On May 16, 1940, on the ten-mile long mountain of Pumpkin Shop in Hebei Province, a battle that lasted for three full days and nights was still continuing, and the artillery fire tilted like rain on the mountain, almost flattening the slope of the soil, and the bullets flew in the net, and every second someone fell down, and life was as cheap as weeds.
By 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the Nationalist army, which was absolutely inferior in armament and numbers, was completely unable to support it, and no matter how desperately they tried, they still could not defeat the Japanese army, and the casualties were constantly increasing.
In the trenches of the headquarters, the commander who had already transferred his guards out to support the front line was silent, surrounded by the remnants of a hundred or so people, and the chief of staff and adjutants stared at him with wide eyes, and their mouths were exhortations that did not stop for a moment: "You go, this battle cannot be won, it is too late to go, first retreat, we still have a chance to defeat the devils." ”
The commander is usually a person with a personality like a fierce fire, but at this moment he did not make a sound, quietly listening to the quarrels and exhortations of his subordinates, and after a while, he slowly spoke: "Tianjin did not hold, I left, North China did not hold, I left, Beiping did not hold, I still left, this time, I do not want to leave." ”
After saying those words, the people around him also fell silent, and the only hundred or so soldiers who remained looked at their generals and resolutely raised the guns in their hands, they completed their tasks, and when the Japanese army rushed over the mountains, they fought to the last moment, none of them survived, and all of them died heroically.
The commander's face was very handsome and tough, even if he was already covered with sand and blood at this time, he had a very good origin, a high culture and knowledge, an incomparably bright future in his career, he was one of the most famous national heroes in the War of Resistance Against Japan, he was the highest general who died in the Allied forces in World War II, and there were only three roads in Beijing named after individuals, and his name was one of them.
Now, eighty-one years have passed since his heroic martyrdom, and the man who chose to sacrifice his life for the country is called Zhang Zizhong.
On August 11, 1891, Zhang Zizhong was born in a village in Linqing, Shandong, his family is not very rich and noble, but he is also a generation of officials and eunuchs, so his father gave him the original name of Zhang Xingchen, which is a rather feudal name, but his father naturally could not expect that the Qing Dynasty would cease to exist after more than ten years, but although his son could not be loyal to the emperor, he dedicated all his loyalty to the family country.
Zhang Zizhong was sent to a private school from the age of 6 to study traditional education such as the Four Books and Five Classics, but in the late Qing Dynasty at that time, a wave of various new cultures emerged in an endless stream.
After experiencing the death of his father and relocating at home, Zhang Zizhong was quickly admitted to the Linqing Higher Primary School, and three years later, he was admitted to the famous Tianjin Beiyang Law and Politics School.
In Tianjin, where he was studying at that time, foreigners from all over the world opened concessions everywhere due to the corruption of the late Qing government, and bullied and humiliated Chinese without scruples, while at the same time, various advanced theories were also popular among the patriotic youth in Tianjin.
Zhang Zizhong was in such an environment, watching his compatriots being oppressed, while being exposed to various ideological collisions of the new culture, such as Mr. Zhongshan's Three People's Principles and other theories and the way of Confucius and Mencius in his mind.
With the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising soon, the young Zhang Zizhong did not hesitate to join the ranks of the revolution, but the uprising succeeded, but the Alliance association had a huge contradiction because of a series of problems such as the distribution of benefits, and it was divided.
Later, the fruits of the revolution were stolen by Yuan Shikai, who even tried to restore the imperial system and sit on the dragon chair, and immediately after he was sworn in as president, he ordered the Kuomintang to be dissolved.
At this time, Zhang Zizhong, who still had the great ideal of Mr. Sun, was extremely angry, but he also realized that he must have enough strength to save the survival of the people, so in 1914, Zhang Zizhong, a high-achieving student at Beiyang University, decisively threw himself into the pen and went to join the Northeast Army.
At that time, Che Zhen, the commander of the Thirty-ninth Brigade, was his compatriot, and he originally thought that a well-off cultural youth like Zhang Zizhong wanted to join the army, but he was just a hot-blooded impulse, and when he really went to the battlefield, he would only hold his head and run away.
But Zhang Zizhong, a man who had never engaged in hard physical labor, actually stubbornly carried the most difficult environment in the army, whether it was digging trenches, building roads, carrying rice and a series of other painful tasks, he gritted his teeth and persevered.
Che Zhen regimental commander was impressed by this knowledgeable but down-to-earth and brave young man, he quickly introduced Zhang Zizhong to his friend Feng Yuxiang, Feng Yuxiang saw that he was tall and heroic, and his military quality was very high, and he was very appreciative, and soon awarded him the rank of second lieutenant.
Zhang Zizhong's personality has always been calm and resolute, he was in the Northwest Army also diligently learned various tactics, terrain, weapons knowledge, and At that time China was in the warlord melee period, Zhang Zizhong led the troops well, fought bravely, helped Feng Yuxiang fight a lot of victories, and his position naturally rose with it.
After the end of the Second Zhifeng War, Zhang Zizhong, who was only 39 years old, had become the commander of the 60th Division in Xi'an, and he governed the army very harshly, and punished all the acts of corruption and bribery among his subordinates, and as a former high-caliber student, he also attached great importance to the issue of the cultural literacy of the soldiers, and even specially opened a literacy class in the army to cultivate everyone's literacy and govern the army, so that the combat strength and quality of the troops he led were second to none in the Northwest Army.
However, in 1930, the largest warlord battle in modern Chinese history, the Battle of Jiang Fengyan Zhongyuan, began, and a decisive battle was fought between the three most powerful and equipped forces at that time, and the winner could basically gain the right to rule most of the country.
At the beginning of the war, Zhang Zizhong, with his military ability, defeated Chiang Kai-shek's Xu Yuanquan and Zhang Zhi's central region successively, but in other aspects of the battlefield, Feng Yan's army was at a great disadvantage in front of Chiang Kai-shek's troops.
When Zhang Xueliang, commander of the Northeast Army, who was watching from the other side, finally announced that the whole country would support Chiang Kai-shek, he quickly led his army into Guanzhong and occupied northern China, and the situation completely fell to Chiang Kai-shek's side.
In the end, the Northwest Army was defeated, and Zhang Zizhong's troops were reorganized, and he was transferred to the Third Army of the Northeast Border Defense Army and became the commander of the Thirty-eighth Division under Song Zheyuan.
At this time, Zhang Zizhong could only watch the domestic power holders fight back and forth for their own interests, and his heart to serve the country and save the people had nowhere to tell.
But his opportunity also came quickly, in 1931, the "918 Incident" that shocked China and foreign countries broke out, the Japanese army shelled the North Camp of the Northeast Army, and then occupied Shenyang, and soon continued to occupy the entire northeast.
In the face of national difficulties, Song Zheyuan's troops, which had been renamed the Twenty-ninth Army, quickly completed their assembly in the Tianjin area and then marched to the front line of the battle.
Zhang Zizhong led his Thirty-eighth Division to the front decisively, but although he was indeed a patriotic man, the current situation was very worrying, the Japanese army was prepared, and as the most elite Kwantung Army in the Japanese army, they were well armed and full of combat strength, which made people have to admit that they were very powerful opponents.
On the other hand, the Twenty-ninth Army, the former warlord's old department after the Central Plains War, which was reorganized by Chiang Kai-shek, although there was no problem in numbers, but the equipment was extremely backward and short,000, and the supplies in all aspects could not keep up at all.
In this situation, Zhang Zizhong, who was stationed in Zunhua City, actually led his troops to resist the Japanese attack for three months.
The overwhelming Japanese army suffered a loss under the city and turned to attack Luojiayu, but Zhang Zizhong did not do it, and he immediately dispatched a part of his troops to Luojiayu to meet the friendly troops of the Thirty-seventh Division, and repelled the Japanese army fiercely in the front, which was also one of the rare victories of the Chinese army in the early stage of the War of Resistance.
However, just when the officers and men on the front line were fighting bloodily, Chairman Chiang Kai-shek, who was deeply immersed in the vortex of power, was still thinking of "suppressing the Communists" internally, which led to the weakness of the Great Wall defense line, allowing the Japanese army to exploit the loophole, and they broke through the defense line of the Shang Earthquake Department and attacked into the Great Wall, which left the Twenty-ninth Army in a situation of being attacked by the enemy on its stomach and back and isolated and helpless.
Reinforcements could not come for a short time, ammunition and food were scarce, and in desperation, the Twenty-ninth Army was forced to abandon its desperately held position and retreat to the southwest.
Under these circumstances, the Nationalist government also blindly wanted to cease hostilities, and was finally forced to sign the extremely humiliating "Tanggu Agreement" with the Japanese army that acquiesced to the Japanese occupation of the northeast and Rehe.
Zhang Zizhong sighed helplessly for a long time, but in the end he could only withdraw his troops.
After the Nationalist government signed the agreement, it actually transferred the Twenty-ninth Army, which was originally on the front line to fight against the Communists, to the southwest to attack the Communists, and song Zheyuan and Zhang Zizhong both expressed strong opposition, and in order to refuse this appointment, they chose to take the initiative to take over the burden of the Tianjin area, which was extremely complicated at that time.
Later, the Japanese invited Song Zheyuan to visit Japan, Zhang Zizhong took the initiative to go to this very dangerous invitation on behalf of the governor, and inspected Japan for more than a month, and soon after, the Qiqi Lugou Bridge Incident broke out again, Zhang Zizhong took the initiative to come forward to negotiate with the Japanese in order to ensure the safety of Peiping, but he was slandered as a traitor because he had been to Japan and advocated peace talks.
But the Japanese did not come far away for the sake of a little benefit, they came to ruthlessly plunder and massacre.
After the failure of the negotiations, the Japanese army began to launch a fierce attack, and the Twenty-ninth Army also launched a stubborn resistance, but the gap in the strength of the army was there, and Tong Linge, deputy commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, and Zhao Dengyu, commander of the 132nd Division, died heroically in the battle.
The Nationalist government was bent on civil war, and regardless of the confrontation with Japan, the Twenty-ninth Army was not a subordinate unit of old Chiang Kai-shek, and it was short of guns and food, and at this time, it was impossible to stop the pace of the Kwantung Army's iron hooves just by their vain death.
But the people in Beiping City were still in the dark, and they didn't know much about what the continuous artillery fire outside the city was, but the great powers had not stepped into the capital once or twice, so they closed their doors and hid at home, storing grain for several months in advance, thinking that the disaster would soon pass.
The Japanese did not come to make small troubles, these people in their view, are undoubtedly the targets of knife training and gun training, the Twenty-ninth Army knows this very well, so even if they can't fight, the people don't leave, they can't go.
After many days of fighting, the Japanese side issued an ultimatum, saying that if the Chinese army made any more senseless resistance, it would bombard the entire city of Beiping with poison gas.
After receiving this news, the Nationalist government authorities realized that this battle could not be won, and Song Zheyuan, commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, retreated to Hebei one step ahead according to the instructions, and this huge mess in Beiping was left to Zhang Zizhong.
And Song Zheyuan also confessed to Zhang Zizhong before leaving, asking him to try to ensure the safety of the people of Peiping, and at this time all the troops had left, leaving only Zhang Zizhong and one of his divisions, Zhang Zizhong was not a god, he had been forced into a desperate situation by the invaders and his own people.
So he stayed, and in order to save the unarmed, he left all his fame and honor behind.
Because at this time, the people of the whole country were paying attention to the situation in the capital, but they did not know the announcement of the Japanese, nor did they know why the military commander Song Zheyuan was transferred, but what they could see was that Zhang Zizhong was still there, and there was a ceasefire between him and the Japanese.
In this way, the whole country scolded Zhang Zizhong as a traitor, and Zhang Zizhong now has no bargaining chips in his hands, but he does not want the national dignity to be trampled.
This was a task that was simply impossible to complete, so in the end he took the initiative to open the gates of Peiping City in order to save the ordinary people and to kill them in order not to provoke the Japanese army.
After that day, Peiping fell in an all-round way, and the insults of all the patriots drowned Out Zhang Zizhong like a tide, and he could only bear it silently, and then fled with the remnants of the defeated army.
Traitor, traitor, which is the greatest shame in life for a general who is full of heart to save the country and serve the country, and he can only swallow the bitter fruit alone, at this time Zhang Zizhong's heart is clear about the only way - all the grievances and smears he bears can only be washed away with his own blood.
By 1938, after the Lugou Bridge Incident, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had already begun nationwide, and Zhang Zizhong led his Fifty-ninth Division to fight the Japanese near the Jinpu Railway in Huaibei.
He silently fought the Japanese army with the fiercest offensive, and defeated the Japanese Fifth Army, one of the most elite units of the Japanese army, at Linyi, which was also an important part of the great victory of Taierzhuang.
Zhang Zizhong did not defend himself, did not make a name for himself, but only used the most lifeless attitude to fight with the Japanese, from Linyi to Xuzhou to Wuhan, the battlefield of the Nationalist army against Japan, Zhang Zizhong's troops will always fight on the most bitter and difficult front, three years have passed in a flash, his prestige has also spread throughout the north and south of the great river, and no one will call this pioneer of the anti-Japanese resistance as a traitor anymore.
By 1939, Zhang Zizhong, who was nearly fifty years old, was already the commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Army of the Fifth Theater and the Thirty-third Army, with the rank of lieutenant general, but he still did not want to sit in the rear command and insisted on staying in the battlefield.
In 1940, in order to compete for the transportation and transportation line of the Yangtze River, the Battle of Zaoyi broke out between China and Japan, Zhang Zizhong immediately led his troops to cross the Xiangjiang River to participate in the battle, the Japanese army invested a large number of troops, and there was an encounter between the two sides on the way.
This battle was extremely fierce, the officers and men on the front line were killed and wounded countless times, countless telegrams and telephones kept pouring into the headquarters, and when they learned that Commander Zhang, who was difficult to hold ahead, actually rushed to the battlefield with his guards, the soldiers were stunned, and immediately took out their lives to fight the Japanese Kou.
The battle lasted for many days, the Japanese army was far better equipped than the nationalist army, Zhang Zizhong's troops were forced to retreat many times, and the Japanese army launched nine charges in pursuit, forcing the nationalist army into the ten miles long mountain of pumpkin shops.
Zhang Zizhong personally supervised the battle from beginning to end, even though his left arm was shot, he still did not retreat, and the soldiers around him fell one by one, and finally only more than a thousand people were left, and they were heavily besieged by the Japanese army.
More than a hundred senior cadres and guards around him were anxious to pull the general to let him evacuate quickly, but Zhang Zizhong smiled, he had waited for this moment for too long, and I recommended Xuanyuan with my blood that xuanyuan was never an empty word, but his life creed.
At 4 p.m. on May 16, 1940, Zhang Zizhong's entire army was destroyed, and General Zhang Zizhong died for the country at the age of 49.
The Japanese soldier who stabbed Zhang Zizhong to death with a saber was named Fuji gang, and he pulled out a fountain pen in the man's pocket, recognized his identity, and was shocked beyond belief.
After he informed his superiors, the Japanese army immediately sent people to collect the general's body, and after a series of arrangements, it was buried with a very high standard, and all the Japanese soldiers took off their hats to pay tribute when they were buried, and at the same time, the Japanese Hankou Radio station released the news, calling it "a brave general who died calmly and bravely."
Then, when the Huang Wei legion, which rushed to the pumpkin shop, heard the news of the general's death, the whole army was furious, desperately attacked the Japanese Kou, recaptured Zhang Zizhong's remains, and escorted them all the way back to Chongqing.
When the team arrived in Yichang, Hubei Province, the general's hometown, it was when the Japanese aircraft bombed for a long time, and 100,000 people were not afraid of death, and spontaneously escorted the general's coffin to the riverside, during which the Japanese plane flew three times in the sky, but did not drop a bullet, the real righteousness, is to make everyone obey.
After learning of her husband's sacrifice, Zhang Zizhong's wife, Li Minhui, died of a hunger strike for seven days and went with him.
Full of loyal martyrs, mourning and pain.
But it is precisely because the Chinese nation has thousands of such heroes that we have finally expelled the invaders from our land, unified the mountains and rivers, and raised the rising sun in the east.