History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
As everyone knows, the Pingxingguan Victory was a great victory won by the Eighth Route Army in the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which greatly inspired the determination of the military and the people of the whole country to resist the war and broke the myth of the invincibility of the Japanese army. The results of the Pingshiguan Victory were also relatively large, the Eighth Route Army annihilated more than 1,000 enemy troops, captured more than 1,000 guns of various kinds, more than 20 military horses, and a large number of military supplies.
In mid-September 1937, a unit of the 21st Brigade of the Japanese 5th Division attacked the area around Hirashikan. The 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army thought that the opportunity to fight an ambush had come, and they made extremely good preparations. Before the war, the Eighth Route Army still had a goal, that is, to take some prisoners to boost morale.
According to Li Shuiqing, who was then an instructor of the 3rd Battalion of the Independent Regiment of the 115th Division, "At that time, Deputy Division Commander Nie Rongzhen said that this was the first confrontation between the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese invading army, and this battle must be fought well, it must be won, and it must play the prestige that belongs to the Eighth Route Army, and then arouse the anti-Japanese enthusiasm and determination of the people of the whole country." ”
However, not a single prisoner of the Eighth Route Army was captured in this battle. Lin Biao wrote truthfully on the issue of captivity in "Pingxingguan Combat Experience", "The Japanese soldiers refused to surrender their guns until they died, firstly because of Japan's Bushido education and fascist education, and because they were too cruel to the Chinese military and people, I am afraid that Chinese retaliation." ”
The author has found a lot of memories of veterans who participated in the Pingxing Guandajie, and I am deeply impressed by one of the veteran memories. It is said that a deputy battalion commander, in line with the principle of leniency towards prisoners, when he saw a seriously wounded Japanese soldier, he picked him up and prepared to take him to the first aid station of the nearby Eighth Route Army. Who knew that the wounded Soldier of the Japanese Army on the Eighth Road eased up and bit off the ear of the battalion commander, and as a result, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who accompanied him were so angry that they stabbed the wounded soldier of the Japanese army to death.
There is also a story where a messenger of the Eighth Route Army found a wounded soldier lying under the car and kept moaning. While shouting "surrender the gun and do not kill, preferential treatment for prisoners", the correspondent bandaged the wounded soldier, and as a result, the Japanese soldier took advantage of his lack of preparation to directly cut the throat of the messenger. Similar situations occurred repeatedly in the later Eighth Route Army War of Resistance, and everyone finally realized the heinous degree of cruelty of the Japanese army.
After the pingxing guan's great victory, Nie Rongzhen gave a lecture to the Eighth Route Army. In view of the cruelty of the Japanese army, Nie Rongzhen said: "The Japanese invading army is not a national army, and they cannot understand the shouting of 'surrender their guns and do not kill, and give preferential treatment to prisoners'. In fact, Nie Rongzhen did not say a word, that is, in the future, it is not necessary to treat the Japanese army with shooting and killing, and there is no need for mercy.
Throughout the entire War of Resistance, neither the Nationalist Army nor the Eighth Route Army captured very few prisoners. Why? The reason was simple: the Japanese army was heavily influenced by militarism, believing that once they were taken prisoner, they were disloyal to the emperor. For example, the "Battle Front Training" formulated by the Japanese Military Department stipulates that "as a soldier who is alive, he cannot accept the insult of being captured and imprisoned, and he should go forward bravely with loyalty and filial piety and sincerity, although he is still alive." ”