At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Zongren was appointed commander of the 5th Theater of Operations, with Xuzhou as the center, the Yellow River in Jinan in the north, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and the vast area of Henan east of Shangqiu on the north bank of Pukou in the south, with a length of 600 kilometers from north to south and a width of 250 kilometers from east to west. By February 1938, although the troops directly under the direct command of the theater had 13 armies and 29 divisions, about 280,000 people, they were all local miscellaneous armies with backward equipment.
These miscellaneous armies with complex factions and backward equipment have always been discriminated against by Chiang Kai-shek's central government, but in the view of Li Zongren, who was also from the miscellaneous armies, "Among the commanders of all units, there are many bloody men who are determined to fight with the enemy. To this end, he treated all the ministries under his command equally with respect and unity, and gathered the strong synergy of the ministries in the shortest possible time.
Respect for unity Pang Bingxun
Pang Bingxun of the Northwest Military Department, who was then the commander of the 3rd Army. On the one hand, he respects his "long history" and is willing to get along with brotherly relations; on the other hand, he helps him solve practical problems such as organization and weapons and equipment, which makes Pang inspired and supported. Subsequently, Li Zongren personally went to Pangbu to give lectures, inspiring morale, so that Pangbu "soldiers and soldiers rejoiced, and the army was particularly prosperous, as if it were a strong brigade." ”
Trust helps Zhang Zizhong
Li Zongren, commander of zhang zizhong who also belonged to the northwest military department, also actively extended a helping hand. At that time, after the "July 7" incident, Zhang Yu was trapped in Beiping and the Japanese Kou, escaped from danger and went to Nanjing, where he was once subject to the responsibility of public opinion and stayed in Nanjing to be convicted. Finally, after Li Zongren learned the truth, he actively defended Chiang Kai-shek, helped Zhang Zizhong return to the army to participate in the war, and transferred Zhang's 59th Army to the 5th Theater.
Take in the equipment Sichuan Army
The 22nd Group Army of Deng Xihou of the Sichuan Army initially went out of Sichuan to Shanxi to resist the war, and coupled with backward equipment and poor military discipline, Yan Xishan and Cheng Qian, commander of the First Theater, refused to accept it. However, Li Zongren not only warmly welcomed the Sichuan army to participate in the war, but also immediately replenished a large number of guns and ammunition. The athletes of the Sichuan Army were greatly moved, and performed well in the subsequent battle of the Defense of Tengxian County, which was a model for the whole army.
Resolutely execute the fugitives
Of course, Li Zongren did not only talk about personal friendship for these troops, in addition to taking care of and being tolerant, he also emphasized the importance of military discipline and military orders when necessary. His deputy commander, Chairman of Shandong Province, and Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Army, Han Fuyu, in spite of many persuasions and orders, abandoned the Yellow River defense line and positions along the Jinpu Road without authorization, and led his troops to flee to the Luyu junction area.
Win the final victory
It was precisely because of the precedent of Han Fuyu that the tens of thousands of troops under his command who had almost fled into Henan turned around and went north to fight against the Japanese Kou, and no one dared to retreat anymore; Pang Bingxun stubbornly defended Linyi, and the cooking class went to the front; Sun Lianzhong's troops insisted on defending Taierzhuang with seven-tenths of the casualties and still did not dare to withdraw across the canal; although Tang Enbo was always arrogant and preserved his strength, he had to command the whole army into the battlefield after Li Zongren moved the real fire, and finally won the victory at the Battle of Taierzhuang.