Chapter 6 3. "September 18th", Chinese soldiers were furious in Tokyo

The "September 18th" incident, because the Northeast Army adhered to the "non-resistance policy", resulted in the territory of more than one million square kilometers in the three northeastern provinces, and 30 million compatriots fell to the enemy without actively resisting the war.For a time, the grief and indignation of "the country will not be the country" overflowed in China, and the soldiers who retreated to the outside world and specialized in civil war became the target of public criticism.Even Song Xilian, Chiang Kai-shek's favorite general, lamented that it was becoming more and more difficult to lead troops if he did not resist.

However, in the midst of this silence, a group of Chinese soldiers uttered a roar unwilling to be humiliated in Tokyo, the heart of Japan.How could there be Chinese soldiers in Tokyo at that time? It turned out that they were the 23rd and 24th Chinese non-commissioned officer students who were studying in the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy and Chengcheng Preparatory Non-commissioned Officer Academy.Most of them were officers in the army and went to Japan to study military knowledge to build a stronger national defense for the motherland, and they have a certain patriotic ideological foundation.Therefore, after the "September 18th" incident, they were furious, united to elect representatives, held public protests on the streets of Tokyo and went to the Japanese Army Ministry.These Chinese soldiers were dressed in plain clothes (because they were issued Japanese military uniforms after enrolling in the non-commissioned officer school, and they said that they would no longer recognize their relationship with the Japanese army in plain clothes). At that time, the saber issued by the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy was thrown back.Japan's "Historical Photo" magazine also reported this event known as "returning the saber".The Japanese reporter described that the actions of the Chinese cadets indicated that they had cut their robes with the Japanese side, and there would be no mercy when they met on the battlefield.

According to the memory of Gou Jitang, who served as the dropout representative of non-commissioned officers at the time (later participated in the Japanese surrender ceremony as the deputy chief of staff of the Songhu Garrison Command), when he was in the Japanese non-commissioned officer school, the Japanese side had always discriminated against Chinese students, and posted "China" on the door of their dormitory. student housing".He thought it was insulting to the country, and after many protests, it was changed to "Chinese student housing".During their protest after the "September 18th" Incident, the embassy sent counselor Ding to stop them, but they couldn't resist the patriotic enthusiasm of the students.At this time, a photographer came, and Ding was ashamed of being caught in the camera, so he covered his face with his sleeve and yelled "Go back!" and left.The Japanese military police launched a suppression immediately, and Gou Jitang and others were arrested.

Gou Jitang was thrown into the Tokyo Gendarmerie Prison.The Japanese side threatened and lured, saying that as long as they wrote a letter of repentance, they could continue to study, but they were sternly rejected.He wrote his experience in the Japanese military police prison on the face towel he used at that time, so as to remember it.The full text is: On the evening of September 18th, the 20th year of the Republic of China (1931), the Japanese army occupied our Northeast, carried out all kinds of destruction, massacres, and plunder, and instigated small plots to rebel under the pretext of Manchuria's independence. Their crimes were imposed on North Korea and added to the rise and fall of our world. Everyone is responsible. Righteousness and all of us are studying abroad in the violent Japanese army school, unable to defend the country, and unable to rush to the national calamity. The greatest shame for soldiers, but unable to do what they want, only with the spirit of sacrifice, to make a general dropout plan to expose Japan's hypocrisy. The Japanese government rescued the Chinese who dropped out of the general school, and my representative and others were the culprits who instigated the dropout trend and detained us for 30 hours. This commemorative face towel was also released in Wakamatsu, Tokyo on the evening of October 2. Ji Tangzhi

This article may just express the aspirations of those Chinese cadets in Japan at that time. Tokyo is an international metropolis. Frightened by the influence, the Japanese Army Ministry had no choice but to release Gou Jitang and others from prison, and allowed these Chinese students to drop out of school and return to China on October 12.The Japanese sent someone to announce: "You can drop out of school, but if you drop out, you can't go back to school." The Chinese cadets shouted in unison: "The subjugated slaves will come back!" A total of 72 Chinese students dropped out of school, and almost none of them were Chinese students studying military in Japan.It is worth mentioning that these Chinese soldiers who dropped out included Guo Rugui, Li Cunren, Cai Wenzhi and other later famous anti-Japanese generals. When the war in Northeast China was raging, they faced persecution and even the danger of their lives. They protested Japan’s aggression Atrocities, and expressed the determination to return to the country, these young Chinese military talents can be said to have lost their military integrity.The photos in the Japanese report are writing a footnote for this historical moment.

From our point of view, this incident in Tokyo has another important meaning. In Japan, not only Chinese soldiers from non-commissioned officer schools returned to China to fight against Japan, but also from the beginning of the "September 18th Incident", more than 100 students studying in Japan from the three eastern provinces immediately packed up and returned to China; on the 19th, all Chinese students studying in Japan suspended classes in protest; On the 23rd, all Chinese students at Tokyo Institute of Technology unanimously decided to return to China; on the 26th, Chinese students from 17 schools in Tokyo held a meeting and decided to take concerted action to return to China to mobilize the people to resist Japan.Soon, a large number of students embarked on the journey back home. In October alone, 2,300 students returned from studying in Japan. There were only a few hundred Chinese students who remained in Japan, including a large number of patriotic students who were planning to carry out underground activities in Japan. By.

The Japanese "Historical Photo" magazine also published the actions of other Chinese people who are overseas at this moment. "September 18" is not only a symbol of humiliation for China, but also a symbol of awakening - it is this national disaster that brought unprecedented unity to this ancient country.A country in a state of disunity, from this moment on, there is no distinction between land, east, west, north, south, and people, men, women, old and young. Loyalty to the country and the nation has led different parties to abandon their previous feuds. The continuous civil war is coming to an end. The whole world has begun to hear the Chinese people. The sound of roaring.

This is the beginning of a national disaster, and also the beginning of a 14-year holy war of resistance.