In 1937, the Japanese army attacked Shandong, and Han Fuyu, chairman of the Kuomintang Shandong Province, fled without a fight and lost Qilu. After the war, Chiang Kai-shek was furious and personally trapped Han Fuyu and executed him, killing him.
However, when Han Fuyu and his troops fled wildly, an army faced the Japanese army and hula killed the enemy behind them.
They were the guerrilla brigade led by General Fan Zhuxian.
Fan Zhuxian said that he was a general, but in fact, he was just the county magistrate of Liaocheng County at this time. Although he still has a status - the administrative inspector and security commander of the sixth district of Shandong, this security commander is not a general.
Why was Fan Zhuxian a general again?
Because he was a former soldier, he was a brigade commander in the early years of the Republic of China. After dissatisfaction with the warlord melee, he fought a civil war, and left his post and returned to his hometown. After the victory of the Northern Expedition, he was invited to serve as a major general in Feng Yuxiang's Third Route Army, but later went to Linyi, Yishui, Liaocheng and other counties as a county magistrate, so people still used to call him "general".
Fan Zhuxian was a passionate patriotic general.
After the July 7 Incident broke out, he was indignant at the aggressive acts of the Japanese army and asked Han Fuyu to go into battle, demanding that he kill the enemy and repay the country. However, after the defeat of Songhu and the current enemy, Han Fuyu, in order to preserve his own strength, refused the command's order to resist the enemy, but was ready to abandon Jinan and other key places without authorization and retreat to the area south of the Yellow River. To this end, Fan Zhuxian gathered his subordinates and said:
"At present, we have the responsibility to defend the territory, and if we do not resist, we will withdraw, so why should we face the fathers and elders of the whole country?" I am determined to stay north of the Yellow River, and those who are willing to follow me to fight the devils will stay; those who do not want to fight the devils will cross the river and retreat. ”
However, he called Han Fuyu and said that he was determined to resist to the end.
As a result, when Han Fuyu withdrew, Fan Zhuxian led his troops to meet the enemy and killed Liaocheng.
Soon, the Japanese army advanced to the north bank of the Yellow River, and Han Fuyu once again sent a telegram ordering Fan Zhu to retreat first. Fan Zhuxian flatly refused, and electrified the whole country:
"It is the duty to guard the land, and it is never necessary to cross south." He vowed to lead me to guerrilla fighters and arm the populace, and to deal with the Japanese. Success or failure is blunt, and it does not matter, bow down to the best of its ability, and do not give up. ”
Major newspapers across the country reprinted Fan Zhuxian's telegram, calling him "the first person in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in North China."
Based on five battalions, Fan Zhuxian soon established an anti-Japanese regime in more than 20 counties in northwest Lu, and the anti-Japanese armed forces developed to 35 detachments, three-way civilian troops, about 20,000 people, and repeatedly attacked the Japanese army.
In the spring of 1938, during the Battle of Xuzhou, in order to cooperate with the main force, Fan Zhuxian led his troops to block the Japanese Tufeiyuan Division that reinforced Taierzhuang. After the main force of the Nationalist army withdrew from Xuzhou, in order to cooperate with the defense of Wuhan, Fan Zhuxian made a larger action - leading his troops to attack Jinan.
At one point, Fan Zhuxian led an army into the city of Jinan, and the Japanese army was panicked.
In the fierce battle, Fan Zhuxian's second son Fan Shumin led more than 60 fighters to all be killed. Fan Zhuxian heard the bad news and endured the grief before saying to the officers and men under his command:
"The war against Japan is long-term, and without bloodshed and sacrifice, how can we win victory?" If we do not sacrifice, future generations will become slaves to the country. ”
Subsequently, he appointed his 20-year-old second daughter Fan Shukun to replace his brother who died, and served as the leader of the advance brigade to continue killing the enemy, known as "Two Guns and Two Misses".
Fan Zhuxian's anti-Japanese momentum caused great panic in the Japanese army. In November, the Japanese army mobilized more than 10,000 people from Jinan, invaded Liaocheng, "swept" northwest lu, and surrounded and annihilated Fan Zhuxian.
Fan Zhuxian decided to use encirclement tactics to annihilate the invading enemy. However, due to the sabotage of internal diehards, the plan did not materialize. On November 14, he led a pistol battalion and 600 to 700 other people, and was surrounded by Japanese troops in Liaocheng.
They fought the Japanese with rudimentary weapons, waiting for reinforcements.
However, the reinforcements were delayed, and at dusk, the Japanese army forcibly entered the city, the east gate was in a hurry, and Fan Zhuxian personally led the troops to reinforce, and after two hours of fierce fighting, repelled the Japanese attack. Subsequently, the Japanese army launched a more frantic attack under the cover of aircraft artillery, and in the early morning of the next day, Fan Zhuxian was wounded in the arm and wounded before fighting.
The Japanese reinforcements were increasing, but Fan Zhuxian's reinforcements had not arrived. At 11:00 a.m., all four gates of Liaocheng City were breached by the Japanese army, and Fan Zhuxian and others engaged in a fierce street battle with the Japanese army. In the fierce battle, Fan Zhuxian was seriously wounded and martyred at the age of 57.
After the news of Fan Zhuxian's heroic martyrdom came out, the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians throughout the country were in a state of grief, and memorial meetings were held one after another in various places to mourn this anti-Japanese hero. The National Government "issued a special order to praise" and "ordered the flag to be flown at half-mast for three days throughout the country." Yan'an also held a solemn memorial service, and one of the couplets reads:
Three friends to see the spirit: loose body straight, bamboo body tong, plum blossoms are also from the high, high and high, until the cold of the year and the end of the festival;
A discipline of loyalty and righteousness: husbands are martyred, wives defend the people, children are called brave and martial, stubborn and cowardly, and the country is difficult to save.