During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the top general of the Nationalist army who died in the battle, except for General Zhang Zizhong, was Wang Jiaben.
Wang Jia originally died for the nation, there is no doubt about it.
But the exact cause of his death is a mystery.
Compared with Zhang Zizhong, Wang Jiaben is not so well-known.
It is necessary to introduce his life.
Wang Jiaben was born in 1901 in Zhong'an Town, Fuyuan County, Yunnan Province.
His father, Wang Guodong, once studied at the Yunnan DaowuTang and was a classmate of Zhu De.
Yuan Shikai claimed to be the empress, and Wang Guodong fought side by side with Zhu De, and participated in the rebellion against Yuan launched by General Cai Yi in Yunnan.
However, soon after, Wang Jiaben's mother died of illness, and his father could not accept the sudden blow, and he died of a nervous disorder.
Before his death, he instructed his son to devote himself to serving the country from Rong.
After his father's death, Wang Jiaben, who was studying at the Provincial Third Normal School, obeyed his father's wishes and was admitted to the 14th Artillery Section of the Yunnan Army's Daowutang.
After graduation, he first joined the Dian Army, and later joined the 16th Army of Fan Shisheng, a dry father, and repeatedly made military achievements and rose step by step.
In 1929, Fan Shisheng's 16th Army accepted the Kuomintang edict and was reorganized into the 51st Division, with Wang Jiaben as the brigade commander of the 151st Brigade of the 51st Division.
In 1935, he was sent by Chen Cheng to study at Nanjing Army University, and entered the Army University's First Class General Class for further study, and after graduation, he served as the deputy commander of the 98th Division of the National Revolutionary Army.
In the Battle of Weihu, Wang Jia himself was a pioneer soldier, braved the rain of bullets and bullets to charge the three armies in front of the brave, and was favored by Chen Cheng.
After the Battle of Weihu, Wang Jiaben was promoted to commander of the 98th Division.
In the Battle of Changsha in the autumn of 1939, Wang Jiaben made new contributions and was promoted to lieutenant general of the 79th Army and commander of the 98th Division after the war.
In the autumn of 1941, the Second Battle of Changsha began, and he served as the commander-in-chief of the changsha periphery operations, annihilating countless enemies.
Wang Jiaben and General Zhang Zizhong have one thing in common, fighting without fear of life and death, playing with their lives, and loving to fight hard battles and vicious battles, and people give them the nickname "Hard War General".
When the Japanese army heard Wang Jiaben's name, they were all frightened.
Chiang Kai-shek praised him greatly, and at the supreme military conference, he compiled a pamphlet entitled "Hard War General Wang Jiaben," and the senior generals of the Nationalist army who attended the meeting had a copy of it, calling on everyone to learn from him.
After October 1941, Wang Jiaben was promoted to lieutenant general of the 79th Army and commander of the 98th Division.
Wang Jiaben was neither a descendant of Chiang Kai-shek nor a graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy, and it was indeed rare for him to be promoted so quickly.
At this time, Wang Jiaben, who was just 40 years old, was full of life.
Wang Jiaben was not only brave in battle, but also had the demeanor of a general, hating the Japanese army to the bone on the battlefield, but treating the dead Japanese army with courtesy and not losing his military demeanor.
On January 5, 1942, Wang Jiaben led the 98th Division to attack the 18th Wing of the Japanese Third Division at the Liuyang River, killing the Japanese soldiers on horseback and their corpses scattered in the field.
As soon as the battlefield was cleared, more than a thousand Japanese troops were killed, including Wing Commander Kyōji Tsuchiya.
How to dispose of the Japanese corpse, Wang Jiaben and his subordinates had different opinions.
Many officers and soldiers said that these Japanese troops were invaders, their hands were stained with the blood of the people, they deserved to die, their bodies were cut into pieces, and then fed to the dogs.
Wang Jiaben said that as opponents, they are real soldiers on the battlefield, worthy of respect, and cannot let them be brutal in the wilderness.
He was right, the ancients fought the same way, and Cao Cao also "buried" his opponent Guan Yu.
Therefore, he vigorously defied the public opinion, collected the corpses of these more than a thousand Japanese people, and erected a monument with the inscription "Wokou Mass Grave".
"Komoto buries the enemy" has always been a good story in Japan, and the Japanese poet Takaso Watanabe was deeply touched by this and said with deep feeling:
"Five thousand years of Chinese civilization, the two kings are consistent", "two kings", that is, the Ming Dynasty thinkers Wang Yangming and Wang Jiaben.
Such a general who could fight a good battle and had outstanding merits was killed in the defense of Hengyang at the age of 43, which made people strangle.
So, how did Wang Jiaben die?
History: In the Defense of Hengyang in September 1944, thousands of Japanese troops disguised as friendly troops and peasants attacked Wang Jia's headquarters, and Wang Jiaben led his troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese army, and finally died of outnumbered wounds and martyrdom.
Regarding the death of Wang Jiaben, there is also a saying that the subordinates could not be saved when they saw death, resulting in the general being isolated and helpless, and the blood spilled on the battlefield.
On the evening of the 6th, thousands of Japanese troops disguised as Chinese troops and civilians advanced from both sides of the railway to disrupt the command post of the 79th Army.
That night, Wang Jiaben ordered Wang Moumou, the commander of the 292nd Regiment of the 98th Division, to lead the regiment to occupy Yamaguchipu overnight to block the Japanese invasion.
However, Wang Mou's regiment was greedy for life and afraid of death, and delayed the fighter, resulting in the flank of Yamaguchipu being occupied by the Japanese cavalry unit, which laid the foundation for the subsequent encounter.
At this time, one of Wang Jiaben's divisions did not know the movement of the Japanese army and had already pulled out, and Wang Jiaben led the guard company behind.
After the attack, the general led the guard company to meet the battle, and at the same time gave an order to another regimental commander to inform the division commander and come to reinforcements.
However, the regimental commander did not tell the division commander for a long time, and the division continued to move forward, getting farther and farther away from Wang Jiaben.
As a result, Wang Jia was already in a situation of isolation and helplessness.
At this moment, Wang Jia's headquarters had already made contact with thousands of Japanese soldiers, and the situation was extremely critical.
In desperation, Wang Jia had no choice but to personally lead his own guard company to fight a bloody battle with dozens of times the Japanese army, which was dozens of times larger than himself.
On the slope of the Yuqi Pavilion, the soldiers guarding the guards were slashed and killed by the Japanese cavalry.
After a bloody battle, only Wang Jiaben and Wu's lieutenants were left.
At this time, Adjutant Wu was also wounded in many places, and General Wang Jiaben was also scarred, and his military uniform was soaked with blood.
Undaunted, he picked up a rifle and propped himself up, and engaged in a final hand-to-hand combat with the ghost cavalry that rushed up.
Finally, General Wang Jiaben had many bullet marks on his body, and his face was stabbed by the Japanese army in many places, especially the two palms, which were twisted by the Japanese blades and blurred with blood and flesh.
Apparently, General Wang Jiaben was wounded and fought to the death with the Japanese army, and in the end it was difficult to resist, and his hands grasped the Japanese knife edge and was strangled with his palms.
Adjutant Wu was also shot dozens of times in the body, and his hands were also strangled by the Japanese army.
Why did the regimental commander do that? Reason.
Wang Jiaben admired Yue Fei and ruled the army strictly.
The Yue family army has a military rule: "Freeze to death and do not demolish the house, and starve to death without plundering."
Wang Jiaben also promulgated a military rule:
Those who escaped from the front were killed; those who raped women were killed; officers and soldiers were killed with gamblers; and those who disturbed the people were killed.
He didn't just say that, he did.
Somewhere in Changde, Hunan Province, the contingent was marching, and due to the fierce battle situation, logistical support could not keep up, the officers and men began to ration food, and many people were hungry, as was Wang Jiaben, who was the commander of the army.
At this time, someone reported that Wang Jiaben's guards had captured a duck of the people and was cooking it there.
After a while, the attendant brought a scented duck to him: "Commander, you eat and replenish your body." ”
Wang Jiaben was furious when he saw it, and immediately ordered: Shoot!
The adjutant was stunned: "Commander, shoot someone for a duck?" ”
The surrounding staff were also stunned: "Commander, do you really want to do this?" ”
Wang Jiaben said solemnly: "I have issued four killing orders, one of which is to kill the disturber, is he not looking for death when he robs the people of things?" No wonder I. ”
After speaking, Wang Jiaben waved his hand, and the service soldiers were taken off their hats and escorted to the execution ground.
The attendant soldier was extremely indignant, and as he walked, he scolded: "Wang Jiaben, you are a bastard of a king, is lao tzu doing this for your own good?" ...”
Walk all the way, scold all the way, until the gunshots sound.
When the officers and men heard about this, they expressed their disundertion one after another, some were frustrated, some were sad, and some even secretly wept.
In the national army, Wang Jiaben was known for his strict rule of the army.
Once, his cousin and battalion commander Wang Mou raped the young wife of a local tycoon, and Wang Jiaben rushed to the horse after hearing the news, and drew a gun on the spot to kill his cousin.
On another occasion, one of his regimental commanders was ordered to retreat because they ran out of ammunition and food, and Wang Jiaben showed no mercy and shot him.
Therefore, in addition to having a good name of "Hard War General", Wang Jiaben also has a nickname "Wang Butcher".
However, this nickname, no one dares to say it in person, it is all secretly called.
However, Wang Jia was very kind to the soldiers in his bones, and in order to prevent the officials from eating empty salaries and drinking the blood of soldiers (withholding military salaries), whenever the salaries were paid, he and his cronies went to the scene to supervise and ensure that the soldiers' salaries were not deducted.
In this way, the soldiers were happy, but the officials scolded the mother behind their backs.
Because whether it is a military unit or a miscellaneous army, eating empty pay is already an unspoken rule, and those who are officials expect this promotion to get rich.
Besides, the life of a soldier is really not good.
Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, prices have soared, but military salaries have not risen.
In 1937, 100 French currency, you can buy a cow, Shanghai "August 13" War of Resistance, the pension of grass-roots officers killed in the army is 800 yuan, you can buy 2 acres of land to rent to support your family.
By 1945, a better pack of "Huafu" brand cigarettes cost 400 yuan.
The big men of the nationalist army can do business, and the grass-roots officers are counting on a little empty pay.
In other words, in those years, how many company commanders and regimental commanders in the nationalist army did not eat empty pay?
In this way, it touched the vested interests of some people, and Wang Jiaben cut off some people's financial resources in this way, and it was inevitable that they would incur resentment.
Wang Jiaben enforced the law impartially to the point of harshness, and was not at all accommodating.
Speaking of which, there is a typical example.
According to Fang Jing (the last commander of the 79th Army), when Wang Jiaben took over as the commander of the 98th Division, the former division commander Mo Yishuo drove away a car of the 98th Division.
Wang Jiaben was very angry after hearing this, and immediately arranged for the guards to take a small road to cut a short path, but he stopped Mo Yishuo in the middle of the road and dropped the car before letting him go.
Mo Yishuo is a native of Guangdong, graduated from the second phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and is Chen Cheng's confidant.
Prior to this, Mo Yishuo parachuted into the 98th Division and snatched the position of deputy commander of Wang Jiaben's division.
Therefore, some officers believe that Wang Jia's qi is narrow, but in fact, Wang Jia is jealous and hateful.
He treats people equally and is very harsh.
Fang Jing recalled that there was a major general staff officer who cried because Wang Jia did not let him bring home the leftovers from the troops.
In the National Army, there are many examples of seeing death or falling into a well.
At the Battle of Songhu, a division commander surnamed Wu retreated from Shanghai and crossed the river from Kunshan, because there were few boats and many people, and he did not care that the troops only wanted to cross first, and he wanted the guards to hold the ferry.
The soldiers were furious: you who are officials, fighting later, escaping before, not so cheap! Shoot it and kill it.
General Wang Jiaben is a veritable anti-Japanese hero, he led the 79th Army to fight very well, known as the anti-Japanese iron army, this is a fact that cannot be erased.
The National Army resisted the war, there was no shortage of brave troops, and there was no shortage of predators, and they also paid heavy casualties.
The martyrdom of General Zhang Zizhong was to know that there were few troops, but he was not afraid to attack the enemy.
Washed the countrymen of their reputation as traitors who had stayed in Beiping and were close to the Japanese army.
Is there a slight bitterness under the sacrifice of General Wang Jiaben?
Wang Jia was a good man in his bones, according to the soldier's recollection, he would personally get off the horse to ask for warmth when he saw the soldier injured, until half a month later, he would remember the soldier's name, ask him if he was injured, and let people send money to the wounded soldier's home.
Wang Jiaben did this to the soldiers, and he did the same to his hometown, putting the affairs of his hometown first.
In 1939, Sheng Enpei, a native of Dongmen Street in Pingyi County, returned to his hometown from Kunming to run a family education, and received support from all walks of life, but there was still a big gap.
In desperation, Sheng sent another letter to the military commander Wang Jiaben for help.
After hearing about it, Wang Jiaben generously donated more than 9,000 oceans.
Wang Jiaben is still a flesh-and-blood, emotionally rich person, giving up his small family for everyone.
In mid-July 1944, when the Hengyang garrison was in danger, Wang Jiaben was ordered to lead his army to advance to the aid and attack the flank of the Japanese siege force, intending to kill a bloody road for the rescue of friendly troops.
Because of the haste of departure, he could not even care about arranging his family, and could only express his guilt for his relatives and friends in letters: "Years of war have made it impossible for me to take care of you,...... I owe too much to my country neighbors, I owe my neighbors, I owe my relatives and friends, and I owe you even more. All this was only rewarded after returning home after the victory of the war. ”
However, this walk was a farewell, and Wang Jiaben fell in a pool of blood, draining the last drop of blood for the liberation of the Chinese nation.
On November 7, 1944, the Ministry of National Defense posthumously recognized him as a lieutenant general in the army, a martyr of the Anti-Japanese War, and the town of Zhong'an in Fuyuan County, the hometown of General Wang, was renamed "Liji Town", the north street of the town was named "Jiaben Street", and the primary school of Zhong'an Town was renamed "Liji Primary School", and the people will always remember this hero who sacrificed heroically against Japanese imperialism.
It was moved by the patriotic spirit of General Wang Jiaben that Liu Ligu, a villager in Hunan who personally buried the general, volunteered to guard the tomb for the general, rain or shine for decades.
In 1982, Liu Ligu died, and before his death, he left his son Liu Benzhi to continue to take care of him.
In October 2008, Liu Benzhi also died, and his son Liu Mengjiang took over the heavy trust and continued to guard the tomb voluntarily.
This just shows that the people have a scale in their hearts, they understand the merits and demerits, and the national heroes will always live in the hearts of the people.
Postscript: Wang Jiaben had three sons, the eldest Wang Baoshu, who worked in Qinghai and died; the second son, Wang Kangsheng, who taught at the Naval University of Engineering in Wuhan, has died; and the third son, Wang Ning, is a senior engineer at the China State Shipbuilding Corporation and now lives in Harbin.
Wang Kangsheng's wife, Wang Yixuan, is a retired doctor, and her daughter, Wang Fang, works for a bank in Wuhan.
Wang Jiaben's wife died unnaturally in that era. Wang Jiaben also had a son, named Wang Baoguang, who was friends with Yang Zhenning, and died unnaturally in that era.