In 1954, three generals were executed, why did they decide to be executed?
In 1954, three Kuomintang lieutenant generals in Gongdelin Prison faced the fate of being executed. Since the victory of the Liberation War, our army has captured many high-ranking Kuomintang generals, among whom those with higher positions have been imprisoned in Gongdelin.
Normally, these generals are not subject to execution, but are given the opportunity to be reformed. Some people eventually came to their senses, understood the original intention of the Communist Party, and made contributions to New China after being released from prison.
However, in 1954, three high-ranking Kuomintang generals were finally sentenced to death, who were they and why did they face execution?
Gongdelin Prison is famous for incarcerating many high-ranking Kuomintang generals, and about 14,000 Kuomintang war criminals have been tried here.
However, Kung Tak Lin is no ordinary prison and provides a chance for these war criminals to turn over a new leaf. Here, war criminals receive ideological education, political study, and production transformation.
There were some well-known Kuomintang generals in the prison, such as Du Yuming, Song Xilian, Wang Yaowu, etc., but most of the generals were less well-known.
Although each war criminal was burdened with countless blood debts, many of them were stubborn in their thinking, refused to accept ideological reform, and did not recognize the ideas of the Communist Party.
In 1950, when New China was founded, there were still counter-revolutionaries secretly planning counter-revolutionary activities. In order to purge the remnants of the Kuomintang, a political campaign was launched to suppress counter-revolutionaries.
According to the concept of ***, ** adopted a policy of "combining severe crackdown with leniency", and the death penalty was imposed on those who had previously committed serious crimes, while those with less serious crimes were reformed in prison. The repentant is reviewed by the organization and judged according to the circumstances.
Criminals held in Gongdelin are subject to investigation, and in serious cases, they are also sentenced to death. Since 1950, a significant number of criminals have been executed every year.
Liu Peixu was one of the former senior Kuomintang generals who was executed in 1954. Throughout his life, he frequently switched sides and followed different masters, but due to his narrow vision, the choices he made gradually led to mistakes. Liu Peixu was born as an officer in the Baoding Army, and after graduation, he was assigned to the 26th Regiment of the 9th Division of the Beijing Army as a lieutenant trainee officer.
At that time, warlords were rampant, and opportunities were everywhere for soldiers. Liu Peixu performed well during his tenure and was loved by his superiors, and was soon transferred to the 8th Mixed Brigade of the Henan Army as a lieutenant platoon commander of the cadet company.
In the military camp where Liu Peixu is located, his boss is the high-profile warlord Wu Peifu. However, the warlords at the end of the Qing Dynasty were chaotic and all forces were fighting, and everyone aspired to be a bird.
Wu Peifu was ambitious, but Liu Peixu felt that the direct warlords did not meet his expectations. In order to seek better development opportunities, he decided to take the risk of establishing contact with Tang Shengzhi of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
The two forces are evenly matched, and water and fire are incompatible. Under Tang Shengzhi's planning, Liu Peixu once participated in a vicious incident and seized Wu Peifu's arms train.
Although the move did not have much impact on Wu Peifu, Liu Peixu's betrayal meant that he could not return to his immediate army.
In April 1927, Liu Peixu quickly changed his identity and became the commander of the 14th Division of the Feng Department and the lieutenant general counselor of the Zhilu Allied Army. This change of status is also partly due to some luck.
Although he worked with Tang Shengzhi to seize Wu Peifu's arms train, Liu Peixu himself was captured during the battle against the Feng warlords. Fortunately, among the warlords of the Feng family, there were his classmates from the military academy.
Under the recommendation of his classmates, Liu Peixu, who originally planned to change camps, joined the Feng department effortlessly. Until 1930, Liu Peixu successively jumped to the army of Yan Xishan and Tang Shengzhi.
He had a long-standing friendship with Tang Shengzhi, who was actively opposed to Chiang Kai-shek at that time, and Liu Peixu also actively joined the ranks of anti-Chiang. However, in February 1930, Tang Shengzhi was defeated and Liu Peixu was captured again.
The wise Liu Peixu quickly made the choice and accepted Chiang Kai-shek's change to become the commander of the new 2nd Brigade of the National Revolutionary Army. Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Liu Peixu was already the commander of the 40th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Liu Peixu failed to perform satisfactorily in Shanghai, and as the Japanese army gradually advanced, his command errors led to the deterioration of the war situation, and he was finally forced to retreat to Xiaogan, Hubei, much to the dissatisfaction of Chiang Kai-shek.
Due to his poor performance, Chiang Kai-shek lost trust in Liu Peixu and no longer gave him important positions, and eventually Liu Peixu left Shanghai for Hong Kong under the pretext of recuperation. In reality, however, he conspired against Chiang in Hong Kong.
In 1939, Liu Peixu surrendered to Wang Jingwei and served as his deputy chief of staff, lieutenant general, alternate member of the puppet national government, and a member of the supervisory committee.
Liu Peixu, who has changed his position many times, lost his mind after taking refuge with Wang Pseudo** this time and became a lackey of a traitor. Under the order of Wang Jingwei, he founded the puppet ** military academy and vigorously cultivated traitors, causing great harm to China.
However, in 1941, Liu Peixu realized that it was hopeless to follow Wang Jingwei, so he secretly contacted the agents of the military command and planned an assassination operation against Wang Jingwei. However, this operation ended in failure, and Liu Peixu was ostracized from Wang Pseudo**. Due to his previous betrayal, Liu Peixu became the target of public criticism, and after breaking away from Wang Puppet, he no longer stood in line, but returned to Beijing to become a businessman.
However, Liu Peixu has always been restless, and after the founding of New China, he secretly planned riots many times and directed robbery operations.
In 1951, Liu Peixu was arrested on multiple charges and imprisoned in Gongdelin, where he was finally executed in 1954.
Han Buzhou, a native of Fanzhi, Shanxi, joined Yan Xishan's army after graduating from the Taiyuan Northern Military Academy. Yan Xishan is known as the soil emperor of Shanxi, and he is also the warlord who held the highest power in a province for the longest time during the ** period.
Han Buzhou was tempered under Yan Xishan, and although he was not Yan Xishan's cronies, he won the trust of his superiors with his outstanding military talents.
Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Han Buzhou served as the chief of staff of the 1st Cavalry Army, and was given important responsibilities during the Anti-Japanese War because of his bravery.
In 1940, Han Buzhou became the commander of the 3rd Independent Brigade of the 2nd Theater of Operations, and two years later he was promoted to the commander of the 2nd Theater Guerrilla 2nd Column.
On the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Han Buzhou was already the deputy commander of the 43rd Army, and after the war, he was appointed as the commander of the Fifth Army of the Shanxi Provincial Defense Army, stationed in Shanxi.
On October 5, 1948, the Battle of Taiyuan broke out, which lasted more than 6 months, and our army finally liberated Taiyuan at a huge price. Han Buzhou personally experienced this battle, Taiyuan was a city that Yan Xishan painstakingly managed, but after fierce fighting, our army successfully defeated Yan Xishan's troops, and Han Buzhou and other senior generals were captured.
In 1954, Han Buzhou was executed.
In 1926, the Northern Expedition broke out, but the Nationalist Army suffered a rout in the Battle of Nankou.
At this critical moment, Zhang Zhankui became a member of the Northwest Army led by Feng Yuxiang. In the early years, he fought with the Northwest Army in the south and the north, won outstanding achievements and accumulated rich experience.
In 1930, Zhang Zhankui was appointed commander of the 2nd Cavalry Division of the 2nd Front Army of the Anti-Chiang Allied Army, and actively participated in the Central Plains War. In that era of warlord warfare, people were eager to break the situation and pursue the unity of the country.
However, despite the tremendous momentum of this anti-Chiang war, it ended in Chiang Kai-shek's victory. After the Great War of the Central Plains, Chiang Kai-shek defeated Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan, forcing Li Zongren to submit to his rule.
As Feng Yuxiang's subordinate, Zhang Zhankui also suffered a heavy defeat. In the Great War of the Central Plains, he was afraid of punishment for his defeat on the battlefield, so he chose to surrender to Chiang Kai-shek.
In this war, we have no way of knowing how many people like Zhang Zhankui defected. But what is certain is that Chiang Kai-shek gave these surrenderers preferential treatment and promotions, because he considered himself a representative of justice.
Under Chiang Kai-shek's promotion, Zhang Zhankui was appointed commander of the 3rd Cavalry Division. During the Anti-Japanese War, he was stationed in Zhoukou and successfully repelled the Japanese invaders many times.
In May 1941, Zhang Zhankui was promoted to commander of the 9th Cavalry Division of the 3rd Cavalry Army, and two years later became the deputy commander of the 36th Army. Judging from these appointments, Zhang Zhankui has achieved good development under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek.
However, Zhang Zhankui was deeply influenced by Kuomintang ideology and Chiang Kai-shek, and he cultivated a strong hostility towards the Communists during his many years of military service.
During the Liberation War, he served as the commander of the 4th Pacification Brigade and the commander of the 1st Pacification Brigade in Henan Province. During this time, Zhang Zhankui inflicted brutal blows on countless PLA soldiers, and many underground party members also unfortunately died under his hands.
In order to support Chiang Kai-shek's cause, Zhang Zhankui returned to his hometown many times to recruit soldiers, which caused great trouble and ** to the People's Liberation Army.
In 1949, Zhang Zhankui was finally defeated** and imprisoned in the Gongdelin. In 1954, the officer, who had brutalized countless PLA soldiers and innocent people, was executed amid cheers.
Although these people have left relatively few records in the historical records, they are less remarkable than those of other Kuomintang generals. However, in those turbulent years, countless heroic ancestors lost their lives because of their conspiracy. As the former enemies of their ancestors, each of them bears a heavy blood debt.
Many of our ancestors fought bravely in the face of cruel wars and the darkness of people's hearts, and they created a paradise for us on the scorched earth. These are the deeds we should remember the most.