Does anyone know about the historical event of "Huayuankou embankment burst" and its impact?

It was a sunny day on June 9, 1938, at least at Huayuankou in the northern suburbs of Zhengzhou. Xiong Xianyu, the staff officer of the New 8th Division, made a hasty note in his diary - just like the previous two days. Just like the rain, the weather itself cannot make him pay more attention to it. The special mission undertaken by the New 8th Division in Huayuankou is the focus of his diary.

This day is already the deadline for the reward offered by Shang Zhen, commander-in-chief of the 20th Group Army. Just the day before, on the morning of June 8, the Political Department of the New 8th Division specially led the field service team to the Huayuankou construction site to sing and perform condolences to cheer up the 2nd Regiment and the 2nd Regiment of the New 8th Division who had been working continuously for "day, night and half a day". All the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Regiment and the Engineer Company "feel more excited" and "don't look tired". Shortly after the performance, at 11 o'clock, Shang Zhen once again sent Wei Rulin, his chief of staff, to the Huayuankou construction site with his condolences and a reward: "If the water is released at 24 o'clock tonight, the reward will be 2,000 yuan; if it is completed at 6 o'clock tomorrow noon, , the award will be 1,000 yuan.”

Since being appointed as the person in charge of the supervision and command of the embankment breach, although Shang Zhen ordered Liu Heding, commander of the 39th Army under his command, to be the specific commander of the embankment breaching work, the embankment breach was initially Site Selection - Two consecutive failures in the entrance and tunnel operations at Zhaokou, coupled with the loss of Kaifeng, have made Shang Zhen extremely anxious. After announcing the reward in public, Wei Rulin simply did not return to Zhengzhou and stayed at the construction site waiting for news of the successful release of water. On this night, the officers and soldiers of the New 8th Division were still digging and moving non-stop on the "very hard" embankment made of small stones at Huayuankou. Xiong Xianyu even recorded it in detail in the Anti-Japanese War diary currently stored in the Second Historical Archives of China. He used the simple tools of the time: shovels, pickaxes, steel drills, baskets, soil dustpans, wooden poles...

At 6 a.m. on June 9, Wei Rulin should have received the first good news. Zhu Zhenmin, deputy commander of the New 8th Division, recorded it in his diary: "From 6 a.m., explosives were used to blow up the stone foundation of the slope inside the embankment." This means that the destruction of the strongest part of the embankment has been completed. Sure enough, more than two hours later, at 9 a.m., Wei Rulin finally received the perfect result that he could return to Zhengzhou to resume his life - "The breach project is completed and the water release has begun." As the implementer of the embankment breaching project, Xiong Xianyu recorded his feelings of witnessing this moment - "emotionally tense, tragic and tragic". This may be the simplicity of a soldier, but the shock it can convey is not Barred by nearly 60 years of time, when the reporter stood on the restored Huayuankou embankment and traced this period of history again, the word that was repeated the most by different people was still the same - tragic.

Local water conservancy experts told reporters that the width of the Yellow River embankment at that time was generally about 30 meters, and it was both a river embankment and a highway. So in retrospect, Xiong Xianyu recorded that the method chosen by the New 8th Division to break the embankment was quite skillful. They first dug 50 meters wide at the top of the embankment. “In this way, they can excavate along the slope and slowly go down, so it is not easy to cause collapse when the water is released.” , and even if it is excavated to the bottom of the river, it can still maintain a width of about 10 meters, and the river water can completely flow out on its own." "Leave 3 meters wide in the center of the embankment, and then dig it out at the end." This can keep the east-west traffic flowing smoothly. What's even smarter is that "they divide the earth into steps when digging, which can accommodate multiple people working separately at the same time." "Construction started simultaneously on the north and south sides of the embankment, and earth was dug and transported east and west." Even with such scientific construction, it still took the officers and soldiers of the New 8th Division two full days and nights to complete the project, "which shows how hard the Yellow River embankment was at that time."

The first stream of Yellow River water that emerged from the breach was not turbulent. Xiong Xianyu described it as "the initial flow speed was very small." At 22:00 that night, the top commander of the First War Zone, Cheng Qian, sent a secret message to Chiang Kai-shek with a more specific description. After completion, "the excavation will be about 4 meters wide." The water situation has been closely watched. Just "an hour later", Zhu Zhenmin discovered that "due to water erosion, the breach expanded to more than ten meters, the water became more violent, and the main stream of the Yellow River gradually moved southward." At around 13:00 in the afternoon, Xiong Xianyu described that the water was already "like thousands of horses galloping" and "you can see a vast ocean in the distance", but the breach was still "expanding due to the urgency of the water".

Xiong Xianyu and Zhu Zhenmin’s memories of this day seemed to be slightly off in one detail, and that was the weather. Zhu Zhenmin recorded that on June 9, it was "raining" in the afternoon. In Xiong Xianyu's diary, there is no trace of rain on this day. The rain came on the second day of the breach, that is, June 10: "In the morning, the weather was gloomy. After breakfast, it became dense with clouds and it rained suddenly. The rain makes the sun shine." This is also the time when Xiong Xianyu wrote the most about the weather in his diary, because "this is actually conducive to strengthening the breach and blocking the activities of the enemy's mechanized troops, and celebrating the weather." However, such a deviation does not prevent us from reviewing the situation that day, because there is also a secret message from Cheng Qian, who made a summary of the water conditions on June 9. As of 20 p.m., “the excavation was washed away by water. It has reached 40 feet, the water is more than ten feet deep, and the waves are three feet high."

Through Xiong Xianyu’s diary, it is still not difficult for us to understand the contradictory and complicated emotions of the officers and soldiers of the New 8th Division at that time. On the one hand, it was the joy of receiving "extra commendation". Although the final release time exceeded the "6 o'clock before noon" for Shang Zhen's reward, Shang Zhen obviously didn't mind. He also said that the New 8th Division had "rewarded hard work" and "should be rewarded with two thousand Yuan".

But on the other hand, even though Xiong Xianyu's understanding in military logic was that "this move was originally to stop the enemy and save the overall situation, so he did not hesitate to make heavy sacrifices in order to achieve the final victory", but he saw that "the houses and property of countless ordinary people have been wiped out." , "It is expected that (the river) will affect several counties in the next few days", and still "heartaches."

"Replace troops with water": Chiang Kai-shek's national choice

Like Shang Zhen, the anxious Chiang Kai-shek waited for the two he was looking forward to on June 9. News, the Huayuankou embankment burst and the main westward withdrawal of the first theater of war was completed.

At 15:00, Cheng Qian called for the first time to report the water situation after the Huayuankou breach. At 22:00 that night, Cheng Qian called again and continued to report on the water release situation: "The area around Jingshui Town has become Zeguo, and it is expected that the water will reach the Longhai Line tomorrow morning." According to his deployment, the main force of the first theater retreated along the Longhai Line or the Yellow River Embankment to the west of the Pinghan-Han Line. This day finally ended. According to the description in an article in Shenbao (Hong Kong Edition) on this day, the westward retreating troops also destroyed or dismantled the Longhai Railway tracks when they retreated. The title of the article is "The war is fierce and the situation is chaotic, the enemy approaches Zhongmou after reinforcements".

Perhaps in Chiang Kai-shek’s view, what he could agree with in this article was only “the fighting was fierce” rather than “the situation was chaotic”. He was the one who had the most say on the entire battle situation on the battlefield in eastern Henan. decision makers. The deployment of the main force in the first theater to withdraw westward was the instruction he called Cheng Qian on May 31. This also meant that the Battle of Lanfeng was completely over, and the Battle of East Henan with the Battle of Lanfeng as the main body was declared a failure in a sense. The Battle of Lanfeng, which originally boosted the morale of the Chinese army, had problems with internal deployment and coordination within the army. First, Long Muhan, commander of the 88th Division, disobeyed orders without permission and abandoned the defense of Lanfeng. Later, Huang Jie's Eighth Army ignored Xue Yue's order and abandoned the battle. Guard Shangqiu. As a result, not only was the Chinese army's planned plan to outflank the Japanese army from east to west failed to be realized, but the entire eastern Henan province was opened wide. In the end, the success failed and the Chinese army was forced to withdraw westward. The 200,000 Chinese troops failed to wipe out the 20,000 people in Dofeiyuan. Even Chiang Kai-shek angrily called them "the laughing stock of the ages in the history of war." This secret letter he sent to Cheng Qian on May 28 is still preserved in In the Second Historical Archives of China.

Regarding this order to withdraw to the west, the troops in the first theater of war, who originally had great confidence and hope, were somewhat at a loss. Li Hanhun, the commander of the 64th Army who took the initiative to participate in the Battle of East Henan, Expressed this doubt in his memories: "As for us being ordered to complete the Longhai line mission before the end of May, both defending and moving in, fighting for and retreating, many of our troops fighting side by side should be said to be in the situation. Those who are fashionable and unable to grasp the intentions of the high command, not to mention the common people on the battlefield, did not know that on the night of May 31, another important decision made by Chiang Kai-shek at the same time was to "use "Water replaces soldiers", breaking the dike to stop the enemy. According to the "Summary of the Operation in the First War Zone of West Shandong and East Henan" in the Second Historical Archives of China, on June 1, Chiang Kai-shek chaired a supreme military meeting in Wuhan and formally made the decision to break the embankment. The night before, there had been secret talks over the phone between the commander-in-chief of the First Theater Command, the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission stationed in Kaifeng, and the Central Military Command in Wuhan. The final decision to break the embankment was made here. The evening is set.

This decision was not easy for Chiang Kai-shek. As early as 1935, Falkenhausen, the general consultant of the German Military Advisory Group hired by the Chinese government, made suggestions to Chiang Kai-shek on the strategy and tactics of the anti-Japanese war. , there is the argument of using rivers to block the enemy. In the Chinese translation of the proposal preserved in the Second Historical Archives of China, there is a five-character comment by Chiang Kai-shek on the section "The last front is the Yellow River, and it is advisable to carry out planned artificial flooding to increase its defense power": " The last line of resistance.” In July 1936, Falkenhausen proposed for the second time that the Yellow River should be blocked to stop the enemy. Two years later, what finally forced Chiang Kai-shek to make this difficult decision was the repeated defeats on the battlefield in eastern Henan.

On June 9, when Chiang Kai-shek talked to foreign reporters in Wuhan about the current situation of the War of Resistance, he explained: "The key to the current war situation is not whether a city or a place can be defended. The most important thing is On the one hand, we choose favorable areas to defeat the enemy's main force, and on the other hand, we try to consume the enemy's strength in other areas and behind the enemy's rear... In the future, the battle will soon shift to mountains and lakes and swamps. "This seems to be more about breaking the embankment. signal.

Huayuankou: The final choice of the site for the Three Rebellions

The bursting of the embankments and the release of water on June 9 finally made Huayuankou, a remote area in the northern suburbs of Zhengzhou, an indelible site in the history of the Anti-Japanese War. However, looking back carefully, when Chiang Kai-shek formulated the strategy of "replacing troops with water" to break the embankment, his first choice was not Huayuankou, but Zhaokou, 25 kilometers north of Zhongmou County, less than 100 meters away from Kaifeng and Zhengzhou in the east and west. Hundreds of miles. The initial embankment breaching operation was carried out by the Wan Fulin Department of the 53rd Army, and the water was released before 12 o'clock on the night of June 5.

The reason why the embankment was breached at Zhaokou was analyzed by Qu Changgen, a scholar who had focused on the Huayuankou embankment breach incident. “First, it is expected that after the embankment breaches, the river water will flow along the 1843 (Daoguang 23) The old road that burst its embankment in 2016 flows along the Jialu River, passing through Zhongmou, Weishi, Fugou, Xihua, Taikang, Luyi and other counties in Henan and Taihe, Fuyang, Yingshang, Huoqiu and Bozhou counties in Anhui. It will arrive at Zhoujiakou in about three days and join the Shahe River to flow east into the Huaihe River. Secondly, because the terrain in this area is relatively low, the water flow will be relatively smooth. More importantly, the waterway from here is basically in line with the current military situation. Most of the Japanese troops. Trapped in this area, once the yellow water is released, the Japanese army will be detained on this land. "

However, the dike breaking operation at Zhaokou did not go smoothly. Qu Changgen analyzed that this was because "in advance. The water potential of the Yellow River was overestimated, the embankment quality of the Yellow River was overestimated, and the initial width of the breach was too small." Later, a second breach was made 30 meters east of the first breach. "At first, the water flow was fast and violent, and then the embankment continued to collapse and block under the surge of water power. Although rewards were offered many times to encourage officers and soldiers to speed up dredging, nothing happened. It worked, but it failed again."

It was not until 7 a.m. on June 6 that Jiang Zaizhen, the commander of the new 8th Division, and his staff officer Xiong Xianyu went to Zhaokou for an inspection and discovered that "the failure of the embankment breaching was not due to lack of manpower. , but due to improper planning.” Therefore, it was suggested to establish another place to break the embankment in the own defense zone in Zheng County, west of Zhongmou. The earthquake report was submitted to Chiang Kai-shek for approval, and the implementation started that night. Qu Changgen researched and said, "From Yangqiao to Xingze, the terrain of Jiang Zaizhen's defense zone along the river is also very complicated. Where should it be chosen more appropriately? Jiang Zaizhen and his accompanying staff officer Xiong Xianyu were returning from Zhengzhou to Jingshui Town, where the division headquarters is located. After repeated discussions on the way, we decided that two places would work: Ma Fukou in the east and Huayuan Kou in the west, because their terrains are both conducive to getting out of the water. However, relatively speaking, Ma Fukou and Zhaokou are not far apart, making it easy for the enemy to approach and the time is short. Huayuankou is 26 kilometers away from Zhaokou, and the terrain is more favorable, so it was agreed that it should be located at Huayuankou. This analysis was also confirmed by local water conservancy experts, because the Yellow River has "copper head and iron tail tofu". The so-called "bean curd waist" refers to the area from Mengjin County in Henan Province to the mouth of the Yellow River. It means that the waist where the Yellow River embankment is located is as easy to be washed away by floods as tofu. Huayuankou is right at the upper end of the waist of the Yellow River. However, the specific location in Huayuankou requires an on-site inspection.

According to Xiong Xianyu’s memory, at 10 o’clock that night, Jiang Zaizhen and others discussed the next step with Wei Rulin who came to inspect the work, and decided that Xiong Xianyu would take charge of the matter. Xiong "was quite excited after receiving the order. At 24:00, he led the engineer company commander Ma Yingqing, battalion commander Huang Yingqing, and the Yellow Committee's Henan defense section commander Su Guanjun to drive to Huayuankou to scout the location of the breach." In this night of "a gentle breeze, a gurgling river, a dim moonlight, and an indiscernible water level", they only relied on the four flashlights they carried with them to explore, and did not dare to choose a site blindly. That night, "six people slept together in the car, sitting and sleeping together." After daybreak, the group went upstream from Huayuankou along the river to search for reconnaissance, and finally settled on a spot near the walnut garden in the west of Guandi Temple. This is the bend of the Yellow River, which is easy to release. It can directly flow into the Jialu River to the southeast, pass through the counties of Zhongmou, Weishi, Fugou, Xihua, and Zhoujiakou, and then flow into the Huaihe River; more importantly, "it is possible to use the Jialu River to Prevent the flow of water from spreading indefinitely and appropriately reduce the harm to the areas it passes through." Xiong Xianyu was quite satisfied with his choice of location, and he unabashedly recorded in his diary the praise of Wang Songmei, leader of the 2nd Regiment of the New 8th Division, who was responsible for the construction: "My brother's plan has contributed to the country and the nation. Reduce the damage to the people, and you will definitely get a good wife and have more children in the future... If the location of the breach is slightly to the west, and the Jialu River and the Pinghan line are not used, it may lead to the destruction of Zeguo."

June 9th. After the embankment burst, some of the Japanese troops who broke into eastern Henan were annihilated by the floods before they could escape, some were injured and abandoned, and some were annihilated by the Chinese army. Others had to stop the pursuit and gather in Huangfan. east of the district. According to old man An Qingfu's recollection, he saw with his own eyes the Japanese soldiers running away in large numbers like wet-haired dogs. There were a few wounded soldiers who could not run away, so they were tied to chairs by their companions. Each of them was tied as strong as a butchered pig. On the wheat field. After a while, gasoline was doused on them, and then firewood was lit and thrown on them. With a roar, the fire jumped up high. Several wounded soldiers were crying and yelling on the chairs, which meant that they could still serve the emperor. I also saw some Japanese soldiers with their heads lowered and did not dare to look up. It is not known whether the soldiers who were burned alive were deserters.

Higashi Shiro's diary also described in detail the situation of the Japanese troops besieged by the sudden flood: "This is a river formed by the Yellow River bursting its banks. The soldiers walking in front of me crossed the river in the night. After crossing the river, I didn’t know which direction to go. I didn’t know which side was the shoal, but I had to cross the river anyway..." "When the soldiers found a bit of food, they hid it like a cat exploring a corner with a fish in its mouth. We ate it alone. We wandered around looking for food. There were some potato seeds in the field at first, but they were all eaten within a few days. We brought pumpkin seedlings to cook and eat, but they were all robbed immediately. . Soon there was nothing to eat in the fields. The floods cut off the roads in front and behind us, and no food was delivered for several days.

”

Replacement of flowers and trees: the secret truth

On the morning of June 9, after the Huayuankou embankment burst and the water was released, a pre-prepared telegram was quickly sent by Chiang Zaizhen to Wuhan and arrived at Chiang Kai-shek’s On the desk, the main message of the message is: "At 8 o'clock in the morning on the 9th, three enemy planes blew up the Huayuankou river embankment, and the staff and divisions were fighting to block it. "At 10 o'clock in the evening on this day, Cheng Qian's second sealed telegram to Chiang Kai-shek not only reported the water situation, but also specifically pointed out, "We have formulated external propaganda here. The main message of the telegram is that after the enemy occupied Kaifeng, we continued to invade the west, and we have been near Zhongmou for several days. After a bloody battle, because our army vowed to resist to the death and had a strong position, the enemy failed to succeed in the end, so they breached the levee on the south bank of the Yellow River north of Zhongmou in an attempt to destroy our position and drown our army. "

In fact, after being ordered, the first theater and the troops who carried out the task of breaking the embankment knew very well, "As a very urgent military measure, once the true story of the breach of the Huayuankou embankment is leaked, it will have a great impact on China. The impact on people's morale can be imagined, and it will also damage the image and prestige of the Chinese government. Qu Changgen analyzed, "So the First War Zone has already formulated a foreign propaganda strategy in advance. First, the New 8th Division responsible for the Huayuankou embankment breach sent a military intelligence report to Wuhan from the scene when the embankment breach was about to succeed, saying The Chinese and Japanese armies fought fiercely in eastern Henan. Japanese aircraft bombed the area indiscriminately, causing the Yellow River embankment to burst. Then the Kuomintang Central News Agency, as the national news center, announced to the world that the Yellow River embankment had been blown up by the Japanese army. "

For Chiang Kai-shek, the strategy in the first theater of war was obviously exactly what he wanted. Two days later, on June 11, Chiang Kai-shek returned to the submarine by phone and gave three instructions: He must publicize to the public that enemy aircraft bombed the Yellow River. Embankments; we must carefully examine the flooding situation, treat them as first-line position obstacles, and improve our deployment and defense lines; and all front-line departments must cooperate with the civil society to build embankments to divert water southeastward into the Huaihe River to ensure traffic on the Pinghan-Han Line Qu Changgen said, "This set the tone for the external propaganda of the Huayuankou embankment breach." At 9 a.m. on June 11, the Central News Agency sent the first telegram from Zhengzhou, "reporting" that the Japanese army had exploded the Yellow River. Under the guidance of the Central News Agency, major domestic newspapers such as Shenbao, Ta Kung Pao, and Republic of China Daily condemned the serious atrocities of the Communist Party of China in blowing up the Yellow River embankment and causing the Yellow River to burst and flood. The "Xinhua Daily" also joined in the condemnation of the enemy's atrocities and called for relief to the affected compatriots. The huts and houses were destroyed where the yellow water surged, and the enemy tried to destroy our combat effectiveness." and "The war situation in eastern Henan gradually stabilized, and our enemy was in a stalemate near Baisha." On June 13, "Xinhua Daily" published another article titled "The enemy who invaded Xinzheng has been repulsed. Violent enemies are still here to break the embankment, Zhongmou and Baisha are flooded, and tens of thousands of victims have gathered in Zheng."

News of the Huayuankou embankment breach quickly attracted the attention of countries all over the world. For a time, both Reuters and the Associated Press News from various news agencies showed that public opinion from all over the world almost unanimously condemned this atrocity committed by the Japanese army. However, Japan has always tried its best to refute China’s propaganda. Qu Changgen said, “In this way, the news war between China and Japan has become more and more serious. The strange information released by the media makes people feel that things are not that simple. As a result, some journalists requested to visit and interview the site of the dyke break, trying to get to the bottom of things."

Probably anticipating the social reaction after the news was exposed, on June 9, the dyke broke at Huayuankou and was released When the water came, Shang Zhen ordered the New 8th Division to use explosives to blow down the Xiaolongwang Temple, houses and trees near the breach, pretending that the Japanese army had blown up the Yellow River embankment. When the reporter asked to go to Huayuankou for on-site interviews, The New 8th Division was ordered to fabricate a set of materials about the Japanese bombing and faked a bombed scene. Qu Changgen said, "Later, personnel from the Central Propaganda Department and the Central Film Studio came to Huayuankou to take pictures of the enemy's bombing of embankments. News documentaries about our military and civilians rushing to plug the gap to expand propaganda."

"Facts have proved that the propaganda strategy of breaking the dike, which was gradually implemented on June 9, effectively aroused the resistance of the people in eastern Henan on the anti-Japanese front line. enthusiasm. " Qu Changgen said, "As the "Declaration" on June 11 said: 'Such a cruel and inhumane act by the enemy can not only destroy our strength to resist the war, but also increase our determination to kill the enemy.' "Especially in the eastern Henan region, Peng Xuefeng described it in his "Practical Experience of Guerrilla Warfare in the Plains": "Eastern Henan, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu are the birthplaces of famous secret societies and sect armed forces in history. If you are not careful, your life will be ruined. In the event of a conflict, they sounded the trumpet three times, gathered every village, and everyone was dispatched. A bloody tragedy was about to happen. "In addition, this area had already suffered barbaric ravages by the Japanese army during the Battle of Xuzhou. Therefore, after the embankment burst, in the face of the Japanese invasion, the people in eastern Henan organized themselves one after another, "establishing guerrillas, housekeepers, and self-defense groups. , there are also various armed groups such as the Red Society, the Yellow Spear Society, and the Miaodao Society, to defend the homeland, with one commander for three li and one captain for five li, with many and steaming names.

"More Most importantly, the enthusiasm of the people in eastern Henan to join the army to resist Japan was mobilized. " Qu Changgen said, "For example, in Xinzheng, on June 11, the county People's Self-Defense Force, under the leadership of captain Chen Xin, actively assisted the 20th Division of the Chinese Army in attacking the Weishi Japanese Army, annihilating more than 20 enemies, and winning two machine guns. Well, there are more than ten rifles. "The Kuomintang also realized this. Bai Chongxi specially called Chiang Kai-shek on July 24, pointing out that the northern Anhui area connected to eastern Henan: "The people are strong and there are many soldiers.

This time, they were devastated by the enemy and organized armed self-defense. They fought guerrillas everywhere, which were sometimes effective. They also had a harmonious relationship with the garrison, numbering more than 100,000. It also planned to use "one or more formal army divisions to cooperate with the people's force, and unified command by dedicated personnel." In order to achieve effective results, the passive approach can cut off the enemy's north-south communication and weaken it, while the active approach can contain the enemy's military strength, making it easier to fight in the south of the Yangtze River, and preventing local young men from being requisitioned by the enemy. The cost is very small, and the benefits are huge." After that, the Kuomintang began to contact and gather various anti-Japanese armed forces scattered in this area, and successively formed multiple "pan-regional anti-Japanese advance teams". At the same time, the Kuomintang's military system also established a special unit in this area to deal with hardcore traitors and important figures of the Japanese puppets. The East Henan Special Operations Team

The article "Popular Forces in Henan Province" in "Shenbao" (Hong Kong Edition) on August 15 described it this way: "The folk customs in Henan Province are strong, and the average physical fitness of the people is very strong, so It is more popular for young men from this province to enlist in the army. In the recruitment of young men in Henan Province, in addition to those recruited by the state in accordance with the law, various ministries send their own personnel to recruit. As of the end of last month, according to statistics, at least 400,000 people had been recruited in Henan Province. ”

Yellow Flood Disaster: The local imprint of the Yellow River’s diversion

On June 9, Huayuankou burst its embankment and released water. Four villages below Koumen - Shaoqiao, Shijiadi, Wangjiadi and Nancuizhuang were all washed away and nothing remained. Fortunately, these four villages never recovered until the end of the Yellow Flood. Fortunately, when the embankments burst and the water was released, the residents of these four villages knew in advance that the embankments would burst. No one was injured in the evacuation.

But this was just the beginning of the disaster. The rushing water of the Yellow River was beyond the control of any human being. After the yellow water came out of the trough, it divided into two surges and rushed together in Henan. The main stream is the Yellow River in the west, which originates from Huayuankou, flows into the Jialu River at Zhongmou, flows south to Weishi, Fugou, Xihua and other counties, turns into the Yinghe River in the east of Zhoukou, and then flows into Cihe River and Shahe River respectively, and then passes through Anhui Taihe River. He, Fuyang, Yingshang and Zhengyangguan finally return to the Huaihe River. The yellow water in the East River originates from Zhaokou. The yellow water in Zhaokou is also divided into two streams due to the rising water level in Zhaokou in mid-June. One branch goes straight to Zhuxian Town to the southeast and merges with the floodwater at Huayuankou; one branch bypasses the north of Fengcheng Embankment and turns to the southeast. When it reaches Chenliu, it is divided into two branches, one along the Tiedi River and the other Along the Huiji River, it flows into the Guohe River and merges into the Huaihe River in Huaiyuan, Anhui. From the Huaihe River, it flows into the Yangtze River through Hongze Lake, Baima Lake, and Gaoyou Lake, forming a confluence situation, which then affects counties and cities in northern Jiangsu. The damage caused by the 26th diversion of the Yellow River in history spread across 3 provinces and 44 counties, and the death toll was as high as 890,000. The Huayuankou embankment burst became one of the three major tragedies in the history of the Anti-Japanese War, along with the Changsha Fire and the Chongqing Air Raid Shelter Tragedy. .

There is a paragraph in "Records of Disasters in Yu Province" that outlines the disaster picture of the Yellow Flood Area: "Residents in the Yellow Flood Area were caught off guard because they had no prior knowledge. The embankments suddenly collapsed and floods came one after another. "The property is in the farmhouse, and all the money is paid in running water." At that time, the earth was trembling with surging force, and the shouts were shaking the sky. It was unbearable to think about the horrific and tragic situation. There were people who climbed trees and climbed houses and rode boats on driftwood in order to survive by chance, so they could only survive for the rest of their lives. Most of them lacked food and clothing, and their souls were in shock. Those who migrated from place to place were tortured by hunger, exhaustion, and disease, and their corpses often littered the roads and filled the ravines. Fortunately, they were able to escape and reach the other side, but they also had a narrow escape from death. They had to prepare hard and endure hardships. They did not become drowned ghosts, but ended up as refugees... Because of this, they sold their sons and daughters, tangled with them, cried, and couldn't part with each other. This was even more commonplace, and people The market price is falling day by day, and the number of people seeking to sell is getting bigger and bigger, so the area is lonely, desolate and miserable, and it is almost doubtful that the world will be restored!"

The Huayuankou embankment burst on June 9th was also an event between China and Japan. At the beginning of the east-west confrontation along the border of the Huangfan District, Qu Changgen said, "The Japanese army, which relied on mechanized military equipment to attack the Longhai Line and the Pinghan Line, was forced to change its original strategy of advancing westward and southward along the railway line." On the one hand, it moved the troops from Henan to the South. Dongweishi, Zhongmou, Naling, Tongxu, Chenliu, Sixian and other counties retreated eastward and moved and gathered at the junction of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu with Shangqiu and Xuzhou as the center. On the other hand, they determined to move westward along the Yangtze River and Huaihe River. "The war moved southward to the vast lakes, swamps and mountainous areas of southern Henan, western Anhui, northern Jiangxi, and eastern Hubei. The battlefield in eastern Henan gradually cooled down, and the area near Wuhan then became divided between China and Japan. "A new battlefield for the army to fight." In this way, the New Yellow River, which runs diagonally from Zhengzhou to the southeast and crosses the Great Plains of Eastern Henan, became the military demarcation line, blocking the Japanese army to the east of the pan-area. The Chinese army defended along the west bank, and along the New Yellow River The "Western Dike to Prevent Panic" was built in the west, and the Japanese army also built the "Eastern Dike to Prevent Panic" on the other side. The stalemate lasted until 1944, when Japan launched a campaign to open up the mainland's transportation lines.

From the complex social situation in the area. Look, at the beginning of the formation of the Yellow River Flood Zone, the eastern Henan region became a vacuum zone. After the war situation basically stabilized, the Japanese army was mobilized on a large scale, and there were very few troops left in the area. "There were only a few hundred enemies in Kaifeng, Shangqiu, and Huaiyang. There are only forty or fifty people in other counties. Even the enemy's propaganda squad, gendarmerie and other combined statistics show that there are only 3,000 people in eastern Henan. "We often used plastic dummies and fake guns to do exercises. However, a situation soon formed where multiple forces were intertwined. On the one hand, there were the Japanese occupiers and their puppet organizations and puppet troops; on the other hand, there were The Chinese army is constantly engaged in guerrilla warfare, as well as various other local forces with complex backgrounds and vacillating positions. Therefore, "enemies are rampant, traitors are arrogant, evil cats are everywhere, and bandits are swarming, turning eastern Henan into a state of extreme chaos." A very chaotic and chaotic situation.

Most of the famous philosophers and sages have moved westward under the fresh slogans of "armed flight" or "collective relocation". What remains are the broad masses of the victims, the Kuomintang members and Communist Party members who are working hard with them, and a small number of administrative staff."

When the Japanese army was building fortifications, When the Pan Dong Embankment was built, the process was not smooth. Qu Changgen analyzed, “Firstly, the water situation was unstable, and embankments often burst and had to be postponed. Secondly, it was located in the yellow flood disaster area, and most of the residents left behind were old, weak and sick. It is difficult to recruit enough manpower. Third, under the propaganda and instigation of the Chinese anti-Japanese armed forces, the Japanese army did not dare to commit atrocities against the migrant workers participating in embankment construction, otherwise, they would defect to the anti-Japanese armed forces. Fourth, the internal conflicts of the Japanese and puppet regimes were intertwined. The commanders and technical personnel in charge of the construction were greedy for profit, and they cut corners and enriched themselves, which directly affected the progress and quality of the construction. Fifth, there is an obvious conflict of interest between the local villages within and outside the levee, and they are unwilling to block their homes in the levee. In addition, most of the staff of the puppet regime are basically local people, and coordination is practical. It was difficult, so the construction was often interrupted." Under this complicated situation, the embankment construction was carried out intermittently, and it was not basically completed until 1943. The completion of the anti-flooding east embankment restricted the flooding waterway and relatively controlled the Yellow River and The floods of the Guohe River spread eastward.

Strangely, the Yellow River Flood Area was once out of public view. It was not until the early morning locust plagues in Henan Province in 1942 and 1943 that Huayuankou and the Yellow River Flood Area were once again a cause of concern. The media's attention soon fell into silence. Qu Changgen said, "Based on the logic of war and the laws of propaganda, this seems to be the inevitable result." On February 2, 1943, Chongqing's "Ta Kung Pao" published Wang Yun's report. The editorial "Looking at Chongqing and Thinking of the Central Plains" written by Wu expressed deep sympathy for the true situation of the disaster in Henan, while sharply criticizing Chongqing for "the flowers in the backyard are still singing across the river" and the government's improper disaster relief and price increases. It was actually ordered to suspend publication for three days. Xingdu Daily, the temporary capital of Luoyang, Henan Province, reprinted the article and was suspended for three days. In the same year, Times reporter Bai Xiude went to Huangfan District and sent it back by telegram. The first report on the tragedy of the disaster drew renewed international attention to the yellow flood zone and won some assistance for the people here.

To this day, the memory of the disaster has not been lost to time. Erased, Qu Changgen said that on May 27, 2002, when he went to Fugou County to conduct a social survey, Zhang Menggeng’s mother from the county magistrate’s office could still clearly recall the situation when the Yellow River water entered the village: “The family did not escape. , because my father believed that it would pass soon, he moved his valuables to the village high ground just in case, and three or four other families also moved there. "But the water in the Yellow River became bigger and stronger. As a result, the whole village was submerged, and even this highland was completely surrounded." After eating the cooked food brought in, the fire source was also used up, so they had to eat grain. When the grain was gone, they would dig up wild vegetables on the highlands to eat. When the wild vegetables were also eaten, they would dig up mice in the soil to eat. No matter day or night, no one dared to sleep for fear of missing the opportunity to escape. "People had no words, and their helpless eyes sometimes met, and even the children had nothing to say. A few days later, a patrol search and rescue ship sent by the local government found them. "But the ship was too small and there were too many people. , and far away from a safe place. The key is that there are many large whirlpools around the high ground, and the boat dare not approach. The boats came and went again, and everyone was suddenly desperate. After another two days, we found punting experts to pick them up in batches. "However, when we got to a safe place, "my father couldn't bear the famine and psychological torture these days, and he died within a few days."