112 years ago today, on July 14, 1913 (June 11, 1913 in the lunar calendar), Bai Lang Uprising. The largest peasant uprising in the early years of the Republic of China. When the Wuchang Uprising broke out in 1911 (the third year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty), Bai Lang of Baofeng, Henan Province, organized an armed uprising of 20 or 30 peasants in his hometown in order to oppose the oppression and exploitation of the government and the landlords and gentry. By the winter of 1912, this peasant armed force had developed into an uprising army of 600 or 700 people. Bai Lang led his troops to travel and guerrilla in the western Henan region with the call to fight the rich and help the poor. On the eve of the war against the Yuan in 1913, the uprising army accepted the demands of the revolutionaries to unite against the Yuan, and successively captured Tang County (now Tang River in Henan Province), Yu County and other counties, and its prestige was greatly enhanced. Subsequently, it went south to northern Hubei. On July 14, after a fierce battle with the allied forces of Hubei, Henan and Shaanxi provinces in Guxian County, he re-entered the Henan border and moved to Lushan, Baofeng and other places. In October, Wang Shengqi, the head of the Shaanxi Army, led his troops to participate in the uprising army. By the winter of that year, the uprising army had grown to nearly 10,000 people. Bai Lang claimed to be the commander of the Republic of China to help Han and ask Yuan. Yuan Shikai hastily mobilized 30,000 people to carry out "encirclement and suppression". The uprising army evaded the real attack and broke through the encirclement eastward. By January 1914, Lianke Guangshan, Shangcheng and other places in Henan Province entered western Anhui. The whereabouts of the uprising army were erratic, which exhausted the Beiyang government army. In February, Yuan Ling, the army chief Duan Qirui, also served as the governor of Henan, and commanded the Beiyang government army, including the local troops of Hubei, Henan and Anhui, At this time, the military attachés of the British, Russian and other embassies in Beijing rushed to Henan to offer suggestions for Duan under the name of "watching the war". The uprising army attacked the east and the west, and after breaking through the siege, it entered northern Hubei. On March 8, it captured the important town of Laohekou, and on the 14th it conquered Jingziguan, Henan. And posted notices against dictatorship and advocated republicanism. Duan deployed the troops to "go around" in eight ways. At this time, the uprising army had increased to more than 20,000 people, and decided to invade Shaanxi and Gan in the west, waiting for an opportunity to enter Sichuan. On the 17th, Jingziguan and other places advanced westward, Lianke Fushui and Shangnan, and entered Shaanxi. Yuan Ling Lu Jianzhang, the commander of the 7th Division of the Beiyang Government Army, supervised the "bandit suppression" on the western road, and led tens of thousands of people to chase after the In late April, the insurgent army defeated the Beiyang government army at Guguan on the border between Shaanxi and Gansu and entered Gansu. Subsequently, they broke through Fuqiang (now Gangu, Gansu), Tianshui and other places, and killed the general soldier Ma Guoren. After entering Sichuan, they were blocked and retreated to Minxian and Lintan ethnic minority areas in Gansu. Due to difficulties in replenishing local ammunition and supplies, coupled with the pursuit of Beiyang government troops, they were in danger, so they decided to return to Henan. In late May, more than 10,000 insurgent troops set out from Lintan and successively broke through the three lines of defense of Minxian, Baoji and Jingziguan, which were heavily fortified by the Beiyang government army. When they returned to western Henan at the end of June, only a few thousand people were left. In early August, Bai Lang died while breaking through the siege at the border between Baofeng and Linru, and the uprising thus failed. According to the characteristics of a small number of enemies, Bai Lang's uprising army was good at evading real attacks, attacking the east and the west, moving quickly and long-distance attacks, and attacking the enemy unexpectedly. It fought against more than 200,000 Beiyang government troops successively, dealing a heavy blow to Yuan Shikai's warlord rule. However, due to poor organization, long-term mobile operations, and strategic mistakes in the western invasion of Shaanxi and Gan, it ultimately failed. (Tao Deyang)