Du Yuming, as a cadet of the first batch of the Whampoa Military Academy and a disciple of Chiang Kai-shek, was a general with extremely excellent combat ability, who made important contributions to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Anti-Japanese National United Front, and his unique military ability and advanced tank troops made great contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance.
Du Yuming
As an elite of Chiang Kai-shek's subordinates, Du Yuming was loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, which can be described as saying one thing and absolutely executing. At the same time, some of the defeats fought by Zhongxin therefore also made posterity have a mixed evaluation of Du Yuming, which is lamentable. Among them, the Battle of Savage Mountain nailed Du Yuming to the pillar of shame, making Savage Mountain an unforgettable obstacle in Du Yuming's heart.
In this fierce battle, Du Yuming's soldiers killed all the warhorses in order to satisfy their stomachs, and the encounter of the female soldiers was even more unbearable to look at. And what made a generation of "gods" end up like this?
Let's first get to know this most loyal and outstanding general under Chiang Kai-shek, Du Yuming.
Du Yuming was born in a feudal landlord family in Shaanxi, and although his father was a man in the late Qing Dynasty, he was very resistant to the feudal imperial system and once resisted Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne. From an early age, Du Yuming was fascinated by his father's concept of "opposing imperialism," which also laid the foundation for his future revolutionary road.
Yuan Shikai was proclaimed emperor
From an early age, Du Yuming showed an interest in fighting and loved to play with guns and ammunition. At the same time, because his father had been teaching outside the home for many years, the burden of housework forced Du Yuming to learn to operate and practice the ability to manage the family business, but he also realized the importance of strategy.
Later, Du Yuming's father gradually realized that Du Yuming had abandoned his studies because of his long-term household chores, so he sent him to study. At the same time, when he went to Beijing to study, he witnessed the corruption, incompetence and dark rule of the Beiyang warlords, and under the influence of revolutionary ideology and the new cultural movement, he finally decided to apply for the Whampoa Military Academy, which was jointly established by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China at that time, in order to realize the great ideal of meritorious service.
Whampoa Military Academy
During his studies at the Whampoa Military Academy, Du Yuming worked very hard and devoted himself to military training and military study, and he was already extremely talented in combat, and he achieved excellent results through systematic study and ranked among the best. Under the orders of the military academy, Du Yuming also actively participated in various practical activities, and made outstanding achievements in the battle against the warlords of Guangdong, which won the attention of the Kuomintang, and soon after, the Kuomintang Central Committee included Du Yuming under his command.
Nationalist soldiers
Later, in the Northern Expedition, Du Yuming also made outstanding contributions; when he was fighting against the Red Army, he was also highly valued by Chiang Kai-shek because he was always able to act according to Chiang Kai-shek's requirements; and during the War of Resistance Against Japan, he was even more a god in the First World War. With the gradual accumulation of war experience, Du Yuming's ranks rose gradually, and he gradually mastered a certain right to speak in the army. Later, out of consideration for the war situation, Chiang Kai-shek asked him to lead the expeditionary army with brilliant achievements to Burma, in order to occupy Myitkyina before the Japanese army, and returned home by road.
Unexpectedly, it was precisely such an edict that plunged Du Yuming and the expeditionary force into a deep quagmire and suffered a great blow...
The Burmese Campaign
Forced to advance into Savage Mountain
Located in the northernmost part of Myanmar, at the junction of China and Myanmar, Savage Mountain is a primeval forest that has not yet been developed, and in Burmese, Savage Mountain is known as "the place where the devil dwells" and is a place where locals dare not easily set foot.
In 1941, the Pacific War broke out, and the Japanese army began to march into Southeast Asia, trying to control the southwest region of Our country by violating the Sino-Burmese border. At the same time, the Construction of the Burma Road on the China-Myanmar Border also intensified the Japanese army's sense of threat to the China-Myanmar border by continuously transporting materials to protect resources, and thus the Yunnan Burma Highway also became the primary target of destruction for the Japanese army.
In this context, China had to send troops to Burma to resist the Japanese attack. In order to consolidate the anti-Japanese national united front, the Nationalist government formed the prestigious Chinese Expeditionary Force and appointed Du Yuming as the deputy commander of the First Route Army of the Expeditionary Force to lead the expeditionary force into Burma. At the same time, military cooperation with international allies was carried out to fight against Japanese fascism and at the same time to ensure the smooth flow of the Burma Road.
Initially, the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force was the American Five-Star Admiral, but as the five-star Admiral Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek clashed over their operational opinions, and the real purpose of the British army was not to defend Burma and resist the Japanese army, but to use the cover and help of the Chinese army to evacuate to India. In this environment of various ghosts and dangers, the expeditionary force will inevitably have problems, resulting in the ultimate failure to achieve the desired victory, and even be beaten by the Japanese army.
Stilwell Chiang Kai-shek and others
Du Yuming, who was loyal only to Chiang Kai-shek, was also very puzzled by the fact that the American Stilwell was the commander-in-chief. In the face of the fiasco of the battle, Du Yuming's heart also became dissatisfied with Stilwell, and slowly stopped obeying his orders. At that time, the Japanese army had occupied two military points close to the Burmese highway, Myitkit and Lashio, and cut off the Chinese expeditionary force's return journey back to China, and the expeditionary force had to face a retreat.
Chinese Expeditionary Force
At this time, du Yuming had a disagreement with Stilwell on how to retreat the expeditionary force. Stilwell advocated withdrawing north to India with British troops, while Du advocated withdrawing east to China. The two argued endlessly and never managed to separate the results. At this time, Du Yuming also remembered the conversation he had with Chiang Kai-shek before he went out on the expedition, when he asked Chiang Kai-shek for this doubt: "If you and Stilwell disagree, whose opinion should I listen to?" And Chiang Kai-shek also gave a clear answer: "Chongqing's opinion shall prevail." ”
Sculpture of Chiang Kai-shek
Du Yuming, who had always been indifferent to Chiang Kai-shek's orders, decided to stick to his retreat route - to return to China. Coupled with the fact that he was already dissatisfied with Stilwell, Du Yuming decided to act without authorization and led 40,000 elite soldiers to retreat to the east. However, in the process of Du Yuming's main force retreating to the east, he suffered a large-scale ambush by the Japanese army, forcing Du Yuming to suddenly turn straight north, and then retreat north, forced to cross the deserted Savage Mountain.
The Fall of Savage Mountain
Savage Mountain, 300 kilometers deep and 500 to 600 kilometers in circumference. The towering trees and lush forests in the tropics make the Savage Mountain invisible all year round, during which miasma spreads, mosquitoes and poisonous snakes and ants ravage, and jackals and wolves are rampant. What is even more painful is that the period when the expeditionary force entered the Savage Mountain was during the rainy season, the torrential rain poured down, and the large amount of wet rain made it difficult to walk in the swamps of the forest. At the same time, the activity of ant mosquitoes will become extremely active, and these unsuspecting insects are frantically spreading viral diseases, like a purgatory on earth.
Savage Mountain
In order to be able to successfully cross the Savage Mountain, before entering the Savage Mountain, Du Yuming ordered his troops to unload their weights, bring only the necessary dry food and weapons, and lightly load the battle. However, due to the huge wounds in the previous battles, many people were carrying wounds through the Savage Mountain, weakly supporting each other to advance, and surviving in the terrifying environment of the Savage Mountain.
Du Yuming and his subordinates traveled through the Savage Mountain for several days, but they did not find a way out, but instead walked deeper and deeper in the intricate dense forest, as if trapped in an endless labyrinth, not seeing the light of day. In such an environment, in order not to drag down the pace of the large troops, some wounded soldiers asked Du Yuming to obtain gasoline and self-immolation, and the scene was extremely tragic, causing the fellow troops to cry. At the same time, densely packed ants were also taking advantage of the opportunity to suck the blood of the soldiers at all times.
Weak soldiers
According to the memories of soldiers who crossed Savage Mountain:
"The ants of Savage Mountain will unconsciously burrow into human organs such as human hearts, kidneys, and livers, and quickly suck away the blood of warriors." If any warrior stopped to rest, he would be crawled by swarms of ants, and with it endless pain. Due to excessive blood loss, the warriors will be the first to fall into a coma, unconsciously turning into white bones. ”
Cross Savage Mountain
And ants can suck blood to sustain their lives, but how can soldiers sustain their lives? With the passage of time, the soldiers had run out of ammunition, were dizzy from hunger, and even died of sudden starvation on the side of the road, and the speed of the troops was getting slower and slower.
Seeing that the troops were about to be unable to sustain themselves, Du Yuming ordered that the warhorses be killed one after another and used as food. But what people did not expect was that until all the horses were exhausted, they had not yet come out of the purgatory of the Savage Mountain. After the horse meat was eaten, the soldiers had to chew on the bark of the tree and chew the belt to survive the day, and from time to time they looked at the horse bone and sighed, "Looking for plums to quench their thirst", the degree of hardship is unimaginable today.
At the same time, the female soldiers also endured great suffering in this crossing of the Savage Mountain, in addition to the test of physical fitness and life threat, female soldiers also have to endure the visual impact of rotting corpses and maggots every day, in the long run, some female soldiers have been insane, naked jumping off cliffs to commit suicide to relieve pain; some female soldiers have left a lifelong psychological shadow and have always trembled. There are also some little nurses who have no power to bind chickens, and they are brutally killed by poisonous snakes and hungry wolves...
Savage Mountain Female Soldier
The forced crossing of the Savage Mountain lasted nearly three months, causing huge losses to the expeditionary force: of the 40,000 people who crossed the Savage Mountain under Du Yuming, less than 10,000 soldiers were left to successfully cross the Savage Mountain, and the remaining 30,000 soldiers could only be buried in the Savage Mountain forever, which was regrettable.
Now when we understand this period of history, we can't help but think: Is this "death of the Savage Mountain" due to the disadvantage of the expeditionary force, or is it the obstinate behavior of Chiang Kai-shek du Yuming?