Chapter 8 Chapter 8 "Counterattack Yunnan!"

1 Many old people said, the early 1950s before I was born, what an era of vitality and joy!When I mentioned that period of time, my parents' expressions immediately became younger, because they happened to be young at that time, and they were all young people in their twenties. Who doesn't cherish the youthful days in their hearts? The old regime has set like the sun of yesterday, and the new era has just risen like the rising sun. The transformation of the old and new times has brought many new choices, many beautiful visions and hopes to young people.Everyone has the opportunity to change themselves and the future. In an era that brings changes to people, everyone is full of hope and full of vigor.

One of my cousins ​​said: "At that time, the newspapers had news of victory every day, and the Korean battlefield was showing victory every day on the radio. Americans became like rabbits who would only run away. The People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet, suppressed bandits, and carried out land reform in the countryside. Suppression of counter-revolutionaries and so on. Everyone is singing: "The sky in the liberated area is a clear sky, and the people in the liberated area like it very much..." On the street, the Yangko troupe played with drums and gongs, sending young people off to the team. In short, it was a fiery In the era, everyone has a sense of urgency, the situation is pressing, the era is like a rolling wheel, you will fall behind if you hesitate."

My father-in-law, an old man enjoying retirement benefits, had even more ups and downs.Originally, he had already bought the plane ticket to study in the United States. Because he obeyed the call of the organization (he joined a progressive organization led by the Communist Party before the peaceful liberation of Chengdu), he resolutely gave up the opportunity to study abroad and devoted himself to the struggle to defend the city and the school.Later he was assigned to work on the political and legal front, and he was one of the oldest judges in our city.Unfortunately, in 1957, he was mistakenly classified as a rightist, and his fate has plummeted since then. It was not until the reform and opening up that he worked hard to get a retirement package.

In contrast, my father seemed relatively passive. He only wanted to be a scientist and was not interested in politics. I think this is at least a sign of low awareness.My father said: "At that time, the government called on young people to join the army to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and to learn culture. The university also recruited soldiers, and many students disappeared after class. It turned out that they joined the army and left." I asked, "Why didn't you join the army? It was so honorable to join the army at that time, so we could be born as revolutionary soldiers."

My father answered me: "If I die in the war, I will have nothing. At least I still have you children." I said, "What were you going to do when you graduated from college?" My father recalled: "Your grandfather sent a telegram asking the whole family to settle in Canada, but it didn't work out, so I followed suit." A burst of excitement flashed through my heart. It turned out that we almost became enviable overseas Chinese.I almost shouted in despair: "Why didn't you leave at that time? Grandpa didn't go, you left alone, show the courage you had when you carried your family behind your back to join the expeditionary force to fight in India."

The father looked into the distance and said, "I will return to your grandfather's factory as a trainee. It was your grandfather's decision." My father worked hard all his life and experienced ups and downs in his life. He retired as an associate professor in the 1980s.I almost hate my grandpa because he killed the bright future of my father and our family.I know a little about what happened later. Grandpa’s factory didn’t last long, because the privatization was quickly replaced by the process of public ownership, and Grandpa became the owner of a pile of waste paper called “stocks.”In the early years of the Republic of China, he founded China's "Yuhua" and "Dahua" spinning mills. He was a famous national industrialist and died in 1960.

My beautiful mother aspired to join the army when she was a student, and to be a glorious volunteer or a member of the female art troupe of the People's Liberation Army.At that time, she was only seventeen years old, and she was still studying in Chengdu Huamei High School. She was the kind of young girl full of fantasy.Many of her female classmates became high-ranking wives because they took the revolutionary road, put on military uniforms, became members of the dancing and singing art troupe, and then married the chief.I said, "Why didn't you realize your dream? According to your conditions, it shouldn't be a problem to take this path?"

My mother smiled shyly and said: "At that time, the army went to the school to recruit members of the art troupe. I remember very clearly that it was going to Guangzhou. The chief was the first to approve me, and let me get on the car and set off immediately. I said I had to go home and say something. , I am most worried about your grandma. As a result, I never came out after returning home... I blame your grandpa for being selfish. He regards me as a cash cow, so what kind of money is there for a soldier?" I said, "Why don't you resist? A white-haired girl can resist Huang Shiren, but you can't resist a grandfather? Once you resist, won't our descendants take a different path?"

The mother sighed and said, "This is fate! Girls, sooner or later you will get married. What's the use of resisting?" I think a bourgeois lady like my mother basically has no hope, no spirit of rebellion, no revolutionary ideals and firm beliefs.But even she had the urge to break through and almost succeeded, which shows that the revolutionary situation has penetrated into the hearts of the people like a spring breeze and inspired people to forge ahead. This is what I know about the spirit of a new regime in the early 1950s when it was established.The shadow of the old regime of the Kuomintang is disappearing, and the new era led by the Communist Party has just begun. The young republic is full of vitality because it has won the support of the majority of the people.In such an era, anyone's dream of restoring the old regime and counterattacking the mainland is doomed to failure.

2 Many years ago, I spent a long and unforgettable time as an educated youth in the frontier of Yunnan.At that time, the educated youths of our Corps were distributed along the border defense line thousands of miles away, holding a gun in one hand and a hoe in the other, carrying out the glorious mission entrusted to us by the motherland to cultivate and guard the border and receive re-education.The regiment I was in (later changed to a farm) was located on the China-Myanmar border, and the place was called Longchuan. place. In fact, there have been several earth-shattering events in the land we guard, and there have been famous heroes in the country, such as the heroine Xu Xuehui.Young people after the 1980s seldom heard of this name, but in the 1950s and 1960s, this name was known to almost all women and children. Its popularity is tied with female martyrs such as Jiang Jie, Liu Hulan, Ding Youjun, and Xiang Xiuli. The only difference is that The martyrs died, but Xu Xuehui lived.

Xu Xuehui is from the Longchuan County Bank. To be precise, he is a salesperson in a small savings bank on our farm. The small savings bank is only three miles away from our company, next to the Tangchang reservoir, and another educated youth from Beijing who later became a famous writer on our farm Wang Xiaobo, their company is not far from that reservoir.Many of our educated youths go to that small savings bank to save money, not because the money will not be used up, but because they are afraid that they will not be able to go home after spending it all. The Xu Xuehui incident happened one night in the 1950s. At that time, the young Xu Xuehui was only less than 20 years old, unmarried, and it is unknown whether he had a partner.A group of Kuomintang bandits came from the "foreigner street" across the border to rob the savings bank. Xu Xuehui clung to the cash box so tightly that the cruel bandits chopped off her arms... This is a famous incident that happened in our little-known little place Longchuan, which even alarmed the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao at that time.After Xu Xuehui became famous, he was cared by the party and the state, and was transferred to Kunming, where he put on artificial limbs and gave lectures to young people everywhere. During the "Cultural Revolution", he was recruited by the "Gang of Four" to become the deputy director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, equivalent to the deputy governor, and finally disappeared in the evening. When I interviewed the remnants of the KMT who counterattacked Yunnan in the Golden Triangle, and mentioned the famous Xu Xuehui incident, they all shook their heads in denial, refusing to admit their crimes, as if they were all innocent.I understand that their mood is similar to that of the Japanese. The Japanese still refuse to acknowledge the Nanjing Massacre, as if the hundreds of thousands of people committed suicide.Will Xu Xuehui chop off his arm alive? The foreign town on the opposite side of the border is called "Foreigners Street", which is said to be the stronghold of the Kuomintang. I later learned that "Foreigners Street" is one of the world's drug dens listed by the United Nations Drug Control Agency.However, the notoriety of the Golden Triangle at that time was far from being as bad as it is today, and political tasks were above all else, so our main task of colonizing and guarding the border was not to control drugs but to prevent Chiang Kai-shek and his bandits from invading the border. "Jiang Can Bandit" is an unknown historical symbol. I used to see them in movies, they are the kind of bad guys who have been artistically processed.But in my life as an educated youth, this symbol became very unspecific. For example, one or two signal flares suddenly went up at night, and a few reactionary leaflets appeared, saying that a bridge and reservoir in a certain place were destroyed, and the cattle of the production team were poisoned to death. etc.At the beginning, the educated youth were very vigilant. When the assembly whistle was blown late at night, everyone hurriedly got up to perform the task. They didn't even care about wearing their pants backwards.Over time, working during the day and preparing for battle at night, people were exhausted, but the enemy didn't even see a ghost.Fortunately, the higher-ups later conveyed instructions saying that the enemy was engaging in fatigue tactics, so we slept peacefully and ignored them. On the opposite side of the hillside where we work is the Golden Triangle, which is today's poisonous. The national border is a small river ditch less than two meters wide, and the hills on both sides are covered with lush forests.We male educated youths often stand in a row and urinate across the national border together, which is nicknamed the "bombing golden triangle". "Foreigners Street" is located on the hill opposite our company. With the naked eye, you can see many tin houses hidden in the green trees. When the sun rises, those roofs are shining, like the fairy tales you read when you were young, which makes you imagine endlessly.But the instructor seriously pointed out that the Kuomintang bandits who killed Xu Xuehui were sent there.The enemy's heart is not dead, they are trying to restore the country all the time, and they are trying to counterattack the mainland.When the Home Returning Mission comes back, we will kill millions of people! In the seven years in the frontier, many legends about the Kuomintang's counterattack to the mainland have blown through my life as an educated youth like the wind.For example, in the 1950s, a village hanged two of my brave scouts.At a certain intersection, the enemy set up a cauldron to boil our wounded (or cadres, or the chairman of the peasant association) to death.What I didn't expect was that many years later, I would walk among these people hiding behind the historical curtain of the Golden Triangle, and become the revealer and scribe of a special history. Another thing is that when I returned to the farm in the late 1980s, with the reform and opening up, and the development of frontier trade, I finally had the opportunity to walk into the mysterious and evil "Foreigner Street" across the border, which was as mysterious and evil as the diabolism, and fulfilled a wish.In fact, I saw that this is a very ordinary Burmese town, with low iron roofs, flying mosquitoes and flies, dirty streets full of garbage and tropical atmosphere, and disgusting sweat from business people and mules. On a sour note, drug dealers openly peddle drugs to tourists.In front of a big house, the locals told me that it was a former Han Chinese (KMT) intelligence station, abandoned for many years, and now it is a church.I stopped to listen, and sure enough, I heard the sound of a pipe organ wafting from the window of the church. I breathed a sigh of relief, stepped out of the shadow of history, and walked into the bright sunshine. 3 Many old people in the Golden Triangle recalled that in 1951, when the counter-offensive order was issued, it aroused enthusiastic cheers among the Kuomintang officers and soldiers.Many people shed tears of emotion, fired guns into the air, threw hats, and some simply squatted on the ground and wailed, like a group of homeless children who were told they might go home. I was deeply puzzled by this when I was researching this period of history.Because I don't understand, don't these remnants of the Kuomintang who have lost their armor and armor have no self-knowledge, why do they believe that the counterattack to the mainland will be successful?Have they forgotten how they escaped from the mainland in embarrassment just a year ago?Don't they really know that their opponents are stronger than ever and that they themselves are nothing more than a bunch of bluffing rogues? But when I walked into the group of losers fifty years ago, my mood suddenly became clear, because I didn't have to work hard to find the answer. In Chiang Rai, a city in northern Thailand, a former Kuomintang general who participated in the counterattack against Yunnan sighed with great emotion to visiting mainland writers: “We have fought against the Communist Party for decades, but we still don’t understand the Communist Party. Looking at it now, Counterattacking the mainland is completely wishful thinking, because we don't understand the mainland at all, and we always think that the people are on our side. If the people are on our side, how could the Kuomintang fail?... It took us fifty years to figure out this simple truth time." In Huihai, a small town in the Golden Triangle, another old overseas Chinese who has become a Thai citizen said calmly: "What is a gap and what is hatred? The Kuomintang was driven out of the mainland and out of the country. This is called hatred. The majority of officers and soldiers can only hear Taiwan. Propaganda, believe in one-sided words, this is a gap. Taiwan’s propaganda says, how brutal the Communist Party is, massacring the people, communism sharing wives, how the common people are dying, how the people hope that the national army will go back to rescue them, as long as your anti-communist and national salvation army arrives, the people will immediately The crowd will respond and welcome you with uprisings and battles, and the Communist regime will immediately collapse like ice and snow under the sun... You know the story of Cai E’s Northern Expedition. He is the hero of the Revolution of 1911. We regard Chairman Li as Cai E of the Golden Triangle The counterattack against Yunnan is another Northern Expedition. If we had the possibility to visit the mainland as often as we do now, who would believe those naive and ridiculous political lies? The problem is that we all believed it at that time, and we believed it deeply.” Another question I am interested in is, if the majority of officers and soldiers are deceived, does Li Mi, the coach of the Kuomintang, believe that he will become a new Cai E?He has the ability to change the destiny of history, will he succeed in counterattacking the mainland?If he didn't believe it, why did he go all out to launch the only large-scale military operation to invade the mainland since the liberation of the mainland?How does he play the historical role of this dilemma? According to the narrations of many old people, I gradually saw that nearly half a century ago, the main force of the Kuomintang counterattacking Yunnan had assembled in Mengsa, and Li Mi personally divided his troops into two groups: one was to feign to attack Jinghong eastward with great fanfare, to disturb the sight of the communist army, The main force of the other route marched covertly in the mountains of northern Myanmar, and did not arrive at a Wa mountain called Yancheng until late April.Yancheng was called Yong'en in ancient times, and across the Jiehe River is the county seat of Ximeng, Yunnan. I am suspicious of this.As a military commander, "soldiers are expensive and fast" is always a tactical imperative.But Li Mi's troops didn't seem to have a sense of urgency. They were like traveling in mountains and rivers, walking hundreds of miles for two months.I asked Mr. Wu for advice, and the former KMT staff member replied: "A march is a march, and no one delays time." I spread out the map and pointed out to him: "But such a route, you have traveled for two full months! So what are you doing?" He said calmly: "Mobilize the masses and expand our influence! Everywhere we go, we mobilize young people to serve as soldiers, build anti-communist guerrilla forces, and propagate the Three People's Principles, etc." I said, "Aren't you afraid of exposing your intentions, and are you not afraid that the People's Liberation Army will spy on your whereabouts?" Mr. Wu smiled and said, "Only a fool would believe that a few thousand of us could counterattack Yunnan. The Americans were in a tight spot in the Korean War, and Taiwan had millions of elite soldiers and couldn't protect itself. How much of a role can we play?" My eyes lit up, and I asked, "Does Li Mi really think so? Since he knows it can't be done, why do he want to counterattack Yunnan?" Elder Wu nodded in admiration and said, "This is where Chairman Li is so wise! As the ancients said, drunken people don't care about wine, they care about mountains and rivers." I began to understand that Li Mi was actually betting, but his bet was not on the mainland or Taiwan, but on the Americans. There was no KMT force in the mountains of northern Myanmar. Li Mi’s army marched all the way, recruiting troops all the way, recruiting all the chieftain officials along the way almost effortlessly, and sealing many column commanders and detachment commanders. Given the money, those tribal chiefs and feudal chiefs who have never seen the world have absolutely no reason not to be attached.Li Mi was very satisfied with this, and sent a telegram to Taiwan saying that the strength of the Anti-Communist National Salvation Army had expanded several times. Yancheng is a large mountain with a radius of hundreds of miles, which is the territory of Qu Hongzhai, a mountain official of the Wa nationality.Qu Hongzhai was known as the "King of Rock City", but this local emperor was not of the Wa nationality. He was a Han from Yunnan.Shanguan has no son, and he inherits the hereditary territory.Li Mi sent people to instigate rebellion, sent a lot of silver dollars and guns, and appointed him as the commander of the major general's column.In fact, this kind of buying tactics is almost invincible. For example, the former wanted murderer Qu Hongzhai changed his appearance overnight and became a general for nothing while sitting at home. Where can he find such a good thing?Qu Hongzhai, the king of the mountain, was almost stunned by the pie that fell from the sky. He immediately erected the banner of the Anti-Communist National Salvation Army and actively acted as the vanguard of the counterattack against the mainland. In April, the troops responsible for the false attack called urgently, saying that the main force of the communist army was coming fiercely, and the troops were stuck and unable to withdraw. If they did not retreat in time, the entire army would be in danger of being wiped out.In other words, Li Mi was dawdling on the road, and his plan to counterattack the mainland might be aborted before it was implemented, so at least he couldn't deal with Taiwan.Of course, there is a more important and hidden reason, which is the core of Li Mi's entire plan. If the counterattack fails, the implementation of this plan will be endangered, so Li Mi suddenly became anxious, and hastily changed the deployment and gave orders. Qianwei division commander Li Guohui was ordered to launch an attack on Cangyuan County in the early morning. 4 It was a dry and rainless dawn. The red land on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau became old due to lack of moisture. A thin layer of mist covered the sky and the earth like carbon ash. The river was dying and the rocks were covered with a layer of ash.Looking from a distance against this foggy background, the huge morning sun has just risen, like a red duck egg that has been crushed flat. Long tropical dry winds and the relentless torment of the sun. On the morning when the dry season was coming to an end, the Kuomintang advance troops crossed the border and launched an attack on Mansong, an outpost in Cangyuan County.A platoon of the People's Liberation Army stationed in Mansong, used the outpost of the stone bunker as a position to resist tenaciously, and the battle began immediately.Qian Yunzhou commanded the spy brigade and soldiers to surround the outpost. Although the Kuomintang officers and soldiers knew that the Communist Army had only one platoon, which was equal to a nail rather than a dagger, they were still very cautious in their actions.Because this is the mainland after all, and the opponent is not an old Burmese soldier who can only shoot at the sky, who can say that nails can't kill people? The blue-black bunker looks like a monster, squatting on the hillside covered with a thin layer of morning mist, and the black holes are like unfathomable eyes, which makes people feel frightened.A group of colorful Indian budgerigars were startled by the footsteps of the soldiers. They struggled to flap their wings in the dry air of the subtropical dry season, spreading their exaggerated and disturbed screams far away.Qian Yunzhou saw through the binoculars that there were many obstacles on the periphery of the bunker, and there were newly dug trenches in the bushes. The People's Liberation Army was well concealed, and there were no people moving around. The bunker was getting closer and closer, only a few hundred meters away, and the enemy still remained silent.Qian Yunzhou felt a little chill on his back. This was a regular battle, not a bandit fight. The two sides in the battle were old opponents who had been fighting for decades, and they knew each other like a family.The communist army seemed to torture them intentionally. The more silent they remained, the more nervous the attackers would be. Everyone knew that the closer the distance, the more accurate the shots. , who can guarantee that his head will not be pierced through a few holes first? ... Finally, with a bang, the communist army opened fire!The sound of gunfire lifted people's spirits, and the air that was about to freeze shattered.This shot was really bad, like a misfire, because the bullet didn't hit the human body, but went into the mud.Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, as if the ropes tied to their bodies were loosened. They raised their heads from the ground and looked around, and saw a thin wisp of green smoke rising from the position of the People's Liberation Army. It can be imagined that it was a panicked recruit .As a result, the morale of the attacking side was greatly boosted, and they bent down and charged fiercely, screaming. The situation was not good for the defensive side. Although they resisted tenaciously, the strength gap between the two sides was too great after all. Therefore, after the first round of attack, the remnants of the Kuomintang occupied the outer positions and forced the rest of the People's Liberation Army into the bunkers. The morning mist gradually dissipated, and the sun showed its face, spreading its red light obliquely on the battlefield.There were several corpses lying around the bunker. They didn't look like dead people, their faces were glowing red, like contented drunks.Qian Yunzhou asked the soldiers to shout, hand in their guns and not kill, and the national army gave preferential treatment to the prisoners, and someone in the bunker yelled back.Li Guohui also came up at this time. He recognized that the other party had a Henan accent, so he smiled wryly at Qian Yunzhou: "When I saw my fellow, my eyes were teary. Damn it! Give me a few shots at my fellow!" As soon as the artillery rang, the other party fell silent. Of course, the People's Liberation Army understood what the shelling meant to them.The artillery shells lifted a corner of the flimsy bunker, the stone wall collapsed, and some stumps were thrown out of the position bloody by the air waves.The Kuomintang officers and soldiers cheered. Encouraged by the victorious artillery fire, they straightened up and attacked. The PLA is really finished this time, like a dead tiger. Whoever rushes up first will pick the fruits of victory. The tenacious People's Liberation Army still had a machine gun firing in the ruins, and the scattered rifles also expressed their determination to the attackers not to surrender. The attacking crowd shouted and rushed towards the lonely stone bunker like a tide.This is an exciting moment. Victory is imminent. The enemy is about to be completely wiped out. The telegram of the victory in the first battle against the mainland is about to fly to Taiwan. The Kuomintang has been defeated for many years. Draw a wonderful end to the old opponent.But at this time an accident happened, a burst of grenades suddenly flew behind them, like hail in the clear sky, the violent explosion of the grenade disrupted the attacking team, even Li Guohui, who was in charge of the battle, was almost hit by a piece of shrapnel. A wonderful rescue show was staged in front of the Kuomintang counterattack army.More than a hundred mobile and flexible People's Liberation Army reinforcements (some of them militiamen) launched a bluff attack from the flanks, knocking out the enemy at once. At the same time, the People's Liberation Army trapped in the bunker quickly withdrew from its position to break through.They cooperated very tacitly, advancing and retreating, opening and relaxing, just like giving military lessons to Kuomintang officers and soldiers. Li Guohui watched helplessly as the communist army escaped from his grasp like Monkey King. The battle was so useless that the cooked duck flew away in front of him.He gritted his teeth and said, "Catch up with me and keep chasing into the county seat. Xiaoqian, you lead a group of people around the county seat and cut off the enemy's retreat. I want to see what tricks the communist army will play again!" The People's Liberation Army did not wait for help as Li Guohui expected. They voluntarily abandoned the county seat and retreated towards Shuangjiang before their retreat was cut off.The Kuomintang army occupied Cangyuan County, and captured some wounded soldiers, militiamen and working members who had not retreated in time.Li Mi was overjoyed when he heard the news, and couldn't wait to send a telegram of victory on the battlefield to Taiwan, reporting the victory in the first counteroffensive against Yunnan, eliminating more or less Communist troops, and effectively occupying Cangyuan, the first county in Yunnan.and so on. 5 Fifty years ago, Cangyuan was a small county in western Yunnan with a population of only a few thousand. There was no access to cars. The so-called county seat was similar to a small town in the interior. Except for a few bungalows where the county government temporarily worked, the rest were residential buildings.I went to Cangyuan in the 1970s. At that time, the small county in my eyes only had a state-run department store, a state-run canteen, a small post office, and a rough street paved with stone slabs.I heard that in the 1990s, Cangyuan completely changed its appearance, the county expanded tenfold, and the asphalt road led to Kunming, the provincial capital. In the spring of 1951, all the Kuomintang officers and soldiers who returned to Yunnan were ecstatic about the victory. Li Mi announced that a ceremony to celebrate the "recovery" would be held in the county seat. He couldn't wait to ride a horse and lead a group of staff and Taiwanese reporters across the border. Drive into Cangyuan County.The chief inspected the troops entering the city, and the Kuomintang officers and soldiers held a parade and a military parade, shouting many uneven slogans. Unfortunately, there were very few local residents, and because some escaped from the battle, there was little applause and no applause. Taiwanese reporters conducted interviews, and many officers and soldiers shed tears of excitement. They said that they had long been looking forward to the day of the counterattack. We must fight to Kunming and Nanjing to recover the entire mainland.The reporter wrote down these bold words in a notebook and sent them back to Taiwan by radio, along with faxed photos, showing that the morale of the soldiers of the national army was high and invincible. When Li Mi inspected the county seat, he was almost hit by a sneak attack bullet. An aide behind him acted as a scapegoat. It turned out that the Cangyuan County militia brigade was still resisting on the mountain.The captain of the militia is Tian Xingwu, a local Wa mountain official known as the "King of Rock". He also serves as the head of Cangyuan County of the Communist Party. The army is fighting.Li Mi was very annoyed, and asked "Yan Shuai Wang", a relative of "Yan Shuai Wang", to recruit "Yan Cheng Wang", and then he realized that the Wa mountain officials had concerns, fearing that the Kuomintang would not be successful, and they might end up being beaten by chicken eggs.So Li Mi decided to put down his airs and talk to Tian Xingwu in person.The poor Wa mountain official has never seen a Han officer who is bigger than the head of the regiment. He has never even been to Lincang City, which is a hundred kilometers away. The mountain official was so frightened that he couldn't even speak Chinese clearly, stammering like a schoolboy.He was originally a hereditary tribal leader who was engulfed by the tide of drastic changes in Chinese history and was involuntarily involved in the vortex of class struggle, so he couldn't help but swing from side to side like a spinning top.Of course Li Mi saw that Tian Xingwu was not a man, and it took him less than a pack of cigarettes to persuade him to side with the Kuomintang.Li Mi appointed him as the captain of the colonel detachment on the spot, and then sent him and his more than 400 Wa militiamen to the battlefield to lead the battle. Captives were not given clemency.Most of them were working team members, some were wounded and barefoot, and there was a female prisoner, who was very young and wore glasses. It was said that she was a college student from a big city.They had no time to keep up with the retreat of the troops, had no combat experience, and underestimated the severity of class struggle, so they became the targets of revenge for these KMT compatriots.When I was interviewing in Cangyuan, I heard the local people complain about the heinous atrocities of the Kuomintang. Bing threw down the pot to cook.The situation at that time is not difficult to imagine. The boiling water was tumbling and steaming, many people gathered around and laughed happily and contentedly.This cruel picture has always been lingering in my mind. I was secretly worried about the tragic fate of that unknown female college student, and wept quietly.Later, I questioned the Kuomintang officers and soldiers who participated in the counterattack in the Golden Triangle: "Aren't you similar to the Japanese in doing this?" They replied: "I'm sorry, I guarantee that this kind of atrocity did not happen in my unit... There are cases of shooting captives, but the boiled people have never heard of it." I said angrily: "Could it be that someone else spread rumors, and you can't be framed?" They replied quietly: "Maybe because the hatred is too deep, there will be some radical remarks and misunderstandings between each other." This time it was my turn to have nothing to say.I had to ask, "Now...is there still hatred?" They shook their heads and said, "They are all Chinese. I feel guilty about the past. No matter what party, as long as you can fix the country and make China strong, we will support you." Li Mi was encouraged by the initial victory in the counterattack against Cangyuan, and he ordered to take advantage of the victory to march. On the one hand, Li Guohui led his division to attack Gengma and Shuangjiang, and on the other hand, Qian Yunzhou commanded an attack on Ximeng and Lancang, which served as flank protection. Tian Xingwu, the "King of Rock Commander", was determined to turn his merits into a crime, and led his militiamen to the front to take the lead. The People's Liberation Army was weak and retreated again and again, and the defense line in western Yunnan was quickly broken.The remnants of the Kuomintang occupied four county towns one after another, and raised the banner of blue sky and white sun on the top of the city.At this time, a large number of caravans waiting outside swarmed in. Like ants moving their houses, they loaded the poor department stores, savings banks, grain stations and all the property that could be moved in these small counties on their horses, and then transported them to the Golden Triangle continuously.This grand occasion lasted for a while in the local area, and the endless stream of caravans patiently moved the above-mentioned counties into empty cities. For Taiwan's Kuomintang, which was defeated by the mainland, they needed victory too much, and needed spiritual inspiration too much. Victory is a delicious meal, and they are a group of hungry men who are hungry.So all the newspapers and radio stations on the island of Taiwan cheered the great victory of the counteroffensive in western Yunnan, as if they were going back to Nanjing tomorrow.Military and political officials frequently gave speeches, political and industrial departments organized people to take to the streets, and chambers of commerce and financial circles contributed funds to raise donations. After a lot of hype, Li Mi's value doubled immediately, from a cold-blooded commander to a well-known hero of the national army. He seems to have become the nemesis of the Communist Party, the invincible World War II star Montgomery or General Patton. There is another painstaking effort in Taiwan's victory cheers, which is to make a gesture for the Americans to see.At that time, the Americans were fighting hard in the Korean battlefield, and they wished to see the Communist Party’s backyard catch fire and the world be in chaos. If Li Mi and the others marched all the way to Kunming, wouldn’t the Communist Party be on both sides of the enemy?Isn't the situation on the Korean battlefield changing soon?Chiang Kai-shek's doing this is tantamount to reminding the arrogant Yankees: You cannot fight the Communist Party without our Kuomintang, and you cannot do without Taiwan! However, when Taiwan and the US allied forces were expecting frequent news of Li Mi's victory, Li Mi ordered the counterattack team to stop in Gengma County for three months. 6 Forty kilometers east of Gengma County, there is a flat mountain called Mengsa. Because it is halfway up the mountain, there is no water source, so no one lives there.It is said that several decades before the arrival of the educated youth, the forest was dense here, and it was a paradise for animals and plants. Later, it encountered large-scale steelmaking, and then felling trees to open up wasteland. Terraced fields were everywhere, and soil erosion was serious.At that time, my classmate Wang Shilu was assigned to Mengsa Farm to jump in the team. His designation was the Eighth Regiment of the Second Division of the Construction Corps. He told me excitedly that the Eighth Regiment actually had an airport!I ridiculed him, you eight groups of educated youths can go home to visit relatives, can't you take a plane?He said it was a disused airfield, a field airfield, maybe still able to take off fighter jets.I said, does it mean that the rubber trees of your Eighth Regiment need air force protection?He said don't laugh, it's all true.During the Anti-Japanese War, in order to protect the hump route and effectively attack the Japanese army in Yunnan and Burma, the American Allied Forces secretly built an improvised field airport in Mengsa.The airport has only one gravel runway and a few simple shacks, which are only used for temporary take-off and landing of small fighter jets.When the airport was about to be completed, news of the victory of the Japanese surrender came from the Pacific Ocean, and the airport was deserted before it was opened.Later, I looked up historical materials, and what my classmates said was not bad, basically consistent with history. In 1991, I made a special trip to Mengsa for an interview, and I saw the deserted airport.The airport is as flat as before, without trees, and the runway is covered with grass, like a natural football field. But when I turned my attention to the spring of 1951, when Li Mi ordered his counter-offensive troops to stop at Gengma and Shuangjiang, I noticed that he occupied the abandoned airport at the same time.The remnants of the Kuomintang have deployed heavy troops around the abandoned airport. I can see from the military map that the defense center of Li Mi's troops has actually shifted to this deserted airport.Another abnormal phenomenon is that their opponent, the People's Liberation Army, seems to have fallen asleep, showing no sign of counterattack, and even the harassment of the militia guerrillas is intermittent and weak.It's a bit like Jiang Taigong fishing, the man and the fish are indifferent to each other, playing a game that outsiders can't understand.According to the reconnaissance report, a regiment of the People's Liberation Army has retreated to Lincang, and there are no large troops in the west of Yunnan.There is also intelligence that the Communist government agencies have also begun to retreat to Dali.Some generals and aides believed that the main force of the communist army was transferred to the Korean battlefield, and the rear was empty, which was a great opportunity to drive straight. Some even optimistically predicted that it would only be a matter of time before Kunming would be recovered in half a month and the Communist Party would be defeated.It seemed that the future was bright, the communist army was vulnerable, and all it needed was to attack. Li Mi sat firmly on the Diaoyutai, unmoved by people's words, turning a blind eye to the good situation, and completely ignoring the anxiety of his subordinates.He is at peace with himself, sipping tea and discussing Taoism, chess and painting with his staff every day, as if he is not here to fight wars, but to travel around the mountains and rivers.Many Kuomintang officers who were eager to fight back to their hometowns were impatient and couldn't figure out what kind of medicine was sold in the old officer's gourd. Even the division commander Li Guohui was kept in the dark, anxious like everyone else. After more than ten days of being confused, on a night without moon or dark clouds, the stars were twinkling in the sky, Li Mi walked out of his headquarters in Gengma County, rode on his beloved Dongyang big white horse, and led a group of subordinates and entourage straight to Smash the airport.当他们翻过山坳，一个前所未有的灿烂景象突然像银河落九天一样展现在他们面前。黑夜沉沉，机场燃起熊熊火堆，将山间平地映得如同白昼。士兵戒备森严，骡马集合待命，树丛中隐蔽着大批民工。不久天空响起隆隆的马达声，一架没有国籍的美制飞机飞临人们头顶，这只黑色的巨鸟在天空低飞盘旋，沉重的呼吸响彻夜空。许多国民党官兵欢呼雀跃，他们激动万分，以为几年前抗战大反攻的辉煌场面将在猛撒重演：巨大的舱门打开，全副武装的空降兵和坦克大炮源源不断地从飞机肚子里开出来。 可惜时过境迁，飞机只投下几只降落伞就慌慌张张飞走了。人们找到这些挂在降落伞下面的木头箱子，箱子里躺着美国武器和弹药。不管怎么说，这也算个期待，美国人没有来，但是美国武器来了，抗战八年，大后方不就是靠着美国援助坚持下来的吗？民工忙碌起来，马帮将这些从天而降的大箱子分解开来，驮上牲口，然后运回金三角大本营孟萨去。当然这仅仅是个开始，此后两个月，没有国籍的神秘飞机常常夜间光临猛撒机场，将各种各样的作战物资空投下来，有次还投下两名美国情报军官。值得一提的是，这些武器大多是美军二战中使用过的枪炮，美国人用旧武器支援盟友也不是什么新闻，何况是无偿支援。 直到这时，军官们开始省悟李弥肚子里的算盘。有一天钱运周对李国辉说：“什么反攻大陆？我看叫做反攻台湾，或者反攻美国更好。总指挥在同台湾做交易，我们都是他的道具。” 李国辉吓了一跳，连忙制止他说：“老弟，咱们都是军人，传出去就是谋反罪。再说长官不依靠美国不行啊。” 钱运周叹道：“师长，我敢打赌，咱们这辈子是不要指望打回老家了。你没见总指挥在积蓄他的家当么？好容易积攒的家当舍得同共军硬拼？……唉，反正当兵吃粮，脱了军装也饿不死，管他个鸟！” 钱运周的话不幸而言中。当隆隆作响的飞机将装备一个标准军（三万人）的美式装备空投下来之后，李弥不是宣布挺进昆明而是立即撤退，将主力部队从双江和耿马县城撤到国境上，作出随时准备退出国境的姿态。这真是一场莫名其妙的战争，西线无战事，大家好像彼此谦让，而让战局以外的人摸不着头脑。当台湾和西方舆论大肆渲染胜利，把这场有名无实的反攻云南炒得沸沸扬扬时，李弥却让他的队伍躺在国境上睡大觉，而他自己为了保险，将指挥部先期撤过国境十公里。这个谜一直藏了许多年，直到我在金三角采访，一位老者才向我揭开这个谜底：美国要求台湾开辟第二战场，台湾命令李弥反攻云南，李弥则讨价还价要求美国援助武器。最后达成秘密协议，美国人同意援助武器，但是有个先决条件，就是空投地点必须在中国境内，也就是说必须在李弥反攻云南之后进行。 这场游戏没有输家，各得其所。 战争演变成一场旷日持久的对峙。战场双方隔着两百公里距离，好像在玩老鼠和猫的游戏。解放军稍有动静，李弥就往后退，解放军一撤走，国民党又恢复原来的态势。几个回合下来，大家似乎都在比赛耐性，这就很像一场没有裁判的拔河比赛，双方都在拖延时间，等待对方耐心耗尽。 对峙第三个月，僵局终于被打破，解放军突然以两师兵力快速运动，国民党残军本是惊弓之鸟，立即向后撤退。这时一个更加惊人的情报传来，令李弥不寒而栗。原来共产党早已布下天罗地网，一支神勇的精锐部队已经神不知鬼不觉穿插到国民党侧翼潜伏起来，只等乌龟把头伸出来，向前深入一步，这支部队立刻封锁国境，切断退路，形成关门打狗的局面。从前那些鼓吹反攻昆明的军官幕僚此时背上出了一身冷汗，他们暗自庆幸还是老长官英明，没有利令智昏，否则他们全都做了共军俘虏。反共救国军火速撤过国境，为防万一，李弥还将总部退过萨尔温江东岸。 只有不识时务的田兴武屈鸿斋们没能逃脱覆灭的命运。他们本来是部落民族，为历史潮流挟裹，又为眼前利益诱惑，因此替汉人李弥做了挡箭牌和替死鬼。解放军封锁国境，他们像被蜥蜴扔掉的断尾一样，被毫不留情地扫进历史垃圾堆。 7月，朝鲜战场传来和谈消息，李弥终于找到借口，迫不及待地下令撤退，于是反共救国军一路高奏凯歌喜气洋洋返回大本营孟萨。李弥不仅收获了美国援助，而且队伍空前壮大，总兵力翻了一倍。 7 1998年初冬的一天，我踏上飞往云南省会昆明的航班。扬声器报告飞经西昌上空时，我突然记起将近半个世纪前那个黑色的清晨，李弥从西昌机场起飞去与他的部队汇合，但是失败的命运无情阻断了他的希望。这位国民党将军无法在大陆任何一处机场降落所以只好只身飞往台湾。我从一万米高空鸟瞰大地，红土高原像一只制作粗糙的沙盘躺在我脚下，这只古老沙盘已经存在了亿万年，而我乘坐的飞机则像一只渺小的流星，在永恒的时间和空间纬度上匆匆划过。 我的采访是从原昆明军区离休干部李老开始的。1951年李老职务为军区作战参谋，参加过制定围歼国民党反共救国军的全部作战计划。 “……年初军区有情报，境外国民党残部可能对边疆地区进行大规模窜犯。到三月下旬，敌情就陆续传来，逆（李）弥残部约有一万多人蠢蠢欲动，将于近期分路窜犯国境。”李老是陕北人，虽然到南方生活大半辈子，但是一口乡音未改，一如既往地把“李”说成“逆”，“我”说成“额”。 “4月，第一股敌人在南路出现，来势很凶，目标是勐连，景洪。额（我）们开始判断有误，注意力被吸引到南路。加上下面个别部队领导犯了急躁主义，以为这是敌人主力，想立头功，没有等把他们完全放进来就冲上去，违背军区首长诱敌深入的指示精神。敌人本来就是佯攻，你一打，他头就缩回去，跟你玩'敌进额（我）退'的游戏。直到4月下旬，敌人主力才真正出现，他们的目标是临沧和思茅。当时分析，敌人还有没有更大的作战意图？他们只是一般性骚扰还是真的打算在云南建立根据地？他们还有没有别的战术目标？ “军区首长多次指示：不要性急，把敌人放进来，放深入一些。放长线钓大鱼嘛。额（我）们采取一些主动措施诱敌深入，希望敌人再向东前进，最好是临沧和凤庆，这样额（我）们就有把握关上门，把他们全歼，除去境外一个毒瘤。但是敌人很狡猾，始终不肯上当，相持两个月，敌人时进时退，逆（李）弥龟缩在耿马、双江一带，也搞发动群众那一套，当然是欺骗蒙蔽觉悟不高的群众。” 我问：“你们后来查清楚敌人意图了吗？” 李老笑着说：“反攻大陆呗。蒋介石要他反攻，逆（李）弥又不能违抗命令，可是他反攻又怕被额（我）们消灭，所以就来个消极怠工。” 我说：“从客观上讲，李弥反攻起到什么作用没有？” 李老沉思片刻回答：“恐怕不能说一点作用也没有。为防备国民党残部窜犯边疆，中央军委把原定入朝作战的第某某、某某军都留下来，这就是一种牵制作用。另外逆（李）弥把滇西、滇南分散的蒋残匪和反共势力纠集起来，起到了壮大队伍的作用。” 另一位离休老人彭荆风是我尊敬的前辈作家，老人看上去面色有些倦怠，但是精神尚好，思路敏捷，记忆力惊人。他对过去发生在西南边陲的几乎所有事件都了如指掌，说起话来仍然带有江西老家口音，语气果断勿庸置疑。 “1951年我在连队当文化教员，那时候我还是个十八九岁的小青年，投身革命队伍，热情似火，整天不知疲倦。国民党窜犯大陆，云南边疆是重点地区，当时打了那场很有影响的耿马、双江战斗。我并没有直接参战，而是后来接触了许多战斗英雄，又深入部队和临沧地区采访。生活是创作的源泉，火热的生活孕育了我的创作灵感，所以我一口气写出了两个电影剧本，还有一些别的作品。” 我问：“您认为您的作品反映了生活的真实吗？” 彭老毫不迟疑地回答：“是的，至今我仍然坚持这样认为。当时刚刚结束内战，民心向往和平安定，渴望建设家园，共产党有充分的信心挑起建设国家的重任。国民党反攻大陆是一种不得民心和逆历史潮流而动的举动。” 我说：“根据我的采访，1951年的战斗没有达到全部消灭敌人的预期目的，是否可以认为是一场不成功的军事行动呢？” 彭老连连摇头道：“这样看法是片面的，很不客观。边疆保卫战虽然只毙俘一两百名敌人，看上去不能同解放战争中任何一场胜利相比，但是在政治上的影响和意义却十分巨大，不仅有力保卫了边疆，支持抗美援朝，而且彻底粉碎了国民党反攻大陆的妄想，起到警戒一切敢于来犯之敌的作用。李弥缩回金三角，从此再也不敢大规模窜犯边境。这一仗还应该包含一些有益的军事启示：境外之敌已经不是一两年前的国民党正规部队，他们正在和还将发生变化，热带丛林作战是他们最大的特点，应当予以密切关注。可惜当时大家都意识不到这一点。当然也不能怪谁，人的认识总是随着事物的变化而逐步提高……这个教训直到十年后的勘界警戒作战才表现得淋漓尽致。” 我把话题转向境外。我告诉彭老，现居金三角的许多国民党将领都对1951年春天那场反攻云南的战斗有所反省。比如李崇文将军说，因为政治仇恨蒙住眼睛，明知不可为而为之，实在是件可悲的事情。 彭老笑笑说：“如果他们都像现在，能回大陆亲眼看看，他们就不会去做那样自欺欺人的所谓反攻梦想。” 最后一个话题是关于对金三角国民党残军政策。彭老说据一本公开出版的资料披露：鉴于金三角国民党军残军同台湾当局在组织上已无隶属关系，残军人员大多在当地安家，取得所在国“居留证”，有人已加入外国籍，不再从事危害祖国的活动，1981年根据中央和总政指示，停止对这股前国民党武装的工作。etc.