The period was a chaotic time, with numerous wars, banditry, floods, droughts, and famines. Which province in the country has suffered the most disasters? Henan Province is probably the worst one. Let's take a look at the natural disasters, wars, and man-made disasters that Henan has experienced during the ** period.
Bai Lang revolted
In the early years, the drought in Henan continued, the people were oppressed, and the people in western Henan continued to rebel, and the Bailang Department was one of the most influential.
During the "Second Revolution" in 1913, Bai Lang cooperated with the Kuomintang in the south to oppose Yuan. Based in the Lushan area, the Bailang army once captured Tangxian, Yucheng, Xichuan, Baofeng, Guangshan and other places, and Beiyang ** sent 30,000 troops to "encircle and suppress" it, but the Bailang army became stronger and stronger. After that, Duan Qirui personally commanded more than 20,000 Beiyang main forces to encircle Bai Lang, and Bai Lang's army broke through the encirclement by separate routes and captured Laohekou, an important town in western Hubei Province, and the army grew to nearly 10,000 people. After that, the Bailang army entered Shaanxi, captured several counties in the Weinan region, and had a fierce battle with the Shaanxi army, and the troops suffered heavy losses. After that, Bai Lang's troops entered Gansu and attempted to move south into Sichuan, but were blocked by the Sichuan army. Bai Lang's army fought hard for thousands of miles, and the leaders at all levels were homesick, so Bai Lang decided to lead the army back to his hometown in Henan. After many hard battles, Bai Lang's army returned to Henan from Gansu via Shaanxi. After that, a large number of soldiers left the team and returned to their hometowns, and only a few hundred people remained around Bai Lang. In the end, he was besieged by the enemy, and Bai Lang was killed in battle.
"Old foreigners"The war between the armed forces and the Beiyang warlords
The "Lao Yangren" Department was one of the most powerful peasant armed groups in the ** period, with tens of thousands of subordinates, mainly operating in Henan Province, and the activity time was 1922-1924. They once captured Lushan, Shaanxian, Xincai, Xiangcheng, Shenqiu and other places, and looted property everywhere. Beiyang ** launched many "encirclement and suppression" against the old foreigners, and finally the old foreigners were defeated and died.
Great drought in North China in 1920-21
From 1920 to 21, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places suffered successive droughts, affecting more than 300 counties, killing more than 20 million people and killing more than 500,000 people. However, Beiyang**'s disaster relief funds to the provinces are only a few hundred thousand yuan, which can be described as a drop in the bucket.
Henan and other disaster-stricken provinces have starved to death countless poor people, a large number of middle-class families have gone bankrupt, and they have sold their children and daughters to survive, and a child or young woman can only sell for less than 10 yuan, and the value of an acre of land is less than a bucket of millet.
Northern Expedition
During the Northern Expedition in 1926, Henan Province was Wu Peifu's territory. Wu Peifu's army retreated into Henan after the defeat in Hunan and Hubei. Henan became the object of contention from all sides, the Northern Expeditionary Army attacked from Hubei, the Feng Army launched an attack from Hebei, and Feng Yuxiang's National Army attacked Henan from Shaanxi, and the Fourth Route Army launched a fierce melee in Henan.
Chiang Feng War
In October 1929, Feng Yuxiang's 200,000-strong army openly crusaded against Chiang Kai-shek, and the Northwest Army attacked Henan in three ways. Chiang Kai-shek mobilized more than 20 divisions of the Fourth Route Army to respond to the battle. The two sides engaged in fierce fighting in Henan Province.
The Northwest Army first conquered Luoyang, Gongxian, Yanshi, Xichuan, Laohekou and other places, and advanced to Zhengzhou and Nanyang. Chiang Kai-shek personally went to Henan to supervise the war, and expressed condolences to the troops in Yuxian, Baisha, Zhengzhou and other places. After that, the Jiang army launched **, the two armies in Dengfeng, Linru area of short combat, fierce battles, and finally the Jiang army won, captured Dengfeng, Linru, and then captured Luoyang. Feng Yuxiang's army retreated into Shaanxi.
Chiang-Tang War
In December 1929, Tang Shengzhi raised troops against Chiang in Zhengzhou. The Tang Department had an army of 100,000 and was stationed in Xuchang, Yuncheng and other places. Chiang Kai-shek and Yan Xishan united to encircle and suppress Tang Shengzhi. Liu Zhi led his army north from Wuhan to attack Zhengzhou, and Yan Xishan led the Jin army from Hebei and southwest of Shandong. The Tang tribe suffered from the enemy on the back and was finally defeated.
The Great War of the Central Plains
In May 1930, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and other ministries united to deal with Chiang Kai-shek. The 1.4 million troops of both sides fought fiercely in Henan, Shandong and other places for five months, killing and wounding more than 400,000 people, known as the Central Plains War.
Henan is the main battlefield of the war, Shangqiu, Minquan, Qixian, Lanfeng, Xinxiang, Xuchang, Linying, Zhengzhou and other places have fierce battles, many people, serious property losses.
At the beginning of the war, the anti-Chiang army had the upper hand and defeated the Chiang army many times, but they did not expand the results in time, and the lack of cooperation of the various departments gave the Chiang army the opportunity to counterattack. By September, Chiang's army had gained full superiority, and the Northwest Army near Zhengzhou was in a dangerous state of encirclement. On September 18, Zhang Xueliang publicly telegraphed in support of Chiang Kai-shek, and the Northeast Army entered the Guannai. The anti-Chiang army lost its fighting spirit and retreated or surrendered one after another. Chiang's army successively occupied Kaifeng, Xuchang, Zhengzhou, Luoyang and other places. Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan's troops were absorbed by Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang.
The embankment at the mouth of the garden bursts
In June 1938, the invading Japanese army occupied Kaifeng, Zhongmu and other places in Henan, and attempted to capture Zhengzhou. ** The generals proposed to blow up the embankment of the Yellow River to fend off the Japanese, and Chiang Kai-shek quickly approved. Beginning on June 9, the Yellow River embankments in Huayuankou and Zhaokou were blown open by Kuomintang troops, and 17 counties, including Zhengxian, Zhongmu, Fugou, Taikang, Shangqiu, and Kaifeng, were flooded, and 1.4 million people were affected and homeless.
Battle of Henan-China
In 1944, the Japanese army mobilized 500,000 troops and launched the "Operation No. 1" plan, in an attempt to open up the mainland communication line and attack the squadron. The Japanese army first launched an offensive in the Henan region.
Okamura Ninji commanded 150,000 men of the Japanese North China Front to assemble on the north bank of the Yellow River. ** 300,000 men in the 1st Theater defended the Japanese army on the south bank of the Yellow River.
On April 17, the Japanese army began to attack the squadron near Zhongmu, and the Japanese repelled the defenders and crossed the Yellow River. After that, the positions north of Zhengzhou were also lost.
At dawn on the 19th, 300 Japanese troops raided from Zhongmu to the southeast of Zhengzhou, and the Japanese troops north of Zhengzhou also attacked. On the evening of the 22nd, Zhengzhou was lost. After that, Xinzheng, Mixian, Weishi, Xingyang and other places fell successively.
On April 29, 30,000 Japanese troops approached the vicinity of Xuchang, and after two days of fierce fighting, the Japanese army captured Xuchang, and the commander of the new 29th Division, Lu Gongliang, was martyred. After that, the Japanese army captured Yuncheng, Suiping, Yuxian, Xiangcheng, Jiaxian, Linru and other places.
Beginning on May 5, the Japanese army launched a siege on Luoyang, a strategic place in Henan. The peripheral areas such as Mianchi and Yiyang were lost one after another, and Luoyang became an isolated city surrounded by Japanese legions.
On the 11th, the Japanese army began to attack Luoyang, and the Chinese defenders resisted stubbornly for several days, repelling the Japanese attacks many times, and the Luohe River was stained red with blood.
The Japanese army first bombed the city of Luoyang with dozens of planes, bombed it with more than 100 artillery pieces for two hours, and then attacked Luoyang with hundreds of tanks and infantry. Finally, on the morning of the 25th, Luoyang was lost. After that, the squadron lost its fighting spirit and kept retreating. For more than a month, most of Henan was occupied by the Japanese army.
From July 1942 to the spring of 1943, there was a great famine in Henan
In 1942, Henan Province suffered from drought, and at the turn of summer and autumn, it suffered from locust plagues. In the end, 30 million people were affected and 3 million died of starvation in Henan Province.
War of Liberation
During the War of Liberation, Henan Province was also one of the main battlefields. The Central Plains Breakout, the Northern Henan Campaign, the Western Henan Campaign, the Eastern Henan Campaign, the Zhengzhou Campaign, the Luoyang Campaign, etc.