On July 8, 1937, Li Youlun, the editor-in-chief of Chengdu's "Xinmin Bao", hurriedly ran back to the newspaper office from the provincial government.
He was in a hurry to take out one thing, which turned out to be a telegram from the Central News Agency.
Before he could explain, he shouted at the staff:
The Battle of Lugou Bridge is on fire! Out of the box!
Forty minutes later, the outside of "The War of Resistance Broke Out" was printed and immediately scattered in the streets of Chengdu. On that day, Chengdu was a sensation, and the slogan of "Down with Japanese imperialism" resounded throughout the city.
At this time, the first to issue the battle slogan was Liu Xiang, commander of the Sichuan Army! On the same day, he telephoned Chiang Kai-shek and sent a telegram to the whole country, calling on the general mobilization of the whole country to stop all civil wars and unite against Japan.
At the Nanjing National Defense Conference on August 7, Liu Xiang made a generous statement:
"In order to support the War of Resistance, Sichuan can send 300,000 troops and supply 5 million Zhuangding!"
After Liu Xiang issued an appeal, all the generals of the Sichuan Army asked Miao to fight! Enthusiastic young people all over Sichuan have enthusiastically signed up for the army.
There are many cases of "wives sending their husbands to the battlefield" and "parents sending their children to the front".
For example, on November 21, 1943, Chongqing's Xinhua Daily published that Gao Shangqi, a 72-year-old man in Xinjin County, hated the Japanese invaders, so he mobilized 3 of his four sons to join the army to resist Japan, leaving only the elder Sangao Guangtian to take care of his family.
There is also Wang Zhicheng of An County, when he sent his son who took the initiative to go to war, he gave his son a "death" flag!
He wrote a large "death" on the white cloth flag, and on the left side of the flag he wrote: "The country is in trouble, and the Japanese are vicious." The rise and fall of the country, the piaf has a share. I wanted to serve, but I was too old. Fortunately, I have a son, and I consciously ask for help. Give a flag and carry it with you at all times. Wipe blood during injuries and wrap yourself after death. Go forward and don't forget your duty! ”
When the people of Sichuan sent the generals of the Sichuan Army, they. The commander of the column, Tang Shizunchong, made a generous statement to the soldiers and civilians: "The lost land will not be restored, and the oath will not return to Sichuan!" Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians burst into tears and applauded like thunder.
At that time, the Sichuan Army had a total of seven group armies, and another army, a division and a brigade totaling more than 400,000 people, went to the front line of the War of Resistance and fought bloody battles!
Moreover, every year after that, the number of young and strong soldiers sent by Sichuan to the front ranked first in the country, so there was
"No river, no army"
statement.
He Yingqin, minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs of the Nationalist Government, once recorded in the book "Eight Years of Anti-Japanese Resistance": In the 8 years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Sichuan provided nearly 3 million troops to enrich the front-line troops, and the whole country expropriated more than 14.05 million Zhuangding at that time.
The Sichuan army accounts for more than one-fifth!
In the face of the great enemy, countless sichuan-blooded young people have voluntarily joined the army and rushed to the front line, from generals to small soldiers in the Sichuan army, they have made a will before leaving Sichuan, and they have sworn to die to repay the country!
After Liu Xiang led the Sichuan army out of Sichuan, the first thing to be carried out was the 26th Division of the 43rd Army and the 20th Army in a bloody battle with the enemy on the Songhu Battlefield. The Japanese aircraft artillery bombarded our Sichuan army indiscriminately, and the Sichuan army suffered heavy casualties, but the soldiers vowed to coexist and die with the position, and none of them retreated and followed the front, without fear!
According to Mr. He Pingru's recollection:
The 26th Division of the Sichuan Army was poorly equipped, and at that time a company had eighty or ninety soldiers, but only one light machine gun and fifty or sixty rifles. Moreover, most of the guns were used for too long, and there was no double line, and the soldiers tied the handle of the rifle with hemp rope to prevent loss, and the difficulty of the war of resistance could be imagined. ”
However, under such conditions, the officers and men of the 26th Division fought for seven days and nights, repeatedly repelling the crazy attacks of the Japanese army, and were known as one of the five divisions with the best results among the more than 70 divisions in the Songhu War of Resistance. But the price paid by the 26th Division was also quite heavy,
There were originally more than 4,000 people in the division, but after this battle, only more than 600 people were left!
Yang Sen of the 20th Army was once busy with the civil war, but after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Yang Sen's department also made great achievements in the front line of the Songhu Anti-Japanese War. On 15 October, the 804th Regiment was ordered to retake the lost positions. That night, the regimental commander Xiang Wenbin led a surprise attack, and they recaptured the position, but
Of the officers and men of the 804th Regiment, the battalion commander was only 1 Peng Huanwen, and none of the companies were spared, only 4 platoon leaders were left, and only more than 120 soldiers were left
！
At that time, the 122nd Division was ordered to garrison Teng county, and the main Japanese army, the Banyuan Division, repeatedly attacked Tengxian without taking it, so it took turns to bombard with heavy artillery aircraft. Division commander Wang Mingzhang personally participated in the street battle and was eventually killed. After Wang Mingzhang was martyred, his officers and men fought to the last of them, and the wounded soldiers did not want to be prisoners, and they were killed with grenades along with the Japanese troops who rushed in. Battle of Tengxian County,
The 5,000 men of the 122nd Division were almost completely annihilated, but more than 4,000 Japanese troops were wiped out
。
Chen Lisuo's troops, which were deployed north of Tengxian In the jiehe and Longshan areas, also suffered 4,000 to 5,000 casualties. Therefore, it was the great sacrifice of the Sichuan army that won the victory in the Battle of Taierzhuang, and Li Zongren once sighed:
"If there is no teng county's stubbornness, there will be a great victory in Taierzhuang!" The Sichuan Army has written the most glorious page in the history of the Sichuan Army with its outnumbered enemies! ”
On October 15, 1937, Liu Xiang, commander of the Sichuan Army, was appointed commander of the Seventh Theater of Operations and concurrently served as commander-in-chief of the group army. At that time, Liu Xiang was already seriously ill, and they all advised him to stay in Sichuan without having to march in person. But Liu Xiang said: "In the past, after fighting a civil war for many years, my face was not very honorable, but today I serve the country, how can I go to peace in the rear!" ”
Unfortunately, Liu Xiang, who went out with illness, eventually vomited blood on the front line of the War of Resistance and died in Hankou on January 20, 1938.
None of the wills he left before his death were about individuals, but all words of encouragement to the generals of the Sichuan Army, one of which was: "Resist the War to the end, always unswerving, that is, the enemy army will not withdraw from the border for a day, and the Sichuan Army will not return to its hometown for a day!" ”
For a long time to come, when the Sichuan army on the front line raised the flag every day, the soldiers would certainly read it in unison to show their determination to resist the war to the end!
According to the statistics of He Yingqin, minister of military affairs and politics, the number of casualties of Sichuan's generals was about two-tenths of the national anti-Japanese army, that is, 263991 killed, 356267 wounded, and 26,025 people were missing, totaling more than 640,000 people.
Ranked first in the country
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it was not only the Sichuan army that made great sacrifices, but all the soldiers and civilians paid a considerable price to return to victory in the war and save our country. Therefore, future generations should remember their exploits, strive to make our country stronger, and don't let the blood of the martyrs flow in vain!
Hats off to the martyrs!