Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Chiang Kai-shek loses the mainland

Chiang Kai-shek is now considering two other things: Launch a new diplomatic offensive to force the United States to renew its full support for Kuomintang rule in China; seriously study the possibility of a more extensive last-ditch defense in Kuomintang areas. On October 1, Mao Zedong announced the founding of the new republic. Those who celebrated this great victory with him on that day were not only his comrades in arms, but also Sun Yat-sen's wife Soong Ching Ling and some Kuomintang generals who changed their positions during the civil war. and the remains of "Christian General" Feng Yuxiang, as well as some celebrities from Shanghai and Singapore.

Chiang Kai-shek took his son Jiang Jingguo back to his hometown of Xikou and began his "life in seclusion". After arriving at Xikou, Chiang Kai-shek's first order to his son was to urge him to urge the Air Force Command to complete the construction of Dinghai Airport on time without delay. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek did not explain why he did this. I don't know what he thinks in his heart. It was not long before the reason became clear: Dinghai belonged to Zhejiang Province, between Xikou and Shanghai, and Chiang Kai-shek's order to do so had shown in fact that he had little hope of keeping Shanghai, China's largest port city.During his "retirement", he has been asking about the progress of the airport construction.

Four months later, Shanghai fell, and the Kuomintang defenders withdrew to Taiwan by Dinghai Airport. One day, Chiang Kai-shek said to Chiang Ching-kuo: "We will stay here for 3 months", and he was right. Acting President Li soon discovered that his subordinate ministers did not obey his orders, as did the army and police. In addition, he was short of funds.Chiang Kai-shek sent a decree from his secluded hometown, ordering Yu Honggou, the president of the Bank of the Republic of China, to transport 500,000 ounces of gold to Taipei. From a constitutional point of view, Chiang Kai-shek had no right to issue such an order at that time.

However, this decree was implemented, firstly because it was an order from Chiang Kai-shek; secondly, he was exercising the power of the president of the Kuomintang.His main purpose in doing so was undoubtedly to continue to confront the Communist Party, because Chiang Kai-shek believed that the Communist Party's conquest of the mainland was inevitable, and on February 20, 1949, the gold was shipped away.If the gold is not transported to Taiwan and kept in the old place, there is no doubt that Li Zongren will use this as a condition for peace talks with Mao Zedong. Li Zongren was very annoyed when he heard that the gold had been shipped away.He strictly prohibited the central bank from sending any property to Taiwan; the central bank confiscated a large number of pearls, diamonds, gems, etc. during the war and stored them in an underground vault in Shanghai.Li Zongren sent ships there in time to keep the cargo from being shipped to Taiwan.

Later, the Communist Party occupied Shanghai and obtained these treasures.For Li Zongren, the immediate result of this was that the central bank ignored his demand for government management fees.Without the backing of gold, the market value of gold round bonds began to drop sharply again. When Li Zongren discovered that his government had little money, he also found that his personal power was extremely limited, but one thing was very clear—he had the right to conduct peace talks with the Communist Party. The first step he took was to discuss this issue with the Soviet ambassador Boshiqin. The Soviet ambassador immediately agreed to help him on the condition that the Chinese government must remain neutral in the event of future conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Chinese government must take measures. Measures to eliminate U.S. influence in China.

Therefore, Li Zongren, who was inexperienced in diplomacy, naively sent the minutes of his talks with the Soviet ambassador to the American ambassador Dr. Leighton Stuart, asking the United States to publicly pledge to support the Nationalist government. When Chiang Kai-shek heard this strange move at Xikou, he couldn't laugh or cry. Chiang Kai-shek was not at all surprised, therefore, when the State Department refused to promise to eliminate America's own influence in China. Winter is almost over, and there are many "peace talk middlemen" in Nanjing and Shanghai. Li Zongren is dedicated to peace talks, so he listens to the opinions of these people.One of them was Professor Wu Yuhao of Central University, the other was General Li Mingyang, who had links to Wang Jingwei's puppet regime, and Wu Houshan of the Legislative Yuan.

However, these people did not play any role as "middlemen" other than receiving some money from the acting president. There are also two Li Zongren's people among the "peace talk middlemen"-Liu Chongjun and Huang Qihan.Both claimed to be members of the "third faction," the middle group between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.However, it was later discovered that both of them were underground members of the Communist Party. On Jan 22nd, Li Zongren assigned a five-person committee to negotiate with the communists on behalf of the Nationalist government.Two days later, he announced the lifting of martial law, the release of political prisoners, and the dissolution of the secret police.

On the 27th, Li Zongren called Mao Zedong and agreed to use the 8-point proposal of the Communist Party as the basis for peace talks. It was at this time that Acting President Li found out that his "acting president" was empty. On the matter of the peace talks, he neither discussed with the Executive Yuan nor told Sun Ke, the head of the Executive Yuan. Sun Ke was very annoyed and refused to recognize the validity of the telegram, declaring that he was not responsible for the acting president's measures before the Legislative Yuan.He also announced that the government would be moved to Guangzhou.

On February 5, except for the acting president's office, all government departments were removed from Nanjing on time. The governments of countries that have diplomatic relations with the ROC were also required to move their embassies to Guangzhou on the same day.Leighton Stuart refused the request, and most other embassies also agreed to move, with the bewildering fact that Bochchin was the only exception. He found that once he was in Guangzhou, he only dealt with some remnants of the Kuomintang, including Wu Tiecheng, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, Li Zongren and the peace negotiation team remained in Nanjing.

In other ways, the absent grand president is undermining the power of his "surrogates." He sent 300,000 direct-line troops to Taiwan, as well as 26 ships and air forces. About 900,000 Kuomintang troops remained on the mainland, but only 120,000 of these troops were dispatched by Li Zongren, because they belonged to his old colleagues. reason. Both the police and the intelligence agencies got their orders from Chen Lifu, who represented Chiang Kai-shek who had retired behind the scenes.Therefore, the order of the acting president to pardon political prisoners and dismiss the secret police has become a dead letter.

Li Zongren wanted to gain popularity by releasing the young marshal Zhang Xueliang, but he couldn't find the young marshal. Zhang Xueliang has been imprisoned since the Xi'an Incident in 1936, and now Chiang Kai-shek has transported Zhang Xueliang to Taiwan, and he is still imprisoned. Chiang Kai-shek believed he could return to power (which was consistent with his life creed that "'retiring' does not mean 'retiring' forever").At this time, he is enjoying "retirement" fun for him. He was accustomed to living a life of pleasure relying on state expenditures, so he borrowed 1 million gold dollar notes in his private name from the Agricultural Bank, which was officially worth 10,000 U.S. dollars for him to squander. For Chiang Kai-shek, this was an easy task because Chen Lifu controlled the Agricultural Bank.In addition to Chiang Ching-wai, Chiang Kai-shek was accompanied by a secretary and an attendant.Chiang Kai-shek's son took a walk in the fields and returned to the ancestral temples and temples his mother let him go to when he was a child, which aroused Chiang Kai-shek's nostalgic thoughts.At first, like General de Gaulle's habit, he refused to receive any visitors. President Li Dai was one of those who asked to meet with Chiang Kai-shek but was refused.However, the letters and telegrams sent by Chiang Kai-shek's carefully arranged intelligence personnel made him well aware of the current situation. Zhang Zhizhong was the head of the Peking peace talks delegation appointed by Acting President Li. He sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that he would go to Xikou to meet with the chairman of the committee for advice. However, Chiang Kai-shek is quite experienced and took the upcoming peace talks indifferently.After reading the telegram, he said to Jiang Jingguo, "It doesn't matter whether he comes or not." The next day, Zhang Zhizhong came to Xikou, but the chairman did not mention the peace talks at all, and when Zhang Zhizhong showed signs of mentioning this matter, he changed the topic and insisted on taking Zhang Zhizhong to see the local beauty.That night, Jiang Jingguo told Zhang Zhizhong why his father was skeptical and uninterested in the peace talks. However, Zhang Zhizhong said: No matter what, he wants peace talks.With this attitude, Zhang Zhizhong left Xikou. Chiang Kai-shek was not surprised to hear that Mao Zedong had made Li Zongren a lot more difficult on the issue of peace talks. Acting President Li rose to his current position step by step from a feudal warlord in China. He fantasized about making a deal with the Communist Party, or that the Kuomintang or part of Li Zongren's army ruled the area south of the Yangtze River.But he soon discovered that Mao Zedong had no interest in the deal, and that the Communist Party's goal was to liberate all of China. Peace talks were held in Peking on April 1.Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao led the Communist Party delegation, and Zhang Zhizhong led the Kuomintang delegation. Zhou Enlai did a lot of work below, and preached to the Kuomintang the "24 supplementary requirements" in addition to the 8 conditions originally proposed by Mao Zedong.Zhou Enlai said: "These 32 items are not negotiable. If the Kuomintang wants peace, it must agree to them all." The Kuomintang delegation was shocked.The Communist Party not only demanded the surrender of the 43 war criminals announced earlier, but also added a few more, including Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, He Yingqin, Song Ziwen, Chen Lifu, and Chiang Ching-kuo. If the Kuomintang agreed to the new conditions, it would be tantamount to unconditional surrender. Now, the Communist Party is demanding the reorganization of the country under its leadership, handing over management and preparing for a coalition government.Moreover, the Communist Party's condition from the outset was that the Kuomintang be morally responsible for the civil war.The Kuomintang delegation demanded concessions from the Communist Party, but with little success. On April 4, Mao Zedong announced that in the event of World War III, the Communist Party would side with the Soviet Union and oppose the United States.The decision shocked those who came to meet him and the world. On the 15th, Zhou Enlai issued an ultimatum: the Kuomintang government must accept the peace draft proposed by the Communist Party before April 20th; otherwise, the Communist Party's troops will march towards the Yangtze River. The Kuomintang delegation sent a member to Nanking to explain the situation to Acting President Li.The situation people talked about was more critical than what they read in the newspapers. Not only did the Central Army have to surrender, but those who surrendered had to help the Communist Party persuade others to lay down their arms as well. In addition, the ultimatum is also very clear: the Communist Party will cross the Yangtze River no matter what. Li Zongren and his closest aide Bai Chongxi exchanged views on this issue, and Bai Chongxi found the conditions of the Communist Party unacceptable. Zhang Zhizhong, head of the Kuomintang delegation, sent an urgent telegram to Li Zongren, suggesting that he accept the conditions proposed by the Communist Party, but Li Zongren felt that without Bai Chongxi's support, he could not make up his mind. At this point, the situation became out of hand.In fact, the situation is much more difficult to control than President Lee knew. From the very beginning of the meeting, he realized that he could not rely on Zhang Zhizhong, because Zhang's pro-communist tendencies became more and more obvious.Therefore, he mainly relied on other members of the delegation, especially Huang Shaoxiong, who used to belong to the Guangxi clique, and Liu Fei, the vice minister of national defense of the Kuomintang.But Huang Shaoxiong's situation is not much different from that of Zhang Zhizhong. In Beiping, he had planned to serve in the coalition government proposed by the Communist Party.As for Liu Fei, it was later discovered that he had been secretly working for the Communist Party in the Ministry of Defense for several years. In the end, not only did the entire delegation advocate the full acceptance of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai's conditions, but they stayed with the Communist Party in Peiping forever. On April 17, Acting President Li called Chiang Kai-shek, requesting him to be president and become the leader of the country again.Chiang Kai-shek called back to hold an emergency meeting in Hangzhou with Acting President Li Zongren and General He Yingqin. He Yingqin was ordered by Li Zongren to replace Sun Ke at a critical moment.Some other famous KMT figures were also present, including Wang Shijie, Zhang Qun, Bai Chongxi and others. When referring to the Communist Party's ultimatum, Chiang Kai-shek asked Li Zongren: "What do you think we should do about this?" Li replied: "I am going to send people to Peking for peace talks." According to Chiang Ching-kuo's recollection, Chiang Kai-shek once said: "There is no need to do this. The Communist Party agreed to the peace talks only because they have not yet deployed their troops to fight the Yangtze River. Once their conditions are ripe, there will be no room for peace talks. In addition, the first clause of the peace conditions puts all the responsibility on our Kuomintang. The party's 60 years of glorious achievements have been wiped out. These conditions are simply unacceptable." He took out a draft telegram prepared in advance and said: "This telegram is jointly signed by the two of us. You are the acting president of the National Government and I am the chairman of the Kuomintang." The draft announced that the peace talks with the Communist Party had completely collapsed, and the government moved to Guangzhou, continue to confront the Communist Party. Li Zongren couldn't say anything about it, so he had to agree to sign. A practical measure enacted at the Hangzhou meeting is that the new president of the Executive Yuan is also the minister of defense and has full control over the military.In order to show that his "retirement career" was not over, Chiang Kai-shek immediately returned to Xikou. Li Zongren also felt exhausted, and he returned to Guilin, his stronghold in Guangxi, where he recuperated for two weeks. The deadline stipulated in the ultimatum was reached, and after only seven hours, the cannons that the Communists had concentrated on the north bank of the Yangtze River opened fire. That night, the People's Liberation Army led by General Chen Yi easily crossed the Yangtze River against the nominal resistance of the Kuomintang gunboats at the mouth of the Yangtze River.Acting President Li panicked and ordered to withdraw from Nanjing. On the 24th, the Communist Party occupied Nanjing, and the red soldiers established a "Peace Preparatory Committee".Responsible for handling the receivership process.The residents of Nanjing looked at the victorious Communist army. They had strict discipline, did not rape, murder, or loot, and did not touch foreigners. The Kuomintang army may be very jealous of this. The fall of Nanking disillusioned some of the diplomatic missions stationed in Chiang Kai-shek's capital, but their reports back home were full of new illusions. These included Indian Ambassador Pennyton, Australian Foreign Minister Copeland, and Canada's Chargé d'affaires Chester Ronning, all of whom shared the same vision as "peasant revolutionaries." The illusion that the Chinese Communist Party will compromise with the Kuomintang. They analyze.The Communist Party definitely needs well-trained personnel to run the cities and the economy.Under this demand, it is possible to form a coalition government with Li Zongren leading the KMT in the coalition government. American Ambassador Leighton Stuart was convinced that even if Li Zongren did not reach an agreement with the Communist Party in the peace talks, the Communist Party would seek the assistance and cooperation of the United States.Fu Jingbo, his protégé's Chinese adviser, convinced him of this naivety. Fu Jingbo lived in Situ Leighton's official residence, and it was Situ Leighton who hired Fu Jingbo out of his own pocket.Fu Jingbo used to be Leighton Stuart's secretary at Yenching University. He often talked confidently about the "former Yenching University students" in the Communist Party and their "respect for the old school". Will immediately become pro-American elements.Even Li Zongren and his cronies believed that Fu Jingbo "represented the US State Department". This misunderstanding made Li Zongren stubbornly believe that even if the peace talks failed, he could throw Chiang Kai-shek aside and make a deal with the United States. When all was lost, he had personal recourse to President Truman. When the Kuomintang government moved to Guangzhou, all embassies were also required to move to Guangzhou. Leighton Stuart remained in Nanjing, trying to persuade the Chinese Communist Party to establish diplomatic relations with the United States through his former students. In the eyes of many Kuomintang members, his attitude further dampened the Kuomintang's spirit and accelerated their collapse in the mainland. Li Zongren's life in Guilin was not easy, because many people came here to ask him to move the government to Canton, where the anti-communist forces could unite.Li Zongren's situation is very embarrassing, he is in a dilemma.He believed that the peace talks had not been successful, and it might be wise to return power to Chiang Kai-shek.However, it was not the first time that Chiang Kai-shek made it difficult for him. The important meeting on May 3 made him understand Chiang Kai-shek's thoughts. On that day, Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan and some others flew to Guilin by special plane.They went to Li Zongren's office on Wenming Road immediately after getting off the plane.Yan Xishan and his entourage had been in contact with Chiang Kai-shek, and they told Acting President Li that the Chairman would spare no effort in supporting him. They put forward many proposals to be submitted to Chiang Kai-shek: the Minister of Defense and the military and political leaders should have full authority to command and mobilize the troops in the areas controlled by the central government; Enjoy the main powers stipulated in the Constitution; local governments should only be responsible to the acting president and the head of the Executive Yuan; the Kuomintang and the chairman of the committee should not interfere in the above matters; all gold, silver and foreign exchange shipped to Taiwan must be shipped back to the mainland; I hope the chairman Currently leaving China to travel to Europe and the United States for a period of time. On the surface, it is just to raise funds and seek support for China. In fact, it is to keep military and political reforms from being hindered. Of course Chiang Kai-shek had his own ideas.By April 25, three months had passed, and Chiang Kai-shek left Xikou, boarded a ship, and announced that he was going to Xiamen or Taiwan. In fact, he was going to Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek made his fortune in Shanghai when he was young, and gained love, fame and power.In the midst of disaster now, he thought of a crazy plan. Tang Enbo, who was defending Shanghai, never listened to Li Zongren's order to lift martial law and summon sufficient forces to strengthen the defense of the three towns of Wuhan.On the contrary, Tang Enbo threatened that he must turn Shanghai into "the second Stalingrad".Chiang Kai-shek supported his actions.He ordered the eight armies to be organized into Shanghai's city defense command, and delivered a speech, saying that he would "achieve complete victory within three years."Thousands of coolies were caught by them to dig the moat, and a 10-foot-high bamboo fence was erected beside the river, but these were of no significant military value. Chaos, brutality and cruelty can be seen everywhere.Tang Enbo brought 200,000 troops to Shanghai.These soldiers came to Shanghai in the name of protecting Shanghai, but in fact all of them were unorganized and undisciplined conquerors.They forced the use of offices and housing, and cut down the towering trees in front of the golf club, saying that this was to make room for shooting targets.Whether it's the open police or the secret police, say that someone is engaged in black market trading or espionage, and they are executed on the spot in front of the public, without a formal trial at all. The military took control of the central bank, which printed large amounts of paper money, much of which fell into the hands of high-ranking officials and generals.They flew to Guangzhou or Taiwan, exchanged the money into hard currency at the official price, and made a windfall from it. As usual, Chiang Kai-shek was indifferent to these matters.He usually looks down on those who are always worried about their personal lives, so he doesn't carry a safety net when he walks around the city.Perhaps in that situation, the regime was more important than the person, so no one touched him. During Chiang Kai-shek's 11 days in Shanghai, a special plane brought him the details of Li Zongren's talks in Guilin. Chiang Ching-kuo wrote back to the Acting President on behalf of his father, saying: "It's a pity! You want me to go abroad. I can't do that because I'm not a warlord! But I agree not to interfere in domestic affairs. From tomorrow, I will completely ignore it." Unbeknownst to Chiang Kai-shek, Acting President Lee wrote a letter to President Truman on May 5, 1949, in which he complained that the Nationalist government had failed to make full use of U.S. aid. In the summer of 1949, Li Zongren's letter was published together with many other official documents in the white paper of the US State Department, entitled "Relationship between the United States and China". On May 6, the Chairman left Shanghai and came to a secret place. It was later known that he had gone to Taipei. Officials in Taiwan acted accordingly, and after seeing Chiang Kai-shek, they asked him to build a house on the former governor's residence.Chiang Kai-shek politely declined the proposal, and stayed in the hotel of the small Taiwan Sugar Company, which is located in the mountains, 8 miles from Taipei. Meanwhile, Shanghai bankers and businessmen were negotiating with Communist emissaries. During the Sino-Japanese War, Shanghai's banking circles, especially Zhou Shaomin's Huangcheng Bank, privately provided money and medical facilities to General Chen Yi and the New Fourth Army.Now that the Communist army has reached the edge of the city, the bankers hope that the city will not be damaged by the war.At the same time, they also sent gold bars and dollars to Tang Enbo, asking him to promise not to hold back in Shanghai. On May 25, Chiang Kai-shek heard the news of the fall of Shanghai in the countryside of Taipei. As the Communist forces approached Shanghai, the Kuomintang defenders finally decided to surrender despite their rhetoric. Undoubtedly, the banker's money will help them cast off unnecessary heroism. Tang Enbo fled Shanghai with half of his troops.Chen Yi led his troops into the commercial metropolis and took 100,000 prisoners. A big bonus awaits the Communist Party, and the outside world knows nothing about it. This is due to Wu Shaosun, a little-known defector.He is a member of the "CC" faction and an official of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. During the Sino-Japanese War, he worked underground in Shanghai and was a senior spy of the Kuomintang.It was also his task to understand the situation of the underworld in Shanghai. For this reason, he joined the "Green Gang". After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as the deputy mayor of Shanghai and was responsible for organizing student work.He took charge of the local Three People's Principles Youth League.When the Communist Party entered Shanghai, it was Wu Shaosu who handed over all the files of local business tycoons, underworld leaders, and Kuomintang intelligence agents to the Communist Party. Therefore, Chen Yi was able to arrest all the hostile elements in time.It is said that before leaving Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek personally asked to set up an underground headquarters of the Kuomintang in Shanghai. Wu Shaosun's defection disrupted Chiang Kai-shek's move.In order to reward Wu Shaosun, Zhou Enlai later met him in the north and appointed him as a consultant to the Ministry of Communications of the People's Government. At this time, the shrewd veteran warlord Yan Xishan played an extremely short-lived role. Yan Xishan has ruled Shanxi since 1911, building railways and roads, planting trees, developing agriculture, and not ignoring education.It is not for nothing that he is thus known as the "Model Provincial Chairman". The siege of Taiyuan, the capital of the ancient province of Shanxi, began in the autumn of 1948 and was breached on April 24 of the following year, despite a 30-foot-high rampart.Because Yan Xishan could not get enough support, he flew to Guangzhou to negotiate with Li Zongren at the end of May. Li Zongren sent him to Taiwan, and brought a humble letter to Chiang Kai-shek, which said: "All the members of the Kuomintang here hope that you will come to Guangzhou to lead us, and I sincerely hope to listen to your teachings every day. "However, Chiang Kai-shek is now considering other things and is not prepared to reinstate at all. Yan Xishan talked about the general situation, and Chiang Kai-shek listened carefully.Among the Kuomintang officials, Yan Xishan was the most dissatisfied with the US policy of "non-intervention" when the "central government" needed them most. He wanted Chiang Kai-shek to abolish the "Constitution" and establish a military government. Don't take their reaction into account, reorganize the existing provinces according to the wartime organization, and take immediate measures to establish "anti-communist guerrillas" behind the Communist Party. But Chiang Kai-shek did not adopt his opinion on the grounds that "democracy must be guaranteed." Yan Xishan said in a contemptuous tone: "Americans think they know exactly what to do for China, but how much do they know about China? They only see China through the eyes of those emissaries, through some English-speaking Chinese intellectuals and compradors. China's. They want to introduce their democracy to China without considering the specific situation in China. We eat rice, they eat bread, do we have to eat bread to be a democracy?We don't think we know what's good for America, and it's right to do so. When lending money to a friend, there should be no strings attached.It would be absurd to lend money to a friend on condition that the friend spend it according to your terms. The Americans have done us enough harm.President Roosevelt sold us to the Russians at Yalta.Marshall's mediation was ineffective, giving the Communists ample time to deploy their troops and prepare for a full-scale counteroffensive. Now they rely on the missionary ambassador Stuart to try to change the Communist Party into Christians who fear God. If I were you, Mr. Jiang, I would completely forget America.If there is no country at all, how much is democracy worth? " Chiang Kai-shek turned a deaf ear to these fierce words.Therefore, Yan Xishan flew back to Guangzhou on June 2 to succeed He Yingqin as the head of the Executive Yuan. Although Yan Xishan is old and suffers from diabetes, he is very irritable, but he is famous. The appointment of him as the president of the Academy gave hope to some people in the Kuomintang. At the end of May, a rare "victory" temporarily boosted the morale of the Kuomintang. After Xi'an was occupied by the red army, Ma Bufang and his son won a battle unexpectedly. Chiang Kai-shek announced in Taiwan that he would promote Ma Bufang as the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Army, and promised to airdrop weapons and ammunition to him.However, the Kuomintang's victory life was too short, and Peng Dehuai arrived before the weapons and ammunition arrived. On August 26, Peng Dehuai defeated Ma Bufang. Chiang Kai-shek was now considering two other things: launching a new diplomatic offensive to force the United States to renew its full support for the Kuomintang rule in China; and seriously studying the possibility of implementing a more extensive last-ditch defense in the Kuomintang-ruled areas. Diplomatically, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Baguio, Philippines, to meet with President Quirino on July 10, and brought with him a plan for all independent countries in East Asia to unite against the Communist Party.Quirino agreed to the plan, and the next day a joint communiqué was signed to implement it. On August 7, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Zhenhai in South Korea, where he met with President Rhee.In a joint letter to President Quirino, the two politicians asked the President of the Philippines to convene a meeting in Baguio to invite all interested countries to join the alliance. This time, however, it was in vain. Later in the month, when Quirino traveled to Washington, US Secretary of State Acheson strenuously opposed Chiang Kai-shek's proposal, and an invitation to the meeting was not issued. Chiang Kai-shek made a brief stop in Guangzhou between talks with Quirino and Syngman Rhee.He has not been there since he left Guangzhou in 1936. In Guangzhou, he gave a pep talk.In his speech to the KMT Central Executive Committee on July 16, he stated that he was deeply ashamed to return to Canton now that the KMT retreat had failed, and he admitted to taking most of the responsibility for the failure.He said that he was surprised that there was gambling and drug trafficking under the nose of the government.However, he believed that Guangzhou must be kept, because it was the last port and the last place to use the sea and air force. Chiang Kai-shek also said; he is ready to live and die with Guangzhou.It sounds nice, but he left Guangzhou on the 21st. His speech in Guangzhou marked his return to leadership in the Kuomintang political circles, because that day the Kuomintang established the Central Extraordinary Committee, with Chiang Kai-shek as its chairman. At the Guangzhou Conference, Li Zongren and Chiang Kai-shek clashed over the strategic approach that the Kuomintang should adopt in difficult times.Li Zongren supported Bai Chongxi's plan to control the Central Plains, including Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, and Jiangxi, and use Guangdong and Guangxi as the rear.Li Zongren therefore asked the Kuomintang Air Force to fly back from Taiwan. However, Chiang Kai-shek was determined to ensure that Taiwan was indestructible even if all else failed.He refused to order the mobilization of the air force, and Li Zongren had to give up. At first, despite the defeat of the Kuomintang troops at Xuzhou, Bai Chongxi's plan seemed to be working as he had hoped.Lin Biao launched an offensive in early August, with the aim of advancing south along the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.Bai Chongxi was transferred back to the army according to the original plan, preparing to establish a stronghold in Changsha. Therefore, Bai Chongxi was more confident when the moody gangsters in the rear fought the Communists.These bandits have been anti-communist since 1930. In 1940 and 1945, he fought against the Japanese and the Chinese Communist Party respectively.Like the Irish, they were traditionally "anti-government" and opposed whoever was in power.At the same time, the flood also hindered Lin Biao's progress. The defection of the Kuomintang generals destroyed Bai Chongxi's plan.General Cheng Qian, the Kuomintang garrison commander on the Yangtze River, turned to the Communist Party in response to the Communist Party's proposal of "peaceful liberation". The two generals believed that they would be allowed to retain their territory after the Communist victory, and they were later assigned to work in the People's Congress. Now Bai Chongxi has no choice but to give up Changsha. On August 4, he began to withdraw from Changsha.However, two stunning but short-lived victories were presented before his eyes. General Liu Bocheng of the Communist Party is now in Ganzhou in southern Jiangxi, and Lin Biao has also fought as far as Hengyang, Hunan.Bai Chongxi won a battle with Lin Biao's 29th Army, causing it to retreat north of Changsha.Chiang Kai-shek believed that this was a battle of attacking east and west.However, Yu Hanmou, chairman of Guangdong Province, was greatly annoyed. He had the idea of ​​local rule and was determined not to abandon his 50,000 regular army and prevent Bai Chongxi from entering Guangdong Province.Chen Cheng led troops from Taiwan to land in Xiamen in order to prevent Liu Bocheng from reinforcing Lin Biao. At this time, they were also forced to withdraw to sea. Although Chiang Kai-shek still has power in the military, he does not have the power to directly control the government. In July, President Lee and his ministers scrapped the gold-dollar notes, which had lost their value, in favor of a new paper currency backed by silver dollars.Now is the time for clerks and soldiers to demand coins that are worth more than worthless bills. In the past three and a half months, the government has searched all the deposits of the central bank in Taiwan and paid more than 1.2 billion US dollars worth of gold, silver and foreign exchange. On October 15, Guangzhou was breached, and Chiang Kai-shek cut off this "survival fund" provided. In November, Li Zongren flew to Chongqing, while Yan Xishan fled to Taiwan.Amoy fell a few days later, and the Communists took complete control of China's coastline. However, Mao Zedong did not revel in these victories, and he also made victorious advances in the north. From September 21 to 28, 1949, the Chinese Communist Party, democratic parties and other parties opposed to the Kuomintang held the "Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" in Beiping. Since then, the name "Peking" has been abolished, because "Peking" was named by the Kuomintang in 1928 and is considered a symbol of degeneration.As the capital of the People's Republic of China, this great city regained its original name, Beijing. On October 1, Mao Zedong announced the founding of the new republic. Those who celebrated this great victory with him on that day were not only his comrades-in-arms, but also Sun Yat-sen’s wife Soong Ching Ling and some Kuomintang generals who changed their positions during the civil war—Fu Zuoyi, Cheng Qian and the widow of "Christian General" Feng Yuxiang, as well as some celebrities from Shanghai and Singapore. In this way, Chongqing became the "capital" of the "Republic of China". On August 24, Chiang Kai-shek came to Chongqing to serve as the chairman of the "Central Extraordinary Committee" of the Kuomintang.His followers held an anti-communist march on September 3. Chiang Kai-shek took the retreat to Taiwan as a last move, and at the same time he was looking for other retreats elsewhere.Xikang, located between Sichuan Province and Tibet, is an inaccessible mountainous area. This place is the most attractive to Chiang Kai-shek, but he soon discovered that the armed forces in this place may not necessarily be on his side at critical moments. . Chiang Kai-shek found something similar in Yunnan Province, which borders Indochina. He returned to Guangzhou at the end of September.Discussed many times with Li Zongren and his Guangxi colleague Bai Chongxi. On October 4, when Chiang Kai-shek remembered the unpleasant news that Mao Zedong had announced in Beijing, he flew back to Taiwan. On the 2nd, the Soviet Union recognized Mao Zedong's People's Republic of China. On the 3rd, the National Government still in Guangzhou broke off diplomatic relations with Moscow.Now that Chiang Kai-shek has lost all power, all he can do is show his rebellious mood.In fact, he continued to do so for nearly 26 years until his death. On October 10, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek issued the "Double Ten Announcement" in Taiwan, accusing the Soviet Union of "invading China" and claiming that he would "fight to the end" with the Communist Party.In order not to sit in Taipei and watch Chongqing be breached, he flew back to the crumbling Chongqing on November 4. Much to Chiang Kai-shek's displeasure, he discovered that Li Zongren had left Chongqing the day before yesterday for Nanning, his old stronghold in Guangxi. Li Zongren was no longer in the mood to fight.He had always had stomach problems, and the pain was unbearable, which made him suffer a lot, so he told people that he would have an operation. Chiang Kai-shek asked him to come back, but he ignored him. He went to the vacillating Yunnan Provincial Chairman Lu Han and ordered him to release some 1,000 Communist and Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee members whom the Provincial Chairman had arrested on September 10. On November 19, Bai Chongxi flew to Nanning.Acting President Li told Bai Chongxi that he wanted to publicly denounce the Chairman, and then go to the United States to see a doctor.After a heated debate, Bai Chongxi persuaded Li Zongren not to issue an anti-Chiang declaration, but did not persuade him not to go to the United States. Therefore, Li Zongren wrote to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that he was sorry that he could not return to Chongqing, that he was very tired, that he needed a comprehensive check-up, and that he might go to the United States for an operation.He also said that he would also like to find out the US government's attitude towards China. In this critical situation, he will definitely come back early and take up his responsibilities.He entrusted President Yan Xishan to handle state affairs for him. 11月20日，李宗仁去了香港，并踏上了去美国的路途。 第二天，以蒋介石为主席的“中央非常委员会”要求李宗仁或马上回到这个暂时的“首都”，或辞去代总统职务。 蒋介石派了一个4人代表团到香港向李宗仁保证，如果他回来了，他在“国民政府”的权威一点不受影响，并建议他带回一名医生及必需的医疗设施。 这4位代表一无所获地回来了，根本没有李宗仁的影子。 于是，蒋介石周围的人发生了激烈的争论，一方是以陈立夫为代表，坚持要求蒋介石复职，另一方是以蒋经国为代表，坚决不让蒋介石复职。 蒋介石听从了儿子的劝说，事实上或许他已下定了决心。 蒋经国说，复职就是为李宗仁提供方便。李宗仁在美国谋求资金和支持这一事上的任何失败，都将会归责于蒋介石所扮演的这个角色。 国民党中央执行委员会常委会不顾蒋介石父子的想法，又把代表团派往香港，坚决要求李宗仁马上返回，即使有病也不得停留，“如果李宗仁病得厉害，回不来，那就得考虑蒋介石复职之事了。” 李宗仁踌躇不决，后来他说要以“代总统”的身份去华盛顿寻求美国的经济援助。无论他能否得到，一个月之内他就返回中国，李宗仁于1949年12月5日离开香港，但却再也没有回来。 将介石冒着危险，从重庆飞到成都，而此时共产党的3万军队已进入了成都。他还能往哪里去呢？昆明可能差不多，但是蒋介石不信任云南省主席卢汉。 12月7日，他派了他信任的朋友张群去昆明，询问卢汉云南行署是否能搬到他的省会。卢汉没有进行合作，但却说委员长应该来看看他。 蒋介石意识到这是个陷井，又派张群去昆明商谈具体事宜。但是，共产党先到了一步，蒋介石的密使一到就被捕了。 蒋介石还不知道，两个四川军首领都是民主同盟的领导，他们已转向了共产党那边，其中包括张澜。他们把共产党的密使和西南其他军事首领联系起来。其中最主要的就是云南的卢汉和西康的刘文辉。共产党已向他们解释清楚，允许他们拥有自己的地盘，他们的军队也可得到完整的保留。 后来，卢汉被任命力中华人民共和国国家体委副主任，刘文辉则在全国人大常委会任职。 这么多将领倒戈，蒋介石试图把四川、西康、云南、贵州等西南各省搞成最后据点的计划成了泡影、张群在昆明被捕3天后，国民党窃听到一封电报，说卢汉想投靠毛泽东，计划逮捕蒋介石。 但是，他们得到这个情报时，蒋介石已乘飞机飞往台北了。 在重庆国民党“行政院”召开紧急会议，由阎锡山主持，决定把“首都”迁往台北。 蒋介石在中国大陆的统治彻底结束。