Be a brave Chinese and comment on "Eight Hundred"
I once wrote a review of a film called "Be a Brave Chinese" for "The Thirteen Hairpins of Jinling", and in that review I questioned whether we were deliberately glorifying history for the purpose of glorifying For example, the tragic fate of the women in the film is depicted as "noble voluntary sacrifice", and the Chinese soldiers in the film are described as brave and fearless. If they can fight like this, how could there be the Nanjing Massacre?
At the end of that article, I said: "There is one more movie that should be made: "Battle of Songhu." The rabble who were still in the civil war a few years ago, the gangster-like soldiers, the smoking generals, the intriguing factions, the officials who were the first to flee for their lives, until the final rout. In that story, however, there is true humanity and a great defeat. The one who escaped and fought to the last. To be a brave Chinese, start by facing history head-on.”
Then, after nearly ten years, I finally waited for this "Eight Hundred".
This time, do we have the courage to face that tragic and cruel history?
Before evaluating the film, let's look at the real history.
When the Qing Dynasty perished, Yuan Shikai also perished when he declared himself emperor, China fell into a melee war between warlords, Japan took the opportunity to invade the Northeast, and the Northeast Army did not dare to resist.
However, given the poverty and weakness of China at that time, if a full-scale war was launched, it would be possible to recover the country, or to lose the main force and be defeated, or even lose half or the whole of China, no one dared to predict. If you don't fight, you will lose your power and humiliate the country. If you fight, if you can't win, you may end your country. If you want to fight, you have to win. For the Chinese army at that time, it was an almost impossible task. Even Chinese nationals have no confidence in "their own army". Just because the warlord troops of that year regarded the people as fish and meat, they were dedicated to scramble for territory, and they were proficient in civil wars and amateurs in foreign wars. How could the people have a good impression of such an army?
But if China is bigger than 40,000,000 people, is there really no warriors?
In fact, in the Northeast, countless people stood up to resist. In 1932, the 128th Incident, the 19th Route Army caused heavy casualties to the Japanese army in Shanghai. The Northwest Army joined forces to resist... These battles made the Chinese understand that the Japanese were not so scary, and as long as they dared to fight, the enemy would also be afraid of death.
Finally, in 1937, the Japanese army occupied Peiping during the July 7th Incident, and on August 8, the Peiping Entrance Ceremony was held. On August 9, at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, the two Japanese troops were about to break into and were killed by the defenders, and the Japanese troops transferred troops to Shanghai. The Chinese army was determined to attack first, and put the most elite German Armourer Division 88 and 87 divisions into Shanghai. Since then, the two countries have continued to increase their troops. China has invested more than 600,000 troops, and Japan has invested more than 100,000 troops and sea fleets. Shanghai has become bloody land of meat.
However, with the loss of the few elite troops, the combat capabilities of the "miscellaneous troops" that came from all over the country were low, and the Japanese troops landed from the north and south to prepare to encircle the Chinese army. At that time, the Kuomintang government still imagined that it would wait for "international intervention" after holding on for a few more days. In addition, if Shanghai fell, it would have a great impact on the morale of the people, and it refused to retreat until the situation was extremely critical and hundreds of thousands of When the army was about to be encircled by the Japanese army, it hurriedly ordered a retreat, causing the retreat to turn into a rout, and the Chinese army suffered heavy losses.
Throughout the Battle of Songhu, the Chinese army suffered more than 300,000 casualties, and the Japanese army suffered about 60,000 casualties.
The Chinese army was unable to hold Shanghai, and the casualties were several times that of the Japanese army. This was because at that time the Chinese army was composed of miscellaneous troops from all over the country, and the weapons, equipment and combat quality were far inferior to the Japanese army. In the later stage, the elites were exhausted. Although the remaining troops were large, their combat strength and morale were low. If they did not withdraw, they would be completely destroyed if they were encircled.
However, this battle also proved that the Chinese army has the courage and determination to fight the Japanese army. The elite army can cause great losses to the Japanese army. Although the miscellaneous armies in various provinces were still fighting civil wars and grabbing territory before, they faced foreign enemies. It can also share the enemy, and the equipment quality is extremely poor, but it also dares to fight the Japanese army to the death, and even launches a charge against the Japanese army, which is extremely tragic.
The information I found about Songhu troops participating in the war
Central Army: 1st Division, 3rd Division, 9th Division, 11th Division, 14th Division, 36th Division, 67th Division, 78th Division, 87th Division, 88th Division, 96th Division, 98th Division, Independent 20th Brigade, Central Teaching Corps, Tax Police Chief group
Zhejiang Army: 6 Division
Hunan Army: 8 Division, 15 Division, 16 Division, 18 Division, 19 Division, 23 Division, 46 Division, 53 Division, 62 Division, 63 Division, 77 Division, 109 Division, 128 Division, New 34 Division, Reserve 11 Division, Independent 37 Brigade, Temporary 11 Brigade, Temporary 12 Brigade, Temporary 12 Brigade
Hubei Army: 13th Division, 79th Division, 167th Division
Sichuan Army: 26 Division, 133 Division, 134 Division, 135 Division, 144 Division, 145 Division, 146 Division, 147 Division, 148 Division, Independent 13 Brigade, Independent 14 Brigade
Northwest Army: 32 Division, 33 Division, 106 Division
Henan Army: 40th Division, 45th Division
Lu Jun: 51st Division, 58th Division, 45th Brigade
Anhui Army: 44th Division, 56th Division
Fujian Army: 52 Division
Soviet Army: 55th Division, 57th Division
Guangdong Army: 59th Division, 60th Division, 61st Division, 90th Division, 154th Division, 156th Division, 159th Division, 160th Division, Independent 20th Brigade, 66th Army Teaching Brigade
Guizhou Army: 102 Division, 103 Division, 121 Division, Independent 34 Brigade
Northeast Army: 105th Division, 106th Division, 107th Division, 108th Division, 109th Division, 111th Division, 112th Division
Gui Army: 135th Division, 170th Division, 171st Division, 172nd Division, 173th Division, 174th Division, 176th Division
Before this battle, they were not "Chinese soldiers", but the Central Army, the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, the Gui Army, the Sichuan Army, the Guangdong Army, the Hunan Army... They were the minions of various warlords, and they were the strong men who were captured. I only know that there are officials, but I don't know that there is a country. But in Shanghai, when faced with foreign enemies, they came together from thousands of miles and truly became an army. In front of the Chinese people, in front of foreign enemies, and in front of the watch groups of foreign powers, they had only one name: Chinese soldiers. From the previous fight for territory and power, they finally began to truly fight for the country and for the survival of the nation.
This army was not as well equipped and trained as the Japanese army, and some of them still took the Hanyang made of the Qing Dynasty, wore straw sandals, and even ran out of shoes, and rushed to the battlefield across thousands of mountains and rivers. Many people have low morale, are greedy for life and fear death, do not know what a country is, and just want to go home to farm and have children. The quality of the officers is not high, and they often only beat and scold the soldiers. Few of them can mobilize the thought of defending the family and the country with impassioned enthusiasm. Some officers even fled first. The high-level commanders were desperate and could not withdraw in time, causing huge casualties and rout, which directly led to the fall of Nanjing. These are all disgusting sighs.
But it was such an army that blocked the Japanese army, which was so arrogant that it could destroy Su Tamei and China in three months, in Shanghai for three months. With the combat strength of the Japanese army and navy at that time, even if it was the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and Germany, who would dare to say that they could win lightly? Russia was defeated by Japan, the Soviet Union’s tanks and artillery at Nomenkan were several times more than the Japanese army, and the casualties were still huge. The United Kingdom was lightly captured by the Japanese army in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. And none of the foreign powers have really fought against the main force of the Japanese army for a long time. Only China has been alone in the face of millions of Japanese troops for so many years.
The Japanese army suffered tens of thousands of casualties in the capture of Shanghai alone. Afterwards, there were the Battle of Shanggao, the Battle of Taiyuan, the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Wuhan, the Battle of Guinan, the Battle of Changsha, and the resistance of countless people behind the enemy... Let the Japanese understand that although China is weak, But not to be deceived. The Chinese look like a mess of sand, but the anger of a man can also bleed thousands of miles. The Chinese can shed their blood, but before that, all those who want to destroy China will first shed their blood and die.
In this vigorous war, and on the anniversary of the victories celebrated time after time, how can we evaluate the hundreds of lonely soldiers in a small warehouse in Shanghai?
These soldiers are actually outcasts. After the main force retreated, they were left behind, watching the singing and dancing across the river rise, and on the stage, singing the drama of a lone hero. Is this a show? Perhaps it is to show the British and American powers, tell them that Shanghai is the Shanghai of the Chinese, show them to the Japanese, tell them that there are still warriors in China, show them to the Chinese, tell them that some people are still fighting.
The overall situation requires abandonment, politics requires performance, and propaganda requires righteousness, but those who are left behind will use their own lives to complete this performance.
When we are going to make a movie called "Yao Bai", do we want to commemorate only these hundreds of people? Are these hundreds of people really all heroes? Are there only a few hundred people in China who are heroes? No, among the countless people who participated in the war, there were warriors, cowards, heroes, and villains, and more of them were just ordinary people. They would be afraid, have desires, want to go home to farm the land, and have a peaceful life. , but they have no way out, behind them is Shanghai, behind them is Nanjing, and behind them is the whole of China.
We want to commemorate all those who died in defense of our country. Hundreds of people can reflect millions, tens of millions, and billions of people. From them, we can see ourselves. If we were there then and there, could we be braver than them?
I cried when I saw the soldiers in the movie jumping downstairs shouting their names one by one, tied with grenades, my tears were not because of the possible fictional plot in the movie, but for those who were actually built with flesh and blood in history. A person who built the Great Wall but had no chance to call out his name.
I am very afraid that our literary and artistic works will give up the truth of history for some kind of expression. For example, in order to praise, mortals are made into great saints, or in order to criticize, they are made ugly. That's not the truth of history.
The truth of history, with the passing of those who have witnessed it, has become blurred and inaccessible, and it has given the space for future generations to smear it at will. How did Han Wu speak of the Qin Emperor, and how did the Qing Dynasty write the history of the Ming Dynasty? It is really too difficult to face history without bragging.
I believe that the Chinese soldiers in those days were brave and invincible and knew the righteousness. It would be no brains, but if they were all bastards and cowards, it would be no conscience.
Be a brave Chinese and start by facing history head-on.
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