Author: Wind Qianli
"I waited for the four-line warehouse in the north of the gate to be trapped for four days and nights, and repelled six enemy attacks. The consumption of ammunition is less than one-tenth, and as for supplies, although it persists for three years, there is no danger of starvation. The withdrawal of which we are waiting for is due to the demand of a third party for the maintenance of security in the neutral area, the consent of our side, and the withdrawal ordered by our highest authorities. ”
——After Xie Jinyuan led his troops to withdraw to the concession area, he talked about the reasons for the retreat in an interview with reporters
From the night of October 26, 1937, when the officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the 524th Regiment of the 88th Division were stationed in the Sihang Warehouse, to the midnight of October 30, when the troops began to withdraw and enter the concession area, the sihang warehouse defense battle has lasted for four days and four nights, and more than 400 officers and men have held their positions in isolation and helplessness, repelling many Japanese attacks in succession, and their heroic performance deeply shocked the media reporters and Chinese people watching the battle on the suzhou river.
On the last day of the battle, the Japanese offensive also entered a climax, the fierceness of the ground troops' artillery fire increased sharply, and the Japanese Marines began to mobilize anti-aircraft guns to continue to bombard the main building of the warehouse at a flat angle. Some Japanese troops also built fortifications at the intersection of Qufu Road near the warehouse, in an attempt to permanently blockade the entire Sihang warehouse. In the face of the enemy's surge of fire, the officers and men of the 1st Battalion guarding the warehouse were undaunted and still stubbornly held their positions. However, at 12 o'clock that night, when the Japanese artillery fire had not stopped, Xie Jinyuan suddenly issued an order to Yang Ruifu, commander of the 1st Battalion, to withdraw the whole army, asking all the troops to withdraw at midnight to the concession area across the bridge from the Sihang warehouse.
During the defense of the Sihang Warehouse, the Sihang Warehouse was already a devastated Sihang Warehouse, and the walls were covered with bullet marks left by Japanese machine guns and anti-aircraft guns
Officers and men of the 1st Battalion, whose sturdy buildings were in a sworn resistance
The end of the fierce Battle of the Four-Element Warehouse can be described as "abruptly stopped", and many officers and soldiers who were still fighting were puzzled when they heard the order to retreat. It should be known that these more than 400 soldiers were stationed in the Sihang warehouse, although they were isolated and helpless, they carried sufficient ammunition before entering the position, and the warehouse originally had a huge amount of food, fuel and other daily necessities, as well as a waterway leading to the Suzhou River, and the soldiers could get water on the spot. Most importantly, the warehouse itself is close to the concession area, and there are two Shanghai gas company gas tanks in the concession area that are only tens of meters away from the warehouse, and the Japanese army cannot use heavy weapons to attack because of the safety of the concession area, plus the warehouse itself is a reinforced concrete building, and the light weapons of the Japanese army cannot cause fatal injuries. Xie Jinyuan himself even estimated that he could hold out for at most three years, but why did he suddenly announce his withdrawal after only four days and nights?
Japanese troops coming to support from other areas
Shanghainese people watching the battle in the concession area across the Suzhou Creek
The reason is still outside the battlefield. The Japanese Navy, which had repeatedly failed to storm the Sihang warehouse, was already very anxious, and after seeing that the army's large troops were pursuing the remnants of the Nationalist army in other areas on all fronts, and that they could not even take down a small warehouse, there was no light on the ground, so they began to intimidate the concession area, threatening to use heavy artillery or carrier-based aircraft to forcibly destroy the Sihang warehouse, and would no longer consider the safety of the concession area. The commander of the Japanese Third Fleet, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, even publicly declared: "We will take extreme measures against the Chinese defenders regardless of all consequences." On the 30th, Matsui Ishigen, commander of japan's Shanghai dispatch army, sent a direct letter to the General Office of the Shanghai Ministry of Works, saying that "any act of funding and indulging the Chinese army is regarded as unfriendly to Japan." Intimidated by the pressure of the Japanese side and the consideration of their own safety and interests, the Ministry of Works began to send people to persuade Xie Jinyuan to order his subordinates to lay down their weapons and withdraw into the concession, but Xie Jinyuan refused. Therefore, the Ministry of Works and Bureau began to unite with Britain and the United States and other countries to exert pressure on Nanjing, demanding that the Chinese troops withdraw from the Sihang warehouse in order to end this battle as soon as possible that could endanger the safety of the concession at any time.
A Japanese Type 96 25 mm flat-fire gun (converted from an anti-aircraft gun) in the collection of the Military Museum was used by the Japanese to bombard the Sihang warehouse
Military observers and media reporters of the great powers watching the battle on the other side
According to Chiang's pre-war expectations, he hoped that this defensive war on the other side of the Suzhou River would attract the attention of the media of the whole country and even the whole world; while inspiring the determination of the military and the people of the whole country to resist the war, they would be able to win the sympathy and support of the great powers, and then obtain foreign support.
Seeing that the plan was frustrated and under pressure from Britain and the United States, Chiang had to order the withdrawal of troops. On the afternoon of October 30, at the home of Songhu Garrison Commander Yang Hu in the French Concession, Zhang Baiting, chief of staff of the 88th Division, Feng Shengfa, deputy division commander, Yang Hu, commander of the Songhu Garrison, Yu Hongjun, mayor of Shanghai, and Alexander Telefer-Smollett, commander of the Public Concession International Merchant Group, held a meeting to discuss the withdrawal of troops from the Sixing Warehouse. "Do your best to preserve the honor of these soldiers." After the evacuation procedures were negotiated, Zhang Baiting came to the liaison position of the French Concession, informed Sun Yuanliang of the results of the meeting by telephone, and conveyed the order to withdraw from the Sihang warehouse.
According to Zhang Baiting's later recollection, on the other end of the phone, Xie Jinyuan, who received the retreat order, was very surprised and very excited, and he asked several times on the phone to stay behind, and his voice choked several times. But in the end, it was difficult to reach the military orders of his superiors and agreed to withdraw. When Zhang Baiting ended the call, he even heard that Xie Jinyuan on the other side of the phone was already in tears. Xie Jinyuan then issued a retreat order to the whole army, and together with Yang Ruifu, commander of the 1st Battalion, arranged specific evacuation matters, and Yang Ruifu gathered all the company commanders together and asked them to command the company's men and horses to wear all the weapons, ammunition and work equipment, and enter the original position to stand by. Subsequently, Yang Ruifu announced the following withdrawal procedures: first the 1st Company sent 1 platoon of troops to the garbage bridge for cover, first escorted the wounded to the British concession quickly, then Xie Jinyuan led the machine gun company and most of the 1st company to withdraw, the 2nd and 3rd companies followed, and finally Yang Ruifu led the rest of the troops to withdraw.
During the Battle of Songhu, Smollett( left), commander of the Merchant Corps of Nations (left), and Father Rao Jiaju (right) of the Merchants of Nations, on the streets of the Public Concession.
On the night of the retreat, the Japanese army had blocked the only way to retreat, the Tibet Road, with searchlights and 4 machine guns, and also with a variety of light and heavy weapons to suppress, the Japanese army's intention was very obvious: they would not let this Chinese army let them touch the nails. As a result, the retreat path of the eight hundred brave soldiers became extremely bloody and tragic, and under the strong light of the Japanese searchlights, the tracks of the retreating officers and men were exposed, and the bullets of the Japanese army came like raindrops, causing great casualties to the lone army.
The 1 platoon soldier in charge of the cover desperately returned fire in the face of the enemy's condescending fire point, at this time a Japanese tank came to the front, the platoon commander Yang Yang was personally holding up the light machine gun, blocking the tank with a steel bullet, a Japanese shell happened to explode above his head, his left eye was injured, passed out, and then carried to the concession by his comrades-in-arms. On the other side of the Suzhou River, reporters and the public witnessed the scene of the retreat: those officers and soldiers struggled to retreat to the fence of the concession, some set up ladders, some laid rice bags, and supported each other to cross the fence, and the entire passage was suddenly crowded. From time to time during this process, soldiers were shot and fell, and the battalion commander Yang Ruifu was shot in the left chest and left leg, bleeding continuously, and Xie Jinyuan himself was slightly injured in the waist. Although the British soldiers guarding the gates of the concession opposite were strictly forbidden to participate in the battle, several Welsh soldiers who saw the tragic scene of the retreat could not help but shoot a few shots in the direction of the Japanese. In the end, under the desperate resistance of the cover troops, most of the Chinese officers and soldiers retreated to the concession safely, with a total of 22 casualties in the process of retreating.
Officers and men of the 1st Battalion, who withdrew into the concession and were detained by the British
According to the agreement between the 88th Division and the Commander of the British Army, Smollett, after the "Eight Hundred Heroes" entered the concession, the concession authorities prepared a bus and returned to Huxi through the public concession. It can be seen that in the initial plan, this unit was not to be detained in the concession, but to be sent out as soon as possible, and at this time in Caohejing, outside the concession, Zhang Baiting, chief of staff of the 88th Division, was already under orders to take over. Most importantly, at the meeting to discuss the withdrawal procedure, the British side also did not propose to the Chinese army to disarm. However, after arriving at the concession with difficulty, Xie Jinyuan helplessly found that the fate of himself and his subordinates was no longer in their hands.
The officers and men were first placed in the basement of a warehouse, with no intention of sending them to the rental community. At 4:00 a.m. on November 1, the concession authorities proposed to collect the weapons in the hands of the officers and soldiers, who had been fighting for four days and nights, and the soldiers who risked death to evacuate were indignant, they regarded the weapons as the second life of the soldiers, and they were unwilling to hand over their guns, and some even shouted: "If the concession insists on confiscation, we would rather fight back to the Sihang warehouse!" Moreover, the British side has always been concerned about whether to release the lone army out of the country, which makes the soldiers seriously doubt his sincerity. The two sides turned out to be in a state of confrontation. At this time, Zhang Baiting, who was waiting for the lone army to come, personally rushed over to understand the situation, and only then did he know the reason for the change in the attitude of the British side. It turned out that on the night of the retreat, the Japanese sent a threat to the British side: if the Chinese army returned through the concession, then the Marines would rush into the concession to pursue! Frightened by the Japanese, the British side had no choice but to order the detention of the lone army, and in the subsequent negotiations with Nanjing, they all rudely refused.
Officers and men of the 1st Battalion, who had been disarmed and taken by truck to the Lone Battalion
On the morning of November 1, the Sihang warehouse on the other side of the Suzhou Creek was set on fire by the Japanese army, and a skyrocketing fire was ignited, although the building would not be destroyed by the fire, but the internal facilities and materials were burned, on the one hand, the British side's tough attitude, on the other hand, there was no hope of returning to the Sihang warehouse. Under the urging of Zhang Baiting, Xie Jinyuan had to order the troops to hand over their weapons. After counting by the Ministry of Works, a total of 200 rifles, more than 20 light machine guns, four heavy machine guns, 20 barge guns, 3 pistols, and 200,000 rounds of ammunition were confiscated. Seeing that these weapons that accompanied the day and night were confiscated in this way, the heroes who once guarded the Sihang Warehouse were all sad and indignant, and some even cried.
A few hours later, the Bureau of Works informed that the barracks for the soldiers had been arranged. The officers and men took 13 trucks and buses to the camp, while Xie Jinyuan and nanjing deputies accompanied them in cars. After learning that the heroes guarding the Sihang warehouse had retreated into the concession, the Shanghai citizens in the concession rushed to see the dignity of these anti-Japanese heroes, and the road to the military camp was crowded. When they saw trucks passing by, people shouted in unison: "Long live the anti-Japanese heroes!" "Vehicles were hampered by crowds and had to move slowly, and many women and children competed to deliver condolences such as candy, biscuits, cans and flowers to the officers and men on the trucks. Xie Jinyuan, who witnessed all this, waved to the people on the side of the road through the car window, tears flowing, hiding his face and crying.
[Deeply cultivate the history of war, carry forward positive energy, soldiers say that all parties are welcome to submit articles, private messages will be restored]