Ruichang is located in the gentle hilly area south of the Yangtze River. It has a pleasant climate and convenient water and land transportation. It has always been a strategic location that military strategists must compete for.
The Japanese troops on the southern front attacking Wuhan advanced along both sides of the Yangtze River under the command of their commander-in-chief, Okamura Neiji, and the war spread to Ruichang County.
The Sichuan Army troops guarding Ruichang were temporarily reorganized from the rear security forces. Facing the attack of the powerful 6th Brigade, they collapsed at the first touch, and the historical city of Ruichang immediately declared its fall.
The rapid fall of Ruichang left many local residents with no time to evacuate, so they were trapped in the city. Facing the murderous Japanese soldiers, they closed their doors and windows tightly and lived in panic all day long.
The brutality of the Japanese has spread all over the country. Nanjing has mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. The residents of Ruichang have also heard about it. At this deep and dangerous situation, they are all terrified, fearing that their heads are missing.
The frightened residents cursed the incompetence of their own army, which was defeated by the Japanese. Later, they cursed the county magistrate for abandoning them and fled alone. Finally, tired of cursing, they began to bow their hands and pray to Guanshiyin Bodhisattva to protect the Japanese and show mercy to the Japanese.
Don't kill anyone.
The Japanese soldiers, who were armed with live ammunition, first entered the city in a show of force, then went door-to-door to hunt down the scattered Sichuan troops, and then imposed a blockade and martial law on the entire city. It was a hectic struggle for several days.
Except for the more than 200 captured and defeated Sichuan troops who were killed on the day they entered the city, in the following days, apart from patrolling to maintain public order, the Japanese soldiers did not harm the local residents at all. They were like a mighty and civilized army.
This surprised the local residents and made them less scared.
In fact, it was not these brutal Japanese who had changed their nature, but the Commander-in-Chief of the 11th Army, Okamura Neiji, who was a China expert who was well versed in the principle of using China to control China.
He strictly restrained the troops from harassing the local residents to gain favor, so as to win over and divide them, and established a maintenance committee to provide support for the troops to attack Wuhan.
It must be said that the commander of the 11th Army, Okamura Neiji, had quite a strategic vision. With his order, the troops that were originally burning, killing and looting were suddenly transformed into a mighty and civilized division.
With these heavily armed Japanese soldiers setting up checkpoints everywhere to maintain law and order, the entire Ruichang, instead of being destroyed by the war, became orderly and more prosperous and harmonious than before.
Naturally, the Chinese people didn't know that these were just a conspiracy by the Japanese. Anyway, the Japanese were not burning, killing, looting, or violating their interests as rumored, so they didn't bother to care about who was in charge in Ruichang.
Ruichang quickly restored prosperity and stability, and the maintenance committee vigorously promoted the idea that China and Japan were one family. The residents who were not affected by the war no longer thought about fleeing, but returned to their previous living conditions.
The Japs' conspiracy deceived most of the illiterate ordinary people, but no matter how the Japs disguised themselves and pretended to be good people, they could not change the fact that they invaded and killed people.
In the courtyard where the security regiment of Ruichang County is stationed, several cold-faced Japanese soldiers with guns stood guard outside the Zhuqi gate, and no one was allowed to enter or exit.
In the spacious courtyard, more than two hundred disarmed soldiers from the security regiment were sitting on the steps in groups, leaning against the wall in a listless daze.
Their security group originally had six to seven hundred brothers, fighting side by side with the Sichuan Army stationed in Ruichang. However, after a battle, the Sichuan Army collapsed, and they also lost hundreds of brothers.
The brothers in these security corps are illiterate. When they joined the security corps, it was not because of national righteousness, but just to make ends meet.
But those smoke-filled battlefields and bloody corpses made them see the cruelty of war for the first time. Those fierce Japanese soldiers beat them to the point of losing their souls.
Hundreds of their brothers died, and the Sichuan army collapsed. After being beaten to pieces by the Japanese, they still had the energy to continue resisting. They took off their clothes, threw away their guns, and went home to seek refuge. They never wanted to fight again in their lives.
But here comes the kid, and it is the kid who has the final say in Ruichang. Even if they, the brothers in the security group, want to become common people again, it depends on whether the kid agrees.
Naturally, the little devils will not tolerate such a group of people who have fought against them scattered in Ruichang. After all, it is a huge hidden danger. If one day they pick up a gun to fight against them, it will be impossible to prevent them.
Therefore, after the Japs entered the city, while searching for the scattered Sichuan soldiers, they also gathered back the soldiers from the security regiment who had fled home.
Those Sichuan troops who were weak in combat but preferred death to surrender were all killed by the Japs. The soldiers of the security group were so frightened that they were shaking like chaff, thinking that they would not escape death.
But the little devil had no idea of killing them. After all, most of the soldiers in these security groups were locals. If they killed them, they would be resented by the local residents. This was against the military orders of their commander, Okamura Neiji.
But if they are not killed, they will pose a threat to them. After all, these people have also carried guns and fought in battles. Although their combat effectiveness is not very good, they are still a threat.
After careful consideration, the Japanese decided to temporarily organize the more than 200 surviving soldiers of the security regiment into a security camp to assist them in maintaining law and order in Ruichang and at the same time win over people's hearts.
Faced with the request to reorganize the Japanese soldiers who were armed with live ammunition, these former security regiment soldiers who had been beaten to the point of losing their souls dared to say no. The blood of the Sichuan army stragglers had not yet dried, so they did not dare to resist.
A security camp is a security camp. Anyway, it's just a new skin. They are just a soldier. As long as they have military pay and food to eat, it doesn't matter who they work with.
Most of the soldiers in the security camp thought this way, but Meng Fanggang, the former battalion commander of the security regiment, knew that it was not as simple as changing one's skin. If he really put on that skin, he would be aiding the tyrants and becoming a traitor.
Therefore, when Meng Fan first faced the position of security battalion commander promised to him by the Japanese, he would rather die than become a traitor.
However, Meng Fan showed his loyalty when he was in the original security team and won the love of the brothers in the security team. Now the Japanese also need such a prestigious person to lead the security camp.
As soon as Meng Fan refused to comply, the soldiers from the security camp also watched, which made the little devil very angry. But he couldn't kill him now for fear of damaging the good image he had just established.
As a last resort, the Japanese had no choice but to tie Meng Fanggang to a pillar in the security camp and gave him three days to consider whether he would become the commander of the security camp or be shot for destroying the harmonious friendship between China and Japan.
Meng Fanggang was not one of those ordinary soldiers who only lived for food and clothing. He was a veteran who had participated in the first Battle of Songhu. He had fought with the Japs on the battlefield. He knew the Japs' plans, so naturally he was not willing to sacrifice his life for the Japs.
The kid tied him to a pillar in an attempt to force him to surrender, but he was stubborn and refused to eat or drink for two days and went on a hunger strike to resist. This made the other soldiers in the security camp very embarrassed.
"Brother, we serve as soldiers to get food. We work with everyone. Why do you have to go all the way to darkness?" A brother kept persuading Meng Fanggang, hoping that he would agree to serve as the security battalion commander.
After all, if Meng Fang just nods to be the battalion commander, the security camp is in disarray, and the Japanese have no confidence in them, so much so that they haven't even returned their weapons yet.
"Heizi, your conscience has been eaten by dogs. All of us in the group were beaten to death by the Japanese. You don't want to take revenge, but you want to accept the thief as your father. I really want to kill you alive!"
As soon as Meng Fan was tied to a pillar, a security battalion soldier who came to persuade him to surrender was swore at him.
The security camp soldier who was scolded was not angry. Instead, he knelt down to Meng Fanggang and begged with tears in his eyes: "Brother, you can beat or scold him if you want, but you also have to think about your brothers."
"We don't understand the truth, but why do we brothers join the army? It's not just to have a full meal. The two of us at home are still counting on my money for food. You can't let us have no way of living.
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"You spineless thing, I was really blind when I accepted you as my brother. You go work for the little devil and earn that unconscionable money without fear of retribution!"