1938 Linyi campaign, 59 troops fought fiercely with the enemy for seven days and nights. The soldiers defeated Banyuan Division, known as the Japanese "Iron Army", and achieved inspiring victory. They also paid great sacrifices. After this campaign, people's views on Zhang Zizhong have changed greatly. Soon after, Zhang Zizhong led his troops to participate in the Wuhan Battle, dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese aggressors in Huangchuan, Henan Province, and was later promoted to commander-in-chief of the 33rd Army, stationed in Jingmen County, western Hubei Province, and began to deal with the Japanese aggressors on both sides of the Hanshui River.
1940 In May, in order to control the traffic on the Yangtze River and cut off the transportation line to Chongqing, the Japanese army assembled 300,000 troops and launched the Zaoyi Campaign. At that time, only two regiments of the 33rd Army of the Chinese Army were stationed on the west bank of Xianghe. As the commander-in-chief of the group army, Zhang Zizhong could have personally led the troops to attack and fight, but he insisted on being left behind by the deputy commander-in-chief despite repeated dissuasion from his subordinates. On the evening of May 6, he wrote to Feng Zhian, deputy commander-in-chief and commander of the 77th Army:
"My brother is like a friend: due to the total war in the theater and our own responsibilities, we have to cross the river to fight the enemy. Now we have decided to go to the east bank of Xianghe tonight. After arriving in Hedong, if we can get in touch with the 38th Division and the179th Division, we will lead these two divisions to a decisive battle with the enemy who is desperate to advance northward. If we can't get in touch with 179 and 38 divisions, we will take the three regiments of the Horse Division and head north towards our ultimate goal (death). Whatever you do, you should be comforted by your conscience. In the future, my brother will be in charge of public and private affairs. From now on, it will be temporary, forever, I don't know, this is the only one. " He personally led more than 2000 people to cross the river.
/kloc-In May, 2000, Zhang Zizhong personally told all the troops and generals: "The country has reached such a state that there is no other way but to die for it. I believe that as long as we make up our minds, our country, our 5,000-year-old nation, will never die at the hands of just three island slaves. The determination to die for the country and the nation is unclear, the stone is not rotten, and it will never change. " After Zhang Zizhong led more than 2,000 people to cross the Xianghe River, he fought bravely all the way to stop the Japanese 13 Division. The Japanese army then surrounded and attacked Zhang Zizhong and his men with superior forces. Zhang Zizhong did not flinch, and commanded his troops to annihilate the enemy 10, which was one and a half times more than them. The Japanese suffered heavy casualties.
At dawn on May 7, Zhang Zizhong crossed the Xianghe River eastward and headed north. When the Japanese army assembled heavy troops to the south, our main force should have temporarily avoided, looking for opportunities to surround the invading enemy separately. However, Chiang Kai-shek was confused by the false information of the Japanese army, misjudged the situation, and ordered the troops of the Fifth Theater to encircle the Japanese army in the north and south at the same time. Zhang Zizhong's troops in Hedong, although only five divisions with more than 20,000 people, have only half the strength of the other side, but it is the first duty of a soldier to obey orders. He immediately adjusted his deployment according to his own situation. Unfortunately, however, Zhang Zizhong's telegram code was intercepted and deciphered by the Japanese army, and his military deployment was completely in the hands of the enemy. The Japanese immediately mobilized two divisions and four brigades to attack. 14, the two sides met.
In June of 5438+05, more than 500 people led by Zhang Zizhong were surrounded by nearly 6,000 Japanese invaders in Gouyanli Village, north of Pumpkin Shop. That morning, the Japanese launched an attack. The enemy's strength is extremely different, and the fighting is extremely fierce. By 3 pm, most of the soldiers around Zhang Zizhong had been killed, and he himself was injured in his right leg by shells. At this time, he had retreated to Almond Mountain and fought bravely with the remaining dozen guards, which actually stopped the Japanese army from rushing to the mountain for more than two hours. At the dawn of 16, Zhang Zizhong was forced to retreat to the Pumpkin Shop Shili Changshan Mountain. Under the cover of planes and artillery, the Japanese army stormed the positions of the China army. Fire nine charges day and night. The casualties of Zhang Zizhong's troops rose sharply, and the war situation was unprecedented.
/kloc-Within one day in May of 0/6, Zhang Zizhong kept clamouring for a bid from morning till noon. At noon, he was shot in the left arm and still insisted on commanding the operation. By 2 pm, there were only a few hundred officers and men left in Zhang Zizhong. He transferred all his guards to the front to reinforce, leaving only eight people, including the senior staff officer and the adjutant Ma.
Soon, a large group of Japanese soldiers have rushed to the front. According to Japanese data, Private Fujioka, the fourth Japanese team, was the first to rush into the crowd. Suddenly, a tall officer stood up from a pool of blood. His majestic eyes actually stopped Fujioka at once and stood there in amazement. Tang Ye, the third squadron leader who rushed behind, immediately shot, and the bullet hit the officer's head, but he still didn't fall! Wake up Fujioka picked up a bayonet and stabbed it with all his strength. The tall body of the officer finally collapsed. It was 4 pm on May 1940.
After Zhang Zizhong died, the Japanese army found the body of General Zhang, recognized it as right, worshipped it together, buried it with good wood, and erected a' re sign. The whole army saluted him. Even when his body was transported back to the rear, the Japanese army ordered to stop air strikes for one day, so as not to hurt Zhang Zizhong's loyal bones. It can be seen that the military virtue of General Zhang Zizhong in the Anti-Japanese War moved even the Japanese army which advocated militarism at that time.
Late that night, the Japanese Radio Station in Hankou interrupted the normal broadcast and the news of Zhang Zizhong's death, and said: "The officers and men of the 39th Division of our Imperial Army offered the most pious and pious silent prayers to the heroic soldiers who died in the desolate battlefield, and solemnly collected the remains into coffins, intending to transport them to Hankou by special plane."
The Japanese army showed great reverence for General Zhang Zizhong. The military doctor carefully washed the body with alcohol, bandaged the wound and solemnly put it in the coffin. The coffin was buried on a hillside with a tombstone that read "Tomb of General zhina Zhang Zizhong".
16 years later, 1956, I talked about Zhang Zizhong's death with visiting He in Tokyo. Okamura Ningji said, "We have become enemies, but this kind of enemy is wonderful. As you may know, I met Commander Zhang Zizhong in Peiping before, but after attacking Hankou, it happened that we confronted each other head-on in the war on the east bank of Hanshui River (namely Xianghe). At that time, when the war broke out, Mr. Zhang went forward bravely and crossed the river into our military position. However, when we advanced because of strategic relations, he rushed behind our army and died. His death made me feel boundless because I was in danger of being killed at any time. "