Shen Shuming, Wang Zhaozhi, Qiu Liting, Tang Zhenhai
One
In the spring of 1934, Zhang Xueliang took up the post of deputy commander-in-chief of the "suppression of bandits" in the three provinces of Henan, Hubei and Anhui, participated in Chiang Kai-shek's anti-people civil war, and transferred He Zhuguo's 57th Army and other units to the Henan-Hubei-Anhui border region. Soon after, Dong Yingbin's 111th Division and Yang Zhengzhi's 108th Division were transferred south. In the autumn of 1935, the Northeast Cavalry was formed into a cavalry corps, with He Zhuguo as the commander, and the commander of the 57th Army was deputized by Dong Yingbin, the commander of the 11th Division of Zhang Xueliang (still the commander of the division).
The 109th Division was nominally represented by He Zhuguo, but in fact it was represented by Chief of Staff Wang Zhaozhi. In the summer of 1934, after the division was sent to Fangdi, Zhang Xueliang immediately appointed Niu Yuanfeng as the division commander. About a month later, Zhang Xueliang sent Wang Zhaozhi as the commander of the 625th Regiment of this division. Zhang Xueliang believes that Wang Zhaozhi is a student of the fifth phase of the Northeast Lecture and Wutang, and Niu Yuanfeng is the captain of the fifth phase of the Northeast Lecture and Martial Arts Hall, and the relationship between teachers and students must be harmonious. But after Niu Yuanfeng received the telegram order, he immediately went to Wuchang and said to Zhang Xueliang: "Whoever is the head of the regiment can do it, but he doesn't agree with Wang Zhaozhi." Niu was Zhang's confidant, and Zhang then transferred Wang Zhaozhi to the chief of staff of the 111th Division. It is said that Niu Yuanfeng brought a large number of private individuals from the baggage team and wanted to make the 109th Division into the world of the Niu family, but Wang Zhaozhi opposed it, so the two had a bad relationship.
In April 1935, in order to prevent the Red Army from going north to resist Japan, Chiang Kai-shek established the "Northwest Suppression Headquarters" in Xi'an, and still appointed Zhang Xueliang as the deputy commander-in-chief. So the cavalry corps and the sixty-seventh army were successively driven to the northwest. At the same time, the units of the 57th Army also moved to the northwest. When the military headquarters of the 57th Army, the 111th Division, and the 108th Division went to Huayin to assemble on the train, Zhang Xueliang personally spoke to all the officers and commanders, explaining that the task of the 57th Army was to cross the Wei River in the north, follow the line of Dali, Taiyang, Yichuan, and Yanchang to the north, and reach Yulin to echo the 67th Army on the west side, so as not to enable the Red Army in northern Shaanxi to gain a firm foothold. This task had not yet been carried out, and it had been discovered that the Central Red Army had attempted to cross the Sealand Highway between Lanzhou and Pingliang to join forces in northern Shaanxi. So Zhang Xueliang ordered the 57th Army to advance from Xi'an along the Sealand Highway to Pingliang. By the time the 57th Army arrived in Pingliang, the Red Army had broken through the Sealand Highway to northern Shaanxi, and Zhang ordered the 57th Army to advance towards Qingyang and Heshui.
At that time, the 57th Army was organized as follows:
Dong Yingbin, acting commander of the 57th Army, and Pu Datong, chief of staff;
Niu Yuanfeng, commander of the 109th Division, Liu Deyu, chief of staff, Ma Zhenyi, commander of the 625th Regiment, Shi Shi'an, commander of the 626th Regiment, and Zheng Weifan, commander of the 627th Regiment;
Dong Yingbin, commander of the 111th Division, Wang Zhaozhi, chief of staff, Liu Qiwen, commander of the 631st Regiment, Yu Yifan, commander of the 632nd Regiment, and Chang Enduo, commander of the 633rd Regiment;
Jiang Weiren, commander of the 108th Division, Wang Dianhe, chief of staff, Tang Zhenhai, commander of the 622nd Regiment, Xia Shuxun, commander of the 623rd Regiment, and Liu Zongyan, commander of the 624th Regiment;
The names of Shen Ke, commander of the 106th Division, chief of staff, commander of the 616th Regiment, commander of the 617th Regiment, and commander of the 618th Regiment were forgotten;
Chang Jingwu, commander of the 120th Division, Zhang Yanling, chief of staff, Fan Yushu, commander of the 656th Regiment, Ma Baizhen, commander of the 657th Regiment, and Qiu Liting, commander of the 658th Regiment.
After the 57th Army moved to the northwest, it transferred the 115th Division, which originally belonged to the 115th Division, to Shangnan and placed it under the direct command of the General Headquarters, and the 3rd Cavalry Division was transferred to the Cavalry Corps, and the 108th Division was added, temporarily assigned to the 106th Division, with a total strength of five divisions and about 40,000 men. Except for the 106th Division, all of them belonged to Zhang Xueliang's direct lineage, and it can be said that they were well-equipped (each division had three regiments, and the division headquarters had five companies of communications, cavalry, artillery, and baggage; the regiment had three battalions, and the regimental headquarters had a mortar company, a flat-fire artillery company, and a communications platoon, and the battalion had three rifle companies and one heavy machine gun company, and the company had three platoons, and each platoon had three light machine guns).
The internal relations of the 57 th Army were also very complicated, and although Dong Yingbin, the acting commander of the army, was a native of Northeast China (Shenyang), he could not be said to be a descendant of Zhang Xueliang because he started in the Nationalist Third Army and was promoted to brigade commander. When the contemporary army commander was announced, Zhang Tingshu, commander of the 112th Division, resigned in anger. It is precisely because Dong has been in the Northwest Army for many years that he has developed a cautious and cautious style and lacks the ability to control several division commanders, resulting in a perfunctory situation. Jiang Weiren, the commander of the 108th Division, was originally from Lujiang, Anhui Province, and climbed from being a soldier to being a division commander, looking down on this indecisive acting army commander, and the two often quarreled. Niu Yuanfeng, commander of the 109th Division, a native of Yishui, Shandong, served as the commander of the baggage and heavy troops of the Northeast Army for many years, and never fought at all. Niu Yuanfeng was especially known by Zhang Xueliang, and no one could be separated. Shen Ke, the commander of the 106th Division, was originally from Shi You's 3rd Army, and after Shi's defeat, Shen defected to Zhang Xueliang, and after he drove to the northwest, he was directly commanded by the General Headquarters and temporarily assigned to the 57th Army. Chang Jingwu, the commander of the 120th Division, is an arrogant general, and he doesn't buy Dong Yingbin at all. Only the 111th Division is Dong's basic team, which is always kept by his side and is unwilling to use it easily unless necessary.
Two
In the winter of 1935, the divisions of the 57th Army arrived at the defensive area one after another, with the military headquarters stationed in Heshui, the 111th Division in Chimiao Village, the 109th Division stationed in Taibai Town, the 108th Division stationed on the plateau near Heshui, and the 120th Division stationed near Chiheshui. Another 106th Division is in Dongqu, and I can't remember the location. At that time, Zhang Xueliang went to Nanjing for a meeting and instructed all units of the 57th Army to assemble and train at the garrison and not to fight against the Red Army. However, about one regiment of the 67th Army was surrounded in Ganquan, and the army commander Wang Yizhe complained to the headquarters for a long time. Chief of Staff Yan Daogang and Chief of Staff Xu Fang did not pass Zhang Xueliang, but actually ordered the 57th Army to march east to relieve the siege of Ganquan.
After receiving the order, Dong Yingbin held a military meeting in Taibai Town, which was attended by division commanders, chiefs of staff, regiment commanders, and other personnel in addition to army commanders. The main content of the meeting was to solve the problem of taking the south road and taking the north road. The south road is from Taibai Town to the south and east, passing through Shangjingzi, and going straight to Luochuan, which requires an additional 200 miles of travel. When Wu Keren, commander of the 117th Division of the 67th Army, led his division to return to the military structure, he took this road and arrived at its destination safely. Taking the north road, the road is narrow and dangerous, and it has to pass through the Heishui Temple, Zhiluo Town, Zhangcunyi and other Soviet areas, and I am afraid that the Red Army will listen to the interception. The people attending the meeting unanimously advocated taking the southern road, and Duniu Yuanfeng raised his arms and said: "I advocate taking the northern road, we should leave late and stay early, what are we afraid of? If we are so timid, what kind of battle will we fight! I am not afraid of a single division, what does it matter if these four or five divisions are there?" Although Dong thought it was inappropriate, he did not dare to refute Niu's claim. I had to bow down to the cow's opinion. As for why Niu dared to ask for the front, it was not that he was really sure, but in fact he saw that on the road from Zhiluo Town to Dunxian County, there was a possibility of contact with the Red Army at any time, and it was more difficult to get in touch with each place. If the 109th Division hits Zhiluo Town first, it will not be his turn in Zhangcunyi, Dunxian and other places in the next step. He judged that Zhiluo Town was not the focus, and Zhang Cunyi might be the main force of the Red Army, so he came to avoid the important and light. Dong also assigned the 111th Division to the 632nd Regiment of Yifan to temporarily join the 109th Division to fight.
Zhiluo Town is a larger village and town on the road from Heshui in Gansu Province to Yanxian County in Shaanxi, located on the south bank of the Hulu River, with about 200 households, there are continuous soil and mountain confrontations in the north and south, a narrow and long river valley in the middle, the widest place is not more than 200 meters, the narrow place is only 20 or 30 meters, the river flow is not large, and it is shallower in winter. The mountains are not precipitous, the roads are bad, vehicles cannot pass, and the infantry and pack horses can only march in a long snake formation, meandering. In Niu Yuanfeng's words, it is "snake drill tube".
After the Taibai Town Conference, the 57th Army began to move, marching in front of the 109th Division, followed by the 111th Division, the 108th Division, the 106th Division, and the 120th Division. On 10 November, the 109th Division arrived at Heishui Temple, and the 111th Division and the military headquarters were behind Heishui Temple. The troops built roads while walking, which affected the speed of the march. The military headquarters was stationed in Heishui Temple, and Dong Yingbin convened another meeting, agreeing that after the 109th Division occupied Zhiluo Town, Niu Yuanfeng would return to the military headquarters and Dong to study the next move.
The 109th Division set out from Heishui Temple to make combat arrangements; with the Hulu River as the combat territory, Shi Shi'an commanded the 626th Regiment to advance along the north bank of the Hulu River, Zheng Weifan commanded the 627th Regiment to advance along the south bank of the Hulu River, and the 632nd Regiment of Yifan, which was temporarily attached to it, was located on the right side of the 627th Regiment and was the right detachment, and its task was to cover the 627th Regiment's operation. The division headquarters and the 625th Regiment were behind.
At 6 or 7 o'clock in the dawn of 20 November, the 109th Division began to advance in battle, and although there were continuous and sporadic battles along the way, it was not very violent, and the battle ended before noon. The 626th and 627th regiments successively entered the high ground on both sides of Zhiluo Town and stopped at the same point as Zhiluo Town, and went to the east to guard the ground. According to the decision of the Heishui Temple meeting, after the 109th Division occupied Zhiluo Town, Niu Yuanfeng should return to the military headquarters to report the battle situation to the army commander and study the next move. But he didn't do it, did he look down on Dong Yingbin, or. If you think the odds are in your hands, you don't know. Niu Yuanfeng first asked the staff officer to send a telegram to the headquarters and the military headquarters, saying that he had occupied Zhiluo Town, and then ordered Yu Yifan's regiment to return to its organizational structure. In the end, Niu and some of his staff happily walked a few miles, and later rode into the town of Naola.
Niu Yuanfeng went to the town and ordered the 626th and 627th regiments to be on guard in place, and the 625th regiment was a reserve and stationed in Zhiluo Town. Because Niu simply despised the Red Army, he did not instruct the regiments to build fortifications. The town is plastered with slogans such as "Chinese do not fight Chinese", "Your enemy is a Japanese devil", "We will help you fight back to your hometown", and so on. The slogan is freshly posted, and the paste is not dry yet. There was not a single Red Army in sight in the town, and even the common people walked cleanly. During the battle, some people were arrested, and after detailed interrogation: wherever the Red Army was, it was all soldiers of the 110th Division (division commander He Lizhong) who were captured by the Red Army. Why put it back again, there is no human world. The officers and men of the whole division were tired and hungry after walking and fighting for almost a whole day, so they came up with the old methods and searched in various places; some found some rice and noodles, and some found some chickens, ducks, piglets, and other livestock. The officers and men immediately became happy, feeling that they had not eaten well since they arrived in the northwest, and that this time they could satisfy their cravings.
Three
At four or five o'clock in the morning of 21 November, on the north and south hills of Zhiluo Town, the sound of rifles and machine guns suddenly sounded loudly, and the division personnel woke up from their dreams and deduced that the Red Army was attacking from both sides, and then the two sides entered the battle. Niu Yuanfeng asked the military department for a phone number, but he couldn't get through. The battle between the two regiments was not reported, and at first the fire was very heavy, and then the intermittent bullets had already hit the town of Naola. According to the aftermath of the rout, as soon as the battle began, the Red Army surrounded it from behind, and many of those who resisted died under gunfire, and many of them surrendered their guns en masse. Shi Shi'an, the head of the 626th Regiment, thought that the general trend had gone and committed suicide. Zheng Weifan, the commander of the 627th Regiment, was seriously injured and died.
When the intermittent gunfire did not completely stop, and the time was not yet noon, Niu Yuanfeng asked the director of the adjutant department to lead the staff of the division headquarters (there were not many people), horses and packs to find a way to the north of Zhiluo Town. Seeing that this group of men, horses, and packs had just reached the halfway point of the mountain, they were stuck by the Red Army from the top of the mountain and at the bottom of the mountain, and most of the men, horses, and packs of the division headquarters were all captured by the Red Army. At this time, Niu Yuanfeng took some staff members of the division headquarters and a small number of combat soldiers to the mountains south of Zhiluoluo Town, and saw a red flag on the left and a red flag on the right of the Red Army. The Red Army did not shoot, so they drove the people led by Niu Yuanfeng to pieces, it was like a swarm of headless flies scurrying around, and finally retreated to settle in a dirt enclosure on a small high ground south of the town. This earthen enclosure is the closest to the town of Naola, and the terrain is also the highest. Niu Yuanfeng led some people to climb this earthen enclosure, and saw that the wall seemed to have been newly demolished, with ruins and broken walls, criss-crossed, and the two caves were also destroyed, but they could also avoid stray bullets. Looking down from the earthen enclosure, everywhere is in the bottom of the eye, and the intention of building the earthen enclosure was also focused on the military. The remnants of the cattle department who were not captured were defeated, and they all came to Tuweizi one after another. The 625th Regiment, as a reserve, couldn't hold the town of Zhiluo, and also went to Tuweizi, so everyone finally got a respite.
At about two or three o'clock in the afternoon, I suddenly heard loud gunfire from all sides, and saw an airplane hovering over the earthen fence, and Niu Yuanfeng and others also wanted to put on contact symbols and shake handkerchiefs, but this small earthen fence had no effect on the plane. Niu Yuanfeng told Chief of Staff Liu Deyu and Chief of Staff Shen Shuming: "Seeing that the situation is a unit sent by the military headquarters to relieve the siege, we should make preparations for breaking through the encirclement, and then rush out in one go to ask the troops to meet the siege." "But when the horses were exhausted, and they could not go on foot, they finally scratched their heads and looked westward, and they were just shouting in vain! After another two hours, the gunfire stopped, and the troops who had relieved the siege were presumed to have gone. Niu Yuanfeng said hatefully: "This must be Wang Zhaozhi's conspiracy, the hatred he remembers, wants to kill us people." After speaking, Niu Yuanfeng closed his eyes and was silent.
Soon it was getting dark, and the gunfire on the hills on both sides and on the southwest side ceased completely, and many remnants of the soldiers gathered in the earthen enclosure. From the morning to the dark, I didn't get a little food, and I didn't know what fate would be next. Niu Yuanfeng and Liu Deyu hid in the cave to discuss the method, and Liu Deyu advocated rectifying the officers and soldiers in the earthen enclosure to see how many people were left. The officers and men had already eaten up the supplies they had brought with them, and some of them, regardless of life and death, secretly climbed down the earthen fence to find dead horse meat and roast it over the fire to satisfy their hunger. Liu Deyu inspected all departments, asked each battalion and company to arrange a squad to find people from their own formation, and then asked Niu Yuanfeng to speak separately and prepare to break through. Niu Yuanfeng walked to the companies and squatted to speak. What else did he say, "Today is the last moment, only everyone is united, bravely break through, there is no other way than to survive in the dead." Niu Yuanfeng didn't think he was a defeat so far, but was ambushed by the Red Army, so he inspected this fragmented team, talked in a circle, and asked all departments to count the guns. There was not a single military horse left, and there was no shortage of light weapons and ammunition that officers and men carried with them. Except for the 625th Regiment, which had a relatively large number of personnel, the other two regiments had only 10 or 8 companies in each regiment, and some had no officers and men, totaling more than 500 people. Niu Yuanfeng hoped that there was no hope for reinforcements, and he could not starve to death in the earthen enclosure, so he decided to break through at night. He reorganized the various units, and asked the lieutenant colonel of the 627th Regiment to attach Li Jietang to command the 627th Regiment, the lieutenant colonel of the 626th Regiment to attach Meng Guangyun to command the 626th Regiment, and Ma Zhenyi still commanded the 625th Regiment.
At this time, a soldier suddenly wanted to go to Tuweizi, saying that he was a soldier of the 626th Regiment who had been captured by the Red Army, and sent a letter to the Red Army. After checking that it was true, he asked him to come up and hand over the letter to Niu Yuanfeng. Niu was in a very depressed mood at this time, where did he have the heart to read the letter, Liu Deyu had to open it and read it to him. The content of the letter was to the effect: "By the Hulu River, on the old man's mountain, in the telescope, the officers and soldiers who saw you have all abandoned the civil war and surrendered one after another. We went north to resist Japan to help you fight back to your hometown, and your Northeast Army has no reason to go to the northwest to fight a civil war. Now that most of your division has been annihilated, it is best for you to join us to fight against Japan together. This is the path of light, otherwise the jade will be burned, and it will be too late to regret it!" Niu Yuanfeng was silent after hearing this. No one on the left or right dared to make any decision or reply. Suddenly, Meng Guangyun said: "Let's write a reply letter first, so to speak, after a little consideration, and then make a decision." Niu Yuanfeng said, "Okay, you can write." Meng Guangyun found a note, wrote the letter and handed it to the visitor to take back. After the letter was delivered, Niu Yuanfeng and all the people were even more nervous. At this time, it was nearly midnight, and the Red Army was closely monitoring the Tuweizi from all directions, and it seemed that it was equipped with a group of sharpshooters, and the muzzles of the guns were aimed at the Tuweizi, and as soon as the officers and men in the Tuweizi showed their heads by the wall, they would immediately shoot at the gunners. From afternoon to night, several people were killed in this way. In the end, the cattle department decided to break out, starting at 12 o'clock in the middle of the night.
The breakthrough deployment was that the 627th Regiment was in front, the 625th Regiment and the division headquarters were in the middle, and the 626th Regiment was behind. As soon as the 627th Regiment broke through, it was subjected to concentrated fire from the Red Army and immediately became chaotic. Li Jietang is timid and his command ability is not good, so he can't control it. Seeing this, Ma Zhenyi said to Niu Yuanfeng: "Li Tuanfu can't command, I'm afraid there is a danger of delaying the opportunity to break through." After Niu Yuanfeng listened, he asked the adjutant to find Li Jietang, and asked another adjutant to prepare the pistol, and shoot after listening to his order. Li Jietang entered the cave and saw Niu Yuanfeng, Niu took Li's hand and said, "I have something to say outside." As soon as he walked out of the kiln door, Niu asked the adjutant to do it. The adjutant fired three shots in succession, killing Li Jietang instantly, and then threw Li's body under the earthen fence. Before this happened, Niu Yuanfeng had not studied it with anyone, and it seemed that he had lost his normality. Li Jietang's death aroused the suspicion of many people, and no one dared to follow Niu Yuanfeng anymore.
After the 627th Regiment went down to the earth enclosure, it was really a wolf rushing and running for their lives, and they could no longer assemble. This is another hour or two of delay. Niu Yuanfeng urged Ma Zhenyi to take action again, and the horse led the officers and soldiers of the 625th Regiment to slide down. The Red Army concentrated its firepower on this, and as a result, seeing the officers and men running around in a disorderly manner, no one could take care of anyone. After Niu Yuanfeng protruded from the earth fence, there were still forty or fifty people around him, blindly walking to the southwest. After walking for about four or five miles, the sky gradually brightened, and I saw Meng Guangyun walking south with more than 100 people across the ditch. The group of people from Niu Yuanfeng greeted them, but the people over there just left, ignored them, and disappeared after a while. The Red Army militia in the ditch on both sides fired sporadically at the remnants of the defeated generals. A small Red Army unit followed Niu Yuanfeng's part of the people from behind and did not shoot. In order to show that they had guns on their bodies and not to let the Red Army approach, Niu Yuanfeng's part of the people kept shooting at the rear. At this time, Liu Deyu and many others could no longer walk, so they lay on the mountain. In the end, Niu Yuanfeng was left with only Shen Shuming and an entourage adjutant. The tracking Red Army was getting closer and closer, and even the numbers and faces were clearly visible. The Red Army did not shoot, but simply shouted "disarm, disarm." Niu Yuanfeng suddenly stopped, took Browning out of his waist and handed it to the adjutant and said, "You beat me to death." The adjutant took the pistol and shot a bullet into the right back of Niu Yuanfeng's head, which was shot from the front, and his cheek was shattered and he died. As soon as Shen Shuming turned around when he heard the gunshot, he saw that Niu Yuanfeng was dead, so he asked the adjutant why he had beaten him to death. The adjutant finished telling the story and said: "The division commander has lost his normal state, and if he is not killed, he is afraid that something else will happen." ”
On 20 November, the 111th Division was about 10 miles behind the 109th Division (about 67 miles in diameter), but in a winding ravine. Yu Yifan's 632nd Regiment was still ahead, only five miles away from Zhiluo Town, and only after setting up the electric work, did he start camping. On the morning of the 21st, I began to hear gunfire from the town of Naola, and I wanted to ask about the situation, but the phone was cut off. Yu Tuan asked the military headquarters, and the military headquarters ordered each to stay on guard in the camp, and wait for the dawn to clarify the situation before deciding to deal with it. After dawn, the chief of staff of the 111th Division walked to the high place to look, but the gunfire was gone, and only a Red Army was seen marching north with prisoners, horses, and guns. Then the military headquarters ordered the 111th Division to go for reinforcements, and Wang Zhaozhi sent Yu Yifan Regiment as the lead. When the regiment began to move, it was attacked head-on by another Red Army, unable to support it and retreating. Wei Zhaozhi commanded Liu Qiwen and Chang Enduo's two regiments, and had just occupied positions and were preparing to attack, when he heard gunfire from the military headquarters of Heishui Temple, and at the same time, there was also a situation on the part of the 106th Division. Although the headquarters sent planes, they could not be used because there were no air-ground liaison facilities, and finally they could not approach the 109th Division. Moreover, the situation occurred in the whole army at that time, and it was not until 3 p.m. on the afternoon of 21 June that the army headquarters ordered the whole army to retreat, and the headquarters sent four planes to cover it, and the 111th Division safely withdrew from the battlefield. The Battle of Naola ended with the 109th Division ordering the entire division to be destroyed.
* Shen Shuming was the chief of staff of the 109th Division, Wang Zhaozhi was the chief of staff of the 11th Division, Qiu Liting was the commander of the 20th Division, and Tang Zhenhai was the commander of the 108th Division. - Editor
Xi'an Incident / Wu Fuzhang ed.—Beijing: China Literature and History Publishing House, 1986.12