My name is You Guang-Cai. I was born in Taierzhuang on Third of September, 1919. My grandfather and father died when I was 4. We were very poor, though some of our relatives were well off. I still remember that when I was a kid every time before the Spring Festival my mom would send me to our relatives to ask for money. Our situation changed for the better when my elder brother found a job on a coalmine. He was able to support the family and we moved from Taierzhuang to Yi County when I was 9. And a year later I started my primary school. After graduating from school I got a job as a librarian in Yi County.
In 1938 the Sino-Japanese war was already raging. KMD achieved a great victory in the Battle of Taierzhuang. The Japanese army changed their strategy and deployed more forces to encircle Xuzhou from the north and the south. In March 1938, the Japanese army approached our city.
Out of patriotism, I kneeled down to bid farewell to my mother and left my home. I wanted to join the war effort and defend my country.
The plan was to walk to the Huangpu Military Academy and enlist. When I was approaching Xuzhou, I saw two Japanese military hot-air balloons in the sky, directing the artillery to fire at Xuzhou. I was very scared and didn't know if I was in the enemy's area or KMT's. Later that night I came to know the Chinese army was having a big retreat towards Henan province. That was the Xuzhou Breakout.
I followed the retreating army along with other civilians. We walked day and night on foot, over mountains and across rivers. We arrived at Fengyang, crossed Huai River and walked to Huangchuan County of Henan province.
KMT was enrolling youth in Huangchuan. I couldn't head to the capital city Wuhan directly so I took the exam and was enrolled in the youth corps led by Li Zong-Ren. Later, we relocated to Wuhan and joined the No. 1 Officer Training Regiment of Huangpu Military Academy. The list of students is still kept in Wuhan Archive and my name is still there.
Wuhan was for several times sieged by Japanese. When I arrived in Wuhan, the city was completely encircled so the Republic of China decided to move its capital city to Chongqing of Sichuan province.
In the officer training regiment, there were different departments to train armed police force, political officers and military officers, etc. I volunteered to receive military training and joined the military department.
At the end of 1939, we graduated in the southern part of Chongqing, near Qiqiang River and became the 16th class of Huangpu Military Academy graduates.
Normally the education would take three years to complete but because of the war, they were rushing each class to graduate so we can join the battle... So my military education lasted less than a year.
Due to my good performance, I stayed in the school regiment as a team leader, training cadets. For this reason, I didn't take part in the battle of Changsha where most of my classmates went. Almost all of them ended up being killed there...
I also should note that at that time, even though we were at war with the Japanese, there had been serious internal conflicts between the nationalists and the communists.
Soon our Academy got disbanded and someone recommended I join 54th Army that was led by General Huang Wei. In Huang Wei's army, I eventually ended up as the platoon commander of the special operations unit for a little over a year. I was very close to Huang Wei as I was always staying beside him, protecting him.
Three divisions of Huang Wei's army were all deployed in the western area of Yunnan. The Japanese were trying to cut the Yunnan-Burma Road, which was essential for supply and transportation. It was a tough time, food was in scarcity and we had soldiers deserting just because they were getting too desperate, loosing their faith in a possibility of defeating the Japanese
Right around that time Japanese successfully launched a surprise attack against United States in Pearl Harbour. America declared war on Japan and decided to support China in its war with Japan. That was a big relief.
In April of 1944, when the Allied Forces started to counterattack Japan, 50th Division and 14th Division of 54th Army were transported to India and that was my first time on a plane. Our flight took about two hours. After those breathtaking moments of being in the sky and then landing, I was so excited that I wrote a poem.
After arriving in India, we joined the Battle of Myitkyina. At that time, I was guarding the 50th division commander, General Pan Yukun, and the 30th division commander, General Hu Su. Three regiments attacked Japanese in Myitkyina by surprise. Before the attack we had an arduous journey to Myitkyina, tramping over two tall mountains.
We joined forces with the Americans under command of Joseph Stilwell and launched the attack. The attack was flawless, a lot of Japanese fled and we secured the airstrip. About half an hour after the attack, the American officer leading the attack sent a message that read "The Merchant of Venice" to General Stilwell - that was their code for successful operation.
I have to say that at that time I felt that fighting in the war was very exciting. I needed to release my hatred by fighting. The Japanese imperialists invaded China and I truly hated them. Being able to fight them gave me a relief.
We pressed on and were moving further into Burma. In the second Battle of Hsipaw, I was the company commander of the special operations unit for 50th Division, part of the newly formed 1st Army. Our company was responsible for safeguarding and normally wouldn't take part in the fighting directly. But my soldiers wanted to fight and were asking me to send the request to our Division commander.
I remember there was a bugler, Zhou Yong, an 18-year-old boy. He was very adept at using his bugle to signal during military routines. One day, before the morning exercise, he came and saluted to me, and then asked solemnly, "Mr. company commander, have you sent our request to the Division commander?" I felt a little embarrassed and mumbled, "OK, I'll do it."
We got the permission and I led my three platoons and fought in the second Battle of Hsipaw. As we were moving towards the enemy line, we got under sniper fire. I turned around and I saw Zhou Yong was bleeding on his chest. I ran toward him and he died in my hand. I remember his last words were "I... won't... be able... to blow the bugle... for you..." I realized why Zhou Yong loved his bugle so much. He wanted to see how powerful it would be on the battlefield.
I was amazed by my soldiers' loyalty and bravery. And in the battle of Hsipaw, we made our mark. That's the reason I was praised on the battle report: You Guang-Cai, loyal and brave, strong and resolute, commanded his troops calmly and acted resolutely to break through the enemy's defense line and pursued after the enemy for several miles, making it hard for the enemy to resist. This is my proudest achievement. The report is still kept in the Second Historical Archives of China.
After the Battle of Hsipaw, in a military training exercise, a soldier stepped on a landmine and the it went off right beside me. I was wounded, but luckily the wound was not fatal. I was sent to the US hospital and returned to Hsipaw after four days. I still wear a scar from that incident.
Soon we came back to China and were getting ready to attack Leizhou Peninsula in the southern part of China. When we arrived at Guixian, I heard the good news: the enemy, Japan, surrendered unconditionally. It was not announced to the soldiers because they wanted us to keep the fighting morale. However, when we reached Wuzhou, we saw the civilians all coming to welcome us. Then we knew Japanese had surrendered.
After that, we stayed in Guangzhou. There were two prospects for New 1st Army which I belonged to: if the talks between the nationalists and the communists succeeded, we would go to Japan as the army of occupation; if the talks broke down, we would fight in the civil war. I hoped the talks would succeed, or I would have to go to the northeastern part of China to fight the civil war. And that's what happened.
I also have a lot of feelings about the civil war that I'd like to mention. The result of the war was, in November 1948, the communists "liberated" the northeastern part of China. I surrendered and was asked to fight for the communists. I refused to do so because I didn't like the current situation in China caused by the civil war. So I came back and became a civilian. I was issued a certificate to prove I was an obedient civilian and settled down in Shenyang.
I got married just before the end of the civil war in 1948. My wife was introduced to me by one of my comrade-in-arms. After KMT was defeated I was charged as a "Counter-Revolutionary". I was abandoned by society. No one wanted to employ me. I tried several times to learn new things while working with my true identity disguised, but every time I was found out. On the New Year's Eve of 1958 I was arrested by the police at a clinic I worked in Beijing. In 1962, my wife divorced me.
The counter-revolutionary charge haunted me for 32 years. And I was nearly starved to death when I was "re-educated" through labor.
In March 1965, I was sent back to my hometown, Zaozhuang City (Yi County) and received re-education under supervision. I moved to a village about 10 km from the city. In 1980, I was finally exonerated from the "counter-revolutionary" charge. As I knew some English, I became an English teacher in the middle school. With my good performance, I assumed the official status as a teacher, which meant I could enjoy all the social benefits from the government.
In 1992, I got retired. In 1993, my daughter wrote to me and asked me to come to Beijing. In recent years, in order to promote the peaceful reunification of Mainland China and Taiwan, I became a communication officer in Chaoyang District of Beijing. I published a lot of my memories and won several awards for my work in this area.
I have also got a lot of media exposure in recent years. In December 2010, I was invited by the Chinese Patriot Elites Charity Foundation Limited to share my stories in Hong Kong.
I'm Catholic. I believe everything is our God's arrangement. I felt young even when I was already 92. Now I'm reaching 97.
We are still experiencing the aftereffect of the civil war. Mainland China today... China today is in crisis. There are complex internal conflicts, problems within the society... There are threats from outside... These things are not good for China's development. I hope President Xi can reverse the bad situation. We can't afford another war in China, no matter with the nationalists or other countries. These are the last words I want to say.
