In 1945, the Americans dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, accelerating the defeat of Japan. Five days after the nuclear explosion in Nagasaki, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito issued an edict requiring the Japanese troops in various war zones to surrender to the allies. Japan surrender declared that the 14-year War of Resistance Against Japan ended in full swing, and the land of China ushered in a short period of peace.
At this time, China has been in conflict for years, the country's economy has almost collapsed, and people's lives have been suffering. Everyone hopes to usher in a long-term peace period. However, both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party know that there will be a battle between the two sides in the near future. Since the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have begun multiple rounds of negotiations, among which the Americans are also helping to mediate, hoping to ease the conflict between the two sides. However, the contradictions and differences between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have reached a point where it is difficult to recover.
Liberation War
Since the end of 1945, the scale of the war between the two sides has been expanding, and there have been many fights and stops. It was not until June 1946 that the Kuomintang army was approaching the liberated areas, and the second civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke out in full swing. The Kuomintang usually calls this war a "war of suppressing rebellion", while our army calls it a war of liberation.
In the early days of the Liberation War, the Kuomintang's advantages were relatively obvious. The size of the army reached 4.3 million people, while the People's Liberation Army's strength at that time was about 1.27 million people. In terms of international situation, the National Government had the support of Americans, while the Soviet Union was completely on the verge of the onlooker and did not want to interfere in the Chinese civil war.
So, many senior Kuomintang officials at that time asserted that the war of suppressing the rebellion would surely achieve a comprehensive victory. But these people forgot one thing: in China at that time, the Communist Party had a higher support rate among the people. As the saying goes, water can carry a boat, and the People's Liberation Army, which has obtained the support of the people, can develop and grow rapidly, and gradually turn the weak and turn the defense into offense, and finally achieve a decisive victory.
Starting from mid-1947, various liberated areas began to enter the strategic counterattack stage. By the end of 1948, the moment of strategic decisive battle had arrived. The comprehensive victory of the three major battles of completely collapsed the foundation of the National Government. He had to retreat to the southwest and finally completely retreated to Taiwan, ending his 23-year rule in mainland China.
During the entire Liberation War, both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party paid an extremely tragic price, and the number of deaths in the National Army reached more than 1.7 million. Among them, Huang Baitao, , Qiu Qingquan, and others who died in the battlefield were posthumously named generals by the National Government after their deaths. However, the highest officers killed in the National Army in the War of Liberation were not the two of them, but the much less famous general Tang Shi Zun . At its peak, Tang Shizun became the chairman of Sichuan Province and was named a second-level general by the National Government. Yes, there are still hierarchies for the generals of the National Government. However, these levels are not largely evaluated based on military merit, but are more like a symbol of honor or power. For example, the special-level generals are only , Chiang Kai-shek, and the first-level generals are mainly , Li Zongren, and the second-level generals are mainly granted local warlords such as Long Yun.
Speaking of Tang Shizun, his military command ability is relatively average, but this person is not afraid of death when fighting. With this ruthlessness, Tang Shizun's military position has also been promoted. , the most important reason is that he has received strong support from his old classmate Liu Xiang . Tang Shizun once studied at the Sichuan Army Quick Training Academy. During her studies, Tang Shizun met Liu Xiang and Yang Sen, the later warlords of Sichuan Province. Among them, Tang Shizun had the best relationship with Liu Xiang, which also laid the foundation for his future success.
Although Tang Shizun followed Liu Xiang all the way, his military talent is really hard to describe, so he has the nickname "Tang Plague Pig" in the Sichuan Army. Later, after the Red Army advanced into Sichuan, Tang Shizun was responsible for encircling and suppressing the Red Fourth Front Army . At that time, the Fourth Red Army was commanded by Xu Xiangqian, and Xu Shiyou, Wang Shusheng and others were the tiger divisions in the Red Army. Tang Shizun dares to provoke Red Fourth Army , and the result can be imagined.Later, Tang Shizun's troops were beaten to pieces, and Tang Shizun himself hid in a pigpen of a farmer before saving his life.
Although Tang Shizun has no military talent, he still has a relatively military character. During the Anti-Japanese War, he advocated that the Sichuan army leave Sichuan to defend their country, and even sold his mansion to supplement military expenditure. This spirit was exactly what the National Government needed at that time, so Tang Shizun was awarded the rank of second-level general by the National Government. Even Mao Zedong made positive comments on him, believing that he had made contributions to the War of Resistance against Japan.
In the late period of the Liberation War, after the National Government lost Nanjing, it began to resist stubbornly in the southwest region. But at that time, a group of warlords in Sichuan knew that they had not had enough time and began to seek a way out for themselves, and many generals took the initiative to revolt and surrender. However, Tang Shizun chose to continue to resist to the end and maintain his stupid loyalty and his later years.
Of course, his resistance was meaningless. Later, the People's Liberation Army entered Sichuan, and Tang Shizun led the remaining troops to flee southwest. However, while running away, he was ambushed by Yi armed forces. Tang Shizun was shot dead on the spot, at the age of 66.
Commander Zhu Rui
The highest general of the National Army who died in the war of Liberation was Tang Shizun, and the highest general of the People's Liberation Army who died in the battle was Zhu Rui, commander of the artillery force. In the Liaoshen Campaign in late 1948, Zhu Rui was ordered to lead artillery troops to attack Jinzhou . While visiting the front line to command, Zhu Rui unfortunately hit a landmine by accident and died in battle.
When he was young, Zhu Rui studied at Moscow University and the Kokrasin Artillery Academy. is one of the few soldiers in our army who has received higher artillery education. In the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhu Rui served as the acting principal of Yan'an Artillery Academy. During his tenure as acting principal, Zhu Rui trained a large number of outstanding artillery talents for the Eighth Route Army. However, the Eighth Route Army lacked artillery equipment at that time, so at that time, the influence of artillery was not high.
After Japan surrender, Zhu Rui asked the students from the Artillery Academy to go to the three northeastern provinces of . Their purpose was only one, that is, to collect heavy weapons and equipment left over from the Japanese army. After a year of collection, on the eve of the outbreak of the Liberation War, the People's Liberation Army in the Northeast had 700 heavy artillery , with more than 500,000 shells. It is precisely with this batch of military equipment that our army successfully won the Liaoshen Campaign and laid the foundation for national victory.
During the Battle of Jinzhou , facing the impregnable Jinzhou city wall, Northeast Field Army was unable to conquer Jinzhou city for a long time. However, when Zhu Rui's artillery troops arrived, the situation immediately reversed. Amid the fierce artillery fire, a gap was blown open in the city wall, and the field army of rushes into the city and wins the battle. However, at this moment of celebration of victory, Zhu Rui unfortunately hit a landmine and was killed at the age of 43.
