Zhang Lingfu, character Zhonglin, originally named Zhang Zhonglin, also known as Zhang Zongling, later renamed Zhang Lingfu.
Zhang Lingfu was born on August 20, 1903 in Dongda Village, Dongda Township, Chang'an County (present-day Chang'an District, Xi'an), Shaanxi Province, where his father was a farmer.
Zhang Lingfu was studious at an early age, familiar with scriptures, loved ancient texts, and especially liked calligraphy, often going to the Confucius Temple Stele Forest District in Xi'an to copy the calligraphy of famous Tang dynasty artists. Zhang Lingfu's calligraphy is indeed good, and even Yu Youren, a famous calligrapher during the Republic of China, also praised Zhang Lingfu's characters.
In 1923, 20-year-old Zhang Lingfu was admitted to the history department of Peking University - among the Kuomintang generals, Zhang Lingfu should be regarded as one of the most educated generals. Therefore, it is not too much to say that Zhang Lingfu is a "Confucian general".
But in that era of war and humiliation of the country, many students could no longer study. Like many famous generals later, in 1926, 23-year-old Zhang Lingfu joined Rong and applied for the Whampoa Military Academy.
Zhang Lingfu was reading the fourth issue of Whampoa. In addition to the first phase of Whampoa Military Academy, the fourth phase is also a relatively famous period. In this batch of students, Lin Biao and Liu Zhidan were produced on the Communist side, and Xie Jinyuan, Hu Lian and Zhang Lingfu were produced on the Kuomintang side.
After graduating from the fourth phase of Whampoa, Zhang Lingfu was assigned to the 21st Division of the National Revolutionary Army as an infantry platoon trainee, and soon promoted to platoon commander and began to participate in the Northern Expedition.
Like many Huangpu classmates, Zhang Lingfu's promotion path is relatively smooth. In 1933, Zhang Lingfu, who was only 30 years old, had already become the colonel and regiment commander of the First Division of the National Revolutionary Army, known as the "First Division under Heaven", and became a confidant of Hu Zongnan, the commander of the First Division at that time.
It should be said that Zhang Lingfu, who is both civil and martial, was born at the right time, and he has a heart to serve the country, and what awaits him will be a vast world.
But soon after, he was sentenced to death. What sentenced Zhang Lingfu to death was the sensational "Murder of Wife in the Ancient City" case at that time.
Zhang Lingfu, who is elegant, is the main culprit in this case - he shot his wife in the head.
When Zhang Lingfu was studying at Peking University, his family arranged a family affair for him, and his wife was named Xing Fengying. Because it is an arranged marriage, Zhang Lingfu has no feelings for his wife, and Xing Fengying has been taking care of the old people of the Zhang family in his hometown.
After Zhang Lingfu joined the army, he led troops to fight the Red Army in Sichuan, and his friend introduced him to another family affair, and the woman was Wu Hailan, a native of Guangyuan, Sichuan. After the two met, they fell in love with each other, and they married in Guangyuan Chapel in 1933, and the next year, gave birth to their daughter Zhang Qingfang.
The originally happy family of three changed greatly in 1935.
That year, Zhang Lingfu accompanied Hu Zongnan's First Army into northern Shaanxi to fight the Red Army, and the officers' families were settled in the ancient city of Xi'an. Chinese New Year's Eve that year, Zhang Lingfu went home on vacation and said to his wife Wu Hailan: "I haven't eaten dumplings for a long time, you can wrap dumplings for me!" ”
Wu Hailan immediately went to the backyard to cut leeks for her husband, and Zhang Lingfu followed, took out a pistol, and shot his wife in the back of the head. After killing his wife, Zhang Lingfu did not bury the body and swaggered out of the house.
Why did Zhang Lingfu shoot his wife like this? One version is "adultery says".
According to Wu Yue, the former aide-de-camp of Zhang Lingfu's old boss Wang Yaowu, Zhang Lingfu suspected that his wife had committed adultery in his absence, became angry, and immediately killed him. The various versions of the "adultery theory" of wife killing, including the details that the wife was shot while cutting leeks, are basically derived from Wu Yuan's statement ("Selected Materials of Shaanxi Literature and History" No. 17, "Zhang Lingfu I Know", Wu Yuan).
This version was questioned by Zhang Juli, Zhang Lingfu's eldest son. The version he heard from his biological mother, Xing Fengying, was that Zhang Lingfu and Wu Hailan had an argument in the backyard, and then the gun went out. Zhang Juli particularly emphasized: "It was winter, where were the leeks in the field?" ”
Another version of the phrase is "common talk".
Zhang Lingfu said he found his wife with his military documents, and then suspected that his wife was "complicit in the communists", so he killed her with one shot. This version came from Zhang Lingfu's later wife Wang Yuling, but there are also doubts: Zhang Lingfu is cautious by nature and rarely returns home, so is his wife likely to have access to military documents? Even if the wife is "complicit", will she be shot in the head without any evidence?
Regardless of the reason, Zhang Lingfu did openly shoot his wife, and the incident immediately caused a sensation.
The Wu family, who refused to give up, handed a petition to the Xi'an Women's Association, which in turn forwarded the complaint to Zhang Xueliang's wife, Yu Fengzhi. Yu Fengzhi was very angry when he learned about it and handed it over to his "best friend" - Song Meiling.
At that time, Soong Meiling was working with Chiang Kai-shek to launch the "New Life Movement" throughout the country, demanding that the people of the whole country should have the concept of "propriety, righteousness and integrity" and "national morality." Now, a regiment commander openly shot his wife in his home, this person is still Chiang Kai-shek's own Whampoa protégé, how can he not kill chickens and monkeys?
Chiang Kai-shek ordered Zhang Lingfu to be released to Nanjing (Hu Zongnan had originally tried to protect Zhang Lingfu, but later had to let him go to Nanjing to turn himself in), and after a military trial, he was sentenced to death - which also proved that the "Tonggong theory" was untenable: if his wife Wu Hailan had conclusive evidence of "Tonggong", Zhang Lingfu would never have been sentenced to this heavy sentence.
At that time, Zhang Lingfu himself was also in ashes, ready to die. But at that time, he had malaria, and during his treatment, he had always appreciated Zhang Lingfu's warden for taking care of and encouraging him, so after recovering from his illness, Zhang Lingfu submitted a petition ("Tonggong said" may come from this). In the end, Zhang Lingfu's appeal was accepted by the court, and he walked away before the ghost gate closed, and his sentence was commuted to 10 years in prison. During the war years, when employing people, a soldier with rich combat experience could not have been imprisoned all the time.
In 1937, the "Lugou Bridge Incident" broke out, Japan invaded China in an all-round way, the front line was tight, and military cadres were suddenly in short supply. The Nationalist government in Nanjing issued an order that all officers and soldiers serving sentences, except for "political prisoners", be transferred to military service and retain their original military ranks (although it is said that Zhang Lingfu was released in early 1937).
Zhang Lingfu, formerly known as Zhang Zhonglin, defected to Wang Yaowu's 51st Division, and since then he has been renamed "Lingfu", and his official was reinstated and embarked on the anti-Japanese battlefield.
Zhang Lingfu really did not insult his mission.
In August 1937, the tragic "Battle of Songhu" broke out, and the 51st and 58th Divisions of the National Revolutionary Army were organized into the 74th Army and marched to Shanghai, and Zhang Lingfu was appointed colonel and commander of the 305th Regiment of the 153rd Brigade of the 51st Division of the 74th Army. In the later period of the Battle of Luodian in the "Battle of Songhu", the newly formed regiment of the 305th Regiment dared to fight and fight, and once attacked the Japanese army with superior firepower, which was impressive.
In the ensuing "Defense of Nanjing", Zhang Lingfu's 305th Regiment was responsible for defending Chunhua Town and covering Wang Yaowu's 51st Division retreating into Nanjing. In this blockade battle, the 305th Regiment showed heroism, fighting bloody battles with the Japanese 18th Division for a day and night, fighting hand-to-hand many times, and Zhang Lingfu was wounded in his left arm.
Because of his outstanding performance in this battle, Zhang Lingfu was promoted to deputy brigade commander of the 153rd Brigade and commander of the 305th Regiment.
What really made Zhang Lingfu famous was the "Wanjialing Great Victory" of the "Battle of Wuhan" in 1938.
In this battle, which was comparable to the "Taierzhuang Great Victory," Zhang Lingfu, as the deputy brigade commander of the 153rd Brigade, personally led a death squad to cross the cliff behind Zhanggu Mountain, and achieved the "Great Victory of De'an", making important contributions to the final basic annihilation of the 106th Division of the Japanese Army by the Chinese army. At that time, Tian Han, a well-known figure in the literary and artistic circles, was serving as the chief of the third department of the third department of the Political Department of the Kuomintang Military Commission, and after learning of the war, he immediately organized and choreographed the drama "De'an Dajie", which was performed for the masses and the officers who were meeting in Changsha. Zhang Lingfu appeared in the play with his real name and surname, and became a well-known anti-Japanese hero throughout the country for a while.
After this, Zhang Lingfu, along with the 74th Army, appeared in almost every major battle of the Anti-Japanese Battlefield.
In March 1941, Zhang Lingfu, as acting division commander, commanded the 58th Division to participate in the "Battle of Shanggao" and won the great victory of the "Battle of Shanggao" with his brother troops, which He Yingqin called "the most wonderful battle since the beginning of the war";
In September 1941, in the second "Battle of Changsha", Zhang Lingfu led the 58th Division to defend Yong'an alone, fighting bloody battles with the main force of the Japanese Third Division, and the casualties of the whole division exceeded 40%;
In October 1941, Zhang Lingfu was promoted to commander of the 58th Division and led the army to participate in the "Battle of Zhejiang and Gansu"; June 1943, "Battle of Western Hubei"; November 1943, "Battle of Changde"; In May 1944, the fourth "Battle of Changsha" ... In these battles, although Zhang Lingfu was not the highest decision-making level, as a division-level cadre, he resolutely carried out orders, fought resolutely, and took the lead, and his achievements were obvious to all. In these battles, Zhang Lingfu was wounded many times because he had been commanding battles on the front line. In the "Battle of Kamigao", the knee of the right leg was swept by a Japanese machine gun, and the military doctor diagnosed it and asked for amputation. Zhang Lingfu handed the pistol to his adjutant at that time, and asked that when he was unconscious, if the doctor wanted to amputate his limb, he would shoot him. Later, during the recuperation period, he returned to the army early because of the war situation, and since then he has been walking with a limp, known as the "lame general".
The "Battle of Xuefeng Mountain" in April 1945 was the last major battle on the Chinese Anti-Japanese Battlefield, and it was also the curtain call for Zhang Lingfu as an anti-Japanese general. In this battle, Zhang Lingfu commanded the 58th Division of the 74th Army to fight a bloody battle with the main Japanese army at Tieshan. After winning the "Battle of Xuefeng Mountain", Zhang Lingfu was awarded the Order of Baoding of the Third Class.
Some people have discussed that Zhang Lingfu was only a "colonel" officer for a long time after the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and then he was only a division commander for a long time, and the 74th Army was so famous in the War of Resistance Against Japan, mainly because of the merits of Army Commander Wang Yaowu. Zhang Lingfu was only promoted to major general in February 1945, and the title of "famous general of the War of Resistance" is somewhat untrue.
However, some people also pointed out that Zhang Lingfu's performance throughout the Anti-Japanese War was remarkable, and when Xie Jinyuan led more than 400 strong men to guard the Sihang Warehouse (for the story of the Sihang Warehouse, please refer to "A Warehouse Guarded to Death" in "The Temperature of History"), it was only a acting regiment commander, and the "famous general of the Anti-Japanese War" should not be only based on military ranks, and "general" should not be narrowly understood as the rank of "general".
In any case, after the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Lingfu's reputation also reached its peak, not only was he promoted to the commander of the 74th Army, but also won Chiang Kai-shek's trust, and he was also the commander of the Nanjing garrison, known as the "leader of the Yulin Army".
At that time, the 74th Army, known as the "Anti-Japanese Iron Army", was already the first of the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang, and the trump card among trump cards.
It was this ace army that Zhang Lingfu took over and was ordered to enter the ensuing civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
In 1947, in the civil war that entered a state of stalemate, Zhang Lingfu's reorganized 74th Division became the focus of attention.
Why did the 74th Army become the "Reorganized 74th Division"? That was after the Second Sino-Japanese War, both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, considering the domestic and international situation at that time, began the so-called "disarmament" - but everyone knew that there would be a war between the two sides.
Take the Kuomintang, for example. After the February 1946 army reorganization conference, Chiang Kai-shek cut all the miscellaneous cards and the troops he was not worried about, and the troops were strengthened—Zhang Lingfu's 74th Army was just renamed, with 3 brigades (in fact, the original divisions) under the 51st, 57th, and 58th brigades.
The 74th Reorganized Division was fully loaded with 32,000 men, all equipped with beautiful weapons, and its firepower was strong, far greater than the strength of a division, and it was still a trump card in the Kuomintang army. Zhang Lingfu was just a change of title from army commander to division commander.
In 1947, Chiang Kai-shek, who originally had absolute superiority, began to change from an "all-out attack" to a "key attack" after suffering several losses, and the direction of the key attack was Yan'an and Shandong.
On the battlefield in Shandong, the "three main forces" of the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang were concentrated -- Zhang Lingfu's reorganized 74th Division, Hu Lian's Reorganized 11th Division, and Qiu Qingquan's Fifth Army. Among them, the First Corps, formed with the reorganized 74th Division as the backbone, was the main force among the main forces.
In the Shandong battlefield, the opponents of the Kuomintang were Chen Yi and Su Yu.
Whether it was Chen Yi or Su Yu, they did underestimate Zhang Lingfu and his trump card reorganized the Seventy-fourth Division at the beginning.
The Shandong Field Army under Chen Yi and the Central China Field Army under Su Yu engaged Zhang Lingfu's 74th Reorganized Division in an all-out exchange of fire in the battles of Huaiyin, Lianshui, and Lunan.
During this period, the Kuomintang corps fought steadily, and Zhang Lingfu's reorganized 74th Division, as the middle main force of the whole army's attack formation, had strong firepower and a well-founded advance and retreat, which gave the PLA a great headache.
But the big and small victories have always made a certain change in the mentality of both sides of the war.
On the one hand, the Kuomintang troops won successive battles, and optimism arose throughout the army, believing that the annihilation of the main forces of the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army was a certainty. From Tang Enbo, commander of the First Corps, to Zhang Lingfu, who reorganized the 74th Division, they were optimistic about ending the battle as soon as possible. On the other hand, the PLA, from officers to soldiers, began to develop a strong feeling of "revenge" against the reorganized 74th Division. Wang Bicheng, commander of the 6th Column of the East China Field Army, took responsibility because he suffered some losses in several encounters with Zhang Lingfu, and he only left one sentence at that time: "Resolutely accept the punishment, but in the future to defeat the enemy 74th Division, we must not forget our Wang Bicheng's 6th Division!" Su Yu said that he must remember it, and asked people to keep the record on file.
On May 12, 1947, Chiang Kai-shek, who was also optimistic, held a military conference at his official residence, demanding that the 74th Division of the First Corps in the Shandong Battlefield must take Tanbu (present-day Mengyin County, Linyi City, Shandong Province).
This was a seemingly prosaic order, but it sent Zhang Lingfu to the point of no return.
Because just a few days ago, Su Yu, deputy commander of the newly established East China Field Army (the integration of the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army), hatched a plan that shocked even his staff officers:
Zhang Lingfu's reorganized 74th Division was "taken out" from the First Corps and completely annihilated.
On May 12, Zhang Lingfu led the reorganized 74th Division to attack in the direction of Tanbu in accordance with military orders.
At the same time, Xu Shiyou's troops of the 9th Column of Huaye began to carry out echelon blockades to buy time for the fraternal troops - the entire East China Field Army began intensive mobilization with only one purpose: to encircle and reorganize the 74th Division.
Despite all kinds of mistakes throughout the process, the encirclement of Zhang Lingfu's troops gradually formed - the Kuomintang troops were unaware of this, because they could never have imagined that the opponent would actually have the courage to "pull" out their absolute ace troops from the middle of their own attack formation.
Although he had rushed to the front since the beginning of the war, Zhang Lingfu, who had experienced hundreds of battles, still smelled something, especially after the supply point Zhuang in the rear of the reorganized 74th Division was captured by the PLA, he immediately felt bad.
The units of the East China Field Army that captured Yuanzhuang captured Yuanzhuang after forcibly marching 120 kilometers in two days and nights. This force was the sixth column of Wang Bicheng, who had been punished but asked to participate in the battle.
On May 13, at the urging of Tang Enbo, commander of the First Corps, Zhang Lingfu could only leave a guard regiment and lead the whole army across the Wen River to attack Tanbu. At that time, the 74th Reorganized Division had successively captured Mashan, Maiqiao Mountain, and Da Jian, and was only 6 kilometers away from Tanbu, but Zhang Lingfu found that the friendly troops on both wings did not follow—his own troops had already advanced too much.
Although he was only a few kilometers away from the friendly forces, Zhang Lingfu did not believe that the PLA would be so bold as to eat the entire 74th Reorganized Division, but cautiously, he immediately ordered to abandon the newly occupied position, leave the troops on alert, and at the same time asked the commander of the First Corps, Tang Enbo, to retreat.
However, Tang Enbo did not agree, and still demanded that the 74th Reorganized Division must capture Tanbu on May 14.
On the evening of 13 May, the East China Field Army had basically completed the encirclement of the reorganized 74th Division after a large-scale movement interspersed. On the morning of May 14, Zhang Lingfu was preparing to launch an attack on Tanbu when he received a report that the People's Liberation Army on the opposite side had launched an attack first, and its strength had increased significantly.
At this time, Zhang Lingfu finally fully confirmed the opponent's intention to surround him, and he decided to disobey the military order and immediately retreat - otherwise it would be "sending heads over the tower".
But after all, it was still late.
Seeing that the communication with the surrounding friendly forces had been completely cut off, and the back road was blocked again, Zhang Lingfu immediately decided: pull the whole army to the nearest high point Menglianggu and hold on to help.
Menglianggu, 575 meters above sea level, is the main peak of Lushan Mountain, with an area of about 1.5 square kilometers, located in the territory of Mengyin County. The mountains are steep and the vegetation is sparse, which can be said to be difficult to defend and attack - it is difficult for the defenders to build fortifications and take advantage of artillery, and the attackers have no danger to avoid but to attack.
Later generations have interpreted that Zhang Lingfu's choice of Menglianggu was a fatal mistake, but judging from the situation at that time, as a last resort, Zhang Lingfu's decision may not be wrong - with the strength of the reorganized 74th Division, it should be no problem to hold it for a few days, and once the surrounding friendly forces come to the rescue, it may be able to completely annihilate the main force of the East China Field Army. Chiang Kai-shek did see this fighter.
He immediately ordered the 74th Reorganized Division to defend Menglianggu, and then mobilized 10 reorganized divisions (corps) near Zhang Lingfu to quickly move closer to Menglianggu.
In the entire East China war situation, a "hand of life and death" appeared near the small mountain gang of Menglianggu in an instant:
In the innermost part of the encirclement, Zhang Lingfu reorganized the 74th Division with about 30,000 people;
Surrounded outside were nearly 150,000 people from the five main columns of Chen Yi and Su Yuhua East Field Army;
Outside this encirclement, there is also a larger encirclement of nearly 400,000 men of the 10 integrated divisions (corps) of the Kuomintang Army.
Su Yu wanted to "take out the heart of the black tiger", Zhang Lingfu was not to be outdone, and wanted to "blossom in the center".
The whole situation suddenly became a line of life and death.
And what determines the life and death of both sides is whether Zhang Lingfu's friendly forces are powerful.
Facts have proved that the East China Field Army's previous expectations of Zhang Lingfu's friendly army have not been disappointed.
The reason why the East China Field Army dared to gnaw the "hard bone" of the reorganized 74th Division was that, in addition to Zhang Lingfu's rushing forward and the absolute superiority of its own numbers, there was also a very important point: The reorganized 74th Division did not have a good relationship with friendly troops.
Zhang Lingfu can be regarded as an intellectual among the soldiers, and intellectuals have a small problem: they have always been relatively high. Moreover, Zhang Lingfu rose very quickly in the entire Kuomintang army sequence, which inevitably attracted all kinds of jealousy and criticism, which led to the unharmonious relationship between the reorganized 74th Division and friendly troops.
Against Chen Su's army, when Lianshui was attacked for the first time, the 28th Reorganized Division was ordered to cooperate with the 74th Reorganized Division in battle, and Zhang Lingfu's remark "The 28th Division still waits for us to knock Lianshui down, and then take over the defense", which annoyed Li Liangrong, commander of the 28th Reorganized Division, for no reason. Therefore, after the 74th Reorganized Division retired from Lianshui, the 28th Reorganized Division said coldly: "We are ready to take over the defense!" Why didn't you fight it? ”
Zhang Lingfu was besieged at Menglianggu, and the closest to him were the 83rd Reorganized Division and the 25th Reorganized Division. Li Tianxia, commander of the 83rd Reorganized Division, turned out to be a contender for the commander of the 74th Reorganized Division, but eventually lost to Zhang Lingfu. In order to appease Li Tianxia, Wang Yaowu promoted Li Tianxia to the commander of the first column, and according to the sequence, the 74th Division was reorganized under the command of the commander of the first column.
Li Tianxia is a third-term student in Huangpu, and his evaluation of his junior brother Zhang Lingfu has never been high, thinking that he is Zhang Fei, brave and unscheming, and can only rush when fighting. It is also said that Zhang Lingfu specializes in vassal elegance, likes horseback riding, practicing calligraphy, and collecting antique calligraphy and paintings. Portraits of Genghis Khan, Napoleon and others are hung indoors, as if to put on a Confucian demeanor.
Zhang Lingfu naturally had a bad heart for this senior. After Li Tianxia gained command, he did not actually do anything to "wear small shoes" for the reorganized 74th Division, but Zhang Lingfu directly reported to Chiang Kai-shek, believing that Li Tianxia's ability was inconsistent with his authority and power, and demanded that Huang Baitao of the 25th Reorganized Division be under the command.
As a result, Li Tianxia learned that Zhang Lingfu was besieged in Menglianggu, and the rescue operation had been grinding, not only did not try to get closer, but also took the initiative to shrink, causing the distance between the two forces to become larger and larger. In this regard, Li Tianxia's words were: "Isn't he Zhang Lingfu quite a way?" ”
Li Tianxia's negative mood also affected Zhang Lingfu's superior, Tang Enbo, commander of the First Corps. Under Chiang Kai-shek's stern urging, Tang Enbo led his army to approach Menglianggu on May 15. However, halfway through, he met Li Yannian, the deputy commander of the corps who ran back from Menglianggu, and Li Yannian said that the situation in Menglianggu was very bad, and Chen Su's army was likely to turn around and go south.
Upon hearing this, Tang Enbo turned around and returned to Linyi.
The entire perimeter of the Kuomintang army encirclement, under the leadership of this hesitation, began to rescue Zhang Lingfu's reorganized 74th Division. However, to their surprise, the East China Field Army, with a strong determination to take revenge, fought to the death on various blocking fronts, causing the reinforced Kuomintang troops to mistakenly think that they had become the main attack direction of the East China Field Army, and instead sent a call for help to Zhang Lingfu's reorganized 74th Division.
Another friendly force closest to Zhang Lingfu was Huang Baitao's reorganized 25th Division. Because the 25th Reorganized Division and the 74th Reorganized Division were the same attack column, Huang Baitao did not dare to slack off and tried his best to fight to the death to get closer to Zhang Lingfu. However, the Huaye First Column, which was responsible for blocking the reinforcement, still showed no signs of collapse even though all the officers and men in the front-line positions were killed and wounded. Huang Baitao eventually hit Fushan and Jiepai, 5 kilometers away from Zhang Lingfu, but was still separated from the 74th Reorganized Division by a Tianma Mountain.
At dusk on May 15, tens of thousands of men and horses of the 74th Reorganized Division were compressed into a small area 3 kilometers east and west and 2 kilometers north and south of Menglianggu, where water sources were cut off and food was scarce.
In the early morning of May 16, the cave where Zhang Lingfu's division headquarters was located also began to be shelled. At 8 a.m., Chiang Kai-shek sent an urgent telegram, strictly ordering all units to fight to the death to rescue and reorganize the 74th Division, otherwise "the crime will not be punished strictly"! Therefore, under Tang Enbo's telegram, the surrounding reorganized 25th and 65th divisions, plus Li Tianxia's reorganized 83rd division, were forced to launch another fierce attack.
But it was too late.
Zhang Lingfu, who was in the cave, had already begun to write the first suicide note to his fourth wife, Wang Yuling, who had been married for less than two years: "More than 100,000 bandits rushed towards me, and today's war situation has deteriorated. ...... The youngest son hopes to raise it, and Yuling's wife will never know it today! Lingfu Shun Pen, May 16 Meng Lianggu. ”
The second letter, addressed to Chiang Kai-shek.
In the letter, he told that friendly forces first delayed the fighter, and then saw death and could not save it, especially naming Li Tianxia. In the letter, he listed the names of officers below the deputy commander of the 74th Reorganized Division and above the regiment commander, and asked Chiang Kai-shek to take care of their families.
Prior to this, Zhang Lingfu had written this passage to Chiang Kai-shek: "Those who express themselves in the battlefield with the national army, the brave let them advance, the cowardly listen to them, the sacrifices are only sacrificed, and the ingenious are their own aspirations." It is difficult to appreciate everything, punish every inadequate, wait and see each other, rarely cooperate, each has its own plan, the same bed and different dreams... The bandit is fearless, and the fearful will cannot unite the ears. ”
This passage not only refers to the Kuomintang army, but also about Chiang Kai-shek.
At 5 p.m. on May 16, the first battalion of the 6th Column Special Service Regiment of the East China Field Army rushed to the hole of Zhang Lingfu's division headquarters.
Zhang Lingfu's last moment finally came.
There are three theories about Zhang Lingfu's death.
The first is to be killed by PLA soldiers.
This statement can be found in the "Records of Chen Su's Great Army" published by Xinhua Publishing House, "Menglianggu Campaign" and "Selected Materials of Menglianggu Campaign" published by Shandong People's Publishing House, as well as the published memoirs of the former Huaye general and the movie "Red Sun".
According to this account, at that time, the East China Field Army surrounded the cave, strafed into the cave, and then searched the cave and found Zhang Lingfu lying in a pool of blood.
The second theory is that Zhang Lingfu committed suicide.
This is the historical version of the Kuomintang. There are two main evidences: one is two suicide notes (it is also said that the two suicide notes were forged by Wang Yaowu, but Zhang Lingfu's widow Wang Yuling believes that the first suicide note is true), and the second is Zhang Lingfu's entourage staff officer Yang Zhanchun. According to his recollections, it was Zhang Lingfu who forcibly ordered Liu Lizi, deputy chief of his staff office, to shoot at him. The official version of the Kuomintang is that Zhang Lingfu "left the last bullet for himself" (but photos of Zhang's body show that he was shot several times in the chest, so it cannot be suicide).
The third version is the most controversial, saying that after Zhang Lingfu was captured, he was shot and killed by a platoon commander in charge of escort in Huaye in revenge for the killing of the company instructor.