In the winter of 1940, during a battle between the Communist Party of China's Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army in Beiyu District, Shanxi Province, China, Sha Fei, the first military photographer for the Communist Party of China, took a series of photographs of Eighth Route Army soldiers collapsing after being hit by bullets.

 

　　In the winter of 1940, during a battle between the Chinese Communist Party's Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army in Beiyu District, Shanxi Province, China, Sha Fei, the first military photographer for the Chinese Communist Party, took a series of photographs of Eighth Route Army soldiers collapsing after being hit by bullets. A Chinese Communist Party Eighth Route Army soldier collapses with his knees bent after being hit by a Japanese bullet.

　The Eighth Route Army, which had been fighting in the mountainous regions in limited guerrilla warfare, launched a major offensive against the Japanese Army in the Hundred Regiments Offensive, which took place in Hebei and Shanxi provinces from August to December 1940. The Eighth Route Army was short of heavy weapons, and the use of human-wave tactics resulted in around 20,000 casualties. The Japanese army countered with a sweeping campaign, and from mid-October to the end of November, they stepped up their counterattack against the Eighth Route Army. During this battle, Sha Fei captured the moment of Robert Capa's “Falling Soldier”, and was called the “Chinese Robert Capa”.

　Sha Fei, the first war photographer for the Chinese Communist Party, photographed anti-Japanese activities in the Jin-Chahar-Ji military district and the border region of China. He presented his photographs to the Chinese Communist Party in accordance with the guidance of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1926, he participated in the Northern Expedition as a communications soldier. In September 1936, at the age of 24, Sha Fei entered the Shanghai Art School and photographed port workers and the life of the working class in Shanghai. In September 1937, Sha Fei became a photographer for the National Communications Agency and covered the Eighth Route Army, becoming a member of the army. Sha Fei saw photography as a powerful weapon for exposing reality, and he always used it to depict the various realities of society.

　　In December 1937, Sha Fei was given permission by General Nie Rongzhen to join the Eighth Route Army, and was appointed as the first chief editor of the editorial department of the Political Department of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. He also served as deputy director of the Anti-Japanese News, and in 1941 he established the Jin-Cha-Ji Pictorial Press, which published the first pictorial magazine of the Chinese Communist Party, the Jin-Cha-Ji Pictorial, on July 7th 1942. In June 1947, Sha Fei submitted an application to join the Communist Party, and on November 22 he became a member. In December 1948, he was hospitalized at the Shijiazhuang Peace Hospital with pulmonary tuberculosis, and on December 15, 1949, Sha Fei shot and killed his doctor, the Japanese doctor Katsutoshi Tsuhei. In On February 24th 1950, the Political Department of the North China Military Region's Military Court sentenced Sha Fei to death and at the same time he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party. On March 4th, Sha Fei was executed by firing squad. In 1986, he was reinstated as a member of the Communist Party.

1940年冬に、中国山西省・北岳区での中国共産党の八路軍と日本軍との戦闘にて、中国共産党初の従軍写真家である沙飛が、被弾して崩れ落ちる八路軍兵士の連続写真を撮影した。日本軍の銃弾を受けて、中国共産党八路軍兵士がひざを屈して崩れ落ちた。

　山岳地帯でゲリラ戦による限定的な戦闘した八路軍は、日本軍に対して大攻勢をした百団大戦が1940年8月から12月に河北省と山西省で勃発した。八路軍は重火器が乏しく、人海戦術により約2万人もの犠牲者が出た。日本軍は対抗する掃蕩作戦で、10月中旬から11月末まで八路軍に反撃を強化した。その戦闘にて、沙飛が、ロバート・キャパの「崩れ落ちる兵士」の瞬間を撮影して、中国の「のロバート・キャパ」と呼称された。

　中国共産党初の従軍写真家であった沙飛は、中国の晋察冀軍区と辺区の抗日活動を撮影した。中国共産党の指導に従って中国共産党に写真迎合を提示した。1926年に通信兵として北伐に参加した。1936年9月に24歳の沙飛は、上海美術専門学校に入学して、魯迅など港湾労働者や上海の下町生活を撮影した。1937年9月に、沙飛は全民通信社の写真家として八路軍を取材して、その従軍専属となった。沙飛は写真が現実を暴露する最も有力な武器の一種に捉え、常に社会の諸現状を描写する写真として利用した。

　1937年12月に、沙飛は聶栄臻将軍によって八路軍に従軍を許可されて、晋察冀軍区の政治部宣伝部初代の編集科長に任命された。『抗敵報』の副主任を兼務して、1941年に晋察冀画報社を設立し、1942年7月7日に、中国共産党初の画報『晋察冀画報』を創刊した。1947年6月、沙飛は中国共産党に加入申請書を提出して、11月22日に共産党党員となった。1948年12月に肺結核で石家荘平和病院に入院して、1949年12月15日に沙飛は主治医である日本人の津平勝医師を射殺した。1950年2月24日に華北軍区政治部軍法処は沙飛に死刑判決を言い渡して、同時に中国共産党を除名処分された。3月4日、沙飛に対して銃殺刑が執行された。1986年になって共産党の党籍を回復した。