77 years ago today, at 9:00 on September 9, 1945, the city of Nanjing, which had suffered from war, was waving colorful flags. The commander-in-chief of the Japanese invaders, Okamura Yasuji, signed a surrender letter in the auditorium of the Central Army Officers' School.

Beijing Daily Chronicle | Reporter Zhang Xiaoying

77 years ago today, at 9:00 on September 9, 1945, the 39th day, Nanjing City, which had suffered from war, was waving colorful flags. The commander-in-chief of the Japanese invading China, Okamura Yasuji, signed a surrender letter in the auditorium of the Central Army Officers' School. At this point, 's War of Resistance Against Japan finally won.

This signing ceremony was only twenty minutes short. The letter of surrender to Japan and the specific matters about the surrender of China's war zone were completed in Zhijiang, Hunan more than ten days ago.

On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender. On August 21, the Japanese surrender Takeo Imai went to Zhijiang, Hunan to surrender in dejectedly, handed over the deployment map of the Japanese invaders' forces, and accepted the "Memorandum No. 1" containing detailed regulations on ordering the Japanese surrender.

Zhijiang was surrendered to , which has washed away a century of national shame. For the first time in modern China, modern China was surrendered to the victory of the country. Zhijiang , this small border town in western Hunan, has also become the first place to surrender in the Chinese war zone, writing a glorious page in the history of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Zhijiang surrender ceremony site

1

change surrender place

In a farmland in Dongwuliyang Village, Yushan County, Shangrao Jiangxi Province, there is a runway less than 100 meters away, surrounded by weeds and sand and gravel.

If no one guides it, few people know that this was once an military airport . Local elderly people still remember that Yushan Airport, which was built in 1934, played an important role in the Anti-Japanese War. One day 76 years ago, an emergency mission was received here.

On August 15, 1945, the Japanese government announced unconditional surrender. Chiang Kai-shek called the highest commander of the Japanese invaders in China, Okamura Yasuji, demanding that "the Japanese army under his jurisdiction stop all military operations; and sent representatives to Yushan to accept the order of the Chinese Army Commander-in-Chief He Yingqin ."

The National Government attached great importance to the surrender and urgently sent a telegram to the Yushan County Government of Jiangxi Province: prepare quickly and renovate the airport.

Hu Guanghong, who had participated in the preparation of the Yushan Airport runway repair project, recalled in the article "Yushan Airport": "Yushan County Government sent thousands of migrant workers to pull the big rollers, and spent three days and three nights to repair the damaged areas. He also built an auditorium-style platform and made a set of vertical bathtubs and seats for representatives of the Japanese surrender."

Unexpectedly, the preparations had just been completed, and the National Government suddenly called again to inform that the surrendered area was changed to Zhijiang Airport in Hunan.

htmlOn the afternoon of August 17, Chiang Kai-shek received a reply call from Okamura Yasuji's agreement to send a member to Yushan. On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly called Okamura Yanji, "Yushan Airport is currently not available, it is changed to Hunan Zhijiang Airport. When will it take off, please inform us separately."

Why did Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly change the surrender area in less than three days while preparing for the intense preparations? Obviously, "Yushan Airport cannot be used at present" is just an excuse.

At that time, some senior Kuomintang officials raised objections to the use of Yushan Airport as the land of surrender.

Since Yushan is in the enemy-occupied area, most of the Japanese army is not willing to give in and resist stubbornly. After hearing the " Final War Imperial " on the radio, Okamura Yasuji also called the Chief of Staff of the Japanese Base Camp Umezu Mijiro for instructions, saying that the Japanese dispatched troops in China had more than one million and had won consecutive battles. Why did he surrender? Until August 17, when he replied to Chiang Kai-shek, he was still clamoring: "If necessary, use force self-defense."

In this way, surrendering at Yushan Airport poses certain safety hazards and is not conducive to psychologically putting pressure on the Japanese surrender representatives. In addition, Yushan Airport is far away from the rear, and communication and transportation are relatively inconvenient, which is not conducive to the movement of the troops.

Therefore, some senior officials of the Kuomintang believe that Yushan Airport is not conducive to the smooth progress of the surrender, and it is necessary to change the surrender location. But there is still no consensus on where to change it.

Gu Zhutong, commander-in-chief of the Third War Zone of the Chinese Army General Command, Leng Xin, deputy chief of staff, and others suggested that the surrendered place be placed in Shangrao, Jiangxi; the Allied Chinese War Zone Chief Wei Demai suggested that the army headquarters be advanced from Kunming to Zhijiang, Hunan, and surrender in Zhijiang.

After several discussions, Chiang Kai-shek adopted Wei Demai's suggestion and changed the surrendered land from Yushan, Jiangxi to Zhijiang, Hunan.

2

Zhijiang Airport

Zhijiang, a small town deep in the mountains of western Hunan, is located between the eastern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the western vein of the Xuefeng Mountains. 𣲘Shui River winds the entire territory of Zhijiang from west to east, and reaches Qiancheng and enters Yuanjiang. Since the establishment of the county in the Western Han Dynasty, it has been known as the "gateway of Yunnan and Guizhou, the throat of Chu" and is a key border leading to the southwestern provinces.

In 1934, military strategist Chiang Baili predicted that China's War of Resistance Against Japan must be a protracted war. In the construction of national defense in Japan, he strongly advocated that "after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, China's wartime base camp should be located in Zhijiang, western Hunan and Hongjiang . This area has forests and minerals, and the Yuan River flows through it, which is a natural defensive zone."

In the same year, Chiang Kai-shek telegrammed He Jian, then chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government: "In order to appease the borders of Sichuan, Hunan and Guizhou provinces in the future, it is ordered to build an airport in Zhijiang." However, due to the weak technical force at that time, the airport's survey work was once shelved. It was not until October 1936 that the Zhijiang County Government dispatched more than 2,000 migrant workers to build an airport of 800 meters square about 1 kilometer outside the east gate of the county town based on the original teaching site.

On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident in broke out, and wars broke out everywhere, and the full war of resistance began. As a must-pass place to the southwest provinces, Zhijiang is particularly important to defend its military status in the rear of the southwest.

At that time, the consultant to the China Aviation Commission, Chennard suggested that Chiang Kai-shek set up defenses in Zhijiang, western Hunan and accelerate the expansion and renovation of military airports. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek urgently ordered the Hunan Provincial Government to: "The Zhijiang Airport is expanded from the current 800 meters square to a large military airport worth 1,200 meters square." The war is getting tighter and time is tight. The expansion and renovation of Zhijiang Airport has a huge project, including the construction of runways, tarmacs, drainage channels and hidden ammunition database , etc. Without mechanical equipment, all the work was carried on by people at that time, and the difficulty was predictable!

In order to strive for the early completion of the airport, the Hunan Provincial Government had to adopt the human wave tactic. Nearly 20,000 capable laborers gathered in Zhijiang in 11 counties around Zhijiang, including Mayang, Huangxian, Jingxian, etc., and quickly invested in airport construction.

From October 1937 to October 1938, 19,000 migrant workers were invested in the construction of Zhijiang Airport.

"Early in the morning, everyone had breakfast, carried their own hoes, and carried their own dustpans, and rushed to the construction site from all directions like ant ." Shen Zhengde, who participated in the construction of the airport in 1938, recalled, "The construction site had already been assigned to the construction site, and everyone took action with the foreman's designated land. At the beginning, everyone dug together, they were very motivated, talking and laughing." The

road roller was the most important equipment for the airport construction, but at that time, there was no such equipment in China. The workers simply used more than 5 tons of large stone mills to replace it. The commander waved the little red flag, and under a whistle, hundreds of workers worked together to pull the giant mill, and repeatedly crushed them back and forth.

"The runway of the plane is all rolled out by people pulling stone mills." Liu Daomin, who once worked as a communications soldier at the radio station of Zhijiang Airport Main Station, still remembers this scene vividly. At that time, he saw adults going to build the airport every day on the street.

The giant stone mill used to build Zhijiang Airport

The men waved silver hoes and smashed the stubborn stones. Women and children then smashed them with iron hammers and transported them to the airport. The sound of footsteps, shouts, and the collision of hammers and stubborn stones echoed over Zhijiang day and night. In less than ten months, the expansion and renovation project of Zhijiang Airport was finally completed before the end of October 1938. Chennard, who personally designed and guided the construction of Zhijiang Airport, was quite moved by this. In his memoirs, he said: "The Chinese used the spirit of chewing bones to level the mountains and prepare the land, and drove an airport with a 5,000-foot runway to accommodate the planes that were still manufactured in the Pavlo factory in Los Angeles." Chennard sighed: "The more than 100 airports in China are built by thousands of Chinese men, women and children with blood and sweat, and hard work."

However, for the hard-working Chinese, there is only one expectation in their hearts: after the airport is completed, it can turn the situation around and win the Anti-Japanese War as soon as possible.

3

Foreshadowing of the Xiangxi Battle

Since 1940, Zhijiang Airport has undergone many reinforcement and expansion, becoming the "second largest military airport for the Allied forces" second only to Kunming Air Force Base. In early 1944, a large number of Chinese and US air forces entered Zhijiang Airport. The shark-type and Mustang-type fighter jets of the Chinese and US Air Force have gathered here one after another, with a maximum of 300 or 400 aircraft.

General Chennard of the United States " Flying Tigers " designated the combat area of ​​the Air Force stationed in Zhizhi as "in central China, especially in the south of the Yellow River and west of the Pinghan Railway", aiming to seize the air supremacy of central China and annihilate the enemy by air combat. In addition, the Air Force stationed in Zhizhi is also responsible for bombing and blocking the Japanese railways, highway transportation lines such as Guangdong-Hanzhou, Hunan-Guangxi, and water transportation lines such as Yangtze River , Xiangjiang, and Dongting Lake, cutting off the Japanese rear supply, blocking its southward and westward advance, and supporting the Chinese ground troops' operations.

Since then, fighter jets and bombers have frequently taken off from Zhijiang Airport, constantly bombing Japanese military camps, airports, docks and logistics transportation lines in China, causing Japanese transportation to become paralyzed.

Some personnel from the Fifth Battalion of the Sino-US Air Force Fleet are in Zhijiang.

Zhijiang Airport has become a major concern for the Japanese army. In order to restore the decline, the Japanese army also bombed it indiscriminately. Yang Xucheng, who once worked as a migrant worker in the Second Air Repair Factory, recalled in "Repair of Airport Runways": "Japanese aircraft bombed Zhijiang Airport. Most of the bombs were thrown on the runway. Dropped a bomb was a big pit. After the enemy plane flew away, we tried our best to pick up soil to fill the pit, fill the pit, and tamp it tightly, so that the plane could quickly drive on the runway."

At that time, the Japanese army lost sequentially on Pacific battlefield , and the maritime traffic line from Japan to Southeast Asia was also cut off. From Malaysia , Thailand, and Vietnam, the mainland transportation line from China to Busan, North Korea, became the only lifeline for the Japanese army to insist on fighting in the East Asian continent. However, since the Chinese army still controls Henan, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and other places in China, this mainland transportation line is not connected.

The Japanese army is already at the end of a powerful crossbow. In order to open up mainland transportation lines and destroy China's air base, in April 1944, Japan issued the "Operation No. 1 Battle Order", mobilizing 500,000 troops, and launching the Henan, Hunan and Guangxi Battle . Under fierce battles, Changsha and Hengyang were successively occupied by the Japanese invaders, and Liuzhou and Guilin were successively lost.

Several important airports of the Chinese and US Air Force in South China were destroyed by the Japanese army, and Zhijiang Airport became the only front-line airport at that time. For the Japanese army, it was imperative to destroy Zhijiang Airport.

On January 29, 1945, Japan decided to launch the "Xiangxi Battle", destroy the strategic base of the Sino-US Air Force, and occupy western Hunan in one fell swoop, threatening Chongqing. The commander of the 20th Japanese Army Corps, Sakaniichiro, mobilized about 80,000 troops from east Hunan, south Hunan and north Guangxi, and marched towards western Hunan.

Zhijiang is in danger. Chiang Kai-shek held an emergency military meeting in Chongqing, appointed He Yingqin, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army, as commander-in-chief, and ordered the Zhijiang Airport to be defended to the death. He Yingqin knew very well that this battle was related to the overall situation.

He Yingqin commanded The Fourth Front Army Wang Yao's armed forces, the Third Front Army Tang Enbo and other departments to participate in the war. In order to ensure that there is no accident, the new "Ace" Sixth Army of Liao Yaoxiang, as the general reserve team, was transported from Kunming to Zhijiang by a C-46 transport aircraft as the main reserve team, along with light tanks and recoilless cannon . This large-scale three-dimensional military supplement is the first time in fashion.

On April 9, the battle in western Hunan kicked off. The Chinese army gathered more than 20 divisions and a total force of nearly 200,000 people, and used the "Snow Peak Natural Danger" that stretched across the north and south and winded for more than 700 miles to fight step by step, lured the enemy into depth, gathered and annihilated it, and launched the "Zhijiang Defense Battle".

The aircraft stationed in Zhizhou Air Force launched a full effort to carry out continuous carpet bombing on the Japanese positions in the Xuefeng Mountain Battle Zone in western Hunan. According to statistics, during the battle, the Chinese and US Air Force dispatched 2,500 fighter jets, dropped more than 1 million pounds of bombs, and fired more than 800,000 machine gun bullets, severely hitting the Japanese army and forcing them to retreat.

In April 1945, during the Battle of Zhijiang, military personnel from China and the United States were studying and deploying the battle.

Xiao Yansheng, a villager in Qingyan Village, Jiangkou Town, Dongkou County, eastern foot of Xuefeng Mountain, is a witness to this war.He still remembers: "I saw on the mountain that the planes of the Chinese and US Air Force flew to Jiangkou and Qingyan to bomb the Japanese invaders one by one. The Japanese army had no air defense weapons and were blown away. The Japanese army was full of Japanese corpses that were blown up from blood and flesh. After the afternoon of May 8, the Japanese army was defeated like a tide." After two months of fierce fighting, the Japanese army ended in a complete defeat. With the advantages of correct strategies and tactics and military equipment, the Chinese army fought bravely to kill the enemy, killing 12,498 Japanese soldiers and injuring 23,307.

The United States " New York Times " commented on this and said: The victory of Zhijiang will be a good news, which can be regarded as a hint of the turning point of the war against Japan.

This is what I can say. The Battle of Xiangxi defeated the main force of the Japanese army, not only defeating its conspiracy to occupy Zhijiang Airport, but also increasing the morale of the Chinese army's "counterattack". Zhijiang became a place where the Japanese army lost troops and lost troops.

Just two months later, the news that Japan announced its unconditional surrender spread to the land of China and to Zhijiang.

4

surrendered to the compound

0 On August 10, 1945, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Chinese Army General Command Chief of Staff Xiao Yisu came to Nanjing for a meeting to discuss the general counterattack. The meeting was not over yet, and news of Japan's impending surrender suddenly came, and everyone was overjoyed.

After the meeting was held, Xiao Yisu hurried back to his home in Chongqing. His sons Xiao Huilin and Xiao Minyuan were particularly surprised to see their father who had not come back once a year. They reviewed in "My Father Hosted the Surrender of Zhijiang": "My father was so happy that day. As soon as he entered the door, he said that Japan surrendered to . At that time, my family lived on Kaixuan Road in Chongqing. My mother said happily - this road is really a Kaixuan Road!"

Good news spread quickly. The next day, the Central Daily News reported the excited sleepless night of millions of citizens in Chongqing: "The street is a sea of ​​carnival. Everyone greets everyone, and everyone, and congratulates each other. Everyone's feelings are flooding! Sublimation! A familiar friend met and hugged each other with exceptions, and at least he patted each other intimately; 'I'm going home'!" The news of the victory of

suddenly came, and the National Government was also a little caught off guard while being happy. At that time, a large number of Japanese invaders still occupied major cities in North China, East China and other places, and receiving lost land and holding surrender ceremonies became the top priority.

At that time, Lieutenant General of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Army Qiu Weida , and Liu Chouyi, director of the Fourth Department of the Chinese Army Headquarters, mentioned in "Recollections of the Kuomintang's surrender": "For the Kuomintang, Japan's surrender incident happened suddenly, and the Army Headquarters was unprepared. At the meeting, it was decided that He Yingqinxian would lead the Chief of Staff Xiao Yisu, Deputy Chief of Staff Leng Xin, Director of the Fourth Department Liu Chouyi, and the artillery commander Peng Mengji and went to Zhijiang to cooperate with Qiu Weida, chief of staff of the Fourth Front Army, to coordinate preparations, and telex Okamura Nishi sent representatives to Zhijiang to receive instructions."

On August 18, 1945, Chiang Kai-shek called Okamura Nishi and came to Zhijiang on August 21, and stipulated the number of people, signs, escorts, must bring watches, and contact calls.

On the same day, Leng Xin, Cai Wenzhi and others rushed to Zhijiang. They drew a group of capable personnel from the Fourth Front Army and the New Sixth Army to form the "Preparation Office for the Signature Ceremony of Japan's Surrender" to arrange the division of labor, site arrangement, transportation vehicles, and public security maintenance required for the surrender.

Immediately afterwards, Chiang Kai-shek urgently convened a meeting of the Advisory Group of the Executive Yuan and representatives of various central ministries in Chongqing to discuss and declare matters related to the surrender of Zhijiang and determine the personnel of the surrendered delegation. At the same time, the Military Commission decided to set up the Army Progress Command in Zhijiang.

Since Japan's resignation of the envoy Takeo Imai was the deputy chief of staff major general, He Yingqin arranged for Xiao Yisu to come forward to talk directly. Considering the general reciprocity of the two armies represented the ranks of , He Yingqin appointed Major General Chen Yingzhuang, Director of the Political Department of the New Sixth Army, and Colonel Chen Zhaokai, the General Staff of the Chinese Army Headquarters, to change the rank of Major , to be responsible for the alert and reception of the Japanese surrender envoy.

All preparations are being carried out in full swing.

To ensure the safety of the ceremony preparations, the preparation office used fabrics of red, pink and yellow to print the "Japan Surrender Signature Ceremony Entry and Exit Certificate".The entry and exit certificate shall be issued strictly in accordance with regulations and shall be issued to representatives, Chinese and foreign journalists and staff who are eligible to attend the ceremony. In addition, all letters, invitations, brushes, etc. involving the surrender ceremony are written with the words "Japan Surrender Signature Ceremony".

Former adjutants of the Fourth Front Army Command of the Kuomintang Wang Zhilian and Wang Dianming used a brush engraved with the words "Japan Surrender Signature Ceremony" to copy the memorandum No. 1 issued by He Yingqin to Okamura Yasuji. Wang Zhilian later recalled: "We kept candles in the restaurant and finished it until around 12 o'clock in the evening. Although it was said to be hard work, we were excited and we were tired." The venue for the surrender was set up at Qili Bridge, seven miles outside Zhijiang City. There are barracks and several guesthouses at the Sino-US Air Force Base. Due to limited time, three Western-style bungalows in the No. 1 Guesthouse of the China-US Air Force were temporarily converted into "submission courtyard".

The "Submission Courtyard" is not spacious, and there are endless people attending the Sued Ceremony, and it becomes more and more crowded. The room was originally planned for one person, so I had to arrange three or four people to share it. At that time, when it was time for dinner, hundreds of tables were crowded. Director Zhao Ruhan, the adjutant of the Fourth Front Army who was responsible for the reception of common affairs, was so tired that he shouted: "It's amazing! It's amazing!"

held a surrender ceremony and needed a large number of conference items. At that time, there were not enough tables, chairs and benches in the guesthouse. Li Zheng, the deputy director of the Fourth Front Army who was in charge of the meeting, was so anxious that he was furious.

Li Zheng led the clerk to every corner of Zhijiang City, collecting tables, chairs and benches for purchasing venues everywhere, but the tables and chairs collected were uneven, and it was too late to make the temporary work. Just as Li Zheng was worried, a leader of the Fourth Front Army stationed in Anjiang told him that the Anjiang County Government and Hunan have a batch of good furniture in Anjiang First and Second Spinning Mills. Afterwards, Li Zheng hurriedly drove several big trucks and moved all the better tables, chairs and sofas in the county government and the spinning mill to Zhijiang.

After three days and three nights, the preparation office finally got ready the day before the surrender ceremony.

On August 20, 1945, He Yingqin and his entourage, consultants, and more than 60 people flew to Zhijiang from Chongqing on four green transport planes. The commanders of the front army and reporters from all over the country also arrived in Zhijiang on this day.

That night, He Yingqin organized several meetings to arrange the procedures, procedures, precautions, etc. for the surrender ceremony. Xiao Yisu's son Xiao Huilin recalled, "Because China has never accepted the precedent of surrendering other countries in modern times, and there is no precedent of surrendering to other countries for reference. On the night before the surrender, China deliberately screened the video materials of the surrendering of German many times. But except for the desirability of respecting the opponent's personal personality, there is no other reference." The

meeting agreed that the reception of representatives from Japan's surrendering to Japan should be reasonable, but cold. The daily and dietary representatives of the surrender must not only set the time, but also use the pronunciation of the eloquence as the basis, solemn and solemnly, so as not to lose the demeanor of defeating the country. At the same time, all slogans and notes should have the word "V" printed to indicate victory.

5

Victory Glory

1945 On August 21, 1945, Zhijiang City woke up in joy.

Gu Jianping, who was a reporter from Chongqing's " Ta Kung Pao " at the time, wrote in his article "Zhijiang Tourism": "Zhijiang, which is lying on the 𣲘 water, is lively and prosperous, and is said to be unprecedented. There is a red couplet at the gate of the county town, saying "Celebrating the victory that has not been seen for 5,000 years" and "opening permanent peace for billions of years". The words are as big as a bucket. Stores and restaurants are carved, and every household raises flags, and the crackling firecrackers are not yet ready to go. We patrol the streets for a week, and in addition to seeing various types of cars, there are red and green couplets, many of which use the simple and clear ready-made vernacular language of "Japan surrenders, and the world is peaceful."

On this day, men, women, young and old in Zhijiang City, facing the morning light, rushed into the airport east of the city from different directions. People's faces were filled with smiles, filled with the joy of victory. Someone said happily: "This is an unprecedented feat in Chinese history. A powerful country surrendered to us because of its defeat. Who would not miss the opportunity for such a grand event? Who would not want to see it?"

Soon, Zhijiang Airport was surrounded by crowds of people. People stood outside the warning circle marked by white lime, looking forward to it.In the warning circle, more than a hundred planes, hundreds of jeeps, etc. were parked neatly on the airport runway, with guard posts everywhere.

On August 21, 1945, Japan's incoming orders left the airport in a jeep with a white flag and went to its designated residence.

At around 11 a.m., a Japanese landing plane with a red cloth strip logo on the tail slowly landed at Zhijiang Airport with three "Bronco" fighters. In an instant, thousands of Chinese and American officers, soldiers and journalists flocked to the scene, and people outside the warning circle also began to stir.

Li Ying, a reporter who participated in the interview at that time, wrote: "We rushed to the airport and saw a crowd of people and crowds. We finally squeezed into the interview shed. After less than ten minutes of sitting down, we heard the rumbling sound of the plane coming from far away. The plane Imai took appeared above Zhijiang and circled the field for three rounds. One expressed his greetings to the Chinese military and civilians, and the other asked the ground: whether to allow them to land. The commander on the spot ordered the attendants to send a signal from the ground to allow landing, and the Japanese plane slowly landed at Zhijiang Airport."

Before the Japanese plane landed, Takeo Imai looked down at Zhijiang Airport from the air. He suddenly understood the reason why the Japanese army lost their troops here. "Looking down at Zhijiang Airport from above, there was only a one-way runway, which was not well paved, but there were hundreds of aircraft scattered and hidden everywhere... Compared with the simple current situation of the Japanese Air Force in , we have to be amazed at the strength of the enemy air force."

But in order to take into account the final decency of the Japanese, Takeo Imai went to Zhijiang to surrender and took a special plane with Okamura Yasuji's model "MC". During the Anti-Japanese War, it was once majestic. At that time, the patent leather had fallen off and was covered with bullet marks. Even Takeo Imai himself felt, "The more he looked, the more shabby he felt, it was a last resort." The door of

slowly opened. Takeo Imai was wearing military uniform and wearing a sabre, and walked out of the plane with his head down and asked if he could get off the plane. After Chen Yingzhuang agreed, he stepped forward to check the list of crew members. Several gendarmes , and at the same time stepped forward to check the five suitcases carried by the crew.

Then, Chen Yingzhuang guided Takeo Imai and his escort and eight others to take four jeeps with white flags, and then circled around the airport for a week, and drove to the Qiliqiao venue on the banks of the 𣲘shui River. The scene of

made the people present excited. Some people raised their cameras to take pictures, some people pulled off the red cloth at the tail of the Japanese landing machine as a commemoration, and some people shouted the slogans of "destroying Japanese imperialism" and "severely punishing Japanese war criminals" to prevent the convoy from moving forward.

Takeo Imai, Yoshio Hashima, Kiyoo Maekawa and others were sitting in the jeep with Qi Rong on their faces, and were quite nervous. They were like prisoners crossing the street, slowly passing through the sea of ​​people.

From the Lugou Bridge Incident to the planning and establishment of the Wang Puppet Government, Takeo Imai, as a senior military spy during Japan's invasion of China, was once domineering and arrogant on this land. He never expected that he would "come handcuffs and beg for surrender." He later wrote in his memoirs: "We were defeated like a dark wall that blocked our future. The feeling of despair and uneasiness cannot be eliminated."

Recalling the Japanese army's British army in Singapore and the US military surrendered envoys of Philippine , "forcing them to only say 'yes' or 'no'", Takeo Imai was worried. On this day, he was ready to suffer the humiliation of defeat. "In some cases, life is in danger, and it is a last resort."

6

The final contest

zhijiang was surrendered and attracted worldwide attention. On this day, Zhijiang City was decorated with lights and the surrendered venue was carefully arranged.

The main entrance of the venue, there is a archway built with pine and cypress branches on each side. The two words "Axiom" are attached at the entrance of the left archway, and the characters "V" symbolizing victory are placed in the middle, and the "God of Peace" is attached to the top; the same is true for the right archway, and the two words "Justice" are attached at the entrance. In the open space in front of the venue, the flags of the four countries of China, the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom are high.

Enter the venue. In a black-structured wooden bungalow, the east and west areas are divided by wooden grilles. A portrait of Sun Yat-sen is hung on the wall of the east area. There are several long tables in front of the portrait, covered with snow-white tablecloths.Ningyuan Daily reporter Yi Junzuo , who participated in the report at the time, described that these tables "seemed to be the judge's case desk." In the West District, there is only a long table, which is a reserved press seat, and a big bell hangs on the wall.

Before the surrender meeting began, the politicians, soldiers, and Chinese and foreign journalists present were all in a state of excitement. According to Yi Junzuo, at one end of the room, "the joyful Chinese and American officers congratulated each other, and the most prominent ones were the loud laughter of General Xiao Yisu, Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army Headquarters, and General Xiao Yisu, who presided over the meeting, and General Butler, the US representative, , butler, ." The press seat on the other end was almost occupied by the typewriter brought by foreign journalists, and the sound of the typewriter even overshadowed people's noise and noise.

"China Morning Post" reporter Yan Qiyu was one of the reporters on the scene in the Hunan newspaper industry back then. He noticed that senior Kuomintang generals such as Tang Enbo, Zhang Fakui, Lu Han, Wang Yaowu, Du Yuming, , Wu Qiwei, Liao Yaoxiang, Zheng Dongguo , Zhang Xuezhong and other senior Kuomintang generals attended the meeting. However, due to the limited area of ​​the venue, dozens of Chinese and foreign journalists had to be squeezed into the corridor and outside the venue to watch.

15:20, Takeo Imai and four Japanese surrendered envoys took off their hats and walked into the venue. They walked to the empty seat and, in full view, bowed deeply to the chief of staff of the Chinese Army Headquarters, Xiao Yisu, deputy chief of staff, Leng Xin, US chief of staff of the Chinese theater, Brigadier General Butler and interpreter Wang Wu. Xiao Yisu and others did not return the gift, but only said: "Please sit!"

Takeo Imai did not untie the saber on his waist after sitting. Before the talks began, he begged the Chinese side: the Japanese regard the saber as life, and taking off the saber is equivalent to ruining their lives. So, Xiao Yisu granted Takeo Imai to keep the sabre, and he was very grateful for it. At the beginning of the talks, Xiao Yisu first introduced his Chinese representatives and the US representatives on both sides of the left and right sides, and then said in an orderly tone: "I am entrusted by Commander-in-Chief He Yingqin to meet you. Please explain your identity and hand over your identity certificate!" After the English translation in

on the day, Takeo Imai introduced himself and his entourage and whispered: "I was sent by Nishi Okamura, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese dispatched army in China, to visit the head of the Chinese theater. My mission is to contact your official before the signing of the armistice agreement. He has no power to decide or sign any document."

Takeo Imai only said "armf" and "submission", which aroused the dissatisfaction of the Chinese representatives. Xiao Yisu angrily rebuked: " Japanese Emperor has issued an edict to accept the " Potsdam Announcement " to implement unconditional surrender, ordering the Japanese army to stop fighting and hand over weapons. The noble official is a surrender representative sent by General Okamura Yasuji, who came to accept the order of the Chinese war zone to surrender the Japanese army invading China. It is inappropriate to use the word "surrender" in your oral report, so I will correct it."

Therefore, Takeo Imai is only accused of being aware of it, but he is not willing to be outdone when submitting relevant documents. As early as three days ago, China had already telegrammed Okamura Yasuji and ordered him to submit all the command systems, troop distribution, airports, ships, munitions, and minefield locations and current status of all Japanese troops (except northeastern provinces ), Taiwan, and Vietnam to the north of 16 degrees north latitude.

At the surrender ceremony in Zhijiang, the Japanese side presented a map of the deployment of Japanese troops invading China.

However, Takeo Imai said that he only brought the Japanese troops to the Chinese theater, and there was no list. The map did not have the deployment of troops to Taiwan and Vietnam on the map, because the Japanese troops stationed in these two areas were not under the jurisdiction of Okamura Yasuji.

At the same time, the Japanese translation Tatsuo Kimura only translated here and stopped. The Chinese Japanese translator immediately stood up and said, "There are two sentences left to Major General Imai's words, "There are two sentences that have not been translated. ', the general situation of the three northeastern provinces, , Vietnam and Taiwan can be known.'."

In the continuous competition, the talks lasted for more than an hour. The American videographer responsible for the on-site shooting captured a detail: After the Japanese staff officer Yoshio Hashima sat down, he was feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles, and was so nervous that he kept sweating. Takeo Imai was standing by, sweat was also blowing on his head.

Japanese submission Yoshio Hashimashima, who kept sweating after sitting down.

17:00, the representatives of China and the United States announced the "Memorandum 1 of Chinese" that required Takeo Imai to forward to Okamura Yasuji. The memorandum stipulates that the Japanese Army, Navy and Air Force in the Chinese theater should accept orders to surrender to all surrendered officials designated by China.

Takeo Imai took the memorandum and asked for an explanation of the content, but was blocked by Xiao Yisu's four words "can't be necessary". Xiao Yisu ordered him to inform Okamura Yasu that China would send Leng Xin to Nanjing to set up a command post so that the Japanese army would surrender smoothly; China will airlift troops to Nanjing, Shanghai, Peking and other places in the shortest time, hoping that Japan would cooperate and make preparations. The surrender talks ended here.

Japanese envoy Takeo Imai stamped the seal on "Enterprise Acquisition".

It was not until this moment that Takeo Imai realized that the fact that Japan's defeat and surrender was irreversible. But what he was grateful to him was that "all the staff members expressed deep understanding of Japan and always treated each other with a Bushido attitude. Rather than treating defeated generals in the enemy country, it was better to say that they were treating friends. Especially , , Major General Niu Xianming, his words and deeds can even be seen to be vigilant not to cause the defeated envoy to commit suicide in humiliation."

7

signature location changed to Nanjing

, which was originally scheduled to be defeated in Zhijiang, and the signature location changed to Nanjing.

After the talks with Takeo Imai ended, He Yingqin received a call from Wei Demai. Wei Demai said that the signing of surrender is a world-renowned event, and the signing location should not be placed in Zhijiang, but should be changed to Nanjing.

He Yingqin does not agree with this suggestion. He believed that Nanjing was still under the control of the Japanese army at that time, and there were many inconveniences in Nanjing for signing the surrender, so it was still in Zhijiang.

htmlOn August 21, He Yingqin asked Chiang Kai-shek to: "Chongqing Chairman Jiang: According to General McCreu, General Wei Demai said: According to General Wei Demai, the signing location of Okamura Yasuji should be in Nanjing, but he decided to be in Zhijiang a few days ago, and everything has been prepared to ask about the change of opinions on this change. I thought that if the Junka appointed him, he must be surrendered in Nanjing, and he should follow the order to go there. However, before signing, our New Sixth Army cannot start air transport. , If the post is to go, under the enemy's forces, everything will be difficult to carry out. After research, it seems that it is still in Zhijiang. How? Please give me some advice. He Yingqin."

The next day, Chiang Kai-shek sent an urgent telegram to He Yingqin from Chongqing: "You can discuss all the documents with the Japanese representative in Zhijiang, and the signing location will be changed to Nanjing. Zhongzheng."

The signature of the surrender was changed to Nanjing, and many problems followed one after another. In cities where the Chinese army has not yet controlled it, if only the surrender ceremony is held in a formal manner and no army actually occupy it, then who will dismantle the Japanese army? After receiving surrender, how can Nanjing take over and defend? After weighing the pros and cons, Xiao Yisu proposed: "We should wait until our force can indeed control Nanjing, and hold the 'Signing Ceremony of the Chinese War Theater' in the area to immediately disarm the Japanese army. All kinds of reception work can be carried out with the assistance of the armed forces of the national army. Otherwise, the guarantee will be lost."

's proposal was quickly recognized by Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek then approved the signing ceremony for the surrender in Nanjing, and called He Yingqin: "Zhijiang Commander-in-Chief He Xunjian: 1. The US military headquarters received a call from General MacArthur and said that the Japanese government officially surrendered and could sign it on August 31. The Chinese theater of war accepted Okamura Yasuji's formal surrender, and the signing of the Tokyo General Surrender must be signed after the signing of the surrender of the Tokyo General, and the large army air transport to Nanjing and Shanghai has begun. The estimated date of surrender is around September 4 or 5."

htmlOn the morning of August 23, He Yingqin met with Takeo Imai and reported that Japan's surrender was officially signed in Nanjing. In the afternoon of that day, Takeo Imai and his party flew from Zhijiang to Nanjing.

Then, while He Yingqin handled the follow-up matters of the surrender in Zhijiang, he prepared for the signing ceremony in Nanjing. However, it is not enough to have to air transport troops to Nanjing, Shanghai, Peking and other places in just a few days.So, he asked Chiang Kai-shek to:

"Before, he was ordered by Junzu to instruct the Japanese surrender to be in Nanjing, the date is about September 2 or 5, and it must be held after the large number of air transport troops arrive. The New Sixth Army and the 94th Army will be scheduled to start on September 1. The investigation of the entire army has been prepared on the 30th, but as of this winter, the Air Force has not yet begun. Due to the above reasons, the signing date is planned to be September 9, can it be determined? Please confirm that Junzu will order the air transport of the Sixth Army and the 94th Army to start as soon as possible. The army has sufficient time to deploy briefly in Beijing and Shanghai."

After obtaining Chiang Kai-shek's consent, He Yingqin has plenty of time to dispatch troops. He deployed all the matters of surrendering the Chinese theater in Zhijiang, and did not fly to Nanjing from Zhijiang until 9 a.m. on September 8.

9:00 on September 9, at 9:00 on September 9, the "Signing Ceremony of Japan's Surrender in China" was held in the auditorium of the former Central Military Academy in Nanjing, declaring the complete failure of Japanese militarism in China.

8

Surrender Memorial House

Surrender One sunset in Zhijiang. As the first place to surrender in the Chinese theater, Zhijiang not only witnessed the first time that modern China was surrendered as a victorious country, but also became famous for it. After the surrender, all walks of life in Zhijiang held a victory ceremony. He Yingqin delivered a speech at the conference: "Zhijiang, a small town with remote mountains, has been famous all over the world because the Japanese army surrendered on August 21, leaving an indelible glorious page in history."

To commemorate this glorious moment, in 1946, the Hunan Provincial Government sent design committee member Chen Yuying and Zhijiang County Mayor Yang Huayu to draft the "Zhijiang Suspension City Design Draft". The draft of Suicheng City includes the construction of Suicheng City Memorial Hall, Resistance War Memorial Hall, and Resistance War Victory Memorial, which is of far-reaching significance. "It not only records military achievements, strengthens the ambition of the people, but also educates future generations, and will never forget it." However, the construction of Suicheng City Project is huge and requires a lot of funds. At that time, the National Government only allocated 2.85 million legal tender, but it was a drop in the bucket. County Mayor Yang Huayu made an oath: "Even if you dig bricks in the city, you must build an Arc de Triomphe" to commemorate the heroes who died in the Anti-Japanese War. After overcoming various difficulties, in February 1947, the surrender memorial workshop was finally completed on Qili Bridge on the banks of the 𣲘shui River. The memorial hall has four pillars and three arches, with a height of 8.5 meters. It has brick columns on it and a cement surface. It is engraved with the inscriptions of the Kuomintang military and political officials.

From a distance, the memorial hall of surrender looks like a capital letter "blood", symbolizing the victory and peace that more than 35 million compatriots sacrificed their lives and shed their blood for this. During the Cultural Revolution, the surrender memorial hall was destroyed by the Red Guards as the "Four Olds".

In 1982, Japanese history textbooks changed the description of "invasion of China" to "entering China"; then Prime Minister Fukuda Shioto went to Yasukuni Shrine to worship and worship in the name of "Cabinet Prime Minister"... Japan's various actions aroused the anger of the Chinese people.

Deng Xiaoping instructed this: "Japan repairs the monument of invasion, and we must repair the monument of anti-aggression." Based on this instruction, the Cultural Relics Department of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture decided to restore the Zhijiang Surrender Memorial Hall before commemorating the 40th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

Regarding the restoration plan, the Zhijiang County Government proposed that "we must abide by the principle of not changing the original state of cultural relics, respect history, take into account the overall reunification of the motherland, restore the original state of the "Suburban Memorial Hall" to retain the original scale and the original inscription title, but the quality must be stronger than before, and strive to repair it better."

"Strive to repair it better" is not easy. Jiang Baiyong, former director of the Zhijiang County Cultural Relics Management Institute, participated in the restoration project. According to his description, the inscription of the memorial workshop was changed to stone slabs, and the Mingshan stone, which was called "Purple Robe Jade Belt" in the old chronicle. The quarrying site is located on the hillside of Mingshan, 12 kilometers away from the city, and it needs to be manually carried 4 kilometers before loading. Fortunately, there are skilled workers in the local area, and although there are many difficulties, they have overcome them.

The people of Zhijiang never forget the restoration and surrender of the Memorial Hall. Someone provided clues that a large monument that had been demolished was carried to repair the water pump. The staff rushed to the pumping machine and saw a stone tablet spread obliquely on the edge of the water plant.When I lifted it out, I found that it was the inscription "Zhijiang Success Memorial House" embedded in the middle of the back of the surrender memorial house. I immediately asked someone to carry it back to the construction site; some people also found the "brightening future" monument of the memorial house in the local area and took the initiative to return to the former site of the surrender venue.

In August 1985, the restoration of the memorial hall for surrender was finally completed. In the same year, the former site of the surrendered venue was restored and everything was displayed as it was. Jiang Baiyong wrote in "A Brief Record of the Restoration of the Memorial Shop in Surrender": "Anjiang Shining Mill donated 1 nine-drawer table with the lettering of the 'Japanese surrender signing ceremony', 3 sofas and 11 office chairs, all of which have been identified as national first- and third-level cultural relics."

Today, Zhijiang has built a Peace Park, a Chinese People's Victory Surrender Memorial Hall, a Hunan Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, and a Flying Tigers Memorial Hall on the basis of the former site of the Surrender Memorial Hall and the Suspension Venue. This brings tourists who recall history to the crowd.