On this day 123 years ago, on September 22, 1902 (August 21, 1902 in the lunar calendar), Zhang Yan, a famous anti-Japanese general born in overseas Chinese, was born. Zhang Yan, a famous anti-Japanese general, participated in the Anti-Japanese War in Songhu, was born in Haiphong, Vietnam on September 22, 1902. His father, Zhang Hezhen, whose ancestral home was Zhangshan Village, Tangzhuo Town, Wuchuan, Guangdong Province. Due to his poor family, he left his hometown and came to Vietnam from China. After the Revolution of 1911, Zhang Hezhen was homesick and returned to his hometown with 10-year-old Zhang Yan. Zhang Hezhen died soon after returning to his hometown. Zhang Yan had a cousin named Zhang Shide, who was a company commander in the Cantonese army under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen at that time. Zhang Yan defected to his cousin after the death of his father and began his career in the army. He first became an orderly, and then joined the teaching team. He participated in the campaign of the Northern Expedition to conquer Hunan and Hubei. He was promoted from squad leader, platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander, and regiment commander to division commander. On January 28, 1932, the Japanese invaders launched a massive attack on Zhabei, Shanghai, provoking the "January 28" incident. Cai Tingkai, together with the commander-in-chief Jiang Guangnai and the commander of Shanghai Songhu police, Dai Ji, issued a power-up to all walks of life to resist the Japanese on the 29th. Zhang Yan responded immediately and led his troops to take a bus from Nanjing Xiaguan Station and went straight to Shanghai. After getting off the train, Zhang Yan's department immediately went into battle, stormed the enemies of Hongkou and Yangshupu, and soon occupied the position, which was firmly nailed to the position like a steel nail. In the following week, the battle continued within the range of Zhabei, and the Japanese made no progress at all. On February 4, the Japanese launched their first general offensive. The 19th Route Army took advantage of the victory and counterattacked, completely crushing the Japanese general offensive. Subsequently, Zhang Yan's headquarters focused on defending Yunzaobang. Yunzaobang is a river from west to east. The river is not wide, but the water is deep and muddy, which is a natural barrier. In the early morning of February 13, more than 3,000 Japanese troops built a pontoon bridge under the cover of aircraft and artillery to attack Yunzaobang. Zhang Yan's headquarters engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and the 366th regiment suffered the most casualties. Six or seven hundred people below the commander and deputy regiment were killed or injured, but their morale did not decrease, causing the Japanese to pay a heavy price. At 5:00 pm, Zhang Yan's headquarters withstood the enemy's attack, stabilized his position, and then turned to counterattack. In order to reduce casualties, he imitated the ancient Tian Dan's "fire bull formation" tactics and organized a death squad to attack the enemy's confidants. At that time, more than 60 officers and soldiers asked Ying to die. They strapped explosives to their chests and limbs, soaked their clothes and pants with kerosene, and infiltrated the enemy formation. In an instant, the explosion sounded everywhere, and all the death squad members were martyred. The enemy formation was in chaos, and Zhang Yan took the opportunity to lead the team to launch an attack. At 10:00 pm, all the more than 1,000 Japanese troops who had crossed the river were wiped out. The battle to defend Yunzaobang was the fiercest battle since the January 28 Incident. The Japanese plan to break through the Wusongkou Line failed. Commander Nomura was dismissed (the commander-in-chief of the Far East Army was reassigned, and Lieutenant-General Ueda Kenyoshi), and then more than 20,000 people, 50 warships, and more than 100 aircraft were dispatched in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. Zhang Yan and the generals of the 19th Route Army jointly issued a telegram, determined to fight to the end. On February 22, the Japanese army launched a general attack again. They used aircraft, artillery, and tanks to launch another round of attacks on the 19th Route Army positions. Hundreds of shells fell from the sky on Zhang Yan's position, and the dust from the explosion covered the sky. The bodies of the soldiers lay on the inside and outside of the fortifications, but this did not shake their determination to hold on to the position. They forced the enemy who rushed up to the position again and again through fierce hand-to-hand combat. This kind of battle lasted for three days, and Zhang Yan's army suffered heavy casualties, but they still used their steel bodies to block the enemy's crazy attack, causing great shock to the enemy's psychology. Just as the 19th Route Army was stepping up its rearmament and preparing for another battle, the news that the Nationalist government and the Japanese army had signed the "Songhu Armistice Agreement" came on the 5th. Zhang Yan and other generals were extremely sad and angry. The Songhu War of Resistance ended at the cost of the Kuomintang government betraying the interests of the Chinese people. Before the smoke of the battle of Songhu, when Zhang Yan raised the anti-Chiang flag on the anti-Japanese battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek transferred his direct troops to the area of Ninghuhang and dismantled the 19th Route Army, and ordered them to fight against the Red Army in Jiangxi, Wuhan, and Anhui respectively. Cai Tingkai, Zhang Yan and other generals were very clear about Chiang Kai-shek's intention to use the Red Army to eliminate the 19th Route Army, so they refused to be dismantled. Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to send the 19th Route Army to Fujian to "suppress the Communist Party". In early June, Zhang Yan and the 61st Division arrived in Quanzhou. The people of Quanzhou slaughtered pigs and slaughtered sheep to comfort the anti-Japanese soldiers. Seeing this scene, Zhang Yan secretly made up his mind. In the face of the enemy, the Chinese will not fight the Chinese, and will never be enemies with the Red Army. In 1933, the Japanese army pointed the finger of aggression at Rehe (then a province in China, the provincial capital was Chengde), occupied Shanhaiguan and Chengde, and divided into multiple troops to attack the Great Wall. The Chinese defenders fought back. News came that Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and others decided to join forces with Chen Jitang of Guangdong to fight against the Japanese, and sent Zhang Yan, who was eager to fight against the Japanese, to Guangdong to meet Chen Jitang. Zhang Yan met Chen Jitang and forced Chen to go north to fight against the Japanese. The two sides reached an agreement and agreed to jointly deploy elite troops to form an anti-Japanese army. After Zhang Yan returned to Fujian, Cai Tingkai immediately dispatched officers and men to form the "Heat Aid Advance Army" and formed two columns. He served as the commander-in-chief, and Zhang Yan and Tan Qixiu served as the column leaders separately. On March 25, the "Heat Aid Advance Army" waved its troops north. At that time, major newspapers reported the situation of the "Advance Army" when it went out - "The people cooked pot pulp to welcome our division, and the sound of firecrackers reached 10 miles away, shouting along the way'Long live the success of the 19th Route Army's resistance to Japan 'slogan." However, when the "Advance Army to Aid Heat" arrived in Chenzhou, Hunan Province after more than 50 days of arduous marches, the news came that the Kuomintang government had signed the "Tanggu Agreement" with Japan, and Chiang Kai-shek's order to immediately return to Fujian arrived. The troops returned to the army in an angry and sad atmosphere. At this time, Zhang Yan really understood that in order to realize the Anti-Japanese War, the non-resisting Chiang Kai-shek government must be removed and democratic politics must be realized. On November 20, 1933, Chiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai, Zhang Yan and other patriotic generals joined forces with Li Jishen and Chen Mingshu to launch the famous "Fujian Incident", raised the banner of anti-Japanese and anti-Chiang, and established the "People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China" and the "People's Revolutionary Army". Li Jishen, Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai, and others were members of the Central Committee of the government, and Zhang Yan was a member of the Military Commission and commander of the Fourth Army of the People's Revolutionary Army. Together, they announced their separation from the Kuomintang and the establishment of the "Production People's Party," whose party platform stipulates that the only task at present is to resist Japan and Chiang. At the same time, they sent people to secretly establish contact with the Chinese Communist Party. On November 22, the Fujian People's Government held a swearing-in conference, at which Zhang Yan delivered a rousing speech. He shouted: "I hope that all revolutionary compatriots and revolutionary leaders in China will go to the countryside to lead the peasants, to the factories to lead the workers, and to participate in our revolution together. Then, the overthrow of the feudal forces, the abolition of the various unequal treaties that imperialism has imposed on our country, and the recovery of lost land can all be achieved through struggle." After the "Fujian Incident", Chiang Kai-shek was extremely terrified and used both hands. While encircling and destroying the Fujian People's Government, he also showed an attitude of peace. Under these circumstances, Cai Tingkai and other leaders automatically gave up resistance after consultation in order to preserve the army. In this way, the Fujian People's Government, which lasted only two months, was declared to be over. Chiang Kai-shek pretended to be magnanimous and restored the establishment of the 19th Route Army, appointing Mao Weishou as the commander-in-chief and Zhang Yan as the deputy commander-in-chief. But within a few days, he reorganized the 19th Route Army into the 7th Route Army of the Eastern Route Army, and soon dispersed the 7th Route Army and dismembered it. Zhang Yan refused the appointment in anger, vowed not to be Chiang Kai-shek's pawn, and then embarked on a journey abroad with his wife. At the end of 1935, the Japanese army launched the "North China Incident", and North China was in danger. In May 1936, Zhang Yan decided to return to China to engage in anti-Japanese work. When he returned to Guangdong, he began to cooperate with the anti-Japanese forces led by the Communist Party of China in the anti-Japanese war. After returning to the anti-Japanese battlefield, Zhang Yan organized the local anti-Japanese team and established the "Gaolei People's Anti-Japanese Army". He served as the commander of the army and Zhan Shibang served as the deputy commander of the army. A total of more than 1,000 people were divided into three infantry regiments, which worked closely with the people's anti-Japanese armed forces led by the special committee of the Communist Party of China on the South Road to fight against the Japanese invaders. The development of Zhang Yan's anti-Japanese forces and cooperation with the Communist Party of China once again aroused the jealousy of the Kuomintang diehards. They slandered Zhang Yan as a "bandit" and dispatched planes to distribute leaflets in an attempt to disrupt Zhang Yan's army. At the same time, all the troops on the South Road "encircled" Zhang Yan. To avoid civil war, Zhang Yan retreated to Lianbei after a little resistance. Zhang Fakui, who had retreated to Baise, Guangxi, sent a telegram to Zhang Yan after hearing about the conflict between Zhang Yan and the stubborn army in the South Road area, asking him to go to Baise to discuss an armistice and resolve the conflict. Zhang Yan led more than a dozen attendants, wearing grass-green uniforms and wearing the rank of lieutenant general, to Guangxi. When Zhang Yan arrived in Bobai, he was arrested by the local militia. The news of Zhang Yan's arrest came, and all parties were shocked. Li Jishen sent a telegram to protect Zhang Yan; Cai Tingkai telegraphed Yu Hanmou to transfer to Chiang Kai-shek and wanted to bail Zhang Yan; Zhang Fakui and Zhang Li tried to clear the relationship to free Zhang Yan; the Communist Party also tried to rescue Zhang Yan. However, all efforts were to no avail, and Chiang Kai-shek issued a secret order to the 4th Theater: "The 4th Theater Command was transferred to the Yulin Special Office, and Zhang Yan was about to be shot on the spot." On the afternoon of March 22, 1945, the Yulin Special Office decided to execute Zhang Yan without trial. Military judge Mu Jiazheng led a squadron of soldiers to escort him. Mu announced: "Now you are ordered to be shot, what do you have to say?" Zhang Yan knew that the last moment of his life was coming, and he said in a peaceful tone: "What I want to say is that we must fight to the end and establish a democratic country!" After that, he straightened his blue robe, looked calm, and strutted his head to the Dongyueling execution ground. Before his execution, he smiled at the soldiers with guns and said: "Wait a moment, let me make a final call - victory in the Anti-Japanese War! Long live the victory of democracy!" After the founding of New China, the Chinese Communist Party and the people's government moved Zhang Yan's skeleton to the Guangzhou Galaxy Cemetery. On June 8, 1958, Chairperson Mao Zedong of the Central People's Government signed a signature to recognize Zhang Yan as a revolutionary martyr. Statue of Zhang Yan