readx; Zhang Zizhong knew very clearly that his army was likely to have reached the last moment. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

But he remained silent, gathered the personnel of the headquarters, the pistol battalion, and the main officers of the 1st Ma Guan Division, and said to everyone without saying to everyone: "We have fallen into the enemy's heavy encirclement, and the situation is quite tight, but as long as we do not leave the troops, there is always a way." Everyone must be calm, I, Zhang Zizhong, will always be with you, and under any circumstances, I will never leave the team. ”

Then, Zhang Zizhong ordered: "In the future, anyone who marches at night, who uses flashlights, smokes, will be shot!" Unruly, noisy, shoot! If you fall behind, don't! ”

At this time, there were only more than 1,500 effective troops left in Zhang Zizhong's hands, and as many as 5,000 troops participated in the encirclement. In the evening, Zhang Zizhong telegraphed Huang Weigang to lead the 38th Division from Xinjie to relieve the siege. He knew that the 38th Division was quite far away and was entangled by the Chinese army, so he was not sure whether it would arrive in time. He again asked Huang Qixiang's 11th Army in Fancheng for reinforcements, but received no reply.

Zhang Zizhong stayed at the home of farmer Yu Dabao. He relied on broad beans in the fields for several days to satisfy his hunger, and his dysentery recurred and diarrhea continued. Fatigue and fatigue had made him lose a lot of weight. He insisted on walking around a few peasant households, and when he saw that the villagers were destitute, he asked the adjutant to give ten yuan to each household in the village.

The next day, it was overcast. At dawn, fierce gunfire rang out on the hill next to Maojiawan in the west. It is only a kilometer away from the edge of the ditch where Zhang Zizhong is located, and it is only separated by two small hills. Guarding that line was Zheng Wanliang's 440th Regiment.

As soon as Zhang Zizhong fell asleep, he was awakened, and immediately got up and led Li Wentian, chief of staff, Zhang Jing, senior staff officer, Soviet advisers, and several retinue adjutants to the mountain behind the ditch to observe.

The army quickly captured two small hills. Zhang Zizhong ordered the reserves of Zheng Wanliang's regiment to go up for reinforcements and recaptured the second mountain bag. The army counterattacked several times, but was repulsed. When it came out, the army broke through the first line of defense of Zheng Wanliang's regiment, captured the commanding heights in the northwest of the ditch, and fired artillery from a high place, and the ditch was directly exposed to the army's fire net. At the same time, the Eastern Front army conquered Liangru Mountain and bombarded the defenders' forward positions with heavy artillery. Zhang Zizhong moved his headquarters to Chenjiawan next to Almond Mountain in the east.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, the infantry of the Yue army stormed the edge of the ditch, and Zheng Wanliang's regiment retreated to Shilonggang, holding the army across the ravine. To the east, the army crossed the ten-mile long mountain from Fangjiaji, echoed with the army that entered the mouth of the jar, and attacked the defenders' positions from the east and west, and the offensive was higher and higher. The two armies rushed back and forth, lost their positions and regained four times, and the battle was extremely tragic.

The 74th Division almost ran out of ammunition. Ma Guanyi sent someone to ask Zhang Zizhong for supplements, but the headquarters and the military station had lost contact, and Zhang Zizhong sent an adjutant to send a message to Ma Guanyi:

"Now is the time for the life and death of the country and the nation, and it is the time for our soldiers to kill the enemy and serve the country. In this battle against the enemy, you just have to fight hard, and it is entirely your work to fight well, and I will be fully responsible for not fighting well. ”

As soon as Ma Guanyi received the order, he immediately rushed to the forward position to supervise the battle.

The troops left behind in Yaowan, after receiving Zhang Zizhong's order, quickly gathered more than 180 people and four machine guns, and sent Zhao Dezhi, commander of the engineer battalion, to lead them to come to support, and Zhang Zizhong sent them to Dongshan Pass, which was the most tight.

The fierce battle continued amid the roar of guns, and Zhang Zizhong said to Li Wentian: "Now that the war situation has deteriorated, it is natural for us to sacrifice for the country, but we must not let our friends shed blood here, you can send someone to accompany the Soviet advisers to transfer."

Then he shouted: "The headquarters and the political department are left behind with guns, and the empty-handed ones are led by Li Zhiyuan to join the army and assemble in the northwest direction behind the mountain!" Zheng Wanliang's regiment was then assigned to cover their evacuation from the battlefield.

The Soviet adviser was very worried about the safety of the commander-in-chief, and before leaving, he whispered to Hong Jintian: "After I leave, the commander-in-chief will be led by you and Battalion Commander Du to lead the pistol battalion to be responsible for the defense, and we will persuade the commander-in-chief to move to Nanshan." ”

Soon, the Zhao Dezhi battalion guarding the Dongshan Pass ran out of ammunition and the defense line was shaken, and Xu Wenqing, director of the division's staff office, shouted at the division command post: "Battalion commander Zhao, the commander-in-chief is behind, you must resist!" ”

Battalion Commander Zhao replied: "Director Xu, don't worry, I" Before he finished speaking, he was shot and died. The engineer battalion retreated, and Ma Guanyi hurriedly transferred the 443rd Regiment to rush up and plug the gap.

Zheng Wanliang's regiment, which was ordered to cover the evacuation of non-combatants, was violently attacked by the Japanese army, and several hundred people were completely dispersed. Zheng Wanliang fled the battlefield in the chaos.

At noon, while strengthening the attack on the east and west, the army began to storm the stone nest in the south, in an attempt to press the defenders to the open area at the foot of Changshan Mountain to encircle and annihilate them.

Zhang Zizhong hurriedly transferred the pistol battalion to Shiwo to block the enemy. Most of the soldiers in this battalion were young people from Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, who were strong and brave, and fought to the death against the army. In the fierce battle, Battalion Commander Du was seriously injured and could not afford to serve the ground, so Zhang Zizhong sent people to carry him out of danger. Hong Jintian stepped forward, and the battalion commander Dai Du commanded the pistol battalion to continue the battle. Soon after, Colonel Hong was shot and died. Of the four company commanders of the battalion, one was killed and two were seriously wounded, and only one company commander Zhang remained, and more than half of the soldiers were killed or wounded. The stone nest is lost. From the east, west, and south, the army bombarded the defenders' positions of less than one square kilometer.

Zhang Zizhong learned that Shiwo was lost, and immediately led a few followers to the south to supervise the battle, and on the way he encountered Company Commander Zhang leading the remnants of the pistol battalion to retreat, and immediately stopped them, and said to Company Commander Zhang: "I am the commander-in-chief, if I am the company commander, these few people are not enough for me to fight a company." ”

When Company Commander Zhang heard this, he didn't say a word, threw off his shirt, waved his knife shirtless, and shouted: "Follow me if you are not afraid of death!" Everyone was enthusiastic and swarmed up, and the army was shocked by this lifeless momentum and fled from the stone nest.

After recapturing Shiwo, Zhang Zizhong returned to the Chenjiawan command post. The encirclement of the army became smaller and smaller, shells poured down like a torrential rain, and the roar of rifle machine guns was like a burst.

Suddenly, an artillery shell exploded near the command post, and shrapnel wounded Zhang Zizhong's right shoulder, followed by another bullet that pierced his left arm, soaking his military uniform with blood. Seeing this, Shi Quansheng, the head nurse, hurriedly ran to bandage it. When the guards saw that the commander-in-chief was wounded, they panicked. Zhang Zizhong pressed the wound and said nonchalantly: "It's nothing, don't make a fuss." ”

After noon, the offensive of the Yue army was even more ferocious, and the forward was only a few hundred meters away from the command post of the defenders of Chenjiawan. Zhang Zizhong was surrounded by dozens of guards and retreated to Almond Mountain. The defenders were surrounded on three sides, but there was still a gap in the direction of Changshan in the northeast, as long as they crossed Changshan, they could still break through and seize a way out. Everyone originally wanted to take the opportunity of the command post to move to persuade Zhang Zizhong to climb over Changshan Mountain and break through, but Zhang Zizhong refused to move again when he arrived at Almond Mountain, and wanted to set up the command post here.

Seeing that the army was rapidly approaching, Xu Weilie suggested in a low voice: "Commander-in-chief, move the position, right?" Someone next to him chimed in: "The enemy surrounds us on three sides, it is better to temporarily move, regroup, and then fight a decisive battle with the enemy, unnecessary sacrifices should be avoided." ”

When Zhang Zizhong heard this, his face immediately sank, and he said very unhappily: "I was ordered to chase and intercept the enemy, how can I retreat on my own!" Is it reasonable that when the soldiers retreat from the battle and want to be killed, the commander-in-chief can flee when he is in danger? Could it be that our lives are our lives, and the soldiers in front of us are all dirt? The bad thing about our Chinese army is that the officials are too afraid of death! What encirclement is not encircled, it is necessary or unnecessary, today there is no invincible me, there is no enemy without me, we must fight to the end! ”

At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, Chief of Staff Wu Guangliao was seriously injured in the leg and was bleeding profusely. Seeing this, Zhang Zizhong immediately ordered the two staff officers: "Take your section chief away, and each of you will have an arm." Director Wu has to endure some pain. Go northeast and climb over the long mountain. ”

The three couldn't bear to leave. Zhang Zizhong urged again and again, and even became angry, so they shed tears and retreated to the northeast step by step.

At this time, the army mobilized a large number of mountain artillery aimed at Almond Mountain and bombarded it frantically, Zhang Zizhong was wearing a yellow military uniform, and the target was very exposed, forming a nest of shells, and the shells exploded like raindrops in front and back. Adjutant Jia Yubin and head nurse Shi Quansheng were killed. Zhang Zizhong's right leg was injured by the explosion, and his trouser leg and socks were soaked with blood.

At the last moment of life and death, Li Wentian finally couldn't help but open his mouth again: "Commander-in-chief, we have too few people, and the 38th Division can't catch up. ”

"What, Lao Li, are you too?" Zhang Zizhong was angry.

Seeing that the commander-in-chief was angry, Li Wentian simply said what he said in his heart: "You are the commander in terms of public affairs, and you are a friend in terms of selfishness, I should follow you and help you, but today's battle is really unbearable." It's still too late to evacuate quickly, I advise you to evacuate immediately! If you don't leave, I'm leaving! ”

Zhang Zizhong was stunned, and his heart was desolate. He sat quietly on the dirt slope, bowed his head in deep thought, and said nothing, letting the shells explode nearby, and letting the blood from his wounds flow outward. Li Wentian thought that the commander-in-chief would jump up and scold him, but Zhang Zizhong just raised his head and said gently: "Lao Li, any of you can go, but I can't go." Hurry up and leave me alone. ”

Li Wentian couldn't persuade him, so he had to leave quietly with two guards.

Later, Zhang Zizhong sent someone to escort Xu Weilie to evacuate, and ordered Zhang Jing to transfer, but Zhang Jing resolutely refused to leave.

At about two o'clock in the afternoon, the infantry launched an attack under the cover of artillery fire. Zhang Zizhong stood up and supervised the battle with injuries. At this moment, he no longer expected reinforcements to arrive, but only hoped that before he died in battle, he commanded the few troops he had to kill a few more enemies. His expression was stern and majestic, and his eyes shone with a shocking light, which increased the courage of the officers and men. Zhang Jing followed him to his left and right, shouting as he walked: "The commander-in-chief is here, no one is allowed to retreat!" ”

During the march, Zhang Zizhong suddenly found that a few stragglers had retreated from the hill in the southwest, so he said fiercely to the guards: "You go and see what is going on with those people, if you pretend to be a mischaracter, correct the Fa on the spot!" Cut with a knife, don't hit with a gun! ”

With a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, the guard rushed forward and whispered to the soldiers: "The commander-in-chief is behind, hurry up or kill your head!" When several soldiers heard this, they quickly turned around and rushed up the mountain.

The soldiers who rushed up were killed, and the hill was lost. The army rushed down from the top of the mountain. The soldiers of the pistol battalion who followed Zhang Zizhong rushed up to resist, shouting: "Commander-in-chief, go quickly!" Unexpectedly, the shouting attracted the attention of the Yue army, and it approached even more violently. The adjutant and the guards forced Zhang Zizhong to transfer, but Zhang Zizhong did not leave, and scolded the guards for being afraid of death. Wang Jinbiao, who had just been promoted to company commander, commanded the remaining dozens of brothers in the company to block the attacking army, and when he saw that the commander-in-chief refused to retreat, he turned around and ran over, put his head against Zhang Zizhong's chest, and said loudly with tears in his eyes: "Commander-in-chief, we are not afraid of death, please take a step first, we will not repel the enemy in front of us, and we will not leave if we die here!" ”

Then he told the brothers to destroy the rushing army.

Looking at Wang Jinbiao's sturdy and brave figure, Zhang Zizhong shouted: "Good job, worthy of my Zhang Zizhong's subordinates!" ”

After a fierce battle, most of the two regiments of Ma Guan's 1st Division had been killed or wounded, one was scattered, and the remaining few hundred people were mainly concentrated in Dongshan to block the Yue army. In order to protect Zhang Zizhong's safety, Ma Guanyi took a battalion from the only few hundred men and sent it to Almond Hill to support the pistol battalion. The battalion was blocked on the way, and Zhang Zizhong sent most of the pistol battalion to reinforce it. Seeing that the 443rd Regiment of Dongshankou was defeated by the Japanese army, he sent the only pistol platoon around him to support. In this way, only Zhang Jing and Major Ma Xiaotang and others were left by his side.

Around 3 o'clock, the sky began to drizzle. Most of the defenders of Dongshan Pass were killed in battle, and the rest were scattered. The soldiers of the pistol battalion sent by Zhang Zizhong withdrew to the foot of Almond Mountain for the last resistance.

In the face of a large number of soldiers who were approaching step by step and roaring strangely, the loyal soldiers who had followed Zhang Zizhong for many years showed amazing bravery and tenacity. They put life and death aside, and used their flesh and blood to block the absolutely superior Yue army at the foot of the mountain for more than two hours.

The fighting continued in the rain, and there were few soldiers left in the pistol battalion, and Wang Jinbiao was also killed in the fierce battle. Zhang Zizhong saw that the officers and soldiers in front of him were falling one by one, and he could no longer hold back, so he raised a submachine gun, roared, rushed down the mountain, pulled the trigger, and fired at the army, and more than a dozen soldiers fell to death. At this moment, the machine gun of the Yue army in the distance shot at him, and he was shot several times, piercing his right chest, and blood gushing like a spring. Ma Xiaotang saw that he suddenly leaned back, and rushed forward to bandage him, and blood splattered all over his body.

Before the wound could be bandaged, the army rushed up in a swarm. Zhang Zizhong said to Zhang Jing, Ma Xiaotang and others: "I can't do it, you guys go quickly!" I have my own way. Everyone insisted on not complying, Zhang Zizhong pulled out the short sword on his waist and committed suicide, and the guards were shocked and hugged him to death.

When he was dying, Zhang Zizhong lay on the ground, his face was pale, and he said calmly: "I died well like this, and my conscience is very peaceful for the country, the nation, and the governor." You guys go! ”

At this time, the Yue army had already rushed to the front, and Zhang Jing, who had been wounded in many places, shot and killed several Yue soldiers, and was stabbed to death with bayonets by the swarming Yue army.

The final episode of this battle is recorded in the historical materials of the army:

Private 1st Class Fujioka of the 4th Detachment, a sharp knife in the charging team, rushed towards the large officer who looked like the enemy's supreme commander with a bayonet. The man slammed to his feet from a pool of blood, his eyes fixed on Fujioka. When he rushed to a distance of less than three meters from this large officer, Private Fujioka felt an indescribable majesty from his gaze, and he couldn't help but freeze in place.

At this moment, a gunshot rang out from behind, and the third squadron leader, Dono, fired a bullet that hit the officer in the head. There was a slight uncomfortable expression on his face.

At the same time, Private Fujioka seemed to be awakened by the sound of gunfire, and he also relentlessly, and with all his strength, he raised his bayonet and pierced deeply into his tall body. Under this thorn, the tall body could no longer support it, and it collapsed to the ground like a mountain.

After Zhang Zizhong fell, the gunfire in the pumpkin shop suddenly stopped, and it was extremely quiet. On the battlefield filled with gunsmoke, corpses were strewn and drizzled silently. The red blood flowed slowly with the rain, staining the black dirt red. History freezes a quiet scene, an eternal moment. Zhang Zizhong died without shame at the age of forty-nine. More than 500 people were martyred at the same time as him, including Zhang Jing, Hong Jintian, and Ma Xiaotang.

The army began to clean up the battlefield, and they estimated that the officer who had just died must be a general, so they turned over the body and searched his body, and from the handheld safe beside him, he took out the "No. 1 Wounded Badge," and also took out a Parker gold pen from his breast pocket, which was engraved with the words "Zhang Zizhong." Fujioka and Dono were shocked, and couldn't help but take a few steps back, snapped upright, and respectfully saluted the body.

After Zhang Zizhong died in battle, he said that he found the body of General Zhang, verified that there was no falsehood, worshiped together, used good wood to hold the funeral, and erected wooden signs. The whole army saluted him, and even when his body was transported back to the rear, the army received the news and ordered the air force to stop the air raid to avoid hurting Zhang Zizhong's loyal remains.

It can be seen that General Zhang Zizhong's military virtues displayed in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression moved even the military who advocated militarism at that time.

Late that night, the army's radio station in Hankou interrupted its normal broadcasting, inserted the news of Zhang Zizhong's death, and said: "The officers and men of the 39th Division of our Imperial Army have offered the most sincere and reverent silent prayer to the peerless brave generals who died in the heroic battle on the desolate battlefield, and solemnly put the remains into coffins, and plan to transport them to Hankou by special plane." ”

The army showed great reverence for General Zhang Zizhong, and the body was carefully cleaned with alcohol by military doctors, and the wounds were bandaged, solemnly decorated and put into the coffin that was prepared. The coffin was buried on a hillside, and a tombstone was erected, which reads:

"The tomb of Zhang Zizhong, the general of China".

Okamura Ninji once said, "We have become rivals, but this kind of rivalry is wonderful." As you may know, I had met Commander Zhang Zizhong in Beiping, and after the attack on Hankow, it was unfortunate that we faced off in the battle on the east bank of the Han River (i.e., the Xiang River). At that time, when the war broke out, Mr. Zhang marched forward bravely, crossed the river with his troops, and entered our position, but when our side attacked forward due to strategic relations, he actually rushed behind our army and died. I am deeply moved by his death, because I myself am in danger of being killed at any moment. ”

Zhang Zizhong was one of the highest-ranking generals who sacrificed their lives for the country in China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and he was also the highest-ranking general who died on the battlefield in more than 50 countries in the anti-fascist camp in World War II. Zhang Zizhong's death showed the solemn personality of the Chinese people to the invaders, and showed the heroic spirit of fearless violence and the strong determination to save the country by swearing to the death.

Every nation has its own heroes, and Zhang Zizhong is admired by the Chinese, who can withstand the test of life and death, and combines personal life and death with the survival of the nation.

The return of the heroes is not far away.

Revenge is about to begin!

(To be continued)