Chapter 38 Witness of Lugou Bridge

At the beginning of 1932, Beiping was besieged on three sides, and there was only one way out to the south—Ping-Han Railway.The Marco Polo Bridge, known as a scene in Beijing, is next to it.As time goes by, history is always condensed, and a large amount of information is filtered, leaving only concise and vivid things in history textbooks and in people's memory.Lucky for Lugou Bridge, a stone-hole bridge that has gone through vicissitudes has become a permanent symbol of China's Anti-Japanese War. Lugou Bridge is located more than 10 kilometers southwest of Beiping, in Wanping County, Hebei Province, facing the Pinghan Railway far away.This stone bridge built in the Jin Dynasty runs north-south across the Yongding River.There is the sound of water under the bridge, and the gurgling can be heard.There are many stone lions carved on the bridge railings, of different sizes and postures.In autumn and winter, when the grass is withered and the wind is blowing, the business travel team walks unhurriedly across the bridge, drifts away, and disappears into the towering and mysterious mountains.This is the ancient battlefield, and this is also the place where the emperor stopped for the first time on his southern tour.There are tile pavilions on both sides of the bridge. Beside the pavilion are "Lugou Xiaoyue" inscribed by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and a stone tablet describing the history of the pavilion.Climbing on this ancient stone bridge, people will feel the great charm of medieval oriental art, and at the same time, they will feel the change of current events and the stillness of the country.

At the beginning of 1937, sandbags were piled up at the entrance to the south of the bridge, and the defense was so tight that only one person could pass sideways. Soldiers of the 29th Army, wearing gray cotton coats and leggings, carrying rifles, guarded the Marco Polo Bridge.The broadsword carried on the back of the soldier is the unique logo of this army.Loyal warriors come from the simple countryside, and now they are the loyal guards of the city.Calmness, bravery and patriotism are their virtues.The designation of the bridge guarding unit is the third battalion of the 219th Regiment of the 37th Division of the 29th Army.They looked at the Ping-Han Railway a few hundred meters away.Once the war broke out, that railway would become the lifeline for the residents of the huge city of Beiping to evacuate to the south.

At the end of June, the first regiment of the Japanese army stationed in Fengtai aimed at capturing Wanping City and conducted day and night exercises. On July 7, the No. 8 Squadron of the Wing, led by the squadron leader Setsuro Shimizu, held a military exercise near the 29th Army's garrison next to the Marco Polo Bridge without notifying the Chinese side in advance.That night, there was a burst of gunfire from the Japanese military exercise position near the east of Wanping County.A Japanese soldier named Shimura Kikujiro "disappeared" as an orderly.In fact, it was because Xiaojie dropped out of the team and returned to the team after 20 minutes.Knowing this, the Japanese military officers took advantage of the problem and surrounded Wanping City.The Japanese army immediately asked to enter Wanping City to search, on the grounds that a soldier was missing during the exercise.

In the early morning of the 8th, the reinforced Japanese army suddenly launched an attack on Wanping County, and the Chinese soldiers stationed in the city resolutely opened fire to resist.After the military headquarters of the 29th Army got the news of the incident, they issued the following order to the frontline soldiers: "The Lugou Bridge is the grave of you and others. It should live and die with the bridge and not retreat!" The brigade commander He Jifeng also issued three orders: 1. Disagree The Japanese army entered the city; second, the Japanese army invaded by force and resolutely fought back; third, our army has the responsibility to defend the territory, never retreat, abandon the position, and follow the military law.

On the second day of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the author who signed Liu Huo wrote the following verse: "Roar, Marco Polo Bridge! The day of our war of resistance has come. It is not a day to endure humiliation, and it is not a day to pray for peace, but what we get is, The unreasonable trouble at the head of the Marco Polo Bridge. Now the twenty-ninth army has risen, answering the enemy's brutality with iron and blood! Listen! The shouts of killing the enemy are coming, and the blood of the athletes is spilling on the wilderness of the northern country!" It was from Marco Polo Bridge that the turmoil of the 8-year all-out war of resistance against Japan began, and then quickly swept across the whole of China.