readx; After the Battle of Zaoyi broke out, Zhang Zizhong's 33rd Army had only two regiments stationed on the west bank of the Xiang River. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

As the commander-in-chief of the group army, Zhang Zizhong could have not personally led the troops to attack and fight, but he insisted on staying behind the deputy commander-in-chief despite the repeated dissuasion of his subordinates.

On May 1, Zhang Zizhong personally wrote a notice to all troops and generals: "The country has reached such a point that there is no other way but to die for us." I also believe that as long as we can make this determination, our country and our nation with a history of 5,000 years will never die at the hands of the Japanese slaves of the three islands. The determination to die for the country and the nation is not clear, the stone is not rotten, and it will never change at all. ”

Zhang Zizhong, whose name is Xunchen, is of Han nationality and is a native of Tangyuan Village, Linqing, Shandong.

In 1891, Zhang Zizhong was born in Linqing, Shandong. Linqing is a small city on the Luxi Plain, located on the delta where the Wei River meets the ancient canal. The Wei River was called the Qing River in ancient times, and "Linqing" is also the meaning of the Qing River. Due to the developed water and land transportation, Linqing has become an important link between the north and the south, and the business is prosperous, ranking among the five major commercial ports in Jiangbei, known as "Little Tianjin".

Linqing is the hometown of Zhao State, known as chivalrous, and Linqing is no exception. History said that the people in this area are "strong-surnamed, righteous, and dare to do things". During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the tax supervisor Ma Tang looted the people's wealth in the name of taxation, and the people of Linqing rioted. When the imperial court sent a large army to suppress it, the craftsman Wang Chaozuo stepped forward, took it alone, calmly took justice, and covered the anti-tax masses. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the peasant Wang Lun launched an uprising against tyranny, which was later suppressed by officers and soldiers. In the Xianfeng period, there was an anti-Qing uprising of the Black Flag Army led by Song Jingshi in Linqing. After the uprising was frustrated, Song Jingshi was unwilling to give in, re-raised the banner of righteousness, and resisted the Qing army until he died in battle.

After the Xinhai Revolution, Zhang Zizhong found his old commander Che Zhen to express his willingness to join the army. Che Zhen said approvingly: "Jiaolong is not a thing in the pool after all, I think you can't stay in your hometown." In this way, I will take you to Langfang in a few days and recommend you to Feng Yuxiang, the commander of the 16th Mixed Brigade, who is my brother. ”

Feng Yuxiang was born in Qingxian County, Hebei Province in 1882. He joined the "Five Battalions Training Army" in Baoding as a soldier since he was a child. Later, he was transferred to Yuan Shikai's new army guard, because of his diligence and hard work, he gradually emerged, and successively served as a pipe band, battalion commander, and regiment commander, so that the army could be fully developed. Most of his recruits, who were recruited according to his own standards, were tall, athletic, simple, hard-working, and easily organized and trained. He broke with the old conventions and bad habits of the ordinary army at that time, created a unique method of military training, and trained a group of young officers who were able to recruit and fight well.

In 1914, Fengbu was expanded into the 16th Mixed Brigade, which has become a unique force in the Beiyang Army. In September 1916, Che Zhen accompanied Zhang Zizhong to Langfang and recommended him to Feng Yuxiang. Feng listened to the introduction of his old friend, looked Zhang Zizhong up and down, and saw that he was tall and heroic, and he had a "calm and resolute atmosphere", so he accepted him very satisfied. Defecting to Feng Yuxiang was actually the real beginning of Zhang Zizhong's military career. At this time, he was already twenty-five years old. As is often the case, it is too late to join the army. Even Tong Linge, Liu Ruming, Feng Zhi'an, Ji Hongchang and others, who were younger than him, had joined the army for many years and became company commanders. But for an aspiring person, the most important thing is not what position he stands in, but whether he has found the right direction to struggle.

Feng Yuxiang's 16th Mixed Brigade enabled Zhang Zizhong to truly get a place to display his talents and a stage of struggle to realize his ideals. Here, he worked hard, forged ahead, and started a vigorous business. At the beginning of defecting to Feng Yuxiang, Zhang Zizhong was appointed as a lieutenant. Dispatch was a kind of supernumerary attachment in the army at that time, and it was necessary to study with the junior officer class for a period of time before he could officially become an officer, so he was also called a probationary officer. Soon, Zhang Zizhong was promoted from a trainee officer to a platoon commander, and the company commander was Shi Yousan, a well-known "defective general" later.

In order to improve the military knowledge and skills of junior officers, Feng Yuxiang set up an officer training regiment in Changde in September 1918, with Lu Zhonglin, the head of the artillery regiment, as the head of the regiment. Zhang Zizhong was sent to the officer corps of the teaching regiment for further study. Mainly learn tactics, leading troops, terrain, weapons, military history, city building, simple surveying and mapping, and classics, models, orders, etc. Zhang Zizhong has a strong interest in military affairs, so he is particularly diligent and hard in his studies, and he has a good cultural foundation, so he always ranks first in every exam. Lu Zhonglin appreciated him very much and made him a "standard student". Feng Yuxiang also praised: "In the teaching group, he is very diligent, extremely sincere and friendly to people and things, and can work hard, which shows that he must be a general in the future." ”

Zhang Zizhong's talent for leading troops was soon revealed. Three months after he took office as company commander, his second company won the first place in the military assessment of all companies in the brigade and became a "model company" of the 16th mixed brigade. The model company is a model for Feng Yuxiang to govern the army, and Zhang Zizhong won this honor and worked more energetically. Almost all of the 126 soldiers in the company trained by him later became talents, with ten army commanders and division commanders alone, and even more brigade commanders and regiment commanders. From this time on, Zhang Zizhong's style of paying attention to military discipline and governing the army strictly has been very prominent. When encountering a violator of military discipline, he first persuaded and educated, then severely reprimanded, and served with a military stick three times. As the soldiers sang in the ballad: "Teach you to learn well or not, the duck-billed military stick is on the hook." ”

Later, because Zhang Zizhong often said a mantra to officers and soldiers who violated military discipline: "Look at me can't pick your skin!" As a result, he was nicknamed "Zhang Papi" by the officers and soldiers, and no one in the whole army knew about it. A song slipped out of his mouth and said: "Shi Yousan's whip, Han Fuyu's rope, Liang Guanying's flat shoulder race is like a dragon, Zhang Zizhong is really ruthless!" ”

The nickname of "Zhang Papi" makes people mistakenly think that this prince is a ruthless, unrighteous, rough and arrogant martial artist, but it is not. Zhang Zizhong loves soldiers like sons, and he is strict and gracious, and he knows the meaning of "governing the army before governing the heart" and the magic of the use of "grace and power". Taking the beating of military sticks as an example, Zhang Zizhong did not beat him immediately when he encountered it, and used sticks and sticks indiscriminately, but practiced the "eight no-beatings", that is, not beating when he was sick, not beating when he was angry, not beating in the middle of summer, not beating before meals, not beating without kindness, not beating if he was punished, not beating ramming soldiers, and not beating if he didn't know it. It can be seen that Zhang Zizhong is very particular about how to use military sticks.

Soon, Zhang Zizhong was ordered to move to Fengtai. At that time, Fengtai had been entrenched by the British army for many years. When Zhang Zizhong led his troops to Fengtai, the British army did not allow him to enter, and a dispute broke out between the two sides.

At that time, many Chinese [***] people, under the prestige of foreign insults, could not help but "be shocked when they heard the sound of the Mingdi, and bend their knees to the bend", but Zhang Zizhong was strong in blood and strength, and he insisted on sending a company to forcibly enter the station. The British side sent people to negotiate, Zhang Zizhong said: "Fengtai Station is China's territory, the Chinese [***] team is carrying out tasks in its own territory, and foreign countries have no right to interfere:" Seeing that the negotiations were ineffective, the British army surrounded Fengtai Station with arms and fired at our army, arrogant.

Zhang Zizhong immediately ordered the station guards: "If he doesn't offend me, I won't offend him, if he offends me, resolutely destroy him!" According to Zhang's order, the defenders returned fire to the enemy from the front, and sent a squad to raid behind the enemy, but the British army was overwhelmed and forced to retreat. However, the British troops stationed on the railroad still did not allow our soldiers to carry weapons, which led to another conflict between the two sides. This time, the British army sent a Chinese as a representative to negotiate and demand that the Chinese [***] team withdraw its troops. Zhang Zizhong resigned solemnly: "This is China's territory, not British territory, and it should be them who retreat!" The words were so speechless that people were speechless. Seeing that they had encountered a tough opponent, the British had no choice but to admit defeat. Since then, Fengtai Station, which has been entrenched by the British army for many years, has returned to the hands of the Chinese.

After the Central Plains War in 1930, Feng Yuxiang's military group was dismantled, and Zhang Zizhong's department was absorbed by Chiang Kai-shek. After 1931, Zhang Zizhong served as the commander of the 38th Division of the 29th Army, the commander of the 59th Army, the commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army and the commander of the right wing corps of the 5th theater. In 1937, after the fall of Shanghai and Nanjing, the invaders pointed their troops directly at Xuzhou, aiming to seize this strategic location. In March 1938, the army invested 780,000 troops and marched to Taierzhuang in the northeast of Xuzhou by two routes. When they arrived in Linyi and Tengxian, there were fierce battles with the [***] team.

At that time, it was Pang Bingxun's 3rd Army that guarded Linyi. Due to the disparity in strength and heavy casualties, Pang Bu urgently needed reinforcements. Zhang Zizhong was dispatched to lead the 59th Army to rush to reinforcements at a speed of 180 miles in one day and night. Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun were originally old enemies, but he put the interests of the country and the nation first, put aside personal grievances, and led his troops to fight with Pang Ministry. Under the cover of aircraft and artillery, the enemy cooperated with tanks and armored vehicles to launch an attack on the Chaye Mountain position.

Zhang Zizhong, with the determination of "desperately killing the enemy" and "repaying the motherland in case of emergency", fought fiercely with the enemy and repeatedly fought hand-to-hand. At the foot of the tea mountain, the Liujiahu position was lost and regained three or four times, and the battle situation was extremely tragic. After several days of fierce fighting, the enemy army suffered heavy losses and retreated. The squadron regained Mengyin and Juxian one after another, and destroyed more than 4,000 enemies. Soon after, the army sent the Sakamoto Brigade to launch an offensive against Linyi and Sanguanmiao, in a vain attempt to make a breakthrough. The two armies of Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun fought hard, and after fierce fighting all night, the Yue army suffered a heavy blow, and its strategic attempt to reinforce the Taierzhuang front line was completely crushed, ensuring the victory of the Taierzhuang battle.

In the Battle of Linyi in 1938, the 59th Army fought fiercely with the enemy for seven days and nights, and the soldiers defeated the Itagaki Division, known as the "Iron Army," and won an exciting victory, and also paid heavy sacrifices themselves. After this campaign, people's perception of Zhang Zizhong has changed a lot. Soon after, Zhang Zizhong led his troops to participate in the Battle of Wuhan, fought a bloody battle with the enemy in Huangchuan for ten days, and inflicted heavy losses on the Kou in Huangchuan, Henan, and was immediately promoted to the commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army. From November 1938 to early April 1939, in just four months, Zhang Zizhong's command post conducted four small and medium-sized battles one after another, destroying no less than 4,000 enemies. Among them, the battle of Jingshan in February was particularly good. Lin Sen, chairman of the National Political Axe, issued an order to award Zhang Zizhong the Baoding Medal. On May 2, 1939, the Nationalist Axe issued another order to confer the rank of general on Zhang Zizhong

In May 1939, the two armies of China and China launched the first major confrontation in northern Hubei - the Battle of Suizao. At dawn on May 1, the Yue Army, with the support of strong firepower, launched a fierce attack on the 18th and 37th Divisions of Zhang Zizhong's right wing corps east of the Xianghe River. Our army stubbornly resisted with its fortifications, supported the not strong defensive line with flesh and blood, and repelled the enemy's attacks three times in a row. On the 6th day of the battle, the army launched the fourth attack, and the position of our army was finally broken through, and Lion Rock, Yangjiagang, Changshoudian, Pumenchong, and Huangqi'an were lost one after another. At dawn on the 8th, Zhang Zizhong led his staff and headquarters personnel to cross the river in the rain and march eastward. On 10 May, the division ambushed the Yue Army's baggage wing at Dajiajia, west of Tianjiaji, annihilating more than 1,000 of its men in one fell swoop, and capturing dozens of military horses, more than 30 transport boats, military maps, ammunition supplies, and a large quantity of medicine. Due to the destruction of the baggage wing, the plan of the army to cross the river and attack Xiangfan fell through.

In the battle of Suizao, the [***] team destroyed more than 10,000 enemies. Among them, Zhang Zizhong's right-wing corps annihilated more than 4,500 enemies, captured 74 military horses and a large number of military supplies; There were 4,414 casualties and 2,702 missing, of which the 59th Army paid the greatest price, with 2,153 casualties and 2,381 missing

The enemy in front of him launched a fierce attack, and the guns roared in the cold wind of the shout sign, and the sound shook the mountains and rivers. After eight days and nights of bloody fighting, the 38th Division finally conquered Zeng's big bag on the north side of the Luojia steep slope. Subsequently, more than 1,500 soldiers were killed and wounded in the area of Wangjiataizi. While commanding the troops to launch a frontal attack, Zhang Zizhong also planned a surprise attack. The 395th Regiment of the 132nd Division (Regiment Commander Ren Tingcai) and a battalion of the 394th Regiment were ordered to carry out a night attack on the brigade headquarters of the 1st and 3rd Brigades of the 13th Division of the Chinese Army. In this battle, our army annihilated nearly 1,000 soldiers at the cost of 280 casualties, and the captured booty was transported in two days by pack horses from two transport battalions.

After that, the enemy and us confronted each other on the front line of Zhongxiang and Changshoudian, and the 29th Group Army also held on to the enemy because of the lack of progress in the attack

However, at this time, the 13th Division of the Chinese Army counterattacked on the Hanyi Highway, and Guo Qianzhi's Jiangbei Corps suffered heavy casualties and withdrew to the west bank of the Xianghe River on the 22nd. As a result, the right-wing corps fell into a lonely and bitter battle, and the army was able to concentrate its forces and attack our right-wing corps. The attacking troops of our army from all walks of life were in a hurry and demanded to retreat. But Zhang Zizhong was unmoved, and he said to the generals who asked to retreat on the phone: "The caller always said that the sacrifice was heavy, how many officers and above the battalion commander were killed?" Retreat today, retreat tomorrow, and retreat to Tibetan Province The enemy will also follow and chase after him. Now is the time for soldiers to serve the country, and we must be worthy of the country, the nation, and the dead brothers. I hope you will hold on for a few days to wait for reinforcements, lest you and I become sinners of the country! Now you are only allowed to move forward, not backward! The position is our graveyard, and those who retreat die! ”

The officers and men gritted their teeth and persevered, fighting fiercely with the enemy on the north and south lines of Changshoudian. Zhang Zizhong put the 84th Army of the General Reserve into battle at the right time, basically stabilizing the front. The 75th Army and the 55th Division, which were then reinforcing the Right Wing Corps, arrived at the front in early January 1940. On February 14, Zhang Zizhong ordered a counterattack, but the army could not resist and retreated to the southeast.

At this time, Zhang Zizhong personally appeared on the frontal battlefield with his brothers!

Yichang, which is only 500 kilometers away from Yucheng, is of immeasurable strategic value to the Yue army. When the army occupies this place, it directly threatens the capital of China. In March 1940, Li Zongren learned that Lieutenant General Kazuichiro Sonobe, who had taken over the post of Okamura Ninji, would lead troops, including the 11th Army, to attack Yichang on a large scale.

The army's offensive began in the Zaoyang area. They attempted to use the tactics of breaking through in the middle and rounding up on both flanks to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Fifth Theater in the southeast of the Baihe River. This tactic was used by them in the Battle of Suijube a year ago.

Zhang Zizhong, commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army, who was defending Zaoyang, ordered the frontal troops to defend to the death, and quickly sent two divisions to return to the enemy's rear and outflank the Yue army with the frontal troops. He himself led two regiments across the Xiang River to storm the Yue army, crushing the Yue army's attempt to encircle and annihilate his group army.

On May 8, the army occupied Zaoyang, but the attempt to encircle and annihilate the main force of the defenders failed.

Two days later, Chiang Kai-shek asked Li Zongren to strictly order the troops of Zhang Zizhong and Zhou Zhe to quickly storm the frontal Yue army in the northeast direction, and cooperate closely with Sun Zhonglian and Tang Enbo's troops to annihilate the Yue army. In accordance with the order, the Fifth Theater launched a counteroffensive against the Japanese army.

On the northern front, Tang Enbo's 31st Army approached the 3rd Division of Yamawaki Masataka and the Ishimoto Detachment of the Yamawaki Masataka Army, which were assembling in Fancheng, from the east, south, and north, and launched a fierce attack overnight. The army was short of food and ammunition and suffered heavy casualties, so the Yawaki Division, with the coordination of the army's subordinate tank regiments, got rid of the encirclement and assembled in the Zaoyang area.

On the southern front, Zhang Zizhong's right corps crossed the Hanshui River eastward, advanced to the west of Zaoyang, and engaged in a fierce battle with the retreating Yue army. Subsequently, Zhang Zizhong was ordered to intercept the 13th Division of the Japanese Army Tanaka Jingichi who had fled south. At that time, there were only two regiments of the 74th Division of Ma Guanyi on the west bank of the Xiang River. As the commander-in-chief of the group army, Zhang Zizhong ordered the two regiments to cross the Xianghe River eastward, and there was no need to personally lead the troops to attack, but he insisted that the deputy commander-in-chief Feng Zhi'an stay behind, and he himself led the two regiments plus the direct special service battalion to cross the river to fight.

Before leaving, Zhang Zizhong asked Feng Zhi'an to keep a will for him, intending to repay the country with death at any time. Feng Zhi'an appreciated a kind of déjà vu from the boss's Shen Yi's eyes: "The wind is sluggish and the water is cold, and the strong man will never return once he is gone." ”

Zhang Zizhong led more than 2,000 people to cross the Xianghe River eastward, attacked bravely all the way, and cut off nearly 6,000 people of the Tanaka Division at Fangjiaji. The military dog jumped over the wall in a hurry and fought back with all his might. As soon as Tanaka learned that Zhang Zizhong was in this army, he mobilized more than 20 planes and more than 20 artillery pieces and bombed them in turn, trying to destroy their fierce enemies and prevent future troubles.

Zhang Zizhong was forced to retreat into the pumpkin shop. The army found its target and blew up the pumpkin shop into a sea of fire!

(To be continued)