Chapter 25 7. Looting and Burning

The Japanese army captured Nanjing. As the arrogant victors, they plundered property and looted goods, and took the opportunity to make a fortune. It was also an excellent opportunity that the officers and soldiers took for granted and could not be missed.From the Supreme Commander Matsui Iwane, tens of thousands of Japanese officers and soldiers joined the ranks of plundering China's wealth. When he was still commanding the Battle of Nanjing in Suzhou, Matsui Iwane, as a "China expert" from a family of Chinese culture, had already managed to get the exhibit list of the Nanjing Chinese Cultural Relics, Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition. , signed and stamped many precious cultural relics, calligraphy and paintings, took them as his own, and entrusted them to transport them back to his home in Japan.Many officers in the Japanese army who love cultural relics also led their soldiers to "search Chinese soldiers" from wealthy households of officials and eunuchs, and took away porcelain antiques and celebrity calligraphy and paintings that were too late to take away, such as Qiu Ying's landscape paintings, Zhao Ziang's horses, and Yue Fei's "Man Jianghong" Calligraphy, Zheng Banqiao's bamboo branches, Bada Shanren's calligraphy and paintings, etc., many Chinese cultural masterpieces, all of which were searched one by one and entered the bag.

As for the tens of thousands of ordinary Japanese soldiers, of course they don’t have so much leisure time. They are interested in gold and silver jewelry, banknotes, watches, pens, sweaters, etc. Of course, they all become trophies and seized them one by one. .The Japanese army looted property with no military discipline, no scruples, and no sense of shame, and they continued in broad daylight.Even the soldiers standing guard at the gates of the cities, when they searched the passers-by, put the banknotes in their pockets without any scruples. Crazy looting was going on all over Nanjing, compatriots hiding in the refugee shelters in the safe zone were also looted, and even the embassies of various countries in China were not spared.According to international conventions, foreign embassies cannot be broken into casually, but the Japanese ignore these. On December 14, a platoon of Japanese troops broke into the British embassy, ​​ransacked the embassy and left.Then the American embassy was not only ransacked, but four Chinese compatriots guarding the gate were also shot and killed by the Japanese army. The Stars and Stripes on the gate were torn off and torn to pieces.

Italy and Germany are allies of Japan, so they should be more polite, but the looting and looting continued.Japanese soldiers visited the Italian embassy more than a dozen times. The embassy's car was taken away by the Japanese army, and the watches of dozens of fellow prisoners who were hiding in the embassy were also searched.The door of the German embassy was closed tightly, and the Japanese army forced their way in from the top of the door. The drawers of the suitcase were overturned, and glass and porcelain were thrown everywhere. He drew out his pistol and pointed at the Japanese soldiers and cursed: "Are you soldiers or bandits?!" Only the Soviet Russian embassy was not looted. It turned out that they piled up fortifications in front of the door and mounted machine guns to prevent any beast soldiers from entering and searching.This trick really worked. Not only did the Japanese soldiers not dare to enter and loot, they even walked quickly past the gate of the Soviet Russian embassy for fear of the roar of bullets.It seems that although Japanese soldiers are greedy for money and things, they are even more afraid of losing their own lives for this.

After the Japanese army captured Nanjing, in addition to massacres, rapes, and looting, another "goodwill gift" brought to the people of Nanjing was arson.The Japanese army is the victor, so they can naturally set fire at will and burn it to show off their power.Japanese arsons were often carried out under the command of military officers. After looting, the officers drew a mark on the door of the house that the officer thought could be burned, and then the soldiers held torches and poured chemical liquids on the doors and windows according to the mark. The flames soared into the sky, and the huge houses and floors disappeared in an instant.

The British journalist Tim Bolie recorded in the book "Japanese Atrocities Witnessed by Outsiders" that on January 10, 1938, an American overseas Chinese wrote to a friend: "Now there are still several fires every day, and many houses are deliberately destroyed by Japanese soldiers. We have several samples of the chemical firelighters used by the Japanese soldiers to set fire, and we have witnessed them one by one.” The same book records the diary of a foreigner on December 20, 1937: “The most important thing in the city The area around Taiping Road, an important commercial area, was raging into the sky. Going south, we saw Japanese setting fires in the shops.... At night, I looked out of the window, and 14 tongues of flame flew into the sky.”

The fire lasted for dozens of days, and there were several fires every day. Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist Government, which had been under bleak management for ten years, was burned to the ground with ruins and devastation everywhere. The busiest streets in Nanjing are Taiping Road and Zhonghua Road. Both sides are lined with new and beautiful buildings. The straight asphalt roads are spacious, bright and clean. During the day, there are clouds of pedestrians and heavy traffic;Standing on the inner bridge and looking around, you can reach the Zhonghua Gate in a straight line, and you will see a prosperous and beautiful scene.Today, all of this has been destroyed by the Japanese army.The fire burned from the Confucius Temple to Taiping Road, and then spread throughout Nanjing.The Ministry of Communications Building is a landmark building in Nanjing. It was built with a huge sum of 3 million yuan. After five days and five nights of fire, only ruins remained, which was terrible.High-rise and beautiful buildings such as Dahua, Xindu, and Central Shopping Center have not escaped disaster.Before Nanjing was established as the capital, Xiaguan, Nanjing, was more bustling and bustling than the city. After the fire, there was not even a complete shop. In the huge market, there was not a single signboard that could identify a certain business name.It's heartbreaking to watch, and I want to cry but I have no more tears to shed.Military doctor Jiang Gonggu hid in the safe zone and experienced the catastrophe firsthand. He described it in "Three Months of Trapping Beijing": "Recently, the place where the fire was burned at night has not decreased slightly. Standing on the hill in the backyard to Xinjie Looking around the entrance, it is almost a rubble field. The broken walls give off a smell of scorching, and there is no complete roof to be seen." (January 13, 1938) "Exit Xinjiekou, pass Taiping Road , Confucian Temple, turn to Zhongshan Road, there are no houses left along the way, and the houses have been burned to ashes.” (January 15, 1938)

The tragic scene of the Japanese invaders setting fire to Nanjing can be seen.