Chapter 24 wooden sign with helmet

One year after the Wanjialing Battle, a division commander named Tang Yongliang was ordered to lead his troops to fight guerrillas behind the enemy in Lushan.Because of the inconvenient transportation in Wanjialing, many people in the society did not know about this place and the battle at that time, and it was already behind enemy lines, so it was not easy for ordinary people to come and find out even if they were interested.Tang Yongliang had never participated in the Battle of Wanjialing, so of course he was also interested, so he decided to take a camera and make a field visit to the battlefield.

"My fellow, how far is it from Wanjialing?" "What, you mean Wanjialing? I don't know!" Tang Yongliang was very confused. Why did the local people say they didn't know about the three words "Wanjialing" clearly marked on the map, and such an earth-shattering war broke out. No one to guide.But Tang Yongliang has his own way, dead people and dead horses keep appearing along the way, so just follow the place where there are many bones, and you will definitely find them. Passing through a bamboo forest, and then through a pine forest, a rolling hilly area looms in front of you.This hill is about 300 meters high. From a distance, there are many wooden signs on the top of the hill, and it is hard to count how many rows there are.

There is a thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain, and Tang Yongliang and his party walk up to it.In the thatched courtyard sat a 70-year-old man who claimed to be from Guangshui, Hubei.He told Tang Yongliang that this place is Wanjialing. "Last autumn, tens of thousands of Japanese devils were beaten to death here, and the devils still ate in my hut." Tang Yongliang asked him where the devils died the most, and the answer he got was: "The southeast has the most deaths." In Eastern cultural traditions, dead people are unlucky, let alone so many dead.Obviously, the people along the way are deliberately avoiding "Wanjialing", so why is the old man in front of him not only not afraid, but still living here.

After talking, I learned that the old man was also a hero when he was young, and had participated in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.It turned out to be an old anti-Japanese soldier. Tang Yongliang noticed that the old man was still using scissors to make a felt hat while talking to them. The material used to make the felt hat was actually a Japanese military blanket. Under the guidance of the old man, Tang Yongliang set foot on the mountain path of Wanjialing.Finally, I was able to get close to this world-famous hill. Walking to the half slope, white wooden signs in twos and threes popped up one after another. When I reached the top, all the wooden signs that I could see at the bottom of the mountain were all shockingly placed. in front of you.The tallest big wooden sign reads: "The Monument of the Dead Soldiers of the Imperial Army".Once again, it is "the place where the Kitagawa team of the Segawa Army fought hard."Except for these two wooden cards, which are considered collective, the rest are individual wooden cards of Japanese officers and soldiers.

Tang Yongliang and his party did not intend to vilify or despise the dead. On the contrary, as soldiers, they had reason to show some kind of respect to all the brave men who fought to the death on the battlefield, even if they were opposing enemies.There were many rusty steel helmets on the ground. Tang Yongliang and the others picked up dozens of them and put them on the wooden plaque one by one. Neiji Okamura said, "War is war, and generals love generals."As early as during the Anti-Japanese War on the Great Wall, the Japanese Infantry Regiment was moved by the heroic spirit of the Chinese soldiers. They solemnly buried the remains of the war dead and set up the tombstone "Tomb of Chinese Soldiers".Afterwards, when a brigade commander of the Chinese army visited Japan, he did not avoid suspicion and expressed his gratitude to the Japanese army unit that built the monument.

In Okamura's view, only those who have the samurai morality that can move the enemy can be called a true brave man, and the burial of the remains of these brave men is the education that military commanders should have since ancient times. On the battlefield in northern Jiangxi, the upbringing and moral spirit of Chinese warriors also impressed Okamura.There was a Japanese army captain who led more than ten soldiers into the Chinese position, but they were all killed by the Chinese artillery.The Chinese side believed that the dozen or so Japanese officers and soldiers had indeed shown extraordinary bravery in battle, so they were properly buried and, as an exception, they did not confiscate swords and other equipment.In this regard, Okamura said he felt "unimaginable admiration."

The wooden sign with the helmet on is like a fungus after the rain.On the top of Wanjialing, there are more bullet casings and bayonet sheaths than steel helmets.Tang Yongliang picked up a memorable bayonet scabbard from it, with more than a dozen bullet holes pierced through it. How fierce that lost war must have been!