In 1979, a hero known as the founding colonel passed away, and his name was Zhang Weihan. Many national leaders, such as *** and others, laid wreaths in his honor, and more than 100 founding generals came to mourn.
Although Zhang Weihan did not have the high rank of other founding fathers, his contribution is indisputable. During the most difficult period of the Anti-Japanese War, he led 8 regiments with a total of more than 10,000 soldiers to join the Eighth Route Army.
In the ensuing battles, he successfully fought the Japanese army many times and made outstanding contributions to the victory of the war. Therefore, Zhang Weihan's name was feared on the battlefield of resistance against Japan, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was also respected by many revolutionary comrades-in-arms.
Zhang Weihan has made outstanding achievements, how much has he contributed in his life? Let's explore his story together.
Zhang Weihan was born into a peasant family in Guantao County, Handan City, Hebei Province, and his family life was very difficult due to the turmoil and exile in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. Despite his hard-working parents, they often had to live without a meal, so Zhang Weihan was forced to drop out of school after two years of private schooling.
However, Zhang Weihan's life trajectory was changed with the help of his second brother Zhang Weixi. Zhang Weixi was seven years older than Zhang Weihan, and in order to survive, he left home early to work hard, and later joined the army of the warlord Feng Yuxiang.
With his bravery and loyalty, Zhang Weixi could always take the lead in charging on the battlefield, and soon made a name for himself in the army. His success inspired Zhang Weihan and made him decide to continue pursuing his dreams.
In 1915, Zhang Weixi was already a battalion commander of the 16th Mixed Brigade. In the battle against Beiping, he bravely discovered Zhang Xun's whereabouts at the Temple of Heaven and achieved a major victory, so he was greatly appreciated by Feng Yuxiang.
With Zhang Weixi's continuous promotion, his family began to gradually become wealthy. It is precisely because of this background that 9-year-old Zhang Weihan was given the opportunity to continue his education, and he entered Yude Middle School, a school for military children's children sponsored by Feng Yuxiang.
Here, he not only learned a lot of scientific and cultural knowledge, but also met his lifelong friend Peng Xuefeng. They were the same age, had similar interests, and soon became friends who talked about everything.
These experiences, many years later, laid the groundwork for Zhang Weihan to join the Communist Party. That's all later.
During their school years, Zhang Weihan and Peng Xuefeng were deeply influenced by progressive ideas, and although Yude Middle School was founded by warlords, the atmosphere in the school was full of freedom and vitality.
They read a lot of progressive publications and listened to the stories of the October Revolution told by teachers. These experiences planted the seeds of communism in his heart, and he was deeply saddened by the oppression of workers in the old society, and actively participated in school mass meetings to expose the atrocities of imperialism.
On May 30, 1925, the famous "May 30" outbreak in Shanghai was the brutal murder of a large number of striking workers by Japanese imperialism and Beiyang warlords, which aroused the anger of the people of the whole country.
Zhang Weihan and Peng Xuefeng responded positively, took to the streets, organized patriotic students, and held a huge demonstration. However, in 1926, Han Fuyu openly defected to Chiang Kai-shek, and the academy immediately fell into an atmosphere of white terror, and Zhang Weihan was forced to flee back to his hometown.
After witnessing the corruption and chaos of the people, Zhang Weihan lived a life of hiding. After Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolutionary coup d'état in 1927, patriots everywhere were in danger, and Zhang Weihan was in danger many times, but with his shrewdness and intelligence, he never fell into the clutches of the devil.
In 1929, Zhang Weihan was admitted to the Department of Political Science of Peking ** University, and after graduating from university, he rose to prominence in Feng Yuxiang's army, and even took charge of himself as the commander of the 13th Route Army.
By virtue of their position in the army, the Zhang family became a local tycoon, and its sphere of influence covered most of Guantao County. However, Zhang Weihan is tired of this and is unwilling to immerse himself in the world of rights and interests.
Peng Xuefeng has joined the Communist Party of China, and during the exchange between the two, Zhang Weihan was full of enthusiasm for communist theory. However, considering the situation at the time, he would be separated from his family if he joined the party, so he still hesitated and finally decided to leave his hometown and go on his own.
In 1932, Zhang Weihan was recruited to work in the Henan Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, and he originally planned to be steadily promoted among the people and gradually realize his ambition to serve the country, but the reality soon made him see the truth.
The people are full of corruption and cliques, and the whole institution is like a giant ship that has decayed, and it is only a matter of time before it sinks. After only 41 days as a clerk in the Civil Affairs Department, Zhang Weihan resigned decisively.
Although he went through hardships in Tianjin, Beiping and many places, he finally failed to reap the results and hit a wall everywhere. But he did not give up because of this, but returned to Shandong, accepted Zhang Weixi's recommendation, and became the first county magistrate of Muping County.
However, the darkness of officialdom once again made him deeply aware of reality. When reviewing the documents, he found that the former county magistrate Wang Zhaoxu had a large number of ** behaviors. He devoted three months to compiling the relevant evidence into a book and reporting it to his superiors.
However, they chose to protect each other, not only did they not deal with the ** problem, but splashed dirty water on him. During his time in Muping County, he was under tremendous pressure, and although he was eager to do practical things for the common people, under the rule of the Kuomintang, he was constrained at every turn.
In 1936, after three months in Muping County, he felt disheartened and chose to leave. Until he met Fan Zhuxian.
Fan Zhuxian, born in the fourth town of the Beiyang Army, was the commander of the Eighth Brigade of the ** Army, accompanied the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army, and was appointed by Feng Yuxiang as the chief of staff of the First Army in the Central Plains War, with a prominent position in the army.
However, he was unusual, demanding of himself, self-denial, and living a simple life, and the army was disciplined and well-trained. During his tenure in Linyi County, Shandong, he strictly grasped gambling and opium, and reformed the corruption in the world.
After Zhang Weihan's resignation, Fan Zhuxian was promoted to the administrative inspector of the sixth district of Shandong, and the deeds of the two praised each other.
Fan Zhuxian deeply felt Zhang Weihan's outstanding talent and invited him to be his secretary. Zhang Weihan is upright, knows the dark side of officialdom, and admires Fan Zhu's character of coming out of the mud first without staining.
The two hit it off, and in November of that year, Zhang Weihan officially took office, assumed the important responsibilities of the commissioner's secretary, and joined the Communist Party of China under the recommendation of Peng Xuefeng.
In early November 1937, the Japanese army invaded the northwest of Shandong. Han Fuyu ordered Fan Zhuxian to retreat to the area south of the Yellow River as soon as possible to preserve his strength, and repeatedly emphasized, "There is no squadron north of the Yellow River, if you don't withdraw now, it will be too late in the future." ”
Under these circumstances, Zhang Weihan explained in detail to Fan Zhuxian the situation of the Anti-Japanese War, and tried his best to persuade him to persist in the anti-Japanese war behind enemy lines. Fan Zhuxian naturally understood Zhang Weihan's position.
In the face of the southward retreat of the Kuomintang army, Fan Zhuxian deeply understood the impossibility of fighting against the Japanese invaders. After many discussions with Zhang Weihan, he resolutely rejected Han Fuyu's order to retreat south, and publicly expressed his determination to resist Japan.
This act, in stark contrast to Chiang Kai-shek's position, attracted national attention. Fan Zhuxian's resolute actions inspired the patriotic enthusiasm of a large number of Chinese people, and they chose to join the army and devote themselves to the front line of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Subsequently, Zhang Weihan also got in touch with *** and received the full support of ***.
In the northwestern region of Shandong, Zhang Weihan worked closely with Fan Zhuxian to establish an anti-Japanese revolutionary base area. The development of this base area panicked the enemy, and they also managed to absorb several local armed forces, forming 35 detachments numbering tens of thousands.
They are known for:"It is better to shed blood than to lose an inch of land", fought hundreds of battles with the Japanese army, and fought many battles with fewer victories. By the summer of 1938, the Japanese puppet army was basically wiped out in the northwest of Shandong, and they also founded more than 30 anti-Japanese periodicals such as the "Anti-Japanese War Daily" and established a mass organization of more than 200,000 people.
The 10th detachment led by Zhang Weihan won many battles and became a name that made the Japanese army fearful.
Fan Zhuxian sacrificed his life for the country, but he did not die under the enemy's fire. In fact, before the Japanese army besieged Liaocheng, Liu Guanqian, chief of staff of the first road of democracy, and Wang Laixian, the commander of the army, were in cahoots and abandoned the city and fled, leaving Fan Zhuxian to fight alone, and finally died heroically.
Wang Laixian defected to the enemy, while Liu Guanqian colluded with the Kuomintang reactionaries to carry out a sneak attack on the Japanese base area and drive the communist army out of northwest Shandong. Later, Liu Guanqian tried in vain to take advantage of the chaos to report to the Kuomintang, but Zhang Weihan saw through it and was questioned by many parties, saying that he had a heavy responsibility and wanted to return to the army to resume his life.
After learning the truth about the fall of Liaocheng, Zhang Weihan strengthened his belief. He decided to stabilize Liu Guanqian and take the opportunity to investigate the situation. At the dinner, he raised a glass as a signal, and the guards quickly subdued Liu Guanqian.
After interrogation, Liu Guanqian confessed to his crimes and exposed the KMT's conspiracy. That night, Zhang Weihan personally killed this traitor. The news of Fan Zhuxian's heroic sacrifice spread throughout the country, and people deeply regretted it.
At the memorial meeting on December 13, **Chiang Kai-shek and others respectively sent a couplet, and the people also gave him a "special order to praise" and "ordered the whole country to fly the flag at half-mast for three days".
Fan Zhuxian's departure devastated Zhang Weihan, but he turned his grief into strength, fighting side by side with Chen Geng, Li Jukui and others, defeating the Japanese army in one fell swoop and strengthening the revolutionary forces in northwest Shandong.
While the army was growing day by day, Zhang Weihan made a startling decision: he decided to hand over his army to the Eighth Route Army in honor of the revolutionary hero Fan Zhuxian.
Eventually, his 10th detachment was reorganized into a division of the Eighth Route Army and named the "129th Division Zhuxian Column", while Zhang Weihan continued to serve as the commander of the column.
In his military career, Zhang Weihan went from column commander to brigade commander to commander of a military division, and his military exploits were impressive, opening up a new chapter in the anti-Japanese cause in northwest Shandong.
However, in 1943, he was unfortunately wounded and had to recuperate in Yan'an for two years. In 1945, his condition had just improved, and he was on the front line of the battlefield again, as usual.
During the War of Liberation, he served as the commander of the Ninth Division of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, the head of the armed forces of the three prefectural committees in southern Hebei, and the commander of the Handan Military Division. Although he did not have many opportunities to command the work, he played a vital role in maintaining local law and order and opening up revolutionary base areas.
He once said: "I am a brick, and I will move it if I need it." This phrase became the motto of his long revolutionary journey. Therefore, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, despite the relatively stable national environment, he accepted the appointment of the organization and contributed to the development of sports in the motherland.
He was the vice-principal of the PLA Military Sports School and the head of the sports department of the National Defense Sports Association. At the 1955 People's Liberation Army Title Ceremony, Zhang Weihan was awarded the rank of Founding Colonel.
Although this military rank is not high for him who has repeatedly performed miraculous feats in the War of Resistance Against Japan, he himself is indifferent to fame and fortune and laughs at it. Zhang Weihan has been determined to give up his second brother's ** Houlu since he was a teenager, fight for the interests of the people, and give everything for it.
He responded to the call for land reform, gave all his land to the peasants, and even spared all his wealth to buy anti-Japanese equipment for the army. He refused the general's letter of appointment sent by the Kuomintang, and when his father was kidnapped by the Japanese army, he always adhered to his principles and never bowed to the Japanese army.
Zhang Weihan always puts the interests of the country and the nation in the first place, serves the people, and has no regrets.
In his later years, Zhang Weihan devoted himself to the compilation of "Introduction to the Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Base Areas in Northwest Shandong". This 200,000-word masterpiece records in detail the heroic deeds of revolutionary martyrs and leaves valuable historical materials for the country.
On October 11, 1979, Zhang Weihan died of illness in Beijing at the age of 73. His death deeply saddened the country's leaders at all levels and generals at all levels in the army, and ** and others sent wreaths, and hundreds of founding generals attended his memorial service.
Zhang Weihan has been fighting for the anti-Japanese cause all his life, killing countless enemies, although he is only a colonel, he is worthy of the title of general.