"The Sino-Japanese war is inevitable, and our army will bear the brunt of the invasion of the Japanese and Kosovo. The dead of war are glorious, and those who steal the living are humiliated; honor and disgrace are lighter than those of one person, but those who are tied to the country and the nation are heavy. The country is in many difficulties, and soldiers should wrap their bodies in Ma Ge and repay the country with their deaths. ”
This was a generous statement made by Tong Linge, deputy commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, at a military conference held in Nanwan, the military headquarters, after the outbreak of the "Lugou Bridge Incident" on July 7, 1937. One of his words was the general mobilization before the war, and the participants were all moved, unanimously supported, and asked to kill the enemy one after another.
Group photo of the generals of the Twenty-ninth Army after the Nanwan Military Conference, and the first on the right in the back row is Tong Linge
Tong Linge then issued an order to the whole army:
"Whoever attacks by the Japanese army resolutely resists and vows to coexist and die with the Lugou Bridge, and must not take a step back."
At this time, Song Zheyuanyuan, commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, was repairing his father's tomb in Leling, Shandong, and deputy commander Tong Linge vigorously defied the public opinion and made up his mind on his behalf. As soon as the military order was issued, General Tong Linge took the lead in setting an example, leading his troops to attack and fight a bloody battle with the Japanese Kou, and heroically martyred 21 days later.
Statue of General Tong Linge
Tong Linge, formerly known as Ling Ge, zi Jiesan, a native of Gaoyang County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, there is an old saying in Hebei: "Yan Zhao has been a generous and tragic man since ancient times", and Tong Linge, who was 20 years old at the time, threw his pen from Rong and followed Feng Yuxiang in the southern conquest of the northern war, and was deeply valued. He admired Jesus and had a spirit of suffering himself in order to save the world. Feng Yuxiang once commented on Tong Linge:
"He was a sincere Christian, self-denying, hard-working, never lied, and was called a righteous gentleman; he loved his superiors and his soldiers, and he had no hobbies other than reading."
This is a very high evaluation, needless to say that in that era of turbulence and bloody rain, that is, in all walks of life in peacetime, how many people can do this?
The ambitions of the Japanese wolf are clear. As early as the beginning of 1937, the streets of Japan have begun to spread the rumor that "The Tanabata North China will repeat the Wicker Lake Incident", that is, the "918" Incident, which the Japanese call "Wicker Lake Incident". Since the beginning of the year, the Japanese troops stationed in Fengtai have significantly increased the frequency of exercises: from once every six months to every three to five days. In particular, after May, the Japanese army conducted live-fire exercises day and night, in fact, preparing for aggression and expansion.
Lugou Bridge Memorial
On July 6, 1936, the sky suddenly rained heavily, and the Shimizu Jielang Squadron of the Japanese Army stationed in Fengtai braved the rain to come to Wanping Castle, and made unreasonable demands, wanting to pass through Wanping City to the Changxindian area with full armament, which was obviously a strategy of "false way to eliminate the yu", and the Thirty-seventh Division of the Twenty-ninth Army stationed in Wanping sternly refused. The two sides held each other for more than ten hours, and the Twenty-ninth Army immediately made preparations for battle and waited in a strict position. The Japanese did not make a bargain and withdrew at night.
At 19:30 on July 7, night had fallen, and Squadron Leader Shimizu Jielang led his troops to conduct night military exercises near the Huilong Temple Dawei Kiln northwest of lugou Bridge. At about 10:30, several Japanese troops came to Wanping Castle, claiming to have lost a soldier named Kikujiro Shimura during the exercise, and asked to enter the city to search, but the Twenty-ninth Army again severely refused. The Japanese secret service in Beiping sent a telegram to the Chinese authorities, insisting that troops be sent into the city, otherwise "they would defend the advance with force." While the Chinese and Japanese representatives were making representations, the Japanese army suddenly launched an attack on the Chinese defenders, the officers and men of the Twenty-ninth Army rose up to resist, and the "Lugou Bridge Incident" broke out.
In fact, as early as the beginning of 1937, the Japanese reconnaissance planes took a clear picture of the topographic map of Wanping City, and the Japanese army had been plotting for a long time. The Lugou Bridge on the Yongding River is connected to Wanping City, and parallel to the Lugou Bridge is the Pinghan Railway Bridge (now the Beijing-Han Railway), which was an important channel for Beiping to connect with the outside world at that time.
The Japanese reconnaissance plane photographed Wanping City: The square frame is Wanping City, and the bridge connected to it is the Lugou Bridge
At that time, several divisions of the Twenty-ninth Army were stationed in Beiping, Tianjin, and Fengtai, and the defenses were in a situation of mutual horns, which could reinforce each other, and the Japanese army did not take advantage after provoking the end of the war. However, Song Zheyuan, commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, misjudged the situation and did not realize the seriousness of the situation, and after the "Lugou Bridge Incident", he returned to Beiping from Shandong, still harboring illusions about Japan and trying to solve the problem through the habitual thinking of negotiating and making profits.
On July 11, the Japanese government held a "five-phase meeting" and cabinet meeting attended by the prime minister, foreign minister, land minister, maritime minister, and Tibetan minister, and unanimously agreed to increase troops in north China, and called the "Lugou Bridge incident" the "North China incident" and actively promoted the all-round invasion of China. It can be seen that the "Lugou Bridge Incident" is just an excuse and only a beginning, and Song Zheyuan, who was born from a warlord, did not realize this basic point at all.
Song Zheyuan was born from the old warlord and participated in anti-Chiang Kai-shek activities during the Central Plains War, so he was always cautious and cautious, afraid that the old Chiang Kai-shek would annex him, and carefully survived everywhere in the gap between Chiang Kai-shek and the Japanese. In addition, he also did not know what the attitude of the Nanjing government toward Japan was, so he always talked with the Japanese, never really fighting, never really talking, and making false accusations and pulling and pulling.
After the "Lugou Bridge Incident," he still had this attitude, still had illusions about Japan, or advocated negotiations; at one stage, he also took the initiative to remove the military facilities at Yongdingmen to show his sincerity and fantasize about peace talks with Japan. In fact, Japan has long made up its mind and is already dispatching troops.
The relative position of Wanping, Beiping and Nanwan
On the other hand, General Tong Linge, since the "Lugou Bridge Incident", he has never returned home, Tong Linge is a famous filial piety, at that time his mother was seriously ill, his family has been urging him to come back to see, but the war is urgent, Tong Linge tearfully wrote a letter to his wife Peng Jingzhi:
"At the time of the great enemy, when this time of filial piety and loyalty, I cannot personally serve the soup medicine, please take the place of the son, and honor my parents."
In ancient times, there was "Da Yu Zhi Shui three times through the door of the house and did not enter", Tong Linge's great enemy did not visit his mother at present, which was a model for soldiers. Those who do not sincerely resist Japan should be deeply ashamed.
After the war, his wife Peng Jingzhi was worried about being afraid and waited for news from her husband at her home in Beiping. On this day, Wang Shouxian, the guardian of Tong Linge, sent home the cross necklace he had worn for decades and handed it to Peng Jingzhi in person. She suddenly understood: her husband was determined to sacrifice and gave it to her as a memorial. Pain immediately surged into Peng Jingzhi's heart: If you have three long and two short, what should I do, what should I do at home, and what should I do with my children?
On July 17, 1937, the Nanjing government finally made up its mind to resist Japan, and Chiang Kai-shek also issued the so-called "Lushan Speech", but judging from its contents, it only showed an attitude, the premise was still to hope for peace talks, and if the peace talks were not successful, it was only at the "last moment" that it was decided to start fighting. When it was all over, the Kuomintang's attitude was still the same, and it was not a delay in the fighter plane.
Commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, Song Zheyuan
In any case, the Nanjing government also has an attitude, but Song Zheyuan, the commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, is still undecided, repeatedly delaying the fighters, and on July 25, Langfang was lost, and the advantages of the Twenty-ninth Army in the deployment were basically gone. On the evening of July 26, the Japanese commander Kiyoshi Kazuki ultimatum Song Zheyuan: withdraw from Peiping before noon on the 27th, and the troops must be withdrawn to Baoding one after another. At the same time as issuing the ultimatum, Kiyoshi Kazuki issued the order to attack the Nineteenth Route Army and capture Pingjin. In desperation, on July 27, Song Zheyuan issued a telegram:
"The Japanese have deceived me too much to bear it any longer, reject all unreasonable demands of the Japanese side, and fight for the survival of the country and the nation."
At this time, it was too late to make up its mind, and for so many days, the Japanese army had already completed the military deployment of the Pingjin Operation. In order to avoid the army from being attacked by the Japanese army, Song Zheyuan ordered the twenty-ninth army headquarters to be moved from Nanwan to Beiping, and when he was alive and dead, Tong Linge did not want to leave and was determined to defend Nanwan.
At that time, the "Beiping Daily" once published a report:
"Deputy Commander Tong is good at governing the army, and the Twenty-ninth Army is strictly disciplined and brave in battle. And the common people did not commit any crimes, and General Tong's training strength was also. ”
In addition to some regular defenders in Nanwan, Tong Linge also had cadets of the Military Training Corps and students of the University Military Training Class, many of whom had participated in the "12.9" student movement, and although they were enthusiastic, they had not received complete and systematic military training, and many of them were still touching guns for the first time. Tong Linge once said to the students who were indignant because of Nanjing's lack of resistance:
"If the central authorities order an anti-Japanese war, if I don't take the lead in Tong Linge, you can take me to Tiananmen Square, cut off my ears, and gouge out my eyes."
Tong Linge's mobilization before the battle this time was even more impassioned:
"Since the enemy has found him, he must fight him to the death, which is the duty of a soldier." There is nothing to say. ”
This is the difference between Tong Linge and Song Zheyuan, Song Zheyuan is a typical warlord, the first thing he thinks about is turf and people, while Tong Linge is a typical professional soldier, the enemy is at present, the first thing to think about is how to fight with the enemy in blood, defend the family and defend the country.
In the early morning of July 28, the Japanese army gathered 5 divisions and more than 100,000 troops, under the cover of dozens of tanks and dozens of cannons, from the east, south and west sides suddenly launched an attack on Nanwan, nanwan City suddenly became a sea of fire, until noon, both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Bloody battle with the Japanese
However, in the end, because of the invincibility, Tong Linge's department was surrounded by The Japanese army from all sides, Tong Linge commanded the troops to break through the leg by enemy bullets, and the blood flowed like a pillar, and his subordinates advised him to bandage it first, and he refused: "The situation is urgent, the resistance to the enemy is big, and the personal safety is small." ”
He endured great pain and continued to lead his troops to fight, and when the troops broke through to the village of Shicun in today's Fengtai District of Beijing, they were again blocked by the Japanese army, and the two sides fought fiercely for more than an hour, and Tong Linge was injured in many places. On the afternoon of the 28th, a group of enemy planes flew over Tong Linge's headquarters, dropped dense bombs, and Tong Linge, who was wounded in battle, suffered a severe head injury and was martyred, at this time he was not yet 45 years old, and his life was forever frozen at 2:30 p.m. on July 28, 1937.
Tong Linge's son, Tong Bing, who was only 12 years old at the time, later recalled:
"My father was sacrificed, and almost all the patriotic officers and soldiers were sacrificed there, almost three or four thousand. More than fifteen hundred students were killed, and six or seven hundred were sacrificed. It was all blood and flesh, bloody sacrifice for the country. ”
After Tong Linge was martyred, his bodyguard Gao Hongxi broke through and came to tong's house to hand over the general's pocket watch to his wife, Peng Jingzhi. At first, Gao Hongxi was afraid that his family would be sad and did not dare to tell the truth, only saying that Deputy Commander Tong was injured and hospitalized, and under repeated questioning by his family, he tearfully said that Deputy Commander Tong had sacrificed. Peng Jingzhi immediately fainted after hearing this, and the whole family fell into great sorrow, and the top pillar of the family fell.
Tong Linge's son Tong Bing
At that time, there were not many people with cars in Beiping, whenever the sound of cars sounded on the street, Tong Bing's 6 brothers and sisters knew that their father had returned, and the children hulala all ran out to greet them, some grabbed bags, some grabbed military hats, and Tong Dong's favorite was his father's pocket watch, which could also tell the time. And now all this has become a memory, making people lament and mourn!
Tong Linge, Peng Zhijing and their son Tong Bing
In Tong Bing's memory, he had never seen his parents quarrel, not even blush, not once. On the 20th anniversary of Tong Linge and Peng Jingzhi's marriage, Tong Linge made a pair of gold bracelets for Peng Jingzhi, which were engraved:
Mrs. Ruiqing has been with me for twenty years, bumping on horseback, suffering hardships, hardships and hardships, wind and rain in the same boat, respecting the old and raising children, being diligent and thrifty, engraving these words, never forgetting. LingGe.
Holding this pair of gold bracelets again, his wife Peng Jingzhi couldn't help but cry out in pain, all this came too quickly, and she didn't enjoy this short-lived beauty, and it instantly became a memory.
Later, after the Red Cross Society came forward, Gao Hongxi, with more than a dozen of Tong Linge's subordinates and a Japanese translator named Ou Qiufu, came to shicun in Nanwan, found the general's body, endured great grief, and transported Tong Linge's body home on the door panel of the common people.
This is also the last time Tong Bing saw his father, on July 28, 1937, Tong Linge's body was quietly parked in the north hall of the West Garden of the home, which was originally a happy paradise for Tong Bing and his brothers and sisters, here are flowers and trees and fruits, it is a place to walk happily with his father in memory, at this time the courtyard is full of flowers, but it can no longer attract the interest of Tong Bing's brothers and sisters, only to see his father lying on a wooden board, no left arm, full of wounds, blood has long dried up.
The media reported tong Linge's sacrifice
The family washed Tong Linge's body with iodine wine, changed into a birthday coat, and put him in the coffin originally prepared for Tong Linge's father. The sadness of the Tong family is indescribable. Now that I think about it, I am also unusually sad. His wife, Peng Jingzhi, said to the 6 children: "Hurry up and call the father again, cover the coffin, then you will never see it." ”
The Japanese army is about to enter Beiping City, and the Tong family, which is not protected by General Tong Linge, will inevitably become the focus of the Japanese search, not to mention the general's body, even the family is difficult to escape. The tears did not dry, the heart was not at peace, and the sound of gunfire outside the city urged the Tong family to make a quick decision: Where should the coffin of Tong Linge be placed?
Where is the safest place? Just when everyone was hesitating, Wang Shenzhi, a subordinate of Tong Linge and a major ordnance officer, suggested that the coffin of Tong Linge be temporarily hidden in the Berlin Temple east of the Lama Temple, and the name and surname should be changed to prevent the Japanese from finding it.
Berlin Temple, Beijing
As soon as this remark came out, Tong Bing's eldest sister was the first to loudly oppose: When his father was alive, he would rather die in the face of the Japanese army than die, and now that he is loyal to the country, he still has to change his name and surname and hide in Tibet. Absolutely not!
Mrs. Tong, who had been pondering for a long time, knew that time was pressing and that there was only one way to do it, so she got up and called the children to her side and told them: This is just a stopgap measure, you must protect your father's body, not fall into the hands of the Japanese. The children nodded tearfully in agreement.
Therefore, Wang Shenzhi, alias Wang Siyuan, came to the Berlin Temple to rent a spiritual house, and when the night of July 29 was about to fall, a coffin with the inscription "The Spiritual Seat of Mr. Junhu of the Ancestral Government" contained the remains of General Tong Linge and was quietly sent to the Berlin Temple. "Hu" is the surname of Tong Linge's mother.
The old abbot of the Berlin Temple also admired the fearless spirit of General Tong Linge who sacrificed his life for the country, took a huge risk, took in Tong Linge's body, and strictly guarded this secret until the victory of the War of Resistance. After the coffin was placed, the Tong family began a difficult life of 8 years of incognito and displacement.
After the martyrdom of General Tong Linge, on July 31, 1937, the Nanjing government issued a commendation order commending Tong Linge for his heroic feats and posthumously awarding him the title of General of the Army. Comrade Mao Zedong had a high opinion of Tong Linge, and on March 12, 1938, Mao Zedong said at the yan'an conference to commemorate the 13th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen's death and to mourn the anti-Japanese fallen soldiers:
Tong Linge and others "all gave the whole Chinese a lofty and great model." ”
On July 28, 1946, nine years after the death of General Tong Linge, the Nationalist government held a public memorial service for General Tong Linge in Beiping and transferred his spirits.
A convoy carrying the coffin of the general
This was the first time he had been publicly honored. Tong Bing recalled:
"All the way up, from the Berlin Temple to the East Fourth, there is a pine archway. All the way to Zhongshan Park. There are also public festivals to Xidan, Xisi, Xizhimen, zoos, and until the Summer Palace. Finally, I arrived at Xiangshan and buried my father in Xiangshan. This period of suffering is a thing of the past. ”
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Beiping Municipal Government renamed Nangou Street to Tong Linge Road, and has been retained to this day, this road from Fuxingmennei Street in the north to Xuanwumen West Avenue in the south, with a total length of about 1500 meters.
Beiping Tong Linge Road
On Tong Linge Road stands a pocket watch sculpture, which is fixed at 2:30 p.m. on July 28, 1937, which is the day of General Tong Linge's sacrifice. The chain of the pocket watch is composed of 77 iron rings, which always warns the world not to forget the special day and the years of suffering of the "July 7 Incident", and not to forget the revolutionary soldiers who sacrificed for the country.
Pocket watch sculpture
There is a person who comes to quietly wipe this pocket watch sculpture as long as he has time, as if he is nostalgic for the past years, he is Tong Bing, the son of Tong Linge.
On August 1, 1979, the United Front Work Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee announced that Tong Linge was designated as a revolutionary martyr and a tomb monument was erected for him.
Memorial Hall of Famous Anti-Japanese Generals
Now at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain, the Memorial Hall of famous anti-Japanese generals (formerly Tong Linge Memorial Hall, expanded in 2009) has been built, and not far away is the tomb of Tong Linge, and a large number of tourists come to visit General Tong every year. General Tong is ancient!