The Yanbei area of Shanxi Province is divided by Yanmen Pass, mainly including Lingqiu County, Guangling County and Hunyuan County in Shanxi Province, which is one of the poorest areas in Shanxi Province. In the article "Overview of the Fall and Restoration of Shanxi County" compiled by the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Lingqiu County fell on September 20, 1937, Guangling County fell on September 13, 1937, and Hunyuan County fell on September 16, 1937. Therefore, when Yang Chengwu led the independent regiment to the Yanbei area, these places were already under the Japanese puppet rule.

From the Yanbei area to the east, it is also a Japanese puppet ruling area. To the northeast of Yanbei was Wei County, Hebei Province, which was called "Chanan" at that time, the southern region of Chahar Province; To the east of Yanbei is Laiyuan County, Laishui County, Yi County of Hebei Province, which was called "Western Hebei Region" and is the poorest area in Hebei Province.

The anti-Japanese war strategy of the independent regiment in those years was nothing more than "taking root in Yanbei, entering southern Cha and western Hebei, and establishing an anti-Japanese base behind enemy lines".

Seeing this, the question arises: Why did your Eighth Route Army have to set up an anti-Japanese base behind enemy lines, and not participate in the anti-Japanese war under the direct leadership of Mr. Yan? Aren't you clearly trying to do something else?

Over the past half century, during the period of ideological extremism in Chinese mainland and Taiwan, the Chinese nation has also held extreme views on the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan. In Chinese mainland, propaganda of the War of Resistance only talks about the Communist Party, not the Kuomintang; When it comes to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, there is only the Kuomintang, and the Communist Party only cares about developing itself, guerrilla but not attacking, and preserving its strength. Until recent years, Chinese mainland officially set the tone for the Chinese nation's war of resistance against Japan: "The Kuomintang fought on the frontal battlefield, and the Communist Party fought behind enemy lines." This is a great historical progress.

Over the years. Unlike Chinese mainland. Taiwan and overseas research on the Chinese nation's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. There are basically two different views. Some Taiwan historians, proceeding from a partisan standpoint, have tried their best to belittle the role and results of the Communist Party's War of Resistance behind enemy lines, and have gone all out to exaggerate the role and results of the Kuomintang in the frontal battlefield. There are also some scholars who adopt an attitude of seeking truth from facts about history and correctly appraise the historical role of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the War of Resistance Against Japan.

The Taiwanese historian Zheng Langping's evaluation of the First Battle of Pingxingguan, which I have quoted above, clearly belittles the role and results of the Communist Eighth Route Army. In his text, "In a half-day battle, the total number of men of this army was completely annihilated, which was less than 500 men. The Japanese troops, who mainly provided logistical support, only captured one prisoner (who later escaped by him) and captured only 200 rifles, "just staring at the eyes and telling nonsense" regardless of historical facts. Zheng said: "At that time, the battle report of the Eighth Route Army exaggerated the results of the battle, saying that Lin Biao's 115th Division fought with more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers and killed more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers." So far, in the newspapers, books, and historical documents on the mainland, there has never been a single historical record that "the battle report of the Eighth Route Army at that time exaggerated the results of the battle, saying that Lin Biao's 115th Division fought against more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers and killed more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers." I don't know where Zheng's quote came from? If there is no source, is it no different from "planting"? The most rear. Zheng said that the Eighth Route Army opened up a base behind enemy lines: "Lin Biao's troops are separated from the battlefield and command." Transferred to the northern part of the Taihang Mountains, began to establish guerrilla bases, and went all out to develop the strength of the communist army." This is also the view of the Kuomintang since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War and the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The greatest wish of this part of the Kuomintang is that the communist troops reorganized into the Eighth Route Army should fight and clean themselves up in the battles of Pingxingguan, Xinkou, and Taiyuan planned by Yan Xishan, so that there is no one left, and the goal that the Kuomintang has failed to achieve in the past ten years of suppressing the Communist Party is the best outcome.

I think it is normal to stand on the side of one party and have prejudices against another party and another army, look down on them, and repeatedly denounce them, but they just have different political views. However, you must respect the minimum historical facts and not distort them. Artificially distorting historical facts is a matter of morality, and what you say is a lie, and no one believes it. Today, many public authorities in Chinese mainland seriously lack credibility, and if the people do not believe them, there is something wrong with the moral character of public officials, especially leading personnel. In the same way, to evaluate history from the standpoint of one party and one faction will ignore historical reality and distort the original appearance of history. Such a historian, seemingly impartial, can easily deceive those who are not clear-headed and politically biased, but once they are seen through, they will be despised.

The emergence and development of every thing can find interrelated cause and effect.

In August 1937, he easily defeated the Japanese army of Song Zheyuan's 29th Army and went north to occupy Zhangjiakou and Xuanhua. Liu Ruming's 29th Army, which was stationed in Zhangjiakou and Xuanhua, was the same as his old boss Song Zheyuan, who retreated in order to preserve his strength and not occupy it. The 61st Army of the Jin Army, which rushed to the rescue, was one step late, and Zhangjiakou had fallen into the hands of the Japanese army.

Yan Xishan sent his Shanxi troops, the 61st Army, to rush to the aid in order to block the war outside Shanxi Province and in Hebei Province. It's a pity that it was a step too late, so Yan Xishan formulated a plan for the "Battle of Datong", intending to fight to the death with the Japanese army attacking Shanxi in Datong. With the support of the Jin Sui Army, the Northwest Army, and the Kuomintang Army, Yan Xishan fought against the Japanese army with more than 100,000 troops, and he did not worry about defeating the Japanese army.

At this time, a well-known historical story occurred. Mr. Yan Baichuan and Mr. Jiang Zhiqing both studied in Japan in their early years, and they do not have much bad feeling towards Japan. In 1936, Mr. Sakagaki, who was currently the commander of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army, visited Mr. Yan in Taiyuan and inspected the geographical terrain from Hebei to Shanxi in detail. Therefore, the current attack of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army on Shanxi is completely the same path that Mr. Sakagaki visited Mr. Yan a year ago. Can't you, Mr. Yan, think of it?

When the war was about to start, someone around Mr. Yan asked him, "Can't you fight it?" ”

It is said that Mr. Yan thought about it and said, "No, you have to fight." The Communist Party has already arrived in Shanxi, and if I don't fight again, they will scold my ......"

You see, Mr. Yan's resistance to Japan was, firstly, to keep his interests from being infringed upon in Shanxi; The second is that he is afraid that the Communist Party will expose him in front of the people of the whole country. He had no choice but to resist the Japanese.

If it is not a sincere anti-Japanese war, there will be problems with the operational plan formulated. Chen Changjie, then commander of the 61 st Army, an old subordinate of Yan Xishan, commented: This was an operational plan formulated by Yan Xishan on the basis of "erroneous judgment of the enemy's situation." He thought that the next target of the Japanese army who took Zhangjiakou was Datong, the gate of Shanxi. As a result, the Japanese army did not have a "set". They bypassed Datong, went straight to Lingqiu and Guangling, walked through the Pingxing Pass, and turned to the back of Datong. In this way, Yan Xishan, who was in a hurry, temporarily formulated a plan for the "Battle of Pingxingguan". It was only then that the Eighth Route Army urgently entered the war.

In the Battle of Pingxingguan, Yan Xishan and various armies totaled 11 armies, with more than 100,000 people, and dealt with more than 20,000 people of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army. Yan Xishan boasted that this deployment was a "pocket array", and his two descendants, Chen Changjie and Guo Zongfen, both participated. But Yan Jun's military spirit is not unified, and there is intrigue. In particular, Gao Guizi, the commander of the 17th Army, believed that the deployment of the Yan Army Headquarters was "to sacrifice them and let the Jin Sui Army monopolize the limelight." This suspicion is not groundless and unfounded. So, at the beginning of the battle, Gao Guizi lied that he was "onslaught" by the enemy and "suffered heavy casualties", abandoned his position without authorization, gave way to the road, retreated to Heng Mountain, and together with Liu Maoen's 15th Army, jointly preserved his strength and avoided fighting with the Japanese army. And the various units of the Jin Sui army who bravely killed the enemy, such as the Guo Zongfen department of the Jin army, suffered heavy casualties.

Note: This is the Jin Army's statement. According to Gao Guizi, on September 24, the Japanese army attacked Gaobu fiercely, especially with heavy artillery bombardment, and Gaobu suffered heavy losses and was in a hurry everywhere. However, the Yan army never sent reinforcements, and held out until the 26th, when there was no one to send from the high army, so they had to retreat. However, according to the memoirs and battle reports of the Jin Sui army, on the 25th, the Jin Sui army went to the rescue, but was shot at by the Japanese army who captured the Gaoguizi position at the entrance of the regiment, and the attack was blocked! This matter has been debated for 70 years, and Gao Guizi and Jin Suijun (represented by Chen Changjie) have their own opinions, and there is still no conclusion. Today's Shanxi historians believe that many of Chen Changjie's claims have been denied by the accounts of witnesses and eyewitnesses. And for the honor of their fathers, Gao Guizi's children have been pursuing the truth of the year for 70 years. If you ignore who is right and who is false, and who is true and who is false, and ignore it, history will eventually come to a conclusion.

In the Battle of Pingxingguan, there is no doubt that Yan Xishan's Jin Sui army was the master, led by Chen Changjie and Guo Zongfen. There were three guest armies that came to participate in the war: Liu Maoen's 15th Army, Gao Guizi's 17th Army, and the Eighth Route Army. Liu Maoen and Gao Guizi were originally Kuomintang troops, and they had supplies, and there was no shortage of guns, ammunition, and military salaries. But the Eighth Route Army was different, after the adaptation, only one single clothes were provided for each person, and there was no change of clothes; He was also given a few days' living expenses, which was not even enough to travel from Sanyuan County in Shaanxi Province to the front line in Shanxi Province. In addition, not one gun and not one bullet. Did you say Yan Xishan didn't? He has his own arsenal, and he can build cannons. The introduction of Japan's 38 gun production line is the only one in the country. The 79 rifles and shell guns made in Taiyuan have become the favorite of the cadres of the Eighth Route Army. But he didn't give the Eighth Route Army a single shot. (To be continued......)