movie "Eight Hundreds" made many people re-understand this epic historical past on the Songhu battlefield 83 years ago. However, in the three-month-long Songhu Battle , the 800 heroes were not the most tragic and tragic, but why are their deeds so famous? To answer this question, we must first talk about the whole story of eight hundred warriors guarding the four-row warehouse.
After the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai on August 13, 1937, China and Japan had invested a total of one million troops. For China, this battle is related to the survival of the entire nation; for Japan, the victory or defeat of this battle will also greatly affect the pace of their aggression. Therefore, both China and Japan hold the belief that this war will be won.
However, despite the fact that China is desperate for a decisive battle, due to the huge gap in weapons and equipment between the two sides, as the war continues, the Chinese casualties are far greater than the Japanese, and almost one division will be destroyed in almost a day.
After more than two months of stubborn resistance, the national army paid a very heavy price. Seeing to continue to fight, the national army will lose everything, and Shanghai obviously cannot withstand the pace of the Japanese invasion. Therefore, Chairman Chiang, as the supreme commander of the Chinese theater, had no choice but to order the national army to withdraw from Shanghai, leaving a little capital for the long-term Anti-Japanese War in the future.
However, although the national army wanted to withdraw from the battlefield, the Japanese were unwilling. They obviously had the opportunity to wipe out their opponents. Why did they let their opponents go? So while the national army was preparing to retreat, the Japanese army further strengthened its offensive.
On the other hand, Chairman Chiang also had other ideas about the retreat. On October 30th of this year, an extremely influential international conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium. Chairman Chiang hopes to impress the international community with the tragic and heroic deeds of the national army soldiers and urge all countries to impose sanctions on Japan. Therefore, the resistance of the national army in Shanghai must last until October 30th.
In view of the above-mentioned purpose, Chairman Chiang intends to leave the 88th Division of the National Army behind, and asks the 88th Division to be broken up into parts and start guerrilla street battles with the Japanese in Shanghai. Although this would lead to the annihilation of the 88th Division, it could effectively extend the resistance time of the national army, which was enough to win more international support for China at that time.
However, after Chairman Chiang’s order was passed on, the 88th Division Commander Sun Yuanliang had opinions. This is clearly a mission to die, either to become cannon fodder or a prisoner of the Japanese army. Who would do such a loss-making business? So Sun Yuanliang played a trick here. He reported to the theater commander Gu Zhutong and : Since it is a guerrilla street fighting, there is no big difference between the number of people and the less. Instead of letting the entire division sacrifice, it is better to leave a regiment and stick to a few strongholds. Gu Zhu felt that the same sound made sense, so he agreed. In the end, Sun Yuanliang only left a battalion composed of 423 people, known as 800 people, and the name of the eight hundred strong men came from this. After some screening, the "eight hundred warriors" finally chose the four-line warehouse located in the south of Zhabei District and on the north bank of Suzhou River . This is a reinforced concrete structure building and the tallest building in Zhabei at that time. More importantly, the opposite bank of four-line warehouse is the British and American concession. Confronting the Japanese army in this position will also allow more foreigners to see the will and determination of the Chinese army to resist, and gain more support from international public opinion.
From October 27th to 30th, the "eight hundred soldiers" in the four-row warehouse fought fierce battles with the Japanese army attacking the warehouse. Because this place is adjacent to the British and American concessions, the Japanese feared that they might accidentally blow to the other side, so they dared not use heavy weapons. This brought many advantages for the "eight hundred warriors" to stick to the four-line warehouse. Therefore, although the Japanese army had various advantages, it was unable to break through the defense line of the four-row warehouse in a short time.
On the other hand, in the concession area on the south bank of the Suzhou River, there are many people watching the fierce battle between the Chinese and Japanese armies across the river every day. The stubborn resistance of the Chinese army has left a deep impression on these people who are concerned about the situation. Therefore, although there were many tragic and heroic deeds in the Battle of Songhu, it was this four-line warehouse and the "eight hundred warriors" stationed here that brought the greatest shock to people's senses.
By the evening of October 30th, the "eight hundred warriors" had basically completed their set goals, and began to retreat to the concession area on the south bank in an orderly manner. The four-line warehouse defense war has come to an end. It is worth mentioning that nine Chinese people were killed in this battle, but there are different opinions on the number of Japanese casualties. China claimed to have killed 200 Japanese soldiers, while Japan claimed to have wounded 40 people and killed 1 in battle.
