Which single soldier had the greatest effect on a battle in history?


 This one Chinese resistance fighter made his mark in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1940 and sent ripples into military history, although perhaps not famous in the West as he ought to be.


When his unit was destroyed, Yang kept fighting alone through the bitter winter in Manchuria.


When his body was finally found by Japanese forces, they were astonished to find that Yang survived on tree bark and grass.


Spent his last days leading the Japanese on an incredibly long and exhausting chase through deep snow to force them to massively waste resources and heavy casualties since he was mortally wounded.


So impressed was the Japanese commander with Yang's commitment that he held a full military funeral for his defeated foe.


More than this, however, the single act of resistance marked a turning point in Japanese military psychology.


The last stand of Yang dramatically altered Japanese strategic thinking over the cost of holding onto China.


Most of all, though, was that the psychological effect rather than the tactical-he had tied down a whole Japanese battalion.


It is here that Yang showed remarkable resolution in resistance, which really fractured the Japanese military's belief that China could be coerced into submission by force alone.

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