Chapter 20 Chapter Nineteen

After the People's Liberation Army launched the Battle of Crossing the River, Li Zongren panicked, and he quickly called Bai Chongxi. Bai Chongxi was also in a hurry. He held the phone and pondered for a long time before saying: "This is the end of the matter, I don't care about it anymore, so I just talk about it. Right now, Nanjing can't be defended, and we can't go to Shanghai. I In order to preserve Guangdong, Guangxi and the Great Southwest, Beijing and Shanghai must be abandoned, and Tang Enbo's main force must be quickly moved to the Zhejiang-Jiangxi line, forming a corner with the Central China troops, sticking to Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian, and preventing the Communist army from invading Guangdong and Guangxi. And the southwest. With Song Xilian's troops deployed in Yichang and Shashi area, to solidify the northeast line of Sichuan. The national government will move to Guangzhou in the near future to seek US aid. Conscription of troops and food, and implementation of the general war, as long as there are Guangdong, Guangxi and the Great Southwest, we will fight against the Communist Party There is great hope for the restoration of the country.”

Li Zongren deeply appreciated Bai Chongxi's opinion, but worried that Chiang Kai-shek would interfere with it, making it difficult to realize the plan. Bai Chongxi understood Li Zongren's difficulties, and said loudly on the phone: "Showdown with him! What time is it now? One country and three princes, nothing can be done. Li Xiucheng wrote 'ten mistakes in one dynasty', we have twenty mistakes, three Ten mistakes! In the future, if Lao Jiang does not let us go, there will be no room for recovery. You should take this opportunity to make it clear to Lao Jiang that he or you can only choose one person to lead the government in order to unify the power. In short , This family can only be run by one person, either he or you, or you or him!"

Li Zongren felt that although Bai Chongxi's words were ugly, they also pointed to his pain.Even an acting president is worthless. I am indeed too weak. Now that Chiang is in the wild, he should be forced to hand over all his personnel, command and financial power. Take the charge of wronging the country. After Bai Chongxi's tinkering, Li Zongren regained his energy, and said in a rare tone: "I can't be Lin Zichao. If I want to do it, I will do it. If I don't do it, I won't do it. Tomorrow, we will have a showdown with Jiang." In the early morning of April 22, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi hurried to Hangzhou to have a showdown with Chiang Kai-shek amidst the rumble of guns in the People's Liberation Army's battle across the river.

At this time, Chiang Kai-shek lived in Hangzhou Lanqiao Aviation School. This was the first meeting between Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren since he left the field on January 21. Before Li Zongren arrived at Chiang Kai-shek's residence, Chiang had already welcomed the guests at the door of the residence. Although the two haven't seen each other for only three months, they both feel that the other has changed a lot in the past three months.The cheekbones on Lao Jiang's face are more prominent than ever; Li Zongren's usually plump Chinese-character face is now thin and angular.

Apart from Bai Chongxi, those who came to Hangzhou from Nanjing with Li Zongren included He Yingqin, Zhang Qun, Wu Zhongxin and others. When Li Zongren and his party came to the living room, Chiang Kai-shek exchanged greetings with everyone, and then led Li Zongren to a small room next to the living room, and had a secret talk behind closed doors. Li Zongren kept in mind that he had a showdown with Chiang Kai-shek, so when he came to the hut, he sat down and said: "At the beginning, I was asked to come out for peace talks. Now that the peace talks have broken down, the communist army has crossed the river in a big way, and Nanjing is about to fall. What advice do you have?"

"Brother Delin," Chiang Kai-shek said with a sincere smile, "I don't think it matters if Nanjing falls. We still have several million troops. If you continue to lead, don't be discouraged. I support you." Chiang Kai-shek knew very well that the current situation was chaotic, the fate of Shanghai was unpredictable, Taiwan had not yet been arranged, and Shanghai's gold and silver treasures were still being rushed. Now he had to watch the wind behind the scenes and wait for the opportunity. Li Zongren's signboard could not be lost. "If you want me to continue to lead, I will die. But in the current situation where there are multiple governments and one country and three publics, no one can do things. How can I lead? Now that the Communist army has crossed the river, Nanjing If it is not guaranteed, the situation is critical, I think it is better for me to resign to thank the people of the country!"

"Brother Delin, you must not think like this. No one can replace you now. The current situation has reached this point. Only by continuing to lead can there be hope. I support you to the end! Support you to the end!" When Chiang Kai-shek spoke, his attitude was It is very sincere, and there is no hypocrisy in it. "In terms of military affairs, at present, we should focus on securing Guangdong, Guangxi and the Great Southwest. Tang Enbo's troops should abandon Shanghai and move to western Zhejiang and eastern Jiangxi. Stop the communist army from committing crimes in the West."

"Regarding military command power, it is all in Jingzhi's Ministry of National Defense. You can give orders to Jingzhi and deploy according to your intentions. I will never intervene." I am more generous than anyone else in giving empty promises. Say what you say, do what you do, Chiang Kai-shek knew how to play this game. "What is the relationship between Gu Mosan's General Staff and He Jingzhi's Ministry of National Defense in the future?" Li Zongren was not at ease with Jiang's generous promise, because Jiang had always directly commanded the army through the General Staff.

"Well!" Chiang Kai-shek knew exactly what Li Zongren wanted at this time, no matter what you want, I will promise to give it to you. As for whether you can get it, only the devil knows.Chiang Kai-shek thought for a while and said: "He Jingzhi is the Minister of National Defense. I think he will unify the command of land, sea and air. From now on, the chief of staff will be directly responsible to the Ministry of National Defense." As long as you, Lao Jiang, don't intervene in the military, I, Li Zongren, can command He Yingqin and the army.Li Zongren suddenly felt that Lao Jiang was not so difficult to speak. The problem was that he was too weak before. Thinking of this, Li Zongren thought of money again, and said:

"Now that the military expenditure is huge, and the gold dollar coupons have plummeted, can some silver dollars be shipped from Taiwan for military and political expenditures!" "Okay, okay, how much is needed, just send someone to Taiwan to get it, this is the country's money, and the acting president has the right to control it." Chiang Kai-shek's attitude was extremely sincere, and Li Zongren agreed to whatever he said.For this sake, what else can Li Zongren say?Even if there are some words that have been thought about long ago, they can't speak at this time. This is Li Zongren.

Bai Chongxi had been sitting in the living room, chatting endlessly with He Yingqin and others.He doesn't know the result of Li Zongren's showdown. The small door finally opened, and Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren came out one after the other. Bai Chongxi looked at their faces and was surprised: there seemed to be a satisfied smile on their faces.This is the result of a compromise, and it is definitely not the expression that a showdown can have.If this is the case, there will be no hope for Guangdong, Guangxi and the Great Southwest!Bai Chongxi couldn't help sighing softly. Before Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi bid farewell to Chiang Kai-shek and flew away from Hangzhou to Hankou to command the military.It was evening when Li Zongren flew back to Nanjing.After the plane landed at the Ming Palace Airport, there was a burst of intensive machine gun fire and shelling, and fierce fighting was going on on the outskirts of the capital.There are no pedestrians on the street, the shops are closed, and the eyes are full of desolation.Originally, when returning from Hangzhou, He Yingqin had advised Li Zongren to fly to Shanghai with him, and then to Guangzhou.Prior to this, all government cabinet members had been transported to Shanghai, and all government agencies had been evacuated from Nanjing except for the garrison troops. It stands to reason that Li Zongren has no need to return to Nanjing.However, Li Zongren said to He Yingqin: "I should go back to Nanjing to have a look. I am worried that there will be robberies during the retreat. If I am not present to sit in charge, I will be even more sorry to the people." Li Zongren returned to Nanjing and hurriedly called Tang Enbo's headquarters in Xiaolingwei to inquire about the situation of the troops.Tang Enbo was concentrating 200 trucks at this time, preparing to flee to Shanghai. Unexpectedly, when Nanjing was about to be destroyed, Li Zongren suddenly flew back again.Tang Enbo reported to Li Zongren: "Reporting to Acting President Li, Enbo has issued an order to retreat across the board at 4 pm today. The troops east of Jiangyin Fortress retreated to Shanghai along the railway and highway. The troops west of Jiangyin Changzhou, Shenyang, Yixing, and Wuxing , Jiaxing, bypassing Taihu Lake and retreating to Shanghai. After the 28th Army in the rear covered the retreat of the Nanjing troops, they retreated to Hangzhou along the Beijing-Hangzhou National Highway." Later, Tang Enbo advised Li Zongren to leave Nanjing as soon as possible. That night, Li Zongren sat in Nanjing.After dark, outside Nanjing, cannons roared and gunshots continued. Li Zongren tossed and turned all night. After breakfast, Li Zongren drove straight to Ming Palace Airport with his entourage, where Tang Enbo was already waiting for him. "Excuse me, Acting President, are you flying to Shanghai or Guangzhou?" Tang Enbo asked. "Guangzhou." Li Zongren boarded the landline after speaking. After the "Chasing Cloud" plane took off, it circled twice over Nanjing. Li Zongren looked down from the porthole of the plane, and saw waves splashing, artillery fire like weaving, and boats like forests on the vast river between Xiaguan and Pukou. Swarm across the river. In this situation, Li Zongren couldn't help thinking of the words "six generations of luxury, spring is gone, and there is no news", and he murmured sadly: "Nanjing, farewell!" After the plane flew for an hour, Li Zongren suddenly ordered the pilot: "Change the course and fly to Guilin!" On the night of the 23rd, the vanguard of the 35th Army of the People's Liberation Army liberated Nanjing. On the morning of April 24, the main force of the 35th Army crossed the river from Pukou and entered Nanjing City amidst the cheers of the crowd. The inside and outside of the pier was full of welcoming crowds, and people cheered: "Welcome the People's Liberation Army to liberate Nanjing!" "Comrades in the People's Liberation Army have worked hard!" "Long live the Communist Party of China!" "long live Chairman Mao!" The solemn and orderly People's Liberation Army team marched along Zhongshan Road.Nanjing has changed the world. The blue sky and white sun flag on the gate tower of the former "Presidential Palace" was torn down and replaced with a bright red flag.This was once the source of Chiang Kai-shek's crimes of betraying the country and seeking glory, harming the country and the people.When the receiving PLA stepped into this gate, there were vermilion-painted pillars and gorgeous corridors everywhere, just like a feudal dynasty's imperial palace.The ground and corridors were covered with shredded paper, a mess.Walking into the innermost house, you will see Chiang Kai-shek's "Baolun".The calendar on the desk, opened to "April 23". This is the end of the Jiang family dynasty! It was originally scheduled that Liu Bocheng led the second field agency to arrive in Nanjing on April 26, but due to wind and rain, he did not arrive in Nanjing until the 29th.Due to the haste before leaving, it was too late to get in touch with the security forces in advance, so after crossing the river, I had to charter a bus.When Liu Bocheng got into the car, the guard suddenly remembered: Nanjing is such a big city, where should the car go?So I came to ask Liu Bocheng for instructions.Liu Bocheng laughed loudly when he heard it, and said, "When we get to the door, we can't find a home!" After a little thought, he said decisively: "Ask the driver to go straight to the 'Presidential Palace', and it will be easy to handle when we get there." Sure enough, as soon as he arrived at the presidential palace, he quickly contacted the security team. ?Yi heard the news and immediately came by car. On April 26, 1949, the Nanjing Military Control Commission was established. On April 29, Liu Bocheng and Song Renqiong took office as the chief and deputy directors of the Nanjing Military Control Commission, and Liu Bocheng also served as the mayor of Nanjing and a member of the board of directors. On April 27th, two soldiers came from the Zhongshan Wharf. One of them was a middle-aged soldier who was not tall, walked lightly, had a straight back, and walked with dignity. This was Deng Xiaoping.The little soldier behind him is his bodyguard.They called a rickshaw, but no one took it.Deng Xiaoping looked relaxed and happy, and talked with the coachman cordially while walking.No one thought that Deng Xiaoping, the commander of the Battle of Crossing the River, entered Nanjing City side by side with a rickshaw driver until he reached the "Presidential Palace" on Changjiang Road.Many years later, Deng Xiaoping had such a conversation with his daughter. The daughter asked: "Have you entered the presidential palace yet?" "I went in, and I went in with Uncle Chen." "What about Uncle Liu?" "He was commanding operations on the Western Front at that time." "Have you sat on Chiang Kai-shek's presidential throne?" "Always sit down!" Having said this, Deng Xiaoping smiled slightly. Indeed, history at that time was like a clock that was plucked, and the pace was obviously accelerated. April 28, Xiangshan, Shuangqing Villa. The courtyard surrounded by green shades is quiet and quiet, and the Shuangqing Springs are gurgling and flowing, radiating the golden brilliance of the morning sun. In the past few days, Mao Zedong has reversed the tense and anxious mood before the battle of crossing the river. He ate well, slept well, practiced calligraphy and recited poems, and was in good spirits. After breakfast, Mao Zedong came to the gazebo to take a rest. At this time, the secretary came excitedly, handed him an ID card, and said, "Chairman, the good news of the liberation of Nanjing has come out!" "Oh, so fast!" Mao Zedong held the newspaper corner in his left hand, stroked his knee with his right hand, and muttered.A corner of the newspaper hung down in the morning breeze, and the headline "Nanjing Liberation" was clearly in sight. It happened to be seen by a photographer, and it was captured by the camera with a "click", leaving a precious historical moment. The good news of "Nanjing Liberation" is like a catalyst for poetry. After reading the extras, the seven laws "The People's Liberation Army Occupies Nanjing" was also finalized in Mao Zedong's mind: The wind and rain turned pale and yellow in Zhongshan, and millions of soldiers crossed the river. The tiger dominates the dragon, the present is better than the past, and the world is turned upside down and generous. It is advisable to use the remaining courage to chase the poor, and not to be known as the overlord. If the sky is loving, the sky is also old, and the right way in the world is vicissitudes.