On the historical stage of the modern China Confederation, the Fengtian Army, represented by Zhang Zuolin, Zhang Xueliang, , father and son, was once an important military and political force, and once controlled half of China. The prosperity of the Fengtian clan is not only determined by the prosperity of the Northeast region, but also related to the importance of talents by the Zhang family and his son. During their ten years in charge of the Northeast, they have widely attracted talents from all over the country to join their military and political groups. Among them, He Zhuguo, who was born in Guangxi, is a typical representative.
01
He Zhuguo was born in 1897 in a wealthy business family in Rong County, Guangxi. His father He Jifu made a living by selling horses, laying a rich material foundation for the family. Therefore, He Zhuguo received a relatively good education since he was a child, and showed amazing talent during his schooling. At the age of 10, he could recite many famous works in the "Four Books".
But "there have been many hardships since ancient times." When he was young, his parents died one after another. When he was very young, He Zhuguo became an orphan. After the founding of the Republic of China, the Guangdong local government promoted military education, and He Zhuguo was admitted to Huangpu Army Primary School and later promoted to Hubei Army Preparatory School.
1917, 20-year-old He Zhuguo was admitted to the highest military institution in China at that time - Baoding Army Officer School , majoring in cavalry, and this also became the starting point of his lifelong achievements. After graduating from Baoding Military Academy, He Zhuguo received funding from Beiyang Government for his excellent performance and went to the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School for further study. After returning to China, he served as a teaching position at Baoding Military Academy.
1922, Zhang Zuolin suffered a crushing defeat in the first Zhifeng War in , , losing more than 20,000 troops. When he learned from his mistakes, he thought that the officers of Fengtian Army generally lacked formal military academy education and lack of execution was an important reason for the defeat. Therefore, Zhang Zuolin decided to rectify the military education in Northeast China, and used his son Zhang Xueliang as the supervision of the Northeast Army Military Academy, and recruited talents from the military systems of Japan and other factions. He Zhuguo also accepted the invitation from the Fengtian Army Military Academy at this time and came to the Northeast Army Military Academy as a tactical instructor and director of the cavalry department.
02
During his tenure in the Northeast, He Zhuguo quickly won the trust and favor of the Zhang father and son with his professional military literacy and rigorous military style. He quickly joined the ranks of senior military officers in the Fengtian clan as a Guangxi native. In 1924, the Second Zhi-Feng War broke out. As the combat staff of the Fengtian joint headquarters, He made outstanding professional qualities to win the final victory of the Fengtian clan, and was further appreciated by the senior officials of the Fengtian clan. He was promoted to colonel and served as the commander of the main combat force.
In 1927, He Zhuguo was promoted to brigade commander and in 1928 he was promoted to lieutenant general of the army, officially becoming a senior general of the Fengtian army. After that, Northeast changed flag , but He's status was not affected.
After the "September 18th" Incident , the Northeast Army withdrew from the Northeast. He Zhuguo was ordered to lead his troops to defend Shanhaiguan and Great Wall . In the crisis of national survival, he stood up and shouted loudly, "China must resist!" and led his troops to fight back against the Japanese army's invasion against Shanhaiguan.
1933, Great Wall Anti-Japanese War broke out. He Zhuguo, then commander of the 57th Army, led his troops to fight again at Shanhaiguan and repelled the Japanese army for a while, causing great casualties. However, on the second day of the battle, facing the Japanese army's three-dimensional sea and air firepower and the superior force of more than 4,000 people, more than 1,300 defenders had to withdraw from the battle. The fall of Shanhaiguan means that the door of North China has opened.
After that, He Zhuguo was sent to the front line of Jiangxi to "suppress the Communist Party", but he was unwilling to fight with the Red Army and was just perfunctory about the task of "suppress the Communist Party". When the Xi'an Incident , he firmly supported General Zhang Xueliang and the Communist Party of China's proposal to "stop the civil war and unanimously externally" and contributed to the final peaceful resolution of the incident.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, He Zhuguo served as the commander of the army, commander of the group army, and commander of the theater. He insisted on fighting against Japan in North China and central China, and paid attention to cooperation with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. He also visited Yan'an twice. The excellent style of the Chinese Communists was admired by him, which also laid the foundation for him to abandon the Chiang group in the future.
03
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, the clouds of the civil war enveloped the land of China. In order to compete with the Communist Party for the Northeast, a large number of Northeast military veterans such as Ma Zhanshan, Zhang Zuoxiang , etc. were all enabled. He Zhuguo was also appointed as the chief of staff of the Northeast Headquarters, but in fact he had no real power. It was nothing more than Chiang's use of his title as a veteran of the Northeast Army to fight for the Northeast. He Zhuguo also knew this well. Therefore, he insisted on not taking office and turned to a reserve service to show that he "don't fight a civil war."
When the founding of the People's Republic of China, General He Zhuguo also called to express his congratulations. Since then, he who stayed in the mainland has received preferential treatment from the people. He has served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League. He died in in 1985.
General He Zhuguo was born in the late Qing Dynasty when the nation was in danger, grew up when the warlords in the Republic of China fought, made contributions to the war of resistance, and finally died in the republic of the new era. It can be said that his life was a microcosm and portrayal of many benevolent and ambitious people in which era. It is worthy of the name of the word "Zhuguo" and is the "pillar of the country" in that special period.
