Wang Mingzhang: A loyal soldier
There is a period in China's history that all Chinese remember to this day, and even today, those tragedies and tragedies cannot be erased, and the timely talk is still filled with pain and resentment. This war of resistance was a war of the whole nation, and countless Chinese compatriots paid their blood and lives in the war.
In this period of history, countless heroes and martyrs were born, and their blood built the Great Wall of China and made today's China unified and complete.
Among these bloody wars, there was one of the most brutal, the biggest victory in the history of China's War of Resistance and the most brutal war. This battle was the Battle of Taierzhuang, and the most suffocating sigh in this battle was Division Commander Wang Mingzhang, who led his subordinates to hold the position and martyr the country.
In March 1938, the Chinese and Japanese armies fought fiercely in Tengxian County, Shandong, and Wang Mingzhang, commander of the 122nd Division of the Sichuan Army, led the straw shoe army, which was very different from the Japanese army in number and seriously backward equipment, resisted the Japanese invasion and prevented the Japanese army from continuing to move south to capture Xuzhou.
Wang Mingzhang fought bloody battles with the Japanese army in this war, and finally died heroically, fulfilling his oath of "the city survives, and the city dies".
Due to the heavy fire of the enemy, the entire unit died heroically. At that time, Simon's enemies continued to oppress the north.
Wang Mingzhang prepared to go to Xiguan Station to continue commanding the garrison, and under a burning willow tree, Wang Mingzhang sent a final message to General Sun: "... Zhi remembered the training of Chengren, and opened the cover of the edict to say consolation, determined to fight to the death, to repay the country, to report the encounter, the office king inscription milling. ”
After the telegram was sent, Wang Mingzhang ordered the station to be destroyed, completely cutting off contact with the outside of the city.
When Wang Mingzhang approached the electric light factory, he was discovered by the enemy of the gate tower of the western city. At this time, there was a fierce machine gun fire, and Wang Mingzhang was shot several times, and blood flowed. He struggled to his knees and shouted, "Kill! He pushed away the officers and soldiers who rushed to rescue him and said, "Go and fight the enemy." Don't worry about me. I'm dying here! ”
After saying that, he died heroically at the age of 45.
When General Wang Mingzhang's body was found and transported to Xuzhou, Wang Mingzhang's military uniform was full of blood, and his belly was blurred and miserable, and General Li Zongren, who came to personally guard his soul, had red eyes, and he took off his general uniform and asked the soldiers to change it for Wang Mingzhang. In 1938, the Nationalist government issued a commendation decree and posthumously awarded Wang Mingzhang the rank of army general.
In May 1938, Wuhan organized a funeral committee. Because Wang Mingzhang's children were 13 years old and the youngest was less than 1 year old and could not go to Hankou, Wang Shaorong, Wang Mingzhang's brother, went to the Hankou City Chamber of Commerce to participate in the funeral, and presided over the thank-you ceremony of the public sacrifice ceremony on behalf of Wang Mingzhang's family.
Wang Mingzhang left Sichuan with very young children, and before Wang Mingzhang asked him to go to the front line of the War of Resistance, Wang Mingzhang returned to his home in Xindu and told his wife and children that he had left Sichuan to defeat the invaders and recover Chinese territory. He told his family that after he left, he must live in harmony and well, and the children should be obedient and study well.
Before leaving, he made a will that if he died in battle, he would use the salary savings he had left over the years, including pensions, to support the education of his family and children, and the rest to open schools. The whole family cried on the spot when they heard this.
General Wang Mingzhang had four children during his lifetime, and he and his first wife, Zhou Huayu, raised two sons and a daughter, she bore Wang Mingzhang three children, and as a woman she also became involved in politics, busy with work, she sent the children to her mother to raise.
In addition to his three children, Wang Mingzhang also had a son with his second wife Ye Yahua. Except for Wang Daogang and his mother, the rest of the children stayed in the mainland to live.
His eldest son, Wang Daohong, like his father, was a progressive young man with ideas, who married the daughter of a major general, but his wife was weak and sick, and eventually died of illness.
When his wife died, Wang Daohong was sent to the mountains to teach, and his son could only live with his grandmother because his father was away because of his mother's death, but fortunately, Wang Daohong finally returned to Chengdu in the seventies.
The second son, Wang Daoyi, also had a bumpy life, and after many hardships, he settled in Hubei and served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in his urban area, and his situation was better than that of his brother.
General Wang Mingzhang also had a daughter, born to him and Zhou Huayu, called Wang Daojie, Wang Daojie is Wang Mingzhang's third daughter, that is, the daughter born to him and his original match Zhou Huayu. These children have all experienced difficult times, but they have all been on the right track of their lives.
The child born to his second wife was called Wang Daogang, and after Wang Mingzhang's death, the two depended on each other, Ye Yahua had no savings at that time, and took the child alone to seek a life in the era of war, and the two experienced countless hardships.
The most difficult period was when they went to Macau to visit their relatives, they used up their money, and the two of them had already used up their money on the way out of the mainland. Fortunately, someone put them to work.
Ms. Ye Yahua graduated from the Department of Chinese of Sichuan University. She is young and beautiful. She served as an instructor in the Air Force Literature Program.
In 1985, Ye Yahua's family moved back to their hometown of Xindu. At that time, General Wang Mingzhang's former residence no longer existed, and the local government rebuilt it to welcome their return. Wang Mingzhang's plaque also returned to his hometown and hung in the living room of the "Mingzhang Ancestral Hall", showing the deep friendship of General Wang's wife for the general.
On the other hand, the youngest son, Wang Daogang, never married in his life. He delved into Buddhism. Currently, he is a monk at New Taipei Temple in Taipei, Taiwan. He returns to Chengdu every year to visit his father's mausoleum.
The 89-year-old dropped his crutches and bowed deeply to the tombstone
In 1949, Wang Daogang went to Taiwan with his mother Ye Yahua. He devoted himself to Buddha and never married. Most of Wang Mingzhang's other grandchildren have also retired and scattered in Chengdu, Chongqing, Hubei and other places.
On March 6, Wang Daogang flew from Taiwan to Chengdu.
He wears a black hat and a cold suit. With his waist already tall and on crutches, he walked step by step up the stone steps to the cemetery. He said that with his current physical condition, he did not know how many times he could visit his father again.
Helped by his relatives, he bowed deeply to his father's tombstone and presented flowers. He then led his family to chant prayers together. In the silent cemetery, the sound of chanting echoed for a long time.
Wang Daogang recalled that his father was a loving father, but his tutoring was very strict. When my father died too early, I can't remember many things clearly.
"At a very young age, we were asked to study the Analects, Mencius, University, Mean, and other Chinese classics." Wang Daogang said that from these classics, they learned the basic attitude and basic etiquette of being a person. "These virtues have laid the foundation for us since childhood and will always remember them when we grow up." Wang Daogang said.
Wang Mingzhang's family pays attention to benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, and wisdom, which is an education received from childhood. They believe in "there are gods who raise their heads". Under his teaching, several grandchildren were very promising. Her granddaughter Liu Yaling also served as a deputy to the Hubei Chibi People's Congress and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Now they live in Chongqing after retirement.
Before Wang Mingzhang set out on the expedition, he told his family that in the future, they should "treat their children well, save their annual salary, reserve funds for supporting their families and children's education, and build public welfare undertakings." ”
He made a determination to "swear to die to serve the country", but he did not think that this would really never return.
At the time of his martyrdom, his children were less than one year old and the oldest was only 13 years old. Zhou Huayu and Ye Yahua, who raised the orphans, decided to follow Wang Mingzhang's last wish and donated 613.6 mu of land property, 859.63 stone of rent and 12,000 silver yuan of pension to establish a private Mingzhang Middle School. This school later developed into Xindu No. 1 Middle School.
After the heroic death of General Wang Mingzhang, he was highly praised by all walks of life throughout the country. The Nationalist army posthumously made him a general. Jiang Gong wrote down the words "Tarzan of Death" and gave it to his family, sending 20,000 yuan in funeral expenses and wrapping it in a high-quality coffin. General Li Zongren personally supported the soul and held grand memorial activities in various places along the route.
Later, the younger son recalled that after General Wang Mingzhang's body returned to his hometown of Xindu, there was a transparent box behind the coffin. Inside the box was a wooden man who died wearing a general's uniform with seven bloodstained bullet holes in his body.
summary
As the years passed, Tengxian had long changed, and the faces left behind by those wars were all covered, and no traces of war could be seen, but the people of Tengxian County did not forget Wang Mingzhang and the Sichuan army. Dawu Town has a bronze statue of Wang Mingzhang, and a Tengxian Defense War Exhibition Hall has also been built.
The exhibition hall uses oil paintings to show the battle scenes of the Sichuan army vowing to defend Tengxian to the death, and one precious cultural relic after another tells touching stories. After Wang Mingzhang was killed in the defense of Tengxian County, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, personally inscribed the link, and Chiang Kai-shek personally inscribed 3 plaques, which shows how important he played in this war.
Taierzhuang Dajie was another major victory for the Chinese army after the Pingxingguan Dajie. This great and tragic war centered on Taierzhuang took place in the vast Lunan region. In more than a month, nearly 30,000 enemy troops were annihilated, a great achievement in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the rise of the majesty of the Chinese nation.
The 14-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was the first complete victory of the Chinese people's anti-imperialist war in more than 100 years. During the 14 years of the War of Resistance, the Chinese people made great contributions to the victory of World War II, and at the same time paid great national sacrifices.
The general has been dead for decades, but this heroic story will live on forever, and the meaning he represents is close to us, inspiring us to think about how to make the right choices on the path of life. Now and in the future, in Tengzhou and Chengdu, countless younger generations will be infected by the patriotic spirit of General Wang Mingzhang.
We will continue to write about our time of prosperity, which our ancestors could not see, but would be proud of. In this prosperous era, we also have a heart to love the motherland, but unlike in the past, China is no longer at the mercy of others.
