Chapter 17 2. Tragic snow scene

During the few days when the Chinese and Japanese armies were intensively preparing for another major war, dark clouds hung over northern Hunan.From December 20th, it began to rain and the temperature continued to drop. On the 23rd, the rain was mixed with snow flakes, and the weather was even colder. A few days after the 25th, all the raindrops turned into snowflakes, the snowflakes flew all over the sky, and the earth was vast.This is rare in the history of Hunan meteorology.In the southern land, which has always been warm, the temperature dropped below minus 5 degrees Celsius in the cold wind and heavy snow.The soldiers fought in this bad weather, and it was even more miserable.

While organizing the operations of various divisions in northern Hunan, Ananwei closely watched the progress of the 23rd Army fighting in Hong Kong thousands of miles away.After all, the battle in Xiangbei was a response to the occupation of Hong Kong. These are two consecutive steps in a game of chess. The attack force of the 23rd Army under the command of Army Commander Takashi Sakai began the attack on Hong Kong on December 18.The main wing set off from the west coast of Kowloon Bay at 9:00 that night, and secretly launched a storm across the sea. Teams of soldiers paddle through the darkness in wooden boats or by swimming. Three hours later, more than a thousand drenched Japanese soldiers suddenly appeared on the other side. Three red flares rose into the sky, and the Japanese artillery fire began to bombard the British positions violently. The landing Japanese troops spread out their battle formations and charged at the British strongholds one by one.

The British troops stationed in Hong Kong fought tenaciously with strong fortifications and good weapons and equipment. At dawn on the 19th, the torpedo ships of the British Navy sank several Japanese ships crossing the sea, and the artillery concentrated on bombing Causeway Bay to the Japanese landing site on the front line of the shipyard.By 9 a.m., the vanguard of the Japanese army suffered more than 600 casualties, and the follow-up troops could not keep up for a while, so they had to suspend their offensive. On the 21st, the Japanese army organized a fierce offensive again but failed to break through the British defense line.The Japanese base camp was extremely dissatisfied with the progress of the operation, accused the generals of the 23rd Army and the 38th Division for poor command, and proposed to replace the chief general. On the 23rd, Takashi Sakai personally went to the front to supervise the battle. The Japanese army finally broke through several important control points of the British army with heavy casualties, and the battle situation took a sudden turn for the worse.

On the 24th, the Japanese army was in full swing.The most powerful unit of the British army, the "Hong Kong Volunteer Army", was defeated.Most of the members of this force are veterans who participated in the First World War. They are known in the military forces of various countries for their strong sense of honor, extreme bravery and tenacity.In this battle, many officers and soldiers did not surrender until the last moment, chanting "Long live the beautiful Queen" and committed suicide. At noon on the 24th, Ananwei learned from a phone call from the base camp that the situation in Hong Kong had improved, and that it was about to be broken.

What should have been happy made Anan inexplicably irritable. He was originally scheduled to launch an attack on the front of Xiangbei on the 25th, and all the troops were basically ready, but if the city of Hong Kong was destroyed, his battle in Hunan would be meaningless.At that time, it was reasonable to send a telegram from the base camp to cancel the attack.what to do? Anan thought that Hideki Tojo had just come to power, and the Japanese army had reported frequent successes in several major overseas combat operations, and Hong Kong's victory was also in sight.The generals of the army all wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of the military cabinet to take power to show their talents and make contributions. Could it be that the 11th army should be willing to stay behind and return without success!

The arrow is on the string, I have to send it!Anan issued an order to Chief of Staff Isamu Kinoshita: The first part of the 6th Division immediately launched an attack on the Chinese army's forward position in Xinqianghe, and the main attack time of each division was advanced to 9 o'clock tonight. Kinoshita Yong reported to Anan that some troops were not yet ready for combat, and Anan asked him to urge these troops to speed up the resolution, and the general intention of attacking in advance remained unchanged. As a result, the Japanese soldiers in the cold wind, rain and snow received new orders.A hasty offensive operation began.

Along the Xinqiang River, there have been sporadic fighting since December 18.The Japanese army was extremely arrogant because of the heavy defeat of the defenders a few months ago, and they often provoked it.After the main forces assembled on the north bank of the river again, the 6th and 40th divisions sent small groups of troops to attack the advancing positions of the defenders, scout the distribution of firepower of the opponent, and made preparations for erecting pontoon bridges across the river. The 20th Army of Yang Hanyu of Yang Senyuan's Sichuan Army, which was placed by Xue Yue in the front line of Xinqianghe, had two divisions of 133 and 134 under its jurisdiction.The task Xue Yue gave Yang Hanyu was to stay here for 10 days before transferring.

Yang Hanyu privately said to Yang Sen: Let the 20th Army stick to the front line for 10 days, it is better to directly pull it to recover Wuhan, and the credit will be greater. Yang Sen is Yang Hanyu's uncle, and the 20th Army is Yang Sen's first army, so the military power cannot be neglected. As long as there are complaints, wars must also be fought.Together with the two division commanders, Yang Hanyu studied the frontier firepower configuration in detail and the method of successive resistance. From the 24th to the 27th, Chuanzhong Jianer tenaciously held on for 4 days between the Xinqiang River and the Miluo River, severely defeating the Japanese army.

On the 25th, the 2nd Battalion of the 398th Regiment of the 133rd Division and the 23rd and 45th Wings of the 6th Division fought fiercely in Fujiaqiao and Hongqiao strongholds.The battalion commander Wang Chaokui led the whole battalion to fight to the death with the Japanese army. The Japanese army could not conquer it, so they mobilized artillery fire. Wang Chaokui and more than 400 officers and soldiers of the whole battalion were all killed. On the morning of December 25th, the 23rd Japanese army invaded the urban area of ​​Hong Kong. The defeat of the British troops stationed in Hong Kong was determined. The Japanese army sent many scouts disguised as citizens to sneak into every corner of the city to investigate the defense situation of the British army in the city.Some of the scouts found it strange that at the critical moment of victory or defeat, groups of British officers and soldiers were dancing and having dinner, and they played all night on the night of the 24th.When the situation was reported to the military headquarters, Takashi Sakai was also baffled. He didn't know what the subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain were doing. Takashi Sakai suspected that the British might be preparing to commit suicide.Major General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the chief of staff who had studied in Europe, suddenly remembered that December 25th was the biggest holiday in the West—Christmas. The night of the 24th is "Christmas Eve" in traditional customs, which is equivalent to the Japanese New Year's Eve, which is a time for celebration and entertainment.

At 6:00 pm on Christmas Day in 1941, the governor of Hong Kong, Yang Ge, finally let go of his aristocratic dignity and agreed to surrender unconditionally to the Japanese army because of the successive defeats of Britain and the United States in Southeast Asia. At 7:00 p.m., Chief of Staff Yoshimitsu Abe of the 38th Division of the Japanese Army, Governor Yang Ge and Commander of the British Garrison in Hong Kong Mardhi, under the soft candlelight of the office of the 23rd Army Command on the 3rd floor of the Paineshura Hotel at the southern tip of Kowloon , and signed the instrument of surrender together. At 9:45, the Japanese base camp announced to the world the news of the occupation of Hong Kong.

On the 27th, Emperor Hirohito of Japan issued an imperial edict, expressing "I am deeply appreciative of this" to the imperial army's "quick and decisive capture of Hong Kong and the destruction of an important British base." Niu Mowen, from Dazu, Sichuan, is 75 years old.With a disabled right arm, he painted traditional Chinese paintings with his left hand. He won the third prize in the painting group of the "Golden Autumn Cup Calligraphy and Painting Competition" in 1994 by the County Senior Calligraphy and Painting Association.As the second-class soldier of the 3rd Battalion and 8th Company of the 398th Regiment of the 133rd Division of the former 20th Army, there is another picture engraved deep in his heart.He said: "Those were the coldest few days in my life. From childhood to old age, there was once a year in winter, and there were frequent heavy and light snowfalls, but they were not so cold. "Our regiment was ordered to take over the positions along the Xinqiang River shortly after the end of the Second Changsha Battle. Our 3rd Battalion was placed at the junction of Xinqiang River and Dongting Lake. The name of the place is like "Antlers". It is the far left wing of the defense line , which is West End. "In 1941, at the end of the 30th year of the Republic of China, the enemy launched the third battle of Changsha. Before the war, the whole battalion held a mobilization meeting. The battalion commander was surnamed Wu, and the deputy battalion commander Li Haijun, both said: Our battalion is the whole theater. At the forefront, there are still thousands of troops behind us. We must obey orders, not be afraid of sacrifice, hold our positions, and kill the enemy to make meritorious service. "In the second battle of Changsha, 3 of our squad were killed and 2 were injured, and 4 of them were left intact. After the war, 4 new recruits were recruited. The military skills of the recruits were very poor, and they had never seen a real battle. The squad leader Wang Deqi I was worried that I would not be able to complete the task. I said it was okay, since the old ones brought in the new ones during the war, and the new recruits would become veterans in the next battle. "In the past few days, there were constant news that the enemy was going to attack. The battalion commander and the company commander came to see the position several times a day. It happened that the weather was bad, and our Sichuan army only had a jacket. We shivered from the cold and were not allowed to warm up. "The food is pretty good, there is meat every day, the cook carries the food to the camp, knocks on the rice bowl with a spoon and shouts: It's tooth-making sacrifice! "There was a small fight in the east for a few days. On this day, the Japanese army launched a full-scale attack. As soon as it got dark, our fortifications were bombarded by countless shells. Some of us hid in the field a mile away from the fortifications, and some squatted In the fortifications, we were resigned to fate. When the artillery stopped, we knew that the enemy was going to come up, and the people outside hurried back. Our team was a semi-underground cement bunker. A shell was shot in the right hand, and half of the sky was exposed. When the enemy crossed the river, it was already dark. It’s so dark that you can’t see anything, and you need to rely on your judgment to find the target. There is a light machine gun in the squad, which occupies one perforation, and the other two rifle perforations are fired in turn. A recruit is specially assigned to hold an umbrella for the two machine gunners, but none of them It's not that the whole body is soaked. In winter, it's cold, but it's just that I can't think about it when I'm fighting. "The machine gunner shouted while shooting: '7, 8', and reported the number of enemies wiped out. I fired a rifle, and to be honest, I couldn't see clearly whether I could hit or not, and the sky was as dark as thick ink. "After fighting for two hours, the orderly came to inform: Stop shooting. Just about to take a break, I received another announcement: Enter the trench. "The trenches are more than ten meters in front of the fortifications. We know that the enemy has already crossed the river. It should be admitted that their physical strength and military training are better than ours. Our Sichuan Army is not as good as the Central Army. The training is irregular and the conditions are also poor. "The whole squad entered the trench, and there was mud soup with no feet under their feet. The machine gunners did not use their umbrellas. We shot at the opposite side in the dark, and everyone was panicked. We couldn't see the enemy, but it was too late for the enemy to fight again. "The suppression of artillery fire and the shooting of the infantry kept the enemy from rushing up. In the middle of the night, the cook stooped to pick up a bucket of steamed buns and a bucket of soup. When I smelled the food, I remembered that I was hungry. I went forward to pick it up. The cook's feet slipped, A bucket of hot egg soup was poured on the ground. The squad leader heard the sound and punched him. It was dark and he couldn’t see the cook. Rice, but cold steamed buns are also very fragrant at this time. "Just after eating, I was notified to retreat immediately. At that time, it was not called retreat, it was called turning in. We marched in the dark under the snow and rain. It was really walking three steps and falling twice, but it was cold, and walking was warmer. "At dawn, we came to a place where there was a fortification. We stopped. After the company commander and other officers and soldiers handed over their positions, the two hurried away on bicycles. The enemy will come from the front. The company commander assigned positions to each squad. Our squad guarded an open field, one man and one individual shooting bunker, with trenches behind us. "About seven or eight o'clock, the enemy came. This time, I could see clearly that there was a large group of Japanese troops wearing steel helmets and khaki military uniforms in the rain and snow, rushing towards us with their guns in their hands. The enemy was very good at using the terrain and moving. It's also fast. Generally, the target disappears before the recruits have aimed well, and when they see it again, they are close to you again. "General Xue Yue, the commander of the Ninth War Zone, mobilized the people before the war to plow and release water on the roads south of the Xinqiang River. In addition to the rain, the enemy's heavy artillery could not keep up. On the second line of defense, the enemy only had mortars, and their firepower Much weaker. Our whole battalion defended in an area of ​​about 3 Li, repelling two enemy attacks in one morning. "At noon, the enemy concentrated their forces and stormed up again, and the mortar shells fell too much. One of our squad was killed and one was injured. The squad leader's cousin was the deputy squad leader in the third row. When the orderer passed the order, he said to him by the way that his cousin was killed The squad leader cried sadly. My cousin is the only seedling of his uncle. He didn’t have to be a soldier, but he wanted to come. The wife at home has been found, and when he goes back to live in the house. The squad leader told me , my cousin's daughter-in-law is good-looking, and she is from a neighboring village. "The squad leader was crying, cursing and shooting, and was kicked twice by the platoon leader to stop crying. "It's steamed bread and egg soup at noon. The battle can't stop. Everyone eats while monitoring the enemy's situation, and takes turns drinking soup. I was appointed by the platoon leader to act as the deputy squad leader who had just died in battle. When I was the last one to drink soup, the bowl of soup was just a cup of soup. There are two mouthfuls left, pour it down, it is cold and cold. The bottom of the basin is still full of sand. I really want to have a good meal of rice with vegetables and a bowl of hot soup. "About two o'clock in the afternoon, the position was in danger, and the Japanese army ran to a very close place to throw a grenade. The squad leader was injured in the face, and a grenade shrapnel went through his face, knocking out a few teeth, and his face was covered with blood. He wrapped one himself. The bandages were rolled, and the health guards came and bandaged them again. The company commander ran to see him and asked him, "Can you hold on for a while?" When the squad leader waved his hand, he walked and ran down to the ground, and he didn't want the gun. "The company commander glared at his back, looked back at me, and suddenly shouted: 'Comrade Niu Mowen is now the leader of the 2nd squad!' There were 8 people in the squad before the war, 1 dead, 2 injured, 5 others, and 4 others. After hearing the company commander's shout, he stood upright and said: "Obey the order!" Then he buried his head in aiming and shooting again. "The company commander saw with the binoculars that an enemy carrying three mortars had just moved past in a mountain depression 500 meters to the left in front of our position. He judged that this was a newly opened mortar position. He ordered our squad and Squad 3 with 3 people left touched it and knocked it out. Squad 3 and I took a good look at the route, without guns, stuffed grenades in our waists, bypassed the enemy who had just retreated, and ran and crawled towards it. I At the very front, they crawled and rolled in the mud and water in the snow, and were discovered by the enemy when they walked more than half the distance. "Enemy machine guns were coming from the front and sides, and bullets were flying around my head. I rolled down a small hill and dodged the enemy machine guns. Seeing that no one else was around, I didn't know if they were dead or injured, so I had to continue alone. Climbing towards the target. When I approached the hillside of the target, I found two soldiers crawling in front of me. I don’t know where they passed. "When we climbed the hillside, the three of us were stunned. There was nothing in the small depression except messy footprints left on the snow. Maybe the enemy moved, maybe the company commander was blinded, maybe we recognized In the wrong place, it was a waste of time anyway. "We cursed a few words, then hurriedly climbed back, and when we were approaching the position, the enemy attacked again. A shell severely injured a recruit from Squad 3, and another soldier from Squad 3 dragged him back to the position. When the health guards bandaged him, he shouted: "It hurts!" But he died before the bandages were finished. "The company commander glanced at me when he came over, and he didn't say anything about the mortar positions. I still don't know the reason why we made this trip in vain. A total of 8 people went to two squads, the squad leader of the third squad and a The soldiers sacrificed, 2 of our squad were killed and 1 injured, and I and a recruit were left. "Just as we were going to eliminate the enemy's mortar position that didn't exist at all, Li, the deputy battalion commander of our battalion, was shot and killed. "I made it clear afterwards that the day of the fierce battle was December 25, 1941. On this day, the 398th Regiment of our 133rd Division fought with the enemy from early morning until dark. Li Haijun, the deputy battalion commander of our battalion, was killed in our left-wing position, 2 Battalion commander Wang Zhaokui (referred to as Wang Chaokui in historical records) and his 6th company and two platoons with more than 40 brothers were surrounded on a hill. "Battalion Commander Wang and his brothers all died heroically! "After it got dark that day, we turned south again. Two people from our squad and the third squad with only one person were merged into the 1st squad with 6 people. Because the platoon leader was injured, the company commander merged us into the 2nd platoon . "The company commander ordered us to dig shallow pits to temporarily bury the remains of the martyrs, mark them, and bury them again after the war. Our squad participated in the burial of the martyrs. "Under the heavy snow was the steaming soil. We used a fortification shovel to dig out a two-foot-deep, five-foot-wide, and one-foot-long pit, and discharged the 31 dead brothers of the whole company into it one by one. "The faces of the martyrs were wrapped in his military uniforms, and many of them had their eyes half-closed. We know that they were suffering in their hearts and refused to rest in peace! In my hometown of Sichuan, there is a memorial hall for Zhuge Liang, the military advisor of the Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period. If you die before you win, the hero will burst into tears." Everyone in Sichuan knows this poem. "The children from Sichuan fought the Japanese invaders in Hunan, and died here. Are they considered to have died before they left the school? They are all children of ordinary people. There are no heroes who cry for them, only their parents, and us. Maybe tomorrow will be the same soldier as them. "The company commander is also tired, and the password is not clear. We are braving the wind, rain and snow, and stepping on the mud all over the ground. We are soaked and extremely cold. We keep walking in the dark. Many people get sick.  … " The 20th Army resisted tenaciously between the Xinqiang River and the Miluo River, retreating successively, and persisted from the early morning of the 24th to the early morning of the 27th.The Japanese army followed the Chinese army on the first line of defense to the north bank of Mishui, and the battle entered the second stage.Chen Pei's 37th Army and part of Fu Zhongfang's 99th Army lined up to meet the enemy, and the battle continued to be fought hard and fiercely.From the Japanese war history "Changsha Operation", we can see the Japanese army's record of the brutality of this stage of combat: According to the order issued by the 11th Army on the 26th, the divisions rushed to the Mishui line. ... Mishui has been rising due to wind and snow for several days, and the turbid current is turbulent, making it impossible to measure the water depth. While suppressing the enemy's star-shaped stronghold with rapid-fire artillery and heavy firearms, the Hengtian Battalion used rapid-fire artillery and heavy firearms to suppress the enemy's star-shaped stronghold, and at the same time, under the explosion of grenades, they used blind spots to force their way into In the enemy's formation...the 3rd Squadron braved the flying snow and forcibly crossed the chest-deep Mishui River at 13:30. After landing on the shore, before drying the soaked clothes, they continued to expand their victories...one of the guards' pack horses During the pursuit from the rear, the team was attacked three times in a row, and almost all of them were wiped out... After the Ito Infantry Brigade passed safely, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment led by the military flag and advanced to the vicinity of 700 to 800 meters from Mishui. Suddenly came under heavy fire from strongholds on both sides of the road.The adjutant of the regiment was injured immediately, and 64 horses were shot and fell to death one after another... The enemy's resistance was extremely tenacious, and they surrounded the headquarters of the regiment from both sides. The captain, Captain Toshiki Kimura, was shot through the head and died in battle. At that time (Note: 29th) there was a rare heavy snowfall in Hunan, and the Mishui River was completely white... Toda's troops (Note: 234th Regiment of the 40th Division, Captain Toda Yoshinao) crossed the river shortly before they met with Chongqing. The 95th Division of the Army (Note: under the jurisdiction of the 37th Army, Division Commander Luo Qi) had set up a position and encountered... The main force of the 95th Division used the terrain and resisted tenaciously. Our shelling was ineffective and the attack was extremely difficult. After dawn on the 30th, it was determined that the troops were too close to the enemy's position, and frontal fire support was no longer possible.Therefore, the artillery can only be suppressed from the two wings, and the front-line troops have to attack bit by bit, but the heavy machine guns cannot reach the position, and only rely on light machine guns and grenades. A battle like this that uses a large number of grenades is unprecedented. . On the night of the 30th, Lieutenant Sergeant Morikawa Keiyu, commander of the 40th Regiment of the Supplies in the rear, was attacked by the enemy and died in the snow while resting with the Chinese staff in the monastery of Changhu (10 kilometers southeast of Xinqiang). Since arriving at the banks of the Mishui River, news has spread among the frontline officers and soldiers that "this operation is to contain Hong Kong, and it may be reversed until the 31st." However, now that they have entered the left bank of the Mishui River, there are still people going south The situation, the officers and soldiers knew nothing about future actions, and were in a state of suspicion. ... An authoritative war history from the War History Office of the Defense Research Institute of the National Defense Agency can write officers and soldiers who are "suspicious". In addition to explaining the author's candor and making some necessary preparations for the further development of combat, it can also be seen that At that time, there was indeed a considerable degree of confusion in the morale of the Japanese army. All the sleet turned into heavy snow from the 27th, and the heavy snow continued until the 30th. As described in the Japanese war history, Xiangbei was already "all white". More than 50 years later, the heavy snow melted without a trace, and crops, forests, and weeds grew and disappeared year after year, covering the past battlefields layer by layer without leaving a trace.Both the war history of the two countries have recorded that many soldiers of their respective countries were frozen to death and maimed in that heavy snowfall. After that, there has never been such a big and cold snowfall. 10 kilometers southeast of the Xinqiang River, no one knows the place name "Changhu". There are only place names nearby such as "Golden Bridge", "Glory", "Popular People" and "Jianjin" which obviously bear the color of the political movement after liberation.The general location of "Long Hu" marked in the attached map of the two countries' war history is in the place now called "Glory". I asked the elderly people there about the "War of Resistance" and "War of Resistance Against Japan". I wonder if it was because my Mandarin was too standard. The old people don't know why.It also "translated" as "the devil", Fang nodded and said, "Yes." have what? "Oh, there is a thing passed down by the elders in this place." It is not a story but a "thing" to express its certainty. The old man's golden seal said: "In the Xinsi period (check the "Nongjia Perpetual Calendar" is actually not far away in the 30th year of the Republic of China, that is, 1941 AD), there was a heavy snowfall in Dongyue (November of the lunar calendar) for three days and three nights. There is an old local proverb: "There are many thieves in the westerly wind in the winter moon, and there are monsters in the heavy snow." The local people think it is very ominous. "Sure enough, the Japanese ghosts came. They murdered and set fires, committed adultery in daylight, and did all kinds of bad things, which angered Zheng Zu, who was on duty. Blood to eliminate disasters. "That small temple is called 'Yiyuan Temple'. Once Tai Sui practiced the method, no matter how far the Japanese ghost was, he would run here in the heavy snow. He couldn't run if he didn't want to. His legs couldn't control him and he couldn't stop. He ran into the temple, didn't he? Bleeding from the seven orifices means being turned around by invisible hands and taking out the heart and liver. Until 49 people died, the wind and snow stopped outside the temple, and there was no incident for the next three years. "I was 10 years old at that time, and the old people didn't let the children go out, but I looked out through the crack of the door, and the sky was full of white." A real battle turned into a legend decades later.In legends, history is decomposed, diluted, and engulfed by the strong traditional Chinese culture, leaving only a vague shadow. This makes people think, are many legends originally history?Who can say that Monkey King, Meng Jiangnu, Jade Emperor and Yan Luo didn't evolve from real historical figures?Who can say that Houyi shooting the sun, Chang'e flying to the moon, and the fairy match, etc., are not based on a true story?As for the third battle of Changsha in the Anti-Japanese War, perhaps history has been passed down like this. Regarding the death of Lieutenant Commander Morikawa Keiyu, the commander of the 40th Regiment of the Japanese Army’s Supply Corps, there were fragments of indirect narrations in the post-war Japanese veterans’ memoirs.Shimoda Zeren, the former senior soldier of the 235th Regiment of the 40th Division of the Japanese Army (also known as the Nishina Regiment), served as a cover for the transportation team during the Changsha operation in the winter of 1941. After crossing the Xinqiang River, the transportation team encountered a small group of Chinese troops The fierce attack of the harassing troops in the enemy's rear, the battle began and ended in the vast snow.He recalled: "The snow is so heavy! The hand holding the gun is very cold and painful, and the right index finger is too stiff to obey the control of the brain. I am worried that I will not be able to pull the trigger in the event of a battle... Behind the bushes, the hateful shadow is shaking, and the bullets hit the ground, splashing There was a wisp of snow... Shimogawa-kun, Kitou-kun, Matsumoto-kun, Yamazaki-kun... My companions fell on the snow one by one. On the dark red pool of blood floated the last ray of warmth of life. The heavy snow covered Other smells, the sweet smell of blood pierced the throat, making people want to vomit... The temple was completely surrounded by the Chinese army. The continuous sound of explosions came from there. In the heavy snow, gunshots and The explosion did not reverberate, and it was particularly piercing. The four of us looked there silently, unable to go to join the battle with such disparity in numbers. Kojima-kun moaned, and a fountain of bubbly blood gushed out from under the bandage on his chest. We I know, he can't do it... This fall was very heavy, ice, snow and mud stained my face and body, and the snow seemed to be a hot thing... Squad leader Katayama has already returned first, seeing the two of us , He couldn’t help but shed hot tears. He took care of us to take a bath, put on dry clothes, eat, and then said to us sadly: The dozen or so people who followed Captain Morikawa were all broken in that temple. Part of the baggage vehicle was looted by the enemy, and the rest was burned. Mr. Katayama said: "The captain of the regiment died very badly. His head was gone, and a foot was missing. The enemy ripped off his uniform, probably because of the The military rank is used to get rewards, but I have pity on his dead body in the snowy field. When he was found, he was gnawed badly by wild beasts..." I heard that Captain Morikawa is a very good officer. He loves to tell jokes, is full of compassion, and gets along well with his subordinates Okay. He was a construction engineer before he joined the army. Until now, I don’t want to live in Hokkaido in winter. I have relatives in Sapporo and Kushiro, and sometimes they invite me to live in winter, but I find reasons to refuse. In fact, I I was afraid of seeing the overwhelming snow..." On December 30, Xue Yue gazed at the snow-covered Yuelu Mountain outside the window, and dictated a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek: In Chongqing, the wind is cold and the clouds are overwhelming the city. Chiang Kai-shek reviewed the telegrams of the Ninth War Zone one by one in the past few days. At this moment, with Xue Yue's telegram in his hand, he was pacing between the combat map of the Ninth War Zone and the world map, feeling like a tide. Song Ziwen sent an urgent message in the early hours of this morning. Representatives from 26 countries including the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, China, the Netherlands, and Austria have reached an agreement in principle in the United States on the issue of forming the World Anti-Fascist Front. The signing of the "United Nations Declaration" will be held on January 1. ceremony.China's international status as one of the world's top four has been unanimously recognized by all countries.As an important battlefield in the world's anti-fascist war, China's Anti-Japanese War has attracted extensive attention from the world's peace forces.Two days before the signing and entry into force of the "United Nations Declaration", Song Ziwen was overwhelmed by the negotiations of some national governments and public groups on aiding China to fight against Japan. Chiang Kai-shek's thoughts once again returned to the snowy land of northern Hunan.The Nine War Zones have resisted one after another, and the Japanese army has been lured to the city of Changsha as planned. The key blow is about to start. With such a victory, what better gift can there be for the establishment of the World Anti-Fascist Alliance? He went to his desk and personally wrote the reply, which we will see in the historical archives decades later: urgent.Changsha Chief Xue: Zero secret.Thirty afternoon Zhongdian telegram.Brother can have this determination to supervise and encourage the department, which is very gratifying.When this friendly country fights side by side, I really hope that this battle will win a decisive victory, thinking that our revolutionary soldiers will win the highest glory.middle zero.branch. Attendant.