After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army successively occupied Nanjing and Jinan, in a pattern of echoing between the north and the south. In order to open up the Jingpu Railway and achieve a north-south confluence, the Japanese army used Nanjing and Jinan as the base to divide and attack, and the troops pointed directly at Xuzhou.
At first, the Japanese army in the direction of Shandong made smooth progress, and all the way south to capture many cities. Li Zongren, who was sitting in Xuzhou, urgently ordered troops from all over the country to rush to the aid of the Lunan region. Wang Mingzhang from Sichuan led the 41st Army to enter TengXian county to strengthen combat readiness. The Japanese army marched quickly and quickly reached Teng County. On March 14, 1938, the defense of Tengxian County began. The Japanese, under the cover of aircraft, launched an attack on the outer positions of Tengxian County. Holding its position was Deng Xihou's 45th Army, which was also a unit that dared to fight a hard battle.
The 45th Army fought with the Japanese army for a day and did not let the Japanese occupy a peripheral position, which surprised the Japanese army. The next day, the Japanese intensified their artillery bombardment and attacked the Chinese positions in several separate ways. At this time, there were more than 30,000 Japanese troops attacking Teng County, and they attacked the ground all the way, and they would win every battle, and their combat effectiveness was quite strong. After a day of fierce fighting, the 45th Army on the outskirts suffered heavy casualties, several positions were occupied, and the county seat of Tengxian Was also shelled.
On the third day, the Japanese concentrated all their mountain artillery and shelled the Tengxian position for two hours, and then charged under the cover of aircraft. Although the 45th Army fought back heroically, the fortifications were destroyed, the heavy weapons were inferior to those of people, the losses of personnel were considerable, and many of the positions it held had been breached. Seeing that if he persisted any longer, the entire army would be destroyed, and Deng Xihou was distressed by this starting force, so he ordered the remaining troops of the 45th Army to retreat from both sides of Tengxian County, and all the positions on the outskirts of Tengxian County were lost.
The Japanese regiment surrounded Teng County, and in order to capture Teng County as soon as possible, the Japanese army dispatched tanks to charge and organized elite troops to carry out surprise attacks. Wang Mingzhang led the 41st Army to fight back heroically, and although the positions in various places suffered heavy casualties, the officers and men vowed not to retreat. When the battle situation was at its most critical, Wang Mingzhang personally took people up to participate in the battle. Just as he was directing the battle, the Japanese troops on the opposite side spotted him. Wang Mingzhang was shot several times in the body and sacrificed his life for the country on the spot.
Although the defense of Tengxian was ultimately defeated, it bought respite for the subsequent Battle of Taierzhuang. The Chinese army, which had been defeated and fought repeatedly, finally gave the Japanese army a taste of defeat in Taierzhuang. The defeated Japanese burned the corpses and fled back to Zaozhuang.
The Battle of Taierzhuang was won, and Li Zongren, as the commander-in-chief, was indispensable. However, in Li Zongren's eyes, although he had good command, the final victory was inseparable from the sacrifice of various troops. In particular, the Sichuan army from the country of Tianfu, although poorly equipped and not strong in military quality, dared to resist the Japanese army with flesh and blood on the battlefield, and played a Chinese ambition. In particular, the 11th Division, which was stubbornly defending Teng County, under the leadership of division commander Wang Mingzhang, blocked 30,000 Japanese troops for 3 days with the strength of the 1st Army. It was this precious 3 days that made Li Zongren completely deployed, which made Taierzhuang's victory. Therefore, when some people talked about whose merits were great afterwards, Li Zongren said to the outside world, without the stubbornness of Teng County, where the Taier Zhuang Dajie came from, it can be seen that he knows how precious the 3 days that Wang Mingzhang exchanged his life for are, and his words are full of admiration.