The Fifty-seventh Division has been stationed in Changde since the Battle of Western Hubei, and although it has only been stationed for half a year, this unit has left an excellent impression on the Changde people.
In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, some of the armies of the central military system were very strict in terms of military discipline, and many troops even used the death penalty to punish those soldiers who robbed or harassed the people, and some people were killed by the commanders just by snatching a bucket of well water from the residents - in the eyes of Westerners, this also shows that the Chinese army does not respect and cherish the lives of soldiers, after all, it is just a bucket of water, and it can be punished by means of confinement and so on.
During the Battle of Wuhan, British journalist Atree spent some time in Tombaugh's army, and she saw soldiers living in peasant homes helping with chores and playing with children. If anyone was recruited to fight, the soldiers would help the family harvest rice. As for the situation of forced buying and selling, she had never seen it, but several families had killed pigs and placed them at the mouth of the village, ready to sell to soldiers.
However, this only reflects the situation in the early days of the War of Resistance, as the war became longer and more arduous, and the troops who could consistently maintain strict military discipline have become rare. Yue Qilin, then head of the construction section of the Changde County Government, received many Kuomintang troops stationed in Changde, and he bluntly said that the Fifty-seventh Division was rare in the Kuomintang army, because this unit never forcibly bought and sold, did not take a needle and a thread from the common people, and did not have a single officer or soldier harassing trouble in entertainment places.
Not only that, but during the autumn harvest season, the Fifty-seventh Division would send soldiers to help the peasants harvest rice. All the soldiers who went to help brought their own farm tools and food, cooked their own food, and refused to entertain and pay the locals.
As the commander of the major general division, Yu Chengwan himself played an exemplary role. Unlike some Kuomintang officers who would only sit in the headquarters to play mahjong or accompany his aunt and wife, he often went deep into the people and understood the people's feelings.
Changde is an important town in western Hunan and the gateway to Sichuan and Guizhou, and has always been a place where soldiers and families must fight. After the fall of Wuhan, its strategic position was more prominent, so the garrison continued, and successive garrisons without exception had to build fortifications, which was a very big burden for the local government and the people. Whenever the garrison needed local assistance, it only sent subordinate officers to deal with the county government, and although these officers were not large, they played official roles, set up racks, and shouted five or six at every turn.
Yu Chengwan is not like this, he is personally visited, and his attitude is kind and approachable. If there was a need for local supplies to build the fortifications, he would ask if there were any difficulties and whether he needed to send troops to help transport them.
Before the coming of the great war, Yu Chengwan naturally put the protection of the lives and property of the people of Changde in the first place, and when the situation became increasingly tense, he mobilized the residents of the city to evacuate with the cooperation of the county government.
Since Changde was bombed by Japanese aircraft in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the merchants and wealthy households in the city have moved to the countryside with their families, and only some government officials, poor people, and small traders and peddlers have remained in the city. Yu Chengwan's request was to evacuate all of them this time, and no one was allowed to stay in the city, and if they refused to leave, they would be forced to evacuate.
In order to evacuate quickly, the Fifty-seventh Division also sent soldiers to help the old and weak residents carry supplies, during which time they did not charge the people a penny. The south of Changde City is the Yuan River, and you need to cross the river to get out of the city. There were also soldiers of the Fifty-seventh Division on the river crossing boats to maintain order, one soldier per boat, and no boat owners were allowed to be greedy for money and overload, nor were they allowed to extort money from passengers to collect more boat fees, so the order when crossing the river was orderly.