Zhang Xueliang (front row, third from left)
Something happened in Shenyang
On the evening of September 18, 1931, Zhang Xueliang was watching a play in a large theater in Beiping. At about 10:30, Tang Guozhen, director of the deputy officer's office of the camp, reported to Zhang Xueliang that Shenyang had made a long-distance call.
Zhang Xueliang didn't care too much at first after listening, thinking that it was an ordinary official affair, so he asked the adjutant to take over. Tang Guozhen came over a while to report again, saying that something had happened in Shenyang, and Chief of Staff Rong asked you to personally answer it.
Rong Zhen, the chief of staff of the Northeast Army, is the chief of staff of the Northeast Army. After Zhang Xueliang heard about the accident in Shenyang, he immediately left the table. On the other end of the phone, Rong Zhen reported that the Japanese army had attacked the North Camp in Shenyang at about 10 p.m.
Zhang Xueliang told Rong Zhen not to move around and avoid a direct conflict with the Japanese army.
Zhang Xueliang, who is at the peak of his life
Speaking of the young marshal Zhang Xueliang, then first of all, we must understand the old marshal Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin, the king of the northeast, was an important figure in modern China, and Zhang Zuolin occupied the rich land of the northeast in the chaotic era of the Republic of China, and became a great warlord who dominated one side at that time.
Zhang Xueliang, the eldest son of Zhang Zuolin, entered Zhang Zuolin's army at the age of 17 and was promoted to brigade commander at the age of 21. Zhang Zuolin has also always trained Zhang Xueliang as a successor, so Zhang Xueliang entered the military at a young age and let him hold great power to avoid being seized by outsiders.
On June 4, 1928, on his way back from Beijing to Fengtian (Shenyang), Zhang Zuolin's special train was bombed at Huanggutun, and Zhang Zuolin was seriously injured and died on the same day.
The Huanggutun Incident was planned by the Japanese Kwantung Army in order to get rid of Zhang Zuolin and plunge the Northeast Army into infighting, and then the Japanese army had the opportunity to fully invade and occupy the three northeastern provinces. In order to stabilize the situation, the top brass of the Fengjun army also informed the outside world of Zhang Zuolin's physical condition every day, and at the same time asked Zhang Xueliang to return to Fengtian (Shenyang) immediately to inherit the military and political power in the northeast.
Due to proper handling, the transfer of power was very smooth, and the northeast did not fall into infighting, and Zhang Xueliang took over as the commander-in-chief of the security of the three eastern provinces at the age of 27.
At the end of the same year, Zhang Xueliang sent a telegram to the whole country, decided to obey the National Government in Nanjing, and agreed to change the northeast to a banner. Therefore, the Fengjun was also renamed the Northeast Border Defense Army of the National Revolutionary Army, referred to as the Northeast Army.
In 1930, the Central Plains War broke out, which was
The largest and longest-consuming warlord melee in China's modern history. The Nationalist government in Nanjing, headed by Chiang Kai-shek, confronted the coalition of local warlords such as Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, and Li Zongren.
The fierce battle between the two factions fell into a confrontation, and Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army became particularly important, so Zhang Xueliang's fall fell to the balance of the war. In the end, Zhang Xueliang still decided to support Chiang Kai-shek, so the main force of the Northeast Army entered the pass, forcing Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan to retreat.
Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek
Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army basically did not lose a single soldier, and occupied a large territory in the Pingjin area, and then occupied Hebei, Chahar and other areas. The Northeast Army not only greatly expanded its territory, but also incorporated many old units of the Northwest Army and the Jin Army. It can be said that Zhang Xueliang himself is there
After the Battle of the Central Plains, strength and prestige reached the peak of his life.
After occupying North China, Zhang Xueliang at this time can be described as full of spirits. Zhang Xueliang also focused on North China, and his 100,000 elite Northeast Army was also stationed in North China.
Behind the scenery is a huge crisis, and the elite of the Northeast Army has entered the customs, causing the emptiness of the Northeast Defense.
Behind them, the eyes of the Japanese Kwantung Army are staring at this rich land, and they are waiting for the opportunity to come.
The Kwantung Army
At the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan seized the lease rights from Russia in Lushun, Dalian and other areas, and established the Kwantung Governor's Office in Liaoyang, so the Japanese troops stationed there were also known as the Japanese Kwantung Army.
Since 1907, Japan has maintained a garrison of at least one division in the northeast, usually rotating every two years. In addition, the Japanese also obtained the control of the South Manchuria Railway from the Russians, and the Japanese army placed six garrison brigades along the railway under the pretext of protecting the safety of the railway.
On the eve of the September 18 Incident, the commander of the Japanese Kwantung Army was Lieutenant General Honjo Fan, and the headquarters was located in Lushun, in order to plan this incident, the Japanese army specially transferred the 2nd Division to the northeast to replace the 16th Division.
Why was the Second Division deliberately transferred to the northeast? The 2nd Division was also known as the Sendai Division because most of its soldiers came from the Sendai region of northern Japan, where the climate was harsh. Therefore, the soldiers of the Sendai Division were more adapted to the climatic environment of northeast China.
At the time of the September 18 Incident, not all the soldiers of the 2nd Division reached the northeast, and the 2nd Division assembled in the northeast numbered about 10,400 people, and 6 independent garrison brigades attacked more than 4,800 people, as well as some heavy logistics units. These regular armies were distributed along the South Manchuria Railway. In addition, there are some reservists in the northeast and the number of Japanese police and gendarmerie troops is about 10,000.
A few months ago, the Japanese army kept holding military exercises near The North Camp in Shenyang, and its war intentions were already very obvious.
Where are the Northeast Troops stationed outside the Guanxi?
Although Zhang Xueliang sent 100,000 elite northeast troops into the pass, there were still 165,000 regular troops and more than 40,000 military and police units outside the pass, and in terms of number comparison, the northeast army still occupied a huge advantage.
In Liaoning Province, the Independent 12th Brigade and 20th Brigade of the Northeast Army were stationed in Jinzhou, the 1st Brigade of Liao Province Was stationed in Shancheng Town, the 2nd Brigade of Liao Province was stationed in Taonan, and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Tongliao. The most core area of Shenyang is only Wang Yizhe's independent 7th Brigade (more than 6,800 people) stationed in The North Camp, as well as a public security corps. The 7th Brigade was well-organized and of good quality, and was the main force in the Northeast Army.
In Jilin Province, the 4th Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Nong'an, the 23rd Independent Brigade and the 10th Artillery Regiment were stationed in Changchun, the 25th Independent Brigade and the 2nd Brigade of Kyrgyzstan Were stationed in Yongji, and the yilan and Founder brigades in the north were deployed with independent 21st and 24th brigades and 1 brigades of Kyrgyzstan Province. In addition, Harbin also has two independent brigades, 26 and 28.
In Heilongjiang, the 2nd Independent Cavalry Brigade and the 2nd Hei Provincial Defense Brigade were stationed in the area of Manzhouli and Hailar, the 9th Artillery Regiment, the 1st Hei Provincial Defense Brigade, and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade were stationed in the area of Zalantun, Longjiang, and Keshan, and the 1st Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Suihua.
Through the deployment, we can find that Zhang Xueliang deployed most of the troops of the Northeast Army in Guannei along the Middle East Railway in the north. Because after the Middle East Railway Incident in 1929, Zhang Xueliang was very jealous of the Soviet Union, so his defense focus was also on the Middle East Railway.
The defenses of Liaoning Province in the south were very empty, but the Japanese deployed more than 20,000 regular troops and tens of thousands of reservists along the South Manchuria Railway. Once the attack was launched, the Japanese army could quickly assemble through the railway to Shenyang, where the Northeast Army had only one brigade of regular troops.
Comments
As for the reason why the Northeast Army did not resist at the beginning, some said that Chiang Kai-shek gave the order not to resist, and some said that Zhang Xueliang himself was afraid of war.
First of all, Chiang Kai-shek's order not to resist is an ironclad fact. In August 1931, intelligence personnel in Nanjing already knew that the Japanese Kwantung Army was ready to move, so Chiang Kai-shek telegraphed Zhang Xueliang on August 16, 1931
"No matter how the Japanese army provokes in the northeast after that, our side should not resist and try to avoid conflict, and my brother must not be indignant for a moment and ignore the country and the nation."
However, Zhang Xueliang did not approve of his descendants saying that he deliberately did not resist the Kwantung Army, and Zhang Xueliang was still grumpy about this matter in his later years. Zhang Xueliang said that he admitted that he had misjudged the situation and caused losses to the country, but he did not admit that he deliberately did not resist and indulged the invasion of the northeast by the Kwantung Army. On the night of the incident, he really did not expect that the Kwantung Army would dare to directly invade the northeast, believing that the Japanese side could not have made such a risky decision.
Zhang Xueliang believed that the Japanese Kwantung Army was only deliberately provocative and wanted to create friction, because at that time China and Japan were negotiating on the Issues of Lushun and Dalian. However, Itagaki Seishiro, Ishihara Guan'er, Kenji Toihara, Honjo Shigeru, and others in the upper echelons of the Kwantung Army were fanatical militants, and the invasion of tohoku was a big gamble they planned.
Zhang Xueliang thought that he knew the Japanese very well, and he judged that Japan would not indulge the Kwantung Army to expand the situation. By the time Zhang Xueliang reacted, it was too late, the Japanese Kwantung Army had already grasped the initiative on the battlefield, and the important town of Shenyang was occupied by the Japanese army in less than a day.
From then on, the 30 million people outside the pass became slaves of the country and fell into the dark rule of the Japanese army, and when the light reappeared, it would not be fourteen years later.