Chapter 20 5. Victory forged with blood

On January 5, 1942, Li Yutang, commander of the 10th Army, received an urgent telegram from the Political Department of the Military Commission: The Changsha siege battlefield was placed as it was and not allowed to be cleaned up, in preparation for inspection by people from China and allies. Although the encirclement and annihilation operations against the Japanese army by the various ministries on the outer wing had just started, a thought flashed through Li Yutang's mind: it's time to celebrate. On the same day, Liu Xiechun, deputy director of the Political Department of the 3rd Division, received a phone call from the army headquarters about not cleaning up the battlefield and citizens not returning to the city for the time being.Liu asked, "What about the martyrs?"

Answer: "Contain the ones that have already been contained, and do not move the ones that have not been contained." When Liu put down the phone, he happened to be having lunch. At the dinner table, he notified the general to report to Master Zhou Qingxiang. Zhou Shenyin: "It's right to let reporters and all walks of life visit the battlefield, but it's not good for the martyrs to be frozen in the ice and snow?" Liu: "Since the above has already decided this way..." Zhou didn't say anything else, just buried himself in his meal. For two full days on the 5th and 6th, the lower-level officers and soldiers of the divisions who survived the battle did not pay attention to anything except eating and sleeping. In the early morning of the 7th, the front of the headquarters of the 10th Division and the 3rd Division was full of ragged, unkempt soldiers and lower-ranking officers.

People have not yet recovered from the fatigue and embarrassment of the hard battle, their eyes are dull, their expressions are indifferent, and they have nothing to say.The leading officer said only a few words to the division commander. Take in the martyrs and put them in peace. Buried in peace.It's cold.Fuck the tour group, AIA! Rest in peace, the minimum respect for the dead - if the officials are still Chinese! The officers of the division headquarters reported to the army commander Li Yutang after the persuasion and reprimand had no effect. At 11:00 noon, Li Yutang personally called Zhou Qingxiang, Zhu Yue, and Fang Xianjue: After lunch, all the martyrs would be assembled to take in the martyrs, and those who had returned to the city and the people in the suburbs would be mobilized to help.

On January 18, the Press Office of the Chongqing Military Commission held a press conference for Chinese and foreign journalists. Question: "The Battle of Changsha was won, can the chairman talk about his mood at the moment?" Answer: "This battle is the first great victory against the Axis powers after the establishment of the World Anti-Fascist League. I am as happy as the soldiers and civilians of the whole country. The Japanese pirates launched the Pacific Ocean to dominate the world when they were deeply trapped in the huge quagmire of China. War is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst. The Chinese government and I have full confidence in the future of the war and the restoration of peace in the world."

Question: "It is reported that this military operation has been under the direct command of the highest military authority from beginning to end. As the supreme commander, how do you comment on the military guidance of this operation?" Answer: "The military authorities called this operation the third Changsha battle. From the beginning to the end of the battle, Chongqing had direct reports and specific guidance. In terms of strategy, this time it adopted the tactics of luring the enemy deep, concentrating and annihilating them." In particular, it should be pointed out that the commander of the war zone in Hunan and the generals of various ministries have good command, and it depends on the loyalty and bravery of the officers and soldiers. In addition, the local people strongly supported the war. Our army wiped out the enemy and made great achievements. It is the most proud work of the military authorities' large corps operations since the July 1999."

Question: "Please talk about the impact of this great victory on the overall operations of the Allied Powers." Answer: "It is a fool's dream that Germany, Italy, and Japan are plotting to dominate the world, but it does not mean that the Axis powers will not bring catastrophe and disaster to all countries in the world by relying on advanced weapons. The Chinese people have experienced four and a half years of arduous war. Great contribution to peace. When the Allied countries lost the initial stage of the war, the military authorities won such an unprecedented victory in Changsha, not only to comfort the people of the whole country, but also to show the world China’s determination and strength in the anti-fascist war.”

On the night of January 18th, the Ninth War Zone Chief’s Department received a phone call from the Chongqing Chairman’s attendant’s office that Chiang Kai-shek and his party of 15 people would come to Nanyue to participate in the war zone’s celebration and combat summary activities. The notice specifically mentions that the rooms for Mrs. Jiang and Miss Kong Er will be prepared. After Xue Yue received this notice, he convened a joint meeting of the theater provincial governments overnight to deploy related matters. Chief of Staff of the Ninth War Zone Zhao Zili recalled: "After the war, writing operational summaries and reports day and night, organizing non-combat troops to set up a staff tour group to inspect the battlefield, and receiving visits from all parties to introduce the situation of the battle was really busier than during the war. "

Public opinion at home and abroad responded enthusiastically to the victory, as Chiang Kai-shek and Xue Yue had foreseen.The British "Daily Telegraph" commented: "At this time when the Far East is full of mist, only the clouds over Changsha are really dazzling." Although the "Pingjiang Tragedy" and the "Southern Anhui Incident" of the Kuomintang's anti-communist and anti-communist occurred not long ago, the CCP's "Xinhua Daily" still focused on the overall situation of the Anti-Japanese War. Victory is highly appraised and warmly praised. "My Sanxiang athletes and my Condor team swore to defend their hometown and effectively repel the enemy in the Changsha defense battle. This shows that on the eastern battlefield of the Anti-Fascist War, there is a great anti-Japanese new force of the Chinese nation, determined, Have the strength to prevent the enemy from attacking China at the same time when they succeed in the Pacific..."

"Southeast Daily" pointed out: "Our future hardships are of course still in the ascendant, but if we can engage in every battle with the brave spirit of 'fighting Changsha', our final victory will surely come early." However, the propaganda drama in the Kuomintang-controlled area went too far. On January 20, Hengyang's "Da Gang News" published Huai Bing's "Post-War Xiangbei Inspection Notes". The following language appeared in the article: The world's anti-aggression and anti-fascist wars are dominated by the Pacific War, the Pacific War is dominated by the Chinese War of Resistance, and the Chinese War of Resistance is dominated by a certain theater, and the front line of a certain theater is the Xinqiang River.Although the Xinqiang River is a small river, it is the focus of the world's anti-aggression and anti-fascist wars.

Tang Shengzhi Mansion of Xiaowu Gate in Changsha City, Chief Executive Department of the Ninth War Zone. A long queue of carriages lined up for nearly two miles from the gate.Along with the carriage, countless rural drum bands from various counties and towns played and played beside the long formation of carriages.Firecrackers sounded from time to time at the door. The wagon was loaded with live pigs, sheep, chickens and slaughtered chunks of meat, jars of wine, fine rice and fresh vegetables.The elders who led the team took turns shaking their heads and reading and reading condolence letters and congratulatory letters written on the big red paper.

Several officers stood at the door with happy faces, bowing their hands and greeting each other non-stop, while arranging for the soldiers to take the carriages to the army camps stationed in various places. At the same time, on the dirt road from Changsha south by west to Xiangtan, another wagon team much longer than Lao Jun's wagon team was going on.One or two coffins were pulled on each cart.The drivers were listless, and even the animals seldom yelled.Clouds of hot air burst out of the nostrils of the animals, and they searched for their way forward without haste. The thickness of the coffins varies, and there are high-quality nanmu, ordinary fir and pine, just like there are officers and soldiers in the army. When we saw Changsha City, it was already dusk, and the setting sun slanted weakly on the team. The drivers turned up their collars or wrapped their heads with towels to shield them from the growing cold. Suddenly, a rough voice came out from the team, roaring a piece of Hunan flower drum singing - "The bandits from the Fanbang are disturbing peace, leaving behind mothers, relatives and friends..." The wheels squeaked.The hooves shattered.The team drifted apart.The setting sun is like blood. On January 22, Xue Yue sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek: On January 24, Xue Yue sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek: On January 22, the Military Commission issued an appointment order. Ou Zhen, former commander of the 4th Army, served as deputy commander-in-chief of the 27th Army; Li Yutang, former commander of the 10th Army, served as deputy commander-in-chief of the 27th Army; Fang Xianjue, former commander of the 10th Reserve Division, served as commander of the 10th Army; former 59th Division The division commander Zhang Deneng served as the commander of the 4th Army, Sun Mingjin, the former deputy commander of the 10th Division, served as the commander of the division; Ge Xiancai, the former commander of the 28th Regiment of the 10th Division, served as the deputy commander of the division. On January 24, the Military Commission issued an appointment order again. Sun Du, the commander of the 58th Army, served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the 27th Army, and Lu Daoyuan, the commander of the new 10th Division, served as the commander. In Nanyue, Xue Yue was personally adorned by Chiang Kai-shek, the highest medal of the national government - the Medal of Blue Sky and White Sun.Other outstanding soldiers were also rewarded with various medals. The 10th Army Teaching Brigade with more than 100 people is responsible for training company commanders and pre-retirement company commanders on weekdays, and serves as a security guard with the military headquarters during wartime.In this battle, they were pulled to the 30th regiment position as an army reserve, with more than 50 casualties.Starting from January 15th, the teaching team was assigned a special job: the burial of martyrs.There was not enough manpower, and more than 100 people were transferred from the army. The corpses were undressed and washed.Wounds should be covered with new gauze and bandages.The bandages were clean as the blood had run out. Put on brand new underwear, new padded clothes (it's winter), new military uniforms, and military caps, and the military rank will be increased by one level from the original level.A new quilt is spread in the coffin, and after the body is put into the coffin, a new quilt is covered on the chest. For those without a head or missing limbs, make a shape out of wood, wrap a bandage around it, and then dress neatly. According to historical data, more than 200 people worked in assembly line for 5 days. Those who have witnessed it have heard that the first few days were very solemn and the funeral was carefully prepared, but the next two days were only quick. On January 16, Anan Weiji returned to Hankou from Yueyang with his staff. On the 17th, the 11th Army Command set up a mourning hall to commemorate the Japanese officers and soldiers who died in this battle. On the 18th, General Hatatoshi, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Dispatched Forces in China, flew from Nanjing to participate in the army's combat summary.At 3:30 pm that day, he attended the military memorial meeting. 2 More than a thousand officers and soldiers of the Japanese Army and the Peace Army (commonly known as the Puppet Army) took turns to mourn and pray in front of the altar. Hata Junliu reported the situation summarized in the two days to the base camp.Based on this summary report, the base camp left the following words in the flames of war: This operation was carried out with the motive of cooperating with the Hong Kong operation.However, when our army advanced to the front line of Mishui, our intelligence and military depots were not fully prepared. When the Chongqing army retreated steadily, our army completely jumped into the trap set in advance. ... Operations are always conducted under extremely difficult conditions. The biggest reason for this result is the wrong judgment of each other's fighting power. In this battle, our losses amounted to 1591 killed and 4412 wounded. The loss of the Changsha operation, which was aimed at supporting the Hong Kong operation, was 2.5 times that of the Hong Kong operation. The victory ceremony of the Ninth War Zone was held on the 25th of January at the foot of Yuelu Mountain.In the auditorium, which was temporarily built with a large amount of wood, there is a martyr's spiritual tablet at the entrance. Tens of thousands of names stand neatly according to their former units and positions, just like their former bodies. The troops sang military songs and walked past the altar to enter the celebration venue. The celebration ceremony began with mourning, and then entered the main topic.As in war, there is death and then victory. One morning, the winter sun was bright and beautiful.Accompanied by several senior generals, Chiang Kai-shek and Song Meiling climbed up Hengshan Mountain slowly along the stone steps. Chiang Kai-shek knew very little about this mountain.Although there were several famous "Nanyue Military Meetings", he was rarely interested in visiting the scenery of this famous mountain by the way. Legend has it that Nanyue Mountain was transformed by the left arm of Pangu. It stretches for 800 miles.It has integrated history, culture and religion since ancient times, and is one of the five famous mountains in China. Chiang Kai-shek and his party climbed along the mountain road towards Xianglu Peak, one of the 72 peaks.Under the Xianglu Peak, surrounded by pines and cypresses and surrounded by greenery, there is a gentle valley surrounded by three hillsides. After the Nanyue Military Conference in November 1938, the Ninth War Zone planned to build a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Anti-Japanese War in this valley. It has been three years since the construction started. The shrine imitates the design of the Nanjing Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum with a low front and a high rear, but it is not as grand.A group of people strolled from the tall three-hole archway into an open courtyard, and the masons were chiseling the stones for the "July 7th" memorial tower shaped like several bombs to stand there.Along the granite slabs and bluestone steps, the main buildings such as the Memorial Hall, the Tribute Monument, and the Hall of Enjoyment have been roughly completed.Listening to the introduction of the engineering officer, people walked into the lounge on the side of Xiangtang.Xue Yue asked Jiang to write an inscription for the shrine. Jiang said very little along the way, and now he said: "This place is very good, worthy of heroes." Then he wrote the three characters "Temple of Martyrs" with a pen.For some reason, I was not satisfied after writing it twice. When I wrote it for the third time, I concentrated on writing slowly, and took two steps back after I stopped writing, but I was still not satisfied.Jiang sighed, and asked to change the word "终" written in the first time to the third time, and turned back to walk back. On the way down the mountain, Song Meiling saw that Chiang Kai-shek was unhappy, and asked, "Darling, are you tired?" Jiang said: "I was thinking that the victory in Changsha was the victory of the mourning soldiers. Lao Tzu said: The resistance soldiers are similar, and the mourners win. Not only because the Ninth War Zone lost the battle a few months ago, but all the troops in the whole country They are mourners, how many battles have we lost, how many rivers and mountains have we lost, and how many soldiers have we sacrificed?" Soong Meiling held Jiang's arm, and she clearly felt that her husband was shrouded in a deep sadness at the moment. "After winning the war, we are still mourners. Do you think those imperialist powers will respect us because of our sacrifices? They have discriminated against us and bullied us from history. They treat our nation, including me Chairman, that kind of arrogance, that kind of contempt, seems to be born! Although they themselves were defeated in front of the Japanese pirates, the whole division and regiment surrendered, and a huge fleet was easily eaten..." Soong Meiling comforted Chiang Kai-shek softly and said: "I think, I should do something." Chiang Kai-shek was only thinking about his own concerns and didn't pay attention to this sentence. In August 1942, Soong Meiling published a joint issue of the 5th and 6th issue of "Jiangxi Women" magazine entitled "This Is My View—Is this the Westerner's View of the Chinese?"I believe that readers can guess what the article is about from the title alone. In September, in order to thank the American Women for China Association for launching the "Letter of Hope" campaign to aid China's resistance against Japan and donating 30,000 US dollars to China, Soong Meiling presented a giant panda to the association, which was the first of its kind in "panda diplomacy".Since then, people have continued to follow suit, so that now there are lazy, chubby Chinese "friendship envoys" in parks in almost all countries in the world. It is a pity that they died one by one in foreign countries. On November 27, 1942, a Boeing 307 stratospheric airliner flying over the vast Pacific Ocean slowly landed at Chelsea Airport in New York, USA.Dozens of journalists from major newspapers and radio stations waiting there were surprised to see that a young woman with an elegant temperament and a smile was walking down the gangway.This is very different from the queen-like first lady in the mysterious and ignorant ancient oriental country they imagined. Immediately afterwards, what surprised the reporters even more was that when the first lady answered reporters about the mission of this trip, her fluent English with a slight southern American accent was no less than the words of the world's best professional diplomats. "I came here to seek the friendship between China and the United States. I believe that God is not willing to see the two greatest nations in the world separated from each other." After her first appearance and aroused applause, Mrs. Jiang took her time to carry out a series of visits to the United States.The experience of studying in the United States as a child and the Christian belief of the Song family made it easier for her to enter the hearts of the American public and those officials with a serious appearance.In Capitol Hill, which symbolizes the highest courtesy to guests, she is still the only Chinese woman on the podium.Here, she tells in English the hardships and hardships of China's 10-year war of resistance since 1931, and enumerates the appalling and bloody atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders in China.Members of Congress were all deeply moved.After the speech, hundreds of congressmen and the audience packed into the gallery gave a standing ovation, which lasted 7 minutes.Congressman Vandenberg and Truman, who later became President, both said afterwards that they were moved to tears by the lady's speech. On national radio stations, in Madison Square Garden, in the Hollywood Rotunda, in factories, schools, hospitals, in the Oval Office of the White House at the press conference held jointly with President Roosevelt, whether it is a speech, a fundraiser, a visit , Interviews, or answering tricky questions from reporters, Soong Meiling used her knowledge, demeanor and eloquence to properly present the image of Chinese women unfamiliar to Americans, and built an emotional bridge for the United States to understand China. Careful American women noticed that when Song Meiling appeared on social occasions, whether she was wearing a suit skirt or a Chinese cheongsam, there was always a very delicate Chinese Air Force double-wing badge flashing on the brooch.Is it an ingenious way to remind the United States that China needs their military assistance? On the basis that the Chinese people have won the admiration and support of people all over the world with their long-term struggle and sacrifice, Song Meiling's visit to the United States set off a wave of sympathy and support for China's war of resistance in American public opinion, prompting the US government to make immediate offers to China. Decisions on loans and military material assistance.Of course, this is also in the interests of the United States itself. After New Year's Day in 1943, initiated by the United States, several Western powers successively canceled the unequal treaties signed with China in history.During the great Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese people won independence, sovereignty and equal status in the world, and stood among the nations of the world. During the Anti-Japanese War, Song Meiling made great efforts and contributions in the struggle of the entire Chinese nation.Times have changed, and history has reached a new level. Maybe the era of personal dominance will never return, and maybe there will be a Chinese woman who shocked the world again in the future. I hope so. According to the newspaper: Soong Meiling still likes to draw Chinese paintings and write calligraphy in her later years, and she also prefers the Jiangsu and Zhejiang flavors of Chinese food in her diet.People would think that the most important thing in her heart must be stories about China. The roots are actually in mainland China.