Wu Xuehua's original works, refused to reprint
In the early morning of February 27, 1938, Li Zongren led other senior officers to Xuzhou Airport early and waited for Chairman Jiang to arrive. As soon as the sun showed its face, a small American plane slowly set from the canopy, the hatch opened, and the chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government appeared at the door. After a few words of greeting between Chairman Jiang and the generals, he shot straight in: "Brother De Lin, do you see, can Xuzhou hold on?" ”
Li Zongren said without hesitation: "Please rest assured that in a short period of time, Xuzhou will not have a problem." ”
Chiang Kai-shek stopped, and a pair of elusive eyes covered Li Zongren. Li Zongren hurriedly turned his head, coughed dryly, and said, "If the supplies are sufficient, we can at least fight a few decent and influential victories!" Chiang Kai-shek nodded thoughtfully, and suddenly his words turned sharply: "Which unit is guarding Linyi?" ”
"Pang Bingxun's 40th Army."
"One is Linyi and the other is Fujian County, and these two places are very important." When Chiang Kai-shek said this, his facial expression was very resolute. This expression showed Li Zongren that there were no words spoken after these words. Of course, Li Zongren understood in his heart. Chiang Kai-shek came here for a walk and then left, and when he left, he dropped a sentence: Brother De Lin, this time it will be up to you.
Li Zongren could not have let Chiang Kai-shek look down on him, so he made a cruel effort this time, and he must play Chinese prestige, and he must not let the Japanese be too rampant.
However, at the beginning of the war, it was not as he expected, and only then did he realize that the military strength of the Japanese Kou was really not to be underestimated, and according to the inferior equipment of the Nationalist Army, there was no way to compete with the Japanese Kou at all. But Chinese some are bloody and arrogant.
On March 9, 1938, inside the headquarters of the Seventh Theater of Operations, the atmosphere was a little tense. The tense atmosphere drove away the cold and made people forget the seasons.
Commander Li Zongren stood in front of the map like a hard brown stake, and his two bloodshot eyes stared at the marked point on the map: Linyi!
Half an hour ago, Pang Bingxun, commander of the Third Army and commander of the 40th Army, who insisted on Linyi, called, and the content of the telegram was very simple, so simple that it could be summarized in two words: Help! But just such a simple telegram, like a mountain pressing down on him, pressed him breathlessly. Those two southern expeditions to the north, I don't know how many mountains have been turned over, how many rivers have crossed the legs, and I can't help but tremble a little. Linyi, but it is an important military town on the outskirts of Xuzhou! Whether Linyi can be defended or not has a bearing on the overall situation of the Fifth Theater. This point was not overlooked even by Chairman Jiang, who was in the national anti-Japanese battlefield and was full of opportunities. As for the question of who was guarding Linyi, the old man had asked him personally. He personally assured the Chairman of the Committee.
But...... Seeing that Linyi was about to be unable to hold on, as the commander-in-chief, why wasn't he in a hurry? Reinforcements, reinforcements must be!
The cry of Xu Zuyi, Li Zongren's chief of staff, finally made Li Zongren come back to his senses: "Commander, Zhang Zizhong is here!" No, Zhang Zizhong, who was handsome, mighty, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, stood behind Zu Yi.
"Xing Chen, you have finally arrived, and you are about to kill me." Quick, sit here! Come on, pour a glass of water for General Zhang. Li Zongren personally pulled Zhang Zizhong to sit down, and his eyes habitually swept over Zhang Zizhong's pair of big ears. Zhang Zizhong's ears are really eye-catching, even if it is a person who meets for the first time, he can't help but pay attention to these ears.
Zhang Zizhong, born in 1891 in Linqing, Shandong, entered linqing middle school in 1908. In 1911, he studied at Tianjin Fazheng School, and the next year he transferred to Jinan Fazheng College. Witnessing the bullying of China by the great powers, the warlords fighting each other, feeling the misfortune of the country and the difficulties of the nation, and determined to serve the country, he abandoned his studies and followed the military. In the autumn of 1914, he served as a soldier under che zhen of the 87th Regiment of the 39th Brigade of the 20th Division of the Xinmintun Army in Fengtian (present-day Shenyang). Soon after, he was promoted to director of the department. In 1917, feng Yuxiang was in the mixed brigade of the 16th Army. He was initially sent as a dispatcher and was soon promoted to platoon leader. In 1919, he was selected to study in the Officers' Training Corps. After graduating, he was promoted to the rank of commander of the model second company. He was later succeeded as the battalion commander of the Cadet Corps. In 1924, he was promoted to regimental commander. In 1925, he was promoted to brigadier general of the 15th Brigade. In April 1927, he was appointed commander of the 28th Division and commander of the Tongguan Garrison. In 1928, he was also the principal of the Officer School of the Second Army and the commander of martial law in Kaifeng.
In 1929, he was transferred to the 22nd Division of the 11th Army. In the winter of the same year, the original 25th Division was reorganized into the 6th Division, serving as the commander of the division and later participating in the Central Plains War. After the "918" incident, the remnants of the Northwest Army were reorganized into the 29th Army of the Nationalist Army, and he served as the commander of the 38th Division of the Army and the commander of the Zhangjiakou Garrison. At the beginning of 1933, the 29th Army was ordered to participate in the Great Wall War of Resistance, and led its unit and the 37th Division to fight the Japanese army at Xifeng pass, and its reputation was greatly shocked. In the summer of the same year, he participated in the War of Resistance against Northern China. In 1935, he became Chairman of the Chahar Provincial Government. At the time of the July 7 Incident in 1937, he was a member of the Jicha Political Affairs Committee and the mayor of Tianjin, and in addition to being in charge of military affairs, he was also responsible for negotiations with Japan. When the 29th Army withdrew from Pingjin, he was appointed acting chairman of the Jicha Administrative Affairs Committee and mayor of Beiping. The Japanese army fled after occupying Peiping. In December, he was appointed commander of the 59th Army (expanded from the former 38th Division) in Henan. Later, the army was transferred to Xuzhou and incorporated into the Fifth Theater sequence. In February 1938, he was ordered to support The Xuezhongbu department in Huaibei. At Guzhen, he commanded the 59th Army to fight with the Japanese army for seven days, recaptured Cao Laoji and Xiao Bengbu, and stabilized the Huai River defense line.
"The commander is so anxious to find Xingchen, I don't know what kind of dispatch?" Zhang Zizhong sat down and asked impatiently. He knew that now was not the time to talk about the world, there was no urgent matter, and the leader of the Gui clan who had experienced hundreds of battles in front of him would not come to him for an interview.
Li Zongren sighed and cut to the point: "There are indeed urgent things, but ..." Li Zongren's eyes shot out a sharp light, not staring at Zhang Zizhong's beckoning ears, but his eyes.
Zhang Zizhong realized the seriousness of the problem with the unique sensitivity of a soldier, stood up and said in a loud voice: "If there is anything that the commander only has to give orders, even if it is a sword mountain and a sea of fire, his subordinates will not resign!" Don't say that the country is in trouble, the great enemy is coming, just by virtue of Chief Li's kindness to Xingchen, Xingchen has no reason to shirk it. ”
Zhang Zizhong's reference to Li Zongren was kind to him, referring to the events after the "Seven Seven" Lugou Bridge Incident. At that time, Zhang Zizhong, under the secret order of Song Zheyuan, negotiated with the Japanese army as the mayor of Beiping and visited Japan in an attempt to stabilize Japan. The people of the country did not know it, thinking that Zhang Zizhong was a slave who betrayed the country and sought glory, and for a time there was noise. Even Chiang Kai-shek was kept in the dark by saying that he was a contemporary "Zhang Bangchang.". Only he, Li Zongren, understood Zhang Zizhong's personality and knew that his dealings with the Japanese and the hypocrites were really humiliating and burdensome, so he interceded everywhere, clarified misunderstandings, and found Chiang Kai-shek, introduced Zhang Zizhong's personality in quite detail, praised Zhang Zizhong's strict rule of the army, bravery in battle, and many other advantages, and at the same time explained the origin of the Beiping incident, and finally, asked Chiang Kai-shek to say a word, or approve a few words, so that Zhang Zizhong could return to the army, plus Cheng Qian also spoke zhang Zizhong.
Chiang Kai-shek agreed with Degong's words and personally wrote a note to the Ministry of Military Affairs. As a result, Zhang Zizhong returned to his original unit, the 59th Army, and still served as a commander. As a soldier, as a general, what is more important than honor and integrity! Zhang Zizhong thanked Li Zongren for his resignation, and before taking office, he specially went to Li Zongren to resign, repeatedly thanking Li Zongren for his kindness of regeneration. He also swore that in the future, if Chief Li had any use for him, he would not resign.
When Li Zongren saw Zhang Zizhong recalling the old matter, the corners of his mouth slid over a faint smile and said: "Don't mention the past again, we should put the interests of the party and the state first, and the interests of the forty million Chinese compatriots as the most important." Xing Chen, I want you to bring troops to support Linyi. ”
Zhang Zizhong was stunned for a moment, but immediately replied: "Commander just rest assured, Xingchen will definitely do his best to fight, and will never be as greedy and afraid of death as Han Fuyu, deliberately preserving his strength, and opening the door to let the devils in." ”
"Alas, how do you compare yourself to that damn Han Fuyu?" Do I still know how humble you are? However, Xing Chen, do you know who is guarding Linyi now? Li Zongren raised his hand and nodded with his index finger at the location of Linyi on the map.
"Pang Bingxun." Zhang Zizhong blurted out.
"Well—" Li Zongren muttered meaningfully, then paced in front of the map. "I know that you have a feud with Pang Bingxun, but this time..."
Zhang Zizhong hesitated for a moment, but still said: "There is nothing to say here about Xing Chen, he should put the party-state first, but he Is General Pang..."
Li Zongren: "You can rest assured that Pang Bingxun is no longer the pang Bingxun he used to be." In the past, he was indeed always passive to avoid battle, deliberately to preserve strength, and his colleagues in the military circles all laughed at him as an 'old loach', but this meeting was still played like a case, last month, his 115th Brigade fought a battle with the Japanese army in Juxian County, killing more than 200 Japanese devils; his 116th Brigade blocked the Southward Advance of the Japanese Army at Duozhuang and Tangtou, killing dozens of enemy people, destroying 3 cars, and capturing one. Since the 3rd of this month, he has fought fiercely with the Japanese army for 4 days, and although Tangtou lost his hand, General Pang and his generals still fought very tenaciously. On the 8th, General Pang ordered the 231st Regiment to attack Tangtou head-on, and the 229th Regiment and the Supplementary Regiment copied the Japanese from both sides, and the three sides attacked, and General Pang recaptured Tangtou from the Japanese army. Alas, on the 10th and 11th, the Japanese field brigade came over, and the 40th Army suffered heavy losses! Casualties were one thing, but the key was that the fortifications on the periphery were all captured by the Japanese. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in such a hurry to send troops. ”
Indeed, Pang Bingxun, commander of the Third Army and commander of the 40th Army, and Zhang Zizhong were Feng Yuxiang's subordinates, and the words had to start from the beginning. In the past, Pang Bingxun and Zhang Zizhong were both Feng Yuxiang's subordinates, and the two cooperated with tacit understanding together, fought a lot of bitter battles, whether they won or lost, and the two never turned their faces. In terms of age, Pang Bingxun's chief Zhang Zizhong is nearly 20 years old, but the two are together and always call each other brothers. However, everyone had their own ambitions, and when the great war between Chiang, Feng and Yan broke out in 1930, Pang Bingxun turned against Feng Yuxiang and defected to Chiang Kai-shek. As a brother, before Pang rebelled, Zhang Zizhong persuaded Pang to speak with a lotus flower, and did not change Pang's mind, so each of them became his master, and the brother became an enemy. Once Pang Bingxun led people to attack Zhang Zizhong's division headquarters, and the two sides fought a fierce battle. The battle was mixed, the bullets did not have long eyes, Zhang Zizhong's chest was seriously injured, if it were not for his guard battalion commander desperately trying to save him, he would have died a long time ago. In this way, can Zhang Zizhong not hate Pang Bingxun? Now, Pang Bingxun was bitten by the Japanese army, and if he had changed someone else, he would have been happy.
After Listening to Li Zongren's words, Zhang Zizhong said lightly: "I hate him, but I am Chinese." ”
In the early morning of March 12, 1938, Zhang Zizhong, who had abandoned his previous suspicions, led 25,000 officers and men of his 59th Army to reach the front line of Linbo at a speed of 180 miles a day, and merged with Pang Bingxun's 40th Army into a tough iron fist and smashed into Banyuan.
Zhang Zizhong's deployment was as follows: The 38th Division led by Huang Weigang advanced in the direction of Jiaoyizhuang, Qufang, Baihebu, Zhupan, Wuqudian, and Xiao'anzi, and the division headquarters set up Xiao'anzi to attack with two brigades as divisional attack troops, one brigade hidden near Liujiahu as the division reserve, and the target of the attack was Fofangtou, Tangfangya, Baita, and Heling, and at 4 a.m. on the 13th, it forcibly crossed the Yi River and launched an attack on the enemy Kou. Under the leadership of the division commander, General Liu Liusan, the 180th Division, along the areas of Wangzhuang, Shilibao, Xiejiatun, Taijiahu, and Shuanghu, the division's front-line headquarters was located in Shuanghu, Taijiahu. The targets of the attack were Tingzitou and Guo Xu Taiping Village. With a brigade as the attack team, it also forcibly crossed the Yi River at 4 a.m. on the 13th and launched an attack on the enemy. The mountain artillery battalion where the army headquarters is located, allocate one to be used together with the 180th Division, and the rest is used in conjunction with the 38th Division.
After two days and 48 hours of fierce fighting, the 180th Division crossed the Yi River at the cost of nearly a thousand officers and men, occupied the village of Tingzitou, and forced the Japanese to retreat. The 38th Division also crossed the Yi River at a heavy cost and seized the enemy position. However, the fierce Banyuan Division immediately organized a counterattack and drove the Chinese army across the Yi River. In this way, you fought, I pounced, and fought a bloody battle in a tug-of-war for seven days and nights, Zhang Zizhong and the officers and men of his 59th Army, with their firm convictions, the spirit of unity and unity with the enemy, the heroic spirit of seeing death as a homecoming, at the cost of heavy casualties, directly killed the enemy's corpses all over the field, and the blood flowed like a river. Itagaki could not lament that he had encountered a fierce enemy on the battlefield of China and a Chinese who was not afraid of death. Looking at Linyi, this piece of fat meat that was about to reach the mouth slipped away. He had to leave behind more than 2,000 corpses, and a little frustrated, he issued retreat and orders. Zhang Zizhong relieved the siege of Linyi and rescued his "enemy"
"Big brother...
"Brother Zhang Xian..."
Two pairs of large hands, tightly intertwined, two pairs of eyes, looking at each other for a long time. How many words, how many to rush out of the heart, but at this time no one said, there is no need to say it again. An understanding, a point of trust, a support, a word of "love", encompasses everything, dissolves everything, solidifies everything. Frozen in these two pairs of tearful eyes, how many years! How many years are evocative, unforgettable, white day, black night, joy after victory, regret when defeated, at this moment all condensed, condensed in front of the eyes, condensed in front of the eyes of these two hands intertwined in the hands of the giant hand, gradually shrunk into two warm currents, through these two pairs of big hands, into each other's heart, the accumulation of dirt and cleansing.
Pang Bingxun was wounded in his right leg during the Northern Expedition, left disabled, and walked with some lameness. This time Linyi was besieged, and he thought he was dead. When he received a telegram from Li Zongren and learned that Zhang Zizhong's troops had come to the rescue, his heart could not help but clatter, and then a trace of coolness permeated his whole body. If he Zhang Zizhong kills a "helper" instead of "saves", or slowly advances into the army, or tickles his boots, or sings real red and false songs, he and his 40 army are doomed. After these several engagements with the Japanese army, he knew the strength of Itagaki. If it weren't for the slaughter of a Han Fuyu in front of him, his "old loach" would not have dumped the old book like this. To his surprise, Zhang Zizhong asked his troops to throw away all their weight, carry only a small amount of guns, ammunition and rations, and rush to Linyi at a speed of 180 miles a day. I heard that many weak soldiers died of exhaustion along the way! After arriving in Linyi, Zhang Zizhong immediately deployed his troops to attack the Japanese troops besieging him.
Hero, what is a hero? Can put the interests of the nation first, can bravely go to difficulties, regard death as a homecoming, can not count the previous suspicions, save people in the water and fire is a hero! Zhang Zizhong is a hero. He is a hero who stands tall in the sky. Pang Bingxun compared himself to Zhang Zizhong, feeling that he was too ashamed, too small, too dirty. What is the use of being old and senior? When has it been as vigorous as Zhang Zizhong? He was glad that he had fought hard in Linyi for a few battles, and although he had lost his old roots, his reputation had been refreshed, and he had a shining point on the road of his life. (Later, when Recalling this past, Li Zongren sighed: "If it were not for the awe-inspiring righteousness of the Zhang clan, abandoning the previous suspicions, and rushing to it in time, then Pang's troops would have become turtles in an urn and would have been destroyed by the entire army.") “
In the Battle of Linyi, more than 3,000 Japanese troops were annihilated, including the commander of the 11th Japanese Wing, Noyo Yuichiro Daisa, Nian Tanaka, and a brigade leader. Blowing one of the two crab claws that the Japanese army tried to extend to the confluence of Taierzhuang greatly boosted the morale of the officers and men of our army, affirmed national justice, broke the invincibility of the Japanese Imperial Army, and strengthened the confidence of the military and the people of the whole country in the victory of the War of Resistance. Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren issued separate orders to commend the officers and men of Pang Bingxun and Zhang Zizhong. The National Government also specially sent Chen Yuan, president of the Military Senate, to inspect and offer condolences.
Subsequently, Zhang Zizhong led his troops to participate in the Battle of Wuhan, kept faith in Yang, aided Gu Shi, defended Huangchuan, and completed the task of defending Dabie Mountain. During this period, that is, after the success of the Huayuankou embankment, more than 4,000 people from the 14th and 16th divisions of the Japanese army were besieged by the roaring waters of the Yellow River in the Areas of Zhongmu, Zhuxian, and Weishi. Zhang Zizhong led his 59th Army and Liu Heding's 39th Army to attack decisively, fighting fiercely for two days and two nights, and fishing 4,000 Japanese troops like dumplings. For this reason, Zhang Zizhong was again commended, and in October, he was promoted to commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army. In mid-November, he was ordered to take over as commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Corps of the Fifth Theater and to control the three armies.