Eight hundred brave men fought in blood
Defend national dignity with life
8 shell holes, more than 430 gun holes, no need to travel through time and space, history seems to be close at hand. The wall in the video is the western wall of the restored four-row warehouse.
Because of the hit of the movie "Eight Hundred", the number of visitors to the Sihang Warehouse Memorial Hall has doubled as before, and almost every day people come to this square to offer flowers and pay homage to the hero.
In October 1937, the situation at the Battle of Songhu deteriorated, and the westward retreat of Chinese troops was imminent. At this time, the conference of signatories to the Nine-Power Pact was about to be convened, and in order to win international support, Chiang Kai-shek issued an order to "retain the main force and insist on fighting in Zhabei", and the 524th Regiment of the 88th Division attached Xie Jinyuan to be ordered to be in danger.
Xie Jimin, son of Xie Jinyuan: The task for my father is to keep it for a week, at least a week, and the next sentence is how long he can keep it, as a soldier, he defends the country, which is his duty.
There were more than 420 soldiers stationed in the four lines, but they declared "eight hundred" for the sake of grandeur. More than 70 years later, a group of photos taken by Associated Press reporter Hai lan Lyon was made public, and people saw clearly for the first time what the "eight hundred heroes" looked like.
Ma Youjiong, director of the Shanghai Sihang Warehouse Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall: There are many people who do not look very old, some reporters said that the youngest soldier at that time was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and the Songhu War of Resistance was very fierce because of the fierce war, and the casualties of Chinese soldiers were very large, including the 524th Regiment of the 88th Division, which has replenished its troops five times, and its proportion is relatively high in Hubei.
In the early morning of October 27, 1937, the Japanese attacked along the Suzhou River, and Xie Jinyuan led a team to engage the Japanese guns. This image truly records the scene at that time.
Xie Jimin, son of Xie Jinyuan: The south and east are the concessions, the west and the north, especially the west along the Guangfu Road, which is the main direction of the Japanese offensive, so he (the Japanese army) constantly charged repeatedly, and after the charge, we repelled him and eliminated 80 Japanese devils on the first day.
The most dangerous moment occurred before dawn on October 28, when Japanese troops armed with thick steel plates sneaked into warehouse gates and wall roots, buried explosives, and tried to break into the building.
Xie Jimin, son of Xie Jinyuan: The grenade on the second floor and the third floor all popped up the steel plate, and at this time at the window on the fifth floor we had a daredevil, the second company, the second row of the fourth class, the original deputy squad leader Chen Shusheng, after he looked there, he did not ask for instructions, this is what he thought was the most correct way, after holding a bundle of grenades, jumped down from the upper floor and exploded a dozen nearly twenty Japanese soldiers.
That night, Xie Jinyuan summoned the officers and men of each company and conveyed the order to "stick to the Sihang warehouse and coexist and die with the last position."
Eight hundred brave men, stubbornly guarding the four lines, all this was seen by the Shanghai citizens in the concession, causing a sensation. Ignoring the stray bullets, people cheered and applauded when they saw the Chinese army destroying the enemy, shouted loudly to remind them when they saw the enemy sneaking in, and sent food and medicine in an endless stream. And all this has also been filmed and written into reports by media reporters from all over the world.
Xie Jimin, son of Xie Jinyuan: Many foreign journalists, while eating coffee on the platform, watched here typing, and then someone next to him typed, through telegrams, to the United States, to the United Kingdom, to these countries in Europe, just like we are now live broadcasting, called the Oriental Magic Building "Four-Line Warehouse", there are hundreds of people who are not afraid of death.
In four days and four nights of fierce fighting, eight hundred brave men repelled more than ten Japanese attacks, killing and wounding more than 200 enemy people, and our side killed 9 people and wounded more than 20 people.
On October 31, 1937, after pressure from the Japanese army, Xie Jinyuan led his troops to retreat into the public concession and was placed under house arrest for four years in the lone army camp.
Xie Jimin, son of Xie Jinyuan: The eight hundred heroes Xie Jinyuan set an example, and every soldier can do his or her duty. If you are brave and not afraid of death, China will be able to fight with the Japanese, and China will not die.
China will not die
Look at the eight hundred brave men
Alone in the Eastern Battlefield
……
On April 24, 1941, Xie Jinyuan was killed by traitors bribed by the Japanese in the Lone Army Camp at the age of 36.
As of now, the known "Eight Hundred Heroes" have all passed away, and the Sihang Warehouse Memorial Hall is still continuing to search for the nameless Sihang veterans...
(CCTV reporter Wei Ran, Zhou Li, Li Xiaobei)