Memoirs of a Veteran
Hello everyone, my name is Wang Xi. I'm a veteran captain of the Anti-Japanese War. I'm from Susong, Anqing. I'm 79 years old this year. I joined the army in November 1937!
I remember that when I first joined the army, I was aiming for the 10-yuan family allowance and the monthly salary of half a yuan. In fact, most of us were aiming for this at that time, but after we joined the company, we slowly felt that the previous thinking was not right.
During the recruit training camp, our instructor would teach us a few words every night. At the same time, he would often explain to us why we were fighting, what the country's honor was, and what the honor of a soldier was.
At the beginning, I yawned non-stop. It was like listening to a heavenly book. I didn't understand a lot of it until the Nanjing defense war. Some people were better off dead than alive. Some people died, but they lived forever in our hearts.
"Wipe away the tears that are falling."
When he first heard that he was going to Nanjing, he was very excited. He thought that he would be able to make contributions and become a high official on the battlefield! In the end, he came back to bring honor to his ancestors, just like our general. However, at that time, he was not a general but a local commander. I heard that at that time, he was still a wanted officer.
In December 1937, after a month of emergency training, we were pulled to Nanjing. At that time, we heard that Shanghai had fallen and the Japanese were heading towards Nanjing. Our commander took us across the Yangtze River and headed straight for Nanjing.
At that time, countless soldiers had retreated from Shanghai, Kunshan, Suzhou, and other places. Only one of our troops was fully armed and headed towards Nanjing. At that time, all the major newspapers were publishing the heroic deeds of our troops. Because of this, our military officer successfully became the commander of the new 44th Division, the youngest young general in the country! A 20-year-old young general! How many people don't know what to do at the age of 20? They're muddleheaded, but our commander became a division commander at the age of 20. It's just that the number of this unit doesn't sound good. 44 sounds like death!
"Hehehe (chuckles)"
At that time, there were two regiments of Sichuan troops that were stuffed into our division. We were the main force of the entire division. The two newly joined Sichuan troops were organized into the 2nd and 3rd regiments.
Our regiment could be considered the best regiment at that time. When we went north, no army dared to stop our regiment. This is true. At that time, we were all equipped with German weapons and wearing German military uniforms. Later, I realized that this was a genuine German Wehrmacht military uniform. At that time, I really didn't know. I thought it was produced by our military commander.
Compared to the newly incorporated Sichuan army, our weapons and equipment are simply incomparable! Their officers and platoon leaders might have a pair of tattered cloth shoes, while the rest of the soldiers wore straw sandals. Some of the soldiers even had tattered straw sandals, and there were even some who were barefooted in their tattered military uniforms in the winter of December.
"Sigh!"
The Sichuan troops had all kinds of weapons and equipment, from the Japanese's 38th rifle to the hunting musket. Some of them had nothing but a polished broadsword.
Some people might think that it was cool to slash the Japanese left and right with a big knife, but in fact, they were forced to do so. Who would be willing to fight with a gun?
What I remember most clearly is that there were quite a number of young men among them. They were at most thirteen or fourteen years old! They were wearing tattered clothes and holding all kinds of weapons, but they couldn't stand properly. At that time, we laughed at them. Now that we think about it, they were the bravest and straightest soldiers!
"Choking up! Wipe your tears!"
It was 1,000 kilometers from Dazhou to Nanjing! According to the 5-60 kilometers per day march, they would have to walk for about 20 days to reach Nanjing, but how could they all be from Dazhou! How could he walk in a straight line! That was why these young men were the real soldiers!
What was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old doing? She was indulged in her parents 'arms! Every time I see the memories of the Sichuan army on TV, I cry. I think of them!
There was a saying in the Sichuan army that as long as there was a Sichuan guy in the Sichuan army, the Sichuan army would die! In the eight years of the War of Resistance, there had never been a provincial army like the Sichuan army!
During the war, I didn't know how many Sichuan troops died. It wasn't until the post-war statistics that I found out how many died!
This was a little off topic!
"Wipe your tears and change the topic!"
The Sichuan troops of these two regiments were lucky to be given to our division. Our division commander respects the Sichuan troops very much! The first thing they did was to change their clothes. They were all equipped with German-style equipment and weapons. At that time, many of them could not bear to wear coats and large leather boots. They could not bear to wear these good things. In the end, the division headquarters gave a death order before they all wore them. They also wore them very carefully!
After the change of equipment, the Sichuan troops underwent a short period of training. The main thing was to educate some of the methods used by the Japanese army during the attack. This was really important. It was very important for the troops who did not understand the Japanese fighting style. Our division had reduced casualties because every company had taught the Japanese how to fight. Of course, it was definitely not comprehensive, but some common sense was enough to reduce casualties.
For example, when the Japanese attacked our position, they would extend their artillery fire. The so-called extended artillery fire was to bombard the first 50 meters of the attacking troops to make the attacking troops more successful. At the same time, when the Japanese retreated, their artillery would also bombard the position.
There was a saying that had always been circulating. Recruits were afraid of cannons, and veterans were afraid of machine guns. This was true, but it wasn't all like this. There were also recruits who were afraid of numbers and veterans who were afraid of whistles!
Why did he say that? The recruit had never seen such an overwhelming bombardment, so he was afraid that he would be killed if he ran around. The veteran was different. After experiencing it, you would know how to listen to the sound. When the shells rubbed against the air, they would make a whistling sound. The closer you got, the more ear-piercing the sound would be. At this time, you had to quickly find a hole to hide. You must not lie on the ground directly. That would definitely kill you.
One had to kneel on the ground. Otherwise, the shock wave from the shell could shatter all your internal organs. Although a recruit knew that lying down could avoid the damage of the shrapnel, he didn't know what to pay attention to when dodging the shell. He directly lay on the ground and covered his steel helmet. After the shell was fired, he didn't get up again. When he turned over, he found that he had died from bleeding from all seven orifices. He had been shocked to death!
The seasoned soldiers would not be killed so easily. They were all very smart. As long as they survived the battlefield, they were all very smart. The seasoned soldiers were most afraid of the whistles and machine guns of the supervising team behind them!
The whistle represented the voice of the suicide squad. As long as the whistle sounded, the machine guns were most afraid of the front, and the machine guns were still behind. The supervising team was watching from behind. If you didn't charge, they would kill you! The enemy's machine gun will kill you! This was why veterans were afraid of whistles.
The recruits were afraid of the bugle call. This was the bugle call for the charge. They were going to charge and fight with all their might. For the recruits, who was not afraid? It was really a life-and-death situation. The Japanese were holding their bayonet and shouting as they rushed over. The recruits were scared to death! It was not a big problem for the veterans to charge among the recruits. If too many of them died, the commanders of the recruits would retreat. The veterans were smart enough to charge behind the recruits. When the recruits were almost dead, they would start to retreat!
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