Chapter 683: The Destruction of the Twenty Divisions
The first article of the Japanese infantry manual clearly stipulates: You must not be a prisoner. The last bullet in your body should be reserved for yourself, otherwise you will not only harm yourself but also bring shame to your family. This rule is like this
As written, the Japanese did the same thing. If a Japanese soldier was captured alive, not only would he himself be spurned and punished, but his family would also be abandoned by the entire Japanese society.
Since the establishment of a new type of army in Japan during the Meiji Restoration, almost no Japanese soldiers have been captured in foreign wars. During the Japanese invasion of China, the Chinese army could capture very few Japanese soldiers, let alone
The Japanese soldiers and officers took the initiative to surrender, so Nakamura Taro did not know how unbelievable and crazy his idea was to the Japanese soldiers who had been brainwashed by the Bushido spirit.
Looking at Ueno Hongichi's dazed expression and trembling hands, Nakamura knew that although the sergeant commander had no choice but to agree to him due to his "bastard spirit" and the threat of life and death, he was actually still very scared inside.
, but Nakamura Taro also understood very well that this was completely contrary to the education he had received for decades. If Ueno Koichi showed that he was not afraid at all, it would be worthy of his suspicion.
After thinking about it, Nakamura sat down first, took out a cigarette from his arms, lit it, and gave him another cigarette. He waved his hand for Ueno Hiroshi to sit down, and then comforted him: "Ueno-kun, you don't have to panic, this matter
I have thought about it over and over again. The certainty of success is very high. As long as we can succeed, we can return to Japan in glory. By then, Ueno-kun, you will have endless money to spend and endless rice to eat.
The farm you have always dreamed of owning, Ueno-kun, why are you hesitating?”
It has to be said that Taro Nakamura, who just graduated from the University of Tokyo and took psychology as an elective, has a good grasp of people's surnames. He knows that people like Ueno, who are nearly forty years old and at the bottom of society, have already established their own fixed lives.
For middle-aged people who think about it, holy wars and the like are all imaginary, and only things that are visible and tangible are real. Therefore, what he used to seduce Ueno Koichi was nothing more than land and wealth, and it was precisely
It was these practical things that touched the heart of this veteran Youzi the most.
"Think about it, after you have these things, your descendants can become a decent family in Japan. You know, you can spend all your money or drink all your wine, but the land can be passed down from generation to generation.
"At this time, Nakamura was like a poisonous snake running out of the Garden of Eden, beguiling his first true subordinate with his eloquent tongue.
"Chief Nakamura, can we really succeed if we can't support the Chinese people? Can they accept our surrender? Can we successfully return to Japan and buy dozens of acres of land in the future?" Ueno's voice was trembling, and he asked several questions in succession.
.
Nakamura, who had done some research on people's surnames, didn't know that this subordinate was really interested. All that was missing was just a finishing touch. He said with great certainty:
"Of course, although the Chinese hate us Japanese very much, they are very generous and generous to those who come to surrender and do not hesitate to reward them. Ueno-kun, if you haven't decided yet, do you want to wait until the Japanese are defeated before surrendering?
I'm afraid you won't be able to queue up by then. Are you still hesitating now? Or do you hope that your grandson will work as a cow and horse for those gentlemen in the future? Your granddaughter will also be forced to be sold to a journal to be a journal because of poverty.
Where's the girl?"
Ueno Koichi's eyes turned gloomy and uncertain for several times, and finally he showed a hint of sternness. He slammed the cigarette butt in his hand to the ground and said harshly: "Okay, I, Ueno, will sell this miserable life to Chief Nakamura today."
"Yo Nishi Ueno-kun, from today on we are comrades fighting side by side for a common goal." Nakamura Taro was overjoyed when he saw this. He knew that he had finally taken the first step towards his goal.
On February 24, 1942, heavy rain began to fall in the sky. The February rain still had a hint of chill. In a sugar cane forest flattened by bomb fragments, the rain washed everything in the sugar cane forest, including the fields and ridges.
The water inside turned dark red. Countless corpses lay in the distance in the fields. Some thatched houses were burning in the rain, and the gunshots and explosions broke the tranquility of the world. Even with the heavy rain in the sky,
Can't suppress the thick smoke in the air.
This unexpected heavy rain suddenly disrupted the schedule originally prepared by the Taiwan Attack Command. Subtropical storms always come suddenly. Nature will not always favor a certain camp. This heavy rain made
Bai Chongxi, who was sitting on the battleship "Zhenyuan", was very angry, but as the saying goes, some people are happy and some are sad. While Bai Chongxi was angry, Tanaka Nobuyoshi, commander of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, was very happy.
This sudden heavy rain forced all the carrier-based aircraft to stay on the aircraft carrier obediently. Due to the unclear sight, the artillery fire also lost its accuracy and power. Without the threat of indiscriminate bombardment of heavy artillery by aircraft, Tanaka Nobuyoshi was immediately overjoyed.
He immediately ordered the two intact regiments that were originally huddled in Taoyuan City to launch a counterattack at the position of the Second Marine Division at night.
The heavy rain covered up all traces of the Japanese army very well. When the sentry discovered the traces of the Japanese army, the Japanese army was already less than 200 meters away from the Second Division's position, so an extremely fierce gunshot rang out in the heavy rain.
The Japanese army's attack came very violently, and the troops followed up very quickly. Since the attacks were relatively smooth these days, and the heavy rain destroyed many fortifications in the Marine offensive, the resistance of the Marines was very passive. Although
The Type 56 semi-automatic rifles in the hands of the Marines caused a lot of damage to the Japanese army. However, because the distance between the two sides was too close when they first fought, they had to engage in a rare large-scale battle with the Japanese army that night.
of hand-to-hand combat.
In this tragic night battle, the Type 56 rifle in the hands of the Marines proved to be not a weapon suitable for close combat, at least compared to the Japanese Type 38 rifle.
The Type-8 rifle's body, which was 25 centimeters shorter, was at a disadvantage when fighting with bayonets. The Marines often stabbed the enemy with their bayonets before the Japanese soldiers' bayonets had already stabbed them. Until later, many soldiers ignored the night.
It was too dark and it was raining heavily, and it was easy to be injured due to blurred vision. I took the risk of using the M1911 large-caliber Browning pistol hanging on my waist to fight back against the Japanese army, but the situation was still very dangerous. It was not until later that the armored troops at the back also arrived.
came for reinforcements and fought fiercely until dawn before finally wiping out all the Japanese troops.
After dawn, the two regiments of the Japanese army that came to attack at night were 8,645 Japanese officers and comrades, 7,953 of them were wiped out, and more than 220 people were captured. Last night,
In the battle, the Second Marine Division also paid a price of 2,678 casualties.
After daybreak, the soldiers who had fought fiercely all night discovered that there were piles of corpses in the rice fields, beside the roads, and in the rivers. There were severed limbs that had been blown away, brains that had exploded, and scattered internal organs everywhere.
It was filled with a strong smell of blood and fishy stench.
At this time, a group of prisoners came from not far away. Looking at these Japanese prisoners with gauze on their heads, leaning on crutches, ragged clothes, and looking as docile as sheep, the Marines were still a little uncomfortable.
I dare to believe that these prisoners who looked disarmed and lifeless like sheep were the Japanese who rushed forward last night with bayonets in their hands and shouted "Long Live" regardless of life or death.
Just last night, they lined up in a dense charging formation and charged the Marines' position with bayonets in hand. After one fell, at least three would come in to replace them. Regardless of bullets flying and shrapnel raging, they even fell in the middle.
No matter how many bullets were fired, they could not stop them. As long as there was still breath left, they would never stop attacking. It was with this courage to charge to the death that they were able to rush into the Marines' position and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Marines.
.
On a high ground about a thousand meters away from the battlefield, the commander of the 20th Division, Tanaka Nobuyoshi, held a high-power telescope and stared at the battlefield ahead. There were still thick clouds above his head and rain falling on him, but
Tanaka Nobuyoshi still didn't notice at all. What appeared in his eyes were corpses and corpses. There was a small river at the foot of the mountain. The water of this small river had already turned red, and there were countless corpses floating on the river. This corpse
It was so densely packed that it even dazzled Tanaka Xinyi.
"Have you finally failed?" The corners of Tanaka Nobuyoshi's mouth slowly moved and he softly spat out these words.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the 68th and 39th regiments have all been destroyed, so we should make plans early." Chief of Staff Bunbu Masanami on the side advised: "Now our remaining troops have been linked together.
We can no longer gather together the entire army, so we should retreat to Taipei, otherwise we won’t be able to leave even if we wait until the Chinese attack."
Tanaka Nobuyoshi did not answer Bunbe Shonan's words, but murmured to himself in despair: "We are about to rush in, and the Chinese are about to collapse. If their tanks hadn't caught up so quickly, maybe we would have achieved victory."
Victory."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander," Bunbu Shonan said anxiously, "Now is not the time to talk about this. The most important issue now is that since last night's sneak attack was unsuccessful, we should retreat."
"Retreat." Tanaka Nobuyoshi smiled bitterly and said: "Where can we retreat? Can we still go? Bunbu-kun, you can retreat to Taipei with a few people and the military flag. Remember to take the military flag back to Japan."
"Tanaka-kun, what about you?" In surprise, Masami Bunbu called out Tanaka Nobuyoshi's name on the battlefield regardless of politeness.
"Bunbu-kun." Tanaka Nobuyoshi finally turned around and said seriously to Bunbu Masanami: "Now that the 20th Division is gone, there is no need for me to go back to Japan. Even if I go back to the base camp, I will not be spared.
But you are different, you are just the chief of staff, they will not be too harsh on you even if you go back, you should leave quickly before the Chinese launch an offensive."
Bunbu Zhengnan looked at Tanaka Nobuyoshi's pale face, feeling sad in his heart. He knew very well that if the 20th Division was completely wiped out, Tanaka Nobuyoshi, as the division commander, would not be able to escape at any cost, but he still felt a little hard out of concern for his friends.
Relieve.
"Tanaka-kun me"
"Asshole, please leave quickly, otherwise you won't be able to leave anymore." Tanaka Nobuyoshi suddenly became furious and shouted, ordering Bunbu Masanna to lead the flag guard squadron to retreat first.
Looking at the departure of Bunbu Zhengnan and the flag guard squadron, Tanaka Nobuyoshi once again led the remaining soldiers of less than one regiment and rushed towards the battlefield of the Chinese army.
In the evening, among a pile of corpses in a pool of blood, a figure stood up staggeringly. Tanaka, who was covered in blood, looked at the hell-like position in front of him, and looked at the setting sun not far away covered by dark clouds. He squinted.
His eyes were full of exhaustion. Now that he was the only one left in the entire 20th Division, Tanaka Nobuyoshi seemed to see the figures of his mother, wife and daughter in the continuous heavy rain.
"boom"
A shell that exploded not far away woke Tanaka Nobuyoshi out of his trance. He looked around and found that the bodies of his own soldiers were all around him. His guard captain was lying on his back in a mud pit, his empty eyes staring at the sky.
.The captain of his escort was hit by two machine gun bullets and died immediately while protecting him last night.
Tanaka stumbled to a small puddle, and then his reflection in the puddle saw a man in ragged clothes holding a command knife who looked like a beggar. Tanaka Xinyi Road showed a smile that was uglier than crying.
His exhausted and tormented face looked at the Japanese troops surrendering to the Chinese soldiers in twos and threes in the distance. He couldn't help but think of the oath that the instructor loudly taught when he first entered the sergeant school with the battle training book: "I will never
"I will suffer the shame of being captured alive" and "I will use the loyalty and courage of my soul to die calmly and according to the principle of eternal life."
Tanaka Nobuyoshi took a deep breath, walked to the puddle in front and put the command knife aside. He bent down and lowered his head. He picked up the turbid rainwater in the puddle with his hands and washed his face carefully. Originally, he wanted to
I wiped my dirty clothes with water, but later I saw that they were too dirty and had to give up.
There were a little tears in his eyes that had long lost their luster and vitality. Tanaka Nobuyoshi knew that he could not go back and had no reason to go back. He had failed. If he returned as a prisoner, his father, brother and sister would never forgive him.
He will be a shame to the entire Tanaka family. The Tanaka family is not a family of humble traders or farmers. He is from a samurai family.
An atmosphere of despair and humiliation surrounded the heart of the once high-spirited lieutenant general. He took a deep breath and slowly pulled out his command sword. The snow-white and sharp Japanese samurai sword was still sharp even after being passed down for generations.
Such a cold light flashed. Thinking of the scene when his father solemnly handed the command knife to him when he received the admission notice from Army University, Nakata's heart seemed to be broken. Now is the time to leave, to avoid the humiliation of being captured and remain a prisoner.
The glory of the Emperor [] shall not be trampled upon. It is time to fulfill one's promise
Nakata knew he had to do this. He knelt down in the direction of Tokyo, and then aimed the blade at the aorta in his neck. Since he couldn't bring back glory, let it all end.
"Mom" Nakata's command knife hung around his neck was trembling a little. Suddenly, his life experiences of more than forty years flowed through his mind like a movie, and he realized that he could never see his old mother again. , I can never return to my hometown again.
When Nakata's hands dragged the command knife down hard, a stream of blood rose into the sky. Nakata knelt on the ground and slowly went down towards the puddle beside him, and slowly moved his whole head towards the dirty water. The puddle jumped down, and finally the blood gushing from his neck dyed the entire puddle red. But when Nakata died, he was humming the military song he had learned at the Japanese Army University: "# The Pacific Ocean is far away, the sky is bright, the Southern Cross is the black tide, the coconut island is deserted, the waves are roaring, the equator is bright, the water is standing, and I am waiting for the Taiwan Army."
Half an hour later, when several Marines came over to clean the battlefield, they discovered the corpse. When they saw the two gold stars on the shoulders of the corpse, the young private who first discovered the corpse felt a golden light shining in front of his eyes. .
"Sir, I'm going to get rich. I'm going to get rich. I got the Japanese Lieutenant General's command sword."
A platoon leader wearing a beanie came up from behind. He slapped the money-obsessed recruit on the head and cursed: "Lucky little bastard, I know you are lucky. What the hell?" Even such a good thing has happened to you. Well, the command sword belongs to you, but the other items on this little devil have to be given to the brothers."
"That's that, that's that." The recruit holding the Lieutenant General's command knife couldn't close his mouth with laughter. Anyway, the most valuable thing was already in his hands. It didn't matter whether he wanted the rest or not. He had already eaten it. Now that I have eaten the biggest piece of meat, I have to give the brothers some soup.
After a while, except for a piece of crotch cloth, everything else on Tanaka Nobuyoshi's body was searched by the soldiers. According to the platoon leader, these bastards are more ruthless than wealthy landlords.
"Bah, you damn Japanese bastards, you are here too."
After searching the body, the platoon leader kicked the almost naked body of Nobuyoshi Nakata hard with his right foot wearing black leather military shoes, and kicked him into a nearby ditch. Then he called to his subordinates. The brothers went back in a big way.
The rain continued to fall, and Tanaka Nobuyoshi, who was almost naked, stared blankly at the sky with his lifeless eyes. No one can tell now that the corpse lying on the ground was once the lieutenant general of the famous 20th Division. Long, now he has turned into a pile of smelly meat, and may soon be eaten by wild dogs on the roadside and turned into a pile of bones.