Chapter 27 8. The Eastern Henan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Army was reorganized into the Temporary Second Army

In the spring of 1939, General Cheng Qian was transferred to be the chairman of the Kuomintang Military Committee and the director of the Tianshui camp, which was located in Xi'an.Wei Lihuang took over as commander-in-chief of the first war zone and chairman of Henan Province.The habit of the Kuomintang officialdom is "one emperor, one courtier".Wei Lihuang withdrew Song Kebin from the post of Henan Commissioner and Security Commander.Song Kebin handed over the two seals of the Commissioner's Office and the Security Command, but he did not hand over the East Henan Anti-Japanese Guerrillas we originally organized.

With the support of General Cheng Qian, the original guerrillas were reorganized into the Kuomintang's second temporary army and transferred to Hebei Province to fight against Japan.Song Kebin served as the army commander, and I served as the director of the Political Department.We reorganized the troops into three divisions, and in May 1939, we drove to the Daming area of ​​Hebei.After resting here for a while, move on.Between Daming and Nangong, they were raided by the Japanese army.Due to the unfamiliarity of the people and the disparity in weapons, the troops suffered heavy losses.We withdrew our troops to the area of ​​Straw Hat Xinzhuang, north of Daming.Morale was low and the morale of the army was shaken.

That night, a military meeting was held at the military headquarters to discuss the way out for the troops.A division commander suggested that the troops should still return to eastern Henan.He said: Most of the soldiers in this unit are from eastern Henan; when they return to eastern Henan, if they encounter Japanese raids, they will fight if they can; if they cannot fight, they will go home with guns; within three days, they can gather Get up; leaving Yudong, there is no such advantage, which is one of the main reasons for the heavy loss this time.Officers from Eastern Henan agreed with this proposition.The commander asked me what my opinion is?I said: There is no way out to go back to the east of Henan, because the defense area we were originally stationed in has been taken over by the Henan Provincial Security Team, and the area in the east of Henan next to the Longhai Railway has been controlled by the traitor troops, and there is no place for us to stand in the east of Henan.The army commander interjected: Zhang Lanfeng (traitor army commander) is a fellow villager and a colleague of the Northwest Army (Feng Yuxiang’s department), so it’s unlikely that we won’t be allowed to eat a bowl of rice.I also said: I advocate that the troops be transferred back to the Daming area to rest and reorganize, and try to send a telegram (our radio station is lost) to Cheng Qian, the director of the Tianshui Battalion, asking for a solution.The army commander interjected again: "The water far away does not quench the near thirst."It was already late at night when the meeting ended, and the army commander asked me to stay at the military headquarters, but I kept going back and forth and couldn't sleep.

According to my analysis of the situation at the meeting, the troops are likely to return to Eastern Henan; the only "outlet" to return to Eastern Henan is to become a traitor.I immediately thought that I am a member of the Communist Party, and I must not be coerced by them to become a traitor.I decided to leave the barracks immediately.Before dawn, I took my pistol and walked out of the military headquarters.To avoid leaking secrets, I did not go back to the Political Department to pick up my clothes.I have been walking towards the Zhaimen.Before the gate of the village was opened, I climbed up the wall of the village, jumped out of the village through a small gap, and arrived at a battalion headquarters I was familiar with.The commander of this battalion is Zhang Shaoguang, a primary school teacher I contacted when I was working in the democracy movement. He is young and enthusiastic, and has the determination to fight against Japan and save the country.I introduced to him the situation of the military meeting last night, and said: I see that Song Kebin intends to bring his troops back to eastern Henan to be a traitor.Battalion Commander Zhang slapped the table and said: Director Ge, Lao Song (referring to the commander of the army) is a traitor, and I will not do it anymore. I have a newly bought German big flywheel bicycle. You can go to Xi'an on it.I said: good!I handed the pistol to Battalion Commander Zhang, got on the bicycle, and started a new journey.

At the first stop, I went to the Daming District Commissioner's Office. Commissioner Ding Shuben gave me 50 yuan for travel expenses after knowing my situation.In order to pass through the enemy-puppet controlled area, I took off my military uniform and put on plain clothes (newly bought). The next day I went to a rural area north of Liudiquan Station on the Longhai Railway, and found a farmer I knew when I was fighting a guerrilla. He sent me at night through the blockade line built by the Japanese army along the railway.After passing the railway, I ran to the Yongcheng County Bookstore where Peng Xuefeng's Department of the New Fourth Army was stationed.After arriving, I found out that Comrade Peng Xuefeng had led his troops to the east, and the bookstore had a left-behind office for the department.The comrade in charge of the department told me: Deputy Commander Wu Zhipu still lives in a nearby village and will leave tonight.After contacting, Comrade Wu Zhipu came to the left-behind place on horseback.After I reported the situation to him, I asked: Can I bring some of Song Kebin's troops to Yongcheng to cooperate with the New Fourth Army in the war of resistance?Comrade Zhipu said: This is inconsistent with the anti-Japanese national united front policy.He asked me to go to Xi'an as soon as possible, find Director Cheng Qian, and try to make Song Bu not a traitor.And said: If Song Bu really surrendered to the enemy and became a traitor, you can use Cheng Qian's relationship to stay in Tianshui camp to work, lie in wait for the opportunity for a long time.Comrade Wu Zhipu led the team to set off that night, and I also left the bookstore the next morning.

The anti-Japanese troops originally in the border areas of Shangqiu, Yongcheng, and Bo County (the hometown of Huatuo and Cao Cao), Cai Hongfan's column marched to Hebei, and Peng Xuefeng's detachment moved eastward.The area became a vacuum.The Japanese invaders and traitors in Shangqiu and Yongcheng often came to harass and set up some village-level traitor organizations.From the bookstore to Longgangji, I was interrogated by traitors.To be on the safe side, I went near Longgangji (where I had been stationed), and found a Mr. Wang who had connections with the Qinghong Gang.I explained my purpose to him.He said: He can guarantee my safety; but he can't go west, because the traitor troops have already been stationed in Bo County; instead, he has to go south, and go west after Mengcheng County (Zhuangzi's hometown) in Anhui Province.Mr. Wang stayed at his house for a day, and he sent me to Mengcheng through the Qinghong gang.Here I met an old master from the Green Gang. He was in his fifties, with a shower head, a mane and a beard, and was hospitable. He insisted on staying with me for three days.I stayed for one day and said goodbye.

From Mengcheng to Jieshou (now Jieshou County, Anhui Province).At that time, it was still a passing shop, and the house was built with sorghum poles, but it was full of goods from the Japanese ruled area.Many businessmen from Luoyang, Xi'an and even Chongqing came here to purchase goods.I stayed in Jieshou for one night, and went to Luoyang by bicycle the next day. One afternoon, when I rode to a place more than 20 miles away from Xuchang City, it was raining heavily.The two wheels of the bicycle were covered with yellow mud and could not be pushed.I lifted the handlebars and slammed on the ground, trying to knock the mud off the front wheel, and broke the front fork.

It's getting dark, the rain is still falling, there is no village in front, no shop behind, what should I do?I picked up my bicycle, waded through the muddy water, and walked to the door of a farmer about 4 miles away from the road.I knocked on the door and an old lady came out.I said: I am a passerby, my bicycle is broken, and it is getting dark, can I borrow a night at your house, can I?The old aunt enthusiastically let me into the house and asked me to put the bicycle in her stove.After I briefly told her about my situation, the old aunt cooked for me and asked her daughter to wash my clothes for me.From the conversation, I learned that the old aunt's husband and son were forced to send military rations to Luoyang, and there were only her mother and daughter left in the house, with three rooms in the north, the old aunt lived in the east room, and her daughter In the west room.

After dinner, the old lady asked my daughter to move to the east room and sleep with her; she asked me to sleep in the west room, and I was a little embarrassed to go.The old aunt took a small oil lamp, led me to the west room, and said: You can sleep here, you came back from fighting devils, it doesn't matter.When I left the next morning, I left my aunt two yuan, but she would not accept it anyway.She also said: When you pass by here in the future, you must come to our house.The girl stood at the door and smiled, but stopped talking. I carried the bicycle and walked 25 miles to Xuchang County, where I put on a front fork and rode the bicycle forward again.There are several mountains to go from Xuchang to Luoyang.When going up the mountain, you have to push your bicycle. Every time you go up a mountain, you will sweat profusely.The mountain is high and the road is difficult, but there is still an endless stream of ox carts delivering military rations (wheat).The cart is made of wood, and in the middle of the front of the cart is a 3-meter-long porch, and a 1-meter-long horizontal wooden stick is fixed to the front of the porch.The two cows are put on the two sides of the Xuan pole, and the horizontal wooden stick just presses on the necks of the two cows.The horizontal wooden stick is called "ox choke".Only then did I understand the source of the so-called "conjugate preparation" in plane geometry.It is difficult to go up the mountain with an ox cart, but it is not easy to go down the mountain.When going down a steep slope, if you can't stop the car, you will run over cattle and people.I saw this kind of accident several times along the way.

When I arrived in Luoyang, I first went to look for Comrade Liu Zijiu. He was on a business trip and I didn't see him. I started to go to Xi'an. I thought I could take the train to Xi'an, but the railway from Luoyang to Xi'an had already been destroyed by Japanese artillery fire on the north bank of the Yellow River.I still have to rely on bicycles to pass this difficult journey.The journey from Luoyang to Lingbao went smoothly.Outside the west gate of Lingbao is Hangu Pass, where Lao Tzu passed by riding a green bull.I can climb high mountains by riding a green ox; but it is very difficult for me to climb high mountains by riding a bicycle.So I pushed my bicycle and got into the cave (railway culvert) of Hanguguan. It was cold and windy, and it was dark.I let the wheels of my bicycle touch the inside of the rails, and I groped my way along the outside of the rails.Out of the cave, I immediately felt the air was fresh and the earth was bright.I got on my bicycle again and walked along the side of the railway.High mountains and deep valleys, few pedestrians.After bypassing a high mountain, they encountered an iron bridge. The pier on the north side had been damaged by Japanese artillery fire, but the entire bridge frame had not yet fallen.I crossed the bridge by stepping on the beam of the iron bridge.Looking back, I was a little scared. If I made a mistake, I might fall into a deep valley and river and sacrifice my life.On the way, I encountered another railway bridge, which made me embarrassed.Because the bridge has been completely interrupted by the Japanese army; under the bridge is a river with rolling water.I sat on a rock by the river, overwhelmed.A woodcutter came from behind, and he asked me: Do you want to cross the river?I said: Yes, but I don't know the depth of the river, so I dare not cross it.He said: The water is not deep, come on!He carried the bicycle for me, and I held his arm, the water was chest deep.After crossing the river, I gave him fifty cents and asked him to buy cigarettes to smoke.He doesn't want it anyway.

After several days of struggle, I crossed all the culverts and iron bridges on the Longhai Railway west of Lingbao and arrived at Tongguan.I pushed my bicycle into Tongguan Cave (Railway Culvert) without hesitation.It was getting darker and darker, and suddenly I heard the roar of the train and felt the vibration of the rails. I thought the train was coming, so I leaned my bicycle against the wall of the cave and lay down on the ground.But the train did not enter the culvert.Because it was a train from Xi'an to Tongguan, it stopped at the railway station outside the west gate of Tongguan.Even so, I dare not go forward through the culvert again.So I exited the Tongguan culvert.Outside the culvert, there is the Yellow River on one side and mountains on the other.The east gate of Tongguan City is on a high slope. If you want to enter Tongguan City, you have to climb the high slope.The high slope is very steep, and it is difficult to climb up with a bicycle.I untied the rope from the rear rack, tied it to the handlebars, and tied the other end of the rope around my waist.I climbed four or five feet, and then used the rope to pull the car up; I climbed and pulled; soon I climbed to the east gate of Tongguan City.Looking around, it suddenly became clear.There is the Yellow River in the north, the Wei River in the west, and high mountains in the southeast, which are lush and green.On the east gate of Tongguan City, there are four Daewoo engraved with "the first pass in the world", which made me more knowledgeable.In the past, I only knew that Shanhaiguan was the "No. 1 pass in the world", but now that Tongguan is also "the No. 1 pass in the world", I feel more and more that the territory of the motherland is vast and the pass is dangerous.Next to the east gate of Tongguan, there is a tall stone tablet, which is engraved with "the junction of Henan and Qin". I think of it: Qin Shihuang made the country rich and the army strong, went out of Tongguan, destroyed the six countries, and unified the world.Today we were beaten by a Japanese from Shanhaiguan to Tongguan, it is tolerable, what is unbearable!I am looking back at the present and thinking about the past, with poor eyes and mountains and rivers.Suddenly the Japanese army fired a few cannonballs from Fenglingdu to Tongguan. The shells landed and the dust flew up. I pushed my bicycle and entered the city of Tongguan. I saw desolation, dilapidated houses and dilapidated buildings everywhere.This is the trace left by the Japanese bombardment of Tongguan with aircraft and artillery.The street is full of rubble, there are few pedestrians, and the market is depressed. Except for a few small shops selling Tongguan soy sauce, there are few other shops.Although the train can go to Tongguan, but the station does not sell tickets.I found a small restaurant, ate two bowls of sliced ​​noodles, and rode my bicycle to Huayin.Stayed at Huayin Station for one night, and took the train to Xi'an the next day. In the market of Xi'an, the commerce is prosperous, the business is booming, and the pedestrians are bustling with each other.Except for the frequent air raids by Japanese planes, there is no wartime scene to be seen.I found a hotel as a shelter.The next morning I went to Tianshui for camp and found a staff officer I knew.He introduced me to the Chief of Staff, who called Director Cheng Qian and said: Ge Peiqi is back.The director said: I want him to come see me right away.When I arrived at Director Cheng's office, he was reviewing documents and waved me to sit down.I reported to him the situation after the troops marched to Hebei and were swept up by the Japanese army.And said: I saw that Song Kebin had the intention of surrendering to Japan and becoming a traitor; so I left without saying goodbye and ran back.Director Cheng said: I received a telegram from the front that Song Kebin had betrayed the country and surrendered to the enemy, and became a traitor.Director Cheng also said: That army was organized by you when you were an instructor of the democracy movement. Do you have a way to bring that army back?I said: Yes.Director Cheng picked up a pen and wrote a note: "Send Ge Peiqi three hundred yuan as a condolence money."And said: You go and change your clothes (I was wearing a set of purple cloth trousers and jacket full of dirt), go to the staff office to rest, read the instigation documents, and wait for orders.