Yang Chengwu is a famous general of our army, who killed the Japanese army's "flower of famous generals" Norihide Abe in one fell swoop in the Battle of Loess Ridge during the Battle of Loess Ridge, and became famous all over the world. But do you know what position Yang Chengwu mainly held during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression? Some people think that they are the commander of the independent regiment of the 115th Division, others think that they are the commander of the First Military Subdistrict of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and others think that they are the commander of the Jizhong Military Region. Almost 6 years!
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Red First Division was reorganized into the Independent Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with Yang Chengwu as its regimental commander. Since the independent regiment was not a regular formation, it was also harassed by the Kuomintang defenders when crossing the Yellow River to the anti-Japanese front. The first battle of the 115th Division's anti-Japanese resistance was the Battle of Pingxingguan, in which the Independent Regiment was ordered to fight for help, and the division leader gave Yang Chengwu a death order, asking him not to let a Japanese Kou enter Pingxingguan. After accepting the task, Yang Chengwu led the independent regiment to block the onslaught of two Japanese companies in the waist station area, making an extremely important contribution to the victory of the Battle of Pingxingguan.
After the victory at Pingxingguan, the Independent Regiment was ordered to advance behind enemy lines and open up anti-Japanese base areas. On the way, Yang Chengwu led his troops to ambush the enemy many times, won successive battles, and within two months successively recovered the seven counties of Laiyuan, Guangling, Lingqiu, Yixian, Weixian, Yangyuan and Hunyuan from the hands of the devils, and the independent regiment also grew from the initial 1,700 people to more than 7,000 people, far beyond the size of a regiment. At the end of October 1937, the Independent Regiment was ordered to expand into the Independent First Division of the Eighth Route Army, and Yang Chengwu served as the division commander.
After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, it underwent a major reorganization, and Yang Chengwu was appointed as the political commissar of the Red First Division, and the commander of the division at that time was Chen Geng. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yang Chengwu ended his further studies at the "Red Army University" ahead of schedule, was appointed as the commander of the Red First Division, and became a young and promising senior general.
Soon after, the Kuomintang and the Communists began a second cooperation, and according to the requirements, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, with three divisions under its jurisdiction. Due to the reduction in the number of personnel, many senior generals during the Red Army period could only serve as brigade commanders and regimental commanders of the Eighth Route Army. Yang Chengwu was transferred to the 115th Division as the commander of the Independent Regiment.
According to General Yang Chengwu's later recollection: "At that time, the Nanjing government tried its best to reduce the establishment of the Eighth Route Army, and according to the regulations, each division could not establish an independent regiment, so the independent regiment of the 115th Division at that time was not in the sequence of the National Revolutionary Army, and belonged to the non-organization units." It was for this reason that the independent regiment crossed the Yellow River to Shanxi to resist the Japanese, and was also obstructed by the Jin Sui Army, because the troops without formation could not cross the river. In the end, there was no way, Yang Chengwu could only lead the independent regiment and mix into the 686th regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division to cross the river smoothly.
This small episode did not affect the determination of Yang Chengwu and the independent regiment to resist the war, after entering the anti-Japanese battlefield, Yang Chengwu immediately led the independent regiment to participate in the Pingxingguan Victory, in the battle, the independent regiment responsible for sniping the enemy, successfully sniping the Japanese army several times, and ensuring the victory of the Pingxingguan Battle.
After the Battle of Pingxingguan, at the behest of the central authorities, Yang Chengwu led the independent regiment to carry out struggles behind enemy lines in Lingqiu, Laiyuan, Guangling, Weixian and other places, liberating several county towns in Shanxi and Hebei, and opening up the first revolutionary base area behind enemy lines. In order to consolidate the base areas, Yang Chengwu vigorously propagated the ideas and policies of the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army, and many young people with lofty ideals joined the independent regiment one after another after learning about it. Soon after, the independent regiment grew from more than 1,000 to more than 7,000.
After the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army learned of this news, in October 1937, it officially ordered the expansion of the independent regiment of the 115th Division into the independent first division of the Eighth Route Army, with Yang Chengwu, who was only 23 years old, as the commander of the division. As the fourth divisional unit of the Eighth Route Army, Yang Chengwu was the first person to be promoted from regimental commander to division commander. However, due to the restrictions of the establishment at that time, this number was not announced to the public, so few people now know.
After that, Yang Chengwu led his troops to fight against the Japanese invaders in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, and in 1939, he led his troops to unexpectedly surround the Japanese mixed second brigade, and defeated Lieutenant General Norihide Abe, known as the "Flower of Famous Generals" in the battle. This person was also the highest-ranking general of the Japanese army killed by the Eighth Route Army during the entire War of Resistance Against Japan.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yang Chengwu successively served as commander and political commissar of the First Military Subdistrict of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and commander of the Jizhong Military Region, leading his troops to participate in the famous Battle of the Hundred Regiments, effectively cracking down on the arrogance of the Japanese aggressors. After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Yang Chengwu successively served as the commander of the Jizhong Column and the Third Column of the First Field Army of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and in 1948, the People's Liberation Army in North China was reorganized, and the main force was organized into 3 corps, and Yang Chengwu served as the commander of the Third Corps.
After the founding of New China, he successively served as the commander of the Tianjin Garrison District, the deputy commander and commander of the Beijing-Tianjin Garrison District. At the 1955 ceremony, Yang Chengwu, who was only 41 years old, was awarded the rank of general, becoming one of the youngest founding generals.
General Yang Chengwu not only led his troops to fight at a first-class level, but also had a higher level of education for his children. Under his careful teaching, 2 sons and 1 daughter aspired to join the army and serve the country from an early age, and when they grew up, 3 of them joined the army successively and became a soldier of the people's children. Later, after continuous efforts, all three of them grew into senior generals of our army.
Among them, the eldest son served as the director of the Second Artillery Equipment Department and held the rank of major general;
The second son was deputy commander of the Air Force with the rank of lieutenant general, and his father-in-law was the famous founding lieutenant general Qin Jiwei;
The only daughter was the director of the Technical Equipment Department of the Armed Police Force Command, with the rank of major general, and was the first female general of the Armed Police Force.