Chapter 53: Disruption
The Japanese army suddenly retreated during its rapid advance, which was something that Xue Yue, the acting commander-in-chief of the Fourth War Zone, had not expected.
However, just because Xue Yue did not think of it does not mean that Chiang Kai-shek did not think of it.
In fact, long before the outbreak of this war, the supreme ruler of the Guiyang National Government had repeatedly asked the Fourth War Zone to withdraw and avoid fighting, and even sent Bai Chongxi and Chen Cheng to try to persuade Xue Yue, but was rejected by Xue Yue.
The reason why such a strange thing happened is very simple.
Because, at this moment, Guiyang was secretly flirting with the Japanese invading army.
In fact, as early as after the end of the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese army had already felt that it was short of troops and unable to launch another large-scale battle.
In order to end the war as soon as possible, the Japanese government proposed to spare no effort to intensify its efforts to induce the Kuomintang government to surrender, that is, to "induce the Chongqing government to abandon its anti-Japanese war and turn to comprehensive pacifism."
Faced with the Japanese government's new round of offensive to induce surrender, Chiang Kai-shek, who was quite aggressive in the northwest, was still considering how to respond, but Wang Jingwei, then vice president of the Kuomintang and premier, could not wait to take the lead.
Although Chiang was very angry about this , he was not willing to lag behind in action and was constantly looking for opportunities for "peace".
For a time, Japan and Chiang had frequent contacts and talks, and even Chiang himself admitted in his diary:
At that time, Japan "indirectly and informally expressed its desire for peace at least once a month, and increasingly put forward more favorable conditions." In late October and early November 1939, just before the start of the First Battle of Changsha, Takeo Imai, then the section chief in charge of intelligence and government affairs of the Japanese Expeditionary Army in China,
Several talks have been held in Hong Kong and Macau with Chen Chaolin, Lieutenant General and Deputy Director of the Chongqing Headquarters Staff Office, and a preliminary "Opinion" and "Memorandum" have been formed. The main points of this "Opinion" and "Memorandum" are: "China recognizes Manchukuo as a principle, and Japan respects China's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
China immediately abandoned its policy of resisting Japan and tolerating the Communists, and issued a statement at the same time as the ceasefire.
Japan and China concluded an anti-communist agreement; Japan withdrew its troops as quickly as possible while restoring peace.
Because the above points are similar to the "peace opinions" of the Chinese representatives and their spirit is basically consistent, Chiang Kai-shek is relatively satisfied.
Therefore, the subsequent First Battle of Changsha was seen by Chiang as a move by the Japanese army to increase its bargaining chips at the negotiating table.
Since the Japanese attack was an integral part of the secret talks, Chiang Kai-shek naturally did not want to lose too much money, so as not to reduce his bargaining chips in the talks, so Chiang asked Xue Yue to withdraw from Changsha on his own initiative; and Chiang also knew that since the Japanese had made the choice, they would not force him too much, and Changsha might not necessarily have to be defended.
The actual development of the war also confirmed Chiang's judgment, but unfortunately a sudden fire disrupted Chiang's deployment.
Because the negotiations between Chiang Kai-shek and Japan were extremely secretive, the outside world was not aware of it except for some participants on both sides. Even some senior officials within the Chiang faction were confused, including Zhang Zhizhong, the chairman of Hunan Province in the Chiang faction.
Therefore, based on the guiding ideology of active defense, Zhang Zhizhong decided to implement a scorched earth policy in order to prevent the Japanese army from fighting to support the war after capturing Changsha.
The so-called scorched earth policy refers to the defensive strategy of burning down the city when the Japanese army enters within 30 miles of the city in accordance with the regulations of the National Government on preventing military supplies from being obtained by the Japanese army.
The first initiator of the movement was Li Zongren, who published "On Scorched Earth War of Resistance" to formally propose the idea of complete resistance against Japan. He then published a series of articles, clearly stating that "the whole country is united and determined to shed the last drop of blood and turn the whole country into scorched earth in order to fight a desperate war against the invaders."
Based on this policy, Zhang Zhizhong arranged for Changsha Garrison Commander Feng Ti and Hunan Provincial Security Director Xu Quan to formulate a "City Burning Plan". The plan consisted of 13 items, which clearly required that "before abandoning, all public and private buildings in Changsha and all materials that are not prepared to be transported away must be burned down and not be used by the enemy", "the Second Garrison Regiment of the Provincial Capital Garrison Command and the Changsha Social Training Corps must be responsible for the execution", and "enter the prepared position (at any time)".
On November 24, the battle broke out. Chiang once tried to abandon Changsha to preserve his strength. However, in order to show his bravery and perseverance in the face of a strong enemy in front of the people, and also to gain benefits at the Chiang-Japan negotiating table, Chiang deliberately brought up the scorched earth war again, attempting to threaten Japan by saying "I will hurt myself if you don't agree."
For this purpose, at 9:17 am on November 26, Chiang's secret order was delivered to Zhang Zhizhong.
The secret order said: "If Changsha is lost, the whole city must be burned down. Please make careful preparations in advance and don't make any mistakes!"
Soon after, Zhang Zhizhong received a call from Lin Wei, deputy director of Chiang's secretariat. During the call, Lin Wei repeatedly reminded him: "A scorched earth policy should be adopted in Changsha." In this case, the plan to burn the city immediately entered the implementation stage. Various ignition materials were immediately distributed, and the orders, signals, order, and discipline for the fire were also specifically communicated.
The location of the arson was chosen to be Tianxin Pavilion, which is the highest geographical location in Changsha City. Afterwards, Zhang Zhizhong personally inspected the implementation and set up a command headquarters to destroy Changsha. Feng Ti was in charge, Xu Kun, commander of the Second Security Regiment, served as the commander-in-chief, and Wang Weneng, deputy commander of the Municipal Social Training Corps, and Xu Quan served as deputy commanders-in-chief.
In the early morning of December 2, 1939, the Japanese vanguard broke through the Laodao River. When the news came, the atmosphere in Changsha city suddenly became tense.
According to Zhang Zhizhong's previous instructions, the air raid alarm suddenly sounded, and the people in the city were awakened from their sleep and ran out of their homes with their wives and children.
According to prior regulations, a period of time should be allowed for the evacuation of civilians after the first air raid alarm, but due to insufficient publicity.
In fact, it was impossible to carry out adequate publicity because there was no compensation and no resettlement plan. The Kuomintang, fearing opposition from the people, did not implement any reminder measures at all.
The people who evacuated from their homes found no signs of air raids and thought it was a misjudgment by the authorities, so they returned home one after another. At this time, the fire suddenly broke out.
The first fire to break out was at the hospital for wounded soldiers outside Changsha’s south gate, followed by three other fires in the direction of the south gate.
According to the plan, there are four rules for lighting the fire: "First, the order of the provincial government, second, the order of the garrison headquarters, third, the rhythmic long and short sounds of the sirens, and fourth, there is a pillar of fire on the Tianxin Pavilion."
Therefore, Xu Quan, who was on duty, concluded that "one negligence led to three arson incidents" and called the police chief Wen Chongfu to ask for help in putting out the fire.
"The police have all evacuated, and the firefighters have also evacuated," Wen said.
Earlier, in order to implement a scorched earth policy, all fire trucks had also replaced the water with gasoline.
While they were still grinding their teeth, the security headquarters in the city, unaware of the truth, saw the fire outside the city and thought it was a signal, so they threw lit torches at oil drums or residents' houses.
Soon, even the Tianxin Pavilion was engulfed in flames, and then the entire city was on fire.
At this point the fire could no longer be put out and the city had to be abandoned.
In the end, the Changsha fire lasted for five days and five nights before it was extinguished on its own.
Because the previous alarm was considered a false alarm, a considerable number of Changsha residents had already returned home from their shelters. At this time, when the fire broke out, the people who had not yet gone to bed scrambled to escape. In the crowd and chaos, some were trampled to death by the crowd, some were crushed to death by cars, and some were burned to death by the fire.
An old lady in her 60s was forced into a water tank by the fire and scalded to death.
A mother and her child hid in a water tank to avoid the fire, and both of them were boiled to death.
More than 30 employees of Yu Taihua Jinhao hid in the air-raid shelter and were all burned to death. The shrill cries and terrifying screams, together with the explosions when the buildings were burning, intertwined into a tragic world.
The Japanese troops on the front line more than ten kilometers away stared in amazement at the flames and thick smoke that illuminated the night sky, at a loss as to what to do. Perhaps it was because Changsha had lost the meaning of being occupied and the main force of China had already withdrawn safely.
These are intertwined reasons, not the advice of someone outside the negotiating table.
Five days after Okamura Yasuji finally ordered the withdrawal, when the Chinese army, which had driven away the Japanese army, returned to Changsha, they were surprised to find that the thousand-year-old city had been completely changed.
More than 90% of the houses in the city were burned down, more than 1,500 people died in the fire, and the fire caused economic losses of about 1 billion yuan, equivalent to 1.7 trillion yuan after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, accounting for about 43% of Changsha’s total economic value.
Among them, most or all of the buildings of the provincial government, the Department of Civil Affairs, the Department of Construction, the police station, the security headquarters, the provincial and municipal party committees, the security department, the local court, the high court, the telegraph office, the telephone office, the post office, the municipal chamber of commerce, the Central News Agency, the Central Broadcasting Station and various newspapers in Changsha were burned down.
31 schools including Hunan University, Mingde Middle School, Yueyun Agricultural and Industrial School, Chuyi Industrial School, Duize Middle School, No. 1 Normal School, Nanhua Girls' School, Mingxian Girls' School, Miaogaofeng Middle School, Provincial Changsha High School, and People's Education Center were completely or partially destroyed.
More than ten banks including Hunan Provincial Bank, Jiangxi Yumin Bank, Shanghai Bank, Bank of Communications and Bank of China, more than 40 factories including Hunan No. 1 Textile Factory, and more than 180 rice mills and grain warehouses were burned down.
All 40 Hunan embroidery companies were destroyed.
All hospitals except Xiangya Hospital were burned down.
In order to cover up the heavy losses caused by the Dongxi Fire, after the Japanese army retreated, the Central News Agency published a short commentary titled "Fortify the walls and clear the fields, Changsha has become a ruin", saying: "According to the established plan, Changsha, which became the target of the enemy's attack, had to adopt the strategy of fortify the walls and clear the fields, so that even if the enemy could penetrate deep, they would gain nothing. Therefore, the authorities automatically destroyed the city from 3 a.m. on the 2nd."
The Central News Agency also claimed: "After the fire, there was not a single blade of grass or tree in Changsha that could aid the enemy, and the Japanese army was forced to retreat."
But the Central Daily News editorial made it clear: “Changsha has been thriving in both material and human resources over the past 30 years.
Among the cities in China, Changsha ranks first in terms of abundance and prosperity.
A hundred years of creation, only to be destroyed in one pitiful destruction. "
Major newspapers in the northwest also questioned: "Was the Dongxi fire a fight against the Japanese or an escape?" Not only did domestic and foreign newspapers report it, but the Japanese army that withdrew to its original starting point also sent planes to take pictures over Changsha, and exaggerated it in radio and newspaper reports, saying that after the fire, "the whole city of Changsha was like a lick," and ridiculed and mocked it to the utmost.
Wang Jingwei in Tokyo also published a report opposing the scorched earth war and advocating Sino-Japanese peace and cooperation. He said: "If the 'scorched earth war' destroys oneself like Changsha, it is better not to fight!"
Under such circumstances, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to put aside negotiations with Japan and took measures to cut off the relationship by executing Changsha Garrison Commander Yi Ti and Second Garrison Regiment Commander Xu Kun for the crimes of insulting the people and dereliction of duty.
Wen Chongfu, the police chief of the capital of Hunan Province, was executed by firing squad for abandoning his duty without following orders.
Xu Quan, director of the Hunan Provincial Security Department, was panicked and demoralized, so he was dismissed and investigated.
Chief of Staff Shi Guoji and Chief of Staff Xu Quan of the Changsha Garrison Command are on the run and have been dismissed from their posts and are being sought.
Changsha Mayor Xi Chulin abandoned his post and absconded, but was dismissed but remains in office.
Zhang Zhizhong, Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, failed to supervise the selection of personnel and neglected precautions. He was dismissed from his post but retained his position, and was tasked with handling the aftermath to see the results.
Soon after, Chiang Kai-shek revoked Zhang Zhizhong's post as chairman of Hunan Province and appointed meritorious official Xue Yue as acting chairman first and then the actual chairman. Zhang Zhizhong was transferred to become the director of the First Department of the Chairman's Secretariat.
At this point, Zhang, the captain of the Whampoa Military Academy's recruits, the chief of staff of the Second Division of the Party Army, the commander of the Whampoa Military Academy's officer corps, and the teacher in the eyes of the direct Whampoa students, began to go downhill after reaching the peak of his life. He was degraded from a frontier official to an eunuch, and from an eunuch to an ordinary soldier in name only, and finally embarked on a life trajectory that was alienated from and contrary to Chiang Kai-shek.
