In the autumn of 1958, the Shanghai Peking Opera Company rehearsed a modern Peking opera with a revolutionary theme, Outwitting Tiger Mountain, which was staged for the first time at the China Grand Theatre. After several revisions, this drama caused a sensation in the country and was rated as one of the eight excellent model plays of "Revolutionary Literature and Art" by "People**". The main character in the play, Yang Zirong, left a deep impression on the audience. Yang Zirong is a cadre of the Eighth Route Army in the Northeast to suppress bandits, and this Peking Opera tells the story of him during the Liberation War - disguised as a bandit gang that infiltrated the Hailin area of Heilongjiang Province, and successfully captured the bandit's head mountain carving, who was also the commander of the Kuomintang security brigade.
The battle of wits and courage between Yang Zirong and the mountain carving has added a strong touch to the history of revolutionary art unique to China. However, the ending of Yang Zirong in reality is embarrassing. Half a month after capturing the mountain eagle, he died unexpectedly under the attack of the remnants of the bandits. What did Yang Zirong experience that year?As a reconnaissance platoon commander who was born as a cook, Yang Zirong before the age of 28 was just a poor boy with a tragic fate, and he had nothing to do with the heroic and mighty PLA soldiers. He was born in 1917 in Muping County, Shandong Province. When he was 4 years old, he came to the Northeast with his parents to make a living, and the family had a difficult life.
Later, his mother returned to his hometown with several children, and there were frequent wars in Shandong, so he couldn't take care of Yang Zirong, so he went to Liaoning to join his father. Yang Zirong has studied for a few years, and his cultural foundation is quite passable. In Dandong, he worked in factories, worked as a coolie, and worked at the docks, but he struggled to make ends meet. In 1943, due to a fight with the Japanese overseer, Yang Zirong had to return to his hometown in Shandong to take refuge. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he saw an opportunity to change his fate, so he signed up for the Jiaodong Detachment of the Eighth Route Army. In 1945, he went to Mudanjiang with the army to participate in the struggle against bandits. In the Northeast before liberation, bandits were rampant.
In order to contain the actions of the PLA, the Kuomintang supported a large number of reactionary armed forces in various parts of the northeast. When he first arrived in the Northeast, Yang Zirong was actually a cook in the army. In the process of liberating the town of Hailin, he took an active part in the battle, showing extraordinary courage and calm wisdom. The head of the unit believed that Yang Zirong had great potential, so he appointed him as the leader of the reconnaissance team (platoon-level formation) to continue to pursue the remnants of the bandits who had absconded to the mountains.
Yang Zirong successively succeeded in arresting a group of gangsters who had committed crimes in the local area, such as "Jiubiao" Li Falin and the Four Tigers of the Xu Family, and then targeted Zhang Leshan, the leader of the underworld forces that had been rampant in the Mudanjiang area for a long time. Because of his wit, flexibility, and cunning, Zhang Leshan has been doing evil in the local area for a long time, and he has committed a lot of crimes. Yang Zirong decided to use a strategy of outwitting to deal with him, and finally succeeded in capturing this social scum who had plagued the Northeast region for many years. Zhang Leshan is known as the "mountain carving" because its bandit base camp is located in the deep mountains. Yang Zirong's feat of capturing Zhang Leshan is the prototype of the story of "Outwitting Tiger Mountain".
This move effectively deterred the bandit forces in other parts of the northeast and boosted the confidence of our military and people. Unfortunately, however, he died in the hunt for the bandit Zheng Sanpao at the age of 30, much to the deep grief of his comrades. Although everyone said that they wanted to track down the real murderer of him, limited by objective conditions, Yang Zirong's sacrifice has always been an unsolved case. Until 1968, Mudanjiang ** received an old farmer Meng who surrendered, and he admitted that he was the real murderer who shot Yang Zirong back then. After investigation, the relevant departments confirmed Meng's confession, and finally the court sentenced him to 8 years in prison in accordance with the law.
Yang Zirong's deeds won him the honor of "Special Reconnaissance Hero", and the reconnaissance platoon he was in was also named "Yang Zirong Platoon" to commemorate this brave and loyal hero. Comrade Yang Zirong's heroic and fearless deeds will always be admired, let us always miss him!