Chapter 59 Delicate relationship

Liao Lingqi had returned to his hometown of Qiyang, Hunan by train, and was preparing to organize militias to fight guerrillas, and asked the local county magistrate for assistance.The county magistrate called the Hunan provincial government, and the provincial government forwarded the call to Xue Yue, who was also chairman of the Hunan provincial government at the time.As soon as Xue Yue heard this, he immediately ordered the Qiyang county government to arrest Liao Lingqi. Another theory is that Liao Lingqi met a senior officer from the Ninth War Zone unexpectedly on the train, and it was this senior officer who reported Liao Lingqi to Xue Yue.

Why did Liao Lingqi do this? Some people said that he was scared out of his wits in front of the collapse of the whole army, and even panicked, flinched and left the troops behind.However, some people think that Liao Lingqi has always been known for his bravery among generals, unlike a rat who is greedy for life and afraid of death, there must be another reason for leaving the team without authorization-- At the beginning, Yu Jishi painstakingly adjusted the personnel of the 58th Division, transferred the senior principal and deputy division commanders away, and helped Liao Lingqi, who had less seniority in Whampoa, to facilitate Wang Yaowu's control of the 58th Division.Unexpectedly, Liao Lingqi was not a fuel-efficient lamp. He served in the 88th Division of the German Armor Division in his early years. As a brigade commander, before joining the Seventy-Fourth Army, he was known for his outstanding military exploits.

When Yu Jishi was there, Liao Lingqi was of course obedient, but his attitude towards Wang Yaowu, who had no historical background, was quite arrogant. He thought that Wang Yaowu had no real skills, and that he could make a fortune because of his connections and better opportunities.With Liao Lingqi at the center, the officers of the 58th Division usually had a delicate relationship with Wang Yaowu and the military headquarters. The division commander has the intention of strengthening the control of the fifty-eighth division. Based on this inference, Liao Lingqi probably left because he was dissatisfied with the war zone and Wang Yaowu's own mistakes.

Regardless of the reason, this is intolerable in the disciplined military system. Wang Yaowudang will report the relevant situation truthfully, and Xue Yue will report to Chiang Kai-shek for the crime of deserting, requesting severe punishment. After the battle, Chiang Kai-shek personally presided over a high-level military meeting in Nanyue. Xue Yue was severely criticized at the meeting because of his command mistakes.Although the 74th Army was defeated, its performance was still recognized. The 51st Division and the 58th Division were rewarded with 15,000 French currency respectively. Wang Yaowu and his two division commanders, Yu Chengwan and Li Tianxia, ​​were awarded Baoding There were four kinds of medals in the Kuomintang army at that time, and the Baoding Medal was second only to the Blue Sky and White Sun Medal.

Liao Lingqi was the most unlucky, and Chiang Kai-shek announced on the spot that he would be executed on the spot according to the law of reorganization of revolutionary soldiers.As soon as the announcement was over, Liao Lingqi was escorted out and shot outside the gate of Nanyue Temple. The execution of Liao Lingqi greatly angered several regiment leaders of the 58th Division.They thought that this matter was handled unfairly. The 58th Division was equally heroic in the battle of Yong'an. Of course, the team leaders knew the delicate relationship between Wang Yaowu and Liao Lingqi, but it was also because of this that they felt that Wang Yaowu did not stand up to intercede for Liao Lingqi, which seemed ruthless and meant to add insult to injury.

In grief and indignation, three of the four regiment commanders resigned collectively and quit. The other officers and soldiers of the 58th Division also became demoralized because of the death of the division commander. Seeing this situation, Chiang Kai-shek, who has always attached great importance to the 74th Army, couldn't sit still.He made an exception and arranged for Liao Lingqi to pay the officers and soldiers who died in battle, so as to appease the officers and soldiers of the 58th Division. After Zhang Lingfu took office, in addition to consoling or promoting some of the original officers, he also transferred some backbones from the 51st Division to make up for the vacancies. Former confidantes, such as Liu Guangyu.

Liu Guangyu is courageous, knowledgeable, affectionate, and loyal, but he has the kind of mule temper that Hunan people often say, and his nature is very stubborn, which is difficult for ordinary bosses to control.Perhaps because of this reason, even though he had been an official battalion commander during the Battle of Songhu and made great achievements many times, his promotion was not particularly fast. Even if he was transferred to the 58th Division by Zhang Lingfu, he was still only a regimental commander. After the transfer, Liu Guangyu was still arguing with Zhang Lingfu on the surface.During the training of the troops, sometimes seeing the unsatisfactory situation, Zhang Lingfu would say angrily to Liu Guangyu: "Tomorrow is Memorial Week (an institutionalized commemoration activity of the Kuomintang army), how many are in your regiment?"

What he meant was that some officers and soldiers who behaved badly could be dragged out and shot.Liu Guangyu immediately pushed him back: "There is no one in my regiment!" Zhang Lingfu couldn't get off the stage, so he said: "There are always none in your regiment, and you must find some for me tomorrow." Liu Guangyu simply replied: "Actually not, or you can take me to shoot." One of the two people said yes and yes, the other said no and no, it was the same trick every time.Others thought that their superiors and subordinates were at odds, but in fact, the person Liu Guangyu admired and obeyed most in his life was Zhang Lingfu.Soldiers are straightforward and will not beat around the bush. This is their unique way of emotional communication.

With such a group of down-to-earth and outstandingly capable subordinate assistants, and Zhang Lingfu himself was not inferior to Liao Lingqi in terms of military merit or prestige, so he stabilized the morale of the army not long after he took the palm. The Seventy-Fourth Army first assembled and rectified in Yichun, Jiangxi, and then went to Liuzhou, Guangxi for supplementary training.The fifty-eighth division had the most shortage of personnel, with less than a hundred people per company, so some recruits were allocated by Guizhou.After a period of replenishment and training, the troops recovered a little.

A few months later, the 74th Army was again ordered to participate in the battle in Changsha.At that time, all the ministries were stationed along the railway line south of Liuzhou, so mobilization was relatively easy, and they boarded the wagons and headed north. Departed along the Hunan-Guizhou Railway on New Year's Day in 1942, and arrived near Xialiu City, the starting point of Hunan, on the morning of January 4.Everyone was about to get out of the car and march on foot, when the minister's department called: "The enemy who committed Changsha has retreated." The Seventy-Fourth Army assembled near Mount Heng and stood by.Soon came the news of the unprecedented victory in the Battle of Changsha and the commendation order for the Tenth Army's outstanding military exploits in defending Changsha.

The Changsha battle has been fought three times. Why did the third Changsha battle go so well?How can the Tenth Army defeat the enemy and win the first battle this time? Wang Yaowu decided to learn from the scriptures. He selected some commanders and staff from the army, division, and troops directly under the military headquarters to form a staff travel group (staff group). After reporting to the Ministry of Ministers for approval, they went to the battlefield for inspection and travel training.