Essay About Chinese Troops And City Wall

The Advance of the Japanese Beyond Kuyung
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sdkl”The advance of the Japanese beyond Kuyung was the signal for an orgy of burning by
Chinese troops,” described Durdin on Chinas military strategy known as the “scorched earth”
policy. The principle behind it was not to leave anything that could be useful to the conquerors.
As they beat a retreat from Jurong (Kuyun), about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of
Nanking, Chinese troops apparently set torches to not only buildings but also “trees, bamboo
groves and underbrush.”
Within the distance of 16 miles (26 kilometers) between Tangshan and Nanking, the
New York Times reporter saw whole villages burned to ruins, including barracks, mansions in
Mausoleum Park, and numerous other buildings. Durdin estimated the loss caused by
“Chinese military incendiarism” at $20,000,000 to $30,000,000.21
Inside the city wall the Chinese troops continued to set fire to shops and houses. Even
the most ornate building in Nanking, the Ministry of Communication, which, according to a
correspondent for the Times (London), cost Ј250,000, was set ablaze. Though not in Nanking
at the time, the Times reporter later interviewed foreign eyewitnesses, who said that the
building was filled with munitions and the explosions caused a “tremendous racket.” 22
McDaniel also recorded the finest edifice in Nanking blowing up and blazing away in his
diary on Dec. 12.23
City under Projectiles
Since the beginning of the siege on Dec. 10, Nanking had been caught in the rain of
bombs and shrapnel. “From a point of vantage today I watched shell after shell burst into
21 Durdin, “Japanese Atrocities Marked Fall of Nanking After Chinese Command Fled,” the New York Times,