During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, because the Eighth Route Army was stationed in the northwest for a long time, mainly fighting with the Japanese army in the northwest region, such as the PingxingGuan Victory, the Hundred Regiments War, etc., it was rare to see the figure of the founding general of our army on the battlefields of the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Nanjing.
However, in the defense of Nanjing, there was a founding lieutenant general of our army. This person is Wan Yi, a native of Dalian, Liaoning.
Wan Yi was a native of the Northeast, and naturally joined Zhang Zuolin's Northeast Army, and was soon appreciated by Zhang Xueliang, who recommended him to enter the Northeast Army Lecture Hall for further study. Wan Yi also lived up to expectations, graduated with the first place in the school, and was even more highly valued by Zhang Xueliang, by 1936, Wan Yi was already the commander of the Northeast Army, only 29 years old, and the youngest regimental commander in the Northeast Army.
However, it was also in this year that Wan Yi offended Old Chiang Kai-shek, which eventually led to his fall to our party.
It was on September 18, 1936, on the 5th anniversary of the September 18 Incident, and Wan Yi led the whole regiment to carry out a propaganda anti-Japanese campaign. At that time, there was a Kuomintang political trainer in the regiment, who was arranged by Lao Jiang to go to the Northeast Army, who actually came to monitor the Northeast Army, and this political trainer wrote a report on Wan Yi's march. However, before he could send the report out, he was searched out by Wan Yi and slapped him on the spot.
Although the political trainer was not a big official, after all, he was a person personally arranged by Chiang Kai-shek, and Wan Yi dared to slap him, which was clearly a slap on Chiang Kai-shek. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek called Zhang Xueliang and wanted to deal with Wan Yi seriously. Although Zhang Xueliang is a bit unreliable, he is still very moralistic to his subordinates, so he said, give him to me, you leave it alone. In this way, He saved Wan Yi's life.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Wan Yi led the 672nd Regiment of the 112th Division of the 57th Army of the Northeast Army to the front line and participated in the defense of Nanjing. Regarding the defense of Nanjing, Wan Yi did not say much in his life, and we only know that in that extremely fierce battle, his regiment was almost completely destroyed.
You must know that the soldiers of this regiment are all brothers who followed him in the southern conquest and the northern war, and he may feel ashamed of these brothers, so he will not mention them for the rest of his life.
In January 1938, Wan Yi was appointed commander of the 667th Regiment. Two months later, Wan Yi secretly joined our party.
In the years that followed, Wan Yi led his troops to conquer the north and fought many victorious battles, and even the Japanese army sighed: "Don't be afraid of ten thousand, you are afraid of Wan Yi." ”
However, Chiang Kai-shek did not forget the incident in 1936, and finally attacked Wan Yi after 6 years.
In July 1942, Wan Yi was put on trial. In court, military judge Li Wenyuan announced: "Today, you will be tried for the following crimes: First, you are an accomplice to the 'Double Twelve' incident; and third, you are suspected of treason against the party. ”
Wan Yi said excitedly:
"What evidence do you have for saying that I am collaborating with the enemy?" Do you say that your conscience is passable? I, Wan Yimeng, was cultivated by General Zhang Hanqing and became an upright officer of the Northeast Army. Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, I have experienced some important battles and battles: I was ordered to cross the Yangtze River south at night, led the 672nd Regiment to hold the fortress of Jiangyin; rushed across the Zhenjiang River and participated in the bloody battle to defend Nanjing; led the 667th Regiment to fight fiercely in Northern Jiangsu And southern Lunan, killing the enemy many times and making meritorious contributions; working with the commander of the Chang Division to cut off Miao Thieves and resolutely resist Japan, and so on. One by one, one by one, I feel that I am worthy of my fathers and fellow countrymen in northeast China, the Chinese nation, and the great motherland that has suffered many disasters and difficulties. You say that these battles were once communicated with Japanese devils? If you have the information, can you win? Besides, of course you can slander me at will, but are you worthy of the officers and men who have fought in these battles? Many of them have heroically sacrificed their lives for the country and the nation, and have been buried under the Nine Springs, while some have been disabled for life and have a difficult livelihood. Are you worthy of martyrs and disabled people?! ”
Li Wenyuan was dumbfounded by his words, but because Chiang Kai-shek had already given orders, Li Wenyuan finally sentenced Wan Yi to death.
Wan Yi also knew that he could not tolerate Chiang Kai-shek, so he did not argue again, but escaped a month later, defected to Shandong, and was appointed deputy commander of the Coastal Military Region of the Shandong Military Region.
Later, Wan Yi was sent to the northeast to serve as the commander of the 1st Column of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, please note that the deputy commanders are Li Zuopeng and Liang Xingchu, all of whom are well-known generals. Moreover, the 1st Column was the later 38th Army, which was known as the "Long Live Army" in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In 1955, Wan Yi was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, and was the only founding lieutenant general among the former generals of the Northeast Army.
It is said that the anti-Japanese people live a long life, this is true, General Wan Yi died of illness in 1997, at the age of 90.