[Anti-Japanese Iron and Blood King] Chapter 241: Move to Wuhan

The 7th Division of the Seventh Division of the First World War completely annihilated the 106th Division of the Japanese Army, killed the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, with more than 10,000 men, captured more than 800 people, and captured a large number of weapons and equipment and half of the divisional flag. In one morning, the Wuhan Garrison Headquarters received 46 congratulatory telegrams from various organs and units at home and abroad, including congratulatory telegrams from Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

What excited the Nationalist Government the most was that even the heads of the Soviet Union and the United States Government, who were not united in their opinions, immediately sent congratulatory telegrams to congratulate the Nationalist Government on its unprecedented victory, and the President of the United States also revealed his intention to support China's War ******of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

On the same day, the three towns of Wuhan hung the blue sky and white sun flags to celebrate the great victory of Wang in the bamboo forest created by Ma Zheng's department, and also to celebrate the fact that the navy and army of the Nationalist Government finally drove the Japanese army out of the range of Pengze and solved the crisis in Wuhan.

After reading the telegrams sent by the heads of state, ****** who were in a good mood immediately issued a nationwide telegram commending the First Corps of the Wuhan Garrison Headquarters and the Seventh Division of the Eighth Route Army for their achievements, and at the same time promoting a large number of meritorious personnel to the military ranks. This ****** was truly generous, and its boldness surprised even senior personnel such as He Yingqin, Song Meiling and Chen Cheng.

This time, Ma Zheng's department was awarded the title of anti-Japanese model division, and the Nationalist Government specially allocated 100,000 oceans from the national disaster salary to Ma Zheng's department, and the Ministry of Military Affairs also allocated 3,000 new guns to the 7th Division, and after the end of the war, the 7th Division went to Wuhan to change its outfit and participate in the government's award ceremony.

In addition, the Ministry of Military Affairs ordered the 7th Division to immediately send the body of the Japanese chieftain Matsuura Junrokuro and the half of the division's regimental flag to Wuhan for government propaganda.

After receiving the order. Ma Zheng immediately sent someone to pack the bodies of Matsuura Junrokuro and Qin Shangya into coffins and send them to Wuhan, along with the belongings of the two Japanese generals and the half of the military flag.

At three o'clock in the afternoon of August 9, the train arrived at Wuchang Station with a roar, and then the two coffins were carried off the train under the escort of a team of energetic soldiers, and then rushed to the Wuhan Garrison Headquarters.

Outside the Wuhan Garrison Headquarters. Hundreds of journalists from all over the world who were invited to come were anxiously waiting. Although the Nationalist Government had already circulated the details of the victory and the results of the battle in Zhulin Wang, they still could not believe that the Chinese defenders, who had always been weak, could quietly annihilate a division of the Japanese army without seeing strong evidence.

When the coffin arrived at the Wuhan Garrison Headquarters, the lid on the coffin was opened, and the bodies of two Japanese generals in Japanese military uniforms were presented to everyone. Although both Japanese officers were bloodied and disgusting. But it is not difficult to see the identities of these two through the generals' uniforms and generals' knives on their bodies.

In the next two days, the news about the total annihilation of the 106th Division of the Japanese Army by the Duqi Division quickly fermented throughout the country, and people who had been suppressed for a long time rushed to tell each other, and the military and civilians in Wuhan broke out again in large-scale anti-Japanese demonstrations.

Internationally, the mainstream media of the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy have all reported on the incident. Even Japan, which has always had a high level of censorship, reported on the incident. They have no way at all, and now the whole world is talking about this matter, and if they cover the lid again, it will inevitably arouse the suspicion and dissatisfaction of the people in the country.

Upon learning that the military flag of the 106th Division had been seized, an uproar was set off in Japan, and many people demanded that Lieutenant General Okamura Ninji apologize for his crimes.

In the eyes of the Chinese, the capture of a Japanese flag was certainly a happy thing. It proves that the government and the soldiers on the front line are not boasting about Haikou and are not deceiving them. But no one expected that the Japanese military and civilians would react so violently to this. It even gives the Chinese the illusion that the military flag is more important than the total annihilation of the 106th Division.

In fact, this is not an illusion, and in the eyes of the Japanese military and civilians, the importance of the military flag is indeed more important than the life and death of a division and regiment. For example, in the Southwest War in Japanese history, there was a fierce battle between the government army and the Saigo Takamori army near Tawarazaka. Among them, the flag bearer of the 14th Infantry Wing of the government army, Second Lieutenant Hashio Kawahara, was killed in battle, and the "Army Imperial Flag" was captured by the Saigo Army.

So the Japanese army stipulated. Flags lost due to force majeure will be reissued on January 21 of the year following the loss, and the flags will be withdrawn to the Ministry of War for safekeeping after the Army Wing is withdrawn from its establishment. Despite this, the Japanese army regarded the robbery of the military flag as the greatest humiliation.

It is because of this feature. The Japanese army stipulated that if the situation of the war fell into an irreversible situation, the first thing to do was to burn the military region, which was called "military flag burning". Because of this, nearly half a century has passed since the Meiji Restoration, and the Japanese army has conquered most of Asia, but it has not lost a single military flag. Unexpectedly, the military flag of the dignified 106th Division was captured by the people of China on the front line in Wuhan, which was an unforgivable and unwashable shame in the eyes of the Japanese.

Under domestic pressure and the delay in the arrival of the Third Division of the Second Army, the Jiangbei offensive was in a difficult situation, so the Central China Front decided to withdraw the whole army and end the battle, which had no hope of victory.

The Battle of Wuhan was over, and the Japanese army was quite a bit anticlimactic, and concentrated more than a dozen divisions and regiments with great momentum, claiming to take Wuhan and destroy the Chinese government and the people's will to resist. However, the result was that after three months of hard fighting, they could only stop at Madang Fortress, and the army, navy and air force suffered heavy losses.

After confirming that the main force of the Japanese army had withdrawn, the Nationalist Government sent a telegram to the Seventh Division, and the whole division immediately moved to Wuhan to prepare to receive commendations from the Military Commission, and the officers, including Ma Zheng, received the awards from the Military Commission.

After receiving the order, Ma Zheng gathered the remains of the soldiers killed in the battle in the past few days and buried them in a large open space at the foot of the twin peaks, and found a famous local stonemason to chisel a huge stone tablet, indicating that the remains of the dead soldiers of the Seventh Division of the Independent Anti-Japanese Division were buried here.

Later, Ma Zheng had the bodies of more than 9,000 Japanese officers and soldiers buried in three large pits, and he also had a monument erected, and the inscription on it was the same -- "The 106th Division of the Japanese Army Invading China was buried here."

After doing this, Ma Zheng immediately led the troops to Wuhan, and in addition to a large number of soldiers, he was accompanied by a large number of wounded and captured weapons and equipment, and there were more than 300 large trucks alone.

From its arrival on the battlefield in Wuhan to the present, the 7th Independent Division has fought a bitter battle with the Japanese army for nearly a month, fighting more than a dozen large and small battles, and losing more than 6,000 soldiers. More than 6,000 people were wounded, bringing the total number of casualties to more than 12,700.

There is no doubt that the losses were heavy, but the results were also unprecedentedly brilliant. It can be said that this battle was set up by the Nationalist Government, but it made Ma Zheng sing a good show. Originally, there were only more than 7,000 soldiers when they came, but when they left, they became more than 22,000 soldiers, and a large amount of weapons, equipment, money and goods were seized.

Of course, the benefits of the Nationalist Government were also obvious, and the most direct benefit was that the danger of Wuhan was relieved, and the pressure from the Japanese army was reduced by more than half. Second, the Chinese Navy, which is on the verge of disbandment, has replenished more than 30 large and medium-sized warships, almost directly restoring its combat effectiveness and ensuring the safety of the Yangtze River waterway.

Last but not least, through this series of victories, the Nationalist Government has won a good international reputation, and the country's image has suddenly risen a lot, and it has also won the support of the domestic people. And these things are not something that can be bought with money, so the Chinese side is very satisfied with this battle, otherwise with the character of Lao Jiang, he would not personally award Ma Zheng with the honor. (To be continued.) )

PS: PS: The second update is delivered!