Zhang Zizhong (1891.8.11～1940.5.16), a general who died for his country in the Anti-Japanese War. The word is Chenchen. A native of Linqing, Shandong. In 1914, he joined the 20th Division of the Beiyang Army as a soldier. In 1916, he joined Feng Yuxiang's department and was promoted from platoon leader to brigade commander. In 1939, he commanded the Right Army Group in the Battle of Suizao and the Winter Offensive. He personally led elite troops twice to cross the Xianghe River (Han River) eastward to intercept the Japanese army, annihilating one enemy each time. In May 1940, during the Zaoyi Battle, he concurrently served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Right Wing Corps of the Fifth Theater Zone. He led his troops for the third time to cross the Xianghe River from Yicheng, Hubei Province to intercept the retreating Japanese troops from the south. He fought for nine days and nights and was surrounded by heavy Japanese troops. He was wounded in many places and still continued to command. During the battle, he died heroically at the Pumpkin Shop in Yicheng on the 16th. On December 31, 1942, the National Government issued an order to enshrine it in the National Martyrs' Shrine. In August 1944, Yicheng County was renamed Zhong County in commemoration. In 1946, he was awarded the No. 1 Certificate of Honor and Sorrow.
In 1911, he secretly joined the Tongmenghui while studying at the Tianjin School of Law and Politics. In 1914, he joined the army. In 1917, he joined Feng Yuxiang's department and served successively as battalion commander, regiment commander, brigade commander, division commander and other positions. After the Central Plains War in 1930, Feng Yuxiang's military group was disintegrated, and Zhang Zizhong's troops were incorporated by Chiang Kai-shek. After 1931, Zhang Zizhong served as commander of the 38th Division of the 29th Army, commander of the 59th Army, commander-in-chief of the 33rd Army and commander of the Right Wing Corps of the Fifth Theater. In 1937, after Shanghai and Nanjing fell one after another, the Japanese invaders directed their troops towards Xuzhou, aiming to seize this strategic location. In March 1938, the Japanese army invested 70,000 to 80,000 troops and marched in two directions towards Taierzhuang in the northeast of Xuzhou. When they arrived at Linyi and Tengxian, fierce battles broke out with the Chinese army. At that time, Pang Bingxun's Third Army Corps was guarding Linyi. Due to the huge disparity in strength and heavy casualties, Pang's troops were in urgent need of reinforcements. Zhang Zizhong was ordered to lead the 59th Army to arrive in time for reinforcements at a speed of 180 miles a day and night. Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun were enemies for a long time, but he put aside his personal grudges and led his troops to fight in conjunction with Pang Bingxun. Under the cover of aircraft and artillery, the enemy troops cooperated with tanks and armored vehicles to launch an attack on the Tea Mountain position. With the determination to "kill the enemy with all his life" and "serve the motherland in case of emergency", Zhang Zizhong fought fiercely with the enemy and repeatedly fought hand-to-hand. At the foot of the cliff at the foot of Tea Mountain, the Liujiahu position was lost and recovered three or four times, and the battle was extremely fierce. After several days of fierce fighting, the enemy suffered heavy losses and retreated steadily. The Chinese army successively recaptured Mengyin and Taixian counties, annihilating more than 4,000 enemies. Soon, the Japanese army sent the Sakamoto Brigade to launch an offensive against Linyi and Sanguan Temple in an attempt to make a breakthrough. The two armies of Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun fought hard. After a fierce battle all night, the Japanese army suffered a heavy blow. Their strategic attempt to reinforce the front line of Taierzhuang was completely shattered, ensuring the victory of the Taierzhuang battle.
In May 1940, the Japanese army launched the Zaoyi Battle with 300,000 troops in order to control traffic on the Yangtze River and cut off transportation lines to Chongqing. At that time, only two regiments of the 33rd Group Army of the Chinese Army were stationed on the west bank of the Xianghe River. As the commander-in-chief of the group army, Zhang Zizhong did not have to personally lead his troops into combat, but he ignored repeated dissuasion and insisted on letting the deputy commander-in-chief stay behind. On the evening of May 6, he wrote a letter to deputy commander-in-chief and commander of the 77th Army Feng Zhian:
"My dear brother, I have met: Because of the all-out war in the theater and my own responsibilities, I have to cross the river to fight the enemy. It has been decided to march to the east bank of Xianghe River tonight and arrive at Hedong. After that, if we can get in touch with the 38th Division and the 179th Division, we will lead the two divisions and the cavalry division to fight to the death against the enemy advancing north. , that is, leading the three regiments of the horse division to march north towards our ultimate goal (death). No matter whether we do good or bad, we must seek comfort for our conscience. From now on, I will have to take responsibility for both public and private matters. Farewell for a moment, separation forever, no one knows, this is Buda." He personally led more than 2,000 people to cross the river to fight.
On May 1st, Zhang Zizhong personally wrote to all the troops and generals: "The country has reached such a point that there is no other way except for us to die for it. I even believe that as long as we can stick to this determination , our country and our nation with a history of five thousand years will never perish at the hands of a mere three-island Japanese slaves. Our determination to die for our country and nation will never change even if the sea is clear and the stone is not broken.
"After Zhang Zizhong led more than 2,000 people to cross the Xianghe River eastward, he attacked bravely and cut off the Japanese 13th Division in the middle. The Japanese army then used superior forces to encircle and attack Zhang Zizhong's troops. Zhang Zizhong did not flinch and commanded his troops to attack them in numbers greater than theirs. The enemy force was one and a half times larger and killed more than ten times.
On May 15, more than 10,000 Japanese troops attacked the troops led by Zhang Zizhong from the north and south, and fought fiercely until dawn on the 16th. Zhang Zizhong's troops were forced to retreat to the Pumpkin Shop. Under the cover of aircraft and artillery, the Japanese troops launched nine attacks throughout the day and night. The casualties of Zhang Zizhong's troops increased sharply.
On May 16, Zhang Zizhong kept shouting to supervise the battle from morning to noon. At noon, he was shot in the left arm and still insisted on commanding the battle. By 2 p.m., Zhang Zizhong had only a few hundred officers and soldiers left. All his guards were transferred to the front for reinforcements, leaving only eight people including senior staff officer Zhang Jing and adjutant Ma Xiaotang. He took out a pen and wrote a final report of nearly 100 words to the theater headquarters. When he handed it to Ma Xiaotang, he said: "I will fight hard. When you die, you should ask yourself whether you have done justice to the country and the nation. You should work hard to kill the enemy and not let down my ambition. "Later, Zhang Zizhong was hit by a machine gun bullet in the waist again. He lay on the ground, fought bloody battles, and finally died heroically.
After Zhang Zizhong died in battle, the Japanese found the body of General Zhang and found it to be correct. They worshiped together, used good wood to enshrine him, and put up wooden plaques to salute him. Even when his body was transported back to the rear, the Japanese army received the news and ordered a halt to the air force's air raids for one day to avoid hurting Zhang Zizhong. It can be seen that the military virtues displayed by General Zhang Zizhong in the war of resistance against Japan moved even the Japanese army who advocated militarism at the time.
General Zhang Zizhong’s suicide note
Chiang Kai-shek was shocked. Zhang Zizhong died for his country, and he immediately ordered the Fifth War Zone to retrieve Zhang Zizhong's remains at any cost. They snatched back General Zhang's bones and transported them to Chongqing overnight. When the coffin passed through Yichang, the city's flags were flown at half mast, and more than 100,000 people went to pay homage. When the coffin arrived in Chongqing, Chiang Kai-shek came to pay homage to the coffin, cried bitterly, and wrote a plaque with the words "Heroes for a lifetime" in his handwriting. He died after a seven-day hunger strike. The couple was buried together at the foot of Meihua Mountain in Chongqing. Later, the General Zhang Zizhong Cemetery and the General Zhang Zizhong Life and Deeds Exhibition Hall were built.
Yue Fei famously said: "Civilians do not love money, but military officers are not willing to die. The world is at peace! "General Zhang Zizhong's resistance against Japan embodies the spirit of "a military attache is not willing to die". His last words before his death were:
"I died well and gloriously like this, which is good for the country, the nation, and the people." My conscience is at peace, sir. When he was dying, he still kept thinking, "It's a good death... my conscience is at peace." ”
On April 16, 1982, the People’s Republic of China government posthumously recognized Zhang Zizhong as a “revolutionary martyr.”