(Chenghai original, plagiarism must be investigated.) This number has been signed with the Knight of Rights)
One day in 2016, a friend of mine posted a message in the WeChat circle of friends showing me a diary written by a Kuomintang soldier he had acquired by chance when he was stationed in Suzhou before liberation, which left a deep impression on me. As a lover of military history, I would love to study this well, but due to working relationships, I have not been able to do so.
After four years, I finally had a few days of free time, and I borrowed diaries and other materials from friends to concentrate on research and combing, and shared the research results with everyone. Today I would like to share with you the first two parts.
Part I Who is the owner of the diary and where does it come from?
The name and unit of the owner of the diary are clearly recorded on the first page of the diary: He Qun, a soldier of the 2nd Company of the Engineer Battalion of the 202nd Division of the Youth Army.
He Qun's diary cover
So, where is this warrior?
On August 27, 1944, 20 days after the fall of Hengyang, Chiang Kai-shek issued an appeal at the National Senate to "one inch of mountains and rivers and one inch of blood, 100,000 young people and 100,000 troops", encouraging the vast number of intellectual youth to join the army and form a modern armed force with intellectual youth as the main body- the Youth Expeditionary Force, referred to as the Youth Army. Young recruits are required to be aged 18-35, have received cultural education at or above the secondary level, and are in good health. After a variety of mobilizations, by the end of 1944 the number of applicants had reached 125,500. In order to inherit the glorious tradition of the 200th Division of Dai Anlan of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the number of the divisions of the Youth Army began from 201 and the number of regiments from 601. The first batch of young intellectuals recruited by Chongqing Municipality and neighboring counties was sent to Bishan and organized into the 201st Division. The second and third batches were sent to Qijiang and organized into the 202nd Division of the Youth Army, after which they were reorganized and trained in Qijiang.
Flag of the 202nd Division of the Youth Army
So is it possible to explain that He Qun is from Chongqing? The answer is no.
There are two reasons for this:
first
The cover of He Qun's diary was placed at the time: "December 36 of the Republic of China", that is, December 1947, and the content of the diary was mostly around this month. From December 1944 to December 1947, the 202nd Division of the Al-Shabaab underwent major changes.
When the Youth Army was founded in December 1944, the Kuomintang organized the three divisions of the 201st, 202nd and 204th Divisions into the 6th Army. By September 1946, the 6th Army was abolished, and the 202nd Division in Wujin, Sichuan was reorganized into the 1st Brigade of the 202nd Division, and the 209th Division in Leadshan, Jiangxi province, was reorganized into the 2nd Brigade of the 202nd Division. That is to say, because the unit of the owner of the diary, He Qun, is the engineer battalion of the reorganized 202nd Division, he may be from the 202nd Division, or from the 209th Division (it may be that the engineering battalions of the two divisions were directly reduced to one engineering battalion during the reorganization).
The certificate and logo of the Kuomintang Youth Army
The 209th Division was established in April 1945, four months later than the 202nd Division, and when the 209th Division was established, it mainly received intellectual youth from Fujian, Guangdong and Gansu provinces. Among them, 5712 people in Guangdong Province (including 314 young women), 3078 in Fujian Province, and 2075 people in Jiangxi Province.
Therefore, it is possible that He Qun originated from one of the four provinces of Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi in Sichuan.
second
On the first page of He Qun's diary, the words "Longtian Village, Xingning County, Guangdong Province" were written in pencil.
Addresses written in pencil, clear and legible
The brush writing practice page in the diary appeared six times again, namely "Xingning Nanjiqiao XXX of Xingning, Guangdong Province", "Guangdong Xingning Longtian Town", "Xingning Longtian Xiding Road No. 88", "Xingning Longzhong" and "Guangdong Xingning", one of which was a detailed address: Guangdong Xingning Longtian Xu (Wei) Town Ji Bao number to He Kun (Kun) Lin.
There is also an empty envelope, and the receiving address written on the envelope is: "Guangzhou Biancang Road Hansheng Zhuangbao Transfer Mr. Luo Caizhen Qi". Based on this information, combined with the analysis of the first part, it can be basically determined that He Qun is a person from Longtian Village (now Longtian Town) in Xingning County (now Xingning City) in Guangdong Province.
Part II How was the diary discovered?
It was a coincidence that the diary was found in the mezzanine of the ceiling when a friend demolished the ceiling of his apartment in 2016 to prepare for redecoating. The friend's apartment is in the camp of a certain department stationed in Suzhou, which is called the North Barracks by locals in Suzhou, and there are three similar old barracks in the North Barracks.
It was the diary found in this old barracks
It is understood that these three barracks were built by the Japanese army invading China in 1939, and they are all two-storey. At that time, the first floor of the Japanese army was used to raise horses, the second floor was used for office and accommodation, and one of them still retained the artillery tower built by the Japanese army.
In the Japanese artillery tower, the lookout hole was sealed, but the traces were deprecating
Barracks nameplate built in 1939
In August 1945, after the surrender of Japan, the Kuomintang army took over the city of Suzhou, and naturally also took over the barracks built by the Japanese army. The 202nd Division of the Youth Army was stationed in Suzhou after the surrender of the Japanese army, and it can be seen from He Qun's diary that his troops had been stationed in Suzhou in Huangdai, Nanbing Battalion and Taicang, while the Southern Barracks and the Northern Barracks were only separated by a road (Kinmen Road). After liberation, this camp was once stationed in the 178th Division of the 60th Army of the People's Liberation Army, a brigade of the 1st Army, and an armored division.
He Qun's diary mentions the Suzhou South Barracks many times
He Qun mentioned the relationship between the location of the South Barracks and the North Barracks where the diary was found
What is certain is that He Qun's engineering battalion has been stationed in the camp area of the southern and northern barracks, and it is normal for this diary to appear here. So why didn't He Qun carry this diary with him, but left it in this camp? Has anyone ever found this diary?
As for why He Qun did not carry this diary with him, the author will answer this question in the last part.
So, He Qun left the diary here, and did anyone find it during this period? The author believes that it should not have been found. The main reason is that seven other items were found at the same time as the diary:
A military study notebook by he zhiwen, a comrade-in-arms of the same company (9 pages);
Military notebook of He Zhiwen, Second Company, Engineer Battalion, 2nd Engineer Battalion, Sixth Army of the Al-Shabaab Army
A half-written letter to Luo Caizhen; a leave of absence written by He Qun on November 9, 1936 to accompany his comrade-in-arms He Zhiwen; a Suzhou Daily dated August 24, 1948;
Suzhou Daily, August 24, 1937
Two pieces of Kuomintang Army telegraph manuscript paper (written in red pen, deliberately cut, but part of the handwriting is still faintly arguable); one with the words: "Guangzhou Biancang Road Hansheng Zhuang Bao Transferred to Mr. Luo Caizhen Qi" address and stamped with the "XX Youth Army 202nd Division Engineer Battalion Second Company" postmark; a British-made MARSHAL (Marshal) brand empty cigarette box.
British MARSHAL (Marshal) brand cigarette cases
(To be continued)