In 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and soon after, Japan's Emperor Hirohito sent the news of surrender to the Japanese people on the radio. However, there were still many Japanese who were reluctant to accept defeat; in Japan, Anan, then The Japanese Minister of War, committed suicide by cutting his stomach and claiming that he could not accept the words of surrender from the emperor; in China, Okamura Ninji, who was heavily armed, played the emperor and demanded that he refuse to accept the Potsdam Proclamation; in the Pacific theater, countless Japanese troops always refused to withdraw, because they firmly believed that the news of Japan's surrender was a "trap" set by the enemy army in order to disturb their military morale.
Therefore, after the defeat of Japan, there were still some remnants of the Japanese army around the world, and they would occasionally carry out "sneak attacks" on nearby residents, causing trouble to the locals. For example, Onoda Hiroshi, known as the "last soldier of World War II", lurked on the Philippine island of Lubang for decades, during which he also killed many innocent people.
At that time, in the ancient city of Gaoyou in Jiangsu Province, there was also such a group of Japanese puppet troops, who were proud of their abundant strength and refused to surrender their weapons, even if they received the news of the emperor's surrender, they were still stubbornly resisting. Therefore, in December 1945, our army launched the Gaoyou Campaign against this group of Japanese troops, which was called the last battle of the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japan by scholars.
Gaoyou is located in Yangzhou, the terrain is dangerous, since ancient times has been a place of contention for soldiers, there are tall and strong walls around the city. According to the "War History of the New Fourth Army", on the night of December 19, 1945, our army braved the rain to launch a general offensive against Gaoyou. Nearly 10,000 Japanese and Japanese puppet troops in Gaoyou City refused to die, and they used the machine guns on the 9-meter-high city wall as a cover to start a battle of trapped beasts.
With the support of the artillery regiment, the Sixty-eighth Regiment of the Eighth Column of the North China Military Region of our army first erected a ladder to climb the wall south of Gaoyou City, tearing open a hole in the Japanese defense line. Soon after, the Sixty-fourth Regiment also occupied the northwest corner of Gaoyou City. After a fierce battle, the Japanese army was defeated and retreated, and the main force of our army also took advantage of the situation to rush into the city.
Seeing that the general trend was gone, the Japanese army, which was attacked on its back, had to give up resistance. But they still refused to surrender their weapons to our army, because these Japanese troops were afraid that they would not end well after surrendering. According to Yao Li, the political commissar of the Sixty-sixth Regiment, when they rushed into the headquarters of the Japanese army, the Japanese troops inside were very nervous, and they held the weapons in their arms, stared at our soldiers in panic, and silently confronted our troops.
Yao Li soon realized what the Japanese were worried about, and he shouted to the Japanese in less proficient Japanese: "Don't kill with your guns." The Japanese also calmed down and replied with Chinese: "We are willing to surrender!" ”
But these Japanese were very rude, and instead of handing over their weapons, they demanded that our army send the top leaders to negotiate. Political Commissar Yao Li naturally refused to accede to their demands, and he pointed his finger solemnly to the hall, signaling the Japanese to see the current situation, and the Japanese also realized their situation, so they had to obediently hand over their weapons.
Relevant data show that in this war, our army annihilated more than 6,100 enemy troops, of which more than 1,100 were Japanese troops and more than 5,000 were Japanese puppet troops; a total of about 4,400 enemy troops were captured, of which nearly 900 were Japanese troops and about 3,500 were Japanese puppet troops. The battle began on December 19 and ended on December 26, and in just one week, our army successfully recaptured GaoyouCheng, captured a large amount of military supplies, and harvested rich results.
On December 26, 1945, the representative of our army officially held a surrender ceremony in Xihe Lane, and the supreme commander of the Japanese army respectfully handed over the relevant materials to our representatives, and also joyfully and sincerely presented his family's heirloom sword. When he learned that our army would keep its promise and give preferential treatment to the prisoners, the Japanese commander showed a surprised look and thanked him one after another.
Resources:
Hong Jun. In order to retain the memory of the last battle of the War of Resistance[J].Dajiang North and South, 2021(06):22-24.
Wang Weijian,Xiao Qiongqiong. The Last Battle of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression - The Battle of Gaoyou[J].Party Member Digest, 2020(09):36-37.
[3] The Former Site of the Surrender of the Japanese Army to the New Fourth Army: A Side Note of the Memorial Hall of the Last Battle of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression[J].Iron Army, 2016(01):58.
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Author: Lin Ren Original
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