Chapter 74 1. Chiang Kai-shek re-arms

October 1949 was red October. The red sun has already risen above half of China. The Chinese people have stood up. South China has been lost again and again. Chiang Kai-shek, who has fled to Taiwan, still does not give up. He flies to Sichuan in an attempt to use this palm-sized place as a base for counterattacking the mainland. . The Tang Enbo Group was beaten by the People's Liberation Army and fled in all directions. Bai Chongxi was driven out of Wuhan by the People's Liberation Army.At this time, the People's Liberation Army carried out the order of the Central Military Commission to march across the country, and the troops were divided into five groups and rushed to the southwest.These five paths are:

After the liberation of the Northwest, the 18th Corps of the First Field Army led by He Long crossed the Qinling Mountains and marched towards northern Sichuan. The Second Field Army was divided into three groups, one from western Hunan to southeast Sichuan, one from southwestern Hunan to Guizhou and southern Sichuan, and one from western Hubei to eastern Sichuan. The other Chen Geng Corps entered Yunnan from Guangxi, and then entered Sichuan on standby. Just when the Chiang Kai-shek clique was exhausted in the mainland, they still wanted to take advantage of Sichuan's dangerous terrain to fight a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army.At this time Chiang Kai-shek thought of three people.

One is Hu Zongnan, director of the Appeasement Office of the Sichuan-Shanxi-Gansu Border Region.About 160,000 remnants of his troops were stationed in the Qinling Mountains, Hanzhong, and northern Sichuan, and they were the main force to prevent the He Long Corps of the People's Liberation Army from entering Sichuan. One is Zhang Qun, the southwestern military and political officer of the Kuomintang. He has 3 armies, about 300,000 people, and is entrenched in the Padang area. The other is Song Xilian, director of the Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei Appeasement Office. He has about 200,000 people under his command, deployed on the front lines of Badong, Enshi, and Xianfeng, and is the main force defending the southwest.

There is also Sun Zhen. Although he has only more than 40,000 people, his department still has a certain fighting capacity and guards the main positions in Wanxian area. As Chiang Kai-shek's beloved general, Hu Zongnan was very pessimistic after he was driven out of Xi'an by Peng Dehuai and retreated to Hanzhong. Breaking with Chiang Kai-shek, he was a student in the first class of Whampoa, and he was Chiang Kai-shek's favorite student. After graduation, he has been favored by Chiang Kai-shek. Even if he lost a battle, he was not blamed. In March 1947, Yan'an, an empty city, was occupied and gained a lot of limelight.

After Lanzhou was liberated, the CCP sent people to Hanzhong many times to work for Hu Zongnan, hoping that he could change the flag and stand on the side of the people. At that time, his mood was extremely complicated, and he also expressed his disappointment and resentment towards the Kuomintang during the talks with the representatives of the CCP. Once he cried in front of everyone and said: "Scholars die for their confidants! I can't forget the principal, I can't be sorry, I'm sorry principal..." Song Xilian also graduated from Whampoa, and he and Hu Zongnan were classmates.

He secretly came to Hanzhong and said to Hu Zongnan: "The current situation is changing rapidly, what are your plans?" Hu Zongnan smiled but did not answer. Song Xilian said again: "Our army is no longer able to fight now. The army is defeated like a mountain. The generals have no confidence and the soldiers have no fighting spirit. If we really fight, you and I should be Qiu Qingquan instead of Du Yuming. The gun fell apart." Hu Zongnan said, "What are your plans?" "Anyway, I don't want to be a prisoner, and I won't cooperate with the communist army."

"Brother is really a standard party-state soldier." "I heard that you have plans to retreat to Myanmar?" "There is this consideration." "I advise you to be cautious, there are many problems!" Hu Zongnan started to smoke, he pulled out the map of the secret room, pointed and said: "Our opinions are not unified, and everyone has concerns. First, my troops have been fighting in the northwest desert for a long time. There are many people in the north. The climate on the border between Yunnan and Burma , life are not suitable; the army is difficult to move, the principal will not approve."

Song Xilian laughed out loud. "What are you laughing at?" Hu Zongnan was a little at a loss. "What are you afraid of?" Song Xilian raised his legs, "As long as we think the same way, we can overcome difficulties." "You have this plan too?" "Exactly." "How do you say to act?" "If you and I cooperate, there is no problem in surviving there. Don't you forget that I led the 11th Army to live in Yunnan and Burma for more than three years during the Anti-Japanese War, and I am very familiar with the terrain there."

"If the principal approves, we will drive the team over." Before leaving, Song Xilian asked again: "I heard that you have contact with people from the Communist Party?" Hu Zongnan said: "Several representatives from Xi'an came to persuade me to revolt." "You can't do this, you have to be worthy of the principal." "Yes, I won't listen to them." "Are they gone?" "No." "Quickly lock it up, don't let it go." At this time, an official of the U.S. government came to Hanzhong to persuade Hu Zongnan:

"As long as you have three corps preserved on the mainland, there is hope for the revival of the Republic of China's anti-communism. I can suggest to President Truman to provide you with military assistance directly." Hu Zongnan was moved. While contacting the United States, he asked Chiang Kai-shek to send his troops to Yunnan and Burma to fight guerrillas. One day in August 1949. Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian braved the rain and came to Chongqing to meet Chiang Kai-shek. They told Chiang Kai-shek their plan to flee to Yunnan and Burma, and Chiang Kai-shek was very upset. He said casually, "What are you doing there? The situation hasn't gotten so bad yet!"

Hu Zongnan explained: "We mainly want to preserve a little bit of strength and fight the Communist Army in the future." Chiang Kai-shek stood up suddenly, and asked back with a downcast face: "If you want to leave, isn't this giving half of the Southwest to the Communist Party?" "No," Song Xilian said, "Now that the communist army has surrounded Sichuan, this place is no better than Taiwan, and it is not easy to defend!" "That can't be lost in vain, you must not leave." "If you don't leave, I'm afraid you will lose even more." Chiang Kai-shek sat down again, looked at them and said: "You are all good students of mine, and you must consider the interests of the party and the country. As long as you persist in Sichuan for half a year, the third world war will break out. There is still a chance to recover the lost ground." .” Coming out of Chiang Kai-shek's Linyuan Mansion, Hu Zongnan complained: "I said, the old man will not agree, you insist on calling me." Song Xilian had no choice but to say: "The headmaster is really confused, and he is going to bury hundreds of thousands of troops in Sichuan. What else can we do?" "Alright, let him see the ending." August 29. Chongqing Linyuan is heavily guarded, the rain is still falling, and the fog is thick.Chiang Kai-shek personally presided over a meeting of Southwest military and political officials to discuss countermeasures to deal with the situation. Most of the people who participated in the meeting were chief officials of this area, and there were about a dozen people, namely: Chiang Kai-shek’s son and liaison officer Chiang Ching-kuo Chiang Kai-shek’s attendant secretary Huang Shaogu Southwest Military and Political Chief Zhang Qun, Deputy Chief Qian Dajun, Deng Xihou Commander of the East Sichuan Appeasement Office Sun Zhen Chairman of Sichuan Province Wang Lingji Chairman of Xikang Province Liu Wenhui Chairman of Guizhou Province Gu Zhenglun Director of the Xi’an Appeasement Office Hu Zongnanchuan Song Xilian, Director of the Sui Department in the Hunan-Hubei Border Region, Luo Guangwen, Commander of the Seventh Training Command and Commander of the 108th Army, Yang Sen, Mayor of Chongqing and Commander of the 20th Army, and Chiang Kai-shek found that Lu Han, Chairman of Yunnan Province, did not come.throw a tantrum: "Mother Xipi, Long Yun's rebellion, what will happen if Lu Han doesn't arrive, immediately send a power call to urge him to come." Chiang Kai-shek was right to worry about Yunnan. Long Yun was originally the chairman of Yunnan Province, but he had been beaten by Chiang Kai-shek for a long time and was dismissed in the autumn of 1945 and replaced by Lu Han. These two are cousins, both were dissatisfied with Chiang, and had planned to separate one side, but they were restricted by Chiang Kai-shek everywhere. In the winter of 1948, after fleeing to Hong Kong, Long Yun gave a speech and publicly encouraged all troops in Yunnan to revolt. Long Yun instructed Lu Han many times: "If the People's Liberation Army successfully crosses the river, Yunnan will revolt and can no longer work for Chiang Kai-shek." Lu Han had his own plans. He said: "The uprising can be considered, but it can't be rushed. Now Chiang Kai-shek still has hundreds of thousands of people in the southwest, and our 50,000 people are not their opponents." While Lu Han was hesitating, Chiang Kai-shek sent Zhang Qun to ask him to go to Chongqing for a meeting.Lu Han said he was sick and declined, Zhang Qun persuaded on the phone: "Chairman Lu, don't worry, the relationship between the two of us is not weak. I will take responsibility for you when you come. The president is already angry. If you don't come again, the consequences will be disastrous." !" Having said this, Lu Han had no choice but to leave for Chongqing.When boarding the plane, he explained to his subordinates: "If I am detained by Chiang Kai-shek this time, you should send a telegram to request release. If you are not allowed, you will rebel by telegram." "What are you going to do?" asked his chief of staff. "Leave me alone!" Contrary to Lu Han's expectations, when he arrived in Chongqing, Chiang Kai-shek greeted him personally, and he was very friendly. During the meeting, Lu Han handed over the written resignation report to Chiang Kai-shek and said: "President Enzhun, I've been in poor health recently, and I can't bear Yunnan's responsibility anymore." Chiang Kai-shek smiled and patted Lu Han on the shoulder: "Young brother Yongheng, the national crisis is at stake, what are you doing, put it away quickly, and just say what you want." Lu Han said: "Our defenders in Yunnan are limited." "It's easy to say, you can expand the two security regiments into an army, and I will pay for the funds and equipment required." Luhan was satisfied. After Chiang Kai-shek arranged the defense plan for the Southwest, he finally encouraged everyone: "Perseverance to the end is victory."