The word "eagle dog" is mostly a derogatory term in various stories today, describing someone as a tiger. But this word is an ancient and modern heterogeneous word, in the past it was a positive word, generally used to describe the bravery of a certain person in battle, the last person in Chinese history to be called "Eagle Dog General" is the Republic of China Army Lieutenant General Song Xilian.
Shuxiang Mendi abandoned the pen and surrendered
Song Xilian has been a scholarly family since he was a child, and when he was five years old, he began to learn traditional ancient Chinese with his father, and later after a year of private school, he received a good traditional education from an early age, and he can also be regarded as an intellectual. Moreover, his ancestors had people who joined the army to serve the country, and his great-grandfather once followed Zuo Zongtang to guard Xinjiang, and he also heard about it in such an environment since he was a child. At the age of 14, he learned about the May Fourth Movement at Changjun Middle School, began to gradually understand the current situation of the country, and was also influenced by communism and determined to enter the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal cause. As an adult, he was admitted to the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy and was the first cadet in the history of the Whampoa Military Academy. Many of his classmates who were at the same time as him became prominent figures in China's military history in the future, such as Du Yuming, a famous Kuomintang general, Chen Geng, the founding general of our country, Zuo Quan, a general of the Eighth Route Army, Xu Xiangqian, and others.
He was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy and began his life as a horseman
After graduating from the Whampoa Military Academy, Song Xilian served as a company commander, and then joined communism with him at the recommendation of his friend Chen Geng. However, due to the outbreak of the "Zhongshan Ship Incident" later, he had to break away from the Communist Party and rejoin the Kuomintang, at which time he was also promoted to battalion commander. After that, he began his career in the Northern Expedition, and was wounded in the process, and when he recovered, he was sent to Japan to study, and it was also during this period that the Japanese invasion of China broke out. He was also arrested for organizing a demonstration of international students in Japan at the school, and was later released after negotiations with the Nationalist army. After returning to China, he served as the head of the National Army's teaching instructor regiment, and a year later he was promoted to brigade commander and was responsible for garrisoning the Nanjing area. In 1932, the Songhu "128" Incident broke out, and Song Xilian gave heavy damage to the Japanese army in the flank rear with the strength of four battalions. He was later promoted to lieutenant general of the Nationalist 36th Division.
Battle of Songhu
Just five years later, in Songhu again, the Battle of Songhu broke out (the Songhu War of Resistance and the Battle of Songhu were not a battle), and Song Xilian led the 36th Division to join the battle quickly, when Song Xilian's troops belonged to one of the three ace divisions under Chiang Kai-shek.
On August 13, 1937, the Battle of Songhu began, and Song Xilian's 36th Division arrived in Shanghai from the Xi'an garrison on the 16th. At that time, Shanghai already had about 50,000 troops in the 87th Division and the 88th Division, and uncharacteristically, it began to change its defensive attitude and began to attack. The purpose was to encircle and suppress 5,000 Japanese Marines in the Hongkou District of Shanghai at that time. However, 50,000 people fighting 5,000 people were still unfavorable, and after three days, the Chinese side suffered heavy losses, not only did not encircle and annihilate 5,000 Japanese troops, but also ushered in an increase of about 3,000 Japanese troops. The most serious was the 88th Division in charge of the charge, the brigade commander Huang Meixing was killed, and 7 company commanders were killed, with more than 1,000 casualties. This was the embodiment of the difference in military strength between China and Japan at that time. After the arrival of Song Xilian's 36th Division, chiang kai-shek's three German mechanic divisions all arrived in Shanghai and were put into battle.
The 36th Division fought a battle at Huishan Wharf
The 36th Division attacked the area around Tianbao Road, geographically located between the 88th and 87th Divisions. The Chen Ruihe Brigade of the 36th Division took the lead in attacking, and began a street battle with the devils, an alley and a house can become a battlefield, both sides suffered serious casualties, and the brigade commander Chen Ruihe was also wounded, so the 212th regimental commander continued to attack instead of the brigade commander. At that time, the Nationalist army lacked large-scale offensive equipment, and most of the Japanese bunkers were built of reinforced concrete, and it was difficult for the Nationalist army next to grenades to destroy them. This long-term inability to attack increased the time for the Japanese army to support. After analyzing the situation, Song Xilian ordered the 216th Regiment to change the direction of the attack and attack the important stronghold of the Japanese army, the Huishan Wharf. On the evening of the 20th, Song Xilian personally led the officers and men to inspect the terrain and decided to launch an attack at night. The 216th Regiment had more than 2,000 officers and men and three infantry battalions. Song Xilian then deployed 1 battalion and 3 battalions to attack from both ends, and 2 battalions as reserves to provide timely support. In the middle of the night, the attack began at twelve o'clock, and the 1st Battalion began to attack from Zhaofeng Road to Huishan Wharf, but on the way it was intercepted by the Japanese fortifications at an intersection, and the Japanese hid on the roof of the 5-story building to strafe, and the 1st Battalion could not cross. After more than an hour of stalemate, the regimental commander Hu Jiaji could not bear it and ordered: "Brave the artillery fire to advance!" "And he led the charge as a soldier, in the fierce battle, two guards were sacrificed, and he was also wounded in five places, but he could not hold the line of fire and continued to command the battle." Under his command, a battalion approached the Huishan Wharf, and the remaining Japanese troops could no longer hold on and began to flee, and the officers and men of the regiment began a fierce battle for houses. Finally, unable to resist, the Japanese fled to Baidu Bridge (the area of the British concession) and surrendered to the British troops south of the bridge.
The officers and men who arrived at the Huishan Wharf were unable to destroy the iron gate of the Japanese army, resulting in another obstruction, and they were attacked by the Japanese troops from the flank, suffering heavy losses. When Song Xilian heard the news, he believed that the purpose had been achieved, so he ordered all the members to withdraw. Moreover, during this period, the 87th Division, which had the most advanced equipment of the Nationalist Army, also had no training in infantry-tank cooperative combat, which led to the disjointed with the infantry in the tank attack and was surrounded and suppressed by the Japanese army, and almost all the tanks were destroyed. In the first 10 days of the Battle of Songhu, not only did the task not be achieved, but the three German mechanic divisions were basically destroyed. However, during this period, the 36th Division has been fighting with the Japanese army, and has repeatedly engaged the Japanese army in short engagements, giving the Japanese a heavy blow, and later there is also a "Song Commander's soldiers do not have a bad breed". It was not until November that it withdrew from the battle, and finally withdrew from the battlefield with 15,000 people and 12,000 casualties. Although the Chinese suffered heavy losses, they broke the Japanese army's "plan to destroy China in three months".
A few decades later, Song Xilian still said in an interview: The most splendid, fierce, and outstanding battle fought by our division in Songhu was the battle of attacking Huishan Wharf. This battle was one of the several famous battles in the entire battle of Songhu and the pride of the Chinese soldiers.