On May 16, 1940, General Zhang Zizhong, while leading his troops to the front line, was surrounded by more than 6,000 Japanese troops on the high ground in the middle of the slope of Pumpkin Shop due to intelligence leakage. After Zhang Zizhong led his troops and the Japanese army to fight several times, all the officers and men were killed, and General Zhang Zizhong was also killed on the battlefield.
General Zhang Zizhong's position at the time of his death was commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Corps of the Fifth Theater and commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army, with the rank of lieutenant general! After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, not many senior generals were killed in the Battle of China, but it was the first time that a senior general like Zhang Zizhong, who held hundreds of thousands of troops, was still in his hands. After the death of General Zhang Zizhong, neither the Fifth Theater Headquarters nor Chiang Kai-shek could believe that this was true.
After the death of General Zhang Zizhong, one of his most powerful major generals, Huang Weigang, commander of the 38th Division of the 59th Army, wore pants bare-chested and took up a machine gun and led a death squad to retrieve Zhang Zizhong's body. However, it is a pity that many people know General Zhang Zizhong, but they do not know that the deeds of General Huang Weigang are equally touching.
Get to know Zhang Zizhong
Huang Weigang graduated from the seventh term of the Baoding Military Academy, and after graduation, he was assigned to Duan Qirui's Northwest Border Defense Army as an instructor and staff officer. In 1920, the Anhui clan was defeated in the Zhiwan War, Duan Qirui's Northwest Frontier Defense Army was also disbanded, the soldiers were sent home, and the military cadets returned to the War Department to be redistributed.
In 1922, Huang Weigang entered Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army as a company commander, and was soon promoted to battalion commander, regimental commander, brigade commander and other positions. Huang Weigang first dealt with Zhang Zizhong during the Great War of the Central Plains, when Huang Weigang's position was major general of the General Staff Office of the Headquarters of the Second Front, and Zhang Zizhong was the commander of the division of lieutenant generals.
At the end of the Central Plains War, Huang Weigang served as the brigade commander of the supplementary brigade of the 1st Division of the 30th Army, and had a new opportunity to lead the troops. After the End of the Central Plains War, the Northwest Army and the Jin Sui Army suffered heavy losses, and many troops were absorbed by Chiang Kai-shek, while Song Zheyuan, Zhang Zizhong and other generals of the Northwest Army who were unwilling to surrender to Chiang Kai-shek led the remnants of the army to retreat to the southern Jin region.
After retreating to the Southern Jin region, Zhang Zizhong's army had the largest number of troops, with more than 5,000 troops, and one of Huang Weigang's brigades was still less than a regiment left. After that, Zhang Xueliang led the Northeast Army into the pass, and reorganized the remnants of the Northwest Army into the Third Army of the Northeast Border Defense Army, with Song Zheyuan as the commander and Zhang Zizhong as the division commander, Huang Weigang's troops were incorporated into Zhang Zizhong's Third Division, and Huang Weigang himself served as the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 4th Brigade of the Third Division.
Not long after, the Third Army of the Northeast Border Defense Army was reorganized into the 29th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, the Third Division was reorganized into the 38th Division, Zhang Zizhong continued to serve as the commander of the Lieutenant General Division, and Huang Weigang served as the commander of the 223rd Regiment of the 112th Brigade of the 38th Division of the 29th Army. Zhang Zizhong attached great importance to the instructors born from the military academy, so Huang Weigang was soon promoted to brigade commander of the 112th Brigade, with three regiments under his command.
Zhang Zizhong was wronged
In 1933, the Japanese army invaded Shanhaiguan, and the two brigades of the Japanese suzuki Hattori totaled more than 10,000 people to advance to the Xifeng Pass. During the Xifengkou War of Resistance, Huang Weigang had been supervising the battle on the front line, and he also burned the wooden bridge that had been temporarily built, not allowing the troops to take a step back, and finally defeated the Japanese attack.
In early January 1935, Japanese aircraft conducted reconnaissance and bombing of the area where the 112th Brigade was stationed in Longmen. On January 15, the commander of the Japanese Rehe garrison, Mori Ichiro, warned our army and asked the defenders of our Longmen to retreat, and Huang Weigang immediately ordered all the troops to enter the position and prepare to resist the Japanese invasion. In the early morning of January 16, more than 2,000 Japanese troops, supported by aircraft artillery, attacked the positions of the 112th Brigade. Huang Weigang made preparations in advance, took advantage of the terrain, and fought fiercely with the Japanese army for three days, killing and wounding more than 800 Japanese troops, and successfully repelled the Japanese army.
After the July 7 Incident in 1937, the 29th Army rose up to resist and dealt a fierce blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army. However, due to the huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the 29th Army to withdraw south to the Baoding area to assemble and stand by, and then engage in a large-scale decisive battle with the Japanese army after meeting with the Central Army.
In order to allow the 29th Army to retreat safely, Song Zheyuan ordered Zhang Zizhong to act as chairman of the Jicha Administrative Affairs Committee and mayor of Beiping, stay behind to negotiate with the Japanese army and cover the retreat of the main forces. Zhang Zizhong was very unhappy in his heart at that time, and when he sent Qin Dechun, deputy commander of the 29th Army, away from Beiping, the iron-blooded general cried and said: "You have all become national heroes this time, and I am afraid that I will become a traitor!" ”
During the period when Zhang Zizhong stayed in Beiping and the Japanese army, the people of the whole country scolded him as a traitor, and the gate of his hometown in Shandong was also splashed with dung, and the newspapers also said that he united with the Japanese and drove Song Zheyuan out of Beiping and betrayed the 29th Army. Some of the soldiers of the 38th Division remained in Peiping City and formed an assassination squad to hint at him. Later, when Zhang Zizhong left Beiping and took a train from Tianjin to Nanjing, he was once surrounded by the masses, and if it were not for Qin Dechun, deputy commander of the 29th Army, who came to pick him up, Zhang Zizhong would probably not be able to leave the station.
After Zhang Zizhong arrived in Nanjing, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Song Zheyuan and other generals interceded for him, and Li Zongren saw that Zhang Zizhong was resolute and loyal, and demanded that Zhang Zizhong be transferred to the Fifth Theater of Operations. Chiang Kai-shek then expanded the 38th Division into the 59th Army, with Zhang Zizhong as the commander of the 59th Army and Huang Weigang as the commander of the 38th Division.
Follow Zhang Zizhong
The 38th Division is the number one main division of the 59th Army, and it is also an old unit of the Northwest Army, with a total of 15,000 people, and its combat effectiveness is fierce, Zhang Zizhong let Huang Weigang serve as the commander of this division, which shows that he regards Huang Weigang as the most trusted general and his successor.
In early February 1938, the Japanese invading army attempted to attack the strategic city of Xuzhou from north to south along the Jinpu Railway. In mid-February, the Banyuan Division attacked Linyi south along the Jiaoji Railway and the Weiwei Highway, and the defenders of the 40th Army Pang Bingxun were in a hurry. Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun had a personal vendetta, but the country was in trouble, and Zhang Zizhong, after receiving the order, immediately led the 59th Army to aid Linyi.
Zhang Zizhong led the 50th Army to attack hundreds of kilometers day and night, and after reaching the outskirts of Linyi, he immediately launched a fierce attack on the flank of the Banyuan Division. During the battle, Huang Weigang, commander of the 38th Division, charged forward with a knife, which gave a good exemplary role to the whole army, and the soldiers bravely killed the enemy and recovered many lost places. In more than a month of fighting, the 59th Army and the Japanese Itagaki Division and the Sakamoto Brigade repeatedly fought, killing and wounding more than 8,000 Japanese troops, but the 50th Army also suffered heavy casualties, and the most elite 38th Division was left with more than 3,000 people from 15,000 people.
After that, Huang Weigang and the officers and men of the 59th Army followed General Zhang Zizhong in the southern expedition to the north, and repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the main force of the Japanese army. However, the humiliation brought to Zhang Zizhong by the July 7 Incident has always been difficult for him to let go, and every time in every major war, Zhang Zizhong has set up the command post at the forefront, holding the heart of death, and wants to wash away his shame through death.
In mid-April 1940, the Japanese army concentrated six or seven divisions and regiments to attack the Fifth Theater from the Suizao area. At this time, Zhang Zizhong, who had been promoted to commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Corps of the Fifth Theater and commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army, rushed to the front line again, and on May 7, Zhang Zizhong personally led the special service battalion directly under the headquarters and two regiments of the 74th Division to cross the Xianghe River from Yicheng County to intercept the Japanese army.
Before crossing the river, Zhang Zizhong wrote a letter to the garrison of our army on the east bank of the Xiang River: "Looking at the recent situation, the enemy may want to touch the nail again. As long as the enemy comes to attack, the brother will go to Hedong to sacrifice with the brother and others. The country has reached such a point that there is no other way but for me to die for it. We must believe that as long as I can make this determination, our country and the nation of our five thousand years of history will never perish at the hands of the three islands of slavery. The determination to die for the country and the nation is unclear, the stone is not rotten, and it will never change in the slightest. May it be encouraged with all the brothers. ”
It can be seen that Zhang Zizhong had long been prepared to die, and when the Japanese army launched an attack on the three divisions of the 59th Army on the east bank of the Xiang River, Zhang Zizhong did not hesitate to lead his troops to the front line to participate in the battle. During the fierce battle between the Japanese army and the 59th Army, Zhang Zizhong led the special service battalion directly under the headquarters of the group army and the two regiments of the 74th Division to attack the enemy, intercepting the enemy into several sections, and ordering the 38th Division, 180th Division and other units to provide rapid support and encircle the Japanese army.
However, in the process of Zhang Zizhong's troops moving, he was unfortunately surrounded by Japanese troops, and he saw that the front line was in danger and sent all the guards to protect him. Zhang Zizhong actually had the opportunity to break through, but Zhang Zizhong gave up the opportunity to break through and continued to fight with the Japanese army, and by the time reinforcements arrived, Zhang Zizhong had already shed the last drop of blood.
Scramble for the general's remains
The sacrifice of General Zhang Zizhong was not trivial; he was the most sacrificed general in the entire Chinese and allied armies during World War II. After Zhang Zizhong's death, his body was buried in Chen Jiaji by the Japanese 39th Division, and Chiang Kai-shek ordered the front-line generals to take back general Zhang's body at all costs.
Zhang Zizhong's most powerful subordinate, Huang Weigang, commander of the 38th Division Major General Division, personally selected the death squad to compete with the Japanese for the body of General Zhang Zizhong, and Guo Rongchang, who was already a platoon leader at the time, joined the death squad of the 38th Division. In an interview with reporters in his later years, the veteran said: "Master Huang, wearing bare arms and pants, rushed forward with his brothers barefoot and against the shells of the devils, and finally snatched back General Zhang's body after several in and out. ”
After the death of General Zhang Zizhong, Huang Weigang was promoted to commander of the 59th Army. Two months later, Huang Weigang led the 59th Army to retake Zaoyang, killed more than 5,000 Japanese troops, captured countless military supplies, successfully avenged General Zhang Zizhong, and the Japanese army's plan to occupy Sui, Zao, Xiang, Fan, and Nanyang was shattered.
Since the Great Wall War of Resistance in 1933, Huang Weigang followed General Zhang Zizhong in his southern expedition to the northern war to resist the japanese invasion, resulting in overwork and serious illness. In 1942, when Huang Weigang's body was found to be problematic, Feng Yuxiang repeatedly brought medicines to comfort him, but Huang Weigang still insisted on training troops on the front line and fighting the Japanese army.
On August 3, 1943, when Zhang Zizhong was training troops on the front line of the Anti-Japanese War in Nanzhang, Hubei Province, he suddenly fainted and died that night due to ineffective rescue. When Huang Weigang died, he only had a two-year-old son, and because he had been fighting outside for many years and did not embezzle and eat empty pay, Huang Weigang's wife and children lived very poorly.