Chapter 7 Chapter 6 emerges from the fog of funny stories

When the Chinese army was fighting hard in northern Shanxi, the battle in Songhu was getting bigger and bigger. How to quickly end the war against China has always been an anxious issue for the Japanese military headquarters.In addition to being constrained by war resources, diplomatic passivity, and differences between the army and the navy on the "Great East Asia Strategy," most generals in the Japanese base camp have almost the same worry, that is, they are worried that the Soviet Union and Japan are likely to break out. war. ——“The palace, including the emperor, was also worried about whether the Soviet Union would unite with China to attack Japan.” When the Marco Polo Bridge Incident just broke out, the emperor asked Prince Zaihito, Chief of Staff: “What if the Soviet Union launches (attack)?” Prince Zairen's answer was "no way", and the emperor was "very dissatisfied".What is even more puzzling is that from the base camp of the Japanese army to the Emperor of Japan, the outbreak of the Japan-Soviet War was predicted to be in the "late autumn or early winter period" of 1937, that is, in November or December.

There is no reliable historical evidence to support this conjecture of the Japanese.If you have to explore the reason, it can only be caused by the gloomy psychology of the Japanese: in the "Russian-Japanese War" that broke out in the early 20th century, Japan finally defeated Russia and seized all the rights and interests in Northeast China. It has continued to this day and has become an insoluble feud.In the eyes of the Japanese, all countries in the Far East and even the whole of Asia, including China, threatened Japan's "survival problem" without fear, or even negligible. Only the Soviet Union wanted to avenge Japan.The current relationship between Japan and the Soviet Union can be said to be in the "most dangerous period", and the Japanese army "is in a state of stalemate" in China, which "will give the Soviet Union a good opportunity to attack Japan."The Japanese base camp hoped to "quickly end the war in Shanghai" before the Soviet Union attacked Japan.

The Soviets would indeed attack Japan. But what the Japanese did not expect was that not only would the end of the Sino-Japanese War be eight years away, but the time when the Soviet Union attacked Japan was not at all in 1937, the early days of the Sino-Japanese War. In August 1937, the Japanese army's offensive in northern China showed an invincible and invincible situation.In Shanghai, which is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River in southern China, the prospect of the Japanese offensive was uncertain, and the continuous brutal local warfare was still concentrated in the Luodian area in the north of Shanghai.

The Japanese army waiting for reinforcements continued to launch attacks on the Chinese defenders' positions, and the attack procedure was roughly the same every day: when the sky was dawn, the planes bombed the Chinese army's positions indiscriminately, and then, the naval and army ground artillery indicated the target's reconnaissance The balloon rose and hovered high above the positions of the Chinese defenders.After the ground artillery bombardment, the infantry began to charge under the cover of tanks.This kind of shock, which is very characteristic of the Japanese army, comes wave after wave, and each shock will trigger close-range hand-to-hand combat.When night came, the Chinese defenders planted mines, cluster grenades and obstacles on the road that the Japanese army would pass the next day, strengthened the depth of the position, and sent troops to ambush on both sides of the road.After dawn, the Japanese attack began again. The Chinese defenders attacked from the flanks, first hitting the tanks, and then fighting with the infantry with bayonets.It was the season when cotton was ripe, and the Chinese defenders were hidden in the cotton fields, so they were not easy to be spotted by the Japanese reconnaissance balloons.However, the ground artillery fire of the Japanese army was intensive and fierce, and the Chinese defenders could not predict the point of impact. As a result, the defenders suffered casualties in a row.

The 14th Division of the Chinese Army, located at the forefront of the Luodian battlefield, became the target of the persistent Japanese attack. The continuous days of fighting made the officers and soldiers extremely nervous. "Whenever the lower regiment and battalion commander shouted that they couldn't stand it, or some of them retreated," Guo Rugui, the division chief of staff, would be so anxious that "sweat would flow down the edge of the helmet like rain."The Chinese defenders adopted the tactics of one regiment standing on top of the front and one regiment serving as a reserve team. If the Japanese army rushed to the position, a battalion would be sent to counterattack.Repeatedly like this, the troops "casualties are very heavy", and often "a regiment is wiped out three times", and the counterattack is not always successful.Song Yizhong, the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 84th Regiment, led his troops to counterattack when the Japanese army rushed to the position, but was unsuccessful.Battalion Commander Song begged bitterly, saying that if the counterattack fails, it is death, and fighting the Japanese army is also death. It is better to fight the Japanese army than to be shot.

When the 14th Division couldn't stand it anymore, Guo Rugui wrote a will to his division commander Huo Yizhang in the cover department: My eight thousand athletes have all been sacrificed, the enemy's offensive has not subsided, and the future is uncertain.If the position exists, I will still be alive to meet Junzuo; if the position is lost, I will die on the battlefield, anointed with weeds.When the Anti-Japanese War is won in the future, as a famous general, when you pass through Wusongkou by ship, if there are waves like mountains, then I will come to see you.I have two pens, please give one to each of my younger brothers, and one watch to my wife Fang Xuelan as a souvenir.

Chen Cheng, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, warned the soldiers at the front: The enemy uses light and heavy machine guns, and they all test us with three rounds of "cracking", "cracking", which means asking you "are you afraid".I should also fire two rounds to indicate "not afraid" and "not afraid", and the enemy will not dare to attack after hearing it.If I continued to "snap, slap, slap", it would be equivalent to saying "scared, scared, scared". The enemy knew that we were recruits and had no combat experience. After my bullets ran out, they would attack violently.

The continuous stalemate battle caused heavy casualties to Hu Zongnan, a direct descendant of the central army.Hu Zongnan's First Army governed Li Tiejun's First Division and Li Wen's 78th Division, with two brigades per division and two regiments per brigade.The First Army received a combat order to go to the Songhu battlefield, and it was Zhou Yan's Sixth Division that rushed to reinforce Baoshan.However, when Hu Zongnan's troops arrived, Baoshan had already fallen, and the remnants of the Sixth Division were retreating.The First Army immediately went up to occupy the position, and the Japanese army counterattacked the next day.At dawn, after the scout balloons were lifted into the air, the artillery was aimed and bombarded, and then the infantry swarmed.The First Army's position was narrow, and there were no existing fortifications to use. Under the heavy Japanese artillery fire, in the continuous hand-to-hand combat, the casualties of the two divisions of the First Army were astonishing.Liu Chaohuan, commander of the first brigade, and Wang Yingzun, head of the first regiment, were wounded. Yang Jie, head of the second regiment, and Li Youmei, head of the fourth regiment, were killed.More than 80% of the officers and soldiers below the battalion commander of the first division were killed or injured, and all the company commanders of the whole division were replaced due to casualties except the company commander of the communications company.And there is only one battalion commander of the 78th Division.When the First Army marched to the front, a regiment was temporarily strengthened, which was transferred from Xu Yuanquan's Tenth Army, and this regiment soon lost most of its officers and soldiers.The trenches at the front line in the Baoshan area were full of corpses of those who died in battle, and they could not be transported. The officers and soldiers had to dig the trenches again. They said: "If we die, this is our own grave." Hu Zongnan, the commander of the First Army, showed Astonishingly firm, even though the number of casualties of the troops kept being reported, he was still unwavering in the need to stick to it and the need to fight back.Hu Zongnan's determination and will made the officers and soldiers of the First Army "strong in morale, tenacious in combat, fighting for every inch of the enemy's territory, and fighting hard in every house", and never lost a single position.Moreover, unlike all troops, Hu Zongnan never complained or asked for reinforcements.After the first army fought hard for seven days, Gu Zhutong, the deputy commander of the theater, found out and said on the phone that he would switch defenses that night. Hu Cai said that he would not switch defenses again, "Tomorrow I will also take a gun to the line of fire."The First Army was withdrawn due to too many casualties and came to the rear to make up.

In September, there was still no sign of a change in the war in Shanghai. The anxiety in the Japanese base camp in Tokyo was getting worse, and the generals were still worried that the Soviet Union might take advantage of the stalemate in the war in China to suddenly attack from the north, occupy northeast China, and even directly attack the Japanese mainland.The Japanese Army Base Camp not only formulated a battle plan against the Soviet Union, but also calculated an account in this way: If the current force deployed on the Chinese battlefield is based on the eight divisions in North China, five divisions in Shanghai, and one division controlled by the central government, as well as domestic The three preparatory combat divisions under control, if we want to deal with the strength of the Soviet Chen Bing in Siberia, ten divisions will be missing.Once the Soviet Union really took action, Japan could only take a defensive position in China, because at least seven divisions had to be withdrawn from the Chinese battlefield to fight the Soviet Union, otherwise the situation would be disastrous.The war plan against the Soviet Union was presented to the Emperor and approved.Therefore, for the Japanese base camp, the most urgent issue at present is: China must be surrendered quickly, and the war against China must be ended as soon as possible, preferably before the end of October this year.

The Japanese "Battle Plan Outline": 1. Basis for planning The basis for formulating this plan is to be able to conduct operations according to the annual combat plan against Russia at any time during the operation against China, especially the first phase of operations. 2. War policy against China (1) Roughly in the first ten days of October, launch offensives in North China and Shanghai, and must deal heavy blows to create a situation that will make the enemy surrender. (2) When the above-mentioned operations cannot achieve the goal, even if the situation at that time changes, we must stop the active operations of land forces, use various other methods to dampen the enemy's will to fight for a long time, and at the same time save the troops directly fighting against China, The necessary troops were transferred to Manchuria and North China for standby, and the preparations for the war against Russia were rectified to prepare for a protracted war.

The above-mentioned active combat and protracted combat are scheduled to be bounded by the end of October. 3. Division, use and tasks of military forces (1) The timing of the decisive battle against China North China Use the North China Front Army (with eight divisions as the backbone) to defeat the enemy in central Hebei Province. Depending on the situation, the strength of the Front Army can be nine divisions. Shanghai Defeat the enemies around Shanghai with the Shanghai Dispatch Army (with five divisions as the backbone). (2) Opportunity for a protracted war against China North China Use one army (probably with four divisions as the backbone) to secure the Pingjin area and the eastern part of Chahar Province, and seek their stability. Shanghai Use one army (probably with three divisions as the backbone) to secure important positions around Shanghai, cut off the connection between Shanghai and Nanjing, and seek stability in the occupied areas. 4. The period of protracted war against China The troops allocated to fight against Russia are scheduled to be 19 divisions.When the Russo-Japanese War started, the planned initial force divisions were divided into four armies under the commander of the Kwantung Army (with 15 divisions as the backbone), four divisions directly under his control, and four divisions directly under his headquarters. Judging from the above combat plan, the Japanese base camp eagerly hoped that China would quickly succumb to the fierce Japanese attack.However, the resistance of the Chinese army was unexpectedly tenacious. In September 1937, there was no sign that the war would end.On September 11, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters issued an order to increase troops to Shanghai to the Ninth Division, the Thirteenth Division, the 10th Division, and the Third Flying Regiment Headquarters. The battle order of the Japanese dispatched troops in Shanghai is: Commander General Matsui Iwane. Major General Iinuma Mori, Chief of Staff. The third division, division commander Fujita Jin Lieutenant General, chief of staff Toshio Tajiri.Jurisdiction over the fifth infantry brigade (under the jurisdiction of the sixth and sixty-eighth infantry regiments), the twenty-ninth infantry brigade (under the jurisdiction of the eighteenth and thirty-fourth infantry regiments), the third cavalry regiment, and the field artillery The Third Wing, the Third Wing of Engineers, the Third Wing of Heavy Soldiers, the Division Communication Team and the Sanitation Team, etc. The Eleventh Division, Lieutenant General Yamashiro Munetake, Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff Katamura 48th Commander.Jurisdiction over the 10th Infantry Brigade (administering the 12th and 22nd Infantry Regiment), the 22nd Infantry Brigade (administering the 43rd and 44th Infantry Regiment), and the 11th Cavalry Regiment , the 11th Regiment of the Mountain Artillery, the 11th Regiment of the Engineers, the 11th Regiment of the Supplies, the Division Communications Team and the Sanitation Team. The Ninth Division, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, Chief of Staff, Nakagawa Hiroso, Chief of Staff.Jurisdiction over the sixth infantry brigade (under the jurisdiction of the seventh and thirty-fifth infantry regiments), the eighteenth infantry brigade (under the jurisdiction of the nineteenth and thirty-sixth infantry regiments), the ninth cavalry regiment, the mountain artillery regiment The Ninth Regiment, the Ninth Regiment of the Engineers, the Ninth Regiment of the Supplies, the Communications Team of the Division and the Sanitation Team, etc. The Thirteenth Division, Lieutenant General Dizhou Libing, Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff Tian Yongsaburo.Jurisdiction over the 103rd Infantry Brigade (administering the 104th and 65th Infantry Regiment), the 26th Infantry Brigade (administering the 116th and 58th Infantry Regiment), the 17th Cavalry Brigade, the 19th Regiment of the Mountain Artillery, the 13th Regiment of the Engineering Corps, the 13th Regiment of the Supply Corps, the Communication Team of the Division and the Sanitation Team, etc. The 101st Division, Lieutenant General Ito Masaki, Chief of Staff, General Nishiyama Fukutaro.Jurisdiction over the 101st Infantry Brigade (administering the 101st and 149th Infantry Regiment), the 102nd Infantry Brigade (administering the 103rd and 157th Infantry Regiment), the 1st Cavalry 〇-Brigade, 101st Regiment of Field Artillery, 101st Regiment of Engineering Corps, 10th-Regiment of Logistics Corps, Division Communication Team and Sanitation Team, etc. So far, the Japanese army has put five divisions and more than 200,000 troops into the Songhu battlefield. After nearly two months of combat, the Chinese side continued to invest in troops. By October 1937, the battle order of the Chinese army on the Songhu battlefield was (not included) : In the third war zone, the commander-in-chief Chiang Kai-shek (concurrently), the deputy commander-in-chief Gu Zhutong, and the former enemy commander-in-chief Chen Cheng. The right-wing combat army, commander-in-chief Zhang Fakui. The Eighth Army, Commander-in-Chief Zhang Fakui (concurrently).Jurisdiction: The twenty-eighth army, commander Tao Guang.Jurisdiction over the 62nd Division, Commander Tao Liu; 63rd Division, Commander Chen Guangzhong; 55th Division, Commander Li Songshan; Independent 45th Brigade, Commander Zhang Luanji; Artillery Second Brigade, Brigadier Cai Zhong Wat. Tenth Army, Commander-in-Chief Liu Jianxu.Jurisdiction: The 45th Division, commanded by Dai Mingquan; the 52nd Division, commanded by Lu Xingrong; the 126th Division, commanded by Gu Jiaqi; the 11th Brigade, temporarily commanded by Zhou Bianqing; the 12th Brigade, temporarily commanded by Li Guojun; The thirteenth brigade was temporarily organized, with brigade commander Yang Yongqing; the independent thirty-seventh brigade, brigade commander Chen Defa. Ningbo Defense Command, Commander Wang Nan. Zhu Shaoliang, commander-in-chief of the Central Combat Army. The Ninth Army, Commander-in-Chief Zhu Shaoliang (concurrently).Jurisdiction: Seventy-second Army, Commander Sun Yuanliang.Jurisdiction over the 88th Division, division commander Sun Yuanliang (concurrently); Shanghai Security Corps, commander Ji Zhangjian. Seventy-eighth Army, Commander Song Xilian.Jurisdiction over the thirty-sixth division, division commander Song Xilian (concurrently). Seventy-first Army, Commander Wang Jingjiu.Jurisdiction over the 87th division, division commander Wang Jingjiu (concurrently). Eighth Army, commander Huang Jie.Jurisdiction over the 61st Division, Commander Zhong Song; 31st Division, Commander Li Yutang; 18th Division, Division Commander Zhu Yaohua; Tax Police Headquarters, Commander Huang Jie (concurrently); Songhu Garrison Command, Commander Yang Tiger. The 21st Army, Commander-in-Chief Liao Lei.Jurisdiction: The First Army, Commander Hu Zongnan.Jurisdiction over the first division, division commander Li Tiejun; thirty-second division, division commander Wang Xiushen; seventy-eighth division, division commander Li Wen. Forty-eighth Army, Commander Wei Yunsong.Jurisdiction over the 173rd Division, commanded by He Weizhen; the 174th Division, commanded by Wang Zanbin; the 176th Division, commanded by Qu Shounian; the 19th Division, commanded by Li Jue; the 26th Division, commanded by Liu Yuqing; The third and fifth divisions, the division commander Su Zuxin. Left Wing Combat Army, Commander-in-Chief Chen Cheng (concurrently). The Nineteenth Army, Commander-in-Chief Xue Yue.Jurisdiction: The 69th Army, Commander Ruan Zhaochang.Jurisdiction over the fifty-seventh division, division commander Ruan Zhaochang (concurrently). Twenty-fifth Army, Commander Wan Yaohuang (concurrently).Jurisdiction over the thirteenth division, division commander Wan Yaohuang (concurrently). The Second Army, Commander Li Yannian.Jurisdiction over the Ninth Division, division commander Li Yannian (concurrently). The 66th Army, Commander Ye Zhao.Jurisdiction over the 159th Division, division commander Tan Sui; the 160th Division, division commander Ye Zhao (concurrently); a regiment of the teaching brigade. The 20th Army, Commander Yang Sen.Jurisdiction over the 133rd Division, the division commander Yang Hanyu; the 134th division, the division commander Yang Hanzhong. The Fifteenth Group Army, Commander-in-Chief Luo Zhuoying.Jurisdiction: The 44th Division is commanded by Chen Yong; the 60th Division is commanded by Chen Pei; the 16th Division is commanded by Peng Songling. Seventy-fourth Army, Commander Yu Jishi (concurrently).Jurisdiction over the 51st Division, commanded by Wang Yaowu; the 58th Division, commanded by Yu Jishi (concurrently); the Independent 34th Brigade, commanded by Luo Qijiang. The 39th Army, Commander Liu Heding.Jurisdiction over the fifty-sixth division, division commander Liu Shangzhi. Eighteenth Army, Army Commander Luo Zhuoying (concurrently).Jurisdiction over the 11th Division, Commander Peng Shan; 67th Division, Commander Huang Wei; 90th Division, Division Commander Ou Zhen; 77th Division, Division Commander Luo Lin. The Fourth Jiangsu Security Regiment, the Sixteenth Artillery Regiment and two anti-aircraft artillery companies. Jiang Fang, Commander-in-Chief Liu Xing.Jurisdiction over the 102nd Division, division commander Bo Huizhang; 103rd division, division commander He Zhizhong; 111th division, division commander Chang Enduo; 112th division, division commander Huo Shouyi; 53rd division, division commander Li Yunheng; Jiangyin Fortress, Commander Shao Baichang, etc. Eleventh Legion, Legion Commander Shangguan Yunxiang.Jurisdiction over the 33rd Division, Commander Feng Xingxian; the 40th Division, Commander Liu Peixu; the 76th Division, Division Commander Wang Lingyun; Taihu Garrison Headquarters. Artillery, Commander Liu Handong.Jurisdiction over the Fourth Artillery Regiment, one battalion of the Third Artillery Regiment, one battalion of the Tenth Artillery Regiment, and the Artillery School Training Battalion. In addition to the troops of Chen Cheng and Hu Zongnan of Chiang Kai-shek's Central Military Department, the above-mentioned Chinese armies included the Guangdong Army of Xue Yue and Yu Hanmou, the Hunan Army of He Jian, the Guangxi Army of Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, the Sichuan Army of Yang Sen, the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, the Henan Army, and the Northeast Army. Army, Zhejiang Army, Fujian Army, Qian Army, Hubei Army, and the incorporated Beiyang Army and other ministries.The gathering of military forces from all walks of life in China brought the total strength of the Chinese army on the Songhu battlefield to more than 700,000. On the narrow battlefield, the total strength of the two sides has reached as many as one million. And if we don't count the strength of troops, only from the comparison of combat effectiveness, the two sides are basically in a balanced situation in this area.Therefore, before the arrival of the Japanese reinforcements, there was an anxious stalemate on the battlefield. Around September 22, Japanese reinforcements arrived on the battlefield one after another. A new round of brutal fighting between the warring parties in the Shanghai area began. The advance team of the 101st Division of the Japanese Army immediately went into battle after arriving.At this moment, the Chinese army has also increased the strength of nine divisions on the front line of the battlefield.Fighting is still entangled in the Luodian, Baoshan and Yuepu lines in northern Shanghai.The Chinese defenders in this direction, the 98th Division and the 14th Division, have reached the limit of their ability to withstand casualties.The 98th Division suffered nearly 5,000 casualties, one regiment commander was injured and one was killed, and more than 200 officers below the battalion were killed.Due to the heavy casualties, the original troops were supplemented three times, and the men who were replenished were officers and soldiers temporarily transferred from the rear troops, but they were basically injured as soon as they went up, so that after they were sent to the field hospital, the wounded could not be identified clearly. The number of your own unit.There were more than 8,000 people in the 42nd Brigade of the 14th Division. After six days of fierce fighting, there were only more than 2,000 people left, and most of them were wounded and logistics personnel.In other words, a brigade of the Chinese army at the forefront of the battlefield needs to fight at the cost of an average of more than 1,000 casualties per day. In September, the Japanese army also suffered 12,334 casualties in the Shanghai battle. The plan of Matsui Iwane, the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, is: to assist the 11th Division with the newly reinforced Taiwan Infantry Brigade, first drive the Chinese troops defending Luodian to the southwest of Luodian; With the assistance of the vanguard of the 101st Division, they launched a fierce attack on the Chinese defenders on the front lines of Liujiahang and Gujiazhai. Although the Chinese garrison defended tenaciously, the frontline positions of the Chinese garrison were continuously broken through under the fierce attack of the Japanese army with more and more troops because of the crude weapons compared with the Japanese army.On the 30th, part of the Japanese army broke into the position of the 67th Division of the Chinese Army. The officers and soldiers of a company of the division fought with the Japanese army all day and night, and only two survived in the end.The Wanqiao position of the 77th Division was also breached. The 57th Division launched a counterattack and once regained it, but the position was captured by the Japanese again before it was consolidated.All the officers and soldiers of a platoon standing firm were killed. The platoon leader Wang Xinqi was injured in the abdomen in the hand-to-hand fight with the Japanese army, and finally died with the Japanese army with a grenade.In the evening of that day, the 11th Division of the Japanese Army advanced three kilometers westward and southward from Luodian, and the Third Division advanced westward and southward from Wusong to the vicinity of Gujiazhai. On October 1, a four-phase meeting convened by Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, Minister of War Sugiyama Moto, Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonei, and Foreign Minister Hirota Koki was held in Tokyo. The meeting put forward the "Outline for Handling the Incident in China". The "Outline" is based on such an idea: "The war situation in North China and Central China will expand, and because the war situation will be protracted, it is envisaged to find an opportunity to end the war through the results of the October offensive and resolve it peacefully with the Nanjing government." —— Japan Out of serious vigilance against the Soviet Union's military dispatch, the government still wanted to "quickly end" the costly war against China.As for how to "end it", the unanimous opinion of the cabinet is: to "make China quickly lose its will to fight" by means of expanding the scale of the war militarily. The question is: can China "lose the will to fight quickly"? The Japanese generals on the front line in Shanghai believed that there was a huge gap between the understanding of the Chinese army in the Tokyo base camp and the reality they encountered: In the Shanghai operation, the Chinese army's will to resist the war and the infantry's combat effectiveness were contrary to Miyake's previous judgments (the Japanese Army Ministry and Military Headquarters are located in Tokyo's Miyake board). The main reason for this was the firm will to resist the war.Under the merciless bombardment of the Japanese army, the infantry of the Chinese army refused to retreat from their positions.The requirement of Chinese infantry tactics is to be close to the Japanese infantry front. Once it is close to the Japanese infantry front, it can avoid the combined firepower of the Japanese land, sea and air.The sniping of the Chinese army is especially their special skill, and Japanese army officers are often good targets for such sniping. The Japanese generals who were on the battlefield in China did not think that China would "quickly lose the will to fight."Therefore, they advocated that stronger political and military pressure must be exerted on China: "Because of the October offensive in North China and Shanghai, the Nationalist Government in Nanjing probably felt a deep sense of defeat, but did this sense of defeat reach the level of bruising? There are still considerable doubts about the extent of the will to resist the war.”Therefore, it is necessary to carry out large-scale battles in "important places, so that the Chinese government and people feel completely defeated. If this is not enough to make them give up the War of Resistance, it is necessary to establish an independent regime in North China, strengthen this independent regime, and implement politically. On the other hand, air force attacks and naval blockades were carried out in tandem, which cut off the Nanjing regime’s food and financial resources, weakened its ability to carry out wars, and forced it to seek peace.” ——The differences between the Japanese generals fighting in China and the Japanese headquarters in Tokyo on the war of aggression against China almost ran through the entire period of the Sino-Japanese War, and had a huge impact on the evolution of the war process. On October 1, the main forces of the 101st, 9th and 13th Divisions of the Japanese Army successively arrived at the Shanghai battlefield.Matsui Iwane decided to adopt the tactics of concentrating his forces to implement a breakthrough in the middle. Taking the Luodian and Dachang highways as the axis, "the main force circles from the left to the south", and the other main force faces south from the right, "attacking the vicinity of Dachang Town", By breaking through the Dachang position and "entering the Suzhou Creek line", the roundabout encirclement of the Chinese defenders was completed. Japanese reinforcements arrived on the battlefield every day, and the positions of the Chinese defenders, such as Liujiahang and Wanqiao, which were located at the front of the field, fell one after another.On October 1st, Gu Zhutong ordered the first-line troops to retreat.It was extremely dangerous to retreat in front of the enemy. The troops covered each other under the fierce Japanese attack, and the casualties still reached an unbelievable level.With the front line retreating across the board, the 62nd Regiment of the 10th Division guarded the stronghold of Donglin Temple. With only the platoon leader Hu Yuzheng and five soldiers left, they swore to the death and fought hand-to-hand with the Japanese troops who kept breaking into the stronghold. After killing Nobuyoshi Suda, the squadron leader of the Japanese army, with a shovel and a bayonet, all of them were martyred. The Japanese army landed from the mouth of the Baimao River, went south along the Hutai Highway (from Taicang, Jiangsu, to Zhabei, Shanghai) and began to attack Yunzaobang.Under the attack of the powerful firepower of the Japanese army, the line positions of the Chinese defenders were completely destroyed, and troops were constantly exhausted due to casualties and needed new troops to replace them.In the direction of the Black Big Yellow House, where the Japanese army is mainly attacking, the Eighth Division of the Chinese Army is on defense.The division was adapted from the Hunan Army troops in the early days of the Northern Expedition.After being ordered to go to the front line in Shanghai from Fengxiang, Shaanxi, it was included in Hu Zongnan's First Army's combat sequence, but this department did not belong to the direct line of the Central Army.The division commander Tao Zhiyue was full of complaints about this: "Although he has been under the command of Chiang Kai-shek for a long time, he has always been rejected and discriminated against. Except for the salary that is only enough to maintain the lives of officers and soldiers, he never replenishes weapons and equipment, and lets them fend for themselves. .When this unit arrived at the Shanghai battlefield, they still used Hanyang guns of the 1920s and all kinds of miscellaneous guns. They had no heavy weapons at all. Such a unit with inferior equipment must compete with the well-equipped and well-trained troops with naval superiority. The difficulty of the enemy's confrontation can be imagined." Under the order of Master Tao to "defend to the death", the eighth division of the "no-name army" stood at the front for 20 days, and the Japanese army paid a great price until the The division lost all casualties, and the position of the Black Big Yellow House was broken by the Japanese army. ——When the Eighth Division of the Chinese Army was completely withdrawn from the battlefield, there were only more than 700 troops left in the thousands. Due to the tenacious resistance of the Chinese army, it was very difficult for the Japanese army to advance, and they had to dig trenches to move forward meter by meter. The close combat made the battlefield situation even more cruel.After the vanguard of the Ninth Division of the Japanese Army broke through the Black Rhubarb House, they forcibly crossed Yunzaobang and established a beachhead about one kilometer long on the south bank. Not only did the Chinese defenders have their backs threatened, but the Japanese army’s attack target was already directed at Dachang . Dachang was in the true north of Shanghai. Once it fell, the Japanese army could cut off the rear of the Chinese defenders in Zhabei, Jiangwan, and Miaohang, and reach the Suzhou Creek.Therefore, the stability of the Dachang position is related to the fate of Shanghai and hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops.The commander-in-chief of the third war zone put the eleventh army that had just arrived into the battlefield.Chen Cheng, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, issued an order to destroy the enemy on the south bank of Yunzaobang and consolidate the overall defense line after readjusting the combat areas and battlefield divisions of each unit.The order accurately concentrated forces on the left flank of the Japanese attack. On the 11th, the main force of the Japanese army began to forcibly cross Yunzaobang under the cover of the bridgehead on the south bank.In order to close the gap in the position of the Black Rhubarb Mansion, prevent the Japanese army from crossing Yunzaobang, and ease the crisis on the entire front, Chen Cheng sent two tough Central Army direct descendants, the First Army added in Kunshan and Huang Jie's Tax Police Headquarters. The troops went into battle again.After the newly replenished first army came up, it didn't last for a few days, and the whole army suffered another 80% casualties.The difference from the previous stage is that the number of commanders above the regiment was reduced, but there were very few officers below the battalion commander.However, the Chinese army also made the 101st Division of the Japanese Army pay a heavy price.On the 11th, as soon as the captain of the 10th Regiment, Harmony Kano, raised his command knife and stood up, he was knocked down by the Chinese defenders—his yelling in front of the position caught the attention of the Chinese officers and soldiers. Rifle bullets rained down on him.Haruhiro Kano, a native of Tokyo, was born in a samurai family. He used to be the chief of the secret service of the First Division of the Kwantung Army. He was transferred to the Shanghai battlefield more than a month ago to take up his current position. Due to the tenacious and fierce Japanese attack, Chen Cheng transferred Li Jue's 19th Division, Liu Yuqing's 26th Division, and the left-wing Sichuan Army's Yang Sen Department from the Central Combat Army.The 19th Division of the Chinese Army is the basic unit of the Hunan warlord He Jian. It once belonged to the Eighth Army of the National Revolutionary Army and was one of the Northern Expedition Army units that first captured Hanyang.Like all local warlord troops, they were discriminated against by the Central Army: their weapons and equipment were backward, and each company had only six light machine guns. , rifles made in Hanyang, Hunan Minsheng Factory, etc. are mixed together, often breaking down after a few shots, and all styles of guns are missing parts.The troops also suffered hardships on the way to Shanghai. During the day, the trains were afraid of bombing. At night, because the railway was full of supply trains and wounded trains, their trains could only stop and go. The officers and soldiers were crowded in the carriages and were exhausted.Approaching the position north of Shanghai, the 19th Division began on foot.People from Hunan are not familiar with the road when they arrive here, and they often make mistakes. In addition, the road is muddy, and the officers and soldiers complained endlessly.Full of complaints, suddenly a car drove over, and the driver enthusiastically asked them to get in the car.The driver turned out to be a girl who was only eighteen or nineteen years old. After asking, she found out that it was a volunteer from the Shanghai Boy Scouts who had come to the front line to pick up the wounded.A little girl risked her life to go to the front line. These Hunan people were so moved that they didn't know what to do. They all expressed that since they came up, they would fight the enemy bravely. ——"The officers and soldiers were lying in the cotton fields, they were bombed by enemy planes and couldn't fight back, and they were despised by the Central Army." "!"As soon as the 19th Division came up, it ambushed a group of Japanese troops, and even chased the enemy to Yunzaobang, forcing the Japanese troops to flee back in rubber boats.However, in the ensuing battle, the Japanese army could not be effectively killed by grenades alone, and the 19th Division's own casualties began to increase.When the 113th Regiment of the division was defending the Guojiapailou position, almost all the regiment, including its commander Qin Qingwu, suffered casualties.The Hunan army was not convinced, and He Jian's housekeeping force, the Hunan Security Regiment, was added. This group of stubborn Hunanese struggled for more than ten days on the front line. The Twentieth Army of the Chinese Army is the Sichuan Army.Before the Sichuan army went to the battlefield, the army commander Yang Sen once gave a lecture to the troops: "We used to fight civil wars, and it was extremely shameful for the country and the nation. Today's Anti-Japanese War is to protect the land for the country, shed blood and sacrifice. This is the bounden duty of our soldiers. Our Sichuan Army must not fail the people's expectations, and we must shed our blood to win glory for the country!" The morale of the Sichuan Army was high, and they wrote wills to their families after entering the battlefield.Chen Qinmin, head of the 797th Regiment of the 1st, 32nd Division, also wrote, and received a reply from his wife: "When I received your letter, I was filled with grief and sorrow. Everyone thought you had sacrificed for the country, and immediately mourned for you Let's work hard to kill the enemy!" When the 20th Army first arrived on the battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek was very worried about this Sichuan army, so he dispersed it and let it accept the command of the officers in the original position.At that time, the 32nd Division was about to be overwhelmed. The division commander Wang Xiushen ordered Yang Gancai, the brigade commander of the 402nd Brigade of the Sichuan Army who had just come up, to fight back.Xiang Wenbin's regiment actually only had two battalions, and the other battalion was the pistol battalion, which was responsible for the military guards and could not directly participate in the battle.Commander Xiang was a man, and he led his troops to fight and charge under the cover of night.The people in Sichuan fought fiercely, the Japanese army broke up, and the positions lost during the day were taken back.After the first battle with the regiment commander, there was only one battalion commander left, the company commander was either dead or injured, four platoon leaders were left, and more than 120 soldiers remained.Only the remaining battalion commander organized the uninjured officers and soldiers into a company, and still held on to the regained position.After Chiang Kai-shek learned of the performance of the Sichuan Army, he made phone calls all the way to the front line, ordering Commander Xiang Wenbin to be promoted to Major General and given a bonus of 6,000 yuan.Soon after, the Yunzaobang position was in critical condition again, and the Sichuan army fought back violently again, knocking back the Japanese army in front of them.However, the troops who stood firm suffered too many casualties, and the head of the regiment Li Jieli received an order to withdraw, and the Guangxi Army was ordered to come up to replace them.The Japanese army took the opportunity to fight back, and Captain Li decided to beat down the Japanese army before handing over the position.During the counterattack, the regiment suffered heavy casualties again. There were only about forty soldiers left. Regimental Commander Li himself was also injured. After handing over the position, he was sent to the rear hospital in Suzhou for treatment.The Military Commission of the Nationalist Government decided: "Confer Li Jieli the First Class Medal of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and be promoted to Major General." The Japanese army put the 13th Division of the second-line troops into the front-line operations. It is raining continuously, this is the moment to test the fighting will of both sides. The Chinese defenders huddled in the trenches had no air support.At this time, the Chinese Air Force had lost all casualties and basically lost its combat capability.And the Japanese planes were extremely crazy without any air opponents.The Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy and the Shanghai Expeditionary Force made an agreement to assist the Army in operations.The bombers and fighter jets originally used in the North China battlefield also moved to the direction of Shanghai, not only directly supporting the army's ground operations, but also began to bomb Nanjing on a large scale.The few remaining Chinese Air Force bravely took off to fight the Japanese aircraft, but it was difficult to replenish after the loss, resulting in a sharp drop in the number of aircraft.However, the Chinese navy was completely passive under the bombing of Japanese planes, and the few remaining warships lost their combat effectiveness due to injuries. ——"It goes without saying that the national army is far from modernization in terms of equipment, training, and logistics." Sun Yuanliang, commander of the 88th Division of the Chinese Army, recalled, "I remember a team that drove from a long way to Jiangwan Behind the line of fire, they huddled together in several villages, lit fires and cooked, smoke was everywhere, and the empty field was full of laundry, which fluttered in the wind. Then enemy planes were attracted, and the enemy planes flew almost touching the roofs, and the machine guns Indiscriminate shooting and bombing. In this way, this unit that has not yet been on the line of fire has to be transferred back to the rear for supplementary training. There is another friendly army that is known for its toughness and combat effectiveness in the civil war.钟头的火力攻击下，被轰得七零八落。他们根本没有看见过敌人的面孔，也被调下火线了。” 坚守蕴藻浜前沿的中国军队第八军，由原财政部税警团改编而来，是国民政府财政部部长宋子文一手创建的，武器从美国购置，排以上军官大多是留美学生，因此战斗力远比当时普通的中国陆军师强。只是，由于中国军队严重缺乏炮兵，官兵们在充满积水的战壕里忍受着日军的炮火，身下泥水齐腰，头上弹片横飞，整个前沿阵地犹如人间地狱。中国陆军由于武器简陋，战斗到最后往往只能靠肉搏。但即便是肉搏，中正式步枪的刺刀也比日军三八式步枪的刺刀短了足足十厘米。日军远离本土，尚未发生难以维持作战的供给困难；在本土作战的中国军队，一线部队却会发生吃不上饭的困难。第十八军军长罗卓英甚至说，前线的中国官兵有饿死的，“因为饭送不上去，士兵身上又没有带干粮。几天几夜没有饭吃，不饿死还等什么”？不间断的白刃战，极度紧绷的神经，无法克制的饥饿，负伤后难以及时后送，大量浸泡在泥水中的尸体开始腐烂。——残酷的上海战场，被中国军方称为“一寸山河一寸血”，被日本军方称为“血肉磨坊”。历史的事实是：在上海战事中，中国军队有丢失阵地的，有贻误战机的，有由于种种原因抗命的，甚至有个别贪生怕死的，但就抗击日本侵略者而言，没有妥协和屈服的，从官到兵都没有！ 上海周边的战斗异常残酷，但市区内外国人居住的租界里却是另外一番景象。中国陆军第十六师的一名司务长，带着几名炊事兵从前线进入上海市区想弄点食品： 走进租界边上，见到街头巷尾都有沙包和铁丝网构筑的工事，外国水兵持枪守卫，外竖一木牌，写着“华军禁止入内”，我们见到很气愤。又见附近空地上铺着一丈多宽的英、法国旗，为的是让日机不要轰炸租界区。市区商店照常营业，茶楼酒馆，生意兴隆，娱乐场所，锣鼓喧天，与市外炮声隆隆、血肉横飞、杀声震天的情况，形成两个天地。 日军缓慢但顽强地向前推进，前锋已进至蕴藻浜以南五公里处。如果战线再次崩溃，日军便可直抵大场，中国守军将面临退路断绝的危局。中国军队所能承受的极限，也是日军必须同时承受的，在这种胶着状态下，谁能够拼尽最后的气力，谁就可能占据主动。中国第三战区决定对日军发动大规模的反击作战。这一计划得到了副参谋总长白崇禧的支持，并决定反击作战主力由新近投入战场的桂军第四十八军担任。白崇禧“力主反攻”，认为“桂军英勇善战”，所以“亲来前方指挥，适国际联盟开会在即，蒋介石也想打一胜仗，显示中国军队力量”。此时中央军嫡系部队“均已残破不堪”，因此反攻之战只有“借重桂军”。 十月十八日晚九时，中国军队反击作战命令下达： 一、敌军主力仍继续向我蕴藻浜南岸阵地攻击。 二、本战区以击破蕴藻浜南岸敌军之目的，决由蕴藻浜两侧地区转移攻势。 三、中央作战军应以八个团编成攻击军，由谈家头、陈家行之线攻击前进，保持重点于左翼。第一攻击目标桥亭宅、顿悟寺之线；第二攻击目标赵家角、西六房之线。 左翼作战军应以四个团编成攻击军，由广福、新陆宅之线攻击前进，保持重点于右翼。第一攻击目标彭宅，第二攻击目标陆桥。 四、其他正面各师，除守备阵地外，应编成四个突击队，向敌阵地要点出击，册应攻击军之战斗，并调整阵线，加强工事。 五、炮兵队火力运用，以火力支援攻击军之战斗。 六、各攻击军应迅速侦察敌阵地状态、地形及前进道路，并搜集通过小河川之架桥材料，于二十一日薄暮前完成一切攻击准备。 各集团军接到命令后立即开始部署： 第二十一集团军总司令廖磊以第四十八军第一七四师为第一攻击军的一线师，第一七三师为二线师，均归第四十八军军长韦云淞指挥；第十九集团军总司令薛岳以第六十六军第一六〇、第一五九师各一部组成第二攻击军，由旅长邓志才指挥；第十五集团军总司令罗卓英以第九十八师第二九二旅为第三攻击军，由该旅旅长指挥。第一线其他各师各自编成突击队。 此次大规模反击作战的主力突击部队，是位于一线的桂军。 李宗仁和白崇禧的桂军，是中国各路地方部队中最具战斗力的。桂军的兵员来自广西特有的征兵制，实行的是“寓兵于团”的政策，广西受过训练的壮丁达一百多万人。桂军除了火炮弱些之外，每年都向德国订购新式步枪一万支，甚至还有先进的自动步枪；每团约一千五百人，都是久经训练并打过仗的老兵。桂军北上抗日的部队，先后编成了三个集团军，即李品仙的第十一集团军、廖磊的第二十一集团军和夏威的第十六集团军。抵达淞沪战场的，首先是第二十一集团军韦云淞的第四十八军，下辖第一七三、第一七四、第一七六师；十月上旬，周祖晃的第七军抵达上海，下辖第一七〇、第一七一、第一七二师。广西人性格剽悍，桂军以死拼闻名，其擅长山的作战的特点人人皆知。 但是，上海战场遍布稻田、港汊和小河，没有山，连丘陵都没有。 二十一日晚七时，中国守军的火炮按照反攻计划全面轰击，大规模的反击作战开始了。之前，第二十一集团军总司令廖磊曾对这些广西兵说：“你们生在这个范围里，死也在这个范围里，若无命令，有敢擅自脱离阵地的，无论任何官兵，只有拿头来见我！”在第四十八军的突击方向，陈家行、顿悟寺、桃园浜一线是日军第十三、第九师团的主攻地段。因此，反击作战一开始，中国军队的进攻就遭到了日军猛烈的炮火拦截。第四十八军火炮数量有限，且多数是射程不远的山炮，自进入上海战场以来，桂军才知这些山炮在密布河汊的地形里根本用不上，随着部队的调动在战场上拖来拖去反而成了累赘，只好把这些没用的东西运回广西去。日军炮火之猛超乎了桂军的想象，第一七三师师长贺维珍与几名旅长刚刚从指挥部出来，炮弹就呼啸着飞过来了，一名旅长当场阵亡，另一名旅长跑向自己的炮兵阵地，试图指挥压制日军火力，结果也被日军的炮弹炸死。桂军官兵多出身于广西民团，剽悍有余，打仗凶猛，但却毫无现代作战的经验。官兵们在日军的火力拦截下伤亡惨重，他们把原因归结在自己的军装上：“在上海战场上的我军，皆戴布帽和着灰色军装，唯桂军戴钢盔，着黄色军装，目标特别显著。”掩护第四十八军反击的炮兵释放了烟雾弹，可是对风向的判断出了错，烟雾迎面向中国军队飘来，出击的部队什么也看不见，日军却把中国军队的出击意图看明白了。 桂军第七军虽然没有参加反击，但负责防御时也伤亡惨重。日军出动坦克向第一七〇师阵地实施冲击，第五〇八旅一〇一六团二营营长王有清阵亡，全营动摇，三营奉命增援时被日军火力拦截。二营阵地的丢失令团长谢志恒很恼怒：“罗旅长对今天战斗很不满，他说我们第七军在国内外素有钢军声誉，守个阵地不到两天就失了，成什么样子！今晚如不把第二营阵地夺回来，从炊事兵到团长都要杀光！”此时，一〇一六团三个营中的十二个连长已经伤亡九人。三营长负责收复阵地，命令任何人“不准畏缩不前，违者军法从事”。两个营仅剩的一百六十多名官兵只能决死战斗了，冲在最前面的是二连连长蓝中民： 天差不多快亮了，不能再犹豫不决，我即发出冲锋的口令，撼天动地冲上敌阵，投掷手榴弹，用刺刀与敌人搏斗。冲到战壤时，碰上一个敌队长，他用左轮手枪向我射击，子弹由我左耳朵边飞过，我的手枪同时发射，子弹从他小腹穿过，他倒地了。我的士兵在他身旁拾得左轮手枪一支，战刀一把，又从他身上搜到未婚妻及他妹妹相片、手表等东西。敌人经过我军这样猛攻冲杀，天亮时，狼狈逃窜。我们即用火力追击，夺回第二营阵地……在战壕外，见敌我阵亡官兵尸首混在一起，血流遍地。我王营长（有清）尸体，胸部受刺多处，惨烈之状，目不忍睹，泪水不禁夺眶而出。 但是，局部的血拼不足以挽救反击全局。 与第二十一集团军同时发起反击的其他各路部队，都因缺乏足够的兵力以及必要的火力支援未能达到作战命令所规定的攻击线。第二天凌晨，中国军队的反击作战显现出败势。 日军立即发动了反击。 中国军队参加反击作战的各部在日军的攻击下开始后撤。 为堵塞战线裂开的缺口，陈诚调动预备部队补缺，但依旧不能持续支撑。二十四日，中国军队逐次撤退至大场一线。第二天，追击而来的日军猛烈围攻大场。大场及外围阵地由湘军朱耀华的第十八师和旧西北军冯兴贤的第三十三师防守。这两个师刚刚抵达战场，开赴前沿后连简易的野战工事都没来得及构筑，日军便分两路突入，第三十三师不战而溃，第十八师鏖战竟日，身陷重围，援军不至，大场最终陷落，朱师长羞愤自杀。——朱耀华，湖南长沙人，早年入湘军，参加过辛亥武昌起义，历任排、连、团、旅长等职，时年四十九岁。这是上海战事爆发以来第一位在战场殉国的中国师长。 大场失守，上海战局急转直下。 由于侧背受到严重威胁，为防止中国军队被日军围歼，第三战区决定放弃现有阵地全面向苏州河南岸转移。 大场失守的那天，战区副司令长官顾祝同给第八十八师师长孙元良打电话，命令他率第八十八师留下来死守上海市区，当即遭到孙师长的拒绝： 十六日早晨，上海战区国军最高指挥官顾祝同先生打电话给我：“委员长想要第八十八师留在闸北，死守上海。你的意见怎么样？”我略加思索，答：“我不同意。为什么呢？如果我们死一人，敌人也死一人，甚至我们死十人，敌人死一人，我就愿意留在闸北，死守上海。现在最可虑的是，我们孤立在这里，于激战之后，干部伤亡了，联络隔绝了，在部队解体、粮弹不继，混乱而无指挥的状态下，被敌军任意屠杀，那才不值，更不光荣啊！第八十八师的士气固然很高，并且表现了坚守闸北两个多月的战绩，但我们也经过五次的补充啊！新兵虽然一样忠勇爱国，但训练时间短，缺乏各自为战的技能——这是实际情形，所以我不同意。” 后来，这一部署改成留下一个团，孙元良师长还是不同意，最后勉强留下了一个营，指挥官是五二四团团附谢晋元和该团一营营长杨瑞符。史称“八百壮士”，实则四百五十二人。——从军事角度上看，无法理解为什么要在日军攻占的地域里留下少量部队。可能的解释只能出于政治意义：蒋介石仍没有放弃国际上对中国抗战的同情和支援，在国际联盟即将开会之际，希望全世界都知道中国军队仍在坚守上海市区，哪怕只有几百名中国官兵。 苏州河，一条横穿上海市区的小河，尽管河面只有百余尺宽，浑浊的河水很浅，枯水时几近露出泥浆河道，但在一九三七年的秋天，它却成为中国军队固守上海的最后一道天然屏障。 留下的壮士们坚守的阵地，是一栋六层楼房，由于是大陆、金城、盐业和中南四家银行联营的仓库，因此上海人把这栋楼叫作四行仓库。四行仓库孤零零地立在已被日军占领的苏州河北岸，大楼里事先储存了足够的饮水、粮食和弹药，四百五十二名中国官兵就在这栋被日军围困的大楼里坚守不退。 二十七日天亮后，日军发现中国守军已全部退至苏州河南岸，唯独河边这栋楼里的中国守军不但没撤，而且所有的窗口都布置了持枪士兵，这令日军整整一上午都处在困惑之中没能有任何动作。下午，日军试探性地向这座孤楼发动了攻势，当中国守军的步枪子弹出膛后，日军的试探转瞬间变成了猛烈进攻。在机枪的掩护下，日军一波接一波地冲锋，都被中国守军打了下去。——四行仓库三面被日军包围，但南面却是公共租界，日军攻击时既不敢出动飞机轰炸，也不敢动用火炮支援步兵，更无法通过租界地区实施进攻，中国守军背后是安全的，这令日军感到十分棘手。 四行仓库的作战，引起了上海市民的关注——原以为苏州河北岸的中国军队全都退到了南岸，现在竟然还有一支部队在与日军死拼。上海市民奔走相告。从二十七日下午开始，四行仓库这边枪声一响，隔着狭窄的苏州河，上海市民“观者如堵，靡不赞叹”。 在观战的市民中，有一位年仅十五岁的女孩儿。女孩儿看见苏州河对面围绕四行仓库的四个方向上，三个方向飘着日本太阳旗，一个方向飘着租界里的英国米字旗，决心一定要让一面中国国旗在四行仓库的楼顶上升起来。 上海市商会和抗日救亡团体筹集了一批物资，准备秘密地通过租界送进四行仓库，女孩儿搭乘着送物资的卡车潜入了公共租界，然后开始了她的惊人之举： 到了晚上，我脱下童子军制服，将一面大国旗紧紧地缠在身上，我再罩上制服。夜是黝黑的，有英国兵走动的影子。马路对面的四行仓库像一个巨人，俯视着我。我观察了一下地形，若是溜过马路，势必要被左右的英国警戒兵发现，把我当作枪靶子。过了马路，四行仓库有重重铁丝网围着，只有沿着铁丝网工事爬到缺口处，再从窗子爬进去。终归是要冒险的，我卧倒在地上，爬过马路。我急跳的心刚稳定下来，突然枪炮声大作。我以为我被敌人或是英国警戒兵发现了，忙伏在路旁的工事里不敢动。红绿的火舌在我头上飞舞。原来是敌人又向四行仓库进攻哩。不过敌人似乎不敢过分乱放枪炮，因为隔着苏州河对岸英租界里立着一排大汽油坦克，一颗子弹飞错方向，全上海市民连日本人也不例外，都要遭受祸殃！不久，枪炮声沉寂下去，我又开始慢慢爬，终于到了东侧的楼下。谢晋元团长、杨瑞符营长早有消息，知道我要来献旗，他们都在等候我。我脱下外衣，将浸透了汗水的国旗呈献给他们，在朦胧的灯光下，这一群捍卫祖国的英雄都激动得流下泪来了！谢团长说：“勇敢的同志，你给我们送来的岂仅仅是一面崇高的国旗，而是我们中华民族誓死不屈的坚毅精神！”他立刻吩咐准备升旗。因为屋顶没有旗杆，临时用两根竹竿连接扎成旗杆。这时东方已现鱼肚白，曙色微茫中，平台上站了一二十个人，都庄重地举手向国旗敬礼。没有音乐，没有排场，只有一两声冷枪声，但那神圣而肃穆的气氛，单纯而悲壮的场面，却是感人至深的。我一辈子都不会忘记。谢团长带我参观各处，窗口和各种工事都就地利用仓库积存的整袋黄豆或麦子堆成，十分坚固。负伤的弟兄们躺在地上，有的在呻吟。我的热泪长流，我坚决要留下来替他们服务。但是谢团长硬是把我送出门口，将我推出去。他喊：“冲过马路，跳下河！”我猛冲过去，跃下苏州河，头上枪声大作，我知道是敌军发现了我。这时已是白天了。我平日练就的游泳技术救了我，我深潜入水中，游至对河公共租界登岸。抬头一看，苏州河畔站满了人，纷纷向四行仓库屋顶迎着朝阳招展的美丽国旗招手欢呼！ 这位勇敢的中国小女孩儿，名叫杨慧敏。 四行仓库楼顶的中国国旗升起来后，团附谢晋元给师长孙元良写了一封信：晋元“誓不轻易撤退，亦绝不做片刻偷生之计。在晋元未死前，全营官兵必向寇取偿相当代价”。“决不负师座，不负国家”。 中国军队第八十八师第二六二旅五二四团一营，坚守四行仓库四个昼夜，击毁日军两辆坦克，让日军横尸二百余具，守军仅伤亡三十七人，一营营长杨瑞符弹穿左胸身负重伤。 十一月一日，一营奉命“退去戎服”，退入公共租界。 为什么突然放弃坚守而退入租界，原因众说纷纭：有认为是各国使节向中国政府提出照会，要求中国政府出于人道主义考虑，将置于日军虎口下的孤军撤离；也有认为是四行仓库距离租界太近，战事已直接威胁到租界安全，各国不希望战火烧到自己的身边。——有一点可以肯定，那就是外国人对苏州河北岸租界区存在一支中国军队向国民政府提出了异议。 撤退的前一天晚上，蒋介石下达了嘉奖令： 第八十八师留守闸北之五二四团团附谢晋元以下各官兵： 服从命令，达成目的，殊堪嘉慰，该团各官兵准各升一级；并呈准政府各给予荣誉勋章。至其死亡人员，自该团长韩宪元以下各官兵，待查明下落与其生死后，准予另案呈报，特别抚恤，以奖有功，而志荣哀。 谢晋元部退入公共租界时，租界里的英军指挥官马勒提少将站在机枪阵地前，护送着中国守军通过了日军的封锁线。 只是，自那以后，谁也没