In February 1938, Zhou Kun, chief of staff of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, went to the 2nd Theater Headquarters for a meeting and received 60,000 yuan in military expenses, which was the last fund issued by the Kuomintang government to the 115th Division. After the meeting, Zhou Kun handed a satchel to the guard and said, "This is an important document, you will immediately go back and hand it over to the chief of the operations section, Wang." The guards did not take it seriously, and came back to hand the bag to Wang Bingzhang, the chief of the operations section, and the satchel was not an important document, but a 30,000 yuan bill. There was a text message inside, which said: "A total of 60,000 yuan was received, I (Zhou Kun) took 30,000 yuan, and the other 30,000 yuan was handed over to the guards to bring back and look forward to receiving." "It is clear that Zhou Kun absconded with 30,000 yuan ... ...
Zhou Kun, a native of Pingjiang, Hunan, went up Jinggangshan after participating in the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927, and from the company commander of the Red Fourth Army, he was promoted step by step, successively serving as column commander, division commander, army commander, and chief of staff of the Red Army. At that time, there was a saying circulating in the Central Soviet Region: "Lin Biao's three guns, Chen Guang, Zhou Kun, and Wang Liang," that is, calling these three people "three heavy machine guns" for fighting against the enemy, which means that the firepower is fierce, the combat strength is strong, and the effect is huge.
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army launched the Lugou Bridge Incident, and the Chinese nation entered a period of all-out war of resistance. On August 25, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, appointing Zhu De as the commander-in-chief, Peng Dehuai as the deputy commander-in-chief, and Ye Jianying as the chief of staff, under the jurisdiction of the 115th, 120th, and 129th Divisions and the Headquarters Special Service Regiment, with a total of about 45,000 troops.
Among them, the 115th Division was formed by the 1st and 15th Armies of the Red Army and the 74th Red Division in southern Shaanxi. Division Commander Lin Biao, Deputy Division Commander Nie Rongzhen, Chief of Staff Zhou Kun, and Political Training Office Director Luo Ronghuan. The division was composed of the organs of the 1st Red Army, with the 343rd Brigade, the 344th Brigade and the Independent Regiment under its jurisdiction. The 115th Division was the most effective and equipped division of the Eighth Route Army, with a total of 15,500 men.
In the Battle of Pingxingguan in September 1937, the main force of the 115th Division ambushed the heavy unit of the 21st Brigade of the elite 5th Division of the Japanese Army, annihilated more than 1,000 enemy troops, and destroyed 79 cars and 3 motorcycles. More than 500 long and short guns, 21 light and heavy machine guns, more than 200 large vehicles and other large amounts of military materials were seized. This was the first major victory won by the Eighth Route Army in the anti-Japanese war, which broke the myth that "the Japanese army is invincible" and greatly inspired the patriotic soldiers and people to rise up and resist the victory confidence.
In late January 1938, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government held a meeting of chiefs of staff at and above the division level in Wuhan, mainly to report on the lessons learned from the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and their suggestions on future remedies. The Eighth Route Army, which belonged to the 2nd Theater of Operations and was already the 18th Army in the Nationalist Army at the time, was also notified to participate. The Eighth Route Army sent four generals, namely Ye Jianying, chief of staff of the headquarters, Peng Xuefeng, chief of staff, Bian Zhangwu, senior staff officer, and Zhou Kun, chief of staff of the 115th Division, to attend the meeting. Ye Jianying and others first arrived at the Wuhan office of the Eighth Route Army, and then reported to the meeting of chiefs of staff on January 26. The meeting lasted for three days, that is, from January 27 to January 29, Ye Jianying made an oral report to the meeting on behalf of the 18th Group Army (Eighth Route Army) and submitted a detailed written report, and Zhou Kun submitted written report materials to the meeting on behalf of the 115th Division, summing up the lessons learned from the 115th Division's entry into the Jin Dynasty and fighting against Japan since the reorganization of the Red Army, and exchanging views with senior officers of the Kuomintang army. It was this trip to Wuhan that completely changed Zhou Kun's life destiny.
In early February 1938, Zhou Kun returned by train from Wuhan to the Shanxi front, passing through Linfen to meet Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan, who had returned from Wuchang, and Peng Dehuai went to Wuchang to discuss with the Kuomintang authorities the Eighth Route Army's support for the Battle of Xuzhou. Zhou Kun immediately reported to Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan on the relevant situation of attending the meeting. When Zhou Kun reported to the chief of staff on the meeting of chiefs of staff, he expressed his dissatisfaction, saying how he was "humiliated" in Wuhan, saying that the chief of staff of the Kuomintang had his own small mansion, a car and a little wife, and we were like hanako. The Eighth Route Army's office in Wuhan was very "stingy", and even the pocket money for hiring rickshaws was not willing to give more.
Zhou Kun's ideological performance was seriously criticized by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai and Chief of Staff Zuo Quan.
According to the "Complete Biography of Peng Dehuai", "Peng Dehuai returned from Hankou to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, passing through Linfen, and returned from zhou kun, chief of staff of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, to attend the meeting of chiefs of staff convened by the Military Commission of the National Government. After reporting the meeting to Peng Dehuai, Zhou Kun complained: "I asked for a few pocket money when I went to the office, and only then gave me two yuan!" The chief of staff of the people was in a car, lived in a small mansion, and got under a small restaurant. We just beat the devils, and we don't even have a little money on us! "Nonsense!" Peng Dehuai roared, "That's the Kuomintang, you're the Communist Party!" "If you want to run into me, you won't give you a single copper plate!" Zhou Kun still couldn't stop talking: "This time Kong Xiangxi gave 30,000 silver yangs, asked me to bring back as consolation fees, and said that the 115th Division defended his hometown, and people can be generous!" "Shameless! Peng Dehuai's eyebrows were upside down, and he was furious, slapping the table and scolding Zhou Kun.
At that time, the eighth route army division and brigade-level cadres, the monthly allowance was only 5 yuan, and the temptation of 30,000 was very huge, absolutely a huge amount.
Zhou Kun did not fall on the battlefield of blood and fire, but succumbed to the instinctive desire of human nature and greed. The extravagant life of a high-ranking Kuomintang official made Zhou Kun have a strong psychological imbalance, forgetting the essence of being a CPC member, forgetting the fine traditions of the Red Army, and embarking on a road of no return.
After Zhou Kun absconded with the money, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the headquarters of the 115th Division were in an uproar, and everyone could not figure out why he wanted to run. Where did he go? The Eighth Route Army dispatched the "former General Third Detachment" to carry out technical reconnaissance, and did not receive relevant information from the Japanese and Kuomintang troops. There are all kinds of speculations, but there is no direct evidence. There are many rumors that assume the reason for his disappearance, but there is no actual evidence to prove that Zhou Kun did disappear as they say, whether it was voluntarily or forced, or a conspiracy or murder.
Zhou Kun, chief of staff of the 115th Division, with 30,000 yuan of french currency and military expenses, has since disappeared from historical records...........