In May 1948, on the eve of the Jinan Campaign, the national army general Wang Yaowu, who was ordered to stick to Jinan, hurriedly flew to Nanjing to discuss the military situation in Jinan with Chiang Kai-shek.
In order to support Wang Yaowu, Soong Meiling personally cooked a table of delicious dishes. Chiang Kai-shek also frequently poured wine for Wang Yaowu, reliving the friendship between teachers and students during the Whampoa Military Academy period.
Unexpectedly, Wang Yaowu flew back to Jinan immediately after eating this meal, urgently transferred his wife and children, and repeatedly told him: Never go to Taiwan!
So, why did Song Meiling’s meal make Wang Yaowu so nervous? Why would Wang Yaowu not let his wife and children go to Taiwan?
Wang Yaowu was trapped in Jinan
In June 1946, after Chiang Kai-shek tore up the "Double Ten" Agreement, he sent 200,000 well-equipped Kuomintang troops to launch a fierce attack on the liberated areas of the Central Plains, and a three-year-long liberation war broke out.
As a senior general of the national army, Wang Yaowu, as a confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, was naturally entrusted with important responsibilities. The task assigned to him by Chiang Kai-shek was:
Lead the Fourth Front Army Headquarters to Jinan to take office secretly to contain the PLA's activities in the entire Shandong region. activities to completely cut off the connection between Shandong and the Northeast Liberated Areas.
However, Wang Yaowu was very dissatisfied with this arrangement because he asked to take his old troops, the 74th Army and the 100th Army, to Jinan to take up their posts, but Chiang Kai-shek was firmly opposed.
Chiang Kai-shek believed that the first task of the 74th Army was to "return the capital", and as for the 100th Army, it had to be sent to Shanghai.
In this regard, Jiang said: Shanghai's strategic position is more important than Jinan.
Wang Yaowu believed that because he was not leading his old army, he had no confidence in holding Jinan.
Unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek asked: "Why do you have to lead your own troops? Doesn't that become a warlord mentality?"
Faced with the principal's question, Wang Yaowu had to retreat and do the next best thing: "It's really not possible, lead the troops I have commanded. The 18th Army and the New Sixth Army are also okay. "
Unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek still disagreed. He said that these two troops had already made more important arrangements, and then said impatiently: "You have to take the overall situation into consideration, you go first. Well, I will send you another strong force later."
Wang Yaowu refused to let go of Chiang Kai-shek's life and death, so he had to reluctantly take a "strange" force to his post.
Although Wang Yaowu had a brilliant record in the past, the team he is leading now really makes him feel unsure.
Facts soon proved that his judgment was accurate...
In February 1947, Su Yu commanded the East China Field Army and launched a fierce battle with Wang Yaowu's troops in the Laiwu Battle. In the end, our army won a great victory.
The 7 divisions (more than 56,000 people in total) led by Wang Yaowu were almost completely wiped out. When Chiang Kai-shek learned about it, he was very angry and loudly asked Wang Yaowu how he led the troops!
In May, Su Yu defeated the Kuomintang troops in the Menglianggu Battle and annihilated all the Kuomintang divisions. This division was the reorganized 74th Division (also known as the 74th Army) brought out by Wang Yaowu.
When Wang Yaowu learned that the ace troops he had brought out were actually taken away by Su Yu, he was so angry that he couldn't eat for several days and said, "It's like the pain of losing a father"!
After Chiang Kai-shek heard about it, he personally wrote a letter to Wang Yaowu, advising him to "satisfy and submit to change" and find ways to rebuild the 74th Army.
In May 1948, most of Shandong had been liberated by our army, and Jinan instantly became an "isolated city."
Wang Yaowu was anxious to guard this "lone city" because he knew that Jinan would not last long!
After some weighing, he planned to withdraw from Jinan to preserve his strength, but he knew that Chiang Kai-shek would definitely not agree.
Therefore, he planned to go to Nanjing to visit Chiang Kai-shek in person and persuade him to agree to abandon Jinan.
"Deadly" good wine and good food
On May 15, 1948, Wang Yaowu took a special plane to Nanjing for an emergency flight. After the plane landed, he met Chen Brei, director of Chiang Kai-shek's Secretary Office.
After arriving at Chiang Kai-shek's official residence, Chiang and King first exchanged greetings, and then Chiang Kai-shek said some words of encouragement.
Mistress Soong Meiling also greeted Wang Yaowu with a smile. In order to cleanse him from the wind and dust, Soong Meiling, who had never touched the spring water, even cooked the food herself.
Wang Yaowu was flattered by the reception he received from the principal and his wife, but he was nervously thinking about how to find the right time to tell him about the troop withdrawal.
Because on the way here, he heard Chen Bulei say that Chiang Kai-shek was in a bad mood and often lost his temper because of his recent defeat on the front line...
After a while, Song Meiling invited the two of them to have a meal. Wang Yaowu sat down and took a look at the big table. All of them are my favorite dishes!
Wang Yaowu tasted these exquisite dishes with a little restraint, and Chiang Kai-shek personally poured him a few glasses of wine.
While pushing the cup and changing the cup, Chiang Kai-shek recalled what happened when the two were at Whampoa Military Academy.
After drinking for thirty years, Chiang Kai-shek immediately analyzed the current war situation. At this time, Wang Yaowu took advantage of the alcohol and asked tentatively:
"The central government is now unable to provide reinforcements. Instead of waiting for annihilation, it is better to abandon Jinan and concentrate its forces on Yanzhou , consolidate Xu Yan's defense to facilitate future operations. "
Wang Yaowu was preparing to continue analyzing the pros and cons of this strategic plan, but Chiang Kai-shek's face darkened and he scolded Wang Yaowu for his short-sightedness.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek instead analyzed the situation in Jinan and the strategic significance of the Jinan position to Wang Yaowu, and how to turn disadvantages into advantages to win the Jinan Campaign.
Chiang Kai-shek saw that Wang Yaowu no longer argued, but instead expressed his hope earnestly: We must defend Jinan!
Wang Yaowu couldn't erase the friendship between teachers and students, and received such high-standard hospitality, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and agreed to go back and stick to Jinan. Only then did Chiang Kai-shek feel relieved.
In order to prevent Wang Yaowu from retreating again, Chiang Kai-shek promised to allocate air force assistance to Jinan. By then, the Xuzhou army would rush to the rescue at night, and he could personally supervise the battle.
Wang Yaowu agreed on the surface, but he couldn't laugh or cry in his heart. He was not unaware of the current war situation. I'm afraid none of Chiang Kai-shek's promises could be realized.
And today's meal, is nothing more than asking Wang Yaowu to risk his life to defend the Jiang family dynasty.
After coming out of Chiang Kai-shek's official residence, Wang Yaowu looked up at the prosperous Nanjing, and then thought about Jinan's isolation and helplessness, and instantly felt extremely sad.
However, this was not the time to feel sad. He had to rush back to Jinan immediately to do something very important!
The return plane took off quickly. After landing, Wang Yaowu went to the army to make emergency arrangements and went straight to his home.
His wife Zheng Yilan was worried when she saw him rushing back. Wang Yaowu immediately told his wife that he had promised Chiang Kai-shek to defend Jinan and that Jinan was about to be lost.
Afterwards, he asked his wife to pack her luggage quickly, take her family to Nanjing for refuge first, and arranged for secretary Wang Zhaojian to secretly escort her.
Before leaving, Wang Yaowu told his wife: "If something happens to me, you can go to Hong Kong, but you must not go to Taiwan, remember!"
Although his wife nodded in agreement, her face was full of doubts, so Wang Yaowu said out of his own worries.
It turned out that he was worried that when the city of Jinan was destroyed, he would become a prisoner of the People's Liberation Army. If his family went to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek would definitely threaten him with the lives of his family members in the future.
After watching his family leave, Wang Yaowu felt very sad when he looked at the empty house. He unconsciously recalled his most depressed, happiest and most glorious years...
From a poor boy to a famous anti-Japanese general
Wang Yaowu was born in 1904 Years ago, he was born in Wangzhuang, Shandong Tai'an. Since his birth, his family had been impoverished and had neither enough food nor clothing to keep him warm.
Although the family was extremely poor, his father still tried to find a way for him to attend a private school, hoping that when he grew up, he could make a living by writing and no longer suffer from poverty.
However, before he came of age, his father and brother passed away one after another, leaving him and his mother to live an even more difficult life.
When he was 19 years old, Wang Yaowu, who had little education and no skills, was forced to go to live with a wealthy relative in Tianjin.
A relative introduced him to a job in a tobacco company, and he was grateful. However, after he went there, he found out that he was a handyman, doing the work of a porter.
During that time, he suffered a lot of exclusion and difficulties. He did the hardest work, received the lowest wages, and was often humiliated by rich people.
Later, another distant relative saw that he was so pitiful and introduced him to Mayushan Candy Company as a boy.
This job involves dealing with different customers every day. In the long run, Wang Yaowu has become eloquent, smooth and flexible.
Wang Yaowu came from a poor background and cherished this "respectable" new job, so he worked very hard and quickly won the favor of his boss.
In November 1924, Wang Yaowu accidentally learned that the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou was recruiting students, so he planned to try his luck.
had the idea of joining the army not because he had great ideals and ambitions, but because he wanted others to think highly of him.
So he spent the first "big sum" of his life to buy a train ticket and came to the prosperous Guangzhou alone.
After arriving in Guangzhou, he quickly took the admissions exam for the Whampoa Military Academy, but to his surprise, he passed the exam by mistake!
So he immediately resigned from the candy company and began the military school life he had longed for.
While in school, Wang Yaowu showed his enthusiasm for work again, actively participated in training, and took cultural classes seriously, so he was deeply appreciated by some school leaders.
In October 1925, the Guangzhou National Government decided to send troops to conquer Chen Jiongming who invaded Guangzhou. Huangpu students from the third phase were sent to the battlefield to fight, including Wang Yaowu.
Wang Yaowu was very nervous when he went to the battlefield for the first time, but he knew that he had no background and could only rely on military exploits to gain a foothold in the army, so he fought bravely on the battlefield to kill the enemy.
The military leaders learned that this soldier was extremely brave regardless of life and death, and praised him by name. Wang Yaowu became a model student among this group of students.
The following year, Wang Yaowu graduated from the military academy. He was assigned to the Fourth Company of the Third Regiment of the First Division of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
At that time, the commander of this unit was Chiang Kai-shek, the division commander was He Yingqin, the regiment leader was Qian Dajun, and Wang Yaowu's position was the second lieutenant platoon leader of the fourth company.
After that, Wang Yaowu rose to prominence under the hands of these "high-ranking Huangpu officials" and repeatedly performed extraordinary feats on the battlefield.
In 1932, Wang Yaowu was promoted by Chiang Kai-shek to the commander of the Supplementary First Brigade with the rank of major general. Later, he was promoted to the commander of the 51st Division.
After the Anti-Japanese War broke out, Wang Yaowu led his troops to defeat the Japanese army in the Battle of Wanjialing (Jiangxi), causing as many as 4,000 Japanese casualties. Wang Yaowu became famous in this battle and became famous throughout the army.
After the victory of this battle, he was ordered to go to Chongqing to meet with Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek greatly appreciated his ability to lead troops and directly promoted him to deputy commander of the 74th Army. A year later, he was promoted to army commander.
Under his leadership, the 74th Army became a highly disciplined and capable "Anti-Japanese Iron Army" force.
In the next few years, Wang Yaowu led his troops to participate in the Changsha battle, Jiangxi Shanggao battle, Zhejiang battle, Western Hubei battle, Changde battle, all of which achieved overwhelming victories.
This illustrious military exploits made him directly become a confidant of Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek successively promoted him to the deputy commander-in-chief of the 29th Group Army and the commander-in-chief of the 24th Group Army.
In May 1945, he cheated again, commanding the 74th Army, the 18th Army and other main forces, and wiped out more than 20,000 enemies in one fell swoop in Xuefeng Mountain in western Hunan.
According to current sayings, this is called "the first battle to become a god", and this glory lasted until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
If nothing else happened, he should be a well-deserved founding hero in history. However, the beginning of the civil war made his life suddenly take another path.
But he chose this path himself, and he can't blame anyone. Now that the People's Liberation Army is about to attack the city, he has no choice but to fight to the end!
After sighing with emotion, Wang Yaowu dragged heavy steps back to the ruthless battlefield...
A roll of toilet paper captured Wang Yaowu
In July 1948, Yanzhou was also liberated by our army, and Jinan instantly lost its support. Wang Yaowu was anxious. Emergency troops were mobilized to prepare for the battle.
The next month, Su Yu, acting commander and acting political commissar of the East China Field Army of the People's Liberation Army, commanded troops from Anhui, Jiangsu, and Henan to march toward Shandong in preparation for the Jinan Campaign.
In order to quickly liberate Jinan without harming innocent people in the city, Su Yu formulated a detailed battle plan.
First of all, he divided the 320,000-strong army into two groups: siege and reinforcement groups based on the combat types that Huaye's various units were good at.
Among them, the siege group deployed 140,000 people, and the reinforcement group deployed 180,000 people.
At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek also hurriedly deployed 270,000 troops and formulated the so-called Jinan Battle Plan.
In this Jinan battle plan, Chiang Kai-shek planned to use the original 100,000 defenders and the additional 2 brigades to defend Jinan City.
All the defending troops were led by Wang Yaowu, and he was required to hold on for at least 2 months no matter what.
In addition, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 170,000 people from the Huangpu Direct Regiment to rush to Wang Yaowu's aid. The rescue force was led by Xuzhou general Du Yuming.
Although the Kuomintang's plan looks good, Wang Yaowu is still worried that he will not be able to withstand the fierce attack of the People's Liberation Army.
html On September 14, Wang Yaowu hurriedly flew to Nanjing to discuss Jinan's military situation with Chiang Kai-shek.When we get together again this time, Chiang Kai-shek no longer cares about playing the emotional card, and Soong Meiling has no time to cook. Only Jiang and Wang Er are nervously discussing how to deal with the People's Liberation Army's attack.
The next day, Wang Yaowu left Nanjing. When the plane approached the airspace of Jinan, he looked down and saw the People's Liberation Army troops advancing toward Jinan in a mighty manner. He was instantly panicked.
However, despite the panic, this tough battle still has to be fought. After all, he is a soldier, and it is the duty of soldiers to obey orders.
On the evening of September 16, the clarion call for the East China Field Army to attack Jinan officially sounded.
After eight days and eight nights of fierce fighting, the East China Field Army finally broke through the city gate. Seeing that Wang Yaowu could no longer stand it, he immediately summoned the officers from the headquarters for an emergency lecture:
We have held on for eight days and eight nights and have fulfilled our responsibilities...
This war is different from the Anti-Japanese War. We don’t have to think about committing suicide. Now that the situation is over, I hope everyone will take care of themselves in the future...
Later, Wang Yaowu led a team of people into the bunker, escaped from the siege and fled to a small village.
At that time, the People's Liberation Army entered the city but did not capture Wang Yaowu. Instead, they searched everywhere near Jinan City.
Wang Yaowu was worried that the target of a group of people was too big, so he ordered others to retreat to the south, while he himself transformed into a farmer and fled to the east.
When he fled to Shouguang County, he suddenly felt uncomfortable in his stomach, so he went to a fellow villager's house and went to the toilet, and then continued to run for his life.
He never expected that this fellow villager was also unusual. When he saw the white toilet paper he left behind, he immediately reported it to the relevant authorities.
After all, in the war years when supplies were scarce, those who could afford white toilet paper were either rich or expensive.
As a result, Wang Yaowu was quickly arrested. When he learned that he was arrested for using toilet paper, Wang Yaowu couldn't laugh or cry.
Abandoning the dark and turning to the bright to start a new life
html On September 29, the Party Central Committee received the good news that Wang Yaowu had been captured alive, and instructed the Changwei Special Zone Security Command to escort Wang Yaowu to the Political Department of the Yidu East China Military Region.Afterarrived at the place, Shu Tong, then director of the Political Department of the East China Military Region, met with Wang Yaowu and advised him to settle down as he came, in order to win leniency from our party.
Wang Yaowu's attitude was very tough at first, but as Shu Tong patiently explained, he finally said frankly: "I don't want to fight a civil war, and I don't want to see my compatriots killing each other."
In addition, he also criticized his previous behavior of intercepting our army. , expressed his apology.
Shu Tong saw that he had the intention to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side, so he advised him to cooperate with the investigation. However, Wang Yaowu expressed his concerns at this time.
It turned out that he had long been deeply disappointed with Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang, but his family was still living abroad. He was worried that if he "surrendered", Chiang Kai-shek would kill his family.
Shu Tong immediately said that he would ask his superiors to give his family members appropriate protection and care.
Soon after, Wang Yaowu finally figured it out and decided to call on his former subordinates to join him in abandoning the dark side and joining the bright side to end the civil war.
So he wrote a joint letter "A Letter to the Kuomintang Officers and Soldiers" to some of his old subordinates and close friends.
On November 14, he delivered a speech entitled "Additional Message to Mr. Chiang" through East China Xinhua Radio Station , advising Chiang Kai-shek to surrender immediately and restore domestic peace as soon as possible.
Chiang Kai-shek was furious after hearing the broadcast. He believed that Wang Yaowu had completely "rebelled", so he planned to send people to Hong Kong to capture Wang Yaowu's family. However, the news of defeats in many places on the front line made him so anxious that he could not care about it. .
After Wang Yaowu spent several months with members of our party, he deeply felt that the Communists had strict discipline and respected prisoners, which he admired very much.
As a result, he actively participated in study and reform, hoping to win leniency after the war. What happened later moved him even more.
It turns out that once Wang Yaowu fell ill and had a high fever that did not go away. The fever reached 40 degrees and he was about to die.
The management cadres of the Prisoner of War Regiment attached great importance to it and sent medical staff to take care of Wang Yaowu day and night. They also asked the doctors to use precious medicines that were in short supply at the time.
After careful care by our party members, Wang Yaowu finally saved his life.
Later, every time he recalled this incident, Wang Yaowu's eyes became red.
I remember that the Kuomintang used all kinds of cruel punishments on people arrested in our party, and many comrades were tortured to death.
On the other hand, our party will give preferential treatment to the Kuomintang prisoners of war regardless of their official rank, which fully reflects the people-oriented and caring style of compatriots.
At this point, Wang Yaowu has completely repented. He feels deeply guilty for his previous behavior of "helping the tyrants to do evil" and often hopes to have the opportunity to make up for his mistakes.
In 1956, Wang Yaowu was transferred to the Beijing Gongdelin War Criminals Management Institute because of his good performance, and served as a study committee member, responsible for the study and transformation of all groups of prisoners of war in the institute.
During this period, Wang Yaowu has been very active and assisted the management staff in managing these war criminals well.
Wang Yaowu enjoyed his old age in Beijing
On December 4, 1959, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China pardoned the first batch of war criminals in New China in accordance with the principle of "leniency", and Wang Yaowu was among them.
Wang Yaowu was suddenly announced to have regained his freedom. He couldn't believe his ears.
Not long after, in order to take care of him, Zhou Enlai's group came forward to arrange for him to be the cultural and historical commissioner of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which made him extremely grateful.
Wang Yaowu cherished this job opportunity very much. At that time, he felt that he was alive again and found his value again!
However, due to some objective reasons, he could not reunite with his family for the time being. At this time, his wife Zheng Yilan filed for divorce from him.
Because Wang Yaowu was already 54 years old at the time, his wife hoped that he could start a new family in Beijing so that someone could take care of him.
Knowing that his wife was so considerate of him made him miss his family far away in Hong Kong even more.
In 1965, under the coordination of Premier Zhou Enlai, Wang Yaowu's daughter Wang Luyun came to Beijing to visit her father on behalf of her family.
When she saw that her father was living a good life and serving as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, she felt very grateful to the central government.
"Daddy..."
His daughter's calls finally made up for Wang Yaowu's emotional void for many years. He felt no regrets about seeing his daughter in his lifetime.
Two years later, Premier Zhou Enlai personally acted as a matchmaker and introduced Wang Yaowu to marry Wu Bolun, a teacher at Beijing 82 Middle School.
Wu Bolun is as well-educated as Zheng Yilan, treats Wang Yaowu with respect, and takes good care of the elderly and sick Wang Yaowu.
In 1968, Wang Yaowu died of illness in Beijing at the age of 64.
After 1980, after multi-party coordination and full demonstration, Wang Yaowu’s ashes were finally placed in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery in Beijing.
At this point, Wang Yaowu’s life of ups and downs has finally come to a conclusion.
Conclusion
Wang Yaowu, as a senior general of the Kuomintang, fought bravely against the enemy during the War of Resistance Against Japan and made many military exploits. He can be regarded as an out-and-out anti-Japanese hero.
However, during the War of Liberation, he helped Chiang Kai-shek provoke a civil war, which caused unforgivable losses to the country.
In the end, Wang Yaowu’s ashes were fortunate enough to be placed in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery. This not only benefited from his role as a national hero who defended his homeland and defended his country during the war, but also benefited from his hard work and transformation in his desire to become a citizen of New China!
