Cai Tingkai describes himself as "a soldier born in a poor peasant". Because he was unwilling to endure the hardship of life and his concern for state affairs, he had several tortuous experiences of joining the army, returning home, and returning to the army in his youth. The stubborn young peasant grew into the commander-in-chief of the 19th Route Army. At the beginning of 1932, when the Japanese invaded Songhu, Cai Tingkai disregarded the instructions of the Nanjing government and resolutely led his army to fight resolutely. He became a famous general in the war of resistance and a national hero for the Chinese nation to resist foreign aggression.
Cai Tingkai's former residence in Luoding, Guangdong
A hard-working and stubborn youth
Cai Tingkai was born in 1892 in a poor family in Longyan Township, Luoding County, Guangdong Province. His father, Cai Tianming, was hardworking and had few fields at home, mainly renting land from landlords and also renting cattle. One year of farming cattle rent requires three dan tens of grains. After paying the farm rent, there is little harvest in one year, and life is difficult. Cai Tingkai's father, in addition to working hard in farming, with his own wisdom and hard work, also learned tailoring and medicine, practiced medicine in the village, coupled with the mother's all-day hard work, barely supported the life of a family of four children. Cai Tingkai has watched cows mowing grass since he was a child, and went to work with his parents.
When he was nine years old, his father sent Cai Tingkai into the Mongolian museum in the village to start studying. Because of his talent, he performed well in reading and writing, and he had never been punished by a teacher. A year later, he went to a school in Lincun to continue his studies, and went home to watch cattle after school. At the age of eleven, his father sent him to a better school to study and began to study ancient classics such as The Book of Songs. At this time, Cai Tingkai understood the family's situation and the hard work of his mother, and came back from school every day to help her mother and sister. Unfortunately, this year, his mother died of the plague and was only thirty-four years old. Cai Tingkai's third younger brother was raised by his aunt. Soon, his father married his stepmother Huang. Huang often punishes the four brothers and sisters of Cai Tingkai and abuses them. Cai Tingkai "takes it if it is reasonable, and resists it if it is unreasonable." The next year, under the persuasion of his stepmother, his father stopped offering Cai Tingkai to continue his studies.
According to Cai Tingkai, during this period,I once heard his father's friend Luo come home to talk about Liu Yongfu's deeds in fighting against Japan's invasion of Taiwan. As a young man, he "very admired" and "impressed" Liu, which had a "great impact on his later military activities." In addition, Cai Tingkai longed for Zhao Zilong, who is a brave and mighty hero in the story of the Three Kingdoms when he was watching theaters and reading books. The hardship and heroic example in the family made the young Cai Tingkai stubborn and unyielding. In addition, his physique was extremely strong and he was not afraid of things. Once the county government sent to the village to harass and wanted to catch the pigs and chickens at home, Cai Tingkai was furious and fought and threw stones at the county officials, but the county officials released the pigs and chickens and went away. After this incident, Cai Tingkai's heart became stronger and bolder.
After that, Cai Tingkai learned to sew clothes and treat cattle with his father. The family income has increased, and the debts owed are gradually paid off, his life has improved, and his family situation has gradually improved. Cai Tingkai went out to sew clothes for many years. What he saw and heard gradually understood the state of the country at that time. The country was bullied by foreign powers, and the rulers corrupted and misled the country, which aroused the resentment in Cai Tingkai's heart, and he also paid more attention to national affairs. When I was out shopping, I saw a notice about recruiting soldiers and wanted to apply. But he didn't dare to tell his father, but secretly discussed with a few close friends. Not reconciled to the hard life at the time, and yearning for his ideal future, Cai Tingkai finally told his father that he planned to join the army. The father strongly disapproved, and persuaded him that his younger brother was weak and the family needed his support. But Cai Tingkai was bored at home for several days, and finally determined to strive for a better future for herself. On the day before the deadline for registration, she left home to sign up for her sister, and then went to take the exam in the name of visiting her sister. , The result ranked third.
A few days later, the recruitment notice was posted, and I went to the provincial capital in a limited day. The day before, Cai Tingkai secretly wrote a letter to his father, explaining the reason for joining the army, and asked his father to take his two younger brothers at home without worrying about it. The next day, Cai Tingkai put the money and the letter in his father's wardrobe, told his younger brother to visit his sister, and quietly left home. However, when the recruits were assembled and marched to Luozhou, they were chased back by sister-in-law and cousin who had arrived with a letter from his father. The father did not blame Tsai Tingkai, and in order to keep him at home, his father quickly completed the marriage for his betrothal. Cai Tingkai still often goes out to work as before after marrying his wife. Later, I opened a small grocery store under the influence of friends. Although the profit was limited, relatives and friends came to credit or borrow money. In addition to the word, the small store was not profitable at the end of the year, but also lost money. It's closed.
January 1948,Some leaders of the Central Committee of the Chinese Revolutionary Committee took a group photo in Hong Kong From left: Zhu Yunshan, Liu Yazi, Cai Tingkai, Li Jishen, Zhang Wen, He Xiangning, Peng Zemin, Wang Baozhen.
's tortuous career in the army
Soon after this, Cai Tingkai got the opportunity to sew a new army officer, so he took the opportunity to join the army again. Six months later, he returned home to visit relatives, but was unable to return to the camp due to the persuasion of his father and wife. After the Revolution of 1911, Cai Tingkai once again joined the Sanluo Guards as a soldier (his father had already died due to the epidemic). More than two years later, due to the burden of the family, he had to leave his job and return home again to make a living by raising ducks and selling ducks.
Cai Tingkai has a close friend, Chen Shun, who is broad-minded and outspoken. The two once served as soldiers in the Sanluo Guards and share brotherhood. A year later, under the guidance of his best friend Chen Shun, he joined the army at Zhutou Mountain, Xinhui. Chen Shun's former military officer, He Naiyi, served as director of the camp here, and the two enlisted smoothly. Pirates are rampant in this area, often looting ships. This camp was set up by the local government during the Qing Dynasty to suppress pirates. The mission of the guard company was to arrest pirates and maintain law and order.
One day chatting, He Naiyi told Cai Tingkai that he should read the newspaper when he has free time. Reading news can increase a lot of knowledge. After that, Cai Tingkai began to read the newspaper daily. Chen Shun also instructed Cai Tingkai to read newspapers, "first read domestic and foreign political and military news, and then local news, especially editorials." Since then, Cai Tingkai gradually paid attention to the state of the country and social affairs, and reading newspapers became Cai Tingkai's "daily homework." In the spring of 1917, influenced by the current situation in Guangdong, Long Jiguang sent his cronies to replace He Naiyi. Chen Shun was so angry that he planned a mutiny with Cai Tingkai, and fled home after defeat. Soon after, he went to Bao'an to join the army and joined the county guerrillas. A few months later, he was sent to Baoan Dapengcheng police station as the sergeant. More than half a year later, because of dissatisfaction with the position he took, he took the opportunity of changing the director to take leave and resign and go home. Cai Tingkai later stated in his autobiography that his knowledge and personal temperament have also changed in the past two years of military service.
A few months after returning home to relax, due to banditry in his hometown, a business group was formed locally, and Cai Tingkai was promoted to the deputy captain. Later, the merchant group was incorporated into the Zhaojun as a guerrilla battalion, and Cai Tingkai served as the platoon leader, still responsible for the suppression of bandits. During this period, Cai Tingkai,Contributed a lot to the social security in the township and made several contributions. One time when the bandit was reported, the company commander was not in the battalion, and Cai Tingkai, the platoon commander, came out and led the whole company to fight the bandits to victory. After the disintegration of the Zhao army, its troops were incorporated into the Second Army of the Protectorate under the command of Lin Hu, as the 43rd Battalion of the Army Guerrilla. In 1920, at the recommendation of battalion commander Chen Mingshu, Cai Tingkai went to Guangzhou to study in the Army Lecture Hall. A year later, after graduating from Jiangwutang, he returned to the Guangdong Army and served successively as platoon leader and company commander. In 1922, he joined the Kuomintang in the Fourth Regiment of the First Division by the head of Chen Mingshu. Later he was transferred to the first battalion of the base camp supplementary regiment, served as company commander and battalion commander, and participated in the Eastern Expedition. After the Southern Revolutionary Government reorganized its army into the National Revolutionary Army, the Guangdong Army became the Fourth Army. After the reunification of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Northern Expedition began. Cai Tingkai took over Jiang Guangnai as the head of the delegation. Cai Tingkai led his subordinates to fight bravely in the Northern Expedition and repeatedly made military exploits. In the battle against Pingjiang, his left hand was severely injured.
In the process of the contradiction and split between the KMT and the Communist Party, Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai and others left the army. Zhang Fakui was also the commander of the army and merged into the 11th army under Chen Mingshu's commander. Soon after Cai Tingkai was promoted to teacher, but at this time Cai Tingkai was unable to understand the truth of the political situation. He was "distracted by the serious current situation, confused in his mind, and hesitant in his heart." Afterwards, in Wuhan, Tang Shengzhi led the army to the northern expedition, and Cai Tingkai's division marched into Henan to fight fiercely with Fengjun. After victory, he continued to march and occupied Kaifeng. At this time Feng Yuxiang's army had also arrived in Henan and occupied Zhengzhou. The Northern Expedition from Nanjing occupied Xuzhou and advanced to Shandong. After the Zhengzhou Conference, the Wuhan army returned to Wuhan. Facing the political disturbances, Cai Tingkai was confused and planned to resign and return. However, the army commander Zhang Fakui repeatedly refused to allow him, and Cai Tingkai felt extremely depressed.
After , Cai Tingkai's subordinate followed Ye Ting and He Long to participate in the Nanchang Uprising, and served as a member of the Military Committee, the commander of the 10th Division and the commander-in-chief of the right wing. After the failure of the Nanchang Uprising, his troops were transferred to Fujian. Later, his department accepted the adaptation of Chiang Kai-shek, and Cai served as the commander of the 60th Division. The melee of the new warlords and the factional strife within the Kuomintang, fighting for power and gain, made Cai Tingkai deeply painful and helpless. After serving as commander of the 19th Route Army in 1930, he was sent to Jiangxi to participate in the second and third "encirclement and suppression" of the revolutionary base area. In one year, he led his troops to fight against the Red Army, and failed after repeated battles, but eventually withdrew from Jiangxi and returned without success.
The September 18th Incident in 1931 gave Cai Tingkai a serious stimulus. After the incident, Cai Tingkai received a call from the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs immediately, and was shocked by this call about "this sudden incident,It was unexpected that the central government decided to resolve it through diplomatic means," and felt "extremely indignant, thinking that the enemy used force to invade our land, so why didn't he answer with force and resort to diplomatic means?" "Cai Tingkai assembled his head and read out the call from the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs. The officers and soldiers heard the call and were also indignant. Cai Tingkai said to the officers and soldiers that now that the national crisis is at stake, our soldiers have a more important responsibility to train them. October 4 , When Cai Tingkai reviewed the lectures of a certain division of his subordinates, he once again explained to the officers and soldiers about the "September 18th" Incident and how the Japanese army invaded our territory. He also emphasized the fall of the three provinces in the East, "it is the failure of the officers."
On October 8, Cai Tingkai received an order from the Nanjing government to transfer his department to the Beijing-Shanghai garrison. The next day, Cai Tingkai recruited teachers and the brigade subordinates communicated the order to give a face-to-face instruction. At this time, Cai Tingkai reviewed his experience in Jiangxi's “encirclement and suppression” campaign this year. It was painful for "this kind of fratricidal war", and the Japanese invasion and the loss of land made Cai Tingkai soothing Sijin, extremely resentful: dignified China now "gets to this point, the responsible authorities do not know how to explain themselves," How can our people extricate themselves! "In November, as an executive member of Guangdong Province and his army, Cai Tingkai participated in the Fourth Plenary Session of the Kuomintang Central Committee. He was extremely dissatisfied and said with emotion at the KMT’s various factions called cooperation. The so-called party-state dignitaries, the party-state has reached the ground today, and still does not unite sincerely to save the country, so how can you convince the people!
Cai Tingkai and other leaders of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference attended the preparatory meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The picture shows a group photo of the standing committee members of the preparatory meeting. Front row from left: Tan Pingshan, Zhang Bojun, Zhu De, Mao Zedong, Shen Junru, Li Jishen, Tan Kah Kee, Shen Yanbing; second row from left: Huang Yanpei, Ma Yinchu, Chen Shutong, Guo Moruo, Cai Tingkai, Ulanfu; back row from left: Zhou Enlai, Lin Boqu, Cai Chang, Zhang Xiruo, Ma Xulun, Li Lisan. strong12strong
After the September 18th Incident, Cai Tingkai always paid attention to the news in the Northeast, and reported that Ma Zhanshan led his troops to resist the Japanese invaders, so that he could not drive straight into Heilongjiang. He was deeply admired. He prepared to form a volunteer force to go to the Northeast to fight the Japanese invaders Combat,And summoned its deployment for planning. The plan he drafted was to organize an independent brigade from the officers and soldiers of the army who volunteered to fight against the enemy in the Northeast. They would go to the Northeast, and those who did not go would be reduced and returned to the central authority. Cai Tingkai reported this plan in writing to the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs of the Nanjing Government. Soon after, more than 7,600 people from the three divisions signed up for this volunteer army. After that, the divisions used provident funds to prepare the clothing needed to keep out the cold in the north, as well as four months of food and drink. Taking into account that if the name of the 19th Route Army is used, the authorities will not recognize it, and it may cause international audiovisual. Cai Tingkai is going to resign from the post of commander of the 19th Route and organize the volunteers with national qualifications, and named the "Southwest National Volunteer Army". Cai Tingkai will be the commander-in-chief and will be organized into two independent brigades and one special battalion. Various flags and seals will be handled secretly by military personnel. Cai Tingkai plans to complete preparations at the end of January 1932, at that time he will resign from the military and lead his team to the northeast.
At the same time, the garrison deployment of the units of the 19th Route Army in Nanjing and Shanghai was completed, and its 78th Division was stationed in Shanghai. In January 1932, the Japanese army continued to cause trouble and provocative activities in Shanghai. Cai Tingkai is very concerned about this. He feels that the Songhu defense zone is vast, and it will be difficult to deal with if the army is landing. However, all the cannons in Wusongkou, Shizilin and other fortresses were set up in the Qing Dynasty, and they were old and exposed to the open air. The fort garrison is less than 500 people, and the officers and soldiers are many old and weak. It is no easy task to forcefully resist a possible Japanese invasion. But at that time, it was only possible to deploy troops based on this situation. At this time, Cai Tingkai, who has experienced hardships, has the belief that sacrifice for the country is the true nature of a soldier, and he is ready to guard Songhu.
After that, Cai Tingkai patrolled and reviewed the troops to prepare for possible future operations against Japan. On January 16th, Solitaire called Longhua, saying that the Japanese invaders had attempted to harass Shanghai and that their marines had provocative actions against our armed police from time to time. On January 19, Cai Tingkai convened a military meeting at the Longhua Headquarters and made military deployments for the possible actions of the Japanese invaders. From the next morning, Cai Tingkai immediately inspected the Wusong line of defense and urged the troops to prepare equipment and strengthen the fortifications. On the 24th, Minister of Military and Political Affairs He Yingqin went to Shanghai to report to Cai Tingkai. The Japanese army asked the 19th Route Army to retreat 30 kilometers. In order to preserve the national strength, the 19th Route Army was ordered to disarm the area west of Nanxiang within the shortest period of time and re-arm. Cai Tingkai originally planned to refuse immediately, but thought that he was about to resign and go north to fight against Japan. At this time, it was inconvenient to directly disobey the order. So he said that since the army was stationed in Shanghai, the military discipline is good, and Chinese and foreign people have not expressed dissatisfaction.The stations are all in our country's territory, and they are not close to the areas of the Japanese army. There is no reason to retreat. If the government wants to retreat, all our troops will be transferred out of the Nanjing and Shanghai areas. The meeting broke up to no avail. Stimulated by the conversation with He Yingqin, Cai Tingkai suffered from insomnia that night. Because he was determined to go north to fight the enemy, he had nothing else to think about at this time, only waiting for the government to order the withdrawal of troops.
On the 26th, when Cai Tingkai read the relevant conditions put forward by the Japanese army, the Nanjing government’s order to withdraw troops had arrived, and he then ordered the 78th Division in Shanghai to complete the retreat on the 27th of this month. Cai Tingkai thought that China had accepted all the conditions of the Japanese side, and the army's defense line would withdraw, and a storm would dissipate. But he soon received reports that the Japanese Marine Corps and soldiers in the township were gathering one after another, and there was a tendency to attack our Zhabei. On the evening of January 27, the Japanese soldiers blew the assembly number, and the residents of the shops near the Hongkou Garden moved their luggage to escape. After Cai Tingkai sent people to understand the above situation, he ordered the commander of the Zhabei Garrison. If the Japanese invaders provoke me, our army will attack me head-on. After receiving the report of the Japanese attack on Zhabei, Cai Tingkai immediately ordered a resolute fight against the Japanese attack, and fierce fighting broke out between the Chinese and Japanese troops in Zhabei. Cai Tingkai immediately went to the Longhua Headquarters and ordered the entire army to concentrate on Shanghai within three days. At the same time, he energized the Japanese invaders at home and abroad.
On the morning of the 28th, the troops entered their positions one after another in accordance with Cai Tingkai's orders. From the Zhabei area, the fighting has started last night, and Japanese aircraft bombarded Zhabei, Zhenru and other places indiscriminately. On the night of January 28, 1932, the Japanese Marines launched an attack on Shanghai. Cai Tingkai disregarded the authorities' instructions to "suffer for humiliation" and led the officers and soldiers of the 19th Route Army to rise up to resist, and the Songhu War of Resistance broke out. On January 29, Cai Tingkai, Jiang Guangnai and others issued a power-on, expressing that it is the responsibility of defending the land, not giving up, and resolutely resisting the attack of the Japanese invaders. Although they sacrificed to one shot and one shot, they would never back down.
The people of Shanghai, the whole country, and overseas Chinese enthusiastically supported the heroic resistance of the 19th Route Army to the Japanese invasion, and soon raised a large amount of funds and various materials for the 19th Army, and provided great support to the officers and soldiers of the 19th Route Army. With the encouragement and support of the broad masses of people, the officers and soldiers of the 19th Route Army stubbornly stood firm and constantly repelled the rampant Japanese offensive.
At that time, there was a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and ours. The 19th Route Army had about 30,000 people, plus Zhang Zhizhong's Eighth Army, which came to aid in mid-February, and there were only more than 40,000 people. After the offensive began, the Japanese army continued to increase its troops to more than 70,000 troops.In addition, the Japanese army was equipped with a large number of artillery, tanks, battleships, etc., and its aircraft continued to fly over the positions of the 19th Route Army to drop bombs and bomb them. On February 23, Cai Tingkai felt unwell after getting up in the morning because he had not slept for more than 20 days since the start of the war. At this time, Japanese fighter planes flew over Cai Tingkai’s station, preparing to drop bombs. The guard hurriedly pulled Cai Tingkai out of the house to hide, but at this time the bomb of the enemy plane had landed on the ground, Cai Tingkai and the guards immediately lay down on the open space at the door. Japanese planes left after about 30 minutes of bombardment, killing more than ten Chinese soldiers. In the fierce battle for more than a month, Cai Tingkai always went to the front line to supervise the battle amidst artillery fire to inspire morale.
The 19th Route Army held Shanghai from January 28th to March 1st. With the unyielding national spirit of never letting Japanese invaders occupy our territory, it fought stubbornly with the Japanese army for 33 days. They fought and killed nearly 10,000 people. . During this period, it experienced fierce battles such as the Zhabei street battle, the Wusong Fortress battle, the Bazi bridge battle, the Yunzaobang battle, the Jiangwan and temple battle battles, and the Liuhe battle. The Japanese invading army suffered heavy losses, killed more than 10,000 people, and changed command four times. official. Finally, because the Nanjing National Government insisted on its policy of non-resistance to Japan and no longer sent additional reinforcements, the Japanese army landed on the Liuhe River in Taicang on March 1, and the 19th Route Army was forced to retreat to Jiading and other places. Cai Tingkai and Jiang Guangnai were equivalent to energizing the whole country on March 2, expressing that they will continue to fight and not wear the violent day for a day. However, the Japanese army suffered severe blows under the tenacious resistance of the 19th Route Army, and the conspiracy to occupy Shanghai was ultimately unsuccessful. After the "mediation" of Britain, the United States and other countries, China and Japan announced a truce on March 3. On May 5th, the Nanjing government and Japan signed the Songhu Armistice Agreement.
Cai Tingkai led the 19th Route Army to rise up to resist the Japanese invasion. It was the first large-scale battle for the Chinese army to resolutely resist the Japanese invasion. It demonstrated the unyielding national will of the Chinese nation to resolutely resist foreign aggression and inspired the nation’s military and civilians. Anti-Japanese spirit. Regardless of the instructions of the Nanjing government, Cai Tingkai resolutely led the 19th Route Army to resist when the Japanese invaded our country, and dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese invaders. He won the admiration and praise of the people of the whole country and won the fame of a famous anti-Japanese general. .
(the author is Li Xuezhi, a professor at the School of History and School of Marxism, Tianjin Normal University)
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