A war that will change the fate of China and Japan is about to begin. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

This war, which changed China's modern history, also changed the fate of He Jifeng, commander of the 110th Brigade of the 29th Army.

He Jifeng, born in 1898, the name is Qisun, a native of Beixi Village, Gaocheng, Hebei Province, he studied since childhood, graduated from the Baoding Army Military Academy in 1923, and then went to the Beiping Army University for further study.

At the end of the study period, He Jifeng went to Feng Yuxiang's 37th Division of the Northwest Army to serve as the deputy brigade commander.

In the spring of 1933, the Japanese army advanced into North China, and He Jifeng led his troops to meet the battle at Xifengkou.

Before the war, He Jifeng lectured the officers and soldiers: "How difficult the country is, how difficult the nation is, our generation of soldiers who have been raised by the people and deeply gracious, should repay the country with death, lie on the battlefield with a smile, why not be afraid of the horse leather shroud?" Glory to the war dead, shame to the stealing of the living! ”

The officers and men had high morale, fought bravely against the enemy, fought hand-to-hand with the Japanese army with broadswords, fought fiercely for three days and nights, and finally won the victory in the Battle of Xifengkou.

After the Battle of Xifengkou, due to his outstanding achievements, He Jifeng was transferred to the commander of any 10th Brigade.

For the officers and men of the 29th Army, July 7, 1937, is a day that can never be forgotten.

For all Chinese, this day means infinite heartache.

For the Japanese people, this day disrupted their peaceful life, and they were dragged into a catastrophe by the military.

On the morning of 7 July, the Japanese army again exercised in the area north of the Lugou Bridge, and the smell of gunpowder became stronger and stronger.

In the afternoon, the 8th Squadron of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Wing of the Japanese Riverside Brigade stationed in Fengtai, led by squadron leader Setsuro Shimizu, came out of the barracks and drove to the vicinity of the Longwang Temple in the northwest of Lugou Bridge to hold a night exercise.

The content of the exercise was "to advance to the main position of the hypothetical enemy from the vicinity of the Ryuwangsa Temple to the east of the Great Tile Kiln, to approach the enemy by taking advantage of the darkness, and then to make a surprise attack at dawn."

In fact, this was an exercise against the 29th Army stationed in Wanping City, and it was a serious provocation.

The Dragon King Temple is in the northwest of Wanping City, the big tile kiln is in the northeast of Wanping City, the distance between the three places is only a kilometer, and there are soldiers of the 29th Army stationed in the Dragon King Temple.

The Japanese army conducted night exercises here was clearly a conspiracy.

At 7:30 p.m., just after twilight, Setsuro Shimizu ordered the troops to begin night exercises.

Some Japanese officers and the imaginary enemy immediately moved to the east, and when it was completely dark, nearly 600 troops moved to the east where the imaginary enemy was located.

Inside and outside the city of Wanping City, there is tension between swords and tensions, and there is a tendency to break out.

At night, the sky is clear and the stars are twinkling, although there is no moon, but under the starry sky, you can still see the walls of Wanping City looming in the distance, and you can vaguely see the posture of the soldiers moving next to you.

It was a quiet, windless night, in which the Japanese army carried out its long-planned plan of aggression step by step.

At 10:40 that night, the Chinese defenders in Wanping City heard a dense burst of gunfire in the northeast of the city, which was so piercing in the silent night.

The defenders in Wanping City did not dare to relax their vigilance at all and closely followed the development of the situation.

After a burst of gunshots, several Japanese soldiers came to Wanping City, claiming that they had lost a soldier and asked to enter the city to search, but the Wanping defenders believed that it was late at night, and the Japanese army would cause misunderstanding and hinder public order, and the Japanese army still insisted on entering the city.

The officers and soldiers defending the city refused, saying: "Our troops are sleeping, the gunshots are ringing from outside the city, not our troops are fighting, the loss of soldiers by the Japanese army at the exercise ground has nothing to do with us, we carry out the orders of our superiors, we cannot open the city gates!" ”

Seeing that the officers and soldiers defending the city refused, the Japanese army immediately surrounded Wanping County and opened fire on demonstrations.

At the same time, Setsuro Shimizu sent someone to Toyodai to report to Kiyonao Ichiki, the captain of the 3rd Brigade, and asked for reinforcement.

After Ichiki Kiyoshi went directly to report, because the brigade commander Kawabe Shozo was not in Beiping, he immediately reported to his immediate boss, Wing Commander Mutaguchi Lian, who immediately ordered Ichiki Kiyoshi to lead the third brigade to Lugou Bridge and direct the battle on the spot.

At the same time, Kutaro Matsui, head of the Japanese secret service in Beiping, began to make solemn representations to the Jicha authorities.

Beginning in the afternoon, Qin Dechun, mayor of Beiping and deputy commander of the 29th Army, invited more than 20 people, including Hu Shizhi, Mei Yiqi, Zhang Huaijiu, and Fu Mengzhen, responsible persons of Beiping's cultural circles, to report to them on the tense situation and exchange views on coping.

After Qin Dechun went home, he took a shower first, changed into a short shirt, and after getting into bed, he leaned on the bedrail and quietly pondered the situation in the past few days.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and Qin Dechun subconsciously glanced at the clock on the bedside table, and the time was pointing to 11:40 at night.

What happened?

An ominous premonition rose in Qin Dechun's heart.

Since June, the Japanese army has been conducting military exercises in the Lugou Bridge area with a sudden and frequent increase, and the exercises of the 1st Wing of the Japanese Riverside Brigade stationed in Fengtai have been carried out repeatedly with the goal of capturing Wanping City.

Could it be that the garrison of Wanping City clashed with the Japanese army?

Qin Dechun, whose nerves had been tense, picked up the phone receiver nervously.

The call was made by Wei Zonghan, director of the Jicha Political Affairs and Foreign Affairs Committee.

Wei Zonghan reported on the telephone: "According to the account of Kutaro Matsui, head of the Japanese secret service, a squadron of the Japanese army was conducting an exercise near the Lugou Bridge today, and while the team was being formed, all of a sudden, a unit of the 29th Army stationed at the Lugou Bridge fired at the Japanese exercise unit, causing a lost soldier on the Japanese side. ”

"The Lugou Bridge is China's territory, and the Japanese army has violated public international law and damaged China's sovereignty by conducting exercises there without our prior consent. Remembering the friendship between China and Japan, you can wait for dawn to ask the military and police in the place to search for them on your behalf, and if you find out that there are indeed Japanese soldiers, they will be returned immediately. ”

Qin Dechun reacted quickly and answered very simply.

After Qin Dechun replied, it was not until 2 o'clock in the evening that the Foreign Affairs Committee called again, saying that the Japanese side was not satisfied with this reply and strongly requested that troops be sent into the city to inspect, otherwise the Japanese army would surround Wanping City.

Qin Dechun thought that this incident might be a pretext created by the Japanese army, and it was likely to cause a catastrophe, so he immediately informed the commander of Feng Zhi'an Division and Ji Xingwen, the head of the regiment stationed at Lugou Bridge, by phone, and asked them to be on strict guard and prepare for battle.

At the same time, Qin Dechun ordered the head of Ji Xingwen to send people to reconnoiter the movements of the enemy in Fengtai.

At half past three o'clock in the morning, Regiment Commander Ji Xingwen reported by telephone: "There is about a battalion of Japanese infantry, with four mountain artillery pieces and a machine gun, and it is advancing from Fengtai to the direction of Lugou Bridge. We have set up the city defenses. ”

"Captain Ji, listen to my orders!"

Qin Dechun raised his voice and gave an order on the phone:

"It is the duty of our soldiers to defend the territory, and it is the honor of our soldiers to resist foreign enemies. That is, to tell the officers and men of the whole regiment to sacrifice and struggle, stick to the position, that is, to take Wanping City and Lugou Bridge as the graves of our army, one foot and one inch of the country. Don't make it easy! ”

After giving the order, Qin Dechun immediately notified Feng Zhi'an of this disposition.

Qin Dechun also instructed Wang Lengzhai, the magistrate of Wanping County, to quickly find out the "disappearance" of the Japanese soldiers so that they could be dealt with.

Wang Lengzhai informed Jin Zhenzhong, commander of the garrison battalion in Wanping City, to earnestly inquire about the guards, and after investigation, our army did not shoot any guns, nor did they find any trace of the so-called missing Japanese soldiers.

So, what is the Japanese army's claim that the soldiers are "missing"?

In fact, the "missing" soldier was named Kikujiro Shimura, a private, who left the team because he urinated and returned shortly after.

Later, someone asked Setsuro Shimizu why Shimura "disappeared", and Shimizu pretended not to know, and actually put forward three speculations:

First, it may be to get rid of it.

Second, it may be that they were ordered to reconnoitre, went the wrong way, and when they returned to the position of the troops for exercises, the squadron had already shifted.

Third, perhaps he fell asleep on the ground due to fatigue.

This would have been a simple matter, just ask Shimura himself and it will be clear, but the Japanese have been evasive.

After Shimura returned to the team, Setsuro Shimizu deliberately concealed it and did not report it.