He Yingqin succeeded Zhang Xueliang as acting chairman of the Peking Army Branch, responsible for the military in North China; I became the chief of staff, both working in Jurentang. The staff group is located in the building on the right side of the south entrance of Fuyou Street (the current address of the Beijing Municipal Government). Except for a few senior advisers brought from Nanjing - Hou Cheng, Tao Jun, Xu Zuyi, Xu Foguan, etc., the rest are the original members of the Northeast Army. He appointed Chief of Staff of the Northeast Army Bao Wenyue as director of the general office of the military branch. Jin Yuanzheng, the former director of Zhang Xueliang's Staff Office (a former nobleman of the Qing Dynasty, a graduate of Army Primary School, and an officer in the third phase of Baoding) was a Manchurian. I was afraid that he would be unreliable, so he set up an additional operations office, with Xu Zuyi as the director, who also worked in Jurentang. He Yingqin and I adhered to the established national policy of the Nanjing government to resist while negotiating at the same time. We relied on the Great Wall of China, which had been left behind by Emperor Qin Shihuang for more than two thousand years, as the only fortification of defense. We wanted to guard each entrance of the Great Wall - Dushikou, Gubeikou, Xifengkou and Lengkou to prevent the Japanese troops from entering the pass. Fu Zuoyi was responsible for the defense deployment in Dushikou, and Fu Zuoyi himself was stationed in Zhangjiakou. In Gubeikou, the defeated Northeast Army Wang Yizhe and other troops were withdrawn and sorted out, and Xu Tingyao's 17th Army of the Central Army transferred from the south (administering the Second Division Huang Jie , the 25th Division Guan Linzheng , and the 83rd Division Liu Kan ) took charge.
The 29th Army of Song Zheyuan was responsible for the defense of Xifengkou. The 32nd Army of Shang Zhen is responsible for the defense of Lengkou. After being sorted out by the Northeastern Army who had withdrawn from the Great Wall, they transferred the Beining Line to the east of Tianjin and the east of Lengkou for defense. At the same time, the Sun Dianying troops were ordered to stick to the area east of Duolun to act as a threat behind enemy lines, so that the Japanese army had to have some backup. This is a completely defensive battle plan to be beaten everywhere, and there is no mention of attacking, recovering Jehol , or regaining lost ground.
The Japanese Kwantung Army not only occupied Loess Liangzi, but also divided its troops (about one brigade) southward to occupy Pingquan and attack Xifengkou. The Northeastern Army Wan Fulin's troops were directly in the breach, and the Japanese army took the lead in occupying Xifengkou on March 9. The main force of Song Zheyuan's division of the 29th Army of the former Northwest Army, which was transferred to this area to strengthen defense, arrived at Zunhua . The leader Feng Ye'an arrived at Xifengkou after dusk. Feng's troops took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and launched a counterattack. They did not use firearms to shoot at night, but used machetes to kill and bayonets to engage in melee. They killed many enemies and captured some, and recaptured Xifengkou. This is the only victory of the Great Wall of against . The good news came, inspiring the hearts of the whole country; the reputation of the Machete Team almost covered up the modern sophisticated firearms. Suffering this unexpected setback, the Japanese army redeployed their offensive, and the situation became a confrontation for a while.
After the main force of the Japanese army (about one division or more) occupied Chengde , they immediately attacked Gubeikou. The Northeast Army King Yi Zhe was retreating steadily, trying to hold on to Gubeikou and wait for reinforcements from the Central Army's Xu Tingyao Department. Xu Tingyao's army spearheaded the 25th Division of Guan Linzheng and arrived at Gubeikou City on the night of March 9. However, Wang Yizhe had been defeated by the Japanese army and was eager to retreat, so he lost the Gubeikou Pass on the 11th. Guan Linzheng personally led his troops to reinforce in an attempt to recapture Gubeikou. Unfortunately, he was shot and injured. He was unable to achieve his goal, so he defended the Nantianmen position. After Huang Jie's second division arrived to reinforce defenses, this aspect also became a confrontation. Liu Kan's 83rd Division was also transferred to this area, with Deputy Chief of Staff Yang Jie as the commander-in-chief.
At this time, we felt that the He Zhuguo army defending Shimenzhai on the Yuguan side was too prominent, and we could not ignore the fact that if Lengkou was broken through by the enemy, the enemy could occupy Qian'an xia Luanzhou ; In order to shorten the front line, He Zhu's army was transferred to the west bank of the Luanhe River, destroyed the Luanhe Iron Bridge, and relied on the Luanhe River as a defense. At the same time, strengthen the defensive strength of Lengkou. We gave He Zhuguo an order to retreat on March 20, and the Japanese newspapers in Pingjin and Tianjin published it clearly the next morning.This is of course due to traitors or the telegraph code being leaked, which shows that the enemy is clear about all our plans for the war. Domestic newspapers attacked the retreat as being requested by Japan. Therefore, He Yingqin had to declare to reporters: "Our army's military mobilization to Luandong this time is entirely for strategic reasons and has absolutely no political relationship.
Sun Dianying's troops have about 30,000 people, and they reached Chifeng, The Japanese army attacked Jehol, and at the same time used a cavalry brigade with aircraft and tanks to attack Sun's troops. He Yingqin originally wanted Sun to defend the mountainous area east of Duolun to reduce the pressure of the Japanese army's attack on the Great Wall, so he abandoned Duolun in early March and continued. Retreat to Guyuan. Sun's military discipline was extremely bad and they were harassed along the way. There were rumors outside that Sun had accepted the mandate from the puppet Manchukuo and retreated without contact with the Japanese army. He Yingqin was greatly shocked and suspicious, so his military pay and supplies were withheld. The director of his Pingping Office came to me to tell me the story. I thought this was not an option, so I volunteered to inspect the front line of Duolun in Guyuan to find out the truth so that I could deal with it. I took the train to Zhangjiakou, and then took the bus with Fu Zuoyi toward Guyuan. We passed through Zhangbei County and met with the generals of Fu's tribe. I met Sun Dianying in Pingdi Naobao (Mongolian, meaning spring) north of Guyuan. He recounted the experience to me and said: "Although Duolun is a big place on the map, it is sparsely populated, difficult to supply, and is surrounded by desert and flat sand on all sides. Although there are some mountains, they are completely different from the mountains in the south. There is no grass and the mountains are flat. It is difficult to prevent the impact of enemy tanks and bombings from aircraft.
Even if the enemy does not arrive, my more than 30,000 people cannot stay there for a long time. There is no military station supplies and no reserves. Everything has to be figured out on the spot. Therefore, military discipline is too bad. This is the fact. I admit it. As for me retreating without seeing the enemy, please go and see, Minister, where are my wounded soldiers coming from? Some people are spreading rumors that I have been appointed by Manchukuo. Minister, you know it, and the whole country knows that I, Sun Dianying, dug up the ancestral grave of little Puyi . Even if I go to him, will he allow me? Wouldn't it be better to put my pockmarked head on the knife? Although I, Sun Dianying, was born a bandit and had been around for decades, I still knew some national justice. Even the most stupid person knew that I had sworn hatred with little Puyi. Those who spread rumors are simply trying to frame me. Please ask the Minister to report this to Minister He and handle it appropriately. I will obey orders without hesitation. .
I thought to myself that what he said next is the truth. This is the key to why he did not vote for the Manchukuo. So I agreed to immediately pay the 400,000 yuan in arrears and 40,000 bags of flour, and designated him to deploy defenses to the east and north in Guyuan, Dushikou, and Zhenlingkou areas so that Fu Zuoyi's troops could be mobilized for mobile use.
During this period, Beiping antiquities were being transported to the south. There are two parts of antiquities in Peiping: one belongs to the Palace Museum, and the other belongs to the Antiquities Exhibition Center of the Ministry of Interior. When Shanhaiguan fell in January this year, the Executive Yuan of the Nanjing Government decided to establish the Central Antiquities Preservation Committee, and decided to transport the antiquities southward for preservation due to the danger of the fall of Yuguan to Pingjin. Various groups in Peiping opposed the government's relocation of antiquities. On January 23, all walks of life in Peiping organized an association for the protection of antiquities and called out to oppose the movement to the south, saying that the government must fully defend Peiping. If antiquities are considered enemies, tens of millions of people in North China tens of millions of square meters should protect them first, and should not just care about antiquities and other words. The Nanjing government ignored and reflected on this righteous request for electricity, and still used military and police protection to transport it out. The shipment was not completed until April. When I arrived in Peiping, the escort from the Ministry of Interior asked me for instructions. I was busy with the military at that time, so he said: "The whole of Hebei and Peking are in danger and cannot be guarded. Do you still have time to take care of those things? You try to transport as much as you can."One day, I went to the Antiquities Exhibition Hall to have a look. The director asked me, "Does the minister want one or two things?" "I was very surprised when I heard this and said, "Can the superiors ask for the antiques on display here? Can you give it away? Hearing the reproach in my words, he turned around and said, "It's not the things that are already on display in the store, but the best ones that are numbered." There are many inferior things in the library that are unnumbered and unaccounted for, so it doesn't matter if you just take one or two. "In fact, this shortcoming is already an open secret. In the hands of the so-called "experts in the preservation of antiquities," even treasures that have been numbered and registered can be replaced with fake ones. Isn't that what happened with the treasure theft case in the Forbidden City later? It's a pity that I was not interested in calligraphy, painting and antiques at that time. Otherwise, I could have made a lot of it.
