Dai Anlan (infant name Yangong, scientific name Bingyang) was born on November 25, 1904, a native of Fenghe Village, Renquan Township, Wuwei County, Anhui Province.
He joined the Northern Expedition in 1924 as a private at the age of twenty. In 1925, he was admitted to the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy to study infantry, graduated the following year, and participated in the Northern Expedition. From 1926 to 1929, he served as adjutant, company commander and district captain, deputy regiment commander in 1930 and regiment commander in 1931. In the era of anti-Japanese fire, he was ordered to fight in the north and south, repeatedly achieved battle merits, and was successively promoted to brigade commander, deputy division commander, division commander and other posts.
After the 918 Incident, Dai Anlan served as the commander of the 145th Regiment of the Guanlin Zheng Department of the 25th Division of the 17th Army of the Kuomintang, and in March 1933, he led his unit to participate in the Gubeikou War of the Great Wall and was awarded the Order of Yunlu of the Third Class.
In August 1937, he was promoted to commander of the 73rd Brigade of the 25th Division.
In March 1938, in the Battle of Taierzhuang, Dai Brigade attacked Taodun, outwitted Zhuzhuang, and fiercely fought Guo Liji, laying the foundation for victory in the Battle of Taierzhuang and was awarded the Order of Huayun.
In May 1938, during the Battle of Xuzhou, he led his unit to fight fiercely with the Japanese army in Zhongai Mountain for four days and nights, and because of his outstanding combat achievements, he was promoted to deputy commander of the 89th Division and director of the cadre training class of the headquarters of the 31st Army.
In August 1938, he led his troops into the Battle of Wuhan and was credited with great merit by the 31st Group Army once.
On January 5, 1939, he was promoted to major general of the 200th Division, which was the main division of the newly created Fifth Army and was claimed to be the only mechanized division of the Chinese army.
In May 1939, he led his troops to participate in the Battle of Sui (County) Zao (Yang) against the Japanese invasion.
On June 17, 1939, he was promoted to major general.
In September 1939, he participated in the defense of Changsha.
In November 1939, he participated in the Battle of Kunlun Pass in Guinan. He personally went to the front line to command the operation, and although unfortunately wounded, he still held his post, and after a month of hard fighting, killed 6,000 enemies, and killed Major General Masao Nakamura, commander of the enemy brigade, and Konosuke Daisa, the commander of the Wing Division, and was awarded the Order of the Fourth Class.
At the suggestion of the United States and Britain, the Allied China Theater was established on January 2, 1942, and the Chinese government established the Chinese Expeditionary Force to Burma.
General Dai Anlan led the 200th Division to Burma to fight with the British. He led the 200th Division at the risk of going deep alone, marched into Tonggu, and successively took over the defense of the British army. In order to cover the safe retreat of the British army and fully prepare for the battle, in February 1942, he participated in the defense of Donggua. In the absence of air force coordination, the Japanese army, which was four times its own, equipped with infantry special forces and air force, fought hard for 12 days, completely using infantry to counter the three-dimensional attack of the Japanese army, covering the safe retreat of the British army, and annihilating more than 5,000 enemies, achieving the first victory in the war abroad.
On March 19, 1942, the defense of Tonggu began. All officers and men of the 200th Division held their positions and bravely returned fire. Although he fought alone and had difficulty in backup, division commander Dai Anlan was determined to resist to the end and coexist with Tonggu. The fierce attack of the enemy caused a sharp increase in casualties and the destruction of bunkers. Dai Anlan commanded the soldiers to continue to resist by using the ruins and bomb craters. He also used 100-meter duels, waiting for the attacking enemy to reach 50 meters before jumping out of the trenches, or throwing grenades in a concentrated manner, or engaging in hand-to-hand combat with bayonets. The defense of Tonggu lasted 12 days, and the 200th Division fought against the enemy with high morale, repelled more than 20 Japanese charges at the cost of 800 men, annihilated more than 4,000 enemy troops, captured more than 400 enemy troops, inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, and demonstrated national prestige.
At dawn on April 24, 1942, the Battle of Tangji broke out. The officers of the 200th Division, which was responsible for recovering Tangji, took the lead in attacking the Japanese. In view of the strength of the enemy defenders, Dai Anlan ordered his troops to attack the enemy's guard position on the west side of Tangji first, and captured it in one fell swoop. However, at this time, the victory of local battles could not stop the rapid defeat of the Chinese and British allied forces on the entire Burma battlefield.
In early May 1942, the Sino-British allies were completely defeated.
On May 10, 1942, the expeditionary force retreated to the Hukang River Valley and was blocked by the Japanese 56th Division. While carrying out ground attacks, a large number of Japanese aircraft also repeatedly dived towards the road and fired intensively at the crowd. Therefore, the army did not fight and chaotic itself, and rushed to flee into the mountains and forests. Dai Anlan's 200th Division, which was responsible for covering the retreat around Wenzuo, temporarily lost contact with the military headquarters. When there was a pursuit of the troops and no road ahead, Dai Anlan decided to lead his troops into the mountainous areas of north-central Burma to fight guerrilla attacks and return to the country in search of a gap. On the 18th, the troops of the 200th Division divided into two roads and crossed the Ssimao Highway. The avant-garde troops were suddenly ambushed by a large number of Japanese troops, and General Dai Anlan then ordered the troops to immediately disperse and break through. Faced with a dense web of Japanese machine guns, rifles and artillery fire, thousands of Chinese soldiers rushed forward with bayonets. The enemy waited for the work and ambushed it dangerously, and the 200th Division suffered heavy casualties. In the fierce battle, a shuttle machine gun bullet hit Dai Anlan in the chest and abdomen, and the soldiers behind him quickly rescued him. The division commander was seriously wounded, and the remaining officers and men took turns to carry him on a stretcher, and while dealing with the Japanese troops, he ran through the alpine valleys and primeval forests in northern Burma. On 26 May 1942, the remnants of the 200th Division marched to the Kachin Cottage in Mao State in northern Burma. This place was only thirty or forty miles from the border, and at 5:40 p.m. on May 26, 1942, General Dai Anlan died of his wounds at the age of 38. In accordance with Dai Anlan's last wishes, officers and soldiers took turns to carry his body back to China.
On April 1, 1943, Chiang Kai-shek entrusted Li Jishen to preside over the state funeral held by Dai Anlan in front of the Xiangshan Temple in Quanzhou, Guangxi, attended by more than 10,000 people.
Mighty and heroic
- Jiang Zhongzheng
The hero of Whampoa, the majesty of the nation.
- Zhou Enlai
Will slightly win the goal, the Japanese invaders have been hit hard several times;
The heroic soul is detained in the Burmese territory, and the Chinese people mourn everywhere.
- Zhu De, Peng Dehuai
Mao Zedong, who was far away in Yan'an, made a five-word poem to mourn him, called "Five Laws Seagull General Ages":
"Foreign insults need to be rewarded, General Fu Caiwei.
The division is called mechanized and wins the power of the tiger.
Blood in the east melon guard, drive away the Tang Ji return.
The battlefield was killed, and the ambition was not violated. ”
Chairman Mao's use of the Five Laws to write elegiac poems is extremely rare, and historians have found that only 2 soldiers were given this treatment:
One was Marshal Luo Ronghuan, who died in 1963, and the other was General Dai Anlan.
On October 16, 1942, the Kuomintang government posthumously awarded Dai Anlan the rank of lieutenant general and approved Dai Anlan's heroic name to be enshrined in the Nanjing Martyrs' Shrine. The U.S. government in recognition of his great contributions to World War II; On 29 October, he was awarded the Order of Merit, making General Dai Anlan the first Chinese soldier to receive the American Medal in the anti-fascist struggle in World War II.
On September 21, 1956, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Central People's Government posthumously recognized General Dai Anlan as a revolutionary martyr. On 3 October, Chairman Mao Zedong presented Dai Anlan's bereaved family members with the "Certificate of Honor for the Families of Revolutionary Sacrificed Servicemen."