Yunnan is referred to as Dian, and the troops of the warlords here during the Republic of China period are referred to as the Dian Army. It is estimated that many people are not familiar with the Dian Army, in fact, the Dian Army also made outstanding contributions in the War of Resistance Against Japan, for example, there was a famous general of the Dian Army who was martyred in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and he was also one of the highest-ranking generals who died in the National Army, his name was Tang Huaiyuan.
Tang Huaiyuan was born in 1886, he is a native of Jiangchuan, Yunnan. Although Tang Huaiyuan's family conditions were not good when he was young, he did not relax his studies. At the age of 13, Tang Huaiyuan entered the Yunnan Army Martial Arts School, in which Tang Huaiyuan befriended progressive young people from all walks of life, so he was gradually influenced by revolutionary ideas, and then he joined the alliance of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the father of the country.
After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Tang Huaiyuan ended his study of the army's martial arts hall and was arranged to serve as a platoon leader in the army. After Yuan Shikai claimed that after Emperor Yuan Shikai, Tang Huaiyuan successively participated in battles such as the Patriotic War and the Sichuan-Yunnan War, because he had received systematic military education and had courage and strategy in battle, Tang Huaiyuan gradually became a senior officer of the Dian Army, successively serving as a company commander, a battalion commander, a brigade commander, and other positions.
In 1930, Tang Huaiyuan had become the deputy commander of the division. After the Central Plains War, Tang Huaiyuan followed Chiang Kai-shek and was also highly valued by Chiang Kai-shek, and among the generals led by Chiang Kai-shek during the Xi'an Incident was Tang Huaiyuan, who was already the deputy commander of the Third Army.
After the Xi'an Incident broke out, the Kuomintang side was also prepared to confront the Japanese. In 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, and Tang Huaiyuan was promoted to the commander of the Third Army, after which he was ordered to leave Dian and go to the front line to fight against the Japanese invaders. From 1937 to 1941, Tang Huaiyuan traveled in Hebei, Shanxi and other places to fight against the Japanese invaders for four years.
In May 1941, Japan launched the Battle of Mt. Nakajō. Tang Huaiyuan's Third Army was surrounded by Japanese iron barrels at Zhongtiao Mountain, because the weapons and equipment were inferior to the Japanese, and they were surrounded by the Japanese army, and Tang Huaiyuan's troops suffered heavy losses. After being surrounded, Tang Huaiyuan tried his best to break through, and he and several division commanders each led some soldiers to break through, but everyone did not succeed.
Faced with the heavy encirclement of the Japanese army, Tang Huaiyuan organized three breakthroughs successively, none of which succeeded, and then thought that he had failed to defend the Zhongtiao Mountain, so that the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders stepped into the Zhongtiao Mountain, Tang Huaiyuan could not help but be sad from it, chose to raise his gun and commit suicide, and martyred the country heroically. Before his death, General Tang Huaiyuan left a will in which he held the determination to become a man if he did not succeed, which not only reflected the general's noble national integrity, but also was a witness to Japan's invasion of China.
General Tang Huaiyuan was one of the senior generals who died during the War of Resistance Against Japan, he was the commander of the Third Army, he was only 55 years old at the time of his death, and a year after his death, the Nationalist government posthumously awarded him the rank of general of the army. In 2014, General Tang Huaiyuan became one of the first 300 famous anti-Japanese heroes.
Throughout the life of the general, although he grew up in a chaotic world, he had a noble personality charm. In order to resist the Japanese invaders, he sacrificed his life to serve the country, and this spirit of singing and weeping is worth learning. I also hope that the spirit of the hero can be passed on forever and immortal, and we should also cherish today's peaceful life, which our ancestors exchanged for countless blood.
Resources:
Yunnan Archives, 2015.4, "The Frontal Battlefield of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: The Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain in the First Theater"