Chapter 26 1. Devil Captain Tanaka Gunkichi

On December 14, 1937, Hisao Tani led the staff of the Sixth Division Headquarters and followed the main force into Nanjing City.He rode a tall horse and wielded a sword, and entered the Zhonghua Gate arrogantly.When he saw the corpses of Chinese soldiers and civilians everywhere inside the Gate of China and on both sides of the street, the smoke filled the air, the flames of war were burning, and the sound of mopping up guns and the carnival and shouts of the victorious Japanese army came from time to time in front of him, he felt an unprecedented feeling in his heart. The madness, contentment, and pride of the conquerors of the past.Nanjing, the capital of China, is now under his feet. He is leading his own troops to show the samurai prestige of the Imperial Japanese Army here, so that the Chinese people will be in awe.Hisao Tani, who was so excited, revealed his ferocious and cruel nature. He slashed across the streets of Nanjing, shouting with the madness of a conqueror:

"Long Live His Majesty the Emperor!" "For His Majesty the Emperor, charge bravely!" "Discipline will be lifted for three days!" Therefore, under the dominance of the superiors' spirit of "promoting the might of the imperial army and intimidating China", and under the instigation and connivance of "removing military discipline for three days", thousands of Japanese soldiers became unruly beasts. On the streets of Nanjing, the most cruel and shameless chapter in the history of mankind in the 20th century was written. Junji Tanaka, Captain of the Forty-fifth Regiment of the Sixth Division, was born in Tokyo, Japan. He was 32 years old. one.After entering the Zhonghua Gate, Tanaka Junji was ordered to lead his troops to sweep the area around Shuixi Gate and Hanzhong Gate.Before departure, he gathered all the soldiers of the squadron and stood in front of the queue with a murderous look and gave a lecture: "Do you know about the incident of Second Lieutenant Kanaimu? Second Lieutenant Kanaimu is a subordinate of the commander of the Nakajima Division. When the troops were stationed in Changzhou, he was patrolling the troops. On the way back from the guard state, I came out of a small alley, and at the corner, there was an eleven or twelve-year-old girl basking in the sun. The second lieutenant didn't care, and just walked by her within three steps, the little girl He took out his pistol and shot the second lieutenant. You see, how strong the Chinese people are against the imperial army! So—" He paused for a moment, then raised his voice and said sharply: "The commander of the army has issued an order: even if Don't let your guard down on women and children. People who dare to resist the imperial army will be shot to death!" When he said the word "shoot to kill", he swung the saber in his hand violently and gritted his teeth. Boom boom.Then, Junji Tanaka led the entire squadron of soldiers, divided into three groups, and swept towards Shuiximen in a murderous manner.

Near Shuiximen, a small team leader reported that a group of Chinese soldiers had been captured.Tanaka Gunkichi immediately ordered to kill them all, and personally came to the team, ordered the prisoners to be taken to an open space, and forced the prisoners to line up and kneel down.Several captives refused to kneel, Tanaka Junji ordered the soldiers to take them to the front of the queue and kill them in the most cruel way. The remaining dozen or so captives were forced to kneel down. , everyone closed their eyes, waiting for the coming of death.They only regretted silently in their hearts.I regret that I shouldn't have put down my weapon just now. If I knew the enemy was so cruel, I would rather fight to the death on the battlefield!

A Japanese squad leader stepped forward and began beheading the captive soldiers.This is a fifteen or sixteen-year-old Chinese soldier. In this cold winter, he only wore a single military uniform. Because of his thin stature, the large military uniform covered most of his body.He bent over and knelt, his buttocks stuck to his feet, one foot was wearing an old cloth shoe, the other shoe had fallen off, and his purple feet were covered with mud.He was a Guangdong soldier who went to the front line with full of anti-Japanese enthusiasm. Now that his ambition has not been fulfilled, he will die tragically under the enemy's butcher's knife, leaving his infinite regrets on the troubled land of the Chinese nation.The Japanese squad leader swung his knife twice, but still failed to decapitate the Chinese soldier.Junkichi Tanaka stepped forward very dissatisfied, and said in a reprimanding tone: "Go away! Let me demonstrate the moves for you!" As he spoke, he swung his knife and chopped off his head, and Junkichi Tanaka didn't care if he raised his leg again. With one kick, the head was kicked more than two feet away.Enthusiastically killed, he simply took off his cotton coat and beheaded a dozen prisoners one by one.Then he said loudly to the soldiers: "The might of the imperial army lies in the fact that the sabers are covered with blood! You must dare to kill the Chinese people, just like we slaughtered a dog and a mouse in Japan. You must despise them! Just now A head rolled down at my feet, I don't take it for a human head, you see, I take it for a ball kicked in the playground of the Japanese Empire!"

So, under the crazy instigation of Tanaka Junji, the soldiers were murderous one by one, eager to try, brandishing their knives and scrambling to kill everywhere, using bloody butcher knives to show the majesty of the imperial army. On December 15, 1937, the headquarters of the Sixth Division of the Japanese Army in Gongyuan Street, Nanjing. Since the headquarters of the division was moved to the former Nanjing Gendarmerie Headquarters in Zhonghuamen yesterday, Hisao Tani received reports from his subordinates that Tang Shengzhi, the commander of the Nanjing Defender, led his remnant troops across the river to escape on the evening of the 12th, and the remaining tens of thousands were too late. The fleeing enemy troops have all collapsed and disintegrated, and are running around in Nanjing.Many soldiers have changed into civilian clothes and hid among the people. On the streets and in the buildings, there are military uniforms, military blankets and weapons discarded by the enemy everywhere.The excited Tani Hisao immediately reported the situation to Matsui Iwane, and then ordered the divisional sweeping troops to search out the enemies hiding in the civilian area as soon as possible.

On December 15th, the excited Tani Hisao could no longer hold back, and he decided to go to the streets to inspect the streets and witness the spectacular scene of the imperial army conquering Nanjing with his own eyes.After breakfast, Hisao Tani led a large group of people onto the streets of Nanjing.Riding on a tall horse, he looked around and saw the corpses of Chinese soldiers and civilians everywhere on the streets of Nanjing, and many naked female corpses with their stomachs broken.The houses that had been bombarded by the bombardment were crumbling here and there, and many buildings were still burning with smoke billowing in the cold wind.Witnessing the great achievements of the Imperial Army of Japan, Hisao Tani felt a kind of excitement, comfort and satisfaction that he had never had before.He traveled along Zhonghua Road and Zhongshan South Road to Xinma North, and gradually came to Xinjiekou.Gu Hisao saw that many Japanese soldiers gathered in a large circle and were watching a Japanese officer performing a demonstration of beheading.Gu Hisao reined in his horse, stopped happily, and ordered his subordinates to watch together.

This small force was part of the Forty-Fifth Regiment under Gu Hisao.The officer who slashed and killed with a knife was the squadron leader of the 45th Regiment, the murderous devil Tanaka Gunkichi.Junji Tanaka led the troops to sweep from Zhonghuamen to Shuiximen, Hanzhongmen, and then to Xinjiekou.Hearing that the head of the division came to inspect, Tanaka Junji hurriedly adjusted his military uniform, ran to Tani Hisao's horse, slapped his feet to attention, and gave a military salute: "Report to the head of the division, Tanaka, the squadron leader of the 45th Regiment, Junji is here to meet you!"

The tough and cruel Tani Hisao showed a rare smile: "How many enemies have your troops wiped out?" "Reporting to the head of the division, our squadron has killed more than 500 horses, and one of our subordinates has killed more than 100 horses!" Gu Hisao was taken aback for a moment, and then he still smiled and asked, "Why do you call the Chinese people 'horses'?" "Soldiers of the imperial army regarded beheading Chinese people as killing pigs and dogs, so we are all used to calling them 'horses'." Hisao Gu grinned, nodded and said:

"Very good, very good, you are a hero of the Imperial Japanese Army!" The enthusiastic Tani Hisao immediately turned to a reporter next to him and said, "Reporter Matsui, would you please take some photos of our hero?" This reporter is called Matsui Nanao, the younger brother of General Matsui Iwane.Nanao Matsui immediately picked up the camera and walked to the slaughterhouse with Gunkichi Tanaka.Nanao Matsui was surprised to find that it was not a Chinese soldier who was beheaded, but a civilian!This is a Chinese youth in his twenties. His cotton coat has been torn, his upper body is half naked, and his shoes are on the side.The young man knelt on the ground with great reluctance, his eyes drooped, and extreme resentment and resentment appeared between his brows.

Nanao Matsui reminded softly: "Captain Tanaka, this is not a Chinese soldier, but an ordinary citizen!" Tanaka Gunkichi replied nonchalantly: "The Chinese soldiers who are hiding have all changed into civilian clothes. Can you still tell the difference between soldiers and civilians?" Matsui Nanao continued: "If you don't make a clear distinction, you just kill it casually. It's not good if you kill the wrong one, right?" Tanaka Junkichi still replied disapprovingly: "Come on, the people in China are very bad, and it would not be a pity to kill them!" For the convenience of beheading, he took off his cotton coat and only wore a shirt.Picking up the saber, he said loudly:

"All Chinese people should be killed, if you are polite to them, we will have bad luck!" As he said that, Junji Tanaka strode up to the young man, raised his knife and dropped it, and then beheaded five Chinese prisoners and civilians in one breath, and asked Nanao Matsui to take pictures of him beheading the Chinese from all angles. photo. Back at the headquarters of the Tenth Army, Matsui Nanao has been silently thinking about many things he saw these days.Therefore, he reported the massacre of Chinese civilians by the troops to the commander of the Tenth Army Yanagawa Heisuke, and said: "The goal of capturing Nanjing and punishing the Chinese government has been achieved. Why do we still have to kill civilians?" To Matsui Nanao's surprise, Commander Yanagawa not only didn't take it seriously, but was also very unhappy. He replied coldly: "Which general in the Japanese Empire has no blood on his sword? He also got a share in the war." Qing soldiers and common people? The general’s treasured sword is used to kill many people, and the might of the Yamato nation depends entirely on this sharp murderous knife!” Nanao Matsui sighed and said, "Isn't this too cruel?" "Cruel?!" Heisuke Yanagawa continued: "I dare say that all the troops of the Japanese army that captured Nanjing killed people in this way. To say it was cruel, Commander Nakajima's troops were even more cruel than the Sixth Division. They even beheaded What about the Chinese game!" After hearing this, Matsui Nanao was so surprised that he couldn't speak for a while.He did not expect that the senior Japanese generals who captured Nanjing would allow their subordinates to massacre civilians in this way.