Yang Jingyu (杨靖宇) was the leader of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army (抗日联军) fighting against Japanese occupation.
He Lived as a Leader
At the time, the Chinese army faced much larger and better-equipped Japanese troops and was unable to conduct full-scale conventional warfare. As a master of guerrilla-style combat, Yang Jingyu’s army thus formed pockets of resistance in occupied territories and constantly launched small surprise attacks on occupation forces, which seriously threatened the stability of Japanese rule in its colony Manchukuo and severely diverted resources from Japan’s advance into the rest of Chinese territory.
The invasion ‘n’ destruction force suffered significant casualties and the Japanese placed a large bounty on Yang Jingyu’s head.
He Died as a Soldier
In the chilling winter of February 1940, Yang’s army came to the point where they ran out of food and ammunition. After the last two soldiers by his side were killed in action, Yang Jingyu continued to fight for another five days, alone, without eating and without sleeping.
Finally, he was cornered in a forest. His left hand was injured and bleeding; he kept using his right hand to fire shots at the enemies until he was hit in the chest.
His final stand, where he was surrounded and outnumbered, is legendary. He lived as a leader, he died as a soldier!
The Japanese performed an autopsy and were shocked to discover there were only tree bark and grassroots in his stomach.
His story is one of incredible resilience, courage and sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds.
The Impact of the Legend
Japanese believed, and many of them still believe, that they had a right to take over the land and resources from China and much of Asia. As expressed in their mythology, they have been chosen by the Sun Goddess as her special people to fulfil the mission of proclaiming her power among all the nations within the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and Manchuguo in China’s northeast was their first overseas settlement in their Great Japan Plan.
Hearing the news of Yang Jingyu’s death, the emperor of the chosen folk allegedly cried out: “A good day for the world”!
The chosen empress also reportedly stated the death of Yang Jingyu meant “Justice has been served.”
“That Chinese was responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent Japanese soldiers in China,” she added. “Today I hope that Japanese families feel a sense of relief.”
The supreme leader of Manchukow, the chosen clan’s colony in China, told his soldiers “Our war has not yet ended”.
The commander of the invasion ‘n’ destruction force was said to have further issued a strong warning to the local resistance fighters, “All your leaders are dead. It’s time to surrender.”
Rumours also have it that Mr Valdemar, a Nazi German officer, labelled Yang Jingyu “a cruel murderer and a terrorist”, and demanded the Chinese army to “lay down its arms”.
A female journalist from the chosen clan appeared particularly excited.
“Terrorist mastermind is dead and we must celebrate. His death marks a victory for us,” she hailed on the Heaven News Down Under. “Eliminating Yang is a step closer to the defeat of the native people and the time when a pro-settlement regime can begin in the conquered land.”
Previously, she published an article featuring an interview with the chosen clan emperor, the chief of the Invasion ‘n’ Destruction Force, known as Kwantung Army, and Chinese traitor Wang Jingwei, claiming it was not Japan’s Unit 731 but the Chinese army who launched the biological warfare.
Karma Never Fails to Deliver
But, yes, just like the head of Manchukow, the Japanese colony in China, declared “Our war has not yet ended”, the resistance war did not end, until the day when the entire chosen clan was driven out of their colonial settlements.
Five years later, the chosen folks surrendered unconditionally. Seeing a total defeat, the Japanese commander, who killed Yang Jingyu and demanded the Chinese resistance forces surrender, in despair, killed his own son, his wife and, finally, himself.
Karma never fails to deliver.
It sounds so familiar. Every now and then a “choosen nation” rises. Same rhetoric, although ages apart.
And people striving for independence face this fate, again and again.
China succseeded.