On November 7, 1937, the deputy commander of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army led more than 3,000 people, including the 115th Division's independent regiment, special service regiment, and cavalry battalion, to establish the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region with the Wutai Mountain area as the center.
Under the leadership of ***, the strength of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region continued to expand, and in terms of the independent regiment alone, there were about 1,700 people, and it soon grew to 7,000 people, and the regiment commander was Yang Chengwu.
In order to further strengthen its combat effectiveness, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region later established four military subdivisions, and Yang Chengwu served as the commander and political commissar of the First Army Division.
Because the four military subdivisions that had just been formed did not have many troops, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region decided to distribute the strength of the independent regiment to other military subdivisions, so that there would not be many people in Yang Chengwu's First Army Subdivision.
In order to expand the size of the troops, all military sub-districts devised many ways to incorporate local armed forces and even convert some local bandits, which was one way to expand the number of troops at that time.
At that time, there were two local armed forces in the jurisdiction of the first sub-district, and they were originally bandits, doing some illegal deeds and harming one side, but after the Japanese came in, they also knew the truth that heroes come out of troubled times, so they further strengthened their ranks and fought several battles with the Japanese.
These two forces, the leader of one group is called Meng Gechen, and the leader of the other group is called Zhao Yukun, the so-called one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, and the two groups of forces often fight for the sphere of influence, but no one can eat the other, so that both sides are defeated.
Yang Chengwu saw the opportunity, so he sent someone to a well-known local gentleman to mediate, so that the two teams would no longer kill each other.
Later, Yang Chengwu sent people to do work, hoping that they could join the Eighth Route Army and fight against Japan together. The two saw that the power of the Eighth Route Army was gradually expanding, and if they joined the Eighth Route Army, it would be easier to survive here in the future, so the two groups joined the Eighth Route Army one after another.
Yang Chengwu did not treat them badly, Meng Gechen and his gang were reorganized into the Seventh Route Army, and Zhao Yukun's men were reorganized into the Tenth Route Army. These two teams combined have more than 10,000 people, which has also increased the strength of the first division a lot.
However, these two teams, whether it is Meng Gechen or Zhao Yukun, originally had the background of the Kuomintang, and they occupied the mountains as kings over the years, and they were used to the days of robbing houses, drinking wine and eating meat, and the Eighth Route Army had very strict discipline, which was very uncomfortable for them.
After Meng Gechen and Zhao Yukun joined the Eighth Route Army, they did not do well on the surface, but in private they have been looking for another way, and as long as they encounter good opportunities in the future, they will leave the Eighth Route Army.
The first to defect was Meng Gechen, and soon after he joined the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese puppet army began to contact him secretly, promising to ** Houlu, hoping that he could break away from the Eighth Route Army. Meng Gechen had been looking forward to such a day for a long time, so he soon colluded with the Japanese puppet army and became a traitor.
When Yang Chengwu learned of Meng Gechen's rebellion, he immediately organized three regiments of troops and deployed them near Yi County.
Meng Gechen knew that his affairs had been revealed, and there was no need to hide it anymore, so he put on a posture and prepared to fight hard with Yang Chengwu.
However, Yang Chengwu didn't want to fight them, but sent people to do the work of hundreds of Meng Gechen's subordinates, especially the soldiers from Yi County, who didn't want to be traitors, and let them do the work of other soldiers and disintegrate within Meng Gechen.
Therefore, when Yang Chengwu commanded three regiments to start an attack, Meng Gechen's troops only put up sporadic resistance, and in the end most of them took the initiative to put down. It is said that when Meng Gechen was arrested, he was still lying on the bed smoking a big cigarette, and was finally sent to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area to be shot.
After Meng Gechen was eliminated, in order to appease Zhao Yukun, Yang Chengwu gave him a lot of trust, not only handed over Meng Gechen's troops to him for management, but also appointed the military commanders of each subordinate regiment in accordance with Zhao Yukun's intentions, but the political commissars of each unit were sent by the organization to strengthen the ideological transformation work.
However, the organization's care did not influence Zhao Yukun, who talked about anti-Japanese resistance every day on the surface, but in private he had been secretly in contact with the Japanese army, dreaming that one day he could take the troops to the Japanese army and get a half-official position.
However, these things of his have long been mastered by Yang Chengwu, Yang Chengwu did not startle the snake, but continued to let the political commissars of several detachments under Zhao Yukun do a good job and strengthen the determination of soldiers at all levels to resist Japan.
One night, Zhao Yukun was ready to flee with his troops, but most of the troops did not follow him, and in the end, Zhao Yukun only took more than 300 people to the Japanese.
After Japan surrendered in 1945, Zhao Yukun knew that he would be liquidated, so he did not hesitate to disfigure his face and hide among the people.
However, Yang Chengwu has never forgotten this traitor, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he specially sent someone to find him out and execute him.