In the later stage of the Liberation War, Fu Zuoyi was stationed in the city of Beiping and began to try to win the opportunity for peace talks through some resources to achieve peaceful liberation. There were some far-sighted generals within the Kuomintang who knew that the situation was irretrievable and were willing to choose a peaceful uprising.
However, there are also some generals who show their "foolish loyalty" to the fullest, and Shi Jue is one of them.
Since October 1948, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has shown great initiative and activity on the battlefields in the Northeast, Northwest, North China, and East China, and the decline of the Kuomintang is irreversible.
Fu Zuoyi's hundreds of thousands of troops were initially deployed in the Shanhaiguan, Tianjin, and Baoding areas, but in the face of Chiang Kai-shek's successive defeats, his primary consideration was to preserve his strength.
There has always been serious infighting and infighting within the Kuomintang, and most of the main forces of the Kuomintang in the Liberation War were commanded by Chiang Kai-shek's cronies, with Fu Zuoyi being an exception, thanks to his high prestige.
He had been given a respite by actively implementing Chiang Kai-shek's policies in order to consolidate his position. After many years of conquest, Fu Zuoyi was well versed in the truth of "the praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind", and he could not fully trust Chiang Kai-shek, so he could only continue to maneuver on the battlefield.
Chiang Kai-shek naturally did not fully trust Fu Zuoyi, and sent his own trusted generals to supervise his every move. When Chiang Kai-shek was defeated and retreated all the way to the south, Fu Zuoyi did not choose to go south, but relied on heavy troops to hold on.
However, as time passed, he gradually saw the situation clearly, and found that all his actions were like a battle between trapped beasts, and defeat was only a matter of time.
Fu Zuoyi was in deep trouble and began to make peace in cronies and think tanks. On the night of December 12, 1948, he sent two delegates and put forward three conditions for negotiation.
Despite the differences in starting points and the gaps between the two sides, the negotiations did not achieve substantive results. But *** analyzed Fu Zuoyi's psychological motives from it, believing that this was Fu Zuoyi's tentative action, and if he was sincere, he would send representatives to negotiate again.
Sure enough, after many enlightenments and persecution of the situation, Fu Zuoyi finally mustered up the courage and sent a telegram to *** on December 23. **Seizing this opportunity, he sent a telegram to **, instructing him to seize the opportunity and actively do Fu Zuoyi's work.
After the siege of Beiping, Tianjin, and Tanggu, Fu Zuoyi's land escape route was cut off, and even by sea and air routes, the number of people who could escape was extremely limited.
Still struggling, Fu Zuoyi invited some scholars and celebrities to a discussion in Zhongnanhai to ask them for their views on the current situation. The painter Xu Beihong pointed out bluntly that Beiping is a world-famous historical and cultural ancient city, and countless precious buildings and the lives of two million citizens are in the hands of Fu Zuoyi alone.
When Fu Zuoyi hesitated, the People's Liberation Army launched a general offensive on Tianjin on January 14, 1949, and *** clearly pointed out in the "Statement on the Current Situation" that any reactionaries who resist must be resolutely, completely and cleanly annihilated.
Fu Zuoyi was shocked by this, and he immediately sent Deng Baoshan and Zhou Beifeng to the PLA for a third meeting. Fu Zuoyi's hesitation was partly due to the fact that he had to consider numerous factors not to offend Chiang Kai-shek, but the current situation was irreparable, not to mention that there were Chiang Kai-shek's cronies and generals watching him.
In the end, Fu Zuoyi decided to adopt the most prudent strategy. The level of loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek among the middle and senior generals of the Nationalist Army was amazing, and they were completely obedient to orders.
In Beiping City, representative figures include Li Wen, commander of the Kuomintang Fourth Corps, and Shi Jue, commander of the Ninth Corps.
Shi Jue, a cadet of the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, joined his military career after graduation, and was promoted to this place after half a lifetime of fighting. Years of military experience made him think deeply about Chiang's educational philosophy and lack insight into the current situation.
Li Wen and Shi Jue were in charge of many armies, and once they heard the news of the uprising, they would definitely plot against it and cause trouble. Fu Zuoyi had foreseen this, and was ready to take measures to control those who resolutely followed Chiang.
After reaching the final result of the peace policy, Fu Zuoyi immediately told everyone the news. Although many generals had expected this outcome, Shi Jue's attitude was so surprising that he wept bitterly.
In order to reduce the resistance to the peaceful liberation of Beiping, Fu Zuoyi finally agreed to send these Chiang Kai-shek's descendants back to Nanjing. At the same time that Fu Zuoyi was in contact with the People's Liberation Army, Chiang Kai-shek's spies in Beiping also heard about it, and Nanjing was preparing to send planes to Beiping to pick up the troops.
In the course of negotiations between the two sides, the People's Liberation Army suggested that the Suiyuan problem should be resolved first, but if the peaceful liberation of Beiping could be successfully completed, then the cultural relics of the ancient capital could be returned to the people, and the Suiyuan problem would be easily solved.
** The "Suiyuan way" was proposed, so that some soldiers of Shi Jue's troops were annihilated, and order in Beiping City was quickly restored, and Fuxing Gate and Xizhi Gate were opened to welcome the People's Liberation Army into the city.
Beiping was peacefully liberated, and many historical monuments were preserved, however, Shi Jue chose to be the enemy of the people and continued to follow Chiang Kai-shek.
It shouldn't be a problem to keep it for three or five years. Shi Jue saw this as a good opportunity to express himself, because Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance to the Zhoushan Islands, and he also inspected several islands here before flying back to Taiwan.
Not long after, Chen Cheng also came to Zhoushan, and he organized a "Zhoushan Command Post of the Southeast Military and Political Chief's Office" to fill the total strength of Zhoushan to more than 120,000 people, and the strength of the defense seemed to be quite considerable.
However, Shi Jue's complacency did not last long. On April 25, 1950, Su Yu presided over a meeting of senior commanders of the East China Military Region and the Third Field Army, and he proposed to eliminate these 120,000 troops in Zhoushan, so Chiang Kai-shek would have 120,000 fewer troops in Taiwan.
Everyone was full of energy and made final preparations for the liberation of Zhoushan. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek pinned his hopes on the unpredictable world situation and looked forward to the outbreak of the third world war.
Shi Jue, commander of the Zhoushan Defense Department, knew very well that since the loss of Meihua Island and other islands, the morale of the military has been turbulent. Soon, after careful consideration, Chiang Kai-shek decided to withdraw the Zhoushan troops.
On May 19, the whole island of Zhoushan was liberated, and Shi Jue could only listen to the bad news in the sea breeze and have nothing to do during these days of defense. He returned to Taiwan Province and remained with Chiang Kai-shek, awaiting redeployment.
He was loyal to Chiang Kai-shek and, together with others, proposed to "capture Zhoushan and send it to Taiwan" to show his determination to defend Zhoushan. However, the so-called "three or five years" did not come to fruition in the end, and after that, he did not mention these words again.
From the general's point of view, Shi Jue's every step after the Sino-Japanese War was regrettable, despite his military rank, he failed to achieve meritorious service on the battlefield, and his success depended entirely on Chiang Kai-shek's support.
Isn't that sad? As a result of his obedience, he still received several official positions after coming to Taiwan, was promoted to the rank of general of the "army", and served as the commander of the defense of some areas, but in the tiny province of Taiwan, he had apparently lost room to make a difference.
In 1963, when Chiang Kai-shek was still dreaming of "**", Shi Jue resigned from his military post and concentrated on serving as the "Minister of the Examination Yuan". He had two children, named Shi Qi and Shi Xiu, respectively, and their names were taken from the Confucian idea of "self-cultivation and Qi family rule the country and level the world".
However, in this regard, he did not stand out. Shi Qi later joined the army and asked his father: "I heard that you are very familiar with many commanders. However, Shi Jue replied with a cold face: "What do I have to do with you?" ”
What is curious is that after experiencing the bitter weeping in Beiping and the horror in Zhoushan, what other unique feelings he has about commanding operations. In his later years, he was also fascinated by some "nourishing" exercises such as tai chi.
He used to be the head of the Tai Chi Association and went all out to promote the sport, but that might just be a way for him to divert his attention. He went through countless ups and downs on the battlefield in those years, heard too much "bad news", and in the final stages of his life, he could only look for something to make his life a little more fulfilling.
His pain and distress are probably only understandable to him. For the mainland, both Shi Jue and Li Wen can be called "the fish that slipped through the net in the Pingjin Campaign", but at that time, Fu Zuoyi did not make such a decisive decision, otherwise there would be no result of Shi Jue and others continuing to fight.
It is not difficult to imagine that Shi Jue, who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, has always dreamed of following Chiang Kai-shek to make a big career, but in the end he only has no name and lives a relatively boring life.
In September 1986, Shi Jue finally died of a stroke at Taipei Veterans Hospital at the age of 78. His "foolish loyalty" can be ranked in the forefront, but his military talent in the War of Liberation can only be lightly mentioned by history.