During the same period, Yamazaki commanded the Renqiuri puppet troops and also held "Anti-Communist Pledge" meetings in each village. Xiao Jiubao, the captain of the enemy stronghold team in Minzhou, was an executioner who killed people without batting an eye. The common people c

During the same period, Yamazaki commanded the Renqiuri puppet troops and also held "Anti-Communist Pledge" meetings in each village. Xiao Jiubao, the captain of the enemy stronghold team in Minzhou, was an executioner who killed people without blinking an eye. The common people called him the "Living King of Hell". There is a popular saying: "Xiao Jiubao, the living king of hell, whenever he kills someone, he laughs first, and kills people before him. Ten lives were taken, and three more were killed later. He was so happy that he filled the ice cellar alive." He stipulated that in the town and the villages within five miles, regardless of men, women, or children, they must run to gather outside the Beiguan of Minzhou when they hear the bell. Beheading ten minutes later. Those who arrived on time formed a line, and all men and women took off their clothes and used the big flag as a command. When the flag fell, everyone lay on the ice, and water melted from their belly against the ice. The flag was set up, and people got up again, disobeying orders and forcing them to come back with bayonets. Because the twelfth lunar month is so cold, some people are frozen on the ice and unable to get up. Xiao Jiubao then asked the Japanese and puppet soldiers to pull the person from the ice, tearing his belly open and smearing his blood on the ice. Xiao Jiubao laughed. Afterwards, he ordered the people who were frozen and had their stomachs broken to be thrown one by one into the ice cave , which was called "ice-fried meat and fried dough sticks."

One day at dawn, Xiao Jiubao led the Japanese and puppet troops to surround Bafang Village. He drove all the people in the village to a large puddle at the edge of the village. One was knocked down in the puddle, and he was not allowed to stand up to hit him. Drag young women to Laoye Temple and rape them. Xiao Jiubao also inhumanely stripped off the clothes of four middle-aged women, cut off their breasts with a foreign knife, and finally killed them by disembowelment one by one with a bayonet. Before leaving, they burned down all the houses of more than 400 households in the village. Two days later, Xiao Jiubao held an "Anti-Communist Pledge" meeting for 500 people in Dongpu, Minzhou Town, and ordered the Japanese and puppet soldiers to force the people to recite the "Anti-Communist Pledge" with bayonets. Baodu personally pulled people out from the crowd and asked if there were any Eighth Route Army soldiers in the village. Fifteen people were asked one after another, and they all replied: "I don't know!" Xiao Jiubao was so angry that he buried all fifteen people alive. Then they pulled out thirteen more people and killed them all with foreign knives and bayonets without even asking.

The enemies were in Gaoyang and Renqiu counties. Although they killed many people, the anti-Japanese masses were not intimidated, and most villages still refused to participate in the meeting. As soon as the enemy saw that they could not achieve their goal, they changed their approach: they deceived the masses into entering the city. On October 14, the enemy stationed in Gaoyang notified young men aged 18 to 45 from each village to go to the city for a meeting. He also said that he would only stay in the county town for one night and go back after the meeting. The imperial army conducted a roll call according to the Baojia household register and killed all the chickens and dogs in every village that was not reached. After obtaining the intelligence, the leading organ of the ninth district knew that this was a trick played by the enemy. It immediately notified the county committee and organized district and county armed forces and cadres to persuade the masses not to enter the city at various traffic arteries and expose the enemy's conspiracy. In order to confuse the enemy, district and county guerrillas also fired shots deliberately to give the masses an excuse not to enter the city. In this way, large numbers of people did not enter the city. However, under the coercion of the enemy, more than 7,400 people were still tricked into entering the city.

On the second day after the masses entered the city, the enemy set up a stage and a venue in the courtyard of the Chenghuang Temple and drove the masses to attend the "Anti-Communist Pledge" meeting. There were machine guns mounted on the rooms around the venue, and they were filled with Japanese and puppet gendarmes holding bayonets. There were twelve guillotines on the stage. Fu Doushi, the co-captain of the security team, announced: No talking, no coughing, no standing, no relief, no eating, no smoking. The imperial army was not allowed to refuse to answer questions and was not allowed to lie. Violators will be shot without mercy. Chen Zheke, the pseudo-county magistrate, continued: "The Imperial Japanese Army helped eliminate the Communist Party and build the Dadongye Co-Prosperity Sphere. You people must be new citizens who are loyal to the Imperial Army and oppose the Communist Eighth Route Army." Those who are friendly to the imperial army will not burn, kill, or rob. Yamazaki said: "You are all prisoners of the Eighth Route Army. If you don't hand over your weapons, documents, and tell us about the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army, don't even think about going back!" Tsuneo gestured with a foreign sword and said: "When you come to the city, if the Eighth Route Army wants to use force, they will kill you first!" "Immediately afterwards, people from each village in Hengwei came to the front of the platform and asked where the weapons, documents, food and cotton were hidden, where the district and county cadres and the Eighth Route Army lived, what anti-Japanese activities they had participated in, etc. When the crowd did not answer, Tsuneo commanded the Japanese and puppet troops to beat those who were questioned with belts, wooden sticks, and gun butts, and to bite the accused with foreign dogs.More than a hundred people were beaten to pieces and could not move, but no one told the true situation of the resistance against Japan. The enemy worked hard all day and got nothing. Finally, all those who entered the city were detained in the Japanese brigade headquarters and Xinsheng Buzhuang, where they continued to be interrogated and tortured. The enemy tied five people from Yongcheng and Liangcun to wooden pillars, beat them half to death with ropes dipped in water, and asked where the guns and documents were hidden. No one said a word. Several people who were imprisoned in the courtyard of Xinsheng Buzhuang took advantage of the lights to go out and jumped over the south wall to escape. Li Xiaoniu from Beijiaotai, Wang Linzi from Nanjiatai, and Wang Laoshu from Xiaowangzhuang were captured and stabbed to death with bayonets while escaping. Eighteen-year-old Li Xiaoniu, who would rather die than surrender, said to his fellow villagers before he died: "I swear to death that I will not be a slave to the country. One day you can rush out and take revenge and beat the Japanese!"

The enemy persecuted thousands of people in Gaoyang City for several days and gained nothing. . Yamasaki asked Tsuneo and Komatsu to continue the assault. He arrived at Renqiu on October 18 and planned with Renqiu Japanese commander Kobayashi, puppet army commander Li Bichen, and puppet county magistrate Wang Zhiping, in the name of issuing "Good Citizen Certificates". The purpose of luring people into the city was to hold an "Anti-Communist Pledge" meeting. The Japanese and puppet troops threatened the common people at various watchtowers and strongholds: "Any village that does not enter the city will be the Eighth Route Village. The houses will be burned down and the people will be killed!" At first, more than 40,000 people from each village were preparing to enter the city. The team tried to dissuade them, but only more than 15,000 people, many of whom were elderly, were deceived into the county seat.

After the masses entered the city, they were forced to participate in the "Anti-Communist Pledge" meeting. The venue was located in the square in the southeast corner of the city, with city walls to the east and south. Machine guns were mounted around the venue, and Japanese and puppet troops stood guard with guns. Several rows of human pits were dug in the west, and the crowd sat in the center.

Inspector General Zhang Jiefu shouted loudly: "Now the machine guns are firing, don't raise your head!" Suddenly the machine guns rang out. Then Li Bichen announced three prohibitions on the stage: 1. You are not allowed to run away when you see the army. 2. You are not allowed to answer questions asked by the imperial army. 3. You are not allowed to refuse to give things to the imperial army. Then came Yamazaki's lecture, which prescribed ten bullets: Whispering, talking, crying, handjob, eating, smoking, coughing, spitting, raising head and running away. Yamazaki pulled out his foreign sword and asked loudly: "Who are the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army? Who hides guns for the Eighth Route Army? Who is in contact with the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army?" No one said anything. Yamazaki became furious and ordered Li Bichen and Zhang Jiefu to come to the stage for questioning. The first person to be pulled to the stage was Wang Hu from Majiawu Village. He said confidently: "I don't know Liu Tiao, the Eighth Route Army!" The enemy immediately pushed him into a pit and buried him alive. After he was buried, he dug it out and asked again. Wang Hu still answered firmly: "I don't know!" The enemy beat him to pieces and left him unconscious. Then he tortured more than a dozen people and used all kinds of cruel methods, but nothing was obtained. Finally, the people were imprisoned in three compounds: the Saint's Hall, the City God's Temple, and the bus station, and the torture continued in one village after another. During the three days, more than 150 people were tortured and nearly 100 people were disabled.

The enemy held more than 23,000 people as hostages in Gaoyang and Renqiu counties. Massacres and beatings could not make them surrender, so they planned even more cruel and inhumane methods. Villages were not allowed to deliver food or water to the detainees, and they threatened that if they did not hand over the names of the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army, or if they did not hand over weapons and documents, they would all die of thirst and starvation. The enemies of the two counties acted in unison and deprived the imprisoned people of food and water for seven days and nights. They were so hungry that they ate all the bark, leaves and residual grass in the compound. Some ate cotton-padded jackets, and some Even drinking urine. With no food or water, they sat in the cold courtyard day and night. Thousands of people fell to the ground. The number of patients was increasing, with hundreds of people at a time. Yamazaki ordered: "All patients will be buried alive!" While the people were struggling on the verge of death, the puppet army took the opportunity to extort money and sold people a large cake for 100 yuan, a cornmeal pancake for 10 yuan, and even a cabbage. Pimples also cost five yuan, and a bottle of water costs ten yuan. After more than 20 days of this, the people were massacred and beaten, more than 400 people died of starvation, and more than 1,000 people were maimed.

In the face of the enemy's butcher's knife, the people are unyielding.Chen Du, who was in Renqiu Dongguan, fought with the Japanese with bare hands. He shouted the slogan "Chinese people swear to death and will not be slaves of the country." He rushed forward and fought with the Japanese, and took away the enemy's gun. Because he had not eaten for several days, his body was weak, and his gun was taken back by the enemy. Chen Bu was shot and wounded by the enemy, and finally died under the enemy's bayonet. Li Liang from Li Bian Village was so hungry that he loudly scolded the enemy. The enemy tied him to a telephone pole and slapped him on the head with a shovel. After patting him, he cursed. Although he was beaten to death by the enemy, as soon as he regained his breath, he continued to curse until he breathed his last breath.

In order to expose the enemy's conspiracy and enable the imprisoned people to eat, the anti-Japanese governments of Gaoyang and Renqiu counties, in accordance with the district instructions, asked each village to hand over some worn-out rifles, invalid hand grenades and worn-out primary school textbooks. wait. At the same time, the guerrillas were ordered to attack the enemy stronghold gun towers, and enemy workers were sent to infiltrate the imprisoned people to expose the enemy's conspiracy. Under internal resistance and external attack, the enemies in Renqiu County singled out more than 1,500 young people on October 28, and the enemies in Gaoyang County singled out more than 2,000 young people on October 30. They continued to be detained in the so-called " reformatory " and then released the rest of the people. Most of the people who were released were disabled or seriously ill, and more than 300 people died after returning home.

Yamazaki and Tsuneo then continued to harm the people of the two prefectures in the name of the "Anti-Communist Pledge" inspection. Xiao Jiubao, who was stationed in Minzhou, led the Japanese and puppet troops to drive men, women and children aged ten to sixty from four shops in Minzhou and neighboring villages to the old pawnshop compound. Forty-two human burial pits were dug in the courtyard. They forced people to recite six articles of the "Anti-Communist Pledge", but no one said a word among more than 2,000 people. Xiao Jiubao pulled out Huang Junwang from Sanpu and asked him to tell him who the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army were. Huang Junwang didn't say anything, he was beaten and buried alive. Then Wang Laodu and seven others were buried. Later, the village chiefs were asked to hold a meeting in the town. There must be two village chiefs in each village, for a total of thirty-six village chiefs. Xiao Jiubao led the Japanese and puppet troops to escort the village chiefs to the east of the town and forced every two people to dig a hole. After the hole was dug, the two people agreed to bury one, otherwise they would all be killed. Li Fengzhang, the head of Wangyue Village , and Wang Qimin dug a hole together. Li Fengzhang said, "I have three sons and two daughters. Qimin, you just got married and have no offspring. Just bury me!" Wang Qimin said, "No, You must not! You have a heavy family burden. What will happen to the children after I die?" Seeing that Wang Qimin disagreed, Li Fengzhang jumped into the pit and said, "Qimin, bury me!" Wang Qimin refused to bury him, so Xiao Jiubao came over with a foreign knife and forced Wang Qimin to bury him. A total of eighteen village chiefs were buried this time. After the enemy left, fortunately the masses quickly dug out and saved sixteen people. After Li Fengzhang was carried home, he immediately sent his eldest son to join the Eighth Route Army. .