Original title: [The most complete old photo of the Japanese bombing of Yan'an, it's too horrific to look at! Summary of this article: According to statistics from the "Liberation Daily" on March 10, 1946, Japanese planes bombed Yan'an a total of 17 times and dropped 1,690 bombs.

Historical traces: The horrific Japanese bombing of Yan'an Old photos

In 1938, the ruins of Yan'an after being bombed by Japanese planes

Original title: [The most complete old photo of the Japanese bombing of Yan'an, horrific! 】

Summary of this article:

According to statistics from the "Liberation Daily" on March 10, 1946, Japanese planes bombed Yan'an a total of 17 times and dropped 1,690 bombs. The losses include casualties: 184 injured and 214 dead; destroyed buildings: 1,176 public properties, 5 caves, and 14,452 private houses; a Christian chapel with 94 rooms; 75 Catholic church houses; livestock casualties: 197 Head; destroyed grain: 344,000 jins.

The people of Yan'an will never forget the crimes of aggression committed by Japanese imperialism. Yan'an has experienced several ups and downs in the more than 1,300 years since it was established as a county and government. The city walls were finally destroyed by Japanese air raids. But the people of Yan'an rebuilt the prosperous Nanguan, Dongguan and Beiguan of Yan'an outside the city walls and on the ruins after the gunpowder smoke.

"Why didn't the Japanese bomb Yan'an?" is a very common question when discussing anti-Japanese issues in the Internet age. Based on historical data, it is easy to find that this kind of doubt is not actually established.

Yan'an City after the Japanese air raid (1938/ Wu Yinxian photo)

In fact, since 1937, Yan'an has begun to take measures to prepare for the Japanese air raid. According to Cao Muyao, who once worked at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, "after the cave dwellings were dug in 1938, the school gradually moved outward, to several ravines outside the north gate and east gate... Superiors repeatedly reminded us to pay attention to air defense "Before the Japanese bombed Yan'an for the first time, they sent planes to conduct reconnaissance over Yan'an. The people in Yan'an thought they were Soviet planes. Some clapped their hands and shouted: "We have our own planes, and Chairman Chiang sent us money." But the authorities soon stopped! Based on the flying altitude of the aircraft, it was judged that the coming aircraft should be an enemy aircraft.

On the morning of November 20, 1938, Cao Muyao and others were in a meeting. When they heard noises outside, they "hurried to the high slope outside to take a look. The first batch of 15 Japanese planes flew from east to west, heading towards Yan'an City, and then they I saw the plane dropping a series of bombs, shaped like black hammers, landing in the air. "This was the first time the Japanese army bombed Yan'an.

In 1938, the ruins of Yan'an after being bombed by Japanese planes

Cao Muyao recalled, "The first batch of planes had just dropped their bombs, and the second and third batches followed one after another. Each batch was 15 planes. The bombing continued without respite. and rescue opportunities. Yan'an...Only the heavy machine gun for infantry combat can deal with the large numbers of aircraft. The Japanese are confident, the aircraft fly very low, and the bombing hit rate is very high, with dozens of heavy bombs, Throwing it into the small city of Yan'an, houses collapsed in an instant, fires broke out everywhere, and the injured were crawling and screaming on the streets. Still stands

. The focus of Japanese air strikes was on Phoenix Mountain, where many CCP leaders live. The stone kiln of Li Jiantang's house where Mao Zedong stayed was bombed, and the cave dwellings of the General Political Department and Propaganda Department of the Central Military Commission were bombed. More than 30 Eighth Route Army cadres and soldiers were killed. A bomb fell next to Chen Yun's cave dwelling, but fortunately it did not explode. People in Yan'an speculated that "there must be spies who surveyed and mapped the residence of the central leadership in Yan'an City." On November 21, Japanese planes bombed Yan'an again.

In November 1938, the Japanese army bombed Yan'an wildly. This is the north gate after the bombing.

Before the Japanese bombed Yan'an in 1938, Yan'an City had 6 streets, more than 30 alleys, 3 city gates, and a bell and drum tower. At that time, there were tens of thousands of people in government agencies, troops, and schools in Yan'an City. Yan'an City was reduced to ruins after the Japanese bombing.

After the first bombing, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, considering that Japanese planes would come again, mobilized all troops, agencies, schools, and citizens in the city to evacuate to the ravines surrounding the city.The central government moved overnight to Yangjialing , 5 miles outside the city. After that, in order to prevent air raids, Mao Zedong lived in Yangjialing for a long time. The place name Yangjialing has since been recorded in history. other units moved to Dabiangou, Xiaobiangou, Shishigou, Dengjiagou, etc. Almost no one lives in the city anymore.

After the bombing, "Yan'an then became a pile of rubble." In an urgent message to the National Government , the Border Region Government stated that Yan'an "was continuously bombed by enemy planes, dropping a total of 159 bombs, killing and wounding 152 soldiers and civilians, and destroying 380 houses..." request Central government provides assistance.

After the Japanese air raid, the city of Yan'an was basically destroyed.

Zhang Xuan, who went to Yan'an for a meeting from Chengdu, also witnessed the tragic situation on November 20. He said: "After this bombing in Yan'an, some streets turned into rubble fields. Government agencies and schools moved to cave dwellings in the mountains. Some of the remaining houses in the city were demolished to the north, and most of them were moved to the southern suburbs." After that, as Zheng Hongxuan said, "enemy planes came to Yan'an to bombard it several times, but because of the The civilians all live in cave dwellings and have increased their air defense vigilance. The second time the Japanese planes came, only a few people and a few horses were injured."

Wu Yinxian took photos of Yan'an after the enemy bombing in 1940.

People in Yan'an responded to unexploded bombs. The processing is also interesting. According to Li Yaoyu's recollection, "Hundreds of kilograms of yellow explosives were taken out of the bomb casings and carried down the Phoenix Mountain basket by basket and transported on horse-drawn carriages. Later, these explosives were used as dyes to dye yellow cloth and sew military uniforms. . The bomb shells were broken into pieces to create woks and hoes for land reclamation. "The chemical composition of the dye is very similar to that of explosives, so explosives can be used as fuel." These two methods of dealing with bombs are consistent with Cao Muyao's memories. After

was bombed, the materials were transported to the outside of Sanguan for reconstruction.

From then on, until October 1941, the Japanese army continued to raid Yan'an. Due to preparations, Yan'an suffered little loss. According to statistics from the "Liberation Daily" on March 10, 1946, Japanese planes bombed Yan'an a total of 17 times and dropped 1,690 bombs. The losses include casualties: 184 injured and 214 dead; destroyed buildings: 1,176 public properties, 5 caves, and 14,452 private houses; a Christian chapel with 94 rooms; 75 Catholic church houses; livestock casualties: 197 Head; destroyed grain: 344,000 jins.

has collected for everyone a set of old photos of the bombing of Yan'an published by Japan's " Asahi Shimbun " in 1939. This is strong evidence of the Japanese bombing of Yan'an:

Reporter with the Japanese Army in 1939 10 Sase Air Force's bombing of Yan'an photographed in May Picture

939 Japanese bombing of Luochuan　

　In January 1939, the Japanese Yamase Air Force bombed Luochuan, an important stronghold of the Eighth Route Army. In the photo, you can see the terrain of the northern Shaanxi Plateau and the outline of the ancient city wall of Luochuan. This picture was published by Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" in its publication. The photo is rare and the historical data is precious. (The Japanese army only learned about the Eighth Route Army after its defeat at Pingxing Pass. It bombed Yan'an on November 20, 1938 and began to target the Eighth Route Army. The Japanese Army The Yamase Air Force's bombing of Luochuan, where the Red Army had held important meetings, was considered their revenge.

The people of Yan'an cannot forget the crimes of aggression committed by the Japanese imperialists since the establishment of the county. After more than 1,300 years of ups and downs, the city walls were finally destroyed by Japanese air raids, but the people of Yan'an rebuilt Yan'an's prosperous Nanguan, Dongguan and Beiguan

on the ruins outside the city wall.