June 1944 to August 1945

CHAPTER II

WITH THE GUERRILLAS

WE soon settled down to a very dull routine. We were still not allowed to appear in public and our activities were confined to strolls with Chang after dark. Occasionally he would have a visitor from Head-quarters on some pretext or another and we suspected that the visitor's real motive was to take a look at us rather than to see Chang. Considering how curious the Chinese are, the secret of our presence was kept fairly well for the first month, as we learned later. The few people who did know of our whereabouts were sworn to secrecy.

It was not long before Chang began to get on our nerves. He very rarely obtained what we asked him to, and if he did it took many days. He showed little interest in the food, which, although wholesome, became rather monotonous. For days on end we had the same dishes, not from lack of an alternative but because Chang was too lazy to do anything about it. He insisted on talking broken English and endeavoured to get Arthur to teach him. We, on the other hand, were just as determined to speak nothing but Chinese. We found him to be quite unreliable and an absolute liar. We had now been in the village almost two months and were thoroughly fed up with the manner in which we were restricted.

On one occasion when Yu-min visited us he asked if we had visited any of the local fairs or had seen anything of the country, and he appeared to be very surprised when we told him we had been given to understand that it was not yet considered safe for us to appear in public. He called Chang and told him to take us around to see the organisation and to acquaint us with the customs and manners of the country people. This came rather as a surprise to us and it appeared that for some inexplicable reason Chang had wished to keep us confined to our quarters.

After this we were allowed out on our own for walks, but it was decided that it probably would be unwise for us to visit any of the markets or fairs, as some of the larger ones were attended by people from all over the area and even from the neighbouring puppet areas.

We spent the greater part of the day in reading Chinese. Arthur had a fairly good knowledge of written Chinese, and with the time that we were now able to spend on it he soon became very proficient and read novels and classics with ease. I struggled along with the aid of a dictionary and read a novel in about as many weeks as it took Arthur days.

We had not been away from camp long before we decided that the most sensible thing to do was to shave our heads and thus cease to be the exception. Chang called in the village barber and he soon scraped our heads of the last remaining hair and polished them to a glistening surface, seldom seen even on the baldest of bald pates. It was delightfully cool and refreshingly clean. At first we felt extraordinarily naked and somewhat embarrassed, but as no one else seemed to see any-thing funny about it, we very soon became accustomed to it and every couple of weeks were re-shaved.

Our bathing facilities were crude a hand-basin and a piece of wood on which to stand but perfectly satisfactory.

However, Chang decided that we should have a proper bath. He had heard that the Military Munitions and Supply Department had just received a shipment of galvanised iron sheets, at much trouble and expense, for some particular job, and one afternoon he swaggered in to tell us that he had just been over to the Ministry of Supply and told them that we needed a bath, and now that they had the material they were to make it up immediately. We were extremely annoyed. We felt that the material certainly could be put to better use and told him to cancel the order right away. Nevertheless in due course a very large bath appeared and was placed in the middle of the courtyard, whereupon Chang invited us to take a bath. We told him that we would have nothing to do with it." All right," replied Chang, "if you prefer not to bath, I at least will enjoy it," and he proceeded to undress. This was just what he wanted; he had ordered it for himself rather than for us. Clad only in a pair of drawers hanging well below his knees, he departed with as much dignity as he could muster to have his bath. Having seen him immersed in the water, we locked the front door on him and departed through the back window. The following day the bath had disappeared.

One of our favourite pastimes took place in the evenings just before dusk, when Chang was usually hob-nobbing with one of his friends on the village wall. The mosquitoes were unusually fierce and of course we all had nets under which to sleep, but Chang's was made with a slit down one side so that it remained suspended over the bed the whole day with the two flaps turned back. At dusk, before the mosquitoes started to get busy, his orderly had very definite instructions to close the flaps so that they could not get in. Folding back the flaps, one of us would go on point-duty and wave in clouds of mosquitoes while the other kept watch. Chang never found out how they got in, but of course blamed his orderly, who was no friend of ours. Eventually we had to stop this because Chang, getting little sleep, saw to it that neither did we. Lighting the candle, he would spend hours chasing mosquitoes, swearing and frequently waking us up to ask whether we had any in our nets. After that we restricted our activities to once a week, when we would collect a match-box full of bed-bugs, or a scorpion, and let them loose in his bed.

We worried him about the food and for a few days it improved, but not for long. He was always threatening to buy a young pig's leg, for which he professed to have a special way of cooking, and finally one day he got it. He spent practically the whole day with the cook watching the preparation of his favourite delicacy, only to announce to us in the evening that the cook "had ruined it, completely ruined it!” and in due course the usual fried egg-plant was served. After the meal we went out for a walk, disgusted and disappointed. Returning somewhat earlier than usual, we found Chang gorging himself on a huge bowl of succulent pork. Not in the least embarrassed, he explained that he was just tasting it so that he could find out exactly what the cook had done wrong and so ensure that he did not make the same mistake a second time!

The situation soon reached the point where we found it hard to speak a civil word to him and we decided to try and get in touch with Yu-min and ask for a change of guardian. But as Chang was our only means of contacting him, it was rather difficult. We of course told Chang that we wanted to see Yu-min, but he kept making excuses, and in the end we decided to write a letter to Yu-min in Chinese and give it to him ourselves the next time we saw him. As Chang was usually present at these interviews, it was impossible to talk about it in front of him.

The next time we saw Yu-min he asked Arthur whether he would undertake to teach English at the Middle School. As Arthur had previously been teaching English at the Catholic Chinese University of Fu Jen in Peking, it was rather difficult to find an acceptable excuse. We were both equally decided that this was the last thing that we wanted to do, the only advantage being that it offered an escape from Chang. During this interview we managed to slip Yu-min the letter and put off making any final decision until we had seen what effect our letter had.

We did not have an opportunity of seeing Yu-min again for three weeks, and by then we were so fed up with Chang that we had made up our minds to take on the teaching job, and in due course set off for the Middle School of the Four Virtues. It was arranged that we should take up residence a few days before the term commenced. We set off early one morning on horseback. It was an exhilarating ride in the cool of the morning. The road for the most part followed the Chiao River, now and again taking short-cuts through the ripening crops. The early summer wheat had already been harvested and sweet potatoes had taken its place, but the kaoliang, a coarse sorghum which, with millet, formed the basic diet of the farmers, was already seven feet high and before it was harvested it would be nearly ten feet. During this period July to September the Japanese never attacked guerrilla areas, as these high crops afforded far too many opportunities for ambush, as they had learned in the early days of the war when they were less experienced. Everyone looked on these few months as a period of rest and relaxation and full advantage was taken by the factories to step up production.

We arrived at the school at about midday, to be welcomed by the Principal, who, after giving us an excellent meal, showed us to our new quarters: a large barn-like room divided into a bedchamber at either end with a living-room in the middle. The bedroom consisted of the usual brick k'ang, a table and a chair, and the living-room had a table and four chairs. Left to our own devices we started to clean the room out. The first thing we came across was a hand-grenade buried amongst a pile of dust and rubbish. Not having any particular use for it as Chang had already left, we tossed it into the garden, and much to our surprise, it exploded! In a very short time practically the whole faculty appeared, greatly concerned for our safety. Hardly had we finished explaining the situation when Chang arrived! He had a message from Headquarters to the effect that Yu-min after all considered it inadvisable for us to teach. A friend of his had just arrived from the railway zone and brought news that the Japanese had heard rumours of two foreigners in his area, and as the students came from widespread districts, the presence of two English teachers would no doubt soon be generally known and he thought it unwise for us to advertise our whereabouts so blatantly. Late that night we arrived back in our old homestead with our friend Chang.

The following day we called on the Chief of the Entertaining Department, with whom we were well acquainted. He was an enormous man, over six feet, and very fat, a typical good-natured easy-going Shantungese. His job was to see that the visiting officials were properly entertained. Naturally this ranked as one of the most coveted jobs in the organisation.

Being determined not to put up with Chang any longer, we enlisted his support. Chang was held in little respect by other members of the unit, but as he had been with them from the beginning, it was difficult to get rid of him. Yu-min had given him instructions that we were to have the best of every-thing, but during the three months in which he had been looking after us, it was rumoured that he had bought a horse and cart and had added several tens of acres to his homestead. He smoked opium when he had the opportunity, was not averse to a little gambling and kept a whore in the village. He had certain capabilities and it was recognised that he was useful on special missions, particularly to puppet areas. He had already been retired twice and it was only upon our arrival that his knowledge of English had made it necessary to resurrect him. Yu-min was annoyed that he had again proved to be a failure.

Within two weeks we had set off for our new quarters, leaving Chang behind. This time we moved to a small and attractive village called the "home of the Ch'iao family ", on the bank of the Chiao River and less than half a mile from a village frequently used by Yu-min as his Headquarters. Here we were put in the hands of the manager of the local shoe factory, Mr. "Clear Spring" Wang, a native of Chingpu village, Yu-min's home. He was a shrunken little man of about fifty-five with delightful old-world manners and the will to please. We were housed in a small cottage at the end of a lane leading off the main street of the village, with a small sand-strewn courtyard and one or two outhouses. Our meals were prepared at the shoe factory and brought up by our orderly

Yu-min came to see us the day after our arrival and brought with him a Mr. Han, the Chief of the Civil Government's education and propaganda bureau, who lived in the same village. He informed us that he had made further enquiries regarding the news that his friend had brought him and he was now convinced that there was no indication that the Japanese had any ideas as to our whereabouts, and there-fore we could consider ourselves free to go where we pleased. Mr. Han would arrange for us to take any particular trips we wanted to make. He suggested that we thoroughly familiarise ourselves with the organisation of the Fifteenth by visiting the Regimental Headquarters, Civil Government offices, etc., taking particular note of any details of management upon which we could improve.

Life at once took on a different atmosphere. When Headquarters visited the neighbourhood, we often went over for meals and received visits from various officials and executives who came to call on us. The Civil Government's radio station and newspaper publishing offices were in our village, which enabled us to hear the news from London and America. We visited the armament factories, attended public meetings and celebrations. Arthur made his first public speech in Chinese at a meeting celebrating the anniversary of the Chinese Republic, and it went down very well.

Sometimes we would go over to the military training school for the day. Our first introduction to this institution was when Yu-min asked us to accompany him on a review of the graduating class. The school was run by a young, rather scholarly soldier who took great pride in his work. There were two sections, a refresher class for junior officers and a training class for recruits. There were usually about six to seven hundred undergoing training. Up at 4 A.M., they were taken for a five-mile run in the country, followed by an hour’s callisthenics. Quarters were then inspected and the classes assembled for two hours' instructions. The morning meal of coarse bread and vegetables, with meat twice a week, was then served, outside if the weather permitted. This was followed by two hours of political instruction and three hours on the parade-ground. The next hour was spent in studying and reading Chinese characters. After the afternoon meal basket-ball contests were held, and at eight "lights out" was sounded.

The living-quarters were spotless. The mud walls of the rooms were whitewashed and the earthen floor covered with straw matting, neat rolls of bedding were placed against the walls at regular intervals and alongside them an extra pair of shoes, a tin mug, a tooth-brush and a towel. The class-rooms were in large, airy buildings, capable of holding two to three hundred at plain wooden desks. We found the morale excellent and the recruits enthusiastic in the work and play. New recruits were given six months' training before being drafted to the various regiments, the officers' periods varying from one to three months.

One of the most interesting places that we visited was the ammunition factory. This was the most "hush-hush" factory in the area and few even of the military officials had seen it. It was operated by a man who had previously been employed in the provincial arsenal at Tsinan. Although he had received no schooling, and was unable to read, he was a genius in his own particular line. From scrap metals he had constructed a series of heavy hand-operated presses by which copper coins were moulded into cartridge cases. These coins, about the size of a penny, were fed by hand into the first of the series of machines, each machine doing its particular part in shaping the casings until the coin that entered the first machine came out of the sixth a perfectly moulded cartridge case. At the time of our visit he was just completing the construction of a set of heavy rollers for pressing sheets of copper to the desired thickness, this being necessitated by the growing shortage of coins. Powder and bullets were also manufactured in this factory from raw materials bought from various sources outside the area. The output at the time of our visit was 50,000 a month, but this depended upon the raw material available and was by no means regular.

From time to time supplies of steel were augmented by raids on the railway. The original rails were of good German steel and these were eagerly sought, but by now there were few of them left and the Japanese replacements were of poor quality, too soft to make satisfactory rifles. As raw materials became scarce, they too had to be used.

The power for the lathes in these factories was in all cases supplied by mules. Outside the factory building, against one of the walls, and covered by a crude mat shed, was the "power house". A large wheel about five feet in diameter and mounted on a well-greased hub about four feet from the ground, was harnessed to either one or two mules, which, with a cloth bound over their eyes, plodded around for hours on end. Through a series of cogged wheels, this power was transmitted to the primary shaft from which canvas belts transmitted the power to the several lathes. It was crude but effective. Arthur and I spent many hours in the factories, fascinated by the transformation of steel rails into rifles, light machine-guns and even automatic rifles. Considering the tools available, the workmanship was superb.

At the time Yu-min took over the command, each regiment had its own factory for the repair and manufacture of rifles, but as soon as he had come into office he discontinued this practice and brought these factories under the control of the munitions department, the chief of which was directly responsible to Yu-min. Although this greatly improved the efficiency of these factories, increased the output and maintained a more equal distribution of arms, naturally it did not meet with the approval of certain of the Commanders, but Yu-min overruled any objections. Similarly it had been the practice of each Regimental Commander to be responsible for the collection of taxes in his area, from which he paid his expenses. Under Yu-min's régime, the Civil Government was responsible for the collection of taxes, and the Regimental Commanders drew a monthly subsidy from the government funds. This too was a point much disputed and caused discontent amongst some of the Commanders.

This was probably the contributing factor which led one of the Regimental Commanders on the western border to defy Yu-min's authority. Yu-min summoned the Commander to Headquarters, and when he failed to appear, sent the "43rd" to the scene of the trouble, arrested the offender and had both him and his wife buried alive without further ado. After this episode there was little further opposition to governmental policy.

Yu-min gave little quarter to those who defied him or disobeyed the more strictly enforced regulations. Dope pedlars were shot on the spot, together with their customers. On one occasion soon after our arrival, a pedlar of heroin had been caught and together with five of his customers was publicly shot at one of the local fairs. In his quest for totalitarian discipline and in his enthusiasm for the cause, Yu-min rode roughshod over the unwritten laws of human relationship. He demanded and obtained a degree of efficiency and discipline previously unknown in this unit.

After the harvesting of the crops in September we had to spend a few days on the run from the Japanese. One morning we were awakened from a sound sleep by Mr. "Clear Spring" banging on our door. "Get up! Get up! Quickly! Quickly! The devils are here! "Hastily getting into our clothes, we grabbed a few essentials, threw them into our knapsacks and quickly followed " Clear Spring " through the deserted streets of the village and out of the west gate. Here he was joined by his assistant manager and other members of the factory, and in single file we plodded across country in a westerly direction towards his native village. Everything appeared to be very peaceful, as in fact it was.

"Clear Spring, where are we heading for?" asked Arthur.

"We are going home. You have not been to the west river before? It is beautiful — the crystal-clear waters of the Wei! And the golden sand! The orchards stretching as far as the eye can see along the banks of the river! The pears from my trees are without comparison. I have many friends there who will look after you."

Yes, but why are we going?

"Yu-min sent word to close up the shoe factory — he is expecting an attack from the devils. It is nothing. It is always this way after the harvest. They send out expeditions to steal our grain, but now we are strong and do not fear them. Come; let us hurry, it is better to arrive before dawn. When we arrive I will buy a fish from the Wei River and we will have a feast. We will have chicken too. During these days of emergency it is the custom to eat well. It is better to kill one's chickens and eat them than for the Japanese to take them away."

With the dawn we arrived at a village where "Clear Spring" told us his friends would look after us. We were introduced to a delightful old character who turned out to be the headman for the district. He said he had just the place for us, and led us through various alley-ways into a small house enclosed with its courtyard by a high wall. Here we said goodbye to "Clear Spring" whose village was a couple of miles further on. He promised to see us later in the day.

Spreading the quilts that we found on the k'ang, we went to sleep. We were hurriedly awakened just after ten by our new friend with the news that the Japs were approaching the village from the north and were only a mile away. We must leave immediately. Climbing over the village wall we made for the open country and a hill about half a mile from the village. We were not the only ones: mules, oxen and goats were being led and driven from the village into the open country, where they disappeared behind trees and into gullies, leaving one of the villagers behind at a vantage point to follow the movements of the enemy.

As we climbed the hill, so the view of the surrounding country spread before us. Half-way up we paused to rest and take stock of the situation. Peanuts, melon seeds and cigarettes were produced and handed round by our host as we settled ourselves comfortably in the thick grass. A cloud of dust approaching the north wall of the village we had just left marked the oncoming Japanese column. Two miles to the south-west, Yu-min and his Headquarters staff, mounted on horseback and followed by a long column of foot soldiers, were leisurely heading for the belt of trees along the river-bank. He knew this Japanese column had come from Changyi city and would probably return there by nightfall, and by skirting the river-bank he could pass to the north-west of them and be in a favourable position to ambush them on their return later in the day. The Japanese passed around the west and south walls of our village and headed directly east. After we had seen them well on their way, we returned to the village, leaving one of our party on the hill to keep an eye on the movements of the Japs.

To celebrate our arrival and the fact that the Japanese had not entered the village, our host prepared a most delicious feast. Copious draughts of strong white native wine were drunk in between the courses, and between toasts drinking games were played. During the night we were awakened from a rather wine-drugged slumber by someone banging on the door to the accompaniment of machine-gun and rifle fire. We opened it to find one of our hosts: "Quick! Follow me." We left everything except our pants, which we struggled into as we followed him down the alley-way. As we reached the main street he motioned us to stop as he crept forward and, looking carefully down both sides of the street, he beckoned to us to follow him. Reaching the village wall, we went through the same procedure. Sharp bursts of machine-gun fire continued outside the west wall, answered by spasmodic rifle fire and hand-grenades. We headed for the ploughed fields, and a couple of hundred yards from the village stopped to listen. In the distance we could hear the dust-muffled clip-clop of horses' hooves. We flattened ourselves rigidly to the ploughed earth. Presumably our guide knew where he was. The shuffle of feet was now audible with an occasional clink of metal and a subdued snort or two from the horses. It was pitch dark and we could see nothing; we just hoped that we were far enough from the road to avoid detection. Each second seemed to last an hour as this column passed.

We spent the rest of the night wandering aimlessly about the countryside, but dawn found us knocking at the gate of a strange village, where we were admitted, and called on friends of our friend. They too were glad to see daylight and like ourselves had spent most of the night in the open country. They produced a bottle of wine and we all had a few drinks to warm us up while waiting for something to eat. The raid had apparently disorganised the kitchen and we were on the third bottle before the first dish appeared; by this time all had developed a healthy contempt for the Japanese. It was a very cheerful gathering; more friends dropped in and out, having the odd drink. Half-way through the meal I asked our host what was the latest news of the Japs. "Just now," he replied, "they are passing along the road adjacent to the south wall of the village." Fortified as we all were by the demise of several bottles, this news was treated as decidedly humorous. "Well, at least the gate is closed," remarked our host, and we continued with the meal.

There were no further disturbances that day, and the next day we had news that the Japanese from Changyi had returned to their garrison, but there was still one band roving about to the south. We stayed on in our friend's house for a few more days.

It was of course dirty and bug-ridden, but we had long passed the stage where that worried us. We were much more disturbed by the enormous pig that lived in the latrine pit. The accepted form of convenience in these country homes was a large square pit about six feet across with steps leading down from the side, the whole usually being enclosed by a wooden fence. This was at the same time the latrine and the rubbish pit. Every self-respecting citizen of any standing kept a pig and what would be more natural than to keep him in the latrine? He had the option of either wallowing on the dusty ledge of the pit on which one squatted, or if he preferred it, as he usually did, he could waddle down the steps and root around for delicacies to be found in the pit. Balancing on the edge of such a slush-pit was bad enough in itself, but with the additional hazard of a hungry pig it became a matter of the most acute physical danger.

After three or four days, we bid farewell to our hosts and returned to the village of the Ch'iao family and Mr. "Clear Spring ". Arthur and I were much impressed with the manner in which these people, whom we had never seen before, so willingly offered their hospitality and exposed themselves to certain death from the Japanese had they been caught sheltering us. The cheerful and light-hearted manner in which they took these Japanese raids was certainly heartening.

As has long been the established custom in China, many of the Army officers take their wives and families to the front with them. China has been in an almost continuous state of war for generations, and they would have had little home life if they had not done so. In the case of this guerrilla unit it was, of course, somewhat different, as the greater majority had their established homes in the area. But in spite of this there was little real home life. The wives and families of officials were as much a target for the Japanese and the puppet forces as their men folk, and for this reason they could not afford to live permanently in their homes. They too had to be on the move, with the result that they had perhaps five or six temporary homes at the same time. Others lived with their husbands wherever they happened to be stationed. Apart from a better variety of food, they lived and dressed much as the peasants.

Some, of course, particularly if they were not natives of the area, had what were known as resistance war wives "; that is, wives for the duration of the war.

Generally speaking, we found little difficulty in settling into the life of these guerrillas. It was hard, rigorous and simple, but after the first six months we were accepted and treated as one of themselves, and Yu-min was not alone in his concern for our welfare. The fact that disturbed him and some of the others more than anything else was that neither of us was married: "This war may yet go on for some time.

It is possible that both of you might be killed or captured in the next Japanese raid. It appals me to think that you Might die without leaving an heir to tend to the graves of your honourable family. We have in the Middle School of the Four Virtues several well-educated and attractive girls who would make excellent wives. Please give consideration to this." We enquired whether such an arrangement would be considered as a "resistance war" marriage or whether it would be final. "Although I consider it necessary some-times to close my eyes to such arrangements, I do not approve of these ` resistance wives ' and I could not consent to such an arrangement in your case, as I myself should have to be the sponsor." We promised to give the matter our consideration!

One day Yu-min asked us what we thought of his Head-quarters staff and general organisation, but, as was so often the case, he himself answered the question: " You may think that I have drawn into my organisation a number of incompetent and useless people. I have, but you will notice that none of them are in positions of importance. I believe that every man has his quota of good points, which at some time or another may be put to advantageous use. There are only a few perfect people in this world, so, when you select a person to serve you, it is important to see that his good points outweigh his shortcomings. If his faults are stronger than his good points, then only should he be discarded. If you follow in the steps of Pao Shu Ya (a favourite of one of the princelings of the Spring and Autumn Annals period, 500 B.C., noted for his cooking) who, if he only once saw the faults in a person, never forgot and had no further use for him, there would actually be no person whom one could use, as we all have our faults to a greater or lesser degree."

Another point in this connection which he did not mention and which had some bearing on his policy, was the fact that in his position he could not afford to have disgruntled or dissatisfied members of his entourage desert to the Japanese or the puppet forces, and this left him with two alternatives in dealing with people for whom he had no use or who had offended against his disciplinary measures : retirement with provision of adequate support, or execution --and he did not hesitate to resort to the latter method if he considered it advisable, and if he thought that he could get away with it. This created a very different atmosphere from that which prevailed under Wang Shang-chih, and many of those who had worked under Wang Shang-chih found some uneasiness in this cold disciplinary atmosphere with which Yu-min surrounded himself, with the result that, although he had a firm control over his subordinates, there was little if any feeling of friendship towards him except from his own particular clan.

He maintained a great interest in, and a sympathetic attitude towards, the welfare of the peasants: " In administration of the people's affairs, the thing most to be guarded against in an organisation such as mine is selfishness. The selfish official will administer affairs to his own advantage. If he himself reaps large profits, then the others will have no share; when the others have no share, then they will certainly make trouble. The wants of the people must be considered rather than those of the individual." In spite of his efforts to eradicate graft amongst his officials, he was not completely successful, but it was at least kept to a minimum. There was occasionally speculation in the exchange rate between the guerrilla notes and the Japanese currency or on the prices of grain, but in such cases large cuts were demanded by the government.

Intensive propaganda taught the people the necessity of personal sacrifice as their contribution to the war effort and emphasised that they were an integral part of this military organisation. Although their living was cut to a minimum, good care was taken to avoid undue regimentation of their personal lives. Theatrical entertainments were provided, no restrictions were placed on the manufacture and sale of the local wine, limited imports of daily necessities from the Japanese-occupied areas were allowed and there were no restrictions on the daily village markets.

Conscription was of course enforced, but in such a way that this was not carried out to the point where it would interfere with agricultural production. During the harvest period all schools were closed to enable the older youths to work in the fields, and a certain number of soldiers were released to augment the harvesting when necessary. Pensions were provided for the dependants of those killed in action.

As a result of this policy the military could depend to the fullest extent upon the co-operation of the peasants, without which the existence of a guerrilla unit of this nature would be impracticable. But perhaps the most binding factor in this co-operation between the peasants and the military was the fact that nearly every home had some member of the family in the forces, thus bridging the gap between the civil and military which elsewhere is so wide.

We found some of the officials most discreet and uncommunicative on current military affairs, but fortunately by now we had a circle of close acquaintances who treated us with absolute confidence. Amongst these was the regimental commander of the "new 1st", Chao Chih-yi. He was a native of Szechuan and was one of several officers dispatched by the Central Government to help organise guerrilla units behind the Japanese lines. Moving from one point to an-other, he had eventually settled down with the Fifteenth, and despite the fact that he came from outside the district, his efficiency soon brought him recognition, and with his marriage to a local girl he was accepted as one of the clique; but he himself never lost the ability to look at this unit from an outside point of view, and in this lay the secret of his success.

It was from Chih-yi that we first gathered an inkling of coming events.

Since the capture of Wang Shang-chih by the Japanese, there had been some restlessness amongst his followers. Wang himself had been placed in hospital by the Japanese at Tsingtao and during the past four months his health, under expert Japanese care, had improved very rapidly. Feeling grateful, he was naturally susceptible to Japanese propaganda.

At the time of his defeat and subsequent capture at Suncheng, the situation had seemed hopeless to his followers, and capitulation was seriously considered. Looking around them to the semi-puppet guerrilla units, it seemed a small price to pay for their continued existence and the safeguarding of their homes. After all, it required little but lip service to the Japanese.

Yu-min thought otherwise and by sheer force of character carried the day. Nevertheless, he realised that as long as Wang Shang-chih remained in the hands of the Japanese, he was a constant threat to the unity of the Fifteenth. For months he racked his brain for a plan that would affect the rescue of Wang, and as the latter's health improved, so he realised the urgency of putting some scheme into effect.

Word reached Yu-min through his intelligence that Wang had succumbed to Japanese inducements, and was endeavouring to get in touch with certain Regimental Commanders with a view to winning them over to his point of view. Yu-min felt sufficiently confident of his own position and, in inter-viewing the Commanders concerned, he proposed that they should appear to fall in with Wang's proposals regarding the capitulation of the unit to the Japanese. At the same time he took the precautionary measure of keeping a close watch on the families of the Regimental Commanders to satisfy himself that there would be no double-crossing.

On the evening of 18th October, we received a visit from Mr. Han. It was quite evident from his manner that he had something of importance on his mind. Dismissing the orderly, he sat down at the table: "I have come to warn you that you must be ready to move at a moment's notice. Pre-pare as few personal belongings as possible and sleep in your clothes. I will arrange that anything you may leave behind will be hidden and taken good care of by the village headman. Wang Shang-chih has been rescued and we are expecting a heavy Japanese attack. When the time comes Clear Spring' will take you to a safe place of hiding." We pressed him for details of the rescue but he replied that he himself was not aware of them. A state of emergency had been declared throughout the area and he was now on his way to Headquarters to find out what was going on.

After he left we packed our knapsacks and went to bed in our padded clothes, ready to run at a moment's notice. We did this for three nights and nothing happened. In the meantime everyone was talking about Yu-min's coup, and, detail by detail, we got the full story. Wang Shang-chih had been led to believe by the representative whom Yu-min had sent to him that his plan of co-operation with the Japanese would meet with a favourable reception from the majority of Yu-min's followers. Weeks of negotiation followed, during which time Wang Shang-chih exerted all his influence to convince Yu-min of the advisability of this move, but Yu-min was clever enough to profess great reluctance. At last he gave in and declared himself willing to discuss the matter if a meeting could be arranged, and after further negotiation it was agreed that a preliminary meeting would be held to consider in detail the arrangements pertaining to the capitulation of the Fifteenth to the Japanese.

It was agreed that the place at which this meeting would take place would be just outside the western border adjacent to Changyi city. These negotiations aroused great interest amongst the Japanese, who for the past year had considered the Fifteenth as a growing menace, as it was the only unit which had consistently caused them trouble from the very beginning, and they were somewhat at a loss to know how best to deal with it. They had to admit that the usual mopping-up expeditions carried out against this unit had failed to do more than to quieten it for a few months, and with the Japanese war effort expanding into Honan province and the increasing pressure from the Communists in other parts of Shantung, they had not the number of men available necessary to wipe it out completely. If Wang Shang-chih could attain the desired result by negotiation, they would at least have some measure of control over him. They decided to send two high Japanese military officials with Wang, and the Chinese puppet manager of the North China News Bureau, and current editor of the Tsingtao New People's Press, to cover the meeting. In due course the party arrived at Changyi, where they were joined by the Chinese puppet Garrison Commander.

Although it had been agreed that troops of neither side would be present at this meeting, the Changyi Garrison Commander thought it advisable to be prepared and the party set off for the rendezvous accompanied by a bodyguard of one hundred. Yu-min had taken a similar precaution two companies of the "43rd" lay in ambush in the vicinity against any unexpected developments.

The conference opened with polite and congratulatory speeches on either side, confessions of past misunderstanding and assurances of mutual co-operation in the building of the New Order in East Asia. Yu-min promised supplies of copper and grain, cotton and other raw materials needed by the Japanese. Greatly elated by the smoothness with which this potentially difficult negotiation had been successfully terminated, the guests willingly accepted Yu-min's invitation to a feast and theatrical entertainment at the nearest border village, Yangchiakou. The Garrison Commander's bodyguard were quartered in a nearby village and similarly entertained.

The best wine and food to be obtained were provided, and there was much drinking and jollification at the dinner, speeches by the Japanese delegates and Wang Shang-chih, and replies by Yu-min and others of his staff. Soon after the conclusion of the party Yu-min asked his guests to excuse him, as he had much to talk over with Wang Shang-chih, suggesting that they entertain themselves at the theatrical performance or at mah-jongg. Asking Wang Shang-chih to accompany him to a private room, he left.

Yu-min's exit was the agreed signal and he had hardly left the room before six of his trusted bodyguards entered with drawn Mausers. With a look of bewildered amazement, the Japanese facing the door slumped to the floor, and the other with his back to the door never knew what had hit him! The puppet Garrison Commander and the newspaper man were taken into custody. Within half an hour eighty of the puppet guard had been arrested, six were killed, and the balance managed to escape. Wang Shang-chih was put under close guard.

Having successfully carried out the first part of the plan, Yu-min set about the second. A pre-arranged radio signal was sent immediately to the various Regimental Commanders, and simultaneous attacks were made on six Japanese and puppet garrison points along the border areas of the Fifteenth. Taken by surprise, all six capitulated before dawn. Never in the history of the unit had such a decisive blow been struck. There were celebrations everywhere and the people were worked up to a high pitch of enthusiasm; they were genuinely happy and a load seemed to have been lifted from their shoulders. It was not until the morrow that talk of this amazing feat was tinged with apprehension as to the possible reprisals.

Within a few days Yu-min received a radio message of commendation from Chungking, at the same time reaffirming his position as Commander of the Fifteenth. Wang Shang-chih had been completely in the dark as regards Yu-min's plans and it was as much of a surprise to him as to the others. He felt that his position was now rather delicate. Yu-min had been officially confirmed as Commander, and if he remained at Headquarters he would sooner or later come into conflict with Yu-min on matters of policy. In any case it was not so easy to dispose of the label reading "traitor" with which he was now branded. He decided to retire from military life altogether for the time being and await further developments.

Some days later the puppet director of the North china News Bureau begged for an interview with Yu-min. This was granted. Yu-min received him and asked him to sit down at the table. The director, turning his back, fumbled with his overcoat as if about to take it off, and one of the bodyguards nearby stepped forward to assist him. At that very moment he whirled round with a revolver in his hand. With lightning speed the bodyguard hit his arm, and the bullet pierced the top of the table. Yu-min jumped to his feet with a few round oaths and, ordering the man to be brought before him for an investigation that afternoon, left the room.

Upon being questioned, the man admitted that he was acting under instructions from Wang Shang-chih. This was all Yu-min needed to know and he had the director shot on the spot. He had been undecided how best to deal with Wang Shang-chih; now it had been decided for him. He was put under official arrest and confined to a house in a small village in the south-east of the area.

With the disposal of Wang Shang-chih, Yu-min was now at the peak of his power, and if there were any of his followers with personal ambitions, they certainly shelved them for the time being. There were always a few who insisted secretly that the shooting incident had never taken place, and that the whole affair was a trumped-up plan to dispose of Wang Shang-chih, but the truth of that may never be known, as the two bodyguards who were allegedly present at the shooting have since been killed on active service. The events of the past few days began to have their effect upon the "grey" guerrilla leaders in the neighbourhood. Now it was they who sent representatives and special missions to the Fifteenth seeking friendly agreements.

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