After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in 1941, the Japanese Kou increased their troops to the northeast of China, which increased the strength of the original Japanese Kwantung Army in the region by nearly 800,000 people.
By July 1942, the Japanese army further intensified its frenzied "clearance and suppression" of the anti-Japanese forces in the northeast. As a result, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army fell into a very difficult situation.
Faced with such an unfavorable situation, Xu Hengzhi, chief of the general staff of the Third Route Army and commander of the Third Army, resolutely adjusted his strategy toward the enemy, reduced the troops to pieces, commanded multiple small units to attack flexibly, and skillfully maneuvered with the enemy, so that the enemy could not catch or fight, and suffered unspeakable suffering.
At the same time, General Xu Hengzhi led the troops to win the support of workers and peasants, and actively developed the anti-Japanese salvation congress organization among the masses, thus strengthening the anti-Japanese forces.
These anti-Japanese measures made the commanders of the Japanese army in the northeast thunderous, and ordered all departments to intensify the "crusade" and eliminate Xu Hengzhi and other anti-coalition generals at all costs.
Faced with an increasingly dangerous situation, General Xu Hengzhi was not afraid, still risked his life, and frequently traveled to various places to guide all units to carry out anti-Japanese work.
On August 2, Xu Hengzhi gathered his troops at Qingfeng ridge and prepared to go to the area around Gyeongseong to counterattack the Japanese.
In order to facilitate concealment, the troops have been sleeping in the mountains and forests for several days. The cooks got up at dawn to cook, intending to let the cadres and soldiers have a full meal before leaving.
Xu Hengzhi saw that the soldiers standing guard had blood in their eyes, so he asked him to quickly take a rest, and he took the guard Chen Yunxiang to the forest around the camp to breathe in the fresh air, and at the same time sort out the day's battle plan in his mind.
In the summer mountain forest, the trees are verdant, the birds are singing, and the Shaoling River flows slowly through the valley, the scenery is pleasant. The days of running and fighting had already made Xu Hengzhi tired, and this rare morning light and beauty could not help but make him feel relaxed and happy.
Suddenly, Xu Hengzhi seemed to notice that something was wrong, and looked up at a place to look at it carefully, as if he was saying to himself: "Huh? Wrong..."
Chen Yunxiang was very curious, and looked over xu Hengzhi's line of sight, only to see that his gaze fell on a bird in the treetops, but his brow was twisted into a knot, as if he was thinking hard about something.
The bird jumped and chirped among the branches, and its feathers were beautiful, with colorful colors, and looked very cute.
"What a beautiful bird!" Chen Yunxiang said excitedly, "Chief of Staff, this is the first time I have seen this kind of bird!" ”
"You haven't seen it either?" Xu Hengzhi turned his head and looked at Chen Yunxiang and said.
"Yes, I grew up in Changbai Mountain, and I have never seen such a beautiful bird." Chen Yunxiang's gaze was still moving closely with the bird's jump.
"Something is wrong!" Xu Hengzhi suddenly gave the order in a very serious tone, "You hurry up and run over, let the troops move north immediately!" ”
As he spoke, he strode toward the camp.
Chen Yunxiang was puzzled, but seeing the chief of staff's unusually serious and cold expression, he realized that there must be a situation.
He immediately ran to the front, vaguely saw that the warriors were eating, and turned back to Xu Hengzhi and said, "Everyone has just started eating breakfast, are you waiting for the end of the meal before leaving?" ”
"No, it must be transferred immediately, without delay for a second!" Heo Hyung-sik said loudly.
When Chen Yunxiang quickly ran up to convey Xu Hengzhi's orders and let the cadres and soldiers who were eating quickly move, many people did not understand what was happening, and the action was a little hesitant.
"The enemy is coming soon, quickly put down the dishes and chopsticks, evacuate this place as fast as you can, and go north!" Heo Hyung-sik said loudly.
In such an urgent situation, although the generals did not understand where the chief of staff could see that the enemy was about to be killed, they had no time to ask questions, and they could not even take care of food, so they could only evacuate quickly.
On the way to the transfer, in order to solve the mystery in his heart, Chen Yunxiang glanced at a loophole and asked Xu Hengzhi: "Chief of Staff, how do you see that the enemy is coming?" What does this have to do with the bird? ”
Xu Hengzhi understood that if he did not explain to Chen Yunxiang, this young boy would definitely not be spared, so he said quickly as he walked: "In such a desolate mountain range, suddenly there is such a beautiful bird, and it is a variety that we have never seen since childhood, don't you think it is strange?" ”
"Strange is strange, but..." Chen Yunxiang still couldn't figure it out.
"I don't know what the bird's name is, but it's most likely a bird specially bred by the Japanese, and it may even have been used to convey intelligence..."
Coincidentally, before Xu Hengzhi had finished saying this, he heard a dense gunshot from behind him - the enemy really chased after him!
At this point, the anti-coalition soldiers, including Chen Yunxiang, felt afraid: If the chief of staff's transfer order was delayed by a few minutes, the entire unit would be "wrapped in dumplings" by the enemy without noticing!
From a bird, the enemy was inferred, and General Xu Hengzhi's superior insight and vigilance also amazed the soldiers.
However, because someone had informed the Japanese army, the whereabouts of the anti-coalition troops and the possible routes they might have passed, and the puppet army in Qing'an County had aided and abetted the abuse, it was very difficult for this unit to be transferred.
In addition, many anti-coalition soldiers were injured and sick, and their physical strength was weak, which dragged down the speed of troop transfer. And Xu Hengzhi was not willing to give up any of the wounded and sick, and returned to fight when he had already broken through, and unfortunately was shot. This heroic and indomitable anti-Japanese general fought until his last breath until his heroic death, at the age of 33.