Feng Bingru/text
Upper right: Army Commander Song Zheyuan; upper left: Beiping Mayor Qin Dechun; lower right: Xu Tingzhen; lower left: Commander Liu Zizhen; middle: Feng Zhi'an, resolutely resistant
On July 7, 1937, during the July 7 Incident, my father, Feng Zhi'an, served as the commander of the 37th Division of the 29th Army, the chairman of the Hebei Provincial Government, and the commander of the Beiping Garrison.
In order to get rid of the entanglement of the Japanese army, Commander Song Zheyuan returned to his hometown in Leling, Shandong Province on May 11 to repair the ancestral tomb. Before leaving Beiping, he made Feng Zhi'an the commander of the army, and diplomatic power was handed over to Qin Dechun, deputy commander and mayor of Beiping (Song returned to Tianjin on July 11 and Beiping on July 19).
Lugou Bridge and Wanping City were garrison areas that Feng Zhi'an attached special importance to, and stationed here were the 37th Division's 110th Brigade (Brigade Commander He Jifeng), 219th Regiment (Regiment Commander Ji Xingwen), and the 3rd Battalion (Battalion Commander Jin Zhenzhong).
After 1936, the Japanese army often provoked the 29th Army, and Feng Zhi'an strictly ordered his subordinates to "retaliate with a tooth for a tooth". In order to show off their strength, the Japanese army constantly lined up for exercises, and Feng Zhi'an fought-for-tat, and every time the Japanese army exercised the next day, the troops were also ordered to conduct military exercises on the same place.
On the morning of 7 July, the Japanese army went to the north side of the Lugou Bridge to conduct exercises, and the momentum was violent. Brigade Commander He Jifeng immediately called Feng Zhi'an in the Hebei Provincial Government in Baoding to report the situation, and Feng Zhi'an rushed back to Beiping when he heard the news, summoned He Jifeng, Ji Xingwen and others to arrange contingency measures, and issued an order to resolutely resist by force: "Lugou Bridge is the throat of Pingjin and the key to North China, and it is of the utmost importance, so we must hold on to it, not allow a single soldier of the Japanese army to enter, and not allow us to give up an inch of our country.
Feng Zhi'an's anti-Japanese attitude was the most resolute
Feng Zhi'an believes: In 1933, in the Battle of Xifengkou, we had a contest with the Japanese army, and at that time our equipment was poor, and we were still able to defeat the Japanese army, and now our army's equipment is many times better than that time, and we are fully qualified to fight with the Japanese army. Since the start of the battle, he has been at the command headquarters, and has inspected the front line, directly listened to the reports of He Jifeng and Ji Xingwen, and gave face-to-face lectures. Everywhere he went, he repeated one word – type.
In the face of the frenzied aggression of the Japanese army, the officers and men of the 29th Army resolutely fought back and fought to the death against the enemy in various battlefields. The Japanese army suffered serious casualties, and our army also paid a heavy price, especially when Nanyuan retreated, the deputy army commander Tong Linge and the commander of the 132nd Division Zhao Dengyu were martyred. When the bad news came, Song Zheyuan and Feng Zhi'an both cried bitterly, and the sacrifice of their comrades-in-arms strengthened their determination to fight the Japanese army to the end.
Feng Zhi'an's resolute resistance to the Japanese invaders made the Japanese army grit their teeth and hate it. They called Feng a "diehard" and an "anti-Japanese murderer." In the "History of Army Operations in the China Incident" published in Japan, it was written: "The main target of the operation was the 37th Division of Feng Zhi'an, which had the strongest anti-Japanese consciousness of the 29th Army......" and "the following strong measures were taken...... Those responsible for punishment include the removal of Feng Zhi'an ......"
The picture above is Qin Dechun, Feng Zhi'an and other review troops. The first person from the right in the front row wearing a white helmet is Qin Dechun, and the second person is Feng Zhi'an
On the second day of the July 7 Incident, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a telegram to the whole country: "...... Compatriots from all over China: We should praise and support the heroic resistance of Feng's Ministry of Public Security, and we should praise and support the declaration of the North China authorities coexisting with the homeland! We demand that General Song Zheyuan immediately mobilize all the 29th Army and go to the front line to meet the battle......"
On July 28, the 29th Army was ordered to withdraw from Beiping. At the end of 1937, the Battle of Xuzhou began, and Feng Zhi'an's 77th Army was ordered to garrison on the north bank of the Huai River to intercept the enemy heading north from the Jinpu Line, and cooperated with the smooth progress of the Battle of Taierzhuang. After the great victory in this battle, Feng Zhi'an was promoted to the commander of the 19th Army Corps and was awarded the "Third-Class Cloud Commander Medal" and the "Sea, Land and Air First-Class Medal".
Since 1938, Feng Zhi'an has participated in the Battle of Wuhan, the Battle of Suizao, and the Battle of Zaoyi. In May 1940, General Zhang Zizhong, commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army, was martyred in Pumpkin Shop, Yicheng County, and Feng Zhi'an was promoted from deputy commander-in-chief to commander-in-chief. He lived up to the trust of General Zhang's message before the war, "In the future, my brother will be responsible for both public and private affairs", and commanded the whole army to resist the war to the end. Due to his outstanding military achievements in western Hubei, Feng was once again awarded the "Order of Baoding of the Second Class" and the "Order of Yunlu of the First Class".
In 1943, Feng Zhi'an led his troops to participate in the Battle of Changde, and in 1945, he participated in the battles of Western Henan and Northern Henan. After Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945, he was awarded the "American Medal of Freedom", "Medal of Loyalty" and "Medal of Victory" for his outstanding service in the War of Resistance against Japan.
The most memorable thing about my father's life is that at the critical moment when the Chinese nation suffered from Japanese aggression, he stepped forward and fulfilled his duty as a patriotic soldier and led the troops to resist the war to the end. The honor of winning eight medals in the War of Resistance against Japan is his glory and the achievements of the anti-Japanese soldiers, and the blood of the martyrs is also condensed on the medals.
Selected from "Selected Cultural and Historical Materials of Beijing (Fengtai Volume)"