Chapter 21 Chapter 20 The Death of Three Thousand Migrant Workers in Jinxiang

In mid-May 1938, the Japanese invading army captured Gucheng, the Jinxiang city in the northwest of Xuzhou.During the invasion of the city, they bloodbathed the villages of Wanglou, Sulou, Dayi, and Sunwafang along the way, and slaughtered more than 180 innocent villagers who had not escaped in time. More than 2,860 migrant workers and nearly 300 residents in the city.Turn this ancient city with a long history into a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood. In March 1938, after the Japanese army suffered a major blow in the Battle of Taierzhuang, the base camp of the Japanese invaders mobilized about 200,000 troops from 8 divisions to detour from the north and south wings of Jinpu Road to the Longhai Line west of Xuzhou to attack Xuzhou. strategic encirclement. On May 11, the 16th Division of the Japanese Nakajima Kinesago entered the Huji area in the northern part of Jinxiang, and was strongly resisted by a part of the Kuomintang Third Army. On the afternoon of the 13th, the enemy's 1st Division occupied Luzhuangji, Wanglou and other villages in the east of Jinxiang County, and turned to Sulou Village, five miles southwest of the city, and defeated a battalion of Sun Tongxuan of the Kuomintang Army here, completing the attack on Jinxiang. Outflanking the county seat, the Kuomintang army deployed in the Liuhe line of defense in the north of the city and the Dayiji area fled to the southwest in a panic.The Japanese army in the north of the city immediately occupied Dayiji, crossed the Liuhe River, and approached the city of Jinxiang.The Japanese army invaded Jincheng, and all the villages they passed were bloodbathed.

On the afternoon of the 13th, when the Japanese army invaded and occupied Wanglou Village, they encountered ordinary people fleeing from Zhoulou, Yuzhuang, and Yulou villages. More than a hundred of them were arrested by the Japanese army and forced to dig trenches and repair fortifications.Before dawn, the Japanese army gathered them in a large courtyard. Except for some people who saw that the momentum was wrong and waited for an opportunity to escape, the rest were tied up by the Japanese army, dragged to the cypress forest in the south of the village, and stabbed to death with bayonets.There was a man named Wang Dahai in Beidi Village. The Japanese army said that the hole he dug was too big and he was stabbed several times. He was tied to a willow tree in the village, his arms were cut off, and he was tortured to death.

In the evening, the Japanese army arrested more than 50 villagers in Sulou Village. Among them, 6 members of Su Bingduo’s family were killed on the spot, and the other 40 people were taken to a courtyard and searched one by one. , More than 30 people were stabbed to death.On the same day, the Japanese army killed all 19 people who failed to escape in Dayi Village.Liu Mingyu, a single old man, was beheaded by the Japanese army; Li Hongqian, an old man over 70 years old, was mutilated;An old woman in her 60s and a 15-year-old girl were gang-raped by dozens of Japanese soldiers and stabbed to death with bayonets.

Zhang Yongtian, a farmer from Xiaodaizhuang, fled with a small cart, but was stopped by the Japanese army and ordered him to send some hens in the cart to the village.The simple and honest Zhang Yongtian never expected that he would still be killed by the Japanese army after delivering the chicken.Afterwards, people also found that there were 6 corpses hung by the Japanese army with wire on the beams of the oil workshop in Xiaodai Village. There are quite a lot of people who believe in the White Lotus Sect in Sunwafang Village. Some believers mistakenly believe the rumors that the Japanese army will not kill the believers. They are led by a scholar surnamed Zhou, carrying snacks, blowing trumpets, and lined up at the head of the village to meet the Japanese army.Unexpectedly, the Japanese army's answer was a row of machine gun bullets, and more than 20 people fell to the ground in response.In addition, more than 30 civilians fled in all directions and were also massacred by the pursuing Japanese army.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning on May 13, the Japanese army bombarded Jinxiang County and blew up the top of Wenfeng Pagoda. At that time, nearly 300 residents and 3,000 migrant workers were besieged in the city. At about 3 o'clock in the morning on the 14th, the Kuomintang defenders suffered heavy casualties, and the rest fled south from the hole in the southeast corner of the city (only more than a hundred migrant workers followed out of the city).At dawn, Ximen was broken through by the enemy, and the whole city of Jier fell.Some migrant workers died in battle on the city wall, while others hid in holes in the city wall and some escaped in houses.The Japanese army broke into the home of Li Naishen, who lived behind the county government office, and took Liu Yuzhang, Xu Shouwen and a dozen people who had gathered here away.On the way, 21 people including Su Maotian and Li Wengui were arrested.The Japanese army escorted them to a tube house on the city wall at the southeast corner of the city, and shouted and killed them one by one in order of standing. Only Liu Yuzhang took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and jumped off the city wall to escape.The old man Luo Huazhang, who was nearly 80 years old, was knocked down with a stick by the Japanese army and pushed down the wall; Li Dalu, a child under 10 years old, was provoked with a bayonet, and his father Li Shuyi died at the same time.Li Guanghan and his son, Wang Keqin and his son were also killed.

The brutal Japanese army pushed the victim down the city wall, and then threw more than 20 grenades.Among the 21 people who died this time, Liu Yuzhang, Xu Shouwen, and Wang Keqin, who were buried in the bottom corner, survived the catastrophe, crawled out from under the corpses of their friends covered in blood, and became historical witnesses of this tragedy. . Liu Yuzhang recalled: "In 1938, the devils attacked the city. I remember it was April 14th in the lunar calendar. At around ten o'clock that morning, the devils fired a shell from the north of the city and blew off the top of Wenfeng Pagoda. People began to panic. The Kuomintang troops guarding the city closed four gates to prevent the people from going out. However, the county magistrate Wang Guanyi fled that morning. At that time, there were 200 or 300 residents and 3,000 migrant workers who did not escape. In the city. Early the next morning, Xu Shouwen and I ran to the home of Li Naishen who lived behind the yamen. At that time there were more than 10 neighbors hiding in his house. More than 20 devils came and drove us out of the door. They escorted us to the north gate, and drove us to the southeast corner of the city. When we arrived at Qin Xiaojie, Su Maotian, Li Wengui, and Wang Kuifeng were also driven among us by the devils. There were 21 of us in total. Finally, the devils escorted us to In a tube house on the corner of the southeast city wall. First searched each of us. Then they drove us back to the hut, and then called out one by one from the west gate of the house. It was my turn. I discussed with Xu Shouwen behind me. , rushed out of the house together. Then I jumped down against the wall in three or two steps. After a while, I heard the devils throwing people down the city. After that, there was a burst of explosion. I got up from the ground and saw that there was Xu Shouwen and Wang Keqin, they were bloody, but they did not die. Later, I escaped with them. The devils ransacked and killed the city for three or four days, and the migrant workers and residents who were surrounded by the city were almost killed. Finished."

The fact that the Japanese invaders brutally massacred migrant workers and residents is absolutely true.After the Japanese army entered the city, the Kuomintang army withdrew, and the remaining 3,000 migrant workers, except a few who escaped from the tiger's mouth, most of them were captured by the enemy and slaughtered one by one. The Japanese army seized more than 180 migrant workers, residents, and believers in the Catholic Church in front of Kuixing River, and all rushed to the large toilet of the school near Wenfeng Pagoda. First, they fired machine guns and threw a large number of hand grenades. It is difficult to find even a whole body.

The Japanese army searched and killed Jinxiang County for four consecutive days. They massacred more than 400 migrant workers and residents three times just at the Nanjia Houkeng in the southwest corner of the city.Of the 13 members of Gao Buqing's family, 11 were killed, and 19 members of De Maoxiang's family were killed.The Kuixing River, Yingzikeng, Yanyankeng, Nanjiahoukeng and other large and small ponds in the city were filled with corpses, staining the water surface red.After the southern prisoners of the Japanese army withdrew, Geng Jingshan, Li Changfa and others witnessed in the city more than 300 dead bodies on the top and bottom of a section of the Dongguan city wall; The situation is appalling.

Geng Jingshan, the head of the Jinxiang People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Team, and Li Changfa, a member of the team, recalled the scene of this massacre. Geng Jingshan said: "When the Japanese invaders attacked Jinxiang County, the county recruited 3,000 migrant workers to build fortifications, and they were killed by devils in the city. After the Japanese invaders abandoned the city and committed crimes in the south, our volunteer team quickly drove to the city. After entering the city, we saw It's a corpse. The Kuixing River and the moat are full of dead bodies, and the water has turned red."

Li Changfa said: "I followed the Jinxiang County People's Anti-Japanese Volunteer Team led by comrades Geng Jingshan and Zhai Zichao to station in Jinxiang County. There are corpses in the ditch and the cat's ear hole, most of them are migrant workers in plain clothes. Occasionally there are soldiers in gray uniforms. The corpses are decomposed and the smell is very strong. Only the north and south sections of the east city wall. You can see There were more than 300 corpses. We walked down the city wall east of the north gate of the city and walked to a large courtyard. The courtyard was empty. We went up to the second floor of a two-story building and saw the murdered female corpse. There were bloodstains everywhere, and they were all in their teens. Some were covered with quilts, some were naked, with bloody flesh and disheveled hair. It was unbearable to see. There were about 30 corpses. It seemed that they were raped and killed by the Japanese army.”

According to the recollections of Li Qingen, Hou Guichun, Liu Shirang, Liu Mingjing, and Zhang Kuiying: "The Japanese invaders massacred Jinxiang City. Kuixinghe, Yingzikeng, Eye Kang and other kang ponds, big and small, were full of corpses. Bodies were everywhere in the streets and alleys. The Japanese invaders massacred more than 400 migrant workers and residents three times in Nanjiahou, southwest corner of the city. Outside Xiguan, 11 members of Gao Buqing's family were killed, and 19 members of De Maoxiang's family were killed. More than 180 people were shot by machine guns and bombed with grenades by the devils, all of whom died tragically. The devils set fire to only a section of the street outside Xiguan and burned down more than 300 houses." The fact that 3,000 migrant workers and hundreds of urban and rural residents in Jinxiang were massacred by the Japanese aggressors has been investigated and verified with solid evidence.According to incomplete statistics, during the five days from May 13 to May 17, the Japanese invaders slaughtered 3,347 civilians in Jinxiang County, including more than 2,860 migrant workers and nearly 300 urban residents, and burned down civilian houses. More than 670 rooms.