After the decisive battle, the elite of the Kuomintang suffered all losses and was unable to organize large-scale resistance, and the war of liberation was already biased in favor of our army. The Kuomintang pleaded for negotiations and put forward the idea of "dividing the river and ruling the country."
However, this was actually a conspiracy between Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang. In order to completely liberate the whole of China, he resolutely refused to negotiate peace and decided to cross the river to fight, march to the whole country, and complete the great cause of liberation.
The Kuomintang must have had impure motives when it put forward the demand for "dividing the river and ruling the country", and this was not a decision of Chiang Kai-shek or Li Zongren alone, at least it was supported by the United States.
So, what is their purpose in making this request? Although Chiang Kai-shek has stepped down, he is still the president of the Kuomintang and holds the power of the party. He agreed that there was only one purpose for "dividing the river and ruling the country," that is, to delay the process of easing and releasing the war.
His strategy was to gain three months to six months to train another two million recruits through peace talks, and to use the Yangtze River to defend in danger. In addition, he had already begun to deploy in Shanghai and instructed Chen Cheng to focus on his operations in Taiwan, which further revealed the purpose of his peace talks, that is, to buy himself time and wait for the opportunity to recover the whole country.
Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi. In fact, it was the two of them who came up with the idea of "rowing the river and ruling it". Li and Bai had long realized that the Kuomintang was over.
However, they want to use the tactics of the Chongqing negotiations to buy themselves some time to preserve their strength and principal. Therefore, they sent Liu Zhongrong, a think tank of the Gui family, as a plenipotentiary representative, to Beijing to negotiate with ***.
Liu Zhongrong met with *** three times, and the two sides communicated. Although *** vetoed the "rule of the river", he provided a way out for Li and Bai.
He told Liu Zhongrong that Li and Bai just wanted to keep their strength, so it was better to make a gentleman's agreement. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, if they chose to go to the side of the people, they could work in military circles and even lead more troops than they do now.
If they are frightened by our actions, they can retreat to places like Changsha or Guilin, and as long as they don't take the initiative to attack, we won't attack them, or even enter their territory for the time being.
However, Li and Bai still had a fluke mentality at this time, thinking that they would be able to resist for a while. When Liu Zhongrong went back to convey the CCP's intentions, they showed a certain disdain for it.
But in the end, they still couldn't escape the fate of being swept away.
On the American side: After the outbreak of the Liberation War, the United States estimated that the CCP and the Kuomintang would fall into a protracted war, but as the three major battles progressed, the United States realized the incompetence of the Kuomintang, so it decided to encourage Chiang Kai-shek to abdicate and make way for Xian, and instead support the young Li Zongren.
In fact, the United States supports the idea of "dividing the river and ruling the country," which is not only conducive to keeping half of China in order to make a comeback in the future, but also providing the Kuomintang with more time to maintain its presence in Chinese mainland, which is completely in line with the vested interests of the United States.
On the Soviet side, during the War of Liberation, the Soviet Union adopted a neutral attitude and did not publicly state whether it supported the idea of "dividing the river and ruling the country". However, it can be perceived from Stalin's letter to *** that the Soviet Union actually supported this proposition, but the purpose behind it was not out of support for the CCP, but out of its own interests.
It was in the interests of the Soviet Union to divide the river and rule the country. If the Kuomintang wins, they will become the best people in the United States, which is undoubtedly a challenge for the Soviet Union. If the communists unify China, they will act in an independent way, which is not good news for the Soviet Union.
If the division of the river and the rule of the country are realized, the Communist Party will only have half of the country, and Chiang Kai-shek will also have half of the country, and this is undoubtedly the most ideal situation. Although the United States supported Chiang Kai-shek**, the Soviet Union did not have a holiday with Chiang**, and the other half belonged to the socialist camp and could serve as a bridgehead against the American-backed nationals**, which was also in the interests of the Soviet Union.
Therefore, in the letter, Stalin supported the rule of the river and threatened that if the Communists did not agree, the United States could enter the war, breaking out into a global war. However, ** and *** have long been aware of the intentions of the parties.
Soon after, a million heroes crossed the river, opening a new chapter in the War of Liberation.