Some time ago, an anti-Japanese drama swept the country, and fans from all over the world bought tickets to watch, and many people walked out of the theater and sighed: the real value of this ticket.
This film is the masterpiece "Eight Hundred" by ghost director Guan Hu, based on the real events of the War of Resistance Against Japan. At the end of the Battle of Songhu in 1937, the Chinese army resisted the Japanese invading army for three months, reaching the point where it ran out of ammunition and food, and Shanghai could fall at any time. Therefore, Xie Jinyuan, deputy of the 542nd Regiment of the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division, took the initiative to ask for help, led the remaining 420 people to garrison the Sihang Warehouse in Shanghai, and declared that he had 800 troops for the sake of momentum.
The battle was fierce, with a lone force of only a few hundred men against tens of thousands of Japanese troops, and the results could be imagined. Do you know where their commander, Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 88th Division, was when the brave soldiers sacrificed their lives and forgot their lives and bravely killed the enemy on the front line?
On November 5, 1937, Japan sent the newly formed 10th Army to land near Jinshanwei in Hangzhou, which undoubtedly caught the Nationalist troops by surprise. From beginning to end, Chiang Kai-shek believed that Japan would only attack Shanghai head-on, not behind. This time he was mistaken, and the strength of a Japanese army suddenly appeared in the rear of the Nationalist army, and before it could react, the 62nd Division in Hangzhou Bay was defeated and scattered.
The city of Shanghai was too important, and Chiang Kai-shek always firmly believed that it could not be lost, so he personally ordered Gu Zhutong, deputy commander of the Third Theater, to make plans to stick to it. After receiving the order, Gu Zhutong summoned Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 88th Division, who first analyzed the situation at the Battle of Songhu and then conveyed Chiang Kai-shek's orders.
Sun Yuanliang realized that Shanghai is now a big furnace, and whoever goes in will not be able to escape the result of burning himself, and it is too reluctant to rely only on the strength of the 88th Division to resist the Strength of one army of the Japanese Army. After thinking about it for a long time, Sun Yuanliang said that it was not impossible for the 88th Division to hold shanghai, but that would only add to the senseless sacrifice, and the best way was to send a team to cover and withdraw the main force from Shanghai.
After some debate, Sun Yuanliang's suggestion was approved, so he entrusted the task of holding out Zhabei to the 1st Battalion of the 542nd Regiment. After receiving the order, Xie Jinyuan, deputy of the regiment, took the initiative to ask to lead the team.
With these hundreds of soldiers blocking the enemy at the front line, the 88th Division retreated relatively smoothly, and when they arrived in Xinjing, Huxi, they found that a spinning mill here was empty, leaving only a few thousand large bags of cotton yarn in the warehouse. After many inquiries, it was learned that the spinning mill was originally garrisoned by British troops, and then the Songhu War began, and the British troops withdrew, because the preparation was hasty, and the cotton yarn was forgotten.
This was a huge fortune, and just when the soldiers of the 88th Division did not care, Sun Yuanliang had already made up his mind. These cotton yarns became his booty, and dozens of military trucks continued to run between the spinning mills and Wuxi and Changzhou, selling thousands of large bags of cotton yarn on the market and making a fortune.
At the end of November 1937, the Battle of Songhu ended, and although Japan won the victory, his plan to "destroy China in three months" was shattered.
Although Sun Yuanliang sought private interests during the war, he was promoted to lieutenant general of the 72nd Army and concurrently served as the commander of the 88th Division because of his meritorious advice and guaranteeing the withdrawal of the main forces.
In this battle, Sun Yuanliang not only did not have much to lose, but instead made a windfall and became a knight, and the glory of a time washed over his mind, and he only knew how to go around looking for fun and became a regular visitor to Yanliu Alley. Soon after, in the defense of Nanjing, the 88th Division was not prepared, coupled with the disadvantages in terms of strength and logistics, and its position quickly fell. Sun Yuanliang not only did not want to retake the position, but also retreated to the rear with his troops without authorization, hoping to cross the Yangtze River to escape.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, many of Sun Yuanliang's old subordinates recalled the defense of Nanjing, and they were heartbroken by the chief's behavior of abandoning the city and fleeing; as the leader of the First Army, he was so spineless that he was leaderless, and how many of his soldiers died tragically under the butcher's knife of the Japanese army?
The origin of Sun Yuanliang's title of "Flying General" is not only due to his escape from the Battle of Songhu and the defense of Nanjing. During the Battle of Huaihai, Sun Yuanliang was crippled, and in order to survive, he disguised himself and fled for his life in the uniform of a lieutenant and adjutant, and finally disguised as a peasant and hid in the railway station.