In Shanghai, nearly hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Japanese troops have been strangled together without stopping for the past two months.
No matter it is early morning or dusk, the terrifying naval guns never stop firing. One shell weighing two hundred kilograms is enough to destroy a building, but it is not enough. The fleet of aircraft that covers the sky is shaking.
The wings dropped terrifying aerial bombs one after another, completely submerging the Chinese positions in smoke and fire.
However, when the khaki figure of the Japanese army appeared, the shadow of dark blue military uniforms appeared again on the position that had seemed to be completely destroyed. The sound of gunfire, artillery, and shouts had never been seen since August.
There has been a rest on this land.
On the north bank of the Suzhou River, thousands of Shanghai citizens are standing across the river in concessions belonging to European and American countries on their own land, silently watching their compatriots stand up in the smoke of gunpowder, and then fall in the smoke of gunpowder.
Fall down.
If one regiment is defeated, then another regiment is replaced; if one division is disabled, then another division is replaced.
Their bravery makes people feel heartbroken, but their bravery is so powerless. They use their flesh and blood to fight against aircraft and artillery that humans cannot match.
They once watched an infantry company enter a building, but in an instant, two 500-pound aerial bombs destroyed the building. The Japanese army only paid two bombs, but their own army paid more than 100
A life.
Those who can enter the concession are the lucky ones. But more people are not allowed to enter the concession. They can only stay in the house and pray not to be bombed by the Japanese invaders who do not care whether they are military zones or civilian areas.
Blast to death.
It's not that no one wanted to escape, but when the Japanese army dropped bombs wildly at a train station full of civilians, killing thousands of civilians in a single air raid, no one dared to escape anymore.
The photo of a one-year-old baby sitting on a devastated platform and crying loudly, with his parents' bodies torn apart by shells just meters away, hurts the eyes of foreign people, but for Chinese people, it hurts the eyes.
It's deep despair.
For the people of this city, which was once known as the most prosperous city in the Far East, whether they were under artillery fire or stood by the artillery fire and watched life and death, it was an extremely painful two months. They were looking forward to this event all the time.
The nightmare ends as soon as possible.
When they woke up from the roar of cannons again in the early morning, they saw the news of a great victory written all over their eyes.
"A great victory in eastern Shanxi! The 20th Division of Bunzaburo Kawagishi was completely wiped out, and the battle to defend Taiyuan was a major victory."
"A great victory in Jindong! More than 30,000 Japanese invaders were wiped out, and none of them were captured!"
"Great victory in Jindong! The Chairman issued an order to commend the frontline officers and soldiers!"
What does it mean to wake up from a nightmare and see a bright morning? This is it.
Whether in the concession or on the rubble-filled streets of Shanghai, there were crowds of people. People cheered, jumped for joy, and loudly conveyed to everyone around them the victory of Jindong in northern China, thousands of miles away.
.
It seems that victory from afar can break through the haze of the increasingly tragic battlefield before us.
Yes, for the people in Shanghai, this victory from thousands of miles away is undoubtedly a life-saving straw and allows them to see the light. Since the national army can win a battle against the Japanese invaders thousands of miles away
The war must be won here, on the battlefield where the elite troops from all over the country have gathered.
The soldiers were also cheering. More than two months of fierce fighting, with almost no hope in sight, made morale extremely low.
But today, the newspaper that the superiors ordered to be distributed said that in the north, on a battlefield of equally large scale, a great victory! An entire Japanese division was annihilated. This was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the officers and soldiers on the Songhu front line.
The Japanese army is not invincible. If they can win in northern China, they can definitely win in the south.
The roaring cheers of Chinese soldiers and civilians even drowned out the rumbling explosions of naval gun shells in the distance.
Everything is because of victory.
Everyone hopes to survive on this terrible battlefield of life or death.
Although it is very difficult, now, there is more or less hope.
In Nanjing, the streets have long become a sea of joy.
Students and workers spontaneously took to the streets and paraded along the streets holding blue sky and white sun flags to celebrate the victory.
For them who are not in the rear area, this victory from the north is equally important. Although the battle in the north may seem insignificant to them geographically, people's hearts need to be encouraged.
The Battle of Songhu touched the hearts of all of them. Once Songhu fell, Nanjing would become the first target of the Japanese invaders. This victory from the north gave them hope as they became increasingly worried about the Songhu Battlefield.
.
This victory was not about how many enemies were annihilated or captured, but about telling them that the Japanese were not invincible.
In Peiping, the most important city in the north, this city has been occupied by the Japanese army.
Although there was no large-scale gathering, there was still an undercurrent on this early morning.
Countless printed leaflets, some of which even before the ink was dry, contained only a few large characters: Great victory in Shandong, more than 30,000 Japanese troops including Lieutenant General and below were killed. They were hurriedly stuffed into the arms of the conductor by countless young people in student uniforms.
, threw it into the small courtyard and pasted it on the wall.
The military police in Peiping City and the Japanese troops stationed in Peking City were like wasps that had stung a hornet's nest. They rushed into the streets and alleys crazily, tearing off propaganda leaflets and arresting anyone they suspected.
Suddenly, the city of Beiping was in unprecedented chaos.
However, a kind of great happiness is growing and rising in the hearts of the people of Peiping. The Japanese army's behavior of not having three hundred taels of silver here undoubtedly proves the accuracy of those crudely printed leaflets with shocking news.
The national army won a great victory in the north and recaptured Jingxing and Shimen. Perhaps a counterattack in Peiping is not far away.
An old man in cloth and long robes sat under the tree in the courtyard, looking over and over again at the slightly crude newspaper whose ink was still wet but almost the same as the "People's Daily". Two lines of tears flowed down his face, but his face was full of joy:
"My son deserves to be the phoenix son of my Liu family."
The children of the Liu family have never heard such compliments from their father, who is full of literary talent.
Maybe, I won’t hear it again in the future.
"Great victory in Jindong, annihilated more than 30,000 Japanese troops from the 20th Division from the head of the division commander down, captured Wu Suan, recaptured Jingxing, recaptured Shimen... Haha, good! Now we can kill the little devils in North China."
It hurts."
On the streets of Wuhan, a man in a suit sitting in a rickshaw read loudly the contents of the newspaper. While laughing, he took out two yuan from his wallet and handed it to the rickshaw driver, "No need to look for it."
Yes, I am very happy today to congratulate our army in North China."
"Thank you, sir. But, Mr. Chen, can you help me see which armies were written in the newspaper about fighting against the Japs in eastern Shanxi?" The rickshaw driver asked a rather strange question.
"Wait, let me take a look." The man in a suit glanced curiously at the poorly dressed coachman, and carefully scanned the newspaper, his eyes brightening slightly, "I found it, the unit number participating in this battle on the East Shanxi Front is the 3rd Central Army
Army, 26th Route Army, 27th Route Army, 18th Group Army, 129th Division, 17th Division, 22nd Group Army.”
"Thank you, thank you, sir." When he heard the troop number, the rickshaw driver's face blossomed into a smile, "However, I can't take this ocean, why should I also thank you for the news, sir? Today, I am divided
The paper will not be accepted."
"Eh? Why, Ding Dafu, you are relying on this to support my mother!" The man in the suit was obviously familiar with the rickshaw driver.
"My youngest is serving as a soldier in the Third Army! After seeing you off, I have to rush back to tell my mother the good news, so that I won't miss my youngest all the time."
"Haha, that's great. I didn't expect that your Ding Dafu also has a younger brother who is a soldier. This time, he probably made a great contribution. When the commendation order comes, I will definitely visit the old lady." The man in a suit said with a smile.
"I don't dare to take what Mr. Chen said. I come from a poor family. Please call me Madam and don't scare my mother." Ding Dafu bared his big yellow teeth and waved his hands awkwardly. "I don't expect any commendation orders.
, I just hope that the youngest will come back safely and let me take a look."
"Haha, you Ding Dafu! Your brother has worked hard for the country and won such a great victory. I, Old Chen, am just a small businessman. Why can't I call your mother old lady? What's the name of your youngest? I'm from Taiyuan.
There are some acquaintances here, and maybe I can get some news in advance so that I can inform you then." Perhaps it was because of the great victory in Jindong that the well-dressed businessman was far more polite than usual to the coachman he had rented for a long time, who was considered to be the lowest class of society.
.
Although he was a little frightened, the coachman, who had a tall chest because his younger brother was in the victorious army, showed his yellow teeth and smiled, "The youngest was born in a bad year. I was afraid that I would not be able to make a living, so I followed the rules of the countryside.
I gave him a name, Gou Shengzi. My mother said that he has a low reputation and is easy to make a living on."
"Haha, what a name! It has to be changed, it has to be changed." The businessman not only laughed dumbly.
The "Liuxueyuan Battlefield Diary" that had been published before and was now being published together was once again serialized in the "Beiping People's Daily" newspaper, and my eyes suddenly froze as I passed by.
After a while, he asked calmly: "Does the youngest of your family have a famous name?"
"The youngest is better than me. He has read a book. His teacher, like you, thought Gou Shengzi's name was not pleasant, so he named him Ding Yuanjie."
"Ding Yuanjie!" The man in the suit's gaze rested on Liu Xueyuan's battlefield diary that was originally written on the first day of the battle at Niangziguan a few days ago.
"His name is not Ding Yuanjie, nor Gou Sheng, his name is Soldier... The Japanese army's shelling is already the third round, and I have not waited for his return."
This line of text made the man in the suit twitch slightly at the corners of his eyes. Although he had experienced many things, at this moment, he obviously didn't know how to tell this news that he should have known seven days ago to this person who was about to tell his mother the good news about his brother.
coachman.
On the street outside the car, people kept popping up and cheering, waving newspapers in their hands, but the car driver and the businessman who had not spoken for a long time fell into silence.
Although the driver was a little strange, he tried his best to pull the car quickly with his head down. His heart had already flown back home, and he just wanted to tell the news to his old mother who was looking forward to seeing it.
The businessman was struggling painfully.
In the end, he chose to leave silently. While taking away the newspaper, he left twenty pieces of silver on the seat of the rickshaw. Although it was not much, it was all he had with him.
This is victory.
Countless people are cheering, but some people are crying.
Victory brings hope and confidence to everyone.
However, the only thing that can buy victory is sacrifice.