The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was an extremely arduous anti-aggression war in China's history, and in this unprecedented national catastrophe, countless Chinese servicemen stepped forward and sacrificed their lives for the country and the nation. Among these Chinese soldiers who died, the highest rank was General Zhang Zizhong, commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Group Army of the Fifth Theater and commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army.
Zhang Zizhong was born in Linqing, Shandong Province, to a family of eunuchs, and in 1911, when Zhang Zizhong was studying at the Beiyang Law and Politics School, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and Zhang Zizhong secretly joined the League. In 1916, under the introduction of friends, Zhang Zizhong entered Feng Yuxiang's troops. Feng Yuxiang saw that he was tall and heroic, dignified, and had a certain culture, and he valued him very much, and after sending him to the officer training regiment to learn basic military command, he began to promote him continuously. At the time of the Central Plains War, Zhang Zizhong had already been promoted to the commander of the Sixth Division.
After the Battle of the Central Plains, Zhang Zizhong and some remnants of the Northwest Army, who were reluctant to surrender to Chiang Kai-shek, retreated to the Southern Jin region. After Zhang Xueliang led his troops into The Pass, the remnants of the Northwest Army were reorganized into the Third Army of the Northeast Border Defense Army, and in the same year it was reorganized into the 20th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, with Song Zheyuan as the commander and Zhang Zizhong as the commander of the 38th Division. In 1933, during the Battle of the Great Wall, the 29th Army went to Xifengkou to resist the enemy, repeatedly inflicting heavy damage on the Japanese army, and after the war, Zhang Zizhong was awarded a Medal of the Blue Sky and White Sun.
After the outbreak of the Lugou Bridge Incident, the 29th Army rose up to resist, and in the battle with the Japanese army, Tong Linge, deputy commander of the 29th Army, Zhao Dengyu, commander of the 132nd Division, and other senior generals were killed one after another, and the outer positions of Peiping were lost. In order to completely annihilate the 29th Army, the Japanese troops in North China and Northeast China, Chiang Kai-shek also ordered the 29th Army to retreat to avoid the total annihilation of the army. In order to allow most of the 29th Army to retreat safely, Song Zheyuan begged Zhang Zizhong to stay and negotiate with the Japanese army, delaying the retreat of the 29th Army for a week. When Zhang Zizhong bid farewell to Qin Dechun, deputy commander of the 29th Army, he was about to cry and said to him: "You have all become national heroes after you have left, and I am afraid that I am going to become a traitor." ”
Zhang Zizhong's life in Beiping was not good, when the whole country scolded him as a traitor, believing that he had squeezed Song Zheyuan away, and the newspapers also ridiculed him for "thinking that he was loyal", and the gates of Zhang Zizhong's hometown were all sprinkled with dung. After the safe retreat of the 29th Army, Zhang Zizhong left Beiping under the desperate protection of his subordinates and arrived in Nanjing. After arriving in Nanjing, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Song Zheyuan and other generals interceded for him, and Li Zongren demanded that this northwest army general be placed in his fifth theater of operations. Chiang Kai-shek did not blame him, and expanded the 38th Division into the 59th Army, serving as the commander of the 59th Army.
After returning to the army, Zhang Zizhong's temperament changed greatly, and Peiping's shame made him feel very ashamed, so he would bravely move forward in every battle. During the Battle of Xuzhou, Zhang Zizhong led the 59th Army to aid Linyi, and the 38th Division of the 59th Army, under the leadership of division commander Huang Weigang, twice killed the rear of the Japanese Banyuan Division, and the Japanese casualties reached more than 8,000 people, forcing this Japanese strong brigade to retreat to the rear to rest. However, the 38th Division of the 59th Army went from 15,000 people to more than 3,000 officers and men left.
After the Battle of Linyi, Zhang Zizhong also rushed to wherever there was danger, and never had the selfish desire to preserve his strength. In November 1939, Zhang Zizhong was promoted to commander-in-chief of the Right Wing Army Group in the Fifth Theater and commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army. During the Battle of Zaoyi in 1940, 300,000 Japanese troops launched an attack on the Fifth Theater, and at a moment of crisis, Zhang Zizhong led more than 2,000 officers and men to cross the Xianghe River in the east, killed the Rear of the Japanese Army, and cut the Japanese 13th Division into several pieces. However, in an encounter, Zhang Zizhong's troops were surrounded by nearly 6,000 Japanese Kou in the village of Gouyanli north of Pumpkin Shop. Under the cover of aircraft artillery, the Japanese army launched several attacks on it, but they were all repelled by it, and after the entire army was destroyed, Zhang Zizhong shot himself and was martyred.
After Zhang Zizhong's death, Major General Huang Weigang, commander of the 38th Division, took the death squad and snatched his body back with a machine gun. When the body passed through Yichang, the local 100,000 soldiers and civilians risked death to send each other, and the Japanese warplanes flew over Yichang three times, and none of the people who came to pay tribute evaded it. When the coffin arrived at the Chaotianmen Wharf in Chongqing, Chiang Kai-shek led the nationalist military and political leaders to solemnly greet the spirit. Chiang Kai-shek personally supported the coffin, and then picked up the steps and escorted the coffin through the whole city of Chongqing. After Zhang Zizhong's sacrifice, his wife died of hunger strike for seven days, and Chiang Kai-shek buried his husband and wife together in the foothills of Meihua Mountain in Chongqing.