In July 1965, Ding Guoyu welcomed a special guest - Li Zongren. The Chinese friend, whom he had never met, arrived by plane.
Li Zongren: The name of the lucky general, well deserved Li Zongren, born in China in 1891, was the leader of the "Gui family" of the Kuomintang and an important figure in the Northern Expedition, and was known as the "lucky general".
This title is not false, his blessing is first reflected in his many times on the battlefield born and died, but he can always escape death and get out safely, which is his personal blessing.
Second, he was always able to exert his strength at the critical juncture of China's survival, correct the trend of history in a timely manner, and save the building from collapse, which was his blessing for the country. Therefore, Li Zongren is known as a "blessed general", and he deserves his name.
Among Li Zongren's lifelong achievements, there are three most well-known: one is his contribution to the Northern Expedition, the second is his performance in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the third is his role in the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
In any war, he showed extraordinary courage and wisdom and was a true historical hero.
Li Zongren performed outstanding in the three major battles of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and made significant contributions to China's anti-Japanese cause, and his reputation has also been continuously improved in one battle after another, and even became the generation of China for a time.
However, what is surprising is that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he fled the mainland in a hurry and went to the United States to begin a 16-year career as a fugitive. So, what is the reason behind this?
It turned out that after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the War of Liberation broke out in full force.
In January 1949, Li Zongren decided to negotiate peace with the Communist Party on the pretext of preserving the Kuomintang base areas south of the Yangtze River. In the course of the peace talks, the Communist Party provided the Internal Peace Agreement for the Kuomintang's reference.
However, the Kuomintang rejected the proposal as a "loss of power and humiliation of the country" within the KMT, leading to the breakdown of peace talks. Subsequently, the People's Liberation Army began to march south, while Li Zongren and others held out resistance in Guangxi.
At this time, Li Zongren realized that his situation was extremely dangerous and began to look for other ways out. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek and others also began to plan a trip to Taiwan.
However, due to their differences and contradictions on the issue of resistance to Japan, the relationship between the two has broken down. Li Zongren understood that he could not follow Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, because his faction had been exhausted in the war, and if he went to Taiwan, he might be liquidated like never before, and he would have no power to fight back.
In November 1949, in order to avoid the war, Li Zongren flew from Nanning, Guangxi to Hong Kong on the pretext of seeking medical treatment, and transferred to the United States in December, where he began a 16-year life in a foreign land.
During this time, Li Zongren suffered from loneliness, and the unfamiliar language environment and neighborhood relationship made him feel that life was difficult. In 1954, Chiang Kai-shek dismissed Li Zongren from his post as deputy in Taiwan, completely extinguishing his idea of returning, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to a former politician.
However, although Li Zongren is in the United States, he still cherishes unfinished grand ideals in his heart. Because of the existence of Chiang Kai-shek, the two sides have become mortal enemies, and the political road is hopeless, Li Zongren began to pin his hopes on his influence in the Northern Expedition and the War of Resistance against Japan, hoping to return to China and continue his political career.
Since then, Li Zongren has frequently made overtures to the Chinese Communist Party, such as publicly supporting the speech of *** after the Bandung Conference, and issuing a statement in the United States, emphasizing that Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times.
After many years, Li Zongren has always adhered to the belief of returning to the mainland, not only sent Cheng Siyuan to Beijing many times to communicate closely with ***, but also entrusted his daughter to hand over a batch of Tibetan paintings to show his sincerity.
**After seeing Li Zongren's sincerity and determination, he actively communicated with him and carefully planned his return plan. In 1965, Li Zongren and his wife once again expressed their desire to return to their homeland, and finally under the arrangement of ***, the time of return to China was clarified, and they successfully returned to China a few years later.
** Carefully planned Li Zongren's return to China, first traveling around Europe for a period of time to confuse followers in the United States and Taiwan. Eventually, on July 12, 1965, he took off from Zurich on a Swiss Airlines plane, passed through Athens and other places, and finally arrived safely at Karachi airport, and returned home via Pakistan.
This trip was claimed to be a holiday to Hong Kong.
With domestic support, Lee began to implement a plan. In June 1965, he went to Sweden with his wife, citing the need for better recuperation, and sent his son to Zurich through a friend.
After dealing with the property in the United States and reuniting with his family, he began to wait. However, over the next week or so, he became increasingly anxious as he was slow to receive contact from the intermediary.
In fact, at this time, the middleman had been targeted by the United States and the Kuomintang, and in order not to leak the plan of Li Zongren's family to return to China, he had not contacted Li Zongren.
Li Zongren and his entourage set off in a hurry, and after leaving Zurich, their original stronghold was immediately surrounded by Kuomintang intelligence agents. Despite their successful departure from Zurich, the Kuomintang and American intelligence agents had already learned of their plans to travel to the United States.
In order to ensure that Li Zongren's whereabouts were not discovered, the Kuomintang sent a large number of manpower to investigate his possible routes, flights, and airports along the way. Just when Ding Guoyu received the task of escorting Li Zongren back to China, Li Zongren had already boarded the plane to Karachi Airport.
Faced with the prime minister's high hopes, Ding Guoyu felt unprecedented pressure, and he needed to come up with an ingenious arrangement to avoid being discovered by the United States and the Kuomintang. Ding Guoyu fell into deep thought.
After careful consideration, Ding Guoyu decided to pick up Li Zongren on the runway where the plane landed directly to return to China to avoid long nights and dreams.
Ding Guoyu successfully used a Pakistani friend to pick up Li Zongren and his party Ding Guoyu has a good friend from Pakistan, who is the general manager of Pakistan International Airlines.
Ding Guoyu told his friend that he was here to pick up a friend who was unwell, so he needed to go and pick him up to rest. Ding Guoyu specially remembered the physical characteristics of Li Zongren's family clearly, so that the response could be smooth and not waste any extra time.
Late one night, Li Zongren's plane arrived at Karachi Airport. Ding Guoyu and his entourage have been waiting on the airport runway for a long time. When the plane door opened, Ding Guoyu immediately recognized Cheng Siyuan, who was the first to come out.
Ding Guoyu decisively stepped forward to ask if Mr. Li Zongren was there? After receiving an affirmative reply, Li Zongren and his entourage were immediately taken to the car on the side of the runway and rushed back to the embassy overnight.
Ding Guoyu realized that it was too late, because the Kuomintang and his party had already started investigations in various places along the way from Zurich to Hong Kong. Sure enough, the next day, Ding Guoyu received another telegram from China, in which he said that the Kuomintang was preparing to carry out sabotage activities in the Karachi area, and that it would shoot down a Chinese plane over Burma without accident.
Ding Guoyu successfully used his Pakistani friends to pick up Li Zongren and his party.
Ding Guoyu revealed Li Zongren's situation to the Pakistani side and sought their full support. Pakistan, a friend of China for many years, was quick to give a positive response.
They sent diplomats and the general manager of the airline to work out a detailed flight plan so that Li Zongren could return home from Pakistan without any problems. During this period, Ding Guoyu did not dare to relax in the slightest, and he organized the personnel in the embassy to patrol in shifts to ensure safety.
During the journey through Myanmar, everyone was nervous and ready to deal with possible aircraft accidents. Fortunately, Pakistan's arrangement came in handy, and Li Zongren and his party passed through Myanmar in a thrilling but safe way, and entered the Chinese border.
When he saw Dianchi Lake in Yunnan, he couldn't help but shed tears after being separated from his motherland for many years, and muttered to himself: "I'm finally back!" Ding Guoyu also breathed a sigh of relief, because he had finally completed his task and could return safely.
On July 20, 1965, Li Zongren and his wife's plane successfully arrived at the capital airport, and ** personally led a team to the airport to meet them.
We welcome you back! When Li Zongren and *** hugged tightly at the airport, the news of Li Zongren's return to China instantly spread all over the world. Upon learning of this, Chiang Kai-shek silently recalled the men sent to find Li Zongren, and then severely criticized his subordinates.
At the airport, Li Zongren shook hands with ** and others one by one, and talked cordially with his old friend Zhang Shizhao and others. Looking at these old friends, Li Zongren couldn't help but write a poem, in which he wrote: "In the past 40 years, the family and country have been 3,000 miles of mountains and rivers; Fengge Dragon Tower is even Xiaohan, and Yushu Qiongzhi is made of smoke; How many times have you ever known how to fight? ”
Li Zongren's original intention on returning to China on this trip was to make a contribution to the great cause of the motherland's reunification, and he cherished the determination of being a veteran and determined to travel thousands of miles, and hoped to once again display his political ambitions in the fertile land of the mainland.
In front of the bust statue in the airport hall, he read out his "Declaration on Returning to China", in which he expressed his gratitude to the Communist Party and his best wishes for the prosperity of the country, emphasized his determination to serve the motherland, and sincerely advised the Kuomintang compatriots in Taiwan not to be swayed by the conspiracy and tricks of the United States, to uphold the fundamental principle that Taiwan is a part of China, and not to let the enemies suffer from the pain.
Finally, he called on all overseas compatriots who have served the motherland like him to return to China in time and create brilliance together!
Shortly after the statement was made at Li Zongren Airport, on July 27, 1965, ** warmly received Li Zongren and his wife. At the meeting, ** expressed a warm welcome and joy to Li Zongren's return to China, and said humorously: "Mr. Deling, you returned to China this time, it was a mistake!" ”
Li Zongren's face was full of doubts, and he explained: "Mr. Li Zongren, you are deeply pleased and yearn for the prosperity and development of the motherland, and I deeply understand this. However, although China is improving, we still need more outstanding talents to promote China's development, especially overseas people like you, and we very much welcome you back. ”
Finally, ** emphasises that you did not attack Chiang Kai-shek in your statement, this is a wise move, and we would be even happier and more welcoming if Chiang Kai-shek was willing to return home.
Li Zongren heard in his words the expectation that Chiang Kai-shek would return to the mainland to resolve the Taiwan issue. Soon after, he held a press conference, stressing that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and hoped that Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang's friends in Taiwan would judge the situation and size up the situation.
When asked by a reporter whether he believed in Marxism, he calmly replied, showing his firm belief in the cause of peaceful reunification between the two sides of the strait and his determination to seek his roots. He began the cause of promoting the peaceful reunification of the two sides of the strait in Chinese mainland and also began his own journey to find his roots.
Later, he was received again by *** on the tower of Tiananmen Square, which was also the last time they met. On January 30, 1969, Li Zongren died of illness in Beijing, and his death was the fulfillment of his life and his greatest contribution to the motherland.
He once said that it was his honor to be a member of the Chinese people. The whole process of Li Zongren's return to China was full of dangers and challenges, and every detail reflected the importance that the state attached to him.