In the summer of 1938, the famous British writer and journalist Atree came to China after a long journey of three months, visited Hong Kong, Wuhan, Changsha and other places, and twice went to the Yangtze River Basin to collect anti-Japanese news. I recently read through the book and found that Atree had interviewed Tombaugh, "He looks like a farmer, but he has some kind of weather to confirm his reputation as a famous general." "Wait a minute! Can Tombaugh be considered a famous general?
Atree's "Yangtze Frontline"
Speaking of Tang Enbo, the first thing that comes to mind is the "water drought locust soup", which is said to have been called the "four pests" when his troops were in Henan, together with floods, droughts, and locusts. Don't believe you look at the movies "Battle shanghai" and "Great War Ninghuhang", which actor who plays Tang Enbo is not full of face? Artree graduated from the University of London in history and attended the British Communist Party, why doesn't her Tombaugh look like a "bad guy"? We may wish to follow the perspective of this British female journalist and "approach" the historical scene to have a look.
First, on July 26, the Japanese army captured the important town of Jiujiang in northern Ganbei, Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed, Jiujiang gain or loss did not matter, but the second-line position retreated prematurely, ordered zhang Fakui, commander-in-chief of the second corps, to transfer the command of the front line and quickly return to Wuhan to report for duty. Zhang Fakui explained that the second line of resistance was "too close to the Jiujiang River and was subject to the fire of the enemy's naval guns", and in order to make the terrain more suitable for defense, it retreated to the line from Niutou Mountain to Shing Mun Lake. Chiang Kai-shek felt that there was some truth in it, and finally withdrew his life, reassured Zhang Fakui to return to the front, and was responsible for the task of blocking the enemy west of Ruichang.
Zhang Fakui, commander-in-chief of the Second Corps
At the end of August, Atree, A.T. Steele, a reporter for the Chicago Daily, and Walter Baushard, a Swiss photojournalist, took advantage of the opportunity of the Red Cross Ambulance Team of China to visit the field hospital and followed them to the front line west of Ruichang for interviews. "We took a detour to General Zhang Fakui's headquarters, and we only saw his chief of staff, saying that Zhang Fakui was ill. Later we learned that he had just been ordered to hand over command here to Tombaugh, and that may be why he did not receive us. This is a disappointment, because this young-looking Cantonese is one of China's most famous generals."
According to Atree, they originally wanted to interview Zhang Fakui. As mentioned earlier, Zhang Fakui lost Jiujiang, and Chiang Kai-shek felt forgivable and had already taken back his life. The author consulted Zhang Fakui's "Memoirs of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", "When my headquarters was re-established in Yangxin on September 1, Ruichang had fallen on August 24"; "West of Ruichang, there is a continuous mountainous area, the elevation of each mountain is above 500 meters, and the Rui (Chang) Yang (New) Highway winds between the slopes, which is conducive to defense"; "I entrust the responsibility of this aspect to Tang Enbo, commander-in-chief of the Thirty-first Army.".
A mortar unit of the Nationalist Army in the Battle of Wuhan
The author believes that Atree's understanding is wrong, Zhang Fakui's loss of jiujiang to transfer command is one thing, and returning to Yangxin to authorize Tang Enbo to command is another thing, and the two should not be confused. The Second Corps was under the command of the Thirty-first Group Army, and Zhang Fakui, out of modesty and politeness, asked foreign reporters to directly interview Tang Enbo, so he used the excuse that he was unwell. Anyway, Atree and her party soon arrived at the headquarters of the Thirty-first Army two miles away, and she was very surprised by a man in front of her.
General Tombaugh, with the sleeves of his sky-blue shirt rolled high on his brown arms, smiled and gently greeted us in his unfurnished headquarters. I now know that the higher the status of Chinese generals, the more informal, and I understand that if a person wears only a shirt or a vest, it is a high-ranking officer or something like that, while a person of low status wears a formal uniform. It can be seen from this that Tang Enbo, the "bad guy", is clever and deliberately dresses plainly in front of foreign journalists and pretends to be approachable.
"He entertained us with milk and sesame cake and appreciated our ability to come to the front lines. We asked him many questions, and he answered us with an extraordinary confession. He had the confidence that the War of Resistance would last, while pointing out that the chinese army's major shortcomings were its lack of mobility and attack power. As we know, he was one of the most reputable Chinese generals. Taierzhuang's victory— when the Chinese army attacked faster than the Japanese — was due to his and General Li Zongren's strategy, which demoralized the Japanese army. ”
Tombaugh around 1949
A good "bad man" Tang Enbo, the front-line soldiers are short of clothes and food, he actually took out high-grade food and offered his courtesy, which was simply to pour "ecstasy soup" into foreign journalists. Atree and others did not notice for a while, unfortunately deceived, really thought that Tang Enbo was an excellent "anti-Japanese famous general" and wrote him so well. Forget it, the more I think about it, the more angry I am, so I wash and sleep. I hope that the netizens of the headlines will leave messages and posts, and everyone will come to expose the false face of Tang Enbo.
bibliography:
1. Atree, "Yangtze Frontline", Shanghai Science and Technology Literature Publishing House, 2015
2. Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Shaoguan Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Literature and History Materials Committee of the Sixing County CPPCC Committee, ed., "Swinging Prancing Horse Full of Dust: Documentary of General Zhang Fakui's Northern Expedition and War of Resistance", Guangdong People's Publishing House, 1990 edition