Chapter 40 40. One will become famous Li Zongren

After the great victory in Taierzhuang, the prestige of Li Zongren, the main general, was spread all over the world. . Li Zongren, courtesy name Delin, was born in Lingui County, Guangxi in the 17th year of Guangxu (1891). He was 4 years younger than Chiang Kai-shek, two years older than Bai Chongxi, and the same year as Hu Shi.Degong's hometown is the first county of Guilin Prefecture. According to him, the scenery is actually better than Yangshuo and Guilin (usually it is said that "Yangshuo's landscape is worse than Guilin"). Unfortunately, the land is not an important place, and there are few tourists. To, so the reputation is far inferior to the former two.

In the modern history of China, the people of Guangxi gave people the impression that they were good at fighting, such as the "old long hair" in the Taiping Army. They fought all the way from Guangxi to Nanjing, and then went northward to Jinghai County in Tianjin. They almost overthrew the Qing court. , those people are all extremely fierce characters.However, Degong didn't like other people to mention "long hair", because the folk customs of his hometown Liangjiangwei were simple and the style of writing prevailed, just as the Guangxi proverb said, "Guangxi is tested in Guilin, Guilin is tested in Liangjiang", the imperial examination is the right way, and the rebellion Not its director.

According to Degong’s self-report, he had no ambitions when he was young. One day he and his second brother went to the field to pull soybeans. The two talked about their future career. Millet can be ground into rice and sold in the market, and the bran can be fed to pigs. Because pork is eaten all year round, this ideal is very affordable; After the busy season of farming, it doesn’t cost much to drive the ducks to the harvested fields to eat the fallen millet. It doesn’t cost a lot to catch up with hundreds of ducks. At that time, the ducks will lay eggs, and the eggs will lay ducks. The future is bright and enviable.It can be seen from this that the two brothers were thinking about the issue of food and clothing at that time, and saving the country and the people was something that was out of reach.But having said that, if you have no ambitions when you are young, you will often achieve great things when you grow up; if you have great ambitions when you are young, you will often achieve nothing when you grow up. There is no other reason, but the sense of frustration is too strong.

Degong's father was born as a scholar, and he worked half-farm and half-study on weekdays, and also had to grant a library to support the family.Before the age of sixteen, Degong also received traditional education intermittently for more than ten years. Until 1907, Degong applied for the Guangxi Army Primary School, and his life path began to turn. When it comes to applying for Lu Elementary School, Degong actually took the exam twice. When he applied for the exam for the first time, there were more than 1,000 applicants, and the admission quota was 130 to 40.After the list was released, the main list was 130th, and there was no name on the Degong list, but among the 10 candidates, it ranked first (that is, 131st), so the admission is safe.On the day to report for duty, De Gong prepared a set of clean clothes, shoes and socks, and did not change until he walked a few miles outside the city; after entering the city, he temporarily hired a porter to help carry the luggage, and waited for him to settle in the shop. I went to report later, but unexpectedly, the school rejected Degong's report because it was ten minutes past the registration time.

At that time, the person in charge of Lu Elementary School was a Japanese non-commissioned officer student, and the law enforcement was like a mountain, and there was no flexibility. Degong lost the opportunity to enroll because of a ten-minute difference.Just as Degong was leaving dejectedly, the school instructor stopped him and hoped that he would take the exam next time, because in this physical examination, Degong's physique was listed as first-class, which is rare among candidates of. Encouraged by this, Degong read the book carefully for a year, and then took the exam again.The number of admissions this time is still the same, but the number of candidates has reached more than 3,000. Degong was successfully admitted as a positive candidate, and thus entered the third phase of Guangxi Army Primary School.According to Degong’s recollection, “Lu Xiao” at that time was very good. Most of the instructors in the new school buildings, new buildings, and large playgrounds were graduated from Japanese non-commissioned officers’ schools. They were dressed in woolen uniforms, wearing long leather boots, and they were shining brightly, and there was a bright command knife hanging from their waists. When they walked around the school, this knife was always dragging on the ground. Therefore, as they walked, the sound of the knife The sound of the boots was sonorous and majestic, which made our peasant children who had just come out of the countryside very envious when they saw it."As for General Cai E, the general manager, that made this group of young students even more regarded as "gods".

During his studies, Degong was not excellent in subjects, but he was outstanding in subjects such as firearms training, equipment gymnastics, and stabbing. The reason was that he was very strong and practiced diligently, so he got the nickname "Li Mengzi". "Li Mengzi" is quick and brave when he is stabbing with others, and he takes the offensive as soon as he makes a move. There are few opponents among his classmates. At that time, Lu Elementary School’s treatment was still very good: in terms of diet, three meals a day, a table for eight people, four dishes and one soup for each table, three meat and one vegetable, all at public expense; There is a set of serge woolen coats for winter; each student is given two pairs of leather shoes each semester; as for bursaries, freshmen in the first grade receive eight taels of silver per month, students in the second grade receive one or two taels a month, and students in the third grade receive one or two taels of silver, with excellent grades. Those who can issue an additional two to four coins.For young students, this is a huge sum of money in a year, because at that time one tael of silver could be exchanged for 14,500 Wen, and the prices in Guilin were extremely low. I bought 150 bowls of char siew noodles, which is much better than being a rice dealer and putting ducks.

In 1911, when a cannon rang upstairs in Wuchang, the Qing court was overthrown, and Degong also ended his three-year study in Lu Primary School.After the revolution in Guangxi, the situation in Guilin, the provincial capital, was quite complicated. The main reason was the conflict between the new army and the old patrol battalion. In the chaos, Junjun Elementary School was also involved.Due to the rebellion of the old army, the "Little Lu" who regarded itself as the side of the new army was also threatened. After discussion, the students in the school decided to drive to the station of the New Army Mixed Association at night to act together.When discussing how to move forward, some students shouted: "Please transfer Li Mengzai to be the leader of the forward search team!" De Gong also stood up without hesitation.

After the rebellion in the patrol battalion was suppressed, the Guangxi New Army organized a Northern Expedition, and the Army Elementary School also formed a death squad of more than 100 students to accompany them. Once again missed the registration time, thus missed the revolution.However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. You must know that in the chaotic early years of the Republic of China, how many of these student teams survived and how many became famous are unknown. After graduating from "Lu Elementary School", Degong transferred to the crash school for two years, and was later selected as a warrant officer trainee of the general school research institute.At that time, the Institute of General Schools was nominally a place for general schools, but in fact they housed some old guys in the army, and most of them were heroes who were recruited after being born in the green forest. How could they know anything about modern military science? "Researching" at the school is nothing more than collecting their wildness.Soon after going to work, Degong was promoted to second lieutenant and platoon leader, with a monthly salary of 320 yuan, making him one of the high-income groups in Guilin.

In the research institute of the general school, Degong once had a thrilling experience of riding a "horse head".The so-called "horse head" is actually the leader of the group of horses.When the logistics department of the inland army procured hundreds of thousands of horses from the Mongolian grasslands, there were always two or three "horse heads" accompanying them. "Horse head" is generally a tall, majestic and strong horse. This kind of horse is astonishingly powerful, invincible to tigers, and born with the wisdom to manage horses.At that time, there was such a "horse head" in the research institute of the general school, and no one except the breeder could approach it.

Out of curiosity and confidence, Degong wanted to try riding it.The breeder looked distressed, and said, "Sir, you can't ride a horse's head!" But De Gong asked repeatedly, and the breeder knew that his equestrian skills were superior, so he agreed to let him try.After the saddle was fastened, Mr. De first hid himself behind the big pillar beside the corridor, condescendingly. When the "horse head" came over, Mr. De jumped on the horse and rode upright.Just when Mr. De thought that this fierce horse was about to roar and jump, "Horse Head" walked forward tens of meters as if nothing had happened, and then "suddenly swung his head and body like a storm, and the three people holding Its keeper was thrown to the ground before he could yell, and he jumped again, and the three of them were dragged into a ball, and all of them let go."

Under the crazy jump of the "horse head", Degong even used all his energy to feed, but he couldn't hold it back.Finally, "Horse Head" jumped up the corridor suddenly, but fortunately, it stepped on a stone on the edge of the corridor with its front foot and lost its center of gravity and fell down.When there was no time to spare, De Gong put his right leg on the horse's back, fell down with him and was thrown aside.At this time, "horse head" jumped up again and rushed to a small door, "the door was narrow and wide, and the force was too strong, and the new leather saddle was smashed and fell off", and then it fled back into the stable. This time, Degong was able to recover his life. If the "horse head" hadn't fallen, "I'm afraid he must have been hit by the door and died. If he failed to lift his leg in time, he might have been crushed to death by the horse or thrown on the ground." Fell to his death against the wall."Later, when the "horse head" disappeared when the school's research institute was closed and handed over, De Gong still bitterly said in his memoirs: "At that time, people in Guilin were addicted to eating horse meat, and horse meat rice noodles were a famous snack. It’s unknown if you enter the horse meat and rice noodle shop!” After the general school’s research institute was closed, due to the limited balance of the new army, a group of new officers such as De Gong could not be arranged. When other students were waiting in the city for dispatch, De Gong simply returned to his hometown in 1914 and went to work in agriculture.However, because many new schools were established in Guangxi at that time, the most lacking of them were military and physical education teachers, so Degong was quickly recommended by others, and he went to two schools as a military training and gymnastics instructor. The salary of the research institute is high, and the life during this period is still very comfortable. After Yuan Shikai declared the monarchy, Cai E and others raised the flag of national protection in Yunnan. The movement spread to Guangxi, and Degong's peaceful life was also interrupted.One of Degong’s friends, Xian Boping, was the battalion commander of the 3rd Division of the Yunnan Army. He invited Degong to serve as the company commander. Degong thought twice and felt that he was a professional soldier after all, so he resigned from the high-paying jobs in two schools. , Joined the National Defense Army to challenge Yuan. Coincidentally, when Degong went to Wuzhou to report, he happened to pass by the guest house of the Fourth Division of the Dian Army, and his classmates Zhu Liangqi, Liang Boxan, and Xie Shaoan were also recruiting people. The four met and were pleasantly surprised. Having served as the battalion commander, Liang Boshan was the battalion affiliate, and Xie Shaoan was the company commander, so the three decided to keep Degong in their team, and immediately called the orderly to move Degong's luggage to the guest house of the Fourth Division.In desperation, Degong had no choice but to write to Xian Boping to apologize. However, the company commander's application was not approved after it was submitted, and he was only allowed to be appointed as a lieutenant platoon leader, so Degong "fried pork ribs" in the fourth division (homophonic, the platoon leader is called "fried pork ribs", and the company commander is called "eat pork ribs") Lotus Seed Soup").Later Xian Boping met Degong and blamed him for breaking the appointment. It turned out that he had not received the letter.When he heard that Degong was only a platoon leader in the Fourth Division, he was very upset. Later, at a dinner party with the battalion commanders, he quarreled with Zhu Liangqi about this matter, and the two almost drew their guns at each other.After the news spread in the army, Degong was also very embarrassed. In order to avoid his friends turning against each other, he had to resign on his own initiative instead of "fried ribs".A few months later, on the recommendation of his brother Li Qizhao, Degong went to his company to re-fire the "ribs" (still the platoon leader), which was then under the Lin Hu Division of the Sixth Army of the National Defense Army.As a result, Degong also officially started his military career. Duke De did not fire a single shot in the war to protect the country, and Yuan Shikai, the leader of the imperial system, died suddenly. However, there are still many opportunities for civil war. Since it is an army, it is inevitable that there will be opportunities for combat.The first battle that De Gong participated in was against Long Jiguang, the governor of Guangdong.According to Degong, when he went to the battlefield for the first time, "I was nervous, my nerves were tense, my steps were frivolous, and my breathing seemed to be out of breath. I firmly believe that my patriotic enthusiasm is no different from others, but I have the courage to see death as home and not to avoid danger. , especially not inferior to others, why I feel so nervous when I hear the sound of guns, even I don’t know why.”Although this description does not resemble the style of "Li Mengzi", it really makes people feel as if they were there. Degong was bravely wounded in the first battle. When he was leading the charge, he suddenly felt a shock in his head, blood gushed out from his right cheek, and his mouth was full of broken teeth.Degong spat out the broken tooth and touched it with his hand. It turned out that the bullet hit the palate bone from the right cheek, but the strange thing was that there was no scar on the left cheek. After Degong retreated, he happened to see a military doctor. After checking, he said: "Congratulations! Congratulations! The bullet did not stay in your head, it went out from the left nostril." That's it! However, this injury left some sequelae. The left side of De Gong's face was inflamed from time to time, but the situation was not too serious, and the swelling would subside within a few days.However, in the middle of the Anti-Japanese War, Degong once had his left face swelled so badly that his left eye was temporarily blinded. After examination, it turned out that some tiny broken bones entered the palate during the injury, causing inflammation from time to time. The doctor performed an operation to remove the broken bone, which had already turned black.After that, the swelling and pain will suddenly heal. After this battle, Li Qizhao, the company commander, was withdrawn because he retreated from the battle, and De Gong was replaced as the company commander. He then continued to participate in the Dharma Protection War and entered Hunan to fight.In the battle at Lvtianxu, Anhua County, Degong once again narrowly escaped death. When he led the soldiers to charge, he was shot four times, one of which hit his thigh and the other three pierced his pants.This time, instead of a military doctor, Degong met a herbalist doctor. After the doctor checked, he said, "Congratulations! The leg bone is not broken, and the bullet passed through the left side of the periosteum. You can walk ten days after applying the medicine." De Gong didn't believe it at first, but after applying herbal medicine, the pain miraculously disappeared... It turned out that this man was also an expert, and he was an authority specializing in the treatment of bruises in the nearby area. After the First World War in Hunan, because Wu Peifu made peace with the Southern Army, the French Guardian Army withdrew to Guangdong, and Degong was also promoted to battalion commander. In August 1920, shortly after the end of the Zhiwan War in the north, the Guangdong-Guangxi War broke out in the south. The army stuck their necks, because this pass is the only way from Sihui to Zhaoqing. One man guards the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it. Bing, the situation is very critical. After observing the situation before the battle, Degong took the initiative to invite Ying, and led the officers and soldiers of the battalion to attack the pass head-on, opening the passage for the army.But this attack is very risky, because the enemy army has built fortifications at the pass of nearly two to three hundred meters, and they can shoot cross-fire.Fortunately, "Using troops depends on odds, and fighting depends on bravery." Father De led the soldiers in one go, and actually repelled the enemy, captured the pass, and relieved the siege for the army.Of course, in this charge, more than one-third of the officers and soldiers of the battalion were killed or injured, and the name of De Gong as "heroic and good at fighting" also became famous in Guangdong and Guangdong. After withdrawing to Guangxi, De Gong was promoted to be the commander of the frontier defense army, but within a year (June 1921), Chen Jiongming of the Cantonese army entered Guangxi in three ways. The public had no choice but to lead more than a thousand people from his department into the 60,000 mountains in Yulin to fight guerrillas.Fortunately, there were quite a lot of comrades, and later other tribes from the Guangxi Clique came to join him. Degong's team expanded to more than 2,000 people, but the firearms were neat and well-equipped, and it began to take shape. Less than a year later (April 1922), that is, on the eve of the first Zhifeng War, just as Sun Yat-sen was about to launch the Northern Expedition with great fanfare, Chen Jiongming suddenly moved in the rear, the Cantonese army withdrew to Guangdong, and Guangxi became anarchic. At that time, all kinds of heroes rose from the ground and ruled one side, and Degong became a moderate force at that time.At this time, Huang Shaohong's troops, who were originally members of the National Defense Army, came to join forces, and the two armies merged into the Guangxi Autonomous Army, which opened the prelude to the unification of Guangxi. Huang Shaohong's department originally belonged to the Ma Ji Department of the Guangxi National Defense Army, and Degong was the Lin Hu Department of the Guangxi National Defense Army. Lin and Ma resigned successively during the Guangdong-Guangxi War, and the rest of the department was organized and developed by Degong and Huang Shaohong. This rendezvous formed the troika of the "New Guangxi Clan" (Lu Rongting's influence was the "Old Gui Clan"), namely Li Zongren, Huang Shaohong, and Bai Chongxi (then Huang Shaohong's chief of staff).With the joint efforts of the three, his troops successively wiped out the former Lu Rongting's old Guangxi faction and the new warlord Shen Hongying, and repelled Tang Jiyao's coveting of Guangxi by the Yunnan warlord, and finally unified Guangxi in 1925. The three young people, Li Zongren, Huang Shaohong, and Bai Chongxi, were all former and late classmates of Guangxi Army Primary School. The sincere cooperation of the three of them not only created a new situation in Guangxi, but also maintained the strength of the Guangxi Clique for more than 20 years. This kind of unity and stability is rare in the history of the Republic of China, and they were only in their early thirties at the time.Degong was ashamed of himself in front of General Cai E back then. In fact, the career he started is no less than that of General Cai E.