Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Teacher Huangpu

Ueda's frustration goes without saying. It was a waste of eating so much salt for so many years, and I followed that idiot Xia Yuan for a night walk, what a mistake. He began to think of other recruits. Why not start with the temple? The terrain there is flat and flat, which is obviously more conducive to mechanized combat. After a sudden realization, Ueda thought that his "central breakthrough theory" was correct, and the mistake was that the "central" was wrongly chosen. It is not Jiangwan, but it should be a temple. So Ueda's opponent changed from Cai Tingkai to Zhang Zhizhong, commander of the 5th Army.

Zhang Zhizhong, courtesy name Wenbai, was born in Anhui Province and graduated from the third phase of Baoding Military Academy. His official identity is the Dean of Education of Huangpu Military Academy. Zhang Zhizhong's military career began when he joined the student army, and he also spent most of his time teaching in military academies.In fact, he gave people the impression that he was not so much a warrior as a teacher, a good teacher who wished to hold every student in his hands. At first, Zhang Zhizhong taught at the Guijun Military Academy, and after a few months, the mental outlook of the students took on a completely new look.The Guangxi military officers have always been xenophobic, but after seeing Teacher Zhang's teaching level with their own eyes, they all praised him.

At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was the principal of Whampoa, and he was worried about finding a good teacher. Hearing that Zhang Zhizhong was so good, he hurried to Guangxi to find him. After Zhang Zhizhong entered Whampoa, from the captain to the head of education, it can be said that he made rapid progress, and once reached the point where he became red and purple, and no one else could do without envy. Whampoa is a school where classes and wars are often mixed together, so between teaching, Mr. Zhang would often come out to lead troops to fight.But for him, this is purely a temporary game, and once the battle is over, he still has to go back to get his chalk and textbooks.

When going out for an expedition, Zhang Zhizhong had to settle the soldiers first whenever he went to a place.He never brought a camp bed himself, only a raincoat, and when it was time to go to bed, he was willing to huddle with the soldiers, so that he felt extra at ease in his heart.As for food, he was not picky or picky. He would eat whatever the soldiers ate. This way of leading troops is actually the same as in school, and most of his troops are actually Whampoa students. Teacher Zhang often reads the books of sages and sages, so he naturally worries about the country and the people.Seeing the 19th Route Army fighting alone in Shanghai, he was extremely anxious.

It happened that Chiang Kai-shek came out of the mountain again, and when he greeted him, Zhang Zhizhong recommended himself, volunteered, and was willing to lead the 5th Army to fight in Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek only answered two words: Very good! In the "two divisions and one corps" of the 5th Army, nine out of ten generals and above are from Huangpu. Letting the chief education take them is like teaching them in a classroom. If there is anything to worry about, it is naturally "very good". But the real battlefield is actually a killing field, and that kind of atmosphere is by no means comparable to that of a campus classroom.In the civil war, the student army led by Zhang Zhizhong was known as an elite division. It was well-equipped and well-trained, which was the reason for its victory, but it was afraid of encountering ruthless enemies.

For example, Zhang Zhizhong suffered a lot when he fought against the Northwest Army.The Northwest Army is best at melee combat, and especially likes to use bayonets and grenades to solve battles, but the student army is the worst at this, so they will soon be defeated. The 5th Army is the earliest German weaponry unit in China. Its weapons and equipment can be called the first, but that is to compare it at home. It was only after the battle in Songhu that Mr. Zhang and his students really saw what it means to be "well-equipped" . On February 22, the temple tour battle with a decisive nature started.

The mechanized advantages of the Kanazawa Division were brought into full play.Within one or two hours, as many as three or four thousand shells landed on the Miaohang defenders' positions. On the side of Yu Jishi's 88th Division, the battle soon entered an extremely tragic stage. Those who don't like hand-to-hand combat have to take the initiative to find opportunities to fight. The most widely circulated one is a captain and company commander named Wan Yu. This gentleman has a bit of a chivalrous demeanor. He probably has worshiped his master. Before the troops went out, he specially asked someone to draw a portrait of himself, and then gave it to his sister, and said a word to her jokingly:

"Take care of this portrait, because it is likely to be a portrait of a hero!" Brother, when can't you joke, it's a terrible moment, you can stand it, others can't stand it. Sure enough, this sentence immediately became a tear gas bomb for his sister, who burst into tears when she heard it. In this situation, everyone will inevitably feel sad, but the swordsman is a swordsman after all, and what is left in the history books is not the hero's tears, but his loud laughter ("Yu smiled and left with a whip"). At the front of the temple line, Wan Daxia raised his eyebrows and drew his sword out of its sheath. Holding the sword in his hand, he took the lead in charging and played kendo with the Japanese army.

With his status as a hero, he ignored the small soldiers in front of him, and only picked officers to single them out.After hacking two Japanese officers to death and earning a fortune, he himself died in battle, thus creating a true heroic portrait. Including Wan Yu, Yu Jishi was under the command of the brigade commander. He was seriously injured and died in battle. The battalion commander alone sacrificed nine of them.After paying a huge price, the division barely stabilized its defensive position. Yu Jishi couldn't attack from here, and Ueda added troops to the north of Temple Line. After forming a breakthrough, he gradually formed a tendency to encircle the 5th Army.

Gains and losses in the gap are very important. Both sides are constantly adding fuel to the gap, and no one dares to give up half a step easily. was dragged backwards. Beads of sweat appeared on Zhang Zhizhong's forehead. He has the teaching corps in his hand, but military common sense tells him that he can't move this card for the time being, because it is his last trump card, and he can't move it lightly unless it is a last resort. If the teaching team cannot move, who else can? Looking around, only Song Xilian's 261st Brigade still has spare strength. While the battle at Temple Walk was still in full swing, Song Xilian's Brigade had switched defenses with the 19th Route Army and was stationed on the north bank of Yunzaobang.

More than a week ago, this is the place where the 19th Route Army inflicted heavy losses on the Kurume Brigade.The shadow left by that battle on the Japanese army was so deep that it has not dissipated to this day, so that although they had a heavy army on the south bank, they never dared to launch an attack across the river easily. Considering that Song Xilian was also responsible for defending the river, Zhang Zhizhong planned to transfer a regiment from him, but Song Xilian raised a question: Can this group really solve the difficulties of temple travel? From the perspective of the route, the reinforcements of the regiment need to detour to cross the river. Not to mention the long journey, the Japanese bombers will not be idle in broad daylight. They must follow along the way, so even if they arrive at the destination, it will be four or five hours later. It's over. The situation on the battlefield is so urgent now, and the two sides are fighting to the death. The defenders, let alone four or five hours, may not even be able to wait an hour. Perhaps before the reinforcements walked halfway, the position had already changed hands, and everything was in vain. Zhang Zhizhong was silent.What Song Xilian said is correct, but is there any other way now? some. Surrounding Wei and saving Zhao, the desperate situation survived. Song Xilian proposed that he could devote all his strength to forcibly crossing Yunzaobang and attacking the Japanese army from the side by surprise. It was a good plan, and even Zhang Zhizhong praised his students (Song Xilian, Yu Jishi and others were all first-year students of Whampoa). The question is, is Yunzaobang so easy to cross? Regarding this issue, Major General Xiong Mi, who had suffered a big loss here, should have the most say. Let's let him do the talking. Xia Yuan (sad expression): This is not a river, you just call it a pit that hurts people. Regardless of the fact that the river is not wide, the water is deep and rushing. It is impossible to swim or wade across it, so we can only bridge it.We got up from the bed at 4 o'clock in the morning because of the heavy fog that day. Just like that, I also put a lot of smoke bombs, for fear that the defenders would find out the bad things. Do you think it's easy for me?As a result, not only did he not get any cheap money, but he was tricked by his own people when he came back, and the troops were all disabled. If God can give me another chance, I will say that I will definitely not jump into this trap again. If I want to add a deadline to it, I hope it will be... Anyway, I will not cross the river that kills people without paying for their lives. You see, even the weeping Xiayuan said that he crossed the river before dawn, and there was heavy fog and smoke bombs. Song Xilian didn't have the above conditions, so why would he dare to propose a forced crossing of Yunzaobang? This is called the newborn calf is not afraid of the tiger, and it also coincides with the military strategy that can only win by surprise. It was impossible to erect the pontoon bridge, not to mention that the engineers had no time to prepare. Without the cover of fog and smoke bombs, it was impossible for the Japanese troops on the other side to lie on their positions and watch the scenery. Let you build the bridge smoothly. Only by boat. This time Song Xilian used two regiments to forcibly cross the river, more than 2,000 people, which is not a small number. Even if there are 10 small wooden boats, there are more than 200 boats. In a short while, where can I get so many boats? Out of the same view, the Japanese soldiers on the south bank were also very relieved, in broad daylight, could you still fly over here? It was impossible to fly, but the scene that appeared on the Yunzaobang River shocked all the Japanese soldiers. Floating in front were boats and rafts, followed by wooden barrels, bathtubs, and even door panels. Those sitting on them were not ordinary people who came to attend the temple fair, but Chinese soldiers aiming at them with guns. Is there a mistake? In such a moment of stupefaction, Song Xilian's brigade was already in sight. Such a fast speed and effect surprised even Song Xilian himself who had just arrived from the brigade. It takes half an hour to walk from the brigade headquarters to the river.He originally thought that within half an hour, it would be a good idea to let the small group of the vanguard cross over.What I didn't expect was that, except for a small part of the two regiments who left their positions on the north bank as a guard, the others had already reached the opposite bank, and they had already killed the enemy in depth! Think about it, ever since graduating from Whampoa and leading soldiers all the way to war, I have never seen these boys so excited. All this happens after a soldier knows what to fight for. Because we want to "strive for the personality of the country and survive for the nation", with this thought, even though there are tens of millions of people, I will go! When Song Xilian crossed the river, besides the corpses of the Japanese soldiers on the bank, there was also a stretcher team rushing to transport our wounded. Even though he couldn't see where his large army was, he couldn't see it even with binoculars. These boys don't look like they are fighting, but they seem to be running a race. Zhang Zhizhong, who was sitting in the headquarters, had been nervously observing the changes on the battlefield. The Japanese army's frontal offensive power suddenly weakened, which made him feel moved: there is something to be done. A news came that Song Xilian forcibly crossed Yunzaobang and gained a firm foothold. The good news ensued: Zhang Yan's Brigade of the 19th Route Army, which had severely damaged the Kurume Brigade in Yunzaobang, has also arrived. Great, this is the perfect time to launch a counterattack. Under the attack from three sides, the Japanese army was in chaos and had to abandon the temple and retreat in a hurry. The Battle of Temple Walk is recognized as the highest peak of the Chinese army's record.In order to win, the 5th Army, the best equipped and trained unit in the country, was put into the battlefield. They fought with weapons and blood, and tragic scenes of hand-to-hand combat can be seen everywhere on the battlefield. Zhang Zhizhong, who commanded the battle, later said emotionally that the victory in the battle of Temple Walk was the "crystallization of blood" from the officers and soldiers. This campaign caused a great psychological shock to the Japanese army.Many Japanese soldiers who were dispersed even ran to the Huishan Wharf area in the dark, trying to find a boat to escape to the country secretly, showing their fearfulness. In Japan, after the navy, the army has also been silent. The navy has used Yanze and Nomura successively, and the army has used Shimomoto and Ueda successively. From major general to lieutenant general, one level is higher than one level, who else can do it? In order to find the fourth commander of the Shanghai side, Lieutenant General Masaki Jinzaburo, the deputy chief of staff, really had a hard time. He is older and more capable than Ueda, and he has to ensure that he can win when he goes into battle. Where can he find such a god-man? Besides, at this stage, the war in Shanghai has really become a hot potato. Generally, few generals who have achieved fame and fame have met the conditions, and few are willing to take the risk to go to Shanghai. This war is not a joke, if there is a mistake and the end is ruined, there will be nowhere to buy regret medicine. Shangqiongbi fell to Huangquan, and Masaki finally found someone who met the conditions and was not afraid. He is General Shirakawa Yoshinori (the 12th phase of Lu Da), who once served as the commander of the Kwantung Army and served as Lu Xiang in the Tanaka cabinet.No matter the experience of leading troops or the prestige of qualifications, they are all qualified. This person can be called an old devil among old devils.At his age, there are very few graduates from Lu University who are still serving in the top ranks of the army, and even rarer are those who can become generals. There is no other way to let Bai Chuan play the role.The old ones don't want to go up, the young ones can't go up, and he's the only one left. At such an age, he is still thinking about serving the country, and he doesn't care about fame and fortune. From the perspective of Deputy Chief Masaki, this person is really interesting. Of course, neither he nor Bai Chuan himself thought at that time that Shanghai was indeed an evil place. Although Bai Chuan would not get his "fame", his "body" was still "defeated" in the end. On February 29, as the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, Shirakawa arrived at the first berth at the mouth of the Yangtze River on a cruiser. Older gingers are more spicy.It is not an exaggeration to apply this to Bai Chuan.After listening to the report, he immediately realized that if he continued to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, it would be difficult to truly end the war in Shanghai in a short time. Shanghai has a long coastline, why not outflank and detour? This is exactly in line with what Bai Chuan often said: "As long as you can attack the enemy in a detour, you should not attack the enemy head-on." The question was from which direction to outflank, or to put it another way, where to land troops. The topography of Shanghai determines that it can have many landing points, which is like a multiple-choice question before Bai Chuan. If you look at it roughly, Hangzhou Bay in the south is undoubtedly a good choice, because there is almost no defense here. But Bai Chuan quickly vetoed it himself.The reason is that it is far away from the main battlefield in Songhu. Once the Japanese troops landed, the Chinese troops would have enough time to react and organize defenses, which did not conform to the "quick and sudden" characteristics of such tactics. In addition, when Bai Chuan came out of the house, he had a magic spell on his head. That is what the cabinet has repeatedly taken care of, not to expand the war to the concession area, so as not to cause complaints and interference from Britain, the United States and other countries. If it lands in Hangzhou Bay, it is bound to attack north.At that time, swords and guns have no eyesight, and there is no guarantee that the shells will lose their sight, and they will accidentally run into the concession and cause some trouble. If Hangzhou Bay doesn't work, where should I choose? I have a map of Shanghai right now in front of me. It may not be as detailed as the military map Shirakawa used, but the basic outlines are always the same.I can imagine the thinking of this Japanese army general back then: if the south is not good, then look north. Looking all the way, his eyes were fixed on one place. Qiyakou. I believe that if it weren't for the Songhu War, no one would care about such a place. It is a very inconspicuous small village on the bank of the Yangtze River, and its location is very remote.Like the map I used, you can't find its name even if you bring a microscope. But later facts showed that Bai Chuan's choice was correct. Judging from the deployment of the Chinese defenders, it belongs to the rear and is the defense zone of the 5th Army.If you land here, it will be quite sudden.At the same time, because the river beach in this area is flat and open, it is also convenient for landing troops to go ashore. The most important thing is that after seizing Qiyakou, go south to complete the detour and outflank the defenders of Songhu.To the west, the Shanghai-Nanjing line can be cut off, thereby keeping the Chinese reinforcements at the periphery of the encirclement. Bai Chuan's wishful thinking is to launch a general offensive at the same time after the landing, and finally achieve the goal of encircling and annihilating the Chinese army. Looking at the map, I also have to sigh how clear this old devil's thinking is.Once the encirclement circle he conceived becomes a reality, China's Songhu garrison will suffer catastrophe. In the early morning of March 1, the 11th Division of Shantong Temple landed at Qiyakou.Many defensive lines of the defenders have been breached, and it is already powerless to counterattack. What to do next, where to go, and the lives and deaths of many people are all in the judgment and choice of one person. Cai Tingkai, you must make a decision as soon as possible. The first is judgment: in this round, China lost. The second is a decision: rather a small defeat than a big defeat. Sometimes, fighting a war is like speculating in stocks. If you see that the situation is not good and you still hold on to the stocks tightly and refuse to sell them, you may suffer even greater losses.Conversely, if you have the sobriety and courage to admit that you are unlucky, if you fall, you will fall, and if you can throw it away, you may still have a little capital left. There will be more opportunities to collect firewood in the future, as long as you can keep the green hills. Get back as soon as possible. But retreat is an art, even a more complicated art than offense. Just like attacking left and right, Cai Tingkai must also make a bigger momentum than attacking before retreating. The method he used was to fight the Japanese army to the end as if desperately, like crazy. Until the afternoon of March 1, the Japanese army did not see the slightest sign that the Chinese troops were about to retreat.Because the battle has reached a fierce stage, even the supplemented Kanazawa 9th Division has reached the point where there is no reserve team available. Cai Tingkai's desperation created an illusion for Bai Chuan, an old fox. He believed that the defenders would continue to struggle on the front line of the Temple Walk battlefield. Taking advantage of the cover of night, the whole army withdrew west to the second line of defense. The Jinze Division fought for a whole day and was exhausted to death. They slept really well at night. They never thought that the Chinese army would move. The next day I got up sleepily, feeling something was wrong.At this time of day, everyone would have to do radio gymnastics and greet each other with gunshots. Why is the dawn so quiet today. Looking over, the other party's camp was empty, and Cai Tingkai had already completed the big turn of the golden cicada's shell. After withdrawing to the second line of defense, the Chinese and Japanese armies formed a confrontation.While rectifying his troops and preparing to fight again, Cai Tingkai was also very concerned about the proposed armistice negotiations. Is it necessary to cede land and pay compensation?That is absolutely impossible, whoever dares to do this, Cai and him are at odds. Thinking of this, I suddenly felt hot all over, and my throat hurt unbearably.After the military doctor made a diagnosis, he found out that it was coal poisoning. How many days of staying up all night, listening to reports, making decisions, and cold at night, the simple house of the military headquarters could not keep out the cold at all, and had to surround the stove for fire. Over time, there were too many coal fires, and Cai Tingkai fell into the trap. When you were fighting, you were nervous, and you held on unknowingly. Now you relax a little, and you will have a counterattack. Cai Tingkai was admitted to the hospital, and the doctor asked him not to get out of bed for ten days, but how could he lie down. Although the fighting in the front has stopped, it has become a state of no war, no peace, no embarrassment, and now the Japanese army is still occupying a large area of ​​Shanghai. This is a shame for the soldiers. When the commander-in-chief Jiang Guangnai came to visit him, Cai Tingkai stared closely at the old boss and partner, and said word by word: If the peace issue cannot be resolved within three days, I will decide to launch a counterattack against the enemy! Jiang Guangnai avoided his eyes: Don't take everything too easily, and calmly wait for the government to deal with it.If the government wants us to enter, we will enter, and if we don’t want to enter, we will not enter. Cai Tingkai bit his lip and stopped talking, but as soon as Jiang Guangnai left, he lifted the quilt and ran out of the hospital. A military parade, reviewing troops. Cai Tingkai saw that after these days of supplements, the 19th Route Army has become stronger and stronger. He once again strengthened his confidence: In case the negotiations break down, I can still fight the enemy again, even stronger than before. But the "government" Jiang Guangnai mentioned does not necessarily think so. Cai Tingkai is a person who can't get sand in his eyes. To a certain extent, he is somewhat similar to his general Weng Zhaoyuan in character, but he is more restrained and calm. The current President of the Executive Yuan is Wang Jingwei.Cai Tingkai hated this person the most in his life, but Wang Jingwei also came to the front line to condolences. As a military officer, he had to accompany him if he didn't want to. We spent a total of two hours together, but to Cai Tingkai, it seemed like two years had passed.Especially from Wang Jingwei's speech and behavior, there has been a taste of compromise with Japan everywhere, which makes Cai Shuai very unhappy. This is far from over. Chiang Kai-shek summoned him.At this time, Chiang Kai-shek had already assumed the chairmanship of the Military Commission and was the head of the national army. Unlike the "literati politician" Wang Jingwei, Jiang was the commander-in-chief during the Northern Expedition.To the soldiers, he will be happy, smile, and praise them like he greeted the return of the soldiers from the Northern Expedition: Well done, keep working. But no, neither. Chiang Kai-shek didn't seem happy, and he was weak when he spoke. Near the end of the talk, the last sentence was very powerful, but it was a hard and cold sentence: in the future, we must absolutely obey the government's orders! On the way back to the camp, Cai Tingkai suddenly realized how lonely he was.In the eyes of leaders, colleagues, and many, many people, I am a madman, a madman who does not care about the consequences. But what am I doing wrong? The reality made Cai Tingkai so painful that he almost cried out: I did not start the war, I was sincere, fighting for the freedom of the country and the dignity of the soldiers, what is wrong with it? There was no echo around. Like those late nights, sitting alone by the fire. However, at that time there was still warmth, and it was possible to plan strategies, but now there is only boundless cold and loneliness around me. Who can bear this kind of pain? The armistice negotiations have finally come to an end. This is the "Songhu Armistice Agreement".Although there was no compensation for the cession of land, there was one clause that was particularly glaring to Cai Tingkai: the 19th Route Army was transferred from Shanghai, and China was not allowed to station troops in Shanghai and its suburbs. Is our blood shed in vain? Cai Tingkai was inexplicably sad and angry, but he was helpless. A week later, a memorial meeting for the martyrs of the Songhu War was held in Suzhou. Facing the dark mourning crowd, Cai Shuai burst into tears, unable to control himself. It's all over, that's how life is. In the "Encyclopedia Britannica" published in the United Kingdom in 1964, Cai Tingkai was listed as one of the world's famous generals. It was said that he defeated the strong with fewer enemies and defeated the strong with the weak, and blocked the superior Japanese army for several months, which was unanimously praised by the world.