The Japanese government has a huge amount of budget funds to buy off influential media people in the United States, to promote favorable Japanese propaganda in mainstream newspapers and television stations in the United States, and to produce pro-Japanese pamphlets and leaflets.

During the Jinling Massacre, the Japanese side used this to cover up the truth. Instead of thinking about how to straighten out the discipline of the army, they tried everything they could, spending more money and resources, to launch a massive propaganda offensive in an attempt to somehow cover up the bloodiest massacre in the history of the world.

In the face of public opinion in China, the Japanese military media spread overwhelming propaganda, saying that everything was fine in Jinling City.

At the same time, RB news agency Alliance News Agency reported that residents of Jinling City have begun to return to their homes one after another, and everything in the city is normal.

Dr. Robert Wilson, who witnessed the heinous crimes committed by the Japanese in Jinling, wrote: "If this were all that was reported about the ban, it would have caused an uproar when the truth was revealed." ”

Next, the RB Emperor approved a trip to Jinling that was carefully arranged for RB tourists.

After the report of the Alliance News Agency was published, a merchant ship full of RB tourists arrived in Jinling from Shanghai.

George Fitch records the tour in his diary: "They were carefully led through the few streets where the bodies had just been cleared, gracefully handing out sweets to the Chinese children, and even patting the frightened children on the head." ”

Some women accompanied RB's business representatives on a tour of Jinling.

Fitch noticed that the women looked extremely complacent, but also rejoiced and encouraged by RB's victory, though they had no idea what was going on inside Jinling City.

Just a few hundred meters away from the street they were sightseeing, a street was littered with layers of corpses that had accumulated and twisted into a clump of corpses, and even more corpses were broken.

In January 1938, RB journalists came to shoot images of Jinling for distribution in RB and other countries around the world.

On New Year's Eve, the RB embassy summoned Chinese administrators from various camps to tell them that a 'spontaneous' celebration would be held in the city the next day, and they ordered the Chinese who participated in the celebration to make thousands of RB flags and take them to the streets to show and film Jinling residents cheering to welcome RB troops.

RB photographers also captured footage of Chinese children receiving treatment from RB doctors and receiving candy from RB soldiers in Jinling.

As everyone knows, when the Japanese army attacked Songhu and Jinling, their field hospitals could not even treat their own people. 、

As for the posed shots, the children's faces were full of fear, and even the smiles were extremely stiff and weird.

Lewis wrote to a friend: "This scenario would not have been possible without the presence of a camera. ”

The most outrageous example of RB's false propaganda was an article published on January 8, 1938, in the Japanese-controlled Shanghai newspaper Xinsheng Bao, which was headlined "The atmosphere in Jinling is harmonious, and the situation is progressing gratifyingly." ”

It is claimed that after the imperial army entered the city, it put its sword in its sheath, stretched out its loving hand, examined and healed the sick, brought food to the hungry, and provided medical care to the sick.

Men, women, and children bowed down to the imperial army to show their respect. A large crowd surrounded the Sun Flag and the RB soldiers under the Red Cross flag, chanting 'Long live' to express their gratitude. Jinling has become the world's most famous place, full of peaceful coexistence, living and working in peace and contentment. ”

In the face of public opinion within China, RB tried to cover up the truth of the Jinling Massacre in a deceptive way.

This raised suspicions among some missionaries.

James McCarron wrote in his diary on January 9, 1938: "Now the Japanese are trying to discredit our efforts in the security zone, and they are intimidating and threatening the poor Chinese so that they refuse to take our word for it. Some Chinese are even willing to prove that all the looting, rape and burning was the work of their own compatriots and had nothing to do with the Japanese. Sometimes I feel like we're dealing with madmen and idiots, and to my surprise, all of us foreigners have survived this ordeal. ”

George Fitch wrote in his diary: "We read several copies of the RB newspaper in Songhu and two copies of the Tokyo Daily News. These newspapers tell people that as early as December 28, shops in Jinling were quickly opened and resumed normal business; The Japanese cooperated with the foreigners who stayed in Jinling to provide relief to the poor refugees. The Chinese who robbed in the city have been purged; Peace and order have been restored to Jinling! If it weren't for the tragic nature of the whole incident, these lies would have been laughable, typical of the lies that the Japanese had wanted to spread since the beginning of the war. ”

However, among George Fitch's many diaries, Reader's Digest reproduced only one of his other diaries:

"In 1938, a government radio station in Tokyo announced to the world that 'the thugs who had caused heavy casualties and property damage in Jinling had been captured and executed, and they were disgruntled Chinese soldiers in Chiang Guofu's troops. Now things are back to normal, and the Japanese army is giving in to 300,000 refugees. ’”

In a letter to his wife on March 8, 1938, Lewis Smyth wrote in a half-joking manner: "The latest news from the RB newspaper that they have discovered 11 Chinese armed robbers, who are the culprits of all the bad things in Jinling City!" Alas, if each of them could force 100-200 women day and night for two weeks, and escape with the reported $50,000, then these Chinese would be too tough."

The Japanese army didn't just use newspapers to publish it.

They even sent planes to drop countless leaflets on refugees in the security zone.

It reads: "All good Chinese citizens who return to their homes will be given food and clothing." Those Chinese who have not been fooled by the devil of Chiang Guofu's army, RB is willing to be your good neighbors. ”

The leaflets were not only filled with such seductive slogans, but also with colorful drawings: a handsome RB soldier with a Chinese child in his arms, and the child's mother knelt at his feet to thank him for the sacks of rice he had sent.

On the day the leaflets were distributed, thousands of Chinese left the camp and returned to their homes in ruins.

The Japanese army did not just distribute false leaflets.

They even declared to the refugees in the safe zone that all the fighting in Jinling was over, the streets were cleared, and peace greeted them.

Lies are used to coax refugees in the camps in the safe zone to leave the safe zone.

As early as after the fall of Jinling City, the Japanese army used the same way to coax the refugees in the security zone, and these refugees who walked out of the security zone were quickly slaughtered by the Japanese army, and the women were captured by the Japanese army, and the fate was visible.

The Japanese also put up brightly colored posters on or near the exterior walls of their houses where they had caused the tragedy, and most of the posters depicted the same content.

A handsome RB soldier picked up a Chinese child and at the same time handed a bucket of rice to the child and the mother, and candy and other food items to the child's father.

In the upper right corner of the poster reads: "Back to my hometown!" Feed you! Rely on RB Army! Help! ”

At the same time, RB also held receptions and media events in Jinling and Shanghai to divert attention from the Jinling massacre and buy time for soldiers in Jinling to dispose of their bodies.

In early February 1938, a Japanese general invited representatives of diplomats from other countries to a tea party hosted by the RB embassy in Jinling, where the general boasted that the RB army was known for its strict discipline and that there had not been a single incident of discipline in the army during the Russo-Japanese War and the September 18 Incident.

He said that even if the Japanese army committed atrocities in Jinling City for some reason, it could only be the result of Chinese resistance to the Japanese army at the instigation of some foreign citizens.

This is an allusion to the membership of the International Committee on the Safe Zone.

But curiously, the general's words contradicted his remarks in the same speech, and he had previously admitted that on the way to Jinling, the Japanese had vented their anger on the Chinese because they could not find anything to eat or use.

The diplomatic corps of other countries were not fooled by the tricks of the RB media, and they were not ignorant of the crimes committed by the RB in Jinling.

This was a war of public opinion, and the Japanese side did succeed, and many people in China believed the reports of the Japanese army, and the vast majority of these people did not know the truth.

Xia Yuan is from the future, and he is quite clear about the future direction of Jinling City, even if this matter is made public, it will not be able to change anything.

He could only keep the evidence in the hope of getting more crucial evidence in the hands of the Chinese in the future post-war trial.

The same.

When Xia Yuan was trying to collect evidence and fight the Japanese army.

The members of the International Committee in the security zone did not stop their actions.

In the first few days of the massacre, with the help of a number of foreign journalists, the head of the security zone filmed and interviewed many of the victims, as well as footage of the massacre by the Japanese army, before being expelled by the RB and taken away by the Japanese.

After that, the RB government began to ban journalists from other countries from entering Jinling.

For example, Max Kopenen of the Chicago Tribune was blocked from Jinling and was not allowed to enter Jinling.

After the Japanese discovered that their actions were no longer under the scrutiny of the world media, the Japanese army became even more brazen in committing atrocities.

However, the Japanese underestimated the ability of the International Committee on Safety Zones to carry out propaganda activities.

One of the common characteristics of the security zone leaders is that they are all highly trained in writing, and they are almost without exception writers and orators who are proficient in language.

There are missionaries on the International Committee of the Safe Zone, educated at the best universities in the United States and Europe, who have devoted much of their adult years to preaching, writing, and touring Christian lectures, and many of the professors of the International Committee have published their own books.

On top of that, as a group, they are very good at working with the media.

Long before the fall of Jinling, they gave speeches through Jinling's radio broadcasts or wrote articles about China in popular newspapers.

These missionaries, who also have an unexpected goal for the Japanese, have spent their lives in the pursuit of the true meaning of 'hell' and the truth of 'hell'.

After the fall of Jinling, the Japanese army massacred Chinese in Jinling City, and the streets were full of corpses, blood-red scenes, and broken walls, just like the hell scene they thought.

What they have been pursuing all their lives has been realized in Jinling.

They used sharp words and sufficient evidence to describe the scenes of the 'hell' they saw in Jinling City, and they vividly recorded the descriptions of hell in their diaries, as well as in the letters they sent to friends and relatives, and in the reports they sent to their superiors.

These letters and reports have been copied and printed many times, and have been reported by the media, and have also made waves abroad.

And these contents are not signed without any signature. 、

The members of the International Committee of the Security Zone knew very well that if the Japanese found out that they had passed on what had happened in Jinling City in the form of letters, they would inevitably be retaliated against and expelled by the Japanese army, so they implored the recipients not to disclose their names and information in the letters and reports they sent home.

In a letter to his family, Pastor Magee wrote: "Please do not handle this letter with caution, because if it is published, we may be expelled from Jinling, which will be a disaster for the Chinese in Jinling." ”

The reason why the security zone can continue to function normally is basically because of the status of these members of the international committee, and the Japanese fear their status, coupled with the indirect intervention of other countries, this security zone exists.

I can't imagine what would happen to the Chinese refugees in the safe zone if these people were expelled by the Japanese.

I'm afraid it will be like the civilians of Jinling City who were slaughtered.

Although the Japanese army's strict defense was useful, after all, many things recorded by reporters were seized by the Japanese army, but not all.

Among them was George Fitch's diary, which was the first to be taken out of Jinling and caused a 'sensation' in Shanghai, and this diary and other people's stories were soon published in mainstream magazines such as Time Magazine, Reader's Digest, and Far East, arousing the indignation of American readers.

The stories recorded in the diary have also been included in a number of books.

Although the diary was successfully published and some results were achieved, compared to the Japanese army's generosity and the help of the United States, their counterattack was much weaker.

As expected, the report of the International Committee on the Security Zone has aroused doubts from many people in the United States.

Especially when an article on the Jinling Disaster was published in Reader's Digest, one subscriber wrote to the editor, saying: "It's unbelievable that you should believe such a thing, and this is obviously clumsy propaganda, reminiscent of the false news that was instilled in the public during the last war." ”

Other subscribers had similar comments, mostly questioning the veracity of the article.

(End of chapter)