Tianxue Miscellaneous Talk was founded by the former university faculty member Tianxuan, welcome to pay attention.
The Battle of Cheqiao was a offensive operation initiated by the officers and men of the 1st Division under the command of Su Yu in the late period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and in this battle, a Japanese soldier was killed in battle, and Su Yu was very uncomfortable after receiving the report.
So who is this Japanese? Why did he die in battle? Why did it make Su Yu feel bad?
Born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1918, the Japanese man, whose name was Matsuno Kyaw, was enlisted in the 1940 army as a superior soldier in the Maruyama Brigade's Pingma Brigade, stationed in totori town, Rudong County, Jiangsu Province.
At the end of December 1941, Su Yu led the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army to attack the town of Fengli, and under the powerful offensive of the 1st Division, the Japanese army was beaten and scattered, and the Japanese captain Haneda who defended Fengli was seriously wounded.
The superior soldier Matsuno Kyaw hid in a cowshed in a nearby village with Captain Haneda on his back, and the next morning, the owner of the cowshed got up to herd cattle and found the injured Captain Haneda and the senior soldier Matsuno Kyaw.
The owner of the cattle shed was very alert, and instead of striking the grass and startling the snake, he immediately reported to the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army.
But the footsteps of the owner of the cowshed still alarmed Matsuno Kyaw, and as soon as he saw that the momentum was not right, he picked up the unconscious Haneda and rushed out. Matsuno is thinner and can't walk fast with Haneda on his back. Not long after they had stepped out, they were caught up by the soldiers of the New Fourth Army who had heard the news.
Matsuno's weapon had long been lost, but he refused to tie his hands and grab it, he put down Haneda on his back, and fought with the New Fourth Army soldiers with his bare hands, but he was already hungry and had little strength, and he was quickly knocked to the ground by the New Fourth Army soldiers.
At that time, the New Fourth Army had regulations that for the officers and men of the Japanese army, those who could catch the live should be as much as possible, so the soldiers of the New Fourth Army did not shoot. Matsuno was knocked to the ground with a nosebleed.
Matsuno squinted at the shiny bayonet pressed against his chest, his eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he gritted his teeth and shouted in Japanese: "Shoot, kill me!" Kill me! ”
What Matsuno did not expect was that the soldiers of the New Fourth Army did not shoot, but bent down to support him, and he saw that the soldiers of the New Fourth Army who were supporting him had a grenade around their waists, and reached out to pull the lead.
Another soldier did not look good, and a rifle butt hit him in the arm, but he still refused to comply, constantly punching and kicking the soldiers of the New Fourth Army, desperately struggling, but was quickly subdued by the soldiers of the New Fourth Army.
Although his superiors had orders not to shoot, the soldiers of the New Fourth Army were still very angry, and although this guy was a prisoner of the ranks, he looked like a national hero with a straight face.
The unable-to-die Matsuno simply lay on the ground and refused to get up, and kept shouting, and the warriors had to tie him to the door panel with all hands and feet and carry him to the station.
After the New Fourth Army brought Matsuno to the garrison of the New Fourth Army, he still stubbornly held the idea of "serving the emperor and killing himself".
At that time, the new fourth army was not in good condition, once, he actually smashed open the door and secretly ran out to the river to commit suicide, the new fourth army soldiers found out and immediately rescued him, this is his first suicide attempt.
A few days later, he smashed open the door again and fled, he ran all night, but he did not speak Chinese, let alone the Soviet-Chinese dialect, and the next morning, when he was speaking Japanese, he was immediately captured by our militia on the edge of the base area.
When he was escorted back to the district office, he still remembered his allegiance to the emperor, and in the district office, when he approached a table with a kitchen knife, he grabbed the kitchen knife and smeared it on his neck, fortunately, he was taken down by the militia, otherwise he would have finished playing. This was his second attempted suicide.
This shows how deeply Matsuno was poisoned by Bushido, but it is not surprising that most of the Japanese prisoners of war at that time were so stubborn.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War at the end of 1941, the Japanese army swept through Southeast Asia, and also defeated the American army, and the arrogance of the Japanese army was extremely arrogant.
The New Fourth Army and the Japanese army often fought, and the New Fourth Army killed a lot of Japanese troops, but in each battle, it was much easier to kill a Japanese army than to capture a Japanese army alive.
Because the Japanese army did not believe that they would be defeated, so they fought a battle to kill each one, and the tenacity of the Japanese army was unimaginable!
After the Japanese army was wounded, as long as they found that there was a possibility of being captured, they would find ways to commit suicide, and the means of suicide were also quite cruel, the most common of which was suicide by caesarean section, and there were also a variety of suicide methods.
In one battle, a dozen Japanese troops were surrounded by the New Fourth Army in a lonely grass house, and if they did not surrender, there was no possibility of breaking through and escaping. What the New Fourth Army did not expect was that these Japanese troops actually burned the grass houses in despair, and the fire was accompanied by screams, and more than a dozen Japanese troops collectively set themselves on fire.
However, most of these japanese soldiers were also from poor families, and this war of aggression broke their peaceful lives and separated them.
These Japanese soldiers were deeply poisoned by the spirit of Bushido, which had controlled their souls, and they felt that if they died in this "holy war", they would have a wooden plaque engraved with their own name placed in the Yasukuni Shrine for future generations to worship and admire.
For these low-born Japanese soldiers, it would be a great honor to enter the Yasukuni Shrine after death, and the family would be respected by others and taken care of by the government.
And once you become a prisoner of the enemy, you will become a lone ghost, there is no place to live, and your family will be despised.
The Japanese believed that the prisoners of the New Fourth Army were the same as them, either killing or slashing, so the Japanese army would rather commit suicide than surrender. The Japanese army did not believe the captive policy propagated by our army at all.
Since the founding of our army, our army has always adhered to the policy of preferential treatment of prisoners, never abused, let alone killed, and our army stipulates that as long as the enemy lays down his weapons, he will no longer regard them as enemies.
Since Matsuno Kyaw came to the base area of the New Fourth Army, no one discriminated against him, and Cheng Yewen, chief of the enemy engineering section, and Song Zhiguang, a political instructor, repeatedly told him about our army's capture policy and talked to him in Japanese, but Matsuno Kyaw could not listen to him at all, and always thought that there was some conspiracy in our army.
The leaders of the division attached great importance to the Japanese prisoners, and at that time, Su Yu was very busy at work, so he asked Ye Fei, the deputy commander of the division, and Tao Yong, the commander of the 3rd Brigade, to personally invite him to dinner. The New Fourth Army prepared a sumptuous meal, and Ye Fei said to him kindly at the dinner table:
"You Japanese like to eat eggs!" Come, eat a little more. ”
Brigadier Tao Yong also said kindly: "When I first came here, if you are not used to it, you can consider it." ”
When Matsuno saw that the leaders of the New Fourth Army were so kind to him, he took it for granted that the New Fourth Army was trying to extract some military secrets from him, and he suddenly stood up and said:
"I will never divulge any secrets of the Imperial Army, and you will not hear anything from me."
Ye Fei laughed and said, "You are a soldier, how many secrets can you know?" ”
Matsuno said, "Since I'm useless to you, if you want to kill, kill me!" ”
Ye Fei put down his chopsticks and said solemnly to Matsuno:
"We will never harm the life of an enemy who has laid down his arms, nor will we insult his personality. This is the policy of our New Fourth Army, and you can rest assured of this. ”
When he translated this sentence to Matsuno Kyaw, he was a little surprised, but he could see from his expression that Ye Fei was speaking sincerely, not lying, Matsuno Jue thought to himself, our leaders all told me that when the New Fourth Army captured the Japanese soldiers, it was to goug out the eyes, cut the nose, and peel the skin. However, they were both polite and civilized to me, which was strange.
The Japanese officer told Matsuno that the officers and men of the New Fourth Army were barbarians, illiterate, and armed with barbaric bandits, and that they had come to China to liberate the Chinese people, but in the ranks of the New Fourth Army, many cadres hung pens, and some of them could also speak Japanese, especially the political instructor Song Zhiguang, who had studied in Japan and spoke fluent Japanese.
Ye Fei and Tao Yong also talked with Matsuno Jue about the spirit of Bushido and the history of Japan, and at first glance they were cultured people, and the Japanese officer told Matsuno Jue that the New Fourth Army was a ragtag group, but he saw that the officers and men of the New Fourth Army were strictly groomed, very disciplined, and extremely tenacious in their fighting spirit.
It was this dinner table conversation that caused Matsuno to take a turn for the worse in his stubborn thinking of "allegiance to the emperor."
In the spring of 1942, Matsuno Kyaw came from the 3rd Brigade to the headquarters of the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army, where there were already several "Japanese comrades" who had been liberated for two or three years, and these "Japanese comrades" had already participated in the work of the New Fourth Army and were very motivated.
Once, when several Japanese comrades joked that they were bad people, Matsuno was very angry and argued with them:
"The Imperial Army should not be described as a bad person!"
There was a "Japanese comrade" named Tsudanta, who was the first captive soldier liberated by the New Fourth Army, and his thinking had been very progressive, and he said to Matsuno Kyaw: "Matsuno Jun, the Japanese army has done no evil, can it still be counted as a person?" What is not the bad guy? ”
Matsuno argued, "We are Japanese, we were raised by Japan, no matter what, we all need to love the country and our army, how can we call our Imperial Japanese Army a bad person!" ”
"You are right, we must love the country and the Japanese people, but we cannot love the Warlords and the Emperor of Japan, the Imperial Army is to serve the Emperor for the warlords, it suppresses the people at home and invades other countries externally, bringing disasters not only to other countries, but also to ourselves, do we still have to love him?"
Takeda's heartfelt words left Matsuno speechless after hearing them. But he was still depressed, but he was deeply shaken by what happened next.
There was a Japanese prisoner of war in the New Fourth Army named Yamamoto, who had a serious infectious disease "Japanese dysentery", and no one in the Japanese army wanted to approach this disease, but the logistics department of the New Fourth Army, Chen Chen, personally took care of him and gave him a lot of good food.
The medical conditions of the New Fourth Army were extremely limited, and the disease could only be cured by returning to Japan, and after his condition stabilized, the New Fourth Army released him back. But what he did not expect was that after Yamamoto returned to the Japanese army, he was burned alive by the Japanese army with fire.
When Matsuno knew about this, he said indignantly, "The Japanese army is indeed a bad person!" ”
This incident completely changed Matsuno's thinking, and he was determined to join the New Fourth Army.
One day half a year later, after receiving his allowance, Matsuno went directly to Minister Chen of the Logistics Department, who put a pile of meat stickers on the table and said:
"Minister Chen, I don't want meat stickers."
Meat stickers were issued by the New Fourth Army to take care of Japanese comrades, and each of them could receive the equivalent of four or five pounds of meat per month. This is very difficult for the New Fourth Army, which is very difficult to ensure that it is possible to do so.
Minister Chen smiled and said: "The meat sticker is approved by the chief and is a care for your life, this is a rule, it is also a policy, you can take it." ”
Matsuno said firmly, "No, I am working in the New Fourth Army to liberate both the Chinese and the Japanese people, so why do you have to give me special enjoyment?" I want to fight and live like my Chinese comrades, and today I officially apply to join the New Fourth Army. ”
Minister Chen was very pleased with Matsuno Kyaw's words, and he reported the situation to the organization, and after careful study of the organization, he approved Matsuno Kyaw's request, and he became a soldier of the New Fourth Army with the rank of the New Fourth Army and a member of the Anti-War Alliance.
In the autumn of 1942, the Japanese Anti-War League established the Soviet Central Branch, and Matsuno Kyaw was elected as a member of the branch's propaganda committee for his outstanding performance, and in 1943, Matsuno Kyaw joined the CCP.
This japanese soldier, who was still full of the spirit of Bushido in the previous two years, finally became a communist fighter under the influence of the New Fourth Army.
By 1944, the momentum of the Japanese army had declined, and the New Fourth Army began to carry out a counter-offensive, and these Japanese comrades took the initiative to cooperate with the New Fourth Army to carry out political offensives, constantly shouting on the battlefield and breaking the enemy's will to fight.
Matsuno often shouted in front, and once only 50 meters away from the Japanese bunker, he shouted in Japanese:
"Comrades on the other side, my name is Matsuno Kyaw, a native of Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, and I speak to you on behalf of the Anti-War Alliance, please don't shoot!" Japan is the Japan of the working people of Japan, not the Japan of the Japanese Emperor and warlords, and it is precisely for the happiness and joy of the people that I have come to ask you to stop this war that has brought calamity to the country and the people. ”
Matsuno Kyaw was often ridiculed by the Japanese army when shouting, but after the ridicule, Matsuno Kyaw still told his story and chatted with the Japanese army, Matsuno Kyaw's personal experience was very convincing, many Japanese troops raised their hands and surrendered under Matsuno Kyaw's political offensive, which also reduced unnecessary casualties for the New Fourth Army.
Because of this, Matsuno became a thorn in the side of the Diehards of the Japanese Army.
On March 5, 1944, the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army launched the Battle of Cheqiao, which was fortified and the Japanese in the Cheqiao stronghold were very stubborn and refused to surrender.
After the battle of the bridge began, Matsuno Kyaw carried a loudspeaker and ran low and fast to a Japanese bunker to shout. At that time, the wind was very strong, and coupled with the fierce gunfire, Matsuno's shouting was very difficult, and the enemy in the stronghold could not hear it at all.
When it was almost dark, the sound of gunfire had thinned out and the wind had become a little quieter, so Matsuno took the opportunity to shout again. Matsuno's voice was heard particularly far in the night sky, and the enemies in the bunker heard it very well and shot in the direction of Matsuno's shouting.
But Matsuno Kyaw still kept shouting, but he met the diehards of the Japanese army, Matsuno Kyaw shouted dry mouth and no effect, he knew that the shouting was useless, so he snatched a gun from the New Fourth Army soldiers next to him and directly participated in the battle.
Matsuno's marksmanship was very accurate, and his position was close to the enemy's bunker, he hit two enemies in a row, but the third shot did not hit the enemy, he pushed a bullet ready to shoot again.
Just at this moment, a bullet came from the bunker, which hit Matsuno Kyaw in the head, and Matsuno Kyaw was killed on the spot, so he sacrificed his precious life for the liberation of the Chinese people and the awakening of the Japanese soldiers, at the age of 26.
Matsuno Kyaw's sacrifice made the officers and men of the New Fourth Army very angry, and they said in "Avenge the Japanese friends!" With the slogan, the New Fourth Army occupied the bridge.
During the Battle of Cheqiao, the New Fourth Army captured 24 Japanese soldiers, of which 14 captured the anti-war alliance organization, and this was because of the new Fourth Army's captive policy, and of course, the Japanese soldiers who had been liberated earlier set an example for them.
After the victory of the Battle of Cheqiao, Matsuno Kyaw and many of his Chinese comrades were buried in the Cheqiao Town Martyrs' Cemetery.
Japanese soldier Matsuno Kyaw, after being captured, attempted suicide twice, and then took the initiative to join the New Fourth Army, and died at the age of 26, which reflects the greatness of our army's policy of capturing prisoners.
Our army not only has a great policy of captivity, but it can also be implemented.
In fact, the policy of preferential treatment of prisoners must be implemented to every soldier at the grass-roots level. It's hard. Because as enemies of battle, they hate each other, not to mention that soldiers in wartime will have a lot of negative emotions accumulated, which can easily be vented on prisoners.
However, our army strictly implemented the policy of preferential treatment of prisoners, so that many Japanese prisoners of war voluntarily joined the anti-war alliance, so the Japanese army was very afraid of our army's policy of prisoners.
Tianxuan is the author's pen name, who has studied history and philosophy and is welcome to pay attention to it.