As a high-ranking general of the National Revolutionary Army, Zhang Lingfu can be said to be very famous, he led an army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and killed the Japanese on their backs.
This army was later called the "Anti-Japanese Iron Army" of the Kuomintang 74th Division, which was reorganized from the original 74th Army, and this army was also the trump card of the Kuomintang at that time, and the number of troops reached more than 30,000 during the Liberation War, which can be described as "the first division in the world".
However, the reason why Zhang Lingfu became famous was not because he fought during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, although everyone had heard of the 74th Division, but the understanding of this general probably had to be pushed back to after the Liberation War.
Due to the fierce fighting in the Battle of Menglianggu, Zhang Lingfu finally died on this battlefield, and after his death was courteous by Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang built a tombstone for him, Zhang Lingfu also became famous and became the talk of later generations.
The exchange of fire on the battlefield of Meng Lianggu
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the domestic situation changed drastically, and although there had been several previous cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the discord between the two had to resort to war after all.
Although everyone used to be comrades-in-arms of the anti-Japanese united front, but at this moment, there is no emotion to talk about, Zhang Lingfu is a soldier after all, obeying the command of his superiors is his job, and in the end, the 74th Division of the Kuomintang led by Zhang Lingfu and our army launched a fierce firefight, which is also the last battlefield of Zhang Lingfu's life.
According to the instructions of the Central Group, the East China Field Army of the People's Liberation Army, under the leadership of two generals, Chen Yi and Su Yu, came to the Menglianggu area of Mengyin County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, and had a head-on conflict with the 74th Division.
However, the gap in combat strength between the two sides is very huge, the PLA has no good equipment from beginning to end, even during the Korean War, it still has to pick up the enemy's weapons and generals, compared with it, the 74th Division can be described as well-equipped.
The 74th Division is equipped with a lot of new equipment from the United States, and there are also a lot of large-caliber batteries.
Seeing this situation, Zhang Lingfu at that time was also full of confidence, he despised the People's Liberation Army a little, thinking that victory was already in the bag, which was manifested on the battlefield that he became very anxious, he first obeyed the orders of the Nationalist Government, mobilized a large number of troops, and took a surprise attack on northern Shaanxi and Guangdong, striving to take these two important military places in one fell swoop.
On the battlefield, the 74th Division led by Zhang Lingfu can be said to be very difficult, he clung to the People's Liberation Army tightly, and even once reached the point of being alone in the depths, which is enough to see how much Zhang Lingfu despises the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army.
But of course, these mistakes made by Zhang Lingfu were also seen by the generals of our army, and there are also many brave and good commanders in the People's Liberation Army, and Chen Yi and Su Yu quickly saw this opportunity.
The 74th Division was completely annihilated
After seeing through the shortcomings of the 74th Division, the People's Liberation Army quietly surrounded the 74th Division, and after this situation became a foregone conclusion, the Kuomintang finally sent the 25th Division, the 65th Division and other troops to rush to reinforcements, but these reinforcements were also blocked by several other columns of our army.
After three days of hard fighting, the 74th Division, which was at the end of the road, was finally wiped out, and after the end of the war, Su Yu and others, who had experienced a hundred battles, also felt palpitations.
Because Zhang Lingfu never refused to surrender, he himself was killed on the battlefield and turned into the dust of history together with the reorganized 74th Division.
After the news came out, it caused a great shock in the society for a while, Chiang Kai-shek personally built a tombstone for Zhang Lingfu, because of the Menglianggu battle that was recorded in history, coupled with Chiang Kai-shek's series of behaviors, Zhang Lingfu immediately became a famous general, even today, because of his contribution to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression by many people.
Although Zhang Lingfu's death is somewhat regrettable, as a soldier, dying on the battlefield is a fate after all. And just after the victory in the Battle of Menglianggu, our army also began to clean up the battlefield.
After all, it was a proletarian soldier who also picked up the armaments of the "United Nations Army" during the Korean War, and our army was overjoyed to see a series of foreign guns and cannons left behind by the Nationalist Army, but after the inventory was completed, everyone found that there were only more than 10,000 guns in the armaments left behind by the 74th Division.
However, the number of national troops who died on this battlefield was more than 30,000, which was simply reduced by two-thirds. This situation is naturally strange, and it is impossible for more than half of the enemy to be unarmed with guns.
The equipment of the national army is obviously so sophisticated, and many of the shells are high-end goods provided by the US military, so what is the reason why the national army in the Menglianggu battle is equipped with such scarce guns?
Where are the guns
In fact, it is true that not all soldiers will be equipped with guns on the battlefield, after all, not all soldiers need to go to the front line, and there are also some types of troops that do not engage in combat in war, such as medical soldiers are a typical example.
On the battlefield, there are also commanders, telephone operators, and other types of troops, and combat logistics is an important part of a unit; although the 74 th Division's gun-matching situation is a little extreme, basically the number of gun-equipped units in all units is less than one-half.
Although those logistics personnel were not equipped with guns, they also played a pivotal role during the war, and many logistics arms occupied a vital position in the troops.
For example, the commander is like the mind of a unit, if the commander is lost, the unit will be briefly in a situation of chaos, for their own safety, these non-combat arms are often hiding in the rear of the safety zone, boosting the morale of the troops, and therefore do not need to be directly equipped with guns.
In fact, the number of guns owned by the People's Liberation Army is at a very low level, but this is entirely due to the lack of military spending, and the national army naturally does not have such a problem.
As for the extreme situation of the 74th Division, in fact, there were quite a few causes: First, because of Zhang Lingfu's eagerness for quick success, the armament of the troops was not very perfect; second, because on the battlefield, the firearms were also inevitably subject to a certain amount of wear and tear, and they may have been left behind in some positions far from the final battlefield.
It is precisely for these reasons that we finally captured more than 10,000 guns, and as for these guns and ammunition, they later became part of our army's firepower as always, filling the shortcomings of our army to a certain extent.
Due to the Kuomintang's obstinate obstinacy, they were eventually spurned by the people, and the balance of history tilted in our favor, perhaps in other words, these guns left by Zhang Lingfu also became a major help on the road to liberating the whole country in his place.
Brief summary:
Although Zhang Lingfu's death is somewhat regrettable, after all, the path he chose is contrary to the will of the people, and it is understandable that such a result will occur. Regarding the great contributions made by Zhang Lingfu during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he naturally deserves our respect.
However, in addition to this, we should not overdo it, and we should also face up to the mistakes made by this meticulous soldier, after all, under the leadership of the party and the government, our society has finally ushered in earth-shaking changes.
Having said that, no one is perfect, and on the road of seeking the truth, we will inevitably take some crooked paths, but there is a way to know that mistakes can improve greatly, and it is not terrible to take the wrong path, as long as we dare to admit and correct our mistakes, even former enemies can also be turned into friends and become our solid backing.
This is true of military and political affairs, and it is also true of our lives, in which we will inevitably make some mistakes, but as long as we do not become obsessed, we will eventually find the door to the truth.