In the spring of 1942, it was supposed to be a time when everything was revived and full of vitality, but on the Jizhong Plain, which had just experienced the May Day sweep of the Japanese army, it was a silent and desolate scene. However, the silence on the battlefield was in sharp contrast with the frequent exchanges of telegrams and troops from the Japanese army, and all the anti-Japanese base areas in north China understood that the Japanese army would definitely have more important actions!
Sure enough, Okamura Ningji quickly gathered heavy troops to attack the Taihang area, and the 30,000 elites of the First Army of the Japanese Army in North China were exhausted and directly attacked the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. This greatly puzzled some senior commanders and fighters of our army at that time, knowing that in the previous Hundred Regiments War and anti-sweeping, the enemy had been unable to find out the specific location of the command center of our army. How did they act so quickly and efficiently this time that by the night of May 22, they had gradually formed a siege on the headquarters of our army.
The Japanese army swept through Jizhong
Dead and alive, trapped in a heavy siege
Just over a year ago, during the Hundred Regiments War, under the command of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai, the Eighth Route Army, relying on the support of the broad masses and militia organizations, gave full play to the advantages of our army's movement warfare and mountain warfare, caused tremendous damage to the transportation system of the Japanese army in north China, and also uprooted many Japanese and pseudo strongholds.
Battle of the Hundred Regiments
This made the Japanese military top brass in North China resent Peng De to the bone, formally regarded the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians organized by the Communist Party as a serious problem, and began to focus on how to destroy the command system of the Eighth Route Army. To this end, the new Supreme Commander of the Japanese Army in North China, Okamura Ningji, took up his post. They also spent a lot of money to improve telecommunications intelligence technology, and through the reconnaissance of the frequency of radio waves, they constantly analyzed where it was likely to be the center of the eight-way outward sending information. Later, hundreds of elite officers and men were dispatched to form two mysterious "special forces," disguised as our army, and went deep into the hinterland of Taihang to carry out investigations and assassination activities.
When there was a great sweep in Jizhong, the enemy took advantage of the attention of our north China troops to be contained by its huge momentum of "encircling the iron wall," and the Japanese army in north China actively used its intelligence advantages to dispatch troops and generals to attack the east and west, and finally launched an attack on the leading organs of our army in the Taihang and Taiyue areas.
Judging from the remarks made by Yoshio Iwamatsu, commander of the Japanese First Army, to his superior, Okamura Ninji, the enemy's "beheading" operation this time is entirely a premeditated plan, that is, the infamous "C-type combat plan."
Disguised as a small unit of Japanese special agents of our army
From May 22 to 23, 1942, in the face of several times the number of enemy soldiers attacking, General Manager Peng immediately made a decision, led the main force of the headquarters to quickly jump out of the enemy's large encirclement, went to the periphery to seek combat opportunities, and constantly sent telegrams to guide the breakthrough operation.
Zuo Quan, then chief of staff, escorted the transfer of headquarters organs. However, due to the large size of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, as well as the Field Political Department, the Logistics Department, the Northern Bureau, the Party School, and the newspaper office, and only the protection of the guard troops, it was too late to completely withdraw, and it was soon caught up by the 41st Division, the vanguard of the Japanese army. Coupled with the fact that the intelligence network of the Japanese army has easily detected the whereabouts of large troops, our army was once again surrounded on the night of the 24th.
Cover the retreating Eighth Route Army at its headquarters
More than 10,000 people fell into the combined attack circle of tens of thousands of enemies, and a few thousand of us were informal armed personnel of the cadres of the organs. With years of battlefield experience, Peng Zong and The Left Chief of Staff realized that the Japanese army would definitely take advantage of the night to build multiple blockade lines, and if they did not react as soon as possible, the situation would be unimaginable!
Sacrifice yourself for others, sacrifice heroically
In the early morning of May 25, 1942, tens of thousands of elite Japanese troops surrounded the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and various organs with a total of more than 10,000 people in the area of Nanaipu, east of Matian, LiaoXian County.
Peng Dehuai and Zuo Quan immediately held a temporary meeting on the battlefield and resolutely decided to break through the siege by dividing the troops, and General Peng, Luo Ruiqing, director of the Field Political Department, and Yang Lisan, director of the Logistics Department, each led one unit to break through to the northwest, southeast, and north respectively. Zuo Quan, chief of staff, insisted that he lead a department to break through in order to protect the personnel of the General Organs, the Northern Bureau, and the Party School. The final destination agreed upon by each ministry is the second and sixth divisions of the Taihang base area.
Zuo Quan and Peng Dehuai
The situation was extremely critical, and there was no need to hesitate to come back for a moment, So Mr. Peng rang out a gunshot and shouted with his arms raised: "Comrades, hurry up and act to break through in the established direction!" "Say goodbye and rush towards the northwest mountain pass first." The fierce artillery fire of the Japanese army never stopped, and they also sent planes to bomb it, because they knew that the Eighth Route Army encircled this time was not an ordinary unit!
Among the people and horses who broke through on all sides, the most dangerous thing was the huge contingent of cadres of organs, who were not combatants themselves, and carried a large number of documents and equipment with them, resulting in a relatively slow march. It was the chief of staff of Zuo Quan who protected the breakthrough of this team, and at the critical moment of a thousand guns, Zuo Quan took up the heavy responsibility of breaking the rear without hesitation!
The news that "the chief of staff of the left is with us" quickly spread among the ranks of the organs, mixed with the sound of artillery fire, and the comrades' confidence was doubled, and under the command of the left power, some backbone talents gradually and methodically left the combat area.
For the first time, the cadres of the organs who had rarely experienced the battle front were in such a dangerous situation, and they followed the guards of the left power and shuttled through the rain of bullets and bullets. Especially when enemy planes are bombing, everyone can always see the figure of the left chief of staff running around, relying on his shouts and commands to discern the direction. "Comrades, don't be afraid of airplanes, rush with me, rush over is victory!" The voice of the left power kept echoing on the battlefield.
Zuo Quan commanded the retreat of the headquarters organs Stills
The breakthrough lasted from early morning to noon, and Zuo Quan, who had fought heroically on the battlefield filled with smoke and smoke, had been wounded, and his left arm was hit by Japanese stray bullet shrapnel, but he still carefully watched the retreat of his comrades and had no intention of stopping the fighting.
At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Zuo Quan and his soldiers broke through the second blockade line and marched to Gaojiapo of Cross Ridge, where he ordered everyone to take a short rest on the spot while he carefully counted the number of people. Just at this moment, Tang Wancheng, commander of Peng Dehuai's guard company, rushed from a distance with people, and he told Zuo Quan that the backbone personnel of the headquarters organs and the Northern Bureau had basically broken out, Peng Zong had also escaped from danger, the task after you covered the break had been completed, and as a senior commander, you must leave the battlefield immediately!
However, at this time, Zuo Quan thought that he had neglected his duties, and he found that the relevant personnel of the Confidential Section were not around, that is to say, many confidential documents of the headquarters had not yet escaped from danger, and some comrades from the Party School of the Northern Bureau and the Xinhua News Agency had not yet arrived. Zuo Quan decided to continue to search for these people, refused Tang Wancheng's repeated requests, and strictly ordered him to return to protect Peng Zong.
Blood Cross Ridge
At dusk, Zuo Quan rushed to the last blockade line of the Japanese army with the last group of comrades, and he repeatedly stressed to the guards: "You have a heavy responsibility, you must protect the safety of confidential personnel and documents!" At this time, the enemy's artillery fire was extremely dense, but everyone could still hear the hoarse shout of the left chief of staff: "Comrades, with more effort, we are about to succeed!" The exhausted soldiers realized that the chief of staff was still around to protect everyone, and once again they gathered their spirits and marched faster.
The team rushed to a position close to the summit of Cross Ridge, getting closer and closer to breaking through the last blockade, the enemy's attack became more and more frantic, and aircraft and artillery took turns pouring fire on Cross Ridge. Suddenly, a shell flew in, exploding not far from Zuo Quan, who was directing the advance, and the dust stirred up raised Zuo Quan's body, but he did not bend down in time, but turned around and shouted to the comrades behind him: "Lie down!" Lie down! ”
As an expert on the battlefield, he knew too well that a second shell would soon arrive, but he also knew even more that many non-combatants in the team at this moment needed his voice even more!
A second shell roared in, and the loud noise was deafening. When the smoke cleared, the comrades looked around and could no longer see the mighty figure standing between heaven and earth. The sunset on the edge of the Sky at Cross Ridge was as bright red as blood.
The mountains and rivers mourned, and the comrades mourned
Zuo Quan was sacrificed, but the last of his comrades succeeded in breaking through.
In that fierce and chaotic battlefield, the young students of the Party School of the Northern Bureau witnessed Zuo Quan being martyred by the Japanese shells, and they lay down beside the chief in shock, grief-stricken. Forced by the critical situation at that time, they had to transport the body to a slightly hidden thorny bush, cover it with branches, clothes and other debris, remove the pistol that the first life had worn for many years, and then reluctantly leave.
Soon after these personnel stood out, they met Peng Dehuai and other leaders in Xiaonanshan Village, and when they took out the pistol of Zuo Quan and said the news that the chief of staff had died, Peng Dehuai looked sad, turned around sadly, and did not take the relics of his close comrades for a long time. The big guys who are shrouded in a sad atmosphere know that they are always reluctant to accept such a painful fact.
General Zuo Quan's relic revolver
A few days later, the enemy had also withdrawn from the battlefield, and Peng Dehuai sent a team of fighters, led by his guard company instructor, to return to Cross Ridge. After some hard searching, the soldiers finally confirmed Zuo Quan's body, they bought a coffin from a nearby hometown, cleaned up the remains of the old chief of staff, and buried them in a dignified place.
But things have changed drastically. The Japanese army intercepted the telegram sent by our headquarters to Yan'an, and after learning that Zuo Quan had been killed in the previous Great Encirclement Battle, he killed a Hui horse gun and dug everywhere in the Cross Ridge area, and finally found Zuo Quan's coffin. In order to suppress the morale of our army, they opened the coffin, photographed Zuo Quan's body with a camera, exposed it to the wilderness, and then published the photo in the newspaper of the puppet regime, exaggerating the defeat of the Eighth Route Army. For a time, our soldiers and civilians were indignant at the atrocities of the Japanese army, and the cry for revenge for Zuo Quan resounded throughout North China!
The Japanese army photographed Zuo Quan's body and published it in the newspaper
Zuo Quan, who was 37 years old at the time, was the highest-ranking general of our party who died during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and his death made the whole party and the whole army mourn endlessly, and it was also an irreparable loss for the cause of the war of resistance of the whole nation. Chairman Mao ordered all the propaganda machines in the party to vigorously promote the heroic spirit of the left power, Zhou Enlai called him a model in the party, Zhu De praised him in his poems for protecting the country and leaving his name for eternity, Lin Biao also wrote a long eulogy in his memory, and Peng Dehuai personally wrote an epitaph for him. Almost all the important leaders in the party have expressed in their own way their longing for the left.
On July 7, 1942, the Party Central Committee of Yan'an and the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in Matian held a solemn memorial meeting for the fallen soldiers of the Anti-Japanese War, and all walks of life of the party, government, military, and people were mourning comrades who died in the War of Resistance Against Japan. The Central Committee posthumously recognized Zuo Quan and other soldiers who died in the anti-sweeping struggle as martyrs, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu then delivered a speech calling on the people of the whole country to continue to work hard and strive for the final victory of the War of Resistance.
On September 8, less than four months after Zuo Quan's death, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Border Region Government officially renamed Liao County to Zuoquan County in his honor, a name that is still used today as a testimony to zuo quan's historical merits. The fighting spirit of our soldiers and civilians in North China has thus reached a new climax in a difficult period!
Zhu De spoke at the Yan'an memorial service
However, as a friend of Zuo Quan's life and death, in Peng Dehuai's heart, this matter is far from over, since the day his comrades-in-arms died, he was thinking about his own plan, and the Japanese must pay the price!
Revenge, revenge, or revenge
On October 10, 1942, at the foot of Shimen Village, Shixian County, Hebei Province, zuoquan tomb was completed, and all the personnel of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the headquarters of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army gathered together to hold a public funeral meeting for Zuo Quan's coffin. Also attending the meeting were 5,000 people who came to see each other, and people remembered General Zuo Quan in a solemn atmosphere.
Luo Ruiqing said in front of the tomb: "The salute to the martyrs is not finished, and there are still three things to be done in the future, revenge, revenge, or revenge!" The masses, who had suffered from the Japanese invasion and sweeping, were filled with indignation, singing the "Song of General Zuo Quan" and expressing enthusiasm, expressing their oath to carry out the anti-Japanese resistance to the end, and more than a hundred young people signed up to join the army on the spot.
Zuo Quan Public Funeral Assembly
It was also at the public funeral on the same day that Peng Dehuai had a solemn face and personally wrote an epitaph for Zuo Quan, and Luo Ruiqing's "three revenges" gave him a great touch. Why wouldn't he want to!
From the spring of 1938 to the autumn of 1942, zuo quan, as the first partner, accompanied him to the front line of the War of Resistance, sitting at the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, leading the army and people in the base areas in the stubborn struggle against the Japanese and Kou, and commanding the Hundred Regiments War and the anti-sweeping battles again and again. After more than four years of sincere cooperation, the two know each other, live and die together, trust and understand each other very much, and form a deep friendship.
Peng Dehuai wrote an inscription for the tomb of General Zuo Quan
Peng Dehuai could not forget that in the early morning of May 27, he led a large group of men and horses to wait for zuo quan to finally break through the wheat field in Xiaonanshan Village, but he waited for the bad news of Zuo Quan's sacrifice, as the supreme commander of the eighth route army's front line, the attack on the headquarters had made him very angry, and Zuo Quan's sacrifice made him even more heartbroken.
And when the troops were about to continue to move a few hours later, the assembly order sounded, and there were sobs of grief over the sacrifice of the left chief of staff in the ranks, and Peng Dehuai shouted in his rough Xiangyin:
"Comrades, let us dry our tears, cheer up, avenge the chief of staff, avenge the sacrifice of comrades-in-arms, avenge the tragic death of our compatriots!"
Soon after, the news came that the Japanese army brutally treated zuo quan's body and publicly humiliated the Eighth Route Army, which further strengthened Peng Dehuai's determination to retaliate against the Japanese! Peng Dehuai personally designated Ou Fufu, the head of the special task force regiment of his headquarters, to carefully select thirty commanders and fighters to form a death squad, and Liu Manhe, chief of staff of the regiment, secretly organized strict training, stood ready at any time, and prepared to give the Japanese devils a tit-for-tat counterattack.
After the headquarters organs and the large troops were settled down again, Peng Dehuai began to pay close attention to the progress of our army's intelligence work, and he has been waiting for the opportunity.
In December 1942, the intelligence system of our army received reliable information that a small detachment of the "Mashiko Advance Team," one of the two special forces of the Japanese army, would go to Qixian county during the Spring Festival to participate in the celebration of the local Japanese puppet army. However, since the county magistrates and officers of the Nationalist government in Qixian county had all become traitors, Qixian belonged to the Japanese-occupied area, and the situation between the enemy and us was very grim, and it was not easy to assassinate the Japanese on the territory of the Japanese and the puppets. Fortunately, Comrade Liu Xiufeng, an underground party lurking in Qi County, contacted the organization, informed him of the specific time and place of the banquet, and said that he could bring our personnel into the city.
Officer of the Japanese special forces "Mashiko Advance Team"
The opportunity finally came
Peng Dehuai, who had learned of the situation, immediately designated the target of the assassination operation as the japanese special forces of his old rival who had dealt with him, and it was most appropriate to assassinate the Japanese who had assassinated our assassins and treat them in the same way. Peng Dehuai also said that the action must be unconscious, and it must achieve the effect of shocking the Japanese!
On the day of the Chinese New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar, the county seat of Qixian county was a lively scene, and Liu Manhe entered the city with thirty disguised death squad members under the guidance of the underground party organization. At six o'clock in the evening, the death squad came to the Dadexing Restaurant at the banquet of the "Mako Advance Team", where the diners were crowded and the fish and dragons were mixed, which was just convenient for the team members to blend in. Some of them dressed up as businessmen talking about business, some pretended to be runners in the restaurant, and some of them directly regarded themselves as diners and walked in with a big wave.
Around 10 p.m., there were already a lot of people in the restaurant, and they began to get close to the members of the "Mashiko Advance Team", who never expected to be attacked in such a safe environment, and were already drunk. At this time, there was a sudden sound of a sharp cup slamming, Liu Manhe took the lead in shining a sharp dagger, the blood on the neck of a Japanese soldier spurted out in an instant, and the other daredevils also quickly moved, unloaded their guns, and cut off their heads! A small number of Japanese soldiers began to resist out of instinct, plates, chairs, tables, but everything they could reach, they threw at our soldiers, but this was a completely senseless struggle, there was no movement at all, and several large cloth bags of the death squad were filled with the heads of the members of the "Mako Advance Team". Liu Manhe waved a big hand, and the death squad retreated completely, without firing a shot the whole time. Before the Japanese and pseudo-gendarmes in the city found out, they left the city with the help of Liu Xiufeng.
In the next few days, the towers of Qixian, Changzhi, Taiyuan and other places or the conspicuous heights in the city were strangely hung with human heads, and these heads were actually the heads of The Japanese secret agents who had been assassinated in the great Chinese New Year's Eve! For a time, the Japanese army in North China was greatly shaken, which especially made the other agents of the "Mashiko Advance Team" panic, and in order to avoid the possible continued pursuit of the Eighth Route Army, Iwamatsu Yoshio, who had originally formed the special force unit, disbanded the "Mashiko Advance Team" after obtaining the consent of Okamura Ninji.
After half a year, the Japanese special forces that sneaked into the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army finally paid the price, so that retaliation and demonstration with blood for blood was the language that the invaders understood, and our army could be regarded as openly avenging the shame of General Zuo Quan.
The people's heroes are immortal
On August 9, 1945, Chairman Mao issued a statement entitled "The Last War Against the Japanese Kou" to connect all the anti-Japanese base areas. From 10 to 11 July, Commander-in-Chief Zhu issued seven consecutive orders, demanding that all the armed forces in the base areas bordering the Japanese-occupied areas be prepared to accept Japan's surrender. On the 15th, Japan officially announced its unconditional surrender.
In the autumn of 1949, the People's Liberation Army was full of gas, and the general trend of the Kuomintang was gone. When Lin Biao, the commander-in-chief of Siye, led a million troops south to sweep away the fallen leaves in the autumn wind, his troops entering Hunan received a special order: If there was no obstacle, detour through Liling and visit an old peasant woman in Huangmaoling Village. Later, the Erye troops who successively entered Xiang also received such orders. It turned out that they were going to meet Zuo Quan's mother in his hometown, and the Party Central Committee expressed its nostalgia for Zuo Quan and respect for Zuo Quan in this way. It was only then that Zuo Mu learned that it had been seven years since her son had died in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
The Erno commanders and fighters comforted Zuo Mu
The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was the first complete victory of the Chinese nation in the face of foreign aggression in modern times, and it was of great and extraordinary historical significance, and Chinese persisted for such a victory for fourteen years and paid the price of more than 30 million casualties. Since the "918" incident, the Communist Party of China has selflessly sprinkled a large number of elites to the northeast battlefield, demonstrating the spirit of dedication to worrying about the world, and at that time the strength of the Ccp was still relatively weak.
After the all-out War of Resistance, our Party relied on itself again, and under the condition of hardly any external assistance, it bravely fought in the forefront of the Anti-Japanese Resistance, insisted on staying in the vast occupied areas, and waged a deadly struggle against the Japanese. In the eight years of unremitting training of blood and fire, our army has become stronger and more refined, and we have mobilized the broadest masses of the people, led the construction of the anti-Japanese united front of the whole nation, and successfully dragged the Japanese into the ocean of people's war. We have won the broadest popular will with practical actions.
During this period, our party naturally suffered immeasurable losses in the arduous struggle to save the people and survive, and countless comrades fell on the long journey, and they did not see the final victory and did not witness the establishment of new China. However, represented by Yang Jingyu and Zuo Quan, as well as countless people's heroes who sacrificed their lives for the interests of the country, the nation and the people, they will all go down in the annals of history and will never be immortal!