Please remember this girl, Cheng Benhua .
She was a soldier and will remain forever young.
Her memorial.
http://www.womenofchina.cn/women...
Cheng Benhua, an anti-Japanese fighter during World War II, was killed at the age of 24 after being gang raped by Japanese soldiers.
Born in 1914 in Gaoxiang Village, He County in east China's Anhui Province, Cheng was smart, brave and forthright in her nature. Whilst still at junior middle school, she joined a local students' organization, Regiment No. 1194 of the China Boy Scouts, and received rigorous military training.
When the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937–1945) broke out in 1937, Cheng took active part in the anti-Japanese national salvation movement of the time. She helped to paint slogans, sung battle songs and staged "
living-newspaper" dramas, like many other young Chinese compatriots around her.
Cheng later married her fellow-recruit Liu Zhiyi, and the couple joined the county's anti-Japanese People's Self-Defense Force on December 16, 1937.
In May 1938, Japanese forces occupied the region. Cheng headed other soldiers to fight against the enemy but was eventually outnumbered and captured.
According to one Japanese soldier's recollection, the forces captured a number of Chinese fighters in the county, including a Chinese woman – who turned out to be Cheng. Yamashita Koichi said that Japanese forces tried to persuade Cheng to surrender, but the courageous woman merely threw them a contemptuous glance.
At the time, a Japanese military correspondent took a photo of Cheng who was shortly thereafter imprisoned with other compatriots.
Attracted by Cheng's beautiful looks, Koichi and the Japanese soldiers took it in turns to rape her. A few days later, the Japanese beasts raped her again and then brought her to an execution site to watch them execute other Chinese captives.
Undaunted by the hazards, Cheng stretched out her numb arms, passed her fingers through her messy hair and turned her face towards the sun. She crossed her hands on her chest, put on a contemptuous smile and faced death unflinchingly.
The Japanese military correspondent took another picture of Cheng. Finally she was killed by Japanese soldiers with brandishing bayonets.
Although Cheng died, the Chinese will remember this beautiful fighter forever.
(Source: Xin'an Evening News/Translated and edited by
Women of China)