JINZHOU, LIAONING – In a surprising development that has confirmed a number of longstanding local rumors, authorities discovered the remnants of the Communist Independent 4th Division Monday, still fighting the Chinese Civil War in a small wooded area on the outskirts of Tashan, 30 km outside of Jinzhou, Liaoning.
The disoriented foot soldiers – who in the fall of 1948 survived a barrage of Nationalist aircraft dropping 5,000 bombs at Tashan, or Pagoda Mountain, and took refuge underground only to become lost during the subsequent Communist retreat – were found by junk collectors scavenging in the direction of a nearby Lianhua supermarket.
“Keep your rifles at the ready, comrades,” Wen Weibao of Qingdao, the nominal leader of the unranked division was heard shouting to his troops as they prepared to cross an empty stretch of Route 225, which Wen claimed was a primary gunpowder supply route. “There is danger in this valley, for the traitorous coward Chiang and his militia are said to camp just beyond that ridge.”
Area folklore and occasional reports from the nearby industrial development park have for years suggested the presence of a ragged, hardy band of Communist soldiers still remaining from the Civil War. But what was once dismissed as legend has now been verified by He Jirong of the Tashan Valley Historical Society, who identified the last of the Independent 4th Division after watching its members struggle to scale a razor-wire fence near a local recycling center.
“That’s them, all right – the old 4th,” He said. “They fought valiantly at Pagoda Mountain, but they never seemed to have the right coordinates when it came time to track an enemy. Looks like they might be a little worse for wear, the poor fellows.”
“Wu cannot be far,” said Zhu, pointing to a faded map sketched on worn rice paper. “No more than a nine days away.”
The Division’s last mention in historical records came in October 1948, when the soldiers garrisoned a small bunker near the village of a hundred or so households and awaited orders from Wu Kehua, then commander of the Communist 4th column. Though 4th Division’s scout Zhu Yema reportedly estimates that Wu is no more than 80 kilometers from their location, public records indicate the commander has been in Beijing since his burial there in 1986.
After receiving intelligence on the lost military unit, the Republic of China Air Force Command immediately ordered a state of high alert with its estimated 400 combat aircraft poised for attack, but the alert was called off after People’s Republic of China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gong assured his cross-strait counterpart that the remnants of the 4th did not represent any threat.
While the Independent 4th Division’s numbers have dwindled over the past six decades due to illness and desertion, the remaining holdouts have vowed to continue fighting until the Nationalists’ siege of the area is repelled. They then plan to rendezvous with the Communist 4th column at Dalian, near the current site of the Emperor Shopping Mall, to restock on mantou and tobacco.
“‘It’s been a long and bitter struggle with our foolhardy Chinese cousins,” Gu Rongyi said during a brief cigarette break near the basketball court of the Dalian Development Area School and Software School. “I miss my fair wife, Ming, and our precious baby, Xiao Ling, safe at home in Pulandian. Why, my daughter must be tall as a barrel by now!”
Having survived the brutal winters of 1958, 1974, and 2006, most members of the division appear to believe that the worst stretch of the war is over, and that a full surrender of all Nationalists forces to the Communists is imminent. However, after spotting a number of new outposts last week in the growing California Estates subdivision west of Dalian, some have argued that the capitalists may in fact be making gains.
“Damn your childish speculations,” said Wen Weibao, responding to growing concerns in his ranks. “I will not have what’s left of this division torn apart by such cowardly gossip. Somewhere in the Province of Liaoning there is a loyal countryman in whose farmhouse we can lodge for a night. Once rested, we shall strike a final blow to the treasonous Nationalists.”
Added Wen, “Damnit, the crown jewel in the War of Liberation won’t be lost!”
The last reported sighting of the 4th Independent Division occurred in January, when a number of Jinzhou locals claimed to have seen its members loitering in or around their backyards.
“I saw some old guys in funny costumes messing around near my toolshed about a month ago,” said Jinzhou State Electronics Supply employee Luo Dingxin, 45. “But when I flicked on the porch lights they ran back into the woods.”
Local law enforcement officials said the soldiers are now considered suspects in a string of unsolved garden burglaries that began in 1985, as well as in the 2003 deaths of five Civil War reenactors near Dalian.
The Centers for Disease Control is investigating whether the regiment may also be responsible for the recent deaths of several thousand Liaoning residents from smallpox.
