In early June, Guo Xing, the ex-commander of the North Xinjiang Military Command and the prototype of Li Xiangyang who is the leading character in the film of The Guerillas in the Plains, was invited to talk about the glorious revolutionary traditions to officers and men in Xinjiang. The reporter had the honor to interview Venerable Guo there.

　　Guo Xing joined the Eighth Route Army when he was sixteen. He was a civil servant in the anti-Japanese government in Pingshun County, Shanxi Province, and before long he was promoted to the post of the leader of the public security detachment of the county. Then Pi Dingjun, commander of the No. 7 Sub-command of the Taihang Military Region, asked him to work for him accidentally. Later, Commander Pi Dingjun asked Guo Xing to organize an armed working team in the enemy's rear area, and to arouse the local people to fight against the Japanese aggressors in the plains in north Henan Province.

　　The armed working team behind the enemy line led by Guo Xing successfully sneak-attacked the enemies many times, which arouse the high vigilance of Japanese troops. "How to fight against them in the future? I discussed this with the other members over and over again and decided to learn some Japanese frequently used by the Japanese soldiers, so that we could disguise ourselves as Japanese soldiers to get into the city." Venerable Guo let out a hearty laughter at this idea.

　　One day in December 1942, Guo Xing disguised himself as a Japanese team leader, rode a big horse and went to Yongnian County in Hebei, with two team members trailing after him. They passed the west county gate with a swagger with no problems at all. While the Japanese in the county were in a hurry to salute him, Guo Xing and his two team members quickly drew their guns and fired… They charged from the west gate to the east one, and threw the enemies in the county into a mess. When the enemies found out that there were altogether only three guerrilla fighters, Guo Xing and his men had already gone out of the county town. In the surprise attack, the armed working team killed or wounded twelve Japanese devils and over ten puppet troops.

　　In August 1943, the No. 129 Division of the Eighty Route Army launched the Linnan Campaign. Late at a night, the puppet troops in Hui County came out to offer support to the enemies being engaged in the Linnan campaign. Acting under an order, Guo Xing led the armed working team to lay in ambush in the cornfield on the two sides of the road, ready to pin down this column of the puppet enemy there.

　　In the dim light of night, Guo Xing mapped out the fighting plan and assigned tasks to his team members, with his finger frequently pointing at the Japanese blockhouse in Xiaotun village behind them. As soon as the last group of the puppet troops went by, the team members opened fire at the same time, making it sound like machine guns firing in bursts. The puppet troops were frightened out of their senses by the sudden gunfire and began to shoot randomly. At this moment, gunfire was also seen from the blockhouse at a distance. The puppet troops hidden in the cornfield thought that it must be the Eighth Route Army that was firing at them from the blockhouse. So they fired back at the blockhouse because they didn't want to show the white feather. When Guo Xing saw that the enemies were fighting against each other, he led the team members to withdraw from the green curtain of the tall crops quickly, leaving the Japanese devils and the puppet troops fighting each other, which was not stopped until dawn.

　　Led by Guo Xing, the armed working team performed illustrious military exploits. At that time, the team was awarded the title of Guo Xing Examplary Armed Working Team by the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, and was praised by Commander Liu Bocheng and Political Commissar Deng Xiaoping in the form of an order of commendation. In 1950s, after the film The Guerillas in the Plains that mirrored the achievements of the armed working team was shown to the public, the name Li Xiangyang quickly became very popular and famous throughout the country.

　　(The top picture: In early June 2005, Guo Xing related his experience during the Anti-Japanese War to officers and men in Xinjiang Military Area Command. Photo by Wei Chun)

　　By Yang Tongwei, Chen Zheng and Wei Chun

　　(Aug. 12, PLA Daily)