Song Zheyuan was a backbone general in Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army, known as "one of the Five Tigers of the Northwest Army", and Feng Yuxiang was very appreciative of him and often praised him for his loyalty and bravery. Song Zheyuan has participated in countless battles of all sizes in his lifetime, but in the "Lugou Bridge Incident" in 1937, Song Zheyuan had 80,000 troops in his hands, and only 6,000 regular troops of the Japanese army in the Pingjin area.
A young man joined the army, spent his whole life fighting horses and horses, and did not give in to the Japanese army invading China
Song Zheyuan was born in a broken reading family, and had already fallen in the middle of the family road when he was a child, but Song Zheyuan inherited his father's genes of reading well, and his learning has always been very good, before joining the army, he taught children to read in his hometown, and did not charge tuition, so he was praised by the townspeople.
Compared with reading, Song Zheyuan prefers to learn martial arts, he likes to dance guns and sticks since he was a child, and he has also practiced a good kung fu for a long time. At that time, China was devastated, and everyone generally believed that only when the army was strong could China be strong, so many people chose to join the army to save the country. In 1907, Song Zheyuan was admitted to the Beiyang Army Camp Academy, and when the Xinhai Revolution broke out in 1911, Song Zheyuan became acquainted with Feng Yuxiang, a general of the Northwest Army, and began her vigorous military career.
Song Zheyuan participated in the Northern Expedition War and also participated in the Jiang Feng War, but no matter how internally you fight for it, Song Zheyuan has a resolute attitude on the matter of resisting Japan. After the "918 Incident", Song Zheyuan ordered a telegram to the whole country: "Fight with the Japanese Kou to the death, and vow to die not to be a slave to the country." ”
In 1933, when the Great Wall War of Resistance broke out, Song Zheyuan personally led the Twenty-ninth Army to fight at Xifengkou, and the "big knife team" formed by his brigade commander Zhao Dengyu cut off the Japanese army and had to withdraw from Xifengkou, and Song Zheyuan's troops won the "Xifengkou Victory". After the Japanese army made a comeback, the Twenty-ninth Army fought in a bloody battle in isolation and helplessness, and defended the Xifeng Pass at the cost of countless blood, so that the "big knife team" became famous all over the world.
He was determined to resist the Japanese, but also fantasized about compromising with the Japanese army, and finally let the Japanese army drive straight in
Song Zheyuan had a complicated personality, and he led the Twenty-ninth Army to kill the enemy in a bloody way at Xifengkou, but when the Japanese army was preparing to invade China in an all-round way, he fantasized that the Japanese army could sign an agreement with him to avoid the full outbreak of war.
Facts have proved that no matter what the starting point of Song Zheyuan's consideration is, this fantasy is unrealistic, and it is precisely because of Song Zheyuan's compromise with the Japanese army that they easily occupied the Pingjin area with a mere 6,000 troops.
Before the "Lugou Bridge Incident", Song Zheyuan's Twenty-ninth Army was responsible for defending the Pingjin area, and the Japanese army had already occupied the three eastern provinces in 1931, and now its ambitions were inflated, and it was even more eyeing the Pingjin area. The Japanese army believed that the relationship between Song Zheyuan and Chiang Kai-shek was not good, so they wanted to win him over as a traitor, and many times they "visited the door", and Song Zheyuan could not be a traitor, but he always refused to express his position, and finally hid.
On July 7, 1937, the "Lugou Bridge Incident" broke out, and the 29th Army and the Japanese army exchanged fierce fire at the Lugou Bridge, and it was difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat for a while. At that time, the Twenty-ninth Army stationed in Pingjin had 80,000 people, while the Japanese army had only 6,000 people, and if there was no accident, the Japanese army had no chance of victory. However, the cunning Japanese army did not choose to blindly attack, on the one hand, they asked for more troops at home, on the other hand, they pretended to buy time for peace talks, but Song Zheyuan really believed that the Japanese army had the sincerity of peace talks, and at his behest, the two sides have been engaged in so-called "peace talks".
Compared with Song Zheyuan's fantasies, Chiang Kai-shek was already anxious like an ant on a hot pot, and he called Song Zheyuan many times: "The peace talks are just a conspiracy of the Japanese army, and I hope that you will put aside your past personal grievances and unite with the central government to resist Japan." However, Song Zheyuan did not listen to Chiang Kai-shek at all, and he was bent on peace talks with the Japanese despite anyone's persuasion, at the same time, the Japanese army had secretly increased its troops on the front line, and the false mask of peace talks would soon be torn.
Song Zheyuan's men were aware of the Japanese conspiracy, and they suggested that Song Zheyuan attack the Japanese embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane, which could both threaten the Japanese army and distract their attention, but Song Zheyuan thought that this would affect the peace talks and remained silent. Under the influence of Song Zheyuan, the entire Twenty-ninth Army was afraid to fight the enemy.
Finally, the japanese army's reinforcements arrived, formed a siege of Pingjin, and announced the cessation of peace talks, and Song Zheyuan woke up like a dream, but it was too late. The Japanese army gathered heavy troops to attack the Twenty-ninth Army, the commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, Tong Linge, and the division commander Zhao Dengyu were martyred, and Zhao Dengyu desperately resisted, and finally was beaten into a sieve by the Japanese army, and everyone who saw it was in tears.
After the fall of Pingjin, Song Zheyuan retreated to Baoding, but although he survived, he was responsible for the fiasco of the Battle of Pingjin, if it were not for his fantasy, how could the Twenty-ninth Army dare not fight, and how could the Japanese army request reinforcements from home and turn defeat into victory? Extreme self-blame caused Song Zheyuan to have an attack of liver disease, and later suffered from cerebral thrombosis and general paralysis, and then suffered a stroke, and his condition continued to deteriorate, and he died in Mianyang, Sichuan in 1940.
Song Zheyuan's life ended in this way, and it has to be said that he was a contradictory person, who faced the invaders with both no concessions and illusions, and this contradictory attitude eventually buried the Twenty-ninth Army, lost the Pingjin area, and made him pay the price of his own life.