On December 25, 1948, the CCP published the list of first-class war criminals of the Kuomintang through the "People".
Wei Lihuang, who was one of Chiang Kai-shek's "Five Tiger Generals", was among them.
What is strange is that when Wei Lihuang, who was far away in Hong Kong, learned that he was listed as a war criminal, not only did he not panic, but he breathed a sigh of relief and shouted excitedly: "I am saved!" ”
Subsequently, he sent a telegram to the commander-in-chief, hoping that he could take care of his old mother and nephews in Hefei.
Just when Mr. Zhu was hesitating repeatedly about this matter, ** nodded at this with a smile, agreed, and personally ordered the local county ** to give special protection to Wei Lihuang's family.
What's going on here? Why wasn't Wei Lihuang nervous when he learned that he was listed as a war criminal, but excited? And why was his request able to get a personal nod from ***?
In his early years, Wei Lihuang was inspired by Dr. Sun Yat-sen's democratic revolutionary ideas and became a member of the revolutionary mind, joining the local armed forces at the age of 15. Later, he became a guard by Mr. Sun Yat-sen's side and was his faithful followerI look forward to the day when democracy will be truly realized
But soon after, Xu Chongzhi was expelled from Guangzhou by Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek became the ruler.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek claimed that he would take over the mantle of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and continue to look for a way for China to save its existence. So Wei Lihuang chose to follow Chiang Kai-shek and become his subordinate, all the way to the Northern Expedition.
As everyone knows, Chiang Kai-shek later betrayed the revolution, and Wei Lihuang also embarked on a "** road."
During the ten-year civil war, Wei Lihuang obeyed Chiang Kai-shek's orders, frantically encircled and suppressed the Red Army, and became a veritable "vanguard of the suppression of the Communist Party", and also became one of Chiang Kai-shek's famous "Five Tiger Generals".
However, because Wei Lihuang was neither a fellow countryman of Chiang Kai-shek, nor was he "born" in the Whampoa Military Academy, he was never able to become a descendant of the Kuomintang. In addition, Wei Lihuang has an unruly character, and he has a lot of complaints about many of Chiang Kai-shek's practices, thereforeChiang Kai-shek, who was sensitive, could not trust him completely.
Wei Lihuang also knew this, and he only belonged to the "miscellaneous army" in the "Five Tiger Generals". Compared with the other four, if it weren't for his outstanding combat talent, how could Chiang Kai-shek tolerate himself and grant himself important positions?
Therefore,The relationship between Jiang Wei and Jiang Wei has always been a little delicate
Soon, the Sino-Japanese War broke out.
The Xi'an Incident that occurred during this period made Wei Lihuang realize the profound righteousness of the Communist Party of China and feel the essential difference between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. For the sake of the nation's peril, he also put aside his prejudices against the Communist Party in his past and chose to unanimously resist Japan.
Later, with the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, it was a good opportunity for both the Communist Party and Wei Lihuang, who wanted to get close to the Communist Party.
During this period, Wei Lihuang witnessed such a team with backward equipment, winning battles one after another, and the victory of Pingxingguan is the most typical example. In the subsequent Battle of Xinkou, the perfect coordination between the guerrilla warfare of the Eighth Route Army and the frontal battlefield of the Kuomintang made Wei Lihuang feel a burst of joy.
At the same time, he met with *** and ** and discussed the battle plan together, which also made Wei Lihuang feel the humility, simplicity, sincerity and cordiality of the Communist Party.
Chiang Kai-shek, who had always been suspicious by nature, could not sit still when he learned of this, and he telegraphed Wei Lihuang four times in a row in four days.
The telegram is full of "** clever words and deception, no matter what you say, it is not enough to be believed, let alone be deceived by the honey words of its obedience and support, and I hope to be cautious." ”
However, based on his consistent position, Wei Lihuang believes that the most urgent thing at present is to unanimously resist Japan, and we cannot start internal chaos first.
Because of this, Wei Lihuang decided to come to Yan'an to have a look.
April 1938,Wei Lihuang came to Yan'an, and the people of Yan'an warmly welcomed him after learning about it. Wei Lihuang was extremely surprised, he never thought that as a Kuomintang general, he would be so entertained.
After entering Yan'an, Wei Lihuang felt extremely emotional when he saw the patched clothes on the people's bodies and the harmonious coexistence between the masses and the soldiers, and he had never seen such a scene of the army and the people coexisting in harmony and unity within the Kuomintang.
In addition, ** also cordially received him and invited him to dinner.
And the cordial conversation with *** also made Wei Lihuang change his previous thinkingI have a deeper understanding of the Eighth Route Army's War of Resistance.
Since then, Wei Lihuang has withstood the pressure many times and provided material assistance to the Eighth Route Army.
After arriving in Xi'an from Yan'an, he sent 1 million rounds of bullets, 250,000 grenades and 1.8 million boxes of canned beef to the Eighth Route Army. How precious this was to the Communist Party, which was short of materials at that time!
It can be said that after the trip to Yan'an, Wei Lihuang completely became a "friend" of the Communist Party in the Kuomintang.
Since the large and small battles that have taken place since the Anti-Japanese War, what he saw and heard during his trip to Yan'an, and his long conversations with many leaders of the Communist Party of China, Wei Lihuang clearly realized that the Communist Party of China is the elite force that can truly rejuvenate China.
Therefore, in the following battle, although Wei Lihuang was forced to obey Chiang Kai-shek's orders to continue to fight against the Communist Party due to the helplessness of his position and environment, he still withstood the pressure, eliminated interference, and worked hard for the Communist Party to achieve the final victory in his own unique way.
At the first climax, Wei Lihuang did not follow Chiang Kai-shek's order to suppress the Communist Party on time, and he did not agree with Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "fighting outside the country must first secure the interior", and always insisted on unanimously resisting Japan and was unwilling to send troops for a long time.
Chiang Kai-shek was greatly annoyed by this and kept putting pressure on Wei Lihuang.
In desperation, Wei Lihuang could only send troops, but ordered that the Eighth Route Army could not be beaten.
When the second ** climax came, Wei Lihuang cooperated with the offensive of the Eighth Route Army, and often kept in touch with the Eighth Route Army. **After leading the army to victory in the battle against the Japanese army, Wei Lihuang also sent a telegram saying:"Not only did the enemy deal a fatal blow, but also gave spiritual encouragement to the friendly troops. ”
It was precisely because Wei Lihuang had always shown that he was too close to the Communist Party that he was soon punished by Chiang Kai-shek for his "defeat" on the battlefield.
It was also during this period that Chiang Kai-shek no longer used him as heavily as before, and turned around and used the excuse of inspecting Europe and the United States to relieve Wei Lihuang of his military power and began to send another man to replace Wei Lihuang's position.
Indeed, the Communist Party of China's policy of "unity and cooperation, and unity with the outside world" has always deeply attracted Wei Lihuang.
He believes that in the face of the danger of the nation, a man with an iron backbone cannot retreat. Seeing that China's land is about to fall into the hands of the Japanese invaders, if you don't resist, you will become a slave of the country, and then you will be in the mood to engage in a civil war?
It was precisely because of this difference in thinking that the relationship between Wei Lihuang and Chiang Kai-shek was opened and he stood on the stand of the Communist Party of China. It's just that due to the environment, I didn't declare it. At this time, Wei Lihuang was already "in Cao Ying, and his heart was in Han".
In this way, this figure, who can be called Chiang Kai-shek's "right-hand man", has completely become a friendly force of the Communist Party.
Later, when the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was won and the external troubles were resolved, the competition between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party for the fruits of victory became more and more intense.
The northeast, a strategically important place with a superior geographical location, has become a sweet spot for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to compete for.
For this reason, Chiang Kai-shek, when he had no generals available, once again telegraphed Wei Lihuang, who was in Europe and the United States, ordering him to return to China and lead the army to help him realize his desire to control the northeast.
What Chiang Kai-shek didn't know was that Wei Lihuang had already made up his mind to help the Communists at this time.
Soon Wei Lihuang rushed back from abroad, arrived in the northeast and assumed the post of commander-in-chief of the "suppression of the northeast". After that, he concentrated his forces and held the main points. Whether it was the urgency of the defenders in various places, or Chiang Kai-shek's telegram to him to send troops to relieve the siege, Wei Lihuang turned a blind eye and refused to fight. Therefore,The contradictions between Jiang Wei and Jiang Wei are also becoming more and more acute
Soon, the Battle of Liaoshen began.
Among them, the First Battle of Jinzhou was the most critical, and both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party attached great importance to it and injected a large number of troops into it.
However, when the war was at a critical time and Chiang Kai-shek wanted to relieve the predicament of Jinzhou, Wei Lihuang played a key role.
Under various pretenses, Wei Lihuang kept delaying the supply of ammunition and gasoline to Liao Yaoxiang's corps, and finally only gave them seven days' rations, which has been slowing down their march. and refused to send troops, turned a blind eye to Chiang Kai-shek's orders, refused to carry them out, and stuck to Shenyang.
As a result, the Northeast Field Army took the opportunity to go all the way north, occupied Jinzhou, and liberated Changchun.
After that, ** directly waved his army south and launched a general attack on Shenyang.
But Wei Lihuang did not move, and even abandoned his post and fled.
Shenyang was liberated in such a simple way.
Finally, the Liaoshen Campaign ended, and the Communists occupied the Northeast and established the Red Regime, which also marked the complete liberation of the entire Northeast. The Kuomintang could only retreat to Nanjing. Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek blamed Wei Lihuang and ordered:"Wei Lihuang, commander-in-chief of the Northeast Bandit Suppression, hesitated, lost the fighter plane, and lost the town, so he was immediately removed from his post for investigation! ”
In this way, Wei Lihuang, who had successfully retired, was placed under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing, and sent spies to monitor him day and night.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek began to wonder whether Wei Lihuang had "surrendered" to the Communist Party. Otherwise, how could the communist offensive have gone so smoothly?
Chiang Kai-shek, who has always been suspicious and eager to take revenge, did not think of attacking Wei Lihuang, but because of Wei Lihuang's prestige and status in the army, Chiang Kai-shek could not act rashly, so he could only put him under house arrest.
At this time, Wei Lihuang had become one of the Kuomintang "war criminals" announced by our army.
After Chiang Kai-shek saw the news, he obviously lowered his guard against Wei Lihuang, and gradually relaxed his guards, which also gave Wei Lihuang more opportunities to escape.
On January 21, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek announced his resignation, Li Zongren was appointed as the acting **, and Wei Lihuang was released.
Taking advantage of the lax surveillance of the spies, Wei Lihuang took a car to Shanghai, and then took a boat to Hong Kong to live in seclusion.
After coming to Hong Kong, Wei Lihuang learned that he was on the list of "war criminals", and at that moment he not only did not get nervous, but shouted excitedly: "I am saved!" ”
It turned out that although Wei Lihuang had temporarily fled to Hong Kong at that time, he had not yet escaped the encirclement of the spies, and he had to be cautious in his style, and once he became a "war criminal" of the Communist Party, he was out of danger.
It's just that Wei Lihuang has always been relieved that his old mother and nephews who are far away in Hefei are out of danger, so who will protect his family?
After thinking about it, Wei Lihuang sent a telegram to **, asking him to protect his mother, children and nephews, and not let them be subjected to hostile forces.
So why did Mr. Zhu hesitate repeatedly at this time? It turned out that although the two had a good personal relationship, if they used the power of the public to help him, how could they block the mouths of the people?
Just when ** was undecided, ** made a decision, asking Liu Deng's army to protect Wei Lihuang's family after advancing into Dabie Mountain, and ordered the local county ** to take good care of them.
In ***'s view, Wei Lihuang is not an enemy, but a friend, and a close comrade-in-arms. Everyone has seen his assistance to the Communist Party in the past, and he has made a lot of efforts in the liberation of Northeast China, so the current help is nothing.
It is precisely because of this decision that Wei Lihuang trusts the Communist Party of China even more.
On March 15, 1955, under the careful arrangement of the relevant organizations, Wei Lihuang and his wife once again set foot on this land on the mainland, and truly returned to their hometown.
After that, Wei Lihuang successively served as a deputy to the National People's Congress, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and succeeded Long Yun as vice chairman of the National Defense Commission.
On January 17, 1960, Wei Lihuang died of illness at the age of 63.
In Wei Lihuang's body, it truly reflects the manly spirit of saving the country and trying to survive, and also reflects the correct judgment of right and wrong, good and evil. In his life, there may have been mistakes, but we must not erase his contributions.
When we really look at Wei Lihuang in two, we will find that he also has the spirit of our martyrs, who has always struggled to save the Chinese nation. Therefore, he is worthy of our respect.
In the long course of history, there have been many well-known or untold stories, and when we really explore and uncover their mysteries, we must judge them with a correct historical perspective. In them, find the shining points that we should learn, inherit and carry forward!