Author: Dongxu
In mid-August 1958, our army decided to shell out Kinmen occupied by Chiang Kai-shek's army. This plan was top secret before it was launched.
However, on that morning, a newspaper in Singapore sent a message, revealing the secret.
Who did this? The leaker turned out to be the Chairman and Duke Zhou.
shelling Kinmen
"Mr. Cao, you shouldn't sell our party's secrets to the Nanyang Commercial Daily! We treat you as friends."
On October 24, 1959, when Zhou Gong met with Cao Juren , he said with a serious expression.
When everyone present was shocked when they heard this.
Mr. Zhou has always been implicit in his words, but this time he showed his sharpness, or he was not polite, which is very rare.
So, as soon as these words came out, the air at the scene immediately solidified, and Cao Juren was extremely embarrassed. Although he was smiling, he felt more uncomfortable than crying.
However, the chairman took the opposite attitude towards Cao Juren's "leakage of secrets". He smiled and said: It's not his fault, "It doesn't matter if you reveal it one day earlier... What's the big deal?"
Who is Cao Juren and why is our guest?
The same thing, but the two leaders have the opposite attitude. Why is this?
What is the origin of the leak incident mentioned by Zhou Gong?
Cao Juren, from Zhejiang, was born in 1900. He is a famous reporter during the Republic of China. During the Anti-Japanese War, Fan Changjiang, Meng Qiujiang and Fang Da were once known as the four major war correspondents.
Cao Juren during the Anti-Japanese War
He was very talented and once taught at Fudan University .
He had an extraordinary relationship with the Jiang family and was hired as a family teacher by Jingguo in southern Ganzhou.
Jingguo once said this: "Those who know me are Cao Gong."
Xiao Jiang's family is in southern Gan and
Therefore, in 1938, when he and Zhou Gong first met in Zeng Jiayan, Chongqing. Zhou Gong said humorously: "You and the Chairman are fellow villagers, so you can't be biased in writing reports."
Cao Juren said seriously: "I am not on the shore at both ends, and I am impartial, and I only look to the truth."
Later, the Southern Anhui Incident occurred. Cao Juren conducted a large number of investigations and interviews, and published many objective reports and comments, allowing the world to understand the truth of the incident and revealing the true face of Chiang Kai-shek's brothers and sisters.
Because Cao Juren is upright and always likes to pick on tricks, he is called "Mr. Crow" by the Jiang authorities.
After the founding of New China , Cao Juren did not stay in the mainland, nor went to Taiwan, but went to Hong Kong Island and served as the editor of Singapore's Sing Tao Daily.
Cao Juren
Cao Juren is a "neutral" and strives to be "impartial".
So, why did such a middle-in-law become a guest of our party?
According to Cao Juren's son Cao Lei recalled that Jiang sent someone to Hong Kong Island to find his father. The situation in the mainland was very good at that time, and Chiang Kai-shek's army had the idea of contacting the mainland.
Cao Juren also believes that although the two sides had a quarrel, they still had to reconcile in the end and could not resolve the problem through war. It has always been our claim to peacefully resolve the platform issue.
It is in this context that Cao Juren came to Beijing with a Singaporean industrial and commercial delegation as a special correspondent in Nanyang Business Daily in July 1956 and was cordially received by his old friends Zhou Gong and Chen Yi .
Dong Zhou was very happy with Cao Juren's arrival and even invited him to a banquet. At the banquet, Cao Juren bluntly asked Duke Zhou: "What is the value of the 'peaceful liberation' you talked about at the meeting?"
Zhou Gong said firmly: "The face value and actual value are equal. Our trump card is that as long as it is a China, everything can be discussed. The two sides negotiate equally, not 'reducement'."
Cao Juren was moved by Duke Zhou's frankness. After returning, he published "Duke Zhou's talk in the Summer Palace" in the Nanyang Business Daily, expressing the view that our party advocates "third cooperation".
Three months later, in October of the golden autumn of 1956, Cao Juren boarded the special plane to go north again and came to Beijing, and was received by the Chairman.
This time the reception is unusual, it is a separate reception.
In order to meet him, the chairman did not even attend the welcome meeting of Indonesian President Sukarno .
During the talks, the great man talked to him about Jiang's family and asked a lot about Cao Juren and Jingguo's past in southern Jiangxi.
Cao Juren's evaluation of Jingguo was very positive in the conversation, but the great man did not interrupt, but listened with a smile.
Chairman even said, "Can you lend me your "Theory of the Chinese Ethics" to read?"
Cao Juren's feelings about this meeting were: "The Chairman understands dialectics and knows that 'the strongest is the weakest, and the weakest is the strongest'. From contempt to allowing the existence of Jiang's family, he intends to shake hands with the enemy."
The Chairman's meeting with Cao Juren alone reflects our expectations for a peaceful solution to the platform issue and his desire for peaceful reunification.
Zhou Gong would also meet Cao Juren, and even said, "The Jiang family will arrange (work) in Beijing in the future. Cixiu ( Chen Cheng ) can also come. The position is not under Fu Yisheng (Fu Zuoyi), and Jingguo can also come... We no longer publicly promote anti-Cheng Chiang, and hope they will show sincerity."
After Cao Juren's report was released, all Chinese on the Taiwan Strait and the three regions and overseas are optimistic about the prospects for the third cooperation.
But not long after, the Kinmen shelling began. The background of the shelling was that China was vigorously carrying out economic construction at that time, and the United States and the Soviet Union were uneasy about it.
The Soviet Union proposed the "Three Harmony Route", namely "peaceful transition", "peaceful competition" and "peaceful coexistence" with the United States.
American hawks has stepped up a blockade of China. The situation in the Straits suddenly became tense, and the Chiang family ordered the Chiang army to frequently harass the coastal areas.
Against this background, the Chairman decisively took action and instructed Peng Dehuai to make big moves against the Chiang army. The policy was to hit Chiang's family and let the Americans see it.
Internationally, the United States' military presence in Middle East has aroused dissatisfaction among Arab countries. On August 22, the UN General Assembly held a meeting and passed the proposal put forward by Arab countries to request the US military to withdraw from the Middle East, making White House very embarrassed.
Our army decisively seized the opportunity and started shelling Kinmen on August 23.
Military operations are on the surface against Jiang's family, but in fact they are shocking the world and demonstrating against the United States, warning them not to intervene and not to underestimate our determination.
At the same time, it is also to let Kremlin see that China does not buy the Soviet Union’s accounts, and the “Three He Route” they have made is going to hell.
The Ministry of Defense decided to shell Kinmen from 12:00 on August 23, 1958.
But at this moment, something strange happened.
The Singapore Nanyang Commercial Daily printed that morning reported in advance that our army was about to shell Kinmen.
Coincidentally, our army decided to stop shelling Kinmen on October 6, and on October 3, the newspaper disclosed our army's decision in advance.
Whose secret is such a top-secret military operation? The answer is obvious.
Cao Juren is a reporter for this newspaper and has contacts with my senior executives. Suspecting must be directed at him.
Therefore, on October 24, when Duke Zhou met Cao Juren, he criticized him for selling the news to Singapore and leaking the secret.
However, the Chairman has the opposite attitude towards Cao Juren's "leakage incident". Why is this?
On October 13, 1958, the "Letter to Compatriots" drafted by the Chairman revealed this secret.
In the "Letter to Compatriots", the chairman said: "A few weeks ago, our policy was told to your leaders in advance. We will shell Kinmen on the 6th..." How to tell
? The Chairman said that it was through the Nanyang Commercial Daily.
Chairman
Through Cao Juren, we expressed our attitude to Jiang's family: We are not allowed to intensify the situation, and we are not allowed to escort Chiang's military ships that transport military supplies.
The news of the shelling of Kinmen was revealed to Cao Juren by the Chairman.
Cao Juren disclosed the relevant information, which was acquiesced by the Chairman; otherwise, the Chairman would have talked with Cao Juren and told many secrets why this time it was leaked?
Because at this time, it is no longer a secret that our army will shell Kinmen.
As early as July 18, the Chairman convened generals to deploy military struggle tasks in the southeast coast. Chairman
pointed out that Kinmen artillery battle , our army intends to attack the United States, and take advantage of the great opportunity that the US military is in a passive position in the Middle East, and can also support Arab anti-aggression.
Kinmen and Mazu are our China. It is China's own business to attack Kinmen and Mazu and punish Chiang's army, and Washington cannot find an excuse to interfere. Chairman
said that we decided to focus on ground artillery to carry out strikes and prepare for two or three months; two air divisions were transferred to Shantou and Liancheng at the same time or later on the shelling. Chairman
pointed out that all the Far Eastern troops in the United States are currently preparing for war, and our actions are a restraining force against it, making it afraid to let go of its hands and feet to mobilize troops to the Middle East. Its military strength is limited and it cannot win two wars at the same time, so as to reduce the pressure on the people in the Middle East.
also tells the people of the world through this action that no matter how the United States clamors, the Chinese people are not afraid.
htmlOn August 6, US President Eisenhower received exact information that the Chinese army planned to launch an attack on coastal islands. The White House was facing a great enemy and sent aircraft carriers and fighter jets to the strait to provide weapons and equipment to Taiwan.The Chiang Kai-shek military authorities also announced that Taiwan, Penghu and Kimball entered an emergency preparedness state.
At the same time, Jiang's family clamored wildly to counterattack; Pentagon was also aggressive and threatened with war.
Our army was not scared at all.
htmlOn August 18, the Chairman instructed Peng Dehuai: "Prepare to attack Kinmen, directly against Chiang Chiang and indirectly against the United States." htmlOn August 20, a final decision was made at the Beidaihe Conference, concentrating its efforts, and a sudden and violent blow to Chiang's army in Kinmen (not attacking Mazu), and then a complete blockade of it. htmlOn August 21, the Chairman summoned Ye Fei, the head of the Fuzhou Military Region, to listen to his report on the preparations for the Fujian front-line troops to shell Kinmen.
From left: Liu Peishan, Wei Guoqing, Ye Fei, Chen Tiejun
On the same day, the specific time of the shelling was determined and the Fujian front-line troops were ordered to carry out a large-scale shelling of the large and small Kinmen Island starting on August 23.
At 17:30 on August 23, as a string of red signal flares soared into the air, the Fujian front-line troops began to shell. In an instant, thousands of cannons were fired, and groups of shells roared and poured towards the Kinmen side. Kinmen Island suddenly became a sea of fire.
artillery bombardment lasted for more than two hours, nearly 30,000 artillery shells were fired, more than 600 officers and soldiers below Chiang Kai-shek's Kinmen Defense Command were killed and injured, and three deputy commanders and two US military advisers died in the artillery fire.
shelling destroyed a large number of military facilities of Chiang Kai-shek's army on Kinmen Island, and the wired communication system was basically destroyed.
So, since our army suddenly attacked, why did the Chairman instruct Cao Juren to leak the secrets in advance?
This is because our army has obtained information from attacking Kinmen, the United States and Chiang Kai-shek. Our army can numb the United States and Chiang Kai-shek by letting Cao Juren leak information.
In the eyes of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek, Cao Juren could not have the highest secret of me. The Chairman revealed to him that our army's shelling Kinmen was a fraud; they believed that how could the Chairman inform an outsider of our army's major actions? After the shelling of
began, as the Chairman expected, the White House was strong from outside and the middle was active. Secretary of State Dulles proposed talks with me in early September, and China and the United States held talks on Warsaw . During the talks, the US even proposed to give up Kinmen and Matsu to protect Taiwan.
At this time, the chairman suddenly made an amazing decision to stop the shelling and leave Kinmen and Mazu to Jiang.
Regarding this decision, many cadres were puzzled: Why not eat the fat meat that has come to the mouth, and not avenge the revenge of Kinmen Battle ?
Jiang's father and son
Chairman explained that if we occupy Golden Horse at this moment, Jiang's family will lose people's hearts on the island, the situation will fall into turmoil, Jiang's father will collapse, Taiwan's defense will rely more on Taiwan, and the United States will also make profits from it and strengthen its control over Taiwan.
The Jiang father and son own a Golden Horse, which is conducive to the stability of Taiwan and can avoid further interference in Taiwan affairs.Chairman
said: "As long as (Jiang’s) is different from the United States, Taiwan, Penghu, Kim and Malaysia can be managed by Jiang..."
After listening to the analysis, everyone nodded and admired the Chairman’s unique strategic vision even more.
In July 1965, Cao Juren went to the mainland for the sixth time, and it was his last time.
This time, we showed greater sincerity in peaceful liberation. Duke Zhou even proposed a specific policy for the return of Taiwan, mainly including that Taiwan will no longer accept US aid and Beijing will be responsible for aid; Xiamen and Kinmen merged into a city; the official rank and treatment of officials in Taiwan remained unchanged; the living standards of the people in Taiwan only improved and did not lower them, etc.
Unfortunately, due to various reasons, Jiang Jun did not seize the historical opportunity and left historical regrets.
After Zhou Gong learned more about it, he also expressed his affirmation of Cao Juren's work.
This can be seen from Cao Juren's letters. In his letter to his son Cao Lei, he said: "I listen to everything to the Prime Minister... He is still satisfied with my work."
Cao Juren's family photo
1972, 72-year-old Mr. Cao Juren died of illness. Duke Zhou commented: "Cao Juren is patriotic!" Not only that, Duke Zhou later arranged for Cao Juren's ashes to be transported back to the mainland for burial and wrote the inscription himself.
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