On September 18, 1931, the Japanese army launched the "918 Incident" and took the step of invading China, and from then on, the Chinese people began a 14-year war of resistance. In the past 14 years, a large part of the country has fallen, the Japanese army has arrived at the iron hoof, and the Chinese people have been devastated and desperate. At the same time, thousands of Chinese people, who were not willing to be oppressed, rose up in resistance and resolutely fought against the inhuman Japanese.
Nanyang is located in China's Henan Province, in the process of the Japanese invasion of Nanyang, in order to cooperate with the military attack of the ground troops, it has repeatedly sent aircraft to bombard military targets, urban market towns, transportation arteries, and even poor and remote areas in various parts of Nanyang. In addition, the Japanese army organized a puppet regime, strengthened public order, persecuted anti-Japanese soldiers, swept around, burned and plundered, and did all kinds of evil.
Homes were destroyed, compatriots were killed, sisters were humiliated, property was plundered, and the people of Nanyang lived in hell on earth. The people of Nanyang all hated japan and hypocrisy to the bone, and they spontaneously organized themselves to establish various anti-Japanese armed forces and waged a bloody war against the Japanese. The representative figure of the non-governmental anti-Japanese organization is Xu Zihe, who is praised as the "first knife of Nanyang".
Xu Zihe was born in 1910 in the summer camp village in the south of Nanyang City, when he was born, it was the time of spring and warm flowers, the earth and all things were revived, the heavens and the earth were peaceful, and his parents named him "Zihe", which means that life is "harmonious and precious", "harmony is rich". Xu Zihe's family was a martial arts family, and his great-grandfather was Wu Xiucai, who was prominent in the local area. His father was a well-known local martial artist who supported his family by opening darts.
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty's entry into the customs, the Wuke Examination was held every three years, in parallel with the Wenkeju Examination. Anyone who passes the grass-roots examination to obtain the qualification of martial arts student (commonly known as Wu Xiucai) can participate in the Wuxiang examination; those who pass the township examination are martial artists; and then, in the examination and palace examination held by the state, they are finally selected as the top three and awarded official positions.
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it was clearly stipulated that the first-class jinshi (including the yuan, the eye of the list, and the tanhua) were awarded the deputy generals, counselors, guerrillas, and dusi, and the second and third jinshi were given the garrison and the garrison. After that, one of the first ranks (Champions) was awarded the first class bodyguard, the second and third (Bangyan, Tanhua) were awarded the second class bodyguards, and the second and third ranks were awarded the third class bodyguards and the blue plume guards, and after obtaining these official titles, they were then selected as real officers in the military department. - Draft History of the Qing Dynasty
Xu Zihe's father believed that in a chaotic world, it was necessary to have a martial art to defend oneself. Therefore, from a young age, he began to teach Xu Zi and martial arts, Xu Zihe followed his father to practice the thirty-six road Thunderbolt Bagua Knife, when he was 17 years old, Xu Zihe, who was armed with extraordinary skills, tried sharply, when he was about to send a batch of medicinal materials to XuJiaying 20 kilometers away, he encountered bandits robbing money, Xu Zi and using the Thunderbolt Bagua Knife Combat Method, hacked 3 bandits to death, and scared off the rest of the thieves. Since then, the "Nanyang Hero" has spread far and wide, and gradually became known as the "first knife of Nanyang".
The Bagua Knife is a Bagua Gate instrument. It is very popular in the Bagua Gate, and most people who practice the Bagua Palm will practice the Bagua Knife. The Bagua Knife is a routine based on the basic knife technique of the sword technique, combined with the characteristics of the Bagua Palm. The specifications of the Bagua knife are different from those of other doors, and they are longer and heavier than the general knives (the knife is four feet two inches long, the handle is one foot two inches long, and the knife body is three feet long). The knife is long and short, but when you see the knife, you can't see the people, and with the rise and fall of the footwork, the left turn and right rotation of the body method, the change of the knife methods such as splitting, tying, plucking, cutting, wiping, belting, spreading, pulling, and intercepting, are continuous, gushing endlessly, like a dragon, like a flying phoenix, with thousands of changes.
When Xu Zihe was 30 years old, he opened a martial arts hall in the south of Nanyang City, where he received apprentices to teach martial arts and open darts for a living. When the 55th Army of the Northwest Army was stationed in Zhuyuanzhuang Village, he heard of Xu Zihe's name, and a regimental commander of the army personally invited him to the army to teach soldiers to practice large knife chopping.
Xu Zihe always paid close attention to the situation of the War of Resistance, the Nationalist army was defeated again and again in the frontal battlefield, and a large part of the country fell. Xu Zihe had a premonition that Nanyang would be captured by the Japanese army sooner or later, and the Kuomintang could not hold it. He instructed his disciples to purchase guns and ammunition and to step up the practice of the Thirty-Six Thunderbolt Bagua Knife Tactics in case of an accident.
On May 1, 1939, the Japanese army launched the Xiangdong Campaign (nanyang called the first "New Tang Campaign"), invading Xinye, Tanghe, Tongbai, Biyang and other counties in the Nanyang area. On May 10, the Japanese army occupied the county seat of Shinno. On the 12th, more than 30,000 people of the 13th Division and the 16th Division of the Japanese Army invaded the Tang River and captured the county seat on the same day. From May 1 to 23, 1940, the Japanese army launched another attack on the southern Henan region to avenge the defeat of the first Suizao Campaign, which was called the second "New Tang Campaign" in Nanyang, and the commander of the 173rd Division, Zhong Yi, was wounded in the siege, and then committed suicide with a gun. In the middle and late period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China and Japan fought 5 battles in and around Nanyang.
The Sino-Japanese sides repeatedly fought and fought in Nanyang, and the war situation was extremely fierce, and the people of Nanyang were deeply maimed by the Japanese and suffered unspeakably. Unwilling to be bullied by the Japanese puppet army, Xu Zihe secretly erected an anti-Japanese banner in the Wuguan and established the "Wannan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Group", which recognized himself as the leader of the brigade and whose members were mainly his own apprentices.
Hearing is false, seeing is believing. After Xu Zihe saw the power of the devil's machine gun cannon, he realized that no matter how high the martial arts were, he could not beat the foreign guns and cannons, and killing the devils could not be tough with the devils, and could only choose to sneak attack and assassinate. He and his apprentices killed the devils by night raids, catching orders, and "pretending to be flower girls to lure the enemy", and although the lethality was limited, it also made the Japanese puppet army dare not easily go to the vicinity of the summer camp village to loot.
During a night raid on Cheng Guan's camp, Xu Zihe was determined to improve the family's thirty-six thunderbolt Bagua knife combat method. In that battle, he and 3 disciples surrounded a bayonet holding a three-eight-big cover, this was the first time Xu Zihe and the Japanese soldiers confronted each other, what they did not expect was that after a battle, although they successfully killed the Japanese soldiers, But Xu Zihe was slightly injured, and the apprentice died and was seriously injured, which made Xu Zihe, who had been practicing martial arts for many years, deeply ashamed and also fell into deep thought. After repeated consideration and summary, Xu Zihe felt that the gap did not lie in the level of martial arts, but in the gap in weapons.
The Japanese army's three-eight large-scale bayonets are far more lethal than the knife in terms of length, strength or quality. The three-eight bayonets are good in steel and sharp, and the length of the rifle is close to 2 meters after putting on the rifle, and the Japanese soldiers are generally short and strong, flexible in the fight, which is like a person carrying a spear in battle. Although the large knife is fierce, it is inferior to the Japanese army in terms of steel spout, length, sharpness and flexibility, and the lethality of chopping is far inferior to the lethality of poking and stabbing.
After finding the gap, Xu Zihe began to improve the Bagua Sword Combat Method. The first is the reforging of the knife. They ripped off the devil's rails at night and recreated a batch of battle knives, and the new knives changed from the original short handle to a long handle, so that they could be swung and rotated 360 degrees, forming a knife net that protected the whole body. The blade has changed from a wide short shape to a long strip, which is easy to stab. Thicken the back of the knife to increase the strength and power of the slash. The blade is thickened and sharpened, not easy to curl the edge, and the tip of the knife imitates a Japanese knife to forge a cross-sectional cut in order to quickly pierce the body. The body of the sword forged three long and deep blood grooves, which increased the fear of the devil when bleeding the enemy. Use hemp rope winding at the handle to increase friction and avoid letting go of your hand after sweat and blood get on it.
Second, improve the tactics of warfare. According to the characteristics and fighting methods of the Oriental knives and bayonets used by the Japanese army, Xu Zihe boldly improved the family heirloom Bagua knife combat method, one is to remove the impractical tricks, such as the gesture of the big knife to pose a trick move, and there is also a squat trick when collecting the knife. Second, the move is more fierce. Fight with ghosts, do not feel pity, pay attention to the martial spirit of "the point is reached, spare people and spare people", when encountering ghosts, pick up the knife and slash at the head, shoulders and chest, so that they lose combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time, otherwise, the murderous Japanese army will surely kill themselves. The third is to give full play to the strong points and avoid the weaknesses. Chinese due to the long-term lack of food and clothing, physical strength is not as good as the Japanese army, it is easy to be physically weak in the fight, once it is knocked down by the devil, it can only be tied to death, Xu Zi and the orderers have created a short dagger, drill heart nails, etc. hidden in the waist and thighs, once they are knocked down by the devil, they can use these weapons to attack the throat, eyes and other key departments of the Japanese army, and may be able to turn defeat into victory.
Finally, increase the actual combat experience. Xu Zihe took the initiative to contact the Nationalist army and the anti-Japanese armed forces led by the Communist Party, cooperated in combat, took the initiative to attack, tested the newly improved bagua knives and tactics in actual combat, and constantly improved them in the war.
At the beginning of 1945, the Japanese army occupied Nanyang, and built many bunker strongholds on the front line of Bunyao, Chengguanying, and Sanlitun in the east of Nanyang City, Xu Zihe frequently led guerrilla attacks, ambushed and killed the devils, and then cut off the devils' heads, threw them into the enemy's strongholds, and left a note: "Wannan guerrillas kill!" ”
The devils no longer dared to go out in groups of three or five to "sweep up", and they repeatedly checked and cleared the way, but they could never find the trace of the "Wannan guerrillas". When the devils went out, they had to dispatch at least a few dozen or more people at a time, with light and heavy machine guns, and cars pulling enough ammunition. On the morning of March 3, a Japanese army of more than 30 people entered the Jade Emperor Temple Street and began to sweep, after some looting, the devils were ready to cook in the Jade Emperor Temple, Xu Zihe got the information from the villagers, and decided to lead the guerrillas to eliminate this arrogant Japanese Kou.
Although Xu Zihe's guerrillas had more than 100 people, their weapons and equipment were too poor, except for a Bagua knife in their hands, the firearms only had 10 normal three-eight large covers, and the rest were shotguns, cannons and Hanyang-made. Xu Zihe sent his apprentices Xu Zhongwu, Xu Xingqiao, and Li Yingfu to Zhuyuanzhuang Village to contact the 55th Army, hoping that their remaining companies could come to reinforcements and join forces to annihilate this enemy. Xu Zihe divided the guerrillas into 3 teams, the first team was the sharp knife team, led by him 1 personally, attacking the enemy from the front; the second team was a strong attack team, led by deputy captain Chen Quanfu, who went around to the back to attack; the third team was a feint attack team, led by squadron leaders Xu Wenju and Li Honghe, who were responsible for taking advantage of the chaos to divide the enemy army.
At 11:00 p.m., the attack begins! The Japanese troops, who were preparing to eat, threw away their rice bowls and quickly entered the battle position, with heavy machine guns set up on high places, and infantry entering the trenches before and after the Jade Emperor Temple to form defensive positions. The first attack was frustrated, the guerrillas were suppressed by Japanese fire and could not get close at all, and 10 minutes later, the remaining company of the 55th Army arrived and bombarded the Japanese positions with mortars, and Xu Zihe's guerrillas took the opportunity to approach the Japanese positions.
However, the mortar shells were too few, and after the battle, the light and heavy machine guns of the Japanese army opened fire again, and Xu Zihe and others saw that the Japanese army was close at hand, and they could not continue to advance. Xu Zihe had no choice but to order a strong attack, And Xu Zihe ordered a part of the feint to attract the attention of the Japanese army, and part of the fire to cover, and he personally led a part of the team to charge the enemy position.
After half an hour of fierce fighting, he and some of his team members finally approached a broken wall in the temple, hacked the ghosts at the broken wall, and then jumped to the trench behind the wall and engaged in a white-knife bloody battle with the Japanese army. As a result, Japanese machine guns opened fire and most of the team members were killed. Jumping into the trench can only fight a few people, the enemy sees each other, extremely red-eyed, Xu Zihe and the team members just entered the trench, do not dare to have the slightest pause, throw away the gun, swing the knife to cut, Xu Zihe landed on the ground, has pulled out the bagua knife, a knife down, a devil's head was cut in half. There were 6-7 devils in a panic ready to shoot at him, in a moment of life and death, Xu Zihe had rushed to the front, at this time the knife was faster than the gun, in the blink of an eye, Xu Zihe and the hand knife fell, and cut over 3 people, picked up a rifle with a three-eight bayonet left by the devil, threw it out and stabbed 1 person.
1 devil hugged Xu Zihe's waist from behind in a panic, two devils ran with bayonets and stabbed, saying that it was too late, then fast, Xu Zihe pulled out a short dagger and inserted it into the throat of the devil behind him, a reverse fall, it fell to the ground, the 2 devils who stabbed him flew into the air, fell a toe, and were hacked to death by Xu Zihe.
Then, Xu Zihe cut off the head of one of the devils, frightening the other devils to turn around and run, Xu Zihe slashed with a knife, cut off one of his legs, and used all his strength to cut off his head. At this time, the Japanese troops in the trench were almost wiped out, Xu Zihe killed 10 ghosts in a row, exhausted, wounded in many places, and the rest of the team members were killed.
Carrying a bagua knife full of blood, Xu Zihe spat at the corpse of the Japanese soldier and climbed out of the trench to prepare to leave. Passing by the toilet of the Jade Emperor Temple, a Wounded Japanese soldier hiding in the toilet shot at him continuously, bullets piercing his chest, blood spraying the ground, splashing the walls, Xu Zi and heroic sacrifice.
Seeing this, Xu Zihe's apprentices angrily broke through the Japanese fire blockade, rushed into the toilet, and hacked the wounded Japanese soldiers who raised their hands to surrender with their hands and chopped them into meat sauce. Fierce fighting continued, and around 15:00 p.m., nearby villagers and other anti-Japanese guerrilla forces joined the fighting, and it was not until 5 o'clock that the remnants of the Japanese army were wiped out. In this battle, the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians also paid a heavy price.
More than 300 guerrillas, a company of friendly troops and more than 100 villagers besieged more than 30 devils, and after nearly a day of fighting, the Japanese commander Cao Chuanguchi Zuozhi was killed on the spot in the Jade Emperor Temple, and none of the 30 devils escaped. However, more than 150 people, including the guerrilla Xu Zi and the brigade leader and squadron leader Yan Wenqing, were killed or wounded.
At that time, xi'an daily, Chongqing daily, and hubei daily all reported the heroic deeds of Xu Zihe and the guerrillas. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the "Wannan Anti-Japanese Guerrillas" were disbanded, and most of the members returned home to work as farmers. In October 1945, a monument was erected in the place where Xu Zihe died in battle, "Nanyang Xu Martyrs and the Monument to the Martyrdom of the Anti-Japanese Resistance", as a memorial. Xu Zihe's nickname became "the first knife of Nanyang Anti-Japanese Resistance" and "the first master of Nanyang" during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
On September 2, 2020, Xu Zihe was selected into the third batch of famous anti-Japanese heroes and heroes. Before the Qingming Festival in 2021, a restored portrait of Xu Zihe (Xu Zihe did not leave any photos before his death) was sent to the hands of his daughter Xu Jiahui, spanning 76 years of time and space, the father finally appeared in front of his daughter's eyes in the form of a portrait, which was infinitely sad!
Remember history and remember the martyrs!