Chapter 13 6. The bloody general who killed himself and died for the country

In the defense of Nanjing, there was also General Rao Guohua who served the country with his death in peripheral battles. Rao Guohua, courtesy name Bichen, was born in 1894 in Ziyang, Sichuan.The ancestors have been farming for generations, and the family is poor. Only with the support of relatives can they go to school to study.His brilliant intelligence and diligent style of study often win the envy of his classmates and the appreciation of his teachers.After the Revolution of 1911, influenced by the trend of revolutionary thought, Rao Guohua decided to join the army and serve the motherland.Due to his bravery in combat and repeated military exploits, he was gradually promoted from a soldier to a platoon commander and company commander. In 1920, he was promoted to the commander of the eighth regiment of the fourth brigade of the second division of the Sichuan Army.

After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Liu Xiang of Sichuan Province sent a telegram to invite Yingying to fight against the enemy and was praised by the chairman of the committee.His unit, the 21st Army of the 23rd Group Army, was transferred out of Sichuan, and Rao Guohua, the lieutenant general of the 145th Division, became the first general to lead his troops out of Sichuan to the Anti-Japanese Front.The swearing-in meeting was held in Chengdu Shaocheng Park.This was an exciting expedition, and all the soldiers were gearing up, filled with righteous indignation: "The lost land will never be restored, and I will never return to Sichuan!" Army commander Pan Wenhua took the lead in making a will, and issued the heroic words of "Victory returns, defeat means death".Rao Guohua also made a generous statement at the farewell party of all walks of life in Sichuan: "Leading troops out of Sichuan to fight against the Japanese this time has a great responsibility. I will fight the enemy bravely and serve the chief and the elders in Sichuan. If I win, I will return triumphantly; Die to serve the motherland."

Subsequently, Rao Guohua led his troops to board the ship from Wanxian, first to Wuhan, and then to Xinxiang, Henan.In the later period of the Battle of Songhu, the 145th Division was ordered to rush to the aid of Nanjing, defend Guangde, cover the troops retreating from the front line of Songhu, and guard the side gate of Nanjing. In late November, hundreds of thousands of troops retreating from the Songhu front line retreated from them in a tidal wave, followed by tens of thousands of imperial soldiers from the 18th Division of the Japanese Ushishima Sadao Regiment.The 14th and 5th divisions rushed to help from afar. The soldiers were still wearing summer single clothes. Many people's bare feet were covered with blood blisters from the sandals. Some people were even barefoot when the sandals were worn out. Hastily thrown into battle.

Japanese planes circled and bombed overhead like locusts, Japanese artillery rained down on the positions, and groups of infantry attacked the Chinese defenders' positions under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles.The Chinese defenders only have machine guns, rifles, and grenades. During the fierce battle, ammunition is in short supply, and the wounded have no medicine to heal. They can't even find a safe place to cook. But the soldiers are determined to serve the country to the death. They are hungry. Use flesh and blood to strangle the enemy together, desperately together.The situation was very serious. Rao Guohua asked Tang Shizun, the commander-in-chief of the group army, for reinforcements. Tang Shizun ordered loudly: "Hold me, where can I find soldiers, I'm not a fairy!"

After three days of fierce fighting, the Chinese defenders became fewer and fewer, but the enemy fought more and more.On the third night, the head of the regiment, Liu Ruzhai, called and said that there were only a few dozen people left in his regiment, and he was going to retreat in order to leave a few seeds for the whole regiment.Rao Guohua was so angry that he yelled loudly on the phone, but he couldn't make Liu Ruzhai change his mind. Liu Ruzhai opened a gap in the defense line. The next day, the Japanese army rushed in through the gap. The defense line of the 145th Division completely collapsed, and the troops were dispersed to fight on their own. On November 20, Guangde fell, and Rao Guohua retreated to a small town called Shizipu with a battalion.He deeply felt that he was incapable of running the army and defending poorly, which led to the fall of Guangde.At night, by a dim kerosene lamp, he wrote his last suicide note:

...Guangde is located at an important point, and I couldn't bear to fall into the enemy's hands, so I decided to live and die with the city, report the kindness of the country's cultivation, and report the love and care of the officials at all levels.From now on, I deeply hope that the officers and soldiers of all ministries will fight the enemy bravely, drive the bandits out of the country, return the soul of our country, and fulfill my unfinished ambitions. ... After finishing writing, he read it again affectionately, folded it gently, and put it in an envelope.Then he stood up, turned around and opened the window, but seeing the waning moon in the sky, the night was dark, and looking at the devastated land of the motherland, a feeling of grief and indignation welled up in his chest.Then the general drew his pistol and aimed it at his head.The guards realized that something was wrong, and hurried forward to stop it. With a "bang", the general's body fell to the ground with a bang, and a cavity of hot blood slowly flowed out from the muzzle of the gun, and gently sprinkled on the land he loved so much.

After the news of General Rao Guohua's suicide and martyrdom spread, the whole country caused strong shock and repercussions.The national government ratified him as an admiral in December 1937 and gave him a state funeral. In 1940, a monument to General Rao Guohua and its bronze statue were erected in Zhongshan Park, Chengdu, for future generations to commemorate and admire.