Chapter 9 This year's general trend

1932 came when China's political situation was in chaos. At that time, Nanjing had just undergone a power change.Chiang Kai-shek had withdrawn from the center of power, and Premier Sun Ke took over the central government in Nanjing.But politics is ultimately a contest of power.Sun Ke's cabinet, which lacked foundation and could not control the army in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, was short-lived. He was replaced by a brand-new combination of two giants in the Kuomintang: Chairman of the Military Commission Chiang Kai-shek and President of the Executive Yuan Wang Jingwei.Jiang is in charge of the army and Wang is in power.The real power fell into the hands of Chiang Kai-shek, and "Chairman Chiang" was called from this moment.

While a new political alliance was still in the making, fighting was fiercer than ever in Shanghai.After the Japanese army occupied the Northeast, in order to attract the attention of all parties, the Japanese secret service agencies continued to provoke troubles in Shanghai, the industrial and commercial center of China, to cover the establishment of a puppet regime in the Northeast. On the night of January 28, 1932, the Japanese Marine Corps launched an attack on the Chinese 19th Route Army, which was about to retreat as ordered, and wanted to stage a new "September 18th" incident in Shanghai, an international commercial port, so as to prevent the Japanese Army from exclusively focusing on the United States. in front.However, to the surprise of the Japanese army, the 19th Route Army's fighting will was extremely strong, and the support of the Shanghai people for the defenders was also very enthusiastic.The luck of the Japanese Marine Corps is far less than that of the Kwantung Army, which makes them jealous, because the officers and soldiers of the 19th Route Army guarding Shanghai are a brave and patriotic army.Under the command of Jiang Guangnai and General Cai Tingkai, they resolutely resisted without the approval of the Nanjing government. In the subsequent battles, the Japanese marines they attacked suffered heavy casualties.The resistance of the Nineteenth Route Army in Songhu was the voluntary exercise of the right of defense by the Chinese army, which was the harbinger of a large-scale war of resistance by the Chinese army, which was completely different from the Northeast Army's almost retreat without a fight.The soldiers of the 19th Route Army wearing bamboo hats have become a symbol of anti-Japanese war that complements the Northeast Volunteer Army.

The vast territory is China's wealth, but it also brings the disadvantage of slow response.In the early 20th century, when localism prevailed, people in different places often felt the same event very differently.The loss of the Northeast shocked the people along the southeast coast at first in ideas and emotions.However, the "January 28th" Songhu War that occurred four months later awakened many people who were dreaming and dying in Shiliyangchang.The artillery fire and bombing of the Japanese army finally made them feel painful, like a bone stalk in the throat, like a sharp edge in the back.

Just as Shenyang people can't forget "September 18th", "January 28th" will always remain in the memory of Shanghainese. At that time, Lu Xun and his family lived in the apartment directly opposite the Japanese Marine Corps Headquarters on North Sichuan Road in Shanghai.From the apartment windows, a mass of soldiers could be seen massing in the headquarters compound before trucks roared south carrying them.Up to now, on the wall of Lu Xun's study, a bullet mark from that time can still be seen. Few people can stay out of war, and even the concession, which has always been considered the safest, is no longer a safe place.Although both sides respect the particularity of the concession, no one can technically guarantee that bullets and shells will not fall 100% in the concession.The Kuomintang government reluctantly made a decision amidst the internal chaos to temporarily relocate the government's office from Nanjing to Luoyang, Henan.Although Luoyang, an ancient capital located in the interior, is dilapidated and has inconvenient transportation, it can avoid the direct attack and coercion of Japanese military forces.

The Nineteenth Route Army, the Fifth Army and the citizens of Shanghai are the protagonists of this war, and the attention of the whole world is attracted by this war. Shanghai in the 1930s was a place where expatriates from various countries lived together. A war in this city would immediately attract international attention.Japan's harvest here is less than a fraction of that in the Northeast, and the casualties are much heavier than in the Northeast. They met real Chinese soldiers. On May 28, 1932, the Songhu Anti-Japanese War Memorial Conference was held in Suzhou Wusan Park, and the war was over at that time. 50,000 soldiers and civilians flocked to the venue, and Ju Zheng, the president of the judiciary, officiated on behalf of the government.The generals Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and Zhang Zhizhong who participated in the war came to offer sacrifices in person. The Shanghai "Shenzhen" on June 1 described: "The officers and soldiers of the Fifth Army who participated in the memorial service that day were dressed in yellow woolen uniforms, neat and serious, with a big torso and full of energy. The soldiers of the 19th Route Army wore blue and gray cloth uniforms and shorts. Knees exposed, the 19th Route Army hat worn on the back is glorious and worshiped by outsiders, although the stature is short and small, he is brave and lively."

"January 28", that is, on January 28, 1932, the evening when the war first broke out, the Zhang Junsong Regiment of the Nineteenth Route Army was the first to exchange fire with the Japanese army.Head Zhang presented an elegiac couplet to the victims of his subordinates, as well as the fallen officers and soldiers of the whole army, which is full of deep respect for these sacrifices for the country: "It is the pillar of the country, the pioneer of the nation, swallows Japanese pirates, and is brave and far away." Shake the whole world! Sacrifice for justice, fight for peace, blood splashed in Shanghai and wild, loyal souls will live forever in the south of the Yangtze River!" On the same day, all the flags across the country were lowered at half-mast, entertainment was stopped for a day, and mourning was paid to the spirits of the fallen soldiers.In the battle that lasted for more than 30 days, the Nineteenth Route Army killed 2,390, injured 6,343, and missing 131; the Fifth Army killed 1,825, wounded 3,487, and missing 625.

Most of the officers and soldiers of the 19th Route Army came from the southern country of Guangdong, and died fighting in a foreign land to defend Shanghai.With these unsung heroes who are loyal to the nation, the 19th Route Army has become a term worth cherishing forever in history.Cai Tingkai, the commander of the Nineteenth Route Army, was dark and slender. He was born in the army and had a stern face. He looked like a professional soldier. The "January 28th" war was a war that attracted worldwide attention from the beginning, and the prestige of the 19th Route Army and General Cai Tingkai became famous both at home and abroad.

Zhang Zhizhong, the commander of the Fifth Army, looked like a refined scholar.He is Chiang Kai-shek's favorite general and a politically minded general rarely seen in the Central Army.He was often ordered to lead troops into battle, but as soon as the battle was over, he immediately handed over his military amulet and went to work in the Office of the Chief Education Officer of the Central Military Academy.Considering the great power of the generals leading the army at that time, it is rare to see a "fool" like Zhang Zhizhong who is not in love with military power.At the beginning, the fearless performance of the 19th Route Army against the Japanese infected the head of education of the Central Military Academy. After obtaining the consent of Chiang Kai-shek, he formed the Fifth Army. Eighty-seven divisions are formed, all of which are Chiang Kai-shek's most trusted troops.On the war-torn Songhu battlefield, the Fifth Army was the only reinforcement that the Nineteenth Route Army was looking forward to.The origins of the two armies were not the same, but Zhang Zhizhong knew the general situation well, and he stated from the beginning that he would sincerely obey Jiang Guangnai's command.

The Nineteenth Route Army and the Fifth Army fought to defend Shanghai.Shanghai is the largest metropolis in the Far East, and the world's powers all have interests in this city.Due to the "January 28th" campaign, Japan did not have much substantial gains in Shanghai, so suspicious people at the time suspected that there must be hidden secret clauses behind the Sino-Japanese armistice agreement.In fact, the worst clause in the agreement is that it stipulates that Chinese troops cannot be stationed in Shanghai, and that the security forces and police are responsible for the security of Shanghai.But this did not prevent the Chinese army from re-entering Shanghai on the eve of "August 13" in 1937.

The Shanghai battle partially restored the reputation of Chinese soldiers, proving that Chinese soldiers never lack the courage and spirit of sacrifice to defend the motherland.In the past few months, the Northeast Army's inaction in the face of Japanese aggression has shamed Chinese soldiers in front of the world.Whether it was public opinion at the time or later history books, they all dedicated words of praise to the soldiers of the Nineteenth Route Army.They fought bravely and fought against the Japanese army alone for more than half a month. They won the national reputation, and of course they deserved their name.However, although the soldiers of the Fifth Army came later, their sacrifices were almost equal to those of the Nineteenth Route Army. However, when it was their turn to share the honor, they inevitably felt lost and quietly disappeared under the huge halo of the Nineteenth Route Army.This gap became more and more conspicuous because Chiang Kai-shek deliberately low-keyed the Fifth Army's participation in the war due to concerns about the expansion of the war. However, in his heart, Chiang Kai-shek and his generals began to have a grudge against the Nineteenth Route Army.The Nineteenth Route Army was originally an army loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, but after this battle the two sides became estranged.Later, the relationship between the two sides became increasingly estranged, until they turned against each other and turned into the "Fujian Incident" at the end of 1933.The reason for this is interesting.

After the truce on the Songhu front in 1932, Cai Tingkai went to meet Chiang Kai-shek, who had just become chairman of the Military Commission.That meeting left a gloomy memory for Cai Tingkai, and it was recorded in his later "Autobiography of Cai Tingkai". He found embarrassingly that his commander-in-chief Chiang Kai-shek "was not as victorious as he used to be during the Northern Expedition, except for a few words of exhortation as usual." The smiles and smiles that greeted me when I came back, and finally I asked harder, I must absolutely obey the government's orders in the future."The last sentence is on point. On January 28, the day when the Songlu War broke out, Wang Jingwei rushed to Nanjing to take up the post of President of the Executive Yuan.The Nineteenth Route Army has received the order to withdraw from Shanghai. Although they feel unhappy and unwilling, they have no intention of disobeying the military order and are preparing to deploy.At that time, the Shanghai municipal government had fully accepted the Japanese ultimatum.However, the Japanese Marine Corps was arrogant and took the initiative to provoke, so the 19th Route Army, which had not yet changed its defense, did not show any weakness, and decided to fight back with force before receiving an official order from the Nanjing government.War is waged in a semi-spontaneous state.Different from the chaotic situation where the Northeast Army fought independently, the Nineteenth Route Army's Anti-Japanese War was a planned operation of the established Chinese army, and received full and effective cooperation from the citizens of Shanghai.This can even be regarded as the first time that China's elite regular army fought against foreign invaders on a large scale after the Xin Chou Treaty in 1901. Although Chiang Kai-shek agreed with Zhang Zhizhong's Fifth Army to reinforce Shanghai, he has always disapproved of a full-scale war with Japan since September 18th.After the Battle of Songhu, the Nineteenth Route Army became the symbol and spokesperson of the Anti-Japanese War. This was extremely inconsistent with the national policy of "to fight against the outside world, we must first settle the inside" implemented by the Jiang Wang government. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek also suspected that generals such as Cai Tingkai took advantage of the national heroes Fame, politically unambitious.The two sides did not trust each other, and finally broke up. From the end of 1933 to the beginning of 1934, the 19th Route Army launched the Fujian Incident, which staged an amazing scene of abolishing the titles of the Kuomintang and the Republic of China and establishing a new regime.This army, which had won great honors for its resistance to Japan, was tired of the obscure and protracted "communist suppression" civil war, and also tired of the Nanjing government's deliberate forbearance of Japanese aggression.But the new regime was quickly overthrown by Chiang Kai-shek's troops.In that military suppression operation, Zhang Zhizhong was ordered to go out and peacefully accepted the surrender of the 19th Route Army defenders in Gutian.The former general of the 19th Route Army has been involved in anti-Chiang activities since then, and once rebuilt the 19th Route Army in Guangxi.But with the reconciliation of Guangxi and Nanjing in September 1936, reconstruction activities were short-lived. In 1937, when the Songhu War resumed, Zhang Zhizhong led the 88th Division, 87th Division, and 36th Division to re-enter Shanghai. At that time, the 19th Route Army had been annihilated as a historical term, which is really a sigh.This is a tragic picture. At a time when the country’s politics were not on track, a large number of low-quality troops were filled in the Chinese National Defense Forces by relying on the political speculation of the generals, while the few excellent troops like the 19th Route Army were disbanded and eliminated. Not being able to serve the country again is a national tragedy. The officers and soldiers of the Nineteenth Route Army have left an eternal memory in the minds of the Chinese people.The power of role models is like a steady stream of clear springs, watering the dry and old national spirit, inspiring the courage of the cowardly and boosting the confidence of the brave.Compared with this heroic force, the non-resistanceists who easily lost the Northeast looked pale and cowardly.Just like what Li Gongpu commented on the fourth anniversary of "January 28th": "The memory of 'January 28th' has not been washed out in the minds of the public. The cruel exposure of objective facts to those who do not resist, The deeds of this glorious struggle are active in the minds of hundreds of millions of people, who realize the value of this period of struggle day by day, and realize that the war of resistance in the corner of "January 28" is the only response for the entire Chinese nation and the entire nation. the way to go." Linggu Temple near the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing is the center of the cemetery of the fallen soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army. The remains of 128 dead in the Battle of Songhu are buried, 70 from the 19th Route Army, 58 from the Fifth Army and the Gendarmerie. , They are the symbols of the indomitable and unyielding spirit of the "January 28th" Chinese soldiers. After 1937, it and several cemeteries such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Miaohang were destroyed by the Japanese army. In fact, those ordinary citizens who died tragically should also be mourned. The war caused them to lose not only their lives, but also their property and homes.In the fifth district of Zhabei where the war was most intense, there were originally 101,000 people, but only 800 remained after the war. Those who fled could not find their own homes after returning. Of the original 7,627 houses, 6,435 were destroyed by the war. This year, the Northeast Volunteer Army was unprecedentedly active and powerful. Japan always downplayed the seriousness of the situation. In fact, what happened in Shanghai and Northeast China was no longer an accident, but a real war.