Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen

On March 12, 1939, Chiang Kai-shek promulgated the "Message to Compatriots in the Country for the Implementation of the General Mobilization of the National Spirit": Today is the fourteenth anniversary of the death of the Prime Minister. With solemnity and sincerity, Chung Cheng announced the implementation of the national mobilization of the national spirit. All the programs and measures are national conventions.The Prime Minister said: "People have spiritual functions, not just relying on material bodies." He also said: "Weapons are material, and those who can use this weapon depend entirely on spirit. Compared with the two, spiritual power ranks ninth, and material power It’s only one of them.” The Prime Minister devoted himself to the revolution and experienced battles. All these teachings are based on personal experience. Based on the historical facts of the revolution, we first overthrew the Manchu Qing monarchy with bare hands and established the Republic of China; Swearing to the Northern Expedition, sweeping away the obstacles of the warlords, and completing the unification of the country all rely on the spirit to win, and this is the first foundation laid.Unfortunately, the revolution failed, the teacher died early, the country was in dire straits, and foreign aggression became more urgent.Now the Anti-Japanese War has entered its second phase. Looking north at Yanyun, looking east at the capital, the fierce front of the captives has not yet been defeated, and the cemetery is worshiping relatives. Countless compatriots are dying to be rescued. The lifeblood of the country and the nation is still in the breath of life and death. , and the success of the cause of revolution and nation-building is still far away.The reason for this is purely due to our lack of obedience to the Prime Minister's doctrine and legacy, lack of sincerity in belief, failure to cheer up the spirit, and inability to concentrate the will; There are still wild fantasies of breaking our spirit and winning the hearts of our country.There is no reason for insulting oneself and others, and thinking about shame in this way is shameful.The current crisis of national destiny and rampant bandits have resulted from the laziness and laziness of our past mental behavior, which has brought about this bad result.Today, at the time of the war of resistance, the world is rising and falling, and the stakes are enormous. If you are not ashamed, work hard, catch up, and work together to unify the inherent morality of the nation. The revolutionary spirit of the prime minister gathers in the supremacy of the country, the supremacy of the nation, and the military first. 1. Victory is the first, under the three common goals of concentration of will and concentration of strength, sweep away the obstacles of decay and corruption, cultivate vigorous vigor, do their best, each perform their duties, and strive for the great cause of the War of Resistance and the founding of the country with all our strength. How to save oneself and save the country, and how to treat the ancestors of the nation above and the descendants of future generations below.Zhongzheng felt sorry for the Prime Minister's failure to do so, read the teachings to follow, and confirmed that the general mobilization of the national spirit is actually the basis for building an army, building a country, and defeating the enemy.I earnestly hope that all the generals and soldiers at the front and rear of our country, men and women from all walks of life in all provinces and cities across the country will sincerely and firmly believe in it, reveal the points of the program, deeply understand it, implement it unanimously, swear to the National Covenant, establish the will to resist the war, and use spiritual transformation to implement it in reality This act is intended to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the death of our Prime Minister, and to comfort the souls of the Prime Minister and the fallen military and civilian martyrs.So here are those who do their best to serve the country, and those who have committed great shame to our Chinese nation being invaded, ravaged, raped, burned, and killed by violent enemies are also here.The saying goes: As far as sincerity is concerned, gold and stone are opened, and it is necessary to implement it internally and externally, and do not regard the ordinary as important.

Why is it necessary to carry out a "spiritual mobilization" of all citizens when the war has reached a stalemate?In his speech, Chiang Kai-shek listed a number of reasons: 1. "The current crisis of national destiny and rampant bandits are the result of our laziness and laziness in our past mental behavior." Two or three months later, when foreign public opinion had various criticisms of our country, there was an extremely shocking comment in the middle, saying that "China is not strong enough to resist external forces"; 3. "We must recognize the greatness of spiritual power, which surpasses all material power and all force"; 4. "If a country suffers from foreign aggression because of spiritual decline, it is already an incomparable shame for this generation of citizens; When survival is at stake, it is not only a disgrace to this generation of citizens, it is simply a crime to be unable to concentrate our energy, to defend the country, to survive the current crisis, and to open up a future destiny.

"The Program for the General Mobilization of the National Spirit and Its Implementation Measures" specifically listed five problems that Chinese people must spiritually transform—these problems are still frightening to read today: (a) The life of drunkenness and dreaming of death must be corrected. People who live are the foundation of the spirit. Without a reasonable life, there is no sound spirit. It is a life of intoxication and dreaming that is addicted to sensuality, money, and profit. It must be thoroughly corrected and the creed of a new life must be implemented.Otherwise, not only will the individual's spirit be dissipated, but the country will be wronged by oneself, and mutual learning will become a common practice, which will suddenly lead to the phenomenon of national subjugation in the whole society, which will lead to the contempt of the world and the deepening of the enemy's hatred. Not only will it be harmful to the country, but it will also affect the military.

(b) Vigorous vigor must be cultivated. Second to the life of drunkenness, dreams and death, those who are the thieves of the national spirit are the ethos of depression and decadence. The existence of this ethos is caused by both psychological and physical reasons.In terms of psychology, due to the lack of national self-confidence and personal self-improvement, it does not mean that the nation has no hope of revival, that is, it does not regard the cause of national revival as irrelevant to itself. develop.In terms of physiology, exercise, hygiene, tidiness, cleanliness, and even the habit of getting up early must be advocated and practiced, so that the national spirit can be enriched and rejuvenated, so that it can take on the extraordinary revolutionary cause.

(c) The habit of idling along must be eradicated. During the Anti-Japanese War, there was a spiritual phenomenon that must be paid attention to, that is, the people in the front lacked the determination to swear revenge to the death;The former phenomenon is enough to increase the number of obedient people of the enemy and increase the enthusiasm of the enemy; the latter phenomenon is enough to reduce the number of fighters of the nation and weaken the fighting spirit.The motives are all because the concept of national supremacy is not firm, and the habit of stealing life still exists.To correct the former phenomenon is to clarify the revanchism of righteousness in the Spring and Autumn Period, the so-called "revenge for the country can last forever".Let the citizens who have lost their land never forget the concept of country supremacy and nation supremacy.To correct the latter phenomenon, when promoting the ethos of "accepting orders at the sight of danger" and praising the loyalty of those who died in the line of duty, it is even more necessary to strictly enforce discipline and uphold justice, so that everyone will regard it as a great shame to evade duty and secretly seek safety, and then the revolutionary spirit But it can be established.

(d) Selfish attempts must be broken. Those who only want to preserve personal life and property, and increase personal fame and power, regardless of the interests and survival of the nation as a whole, also have the same selfish motive as those in military power who want to preserve their strength and territory.With such a selfish mentality, private opinion will be higher than everything else, self-interest will be higher than everything else, and even the expansion and satisfaction of personal reputation, status and power desires must be ahead of everything else, and the extrapolation will lead to the sacrifice of national interests and the destruction of the anti-Japanese war plan. already.Today, when the Anti-Japanese War is fierce and life and death are breathing, it is not only unwise but also unbenevolent to be unconscious. Under the purpose of mobilizing the national spirit, this kind of chronic habit must be eliminated. The point of correction is to get rid of prejudices as much as possible, to lose heart and gallbladder, and to return to sincerity and sincerity.

(e) Diversity of thought must be corrected. Since the Anti-Japanese War, although the thought and speech of the whole country have formed a fundamental unity, there are still many differences in the branches and leaves. Under the above-mentioned principles of national supremacy, military victory first, and concentration of willpower, establish standards and correct them separately so that the foundation of unification can be further consolidated. In particular, we must actively guide and form a common national theory for the benefit of our people and young people. In terms of understanding, we embrace the same ideal for the future of the country, and in terms of action, we tend to pursue the same goal. Since we have defeated the enemy with one heart, we have also created a permanent national unity after the war and avoided differences and conflicts.

The general campaign to save the Chinese national spirit was carried out under the indiscriminate bombing of Chongqing, the temporary capital of the Nationalist government, by the Japanese army. In the absence of power to expand the occupied area, the Japanese base camp decided to use its superior air force to carry out large-scale bombing of strategic targets in the rear of China—China's wartime capital Chongqing became the preferred target.Perhaps the Japanese thought that completely erasing this mountain city from the Chinese map would defeat the national government's will to resist the war and make it face collapse.

Chongqing, an ancient city in western China, is located at the confluence of the Jialing River and the Yangtze River. The natural barriers of Yiba Mountain and Wushan Mountain guard the key points of the Yangtze River waterway. Geographically, it is like a natural military castle.After the Japanese army occupied Wuhan, they carefully studied the battle plan for capturing Chongqing, and found that it was almost impossible: the army could not break through the steep mountain roads of Daba Mountain and Wushan Mountains, and the navy could not break through the dangerous waterways of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.Although the Japanese army was blocked by Bashan, they could pour bombs into Chongqing.

The Japanese called the bombing of Chongqing a "political attack." The military term "political attack" first appeared in November 1937, when the Japanese Army Base Camp issued the "Aviation Forces Use Law", which explained the concept of "political attack" as follows: "Political attack It belongs to the destruction of important political, economic, industrial and other central organs in important areas. And the most important thing is to directly attack the citizens, causing great terror to the nationals of the enemy country and frustrating their will.” The Japanese army believed that the terror they carried out An attack, relying solely on the power of the aviation force, can completely injure China's wartime capital. ——It is not only cost-effective, but also a real conquest of a nation, to cause the spiritual collapse of a war opponent, compared with land occupation over mountains and mountains.

As for the regulations in international law that clearly stipulate that the conduct of war shall not harm civilians, the Japanese disdain it.In the unprecedented bombing of Chongqing, China, the Japanese army created the darkest page in the history of world air combat with its unreasonable madness and cruelty. After the Japanese army occupied Wuhan, on December 2, 1938, the Emperor of Japan approved the bombing plan of Chongqing.Subsequently, the Japanese army decided to integrate the army's flight team, the aviation flight regiment, the navy's joint flight team, and the air team, and bombed Chongqing from Wuhan and Xiaogan as flight bases: When attacking the enemy's strategic and political center, it is necessary to concentrate forces and invest in high-quality aircraft, especially to capture and destroy the enemy's highest commander and highest political organ.Special bullets (red bullets, green barrels, red barrels) can be used against Chinese armies, but they must be used to avoid areas where third-country residents live.The use of poisonous gas must be strictly kept secret without leaving any traces.The special bomb refers to the "red tube" of the poison gas bomb. The "red bomb" is connected with arsenic and arsenic, and the "green tube" is the number of the tear gas bomb. On December 9, 1938, according to the order of the base camp, the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Army designated the Army's First Flying Regiment to carry out the combat mission of bombing Chongqing. From Hankou to Chongqing, the air distance is 800 kilometers. The First Flying Regiment of the Japanese Army is mainly composed of the 12th, 60th, and 98th Heavy Bomber Squadrons, the 59th Fighter Squadron, the 10th Independent Fighter Squadron and the 18th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron.The combat radius of its combat aircraft is: the Type 97 heavy bomber owned by the 60th Heavy Bomber Squadron, which carries 500 kilograms of bombs, and has a combat radius of 800 kilometers; The Type 97 fighters owned by the 59th Fighter Squadron and the Independent 10th Fighter Squadron have a combat radius of 450 kilometers; The reconnaissance aircraft owned by the Eighteenth Reconnaissance Aircraft Squadron have a combat radius of 900 kilometers.Obviously, for the bombing of Chongqing, which is 800 kilometers away, the combat radius of the Type 97 fighter jets cannot reach it.As a result, the Type 97 heavy bomber and the Italian heavy bomber, which reduced its bomb load to 300 kilograms to extend its combat radius, could only fight alone without fighter escort. On December 25, 1938, Masazo Terakura, head of the Japanese Army's First Flying Regiment, issued an operational order: to carry out the first bombing of Chongqing at 13:00 on the 26th.As for the target and mission of the attack, Terakura Maszo's statement is: "Chongqing city streets, so that the enemy regime will be shocked." At 10:30 am on the 26th, twelve Type 97 heavy bombers from the Japanese First Flying Regiment took off from Hankou Airport and arrived in the sky over Chongqing at 13:35.However, the pilot could not see Chongqing at all, and there was a thick gray-white fog under the wing.Even at the lowest altitude safe to allow, nothing could be seen.Because of limited fuel, the Japanese pilots had to return after a few turns.Twenty minutes after the first batch of Type 97 heavy bombers took off, ten Italian heavy bombers followed suit and arrived at the sky above Chongqing at 14:00. After circling for a long time, the Japanese pilots finally found a seemingly urban area through the gaps in the clouds. The target - "It is speculated that this may be the area on the east side of Chongqing, that is, the speculative bombing was carried out based on this."The first bombing ended in this way. The Japanese army believed: "Although the results of the battle are unknown, judging from the enemy's wireless communications, it has posed a great threat to the enemy." The Japanese only cared about the combat radius of their own aircraft, but they did not expect that Chongqing, China, was also nicknamed "the capital of fog". ——Every year from January to May after the Spring Festival, this mountain city is basically shrouded in humid clouds day and night.During this period, the residents of the mountain city will regard a certain moment when the sun shines on the earth as a miracle on earth. The second large-scale bombing of Chongqing by the Japanese army took place on January 7, 1939.At this time, Japan learned that the Kuomintang was about to make a decision to restrict the activities of the Communist Party at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee.Therefore, it is believed that military means should be used immediately to sprinkle a handful of salt on China's political wounds.Based on weather information, the Japanese First Flying Regiment judged that the thick fog in Chongqing on the 7th might crack.On that day, thirty-one heavy bombers took off from Hankou Airport in three batches, and flew over Chongqing at around 3:00 pm, but there was no sign of the thick fog breaking: "The cloud cover is ten meters, and the cloud height is 2500 meters, but the clouds over the Yangtze River are a little thinner, so we can judge the shape of the river, and we can see Mount Jinfo from the clouds in the southeast.” Therefore, the Japanese army used the faintly visible shape of the Yangtze River and the Jinfo Mountain, which was about 90 kilometers away from Chongqing, to expose the clouds. Based on the top of Foshan, the speculative bombing of the urban area of ​​Chongqing was carried out according to the voyage and heading. ——"The enemy plane did not meet, so I suffered no loss. The result of the battle is unknown, but Chongqing issued a broadcast saying: Chongqing was bombed and eight enemy planes were shot down." The delay in the bomb falling on the citizens of Chongqing made the Japanese military restless.On January 10, thirty-one heavy bombers from the First Flying Regiment flew to Chongqing for the third time. This time, they finally saw the urban area through the clouds above Chongqing. Japanese pilots dropped four bombs from an altitude of 4,500 meters. Fifteen hundred kilograms of aerial bombs.Stimulated by this victory, on the 15th, the heavy bombers of the Japanese First Flying Regiment took off for the fourth time, planning to carry out a more violent bombing of Chongqing.However, what the Japanese pilots did not expect was that they were violently intercepted by the Chinese Air Force over Chongqing.After the reconnaissance plane flying in the front spotted the twelve Chinese fighter planes above the clouds, it immediately notified the bombers behind, but the bombers had already flown over Chongqing.The Chinese fighter planes immediately rushed towards the Japanese bombers, and the two sides began a fierce air battle.The Chinese anti-aircraft guns on the ground in Chongqing also opened fire on Japanese bombers for the first time.Although heavy bombers are not suitable for air combat, the Japanese army dropped all the aerial bombs they carried on Chongqing during the air combat.The result of this air battle was: the Chinese Air Force lost eleven fighter planes; four Japanese heavy bombers were damaged, but all returned safely. Judging from the intelligence feedback from the Japanese, it seems that few of the large quantities of bombs fell on the civilians in Chongqing, and there was no violent reaction from the Chinese side after the continuous bombing. ——"The weather has been bad for the past few days. The head of the first flight regiment of Sicang believes that it is inappropriate to insist on attacking Chongqing. He suggested that the attack should be shifted to Lanzhou, where the weather is better. On January 21, the commander of the aviation regiment adopted this suggestion ". The Japanese decided to wait patiently for the thick fog over China's "foggy capital" to dissipate. Although Japanese troops have flown over to Chongqing four times to bomb, the wartime capital of China has not shown the panic the Japanese imagined. No matter how much Japan emphasized that the Chiang Kai-shek regime had been reduced to a "local regime", the National Government, as the commanding body of the country, was still operating as usual.The national government perfected the wartime system for comprehensive control over the operation of the national economy: merged and reorganized to establish the Ministry of Economics, implemented financial and foreign exchange controls, established the Ministry of Grain and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, established the Aviation Construction Association General Assembly, the Liquid Fuel Management Committee, and the Joint Water Transport Committee.The national government convened the second anti-Japanese national political participation meeting, and the deliberations involved all aspects of national wartime construction such as military affairs, diplomacy, overseas Chinese affairs, relief, finance, economy, education, transportation, and Mongolia and Tibet.For the implementation of the new county system throughout the country, the national government supervised the establishment of the first provisional councils of the provinces and cities, promoted local autonomy, completed the county government plan, and promulgated the "Outline of County Organizations at All Levels".During this period, Chiang Kai-shek held the party and government classes of the Central Training Corps without interruption, and each training class had to give lectures in person, because he believed that China "must have modern cadres in order to build a modern country." ——Chen Bulei, Director of the Second Division of Chiang Kai-shek's Attendant Office: "This year, the most dedicated people in Chiang Kai-shek's office, apart from the military, are for cadre training, for county government construction, and for economic construction. The first thing is to hold party and government affairs in stages by the central training group Training classes. The second issue is to promulgate the organizational outlines at all levels of the county. The third issue involves many things and has not been promoted. However, the establishment of the economic committee in the preparation zone, the adjustment of financial institutions, and the supervision and improvement of industrial, mining and transportation, Jiang Gong is all involved. Day and night, plan to go for it.” The Japanese, who were looking forward to the collapse of the national government every day, finally waited until May. In May, the clouds and mists over Chongqing split, and the sun poured down on the mountain city. Lili Ames, a Far East correspondent for the German "Frankfurt Daily", was obviously very surprised by the true face of Chongqing after the fog cleared: The new capital of China is one of the most beautiful cities in the world... The scenery is as beautiful as a large garden, which more than offsets the lack of climate.There are terraced fields all over the mountain, bamboo forests everywhere, palms and citrus, reminiscent of a subtropical place.In this fertile basin and plain, pine trees are luxuriant, surrounded by mysterious mountains, and towering cliffs. Any foreigner who comes to Sichuan for the first time will understand why the Chinese can create such imaginative pictures. A young American named Theodore White was hired by the National Government as a consultant to the Propaganda Department as a reporter and writer.When he arrived in Chongqing, along the steep and slippery steps of the pier, several almost naked Chinese husbands carried him into the city gate of Chongqing with sliding poles.White saw that the wartime capital of China was surrounded by steep cliffs. The walls were so old that they were mottled with age. The gates were decorated with golden round spikes. A ridge leads to another ridge.Walking into the uneven streets and alleys of Chongqing, there are more flower stalls than in his hometown Boston. In the aroma of daffodils, azaleas and various unknown flowers, White saw the market of Chinese people. Life, its calmness makes him feel that everything in front of him is not in war: The real constant pulse of life in Chongqing, however, is closely related to the 50 million farmers in Sichuan Province, China's most fertile province, who grow rice to fill the granaries of wartime China.Flat-bottomed barges carried rice downriver from upstream, loaded it into sacks, and transported it to the front line, instead of transporting it to coastal cities for sale as in the past.The richest tycoons in Chongqing are grain merchants and landowners who own rice fields.The meat still comes from the countryside as before.Every morning, the coolies carried the pigs into the city with thick bamboo poles and sent them to the slaughterhouse one after another. The four legs of the pigs were tied to the bamboo poles, their eyes were closed, and they howled in pain all the way.After the pigs are slaughtered, they are sold in the market. The fat fresh meat is dripping with blood on the chopping board where the meat is sold; Dried dun-brown sausages hang from hooks in the open-air meat stalls, and the butchers often sell them to customers in cuts ranging from an inch to two feet... The alleys are always so dark, and some are very dark. Narrow, rainwater dripping from the eaves on both sides of the alley in rainy days can drip on the umbrellas of pedestrians at the same time.The alley also smelled of a mixture of smells, sweet and stinky—of food, spices, flowers, and opium smoke, and of uncleaned rubbish and piss that had flowed into shallow gutters.The cacophony of voices forms another symphony of cries of men and women, cries of babies, and the harsh crowing of hens who share the shed with the people.Then there is the monotonous shout of coolies carrying barrels or peddlers with their wares.Every activity has its own unique sound.The lumber porter roared as he hoisted logs; the cotton peddler beat a piece of wood rhythmically as he walked; The name of the commodity, as the banana merchant and fishmonger on Errie Street in Boston did. What surprised White the most was that there is a unique Chinese "spirit" everywhere in Chongqing: the Chinese don't call the Japanese Japanese, they must call them "Japanese pirates"; After Hankou was occupied by the Japanese army, the Chinese said that "the traces of the enemy appeared in Hankou"; every retreat of the Chinese army was said to be "a major strategic detour." "; and even if it is a small victory news from the front, the Chinese will spread word of mouth until it becomes "captured countless"; when another city falls, the Chinese must especially emphasize that they "lured the enemy into a net" .White believes that this is a special way of spiritual infusion. Compared with the historical background of this way, that is, China's ongoing extremely difficult war against Japan, he faintly feels an inexplicable sadness: Any one of them could have remained on the occupied coast, servilely submitting to the dictates of the victorious Japanese, as thousands of others had.But they don't want to do that.They would rather endure the scorching heat and high temperature in Chongqing, and endure the severe winter in a humid house without heating equipment. They would rather watch their children get sick or even die due to illness, but they refused to give in.So did the thousands of university students and professors who took refuge in makeshift universities a few miles around Chongqing.Many small businessmen along the coast are no exception.They came here not to get rich, but purely out of a sense of national pride, out of a strong will to always be Chinese.What followed were those skilled chefs who were unwilling to stay in enemy-occupied areas to serve the enemy. Until the end of the war, the delicacies I ate in Chongqing, except occasionally in Paris and New York, were world-renowned. Nothing like any other city in the world. What are the chances of the Japanese winning if they want to use bombs to "fall" such a Chongqing? Chongqing, the wartime capital of China, is clearly exposed under the clear sky. The Japanese Air Corps comprehensively summed up the experience and lessons of the previous bombing of Chongqing, and studied in detail the elements of organization, technology, intelligence, supply, and communications. , flying at night and in bad weather conditions, and bombing training. The 13th and 14th Squadrons of the Second Joint Air Force of the Japanese Navy and the Kaohsiung Air Force were ordered to join in the bombing of Chongqing. At 16:00 on May 3, 1939, forty-five medium bombers from the Second United Air Force of the Japanese Navy flew over Chongqing.The Japanese fleet began to dive along the north bank of the Yangtze River, dropping dense bombs on the bustling business district of Chongqing.Thirty planes of the Chinese Air Force took to the skies and shot down two Japanese planes, but lost five of their own, which did not seriously impede the Japanese bombing.Nineteen of the twenty-seven main streets in the center of Chongqing were shot. The area where the bullet was shot was blazing, houses collapsed, people screamed, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.According to incomplete statistics, the Japanese army dropped 166 bombs, killing 673 civilians in Chongqing, injuring 350, and destroying 1,068 houses. What the Japanese bombed was not the battlefield, but the urban areas. This is wanton slaughter. In response to the Japanese air strikes, the Nationalist Government asked all the people in Chongqing to dig out countless air-raid shelters, large and small, depending on the characteristics of the mountain city.The national government hoped to minimize the casualties of the Japanese air strikes, but no one could hide a city and its people. The next day, the Second Joint Air Force of the Japanese Navy decided to launch another air strike on the commercial and residential areas along the Jialing River in Chongqing, and the time was set at dusk.In response to the Chinese Air Force's interception, the Japanese army adopted this strategy: the aircraft fleet first circled over the vicinity of Chongqing, and dealt with the Chinese fighter planes.Around 17:00 on the 4th, twenty-seven Japanese bombers dropped aerial bombs on the intended target in three batches. The area where the bombs fell was more than one kilometer long from Zhongshan Park to the edge of the Jialing River, and from Chaotianmen Wharf to Qixinggang. about two kilometers in length.The Japanese army dropped 126 bombs, killing 3,318 Chongqing citizens, injuring 1,937, and destroying more than 3,000 buildings. The Luohan Temple, which was built in the Tang Dynasty, disappeared completely. , Even the British and French embassies and American churches were not spared. White, a young American who was still in Chongqing, saw the "consequences of the first barbaric bombing of a city in the modern world": The red fire spread everywhere, and people fled in all directions from the flames.Some of them trekked on foot, some rode rickshaws, some rode poles, and some pushed wheelbarrows.As they flooded out, a car or military vehicle that appeared suddenly honked its horn, or simply sped through the long stream of people, and the procession broke up.Then they quickly closed up and continued to flee to the countryside.They brought mattresses, bedding, pots and pans, food and a small amount of furniture.Some were holding nursing babies, some were carrying old granny on their backs, they walked silently, you can even hear their heavy footsteps... The electric wires have been blown up, and the water pipes on the street have also been blown up.There is not a single light, and all you can see is a fire, and there is no water to put out the fire. The fire spreads everywhere, and the alleys in the city are swallowed up in the flames. When the fire burns the bamboo, the bamboo joints crackle... My In the room there was a body thrown in by the strong air current from the bomb. The shock wave had completely changed its face and the ribs were crushed. I could only recognize it as a female corpse by the skin peeling off the breast... I saw a Buddha statue , embedded in the side of a cliff, as the monastery had been burned, the great cross-legged bronze statue glowed red in the flames, its benevolent face smiling to the weeping and wailing city . It should be pointed out that, like the Nanjing Massacre, the chaotic population flow during the war made it impossible to accurately count the number of casualties.As the wartime capital, Chongqing was full of refugees, and the Japanese army carried out "indiscriminate bombing", so the official figures of civilian casualties should be far from the actual situation. Although civilians in this country had to pay a heavy price of death in the military attack launched by the Japanese army just like the soldiers, the national government still did not show signs of collapse that the Japanese expected.As far as the nature of the Chinese is concerned, they can remain silent even when they are suffering to the extreme—Chinese people are unique in their endurance and endurance.The fire was burning, piles of corpses were pulled out of the city to be buried, the cries shook the sky, and the world was lost.Accompanied by this scene, the young and middle-aged enlisted in the army were solemnly sent out of the air-raid shelter, and a bowl of strong Sichuan wine made them all look like jujubes.The farmers on the outskirts of the city accepted people from the city or outsiders in every household. They would rather take out the rice grains that were not well-off, and consciously help their own country in the bombing of the Japanese army.The anti-Japanese awareness of the Chinese people has been awakened by the cruel process of the war. The common people understand what is the purpose of working hard to produce and what is the purpose of saving food and clothing.No matter how frantically bombed by the Japanese army, industrial production in the rear of China never stopped. In 1939, the agricultural harvest was bumper, and the supply of military rations to the front lines of the Anti-Japanese War was never interrupted. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, overseas Chinese scattered all over the world worked hard to help the country, no matter what they gave.According to data, from 1937 to 1939, the total number of anti-Japanese military supplies raised by overseas Chinese was more than 3,000 batches, and an average of 100 batches arrived at China's coastal ports every month.In the spring and summer of 1939, the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Association raised 500,000 sets of cotton padded clothes, 217 aircraft, 23 tanks and 1,000 ambulances at one time.Overseas Chinese also pay special attention to the collection of battlefield medicines. They hope that even if the anti-Japanese brothers are injured, there will be a little more possibility of surviving.Therefore, within a few months of the start of China's all-out war of resistance, overseas Chinese raised enough medicines for half a million wounded to take for a month.Overseas Chinese hope that their motherland will not collapse because of the war. Although cities are falling one by one, overseas Chinese still input a large amount of capital into the country in the form of investment, even though they know that there will be no profit return, and they may even end up bankrupt.By the end of 1939, the total amount of overseas Chinese investment in industrial and mining, land reclamation, finance, and various industries reached 1.6 billion yuan.The national government issued policies and regulations to encourage overseas Chinese to invest. Under the turbulent situation of the war, it tried its best to protect the investment safety and rights of overseas Chinese.The huge investment of overseas Chinese played a role that cannot be underestimated in stabilizing China's finance and industry during the war. Overseas Chinese also raised donations for the struggling finances of the national government.They cut down on food and clothing, tried their best, and took the forms of regular monthly donations, special donations, entertainment donations, aviation national salvation donations, subscription of national salvation bond donations, and charity sales donations. A stable source of finance for the national government.Li Guoqin, an overseas Chinese in New York, has donated several times since 1939, reaching a total of 760,000 US dollars; Tan Kah Kee, an overseas Chinese in Nanyang, subscribed for a national salvation bond of 100,000 yuan, and announced to donate another 2,000 yuan a month until the Japanese were driven out of China. ; Li Qingquan, a giant overseas Chinese businessman in the Philippines, before his death, asked his family to donate all the 140,000 national salvation bonds he purchased to the country, and also handed over 100,000 US dollars in the inheritance to the National Government for the use of raising difficult children; Singaporean overseas Chinese who are well-known at home and abroad Hu Wenhu, a wealthy businessman, in addition to donating a large amount of materials, also donated 2 million yuan to build a sanatorium for disabled soldiers and a nursing home for orphans of fallen soldiers; Liu Shengfang sacrificed his life for the country in the air battle, and the old man sent back the 10,000 yuan pension issued by the National Government to the country, requesting that it be used as military expenses for the War of Resistance. Overseas Chinese left their hometowns, endured humiliation, endured hardships and stood hard work, and many of them donated their life savings.The low-level workers among the overseas Chinese live in misery and are impoverished, but even donating a copper coin can comfort their patriotism.Zheng Chaojiong, an overseas Chinese peddler in British North Borneo, although his life was difficult, sold his own son to others after learning of the great suffering in the country, and donated all the proceeds of 80 yuan; Ye Qiulian, an overseas Chinese in Yangon, sold all the proceeds from the sale of buildings and properties After donating, she became a nun and prayed for the motherland day and night; in order to raise donations, a prosperous female overseas Chinese set up a lottery with herself as a prize, and the winners could marry them back home; some Chinese prostitutes in Saigon, Vietnam After discussing with the hotel owner, they decided to discount the rent for the customers for nine days. The rent they received together with their selling money totaled 8,000 yuan. These women, who were considered the most despicable by the society, sent all their pennies to China, which was on the front line of the Anti-Japanese War. Soldier. The Chinese are the most tolerant people in the world who live a humble life. Even the Chinese in a humble life don't want their country to be humble. In the enemy-occupied area, although there are traitors everywhere, the sign of "Maintenance Association" can be seen everywhere, and the puppet army behind the Japanese army is very long, but even the Japanese understand that the number of those puppet troops is not proportional to the overall number of Chinese.In fact, various anti-Japanese organizations are active in every Japanese-occupied area; almost every mountain in the Japanese-occupied area has the shadow of anti-Japanese guerrilla armed forces.Even those farmers who have received the "good citizen certificate", as long as they have a chance to vent their anger and escape safely, they are all bold and vicious.In mid-June 1939, at a banquet held at the Japanese Consulate General in Nanjing, the Japanese and the guests were suddenly poisoned, causing heavy casualties.It was soon found out that it was done by a "Chinese servant" working in the consulate.这名中国人逃走后，给总领事馆写来一封信：“我常年在总领事馆工作，多蒙关怀，不胜感谢。但在攻占南京作战时，我的亲属等遭到强奸暴行，使我恨入骨髓。所以，当我知道当天来客中有日本司令官时，就进行了报复。” 一九三九年十一月二十二日，日本《朝日新闻》刊登的一则《名将之花凋谢在太行山上》的消息令日本举国震惊：“阿部规秀中将于十一月七日在华北太行山讨伐共军作战中壮烈阵亡。武将战死在沙场前线之事例，在我军战史上尚属罕见。” 当我军全面攻击太行山八路军之际，担任左翼的辻村部队于三日上午七时抵达长城以南雁宿崖险峻山岳地带时，与优势之敌独立第一师、第一二〇师约三千人遭遇。辻村部队对敌发起猛烈攻击，但敌以迫击炮、重机枪、多数轻机枪顽强抵抗，辻村部队长等挥舞战刀杀入敌阵，展开空前的激战。阿部中将得到辻村部队的急报后，立即率领部下跋涉四十公里艰险山路，连夜翻越鼻子岭，前往救援，四日中午到达辻村所在的战场。此时，辻村部队业已连续战斗二十八小时。当日上午十一时许，暂时将敌击退至南方，正相对峙。恰在此时来到的阿部中将，立即认出站在前面山顶监视敌阵的辻村部队长，“嗯”了一声，就要登上山去，无奈山坡陡峭，难以攀登。于是，命令部下去叫辻村部队长下山，阿部将军与下山来的辻村部队长相互凝视，随即含泪紧握辻村之手，相对无言，只把无限感慨压在心头。 报道的行文充满日式的阴郁委婉，把描述停止在阿部规秀和他的一名部下含泪握手，“相对无言”的空茫瞬间，而将下面血肉横飞的场景剔除得干干净净。 一九三九年十月，鉴于华北北部共产党武装已严重的威胁到日军的占领，日军华北方面军决定开始第三期“治安肃正”作战，动用的部队是驻蒙军阿部规秀的独立混成第二旅团和驻平汉线以北的桑木崇明的第一一〇师团以及第二十六、第二十七师团各一部，兵力约两万人。阿部规秀率领他的部队自张家口南下，二十五日赶到河北西部的涞源，与驻扎在涞源县城的堤鸠大队会合。然后，日军兵分三路从涞源、满城、唐县和定县出发，开始了寻找和扫荡八路军主力的作战行动。 日军从涞源一出动，八路军就得到了情报，因为涞源是八路军北上抗日解放的第一个县城，县城里外布满了“坚强的党组织和隐蔽的情报网”。虽然日军后来又占领了涞源，但是县城周边所有的乡村依然在共产党人的掌握中，日军或伪军的一举一动，都会在第一时间被报告给八路军。八路军晋察冀军区司令员聂荣臻决定：用少数兵力牵制西路和西南路的日军，将第一军分区的一团、三团和第三军分区的二团集结在东路日军的必经之地，“打一个胜仗”。 十一月二日午夜，日军辻村、堤鸠两个大队从内长城线出发，天亮时通过雁宿崖南边的险峻山路时，突然遭到来自两侧的猛烈袭击，袭击他们的是杨成武率领的八路军的三个团。八路军官兵的猛打猛冲下，辻村大队很快就被压缩在狭窄的山沟里，不到一天工夫就伤亡了五百多人。接到辻村发来的求救电报后，阿部规秀立即率部前往救援，四日凌晨赶到雁宿崖南边时，却发现八路军已经没了踪影。阿部规秀判断八路军正在撤退，于是命令堤鸠的第四大队和刚赶到战场的中熊的第二大队，以残破的辻村大队为前导，向八路军撤退的方向追击。六日，追击的日军进入了一个注定要载入中国抗战史册的地区——黄土岭。 聂荣臻得到情报后，立即命令贺龙的第一二〇师特务团赶赴黄土岭，同时命令第一军分区二十五团也赶赴黄土岭，统归杨成武指挥。同时命令第一军分区二十团、三十四团以及第五军分区二十六团牵制易县、满城和徐水方向的日军。 黄土岭是太行山北部群山中的一座岬口，四周都是大谷深沟。七日清晨，大雨停歇，湿雾弥漫。日军还在继续东进，因为知道这样的地势往往是八路军的战场，因此其先头部队携带着轻重机枪，总是先行站稳路边的小髙地，然后再让大部队跟进。直到下午三时，日军的全部人马才通过黄土岭，进入峡谷中的小路。浓雾已经消散，阳光照进峡谷，八路军的攻击猛烈的开始了。峡谷两边的悬崖上都是八路军的枪口，一百多挺机枪一起朝沟里打，日军的三个大队拥挤在仅百余公尺宽的山沟里无法展开，造成了密集的人员伤亡。战斗进行到下午四时，日军掉头企图从黄土岭突围逃回涞源县城，但遭到八路军第一军分区三团和第一二〇师特务团的顽强阻击。 黄土岭东面有一个名叫教场的村子，阿部规秀将他的指挥部移至教场村的一座农家院里。他认为，自己的部队被牵制在这里，而八路军更大的部队将包抄他的后路。被这一不祥的预感所驱使，阿部规秀决订立即撤出战斗。但是，还没等他下达撤退命令，一颗迫击炮弹准确地落在院子里，阿部规秀的腹部以及双腿中弹，他的参谋人员也全部负伤。原来，八路军第一军分区一团团长陈正湘，在望远镜里看见一群穿黄呢大衣的日军军官正站在一处农家院里，立即把目标指示给炮兵连连长杨九坪，杨九坪指挥迫击炮连发数弹，陈正湘团长再拿望远镜看去时，穿黄呢大衣的日军军官已全都倒地。失去了指挥机关的日军发生严重混乱，不得不收缩部队据守黄土岭抵抗待援。傍晚，绿川纯治率领的第三大队赶到了。坚持了一天后，森田春次的第五大队也赶到了。同时，日军第一一〇师团的两个支队、第二十六师团的一个支队正分路向黄土岭靠拢合围。于是，聂荣臻下令八路军撤出战场。 是役，日军伤亡千余人，八路军伤亡八百余人。 全身多处负伤的阿部规秀没有当场死掉，他的生命一直苟延到那天午夜十一时五十分。 阿部规秀，一八八六年出生于日本青森县，一九〇七年毕业于日本陆军士官学校第十九期步兵科，一九三七年以第一师团第一旅团少将旅团长之职率部入侵中国东北，一九三九年六月调任华北方面军“蒙疆国”驻屯军总司令兼独立混成第二旅团旅团长。死前的一个月晋升为日本陆军中将。 阿部规秀赴涞源前线时，曾写信给长女纪子： 现在是十月二十六日四时，爸爸从今天起去南边战斗，回来的日子是十一月十三、十四日。虽然不是什么大战斗，但也将是一场相当的战斗。八点三十分乘汽车向涞源进发。我们打仗的时候是最悠闲而且有趣的，支那已经逐渐衰弱下去了，再使一把劲就会投降。此地已经下了两场雪，然而比北满还是暖和的，所以还好过……圣战还要继续，我们必须战斗！ 没有人知道，浑身中弹的阿部规秀死前是否依然认为打仗“是最悠闲而且有趣的”，定格在他意识中的也许只有中国太行山那层峦叠嶂的铅灰色山峦。 蒋介石致电八路军总司令朱德： 据敌皓日（十九日）广播，敌辻村部队本月江日（三日）向冀西涞源进犯……支日（四日），阿部中将率部驰援，复陷我重围，阿部中将当场毙命。等语。足见我官兵杀敌英勇，殊堪奖慰。希饬将上项战斗经过及出力官兵详查具报，以凭奖赏，为要。 八路军总司令朱德、副总司令彭德怀致电蒋介石： ……当独立混成第二旅团独立步兵第一大队（辻村大佐）并附辎、炮各一中队共七百余，上月江日（三日）进到三岔口（涞源南），被我杨成武支队歼灭之际，随即该旅团长阿部规秀中将率领独立步兵第二、第三大队及炮兵二中队共一千六百余人由涞源来援，是晚占三岔口，其时辻村大队已被歼灭殆尽。是晚我杨成武部第二、第三团以有力部队监视和袭扰该敌外，以大部截断敌之退路，微日（五日）敌继续东窜占黄土岭。我为歼灭深入敌计，贺师特务团由阜平附近冰天雪地中星援，微晚（五日晚）赶到黄土岭附近。鱼日（六日）敌图东窜，数度向我猛攻，在我猛烈合击下均未得逞，反陷我包围中。是晚我向该敌猛攻，敌凭民房顽抗，激战彻夜。虞晨（七日晨）该敌以全力，在飞机七架轮番掩护下向东猛烈突围，企图绕五回岭回窜。正午该敌复被包围于上庄子，我在敌飞机猛烈炮火下向敌猛攻，敌死伤极重，阿部旅团长当场被我击毙，以下伤亡约八百余人，敌已失掌握难立足。正在我歼敌之时，复由涞源增援来敌七百余，合股激战竟日未能解决战斗。同时，我已苦战多日，部队颇受疲劳，尤以弹药消耗甚重。齐日（八日）残敌在十余架飞机掩护下突围，经五回岭窜回涞源…… 在几乎占据了半个中国的沦陷区，共产党武装开辟的敌后根据地，无论规模还是数量，都令蒋介石的国民政府感到吃惊。而且，无论敌后作战多么残酷和艰难，共产党武装不但频繁出击而且战果迭出，这使得中国抗日战争的敌后战场之重要，已经与正面战场并驾齐驱。更令人瞩目的是，共产党人决心在日军占领区内，建立由共产党领导的、能够组织广大抗日民众和敌后武装与日军较量的抗日民主政权。 早在一九三七年九月二十五日，中共中央在《关于共产党参加政府问题的决定草案》中明确表示：“在日寇占领区域，共产党更应公开成为统一战线政权的组织者。”毫无疑问，随着日军不断地攻城略地，随着中国军队的不断后撤，沦陷区原国民党政权已经分崩离析，华北和华中的多数地方因此陷入无政府状态。而这正是日本占领军希望看到的，因为不但可以使日军的占领更有威慑性，而且还可以扶植伪政权为其统治服务。因此，共产党人在广泛建立抗日根据地的同时，大力加强抗日民主政权的建设，并使之成为一个公开的、强大的、对日本占领军具有威慑力的政治力量。 抗战初期，在中国共产党的领导和推动下，山西、绥察、河北、山东和华中的敌后地区，纷纷建立起以共产党人和抗日爱国人士为骨干的、半政权性质的统一战线组织或民众团体，如“抗日救国会”“民众抗日救国会”等，成为沦陷区动员武装民众、维持社会秩序的重要机构。这些机构实行减租减息、优待抗属、停征田赋、废除苛捐杂税等政策，完全替代了已经瓦解的原国民党地方政权，成为抗日民主政权的雏形。随着抗战进程的发展和抗战形势的演变，建立真正的抗日民主政权，成为共产党人坚持敌后斗争的重要任务。 在晋察冀，除了中共秘密党员五台县县长宋劭文和盂县县长胡仁奎没有逃亡外，其余各县的原国民党县府官员全部逃跑了。聂荣臻率领八路军开辟晋察冀抗日根据地后，中共晋察冀临时省委以山西第一行政区主任宋劭文和统一战线组织“战地总动员委员会”的名义，开始向各县派任县长，先后建立起三十九个县政府。之后，根据中共中央北方局的部署，召开军政民代表大会，用民主选举的方式产生了晋察冀边区政府，即晋察冀边区临时行政委员会。这个委员会由阎锡山报呈国民政府行政院和军事委员会批准，正式任命了各位委员。这是抗日战争进程中诞生的第一个敌后抗日民主政权。到一九三九年，山西境内的县级抗日民主政权，已对大部分最基层的村长进行了全面改造或更换。这些主要由共产党人领导的基层政权，对保证全民持久抗战、保证抗战统一战线起到了重要作用。根据山西的经验，河北西部、河南北部的抗日根据地，也逐渐完善了抗日民主政权的建设，由共产党领导的晋冀豫边区抗日政权逐渐趋于统一。山东的抗日民主政权，首先在蓬莱、黄县和掖县等地建立，最后在中共中央的推动下，山东全省建起了三百五十个区级、七十余个县级、十个专区级的政权和两个行政公署，其规模之大以及层次之健全，使得日本占领军扶植的山东伪政权几乎没有任何活动的余地。由于华中沦陷区特殊的社会和政治因素，以新四军为主的抗日武装在建立抗日民主政权方面困难颇多，进展缓慢。中共中央中原局要求，必须在华中敌后大力开展建立抗日民主政权的工作，“凡国民党政权已经垮台的地方，毫不迟疑地建立起新的抗日民主政权”。一九四〇年初，自共产党人魏文伯出任淮南定远县县长始，华中沦陷区的第一个抗日民主政权建立了，之后便很快扩展为四十七个县级抗日民主政权。而这意味着，在华中敌后八路军和新四军的活动区域内，已有三分之一的地方建立起新型的抗日民主政权。 建立政权是极其复杂的政治行为。 中国社会的基层权力机构，向来以各阶层混杂且互相掣肘著称。在建立新型政权的样式上，共产党人进行了可贵的尝试，中共中央特别强调：敌后抗日根据地的民主政权，绝不是共产党一个党派执掌的政权，而是“几个革命的阶级联合的民主专政”。毛泽东在《抗日根据地的政权问题》中进一步指出：“在抗日时期，我们所建立的政权的性质，是民族统一战线的。这种政权，是一切赞成抗日又赞成民主的人们的政权，是几个革命阶级联合起来对于汉奸和反动派的民主专政。”据此，中共中央对构成抗日民主政权的人员分配，进行了明确规定：“共产党员占三分之一，非党的左派进步分子占三分之一，不左不右的中间派占三分之一。”但是，毛泽东继而指出：“必须保证共产党员在政权中占领导地位，因此，必须使占三分之一的共产党员在质量上具有优越的条件。只要有了这个条件，就可以保证党的领导权，不必有更多的人数。所谓领导权，不是要一天到晚当作口号去高喊，也不是盛气凌人的要人家服从我们，而是以党的正确政策和自己的模范工作，说服和教育党外人士，使他们愿意接受我们的建议。” 抗日民主政权的产生，最重要的一个特征是“普选”。毛泽东在《抗日根据地的政权问题》中阐释道：“抗日统一战线政权的选举政策，应是凡满十八岁的赞成抗日和民主的中国人，不分阶级、民族、男女、信仰、党派、文化程度，均有选举和被选举权。抗日统一战线政权的产生，应经过人民选举。”中共中央直接领导之下的陕甘宁边区，是抗日战争期间中国民主政治的榜样，也是全国敌后抗日根据地的政治样板，它完成了乡、区、县的各级民主选举，成立了边区各级议会和人民民主政权，在残酷而艰难的战争环境下，进一步巩固了抗日民族统一战线，充分发挥了民众参加抗战的责任感和积极性，并使全国人民看到了赢得胜利、建设国家的希望。在陕甘宁边区样板作用的指导下，晋察冀边区实行的普选中，选民占公民总数的百分之七十以上，在根据的中心地区甚至达到了百分之九十以上，这一比例在人类民主政治的发展史上堪称奇迹。 在中国共产党的领导下，抗日根据地大力恢复生产，本着“以农为主，重视多种经济”的方针，采取的措施包括：减租减息、奖励垦荒、扩大耕地面积、兴修水利、改进耕作技术、全面发展手工业和家庭副业等。同时，为打破敌人的经济封锁，抗日根据地还大力发展商业，发展生产合作社、供销合作社、消费合作社、信用合作社等合作事业。这些举措不仅改善了敌后民众的生活，还为根据地的巩固和坚持敌后作战提供了经济保障。敌后抗日根据地，多于交通不便、经济落后地区创建发展起来，面对以分散落后的小农经济为主体的自然经济状态，共产党人表现出原国民党政权无法比拟的智慧与能力。抗日根据地采用对外实行贸易统制、对内实行贸易自由的政策，将根据地内可以作为商品的物资尽量销售出去，把急需的军需物资和生活用品尽量交换回来，但日军占领区的其他商品严禁入内。根据的内部，公营、公私合营、私营以及合作社经营几种商业模式并存，分工协作，各得其所，使根据的内部的商品流通空前繁荣。共产党人还建立起自己的银行并发行货币，以对抗日本侵略者和伪政权发行的各种货币。华北敌后抗日根据地的“晋察冀边区银行”“上党银行”“冀南银行”“晋西北农民银行”“北海银行”“鲁西银行”，华中敌后抗日根据地的“淮海地方银行”“盐阜银行”“江淮银行”“淮安银行”“大江银行”“豫鄂边区建设银行”“浙东银行”等金融机构的建立，其数量、规模以及运行状况，不但令日本占领军晕头转向，还令国民政府财政部大为吃惊。 共产党领导的抗日根据地大力发展文化事业，建立起为数众多的抗日干部学校和干部训练班，在相当短的时期内培养出大批军事和政治干部，为敌后抗日作战以及民主政权的建立提供了人才。共产党人还极其重视民众的文化普及，利用农闲时节举办的“冬学”在各个根据地普遍设立，农民们参加识字运动的热情极高。在日军残酷扫荡的一九三九年冬，晋察冀根据地的入学率，竟然由上一年的十八万人增加到十九万余人。在“明理第一、识字第二”的办学方针指导下，抗日根据的农民的精神面貌大为改观。美国著名女作家史沫特莱，曾以英国《曼彻斯特卫报》记者的身份进入中国中西部，在途经吕梁山里的抗日根据地时，她“碰到一队队身体壮实的农民，里面偶尔也有几个年龄稍大的。人人手里拿着棍子和绳子”。史沫特莱问农民们，是哪个村的？要上哪去？农民们说，他们要去“把受伤的八路军抬回来”。还说八路军在他们村里开过会，讲过抗日的道理，号召大家“自告奋勇把伤员运到陕北去”。结果，会一结束，“大家就回家拿起棍棒、绳子，向很远的地方走去。没有八路军人员跟他们一起走，他们只是照着别人指点的方向出发了”，翻山去找八路军的伤员。 中国共产党领导的敌后抗日根据地的伟力源于千万抗日民众，正像朱德所说的：“八路军需要人民的帮助，人民也需要八路军的帮助，他们彼此相依为命。”八路军在敌后战场英勇的作战，“人民还必须懂得怎样来帮助我们的军队”，“懂得怎样破坏公路、铁路、装甲车、卡车和坦克”，“懂得怎样彻底毁掉日本摩托化部队能够通行的一切道路”。“中国人民千千万万，日本军队就那么一些，如果我们的人民觉醒起来，组织起来，并把自己武装起来，那我们就能够打败敌人”！ 美国青年怀特于一九三九年夏秋之际离开重庆，前往山西。尽管他还无法正确地判别国民党游击队、共产党游击队以及民众自发组织的抗日武装，但他看到了敌后抗日根据地民主政权的真实存在：“阳城、晋城和高平三县，各有农民约二十万到三十万，其县城四周都筑有雉堞起伏的城墙。其中的两个县，即阳城和晋城，新县长年龄都是二十六岁，高平县的县长只有二十四岁。两个县长毕业于国立北京大学——中国的哈佛，他们还都是专攻中国古代史的；另一个是省立山西大学的毕业生。这些学生从被占领的城市逃到山区进行抗战，他们不愿受日本人的统治。”怀特仔细观察了三位年轻县长的工作：早晨的时候，阳城县县长在村子里对地主讲什么是“政府”，不准他们再拷问农民和擅自收税；晋城县县长则在山沟里组织农民试制用来对付日军汽车的手榴弹；高平县县长圆脸上戴着副金丝眼镜，穿着一件从日军那里缴获的肥大的大衣，他对自己的工作是这样叙述的：“人人都必须挺身起来进行战斗。妇女们必须和日本人做斗争——于是成立了妇女民族救亡会，她们纺纱，为部队织毯子、编草鞋。学生也必须战斗——于是成立了学生民族救亡会。每个村子必须组织自卫队——大的村三十人，每人发手榴弹五颗，每一小队发两三支枪。儿童必须编入儿童团。不能逃走的老年人必须在日军经过时进行侦察活动。宁可让田地荒芜，并烧掉自己的房屋，也决不能为日本人办事，每个村子的墙上都刷有标语——'坚壁清野，转移别处'。” 阳城、晋城、高平三县，处在各种政治力量重叠存在的地区，但怀特发现年轻的高平县县长对共产党情有独钟。他亲自带怀特去了共产党抗日武装占领的游击区，刚一进村，就看见一群农村孩子举着上面写有“美国和中国是朋友” 的欢迎横幅。怀特与一位年仅二十几岁的共产党干部进行了交谈，这位干部说他们恨日本侵略者，同时也恨蒋介石政府，因为“共产党的义勇军每人每月的军饷仅一块钱，而政府军的军饷每人每月却达八元。政府军能领到经过各道关口用麻袋运来的粮食，而他的部队却必须动员农民来提供