He was the second senior general of the Sichuan army who died on the anti-Japanese front, and held Tengxian County for 108 hours with the strength of the first division, delaying the process of the Japanese army moving south, and finally almost all the troops of the first division were killed. After the war, General Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater of Operations, spoke highly of it: "If there was no hard defense of Teng County, how could there be a great victory in Taierzhuang? The results of the battle of Taierzhuang were caused by the martyrs of Shiteng County!" He is General Wang Mingzhang, a famous general of the Sichuan Army, and this article will take a look at the deeds of General Wang Mingzhang with you.
Wang Mingzhang is a native of Chengdu, Sichuan, born in 1893, participated in the Sichuan Road Protection Movement in 1911, graduated from the third infantry section of the Sichuan Army Military Academy in 1914, and was assigned to the Sichuan Army Liu Cunhou Department as a platoon commander.
Wang Mingzhang
Like many generals of the Sichuan Army, Wang Mingzhang also participated in the civil war in the history of the Sichuan Army, and in the process his position was constantly rising, in 1924 he was promoted to colonel and brigade commander, and was soon awarded the rank of major general; in 1926, he was promoted to the commander of the Fourth Division of the 29th Army of the National Revolutionary Army; in September 1931, he was promoted to lieutenant general; in October 1935, the 29th Army was reorganized into the 41st Army, with Sun Zhen as the commander, and Wang Mingzhang was the commander of the 22nd Division, and was awarded the rank of major general.
In 1937, after the July Seven Incident, the whole country set off a wave of resistance against Japan, and the patriotic generals of the Sichuan Army asked for the War of Resistance one after another. On September 12, 1937, he generously swore to the Deyang garrison, saying that he would use his blood to serve the country with concrete actions to atone for his 20 years of participation in the civil war and endangering the people. Then, he returned to his hometown in Xindu, left a will for his family, bid farewell to his father and fellow villagers, and led the Sichuan army north. At that time, the various units of the Sichuan Army were organized into the Second Route Reserve Army, with two columns under its jurisdiction, and the 41st Army, the 45th Army, and the 47th Army where Wang Mingzhang was located were organized into the first column (later renamed the 22nd Group Army, and the commander-in-chief was Deng Xihou), and went to the anti-Japanese front line through the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway.
Wang Mingzhang
In the first battle, they came to Shanxi, because they were not familiar with the terrain and the situation of the Japanese army was not clear, they encountered the Japanese army in Donghui Village, they fought to the death with the well-equipped Japanese army with simple equipment, and fought fiercely for a day, with nearly 2,000 casualties.
At the beginning of 1938, the Battle of Xuzhou broke out between China and Japan, and Wang Mingzhang's department was transferred to Tengxian County to hold Tengxian County. Beginning on March 14, the 10th Division of the Japanese Army launched a full-line attack on the front-line positions of the 45th Army on the periphery of Tengxian County under the cover of aviation. Fighting to the 18th, the Sichuan army has little left, Wang Mingzhang personally went to the crossroads in the center of the city to command the battle, unfortunately in the battle was shot several times, died on the spot, martyred. At the same time, Zhao Weibin, chief of staff, and Zou Shaomeng, chief of staff of the 124th Division, were martyred. After the death of General Wang Mingzhang, the officers and soldiers defending the city continued to fight with the Japanese army, except for a few breakthroughs, the rest spilled the last drop of blood.
In the Battle of Tengxian County, Wang Mingzhang delayed the attack of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army with almost all the sacrifices of the 122nd Division, creating favorable conditions for the subsequent victory of Taierzhuang. After the war, General Li Zongren, commander of the Battle of Xuzhou and commander of the Fifth Theater, spoke highly of it: "If it were not for the hard work of Teng County, how could there have been a great victory in Taierzhuang?
Sun Zhen, commander-in-chief of the 22nd Group Army, wrote with tears in his eyes in his detailed report after the war: "Our group army resisted the highly mechanized enemy with absolutely inferior equipment, and blocked the enemy's advance on terrain that was extremely unfavorable for defense, for three days and nights. Bullets are exhausted, followed by white blades, followed by fists, followed by teeth, and finally followed by blood and heads...... Even if the sacrifice is exhausted, we do not care about it! Our army's fighting spirit is strong, its orders are carried out thoroughly, and the officers and men regard death as if they were at home. And the fierceness of death and the loyalty of serving the country, although it is glorious with the sun and the moon!
On August 30, 1938, Wang Mingzhang's coffin was transported back to his hometown in Xindu County. On the 31st, Sun Zhen, commander-in-chief of the 22nd Group Army, presided over the ceremony by the public memorial of all walks of life in Xindu. More than 100,000 mourners and people watched the ceremony, and they were extremely mournful. The Nationalist Government spoke highly of General Wang Mingzhang's courageous resistance and posthumously awarded him the title of Army General. Chiang Kai-shek wrote an inscription for him: "The nation is glorious, the martyrdom is greater than Juyang, and the death is heavy on Mount Tai", and Chairman Mao inscribed the elegy couplet: "Fighting to defend the lonely city, treating death as home, is the true character of a revolutionary soldier; determined to annihilate the enemy, martyrdom the country, and add glory to the Chinese nation."
On September 1, 1984, the Sichuan Provincial People's Government posthumously recognized Wang Mingzhang as a revolutionary martyr. In September 2014, General Wang Mingzhang was included in the first batch of famous anti-Japanese martyrs and heroes.