Lu Guowei is an interpreter of the 14th Division of the 6th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in India.
Lu Guowei dictated:
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong and Burma under British rule, cutting off all international routes to China by sea and land.
As a result, China and the British signed an agreement on the joint defense of the Yunnan-Burma Road and sent an expeditionary force into Burma to fight, however, the first stage suffered heavy losses.
In order to save the situation, China strengthened cooperation with the United States and airlifted the Chinese expeditionary force to northern Burma and India to flank the Japanese army from the east and west.
The United States has also provided China with new equipment, ammunition, vehicles, communications, medical and other equipment that can equip more than a dozen divisions to Kunming and India.
In order to meet the receiving, distribution, training, and use of such a large amount of combat equipment and military aid materials, in the autumn of 1943, the Ministry of Education and the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Military Commission of the People's Republic of China were instructed to recruit and recruit fresh graduates from various universities in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces to serve as interpreters, except for female students and fresh graduates of teachers' colleges.
I was a graduate student of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Chongqing University. I knew that this was a difficult job, but it was also a good opportunity to serve the country and train myself, so I took the initiative to go, and my father fully supported me from the beginning.
He studied and trained in Chongqing for two months, and during the training of unity, Chiang Kai-shek also spoke in person.
On the morning of April 30, 1944, I went home to say goodbye to my parents. That night, I was notified of the first batch of departures, and the next morning I flew to Kunming on a C-47 passenger and cargo aircraft, which was the first time I took a plane in my life.
In Kunming, about 100 students from Guiyang and Kunming, who had first registered for the train, received three weeks of training from American instructors on the structure, use, and teaching methods of infantry at the Chejiabi Infantry Training Center.
Old photos of training in Yunnan **From the Internet.
The infantrymen we studied included rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, mortars, anti-tank guns, anti-tank guns, and some American instructors also performed blindfolded disassembly and assembly of firearms. With the exception of the anti-tank guns, live firing was practiced in turn at the range.
We quickly mastered the military essentials and memorized all the relevant professional English vocabulary, and at the end of the study on May 22, Liu Houchun and I of Chongqing University were assigned to the U.S. Combat Staff Headquarters in Kunming.
In the U.S. Army's Combat Staff Headquarters, I was in the same office as Liu Jun, mainly translating instruction manuals for infantry, training and field training materials, and so on.
Because we have the foundation of the two-stage training in Chongqing and Kunming, the translation is relatively smooth, and the thick and thick materials are almost "annihilated" in less than a month, and they begin to appear idle.
When Warrant Officer Patton of the General Staff found out, he arranged for us to accompany the US ** officer on a business trip to various parts of western Yunnan, but there were not many such tasks.
One day in early July, I decided to consult with Warrant Officer Patton to transfer me if the Indian Expeditionary Force or the Ramgarh Chariot Training Center in Calcutta needed an interpreter.
About three days later, Barton informed me that the Ramgarh Chariot Center in India needed an additional group of interpreters who could be transferred there.
Three days later, one morning, I boarded the plane for takeoff. For the first time, he crossed the Lancang River, the Nu River and the Gaoligong Mountain. On the plane, I happened to meet Deng Shusheng from the Department of Journalism at Fudan University, who was my classmate in high school.
When the plane flew at an altitude of 30,000 feet over the high Ligong Mountain, when it circled and landed, it could already see the tropical jungle, tea fields and villages, and you could also see the black farmers working in the fields.
At this time, I realized that it could not be Ramgarh in the western suburbs of Calcutta, and asked the crew to find out that it was the location of the headquarters of the world-famous Lido Expeditionary Force in India during the war.
The general headquarters of the expeditionary force was located on the edge of a dense forest only about two miles from the airfield, which was relatively humid. Kwok Mou-tak, a CUHK student who had been assigned to work here, told me that Commander-in-Chief Cheng Tung-kwok often went to divisions and regiments to inspect or supervise battles on the front line, and only spent half of his time at home.
At this time, I learned that because of the expansion of the US liaison group of the two divisions of the New Sixth Army, there was an urgent need for more interpreters, and the commander-in-chief instructed us to stay in Lido.
Deng Shusheng and I were assigned to the 14th Division. At that time, the anti-Japanese battlefields in the southwestern frontier and Burma and India were divided into the eastern and western fronts. The commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front was Wei Lihuang, under the jurisdiction of the 2nd Army and the 53rd Army and the 54th Army of the Northeast Army, with a total of more than 50,000 troops, and the main theater of operations was from southwestern Yunnan to northern Burma.
The commander-in-chief of the Western Front is Zheng Dongguo, with more than 40,000 people under his jurisdiction under the jurisdiction of the New 1st Army (Army Commander Sun Liren) and the New 6th Army (Army Commander Liao Yaoxiang). The main theater of operations is from northeastern India to northwestern Myanmar and the border areas between Yunnan and Burma.
The New 6th Army had three divisions, namely the 14th Division, the 22nd Division and the 50th Division, and the division commanders were Long Tianwu, Li Tao, and Pan Yukun. The 40th Regiment under the jurisdiction of the 14th Division was the commander of the regiment in Chen Cheng's early years, so it was the most valued.
We then drove in military vehicles through the jungle and over the fields, and about an hour or so we reached the headquarters of the 14th Division, which was hidden in the woods, two miles from the town of Lido.
The division headquarters was surrounded by playgrounds on three sides, and it was also covered by the dense foliage of towering trees, which was impossible to spot from a high altitude. All the tents are light grey, similar to the fields of India.
Old photos of the expeditionary force camp **From the Internet.
The woods here are luxuriant, the air is fresh, very different from the dampness between the Lido airport and the fields, the occasional lone bird in the forest chirps, and the night is full of howling jackals, and the environment is extremely quiet.
The high platform tent where the division commander and chief of staff of our division work faces the playground, sits north and faces south, the platform and the house structure are made of the whole big nan bamboo, and the roof is covered with a huge grass green canvas.
The interior of the house is divided into offices and bedrooms, which are not delicate and beautiful, but they are also neat and solid. Behind the bamboo building is the tent of the telecommunications class.
To the west of Caoyang are two long rows of 14 small canvas tents of the same style, which are the staff office, the quartermaster office, and the ordnance office from north to south.
To the west of the two rows of tents, there are also terrain-driven tents housed by the guard platoon, the signal corps (orderly) and the cooks, while the kitchens, bathrooms and toilets are scattered further back.
To the south of the playground are tents for storing firearms, ammunition and clothing. Further east, near the exit road of Daying, are two large tents used by the Political Department for propaganda and for division meetings.
In the forest, the direction of sunlight is almost identical. In such a quiet environment, the General Staff Office and the Liaison Regiment worked intensively day and night with the help of wired and wireless transceivers and telegraphs, as well as maps and operational situation maps, to "strategize and win a decisive victory."
The tents of the US military liaison group are all round, about six or seven meters in diameter, medium and high, and low in all sides, like a big yurt, with only one door in and out. Later, when I had free time, I often chatted with each other.
On the day of our arrival, Colonel Liang Tiebao, chief of staff of the division, received us in a large tent at the north end of the playground. The next morning, division commander Long Tianwu, deputy division commander Xu Ying, and political deputy division commander Liang Zhiping also met with us. They all warmly welcomed.
At the same time, we also met Pan Shidun, a Hong Kong national who volunteered to come to Kunming in the early days and later transferred to the Indian Expeditionary Force as the head of the division translation team.
After meeting with the division commander, we were tested by the U.S. Army Liaison Corps to visit Major Parker, the deputy commander of the regiment. Major Pike spoke lively, earnestly, and covered knowledge of ** and field warfare.
Most of his questions were practical operations on the battlefield, or field work. The dialogue talks about life in the barracks in the woods, and the text interpretation requires a quick response.
I saw that the more he asked, the more energetic he became, and sometimes even his eyebrows fluttered, and finally he raised his thumb and slapped us both on the shoulder a few times.
In the afternoon, the chief of staff immediately informed me and Deng Shusheng to go to the staff office to accept the task, and the chief of staff gave us a division of labor according to Major Parker's advice, and I served as the interpreter of "our army's operations" and Deng served as the interpreter of "enemy situation."
According to the US military code, they are G3 and G2 respectively. G1 is for personnel, G4 is for logistics, and it is known at a glance in the US military.
On the morning of the third day, we began our work, and the Chief of Staff forwarded the radio warfare reports and enemy briefings received by the Liaison Mission. Such translations have been routine from the very beginning. In addition, there are a number of sporadic telecommunications and documents, which are translated as they are available.
Our army's battle reports mainly include the battle situation on the northern, western, and eastern fronts of Burma, while the enemy situation includes the activities of the Japanese army in various theaters in Southeast Asia.
Two weeks later, Deng Shusheng was transferred to engage in current affairs and cultural propaganda work, and I took over Deng's original job, that is, translating the enemy's situation. After that, I was in charge of the double report (combat and enemy situation) to the end.
When it comes to the double newspaper, I am still very excited, because the scenes of difficult and vivid battles on the battlefield in northern Myanmar can be displayed in telecommunications.
Among them, there are records of the battles of the Chinese Expeditionary Force (the Indian Army and the Western Yunnan Army) as the main force, which successively conquered the enemy's occupation of Menggong, Myitkyina, Bamo and other towns, and there are also touching deeds of the soldiers who made heroic sacrifices.
In order to support friendly countries, the Chinese Expeditionary Force resisted the enemy and annihilated the enemy outside the country, fought bravely, and played the integrity of the Chinese nation. The Burmese and Indians are grateful, but the British and Americans are also very admired.
The expeditionary force not only fought well, but also had good military discipline, and was applauded and welcomed no matter how far they went, and the children were used to stretching out their thumbs and constantly shouting "top good". The word "top good" has spread all over India, and the US military's war reports also use "top good young man" to represent the squadron, showing cordiality and respect.
In the adjacent tent on our south side, several young staff officers drew up a map of the front-line situation on the basis of reports on our army's operations and enemy activities, which were reviewed and signed by the chief of staff and division commanders, and then sent a telegram of battle reports to the regimental headquarters and copied to the command headquarters, the military headquarters, and the US military liaison regiment.
I was also allowed to look at the maps they had drawn on a regular basis because of my work.
From the war telegrams and the situation, it can be understood that on the east and west fronts of northern Burma, the Chinese expeditionary force is definitely the main force, even if it is searching for a single scattered and stubborn Japanese army in the jungle, the Americans let the Chinese soldiers go in front, and they follow far behind.
In the forest, the Japanese sniper often hides himself in the trunk of a tree high in the air, hiding in the green leaves, he can see you through the gaps between the leaves, but you can't see him.
It turned out that this was because the U.S. troops, who liked to work lightly, were killed and wounded by Japanese snipers. Most of the Chinese soldiers are from Sichuan, they are not big, they are relatively dexterous, they are accustomed to the complex terrain of mountains and forests, and their equipment is relatively light, coupled with the newly accumulated experience in dealing with harsh conditions such as jungle snakes, leeches, and swamps, so they act fast and sacrifice less, constantly eliminating enemy snipers and eliminating worries on the front line.
When fighting positional warfare, the squadron is always in the front, in the front, and the most memorable battle is to annihilate the enemy army stubbornly defending Myitkyina, and finally conquer the world-famous and symbolizing the moving plot of the important town in northern Myanmar that symbolizes the victory monument of the war on the Western Front.
After the bombers of the US 14th Air Force dropped bombs repeatedly, many enemy troops hiding in solid concrete bunkers were still stubborn, and we needed to combine our infantry and artillery to advance to the enemy headquarters in Myitkyina foot by foot.
In the early morning of 3 August, a company of the 150th Regiment of the 50th Division, led by the company commander, rushed to the dry embankment, where the enemy headquarters was stationed, taking advantage of the dark sky.
The company commander took the lead, holding a pistol in his right hand, and climbed up the dam from the left side where the terrain was favorable, and there was only the sound of slight climbing footsteps in the silence. Unfortunately, the company commander and several soldiers had just emerged from the top of the dam when they were hit by enemy bullets and fell.
To his right and left were platoon commanders, squad leaders, and more than a dozen soldiers. At this time, the enemy's fire net bursting out from the shadows hit the deputy company commander and some of the followers in the blink of an eye. The platoon commander who followed closely behind him immediately moved forward automatically, raised his hand to command and continued to crawl forward.
Several of our light machine guns also aimed at two or three fire points exposed at the right time, and quickly dumbed down the enemy's bunker fire, and the second acting company commander ordered the soldiers to shout while launching a charge.
Just as he was charging forward, several scattered shots rang out, and the acting company commander fell down again. The platoon commander of the second platoon reacted quickly and ordered the officers and men of the whole company, who had actually climbed the embankment, to lie down again, rifles, submachine guns, and light machine guns roared together, and thousands of bullets were pressed in unison towards several enemy bunkers in the blur.
The battle was finally won. At dawn, the stubborn Japanese soldiers walked out of the bunkers and distant fortified buildings in twos and threes, holding white flags.
This scene is slightly described in the war report. Later, I listened to the personal explanations of the officers and soldiers who had returned from the front and participated in the battle.
Old photo of Myitkyina railway station **From the Internet.
A month later, Deng Shusheng and I made a special trip to Myitkyina to see the small battlefield, including the dry levee and a few sturdy bunkers. He also met with several staff officers of the 50 th Division, which was stationed in Tunmi City, and inquired about the actual situation of the battle at that time, so he was particularly impressed.
In the afternoon of the same day, on the way back to the division headquarters, there was also an interesting incident: an American soldier who had been half-undressed in military uniform was enthusiastically cutting a large piece of wild venison with a sharp knife under a cave beside the road, and he also warmly asked us if we wanted it, saying that he could give us a few large pieces.
After all, we still have a military discipline, and we thanked but did not accept it. Immediately, each other ended this unexpected encounter with a brisk smile.
Our life in the division headquarters is not boring either. I do morning exercises, practice running, play basketball in the afternoon, and have the opportunity to ride horses.
I also went to the Military Headquarters Square to watch two new American color comedy films "Daughter Crazy" and "Happy Army" sent by the US military, and watched the Peking Opera of the Kunming Peking Opera Troupe, I was quite touched by the banner above the Peking Opera stage, because it was the six big characters inscribed by the commander-in-chief Zheng Dongguo: "See the prestige of the Han family again." ”
Once, I took a long-distance bus from Lido to Sadia, 120 kilometers to the west, to visit Chen Zhennian, a classmate in the chariot battalion of the New First Army of the Indian Expeditionary Force.
Looking north from the chariot camp square, fifty kilometers away, a majestic and magnificent, snow-capped, iron-blue mountain almost rises from the ground across the east and west.
After asking, I found out that it was the eastern section of the Himalayas, and I imagined that the other side of the mountain backbone was Xikang (now Sichuan Province), which was China, and I felt extremely cordial and proud.