Chapter 65 3. Re-examination of Hisao Tani

February 25, 1947 was the day of the second public trial of the Hisao Tani case.In the auditorium of Nanjing Lizhi Club, it was still full of seats, and it was true that there were many listeners under the loudspeaker outside the auditorium. At 9:00 a.m., Hisao Tani was escorted by the military police to the dock. After the routine interrogation, President Shi Meiyu announced loudly: "Qing Ogasawara will testify in court!" Following a summons, Kiyoshi Ogasawara walked towards the court.This is a chubby Japanese young man, dressed in casual clothes and wearing a pair of myopia glasses, he looks very gentle.

The presiding judge said: "Mr. Xiaoli, this court allows you to appear in court to testify for the defendant in accordance with international conventions." "Hi!" Kiyoshi Ogasawara snapped, standing in a standard Japanese soldier posture, and continued: "The indictment claims that the defendant led his troops to capture Nanjing first. According to my own research, this is not the case. The Zhongshan sect broke through first. Next is the Zhonghua Gate." Judge Ye Zaizen asked, "When did the Zhongshan gate break through?" Kiyoshi Ogasawara replied: "On the afternoon of December 12, the defendant's troops entered the city through the Zhonghua Gate in the early morning of the 13th. At that time, the command power was with Commander Yanagawa, and the defendant was only the troops under command. What a crime to bear."

Judge Ye Zaizen asked: "Does the witness know that the Japanese army who attacked Zhongshan Gate broke through first and then were expelled?" Kiyoshi Ogasawara replied: "Even if you quit after the breakthrough, after all, you have already made the breakthrough first." Ye Zaixeng asked: "Since we have been expelled, how can we call it a breakthrough?" Kiyoshi Ogasawara was speechless for a while. The presiding judge immediately announced sharply: "The defendant's witness actually appeared in court to give false testimony for the defendant out of national ideas, exonerated the defendant, and disturbed the court. According to the provisions of Article 168 of the Criminal Law, the witness who made a false statement before or after the confession, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years."

Judge Ye Zaizen sternly said, "Take the Japanese witness down!" Kiyoshi Ogasawara changed his gentle demeanor just now, and roared loudly: "You treat the accused witnesses like this, I will sue you at the Far East International Tribunal!" Two gendarmes came up and pulled Kiyoshi Ogasawara down. Seeing this, Hisao Tani immediately put forward a new request: "Since Kiyoshi Ogasawara cannot testify in court, I request the court to allow the transfer of witnesses to Japan again, otherwise there will be no fair verdict!" Obviously, this is the cunning Tani Hisao once again using his "delay tactics".

The presiding judge Shi Meiyu immediately refuted: "Whether the accused army was responsible for the massacre? Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in Nanjing. Whether the defendant is responsible or not? This court has not yet ruled. How can it be called unfair?" Gu Hisao saw that his plot was hard to succeed, and finally showed his final ferocity: "The people who testified in court in the previous public trial were unable to point out the name of the perpetrator, the number of the army, and the time and place were different from the time and place where the headquarters was stationed in Nanjing. Therefore, this kind of witness is really a hypothesis. It is also a forger. It would be unfair to make a judgment based on such a statement. Please investigate the facts in court and deal with it fairly.”

Shi Meiyu did not wait for the translation to be completed, and immediately refuted it in a stern sentence: "The defendant's superior commander and subordinates cannot testify in court, and this court still needs to judge in accordance with the law. Of course, this court needs to investigate. It is not an immediate judgment. How can the defendant know whether this court is fair or not? This is enough to prove that the murderer has a guilty conscience. From the previous public trial, it can be seen that the witnesses have specific allegations in terms of troop number, time, and location. , especially the on-the-spot photos and videos of foreign witnesses, there are scenes of the defendant and the defendant's troops massacring Chinese civilians. How can it be called forgery and fiction?! Judging from the newly discovered evidence in the trial, the existing Navy Commander-in-Chief Gui handed over to Wu The chief sent the book "Record of Blood and Tears in the Capital", the author is now Major General Guo Qi, who is trained in the Army University, can testify in court, and the army under the command of the defendant massacred more than 7,000 people in the area from Zhonghuamen to Zhongshanmen. In January of the eighth year, Gao Guanwu, the puppet supervisor of Nanjing, erected the "Monument of No Master and Lonely Soul" as evidence."

Guo Qi, the author of "Record of Blood and Tears in the Fallen Capital", immediately went to court. After the fall of Nanjing, he hid in the refugee area for three months and stated the atrocities he heard and witnessed by the Japanese army one by one. Afterwards, a rubbing of large rice paper with the inscription "Monument of No Lord and Lonely Soul" was passed to the defendant in court.This is evidence from within the enemy and puppet camp, which is more convincing. From another aspect, it confirms the crime of Hisao Tani's massacre of the people of Nanjing. Gu Hisao looked at the rubbings on the inscription, with a dull expression and nothing to say.

The audience in the gallery couldn't hold back any longer, and there was a fierce shout of killing in the courtroom. At this point, the prosecutor Chen Guangyu stood up and spoke. He was emotional and unable to contain his grief and indignation: "Presiding judge, judges, after two public trials, the defendant's crimes have been proven, and there is no need to deny it. Such a murderer, butcher and executioner, how can you be so cruel in the world?" Can you survive? I implore the court to impose the death penalty on the defendant in accordance with the "Regulations on the Trial of War Criminals of the Republic of China" as a sacrifice to the souls of the victims!"

There was a long and warm applause in the auditorium of the court. March 10, 1947 was the day when the Hisao Tani case was publicly pronounced. On this day, the auditorium of the Lizhi Club was packed, and many Nanjing citizens wanted to hear the doomsday verdict of the executioner with their own eyes. When the tens of thousands of people gathered outside the auditorium and in the nearby streets heard the news of Hisao Tani's death sentence on the radio, many of them were so excited that tears filled their eyes and rushed to tell the news. Hisao Tani is indeed a die-hard member of Japanese militarism. When the presiding judge finished reading out the verdict and asked him whether he would plead guilty and accept the sentence, he still clings to the last ray of hope: "Presiding judge, this judgment is unfair. I file an application." , Request a review!"

On April 25, 1947, the Nanjing Nationalist Government issued a reply: "The original sentence of the death penalty was severely imposed in accordance with the law. It is not inappropriate and should be approved." The defendant's application for review was rejected. Shi Meiyu received the reply and discussed with the judges. In view of the changing international and domestic situation, in order to avoid long nights and dreams, she decided to implement it immediately the next day. On the morning of April 26, prosecutor Chen Guangyu came to the Xiaoying War Criminals Detention Center to interrogate Gu Hisao for the last time, and then handed Gu Hisao three letters from his family.

At this time, Hisao Gu didn't know that his death was imminent, and thought that there was a turning point in the application for review. He browsed through the family letter roughly, then folded it and put it in his pocket, ready to go back to the cell and chew it carefully. Chen Guangyu: "Do you need to reply to these letters from home?" Gu Hisao shivered suddenly, feeling that the god of death was coming, his expression suddenly changed, and after a long time, he said hesitantly: "Can I still write?" "Of course." Chen Guangyu replied. Gu Hisao took out a pencil from his body and wrote three replies to his wife, son, and grandson. After Chen Guangyu read out the National Government's reply, Gu Hisao could no longer be calm. He looked in a trance and muttered stubbornly: "What crime did I commit? What crime did I commit?..." Chen Guangyu said sternly: "Tani Hisao, you condoned your subordinates to massacre innocent soldiers and civilians in Nanjing. There are a lot of evidences to confirm your case. The verdict on your case is fair. You must understand this. Do you still need to leave a last word to your family?" Gu Hisao had no choice but to sigh, and asked for a pen and paper to leave a suicide note for his wife Meizi.In the suicide note, Tani Hisao was very affectionate to his wife and family.But I don't know if this demon has thought about how many wives of Nanjing people he and his subordinates have raped? !How many Chinese families have been killed? !Loving one's own wife and family, but wantonly raping other people's wives and harming other people's families, this is probably the common nature of all demons in the world. A criminal vehicle slowly drove out of Xiaoying War Criminals Detention Center, followed by several military jeeps.The criminal vehicle passed through the ten-mile long street, and the two sides of the road were full of onlookers, and military police and military police stood along the street.Many families set up incense tables and light incense candles to comfort their dead relatives with the executioner's blood. The torture vehicle drove out of the Zhonghua Gate and gradually arrived at the Yuhuatai execution ground.On the Yuhuatai, there is already a sea of ​​people. Amidst the angry shouts of the onlookers, Chen Guangyu, the supervisor and beheading officer, verified Gu Hisao's integrity and announced the execution. At this time, Gu Hisao was in a trance, his face was numb, and his steps seemed to be staggering. Two gendarmes held him to the execution ground and knelt down. After the gunshots of justice rang out, Hisao Tani fell on his back to the ground, with blood flowing from the bullet holes.The round bullet hole brought a shameful end to his brutal career as a butcher.