Chapter 49 2. When the army is under pressure

Hu Zongnan called and scolded Tao Zhiyue for surrendering to the Communist Party as a foolish act. Tao Zhiyue circled around. He said to Ma Chengxiang and others: I will not stop you if you want to leave, but if you move, you have to ask for a car and money. Do you leave it on the Gobi Desert?The life and death of 100,000 people must not be acted rashly. When our People's Liberation Army came under pressure, Xinjiang's way out was determined, but there were still some twists and turns in announcing the uprising. At that time, Ye Cheng, Luo Shuren, Ma Chengxiang and others were diehards in the army.

As early as the beginning of the year, Nanjing called and ordered General Tao Zhiyue, the deputy chief of the Northwest Military and Political Office in Dihua and the commander-in-chief of Xinjiang police, to leave only one brigade in Xinjiang for defense, and all the rest of the troops were transferred to the pass to participate in the civil war.At that time, Tao Zhiyue opposed the entry of troops into the customs. Zhao Xiguang, deputy commander in chief of the garrison stationed in Kashgar in southern Xinjiang and commander of the reorganization division, agreed with him. Only Ma Chengxiang, commander of the Fifth Cavalry Army stationed in Dihua, and brigade commander Luo Shuli, advocated Into the customs.

Seeing that Peng Dehuai's troops had marched to the northwest, but Tao showed no sign of moving, Li Zongren called and asked Tao Zhiyue to go to Nanjing, saying that he had important matters to discuss. Tao Zhiyue hesitated with the telegram. Qu Wu said to him: "You must not go to Nanjing. If you go, I'm afraid it will be difficult to come back. You know Mr. Jiang's behavior in your heart, and you can't fall into the trap yourself." Tao Zhiyue said: "Of course I won't go, but they asked me to mobilize troops to enter the border to fight, what should I do!"

"Stop them first, and then talk, there is still a way." "I'm still the commander of the party and country. If I don't obey orders, I have to find an excuse or something." "How many troops do you have now?" "Over a hundred thousand." "From Xinjiang to the mainland, what areas do you have to pass through?" "To cross mountains and ridges, to cross the uninhabited Gobi Desert." "So you have money now?" "No." "That's the reason! It's not easy for an army of 100,000 to enter the customs. How can we move without money?"

"You're right. Now Ma Bufang is the military and political chief of the Northwest. If he wants to urge us again, I will explain the situation and see what he will do." "You can't go to Nanjing, but you can still go to Lanzhou. I can draw up a plan for you with the funds and vehicles needed for a 100,000-strong army to enter the customs. You can submit it to Ma Bufang, and then let him pass it on to Li Zongren." "This is a good idea, please do it quickly." Two days later, Tao Zhiyue flew to Lanzhou with a plan to obtain a large amount of cars, gasoline and foreign currency.Ma Bufang read the report and remained silent. He understood that Tao Zhiyue was demonstrating against the government, and his plan was beyond the reach of the Kuomintang government at the time.So the two broke up unhappy, and Tao Zhiyue handed over the report to Deputy Chief Guo Jiqiao and brought it to Li Zongren.

After Tao Zhiyue returned to Xinjiang, he discussed his views on the situation in Xinjiang with Liu Mengchun and Liu Zerong, who were secretly actively working on the peace movement. Tao Zhiyue insisted: "The problem we are facing in Xinjiang now is not a political problem, but a military problem." Liu Mengchun said: "What about the army, have you thought about it?" "I thought about it. The key is how to change it. This is a big problem." "You don't want to enter the border to fight the Communist Party, that's wise." "Now we need to assess the situation!"

"What if Li Zongren urges you again?" "He can't push anymore." "why?" "There is no departure fee, how do we move, I have already made a huge plan for the whole army to enter the customs and hand it over to Guo Jiqiao." "Can the government comply with the request?" "It's fine if you don't agree." "What if you agree?" "Li Zongren can't control the army now, he has no money in the second hand, and Mr. Jiang is still in charge of the family. The plan I gave them is very difficult for the government to implement..."

Liu Mengchun had guessed a little bit, and found that Tao Zhiyue had a plan to wait and see the situation, so he seized the opportunity to do peace work, hoping that he could take the overall situation into consideration and walk a bright road. At this time, Tao Zhiyue's thinking was constantly changing. Afterwards, Chairman Bao Erhan invited Tao Zhiyue and others, as well as friends from the Soviet Union, to live in Nanshan for a few days, and informally exchanged views on the situation in Xinjiang.As the top official of the provincial government, Bao Erhan believes that only by following the road of peace in Xinjiang can everyone have a hopeful future. Tao Zhiyue agreed with him, but did not express his position clearly.Although this conversation did not involve specifics, it was relatively clear.

Entering August, the situation in the Northwest has undergone fundamental changes. Only then did Tao Zhiyue make up his mind to lead an uprising. The situation in Xinjiang was still very complicated at that time. Pai, do not agree with the army uprising.Ma Chengxiang once said publicly: "Now we are following the Communist army. In the future, they will not let us go. They will try to kill us one by one. My family members are all in the interior, and there is no news of whether they are dead or alive. If it doesn't work, I will drag the team to the Dunhuang area. Go guerrilla with the Communist Party.”

Tao Zhiyue persuaded him: "You can't be arrogant, the Communist Party has a background in guerrilla warfare." "That's not scary, I have a geographical advantage." "You are my subordinate, I can't help but care about your future, please don't move around." "Then my family?" "I will send someone to inquire about the whereabouts." Ma Chengxiang and Luo Shu are powerful factions, and they have an army in their hands. Although Tao Zhiyue is the commander-in-chief of Xinjiang's security, it is difficult for him to control the army.what to do?Where does Xinjiang go from here?Tao Zhiyue weighed his options and decided that it would be better to win over Zhao Xiguang, an important military figure in southern Xinjiang.So he came to southern Xinjiang in the name of inspection.

Zhao Xiguang was in favor of the army uprising, and he said that as long as Tao Zhiyue took the lead, he would respond. The two of them talked in secret for three days and reached an agreement. They agreed that Zhao would be in charge of the southern border and Tao would be in charge of the northern border. They would do preliminary preparations first, and at the same time decided on the following two items: (1) When they approached the People's Liberation Army troops, Tao and Zhao stood apart and handed over the troops; (2) The troops were unconditionally reorganized by the People's Liberation Army. During this trip to southern Xinjiang, Tao Zhiyue felt that he had gained a lot.Back in Urumqi, he didn't show his face and was still coping with the situation.He was smart. After Nanjing was liberated, the Nationalist Government moved to Guangzhou. He proposed a plan for troops to enter the customs and fight. Because of the harsh requirements, the Guangzhou government could not reply at all. He asked for 8 million silver dollars, but Guangzhou only gave 1 million yuan. When the money arrived in Lanzhou, Ma Bufang withheld another 200,000 yuan in the name of the Northwest Military and Political Chief Office, and only 800,000 yuan was finally transferred to Xinjiang.Tao Zhiyue complained all day long, saying that the government no longer cared about their lives.To be honest, it is very difficult to maintain the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people in Xinjiang with 800,000 yuan, but the army cannot be chaotic.Tao Zhiyue was a fair and decent person. He handed over 200,000 yuan per head to Zhao Xiguang in southern Xinjiang. The remaining 600,000 yuan was stored in Hami, and later he paid the military salary for July and August. Insufficient funds, of course the troops could not enter, and Li Zongren could not protect himself, so he stopped talking about the entry of Xinjiang troops.The Northwest battlefield is full of wars, the People's Liberation Army is in full swing, Hu Zongnan enters southern Shaanxi, Xi'an is liberated, and Lanzhou is in a hurry.The Xinjiang army was in turmoil, and Tao Zhiyue was under great pressure. The army was divided into two factions: Luo Shuren, the brigade commander, and Ma Chengxiang, the commander of the Fifth Cavalry Army, wanted to enter the customs, but Ye Cheng, the division commander, was not clear about his attitude.