The Great Wall War of Resistance is known as the first victory of the counterattack against Japan, Zhao Dengyu, commander of the 109th Brigade of the 29th Army, led a large knife team to attack the Japanese army at night, breaking the myth of the invincibility of the Japanese army and playing the style of our army; Liu Ruming, a general of the 29th Army who stubbornly guarded Luo Wenyu, even attacked at night many times, driving the Japanese Kou out of the defensive line 10 kilometers away, if it were not for the breakthrough of the Jin army position by the Japanese army, the Great Wall Resistance Would not have ended, if it were not for poor equipment and small numbers, a 29 could have defended Rehe Province. Such a unit instantly became a national hero, and the elite division of the Great Wall War of Resistance became famous.
However, in the July 7 Incident just 4 years later, the 29th Army guarding Beiping and Tianjin became vulnerable, and at this time it had expanded from a divisional armed force of more than 20,000 people to a group army with a number of nearly 100,000 people, with four infantry divisions of 37, 38, 143 and 132, and a cavalry division, as well as four independent brigades.
Cavalry of the 29th Army
The officers and men of the 29th Army were originally Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army, which was incorporated by the Northeast Army after the Central Plains War, and reorganized into the 29th Army in June 1931, which was originally a very unpopular miscellaneous card, but on September 18, 1931, the Japanese army launched the 918 Incident, and then gradually controlled the three eastern provinces, and zhang Xueliang, the boss of the Northeast Army, appointed Song Zheyuan, commander of the 29th Army, as the chairman of Chahar Province in July 1932, the original intention was to unite the internal forces of the Northeast Army to block the expansion of the Japanese army to ASEAN (including Chahar and Rehe provinces). But it unexpectedly gave him the greatest opportunity, and then for a long time in this province that was not rich.
After the signing of the Tanggu Agreement, our army was forced to withdraw from the Great Wall in an all-round way, and the 29th Army returned to its base camp Zhangjiakou, and after losing the Great Wall defense line, the Gateway to North China was opened. After that, the Central Army in North China withdrew from the two major cities of Beiping and Tianjin in accordance with the "He Mei Agreement", and in order to regain control of Pingjin, in the second half of 1935, the 29th Army, which was originally stationed in Zhangjiakou, the capital of Chahar Province, was transferred to Pingjin, and became the actual control force in the Pingjin area by virtue of its "superiority" as a non-central army.
Of course, at that time, the Pingjin area was full of pro-Japanese armed forces, and the 29th Army could not be effectively controlled, and in this dangerous situation, the 29th Army did not think of danger in peace and strive to be strong, but quickly fell into a luxurious life, widely set up farmhouses, and recruited beautiful people.
The senior generals of the 29th Army were inevitably corrupted after entering Beiping and Tianjin, which was also a common disease of Feng Yuxiang's generals in the Northwest Army, and some people even contracted drug addiction. Of course, the most serious damage to the combat effectiveness of this powerful brigade is the warlord atmosphere of the high-ranking generals, who have long forgotten the grand ambitions of expelling the Japanese and defending their families and defending the country, and only want to control the two pieces of fat meat in Beiping and Tianjin forever and forever protect their rich and noble lives.
What is more interesting is that senior generals have stepped into the political circles, and their military command ability has plummeted, such as Zhang Zizhong, as the commander of the 38th Division, but concurrently served as the mayor of Tianjin, the commander of the 37th Division, Feng Zhi'an, who concurrently served as the chairman of Hebei Province, the commander of the 29th Army, Song Zheyuan, who was also the mayor of Beiping City, and Zhao Dengyu, the brigade commander who once attacked the Japanese army at night at Xifengkou, was already the commander of the 132nd Division at this time, and at this time he was also addicted to drugs... From entering Pingjin in the second half of 1935 to the full outbreak of the War of Resistance in July 1937, In just 2 years, senior officers of the 29th Army deteriorated badly.
Senior officer of the 29th Army
The most intuitive manifestation is that the senior generals of the 29th Army did not want Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army to return to Pingjin, and they were bent on seeking perfection and making compromises with Japan, which led to the northern, eastern, and western sides of Beiping being surrounded by Japanese puppet armies, and after the Japanese army took control of Fengtai, they actually surrounded Beiping City on all sides, leaving only a Lugou Bridge and a Wanping City as a link with the outside world.
In fact, the officers and men of the 29th Army are still very enthusiastic, they are fighting wits and courage against the traitors and the Japanese in a complicated environment, they are facing provocation and constantly advancing japanese puppet army without compromise and active confrontation, the people of Hebei also have a high anti-Japanese sentiment, as long as the 29th Army concentrates on tax procurement of weapons, there is no problem in expanding the army to fight against the Japanese puppet army in a short period of time.
Before the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, there were only a small number of troops of the Eastern Army in the north of Beiping, more than 10,000 people in the east were More than 10,000 people in the Security Commander of Northern Hebei, about 40,000 pseudo-Mongolian troops in the northwest direction, there were very few Japanese troops south of Beiping City, and then there were some Japanese garrisons in the direction of Tianjin, and the 29th Army with 100,000 people never thought of expelling them, and also lacked a sober understanding and preparation to deal with modern warfare. Because the Japanese were armed with more than 100 artillery pieces and dozens of aircraft, as well as tanks to support the operation, the 29th Army, which lacked anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapons, could not hold its position under any circumstances.
So did the 29th Army, which accidentally occupied Pingjin, really have no chance? Of course, the answer is yes, at least it can achieve more beautiful results in North China, as long as the senior generals of the 29th Army have a sober mind, concentrate resources on developing armaments, and actively cooperate with the Central Army, they will never collapse at a touch and be passively beaten.