Chapter 6 2. Defeat Savage Mountain - The Great Crash

1 Previously, as if to prove the despicableness and selfishness of the British allies, when the Chinese were angry and pessimistic about the escape of the British, a black Japanese army had quietly assembled in a deserted valley on the Thai-Myanmar border . It is an all-conquering army of steel whose striking power is multiplied tenfold by the courage and zeal of its soldiers for war.The 56th Division is a mighty and ever-victorious division. The officers and soldiers of the division are all composed of industrial workers from Japan's Honshu Shipbuilding Factory, also known as the "Honshu Corps".These rough hands who once mastered iron tongs, machine tools and electric welding machines are now holding guns tightly, carrying out brutal aggression and massacres for the sacred mission of the emperor.They are cultured, disciplined, determined and tenacious.The Honshu Corps has created a series of "brilliant" achievements in the Chinese battlefield, the most famous of which is the creation of the "September 18th Incident" and participation in the "Nanjing Massacre".

We will also see in the following stories: these large armies of Japanese workers have always been the most ferocious opponents and most tenacious enemies of the Chinese people. Soldiers freeze.The guns froze.The god of death wakes up in the freeze.The war broke out in solidification.The head of the division slowly drew out his command knife, and his mobilization order only had one sentence: ...... If the battle fails, I will cut my belly to thank the Emperor.Soldiers, go forward! The 56th Division of the Japanese Army crossed the Thai-Myanmar border without any logistical support. It went deep alone and carried out a long-distance raid with a depth of 1,500 kilometers. It is not difficult for us to see the outstanding courage and adventurous spirit of the Japanese commander from this action.

War itself is a gamble.Dare to bet and dare to win are synonymous. The Japanese Southern Army Command attached great importance to the Burmese operations.In order to ensure the successful insertion of the 56th Division, the only two airborne troops of the Air Force were ordered to quickly transfer from Manila to Tonggu Airport, ready to implement airborne support at any time. On April 20, 1942, the advance team captured Le Kecheng. The division was replenished that day, and passed through the enemy's line overnight and entered the mountainous area of ​​northern Myanmar. On the 24th, the advance troops attacked Shangji. The enemy was caught off guard and seized a large number of vehicles, fuel and ammunition.The division replenished overnight again, and then continued northward by car.

When the Chinese army regained Shangji after a fierce battle, they failed to capture a single Japanese prisoner.The locals all refused to provide information to the Chinese with silence.When the scrambled Chinese commanders gave orders everywhere, the main force of the Japanese divisions had already thrown off their pursuers and strode forward along the empty and deserted rear road. The forward tank unit was still 200 kilometers away from Lashio. The opportunity finally slipped away from the hands of the Allies little by little.At this time, there is no longer any force that can stop the victory of the Japanese army.

On April 28, 1942, Zhao Zhenquan, commander of the Artillery Battalion of the New 29th Division of the 66th Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Army, rode a bicycle to inspect the positions in the Nanpao Valley and returned to the battalion headquarters in the afternoon.Passing through a jungle, Battalion Commander Zhao leaned his bicycle on the side of the road, and then got into the bushes to defecate.After squatting for about a bag of cigarettes, I suddenly heard the sound of vehicles moving in the distance accompanied by the heavy rolling of steel tracks.Battalion Commander Zhao was taken aback, and hurriedly poked his head out to look around.I saw the dust flying on the road, and a group of tanks and cars drove towards Lashio in a row.Battalion Commander Zhao felt that something was wrong, because this was the Chinese defense zone. There was no reason for the allied convoy to pass by without notifying the allies.The artillery battalion commander screamed, quickly lifted his pants, and fled along the path in the ravine.

This day was Sunday, and the fate of the defenders in Lashio was almost as tragic as that of Commander Zhao who was caught off guard.The rapid Japanese troops suddenly appeared in the city, and the violent artillery fire threw the bewildered Chinese officers and soldiers into a pool of blood.When more people heard the gunshots, instead of taking up arms to fight, they scrambled out of the barracks and positions, and fled towards the valleys and jungles in China.A few defenders fought back heroically, but it took only a few hours for the tracks of the Japanese tanks to crush all resistance.The munitions, weapons and war materials seized by the Japanese army piled up like mountains.These materials later played a big role in the Japanese attack on China and India.

That night, with tears of excitement, the head of the division Watanabe hung a flag of the sun on the tank that rushed into Lashio first.The fifty-sixth division succeeded in interspersing, and the division sent a victory telegram to the army headquarters. On the same day, Japanese troops on various battlefields began to attack the enemy aggressively, and the noose around the necks of the Burmese allied forces was tightened. 2 On April 29, 1942, the three commanders of the Burmese Allied Forces held their last joint meeting in Kyaukshiju, a small town southwest of Mandalay, to discuss countermeasures for emergency evacuation.Attending the meeting were American General Stilwell, Chinese commanders Luo Zhuoying and Du Yuming, and on the British side was Commander-in-Chief Alexander.There are also dozens of staff officers.

Stilwell, wearing a wide-brimmed American combat cap from the First World War and a khaki soldier's uniform, without rank or shaven, looked angry and cynical.Luo Zhuoying has a big belly and is unhappy; Du Yuming has a gloomy face and a restless mind.Only the British appeared to be in good spirits.Alexander was a well-dressed gentleman, with a cigar in his mouth, and from time to time he made a harmless joke to his staff. The meeting begins, awkward for a few minutes.The situation is very clear, the Allied forces have fallen into the enemy's three-sided siege, and there is only one way out: retreat to India.

Alexander spoke: "Gentlemen, I have the honor to report to you that in view of the serious situation that the Japanese army has captured Lashio, my government has formally notified me and I have conveyed to you that the United Kingdom of Great Britain allows Chinese troops and their equipment in Burma to take refuge in India. One point needs to be explained: According to international practice, your army must declare refugee status before entering the country, and the British army will take them in and manage them in a designated place. If you have any questions, we can negotiate and solve them here. I'm done. "

There was an awkward silence. Clearly, the British achieved their goal.They could justify a leisurely withdrawal from Burma, and they could honorably house a hundred thousand Chinese troops who could later help defend India.Why not do such a good thing at one stroke? The Chinese general felt ashamed.They originally came to Burma to help the British, but unexpectedly they became refugees and were taken in by others. Wouldn't this be a big laughing stock? ! Du Yuming stood up and spoke. "Gentlemen, my troops cannot accept General Alexander's kindness. Since we come from China, we should go back to China. I think I have my own country and don't have to go to India to be a refugee. I believe the Japanese can't stop me The road, that's what I'm going to say today."

Alexander made a gesture of regret, and Kuan Hong generously expressed his understanding. "If General Du changes his mind at any time, I personally welcome it at any time." Luo Zhuoying quietly stopped Du Yuming: "We should first ask Chongqing for instructions." Du ignored it, and replied: "Thank you, Your Excellency. Du Yuming will never change his mind unless I am no longer the commander of the army." According to historical records: "...Du Yuming put on his military cap and exited the stage in awe-inspiring manner." Stilwell drank his espresso indifferently, playing with the coffee cup, and the bitter taste of coffee spread quietly in his mouth.He suddenly felt that his situation was very similar to drinking coffee-he could have put a handful of sugar, but people just like to ask for it.The Burma war was worse than coffee. It was a nightmare that drove people crazy.Well, it's all coming to an end.Stilwell's only consolation is that he did not fly the white flag of surrender like the Singaporean and Philippine allies did. Once Du Yuming left, Luo Zhuoying couldn't sit still anymore.He is just an empty commander, he can neither restrain Du Yuming nor offend Stilwell.So he was in a dilemma for a while, and quietly grabbed his hat. "General Luo is probably planning to go to India with me, isn't he?" Stilwell suddenly raised his eyes and asked sarcastically. "No, no...General, you know, I have to ask Generalissimo Jiang for instructions immediately." The commander-in-chief, who has a position but no authority, stammered and explained. "You're wrong again. You should have asked me first. But what's the use of me ordering you to retreat to India alone?" Stilwell said. Luo Zhuoying's face turned red and white.He finally sighed, and slowly loosened his grip on the hat. The unbearable silence didn't last long, and air raid sirens blared outside the house.Soon the roar and strafing of Japanese planes came from the sky.The venue was chaotic, and people ran outside to escape.Luo Zhuoying took the opportunity to grab her hat and skipped away.The room was soon emptied, and there were only two people in military uniforms sitting facing each other: one was the British gentleman Alexander who was smoking a cigar and the other was the American lieutenant general Stilwell who was smoking a pipe as if nothing had happened. "Sir, what can I do for you?" Looking at each other, Alex asked Stilwell sincerely this time without putting on airs. Stilwell leaned toward him and muttered a line from the Bible: "When the flood came, the prophet said: 'You sinners, start from the beginning'" "Okay, let's start from the beginning." Alexander winked. They laughed, touched their coffee cups, and felt much closer to each other.Later, Alexander did not break his promise, and he really provided Stilwell with a lot of convenience in India. An unexpected situation happened suddenly: a bomb fell on the flower stand outside the meeting room door, the violent air wave knocked off the doors, windows and half of the roof, and overturned all the tables, chairs and furnishings in the meeting room. And the dust made it impossible to see anything in the house.When people rushed into the house to rescue the two commanders-in-chief, they found that the two gentlemen were crushed under the table, and their heads and faces were covered with dust.Fortunately, the power of the Japanese bomb was not strong enough, otherwise the government of the allied countries would have issued a sad obituary to the whole world that day. On April 28, the day Lashio fell, the commander of the Sixth Army who was in charge of defending Lashio fled to Wanding, and got into an armored vehicle with Zhang Zhen, the commander of the Sixty-sixth Army who had just arrived in Wanding. Retreat to Baoshan, 300 kilometers away. On the 29th, President Roosevelt sent a telegram to the chairman from across the ocean, promising that the United States must "break the Japanese blockade and find an effective way to send planes and munitions to China." On the 30th, in view of the continued advance of the Japanese flanks, the Allied forces accelerated their retreat.Stilwell sent two telegrams to Du Yuming to transfer to India, but they were ignored. On the afternoon of the 30th, General Luo Zhuoying, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, quietly left the headquarters without saying goodbye.He led a row of guards to forcibly requisition a train, and escorted the driver to Myitkyina, where he was going to board a plane back to Chongqing.Unexpectedly, the train, which did not run according to plan, collided head-on with another freight train only 25 miles away, causing the already extremely crowded railway to be interrupted for two days.Luo Zhuoying's escape undoubtedly made the failure of the Chinese army worse, and painted a layer of cowardice and shame. "My God! How did this dirty pig not be killed?!" Stilwell wrote angrily in his diary that day: "Does the chairman actually believe that such a person can win the battle?!" The next day, Alexander also withdrew his headquarters across the Wacheng Iron Bridge and began to move to India.Across the bridge, Stilwell and his assistants were still trying to persuade the Chinese troops who arrived later to withdraw to India.He told the Chinese that he must launch a counter-offensive from India to retake Burma.He needs the Chinese military to preserve its strength. But his efforts had little success. In this disastrous international retreat, every Chinese general lost confidence in the future.The failure has made them panic, and it is not their responsibility to counterattack Burma. Therefore, they just want to return home quickly and escape this terrible disaster. On the issue of whereabouts, the vast majority of Chinese military officers consciously sided with Du Yuming, and made concerted efforts to lead the team northward. There is only one Chinese teacher exception.Sun Liren, major general of the new 38th Division, accepted Stilwell's advice. After repeated wait-and-see, weigh and hesitate, he finally gave up the idea of ​​desperately returning to China, and at the last moment took Duo Wula to India to save his life. A wise move of strength. On May 1, Stilwell withdrew with the last rearguard troops across the Wacheng Bridge, which was empty.A team of British engineers is carrying out Alexander's order to blow up the bridge.The American general stood dejectedly on the hillside on the west bank, not moving for a long time, letting the river wind blow his short gray hair. In the early morning of the next day, a huge bang accompanied by dazzling flames soared into the sky, and the Wacheng Iron Bridge was blown into several sections and fell into the rolling river.The fate of the iron bridge symbolizes the overnight defeat of the British Empire in Burma, and it also marks the Chinese expeditionary force embarking on the painful journey of withdrawing from Burma. 3 On April 18, 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Dolittle of the U.S. Air Force led sixteen "B-25" bombers to attack Tokyo, Japan.For the first time, the invincible Japanese were taught the lesson of bombs in their homeland, so that their fanatical minds began to understand the fear of war.This is the famous "Dolittle" bombing in history. This bombardment led to the Great Battle of Midway in the Pacific fifty days later.The Japanese Navy originally wanted the US Pacific Fleet, but it shot itself in the foot. Another result of the bombing was that the Japanese invaders frantically carried out a month-long sweep of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces along the coast of China. "About 250,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians were massacred during the sweep, and 20,000 women were raped." (Quoted from "Pacific War") The impact of the bombing also quickly spread to the Burmese battlefield.The Japanese military was worried that the United States would continue to use mainland China as a base to bomb the Japanese mainland, so it was determined to attack the Chongqing government at all costs and force Chiang Kai-shek to negotiate peace.Since then, the Japanese army fighting in Myanmar has gone all out to break into China and gave up attacking India.In this way, the British army was able to escape, while the Chinese army became a key target. On April 30, the 56th Division of the Japanese Army that attacked Lashio was ordered to attack China.They divided their forces into two groups, all the way to Myitkyina, the last big city in Burma, to cut off the retreat of the Chinese expeditionary force, and led by Major General Sakaguchi, to advance towards China along the Burma Road. A week later, Myitkyina was captured.The last ray of hope for the Chinese expeditionary force to return home was cut off. 4 Because the Chinese military authorities have tightly sealed the news of Myanmar's defeat, the domestic people are still kept in the dark.Newspapers reported daily news of "victories" from journalists at the front.At that time, domestic newspapers almost always used fake news to deceive the public.For example, on March 29, 1942, "Central Daily" announced that "the results of the Tonggu War were brilliant, and one division of the enemy was wiped out." good news. The news that "Bin Wenna seriously injured a division of the enemy bandits" has not yet been confirmed, and domestic public opinion has begun to look forward to "the victory of the Battle of Mandalay is in sight", and so on.For a time, these false images of victory did serve as an inspiration to the populace, giving them confidence in the future as they hid in bomb shelters from enemy aircraft.Only a copy of "Yunnan Daily" in early May published a newsletter from a reporter in Wanding in an inconspicuous position.There are only a few words in the newsletter, saying that "our army and the enemy are fighting fiercely in Lashio".For most people in China who have neither military knowledge nor geographical knowledge, this news is easily ignored. Only a few calm-headed people of insight will suddenly realize that the situation is not good: Since the Burmese war has been victorious, why did the expeditionary force But what about a fierce battle with the enemy at the door of the house? The fall of Lashio caused panic in China, and the Burma Highway fell into unprecedented chaos.The defeated soldiers who retreated from the front line in divisions and regiments, the urgently evacuated government agencies and ordinary people, and the Burmese overseas Chinese and refugees supporting the old and young, formed an unprecedented army of refugees.Numerous cars, ox carts, horse-drawn carts and carts filled the roads, and the flow of people and vehicles mixed together and moved to the inland.Soon, along the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the American aid materials that could not be transported away began to be destroyed again. For a while, flames shot up everywhere, and the sound of explosions could be heard from far and near. On May 2, 1942, 3,000 Japanese rapid troops crossed the border and began to capture Wanding with ten tanks.In three days, occupy Zhefang again, Mangshi.Enter Longling County in the afternoon of April.Gan Lichu, the panicked commander of the Sixth Army, saw the enemy approaching, and even ordered to blow up a series of tanks to block the road in order to delay the enemy's actions.As a result, it took only two hours for the Japanese army to clear the roadblock and move on. The terrain of the Burma Road is extremely dangerous, easy to defend but difficult to attack.However, there was unexpected chaos and emptiness in China, which greatly relieved the Japanese with their desperate beliefs.There used to be two divisions of the Sixty-sixth Army of the General Reserve of the Expeditionary Army along the Wanding line, but they were driven by this 3,000-strong Japanese army for 300 kilometers in four days. This record can be regarded as a record in the history of the Chinese War of Resistance a miracle. The speed of the Japanese attack and the smooth progress not only exceeded the expectations of the Chinese, but even greatly exceeded the estimates of the Japanese commanders. When the Japanese convoy drove into Mangshi Street, the traffic policemen standing in the middle of the street were still gesticulating vigorously. , It was only later that something was wrong, so he let go of his feet and fled without a trace. The victory inspired the Japanese soldiers who were in a hurry.Commander Sakaguchi, full of confidence, was determined to make persistent efforts and create a miracle of driving Japanese tanks to "any possible reach" in China.He is sure that no one can stop his march now, and there is only one barrier in front of him, and that is the world-famous natural moat of Nu River. At 6:00 p.m. on May 4th, a section of the fast column of the Japanese army with hundreds of people pretending to be refugees approached the Nu River Bridge on foot. It was dusk and the twilight was dim. When the car passed Songshan Mountain, the Nujiang Grand Canyon loomed in front of us.Looking around, the mountains are like Daisy, and the Guanshan is thousands of layers; the river is like a river, and the weather is myriad.An iron cable bridge strangles the natural danger in the first line, flying in the air: on the other side of the river, the lights of the important town of Baoshan can be seen faintly. This is the authentic throat passage from west Yunnan to the inland...-Huitong Bridge. Baoshan, known as Yongchang Mansion in ancient times, has a population of 100,000 and is an important border town.The imperial courts of all dynasties have set up counties, prefectures, and counties in Baoshan, governing the western Yunnan and even the vast borderlands beyond Myitkyina.In the 27th year of the Republic of China, after the completion of the Burma Road, it became the largest commercial distribution center and material transfer station in western Yunnan. Sunday, May 4, 1942 AD.For many Baoshan people who have never experienced war, this day is destined to be one of the most tragic and darkest days in the city's history. At ten o'clock in the morning, more than a thousand teachers and students from the provincial Baoshan Middle School and the county normal school held a "May 4th" celebration rally in Baoxiu Park. The crowd watched enthusiastically.After the assembly, the students held a track and field meeting, which was intended to encourage the people of the country to strengthen their physique and save China. On the same day, Baoshan met the streets, and people from the four townships gathered in the county town, carrying cars on their shoulders, bustling with each other.Although there have been rumors coming from Wanding and Ruili recently, for the ordinary people who are used to listening with their eyes closed, as long as the war does not hit their doorsteps, life will go on as usual.Therefore, the business in the market is still doing very well. At 11 o'clock, the Pohaishan air defense surveillance post found a large number of planes in the southwest sky, so they hurriedly reported to the county government.But the phone rang for a long time and was ignored because the only air raid siren left work early and rushed to the street. At 11:15, the first batch of twenty-seven Japanese bombers flew over Baoshan in a neat triangular formation.The rumbling motor of the plane caught people's attention.Since no one called the police in advance, and there have been rumors in the city that American planes will be stationed at Baoshan Airport recently, the people thought that the American plane was coming and rejoiced, and the children cheered into the air. Only a teacher in the sports field recognized the sun plane emblem of the plane and quickly hid the students under the hillside, avoiding many ignorant sacrifices. The Japanese plane circled over Baoshan for a week, and then flew low and dropped bombs in a calm manner.The first batch of heavy bombs fell accurately on the main street in the center of the county seat, destroying the department store and the Nanyang Hotel.Because there were too many vehicles and pedestrians coming and going on the street, the bombs almost without exception fell into the crowd and exploded, blowing out many shocking craters on the ground. Immediately after the second round of howling bombs, countless houses were destroyed, and a lot of pink minced meat and blood mist were blown up.Black smoke billowed into the sky everywhere in Baoshan City, roads were blocked by dead bodies, and loud noises of heaven and earth could be heard endlessly.Although the people who were lucky enough to survive woke up from their dreams and fled for their lives outside the city crying and howling, the Japanese planes still refused to let them go. The planes chased the people everywhere and rained bombs and machine gun bullets on their heads. Major General Toshiaki Kawahara, who personally participated in the bombing, said in a telegram to the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Army: "...I am convinced that the bombing of (Baoshan) has achieved the purpose of shaking and destroying the will of the Nu River defenders. The city cannot be used as a place for the enemy to garrison troops for at least half a year." (Quoted from "Battle in Burma") Baoshan was bombed and the whole city was reduced to scorched earth.Shi Zhizai: "... There used to be a small river in the city, but the water changed color and was not clear for several days." According to statistics, 90% of the houses in the city were destroyed, and tens of thousands of people were killed or injured.In the west of Yunnan in May, the climate was hot, and a large number of dead bodies rotted and no one buried them. Therefore, wild dogs ruled the land and the plague prevailed.Many local people died of the plague one after another.Later, the plague spread to the whole province of Yunnan and Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places.According to definite data, the plague raged across the country this year, and hundreds of thousands of people died. On the night of the Baoshan bombing, a Yunnan Army unit "Xifeng Brigade" stationed outside the city entered the city.They didn't come to save the people from fire and water, but took advantage of the dark moon and high winds to loot all the surviving businesses and banks in the city, and swept away the gold, silver and money of the dead and the living.The rebellious soldiers also pretended to be masked bandits, raped women, murdered and set fire.After another looting, Baoshan was finally reduced to a dead city. The culprit who openly sent troops to loot Baoshan was Long Kuigen, the brigade commander of the "Xifeng Brigade" and the son of Long Yun, chairman of Yunnan Province.Later, Baoshan officials and squires jointly sued Mr. Long to the central government of Chongqing. In order to quell public anger, Long Yun put the villain's son under house arrest for three months, and then transferred him to a place where there was no war as a teacher. The "May 4th" Baoshan bombing was just one of the countless blood debts owed by the Japanese imperialists to the Chinese people. It was only two weeks before the bombing of Tokyo by US planes.What needs to be pointed out is that after the war, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East tried to sue the Emperor of Japan for "ordering the execution of the captured American pilot".The Japanese government argued that those pilots were indeed guilty of massacring civilians when they bombed Tokyo.The prosecution is invalid. Following the usual practice, how many people should be responsible for the horrific massacre on Chinese soil?Counting from the "September 18th" Incident in Northeast China, during the 14-year Japanese war of aggression against China, more than 30 million compatriots died on the Chinese side, and 90 percent of them were unarmed civilians.Even with an unfair ratio of 30 to 1, there should be more than a million war criminals in Japan who should be prosecuted and prosecuted, and the biggest war criminal among them is the Emperor of Japan.The Japanese government should also pay huge war reparations for China's war losses and economic damage. But we have not been able to see such a trial. When the late Japanese Emperor Hirohito was alive, he was still aloof.His hands were stained with the blood of the Chinese people.It is said that the Chinese voluntarily waived their demands for war reparations.The International Military Tribunal for the Far East sentenced only seven war criminals to death and eighteen to imprisonment. This is history. 5 Huitong Bridge was built in the late Ming Dynasty, and it was originally an iron chain bridge.It is located 600 kilometers away from the Yunnan-Burma Highway (China Section), and is the only channel connecting the two sides of the Nujiang River.In the 25th year of the Republic of China, Mr. Liang Jinshan, an overseas Chinese in Singapore, generously donated money to rebuild the old bridge into a new flexible steel cable suspension bridge.The suspension bridge has a total length of 205 meters and a span of 190 meters. It is formed by flying 17 giant German steel cables, with a maximum load of seven tons.It was not until 1977 that the new steel-reinforced concrete bridge was completed and opened to traffic, and the suspension bridge was abandoned. Entering May 1942, the situation on the front line in Burma became increasingly tense.The number of defeated soldiers and refugees pouring in from the west bank suddenly increased, people brought bad news, and the atmosphere on the bridge suddenly became tense. On May 2, General Ma Chongliu, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary army's engineers, withdrew from Wanding to Kunming, passing through the Huitong Bridge, leaving behind a team of gendarmes and engineers.General Ma authorized Gendarmerie Captain Zhang Zuwu to take over the bridge and blow it up immediately in case of emergency. Zhang Zuwu, a native of Guangxi, was born in the army and ranks as a major. He is a little-known little man.The biography of him in the local historical records left only one sentence, saying: "...short in stature, good at wielding a spear, brave and witty." On May 2, the situation became more tense. On the winding mountain road on the west bank, the flow of cars and people waiting to cross the bridge was endless.Unconfirmed sources said that Japanese tanks had entered Mangshih. The whole morning, Captain Zhang felt his right eyelid twitching non-stop.As the saying goes: "Left to get rich, right to jump off a cliff", jumping in the right eye is not a good sign after all.Mangshi is less than 100 kilometers away from Huitong Bridge. If the Japanese are happy, they can drive tanks to the riverside in half a day.If they sent plainclothes men across the bridge in advance, Captain Zhang and his dozens of brothers would have no choice but to obediently raise their hands as prisoners or carry their heads to go back to work.Can a mere team of military police stop thousands of Japanese troops? Fortunately, Huitong Bridge is a natural danger, "one man guards the gate, and ten thousand men cannot open it".Captain Zhang ordered the engineering soldiers to install explosives on the bridge in advance, and the military police guarded the bridgehead to prevent Japanese plainclothes from crossing the bridge. After taking measures, I feel safe in my heart.So Captain Zhang ordered someone to bring a rattan chair, and personally sat on the bridge to check the pedestrians crossing the bridge. At noon, the Japanese army bombed Baoshan. When the news came, the crowd was in an uproar.At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a plane painted with a plastered flag repeatedly flew over the Huitong Bridge without strafing or dropping bombs.At four o'clock, three more planes passed by.The frightened crowd just wanted to cross the bridge quickly, and rushed to and fro. The suspension bridge was crushed and shook violently, and several people were thrown into the river.It was very easy to restore the order of crossing the bridge, and the time was approaching the dusk that was full of dangers. At about six o'clock, a dusty broken truck drove from Baoshan to the bridge head, intending to cross the bridge against the flow of people.The gendarmerie refused and ordered him to return.The owner of the car, He Shupeng, believed that he had something to do with the "Xifeng Brigade", so he was not quick to speak, and was rewarded twice by the military police in public.The owner of the car was wronged, so he had to turn the car around angrily.Unexpectedly, the operation was too violent, and the front of the car collided with another car, which blocked the bridge. Captain Zhang was furious and ordered the military police to push the truck down the river.The owner of the car refused to allow it, and shouted for heaven and earth to protect the car with his body.The captain added fuel to the flames and dragged He to the riverside for the crime of "obstructing the execution of military affairs".The owner of the car was afraid at first, but it was too late, a row of gunshots made him roll and fall into the steep Nujiang River. The sudden gunshots caused a series of huge echoes in the twilight canyon.The frightened crowd rushed to and fro, and the rough-stretched steel cable suspension bridge rattled and groaned.The gendarmes fired again into the air to quell the commotion. When the gunshots erupted, hundreds of Japanese death squads disguised themselves as refugees and moved secretly. The vanguard squad was less than 200 meters away from the bridge.The cable suspension bridge is close at hand, and the crowds of vehicles crossing the bridge are vividly visible.The twilight covered the insidious Japanese, and also covered their tension and anxiety.People on the west bank only longed to cross the bridge quickly, but no one noticed that a huge conspiracy was quietly approaching. Another quarter of an hour, no, maybe another ten minutes, the great Japanese army will appear at the bridgehead like the heavenly soldiers and generals in myths and legends, strangle the Chinese to death one by one like pinching worms, and then occupy this city. The strategic path to victory.In a few hours, General Sakaguchi's tank and infantry columns would cross the bridge to attack Baoshan, then Kunming, Guiyang, and finally Chungking.At that time, the demoralized Chinese would have nothing to defend, and the Chongqing government would be besieged on all sides, and no one could save their defeat, just as no one could prevent the Japanese victory. The long river of history froze for a moment here. Night is falling, the army is sneaking, and the huge evil and conspiracy are quietly revealed in the darkness. But chance helped the Chinese. The sudden gunfire at the bridgehead not only shocked the refugees on the West Bank, but also broke the tight nerves in the hearts of the Japanese.The Japanese commander didn't know that a trivial tragicomedy was being staged on the bridge at this moment. He just relied on the soldier's intuition, thinking that someone had exposed the target and the enemy was on alert, so after thinking and hesitating for half a second, he ordered the death squads to charge.All of a sudden, gunshots rang out on the west bank of the Nujiang River, and the gendarmes at the bridgehead were beaten dizzy by the rain of bullets like locusts, and the people who were shot fell into the river like dumplings. The course of history has changed here.God abandoned the warriors of the Yamato nation at the last quarter. Captain Zhang was stunned for a few seconds by the sudden gunshots.He lay on the ground, listening to the ferocious machine gun bullets whistling past his head, filled with fear and despair.But time helped him regain his instincts.When he finally judged that the Japanese hadn't crossed the bridge, a lot of cold sweat came out from his back.He was secretly thankful that the unlucky country bumpkin helped him, causing the Japanese to expose their targets in advance. The fuse was lit, and a stream of light blue sparks chirped, crawling towards the bridge like a twisting little green snake. The Japanese realized that the situation was not good, and all the death squads rushing forward rushed to the bridge with bayonets in their hands.They shouted, their eyes were burning, and they wanted to twist the poisonous snake that was trying to defeat them.However, their pace was late after all.In front of them was a wide river, a narrow suspension bridge, and an insurmountable and insurmountable distance.Therefore, when the first brave Japanese soldier had just had time to step on the bridge deck of the bridge, an extremely spectacular scene suddenly unfolded in front of them. A big orange fireball suddenly rose from the bridge, and the dazzling arc and flames reflected the canyon and the river.Immediately afterwards, a huge explosive and violent air wave threw the suspension bridge high, and then slowly fell down like a broken toy, falling into the dark canyon.The tall bridge pillars were also shaken so that they could not stand still, and finally they were slowly loaded into the river like a drunkard who had drunk too much wine, stirring up tall water columns. Heartbroken, the Japanese watched the miracle disappear before their eyes, and Jiang Shuifu ruthlessly blocked the way, so they could only vent their hatred and anger on the Chinese people who had not yet crossed the river.For several days in a row, gunshots continued in the West Bank, and the Japanese opened their doors, killing thousands of Chinese refugees and civilians indiscriminately. History finally marked the end of the glorious victory of the Japanese in 1942 on the ruins on the west bank of the Nu River. Because Major Zhang Zuwu, the defender of Huitong Bridge, blew up the bridge in time and prevented the advance of the Japanese army, so the relevant departments proposed to reward him.Unexpectedly, many people stood up to compete in front of the honor, and each of them had many sufficient reasons and strong backgrounds.So this credit went through several twists and turns. It was first taken by General Ma Chongliu, the commander-in-chief of the engineering army, and later taken away by another general with a higher rank, Xiao Yisu.Later, when the Chongqing government presented the award, there were two more recipients: Gao Can Lin Wei and Xiao Yisu, two generals, shared it together.They each received a Yunhui Medal and a large bonus.General Xiao later turned out to be very skilled, and became the Deputy Minister of National Defense in Taiwan.Journalists don't distinguish between right and wrong, and just take large photos of heroes and publicize them everywhere.Captain Zhang has since disappeared. On May 7, a squadron of Japanese infantry, carrying four machine guns and three grenade grenades, marched along the Tenglong Highway towards Tengchong, a famous city in western Yunnan.Tengchong was the seat of the administrative office of the Tenglong border area at that time, and the garrison consisted of a part of the "Xifeng Brigade" and more than 1,500 customs policemen, as well as a number of local regiments.Hearing that the Japanese army was invading, Long Shengwu, an administrator of the border region known as the "King of Western Yunnan", fled in panic, carrying dozens of packs of tobacco, soil and money, and more than ten wives.Officials at all levels moved after hearing the news, and the gendarmes rebelled without fighting.The people have no way to enter the land, so they have to resign themselves to fate. "Tengchong Local Chronicles" contains: "... At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon on May 10 in the 31st year of the Republic of China, one hundred and ninety-two enemy soldiers, without firing a single shot, strode forward, raised their arms and laughed, and went straight into Tengchong. The stockpiles in Tengchong City are abundant...the enemy is overjoyed." Yun Yun. Tengchong fell.