Why defend the four-row warehouse ? Where did the term "eight hundred strong men" come from? How many people are there in the Four Lines of Solitary Army? How many Japanese troops have been eliminated by the Solitary Army? Is Girl Scout Yang Huimin crossing the river to present the flag true or not?
Following the hot screening of the movie "Eight Hundreds", the " Eight Hundred Heroes " led by Xie Jinyuan in the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 stuck to the Four Lines Warehouse. The feat of lonely blocking the Japanese army once again aroused people's respect for heroes. However, due to the historical dust, some details about the Four Elements are always confusing.
The authors of this article, Su Zhiliang and Hu Haolei, have used various historical materials to verify and distinguish the history of the Four Elements alone, in an attempt to correct false legends and restore the historical truth. The original name of the article was "Four Elements of Light and Shadow", serialized in Archives Spring and Autumn Issues 7-10, 2015. Due to the length of the article, this article has been deleted.
"Eight Hundred Solitary Army Fighting against the Diary" ( Shanghai Archives Collection)
1 Why is a four-row warehouse?
In late October 1937, after the failed counterattack of the Chinese army Wanzaohama, the Japanese army attacked across the board, and the situation of our army's defensive core large field took a sharp turn. Dachang is located on the edge of Zhabei. It was an important road to Nanxiang and Zhenru. It was also the junction of the Central Army and the Left-wing Army at that time. If the Japanese army occupied Dachang, the Central Army would be in danger of being pinched and annihilated. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek had to order the entire line to retreat.
However, in order to cooperate with the diplomatic strategy and leave the world with the impression that the Chinese army is still on the north bank of the Suzhou River, Chiang Kai-shek decided to keep the 88th Division Sun Yuanliang and Division to continue fighting in Zhabei, dispersing successive rows and shifts to defend Zhabei’s strength. Buildings and suburban villages, combined with guerrillas, try to buy time and arouse the sympathy of the international community.
Therefore, Sun Yuanliang decided to use the Sihang warehouse where the 88th Division is located as a stronghold, with the 1st Battalion of the 262 Brigade and the 524th Regiment as the backbone, as the last unit of the Chinese Army in Zhabei to stick to the north bank of the Suzhou River. At this time, the north bank of the Suzhou River had basically fallen into the hands of the Japanese army. The Japanese army wrecked wherever they went. The fire in Zhabei was blazing. The Japanese army had rushed to build comfort stations everywhere, in stark contrast with the hurried escape of Chinese people into the concession.
"August 13" bombing of Zhabei
Sihang warehouse is a joint stack of "North Sihang". The "Four North Banks" in the Republic of China at that time were Jincheng Bank, Shanghai Zhongnan Bank, Mainland Bank and Tianjin Salt Bank, which were one of the Northern Financial Group. In 1923, the "Beijing Four Banks" decided to jointly establish the Four Banks Savings Association. The Four Banks Warehouse was its warehouse in Shanghai to store bank supplies and customers' collateral and goods. The four-line warehouse is located on the west side of the north bank of the New Garbage Bridge (now Xizang Road Bridge) on the north bank of the Suzhou River. It is close to Xizang Road in the east and adjacent to the public concession across the street; the gate to the south faces North Suzhou Road (now Guangfu Road); to the north Leaning on National Day Road. Because it is used to store bank customer assets, the four-storey warehouse is a five-story reinforced concrete building, which is very strong and exceeds all surrounding buildings in height. The warehouse is actually divided into two parts, the east side is the mainland bank warehouse, and the west side is the four-bank savings association warehouse, but they are generally collectively called the four-bank warehouse.
The appearance of the four-line warehouse
is located at the junction of the Chinese boundary and the concession. It is inconvenient for the Japanese to launch an attack here. Sun Yuanliang lives on the ground floor, and fortifications have been built around the warehouse. Zhang Boxing and war correspondent Cao Juren live on the second floor. The officers of the division once hosted foreign journalists in the warehouse of Sixing, "accompany them to the first line of the North Station, they admit Our army’s line of defense was very stable, and the Japanese report was inaccurate.” Until Zhabei’s retreat, the headquarters did not move in the Sixing warehouse, and it was handed over to the 88th Division 524 Regiment Fu Xie Jinyuan and the 524 Regiment as the last position. hold fast.
On October 26, Xie Jinyuan led the 1st battalion of the 524 regiment into the four-row warehouse.
Xie Jinyuan
2 How did the term "eight hundred heroes" come from?
In the four days and four nights of the battle, the number of lone soldiers in the four rows is a mystery. So how many lone soldiers were involved in the defense of the Four Lines Warehouse? And where did the number of 800 people come from?
Regarding the process of transporting the wounded out of the warehouse on the evening of October 28, Yang Ruifu, the commander of the 1st Battalion, described it in "Four Diaries of a Solitary Army":
I told the soldiers who went out for medical treatment: You go out , Someone asked how many people there are in Sixing Warehouse, you just say there areEight hundred people, we must not say that there is only one battalion, lest the enemy knows that our number is small and even more fierce. Later, the number of 800 solitary troops that blasted the world came like this. The head of my 524th regiment was originally Han Xianyuan, but today most people mistakenly call it head Xie, which is inferred by folding eight hundred numbers.
According to Yang Ruifu's statement, the statement of the 800 warriors was only known to the outside world after the wounded were sent off on the evening of the 28th. But the fact is that before the wounded were transported out of the warehouse that night, the newspapers had already called the Four Lines Lonely Eight Hundred Soldiers or Eight Hundred Lonely Soldiers. The deeds of
four-strength solitary army appeared in multiple newspapers on October 28 at the same time. "Shen Bao", "News", "Ta Kung Pao" and "Central Daily News" all adopted the report of the Central News Agency:
Zhabei our army has already dawned yesterday morning Most of the former retreated safely, but this is not to say that Zhabei has no trace of our army. There are more than 800 loyal soldiers who have covered more than the first battalion of our 88th division. They are still in the flames under the leadership of the regiment commander Xie Jinyuan and battalion commander Yang Ruifu. Enveloping the enemy army, with its last drop of blood, and the last bullet, asking the enemy for the price to deal with, it is performing a majestic drama that will be immortal forever.
later in "Li Bao" and "Min Bao" mentioned that the number of orphans remained unchanged.
"Damei Evening News" reported on the 28th that there were two expressions of 150 people and 800 people. In addition, in the reports of "Zi Linxi Bao", "Mainland News", and "Shanghai Times", the expressions of the number of orphans mentioned were: "about 150", "over 300", and "may have 200 to 250 at most."
Eight hundred soldiers resisted in the four-line warehouse to the end.
Although the Chinese and foreign newspapers have different opinions, it is certain that from the evening of the 26th to the 27th, the lone army began to station in the warehouse until the 27th. British troops continued to persuade the lone army to give up the defense and retreat as soon as possible. Entered the concession, but Xie Jinyuan politely declined. Therefore, in the course of this negotiation, in order to deter the Japanese army, the lone army revealed the number of 800 people to the visiting British army. Later, Yang Ruifu also used this number when he ordered soldiers to send treatment. In addition, there is also a view that it was the Central News Agency reporter Feng Youzhen who changed the number to 800 at press time, so the newspaper adopted the statement of 800 strong men.
On August 20, 1938, a letter of protest written by the Four Lines of Solitary Army to the Bureau of Shanghai Public Concession Ministry of Industry (Shanghai Archives Collection)
I believe that these two statements have great credibility. From the comparison of Chinese and foreign newspapers, it can be found that the caliber of Chinese newspapers is relatively uniform. Most of them use the number of 800 people in the 27th Central News Agency’s telegram. The foreign language newspapers range from a minimum of 40 to a maximum of 500, mostly newspaper reporters. Estimated on site. In the case of exaggerating the four-line lone army record, we can make a multifaceted interpretation. Some are bona fide exaggerations in national struggles, while others are misrepresentations by the parties and misunderstandings by others. Judging from the misinformation in different periods, by exaggerating the number of lone troops and annihilating the enemy, the main purpose is to enhance the deterrence of the four-strand lone army against the Japanese in wartime, to inspire the spirit of the national resistance, and to confuse the Japanese army to protect the anti-Japanese support. Personal safety of personnel.
3 How many people are there in the Four Lines? After
withdrew from Sihang Warehouse, the number of lone soldiers gradually became clear. The specific figures were first disclosed by the "Damei Evening News" on October 31:
was the glorious retreat of the Chinese army in the four-bank savings warehouse. According to the reporter of the Damei Evening News, the Chinese army authorities have found a total of 377 people. As a result of days of loyal fighting, more than 50 people were injured.
, including "Shen Bao", also quoted this number the next day, only the "News" called it "three hundred and seventy-one strong men."
In addition, "Zi Lin Xi Bao", "Mainland News", and "Miller's Review" respectively reported the number of orphans as: 370, 379, and 354.
Generally speaking, although there are still some differences in the precise figures, after the four-row warehouse was withdrawn from the lone army, the statement of more than 800 people in two days was gradually replaced by more accurate figures. When Xie Jinyuan was interviewed by Chinese and foreign reporters at the solitary army camp on November 2, he also confirmed the specific number of the four-element solitary army:
... After the foreign reporter first inquired about the Zhabei solitary army's withdrawal from the four-element stack, according to Japanese propaganda, When the Japanese soldiers entered, they searched the stack house. There were more than a hundred dead bodies of my soldiers. Are they true? According to the answer, the enemy’s propaganda is completely untrue. In the four-row stack, except for some sandbags, there are no such corpses.There were 420 people, and 377 people at the time of the retreat. Except for more than ten who were martyred, the rest were wounded and were admitted to the hospital for treatment, and the enemy was killed by our lone army. The enemy does not know how many officers and soldiers I have, so I spread rumors and are absolutely untrustworthy.
According to the records of the Ministry of Industry Bureau of the Public Concession and comparing the "Statistical List of Forces Detained in the Chinese Soldier Detention Camp on Singapore Road", the actual number of people who entered the solitary barracks on October 31st was 355. The letter to the Ministry of Industry Bureau after Xie Jinyuan once again Confirmed this figure. Combining the previous information about the casualties of the lone army and Xie Jinyuan’s statement, it is concluded that the total number of the
lone army at the beginning of the battle of the Four Lines Warehouse was 420, and the total number of people who died or sent treatment during the battle was 43. At 12 o'clock on October 30, after setting out the retreat of each company, the number of people counted was 377. There were some casualties during the retreat. These wounded soldiers were sent to hospitals designated by the concession, such as the International Red Cross Hospital and Hong En Hospital for treatment. The number of people who entered the solitary camp without injury was 355.
4 The mystery of Yang Huimin crossing the river to present the flag
Among the many legends of the Four Lines Warehouse, the girl scout Yang Huimin presenting the flag can be said to be the most legendary and exciting story. However, even at that time, there were divergent opinions on the process and details of the flag offering.
Yang Huimin
Yang Huimin, a native of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, according to her own account, shortly after graduating from high school in early August 1937, she worked for the Midea Confectionery Company. At this time, the factory had ceased work, so she joined the Chinese Boy Scouts wartime service group with passion. Refugee service work. In the memoirs of
, Yang Huimin said: On the evening of October 26, she persuaded British soldiers to successfully enter the concession on the north bank of the Suzhou River, and with the help of a Chinese official, entered the British bunker on Tibet Road. During the conversation with the British soldiers in the bunker, Yang Huimin was surprised to find that there were still a group of Chinese troops guarding the four-line warehouse, and learned that they needed food, ammunition and gun oil. After dawn, she rode a bicycle and went to the Chamber of Commerce to find the president of the Chamber of Commerce. But the president Wang Xiaolai did not believe the news of a Girl Scout, so on the evening of the 27th, Yang Huimin crossed the new garbage bridge again and came to the east of the bridge. In the tea building, I found the telephone manager in the Wan Guo Business Group Club, and with his help repaired the telephone in the four-line warehouse. At dawn, Yang Huimin "wrapped the phone number of the city chamber of commerce that had been copied in advance, and threw it into the four-line warehouse, asking them to call the city chamber of commerce for help."
In 1938, Yang Huimin (first from right) and Leng Xueqiao (second from right) took a group photo (Shanghai Archives Collection). After receiving a call from the lone army, Wang Xiaolai personally invited Yang Huimin to deliver supplies. At the subsequent celebration party, Yang Huimin proposed that a national flag symbolizing national spirit should be hung on the four-line warehouse. Wang Xiaolai agreed very much. “I immediately picked up the phone and ordered a twelve-foot square national flag. Zhuang’s national flag has been sent." Yang Huimin volunteered and accepted the task of sending the national flag to the lone army. She wrapped the national flag in her underwear and put on a uniform. After nightfall, she risked her life and sneaked into the four-row warehouse:
Xie Jinyuan , The deputy commander of Shangguan Zhibiao, battalion commander Yang Ruifu, and several high-ranking officers had already greeted me at the window. When I took off my coat and presented the national flag soaked with sweat in front of them, under the dim light, the group of heroes who defended the motherland were so excited that they shed tears! ... (Xie Jinyuan) He immediately ordered his subordinates to prepare to raise the flag, because there was no flagpole on the roof, two bamboo poles were temporarily tied into a flagpole. At this time, the east is white, and the dawn is faint. There are ten or twenty people standing on the platform. They all solemnly raise their hands to salute the national flag. There is no music or pomp, but the sacred and solemn atmosphere is monotonous and tragic. The scene, but it is touching, I will never forget it in my life. In the book
, the flag offering is vividly described, full of legends, but the preparation, time and content of the flag offering are quite different from other reports.
wrote in Cao Zhigong’s article "The Truth of Yang Huimin Crossing the River and Offering Flags":
...After eight hundred lone troops were holding on to the four-row warehouse, I suddenly received a call one morning saying that it was a call from the four-row lone army. The other party claimed to be Xie Jinyuan, saying that the army planned to hang a Chinese flag on the roof of the warehouse it was guarding to show that it was different from the nearby sun flag. However, there was no newer one in the warehouse and asked to try to send a new flag. ...About 3 or 4 pm that day, Xiamen Road No. 1 AsylumA call from the People’s Federation of People’s Republic of China said that someone had crossed the river to the institute, claiming to be sent by the four-strength solitary army, asking for the address of the chamber of commerce, and asking for a national flag. I asked him to send someone to accompany him to the meeting, and soon a girl scout accompanied a man in plain clothes. After the interview, it was discovered that the Girl Scout name was Yang Huimin, who was sent to the shelter by the Boy Scouts of a certain school.
wrote in Ye Chunnian's article "The Passage of Sending the Flag to the Four Lines of Solitary Army":
...At lunch that day, there was another girl scout from the school boy scout group near Nicheng Bridge named Yang Huimin, who had guarded the warehouse. The army contacted and passed a national flag in the past. She also came to the Chamber of Commerce to say that the flag was smaller in size. ……Not long after we needed more than a dozen big sacks. Wrapped a national flag with the largest size in kraft paper, plus a flag rope, I went home and sent the largest and thickest bamboo pole at home to the Ningbo Road Wartime Service Regiment.
There was no moonlight that night. At 11 o'clock in the evening, the truck departed along Henan Road north to Henan Road Bridge. In addition to the driver, He Huixiang and I and six other members of the team, as well as the Boy Scout Council Zhao Bangyong and Zheng Zhangzhang, Li Baoguan Bai Guangrong. The truck stopped at the Xiaoheng intersection on the east side of Nicheng Bridge. ...We secretly explored a few light sources farther south of the bridge. I was the first to crawl across the bridge to a small cigarette and paper shop next to the warehouse. I removed a piece of the row of doors, and the inside of the shop was dark. Several soldiers stood on the counter and accepted a large flag and a bamboo pole I sent, and then dragged a large package of materials with a thick long hemp rope to the side of the shop cabinet by a few boy scouts. Ship in. …Because there are too many sack bags and they are too heavy and heavy, they can’t move quickly. When they are all delivered, they will take a ride back to the regiment, which is already two o’clock in the night.
Yang Huimin I saw her that day. Although she is not a member of our regiment (our regiment does not have female members), she also joined the Shanghai Boy Scouts wartime service regiment at that time. She has an armband number 41. The flag she sent was small and did not hang out, but it was also true that she contacted the defenders there at the bridge that day (I didn't know whether the defenders crossed the bridge or she was in the past, so I can't explain). She said she was seventeen at the time, and some people said she was in her twenties.
Ye Chunnian's statement is also partially confirmed in Bai Guangrong's article "Who Sends the Flag to the Four Lines of Solitary Army". Based on the information we know, the truth about the flag presented at the Four Lines Warehouse is roughly as follows:
On the evening of October 27th,
, Yang Huimin walked out of the Nunnery Refugee Service Camp and went to the north of the new garbage bridge to shout to the lone army. After receiving a reply from the lone army requesting a national flag , Yang Huimin delivered a smaller national flag to the warehouse that night.
On the morning of October 28,
, the City Chamber of Commerce received a call from Xie Jinyuan asking for a new national flag. At noon, a plainclothes man dispatched from the Four Lines Warehouse went to the Xiamen Road Shelter and found Yang Huimin. Under his leadership, he went to the City Chamber of Commerce to collect a new national flag and some supplies, and said he would return to the North Bank later. From 10pm to 11pm, a truck carrying materials packed in sacks and a big national flag departed from the premises of the Beijing Chamber of Commerce and went to the Sixing Warehouse.
On October 29, the
four-row warehouse raised two large national flags and hung the small national flag presented by Yang Huimin at the window. Although the content of the reports in different newspapers was slightly different at that time, it is certain that at least three national flags were displayed in the four-row warehouse at that time, and one of them was presented by Yang Huimin.
In addition, there were rumors that Yang Huimin was crossing the river to present the flag, and Yang Huimin also claimed in his memoirs that he had returned from crossing the river. To determine the authenticity of this statement, you can refer to Zheng Xiafei’s description of the defense on both sides of the Suzhou River at that time. He said:
"At that time, the British and American troops deployed two cordon lines on the south bank of the Suzhou River. The first cordon line was on Tibet Road Gas. At the entrance of the company,...the second cordon is along the Suzhou River in the south of Tibet Road and Bridge. It is guarded by the US Marine Corps. Pedestrians are prohibited from crossing the Tibet Road and Bridge. Therefore, it is impossible for Yang Huimin to pass the second cordon, let alone cross the Suzhou River. Even if you cross the river, it is impossible to go ashore to reach the Sixing Warehouse, because there are also British guards on the north bank, and pedestrians are not allowed to pass."
Therefore, Yang Huimin's flag offering is true, but the flag offering for crossing the river is probably an exaggerated propaganda at that time.
5
What happened to the four-row warehouse in 98 hours?
entered the four-row warehouse at 24 o'clock on October 26, and completely exited the warehouse and entered the concession at 2 a.m. on October 31. The lone soldiers stayed in the four-row warehouse for 98 hours.
||On the 1st day
At around 7:30 on October 27, the pioneering Japanese troops in Zhabei advanced to the east of the North Station. Yang Ruifu asked the two squads headed by Yin Qiucheng, the platoon leader in charge of guarding the Hanqiao area, to guard the main points, "to resist No retreat without order.” After the hand-to-hand exchange of fire, at about a quarter past eight, the security forces reported that the Japanese army “has indeed occupied the North Station Building and planted the sun flag.” The Japanese aircraft and ground forces acted in concert to reconnaissance and bombing over Zhabei, where the Chinese army had evacuated. The Dry Bridge Security Force continued to shoot against the invading Japanese troops, but due to lack of backup support, they gradually retreated to the four-row warehouse position. The squad leader Jiang Jing of the second company and the first squad continued to serve as an outpost, lying in ambush in the houses along Guangfu Road, echoing the three companies defending west of the warehouse. In addition, there is a bunker on the west side of the Sixing Warehouse. It was originally a fortification prepared to guard against the concession. It is located between the Bank of Communications and the Sixing Warehouse. Xie Jinyuan arranged for four consecutive flights of machine gunners to lie in the fortifications and fight Jiang Jingban. Formed a perimeter line of defense, and the machine gun company concealed on the roof of the four-row warehouse, taking advantage of high altitude to suppress the Japanese army.
Shanghai citizens are following the battle at the Sixing Warehouse across the Suzhou River (Shanghai Archives)
According to Wang Wenchuan, the machine gunner of the machine gun company, “the first Japanese attack was around 8:20 in the morning. It was a small group of Japanese soldiers. Forty people.” The Japanese army who attacked the warehouse for the first time thought that only a few Chinese troops were hiding in the four-row warehouse, and did not know that Xie Jinyuan had carefully arranged the outer line of defense. Therefore, from the bunker to the four-row warehouse, the 200-meter-long Guangfu Road is already a big bag. After this small group of Japanese soldiers enters the ambush, the machine gunners in the bunker, the Jiang police squad in the private house, and the machine guns on the top floor of the warehouse After firing together, in more than ten minutes, 27 Japanese soldiers were killed.
Items donated by Shanghai residents to the Sixing Lonely Army (Shanghai Archives Collection)
At 1 p.m., the Japanese soldiers in the vicinity of the Bank of Communications approached the Sixing warehouse. Peripheral forces have made amazing achievements, but because the bunker fortifications were originally designed to deal with the concession, the direction of the gun eye made it impossible for the lone army to shoot easily. At the same time, considering that the bunker is an isolated firepower point relative to the four-row warehouse, we are here After the Polish-Japanese attack, Xie Jinyuan ordered a series of four machine gunners near the bunker to withdraw.
After half past two, about a hundred Japanese troops under the cover of a chariot crossed the defense line of the Chiang police squad and stormed the gate of the four-row warehouse. The lone soldiers fought back bravely, "The machine guns ambushed in the houses on both sides of the road fired at the enemy. , The tank was blown up by our deadly soldiers." The soldier surnamed Zhang blew up a chariot with a cluster grenade and sacrificed himself heroically. During the intermittent Japanese onslaught, the two squads of the third company on the west side were ordered to abandon their outer positions and withdraw into the four-row warehouse. However, the Jiang police squad, who showed bravery in the battle, was isolated by the Japanese army, scattered in the civilian houses and continued to fight, but was eventually captured and killed by the ammunition. At three o'clock, Shi Meihao, the third company elder company who was in charge of guarding the gate, was splashed with a layer of flour. “His face was shot through and his face was covered with blood. He was still laying on a towel and staying on the ground.” He was also beaten through his leg shortly afterwards. As a last resort, Yang Ruifu ordered him to leave the position and rest. As the gate was fighting fiercely, the Japanese soldiers who had lost the cover of their tanks approached the wall of the warehouse. The seventy or eighty Japanese soldiers gathered at the southwest corner were not within the fire range of the building and the roof. At this time, the roof machine gun company A soldier surnamed Yang "wrapped up with grenades on his body, suddenly jumped from the top of the warehouse, jumped into the enemy group, set the fuse, and with the loud noise of the grenade, more than 20 devil soldiers lay down. Before, and this little man, Xiao Yang, who was less than 20 years old, also died heroically." At the same time, Yang Ruifu ordered Yin Qiucheng to lead ten soldiers to the top of the building, "immediately dropped two mortar shells and a few grenades. Seven enemies were killed and twenty or thirty injured." The rest of the Japanese troops broke up and fled. After the defeat in the afternoon's offensive, the Japanese began to know that the defenders in the warehouse were prepared, and instead of advancing easily, they encircled and waited for the opportunity to attack.
On the 27th, the four-line lone army withstood a large-scale Japanese attack. Xie Jinyuan wrote in a report to Sun Yuanliang: “The results of the enemy’s attack on the 27th, according to the observation post report, killed more than 80 enemies.”
|| On the 2nd day
At 3 o'clock in the morning on October 28, more than forty Japanese soldiers climbed along the wall into the second floor of the warehouse from Guoqing Road to the northwest corner of the warehouse. Fierce fighting broke out after being spotted by the defenders. More than 20 Japanese soldiers who had entered the warehouse were all wiped out, and the restescape.
On the eve of dawn, more than 20 Japanese soldiers with steel plates on their heads climbed to the corner of the warehouse to dig holes, attempting to blow up the outer wall of the warehouse with explosives (in the book "Eight Hundred Heroes Guarding Zhabei" by Yang Ruifu, edited by Yang Jingshen , Said that these Japanese soldiers were playing semaphores to the troops on the Suzhou River). At this critical moment, Chen Shusheng, deputy squad leader of the second row and fourth squad, tied several hand grenades on his body, pulled the fuse, and jumped into the corner from the window on the fifth floor. Among the Japanese soldiers, more than 20 Japanese soldiers were killed or shaken to death. Chen Shusheng also died heroically. After these two offensives, the Japanese army used the lone army without lights, and the intention of attacking at night was obvious. In order to cope with the night battles that will be encountered next, Xie Jinyuan ordered the lone army to collect materials on the spot, "twist the cotton into a twist, and apply kerosene. After being ignited or thrown in a volley by a window, or propped outside with a stick, this is a primitive earth method, but it is very effective." The four-row warehouse
in the fire of war
The Japanese army assembled after losing the attack the day before. More troops attempted to break the Four Lines Warehouse in one fell swoop. Yang Ruifu gave a detailed description of the attack that afternoon:
The weather was dark and drizzle at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the flames around Four Lines were gradually extinguishing. I saw the enemy bandits in the northwest of the four-row warehouse, concealedly moving four or five flat-fire guns, and lined up towards us. I should order the machine guns to shoot at the enemy to stop them, and the enemy bandits' machine guns on the roof of the Bank of Communications also immediately returned fire. So far we have started the second bloody battle with the enemy. The enemy's fire was fierce, especially compared to the 27th blocking the attack. In each building of the warehouse, bullets flew wildly and smoke blinded the eyes. I ordered all companies to stop working and join the battle. I and Xie regiment commanded separately. Xie regiment served as the commander on the east side of the building, and I commanded operations from the third company position on the west side, and stalemate with the enemy. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy had consumed a lot of ammunition, and I suffered some casualties. It was getting late, and the enemy saw nothing and left in embarrassment. I also ordered all companies to work harder except to keep the necessary warnings.
After the fierce battle, the water pipes in the four-line warehouse were also broken, so the lone army kept all the sewage for fire fighting. Fortunately, in the "broken house adjacent to the warehouse, a tap was found", and it was immediately protected and used. Taking into account that Xie Jinyuan was transferred to the 524 regiment and served as the regiment for a short time, many soldiers did not know him, so at 8 o'clock that night, Yang Ruifu summoned the soldiers of each company in batches and introduced them to the regiment. After Xie Jinyuan finished the training, he asked the lone soldiers to write a suicide note and try to send it out to show their determination to sacrifice. Except for "more than three people who were rescued and treated outside due to injuries, Yu Jun was safe and sound."
|| On the 3rd day
On October 29th, the angry Japanese army sent a plane to hover over the four-row warehouse in an attempt to fly at low altitude. However, the machine guns and soldiers on the roof were highly guarded and used anti-aircraft machine guns to aim and shoot. Was repelled, and finally failed to drop the bomb. The experience of the Japanese ground forces was similar to that of the Air Force. At 12 noon, four or five Japanese tanks and chariots brought back and forth along Guoqing Road and north of the Sixing Warehouse. With the firing of flat guns, they attempted to cover the siege of the infantry. The siege never succeeded because the lone army used machine guns continuously to fire back. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the Japanese launched a more violent offensive. At the same time they launched a siege to the north of the Sixing Warehouse, they sent two armed small boats, loaded with marines, into the Suzhou River from the Huangpu River Estuary and sailed westward, "attempting to attack from the front of the warehouse. , Drove to the vicinity of the old garbage bridge and was stopped by the British troops defending the place, but the plan failed."
Zheng Xiafei, the translator of the Chinese team of the International Business Group, was also on the scene, and the four lone soldiers shouted to him through the window of the cigarette paper shop: "If the steamer reaches the road and bridge in Tibet, the eight hundred heroes will shoot with machine guns, no matter what the concession is not. The consequences should be borne by the British army.” In order to prevent the war from spreading to the concession, the British army stopped the Japanese army from continuing westward at the old garbage bridge. The two sides were at a standstill and the situation reached a deadlock. Later, under negotiations between the Japanese and British consuls, the two ships carried about three. The ten-man armed boat only left at 4:30 in the afternoon, and the offensive frenzy that day also came to an end.
The attacking Japanese soldiers
|| The 4th day
October 30 is the climax of the defense war of the four lines warehouse. The Japanese army, which had failed to besiege for three days and nights, continued to pressure the public concession. The Naval Attache of the Japanese Embassy in China Hondasuke and the Third Fleet Commander Hasegawa Kiyoshi made their speeches, threatening to "recklessly take extreme measures to deal with the Chinese defenders." ".
The Japanese ground troops’ artillery fire was unprecedented in three days. The Japanese troops constructed a Qufu intersection near the warehouse.The fortifications blocked the warehouse and Tibet Road, the only line of communication outside. On the National Day Road, the flat-fire artillery bombarded the four-row warehouse and shot out a few bullet holes on the west side of the fifth floor of the warehouse, which was used by the lone army. The latter “set up machine guns and fired at the places where the enemy bandits gathered. Fleeing in panic".
At around 8 o'clock in the evening, the Japanese attacked wave after wave, and used "searchlights to shine on Tibet Road, and block the intersection with fierce machine guns", and blasted the warehouse with flat-fire guns and heavy mortars. "At the most intense time, every second There was a fire." At 12 o'clock in the evening, Xie Jinyuan suddenly issued an order to Yang Ruifu, asking the troops to retreat into the concession on the east side of Xizang Road after 12 o'clock. By 2 o'clock in the morning on the 31st, all of them would withdraw into the public concession.
The four-row warehouse defense battle for four days and four nights is over.
On October 31, 1937, the "eight hundred warriors" withdrew from the four-row warehouse
6 how many Japanese troops did the four-row lone army wipe out?
At that time, in order to strengthen the momentum, reports often exaggerated the number of Japanese troops eliminated.
For example, a newspaper reported on October 28: "This loyal and brave man has more than 800 people, and has wiped out more than 300 Japanese soldiers in the morning." There are also some books claiming to have caused 500 or 600 Japanese casualties, or even several thousand. I am afraid this statement is false.
Xie Jinyuan’s letter to Sun Yuanliang wrote:
“The results of the enemy’s attack on the 27th, according to the observation post report, killed more than 80 enemies. At 6 o'clock in the morning on the 28th, two enemies were killed by personal sniping”, the author Investigating the details of the battle at the Sihang Warehouse, it was analyzed that the death toll of the Japanese army decreased at a rate of 50% every day.
However, because of the exaggeration in the number of reports or reminiscences at that time, or the use of uncertain quantifiers such as "approximately", "there are many enemy remains", and "the number of enemies killed", coupled with the tense and chaotic situation at the time, no one remembered exactly The number of Japanese soldiers killed may also be double-counted. Therefore, based on objective statistics, the number of Japanese soldiers killed alone in the Four Lines Warehouse Defense War should be about 100, and the wounded should be about 200 to 300.
(Su Zhiliang: Professor of Shanghai Normal University, Director of the Urban Culture Research Center of Shanghai Normal University, Humanities and Social Sciences Base of the Ministry of Education, and Vice President of the Chinese Urban History Research Association, Vice President of the Shanghai Literature and History Research Association, etc.)
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