One summer night in 1947, two soldiers of the National Government were thrown under the bridge by American soldiers and drowned. Express reporter Shi Xianghui photographed
On August 15, 1947, a military court composed of the US military tried the Zhonghe Bridge bloody case in the Inspirational Society Auditorium (now inside Zhongshan Hotel). Express reporter Shi Xianghui photographed
A cool night, why did they suffer the disaster of overthrow on Chinese land, can the US military self-organized military court be fair
On September 20, 1947, on the Zhonghe Bridge outside Guanghua Gate, Nanjing, pedestrians coming and going face the river under the bridge, all sighed. Because, just today, they learned about the trial results of a bloody case that happened here more than a month ago. The next day, on September 21, the fifth edition of the Central Daily News published a news titled "Sephifani's Judgment". News said, "The verdict on the acquittal of the accomplice suspect Sergeant Saifani in the Zhonghe Bridge murder case must be reported to the head of the US military advisory regiment General Ruks, who ruled that the rear was officially effective..."
What happened to the Zhonghe Bridge bloody case? Why did the US military advisory group appear? What will happen to the final trial of the case?
Flying here and there hiccups
Chinese soldiers were thrown into the river and drowned
Zhonghe Bridge, located outside Guanghua Gate in Nanjing, the gurgling Qinhuai River water flows under the bridge. When the wind comes in the evening, Zhonghe Bridge is a good place for citizens to cool off on a scorching night during the Republic of China. However, the pilot of the Air Transport Brigade Wang Shouben and the guardian of the 5th Air Force Air Force brigade Ge Fatian did not expect that on the evening of August 1, 1947, the cooling off at Zhonghe Bridge would become their last stop in their lives.
At midnight on August 1, 1947, according to the weather forecast of that day, the air was stuffy and humid on that day, and the temperature was around 36 degrees Celsius. The moonlight was shining, and by the Zhonghe Bridge, the Air Transport Brigade pilot Wang Shouben, the Air Force's fifth brigade guard Ge Fatian, and the mechanical soldier Tu Chonghai were sitting there to cool off. The three were chatting and laughing when they suddenly found a military jeep parked in front of them, a big American soldier got out of the car and ran towards them without saying a word. Before the three of them could react, they saw the American soldiers grab Wang Shouben, lift him up, and throw him directly into the turbulent river. Then, he pushed Ge Fatian, who was standing there and sitting high on the bridge railing, and Ge Fatian immediately fell backwards into the river. Tu Chonghai reacted, turned around and ran away, shouting for help. The terrified screams made the American soldiers stunned for a moment, and quickly got into the car and ran away. It was close to twelve o'clock in the evening. There was a small boat under the Zhonghe Bridge at that time, and the owner of the ship Van De immediately started salvaging it. However, the water flow was too big. It was not until 2:30 in the morning that Wang Shouben's body was hooked up by him. Ge Fatian's body did not float to the water until the next afternoon. Wang Shouben and Ge Fatian were both the only sons in the family, and the blow to their family by their accidental death was self-evident.
However, most citizens in Nanjing knew the news three days later. On August 4, 1947, the Central Daily News issued a small press release of more than 120 words under the title "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States Military Cases Cases in Beijing". According to the speed at which Nanjing media follows up on news, it is obvious that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Government has been controlling media coverage of the matter. However, what is confusing is how could American soldiers appear in Nanjing, the capital of the National Government in 1947?
Do whatever you want
US military entered various cities in China under the name of "assisting Chiang"
"After the National Government returned to Nanjing, the American soldiers appeared in Nanjing in the name of helping Chiang Kai-shek fight a civil war." Zhang Hanlin, an old professor at Shaanxi Normal University, told reporters that after Japan surrendered in 1945, the US government supported Chiang Kai-shek to launch a civil war, not only helped the National Government train its army and support money, but also sent a large number of land, navy and air forces to various major cities of the National Government. As the capital of the National Government, Nanjing is naturally no exception. "In 1947, there were American soldiers in every military important area in Nanjing. They wanted to help the National Government train soldiers and carry out military construction, such as the area on the Xiaguan River, Daxiaochang Airport, and now near the former US Embassy on Shanghai Road."
" During the Republic of China, American soldiers entered major cities in China for about three years. Because of the loose discipline, they did a lot of bad things in major cities such as Peking , Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao, Kunming, and Hankou . "Zhang Hanlin gave an example, American soldiers were in Peking (now Beijing). In January 1946, they hit and injured 13 citizens in Peking; while in Tianjin, from October 1, 1945 to September 1947, there were 365 cases of U.S. military atrocities recorded in the archives, including car accidents, gun killing, robbery, smashing, rape, etc., and nearly 2,000 people were killed and injured. Among them, car accidents and gun killings accounted for the absolute majority, with a total of 304 cases. "I have looked through relevant information, and what I said here is still recorded. In fact, many things are covered up. "So, why can American soldiers do whatever they want on China's land?
" Fear of beauty. At this time, the Americans were the "saviors" of the National Government, who dared to touch them? "Zhang Hanlin hit the word.
So, will the truth be covered up when the Zhonghe Bridge bloody case occurred late at night on August 1, 1947?
is extremely absurd and
The US military set up its own military court
Public trial of the Chinese bloody case
"If the American soldiers harmed ordinary citizens this time, the case might have been left alone, but the US soldiers who threw this time were two soldiers from the National Government Army. "Zhang Hanlin analyzed that in September 1947, it has been one year and three months since Nanjing National Government launched a full-scale civil war. The war-weariness in the army is getting higher and higher, and there are many dissatisfaction with the so-called "help" to fight on their own and condescending American soldiers. In this case, if such a thing happens, if it is not properly handled, the consequences will be unimaginable.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs weighs the pros and cons, and finally allows the Central Daily News to make the case public on August 4. So, how will this case be handled?
"This case is tried by the Americans themselves. "Shanghai Normal University Teacher Li Ming told reporters, "This is really a huge irony, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Government agreed. "The US military organized an advisory group to specifically hear the case. Before the trial, the US military advisory group investigated and admitted that the process of the case was real. The captain of the US military military police was Alry, who threw Wang Shouben and Ge Fatian into the river. The driver and military police sergeant Saifani were also listed as suspects in the case because he failed to stop it in time. The US military has a very good attitude. The reporter saw a news article titled "The investigation of the Zhonghe Bridge case was completed and the US side stated that it was approved for public trial." The news said, "The spokesperson of the US military advisory group said: The trial of this case must be fair and ended in a short period of time. Before interrogating the two US military, the US military will conduct a procedure for accusing the US government and asking for compensation for losses, and inform the families of the deceased in detail. During the interrogation, a means of transportation was prepared for the family of the deceased to appear in court. During this period, the staff of the US military advisory group automatically donated the burial expenses of the deceased, each with 2 million yuan (author’s note: In 1947, the price of one stone of rice was 46,000 yuan), and the family members of the deceased were paid to the family members of the deceased. "This seems to reflect the sincerity of the US military, but relevant Chinese professionals saw the perfunctory US: This news also reported, "In the Zhonghe Bridge case, the local court has received a reply from the US on the identity of the four beauties, but the content is still vague. In addition to indicating the identity of the US military who has admitted the second crime, the other two people call them witnesses and whether they are soldiers is not clear. ”
On August 15, the case entered the public trial procedure and was heard by a military court composed of the US military advisory group. The court consisted of Americans, from the presiding judge to the judge. The defendants Alry and Saifani were prosecuted for murder, and the public trial was set up in the auditorium of Inspirational Society. So, will the relatives of the victim be fair in this public trial?
booed and
Defendant defense words absurdly attracted everyone's dissatisfaction
At 8:30 am on August 15, 1947, the defendants Alry and Saifani were taken to court. At 8:40, the public trial began. The first to testify was Cheng Chaozong, a military policeman on duty at the airport in Daxiaochang that night on August 1.Cheng Chaozong told the court that that night, he saw Saifani, Alre and two Americans sitting on the jeep and driving to the airport. Because he did not show valid documents, he did not put the car in. So the jeep retreated, and more than ten minutes later, he heard the news of an accident at Zhonghe Bridge. Because the moonlight was very good that night, he could recognize the faces of the defendant Arry and the driver Severny. The prosecutor kept asking Cheng Chaozong to report the truth, and Cheng Chaozong simply replied: "I speak with my conscience."
Next, witnesses appeared one after another: Tu Chonghai, who escaped from the Zhonghe Bridge, Van Decai, who salvaged the body under the bridge at the time, and Americans who were riding jeeps (author's note: The US military has not provided any exact materials for whether these two Americans are soldiers). All the evidence points to Alry, because it is an indisputable fact that he gets out of the car and throws people into the river.
However, even so, Alry's defense lawyer kept making excuses. For example, the defendant did this action because he lost his mind because he was drunk that night; Americans often used the drama of throwing people into the water; the defendant did not know that there was a river under the bridge... Because the defense statement was too ridiculous, even the American military personnel in the audience booed.
This time, on Chinese land, a military court composed of a US military advisory group was tried publicly. Due to the language exchange between the two sides, some ridiculous scenes occurred.
During the trial, witness Tu Chonghai was the most dissatisfied with the translation. When the judge asked him how far he was from Alrei, he answered "Yezhang". The translator told the judge that the judge did not understand and asked how much Yizhang was. The translator turned his words to Tu Chonghai. Tu answered "Ten Foot", and the judge asked again how much Yizhang was. Facing the translator who was talking back and forth in the middle, Tu Chonghai rolled his eyes and asked, "Are you Chinese?" This sentence attracted bursts of laughter from the audience.
What kind of trial will be the end of such a farce trial?
As expected, the two defendants of the Zhongheqiao bloody case were able to "escape"
This time, the military court composed of the US military advisory group lasted for four days, with a total of four trials. In the end, Alrey was sentenced to life imprisonment and returned to China for execution. Saifani was acquitted.
Before the trial, Saifani was charged with failure to stop Alrei from committing crimes, and his crime was accused of murder. Now, the reason for his acquittal is: "Seifani is the driver, and his position determines that he cannot stop Alrei from committing crimes in time; in the jeep that night, Saifani was not the highest sergeant and should not bear this responsibility; it is a blessing to go out to drive on a drunken night and not leave a traffic accident, so there is no way to stop others from committing crimes; all witnesses have proved that only Alrei got out of the car and committed crimes, which has nothing to do with Saifani. Moreover, Wang and Ge fell into the water only more than four feet deep. If the Americans fell into the water, they would definitely not die."
's reason is so absurd, but the conclusion is a foregone conclusion. The National Government has no objection.
"The result of the trial, one of the accused murderers returned to their country to 'execute' and the other was released in court without guilt. For the dead Wang Shouben and Ge Fatian, the murderers in this case still 'escaped'. However, at that time, this was also expected." Zhang Hanlin shook his head and said.
Faced with such a judgment, on the third page of the second edition of the Central Daily News on September 20, 1947, the editor of the newspaper attached a sentence after the news, "Please persuade people to force the mother of the two only sons of the Sea Dragon King: Don't be sad! The dead cannot be resurrected." (Reprinted from Modern Express) Source: China.com
