Chapter 21 Toshiro Diary (19)

Zhongniao Troop (16th Division) Ohno Troops (Twentieth Regiment) Nishizaki Troops (First Battalion) Moriyama Team (Third Squadron) Murakami Squad (Third Squad) From Dalian in January of the thirteenth year of the Showa era to the second crusade against the northern branch of the army, to April 21 and departure to the Xuzhou battlefield on January 31. The dream of returning home from Dalian was ruthlessly shattered.At four o'clock in the afternoon, we set off from the dormitory and went to the battlefield again in a tank truck.Today is the old calendar year.Everywhere is full of people setting off firecrackers to celebrate the New Year.

Does it snow in my hometown?Everyone must celebrate the New Year in the snow! Our tin wagons have been temporarily converted into two decks.In order to transport soldiers as much as possible.In the small and dark compartment, we were like monkeys in an iron cage, unable to move.I sleep on the upper floor.Kinoshita and I are separated by a bed, and we are making a fuss.As long as there is no war, he is very energetic. Military trains headed north without stopping.More than 70 soldiers were stuffed into each carriage.We were wrapped in quilts requisitioned from Nanjing to resist the biting cold.The river froze and turned into a glacier.

The desert land, the boundless land, after arriving in the mainland, we have a deeper understanding of the concept of land.From the gap between the trains, I saw the earth receding continuously.It has passed Fengda.I thought I would go further north, but the compass pointed to the west. Is it going to North China again? As I expected, the train arrived at Shanhaiguan.There are some stone houses scattered on the vast land, and there are many towering mountains.They are acute-angled, and mountains of this shape are not seen in the interior.On the same railway, we once rushed to Central China with high morale, but now we take the train north with full of melancholy.

When the train was coming to a stop, Kinoshita wanted to seize the few minutes to go to the bathroom. Unexpectedly, in a hurry, he rolled from the truck onto the frozen railroad tracks. He seemed to be bent over, lying on the ground and humming. With the help of her, Heng Heng Qingqing finally stood up. Kinoshita is usually temperamental, and when he falls, he makes use of it and makes a scene.He even yelled at the soldiers who helped him up. Finally, those soldiers were also furious, and they left one after another.In this way, he had to climb back to the train alone, risking another fall.But Kinoshita sat there like a coquettish child and yelled. "How could it be so painful?" All his comrades looked at him with distrust, but no one sympathized with him. In the end, he simply lay on the ground and cried.The comrades were helpless now, so they had to carry him to his upper bunk.

On the way to the bed, he was still cursing, as if his comrades had pushed him off the train. After lying on the bed, Kinoshita never stopped moaning.During this period, if someone accidentally touched him with his hands or feet, he would curse at the top of his voice.The comrades couldn't help arguing with him.Kinoshita used to be vexatious, but now he scolded more and more vigorously, without showing any sign of weakness.Later, everyone felt that it was useless to argue with him, so they stopped talking. He is like a neglected child, in order to attract others' attention, sometimes kicking this, sometimes scolding that, his words and deeds attract more scolding.In the small stuffy tank truck, someone would touch him from time to time, even if he touched his finger, he would scream like a wayward child.Finally Kinoshita took out his sewing needle, and he would poke whoever touched him.Everyone was dumbfounded by this.During this time, he started urinating in the car again, what a shameless guy.

But his absurd behavior also brought a little fun to the depressing long journey. Passing through Tianjin and bypassing Changxindian, we can see the vast land of North China.The train was speeding south, and it was getting warmer in the compartment.You can see matchbox-like mud houses along the railway.The land on both sides of the railway has been carefully cultivated just like the fields in the interior.When our train passed, the farmers stopped their hoes and looked into the distance, and the children raised their hands and shouted.As soon as the train stopped at the station, dirty children gathered around to beg for leftovers, shouting: "Give me some! Give me some!"

This boring day lasted for four days, and on the fifth day around six o'clock in the afternoon, the train arrived at a station.It is said that this is Handan Station, but the strange thing is that the lights are turned on at this station.After we got out of the car, we found that there were soldiers in the station using two motors to generate electricity. The troops first set off to the garrison camp, leaving us a few porters.After carrying the luggage, we rushed to the camp along the dark road.Suddenly, presumptuous laughter and inarticulate murmurs of drunks came from the dark place ahead, and they all spoke Japanese. We would have imagined in our dreams that we would meet people who could speak Japanese in the remote areas of Northern China. woman.

As soon as we arrived at the destination, we were sent to carry our luggage. It was already very late, and we dragged our tired bodies to the camp with our heavy backpacks on our shoulders. , and even more angry. As we passed them, we turned on our flashlights to see who they were.In the light of the flashlight, a drunken officer and a woman in a dazzling red kimono with heavy make-up were staggering and spitting out obscene words from their mouths.The wine they drank was probably military supplies sent by the people in the rear (the rear here refers to Japan.) with great enthusiasm. It was an unsightly scene. A shameless woman followed her to the battlefield for prostitution. I despised this officer very much.

The coquettish laughter of prostitutes and the murmurs of drunkards came from the darkness and disappeared in the darkness. I spit out a mouthful of saliva "bah", and strode towards the camp. It is said to be a camp, but it is still a dirty dormitory on the battlefield. Walking through the dilapidated gate, the rooms are arranged in a "concave" shape. Our team's room is on the left, and a straw mat is hung at the door. The room was empty except for the roof and walls.It is as simple as the residence of Dingkuro on the Yamazaki Street (there is a section in Japanese folklore and kabuki called "Yamazaki Street", Dingkuro is a character in the play, with disheveled hair, and lives in a very simple house.).Handan—this is the place where Lu Sheng dreamed that princes and generals lived in resplendent palaces, wine pools and meat forests, and squandered wildly (here is the allusion of "Huangliang Dream", Lu Sheng, it should be Lu Sheng .).

Shall I also have a well-fed, brocade-clothed dream tonight? I wrapped my coat tightly and lay down on the ground.The room was full of cold air, and the biting air-conditioning on the ground made me shiver. I couldn't fall asleep at all, and got up several times to warm myself by the fire. When we first set off from Dalian, the hot air we exhaled formed a layer of white ice on the iron door of the stuffy tanker.After the train went south, although it got warmer and warmer, it was only during the day and the night was still cold.The temperature during the day did not exceed zero degrees Celsius, but there was no wind, so it didn't feel cold.

The next morning, I poured some river water into the kettle, and it froze in less than three minutes. I couldn’t even pull out the stopper. Today is cloudless again.The further south you go, the more sunny days you get. I felt extremely itchy all over my body. I took off my clothes and saw that there were a few lice crawling around and laying eggs on the white sweater I had just put on for a few days. This was the first time I saw lice in my life, and it scared me. Hurry up and throw away this brand new white undershirt. Today is February 5th, the whole team has a day off, and I walked to the city to visit. There are many ancient temples in Handan City, giving people a sense of long history and antique flavor.The architecture of the city gate is very distinctive: a stone bridge more than ten feet long is erected on the dry outer moat. Cross the bridge and turn left to enter the first city gate, then turn right to enter the second city gate. The city gate that turns left and right is built in a simple and dignified manner. The moss on the inside of the city wall tells the history of hundreds of years. Tanaka and I walked on this quiet and interesting street, and from time to time we could see finely crafted blue tiles and animal statues on the tiles.Tanaka usually likes to play with antiques, but now he can't take his eyes off them.He wanted these antiques very much, but he had to give up after seeing the notices "Do not destroy the temple gendarmerie at will" posted all over the wall. This street is the same as other streets in China. There is no stone, but the thick dust almost buries people's feet. Suddenly, I saw a sign of "Korean Cuisine Blue Bird Restaurant" hanging on a street corner in front of me. I went in to get something to eat, but there was nothing decent to eat, only the screams of whores. This shop originally sold "sexual dishes". I was driven by curiosity to look into the back room, and saw a bed inside, and a soldier was lying on it with a North Korean woman in his arms.There was no door beside the bed, and it was simply separated by a white curtain. Less than two meters away from them, there was also a white curtain. A man and a woman were lying on the bed inside.With a slight lift of the curtains, their bodies were completely exposed, and we looked down from room to room, and we were greeted by scenes of debauched nudity and sexual promiscuity.These men and women don't give a damn about our prying eyes.Outside, there were still many soldiers waiting in line exhaling smoke rings. What an unsightly scene! We walked out and circled outside the city, where there was an ancient temple called Mahayana Temple.The roof of the temple is covered with ancient blue tiles, and there are many statues of foxes and soldiers on the highest part of the roof and the cornices on all sides.This ancient temple is crumbling, only the roof still retains the simple and quiet style of the temple.The walls are made of black bricks, which reflect the majesty of the blue tiles.This blue tile may be the most valuable thing in the ancient temple. There is no sign of the Buddha statue in the temple at all, it is empty, like a stable, Mahayana Temple-sounds like the name of a temple in the mainland. There are no trees around here (northern China), so collecting wood for the fire has become a big problem.In the end, we knocked down the houses with shovels and hoes, and picked out logs for the fire, all while the Chinese stood by and watched in horror. On the 7th, we set off for Ci County. I didn't sleep almost all night last night. I didn't sleep for two or three hours until it was almost dawn.I woke up and yawned, but the troops would not delay their departure because I was sleepy alone. We carried heavy backpacks and walked on the road that was five or six inches thick. Wherever he walked, he raised a cloud of dust.At this time, there were five or six women standing on the side of the road with the words "National Defense Women's Association" hanging on their shoulders. "Take care!" "Pay attention to your body!" "We will follow soon! Hee hee..." They shouted and laughed. There are Japanese women from the National Defense Women's Association in this kind of place?It's incredible.But when I thought that they were Japanese, I couldn't help being happy.I glanced at them a few times, and one woman caught my attention.Isn't she the drunken woman who we met with the officer the night we just arrived in Handan?They turned out to be prostitutes! A member of the Defense Women's Association by day, and a member of the Prostitution Society by night. Are they worthy of membership in the Women's National Defense Association?What shameless women. Two or three of them turned their heads and lowered their eyes.Is it because of his humble status, or is he reluctant to break up with his lover? They were also mixed with two young North Korean prostitutes. They wore black and white crossed Korean clothes, and their white bow ties fluttered in the wind.There is a Japanese woman who is nearly forty years old and keeps chattering. They were not seeing off our crew so much as they were seeing off the officers who had spent the night with them last night, the night before, the night before, and the night before, and paid generously. I despise these women, but I am not disgusted at the thought of having a woman see us off. You despicable women!Make money as you like! There is no train on this road yet, it seems that the train only goes to Handan, so we have to walk along the Ping-Han Railway.The more I walked, the heavier the backpack on my shoulders became, and the pain in my feet was unbearable.We bent over one by one, dragging our heavy legs and panting forward.There are constantly stragglers rolling down on the railway.We are marching not by physical strength, but by will, and it is the will of steel that supports us to move forward.The soles of the feet were continuously ground with blisters, and the pain was unbearable after the blisters burst.I just try to walk with my heels, or rest my left foot hard with my right foot, or rest my right foot hard with my left foot. Many times, I wanted to sit down on the ground or lie on the rails, but the thought of this is an exercise of will, and I dispelled these thoughts. As night fell, in the winter night sky, the semicircular moon shone quietly with a cold light. In the severe cold where dripping water turned into ice, the water in the pot had already frozen.When I was resting, there was a chill on my sweaty back, which made me worry that ice would also form on my back. From Cixian Station, along the potholed road with willow trees planted on both sides, we walked for almost one kilometer before arriving at Cixian County. February 8th. We entered a large empty house, which was said to be a school. Speaking of schools, they are far from being as well-equipped as Japanese schools, and there are only three or four empty houses. The dirt room had a brand new floor, probably from an architecture class. He said that we would be stationed here for a month, and Cao Chang even told us that anyone who wanted to subscribe to "Asahi Shimbun" or "Mainichi Shimbun" should register with him.We were all very excited at the thought of being stationed for a month. After I went to the battlefield, I always had problems with my throat. Either it was unbearable pain, or I was too hoarse to speak.I don't know if it's because the air is too dry or because there is too much dust in the air. Because there is no wind, no matter how low the temperature is, it will not feel cold.At this temperature, if there is a gust of wind, it will feel chilly.During the day, the sun shone like a warm April day.It also rarely rains.Speaking of rain, I have only encountered two times since I came to China: one was when I attacked the Northern Branch in October, and the other was when I just arrived in the Central Branch in November. The troops distributed canned pineapples and apples to everyone.When we opened the can, the juice had already frozen, so we had to chew the juice instead of sucking it.The apples were also frozen and had no sweetness at all. The Chinese people in Ci County did not show us the slightest awe or fear, on the contrary, they held a contemptuous attitude.We all feel that the appeasement work here is not done too comprehensively. It seems that not letting them taste the fist first will not achieve the real purpose of appeasement. This is the first time we have encountered the attitude of the residents on this land.They talk about money.It costs five yuan to wash one undershirt, and ten yuan to wash ten wooden sticks about one foot.He ran to help us by himself, and asked for money when the work was done.There is also a fee for picking out the luggage. In short, as long as they do their work, you have to pay.They talk about money all the time, which can't help but be annoying.From them, I can't find the sense of humiliation unique to the nationals of the defeated countries. As long as you give them a good face, they will make progress. The street market is still lively, and it is not affected by the presence of our troops at all.The road is full of dust, making one wonder if it will be muddy than paddy fields if it rains.On such a road, the Chinese people sell milk candies they don't know where they got. They seem to think that this is a rare opportunity to make money, and they take the opportunity to ask for prices. The wheelbarrow creaked through the dusty road. The streets are full of people coming and going, full of vitality.Newly opened snack bars and hardware stores lined up on both sides of the road like night markets in the mainland. There is a Confucian temple next to our dormitory.The footprint is surprisingly large, but there is no sense of grandeur.The appearance is no different from the Confucian Temple in the illustrations in elementary school textbooks. There is a golden plaque hanging at the entrance of the temple, with the words "Confucius Temple" written on it.On the gate with a triple roof hangs two plaques: "Tao runs through the present and the past" and "Virtue matches the world".The roof of the Confucian Temple is covered with blue and yellow tiles, decorated with stone statues of foxes and soldiers, which is very exquisite.Tanaka climbed up to the roof in the middle of the night and stole the stone statues of the fox and the soldiers.After that, Tanaka would often stare at those antiques with a look of intoxication on his face. Our squadron set up a sumo stand in the open space behind. February 11th. I must go to the north gate to stand guard. The north gate is built majestic and majestic, passing through the north gate is like going through a maze, bypassing three passes, one can imagine how difficult it is to attack this city gate.The city wall is as high as a three-story building in Japan.Walking out of the city gate, you can see the moat filled with water. In the sky, only the city wall can be seen on the vast land.The patrolmen of the security team with batons and the sentries of our troops checked the Chinese people entering and leaving the city gate together. As soon as these patrolmen found out the banknotes of the Bank of China, they confiscated all the banknotes of the Bank of Korea, and did not reissue them the banknotes of the Bank of Korea.But when we were in Handan, the residents there were unwilling to ask for banknotes from the Bank of Korea, but wanted banknotes issued by the Bank of China in our hands. The residents of Cixian threw away the banknotes of the Bank of China without hesitation and used the banknotes of the Bank of Korea or the Bank of Japan, as if they felt that this was the currency they had been using all along. The top of the city gate is nine meters wide and more than five meters narrow, enough for a man to gallop on a horse.The city wall is also more than five meters wide. The patrolmen of the security team live between the first and second gates, which is their home. Cixian County may be the center of this area. During the day, there are a lot of people, no less than Jingji in Kyoto (Jingji, place name, the bustling area of ​​Kyoto, Japan.).But everyone was wearing navy blue or black dirty Chinese clothes. Some people were driving donkeys to pull a wheelbarrow, and some people yelled at two donkeys to pull a two-wheeled cart full of cotton.On the dusty streets, there are people selling steamed buns, candies, meat buns, groceries, etc., and some people are buying these things. It is really a sea of ​​people.There is also a rice cake and red bean soup restaurant run by Japanese with "Dessert Club" hanging on it, and a military canteen. February 16th. One day, I was sent to the brigade headquarters as a guard.The headquarters is located in a large private house near the city wall.We live in a nearby private house on standby.The family consisted of a housewife, children and a young girl.The girl was about seventeen or eighteen to twenty years old, and she wasn't very good-looking, but in the eyes of those of us who haven't seen a young girl for a long time, she was quite handsome.Housewives mainly make meat buns for the children during the day. It was my turn to stand guard at night.The cold moonlight shines on the winding city wall.There is a pool of water beside the city wall, and the small city gate on the opposite side can be vaguely seen from the water vapor covering the lake.There was a bare tree where I stood guard. I leaned on the tree and looked at the moonlight, the lake and the city wall.The bayonet on the tip of the rifle glowed bluish-white in the moonlight, and the neighing of horses could be heard from the stable.What a bright moon, what a beautiful scenery!Floating clouds drifted past the moon like silk floss. My thoughts also drifted to my hometown with the clouds. When I think that the moon is also shining on my hometown, and the people in my hometown are also looking at the moon, I feel how mysterious and incredible it is!At the same time, I also feel the emptiness of the universe.How insignificant are the things we do compared to the universe!