Chapter 22 Twenty, kill, burn, rob

In the middle of the night on May 9, 1941, I led more than 800 people from the whole battalion to mop up the countryside around Lijiazhuang, Puyang County, Henan Province.It was raining continuously in the sky, and we braved the rain for a night march. When we arrived at the destination, the rain finally stopped. From the gaps in the dark clouds in the sky, twinkling morning stars appeared, and the village was full of joy. peaceful. I laughed secretly in my heart and said, "The Chinese army must be sleeping soundly with their heads in the dark! Animals! Kangaroos!" At this time, Lieutenant Eiichi Eiichi Enomoto, the adjutant, ran over and reported: "According to the report from the wireless telegraph, the entire battalion has been dispersed."

I was impatiently awaiting this news and immediately ordered the signalmen to fire the red flares to start the battle.The sixth company and the seventh company broke the silence of dawn first, and heavy machine guns and light machine guns rang out together. Immediately afterwards, the fifth company also started from the front.The encirclement became smaller and smaller, and I thought to myself that the troops should have entered the village according to the plan, but I haven't received any report on the battle situation yet.I couldn't wait any longer, so I personally led the intelligence department and the command staff into the village through the east gate of the city wall.There, I met Captain Koda Sugoro, the commander of the fifth company.

"Hey, Fifth Company Commander, what's the result? How much spoils?" I asked one after another. But the Fifth Company Commander replied listlessly: "Your Excellency, Battalion Commander, I am very sorry!" "No results? Then what did you shoot? What is your company doing!" I roared, and then asked again: "What about the residents?" The company commander said helplessly: "The Chinese army knew about our actions in advance, and they all ran away. Most of the residents also fled. Only twenty or thirty elderly people and children who did not have time to escape were left, and they have all been arrested. .”

"I can't help it! Arrest them all! How many corpses did the Chinese army leave behind?" "Ah, only the bodies of ten residents." In order to be able to get promoted, I wholeheartedly pursued the results of the battle, thinking that the more people I kill, the more outstanding my military exploits will be.However, the difficult thing was that there were no spoils, so I immediately ordered the chief of the intelligence section, Shimizu, to withhold all the guns that were going to be issued to the county security team, as a prevarication.Then, he ordered the adjutant to report to the regiment headquarters, saying that since the morning, 10 rifles and 10 grenades have been seized, 10 "enemies" have been killed, and 5 prisoners have been captured.

It was already ten o'clock in the morning.Suddenly, Lieutenant Koda, the commander of the fifth company, came to report with a livid face: "Private Saito is missing after breakfast!" At this time, Saito's pale face suddenly appeared in my mind.I felt as if someone had hit me in the head.Private First Class Saito said ten days ago that he had a bad stomach and couldn't even eat, and he was shaking.The military doctor saw him and said it was nothing serious.I thought: "Is this guy homesick and crazy?" So I said sternly to Koda: "Private Saito must not be thrown away!" I said, if he falls behind during the march, he can beat him hard If he died somewhere, he can report that he was killed in battle; but if he was taken as a prisoner, the thought of this makes me go crazy.

"Captain Koda, go and deal with it!" I yelled like that. Koda's face turned greener, and he said: "When I was interrogating the common people for investigation, I lied to them that Saito was kidnapped by the militia this morning when he was having a meal alone. However, they refused to admit it. Refuse to confirm." I flew into a rage: this is too embarrassing!My head would be in danger if that happened. Can I trade my head for the life of a private first class?Thinking of this, I said angrily: "How do you deal with this matter, report to me in time and quickly! Otherwise, are you still a company commander? You bastard!" Immediately afterwards, I added: "You Go to the scene immediately! Thoroughly torture and investigate the common people!" I called the adjutant and ordered part of the Fifth Company to search the area north of Wu Village, the main force of the Seventh Company to search the area south of Wu Village, and I led the intelligence The men from Section rode to the scene of the torture.

This is a compound surrounded by earth walls.The people who had just been captured were temporarily detained in a tall brick building.In the main hall, a young man was being tortured.He was lying on the ground with his face upside down, his abdomen was swollen like a big drum, his face was black and blue, and his flesh was bloody.I came here with fanatical worship of the emperor and contempt for the Chinese people, and ordered the company commander to bring all 30 people temporarily detained to the main hall. With my left hand, I held the saber that was stained with the blood of the Chinese people, stared at the common people, and said threateningly: "A Japanese soldier has gone missing. Some of you know about it. Some people say that he is now Kidnapped by the militia. This has nothing to do with you! Tell me where he is now! If you don’t tell me, then we will do everything accordingly!”

At this time, no one made a sound.This silent resistance irritated me even more: "Okay! If you don't want to say it, you don't have to. But after a while, it will be too late for you to cry!" I finished these words in one breath, and ordered Lieutenant Qingshui and Corporal Xu Si Corporal Saito tortured them one by one.I myself poured cold water into the stomachs of Chinese people to extract confessions. But still no one made a sound.I stared at them with very angry eyes, thinking in my heart, no matter how tough the guy is, as long as he kills one and shows them, he will be honest.So, I ordered to pull out an old man.Squatting in front of him was a 22-year-old healthy and energetic young man, who was the old man's son.I ordered Corporal Xu Si to put the pistol on the back of the young man's head, as if to hook the trigger.Then, I just felt the muscles on my face twitch, and I asked the old man.

"Hey! If you don't tell me, I'll kill your son! How about it?" The old man's expression changed a little, but he just said "I don't know" and immediately shut up.My assumptions have come to nothing!I was so angry that my bloodless lips trembled.I threatened again: "I'll kill your son, don't regret it!" The old man said resolutely: "I'm telling the truth. If you want to kill it, kill it!" After hearing this, I became even angrier, and immediately ordered Corporal Xu Si to shoot.At this time, the young man said loudly: "Father! For the sake of justice, we must defend our land! Although I am dead, I still firmly believe that victory belongs to us!"

At this moment, the pistol spewed out fire, and the righteous young man fell forward with a plop.The parched earth silently absorbed the precious blood of this patriotic youth. As if going crazy, I twisted my dark face and roared angrily: "If you don't tell me, you will all be killed!" However, the common people still did not speak to anyone.They just stared at me with those unusually angry eyes.Aware of their gazes, I yelled to Lieutenant Shimizu: "Kill them all!" After I finished speaking, I returned to the battalion headquarters. At this time, company commander Koda reported: "Private Saito has been found! He committed suicide with a grenade in the ditch beside the road in Wucun. fragments of his shirt to confirm it was him."

I muttered, "This bastard! Make me worry about that..." But I felt relieved, and a smile appeared on the corner of my mouth.I ordered the adjutant to send the report of Saito's "death in battle" to the regiment headquarters as soon as possible. The next day, I mobilized each company to start cutting jujube trees.I led the intelligence department and the command staff to patrol around on horseback.Down a hill not far from the scene, we saw a man running east.really weird!Lieutenant Qingshui immediately released the military dog, and the military dog ​​quickly caught up and bit the man.At the same time, Qing Shui led two cavalrymen to catch up with him. After chasing for about 300 meters, he tied the man back.When I saw it, he was a well-built man in his mid-twenties, with a broad forehead and a well-proportioned body. "Qingshui, this guy is either a party member or a spy! Interrogate him thoroughly!" After I gave the order, I sat in front of a small temple six or seven meters away and watched the logging in the forest. Shimizu tied the man's hands behind his back and began to interrogate him.After a while, there suddenly became a mess. I ran over and saw that man threw himself on Qing Shui and was beating him. A guard pulled the man up and slapped him with his right hand, but he grabbed and bit his left hand immediately. The guard screamed in pain. .At this time, several soldiers rushed forward to grab him, and Qing Shui stood up with great difficulty.The man's hands were tied behind his back again, and he squatted down.I ran over angrily and asked Qing Shui what was going on. Qing Shui said: "This guy said he wanted to urinate just now, so I untied the rope that bound his hands. Then, when I didn't tie the rope and wanted to continue the interrogation, he suddenly grabbed the guard's gun and tried to escape, but his left foot Two suddenly slipped and fell, and we caught him." "What a bad guy!" While yelling, I took a wooden knife from Qing Shui's hand and slashed at the man's back a few times, but his body full of iron will unexpectedly bounced the wooden knife back.His eyes stared hard at me. "Qing Shui, it's your credit to interrogate this guy thoroughly and make him admit that he is a party member!" After I finished speaking, I rode my horse and ran towards Zaolin as if I was running away. After a while, Qing Shui, whose face was blue and trembling, reported to me: "Your Excellency, Battalion Commander, please forgive me! That man is a party member. He just said, 'Just wait! Today's revenge must be avenged. !' Then, finding an opening, ran out, and jumped into a deep well in one fell swoop." Before I finished listening, my eyes turned black, and a sense of terror came to my heart. Even my lips trembled, and I roared again: "Idiot! What kind of officer are you to have such a thing happen!" That said, but I also know in my heart that no one can extinguish the anger aroused by the deep national hatred. The area of ​​this jujube grove is about 15 chobu (chobu - Japanese area unit, equivalent to 9918 square meters. - Translator's note).It took the farmers 20 to 30 years to cultivate it for their livelihood. There are about 2,500 jujube trees with luxuriant branches and leaves in the forest.The diameter of the trunk is about 30-40 cm, and the height of the tree is about 3 meters. The crown of the tree is pruned, just like a pair of green umbrellas. Henan's jujube is very famous.The harvest of jujube forest is an important source of livelihood for farmers.This piece of jujube forest can produce 20-30 tons of jujubes every year.On the densely packed twigs, new shoots have sprouted, waiting for the sunshine of spring. As I watched, I thought: I saw off this jujube forest completely!At that time, the common people will lose their source of livelihood, and they will leave the Eighth Route Army and go their separate ways.Imagining the scene of those jujube trees falling one by one, raising waves of dust, I feel very happy in my heart. The company commander boasted: "From morning to now, 100 trees have been cut down." "Isn't that too little? How many saws are there?" "30 sticks." "Then, with one saw, you haven't cut down two trees in an hour! How do you become a company commander!" "The Eighth Route Army's resistance was very tenacious. A platoon was sent out to guard. Besides, the sawing of trees was not as easy as expected." "Don't talk nonsense! Don't you think of a way to clamp wooden wedges! Sawing off this jujube forest is a battle. I hate this jujube forest! Isn't this where the Gongwei troops are eaten? In the afternoon, you In any case, I have to saw off 300 trees!" I think the Miyao troops were wiped out because of this dense and ruthless jujube forest.After a while, I went to Qilian again. Lieutenant Xinyi, the commander of the seventh company, called the whole company together after lunch. He gave an order: "In the afternoon, no matter what, 300 trees must be cut down! Two platoons compete, and whoever finishes first must go back first!" The two platoon leaders who were sitting and resting had no choice but to walk around with whips in their hands this time, monitoring the actions of the soldiers. "Hey! Private First Class Yamamoto! What are you thinking? You can use your strength to see the saw!" Private Private Oshima said to his partner.Yamamoto was silent. "Hey! Yamamoto! You are a farmer. Aren't you familiar with the work on the mountain? But you have been working for a long time, why don't you get any work?" Yamamoto turned out to be a farmer in the "China area" of Japan, and he was thinking So, how much painstaking effort and sweat does it take to cultivate such a large jujube forest?After sawing off the jujube forest, how will the farmers live?The more he thought about it, the more boring the work became.At this time, Corporal Hosoda, the squad leader, suddenly ran towards him from behind and whipped him in the face with a whip. "Yamamoto! You are too disgraceful! You are sober! This is war!" He roared, and Yamamoto straightened up immediately, and pulled the saw vigorously.When the soldiers returned to camp, they were exhausted.It was almost dusk.I am satisfied that the appearance of the jujube forest has changed so much in one day.But what I didn't expect was that as long as this piece of land where jujube trees grew and as long as these tenacious and unyielding farmers were still there, their resistance for survival would never stop. I sit down to dinner.While eating meat and vegetables looted from the Chinese, they drank beer.In front of me stood the tall and thin Lieutenant Fufu, who was dumbfounded.I just heard him say: "Your Excellency Battalion Commander, what a brilliant victory!" "What's the situation, tell me!" I put down my wine glass, tilted my slightly drunk head, and looked at Fufu's face. "Yes! 20 horses, 50 donkeys, 30 cows, and 20 pigs. Please go and check them out!" Fufu looked proud and proud. I looked at him and felt disgusted in my heart. I didn't say anything, stood up and followed him out.In an open field, the livestock that were seized by force were concentrated.All the animals raised their heads to look at me. Although I was satisfied in my heart, I greedily said: "Fufu, I didn't expect that there was only such a little thing. You have to search carefully! The people used the sand dunes to cleverly hide all the animals. Get up and urge the soldiers to search more seriously!" After finishing speaking, I returned to the battalion headquarters with a sullen face.I didn't think about the hard work of my subordinates at all, and drank beer while thinking about how to report the results of the battle to the commander. The next day, I was sitting on the sand dunes next to Wulian watching the logging situation, when Captain Koda brought an old man.The old man is more than 60 years old, with a thin body and piercing eyes. "Your Excellency Battalion Commander, the common people have a request," he said. "Where are you from?" "I'm from Wu Village, surnamed Wang," the old man knelt in front of me, and continued, "This area is a desert area, where wheat and sorghum can't grow well. We have been cultivating jujube trees since our ancestors, and only now do we grow them." Dacheng forest. The common people rely on selling jujube in the city to get some food for their living. It takes 30 years to plant jujube trees to grow into a forest, but it takes a lot of hard work. I just got it, if this forest is sawed off, how will we live in the future! Please, don’t saw it!" When he spoke, his tone was very gentle, but his reasoning was very strong.So, I said angrily: "You are a bunch of nonsense! You colluded with the Eighth Route Army and wiped out a unit of the Japanese army here. Don't you know this? I can't let you succeed again. This is my tactical measure!" The old man wanted to say something else, so I stepped forward, raised my booted foot, kicked him hard in the stomach, and knocked him down.He fell to the ground, covered his stomach with his hands, stared at me with disgusting eyes without saying a word, stood up slowly and walked out. At this time, I looked at Lieutenant Qingshui beside me, and said to him, "I said, Qingshui, this guy is really weird! When he returns from here, he must go to the Eighth Route Army, and you will deal with him soon!" Shimizu ordered Corporal Matsumoto to follow the thin old man and shot him dead from behind.So, this old man who loved life, loved Zaolin, and worried about the future of his compatriots died of hatred. On the evening of the 13th, I received an order from the regiment headquarters asking us to evacuate the original station.I summoned the adjutant and issued the following orders as if nothing had happened: Wulian will burn 70 households in Wu Village, and then gather at Dabaichi. The Sixth Company will burn 50 households in Sangyuan Village, and then return to the camp to stand by; Qilian, go to Lijiazhuang and burn down all 80 households! I ordered the hideous black flare at 3:00 p.m.After a while, black smoke rose from Wucun and Sangyuan.After the black smoke, there was a terrible fire, which turned the sky red.I saw this scene from a distance, and said viciously in my heart: "This time, let them be completely finished!" The fire in Lijiazhuang had not yet started, and I was impatient to wait, so I took Lieutenant Qingshui and thought of seven Even Li Jiazhuang, who was in charge, went to see the situation. However, before he had time to leave, a raging fire was burning there.It turned out that they sprinkled gasoline on the sorghum poles first, and then used it to set the houses on fire.This is a vain attempt to deprive the Chinese people of all foundations for their survival.This hell-like calamity fire was created by me alone. Suddenly, there was a burst of light machine gunfire nearby.This time it was really a light machine gun of the Eighth Route Army.In our village, which was shrouded in black smoke, a wave of the Eighth Route Army came from nowhere, which was completely beyond our expectations.I trembled all over, and fell into the terror of being beaten to death.The sound of the light machine gun was getting closer, and I had a premonition, as if there would be a bullet coming from the side soon. "Hey! Qingshui! I'll go to the west to see the situation of the third platoon." After I said this in a trembling voice, I threw the troops here in a panic and hid in a relatively safe village in the west. Author bio: Born on October 1, 1900 in Nakajima Village, Dohui County, Mie Prefecture, the third son of farmer Honda Yoshisuke.After graduating from high school, he worked as a farmer at home. In 1920, he was drafted into the army and served as a corporal. In 1929, he entered the Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy as a second lieutenant candidate. He was awarded a second lieutenant in 1931, and served as an adjutant and company commander in the 43rd Tokushima Infantry Regiment. August 24, 1937. Invaded the Yangtze River Basin in central China, served as company commander and regimental adjutant in Kaifeng, Henan. He was promoted to major in 1943 and served as battalion commander in central and northern China. In June 1945, it was defeated near Tongliao.This article records the crimes committed by the author when he was a battalion commander in Henan in 1941.