Zhang Zhizhong 【1890~1969】
The original name was Ben Yao, and the words were white. A native of Chao County, Anhui Province, a famous patriotic general, a backbone general of the Huangpu Department, and a former second-class general of the Kuomintang Army. In January 1932, he concurrently served as the commander of the 5th Army and led his troops to participate in the "January 28" Battle in Shanghai, which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army. After the outbreak of the National War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1937, he served as the commander-in-chief of the 9th Group Army and the commander-in-chief of the Left Wing Army, participated in the "August 13" Songhu Battle in Shanghai, and replaced He Jian as the chairman of Hunan Province. In April 1949, he served as the chief representative of the Kuomintang government's peace negotiation delegation, and in September he participated in the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the founding ceremony of the country, and contributed to the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as vice chairman of the Northwest Military and Political Commission, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission of the People's Republic of China, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. He died in Beijing on April 6, 1969.
In the January 28th Shanghai Anti-Japanese War in 1932, Zhang Zhizhong led the 5th Army of the Kuomintang and the 19th Route Army to resist the enemy. After a lapse of five years, after the August 13 Incident in 1937, after the Battle of Songhu, Zhang Zhizhong led the 9th Army to participate in the war. Although the two times against the Japanese army in Shanghai were tragic, they both showed the heroism and fearlessness of the Chinese army and the indomitable spirit of the Chinese.
On January 28, the Shanghai Anti-Japanese War took the initiative to ask for help
In September 1931, Japanese militarists created the September 18 Incident and invaded and occupied Northeast China. In 1932, the Japanese Kwantung Army provoked an incident in Shanghai under the cover of a conspiracy to concoct a puppet government of the puppet government of "Manchukuo". On 18 January, under the conspiracy and planning of Takayoshi Tanaka, the military attache of the Japanese Army stationed in Shanghai, and the Japanese spy Yoshiko Kawashima, a Japanese monk was beaten at the gate of the Shanghai Sanyou Industrial Company in Yinxianggang (now Shuangyang Road) in Shanghai. On the 19th, the Japanese Consul General in Shanghai, Murai Kuramatsu, lodged a serious protest with the Shanghai Municipal Government and threatened to dispatch Japanese marines to deal with emergencies. In the early morning of the 20th, a group of Japanese ronins burned down the Shanghai Sanyou Industrial Society, and killed and injured the Chinese arresters in the public concession who came to stop them. On the 26th, the Japanese Government sent additional warships such as the aircraft carrier Notoro to Shanghai. On the same day, the Japanese Consul General in Shanghai issued an ultimatum to the Shanghai Municipal Government, demanding that a satisfactory reply must be given by 6 p.m. on the 28th, otherwise the Japanese Navy would move freely. At midnight on the 28th, more than 4,000 Japanese troops opened the road with armored vehicles and attacked Zhabei Tiantongan Road, Qiujiang Road, Hengbang Bridge and other places. The 19th Route Army stationed in these areas fought back, and the curtain of the anti-Japanese war in Shanghai on January 28 was tragically opened.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek, who had retired from his post and went into the wilderness, was quite surprised to learn of the governor's incident, and he also recorded in his diary: "I heard that yesterday's request for the Japanese consul in Shanghai had been recognized, and he had fulfilled it, and said that he would withdraw his troops in the evening, and there would be another conflict at midnight." At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek judged that "the Japanese will want to invade our southeast again, and I can only fight to the death with them." From this point of view, Chiang Kai-shek was also very worried about the situation in Shanghai. So in early February, Chiang Kai-shek met with my grandfather, Zhang Zhizhong, in Pukou.
My grandfather asked Chiang Kai-shek for war: "Our central troops must participate in the battle of Songhu, and if there is no one else to go to now, I am willing to go." ”
Chiang Kai-shek replied: "Very good. ”
Chiang Kai-shek immediately asked He Yingqin to mobilize the 87th Division, the 88th Division, and the Central Teaching Corps scattered in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, and combine them into the Fifth Army, and appointed my grandfather as the commander of the 5th Army and the commander of the 87th Division, and led his troops to open Shanghai to participate in the war.
After the 19th day of the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, my grandfather led the troops to the battlefield of resistance against Japan. At this time, my father Zhang Yichun was only two months old, and my grandfather said goodbye to his infant child and his wife, who had just finished confinement, and "decided to die on the battlefield and went to the front line of resistance against Japan with the determination to die." My grandfather also said: "Because this is a national war against rape, and it is also the first time in my life that I have fought a foreign war, I will fight to the death to defend my motherland." I know that a revolutionary soldier must first have the spirit of sacrifice, and the spirit of sacrifice must first start with a senior general. This sacrifice is deserved, and survival is an accident. Before leaving, my grandfather wrote a suicide note and handed it to his close friend Lu Futing.
Since February 18, my grandfather led the Fifth Army into Liuhang Town, taking over part of the defense of the 19th Route Army, and the Japanese army launched a full-front offensive at Wusong, Jiangwan, and Zhabei, and the Chinese army fought back fiercely for days. By the end of the month, the Chinese army held the defensive line. The Japanese army failed to succeed in the attack for a long time, and increased its troops again and changed its commander. On 23 February, the Japanese side decided to reorganize the Shanghai Dispatch Army, with Senior General Shirakawa Yoshinori as the commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and led the 11th and 14th Divisions to Shanghai. On February 28, Shirakawa Yoshinori led 40,000 reinforcements to Shanghai, and the total number of Japanese troops invested in Shanghai was nearly 80,000, almost twice that of the Chinese army, and its equipment was far superior to that of the Chinese army. On March 1, the Japanese army dispatched 20 warships, more than 80 aircraft, and more than 10,000 infantry to attack Yanglinkou on the Liuhe River, which was flanked by the Chinese defenders, and successfully landed. After more than a month of hard fighting, no follow-up support, and the flanks were attacked, the national army retreated from Wusong, Jiangwan, Dachang, Miaohang, Zhabei, and Zhenru on all fronts, and retreated to the second line of defense in the areas of Jiading, Huangdu, and Taicang. On March 3, the League of Nations resolved to call for an armistice between China and Japan. On the 4th, the Japanese army attacked Jiading, Taicang, and Huangdu, but was repulsed by the Chinese army. On the 6th, the 19th Route Army was electrified to comply with the resolution of the League of Nations to cease fighting. The Japanese side also announced an armistice because of its lack of preparations for launching a full-scale war of aggression against China. The military operations of the 28 January War of Resistance ceased at this point.
On April 29, the commander of the Japanese invasion of China, Shirakawa Yoshinori, was injured by a Korean soldier in Hongkou Park and died on May 26. On May 5, the Shanghai Armistice Agreement was signed. The Anti-Japanese War in Shanghai came to an end on January 28. In this campaign, the 19th Route Army and the 5th Army fought bloody battles with the support of the people, experienced dozens of battles large and small, and everyone regarded death as home, bravely killed the enemy, and their heroic and heroic deeds were enough to shock the world and cry ghosts and gods. My grandfather also went into battle in person, did not avoid the rain of bullets, and commanded the vast number of officers and soldiers to fight bloody battles in Miaohang, Liuhe, Gelong Town and other places, and repeatedly defeated strong enemies. Especially in the battle of Miaoxing, because my grandfather commanded properly and "personally led the teaching corps to the 88th Division to command and respond", as a result, the elite of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army and the Kurume mixed brigade were annihilated, and the corpses of the enemy were piled up like a mountain between Miaohang and Jiangwan, amounting to as many as three or four thousand. Chinese and foreign newspapers also unanimously agreed that this battle was the highest peak of our army's achievements in the Shanghai War.
During the Songhu War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese army repeatedly defeated strong enemies and forced the Japanese army to change commanders three times, which was the heaviest blow since the September 18 Incident in the invasion of China. The heroic performance of the Chinese army has left a deep impression on Westerners and the international community.
August 1 three on the Songhu battlefield
In February 1936, in order to prepare for the war against Japan, the Nanjing Nationalist Government planned several national defense zones across the country, and my grandfather was ordered to concurrently serve as the chief of the Beijing-Shanghai region. A secret agency was set up in Suzhou to carry out the investigation of national defense projects and the organization and training of the people's militia. Groups of professionals were dispatched to the Qiancheng area of Songhu to survey and draw maps on the spot to reconnoiter the deployment of Japanese invaders in Shanghai.
In July 1937, while attacking Pingjin on a large scale, the Japanese army gathered troops in Shanghai, and the war was on the verge of breaking out. Before the 77 Incident, my grandfather was recuperating in Qingdao, and when he heard about the battle at Lugou Bridge, he refused the doctor's advice the next day and returned to Nanjing to accept the post of commander of the Beijing-Shanghai garrison. On August 1, in the name of the commander of the Beijing-Shanghai garrison, my grandfather issued the "Letter to the Soldiers of Songhu", which was abbreviated: Since the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese army has trampled on China's sovereignty, occupied the mainland, poisoned our compatriots, and acted unscrupulously and unscrupulously. The blood stains of 918 have not dried, the massacre of January 28 has stopped, the battle of the Great Wall has stopped, and the changes of Chasui have been whirled. The re-driving division provoked, disturbed our Pingjin, tried to occupy Jicha, and then invaded our Central Plains. The Chinese nation endured humiliation with dirt and humiliation, suffered great pain, and suffered almost all day long. To this day, there is no way to survive the country and the nation without the War of Resistance. The flames of all-round response to the war are burning, and the good opportunity to sacrifice one's life to serve the country has come! With the determination of "I will die and the country will live", this commander will devote himself to the sacred war of resistance that will surely win the final victory with all the robes of the whole robe, sharpen their mustaches, hone their mustaches, share the same hatred of the enemy, and never turn back!
"This time in the war of resistance against Japan in Songhu, we must strive to be the first to make a move." This is a point that my grandfather used to talk about. On July 30, my grandfather also solemnly submitted this opinion to the Nanjing government. The Nanking government replied and agreed: "I should strike first, but the timing should wait for the order."
On 9 August, Japanese Marine Corps Lieutenant Yuo Oyama led a sailor to forcibly break into Shanghai's Hongqiao Military Airport by car and cross the cordon. The Chinese defenders ordered him to stop, but they ignored him and shot and killed one of the Chinese defenders. The Chinese defenders returned fire, killing both men. Under the pretext of "deteriorating the situation," the Japanese side gathered more than 30 warships in the ports below the mouth of the Liuhe River in the lower reaches of the Huangpu River and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and dispatched more than 3,000 marines to land. At the same time, it also unreasonably demanded that the Chinese side withdraw its security forces and dismantle the fortifications.
War is imminent. Grandpa ordered all units in Shanghai to prepare for battle, and he personally led the 87th and 88th divisions from Suzhou and Wuxi to Shanghai at midnight on the 11th. On 12 August, the Nanjing Command ordered the formation of the Ninth Army with seven divisions, including the 87th, 88th, 36th, 56th, 61st, 98th, and 11th, with Grandpa as the commander-in-chief of the Ninth Army, responsible for the left flank position of the Songhu Battlefield; In addition, the 55th and 57th Divisions, the 20th and 45th Brigades, and the 2nd Artillery Brigade formed the 8th Group Army, with Zhang Fakui as the commander-in-chief of the group army, responsible for the right flank position.
At that time, the preparations for the grandfather's attack were ready, and he was ready to attack the Japanese position at dawn on the 13th, annihilate its main force, and control Shanghai. However, he received an order from the Nanjing Command to "not attack". It turned out that Chiang Kai-shek still had illusions about international mediation, and he missed the opportunity. On the afternoon of the 13th, after the Japanese army calmly deployed, relying on the concession, launched a fierce attack on Zhabei, and our army rose up to resist. On the 14th, the enemy and us suffered heavy casualties in the repeated battles for Hujiang University, Bazi Bridge, Zhizhi University and other strongholds and the enemy's naval headquarters, and more than 1,000 people under our brigade commander Huang Meixing sacrificed their lives for the country. However, there was a lot of progress in the divisions, and the battle situation was in our favor. At this time, he received a secret order from Chiang Kai-shek: "Don't attack tonight, wait for another order." At dawn on the 17th, my grandfather once again gave the order to attack on the whole front, and personally went to the front line of artillery fire to supervise the battle. Just as the offensive was developing smoothly, Chiang Kai-shek received the third order to "stop the attack". These three armistice orders seriously dampened the morale of the army and gave the Japanese army a chance to replenish reinforcements. From the late night of the 22nd, 14 infantry brigades of the Japanese army landed at Chuanshakou and Wusongkou respectively, and the situation was grim. If the Japanese army copied to their flanks and rear, forming an encirclement situation, the consequences would be unimaginable. Grandpa is determined to go to the front line to command and save the situation. On the 23rd and 24th, he braved the enemy's heavy artillery fire, ran around day and night, and commanded the battle. Since the beginning of the war, he has not closed his eyes for several days and nights, and his body is so weak that he needs help to walk, but he still cannot get out of the line of fire, and finally the war situation can be stabilized. However, Chiang Kai-shek, who could not find anyone when he called the headquarters of the 9th Army, reprimanded him and assigned the main forces under his command to someone else. He was forced to resign and leave Shanghai with grief.
After leaving Shanghai, on November 4, the Japanese army landed in Hangzhou Bay, leaving the Chinese army flanked. Chiang Kai-shek hastily ordered a retreat on November 12, Shanghai fell, and the three-month August 13 Shanghai War of Resistance ended in failure. However, Grandpa's contribution to this battle and his exploits will forever be recorded in history.