"In 1945, we killed one Japanese soldier, and the Japanese were four people late. —Wang Mingzhou
In the memory of 70-year-old Wang Mingzhou, he will never forget the tragedy more than 70 years ago, after a murderous Japanese soldier was killed by the villagers, the small village was retaliated against by the Japanese army, and four villagers were brutally tortured by Ling Chi. Here's how it happened:
The sweep of the Japanese army
Early in the morning of March 23, 1945, Manzhuang Village, Luying Township, Nanyang County, was bathed in the early morning sunshine. Three or four Japanese invaders entered Tianhuang Village, three horseback riders went all the way to Luying, and one entered Manzhuang.
As soon as this devil entered the village, he went to Yuan Wencheng's house to rummage through things. At this time, he found Yuan Wencheng's daughter-in-law hiding under the bed, and the devil immediately became ill-intentioned, and dragged his daughter-in-law out with a scream, and pressed it on the table of the Eight Immortals to commit violence.
At this time, Yuan Wencheng, who was hiding in the pyre, couldn't bear it anymore, picked up a wooden stick, and hit it according to the old man. Unexpectedly, the devil tilted his head and hit him on the shoulder, and the devil turned around and ran out. Yuan Wencheng chased after him, and shouted while chasing: "Someone, just this bad guy, don't be afraid!"
Japan soldiers
The people hiding in the village ran out when they heard the shouts of their acquaintances, and the crowd surrounded the evil devil. Ma Lao Er picked up the flat pole and knocked the devil to the ground, and after the devil fell to the ground, he raised his sharp bayonet and howled like a beast and pounced on Ma Lao Er.
Villager Yuan Chengwu was quick with his eyes, and a nail rake dug into the devil's shoulder, and the rake teeth were deeply rooted in the shoulder meat, and the devil grinned in pain. Yuan Chengwu and another villager pulled the nail rake handle hard, pulling the devil to the ground on the spot, and the devil's spear fell to the side.
After the devil fell to the ground, he became even more furious, struggling to get up on all fours, and several villagers couldn't hold it down. The devil's feet kicked a big hole in the ground, and he saw that the devil was about to get up. There was a young man named "Little Monk" who pulled out a boundary stone and smashed the devil's head to pieces.
Japan soldier killed
As soon as everyone stopped to rest, the three devils who had gone to the land camp rode back on horseback. When the villagers heard the news, they evacuated early, and the three devils saw their smashed companions, and after firing a few shots into the village, they dragged the devil's body to the courtyard of Ma De's family and buried it before leaving.
In the days that followed, the villagers were terrified, fearing retaliation from the Japanese army. The villagers all hid in the wilderness and dared to quietly return to the village at night. However, seven or eight days passed, and the Japanese army did not come to retaliate, and everyone saw that the limelight had passed, and returned to the village one after another.
The Japanese army surrounded the village
On the tenth day, before dawn, the villagers had not yet gotten up, but they heard a burst of gunfire. Wang Mingzhou hurriedly got up and climbed up the wall to take a look, only to see a group of devils wearing yellow skins and holding guns in their hands were marching towards the village, and then the people in the village ran away in a hurry.
After the devil entered the village, he was arrested, and Yuan Wencheng, Wang Tingju, Wang Zongren, Wang Changxing and more than a dozen other people did not run in time, they were all caught by the devil and tied up with ropes. Then the devils set fires everywhere in the village. In an instant, the whole village turned into a sea of fire.
Of the 73 households in Manzhuang Village, only two thatched huts remained unburned and the rest burned to the ground. The food, clothes, furniture, pigs, cattle and sheep kept in the pigsty were also burned, and the villagers were left with nothing in the blink of an eye.
Japanese soldiers set fire to the village
Under the light of the fire, the murderous Japanese officer stared at the blood-red eyes and clenched the Toyo sword in his hand. Yuan Wencheng and more than a dozen other villagers who were caught were tied up in a grove in the east of the village. The rope tied to Yuan Wencheng and several others was not strong, so they took the opportunity to tear off the rope and escaped.
Yuan Wencheng and the others ran out of the woods and rushed to the fields, and the Japanese soldiers howled and opened fire, but none of them hit. Wang Tingju, Wang Haiwen, Wang Sancheng, Wang Guangxing, and Wang Zongren failed to run away, and the ropes tied to their bodies were too strong.
The five villagers were dragged to the mound stronghold, where the devils beat them up and then released several wolfdogs with blood-red tongues to bite them. The poor villagers were bitten to the point of blood, and they died of pain. The ferocious wolfdogs tore through their skin and gnawed at their flesh.
The wolfdogs of the Japanese army are biting the villagers
Wang Haiwen was anxious to be bitten by the wolf dog, smashed the wolf dog to the ground with a punch, looked at the hole, flipped over the wall, and jumped out of the courtyard of the Japanese army. Wang Haiwen ran all the way to escape for his life and was hidden in the bullpen by a family of well-wishers. The chasing Japanese soldiers came to this house, glanced casually at the cattle pen, and then covered their noses and left, and Wang Haiwen, who was the big man, picked up a life.
The other four were bitten half to death by the wolf dogs and lost the ability to escape, and the murderous Japanese invaders dragged them to the playground outside the north gate of the mound, where they used sharp bayonets to cut the flesh of the four villagers, and cut off their flesh one after another.
In less than a few minutes, the severed pieces of meat were piled up, and four villagers died after being cut more than 200 times. This extremely cruel method of killing is "Ling Chi", also known as "a thousand cuts". The villagers in the audience were crying secretly, and the Japanese invaders handed the cut meat to the villagers: "Delicious, taste it!"
Villagers who died under the butcher's knives of the Japanese army
The Japanese cut the four villagers to bones before putting down the butcher's knife. After the Japanese invaders left, the weeping villagers picked up the meat and bones on the ground and brought them back to be buried, and since they could not tell whose flesh and bones belonged to, they had to bury them together, and this tomb was called the "Four Bitter Graves".
The tomb is still in the village today, and it has become irrefutable evidence of the murderous crimes of the Japanese invaders. The villagers often tell the story of this tomb to their children, so that they can remember the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in the village, so that future generations will always remember this blood feud.
Crying old man
Decades have passed, Wang Mingzhou is still angry about this matter, and every time he mentions this matter, he always can't help crying:
"How brutal was the Japanese army going to the countryside? I saw four people being killed with my own eyes, and I will never forget this blood debt!"
Four bitter graves
Fumishi Ichika
April 25, 2024
Written in Guilin