Chapter 82 4. Bai Chongxi was kicked out of his hometown by the People's Liberation Army

After the victory of the Guangdong campaign, Bai Chongxi's defeated army had to retreat to his old nest-Guangxi.At this time, the Central Military Commission sent another telegram to the Front Committee of the Four Fields: If Bai Chongxi concentrates all his strength on defending Lingling and Quanzhou, you can concentrate your forces to march southward and try to catch the enemy.If Bai Chongxi retreated to the Guilin and Liuzhou lines on a large scale in view of the lessons learned from the annihilation of the elite (this time the annihilation was beyond Bai Chongxi's expectations), it seems that our army should not concentrate and advance, but should advance in two lines side by side. From the north of Liuzhou to the north of Guilin, the two routes support each other, and they can still concentrate on fighting at any time, so that the white bandits cannot retreat to Guizhou.

After receiving the telegram from the Central Military Commission, the Shino Front Committee made the following decision: With the 12th Corps, the 13th Corps, the 4th Corps of the Second Field Army, the Guangxi-Yunnan-Guizhou Border Column, and the Guangdong-Guangxi Border Column, a total of 9 armies, 30 divisions, and more than 400,000 people marched towards Guangxi in three routes: west, north, and south. . Bai Chongxi, who had returned to Guilin, Guangxi, was in a bad mood. He deeply felt that the end had come. Seeing that the People's Liberation Army had broken through the Guangdong-Guangxi joint defense line in just a few months, Guangzhou had been lost. How could Guangxi be kept?He knew in his heart that as a general, Guangxi was his hometown, and he had worked hard for most of his life. If he didn't make up his mind to fight the People's Liberation Army to the death and hand it over to the Communist Party, it would be embarrassing.However, the decisive battle is not easy, the morale of the army is unstable, the morale is low, and the combat ability has been greatly reduced!

When Bai Chongxi was sad, the front committee of the Four Fields had already made a combat plan to march into Guangxi, and the specific deployment of troops was as follows: (1) The two armies of the Thirteenth Corps first annihilated Tongdao, the 00th Army, and the 103rd Army of Jingxian County, and then quickly advanced to the Si'en and Hechi areas, and continued to advance towards the Baise and Guode lines. The first step Strive to cut off the way for the enemy to retreat to Yunnan. (2) The first vanguard of Chen Geng's Department set off around the 10th and entered the Yulin and Bobai lines to defend against the enemy's retreat from the Leizhou Peninsula.Thereafter, according to the situation, advance to Nanning.If the enemy retreats to Qinzhou or Beihai, advance to Qinzhou or Lianzhou, and the other two armies will follow behind. ...

(3) Our 40th, 41st, and 45th armies will not be dispatched until the leading armies of Cheng Zihua's and Chen Geng's troops have surpassed.It is planned to advance with one army through Daozhou, Yongming, Gongcheng, Pingle, and Lipu; with one army to advance along the Xianggui Road, and with one army to advance along the area north of the Xianggui Road.The three divisions of the 49th Army were going to be placed on the second line along both sides of the Xianggui Road to suppress bandits, cover traffic and raise food. Bai Chongxi had no more tricks, and he couldn't come up with any feasible defense plan for Guangxi.At this time, Li Zongren suddenly sent a telegram from Chongqing, inviting him to conspire.

On the second day after flying to Chongqing, Bai Chongxi told Li Zongren: "Let's hold a meeting here tonight to discuss the advancement and retreat of De Gong and Jiang." That night, Li Zongren called Li Hanhun, Liu Shiyi, Qiu Changwei and other Guangxi people to a meeting at the official residence of Shangqing Temple.At this time, Cheng Siyuan flew to Chongqing from Hong Kong and attended the meeting. Li Zongren asked: "What's new in Hong Kong?" Cheng Siyuan said: "Jiang Tingfu, chief representative of the United Nations, recently wrote to Gu Mengyu, inviting him to jointly form the China Democracy Party."

Bai Chongxi interjected: "Has there been any change in US policy?" "Last month, Washington held a round table meeting to discuss China policy. The meeting was presided over by Gisep, who was in charge of drafting the "White Paper on Sino-US Relations." The second is not to rush to recognize the CCP regime, let’s wait and see the tense, with Stason as the representative. Regarding the Taiwan issue, Secretary of State Chiason once consulted Leighton Stuart. Leighton Stuart suggested that he continue to maintain the policy of not supporting Chiang The policy is to have Wu Guozhen replace Chen Cheng in power, and the United States will aid Wu, but not Jiang and Chen. This is the background for Jiang Yanfu to form the Democratic Party, and he hopes to replace the Kuomintang with the Democratic Party."

Li Zongren said angrily: "The United States has lost confidence in the party controlled by President Jiang, so some people want to build a new party. However, judging from the current situation, the backing of the United States is also unreliable." Cheng Siyuan said: "There is another situation. Recently, President Jiang wanted to reinstate his post. He invited Hu Shi to Taipei to speculate on the possible reaction of the United States to his reinstatement." Li Zongren said: "Chiang Kai-shek's reinstatement is up to him. I insist on not 'persuading him'."

Bai Chongxi said: "Since Jiang left the field, in name he has been governed by a princess of Germany. In fact, many people have been in charge of the government. The situation is getting worse. Jiang will not delegate power after all. If this stalemate continues, we will all die without a place to die. The Communist army hit Guangxi The door is coming, for the sake of the elders of Sangui, the dispute between Jiang and Gui should be over at this point." After the meeting, Bai Chongxi and Wu Zhongxin reached an agreement in the Bai Mansion: (1) Chiang Kai-shek was reinstated; (2) Li Zongren went abroad; (3) Bai Chongxi replaced Yan Xishan as the Premier and Minister of Defense.

On November 4, Wu Zhongxin returned to Taipei with the agreement documents. Chiang Kai-shek read Bai Chongxi's plan and scolded: "Bai Jiansheng can be the executive president if he wants to, but it can't be written into the agreement as a condition. Li Zongren can't go abroad either. There are enough people who are conspiring abroad. They are corrupt ruined the reputation of someone like me, Jiang." On November 5, Bai Chongxi convened a military meeting in Guilin. Attending the meeting were Li Pinxian and Xia Wei, deputy chiefs of the Central China Military and Political Office, Xu Zuyi, chief of staff, Lai Guangda, deputy chief of staff, Huang Jie, commander of the 1st Corps, Xu Qiming, commander of the 3rd Corps, and Lu Daoyuan, commander of the 11th Corps.

Li Pinxian and Huang Jie advocated gathering troops in Longzhou and Baise and moving west to Yunnan, while most of the generals advocated going from Leizhou Peninsula to Hainan Island. The two sides argued for a long time, and neither could convince the other. Finally, Bai Chongxi preached : "The Liu Bocheng Department of the Communist Army has entered Sichuan, and the Southwest will not be safe sooner or later. The Chen Yi Department of the Communist Army recently attacked Kinmen Island and suffered heavy losses, which shows that they do not have the technical conditions for crossing the sea and landing operations. There is no place on the mainland that is safe, so I decided to adopt it. The plan to retreat to Hainan Island. President Jiang manages Taiwan Island, and we can also manage Hainan Island. Once World War III breaks out, we will be able to fight back to our hometown in Guangxi soon.”

On November 5, Bai Chongxi confirmed the plan of fleeing south to Hainan Island.In order to implement this operational goal, he formulated the policy of attacking Chen Geng's Corps first.Order the 3rd and 11th Corps to secretly move southward, preparing to launch the so-called "Southern Offensive". Hainan Island was an almost barren island at that time, and there was a shortage of supplies. After the remnants of the Cantonese army fled to the island, the food shortage situation was further aggravated.At that time, Bai Chongxi's troops had 200,000 regular troops and 100,000 local troops. When he wanted to lead his troops to the island, he was first opposed by Yu Hanmou and Xue Yue. Chiang Kai-shek also did not agree with the Guangxi faction to run Hainan Island.Otherwise, the door of Guangxi will be opened, and the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan will not be able to keep. On November 6, the Siye West Route Army began to move south.The factional disputes within the Kuomintang caused Bai Chongxi to burn out. Although his military strategy had been finalized, it could not be implemented because of the obstruction of the generals of the Cantonese faction.The Cantonese faction was backed by Chiang Kai-shek, and Bai Chongxi had to concentrate on resolving the conflict between Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren. On the 11th, Li Zongren flew from Kunming to Guilin. On the 12th, civil and military members of the Guangxi Clan discussed the advancement and retreat of Acting President Li. Bai Chongxi proposed two proposals: A, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan Island are connected together, forming a situation of its own, opposing Chiang Kai-shek. B. Li Zongren went abroad, and the situation in the southwest was settled by Bai Chongxi. The people who participated in the meeting discussed the above two plans for a long time, and they thought that neither was a good plan. "Little Zhuge" can't come up with a good solution, and the others can't help it. On the 13th, continuing the discussion at the meeting, Li Zongren stated: "The situation is so urgent that we are not allowed to waste time here. Don't think about it! The morale of the Southwest people has collapsed, and the number and quality of troops are far from the opponents of the Communist Army. The so-called 'self-reliance' is not enough, so Case A is unrealistic. I I am determined to go to the United States for medical treatment, and Guangxi is supported by Jiansheng alone." Li Zongren was ready to leave.Bai Chongxi said: "Mr. De wants to go abroad. We have no objection, but we request to fly to Haikou to say goodbye to Chen Jitang, Yu Hanmou, and Xue Yue before going to Hong Kong. They originally objected to our going to Hainan Island, but now they take a step back and let us guard the Leizhou Peninsula." Unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Chongqing from Taipei on the 14th and called Bai Chongxi: "Yesterday I heard that Guiyang is in danger, and the eastern part of Sichuan is in a tight spot. I have already flown to Chongqing today. I really hope that Delin will fly to Chongqing today to plan the overall situation. Please hurry up." Li Zongren is in Nanning, saying goodbye to his old subordinates. Bai Chongxi called from Guilin and said: "President Jiang has arrived in Chongqing, please call to ask Mr. De to go to Chongqing to discuss state affairs today." Li Zongren said: "I don't want to see him again!" On the 16th, Li Zongren flew to Haikou to bid farewell to Yu Hanmou, Xue Yue and others.On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek summoned Huang Jie to Chongqing and ordered him to lead the 1st Corps to assist Guizhou.Huang Jie sent an urgent message to Bai Chongxi: "The president ordered the staff department to respond to the friendly forces in Guizhou, and first take a shortcut to Yishan and Nandan with a strong one." On the 19th, Bai Chongxi went to Nanning and asked Li Zongren to suspend going abroad. He said: "You are still the acting president, and the center of gravity is sent. Can you make some political arrangements first, and then go abroad?" "There is no need for this." Li Zongren said, "According to the Constitution, when the President leaves office, the Executive Yuan can act on his behalf. After I arrive in Hong Kong, I will telegraph Yan Baichuan of this intention." On the 20th, Li Zongren boarded the plane and left Guangxi. On the day Li Zongren was sent away, Bai Chongxi flew to Chongqing to report to Chiang Kai-shek. That night, Bai Chongxi delivered a speech through the radio station: On the 18th, I was ordered by the President to fly to Nanning to express my condolences to Acting President Li's condition, and urged him to return to Chongqing to discuss the state affairs.After receiving the telegram, Zun Yu flew from Guilin to Nanning yesterday (19th), paid homage to Acting President Li, reported the President's intentions, expressed his gratitude to the Acting President for his encouragement to the President, and the telegrams from all parties.However, due to the aggravation of gastric ulcer, the duodenum still bleeds from time to time, and the physical strength is difficult to support.It was originally planned to send Director Li Pinxian to fly to Yujin to visit the president and present everything in person.After I arrived in Yong, Director Li Pinxian began to suspend the trip, and I came to Chongqing to return... The acting president flew to Hong Kong this morning (20th) for medical treatment. Before leaving, he asked me to act on behalf of President Chen. Yes, due to illness, I cannot return to Chongqing to save the current crisis with the president, the government and all the soldiers and civilians. I am very sorry. Li Zongren's sudden departure aroused public opinion, and people at home and abroad believed that this matter had something to do with Chiang Kai-shek.Chiang Kai-shek decided to send Juzheng, Zhu Jiahua and others to Hong Kong to "retain", but Li Zongren didn't buy it at all. Seeing that the People's Liberation Army is approaching Guangxi. On November 12, Lin Biao sent a telegram to Chen Geng and others: The 14th and 15th Armies of the 4th Corps should immediately advance to Gaozhou to cooperate with the 13th Army to first annihilate the enemies in the Bobai area, and then advance to the southwest of Nanning or in the Bobai area according to the situation. Use the 4th Corps to block the Gui enemies going south... The 15th Corps will send one or two divisions to Deqing, under your command, and cooperate in the battle. Bai Chongxi's troops were moving south, and the Front Committee of the Four Fields immediately adjusted their combat deployment according to the changes in the enemy's situation: A part of the West Route Army continued to advance towards Guode and Baise along the border of Guizhou and Guangxi, in order to cut off the road of the white army fleeing westward to Yunnan; a part of the army went eastward to the heart of Guangxi and captured Liuzhou. The North Route Army moved south quickly, and the main force went straight to Guilin along the Hunan-Guizhou Railway. The 40th Army went straight to Wuzhou to support the South Route Army. The main force of the 4th Corps of the South Route Army immediately assembled in the Xinyi and Maoming areas, and a division of the 13th Corps built fortifications in Lianjiang as a blocking force; the 43rd Corps of the 15th Corps secretly marched westward at night and assembled in the northeast of Xinyi. The main force of the Guangxi army moved southward, and the west and north routes were mainly pursuit battles, while the south will form a decisive battle on the border of Guangdong and Guangxi. The West Route Army occupied Jingxian and Tongdao on November 10, and the 17th Corps of the defending army abandoned the formation and fled south. On the 13th, Rongjiang and Conghua were conquered, and a part of the enemy's security forces were wiped out.Subsequently, the 38th Army continued to advance, chasing and annihilating the 17th Corps; the 39th Army turned to the southeast and approached Liuzhou. The 40th Army of the Northern Route Army went south on November 15 and rushed to Wuzhou for a long distance to join the battle of the Southern Route Army to encircle and wipe out the main force of the Guangxi Army.The 41st and 45th armies set off on November 18 and traveled south along the Xianggui Road. The 123rd Division, the vanguard of the 41st Army, advanced southward at a speed of 120 miles per day.The next day, the division broke through the defense line north of Xing'an in one fell swoop.The 14th, 46th, 71st, and 97th armies of the enemy army in northern Guangxi fled in a hurry. The People's Liberation Army drove straight in and pursued swiftly. Guilin fell. Liuzhou fell. Bai Chongxi's right-hand man took Zhang Gan as a prisoner. Looking at the mountains and rivers of his hometown, Bai Chongxi wept bitterly, and then led the remnants to continue fleeing for their lives. On December 14, the Guangxi campaign ended. The campaign lasted 39 days and wiped out a total of 172,900 enemies, including 156,900 prisoners, 4 generals were killed, 78 were captured, 1,258 artillery pieces, 53,000 guns, 1 aircraft, 1,176 cars, and ships were seized. 3 ships.