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Preface
During the War of Liberation, many senior officials in the Kuomintang team returned to their backs, resolutely left the Kuomintang and stood on the side of our party and the people.
These generals once killed the enemy for the country on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War, protected the people behind them, and greatly reduced bloodshed and sacrifice.
For example, famous patriotic generals such as Chen Mingren and Gao Shuxun have stood on the side of the people and contributed great strength to the construction of the New China.
Today, the protagonist of our story is also such a senior Kuomintang general.
He once had a high position and was the only Kuomintang general who had not fought a war with the Communist Party of China. He even conveyed the opinions of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party many times in order to establish a peaceful country.
This person is Zhang Zhizhong, who is known as the "General of Peace".
joined the army in his early years and was deeply reused by
Zhang Zhizhong was born in poverty. Like many people at that time, he traveled everywhere to survive.
The most finally came to Fenglehe Town, Anhui ( today Feixi County ). used his intelligence and talent to successfully win the favor of a boss, and began to settle accounts and sell goods under his command.
During this period, Zhang Zhizhong used his free time to learn knowledge through newspapers and understand the outside world.
1911 , with the outbreak of Xinhai Revolution, he joined the uprising in Yangzhou , and since then he embarked on the road of revolution.
In the following years, Zhang Zhizhong went to Baoding Army School to study and participated in the protection movement in 1917, thus gaining appreciation from the top leaders of the Kuomintang. After participating in the Northern Expedition , Zhang Zhizhong became a relationship with Chiang Kai-shek . After the war, Zhang Zhizhong was sent to Europe by the Kuomintang for investigation, and when he returned to China, he was arranged by Chiang Kai-shek to teach at the Whampoa Military Academy.
During the ten-year civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Chiang Kai-shek hoped that Zhang Zhizhong could lead his army to fight, but he repeatedly opposed Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement and suppression of the Red Army.
Since then, Chiang Kai-shek was dissatisfied with Zhang Zhizhong, so he no longer asked him to lead his troops and transferred him to the Kuomintang to take up idle positions.
Zhang Zhizhong also had great objections to Chiang Kai-shek's monopoly of power, and even wrote letters many times, which made Chiang Kai-shek increasingly disgusted with him.
Later, 's first cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke down, which caused a big blow to Zhang Zhizhong, but he did not remain depressed and was still fighting for the unity of the country.
During this period, Zhang Zhizhong helped Chiang Kai-shek complete the reorganization of the warlord army, but he refused to send troops to "suppress the Communist Party."
In 1931, the "September 18th" incident that shocked China and the world occurred. Zhang Zhizhong immediately wrote a letter to Chiang Kai-shek, hoping that he could stop suppressing the Communist Party and fight against Japan together, but Chiang Kai-shek insisted on his own and was furious at Zhang Zhizhong.
After the Xi'an Incident , Zhang Zhizhong has been busy trying to resolve this incident peacefully.
After Chiang Kai-shek returned to Nanjing, the first thing he thought was to take revenge on the Communist Party and Zhang Xueliang and General Yang Hucheng.
However, under Zhang Zhizhong's mediation, Chiang Kai-shek temporarily gave up his plan under pressure from the party and the people. Although the plan was blocked, Chiang Kai-shek did not give up his claim that "must settle the country first when fighting foreign countries." In the most difficult year of the War of Resistance in 1941, Chiang Kai-shek began his action.
He first ordered Hu Zongnan to send his main force to attack the New Fourth Army's garrison, claiming to the outside world that it was an attempt by the New Fourth Army to change military changes.
This operation severely hit the New Fourth Army troops, causing heavy losses to our party. Ye Ting was detained, known in history as the "Southern Anhui Incident".
When I heard the news, the world was in an uproar. The Communist Party hated the Kuomintang's behavior very much. Many military commanders and soldiers even pleaded with the central government to avenge the arrow.
In order to avoid the escalation of conflict, Zhang Zhizhong submitted a "Ten Thousand Words" to Chiang Kai-shek, explaining in detail the pros and cons of the current anti-communist.
Chiang Kai-shek wanted to remove Zhang Zhizhong from office, but because he made great achievements in the anti-Japanese battlefield and because Zhang Zhizhong participated in the revolution very early, he had a high prestige among the Kuomintang.
The helpless Chiang Kai-shek could only hold Hu Zongnan accountable. But for Zhang Zhizhong, Chiang Kai-shek also directly kept him away from the core of the Kuomintang's rights.
Victory and peace is difficult to remain
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Zhang Zhizhong started his peace operation again.
In order to be able to establish a peaceful country, Zhang Zhizhong went to Yan'an for negotiations and expanded his influence through the Democratic League, so that Chiang Kai-shek must pay attention to peaceful negotiations with the Communist Party.
Chiang Kai-shek was dissatisfied with Zhang Zhizhong, but at that time the military within the Kuomintang had not yet been dispatched and could only negotiate first.
Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek invited Chairman Mao to go to Chongqing for negotiations and asked Zhang Zhizhong to go to Yan'an to pick up Chairman Mao.
In this way, Chiang Kai-shek's conspiracy to "fake peace and real civil war" is well known to everyone.
Zhang Zhizhong went to Yan'an and guaranteed Chairman Mao's safety to the Communist Party. In the end, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, who took the overall situation into consideration, went to Chongqing to negotiate with the peace talks.
Chairman Mao got off the plane and a group of senior officials from the Kuomintang came to greet him. Seeing that Chiang Kai-shek did not come to the airport, Zhang Zhizhong asked to go to the location arranged by the Kuomintang with the Chairman.
At the welcome party, Premier Zhou found Dai Li . Premier Zhou had a friendship with Dai Li and hoped that he could ensure Chairman Mao’s safety.
Although Dai Li is in the Kuomintang, Premier Zhou still has to give face. All he can do is to send his confidants as much as possible to avoid Chiang Kai-shek for protection. Although
Military Control Commission reduced the threat, Zhongtong was ready to move. For this reason, Zhang Zhizhong went to Zhongtong in person to warn him secretly.
In order to ensure Chairman Mao’s safety in Chongqing, Zhang Zhizhong even brought his family out of his residence and let the Chairman live in.
and asked his confidant to send troops to alert the Chairman's residence, and asked someone to select a group of reliable personnel to be alerted in secret.
These guards have even been granted privileges. If you see someone trying to make a mistake in the Chairman's residence, you can do it immediately without asking for instructions.
Before Chairman Mao moved in, Zhang Zhizhong deliberately checked every corner of his home and left with peace of mind after confirming that there was no monitoring equipment.
During the Chongqing negotiations, Zhang Zhizhong provided Chairman Mao with a safe living environment. Here, the Chairman directed the overall situation through telegrams and fought wits and courage with Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek hopes to force out an alliance under the city, but because Chairman Mao was well protected and insisted on the bottom line at the negotiating table, Chiang Kai-shek has lost his skills.
After 43 days of negotiations, Chairman Mao made huge concessions outside his core position in order to ensure the success of the peace talks.
Finally, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party signed the Double Ten Agreement, and peace ushered in the dawn.
After everything was over, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to "detain" Chairman Mao on the grounds that the details were not resolved. At this time, Zhang Zhizhong found Chiang Kai-shek, hoping to get the Chairman back to Yan'an.
Zhang Zhizhong's attitude was firm, but Chiang Kai-shek was very angry and immediately said:
"You are a general of the Kuomintang, why do you speak for the Communist Party?"
Zhang Zhizhong's words were firm:
"I took Mao Zedong from Yan'an. I promised Mao Zedong's safety. Now that the negotiation is completed, Mao Zedong should return to Yan'an, let alone Zhou Enlai stayed to continue the negotiations. Could it be Chairman Chiang who has other intentions for Mao Zedong?"
's sentence directly hit Chiang Kai-shek's heart. Although he was angry, he could only compromise temporarily and promised to let Chairman Mao go back.
But Zhang Zhizhong knew very well that Chiang Kai-shek would not stand by. In order to allow Chairman Mao to arrive in Yan'an safely, Zhang Zhizhong accompanied him on the plane to Yan'an.
This made the spy arranged by Chiang Kai-shek unable to start, and in the end he had to give up. When Zhang Zhizhong came back, Chiang Kai-shek directly issued a transfer order and transferred him to Xinjiang.
Zhang Zhizhong, who received the "exile" order, knew that peace was no longer possible, and secretly reminded the Communist Party and then happily went to Xinjiang to take office.
Cross-strait unification, the general's last wish
When he was in Xinjiang, Zhang Zhizhong released hundreds of Communist Party members, and in order to prevent the outbreak of the civil war in , he wrote a long letter and made his final efforts for peace.
But Chiang Kai-shek insisted on his own and did not listen to any advice at all. The people who stayed with Chiang Kai-shek were all flatterers.
During the entire Liberation War, Chiang Kai-shek's blind command made the Kuomintang officers miserable. The powerful generals under Chiang Kai-shek, such as Chen Mingren, Gao Shuxun, Zeng Zesheng, etc., all stood on the side of the people.
As for many of the remaining people, many of them are embarrassed by the task, such as Liu Zhi , Gu Zhutong , and Chen Cheng are both good at business and short of military affairs.
the only reusable Du Yuming was trapped in the wilderness under the blind command of Chiang Kai-shek and eventually transferred to Gongdelin Prison. We all know the ending of Chiang Kai-shek, but when won the three major battles, Zhang Zhizhong still hopes to resolve the Chinese issue peacefully and minimize casualties as much as possible.
In April 1949, the negotiator of the Kuomintang went to Nanjing for negotiations.
Before leaving, Zhang Zhizhong still went to Xikou , hoping that Chiang Kai-shek could accept the peace talks and stop the war, but the result was not ideal.
During the negotiations, Premier Zhou made several concessions on a series of issues raised by the Kuomintang, but it was impossible to accept it only by digging the river.
The results of this negotiation have been very good, but Chiang Kai-shek still refused to sign with the dream of "being able to rule through the river and waiting for an opportunity to unify the mountains and rivers". Even his opponent said:
"Wenbai is incompetent, loses power and humiliates the country!"
After Chiang Kai-shek finished speaking, he ordered Mao Renfeng to go to Shanghai to control Zhang Zhizhong's family.
Zhang Zhizhong knew what the failure of negotiations meant to himself and the country, but as an important official of the Kuomintang, Zhang Zhizhong hoped to return to Nanjing to report.
Premier Zhou learned about it and quickly found Zhang Zhizhong and said:
"Now, you know the outcome. We can no longer let down a friend named Zhang. We can't let you down, your friend named Zhang!"
Seeing Premier Zhou's attitude, Zhang Zhizhong could only say one sentence: "I am their negotiator after all!"
Premier Zhou knew that it was definitely not Zhang Zhizhong's original intention, so he said to Zhang Zhizhong: "You follow me to pick up a guest!"
As a plane slowly landed, it was Zhang Zhizhong's family who walked down, which made him cry.
It turned out that as early as the negotiations began, Premier Zhou had asked the comrades from the underground party to secretly protect Zhang Zhizhong's family and took away his family before Chiang Kai-shek took action.
After calming down, Zhang Zhizhong joked:
"Enlai, you really will keep guests! I won't leave!"
Just like that, Zhang Zhizhong accepted the urgency of Premier Weekly , stayed in Peking , and issued a "Statement on the Current Situation", declaring his separation from Guangzhou National Government .
As one of the senior generals of the core level of Huangpu, the eight major kings of the eight kings of , the separation of Zhang Zhizhong had a great shocking effect on the highest leadership of the Kuomintang at that time. After
, Zhang Zhizhong also made unremitting efforts to peacefully liberate Taiwan.
In early 1950, in order to allow the remnants of the Kuomintang officers and soldiers in Hong Kong and Macau to return to the mainland, Zhang Zhizhong led several veterans of the Kuomintang to Taiwan to do guidance work.
According to the original plan, he needed to take a boat to a small island in the South China Sea and hold secret talks with senior Taiwanese generals such as Jiang Ching-kuo and Chen Cheng to facilitate the resolution of the issue of national reunification.
But that night, Zhang Zhizhong and his family moved into a local two-story building, but he couldn't fall asleep and felt uneasy.
Until two o'clock in the middle of the night, Zhang Zhizhong received a call from Ye Jianying, with only one sentence:
"Retreat quickly, you are targeted by the Kuomintang spies."
learned of the news, Zhang Zhizhong quickly let his family escape here.
Not long after, the Kuomintang plane flew past the sky and dropped a large number of bombs at the small building.
looked in disarray, and Zhang Zhizhong repeatedly said on the spot:
"The life of our whole family is given by Marshal Ye!"
After this exchange was fruitless, Zhang Zhizhong wrote a letter to Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan, which explained the pros and cons in detail, hoping that Chiang Kai-shek could give up his position, but he had not received a reply for a long time.
In 1964, in order to complete the reunification of the motherland, Zhang Zhizhong took a plane to Taiwan.
Zhang Zhizhong had no other thoughts about this old boss who had always wanted to take his life. He just wanted to complete the reunification of the motherland with his own sacrifice, that would be better.
During the meeting, Zhang Zhizhong hoped that Chiang Kai-shek could consider the issues with the mainland and complete the reunification of the motherland for the sake of national justice.
This communication was very rewarding, but fate did not give Zhang Zhizhong the chance to fly to Taiwan again.
On April 6, 1969, Zhang Zhizhong, who is already 79 years old, died in Beijing. Before his death, he still did not forget his mission and warned his children:
"No matter what, Taiwan's work must be done until the reunification of the motherland!"
Conclusion
Such a peace-loving general still failed to see the reunification of the motherland at the end of his life, and regretted it for life.
As a general, when Zhang Zhizhong faced the Japanese invasion, he commanded the army in Shanghai to fight to the death, but when facing the civil war, he did not raise a gun to his compatriots.
He only did one thing in his life, that is, he worked hard for national stability and peace, and even took risks many times, just for the people to live a good life.
When the whole country celebrates, the general's tomb should be filled with flowers and crowds of people.
