Chief of Staff of the 71st Army of the Republic of China, Xia Sheng, decided to carry out the order, and the city of Suzhou was spared from the "scorched earth resistance"

In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, some people within the Kuomintang shouted "scorched earth resistance," and the city of Changsha in Hunan Province was destroyed by a man-made fire under this fallacy. At that time, the city of Suzhou was also ordered by the Kuomintang top brass to "turn into scorched earth", but it was saved due to the passive resistance of the local defenders.

On August 13, 1937, the Songhu War of Resistance broke out. In November of that year, the nationalist 71st Army retreated to Suzhou. One afternoon, Shangguan Yunxiang, deputy commander of the theater, sent someone from Wuxi to send an official letter to the 71st Army Headquarters. At that time, the military commander Wang Jingjiu was not there, and the chief of staff, Xia Sheng, was afraid that he had missed his official business, so he immediately dismantled it. The official letter basically said: In order to carry out the decision of the protracted War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, when our army finally retreats from Suzhou, it should first send personnel to collect 20 boxes of fire oil and 100 catties of sulfur from the general department of the military station, place 50 fire heads inside and outside the Suzhou city compartment, set fire to it, and turn Suzhou into scorched earth, and do as it is.

After reading the official letter, Xia Sheng was stunned and said to his subordinates: "According to the orders of the superior officer, is the city of Suzhou going to be reduced to ashes?" He said to the people next to him: "On the night we came to Suzhou, the local people were attentive to hospitality, late at night, cooking soup and cooking noodles, and the enthusiasm was pleasant, but we had to use 50 fires before leaving. He thought twice and decided to wait for Wang Jingjiu to return and consult again.

Wang Jingjiu returned to see the letter and asked Xia Sheng's opinion. Xia Sheng did not want to carry out the order, so he said, This is just a note notice, both informal and unshackled, if it is carried out in this way, in the future, if the responsibility is pursued, who can bear it? It is better for the military commander to ask the superior officer in person, ask for a formal military order, and then return to the Soviet Union to carry it out.

Wang Jingjiu felt that Xia Sheng's words were reasonable, so he immediately left for Wuxi. At the time of departure, Shangguan Yunxiang was staying at the Wuxi Taihu Lake Hotel, but by the time Wang Jingjiu arrived at the Wuxi Taihu Hotel, Shangguan Yunxiang had already led his troops to retreat to Zhenjiang. So Wang Jingjiu rushed to Zhenjiang again.

That same night, the Japanese army approached Suzhou, and the Kuomintang army was completely defeated. Seeing that Suzhou could not be held, Xia Sheng did not see Wang Jingjiu return, so he made up his own mind, believing that since he had not received an official military order, the burning of the city did not need to be done, so he ordered the army to withdraw from Suzhou. (Cao Jiajun)

2017-10-12 16:56 Source: People's Political Consultative Conference Daily