Chapter 17 Good news from heaven in the fourth quarter

As far as the international situation at that time was concerned, what Liang Sicheng could do was what he could do, and he had fulfilled his responsibility without regret. As for everything else, it was beyond the control of a scholar.There is a saying that if you do many unrighteous actions, you will die yourself.It is still acceptable to do evil by the sky, but to do evil by oneself is not to live.The final moment came when the mighty Allied forces delivered the fatal blow to the dying body of the Japanese imp. On July 26, 1945, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom jointly issued the "Potsdam Proclamation" urging Japan to surrender: "Until Japan's war-making power is destroyed and there is convincing evidence, Japan's territory shall be designated by the allies. It must be occupied." He added: "The Government of Japan immediately declares the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces and provides all appropriate assurances that such action will be carried out in good faith. Otherwise, Japan will be quickly and completely destroyed."

After the announcement was made, the Japanese government, under the manipulation of hardliners in the military, declared that it would "absolutely ignore it" and "carry on the war to the end."Known as a hawk, the new US President Truman was furious and determined to deal a devastating blow to Japan (South note: Roosevelt died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage in Hot Springs, Georgia on April 12, 1945, and then Vice President Truman succeeded president). On August 6, the enraged United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. On August 8, the Soviet Union decided to declare war on Japan in accordance with the Yalta Secret Treaty.The next day, the Soviet Red Army quickly entered Northeast China, and then marched to northern Korea and Sakhalin Island, annihilating nearly one million Japanese Kwantung Army in one fell swoop.Hearing the news, Chiang Kai-shek called Stalin in the name of the Chinese leader, saying: "Your country has declared war on Japan, which has made all the Chinese people rise up." He also said: "I believe that due to the overwhelming force of your country joining, Japan's resistance will collapse quickly. .”

On August 9, the United States, which was still angry, dropped its second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, and the entire city was reduced to ruins.That night, the emperor of Japan, who had already been anxious, ignored the obstruction and incitement of the hardliners in the military at the imperial meeting, and finally ruled: on the condition that the status of the emperor would not be changed, he would accept all the terms of surrender proposed by China, the United States, and Britain. At around 7:00 p.m. on August 10, the Japanese government decided to accept the Potsdam Proclamation of China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and sent a begging note to China, the United States, and the United Kingdom through the Swedish Minister to the United States.The news quickly spread around the world, and Chongqing's "Central Daily" later received a telegram from a reporter from the Central News Agency from the United States:

The Japanese Government is prepared to accept the terms set out in the joint declaration issued by the leaders of the governments of China, the United States, and the United Kingdom in Potsdam on July 26, 1945, which has since been endorsed by the Soviet Union, with the understanding that the above declaration does not contain any To the detriment of the imperial power of His Majesty the Emperor as the supreme ruler, the Government of Japan earnestly hopes that this understanding can be secured, and it is eager that a clear expression on this matter can be obtained promptly. The top officials of the national government knew nothing about this sudden news, including the supreme head of state, Chiang Kai-shek, who was also kept in the dark.According to Tang Zongri, the head of the sixth team in Chiang Kai-shek's attendant office who is responsible for intelligence affairs: "At about 7 o'clock in the afternoon, the US military headquarters on the opposite side cheered on the road, and Fuhua (southern press: Tang Zong's eldest daughter) returned to report that Japan surrendered unconditionally. Soon, the sound of firecrackers was heard one after another, beauties were running and jumping on the road, Chinese children were shouting around, and the radio station played loud music... I went to Chen’s mansion, and the children of Chen’s family set off firecrackers and cheered outside Director Chen’s window , Director Chen was furious, and blamed the children for not doing this, and is still studying how to confirm the news."

Just as Chiang Kai-shek's "literary courage" Chen Bulei put on a serious face of an old master in his yard, full of anger and scolded the children who set off firecrackers, the young soldiers of the US military headquarters were already driving jeeps, drinking champagne in their hands Shouting slogans while running around the streets.The sensitive "Central Daily" has already printed "extras" and started selling and posting them in the streets and alleys. The whole Chongqing has become a sea of ​​joy.At this time, it was the evening when the sun was about to set, and it was also the time when the crowd was most likely to gather. The "Central Daily" quickly dispatched several reporters all over the mountain city to conduct interviews and left a precious historical record:

At around seven o'clock, the news of Japan's surrender was confirmed by the U.S. News Service. The older children in the U.S. Army headquarters jumped up first, and drove their jeeps straight down the street!People all over the streets are crowded and cheering... People are all crazy, happy! From Zhongyi Road to Xinjiekou, in front of the wall outside the newspaper, tens of thousands of people crowded together, even illiterate bare-legged men squeezed inside, and the rain-like sweat glued everyone's clothes to the clothes of the people around them. , everyone grinned! There was a sea of ​​happy people above, everyone greeted each other, each group of people greeted each other with "ah! ah!" congratulated each other, and everyone's feelings were overflowing!sublimation!When acquaintances met each other, they embraced each other with open arms, or at least patted each other on the shoulder intimately: "I'm going home!"

The report said: Among the traveling crowd, some braved the heat waves and gathered together to listen to the radio attentively, and firmly believed that they would hear more real and detailed news from the radio.Sure enough, the radio station that was broadcasting the English-speaking program was suddenly interrupted, and then the announcer began to read the telegrams sent by the United Press and the Central News Agency in Chinese, and then the announcer said: "China has fought hard for eight years, and finally won victory and won peace... Now Millions of citizens in the streets and alleys of Chongqing are already in the carnival, and now they are listening to "Returning Homeland Triumphantly." What erupted above the audience was roaring cheers.Finally, the loud and powerful chorus of soprano and baritone rang out amid the cheers... On this extraordinary evening of great historical significance, the announcers of Chongqing Central Radio Station were full of enthusiasm and emotions, and they were no longer as mature as usual. At the end of the broadcast, the announcer choked up and said: "Masters, please listen to the joyful voice of the company!"

At that moment, the loud sound of firecrackers, gongs and drums, and the cheers of "Ding Hao" and "Ding Hao" from foreign allies came from the radio.Immediately afterwards, cheers of "The Japanese kid has surrendered!" At that time, Fu Sinian was at his home in Chongqing. When the news of the victory came suddenly, he was stunned at first, then confused and ecstatic.Usually he didn't drink alcohol, he grabbed a bottle of Luzhou Daqu from a corner that he didn't know when he stored it, and rushed out the door with his tall and fat body shaking, joining the crowd of people running and jumping and raising their arms and shouting.Many years later, Luo Jialun, who was also in Chongqing, still remembered this classic scene.The first sentence in Luo's recalled article was - "Meng Zhen is crazy".Then he said: "He took a bottle of wine from his residence in Juxing Village and drank it on the street. He took a cane, picked out a hat, and danced in the street. As a result, the hat flew off and the stick He lost his hand, and he quarreled with the people and the allied forces for a long time. When he couldn't cry anymore, he went back to sleep. I went to see him the next afternoon, but he still couldn't get up, and even said, "The country is in its early days." I've lost my hat, I've lost my stick, and I can't afford to buy it. Ah!'"

After Fu Sinian woke up, he couldn't hold back the ecstasy in his heart, and immediately wrote letters to his wife Yu Dacai and son Rengui who were far away in Lizhuang, asking them to share the joy of victory with him.The letter said: "After receiving the notice from the Political Council, everyone went to the secretariat to celebrate. I arrived at 9:30, and there were already more than 30 people. The more I arrived, everyone laughed. I now know that the two met in the old drama. There is a reason for laughing out loud. Huggers, jumpers, and kissers want to be quiet and talk about how to march, but it is almost impossible.... When I went out, I met acquaintances to say hello, and they all hugged each other. Duan Shuyi later Said, he couldn't take it anymore. When he met Wu Dingchang when he went out, he said, don't get too excited (he and I both suffer from high blood pressure), I will shake it again and again." He said: "I was planning to go to the US military headquarters and the British, American and Soviet Union. At the embassy, ​​at the government office, Mr. Jiang said that he had not yet completed the surrender, and there were still conditions to negotiate, so he went back. The political participation meeting was very lively again, and he returned at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. He felt seriously ill and slept until he recovered the next day. "

Like Fu Sinian, Liang Sicheng, who hid in a room and marked cultural relics and historic sites on the map for several days for the Allied bombing of Japan, is still in Chongqing. His friend Fei Weimei left an unforgettable wonderful scene for this: Sicheng, two young Chinese writers, and I had dinner together in the restaurant of the American embassy.Satisfied with wine and food, we pulled the wicker chairs to the top of the hill in front of the porch of the embassy, ​​and sat on the platform to enjoy the cool air.That night, I was so hot that I was sweating, watching the lights on the mountain on the other side of the Yangtze River light up, like a piece of lanterns falling from the Milky Way, with round lights, shining like a fairy tale.Sicheng talked about Tagore's visit to Beijing a long time ago.Suddenly, he stopped talking.Like hunting dogs, he and the others in the room suddenly became tense and alert.They heard something, and I had to calm down and listen with my ears.In the distance, sirens sounded.Is there another air strike?It's absurd, yet each of them, with years of personal experience, is alert to the possibilities.If it is not an air strike, is it an announcement of victory?

Beneath our feet, news of victory spread like wildfire through the city.From this high hillside, we can almost observe the whole process.At first, it was depressive chirping, maybe some people were running on the street, and then there were individual shouts, crackling of firecrackers, and the street was already full of excitement.Finally, crowds of people shouted, cheered, and clapped everywhere, as if the whole city woke up with a roar. Yes, I held this breath for eight years, eight years of suffering, bitterness, humiliation, grief, indignation, and endurance, until I resisted and fought bloody battles, making the final fight to the death.Once the victory comes, the nerves that have been suppressed for eight years need to be vented happily. People's emotions seem to be suppressed by the earth's crust for too long and finally erupt like blowouts and volcanoes.The bitter and difficult days were not in vain, and the celebrations lasted all night. Back then, in that cold and windy winter, the Chinese army abandoned its capital Nanjing in chaos, and the Japanese army used unimaginable brutality to massacre prisoners of war and Chinese civilians who had laid down their weapons, and raped innocent women crazily.And the Japanese citizens, who responded to the call of the Japanese army, flocked to the streets of Tokyo, paraded with lanterns, and celebrated the carnival.Unexpectedly, after a lapse of 7 years, on this summer night, the lantern parade and the carnival crowd have changed. "Who will laugh, who will laugh last."——This is what a Yunnan army commander named Lu Daoyuan said during the military assembly of the southeast theater when Nanjing fell and Tokyo, Japan was carnival. A word that implies Jifeng. This is a metaphor, but also a kind of destiny.It foretells that the Chinese people, after going through the hardships of 1999 and 1981, will finally achieve positive results and usher in the laughter of victory; The mystery of rebirth. ——All this has been verified with the exploding firecrackers and carnival crowds on the streets of Chongqing.Since the "July 7th Incident", the Chinese military and civilian war of resistance has lasted for eight years and 33 days; since the "September 18th", it has been 14 years and less than 38 days.Suffering and struggle, salvation and survival, the silent entrustment of the dead, and the sorrowful and angry pleas of the living are all imprisoned in this holy place that rises from the wind and mist. ——Chongqing does not sleep, China does not sleep, and the entire Chinese nation will start a new historical era with this sleepless night.