At the beginning of 1940, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area.
Beijing Normal University Department of English major, I'll go! Gao Derun, president of the Eighth Route Army Drama Society, couldn't help but sigh when he heard that he was about to go to a local armed force for propaganda and education.
It turned out that one day in 1938, Wang Ping, political commissar of the Jizhong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, assigned an important task to Gao Derun for a powerful local armed force in a certain area of Hebei to organize a drama club and win the unit to join the anti-Japanese united front through literary and artistic propaganda.
Founded in August 1937, the local armed forces, called the "Beilianzhuang Self-Defense Army", were one of the many spontaneous anti-Japanese armed forces that emerged in Hebei after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War. The main members of this unit were the local landlords, whose purpose was to defend their property. The commander of the unit was Zhang Runchuan, who once served in the Northeast Army, and later participated in Guo Songling's anti-Feng war, returned to his hometown after defeat, and now took advantage of the war to form this unit.
The Beilianzhuang Self-Defense Army is a powerful force and has successfully repelled many attacks by other forces. The Eighth Route Army intended to incorporate this unit to strengthen its own strength, but Zhang Runchuan had an ambiguous attitude and neither joined the Eighth Route Army nor other forces. After careful consideration, Political Commissar Wang Ping decided to adopt the method of literary and artistic propaganda to win over.
To this end, after receiving the task, the National Defense Drama Troupe of the Jizhong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army quickly arranged a drama called "Shooting Gao Shuncheng". This play vividly shows the crimes of traitors and the bravery of the Eighth Route Army, and has a strong propaganda and education effect.
One day in August 1938, the National Defense Drama Troupe came to Mijiawu Village, the garrison of the Beilianzhuang Self-Defense Army, set up a stage in the village, and began to perform. This play greatly moved the audience, including Zhang Runchuan, the commander of the Beilianzhuang Self-Defense Army, who decided to join the Eighth Route Army to fight against Japan.
When Gao Derun learned of this good result, he couldn't help but sigh that his academic qualifications actually came in handy. It turned out that the president of the Eighth Route Army Drama Club had an extraordinary background.
Gao Derun, born in 1899, his ancestral home is Rongcheng, Shandong, and he was born in a scholarly family. Smart since childhood, at the age of 15, he was admitted to Shandong Provincial No. 1 Middle School with excellent results. In 1917, at the age of 18, Gao Derun was admitted to the English Department of Beijing Higher Normal School, becoming the school's first English major.
Beijing Higher Normal School was one of the best normal colleges in China at that time, and Gao Derun was able to enter here to receive an English professional education, which shows his talent for English. During his time at school, he devoted himself to learning English and achieved outstanding results. After graduating in 1921, Gao Derun stayed at the school to teach, engaged in English teaching and research.
At that time, the opportunity to learn English systematically was very rare, and most people were self-taught. But Gao Derun is different, he has received formal English training since university, and his language talent is outstanding, and his English level can be imagined.
However, the good times did not last long, and in the Northern Expedition and civil war, Gao Derun's alma mater, Beijing Normal University, was forced to close. In 1927, Gao Derun left Beiping and came to the anti-Japanese base in central Hebei to join the Eighth Route Army and engage in propaganda and agitation work.
Because of his English expertise, Gao Derun was assigned to the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army and the Jizhong Military Region to carry out English propaganda work. He compiled and published an English-language journal to widely publicize the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to the international community, and was praised by international friends.
After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Gao Derun was transferred to the Art Troupe of the Political Department of the Jizhong Military Region as the head of the Art Troupe, engaged in literary and artistic propaganda. He set up the "National Defense Drama Society" to carry out propaganda in the rural areas of central Hebei and mobilize the masses to participate in the anti-Japanese movement.
It is precisely by relying on Gao Derun's English talent that the English propaganda publications compiled by the National Defense Drama Society were able to show the image of China's Anti-Japanese War and win international supportWith the help of Gao Derun's literary and artistic organization ability, the drama "Shooting Gao Shuncheng" performed by the National Defense Drama Club has become a powerful force to persuade local armed forces to participate in the anti-Japanese resistance.
When Gao Derun learned that his drama club had contributed to the incorporation of Zhang Runchuan's troops, as an idealistic and educated intellectual, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: the English major he had studied for many years had played a unique role in winning over local armed forces!Thinking of this, Gao Derun couldn't help but sigh: "Beijing Normal University is an English major, I'll go!."”
This also reflects from one side that the Eighth Route Army was able to finally defeat the Japanese invaders, relying not only on force, but also on the contribution of forces from all sides. The story of Gao Derun is a vivid portrayal of an intellectual who serves the people with his expertise.
Political Commissar Wang Ping, through the skillful use of literary and artistic propaganda tactics, achieved a major victory in winning over the middle forces. The incorporation of Zhang Runchuan's troops undoubtedly injected a strong new force into the Eighth Route Army and had a major impact on the later anti-Japanese struggle.
A very important reason why the Eighth Route Army was able to defeat the well-equipped Japanese army was that it had solid political work and was good at fighting for all the forces it could. Striving for the integration of local armed forces into its own side was a tactic widely adopted by the Eighth Route Army during the war years. Intellectuals like Gao Derun also played a unique role in this.
The victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was the result of the joint struggle of all forces. The Eighth Route Army organized an army with strong combat effectiveness and was good at mobilizing all the forces that could be mobilized, so that it finally defeated the powerful Japanese invaders and wrote a magnificent epic of majestic mountains and rivers.