1942 In the Savage Mountains on the border between China and Burma, a defeated Chinese expeditionary force is engaged in a veritable and horrific death march.
At the feet of this Chinese expeditionary force, it is a desperate jungle full of poisonous snakes, ants, mosquitoes, miasma, and disease. Here, one after another, the chinese expeditionary force officers fell.
It is lamentable that these soldiers did not fall under the guns of the Japanese army, but died in the jungle in formation.
According to statistics, in the course of this tragic march, a total of 30,000 soldiers died, and only 3,000 soldiers of the new 22nd Division successfully walked out of Savage Mountain.
Among them, only one female warrior survived, a female nurse named Liu Guiying.
So why did the Chinese Expeditionary Force march to the dreaded Savage Mountains? How did Liu Guiying, the only surviving female warrior, survive this horrific march?
General of the Expeditionary Force
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > (I) The expeditionary force was defeated in burma for the first time Du Yuming carried out the order to retreat to Savage Mountain</h1>
In early 1942, Japan, under the threat of victory in the Pacific War, launched an offensive against Burma and other places in Southeast Asia.
In March of that year, japan captured The Burmese capital, Rangoon, in an attempt to cut off the Burma Road, which had sent a large amount of foreign aid to China's war of resistance, and isolate China from the southwest.
In order to guard this last international transportation line, the Chinese army immediately formed an elite force of 100,000 people and entered Burma to fight.
This force, also known as the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
Burma Highway
Although the generals of the expeditionary force fought bravely and without fear of sacrifice, they even fought the Battle of Ren'anqiang, which defeated seven times their enemies.
However, due to the collapse of the allied forces on the battlefield, the British, and the loss of flank cover, the expeditionary force, which had performed well, was in danger of being annihilated.
In view of the lack of combat strength, the Allies had to make the decision to retreat in order to retain the living forces for future counteroffensives.
The death march on Savage Hill, which caused heavy losses to the expeditionary force, was caused by this retreat.
At that time, the original road of the expeditionary force into Burma had been occupied by the Japanese army.
There are only two paths before the expeditionary force:
One was the path proposed by General Stilwell, then chief of staff of the Chinese Theater of Operations, to retreat in the direction of British India;
The second is to cross the tropical jungle of Savage Mountain in northern Myanmar and make a big detour to the country.
Retreat roadmap
Out of distrust of the British and Americans and his lack of understanding of the actual geography, Chiang Kai-shek, who was accustomed to "micro-manipulation," sent several telegrams to Du Yuming, the supreme commander of the expeditionary force, "not to enter India without being ordered, and asked him to lead his troops north through the tropical jungle of Savage Mountain to withdraw to Yunnan.
Du Yuming always took obedience to the orders of his superiors as his duty, and did not hesitate to prepare to lead his army over the jungle.
In sharp contrast was Sun Li, then commander of the newly formed 38th Division.
In the face of this absurd order, he chose to resolutely disobey the orders of his superiors and resolutely led his men and horses to India.
Sun Liren
On the surface, it seems that Sun Liren is rebellious and rebellious, but as long as you understand the geographical environment of Savage Mountain, you can clearly see how unrealistic Chiang Kai-shek's retreat order is.
Savage Mountain, located in the north of Myanmar, stretches for 300 kilometers and includes a series of steep mountain systems such as The Western Qian of Gaoligong Mountain, Jiangxinpo and Kumenling.
Until the 21st century, it was mostly unexplored virgin forest.
Because the Kachin people living here were considered uncivilized by the people of the time, this place was called "Savage Mountain".
Savage Mountain
Since ancient times, this area of tropical jungle has been closed to traffic, wild and remote, mosquitoes and flies dancing, ants are rampant, and miasma is prevalent.
Due to the humid weather combined with mosquitoes, the average person is unlikely to survive here.
It is said that Zhuge Liang captured Meng meng in the seventh year, and it was here that the Shu army suffered heavy losses due to the attack of miasma.
It is conceivable that in the case of the Japanese army blocking the pursuit and the supply is not effective, how much risk will the lone army face when it penetrates deep into this Jedi.
Therefore, It is not difficult to understand that Sun Liren insists on avoiding this "miasma area that stretches thousands of miles and is difficult to cross".
His disobedience to the general's order made his own unit the only person in the expeditionary force to retain the formation intact, and retained the strength for the future Great Counterattack of Yunnan and Burma.
The other expeditionary forces that conscientiously carried out Chiang Kai-shek's orders were not so lucky.
These soldiers are about to embark on a march that is almost the most terrifying and brutal of World War II.
Although there is no flesh-and-blood slaughter and wild bombardment full of guns and bullets, there is a man-eating devil jungle that "can only enter and cannot go out".
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > (ii) Blood Sacrifice Savage Mountain The path to death</h1>
In the summer of Myanmar, the climate is hot, and the hot and humid weather makes people feel that the throat can spew fire.
After abandoning chariots, heavy weapons, and other difficult to take away weights, the expedition force went deep into the jungle in light armor.
Old photographs of the War of Resistance
During the rainy season, torrential rains often poured down at both ends for three days, which made many soldiers from the north confused.
Some people step on the soft soil and inadvertently fall, soaked in rain, sweat, and muddy water.
The roads were so muddy that they had to climb high to escape the flood, then chop down trees to get through the rushing stream.
Old photographs of the War of Resistance
With the torrential rain, there are countless ants, ants and mosquitoes in the rainforest.
Within a few minutes of the soldiers untying their hands on the side of the road, several disgusting ants appeared on their legs without paying attention.
At first, it was painless or itchy, and it was difficult to detect, but after a while, the blood in the body quickly ate and drank. A large ant can suck up a pound of blood at a time.
If it has not been discovered, then in a few days, a tall and strong man will be sucked into a leather bone that has fallen on the side of the road.
Blood-sucking ants
And the mosquitoes are the size of dragonflies, biting the skin exposed by the whole person into large bags.
These itchy mosquito packs are accompanied by rainforest malaria, which has a high fatality rate.
For soldiers who lack medical treatment and medicine, once they get malaria, they almost lose half their lives.
These people who are infected with "rainforest disease" either have a high fever, the whole body is hot and weak, the mouth is dry, and generally can not survive for three or four days; or they have a low-grade fever, vomit up and down diarrhea, and soon they can no longer get up.
According to Du Yuming's recollection:
"A person with a high fever is unconscious, coupled with locusts sucking blood, ants nibbling, heavy rain erosion and flushing, and within a few hours it becomes white bone. Officers and men were killed and wounded one after another, and along the way, white bones were everywhere, and they were miserable."
(Chiang Kai-shek and Du Yuming)
The soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first. If there are good logistics and medical supplies, then the casualties caused by the rainforest will be less than half.
But the problem was that this expeditionary force was alone deep into the jungle hinterland, and the aircraft that had originally dropped supplies could not be accurately delivered because the forest obscured the line of sight, but many of them were captured by the Japanese army.
It didn't take long for the troops to start running out of food.
Everyone first slaughtered the war horses to fill the hunger, and then wild game and tree root turf were commonplace.
The leather shoes and belts worn on the last body also entered the belly.
Du Yuming, who was anxious like a hot pot ant, saw this scene and was remorseful, and repeatedly sent telegrams to Chiang Kai-shek for help.
But it didn't take long for this means of communication to fail due to the exhaustion of electricity.
The expeditionary force was caught in a desperate situation where every day should not be called the earth and the earth was not spiritual, and life was better than death.
"Why don't you let me die on the battlefield?" Let me die in Savage Mountain!"
According to Yang Lichu, commander of the 84th Regiment of the New 28th Division, one of his nephews, Jiang Zhicheng, fell to the ground screaming bitterly because he had caused colic in his intestines after eating a belt.
Before dying, he shouted to the people around him: he would rather wrap the body of Ma Ge than fall in this desolate mountain.
After more than two months, the soldiers who walked out of the Savage Mountain have reached the point where "there is no distinction between people and ghosts".
According to post-war Allied statistics:
The total strength of the Chinese Expeditionary Force's first entry into Burma was 103,000, and only more than 40,000 people survived, most of the casualties were caused by Savage Mountain.
Among them, the new 22nd Division dropped from 9,000 to less than 3,000; the 96th Division reduced from 9,000 to more than 2,000; and the commander of the 200th Division, Dai Anlan, was martyred.
General Dai Anlan
The heaviest losses were inflicted on the 28th Division of the 66th Army.
The division belonged to the last to enter the Savage Mountain, because the troops in the front had already eaten the bark, grass roots, game, etc., and the 28th Division had not even had to eat the bark.
In the end, only more than a hundred people were left alive from the Savage Mountain, and the others were buried in the hinterland of the forest.
Du Yuming reported on the difficult situation of the troops on the march in the Savage Mountain area and sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek
Ironically, when Du Yuming's direct subordinate units and the new 22nd Division were about to leave Savage Mountain after countless hardships, a large number of Japanese troops had already blocked their route back to China.
A radio airdropped by the Allies allowed the Expeditionary Force to contact Chongqing again.
Chiang Kai-shek, who knew the truth, sighed and ordered them to change their route to India.
On July 25 of the same year, Du Yuming, who had only half a life left, was successfully rescued in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.
The surviving female soldier mentioned in this article is a female nurse soldier in the new 22nd Division.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > (iii) the only surviving female soldier - Liu Guiying</h1>
Liu Guiying, a Xiang sister born in Changsha, Hunan Province in 1920, was sent for adoption because of her family's poverty since childhood.
At the age of 17, she was admitted to Changsha Xiangya Hospital with the first place and became a nurse.
Although she was a weak woman in a troubled world, she also embraced the patriotic enthusiasm of other male warriors who threw themselves into the army and served the army.
Soon after, she signed up for the new 22nd Division and became an honorable female nurse soldier.
In 1942, she became a member of the 100,000 Expeditionary Force.
She and He Shan, Xiao Chun, Sun Yuexia and Wang Ping, the female soldiers of the nurses' class, followed behind the line.
Liu Guiying
Before entering the mountain, Liu Guiying still naively thought that this savage mountain was a natural barrier to block the devils, and a large number of rich wild game wild fruits were enough to feed the stomach.
Unexpectedly, I was about to watch my comrades-in-arms around me die one by one.
The first comrade who died was the lovely laughing spring.
At first, a poisonous snake bit Xiao Chun. Rescued by everyone, she barely escaped from the danger of her life.
On a hurry, two comrades who supported her wanted to be relieved, so they first let her walk alone.
Without expecting to hear a miserable scream, a sudden wolf attacked Xiao Chun.
When the artery in her neck was bitten, she instantly bled, and after a few minutes, she bid farewell to her comrades permanently.
Paintings that reflect Savage Mountain
Subsequently, Sun Yuexia and Wang Ping contracted terrible malaria.
The fever and persistent fever tossed the two nurses to death.
Sun Yuexia could not bear the pain, and when everyone was not paying attention, she jumped off the cliff to seek relief.
Wang Ping, on the other hand, rested behind the palace with her boyfriend and let the others go first.
Later, the marchers saw the bodies of both of them on the side of the road.
The fourth comrade-in-arms who left was He Shan.
She accidentally ate a poisonous fruit on the way, and her body was in rapid pain.
After several days of persistence, the situation worsened, and she emitted an unpleasant odor on her body, and the diarrhea came out completely black water.
Liu Guiying did her best to help her and walk out of the forest together.
But in the end, He Shan was still unable to get up again.
Before dying, she said to Liu Guiying:
"You must strive to return to the motherland alive and tell our countrymen about our journey to Burma to fight and cross the Savage Mountain, that we are dying for the country."
Old photos of Savage Mountain with white bones
The death of one comrade-in-arms after another made Liu Guiying sad:
Do you also have to incarnate yourself into a skeleton and bury yourself in this foreign land?
Fortunately, on the way, she met her boyfriend, the second lieutenant medical officer of the 66th Regiment.
The two of them walked on the road with the white bone corpses, supporting each other through the most arduous journey.
Once, in the second half of the night, when Liu Guiying was outside, he suddenly found that a giant bear in front of him was staring at him viciously, and he was frightened and hurried to get up.
The giant bear roared and approached her step by step.
The boyfriend was also awakened by the screaming at this time, shouting her name.
Sacrificing herself and protecting her boyfriend surged into her heart for a while, which made Liu Guiying pluck up courage.
She gritted her teeth, pursed her lips, and walked toward the bear.
A miracle happened! Just as she approached the bear, the bear shook its head and turned away without a look.
Liu Guiying and her boyfriend escaped the disaster in this way.
Anti-War oil paintings
After several twists and turns, the two people who had passed through the ghost gate several times finally saw a ray of light on the afternoon of September 15 of the same year.
A makeshift supply station appeared in front of them. The long-lost food and medicine saved the lives of the two people.
A few days later, they officially left the forest and arrived at their base in Ramga, India.
The news that a female soldier had come out of the forest alive instantly shook the entire base, causing the warriors to run over to see the miraculous female soldier.
Liao Yaoxiang, commander of the 22nd Division, personally came to offer condolences; the famous painter Mr. Ye Qianyu rushed from Chongqing to paint a portrait of her and gave her a souvenir.
At the Ramga base, Liu Guiying married her boyfriend smoothly and gave birth to a daughter, which became the happiest time of her life.
Later, in 2006, the government awarded Liu Guiying a "Commemorative Medal for the 60th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", justifying the old man's glorious contributions in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
As a "living fossil" of the War of Resistance, Liu Guiying has always lived very peacefully in his later years.
She continued to play tai chi every day, write memoirs, and often learned to practice English.
With the help of a Taiwanese friend, she even had frequent contact with Mrs. Liao Yaoxiang, who was far away in the United States, and the two sides reminisced about the past of the expeditionary force.
Editor: Lu Lijin
Editor-in-Charge: Thalia