Rise From Eight Hundred

What kind of people can endure hunger and starvation for more than 30 days in a barren land?

In the past, the Australians trapped the Japanese army in the rainforest and refused to accept surrender, but at least there were fruits and animals in the rainforest, and the Japanese army could even plant crops. But even so, 200,000 Japanese soldiers were starved to death and more than 100,000 died of disease.

In the hills in northern China, field mice were caught on the first day of food shortage, and wild vegetables and tree bark were eaten up by 2,000 Japanese soldiers like locusts on the fifth day.

This also means that for the remaining month, the 2,000 Japanese soldiers survived on several tons of supplies dropped from the air.

If it was one or ten people, more than 2 tons of food and medicine would definitely be considered delicious, and it was the ceiling for wilderness survival. Masters like Bear Grylls and De Gea could only drool with envy.

Unfortunately, there were more than 1,900 people, and the supplies distributed to each person on average, let alone surviving for 1 month, even 10 days would be a miracle.

But the Japanese did it!

Even the officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment were somewhat impressed by the Japanese's ability to starve, but this did not prevent everyone from tying the "fence" tighter to prevent rats from digging holes and running away.

. . . . . . . . .

In fact, Okabe Saburo began to enter the rotten mode on the 15th day of the siege. The ground forces attacking the Chinese defense line on the front line had long been reduced from 4 infantry regiments to 3 infantry regiments. Even whether to launch a ground attack was decided by the front-line generals.

The highest commander was like this, and Major General Okuma Konosuke, who spoke generously before the war, did not even pretend, urging the soldiers to fight desperately every day

But not to attack desperately, but to dig trenches desperately and build fortifications in areas more than 1,000 meters away from the Chinese defense line.

Major General Okuma's brain was very flexible. He saw that the highest commander had quietly given up the rescue, but he had to save face and could not take the initiative to evacuate and leave his infantry brigade on the front line. There were more than 20,000 Chinese troops on the opposite side. What if the Chinese wanted to eat him instead of defense?

The attack of more than 20,000 Japanese infantry was not very good, but the defense was extremely hard. The trench was 7,000 meters wide and nearly 1,000 meters deep. Barbed wire, anti-artillery holes, etc. were all available.

Looking around, people who didn't know thought that the Japanese were defending and the Chinese were attacking!

However, Okuma Konosuke really guessed it right. After the two sides entered a stalemate, Brigade Commander Cheng had already called together 6 infantry commanders for a meeting. The theme of the discussion was to see if they could take advantage of this rare opportunity to launch a counterattack and eat another 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese troops to completely hurt the Japanese troops in southern Hebei.

But after a few days of reconnaissance, even a tough guy like Wang Xiaoqiang had to give up this tempting idea. The Japanese army had a little less troops than them, but to break through the position in front of them, without the assistance of flying thunder cannons and a large amount of explosives, they would have to pay at least 8,000 casualties.

If breaking the formation can achieve the strategic goal of annihilating the enemy, a half-loss rate is not unacceptable, but this battle is just a matter of picking rabbits by beating grass, and no one would do such a loss-making business.

Therefore, the more than 30,000 Chinese and Japanese troops in the face-off were almost peaceful in the next 20 days. You dig your trenches, I do my defense, and occasionally the enemy and I will throw more than a dozen shells at each other to show the existence of both sides.

The Japanese are not stupid. Since they found that the Chinese artillery is not less than theirs, and the Chinese will immediately fire back as long as they fire, they will no longer rely on the heavy firepower advantage to bully others. The role of artillery is more of a symbol, symbolizing that we are still fighting, not face-to-face picnics.

After all, the two sides are separated by a thousand meters, and they can't see clearly, and rifles and machine guns are just decorations.

The so-called air support was stopped early. It was not that the Japanese North China Front Air Force Corps did not work hard, but that the Chinese ground anti-aircraft firepower was too fierce.

The 48 40mm anti-aircraft guns of the Four-line Regiment Anti-aircraft Battalion were simply a bug for the Japanese Army Air Forces at this time. In addition, the Four-line Regiment and the 683 Brigade had dozens of 20mm anti-aircraft guns and dozens of 7mm heavy machine guns for medium and low altitude defense. Even the unreliable 3,500-meter bombing altitude became a flight restricted area. Several times, the bombs dropped by the air force in a hurry fell on their own positions.

Okuma Yukinosuke was not a good person. He sent a telegram directly to the Air Force Corps Command, and even the dirty words of Major General Kataoka Kaoru who gave birth to a son without skin were uttered, which almost made Kataoka Kaoru angry to death.

But Kataoka Kaoru couldn't curse back. After all, it was his men who killed friendly troops. It was unreasonable that he was not allowed to curse a few words when others died!

After the war, this kind of gossip, which was originally strictly confidential, was exposed. A reporter interviewed Major General Okuma, who had become the president of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, and asked about it. Major General Okuma pondered for a moment and gave a very philosophical answer: If you curse, your heart will be clear, but if you keep the curse in your heart, your heart will be dirty.

Major General Okuma, who was not a popular figure in the eyes of the big guys during the war, became a household name in Japan after the war. Under his leadership, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce became one of the largest chambers of commerce in Japan.

It can only be said that Major General Okuma also understands traffic.

The front line was like this, and Duo Tianjun was even more confused. As Tang Dao expected, the 6 special trains were just for rest and rotation. The Japanese army on the Zhongtiao Mountain front did not withdraw a single soldier, and still maintained nearly 130,000 troops. The two armies that were ready to fight at any time worked in vain.

Perhaps the only ones who were injured in this unsuccessful tactical deception were the stingy old man and a certain big man. After receiving the information that the Japanese army in Zhongtiao Mountain had no unusual movements, the certain big man really blushed and cursed angrily, "Damn it!"

The Japanese on the periphery were like this, so there was only one result---Colonel Shigenobu Yoshitsugu and 2,000 Japanese troops in the encirclement were completely abandoned.

Shigenobu Yoshitsugu's field radio had been permanently turned off since the last day of March. It was not that the poor Japanese army colonel was finished or did not want to seek help from the outside, but that the battery was completely dead.

Except for the Japanese army and the outer four-line regiments that kept an observation post on them 24 hours a day, no one knew how this poor army colonel and his more than 1,900 men survived the remaining 20 days without any food supplies.

Originally, the Japanese North China Front Army had been hiding the fact that 2,000 officers and soldiers of the 1st Division were besieged by the Chinese army, but as long as it is a mine, it will explode one day.

The mine that detonated this mine was a Chinese newspaper.

. . . . . . . . . .

April 4th, the day before the Chinese traditional festival Qingming Festival!

In the past two years, due to the war, more than 30 million Chinese were displaced and more than 100 million people fell into the Japanese-occupied areas. Not to mention Qingming Festival, even on New Year's Eve, not many families could sit together. As the Japanese army's offensive to the south slowed down, many Chinese families who had been fleeing south with their families finally settled down.

In the nearly three years since the war began, countless families have lost their relatives in the war. It is in this context that the Qingming Festival, a festival for ancestor worship and family worship, has naturally been put on the agenda by the Chinese.

In the hearts of the simple Chinese, even if their pockets are empty and they have not yet found tomorrow's dinner after eating this meal, they can't let their relatives and ancestors in the underworld go hungry, right?

In a small town in Huxian County, Shaanxi Province, many people went to the market to buy paper money and yellow paper for tomorrow's memorial service. Then, a newsboy broke into the bustling crowd and shouted: "Great victory in North China, part of the 80th Army of the Second War Zone joined the Four-Line Regiment directly under the War Zone in Handan, southern Hebei to repel the attack of the Japanese 1st Division, and surrounded 2,000 Japanese invaders in the mountainous area for more than half a month. The Japanese invaders have no power to rescue!"

The market, which was originally noisy with the purchase of memorial supplies, suddenly became quiet, and then it was like a stone thrown into a pond, exploding!

The little newsboy who just ran from the county town to the market town was surrounded by people from all directions. Those who knew knew that he was going to buy newspapers, and those who didn't thought that there was a lone Japanese soldier in the market, and everyone was going to tear him apart and eat his meat!

"Is it true or not? You kid can't lie!"

"Yes! If it's fake news, you kid will be in trouble!"

"How can I lie! This is the name of reporter Tan Tai Ming Yue, you can see it for yourself!" The newsboy's face turned red, and he took out a newspaper and pointed at Tan Tai Ming Yue's name and argued loudly, not caring whether his fellow villagers could read or not.

The little newsboy only knew that his boss had bought these newspapers from the provincial capital and brought them back to Huxian, and told them, the little brothers, that these newspapers that had been issued in the provincial capital for two days must make money, a lot of money.

Sure enough, Tan Tai Ming Yue's signboard was really useful, especially when an old man who looked like a teacher in a long robe and glasses took out two copper coins to buy a newspaper and shouted: "Yes, this is a signed article by Tan Tai reporter, it can't be fake, buy it first, and I will read this war report to you later!"

The people no longer had doubts, even though the price of 2 copper coins for a newspaper was already very expensive for them, and even though 95% of them could not read a single word, it did not stop their enthusiasm for buying newspapers.

The newspaper bag carried by the newsboy contained about 100 newspapers, which were sold out in just six or seven minutes.

"On March 9, 1930, the Japanese invaders led 40,000 troops with the 1st Division as the main force to invade our Zishan base in southern Hebei. All officers and soldiers of the 4th Line Regiment directly under the Second War Zone joined the 921st Division of the 80th Army and fought the enemy for eight days and nights, annihilating more than 10,000 Japanese invaders, and completely surrounded the more than 2,000 Japanese invaders who fled less than 2,000 on the night of March 18.

After another half a month of fierce fighting, our Chinese army successively repelled the Japanese air and ground reinforcements more than ten times. Now that the war is initially decided, the Japanese invaders who have lost their supplies since the day of the encirclement are also doomed. What will be the outcome? Mingyue is on the front line of the encirclement of the Japanese invaders and will bring the latest information in subsequent reports!"

"Mr. Shen, what does this mean? Are these 2,000 little devils dead or not?" A middle-aged man holding a newspaper in his palm was full of confusion.

Although Tan Tai Ming Yue did not use too many words to write this news report in vernacular, it was still a little difficult for rural farmers to understand.

"What Tan Tai reporter meant was that all the support of the Japanese was repelled, and these 2,000 Japanese were definitely unable to get out of the encirclement, and the Japanese had no food or water, so let's see how long they can hold out. Anyway, our army has surrounded them to death." The teacher explained with a smile.

"Good! The Four-line Regiment and the Eighty-group Army fought well!"

"That's what we should do, starve the sons of bitches to death!"

The people shouted good words.

"This money was not wasted. Tomorrow I will burn this newspaper to my family!" A middle-aged man shouted excitedly, but tears could not help but welling up in his eyes.

"Dad, 2,000 Japanese! You are a soldier fighting Japanese. Will you be happy to see this news tomorrow?" A ragged woman carefully put the newspaper into her arms and kept lifting her clothes to wipe the corners of her eyes.

However, no matter how she wiped, the moisture on her face could not be wiped away.

There was silence at the scene, and the teacher who was extremely excited by the news just now could not help but wet his eyes.

His eldest son died on the battlefield two and a half years ago, and his youngest son, who just turned 18 last year, also joined the army, and went to the 17th Division, saying that he wanted to avenge his brother. For this reason, he could not stop it, even if there was only his old wife and an old donkey at home.

People only know that the 17th Division of the Northwest Army fought twice at Niangzi Pass and was the bravest in the world, but they don’t know that every family in Hu County was in mourning, every household hung white silk, and nine out of ten households had no sons.

Hu County, with a population of only 100,000, lost 8,000 sons in the first battle of Niangzi Pass in October 1937.

The reason why the market is so crowded today is that parents miss their sons and wives hope for their husbands to return, although they also know that it is impossible.

Fortunately, the newsboy brought them the best paper money to commemorate their relatives.

Seeing the wailing at the scene, the little newspaper boy who was originally from Huxian County lost the excitement of having just earned 20 copper yuan: "Uncles and aunts, there will be newspapers delivered in two days. You can't buy them at that time. I will read them to you!"

"Yes! The reporter Tantai said in the newspaper that she will report the battle situation in the front to us at any time. Don't read to us, little brother, we should buy them. My eldest son is still waiting for the news of the Japanese starving to death underground, right?" The teacher shouted with difficulty.

"Buy them, as long as we can see 2,000 Japanese starving to death, we will buy as many issues of this newspaper as possible." A middle-aged man was also fierce.

Even though his empty belly was making a gurgling sound at this time, the only hen in his family that laid eggs could be sold for 6 copper yuan, right? He didn't believe that the Japanese could starve for another half a month.

The people of Hu County were very excited because they unexpectedly got the best "paper money" to commemorate their relatives by applying for the newspaper issued by the branch in Chang'an. The people in several major cities in South China, Southwest China, and Northwest China were also looking forward to the appearance of the next issue of the newspaper.

But this was like a thunderbolt from the blue sky for the Japanese, especially for the Japanese on the island.

Although the Japanese government has strictly controlled the news, in the more than two years since the war started, the Japanese on the island have seen the Imperial Army's rapid progress. Even the defeats in Taierzhuang and Wanjialing were all passed over by the news media as a "temporary defeat".

But the defeat of the Battle of Zishan was widely publicized by the Chinese domestic media, and even the Western media participated in it because of the Chinese pioneering newspaper "live broadcast". Besides, Japan is not a monolithic country. Not only are there many factions fighting each other, but there are also those who are unwilling to start a war.

So, the fire could not be covered by paper, and finally on April 10, the news that 2,000 Imperial Infantrymen of the 1st Division were surrounded appeared in the newspaper.

Japan almost exploded. No one expected that the Imperial Army, which had been advancing triumphantly on the battlefield, would end up in such a situation. The Chinese had surrounded it for almost a month, and the North China Front Army, which had 300,000 troops, could not rescue it. How incompetent were they?

"Dotenjun, Okabe Saburo and other incompetent generals must commit seppuku to apologize!"

The surging shouts and curses of the domestic people were about to overturn the roof of the imperial palace. Dotenjun, who had already given up, could only apologize in the newspaper and announce his resignation to calm the anger of the people.

But this might appease the people, but it would not have any effect on the situation of the 2,000 Japanese troops in the encirclement.

Seeing that the matter had reached an unmanageable point, the Japanese Army Headquarters could only cut the Gordian knot quickly. On April 11, it urged Lieutenant General Okamura Koji, the commander of the 11th Army, who was still on the front line in South China, to rush to North China to take over as the commander of the North China Front Army.

So, the most exciting scene of this battle appeared.

Okamura Koji, this clever guy, knew that even if he took office, he couldn't save the 2,000 imperial infantrymen. Going to take over Duo Tianjun's mess now would only add a stain to his military career. Although it was tempting to be promoted from lieutenant general to general, it would not delay his promotion if he went a few days later.

This guy fell off his horse and got bruised and swollen, and then dragged himself to the plane on the grounds of being injured.

Since then, the North China Front Army has been without a commander for half a month.

The Japanese side also tried to take the high-level route, hoping that through some kind of exchange, 2,000 Japanese infantrymen could leave the encirclement "dignifiedly", even if they had to hand over all their weapons and other conditions.

The Chinese high-level side had also wavered, but unfortunately there was a reckless regiment commander on the front line, who even made the commander of the Second War Zone angry, and the commander of the Tenth War Zone also asked through personal relationships. Tang Tuanzuo's answer was very simple: the Japanese invaders either kneel down and beg for surrender or starve to death, there is no third way! If anyone has other opinions, they are the ones who are in cahoots with Wang and will be despised by the real Chinese, whether now or in the future.

After this sentence was said, the high-level officials in Shancheng kept silent about this war.

Both China and Japan watched the 2,000 Japanese troops in the encirclement lose weight little by little through the newspaper live broadcast from the report exclusively authorized by Tan Tai Mingyue.

No one knows what happened in the encirclement, but everyone knows that no one can starve for a month, even if they are starving to the point of eating dirt.

And Tan Tai Ming Yue's newspaper live broadcast was broadcast for five episodes in a row, and that was another 20 days.

When the officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment finally set foot on the Japanese position and occupied it completely, they had only consumed less than 500 bullets!

There were more than 200 Japanese soldiers on the position, but they were all yellow and thin, and the stench was so strong that it could suffocate people from more than ten meters away, and their eyes were blood red, like ghosts.

Except for a few hard-line elements who still fired back, most of the Japanese infantry, seeing the Chinese soldiers coming, actually collapsed in the trenches and the field with their eyes closed, waiting to die.

It seemed that they had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

The outcome of this battle in the newspaper was only a very brief sentence: 1,760 Japanese invaders died and 187 were captured, including Colonel Nobuyoshi Tsutomu!

In fact, the tragic situation of the Japanese troops in the encirclement was so tragic that even the Chinese soldiers who were used to the brutality of the battlefield could not help but be moved.

Thigh bones with blood and flesh still attached could be seen everywhere, and the flesh on them must have been cut off by knives.

That was hell on earth!