Chapter 36 1. Entering the city to show off the power of Wu

When tens of thousands of Japanese troops were massacring hundreds of thousands of unarmed Nanjing people in order to "punish violent China", Matsui Iwane held a grand entrance ceremony on December 17 in order to further show off the might of the imperial army. At 1:00 p.m., on both sides of the road from Zhongshan Gate to the Nationalist Government, the siege troops of six divisions of the Japanese army were lined up neatly and mightily.Commander Matsui Iwane arrived at Zhongshan Gate on time by car, and then rode a Kawasaki tall bay red horse. Accompanied by Chief of Staff Tsukada Makoto and Deputy Chief of Staff Akira Muto, he entered Zhongshan Gate majestically.An officer on duty to be reviewed ran forward, swiped his sharp saber 180 degrees in the air, and then shouted a password: "All stand at attention!"——" Asaka Miyohiko, the newly appointed commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, the first The Commander of the Tenth Army, Yanagawa Heisuke, and a large number of generals and division heads saluted the Supreme Commander of the Central China Front Army of the Japanese Army.Matsui Iwane, who was riding on a tall head and was immediately thin but ambitious, felt complacent and majestic at this time. While returning the salute, he repeatedly ordered Hatohiko Asakamiya and Hirasuke Yanagawa to follow him to review the troops.Marching on the streets of Nanjing, the capital of China, trampled on the land of the conquered.Matsui Iwane felt that he was much taller, and felt a kind of satisfaction, brilliance and glory that he had never had before!

On this day, General Matsui stayed at the Capital Hotel in the north of Nanjing City. The celebration dinner was very lively. Senior generals above division heads, senior navy generals, embassy officials, etc. participated. General Matsui toasted with everyone frequently to celebrate the capture of Nanjing. "Great Victory". After the dinner, the excited and impassioned Matsui Iwane was still excited, and invited the chief of staff to climb together to watch the night view of Nanjing.At this time, the city of Nanjing was shrouded in bloody horror. The machine guns of massacres of Chinese prisoners and civilians on the riverside were heard endlessly. Many Nanjing citizens secretly wept blood and tears in the dark night.However, Commander Matsui's state of mind was naturally quite different. Facing several raging fires in Nanjing City, he couldn't help thinking about it and couldn't restrain his passion. Look, how lively it is!"

Back in the room, General Matsui sat under the light, thinking of the great victory of the imperial army in capturing the capital of China, of the sensational scenes in Japan, and of his own future glory. , wrote a murderous poem celebrating the great victory of the capture of Nanjing: The horse drinks the Yangtze River and the water runs out, and the sword is tested and the stone and the tripod are cracked. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have red shirts, sucking the blood of the sons and daughters of the south of the Yangtze River! After finishing writing, I shook my head and recited it several times before locking it in the drawer with satisfaction.

On December 18, under the personal participation and hosting of Matsui Iwane, the Japanese army and navy jointly held a large-scale "spiritual sacrifice" at the Ming Palace Airport.At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, countless Japanese army and navy troops were lined up neatly and solemnly at the Ming Palace Airport, and densely packed urns stretched infinitely on the high platform.The monks accompanying the Japanese army recited scriptures for the souls of the dead, filled with sorrow and joy, and the atmosphere was very sad.Facing the ashes of countless dead, remembering the voices and smiles of the war dead, the participants bowed slowly and deeply three times with respect.The condolence rites recited by Matsui Iwane himself are even more provocative, greatly inciting the soldiers' revenge psychology and the crazy spirit of fascist militarism.As a result, the Japanese soldiers were filled with righteous indignation and murderous intentions resumed. After the ceremony, they immediately set off another frenzied massacre climax against the citizens of Nanjing.Shops were looted, women were ravaged, fires engulfed the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, wailing and wailing filled the fields of Jinling, piles of corpses filled the streets, and rivers were covered with floating corpses...

At the same time, there were cheers in Japan, and the Yamato nation, poisoned by the fascist spirit, went crazy. There were huge crowds of people celebrating the meeting in the street squares of Tokyo, and the lantern parades in the streets were lit like a river. The carnival people shouted loudly: "Destroy Nanjing!" !" "Destroy China!" "Long live the Emperor!" "Long live the Imperial Army!" Matsui Iwane became a well-known hero in Japan for a while, almost "comparable" with the Japanese gods of war Nogisuno and Togo Heihachiro. One day, the unbearable Chairman Rabe and Secretary-General Smith of the Nanjing International Committee finally came to the headquarters of the Central China Front Army in Japan with a letter of protest. Matsui Iwane was admiring a famous ancient Chinese painting looted by his subordinates. He said patiently: "You ask the chief of staff to send some military police to maintain order!"

Another day later, the staff of the Japanese embassy in China, forced by the continuous protests of the International Committee, also came to the headquarters of the Central China Front Army to report the military discipline problem and demanded that the military take measures to rectify it as soon as possible.After hearing the report, Matsui Iwane still asked suspiciously: "Are all the events you reported true?" "Yes!" the ambassador replied solemnly, "Your Excellency, the staff of our embassy, ​​at the request of the International Committee, went to the scene to conduct on-the-spot investigations. Incidents of rape of women and looting of property have occurred more than once."

After hearing the ambassador's report, Matsui Iwane still didn't pay enough attention to it. He just casually called his secretary Tanaka Masaaki and told him, "Draft a notice on military discipline and put it up!"——Also, make a phone call Give it to Commander Nakajima, and ask him to send me the photos of the prisoners as soon as possible!" After seeing off the ambassador, General Matsui sank into the appreciation of famous ancient Chinese paintings.