Chapter 59 Section 1

Li Zongren was lucky enough to get his life back on the assassination list.From that list, it is not difficult to find that those who are included in the forefront are either respected political celebrities, or feudal officials who have been entangled with Chiang Kai-shek for decades. Fu Zuoyi is one of the prominent representatives. In January 1949, General Fu Zuoyi, the supreme military and political chief of the Kuomintang in North China, faced the increasingly critical situation, assessed the situation, and resolutely announced the peaceful liberation of Peiping.When the news came out, it was nothing more than a dull thunder, knocking Chiang Kai-shek to the ground heavily.At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was preoccupied with the Battle of Xubang (Battle of Huaihai), trying to secure Jianghuai, occupy the southern half of the wall, win a respite, and then contend with the Communist Party.

Therefore, facing Fu Zuoyi's hundreds of thousands of troops trapped in the isolated city of Beiping, he kept thinking in his heart, hoping that Fu Zuoyi could withdraw the elite troops from the Tanggu Sea to the south and minimize the losses of the Kuomintang army in North China. At this time, after being fought by the Communist Party, Fu Zuoyi had made up his mind and resolutely followed the path of peaceful uprising. He solemnly said to Dong Qiwu, his confidant general, commander of the 35th Army of the Kuomintang and chairman of Suiyuan Province: "In terms of the current prospects, We don't have to be pessimistic. I have considered that there is a way out, and that is to make up my mind to follow the path of the people!"

Chiang Kai-shek soon noticed Fu Zuoyi's secret consultation with the People's Liberation Army.In order to stabilize Fu Zuoyi, Chiang Kai-shek, who was in trouble at home and abroad, tried his best. The lobbyists he sent came to Peiping one by one. The first to bear the brunt was Yan Xishan, a general of the Jin Army and then Xu Yongchang, the head of the KMT's military command. He and Fu Zuoyi both started as soldiers in the Jin Army. When Xu Yongchang came to Peiping, Fu Zuoyi warmly entertained him, drinking wine to reminisce about old friendships, and the friends were full of joy.Seeing that the fire was almost ready, Xu Yongchang went straight to the point: "Yisheng, I heard that you have joined forces with that side, and you are very kind in Duke Jiang's heart."

Fu Zuoyi put down his wine glass, and answered seriously: "As a member of the party and state, how can Fu not be loyal to the party and state?" Xu Yongchang's face flushed, and he persuaded: "I was entrusted by Jiang Gong to go back to Lu Zhonglian privately. Jiang Gong hopes that you can put the old friendship of decades of robes as the most important, and divide the national army in Pingjin into three routes. Withdrew in order to fight the communist army for a long time." "Which three ways?" Fu Zuoyi asked unhurriedly. "Jiang Gong's meaning," Xu Yongchang stretched out his hand and made a "three" gesture and continued, "The Communist army is suppressing the border. In order to preserve its strength and fight the Communist army for a long time, I hope that the Pingjin National Army will withdraw southward in three ways: one way Withdraw from Tianjin and Tanggu to Qingdao by sea, another route to Qingdao via Hebei and Shandong, and the third route can ask for the assistance of the Air Force..."

"Hey..." Fu Zuoyi sighed, "I'm afraid it's too late. The communist army has already surrounded Pingjin, how can they rush out. Even if they go out, retreating south will only speed up the fate of being wiped out." Xu Yongchang was rejected in this way, so he had to return to Nanjing in disappointment. Afterwards, Chiang Kai-shek sent Zheng Jiemin, the former military leader and later the Kuomintang's deputy defense minister, to Beiping again. In addition to repeating Xu Yongchang's statement, he patted his chest and promised: "As long as Commander-in-Chief Fu leads his troops south Withdrawal, my staff in Beiping will guarantee the success of the southward withdrawal, and they will obey Commander-in-Chief Fu's orders just like I obey Chairman Jiang."

Fu Zuoyi still rejected him with that set of words. Zheng Jiemin was not reconciled, and he used secret agents to publicly threaten on different occasions: "For those who dare to show their faces and run for peace in Peking, we must send people to follow them, and kill them if necessary, so as to 'kill chickens to scare monkeys'." Fu Zuoyi pushed back without being soft or hard after hearing it: "I, Fu, have been a soldier for decades, and I am still a second-level general in the army if I live today. If there are a few spies who dare to make mistakes, I don't think they have that. ability."

Zheng Jiemin went to persuade him for the last time, but before he could speak, he was choked up and had to leave in a huff. Chiang Kai-shek saw that the persuasion of the first two people did not work. In order to show his heart, he finally sent his son Jiang Weiguo, brought his own letter, held the gift of his son and nephew, and used the chief executive of Southeast as a bargaining chip. Chiang Kai-shek said in the letter, "I should give birth to my brother's meritorious service: last year I repeated the letter of consolation, and my brother did not reply for some reason. I am really sorry... The Double Twelve Incident in Xi'an was tricked by the Communist Party. The second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation is a lifetime. Great lesson. Now that my brother is in a difficult situation and wants to cooperate with the Communist Party again, I specially sent my second son, Weiguo, to come to interview him. Please personally check the matters in the interview. My sincere respect, Xun’an. Brother Jiang Zhongzheng.”

However, Fu Zuoyi still refused Jiang Weiguo, who was "passing the letter" at Nanyuan Airport: "I have been a soldier for half my life, and life and death have long been ignored. As long as it is beneficial to the country and the people, gains and losses are insignificant! Please apologize to the president!" Seeing that Fu Zuoyi could not be persuaded, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram asking Fu Zuoyi to transport officers and weapons above the major of the 13th Army of the Kuomintang to Nanjing within a week. Fu Zuoyi has not publicly electrified the uprising and agreed.However, when the special plane sent by Nanjing was circling over the airport, he ordered the ground troops to bombard Tiantan Airport, and the plane was naturally unable to land.

Chiang Kai-shek's dream of transporting the elite by air came to naught.Mao Zedong joked about this when he met Fu Zuoyi later: "Chiang Kai-shek started from the stock exchange, but in the end you Fu Zuoyi won." On January 26, 1949, Fu Zuoyi publicly telegraphed the peaceful uprising.At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was preparing to retire from Xikou and hand over power to Li Zongren. Ten days later, the Chinese People's Liberation Army held a ceremony to enter the city, which was reported prominently by foreign news agencies. Living in the Meiling Palace, Chiang Kai-shek, who was about to return to Xikou, Zhejiang Province, read the Associated Press report on the People's Liberation Army stationed in Beiping to hold a grand entrance ceremony, and he threw the telegram on the ground.The second son Jiang Weiguo, who was on the side of the attendant, stepped forward to persuade: "Father, it is nothing new for Fu Zuoyi to vote for the Communist Party. You don't need to get angry, and you should take care of your body."

"Bo Chuan is right. Fu Zuoyi has been turned red." Chiang Kai-shek looked at his beloved young son, and justified himself: "It was all caused by the Anti-Japanese War. He got mixed up with the Communist Party. I have long said that he has become a 'seven and a half' (The implication is very close to the eight roads)."