If the KMT-CPC peace talks are successful, who will be the head of New China?
China has gone through the baptism of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Civil War, and the country has paid a huge price. The latter could have been avoided, and the Kuomintang tried to stop the war and seek cooperation, but the heavens did not meet the wishes, and after a long period of negotiations, a decisive battle finally broke out.
Li Zongren, the supreme leader of the Kuomintang, actively advocated peace talks after coming to power, and even sent a delegation to Beiping to discuss cooperation. If the peace talks are successful, what position will Li Zongren hold in China's new **?
On January 21, 1949, the CCP showed flexibility, and the possibility of peace talks rose again. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down, and Li Zongren became ***
Although both sides have expressed their willingness to negotiate peace, their positions are very different. Sun Ke and Chiang Kai-shek's common goal was to protect Jiangnan, while Li Zongren advocated the division of the Yangtze River to rule.
Such differences have caused a clear divide between the two factions.
With Chiang Kai-shek's resignation, Sun Ke and Li Zongren became the focus of CCP negotiations. Although Sun Ke appeared to be willing to negotiate peace, there was no progress in reality.
After Li Zongren took office, he made it clear that he was willing to accept the eight conditions put forward by the CCP for negotiations. His statement deeply shocked the CCP, and everyone believed that domestic disputes could be resolved through peace talks, so they tried to win Li Zongren's support.
According to the actual situation, the Chinese Communist Party has made major revisions to the original draft peace talks agreement in order to achieve success. First of all, some overly drastic wording, such as "reactionary" and "elemental", was revised and replaced with more neutral words, such as "betrayal" and "contradiction".
Although Li Zongren said that he could accept the "punishment of war criminals", in order to show respect for him, the CCP decided not to list the names of war criminals, but instead called it "leniency for those who have contributed to promoting peace in the country."
In terms of power and the reorganization of the army, the CCP has shown great sincerity. They agreed that the two parties could negotiate things before the joint was formed.
For the army, the CCP gave Li Zongren great tolerance, and did not have to reduce and demobilize troops, but unified all the troops for intensive training. Even if it means that more empty pay is needed, the CCP is willing to do so to ensure Li Zongren**'s satisfaction.
** has made it clear: "Our current compromise is to provide Nanjing ** with a reason to persuade others, and we are to achieve peace as soon as possible." ”
During the peace talks, the CCP showed a sincere attitude towards Li Zongren and gave him many promises to dispel his doubts, such as *** said that as long as the agreement was signed, the two sides could continue to negotiate things, and Li Jishen also assured Li Zongren that he could become the vice chairman of **People** after signing the agreement.
In addition, Huang Shaohong also promised that Li Zongren could serve as the vice chairman of the joint ** after the agreement was signed, and the Gui troops could also stay in Wuhan and not have to worry about military and land reform.
Despite the huge concessions and sincerity shown by the CCP, Li Zongren was hesitant to sign the Peace Agreement. This is mainly because he has always advocated peace talks, but his real purpose is still for his own selfish interests.
In addition, his position as ** did not come smoothly, so it was even more difficult to give up. To tell about Li Zongren's experience, we have to mention Chiang Kai-shek.
At a time of chaos, Li Zongren and Chiang Kai-shek were able to take advantage of the opportunity to ascend to the throne by virtue of their deep friendship and mutual trust. Soon after the first acquaintance, Chiang Kai-shek gave Li Zongren machine guns and radio transceivers, which were in short supply at that time, and allocated 200,000 yuan to improve the situation of Li Zongren's army.
These actions made Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi greatly appreciate Chiang Kai-shek's reliability and sincerity.
Li Zongren gradually strengthened the Gui army in many battles, which made Chiang Kai-shek regard him as a serious problem and began to suppress him. This repression made Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi unhappy.
When Chiang Kai-shek's situation deteriorated in 1949, Li Zongren seized the opportunity.
At the beginning of the new year of 1949, ** issued a proclamation vowing to completely destroy the reactionary forces and carry out a complete revolution. On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek expressed his willingness to discuss with the Chinese Communist Party a concrete plan for stopping the war and restoring peace.
However, it didn't take long for Chiang Kai-shek to be "forced" to roll the wheels of history forward.
In 1948, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Gui family launched a movement in Wuhan with the intention of persecuting Chiang Kai-shek. By this time, the three major battles had already caused Chiang Kai-shek to lose a large number of elite troops, and the Gui family was therefore eager to take his place.
Li Zongren even revealed to the US ambassador that Chiang Kai-shek's existence was not beneficial to the country and the people, and hoped that the United States could prompt Chiang Kai-shek as soon as possible and hand over the post to a new leader, which was the best choice for the people.
After seeing that he was no longer able to reverse the situation, Chiang Kai-shek pushed the boat and accepted the decision to go down.
Li Zongren dared to force Chiang Kai-shek to abdicate for two important reasons. First, when he was running for deputy in 1948, he established a close relationship with U.S. Ambassador Stuart Leiden.
The United States originally supported Chiang Kai-shek, but due to Chiang Kai-shek's improper command, the war was lost one after another, which made the United States very dissatisfied. Li Zongren's brilliant wisdom during the election campaign led to Situ Leiden's attention turning from Chiang Kai-shek to him.
In his report, Stuart said that Li Zongren's status in the hearts of students had surpassed that of Chiang Kai-shek, and that expectations of him were increasing day by day. The support of the United States has also doubled Li Zongren's self-confidence.
In addition, Li Zongren's close relationship with Bai Chongxi was also an important factor in his success. Known as "Little Zhuge ", Bai Chongxi has outstanding military talents, and their deep friendship allows them to stand together against any challenge.
With these advantages, when Li Zongren saw that Chiang Kai-shek was losing power, he immediately took over the position of deputy **, actively carried out peace talks, and paved the way for his future.
1.After Chiang Kai-shek**, Li Zongren said that he could negotiate on the basis of the CCP's eight conditions, and ordered Sun Ke to implement seven major peace measures.
2.On the day of Chiang Kai-shek**, Bai Chongxi convened a meeting and made it clear that he wanted to negotiate peace with the Chinese Communists, with the aim of realizing "ruling by dividing the river" and equalizing with the Communist Party, which was also Li Zongren's true idea.
3.After Chiang Kai-shek**, Li Zongren immediately expressed his willingness to negotiate on the basis of the CCP's eight conditions, and ordered Sun Ke to implement the seven major peace measures.
4.On the same day of Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi organized a meeting and made it clear that the goal of peace talks with the Chinese Communists was to "divide the river and rule" and be on an equal footing with the Communist Party, which was exactly what Li Zongren really thought.
5.After Chiang Kai-shek, Li Zongren's attitude towards peace talks with the CCP appeared to be very sincere, but in fact his purpose was to achieve "rule by dividing the river" and being on an equal footing with the Communist Party, which was also his real intention.
When the CCP first saw Li Zongren's goodwill, they relaxed the conditions for peace talks in order to win him over. Li Zongren was not moved and continued to keep in touch with the CCP, his real purpose was to force Jiang **, quell civil strife, and win over people's hearts; At the same time, the CCP delayed the crossing of the river in order to preserve the power of Nanjing** and the Kuomintang, and tried to divide the country equally with the CCP and establish a situation in which the Gui system dominated the world.
On January 26, the Nanjing ** Military Court acquitted the Japanese war criminal, Senior General Okamura Ninji. The next day, Li Zongren sent a telegram to *** to say that Nanjing** had accepted the eight conditions put forward by the CCP and was willing to further discuss the remaining issues in follow-up talks.
However, Li Zongren immediately expressed doubts about the eight conditions, believing that at this stage, he should not be required to implement certain conditions, after all, he was not Chiang Kai-shek, but the leader of Nanjing**, so the CCP should treat him as an equal.
Although Li Zongren expressed his willingness to hold peace talks on the basis of the eight conditions and made two phone calls, he secretly released Japanese war criminals behind his back. When the CCP asked Li Zongren to arrest Okamura Ningji back on the 28th, he was deaf to Nanjing**.
All of this shows that Li Zongren's so-called peace talks are just a cover, and his real purpose is to stall for time and satisfy his own selfish desires.
Li Zongren traveled from Guilin to Nanjing on February 25, and held a meeting on the same day to establish the basic principles for peace talks with the CCP. He stressed that peace talks must be conducted on an equal footing, and rejected the idea of a joint coalition and the CCP taking power together.
At the same time, he decided to make public his plan to divide the river and rule the country, and reversed his previous statement that he was willing to negotiate on the eight conditions, and intended to ask the CCP to negotiate on the basis of recognizing the two **.
Li Zongren was no longer prepared for a "roundabout war" with the CCP, and he was eager to reach an agreement with the CCP in order to consolidate his position in the Gui lineage. In April, despite the decision not to mention the names of war criminals in the peace clauses, the various treaties still made Zhang Zhizhong feel that the agreement document was full of criminal implications, and Bai Chongxi also felt that the "peace agreement" was like a "surrender letter".
Therefore, when the signing date was only two days away, at the meeting presided over by Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi angrily scolded: "This kind of condition can also be brought back to tell us!" ”
and angrily flipped away, dashing hopes for the signing of the Peace Agreement.
Li Zongren still wanted to rule the CCP after the three major battles, but he did not realize that the Kuomintang no longer had the opportunity to claim hegemony. Although Chiang Kai-shek had no future in the eyes of the United States at that time, Li Zongren firmly believed that the Kuomintang still had a chance to gain American support.
In particular, with the encouragement of US Ambassador Stuart Leiden, he strengthened his conviction that as long as he received the full assistance and material support of the United States, he would be able to shake off the shackles of Chiang Kai-shek, show his strength in a big way, and make a difference.
Li Zongren's thirst for power made him unable to accept the CCP's peaceful conditions. He firmly believes that there is only pass"Peaceful coexistence"with"Row the river and rule"in order to maintain their power.
His personal beliefs and persistence made him unable to recognize the facts. He insisted that only those who stay the course will succeed, while"Surrender"It's the loser's approach.
Therefore, it is impossible for him to give up his ideals for the sake of peace talks, and the CCP's peace talks are doomed to be unrealized.
The failure of the peace talks is not only due to Li Zongren's personal reasons, but also to external interference. Although Li Zongren became the first and the CCP also regarded him as a key figure in the peace talks, the real power was still in the hands of Chiang Kai-shek.
In the course of the peace talks, the stubborn civil war faction constantly attacked Li Zongren and resolutely opposed his acceptance of the eight conditions on behalf of the people, which brought great trouble to the peace talks.
Bai Chongxi had a significant restraining effect on Li Zongren. As the two leaders of the Gui faction, Bai Chongxi has heavy troops in his hands, and his firm position is that "it is impossible for the CCP to accept peace talks if it crosses the river."
This attitude also prompted Li Zongren to adopt a strategy of letting things go uncontrollably, allowing the situation to develop to the point of no return. Li Zongren paid the price for his unrealistic and self-indulgent efforts, and he lost the opportunity to participate in state power.
All of this is the result of his own fault.
Li Zongren's hesitation and selfishness led to the failure of the KMT-CCP peace talks, which plunged the country into the crisis of war. This negotiation was originally intended to seek the least damage and achieve peace in the country, but unfortunately, Li Zongren's decision made all this come to naught.
Li Zongren: A General in Troubled Times and the Thoughts of Peace Li Zongren, a brave and warlike general, made great contributions to the victory of the Northern Expedition and the War of Resistance Against Japan. However, as the leader of the **, his selfishness and stubbornness made him unable to see the situation clearly, and finally fled in defeat.
Later in life, he reflected on his decision, regretting that the Peace Agreement had not been signed, while at the same time rejoicing that he had not received the support of the United States. In his Memoirs of Li Zongren, he wrote: "If the river had been divided, China might not be able to become independent, like South Korea and Laos, and the country would have suffered even more damage." ”
Li Zongren was well aware of the importance of national unity, but the power struggle and selfishness in the troubled times made him ignore this point. Our peaceful and prosperous world was won at the price of the blood paid by our predecessors, and we should remember history and never forget our mission.
As the current generation, it is our responsibility to contribute to the unity and stability of the country.
In the 1949 peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Li Zongren's influence could not be ignored. A number of articles have been published on this topic, including Sun Liming's "Li Zongren and the 1949 Kuomintang-Communist Peace Talks", Luo Pinghan's "The Origin of the 1949 Kuomintang-Communist Peace Talks", and Zhang Jiakang's "The 1949 Kuomintang-Communist Peace Talks".