In April 1939, a very surprising thing suddenly happened in a small town in Guizhou, and in a hotel in the town, there was an extremely rare person.
Word soon spread through the town, and soon the local police were drawn to interrogate them.
It is indeed quite surprising, it is the turbulent years of the War of Resistance Against Japan, but there is a foreign woman in this town. Moreover, of the six people in their group, there was only one such woman, who was still a foreigner.
What made the police even more unexpected was that after their interrogation, it was even more strange that this foreign woman was actually a major officer of the Eighth Route Army.
Although it was a period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists at that time, there were few officers with ranks in the Eighth Route Army. Unexpectedly, I saw a foreign-looking Eighth Route Army officer, still an incredible woman.
This made the police at the time unheard of and stunned.
In fact, let alone them, female majors, even within the Eighth Route Army are extremely rare.
It can be said that this woman was the first woman to be awarded the title of major by the Eighth Route Army, or in the form and identity of a foreigner.
The woman's name was Anna Wang, and her original name was Anna Lize, who came to China in 1936 with Wang Bingnan, who had formed a partnership in London.
Wang Bingnan's hometown was in Xi'an, and his father and Yang Hucheng had a blood alliance, so on the night they returned to Xi'an, General Yang Hucheng invited them to yang mansion as a guest.
Not only that, Yang Hucheng was worried that foreigners were not used to life on our side, and promised to let the two of them go to the hotel, and he was responsible for all the expenses.
At that time, the relationship between the Yang family was a factor, and as the first young student to return to China with a foreign wife, it was also another factor.
At that time, our country was poor and weak, and it was indeed an unusual thing to be able to marry a German and bring China. As a result, Wang Anna, as the first foreign daughter-in-law of Xi'an City, caused quite a stir in this ancient capital of several dynasties.
However, at that time, she was just a foreigner, and more recently, a family member of a Communist Front fighter, so how did she become the first foreign female major of our Eighth Route Army?
Shortly after Wang Bingnan returned to Xi'an, she went to Shanghai at the invitation of Yang Hucheng, where she visited Lu Xun, who was already seriously ill, and also met the leaders of the "National Salvation Congress" at that time, especially the "Seven Gentlemen" who were engaged in the anti-Japanese movement.
Before that, when she was in Germany, she was a staunch anti-Nazi fighter, and when she came to China, she seemed to have found a large number of people with common ideals.
This deeply touched her, and she could not help but naturally participate in the anti-Japanese struggle in China.
In December of that year, the Xi'an incident broke out, far away in Shanghai, she could not sit still, she said: "I don't want to wait in Shanghai for a long time, now, my post should be Xi'an, the northwest is happening we have been waiting for a long time, the important mission is waiting for us to complete, but I stand by and watch, what should I say?" ”
It can be seen from this that at that time, she had a passion for revolutionary work that emanated from the bottom of her heart.
Immediately, despite her personal danger, after more than ten days of turbulence, she finally returned to Xi'an on the night of Chinese New Year's Eve.
But she didn't just join the Communist Party because of her husband, Wang Bingnan. After she returned to Xi'an, she saw everything that happened in Xi'an with her own eyes.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek had already been released, but the Nationalist government in Nanjing used radio news to distort the report. The report said: "Xi'an has been occupied by the Red Army, citizens can not go out, the whole city is in a state of terror. ”
But Wang Anna, who was in Xi'an, knew the truth, and she wrote in her later memoirs: "The Communists helped Chiang Kai-shek to make things clear in front of the initiators of the Xi'an Incident, showing that their political vision was broad and their vision was far-sighted, and we cannot but highly praise this." ”
She was very angry when she heard the fake news on the radio, but at that time, Xi'an City had been interfered with by the radio waves in Nanjing, and it was impossible to broadcast to Nanjing.
In order to clarify the distorted reports that were not facts, Xi'an set up a radio station "XGOB", which was originally a British journalist who broadcast in English, but because his words were often so fierce, the reporter received a warning from the British consulate and had to stop broadcasting.
At this point, Wang Anna took over his job, from a family member of a Chinese revolutionary, from a bystander to a participant.
In January 1937, Wang Anna met the Red Army for the first time, which also allowed her to see the difference between the Red Army and the Kuomintang army. She said: "In the faces of the Soldiers of the Red Army, I could not see the expression of despair and emptiness that was common in the Kuomintang army. Although the soldiers of the Red Army lived a hard and simple life, they were like brothers and sisters, and they took pleasure in suffering. ”
In March of that year, she came to Yan'an and met Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai and other leaders. It also includes female warriors such as Deng Yingchao, He Zizhen, and Kang Keqing.
This gave her a deeper understanding of the Communist Party and strengthened her revolutionary resolve, as she wrote in her memoirs: "During the hard years of the civil war, during the even more arduous Long March, women like He Zizhen were comrades and friends of their husbands. They fought side by side with their husbands, sharing their unbearable hardships. Therefore, as brave soldiers and comrades who can be trusted, they are respected by the whole party and the whole army. ”
Soon after, when the War of Resistance broke out in full swing, Wang Anna followed her husband Wang Bingnan to Shanghai, where she participated in the work of the Red Cross and the Society for the Salvation of Women, and also participated in a propaganda committee, which was responsible for publicizing things beneficial to the Chinese War of Resistance to foreigners in China and abroad.
During this period, she wrote books such as "Chinese Soldiers in the Eyes of Foreigners" and "Japan's Industrial Destruction of Shanghai", actively and extensively carried out anti-war propaganda work, and was also highly praised by Zhou Enlai.
If during this period, she was only a role of applause, shouting, appealing, etc., then her work was really an indelible contribution to the War of Resistance Against Japan.
In 1938, Wang Anna received an unexpected and special mission.
The task was ordered by Zhou Enlai: "I would like to invite you to Hong Kong and Shanghai to help Ms. Song Qingling as much as you want." ”
Her task was to coordinate the transportation of a large number of materials returning from abroad, including medical supplies, medical equipment and other materials urgently needed during the war.
At this time, Wang Anna was a little hesitant, and she was in Guilin at the time, preparing to go to Chongqing. You know, it was a relatively safe rear area, and once she agreed to this job, she would need to go to the front line of Shanghai, which had fallen.
After considering it, Wang Anna accepted the task, and, because of the needs of the work, she soon went to Vietnam with the help of Zhou Enlai.
At that time, there were many materials to be transported to China in the port, and she needed to coordinate, and from then on, Wang Anna began to be responsible for the delivery of materials through Vietnam.
At that time, Vietnamese Haiphong was all French, and they were very unfriendly to Chinese.
Because, without This batch of materials delivered by China, they can drink a cup of coffee, read the newspaper and complete the day's work.
The French, who increased their workload, naturally put all their anger out of the Chinese, deliberately making things difficult, and it was common to find faults when there was nothing to do.
Wang Anna communicated with Haiphong as a representative of the "League for the Defense of China", because she could speak French, and the attitude of the French people immediately changed. What made Wang Anna even more unthinkable was that when the French people knew that she was German and could speak German, the attitude became more cordial.
It turned out that most of the people in Haiphong at that time were born in some areas close to Germany, which was a German-speaking area.
As a result, all the materials delivered by Wang Anna were no longer subjected to hardship, and batches of anti-war materials transported from abroad to China were sent to the front line under her coordination.
It can be said that although it is indirect, it is undeniable that she made a great contribution to the war.
But unexpectedly, soon she ushered in a new annoyance.
Because of the smooth delivery of supplies, the reputation of "Mrs. Wang" spread everywhere, and all kinds of help followed.
The Red Cross, the central bank, the private bosses, and even the Guangxi army. In this case, she was a proper Republic of China red at that time.
They begged for Wang Anna's help, but the mere delivery of supplies to the "League for the Defense of China" and the Eighth Route Army was enough for her to keep busy, and she obviously did not care about helping others.
After completing the transportation mission, Wang Anna returned to Chongqing, and soon after returning, she received a new task. Went to Guiyang to receive medicines and supplies from the Red Cross to the Eighth Route Army Field Hospital.
It was also this time that Zhou Enlai, in order to facilitate her passage, specially issued her a military pass for the Eighth Route Army. Zhou En: "I have appointed you as a major of the Eighth Route Army, so that even if you encounter inspections on the road, the people who inquire will be more or less polite to you." ”
That's why there's the opening scene.
After the founding of New China, Wang Anna came to Beijing to devote herself to the cause of building New China and to promote the friendship between China and Germany.
Until she left China in 1955, she fought for the revolution in China for 20 years.
It can be said that it is such a foreign woman who has left her best youth in the ancient land of the East.
In March 1979, at the invitation of Deng Yingchao and Kang Keqing, Wang Anna returned to China after more than 20 years of absence.
She died in Hamburg, Germany, in 1990 at the age of 83.