Dai Shu-kui and the 93rd

[keith A]

This soldier entered in WMA in 1939 and graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy in 1941, possibly from the "Yibin" class year 18 ? and was assigned to a unit which translates into English as "93 Army temporarily 2nd Division 4 Mission assignment 8". It would seem that this was the 93rd division that was attached to Y-force in 1944. No mention is made of his serving in 1942-43 and so I don't know if he fought with the 93rd Army that was in Burma and the Shan States.

I found some information about this unit on this forum by Goldfish which fits a little: "the 93rd Army was a part of the XI Group Army (which fought on the Salween) but was located first in Sichuan and later became part of the Z-Force training near Guilin. The 93rd then fought the Japanese approaching Guilin during ICHIGO".

Dai later tells of being involved in training Chinese recruits for Indian Army, by which I assume he means recruits for the CAI.

Can anyone clear up this for me? I would like to know if there was a Yibin class in 1941, and if he joined the 93rd which unit was he in? Also if he did not fight in Yunnan-Burma until 1944 was he likely to have been in action against the Japanese elsewhere.

best regards


Keith

[Edward Chen]

Keith, can you provide your source info (by URL or otherwise) on this officer, especially if it's a Chinese-language site?
This way, other forum members can help out with the translation.

Thanks in advance, and hope this helps,

[keith A]

Hiya,

this is my source http://www.best-news.us/news-4185616-A- ... ns-go.html

best regards

Keith

[Edward Chen]

Personally I hate websites that publish raw machine translations of foreign text, especially without any links to the originals.
However I can sympathize if that's all you have to work with.

Fortunately, the original text wasn't too hard to find. So here is my "first-pass" translation (first-pass: done with a minimum of embellishment, while preserving the original sentence structure as closely as possible).

So to answer your question:

1. The National Revolutionary Army's Central Military Academy ("Huangpu Military Academy"), located in Chengdu, Sichuan after 1938, may have had classes for its 14th zongdui [總隊; "detachment"] located in Yibin (around 250 kilometers south of Chengdu). This I still need to check.

2. Dai Shukui served in 8th Company/4th Regiment, Provisional 2nd Division between 1941 to around April 1945, when the division was disbanded (Condensed History of the Chinese Nationalist Forces [国民党军简史], page 894). Before "Y-Force"'s battles at Tengchong, he would have seen no action.

Feel free to offer comments or corrections as required.

Hope this helps,

Original text URL
http://cq.people.com.cn/newscenter/cq/n ... um=7320485

Also found (partial text) at the following links on the Yuanzhengjun (Chinese Expeditionary Army) website:
http://www.yuanzhengjun.cn/plus/list.ph ... 9&PageNo=5
http://www.yuanzhengjun.cn/yzj/news/2013/0329/625.html

March 28, 2013, Chongqing Chenbao [重庆晨报; Chongqing Morning News]

Another Chinese Expeditionary Army Veteran Has Gone On

Yesterday, Dai Shukui of Hechuan, Chongqing passed away, as volunteers gave the Old Man a proper farewell.

At 4:35AM, Chinese Expeditionary Army veteran Dai Shukui [戴树奎] of Hechuan, Chongqing [重庆合川], due to induced organ failure caused by a broken leg, passed away despite emergency efforts to save his life at the Chongqing Ninth Peoples Hospital at the age of 92. The previous day, after netizens plead online for condolences for the Old Man, volunteers rushed to Hechuan, Chongqing to give the Old Man a final farewell.

Volunteers Giving Tribute to the Old Man via Weibo [China's "Twitter"]

"Granddad Dai, you always told me 'Always Stand Fast'! We even said starting tomorrow there will be volunteers protecting you every day at the hospital, why did you leave us in such a hurry!" tearfully mourned "@xinwangtian" [@心往天] at 5:42AM on Weibo upon news that Dai Shukui had passed away due to illness.

Beginning on March 24, upon learning that Dai Shukui had injured himself, netizens concerned about the War of Resistance veteran began messaging to express support and to ask about the Old Man's condition. After the Old Man passed away, netizens on Weibo were in mourning, with messageboards filled with virtual candles "lit" to express condolences.

Living alone in the nursing home in Hechuan, Chongqing in his nineties, Dai Shukui was a soldier in the Chinese Expeditionary Army who participated in the retaking of Songshan and Tengchong in Yunnan. On March 18 the Old Man accidentally fell while strolling in the nursing home, and a few days later his situation worsened.

"When Japanese invaders threatened the nation, enlisted out of school and headed for the battlefield. Marched with the Army when western Yunnan was in peril, to become a tragic hero in the defense of Tengchong." In a solemn farewell ceremony, netizen "Xiaoke" [小可] read aloud a poetic verse for "Granddad Dai" composed by volunteers. Amid bursts of funeral music, people were unable to bear their sadness, and let their tears flow.

From Enlistment Out of School to the Yunnan-Burma Battlefield

Dai Shukui was a native of Zhujiaxiang hamlet, Hechuan District in Chongqing [重庆合川区朱家巷], born on the 1st day of the Lunar Twelfth month in 1921, fourth out of five brothers and sisters. During the War Of Resistance, when Dai Shukui had begun studying at Hechuan Junior High School, he applied for and took the examination for military school.

"Out of our group four or five passed, as part of the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion of Infantry, 14th Detachment** of the 18th Class. We enrolled in 1939 at Hechuan, graduating in 1941 at Yibin [宜宾]. After graduation I was assigned to the 8th Company, 4th Regiment of the 93rd Army's Provisional 2nd Division as a 2nd lieutenant and platoon leader." It was learned from the Old Man's previous accounts, that in October 1939, he and his classmates Lei Songbo [雷松柏], and Fang Xiaoxian [方晓先] all enlisted out of school, enrolling into the Huangpu Military Academy (at Chengdu) 18th Class. After two years of study, the three of them were assigned to the NRA 93rd Army's Provisional 2nd Division, 4th Regiment as platoon leaders.

The 93rd Army's Provisional 2nd Division was based in succession, at Dongnan [潼南], Chongqing; then Rongchang [荣昌], Chongqing; and then Luzhou [泸州]. When the situation in western Yunnan went critical in late 1943, they were ordered into Yunnan, assigned under Twentieth Group Army, forming the Chinese Expeditionary Army. On June 4, 1944, the Chinese Expeditionary Army counterattacked Songshan which was occupied by Japanese forces, and so Dai Shukui participated in the Battle of Songshan.

"When Yunnan was in a state of emergency, the Provisional 2nd Division transferred one regiment to reinforce Yunnan. I remember we passed Bijie [毕节], marched for about 3 days, and arrived near Tengchong [腾冲], where we went straight to the field to fight a defensive action." In Dai Shukui's account, on the second morning after they arrived Japanese forces came up, there was endless bombardment by aircraft and artillery, and there were even tanks.

On September 7, Songshan was retaken by the Chinese Expeditionary Army, and Dai Shukui then participated in the battle to recover Tengchong. He remained fighting with the company for 7 consecutive days, and out of over 50 men from the platoon only 7 soldiers were left.

"We couldn't do anything about our inferior weapons, and the unit was quickly defeated, and with units crowding up from the rear, only human wave tactics prevailed." Using such desperate human-wave tactics, the unit was still defeated. According to his recollection, the battle was exceptionally appalling, "Corpses heaped up like mountains, blood flowed like rivers."

The Old Man Always Wanted to Return to Tengchong to Pay His Respects

After the Battle of Tengchong ended. Dai Shukui was transferred back to Kunming, and through money sent from home to pay his way, he returned to Hechuan, Chongqing. This time he was assigned to the Military Administration 3rd Training Regiment as a 1st Lieutenant and platoon leader, responsible mainly for training recruits for the Chinese Army in India.

In early 1949, the Old Man realized the Nationalist Party's days were up, and that fighting one's own countrymen was pointless, so he returned to his native home in Hechuan. After coming home the Old Man worked as a boat crewman and porter, and even taught himself how to repair watches and make doorkeys, living the life of a street vendor. In his later years Dai Shukui was impoverished, relying on relatives for food and sustenance. Over a decade ago, he was admitted to live at a nursing home in Hechuan, Chongqing.

On October 5, 2012, when nursing home volunteers found Dai Shukui, he told his complete story of his experiences in the Chinese Expeditionary Army for the first time. "Platoon leader with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in 8th Company, 4th Regiment of the 93rd Army's Provisional 2nd Division." Unit numbers, time and dates, encampment locations, and vivid memories from the War period were related with such clarity, astounding the volunteers, how this Old Man of 90 years was still attentive and thinking clearly.

The Old Man still kept one secret in his heart, in that he never forgot those fellow comrades who died on the Tengchong battlefield. Until he passed away, he never had a chance to return to Tengchong, to revisit that plot of earth that had been blood-soaked before, to pay his respects to the soldiers who gave their lives for their country.

"When Japanese invaders threatened the nation, enlisted out of school and headed for the battlefield. Marched with the Army when western Yunnan was in peril, to become a tragic hero in the defense of Tengchong."---A netizen's verse written for "Granddad Dai"

Only Some Two Thousand War Of Resistance Veterans Have Been Located

Netizens have found out that, the youngest of the old vets was already 89 years old, while the oldest was already 96. "We are racing against time, as it is estimated that in a few years, most of these elderly who lived through this period will have passed on, however most of these people have not yet been located by us." Volunteer "Fang Fei" expressed, in just the Chongqing region, Dai Shukui was the tenth veteran to pass away this year, and veterans of the War of Resistance are leaving us at an alarming rate.

According to conservative estimates, at present around twenty thousand veterans who survived the War of Resistance remain in China, of which only two thousand or more have been located.

** Note: I've used the terms "company," "battalion," and "detachment" to translate the terms 中隊, 大隊 and 總隊 respectively, as they are similar to the terms for the combat formations 連, 營 and 團.

[keith A]

Edward, once again you have come up with the goods This is exactly what I needed to spur me on. Your translation will also allow me to understand other articles. I am off to do more searching. Your help is invaluable.

very best regards

Keith

[keith A]

I see that his army commander MG Chen Munong (陈牧农) was executed in 1944 for abandoning Chuanzhou, Guangxi. Was his deputy Fu Zhaoqian (符昭骞) also sacked because of this failure? He is removed from 93rd Army some time in 1944.

best regards

Keith

[keith A]

Confusingly I have just found a reference to this man MG Jiang Zaizhen (蒋在珍) as being deputy co 1939-44? Again he leaves the army in 1944.

regards


Keith