Zhou Zuyao/text
In August and September 1935, Wang Yizhe, commander of the 67th Army of the Northeast Army, led his headquarters from Shanyang, Shangxian, and Lantian in southern Shaanxi to Luochuan and its vicinity in northern Shaanxi to prepare for an attack on the Red Army. At that time, I was attached to the 629th Regiment of the 110th Division of the army as a major, and soon became the commander of the 1st Battalion. After the army arrived in Luochuan, Wang Yizhe left his regiment in the eastern part of Liu Han of the 7th Division, Wu Keren's division of the 117th Division, and Zhou Fucheng's division of the 129th Division in the area of Luochuan and Dunxian to build blockhouses to maintain the traffic safety of the highways in Xi'an and Dunxian (now Fu County), and gradually advanced northward to open up the highway south of Yan'an (then called Fushi). Wang Yizhe personally led the 110th Division of He Lizhong and the 129th Division of Zhou Fucheng (owed a regiment) to the north along the Dun (County) and Gan (Quan) Highway and smoothly reached Yan'an. When passing through Ganquan, Wang Yizhe left Liu Xiaoxian's battalion of the 129th Division (probably the first battalion of the 685th Regiment) in the city to serve as a liaison between Yanxian and Yan'an.
The 67th Army prides itself on being well-equipped and strong, and does not regard the Red Army at all. Wang Yizhe led his troops to Yan'an for more than ten days, and found that the Red Army had not attacked them, so he thought that the Red Army was small in number and did not dare to fight them, thus further fostering the feeling of pride and contempt for the enemy. Officers at all levels were unguarded.
One day in late September, Wang Yizhe sent Chen Zhenfan, commander of the second battalion of the 629th Regiment of the 110th Division, to lead his troops (one company of infantry and one machine gun company, two infantry companies of the regiment and one infantry company of the third battalion, a total of five companies) to Ganquan City to pick up the cotton clothes transported from Xi'an, accompanied by Zhang Wenqing, chief of staff of the 129th Division, and quartermaster directors of the two divisions. When they arrived at Ganquan, the city was besieged by the Red Fifteenth Army.
Wang Yizhe
Wang Yizhe, who was stationed in Yan'an, saw that Ganquan was besieged and the traffic from Yanxian to Yan'an was interrupted, which not only made him have worries, but also if Yan'an continued to be besieged, there was a danger of being broken by each other. So it was decided to return to Luochuan in the south, and first sent He Lizhong's 110th Division back to Ganquan to relieve the siege, and built a fortress to ensure the traffic between Dunxian and Yan'an.
On the morning of 1 October, He Lizhong led his troops (five companies owed to the 629th Regiment) from Yan'an to the south. After 30 miles, he left Li Dongpo's 630th Regiment in the area, because he knew that the Red Army was good at fighting ambushes, and that the vicinity of Jiuli Mountain in front of it was a high mountain and a road pass, stretching for nine kilometers, and on both sides of the road, the mountains and rocks were steep and the forests were dense, and it was a good terrain for setting up an ambush, and he had to be on guard.
He Lizhong was very cautious when passing through Jiuli Mountain. He first sent Pei Huancai's division of the 628th Regiment to climb mountains and mountains from both sides of the road, carefully search, and only after knowing that there was no ambush of the Red Army did he order the whole army to pass. After getting out of the Jiuli Pass, there is Lao Mountain in front of you. Although Laoshan is also a undulating mountain, sandwiched between the highways, and the grass and trees are bushed on both sides, it is much worse than the danger of Jiuli Mountain. He Lizhong believed that since the Red Army had not set up an ambush in Jiulishan, it would not have set up an ambush here. Therefore, he said to his chief of staff Fan Yuzhou very easily: "The Longtan Tiger's Den has passed, and he will not enter the pocket formation of the communist army again." "Look at the time, it's just past one o'clock in the afternoon. He Liyuan was scheduled to camp here and then enter Ganquan the next day, but he saw that it was still early, and that it was only 30 miles away from Ganquan, so he decided to change his plan and continue to march to Ganquan to camp in Ganquan. He ordered the original first-way column to be changed to a four-way column, shorten the long path, advance rapidly, and strive to rest in Ganquan City. He did not send troops to search the mountains on both sides of the road, but only sent a few guards in front of the troops to be on guard.
When Pei Huancai, commander of the 628th Regiment of the vanguard unit, rode to the south side of the road in Laoshan Village, he suddenly found that the road was blocked by preset obstacles. Just as he was about to advance, the troops behind him also caught up, and he couldn't retreat. Before Pei Huancai could send his troops to search the mountains on the left and right, he suddenly heard a "bang" of gunfire on the west mountain, followed by the explosion of grenades and shells, and the dense sound of gunfire resounded on the long march path of about two miles, and the sound of guns and cannons was mixed with shouts of "surrender the gun, don't kill" and "give preferential treatment to prisoners."
The marching sequence of the 110th Division on this day was: the 628th Regiment was the vanguard, in the middle was He Lizhong and the 2nd Division directly under the division, and then in the back was the 629th Regiment (owed five companies, the regiment commander Zhang Dexin, nicknamed Yang Peeling, was a very stubborn and stubborn person. He served as a senior adjutant for Zhang Xueliang, and considered himself a close confidant of Zhang Xueliang), and finally the first battalion of the 629th Regiment led by me. When I heard the sound ahead, I hurriedly jumped off my horse and looked ahead with my binoculars, only to see the officers and men running around like wasps that had been battered. Because the highway is close to the West Mountain, most of the people and horses flock to the West Mountain. Some use their hands to plow the ground (because there are no soil work tools, even if they forget to take them off or dare not take them off, or they have already thrown off their backpacks), they want to dig the ground and hide their bodies inside. Some hide their heads, but their buttocks are exposed. I and the other officers threatened the soldiers with beatings, insults, and even "shooting" them, telling them to rush up the hill with all their might. But the Red Army that was lying in ambush rushed down, and the other Red Army, which rushed out of the col, led the pack horses with machine guns next to me, and almost captured me alive. We had to run forward, all the way to the vicinity of the division headquarters. A group of people from the division headquarters, including He Lizhong, rushed up the hill to the west, trying to resist stubbornly with the help of the hill and the villages on the hillside, but they were pressed to the hill below by a charge from the Red Army on the high mountain behind. The 628th Regiment of the vanguard wanted to break through and rush out, but was blocked back by the Red Army's short rifle regiment and retreated to the vicinity of the division headquarters. After being swept down by the Red Army from the western hills, we tried to seize the hill on the east side of the road, but the Red Army on the eastern hill retreated with grenades and rifle machine guns. At this time, all sides were blocked, and the dead and wounded were everywhere. Luggage, marching stoves, weapons and ammunition were thrown everywhere. — Some of the soldiers, throwing down their weapons, surrendered to the Red Army. Most of them were still resisting, and guns, cannons, and grenades were still ringing violently.
When the troops walked out of the Jiuli Pass, some people in civilian clothes, carrying some tattered furs, straw mats and other things, followed behind the team. When the team goes, they go, and when the team stops, they stop. At first, we thought they were the common people who had gone to Ganquan City with the troops, but as soon as the fire was fired, they also pulled out their pistols and threw grenades. The commander of a company beside me, Yu Fengzhu, tried to occupy a nearby house to resist, but was killed by the plainclothes Red Army guns behind him, and his company immediately ran away. When I hurriedly commanded the nearby soldiers to seize the mountain on the west side of the road, from the ravine on the right side of the road, another Red Army rushed out, and the men in front of me carried a big red flag, shouting "Surrender the gun, don't kill," and "Treat the prisoners preferentially," and rushed forward, and soon rushed to my vicinity. Another soldier rushing up the hill was killed by a burst of bombs and charges by the Red Army on the top of the hill, pressing them into a bush to the southwest. A plainclothes squad of the Red Army rushed towards me and a few men from the battalion headquarters, and they were about to rush to my side. Zhang Yingfu (name forgot) shouted "Run". I looked back and saw that he had been captured by the Red Army. I immediately jumped over the wall, fled to the edge of the village, and narrowly escaped the pursuit of Ding's Red Army and came into the chaos on the hillside. At this time, I saw He Lizhong and Chief of Staff Fan being chased by the Red Army on the mountain to the west and running straight down the mountain, with someone holding their arms. Behind He and Fan were Pei Huancai, Yang Dexin, and a group of staff officers, adjutants, quartermasters, and military doctors from the division headquarters. We were about to flee to the East Mountain, but as we passed the small river below, we were stopped by a burst of grenades and heavy fire from the Red Army on the East Mountain. He Lizhong was shot in the neck and fell in the grass. Chief of Staff Fan was killed, Pei Huancai was captured alive, and Yang Dexin committed suicide. I hid in the bushes and was not discovered, so I escaped into the net, and escaped into the city of Sweet Springs in the darkness of the night. The rest suffered heavy casualties. About three or four hundred others were taken prisoner. Except for the 630th Regiment at 30 Lipu and the 5 lightly armed companies of the 629th Regiment at Ganquan City, the rest of the thousands of men and horses were all annihilated by the 15th Army Corps of the Red Army. The entire battle lasted less than six hours.
Chang
Three days later, He Lizhong was helped to Ganquan City by Guo Shaozong, a lieutenant and adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the 629th Regiment, and died of his wounds at about 4 o'clock in the morning of 7 October.
During the battle, He Lizhong telegraphed the 630th Regiment stationed in Thirty Lipu to gallop to Laoshan and come to the rescue. After receiving the telegram, Li Dongpo, the head of the regiment, thought that he had "gone but not returned" and did not take immediate action; when the second telegram urged, Li Dongpo knew that He Lizhong's general trend had gone, and when it was twilight, he moved a little and retreated back to 30 miles, so the regiment was lucky not to be annihilated.
This incident was a serious blow to Zhang Xueliang, and all the officers and men of the Northeast Army complained that it was caused by Chiang's persecution. He also gradually realized that it was not good for the Red Army to fight against him, and if this continued for a long time, the Northeast Army would be exhausted. In view of this, Zhang Xueliang had to reconsider the future of the country and the way out of the Northeast Army.
Xi'an Incident / Wu Fuzhang ed.—Beijing: China Literature and History Publishing House, 1986.12