horseback, ingeniously torching a granary with 100,000 catties of grain, and capturing the notorious traitor "Big-Head Jia" alive.

For a time, Japanese troops and puppet soldiers trembled at Guo Xing’s name. A local rhyme spread: "Guo Xing, Guo Xing, hero bold; work team lads, fierce and cold. Puppet troops quake, weak in the knee; Japanese troops shake, terrified he’ll be!"

Yet Guo Xing was more than just the "Two-Gun Captain." In his inner pocket, he always carried a Browning M1910 pistol—a weapon of profound significance. As his team’s fame grew, the enemy placed a hefty bounty on his head. Failing to capture Guo, they targeted his family. The puppet regiment commander used this very pistol to murder Guo’s devoted wife.

How could Guo Xing, a man of iron and blood, not seek such vengeance? Later, Guo Xing finally captured the puppet army regiment commander, seized this small pistol, and personally used it to avenge his wife.

Amid the chaos of war, on quiet nights, he would always take a piece of flannel and carefully polish this pistol. The faces of his wife and fallen comrades would emerge in his mind, one after another. He said as long as there were still reactionaries in the world, he would keep fighting. The bullets in this pistol belonged to him, and if one day the bullets in his two guns were exhausted, he would use this small pistol to serve his country to the last.

After the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Guo Xing's armed work team was incorporated into the field army of the People's Liberation Army. He successively participated in the Pingjin Campaign and the Taiyuan Campaign. After the outbreak of the Korean War, he was among the first to rush to the Korean battlefield.

After returning to China, he served as commander of a certain division in the Jinan Military Region and was appointed as commander of the Northern Xinjiang Military Region in 1982. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 94.

Guo Xing’s legendary exploits in the tall corn fields were adapted into a film by Changchun Film Studio in 1955, titled “Guerrillas on the Plain”, directed by Su Li and Wu Zhaodi. One of the prototypes for the character "Li Xiangyang" was Guo Xing, portrayed by the renowned actor Guo Zhenqing.

It was precisely because there were countless such "Li Xiangyang" in our anti-aggression forces, with their bravery and indomitable spirit, that they composed stirring hymns of heroism.

Our reporting team grew up listening to the stories of "Li Xiangyang." When the newspaper launched the Into the Former Anti-Japanese Battlefields column, we eagerly signed up to go to northern Henan to find "Li Xiangyang."

It is said that this wheat field in front of us was where "Li Xiangyang" cleverly plotted to stir up the "dog-eat-dog" fight.

"This place has long become a hotspot for online check-ins!" Su Qin, the Communist Party secretary of Xiaotun Village in Baiquan Town, Huixian City, said with a smile.

The plump wheat ears have turned yellow. The wind blows, bringing the unique sweet fragrance of wheat kernels. Soon, it would be time to harvest. This is a promising year!

Su Qin squinted at the endless wheat field before him: "The land here is fertile! Whatever you plant grows, and whatever grows thrives. In the past, farming followed two seasons—summer and autumn—harvesting wheat and then planting corn. Now, with technology’s help, the land never rests, even if people do." At this point, he paused, looking at us as if teasing a mystery.

After a long while, he leisurely continued: "Farming nowadays is effortless. Everything is mechanized. Look—there are rotary tillers for plowing, laser levelers for leveling the land, drip and sprinkler irrigation for watering, fertilizer spreaders for fertilizing, and even drones for pest control. Harvesting goes without saying—a combine harvester swoops through, and several acres of wheat are threshed and cleaned in no time."

"So, do farmers have nothing to do then?" we asked curiously.

"The land never rests. Farming now happens off-season. Even in the dead of winter, inside greenhouses, white gourds wear veils, eggplants don purple robes, cabbages are lush green, and peppers are fiery red and green. You know, a single greenhouse can earn 40,000 to 50,000 yuan a year."

We unconsciously cast an affectionate glance at the land beneath our feet: My homeland, my heroes, my people!

(By Guangming Daily reporters Wang Changjiang, Gao Yuyuan, Wang Shengxi, Ding Yan)

Translated by Xiong Jian