Jiazi Mountain, within a radius of tens of miles, is located at the junction of Lanshan District of Rizhao City and Junan County of Linyi City, south of Ri (Zhao) Ju (County) Highway, east of the Yellow Sea coast, south of the Coastal Plain, west of Yimeng Mountain, north of Jiaoji Railway, strategic position is very important. In the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the 111th Division of the Kuomintang 57th Army (subordinate to the Lusu Guerrilla Theater, also known as the 11th Division of the Northeast Army) was stationed here, only 20 or 30 miles away from the Shandong Branch of the COMMUNIST Party of China and the organs of the Shandong Military Region. The Northeast Army has always been the main object of unity of the Eighth Route Army, and in the past it basically got along with the Eighth Route Army, but after the second anti-communist upsurge launched by Chiang Kai-shek, its internal progressive forces and reactionary forces were clearly divided and the struggle was sharp. In the summer of 1942, Chiang Kai-shek plotted to launch the third anti-communist upsurge, and in July he sent another telegram ordering Yu Xuezhong, commander-in-chief of the theater, to execute Wan Yi, a special member of the Communist Party of China who launched the "922" hoeing operation and acting brigade commander of the 333rd Brigade of the 111th Division, who was detained in February of the previous year. The commander of the 111th Division, who was seriously ill and the patriotic anti-Japanese general Chang Endo (a special member of the COMMUNIST Party), dissatisfied with the Kuomintang's policy of compromise and surrender and anti-communism, had close relations with the Communist Party, and resolutely decided to lead his troops to break away from the Kuomintang army on his deathbed, and left a will, so that after his death, all the officers and men of the division must follow Guo Weicheng and implement Zhang Xueliang's ideas, so as to achieve the great desire of anti-Japanese rape. On August 2, Wan Yi learned that he was about to be executed and Chang Enduo was about to take action, and immediately escaped from prison and entered the coastal anti-Japanese base area. On the 3rd, chang Enduo and Guo Weicheng, in view of Yu Xuezhong's inquiry into Wan Yi's escape from prison, held a meeting of officers at and above the regimental level in Jifang Village, Jiazi Mountain, announcing that the 111th Division had separated from the Kuomintang army and was renamed the Northeast Advance Army, and detained Liu Zongyan, deputy division commander of the division, Tao Jingkui, chief of staff, and Liu Jinwu, commander of the 333rd Brigade, and other leaders of the anti-communist diehard faction. Guo Weicheng was entrusted by Chang Enduo to control the troops. This move is also known as the "August 3rd" incident.
On August 5, the Shandong Branch of the Communist Party of China held an emergency meeting to listen to reports from Wan Yi and others to study policies for dealing with the "August 3rd" incident. Express support for their just, progressive actions. In view of the possible chaos in the ministry, Wan Yi and Wang Weiping (Wang Zhenqian), an underground MEMBER of the Communist Party who had worked in the ministry, could be sent back to the division to assist Chang Endo and Guo Weicheng in mastering the stabilization of the troops. Due to the lack of ideological foundation and organizational preparation, the complex composition of the participation, and the vigorous differentiation of diehards, most of the troops mutinied and fled on june and 7. Wang Yi, commander of the divisional engineer battalion, released The detained Tao Jingkui, Liu Zongyan, and Liu Jinwu. Tao Jingkui and others quickly gathered the deserters, gathered their forces, and marched northeast to counterattack on the 8th. Chang Endo and Guo Weicheng were forced to lead the remaining troops (most of the 111th Division headquarters and the 333rd Brigade Headquarters, the 662nd Regiment 2 Battalion, the 665th Regiment 1 Company, the 666th Regiment Directly and the 1st Battalion Headquarters, the Scattered Personnel of the Headquarters of the Lusu Theater And the 3rd Battalion and two companies of the Special Service Regiment) a total of more than 2,700 officers and men and 300 military dependents, carrying some weapons and ammunition, and transferred to the front of Wangjiafang in Junan County. On the morning of the 9th, Chang Enduo died of illness. Faced with a complicated situation, Guo Weicheng accepted the proposal of the Shandong Sub-Bureau to cancel the "Northeast Advance Army" and still use the name of the 111th Division (called the New 111th Division). Wan Yi and Guo Weicheng were deputy division commanders, Guo Weicheng was also the director of the Political Department, and Wang Weiping was the deputy director of the Political Department. In order to stabilize the hearts of the army and strive for the return of the deserters, it was decided not to mourn the death of Chang Endo.
On the 9th, Tao Jingkui, Liu Zongyan, Liu Jinwu, and other commanders gathered more than 2,000 deserters, and colluded with Li Yanxiu and Zhu Xinzhai of the Kuomintang guerrilla independent detachment to begin to seize the Jiazi Mountain Area garrisoned by the 111th Division and confront the 111th Division and the Eighth Route Army. In mid-August, the 115th Division mobilized its forces to assist the progressive forces of the 111th Division in launching a campaign against the recalcitrant army. (To be continued)
(Author: Xin Chongfa)