Wenxi fire details

Like "Ma Ri" in Ma Ri incident, the date in telegraph code was replaced by the rhyme of Chinese characters in the Republic of China. The "Ma Ri" of "Ma Ri incident" is 2 1, while the rhyme code of 12 is "Wen Ri". The fire in Changsha occurred on the night of 12, which was called "Wen Xi" in the telegram.

1938+00 After the fall of Wuhan in June, the Japanese army continued to invade the south, and Hunan changed from the rear of the Anti-Japanese War to the front of the Anti-Japanese War.

165438+1On October 9, the Japanese army captured Yueyang and continued to advance southward to the north bank of the new wall, and the portal of Hubei was opened.

In this grim situation, Chiang Kai-shek held two military and political meetings in Changsha in late June and early October to discuss the war situation. Due to the lack of confidence in ensuring Changsha, Chiang Kai-shek instructed the implementation of the policy of "strengthening the wall to clear the wild" and "scorched earth to resist the Japanese war", and the whole city was burned before the fall of Changsha.

165438+1On October 7th, Chiang Kai-shek once again instructed Changsha to conduct a scorched-earth war of resistance. If it is not defended, it must be completely destroyed and "not used by the enemy." On this basis, Zhang Zhizhong, the chairman of the provincial government, held a meeting of the provincial government on June 5438+065438+ 10/0, and decided that Xu Kun, head of the 2nd Regiment of Changsha Garrison Command, would be the chief fire-fighting commander, organize fire-fighting teams and prepare fire-fighting tools. When the fire was set, the whole city acted in unison, taking the fire in Tianxin Pavilion in the south of the city as the number.

According to this plan, Xu Kun organized the Second Guard into 100 arson groups with three people, distributed arson equipment, mobilized a large number of fire engines and pumped gasoline as trains. 165438+1October 12 At about 9: 00 a.m., the upward train originating from Hengyang announced that it was out of service. In the afternoon, a large number of flammable materials were piled up on some main streets. Some walls are painted with the word "Jiao" in lime, or with other arson codes, or with propaganda slogans against the enemy in Japanese. Almost at the same time, Chiang Kai-shek sent an hour-long secret order to Zhang Zhizhong: "If Changsha falls, the whole city must be burned. Please make proper preparations in advance and don't make mistakes! " Later, Zhang Zhizhong got a phone call from Lin Wei, deputy director of Jiang's retinue room, and the content was "Changsha will be scorched".

At that time, the "front line was calm", and our enemy was still at loggerheads in the north of Xinqiang River, which is more than 0/00 kilometers away from Changsha/KLOC. However, the plan to burn the city has been formulated and passed, and the headquarters to destroy Changsha has also been established. A meeting was held after dinner that day, and it was announced that if a fire was found in the direction of the north gate tonight, the whole city would be set on fire. After the meeting, the police station informed the sub-bureaus, "There is a possibility of retreat tonight, asking them to stand by and watch." Then, all preparations were stepped up. At 10 that night, kindling gasoline was distributed to each fire prevention unit class (team). 12, the second garrison area and the social training corps all entered the preparation position. Everything is ready to set fire to Changsha, and the Changsha fire is just around the corner.

This is an anxious wait. 165438+1October 13 At 2 o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out somewhere in the south gate. Xu Quan, director of the provincial security department, recalled that he quickly got the report from the soldiers and made careless judgments. Call the police chief Wen and ask for fire fighting. In less than a quarter of an hour, the south gate has caught fire in three places. Xu Quan judged that it was arson. The trouble is that the fire brigade is gone. Who can control the fire? It didn't take long for Changsha to be "full of flames". Before long, even Tianxin Pavilion caught fire, and then the whole city caught fire.

According to Xi Chulin, the mayor of Changsha at that time, Changsha citizens woke up from their sleep when the fire broke out. "In the face of raging fire, there is no way out for heaven, and there is no way out for earth." Some wounded and sick people who can't walk are swallowed up by flames; Women and children trapped by the fire are old and weak, or they are boiled alive in water tanks or burned to death in air-raid shelters.

The fire burned for five days from the early morning of June 1 13 to June 17. 90% of the streets and buildings in the city were destroyed, and more than 3,000 people died directly from the fire. According to the statistics of the loss of Hunan Province in the Anti-Japanese War compiled by the Statistics Department of Hunan Provincial Government of Kuomintang, the economic loss caused by the fire was about 65.438+billion yuan, equivalent to 654.38+0.7 trillion yuan after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. Before the fire broke out, 90% of the 300,000 people in Changsha had been evacuated, and the whole city of Changsha was completely burned. These 300,000 people became homeless refugees. According to statistics, as of February 9, 65438, when the last aid was paid, the city had registered victims124,000, of which only Lidun and Lisigang took in orphans 8 15.