Only a few days passed, and hundreds of prisoners of war who were forced to march by bayonets died.
The Allied prisoners of war, who had expected the war to be over for them when they surrendered, felt extremely regretful. If they had known they would be treated like this, they would rather fight to the last man than surrender to these beasts.
Along the way, they were constantly beaten, insulted and killed by Japanese soldiers. The jungle on the roadside was littered with dead bodies.
The cold wind was howling, and there were no supplies on the road along the way. The prisoners of war walked on the bumpy dirt road. They did not get a drop of water or a mouthful of food, and their faces and bodies were covered with thick dust.
Qi Xueqi's military rank had long been stripped off. Japan did not abide by the Geneva Convention, which stipulates that prisoners should receive treatment equal to their military rank, but instead incorporated him into the ranks of ordinary prisoners of war.
Marching long distances for three days was a painful torture in Qi Xueqi's heart. Although he was so tired that he could hardly move, Qi Xueqi had to keep moving forward. Falling behind here would mean death.
Anyone who fails to get orders to rest or falls behind will be bayoneted to death by the Japanese soldiers escorting them from both sides.
More than once, Qi Xueqi saw prisoners who could not walk sit down on the roadside and were stabbed to death by Japanese soldiers without mercy. They used their actions to clearly tell the prisoners of war: If you want to live, then on the way
Rest is impossible.
The team of prisoners of war looked like stragglers, with people supporting each other and struggling to move forward. Whenever he couldn't hold on, Qi Xueqi would take a peek at his wife's photo when the Japanese soldiers in custody were not paying attention. This is what he forced himself to hold on to.
emotional support.
As a senior general, Qi Xueqi certainly looks at things from a further perspective than ordinary soldiers and officers.
The experience of the past few days, which can be called a death march, made him understand that the reason why the Japanese were eager to transport more than 10,000 prisoners from the prisoner of war camp this time was to divert the attention of the expeditionary force.
There are many possibilities for why the Japanese are so scared, but the most likely reason is that the Japanese were frightened by the plane that suddenly appeared in China a few days ago.
Obviously, the reconnaissance plane that inadvertently flew over the prisoner of war camp that day had reported the location of the prisoner of war camp to the expeditionary force headquarters.
And for some unknown reason, the expeditionary force headquarters may have the idea of rescuing them... No... they may have already started taking action.
The Japanese, aware of this, embarked on this death march in order to remove this "time bomb" in time.
If this continues, how many of them will be able to reach their destination? Do the Japanese really have to torture them all to death before they are willing to give up?
Qi Xueqi, who was worried, staggered and followed the numb progress of the team...
Just when Qi Xueqi was worried, Major Ryu Kuribayashi, the top commander who escorted the prisoners of war, suddenly felt inexplicably upset.
For some reason, he always felt like something bad was going to happen.
It stands to reason that the places they walked along the way were under the actual control of the Japanese army, but along the way he felt frightened, as if there were a pair of malicious eyes staring at them.
Sonoda Kensaku took the certificate and stuffed it back into his jacket pocket, and then said in a slightly arrogant tone:
"Your Excellency Ribayashi Kyoryu, you have finished reading the certificate, let us discuss the business next, right?"
"Business?" Ribayashi Qiaolong frowned upon hearing this, and a sense of uneasiness surged into his heart.
He said with some displeasure: "Major Sonoda, as the top person in charge of escorting prisoners of war this time, you should obey my orders on military issues, right?"
"certainly!"
Sonoda Kensaku didn't seem to hear the displeasure in Ribayashi Hashiryu's words, and instead nodded repeatedly.
Soon, Sonoda Kensaku's brigade began to disperse and began to join the team escorting prisoners of war.