"3.4 million Sichuan troops went out of Sichuan to resist the war, 646,000 casualties and missing, and the number of participants in the war ranked first in the country. ”
Wang Xiaochun, deputy director of the Economic and Scientific Division of the Sichuan Provincial Archives Bureau, once said.
[Kawa Desei screen]
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Sichuan was one of the regions with the largest number of participants and the greatest sacrifices.
It is hard for you to imagine how great the role of the Sichuan army was during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression! Sixty years after the end of the war, a Japanese veteran visiting China made a special offer to come to Sichuan.
Veterans of visiting China
This veteran who visited China is named Shiotani Baofang, who was a soldier of the 59th Division of the Japanese Army during the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Unlike many Japanese soldiers, Shiotani was tired of war and preferred to abandon his fingers rather than join the army during the Japanese conscription.
【Shiotani Hoyoshi】
But it backfired, and he still could not escape the conscription of militarist forces, and had no choice but to set foot on Chinese soil.
After the war, Shiotani reflected deeply on his crimes and repeatedly advocated friendly coexistence between China and Japan.
Since 1985, Shiotani has visited China more than 20 times to apologize.
Shiotani believes that his repentance does not lead to our forgiveness, but it is something he should and must do.
During his visit to China, Shiotani donated more than 15 million yen worth of daily necessities to more than 150 schools in China.
Shiotani further called on the veterans to reflect on the crimes committed by Japanese militarism and to take practical actions to improve China's impression of Japan little by little.
Although the Japanese government has never acknowledged the various crimes committed on the land of China in those years, there are always Japanese people like Shiotani who are driven by their conscience and try their best to make amends, and their existence has eased Sino-Japanese relations to a certain extent.
No river can not be an army
In the case of Shiotani Baofang, during the Japanese war of aggression against China, he was mainly active in Shandong, Hebei, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places, and never entered Sichuan during the war of aggression against China, but in the course of his many subsequent visits to China, he came to Chengdu four times and apologized six times in Sichuan.
When the reporter asked why Shiotani Baofang came to Sichuan, he replied very sincerely:
"Although I did not directly invade the Sichuan region back then, many of the soldiers who fought against me were from Sichuan. ”
The spirit of Sichuan people who are not afraid of sacrifice and defend their homes and countries deeply touched Shiotani Baofang and left a deep impression on his mind.
Indeed, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Sichuan sent soldiers who met the age requirements to all parts of the country every year, accounting for more than a quarter of the country's actual population, equivalent to one Sichuan person for every four soldiers.
Of the 3.26 million soldiers killed or wounded in the National Revolutionary Army, 640,000 came from Sichuan.
Despite its large numerical base, the proportion of prisoners captured by the Sichuan army has always been the lowest, but the proportion of sacrifices is the highest, as high as one-third.
It is precisely because of the brave spiritual character that it can play the name of the Sichuan Army under the conditions of extreme scarcity of materials.
In the entire history of the Sichuan Army's resistance against Japan, many tear-jerking stories were also born.
【Sichuan's Anti-Japanese War Propaganda Work】
At that time, after the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began, various regions actively responded to the call and donated materials, and everyone in Sichuan knew that it could be described as "poor mountains and bad waters".
But after the end of the war, everyone found that Sichuan was the region with the most donations in the country.
Especially in Zigong, there were only 220,000 people at that time, but they donated 120 million items worth legal currency, in addition to a large number of precious belongings and other daily necessities that were not counted.
At the beginning, Feng Yuxiang and his wife Li Dequan said this when they gave a speech in Zigong:
"Compatriots, compatriots, wake up! Give the money that you don't need to the country, so that we can beat the Japanese devils and let our children and grandchildren live like human beings!"
[Feng Yuxiang left one]
Feng Yuxiang hoped that the people would be able to "do what they could" if they could ensure their own lives, but the feedback from the people of Zigong greatly exceeded his imagination.
Zigong can be said to be a typical backward city in Sichuan at that time, but they did not hesitate to give everything for the Anti-Japanese War.
Everyone who has money pays, and those who don't have money come out of people, and they put together a piece of work, and the materials are put together.
At the donation meeting in Lu County, a group of beggars spread out their crumpled life money and put it into the donation box, and there were disabled and retired veterans who sold their family property and invested it all in the anti-Japanese war......
Blood and sweat spilled all over the battlefield
The large amount of materials donated by the people of Sichuan in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was simply a relief in the snow for the anti-Japanese heroes on the front line.
But even so, in that era of scarcity of materials, the soldiers still had a very difficult time.
The Sichuan army was particularly difficult, and when they went out, they were considered the "worst army" because many of them were not even equipped with guns and ammunition, and there was a serious shortage of medical equipment.
The entire Sichuan army looks scattered, without the majesty and temperament of the army.
Even in winter, when fighting in the northern region, the Sichuan army still wore straw sandals, and their clothes were very thin, and they could not resist the cold, making it difficult for people to imagine that they could complete the combat mission.
However, this is the kind of army that has not been favored, rushing faster than anyone else on the battlefield, and once there is any dangerous special task, the Sichuan army always takes the lead.
For example, when the 26th Division of the Sichuan Army participated in the Battle of Songhu, there were more than 4,000 officers and men, but by the time it was evacuated from the battlefield, there were only more than 600 left, and the casualty rate was as high as more than 80 percent, but it was one of the five divisions with the best combat results.
[In 1937, the Sichuan army went out of Sichuan to Shanghai to participate in the Battle of Songhu]
It can be said that during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Sichuan army used its own flesh and blood to build a solid fortress for China and made indelible contributions to the cause of Chinese national independence.
After the war, Xinhua Daily also published an editorial entitled "Thanks to the Sichuan People."
Resources:
[1] Communist Party member network: "Carry out the spirit of the "Sichuan Army War of Resistance" to the end"
[2] The sacrifice and contribution of the Sichuan army in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression--Party History Channel-People's Daily Online