<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Author: Ivory Mountain Boys</h1>
In the winter of 1939, in the Battle of Kunlun Pass northeast of Nanning, Chen Mingren led his troops to fight with the Japanese army for 7 days and 7 nights, with more than 7,000 casualties, until he received the order to retreat, and then led the remnants to withdraw from the line of fire.
Later, at the military review meeting held in Liuzhou, Chiang Kai-shek severely reprimanded and punished all the generals involved in the battle, but praised Chen Mingren and announced that priority would be given to the pre-2nd Division to replenish its troops and weapons and equipment, and to go to the Wuming area to take up defensive tasks.
Although Chen Mingren then led his troops into southern Sichuan and concurrently served as the commander of the Qingxiang Headquarters in southern Sichuan, made new contributions in banning smoking and gambling, suppressing habitual bandits, severely punishing bullies, and stabilizing the localities, and was once again commended by Chiang Kai-shek, the good times did not last long, and soon there were unexpected incidents, and there was a serious conflict directly with Chiang Kai-shek.
In the winter of 1941, Chen Mingren was ordered to lead his troops to garrison Kunming, Yunnan, because of the strict discipline of the troops, the autumn did not commit any crimes, the training was hard, the construction of fortifications was strong, and he was praised by the Central Staff Committee and the Yunnan Camp many times, and Chen Mingren was also in a very comfortable mood. Unexpectedly, one day Chiang Kai-shek came to Kunming, accompanied by Long Yun, Lu Han, Song Xiha, Du Xingming, and others, to tour the Scenic Area of Xishan, and came across some soldiers in tattered clothes building fortifications, and angrily asked: "Who brought the soldiers?" Tattered like what words! ”
Song Xihao, commander-in-chief of the 11th Army, hurriedly said, "They are all Chen Mingren's subordinates. After returning to Kunming, Chiang Kai-shek, in a fit of rage and in a fit of rage, transferred Chen Mingren to the post of deputy commander of the 71st Army, and ordered all handover procedures to be completed within two days. Three days later, chiang kai-shek flew back to Kunming from the Lashio district of Burma and summoned Chen Mingren to the Jinbi Villa. As soon as they met, Chiang Kai-shek scolded him with his head covered: "You, the division commander, did not do a good job!" ”
Chen Mingren, who was already full of grievances, had an angry face and asked, "What did I not do well?" On combat, we have been rewarded by you every time; on training, we are among the best; on military discipline, you have sent a telegram to our division as an example for the troops entering Yunnan. Isn't that enough? ”
Chiang Kai-shek paced silently and said, "If your troops are not well dressed, they will damage the prestige of the army." ”
"The clothes of the troops are not good, this does not blame me but you, the clothes are issued by you, the quality is very poor, only worn for two weeks and then torn, what can I do!" Chen Mingren showed no weakness and argued according to reason.
"Why can other troops dress neatly, you better find your own reasons!" Chiang Kai-shek rebuked angrily.
"Whenever unit you go to inspect, the soldiers on duty are dressed and the soldiers who are in tatters are locked in their houses and not allowed to go out. However, our troops can't do it, we have to catch up with the schedule, complete the construction task, and I don't want to cheat and deceive the principal like other generals. Chen Mingren shouted loudly.
"You can't do it, you just can't!" Don't make any other excuses. What Chiang Kai-shek did not expect was that this time the tip of the needle met Mai Mang. But in the face of his subordinates, Chiang Kai-shek certainly would not easily change his mouth.
Chen Mingren continued to shout: "I will never admit that I can't do it, I can do what others can do, and I can do what others can't do!" ”
A small division commander dared to speak wildly and arbitrarily, so what would it take? Chiang Kai-shek shouted loudly: "Chen Mingren, you dare to be so wanton, blind to military discipline, and confront the leader, I will escort you to Chongqing and punish you by military law." With that, Jiang shouted urgently, "Gendarmes, gendarmes! ”
At this time, Chen Mingren was equally angry, and he ripped off his rank of lieutenant general and threw it on the table in front of Chiang Kai-shek, saying: "If I violate any law of the state or the army, I am willing to be punished." But because the clothes of the construction troops were worn and soaked with sweat, and I was brought to justice, I just didn't obey! What lieutenant general division commander, this officer I am not right! ”
When Chiang Kai-shek's hands were trembling with anger, the guards summoned the gendarmerie battalion commander, and he shouted to the battalion commander with an iron face: "Reverse son, reverse!" Bet me on. ”
The commander of the gendarmerie battalion and the attendants hurriedly advised Chen Mingren to go to the attendants' room to rest first. But Chen Mingren still did not accept the softness, shouting: "If I do not obey, I am not convinced!" ”
Chiang Kai-shek was still furious: "What kind of system has this become, what kind of system has become this!" ”
Long Yun and Guan Lin rushed to hear the news, and while persuading Chiang Kai-shek, they counted Chen Mingren's strengths and said all the good things, so that Chiang Kai-shek gradually dissipated his anger and reluctantly spat out a few words: "Let him go back after eating." ”
After confronting Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Mingren had no intention of becoming a soldier again, so he asked his wife to start packing her bags and preparing to return to her hometown to live idly, but after repeated reservations by friends, the trip did not take place. A few days later, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Kunming again, and when he heard that Chen Mingren was insisting on disarming and returning to the field, he felt some pity, so he ignored the fact that Du Yuming and Song Xihao were waiting to be received, and summoned Chen Mingren by name.
When Chen Mingren entered the living room with an uneasy mood, Chiang Kai-shek smiled, cordially invited him to sit down, and asked his attendants to brew Chen a cup of fine tea, and then asked him what he thought of his appointment as deputy commander of the 71st Army, how his family was doing, what books he had read recently, and so on. This made Chen Mingren feel guilty, take the initiative to admit his mistake, and said: "Principal, the student was impulsive and unreasonable that day, which was really wrong..."
Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, I won't mention the past, you are my student, as long as you do a good job, there will be a future." ”
In Chiang Kai-shek's life, there were few serious incidents of confronting him in person, and it was thus over.
In 1943, Chen Mingren, who also served as the chief of the officer training brigade and the deputy chief of education, conducted rigorous training for the officers of the 71st battalion, regiment and division, and led all the generals to Kolkata, India, to receive training from the American army. In the winter of that year, the 71st Army was all converted into American weapons and equipment and incorporated into the Sequence of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Subsequently, in coordination with the Anglo-American forces, the Battle of Western Yunnan and Northern Burma was fought. During the battle, Chen Mingren made many military achievements, and after dozens of battles, he finally annihilated most of the Japanese army that occupied Songshan and Longling. After the Battle of Longling, Chen Mingren was promoted to commander of the 71st Army because of his outstanding military achievements.
In January 1945, the Chinese Expeditionary Force continued to encircle and suppress the remnants of the Japanese army on the border of Yunnan and Burma in an attempt to open up the International Road between Yunnan and Burma, to meet with the Chinese troops stationed in India, and to ensure the smooth flow of international assistance roads.
Over the past few years, the Japanese army has built strong permanent fortifications in the Areas of Huiya and Huilongshan in Yunnan, in a vain attempt to use this core fortification position to prevent the expeditionary force from opening up the Burma Road. In order to conquer the town, you must first conquer Huilongshan. To this end, the expeditionary force mobilized the main force to repeatedly besiege Huilongshan, but it could not be attacked for a long time.
As a last resort, Wei Lihuang reported that Chiang Kai-shek had agreed to send Chen Mingren to lead the 71st Army to take on the operational task of the main attack back to Longshan. At that time, General Wei Demai, who had just taken over as chief of staff of the Allied Headquarters of the Chinese Theater, also came to the headquarters of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and participated in operational research.
After Chen Mingren observed the terrain around Huilongshan and learned about the japanese army's strength and firepower configuration, he was already in his chest. At that time, Wei Demai asked Chen Mingren: "Are you sure?" What are the requirements? ”
Wei Lihuang saw that Chen Mingren was bowing his head and did not speak, and he also asked eagerly: "It is okay to talk about your combat ideas first." ”
Chen Mingren stood up, walked to the map, pointed at the map with a map stick, and said: "I want to adopt the tactic of attacking the west from the east, first mobilizing the main force of the Japanese army to move from Huilongshan to Santai Mountain, and then conquering the central position of Huilongshan in one fell swoop." If I can't conquer Huilong Mountain in three days, I am willing to be punished by military law! ”
Weidmeier said happily, "Good, good! Tell us about your requirements for troops and firepower. ”
"I think the key to this battle is the coordination of infantry, artillery and air to win." To this end, I ask the Allied Air Forces to cooperate in the operation and give them to my unified command. Chen Mingren said.
"I order Major General Hudge of the United States Air Force to enter The Command Post of General Chen and obey your command!" Weidmann gave the order decisively.
Therefore, Huang Jie, the new commander-in-chief of the 11th Army, Brigadier General Dou En, deputy chief of staff of the Allied High Command in the Chinese Theater, Major General Hutch of the US Air Force, and the US Adviser and Liaison Officer of the Expeditionary Force came to the forward command post of the 71st Army to study the operational deployment with the commanders of the divisions, artillery commanders, commanders of the coordinating combat units, and commanders of the communication battalions.
In the end, Chen Mingren decided: to support the subordinate troops to attack Santai Mountain with strong firepower, and the main attacking troops adopted the tactic of dividing and encircling, breaking through each one and completely annihilating the enemy at Longshan; at the same time, with one division, they cut off the retreat of the Japanese army to Burma and annihilated the fleeing enemy; and finally joined forces to conquer the town of Qi, and would join forces to attack the Burmese Mangyou.
At 6:30 a.m. the next day, the battle began. Chen Mingren first ordered the artillery to launch a concentrated fire attack on Santai Mountain, and half an hour later, the feint troops launched a fierce attack on Santai Mountain, and then ordered the USAf force B-29 long-range heavy bombers to circle over Santai Mountain. The defenders soon fell into trouble and rushed to the central position for help. The Japanese commander immediately ordered the main force to return to Longshan and quickly move to Santai Mountain.
Chen Mingren saw that the Japanese army was indeed deceived, so he ordered the US bomber group to turn over Huilong Mountain and take turns bombing the central position of Huilongshan. Then, more than 100 mountain artillery and howitzers were concentrated to carry out powerful bombardment, covering the main attack troops to approach the central position of Huilongshan, and then launched a strong attack. In the midst of the roar of the mountains and the smoke of gunfire, the main attacking troops of the 7th Division swept back to LongShan like a fierce wind.
At 15:00, Chen Mingren decisively activated the death squad and took advantage of the slight relaxation of the Japanese army to launch a sudden attack, and at the same time ordered a force to intersperse between Huilong Mountain and Santai Mountain, cutting off the Japanese mobile reinforcement route. Under the cover of fierce crossfire, after several charges, the 71st Army finally captured the central position of Huilongshan and the position of Santaishan at 17:00. At this time, the remnants of the Japanese army attempted to flee to Burma, and were annihilated by the 88th Division, which was ambushed in advance on the Burma Road.
In order to further expand the results of the battle, Chen Mingren also ordered the main attacking force to take advantage of the victory to pursue, completely annihilated the remnants of the Japanese army that had fled to the town of Hata, and cooperated with friendly forces to capture the important town of Ki town on the Sino-Burmese border on January 20, and won a complete victory in the battle. Soon, the 71st Army, along with the New 1st Army and the New 6th Army, joined forces with the Chinese Army in The Town of Qi and the Burmese Mangyou and the Chinese Army in India.
In this battle, the Japanese army invaded western Yunnan, and Chen Mingren was also famous and famous at home and abroad. U.S. Army Brigadier General Dou En, who has been at the expeditionary force headquarters, said: "This is a masterpiece of the art of military command. Wei Demai praised Chen Mingren as "an outstanding Chinese famous general" and Wei Lihuang as "a famous general who has won every battle.".
When Chairman Mao learned about the tactical application of the Huilongshan Campaign, he praised Chen Mingren as a famous anti-Japanese general in China, and also greatly appreciated and attached great importance to his tactical thinking and command art, also known as a "tactical masterpiece."
In the future battlefield in the northeast, he also repeatedly warned the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army not to take the enemy lightly, and should study Chen Mingren's tactical thinking and deploy operations by taking the Battle of Huilongshan as an example.
But later, Lin Biao still tasted Chen Mingren's strength twice in the Battle of Siping Street and suffered a lot.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > Author Profile: Ivory Mountain Boy, Northeast History Enthusiast, Serious and Comic History Teacher. </h1>
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