On November 5, 1937, the third day of the tenth lunar month, the invading Japanese army landed in Jinshanwei, Shanghai with 100,000 heavy troops, burning and looting all the way.
Jin Shanwei was easily broken through, and it became a shameful battle in the history of the Kuomintang's War of Resistance, and many generals who died in the war did not even leave their names publicly. Why is the Kuomintang so secretive about this war? What really happened back then?
The Battle of Songhu lasted for three months, breaking the arrogant plan of "destroying China in three months" that the Japanese army was clamoring for. Seeing that the plan to attack Shanghai head-on was frustrated, the Japanese sent a large number of spies to operate near Jinshanwei in order to open a gap from the other side of Shanghai.
At dawn on November 5, the sea was filled with smoke. Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke, commander of the Japanese Tenth Army, commanded more than 100,000 troops under his command, divided into 150 transport ships, and made a sneak attack and landing on the coastline about 15 miles east and west of Kanayamawei.
Faced with a sneak attack, the Chinese defenders rushed to meet the battle. However, the coastal defense of Jinshanwei was in very bad condition, and 10 coastal batteries were in disrepair and unusable, and 6 of them did not even have artillery shells. At about 6 a.m., the Chinese defenders were almost completely annihilated, and the Japanese landed on all fronts, finally completely occupying Jinshan on November 7.
Why did the Japanese give up the onslaught on Shanghai and instead attack Jinshanwei? At that time, because the Songhu War of Resistance was in the midst of fierce battles, the Kuomintang defenders continued to transfer troops from the Jinshanwei area to Shanghai to fight, leaving only more than 300 people on the long coastline. In addition, on November 5th, the sea was full of fog, and the Japanese army of 100,000 troops pressed the border, under such conditions, how could Jin Shanwei not be lost?
Soon after the Japanese landing, Shanghai was finally conquered, and the barrier of Shanghai was lost, and Nanjing fell one month later. Therefore, from a strategic point of view, the Battle of Jinshanwei was a very important military operation, if the fall of Nanjing in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression meant the loss of the country, the Japanese army's sneak attack on Jinshanwei was a breakthrough point for the loss of the country.
Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Jinshanwei area has been a battleground for soldiers. During the Ming Dynasty's Qi Jiguang's anti-Japanese war, Jin Shanwei was one of the four famous anti-Japanese guards at that time. However, in the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, it was easily broken through by the Japanese army, is it really the Kuomintang ** outnumbered?
After the Battle of Songhu began, the Kuomintang Eighth Army was stationed in Pudong and Punan. Zhang Fakui set up his headquarters at Fengxian Nanqiao and sent the 62nd Division to deploy defenses along the 23-kilometer-long Haitang in Jinshanwei.
Between late August and September, the garrison summoned thousands of civilians along the coast to dig trenches and build fortifications. Unexpectedly, from late September, Japanese reconnaissance planes began to reconnoiter and harass the skies over Jinshanwei Beach, and the coastal defense project had to be hastily concluded. At this time, fierce frontal fighting in Shanghai was raging, and the 62nd Division was constantly being drawn troops, and in the end, only two battalions and one company were left to guard this long coastline.
After the July 7 Incident, the Japanese army has pointed the spearhead of aggression at North China and East China, and the Japanese army has concentrated a large number of people in Wusongkou, Shanghai, with a very clear purpose - to occupy Shanghai, and then open up the only way to capture the capital Nanjing.
However, the Kuomintang authorities were very entangled in this, and their determination to resist was very weak, so they could only passively transfer troops to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall. In the end, there was a huge force vacuum in Jinshanwei, and the Japanese army was decisive in the first battle.
It can be said that the "Jinshanwei sneak attack" can be called China's version of the "Pearl Harbor" incident, and it has become another great shame in the history of the Kuomintang's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. What is even more sad is that there are very few generals or soldiers who died in Jinshanwei, and only a dozen have names and surnames. This also shows that the Kuomintang at that time was unwilling to mention this humiliating incident at all.
After the Japanese army landed in Jinshanwei, they carried out a brutal and inhumane campaign against the unarmed local people, killing more than 1,000 people and destroying more than 5,000 houses, creating a horrific "third day of October".
Wu Sijin was arrested by the Japanese as a gangster, and he took advantage of this convenience to receive instructions from the underground party to get rid of a Japanese captain in the barracks. He hid a time bomb in the crotch of his pants and put it in the barracks at night while the devil was asleep to carry it out**, and completed the task. Later, the legendary story of Wu Lao was also made into a sculpture by the local area, which is one of the top ten local anti-Japanese stories.
When the Japanese army occupied Jinshanwei, Shen Yongliang was only 5 years old at the time. That morning, the devil stormed the house and stabbed his grandfather and grandmother to death with a bayonet. At that time, Shen Yongliang's two uncles, two aunts and one sister were all at home, and there was a pond next to the house, so they went into the pond. After the devil found out, he shot again, and all 5 people were killed.
Shen Yongliang's family was killed by the Japanese army in one day, and his parents had to flee with Shen Yongliang and his younger brother. What's even more unfortunate is that on the way to escape, passing by a devil's turret, the devil didn't say a word and shot at him, and Shen Yongliang's father and brother were also ***. Nine of the three generations of the family died, leaving only Shen Yongliang and his mother.
The "Jinshan People's Anti-Japanese Memorial Site" was built on the site of the killing pond of the Japanese invaders in 2005. It is said that when the memorial ceremony was held that year, a miraculous phenomenon of heaven and earth induction also occurred.
The memorial service lasted from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m., and from 11:30 p.m., many people spontaneously held vigil for the dead. Just when the host read the memorial text of "The sky is moved", it suddenly rained in the sky!
Entering the memorial site, you will be greeted by a whole block of granite carvings, which are engraved with major events in the Anti-Japanese War, including the Pearl Harbor Incident, the 77 Incident, the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, and the Jinshanwei landing. On the back of the map are the names of the compatriots who died on the third day of October, as many as 1,015 people. Followed by a 40-meter-long purple sand relief wall, a total of 108 characters are engraved, and the art reproduces the tragedy and heroism of that time. The whole scene fully reflects the brutality of the Japanese army, and it is a true reproduction based on the memories of ordinary people.
At the site of the memorial site, there are two bronze statues, one is the mother who died by **, the youngest son who has died lying in her arms, and the youngest daughter on the side is crying helplessly. The other was an outnumbered warrior with a bandage on his head and still shooting with a gun. From it, people deeply feel the suffering and are full of strength.
The alarm bell of the memorial site is sounded from time to time. This voice tells people that history is a mirror, and only by facing history squarely and not forgetting the national shame can we face the future. Chinese should remember this day, November 5, 1937.