Chapter 105 The day Peking fell

The day Peking fell On the afternoon of July 27, 26, the wind was very loud, and we moved from the western suburbs to a friend's house in the alley near Xidan Pailou.My friend's family returned to the south, where only one of his fellow countrymen and a few servants lived.When we entered the city, the gates were closed.The streets are a bit chaotic, but generally calm.I heard that the enemy sent us a letter of condolence to the Beiping authorities with a deadline of 28 days to reply. In fact, it is telling us that we must surrender.Otherwise, they will do it on the 28th.Although we still couldn't figure out the meaning of the authorities at that time.But depending on the situation, a battle against the city is inevitable.

On the twenty-eighth day, I heard a rumbling sound in bed.We thought it was probably the bombing of the Xiyuan Barracks.Get up quickly and go to the alley to buy newspapers.The entrance of the alley is facing West Chang'an Avenue.There is a tramway from the west side to the east side, but there are no trams on either side at the moment.Only two tramway tracks were left gleaming.There are fewer foreign cars and fewer pedestrians on the street.Such a long street seemed empty and quiet.At the entrance of the alley, there are many idlers standing in the aisles on both sides of the street, looking east and west, silent, as if waiting for some news.A policeman stood in the middle of the street with a sullen face and said nothing.There was a policeman on a bicycle who held the car and bit him a few words, then got on the car and left in a hurry.

The newspaper saw that we had decided to fight.I hurried back to the place where I lived with the newspaper in hand.The rumbling sound was still ringing sparsely.I ate lunch in a hurry.One after another at the door, people shouted "Extra! Extra!" Buyers came in and rushed to see. At first, they said that we had taken back Fengtai and the old Tianjin station, then they said that we had taken back to Langfang, and finally they said that we had entered Tongzhou.This afternoon, the phone rang in the house.Some friends report the news, and some friends inquire about the news.Some of the information in the report was obtained from the local government, and some was obtained from the diplomatic circles, all of which were similar to what was said in the "Outside the Number".Our eyes were busy looking at the number, and our ears were busy listening to the phone, but we were extremely busy.

Around six o'clock, a plane suddenly appeared buzzing high in the sky.Everyone went to the yard and looked up to see if it belonged to our central government.The plane went around the bend, and with the bend, scattered pieces of paper evenly, like a long tail.The pieces of paper immediately scattered, flying like butterflies.We understood that it was because the enemy did not fight well and sent planes to drop leaflets.The servants opened the door and went out, picked up two cards in the alley and came in, sure enough.The paper is full of ridiculous persuasion words.We took a look at it, then tore it up and threw it away.

It was getting dark, but the rumbling sounds that had been sparse during the day were denser.At this time, the telephone in the house rang loudly.Everyone guessed on the phone that the enemy is attacking Xiyuan, and the enemy is attacking Nanyuan.This is the sound of cannons, the one that rang once was ours, and the one that rang twice was theirs.But how could the enemy hit Xiyuan or Nanyuan?Everyone is in the gourd!After a while, the police notified from house to house, telling them to seal up the windows and doors, and to prepare some soil, mixed with urine and green onions, saying that the enemy's plane promised to release poison gas at night.We do not believe that the enemy dared to release poison gas in the city of Peiping.But the servants did as the policeman told them.We waited anxiously for the good news on the phone, and didn't go to bed until twelve o'clock.Not a bad sleep, vaguely messy dreams of triumph.

At dawn on the 29th, the phone rang.A friend said with certainty that Song Zheyuan and Qin Dechun both left last night!The situation in Peking has changed!Even if it belongs to the enemy!He said that yesterday's good news was not all gone, but he said it too lively.He said we are now falling from the sky, but don't lose heart!Seeing how anxiously everyone looked forward to the news of victory yesterday, and how enthusiastically they accepted the news of victory, it can be seen that the hearts of the people in Peiping are immortal.As long as people's hearts are not dead, the final victory will always be ours!Just wait and see, Peiping will not calm down, there will be a day when the sentries will be more lively.That is the day of our decisive victory!That day will come soon!I believe my friend's words are good!

On June 9, 1939, Kunming. (Originally published in No. 5 of "Middle School Students' Wartime Weekly Magazine" on July 5, 1939)