One morning in early 1950, the roar of airplanes sounded over a small island in Panyu, Guangdong Province, and a few minutes later, the planes suddenly dropped several bombs on a small two-story building on the island. After a series of explosions, the small building was razed to the ground. Looking at the sea of fire in front of him, a strange voice came from the plane: "The mission is completed, and the target has been buried in the sea of fire."
In the face of the sudden explosion, the inhabitants of the island were frightened into hiding, and in the panic, several people stood quietly in place. One of the little boys looked up at the man next to him and whispered, "Daddy, the place where we live has been blown up!" ”
Many years later, the talking boy sighed in an interview: "Back then, if it were not for the phone call that Marshal Ye Jianying made to his father, I am afraid that our whole family would have died in the bombing of Chiang Kai-shek!" ”
Ye Jianying
At that time, it was clear that New China had been founded, so why did the Kuomintang planes still dare to be so unscrupulous? And who was the target of Chiang Kai-shek's bombing this time? What happened to Ye Jianying's "life-saving phone"? Today, Brother Leng will take everyone into Zhang Zhizhong, the "general of peace" who was born in the Kuomintang but was praised by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou.
Zhou Hongtao, who had served as Chiang Kai-shek's secretary, said in his later years: "After Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, he hated two people the most, one was Marshall of the United States and the other was Zhang Zhizhong. And Chiang Kai-shek's hatred for these two people all stemmed from the "Chongqing negotiations."
Zhang Zhizhong
If Marshall was the special envoy who facilitated the "Chongqing negotiations" between the Kuomintang and the Communists, Zhang Zhizhong was the biggest obstacle to Chiang Kai-shek's assassination of Chairman Mao.
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and in order to promote peace, there was a man who had been busy before and after he persuaded Chiang Kai-shek to negotiate, and at the same time he went to Yan'an to invite Chairman Mao, and this person was Zhang Zhizhong, known as the "General of Peace".
When Chairman Mao decided to go to Chongqing for negotiations, Zhang Zhizhong, while happy, flew to Yan'an to pick up Chairman Mao. Clear-eyed people know that Chiang Kai-shek's peace talks are false and provoking a civil war is true, so Chairman Mao's current visit to Chongqing is bound to be fraught with dangers. Before leaving, Chairman Mao was even ready to "sit in the classroom."
Chairman Mao
Out of concern for Chairman Mao's safety, before leaving, Premier Zhou specifically approached Zhang Zhizhong and said: "General Zhang, during this trip to Chongqing, Chairman Mao's safety is really reassuring. Zhang Zhizhong knew that Premier Zhou's worries were also reasonable, after all, Chiang Kai-shek had always been a man with a small belly and a chicken intestine, but Zhang Zhizhong immediately promised Premier Zhou: "Brother Zhou, rest assured, since I dare to come to Yan'an to pick up Mr. Mao, then I can guarantee that he will return to Yan'an safely." ”
On August 28, 1945, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou arrived in Chongqing smoothly, and on the same day, Chiang Kai-shek invited Chairman Mao to live in his residence, the official residence of LinYuan, but Zhang Zhizhong soon found that the forest garden was full of Kuomintang agents, and once Chiang Kai-shek had a bad heart, Chairman Mao's situation would be unimaginable.
In order to ensure the safety of Chairman Mao's residence, Zhang Zhizhong deliberately vacated his residence, Guiyuan, while he moved with his family to a dilapidated thatched hut. In addition, Zhang Zhizhong also arranged all his guards to the outskirts of Guiyuan, and he deliberately stressed to the guards: "To protect the safety of Mr. Mao, we must play a twelve-point spirit, and once there is any mistake, it will be severe." ”
Chairman Mao and Zhang Zhizhong (left)
He gave up his residence and arranged his own guards, but Zhang Zhizhong was still not very assured, and in order to ensure that nothing was wrong, Zhang Zhizhong also specially sent a team of cronies in Guiyuan garden, so that they disguised themselves as waiters, cooks, etc., and always surrounded Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou. Moreover, he also instructed this group of cronies: "Once anyone who threatens Mr. Mao's safety appears, he can be killed on the spot without asking for instructions." ”
As the negotiations deepened, Chiang Kai-shek's attitude became worse and worse, and seeing that the negotiations were deadlocked, there were soon voices within the Kuomintang "assassinating Chairman Mao." In order to avoid accidents, Premier Zhou approached Zhang Zhizhong and hoped that Chairman Mao would return to Yan'an first. Although Zhang Zhizhong knew that Chiang Kai-shek could not easily let Chairman Mao go back, he still rushed into Chiang Kai-shek's office.
When he heard Zhang Zhizhong's idea of letting Chairman Mao return to Yan'an first, Chiang Kai-shek immediately became furious: "Which end are you?" Let him go before the agreement is signed, what are you anxious about? Zhang Zhizhong, who has always spoken more directly, immediately retorted: "Mr. Mao has been here for more than a month, and the Two Sides have reached a consensus in many aspects. Do you have any other thoughts? ”
Chiang Kai-shek
Despite Chiang Kai-shek's reluctance, Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to agree to Zhang Zhizhong's request under Zhang Zhizhong's repeated insistence. On October 8, Zhang Zhizhong held a grand banquet for Chairman Mao, at which Zhang Zhizhong said with great excitement: "The negotiations have been successful by 70 percent, and I believe that we will get closer and closer to 100 percent, and the peace issue will be satisfactorily resolved." ”
On October 10, after 43 days of difficult negotiations, the Kuomintang and the Communists finally signed the Minutes of The Meeting between the Government and the Representatives of the Chinese Communist Party, which is also known to many people as the "Double Tenth Agreement.". Early the next morning, after having breakfast with Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman Mao and Chiang Kai-shek immediately rushed to the airport by car, and before the plane took off, Zhang Zhizhong suddenly offered to personally send Chairman Mao back to Yan'an, and his behavior was not only to fulfill his original promise, but also related to a top-secret information he had received not long ago.
Just after Chairman Mao had determined the time to return to Yan'an, Fu Chaosu, who was yan Xishan's confidential secretary at the time, sent information to Zhang Zhizhong that Kuomintang agents were preparing to carry out assassinations while Chairman Mao was passing through Xi'an, so Zhang Zhizhong suddenly decided to send Chairman Mao back to Yan'an. It was precisely because of Zhang Zhizhong's escort that Chairman Mao finally turned the danger into a disaster.
Premier Zhou (first from left), Chairman Mao (center), Zhang Zhizhong (second from right)
After the founding of New China, Premier Zhou still sighed when recalling Chairman Mao's return to Yan'an: "At that time, I did not eat well and sleep well, and it was not until General Zhang Zhizhong decided to escort Chairman Mao that I put down the big stone in my heart. ”
Zhang Zhizhong did not expect that although Chiang Kai-shek signed the "Double Tenth Agreement", it was not long before he openly tore up this agreement, and in June 1946, Chiang Kai-shek brazenly launched a civil war despite opposition. However, at this time, Zhang Zhizhong was still not satisfied, as a general in the Kuomintang army and one of Chiang Kai-shek's "Eight Great Kongs", he not only did not fight a war with the People's Liberation Army, but also tried every means to seek peace.
On March 26, 1949, the day after living in Xiangshan, Chairman Mao proposed peace talks with the Kuomintang. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was already defeated, and negotiations were his only choice, and when considering who to send to participate in the negotiations, the first thing Chiang Kai-shek thought of was Zhang Zhizhong, but Chiang Kai-shek did not expect that Zhang Zhizhong would never come back after this trip.
From April 2 to April 7, Zhang Zhizhong and Premier Zhou negotiated for six consecutive days, but in many ways they remained deadlocked. Although the atmosphere at the negotiating table was tense, in private, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou were very enthusiastic about Zhang Zhizhong.
On April 8, Chairman Mao specially invited Zhang Zhizhong to his residence for dinner, and as soon as the two met, Chairman Mao tightly held Zhang Zhizhong's hand and said: "General Zhang, when I came to Chongqing, thank you for your warm hospitality, you entertained me with a good banquet, but I can only entertain you with millet, please forgive me!" Zhang Zhizhong said very sincerely: "As long as there is peace, why not eat chaff vegetables?" ”
Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou and Zhang Zhizhong
In order to express its sincerity in negotiations, our party has made concessions on many issues of the Kuomintang, which also made Zhang Zhizhong extremely grateful. On April 15, Premier Zhou handed over the final document of the Internal Peace Agreement to Zhang Zhizhong and told him without hesitation: "This agreement is no longer changed, and Chiang Kai-shek agrees to sign it." If it is not signed by the 20th, the million troops of the People's Liberation Army will cross the Yangtze River. ”
Zhang Zhizhong originally thought that peace was coming, but he did not expect that Chiang Kai-shek was furious after receiving the news: "Incompetence in the middle of the rule, immediately recall!" ”
As of April 20, Chiang Kai-shek had not signed, and a million troops of our army immediately crossed the Yangtze River, and in less than 3 days, Nanjing declared liberation.
The peace talks failed, and the Kuomintang was already defeated and retreated, and although Zhang Zhizhong knew that he was likely to be settled by Chiang Kai-shek after the autumn, Zhang Zhizhong still insisted on going back. After learning of Zhang Zhizhong's thoughts, Premier Zhou quietly did something that moved Zhang Zhizhong while retaining him.
As early as a few days ago, Premier Zhou instructed the Nanjing underground party of the COMMUNIST Party to find a way to send Zhang Zhizhong's family to Beijing safely, so when Zhang Zhizhong was preparing to return to Chiang Kai-shek's side, Premier Zhou sent his family to him, which surprised Zhang Zhizhong, but Premier Zhou did not want to be difficult, and he promised Zhang Zhizhong: "We are only doing this to ensure the safety of General Zhang Zhizhong's family, and we have no intention of staying, if you still plan to leave, the Communist Party will immediately send a plane to send you back!" Before Premier Zhou's voice fell, Zhang Zhizhong said very firmly: "I decided to stay!" ”
Although he decided to stay, Zhang Zhizhong's heart was very tormented, and he felt that he had betrayed Chiang Kai-shek. In order to help Zhang Zhizhong get rid of his psychological baggage, Chairman Mao, President Zhu and Premier Zhou often visited him, which made Zhang Zhizhong feel warm inside.
After the founding of New China, Zhang Zhizhong devoted all his energy to the construction of New China, but in his heart, there was always a knot in his heart, that is, Taiwan had not yet been liberated. In order to realize cross-strait reunification, Zhang Zhizhong has been trying to contact his old friends of the Kuomintang in an attempt to awaken their conscience. Of course, Premier Zhou has always felt the same way about Zhang Zhizhong's knot, so in early 1950, Premier Zhou gave Zhang Zhizhong a secret task that could open his knot -- to go to Guangzhou to secretly meet Chiang Ching-kuo and Chen Cheng, and to promote the successful liberation of Taiwan.
Zhang Zhizhong has always been resolute in carrying out the tasks assigned by Premier Zhou, although he knew that the process of secretly meeting Chiang Ching-kuo and Chen Cheng this time would be full of dangers, but Zhang Zhizhong still did not hesitate in the slightest, but what he did not expect was that he was almost buried in the sea of fire this time.
Premier Zhou
In order to avoid the eyes and ears of the Kuomintang agents, Zhang Zhizhong deliberately disclosed the news that he was going to Guangzhou in advance, but the reason he gave was to take his daughter back to China, in order not to arouse the suspicion of the Kuomintang agents, Zhang Zhizhong also specially brought his wife and son before leaving.
According to Premier Zhou's instructions, Zhang Zhizhong soon arrived by boat on a small island near Panyu, Guangdong Province, and in order to wait for the meeting, Zhang Zhizhong and his party waited for several days in the agreed residence. But Zhang Zhizhong never expected that a huge danger was quietly approaching him.
Zhang Zhizhong (first from left)
One morning, Zhang Zhizhong was just about to lie down and rest after he was busy, when he suddenly heard a rapid telephone ringing in the living room, Zhang Zhizhong immediately got up to pick it up, but he just picked up the handset, and he heard Ye Jianying's voice coming from the phone: "The location has been exposed, quickly withdraw!" ”
Without any hesitation, Zhang Zhizhong immediately woke up his family and entourage, and then instructed everyone to quickly pack up their luggage and documents and leave the house. Sure enough, just a few hours after Zhang Zhizhong and his party left, the place where they lived was bombed by Kuomintang planes, and the entire house was instantly razed to the ground. Until many years later, Zhang Yichun, the son of General Zhang Zhizhong, was still afraid when he recalled the thrilling scene at that time: "Ye Shuai is the savior of our whole family!" ”
Zhang Yichun
Although the first plan to peacefully liberate Taiwan came to an end, in the following decade or so, Zhang Zhizhong remained committed to the great cause of cross-strait reunification. At first, Zhang Zhizhong relied on letters to convey messages to his old friends in Taiwan, and later transmitted the idea of unification to Taiwan compatriots through radio and newspapers.
On April 6, 1969, General Zhang Zhizhong passed away in Beijing, and even on his deathbed, he still did not forget to advise those around him: "We must continue to do the work on Taiwan, and Taiwan must be liberated..."
Throughout the life of General Zhang Zhizhong, no matter what time it was, he always adhered to his national integrity. On the road of pursuing peace in the motherland, General Zhang Zhizhong has always been in the forefront. General Zhang Zhizhong's last wish is also the aspiration of the people of all Chinese, and every generation of Chinese has made unremitting efforts for cross-strait reunification. We firmly believe that the period of Taiwan's return is just around the corner.