se ever dreamed. Chinese soldiers surrendered in the thousands and were systematically slaughtered. At a place called Mufu mountain, just North of Nanking, an estimated 57,000 men, both civilian and soldiers, were executed. The disposal of bodies after this mass killing also proved to be a mammoth problem for the Japanese. They attempted to dispose of the bodies by mass burial, but ditches and holes of that size were hard to locate or dig. Cremation was an option sometimes used, but the Japanese often lacked the sufficient fuel to do a proper job. They attempted this in disposing of the bodies at Mufu, but the barrels ran dry of fuel before the bodies were reduced to ashes. Even seasoned war correspondents were shocked by the Japanese actions. A horrified Japanese reporter watched as the soldiers lined Chinese prisoners on top the city gate and walls, then bayoneted them. The victims fell from the wall and blood splattered everywhere.10 They forced Chinese men to line up by the river. Those in the first row were beheaded. Those in the second row were forced to dump the severed bodies into the river before they themselves were beheaded. The killings went on from morning until night. The next day, tired of killing in this fashion, they lined them up in front of machine guns and raked them with crossfire. Prisoners escaped into the river but none were able to make it to the other bank.Next the Japanese turned their attention on the women. No matter how young or how old they all could not escape the fate of being raped.11 Coal trucks were used to round up women from streets and villages. Each of them was allocated to fifteen or so soldiers for sexual intercourse and abuse. Officers of all levels indulged in the orgy. It was not uncommon for the officers to tell their men to pay the women money or kill them in some out of the way place to conceal the evidence of the crime.The most startling realization that comes to mind when ...
