After the July 7 Incident, the first unit of the "traitor" troops to revolt against Japan was the "Jidong Security Team" led by Zhang Qingyu and Zhang Yantian, who rebelled in Tongzhou on July 29, 1937 and inflicted great casualties on the Japanese army.
The origin of this security force is: in May 1933, the "Tanggu Agreement" came into effect, and the eastern Hebei region was classified as a demilitarized zone, and the squadron was not allowed to be stationed. Chiang Kai-shek secretly ordered Yu Xuezhong, chairman of Hebei Province and commander of the 51st Army, to set up a special police corps to stay in eastern Hebei in the form of irregular armed forces.
Yu Xuezhong then transferred Zhang Qingyu and Zhang Yantian, who were then the head of the regiment, to establish the Hebei Special Police Department.
The first and second corps and the captain of the second Zhang branch are stationed in Wuqing County and Cangxian County. Before Yu Xuezhong withdrew from Pingjin, he had secretly ordered Erzhang: "Wait for the future." In July, Shang Zhen changed the Hebei Special Police Corps to the Hebei Security Corps. In November 1935, Yin Rugeng established the "Eastern Hebei Defense Communist Autonomous Committee" in Tongzhou, and then renamed the Hebei Security Force as the "Eastern Hebei Security Team", and this unit became a traitor force.
This unit has been in private contact with the people**. After being reorganized, he sent his cronies to Bao to ask Shang Zhen for instructions. Shang Zhen replied: "For the time being, Yu should be responsible for presenting to **." In December 1935, Erzhang secretly went to Tianjin to meet Song Zheyuan. Song instructed them to get ready. After the 77 Incident, Erzhang went to Beiping and met Feng Zhi'an, who was in charge of the overall situation, and Feng asked them to wait for the notice after they returned, and then they were assigned to the 29th Army and act together. Therefore, Feng also reduced the deployment of troops in Tongxian, and only deployed a battalion of troops to contain the enemy in the direction of Tongxian, and included them in the total force plan.
While Erzhang was waiting for the order, at about 3 o'clock in the morning of July 27, the Japanese army invading China and the Japanese garrison in Tongxian suddenly launched an attack on a battalion of the 143rd Division of the 29th Army stationed outside the south gate of Xincheng in Tongxian County.
Erzhang not only did not assist the Japanese army according to the instructions of the Japanese army, but also did not intercept the pursuit, but only fired a gun into the air and pretended to block the retreating 29th Army, which was discovered by the head of the Japanese secret service, Hosogi Shigeru. At around 9 o'clock in the morning of the 27th, the Japanese army sent 12 planes to bomb the security team camp outside the south gate of the old city, resulting in more than 10 security team members. The second Zhang then decided not to wait for Feng's order and took action.
At 12 p.m. on 28 July, the security forces staged an armed uprising. quickly occupied Yin Rugeng's puppet governor's office and captured Yin Rugeng alive. Later, with a death squad of more than 200 people as the lead, they attacked the residence of the Japanese secret service and the garrison, fought fiercely for 6 hours, and annihilated more than 500 enemies. That night, according to Zhang Qingyu's instructions, the Su Lianzhang Department of the Shunyi Security Force also held an uprising, annihilating more than 200 Japanese troops, and rendezvous at 10 a.m. on the 29th in Tongxian.
The Japanese army, which got the news, sent planes to bomb Tongzhou City in turn, and the rebel troops were very heavy. Erzhang made a decision immediately and ordered the troops to advance to Beiping. Intercepted by the Japanese army on the way, Yin Rugeng took the opportunity to escape and was robbed by the Japanese army, and Shen Weigan, the head of the security team, and Zhang Huiming, the captain of the district team, were killed one after another when they broke through. Zhang Qingyu knew that the 29th Army had retreated to Baoding, so he ordered it to be broken into pieces and break through separately. The rest went to Baoding and joined the 29th Army.
When Zhang Qingyu saw Song Zheyuan in Baoding, Song Zheyuan still held Zhang Qingyu's hand and said with a sigh: "Your uprising this time has lived up to the previous agreement, but it is a pity that our army withdrew in a hurry and failed to cooperate with the battle, and I feel deeply ashamed." ”
Zhang Qingyu was born in Cangxian County, Hebei Province in 1895. Later, he returned to the army, worked until the deputy commander of the 91st Army, retired from active duty in 1946, and died of illness in his hometown in 1963.
Zhang Yantian was a native of Xiangcheng, Henan, known as Tieting, and later served as the commander of the 118th Division of Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army. After 1940, he returned to the Xuezhong Department and served as the deputy commander of the 51st Army. He retired from active duty in 1946, and his future is unknown. ##