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This photo has almost become a symbol of the rout of Yuxianggui.
China on the run
"In November 1944, the only Allied army still in rout and on the run was the Chinese army led by the Chongqing government. It was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Allies.
The Japanese targeted the base of the United States 14th Air Force, an air force commanded by General Chennault that sank more than half a million tons of Japanese ships and ruthlessly attacked Japan's army and air force. The Japanese also wanted to further capture the forward base of the B-29 bombers of the 20th Air Force of the United States. In addition to this, they wanted to divide China, open a railway line connecting the north and south of Chinese mainland, and destabilize the Chiang Kai-shek government at a critical moment and prevent the Allies from meeting along the Chinese coast.
The Japanese launched an attack on Guilin and Liuzhou on 27 October. Guilin is one of the most fortified cities in China. The artillery of the defenders came from United States, the Soviet Union and even Germany, and artillery units were deployed in caves in the mountains around the city. Last week, the Japan announced that they had captured Liuzhou and Guilin, which are located along the railway line. Later, they changed their story and said that they had "surrounded" Guilin. The 80,000 Chinese defenders would stand against about 350,000 attacking Japanese troops.
Panicked citizens have begun to evacuate – on foot, by rickshaw, horse-drawn carriage and train. The infirm fell on the side of the road and died there, unnoticed. Once on the bus, for whatever reason, no one gets off the bus for fear of losing their place and the stench in the carriage is unbearable. The crowds were stacked on top of each other, and some of the innermost people were suffocated. Crying babies are tied to telephone poles to prevent them from getting lost.
The military retreat and destruction were undoubtedly more miserable before the Chinese people evacuated – the 14th Air Force blew up all the expensive facilities at the Guilin base – destroying some 550 buildings and airfield facilities at a cost to United States about $700 million. The emergency runway for fighters and bombers remained intact until the end, and the retreating troops planted bombs on the runway.
Fleeing children pick up hot coal ash and unburned coal scraps under the front of their cars for cooking and heating.
After the Japanese attack, the vanguard soon came to a distance of about 25 kilometers from the last airfield, General Clinton · Vincent ordered the last airfield to be blown up, and the United States sappers blew up the airfield and retreated in six jeeps.
This is not only a fiasco for the Chinese, but also for the United States. ”
The above passage is a news report published in Time magazine in United States on November 20, 1944. Although there is no doubt that there is no basis for speculation about the number of Chinese and Japanese troops, in a few words, the tragic scene of the defeat of Yuxianggui is vividly described.
The following content is all from foreign reports from that period, and I don't plan to do any embellishments and deletions, after all, whether you like it or not, whether you accept it or not, it will not change.
As for the fruit fans who stuff their heads in holes in the wall and only close their eyes and ears to shout for Commander-in-Chief Chiang, this article is destined to make your heart beat and fidget—because this is all a true account written by your United States father himself.
Bombing and traitors
The Guilin air base before the retreat, surrounded by "jagged" hills.
Just 400 kilometers northwest of Guangzhou, Japan-occupied China, in a small green valley formed by jagged outcrops of granite, is the wreckage of the burned, blown up and evacuated Guilin Air Base.
The loss of Guilin Air Base and other air bases near the 14th Air Force was a serious military defeat for the US military in Chinese mainland, meaning that the war against Japan could be significantly prolonged.
The ragged and poorly equipped Chinese army was still fighting the Japanese in the eastern provinces, and the attacking Japanese were supported by tanks, heavy artillery and cavalry, while the Chinese army had only a small number of light machine guns and mortars, and the soldiers had rifles that were older than their age.
The forward bases of the 14th Air Force have been abandoned and blown up, and the loss of these bases means that there is no longer any hope of using land-based fighters and medium bombers to support the Allied landings on Chinese shores.
The last time this reporter saw Guilin, the Japanese had already captured Hengyang, and when the Japanese army pressed the border, all the non-combatants in the city fled.
In the early days of the Japanese attack, the small city of Guilin, less than 10 kilometers from the air base, was still a quiet and pleasant place. Although concrete bunkers have been built on the streets, Chinese life seems normal. The rickshaw bumped over the cobblestones. Small bamboo rafts come and go on the winding Li River, and the small towns are distributed on both sides of the Li River.
Guilin was known as the Paris of Free China, which was not entirely unworthy of its name at the time. The atmosphere in Guilin is pleasant and laid-back. It is still the most open town in Free China. The girls here are happy and beautiful. The local mulberry wine is not only cheap, but also of good quality. And the town has not been bombed by the Japanese for more than two years.
United States a hand-drawn ride by a pilot
But at the nearby air base, soldiers and officers were exhausted, nervous, and badly off the scales. Overwork, sleepless nights spent in bunkers and fortifications, constant bombing by Japan planes, and the stress of insufficient food (which had to be replenished with vitamin pills) all took a heavy toll on United States.
Guilin's air base has been operational, with B-25 bombers and dilapidated P-40 fighters making an average of four to five sorties a day to attack coastal ships and Japanese troops heading toward Guilin from Changsha and Hengyang.
When the 14th Air Force suddenly attacked the Japan air base in Yueyang and won a resounding victory, the Japanese launched an air counterattack against Guilin.
At about 7:30 p.m., the airport was silent and sweltering. The sky was cloudless and starry. A bright half-moon hangs in the night sky. Some United States officers and soldiers watched a boring movie about college football called "We Were Never Defeated" in the entertainment hall. A few others were already tapping their sheets under mosquito nets, trying to sleep peacefully on a hot night.
Suddenly, the Chinese soldiers in charge of the airport guard began to pound their copper basins vigorously, and a small siren sounded in the surrounding fields – a "one-ball alarm" (Note 1).
Officers and men gathered around the jeep in groups of three or five. Young Chinese soldiers run from room to room, turn off the lights, and use the words "Alarm! Alert! The shouts woke up the sleeping soldiers.
The railway bridge, about 16 km from Guilin, was blown up by the 14 Air Force.
The washbasin was banged again, but at a different pace, and the alarm in the field sounded again. This time it's a double-ball alert. The jeep was filled with people, many lying on the hood and spare tire, and drove towards the anti-aircraft gun emplacements around the airfield. Most of these people were office clerks and ground staff who volunteered to serve as anti-aircraft firefighters.
Soldiers who did not have combat positions took refuge in narrow trenches or in natural caves on the walls of granite valleys. Chinese soldiers and cooks lined up the steep hill around the airport, followed by reporters, who stopped under a jutting rock near the mountain, where they could clearly see the airfield and fields below.
The airbase was pitch black. Moonlight shines on the runway and on the roofs of buildings. At about eight o'clock, a red flare suddenly flew out of a nearby hill and flew diagonally over a corner of the airport; Immediately afterwards, flares were fired from another hill, and two flares crossed just above the airport's main fuel storage area, forming a conspicuous arch.
Undoubtedly, as in the past, traitors among the Chinese (called "traitors" by the Chinese) or sneaking Japanese sent a "welcome signal" to the Japanese planes.
The United States who saw the signal flare were scolding, while the Chinese officers and soldiers on the top of the hill watched all this with grief and indignation and let out a helpless sigh.
Soon, a low roar was heard in the sky, and the sound was getting louder and louder. There were no anti-aircraft guns around the airport, only 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns, and several searchlights began to scratch around the night sky, and the sound of machine guns resounded through the valley, and strings of tracer bullets flew into the night sky.
A Japanese plane suddenly emerged from the darkness and flew low over the airfield, the roar of the engines was deafening, and a bomb exploded on the runway.
As the Japanese planes flew away, the airfield fell into darkness and silence again, save for the occasional sound of rifle or carbine fire. It was soldiers chasing Japan and traitors who fired flares.
Before Guilin was lost, the American soldiers at the base were actively defending the air.
A few minutes later, the Japanese bombers flew back, and although the engines were noisy, nothing could be seen in the night sky. This time, Japanese planes flew in from several different directions, and several flew over the top of the mountain. Searchlights and machine guns on the runway began to "welcome" them again, and a small cloud of white light suddenly burst from all over the airfield, followed by explosions and shock waves.
When the Japan plane flew away, several flames continued to burn at the airport.
When the Japanese flew over for the third time, they dropped all the bombs in the fuel zone indicated by the flares, and the orange flames soared into the air, and the height of the flames exceeded the surrounding hills.
The fourth group of bombers continued to drop bombs into the burning fuel field, the flames getting higher and brighter, half of the airfield was illuminated as if it were daylight, and the details of the surrounding hills were clearly visible. The terrible heat can be felt even by those who stay on the distant hills.
The fifth group of Japanese planes that flew over did not drop bombs again, they just circled back and forth at low altitude over the airfield, apparently checking the effectiveness of their air raids.
For a long time, no one left a combat post or shelter. Huge and blazing pillars of fire erupted from time to time, creating new terrifying heat waves.
As the fire waned and the moon set at the base of the mountain, the "everything is normal" sirens sounded and several lights began to flicker in the fields.
Back in the brightly lit barracks, everything looked normal. The soldiers returned in cars or from anti-aircraft machine-gun firing embassies. Everyone was asking each other about the damage and debating how many bombers had come, and the numbers varied widely, roughly between 4 and 12.
Sergeant Burr · Quillan was an aircraft mechanic who volunteered to operate an anti-aircraft machine gun. He was sitting on the porch, his fingers holding the cigarette still trembling - a bomb had fallen less than 30 meters from him during the battle. He operated the machine gun to shoot until the barrel overheated. Sergeant Quillan felt like he had shot several rounds into the belly of a low-flying bomber.
A little later, Sergeant Bill · Gould arrived from inside Guilin and told more stories about the betrayal: just before the bombers flew by, he saw several red flares rising over the city and a sizable house on fire. Gould went on to say that guided the bombers directly over the town, turned around and dropped bombs on Guilin Air Base.
"Soon," said one of the soldiers, after hearing this, "the traitors will shoot at us." After that, I'm going to go into town with a gun. ”
The next morning, the airfield looked the same as before, except for a few craters on the runway. Before dark, a group of coolies filled the crater with tamped dirt. One B-25 turned into a wreckage. No buildings were hit, but some roofs were pierced by shrapnel, and some windows were shattered.
The US military burned all the facilities at the airport.
The fuel area and a large surrounding area of land and rocks were charred, and burnt out oil drums were everywhere. With the exception of two lieutenants with concussions, there were no casualties. The most pity is that the fuel that has been burned out can only wait for the planes to replenish it from the "Hump" route. Thankfully, there was still some fuel at other small storage sites, and Guilin's planes could still continue the fight.
What the US officers and men stationed at the Guilin base were most dissatisfied with was not the bombing, sleepless nights, overwork, and poor food, but the near-non-existent air defense measures at the airport. There were not enough searchlights, there were no fully equipped night fighters, and there were no large-caliber anti-aircraft guns. All said, "It would be nice if we had a few Bofors." ”
But they knew why supplies and supplies were so scarce: the Yunnan-Burma Highway was cut off, and there was not a single coastal port left in Free China (Note 2), all of which were occupied by the Japanese. All the personnel, bombs, ammunition, guns and gasoline of the Guilin base were airlifted from the Kunming base in the Chinese rear, and the supplies from the Kunming base had to be transported from India via the Hump route, and all the supplies from India had to be transported from the distant United States.
Soon after, the Guilin Air Base was abandoned and destroyed by the U.S. military, and civilians in the nearby city of Guilin were evacuated.
Guilin Great Retreat
"General Stilwell and Maj. Gen. Chennault visited the base for the last time," Sgt. Frank · Tartweller said, describing the final days of the air base. "By that time, the large bomb had been planted on the runway as planned. Soon after the departure of the generals, the demolition began in earnest.
Everyone works day and night. Japan planes do not come to harass us during the day, but they keep us in foxholes night after night. The planes didn't hit anyone, but they kept people awake and exhausted people couldn't work effectively during the day. ”
"At one o'clock in the morning on the day of the final retreat, we were woken up from our beds by Chinese soldiers. In less than an hour, two dormitories were set on fire, and by 4 a.m., the fighter runway, parachute tower, two other dormitories, and much debris had been reduced to ashes. ”
The last group of planes that rushed over took off and left the Guilin base with all kinds of salvaged materials.
"When the runway was finally blown up and the buildings burned, we all thought that Japan bombers would fly over. Because compared to the signals sent by traitors and Japan agents, the flame is undoubtedly a better guide. But for some reason, Japan planes did not appear. ”
From the moment the U.S. military began to abandon the Guilin base and blow up and burn down the base's various facilities, Guilin's residents began to flee to Liuzhou, "a long line of grieving refugees trudging day and night through fields and runways, carrying pitiful packages and gadgets, trying to carry their world on their backs." ”
The U.S. military planted a bomb on the runway and detonated it, temporarily preventing the Japanese from continuing to use the airfield with the huge crater that was blown up.
"The roads were crowded with refugees, and we couldn't help but wonder what would happen next if the 14th Air Force was gone. But at least our planes prevented the Japanese from flying over to strafe refugees, as the Nazis did in many countries in Europe. ”
"It's the same with the train station. The Chinese packed the carriages, they crowded the locomotives, hung on the couplings between the carriages, and even hung on the poles under the carriages. Everywhere you look, you can see people carrying bulky luggage that is tightly bundled, and they have to write their names on everything. ”
"There was a shortage of coal, and some trains had to stay at the station for up to eight hours after loading. The smell around was unbearable, and swarms of black flies crawled everywhere, but people continued to do their chores and lives as usual. ”
"The evacuation agencies set up by the government to deal with refugees were slow to respond and started too late, and they quickly failed completely under the influx of people. Initially, you had to pay upfront for the train evacuation, but when the last 20,000 people were evacuated, the railway department simply asked where you were going, and there was no more choice for the number of trains. ”
"Back in the half-burned city, the streets were silent, empty except for the occasional soldier and people who went around looting and smashing shops."
The last two United States soldiers to leave Guilin were Sgt. Sgt. Willard · Gorby and Corporal Frank · J. · Kelleher: "We got on the train at Elton Station and left Guilin, where we waited for six days," Gorby said. "This is the last train from Guilin. We were transporting equipment and had to be guarded to prevent civilians from entering our carriages.
On the night of the sixth day, we heard explosions and the sky was lit up by the fires of the burned hotels and the airport. We were supposed to take the train to Liuzhou, but traffic officials told us there had been a derailment on the railroad and the train might not be able to leave. We loaded the equipment to be guarded into two trucks and walked along the path. On the way, we met a large group of refugees, all heading in the same direction – away from Guilin.
But we are heartened to see that another army – the Chinese army – is moving in the opposite direction. They were going to fight for Guilin. ”
No matter how many clever words and distorted embellishments are, they are so pale and powerless in the face of real history.
1. The guards in the lower right corner sit on small stools to stand guard, while the refugees in the car get out of the car to cook and wash.
2. The carriage was crowded with refugees.
3. The "luxury box" of a wealthy family is just at the junction of the wagon.
4. The boy tried to sleep just a few centimeters from the wheels. Because when the train was moving, he didn't dare to move.
5. The family tied the planks with ropes and built a barely sheltering platform at the bottom of the truck's compartment.
6. The seats on the roof of the car are occupied.
7. A lady who is anxious to find her bag in the pile of luggage.
8. A family sitting on a locomotive.
9. This girl is cooking by her luggage, otherwise she will be stolen.
10. The common people who fled Guilin.
11. People waiting to buy tickets.
12. Whenever a packed train stops, it becomes a huge toilet around it, and the poor sanitary environment poses a great threat to the health of refugees.
13. While the train was docking, this young mother hurriedly bathed the child.
14. A station full of refugees.
15. Refugees who escaped from Guilin built temporary shacks with bamboo on the hillside. Luckily, bamboo is everywhere, so they don't have to spend extra money.
16. The shacks of refugees stranded in the Jincheng River, they wait for the vehicles to evacuate westward.
17. These refugees who occupy the carriage are waiting for the locomotive that will arrive at an unknown time.
18. The refugees brought all their belongings.
19. This Chinese family, who hung blankets on the front of the car to prevent steam burns, despite their hardships, still cheered up and showed their best in front of the camera of United States. The lack of transportation is just one of the difficulties they face on the way to escape, with severe food shortages and rampant diseases being the biggest threats to the refugees.
20. More people didn't even pick up the train, so they had to retreat on foot along the railways and highways.
21. Three children who were separated from their parents, and behind them were simple wooden frames built with wood under the carriages, which was their train berths. The little girl watching the camera, despite being a child herself, clung to her sleeping brother like a mother, and no one knew where they were going to flee and how they would survive when they reached safety.
For them at this time, the mountains and rivers are safe and prosperous, and it is just an unattainable luxury.
Note 1: This was a unique early warning method that spread from Chongqing, which suffered frequent air raids, because the power was often cut off during the bombing, and the sirens could not be guaranteed to work smoothly, so the air defense personnel adopted the method of hanging red balls in high places to warn. Hang one to indicate a pre-warning, and another one is an alarm, at which time the public should urgently take refuge in the air-raid shelter; When the third one is attached, it is an emergency alert, and pedestrians are not allowed to walk on the road at this time.
Note 2: "Free China" is a special term used during World War II to distinguish between the nationalized areas and the occupied areas. During the Liberation War, the United States called China "Chiang Kai-shek China," and "Free China" was only used by a small number of pro-Chiang United States officials and the Chiang dynasty when they wanted US aid, because the vast majority of United States journalists did not think that China under Chiang Kai-shek's rule had anything to do with "freedom and democracy."
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