In August 1945, when the New Fourth Army and the New First Army prisoners of war joined forces to liberate Rabaul, a large city in Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean, from the Japanese army, Australian soldiers wondered: Why did the Chinese soldiers fight first?
In August 1945, in the Rabaul prisoner of war camp in Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific, 1,600 Chinese prisoners of war stood up in the midst of suffering and oppression.
An unprecedented uprising is brewing, and their goal is to liberate Rabaul, break the cage, and regain freedom.
Some of these prisoners of war were brave and fearless soldiers of the New Fourth Army in the War of Resistance behind enemy lines, and some were 800 brave men who held the Sixing warehouse in the Battle of Songhu.
They once built a line of defense with their flesh and blood on the battlefield filled with gunpowder, and wrote their loyalty to the motherland with iron and sweat.
On August 17, 1945, tension and unease were in the air in Rabaul, and the news of Japan's surrender had spread throughout the city.
However, the Japanese troops stationed there showed no sign of surrender and systematically prepared to slaughter all Chinese prisoners of war.
At this life-and-death moment, the commanders of the Kuomintang Army and the New Fourth Army met in secret.
They knew that if action was not taken, the nearly 1,000 Chinese prisoners of war would face a tragic fate.
As a result, they quickly made a decision to form a "Chinese Brotherhood Regiment" with Wu Yan, lieutenant colonel of the New First Army, as the regiment commander, and Chen Guoliang, battalion commander of the New Fourth Army, as the deputy commander.
The goal of the Brotherhood was to stage a bold riot before the Japanese could do it. Adjutant Liu Weibin and Lieutenant Qin Jialin played a key role in the operation.
With their wit and courage, they managed to get their hands on 6 rifles. These 6 guns played an important role in the hands of Chinese servicemen.
With these weapons, the Chinese soldiers successfully dealt with the patrolling Japanese troops, creating favorable conditions for the uprising.
On 18 August, the sky over Rabaul reverberated with the sound of the Japanese withdrawing, and although a large number of Japanese troops had left, some 5,000 Japanese defenders remained.
In the prisoner of war camp, the Kuomintang and Communist soldiers quietly passed on the information of the Japanese arsenal through Zhang Rongxu, an overseas Chinese who served as an interpreter.
Wu Yan and Chen Guoliang, the two regiment leaders, decided to start an incident on the night of August 19. At 8 p.m. on August 19, night fell, and the starry light illuminated the prisoner of war camp.
The squad commanded by Qin Jialin attacked first and quickly killed the Japanese soldiers who were patrolling. At that moment, the prisoner of war camp seemed to wake up from its slumber, and the soldiers of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party acted collectively.
With courage and wisdom, the Chinese soldiers annihilated 50 Japanese guards with captured guns. At midnight the next day, the fighting resumed.
Under the guidance of Zhang Rongxu, the "Chinese Brotherhood" rushed to the Rabaul arsenal. It was a life-and-death contest, and every inch of the land was filled with a struggle of blood and fire.
After a bloody battle, the Chinese soldiers finally took this vital place.
The guns and ammunition in the arsenal became the new weapons and equipment of the Chinese soldiers, and more importantly, they also found a radio station, which became an important tool for communication with the outside world.
In the early morning light of August 20, the heroic soldiers of the Chinese Brotherhood descended the mountain like fierce tigers and rushed straight to the city of Rabaul.
Under this sudden attack, the Japanese army instantly fell into chaos and fled in all directions. It didn't take long for the fighters of the Brotherhood to rush to the headquarters of the Japanese army.
The commander of the Japanese army, Ichiro Arida, with a pale face, claimed that he had received an order from Tokyo that he could only surrender to the Allies and not surrender to the Chinese prisoners of war.
This unreasonable provocation instantly ignited the anger of the Chinese brotherhood. A cold light flashed in the eyes of Wu Yan, the head of the Chinese Brotherhood.
He ordered no more notification to the Allied side and launched an attack directly on the Japanese headquarters. The Chinese army was like a torrent of steel, with only a tiny sacrifice of 5 soldiers.
It managed to defeat a Japanese squadron and capture 123 Japanese soldiers. In desperation, Ichiro Arita burned the military flag and then chose to end himself.
The battle lasted until noon on August 20, when all the Japanese troops in Rabaul were eliminated, and the Chinese brothers captured more than 3,000 prisoners.
Those Japanese soldiers who fled into the mountains became lost dogs. In order to completely eliminate the Japanese invaders, the Chinese brotherhood took the initiative to send a report to contact the allies.
However, the Allied support unit, the 11th Division of the Australian Army, did not reach Rabaul until 25 August.
Wu Yan and Chen Guoliang knew that waiting alone could not bring victory, and only by taking the initiative could they destroy the remnants of the Japanese army.
As a result, 300 officers and soldiers of the Chinese Brotherhood Regiment made a concerted effort to launch an attack on the Rabaul Mountains.
Early in the morning of August 28th. Liu Yun, a soldier of the New Fourth Army, blew the trumpet of the charge, and the rousing sound of the trumpet echoed in the mountains, as if to warn the Japanese army that the Chinese brotherhood was ready to charge.
After the battle began, although the Japanese army resisted stubbornly, it gradually lost its advantage under the fierce attack of the Chinese brothers.
After a fierce battle, the Japanese army had lost the courage to fight with bayonets, and most of them chose to surrender with their hands raised, except for a few die-hard militarists who were killed.
By 30 August, Rabaul had been completely liberated by Chinese troops. On 17 September, Australian troops landed at Rabaul.
Major General Yi Si, commander of the 11th Division, was stunned by what he saw, and he asked his staff officer: "How did the Chinese army come to Papua New Guinea?"
Upon learning of the situation, Yisi saluted the Chinese soldiers, and he ordered the 11th Division to withdraw from Rabaul, and the Chinese Brotherhood assumed the task of garrisoning Rabaul.
The Chief of Staff of the Australian Army, Northsco, appointed Lieutenant Colonel Wu Yan as commander of the Rabaul occupation forces. Over the next six months, Chinese soldiers set up a military tribunal in Rabaul.
The Tribunal conducted 188 trials of war criminals. A total of 390 Japanese officers and soldiers were interrogated, of whom 266 were found guilty.
The death sentence was 87, of whom 84 were hanged and 3 were shot.
On March 16, 1946, the Chinese Brotherhood and the local overseas Chinese jointly built a cemetery and a monument for the dead Chinese prisoners of war, and the remains of the 259 dead prisoners of war were relocated and buried here.
In the summer of that year, the soldiers of the Chinese Brotherhood completed the garrison mission and, with the joy of victory and firm faith, returned home triumphantly on an American warship. #微头条首发挑战赛#
