General Han Liancheng Picture from the Internet
In September 1955, Han Liancheng, then the first deputy commander of the Lanzhou Military Region, was awarded the rank of lieutenant general and awarded the Liberation Medal of the First Class.
In fact, in terms of contribution and position, Han Liancheng was fully qualified to be awarded the rank of general. Because Dong Qiwu (commander of the 69th Army), Chen Mingren (commander of the 55th Army), and Tao Zhiyue (deputy commander of the Xinjiang Military Region and commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps), who were also rebel generals and still held positions in the army at this time, were awarded the rank of general.
So why were the other three all awarded the rank of general, while Han Liancheng was only a lieutenant general?
Long before the great award of titles, Premier Zhou Enlai had sought Han Liancheng's opinion on the conferment of titles.
The key to what kind of rank Han Liancheng is awarded lies in how to define in what capacity Han Liancheng participated in the awarding of the rank:
First, the rank of general was awarded according to the general of the uprising.
In this regard, Han Liancheng disagreed. Because although Han Liancheng joined the party a little later, he accepted the communist ideas spread by Liu Zhidan in 1926 and came up with the idea of joining the Communist Party. If it were not for Feng Yuxiang's policy of "dividing the communists", a large number of Communists left the Northwest Army, making it impossible for Han Liancheng to perform organizational procedures, and Han Liancheng had already joined the party as early as 1926.
In terms of the time spent doing underground work, in 1942 Han Liancheng had become a "special party member" of Zhou Enlai's one-line contact, and if it were not for the failure to perform organizational procedures for confidentiality and security considerations, Han Liancheng would have become a member of the Communist Party in 1942.
Therefore, when Premier Zhou Enlai solicited Han Liancheng's opinion, Han Liancheng made it clear:
"You are the one who knows me best, what kind of rebel general am I?" Besides, I did not do the revolution for the sake of fame and fortune. ”
Second, titles are awarded according to the position and rank at the time of joining the party
In May 1950, Zhou Enlai, as a witness, entrusted Zhang Zongxun and Gan Siqi to join the party as Han Liancheng's introducers to the party. However, in this way, Han Liancheng participated in the awarding of titles as a party member with 5 years of party experience and a deputy of the Grand Military Region, and according to the conditions for the award, he could only be awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
Faced with the two options given to him by Zhou Enlai, Han Liancheng did not hesitate to choose the latter:
Party members should not be generals.
Image from the web
In May 1930, the Great War of Jiang Fengyan zhongyuan broke out.
As soon as the battle began, Chiang Kai-shek's army came fiercely, and with the cooperation of the air force, it won the initial battle and occupied Guide (present-day Shangqiu). Feng Yuxiang immediately mobilized Sun Yuanliang and Ji Hongchang to counterattack, and Yan Xishan also urgently dispatched Yang Yaofang's army and Zhang Huizhao's army to reinforcements.
At the end of May, the two sides fought fiercely near Guide, and Chiang Kai-shek's army was unfavorable. Chiang Kai-shek was furious, and he personally took an armored train to Guide and wanted to command the troops in the vicinity.
However, shortly after Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Guide, Feng Yuxiang's Zheng Dazhang Cavalry Division suddenly appeared in the area of Guide Airfield and burned Chiang Kai-shek's aircraft. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was hiding in the armored train inside the Guide Railway Station, trembling, if Zheng Dazhang knew that Chiang Kai-shek was hiding near the station, I believe that Chiang Kai-shek would definitely not be able to escape the disaster.
Just when Chiang Kai-shek was in a panic, a unit killed and saved Chiang Kai-shek, this unit was the independent regiment of the 46th Division of Ma Hongkui's department, and the regimental commander was Han Liancheng, whose name at that time was Han Guizhang.
As the saying goes, "Counting poison is better than starving, and merit is better than saving a car", Han Liancheng's attack was "saving the car" for Chiang Kai-shek, and when he learned that Han Liancheng was not a Huangpu graduate, he immediately issued a warrant:
"Han Guizhang, commander of the Independent Regiment of the Sixty-fourth Division, was ordered to be loyal and courageous, and was a graduate of the third phase of the Chartered Military Academy, included in the student register, and the internal order was known."
Since then, Han Liancheng has been "Jane in the Imperial Heart" by the leader of a miscellaneous army, and in the eyes of many people, this is the symbol that Han Liancheng is about to soar.
But Chiang Kai-shek's appreciation does not mean a good thing for a general in a miscellaneous army. Shortly after Chiang Kai-shek rewarded Han Liancheng, Han Liancheng was stripped of his post as regimental commander, on the grounds that Chiang Kai-shek wanted Ma Hongkui to promote Han Lian to become a brigade commander, but at this time there was no shortage in the army, and Han Liancheng could only be allowed to go to the military academy in Hankou for further study, so as to facilitate future promotion.
If that's it. However, Ma Hongkui secretly bought off the top brass of the military academy and wanted to put Han Liancheng to death in the name of Han Liancheng's "Tonggong". Ma Hongkui just wanted to use this method to threaten his subordinates, and if anyone dared to get close to Chiang Kai-shek, this would be the end.
Fortunately, Chiang Kai-shek inspected the military academy, and Han Liancheng came to the scene to file a complaint, otherwise, Han Liancheng would most likely be killed by Ma Hongkui.
Ma Hongkui Picture from the Internet
In the spring of 1935, with the special approval of Chiang Kai-shek, Han Liancheng entered the third phase of the Army University for further study and became acquainted with the important figure of the Gui clan, Shihualong.
Many people in this petrified dragon do not know who Xu Ren is, in fact, in the Gui clan, he is also a senior real power figure, especially with Li Zongren's relationship is extremely deep.
After getting acquainted with Han Liancheng, Petrified Dragon believed that Han Liancheng was a rare military talent, and he was deeply trusted by Chiang Kai-shek, and if Han Liancheng could be pulled into the Gui clan, it would play a great role in the development of the Gui clan in the future. Therefore, after Han Liancheng's "interview" with Bai Chongxi, he was highly appreciated by Bai Chongxi, saying that if Han Liancheng was willing to change the court to join the Gui family, he would definitely reuse Yunyun.
Chiang Kai-shek has always been best at dividing and disintegrating the warlords, but he also hates those wall-headed grasses the most. However, when Han Liancheng reported to Chiang Kai-shek that he wanted to join the Gui clan, Chiang Kai-shek was not only not angry, but was very happy, and specially approved a huge amount of money as an activity fund. In Chiang Kai-shek's view, since the Gui clan wants to dig its own corner, why don't you push the boat with your own hands and insert your own confidants into the Gui clan?
Among the various warlords in the Republic of China period, the only one that Chiang Kai-shek could not get rid of was the Gui clan. These people are not afraid of death, do not love money, are unusually grouped, have a strong sense of community, and it is very difficult to break into them. This time, Bai Chongxi invited Han Liancheng to join, which was a perfect opportunity to break into the Gui family. Therefore, Han Liancheng became a "double-sided spy" between Chiang Kai-shek and the Gui clan.
After joining the Gui clan, because Han Liancheng held the purpose of not wanting fame and fortune, he said less and did more, and soon won the favor of the Gui clan.
In early 1942, Han Was promoted to chief of staff of the 16th Army under the Gui clan, and his rank was also promoted to lieutenant general.
In June 1942, Han Liancheng finally met Zhou Enlai through connections and expressed his desire to join the Communist Party.
Zhou Enlai was very cautious about the idea that this person from the Northwest Army, who was highly trusted by Chiang Kai-shek and the Gui clan, wanted to join the party organization, but when Han Liancheng talked about the fact that he had been protected by Feng Yuxiang because of his close relationship with the Communist Party before and after the April 12 coup, Zhou Enlai suddenly asked, Do you know a person named Han Guizhang, Han Liancheng was stunned, he is Han Guizhang!
It turned out that before Feng Yuxiang had "split the Communists," the Communist Party sent a large number of party members to the Northwest Army, among which the famous Red Army general Liu Zhidan was among them. Han Liancheng learned about communism under the influence of Liu Zhidan and expressed the idea of joining the Communist Party. However, due to the Kuomintang's policy of "dividing the communists," Han Liancheng had no time to perform the organizational formalities, and the Communists were "gifted" out of the Northwest Army by Feng Yuxiang. After the Long March of the Central Red Army to northern Shaanxi, Liu Zhidan once told Zhou Enlai about this matter.
In this way, Han Liancheng finally connected with the party organization. But for reasons of security and secrecy, Han Still failed to join the party. At the same time, in order to protect Han Liancheng, Zhou Enlai stipulated that Han Liancheng should not have horizontal contacts with any member of the party organization, and those who had direct vertical contacts with Han Liancheng were in addition to Zhou Enlai, and then Dong Biwu, Wang Ruofei, Li Kenong, and Pan Hannian, who were entrusted by Zhou Enlai.
How important it is for a person to be able to break into Chiang Kai-shek's inner circle, this is simply a "treasure".
However, in this way, it also brought a lot of danger to Han Liancheng. Unaware of Han Liancheng's identity, in September 1946, Han Liancheng, who was serving as commander of the Kuomintang 46th Army and was receiving Hainan, was attacked by Qiongya guerrillas and wounded.
Bai Chongxi Picture from the internet
In June 1946, civil war broke out, and the reorganized 46th Division (which had been reorganized at this time) was transferred to the Shandong battlefield and placed under the command of Li Xianzhou. At this time, Han Liancheng was ready to revolt. But Han Liancheng also knew very well that the Gui clan's control over the army was very tight, even surpassing Chiang Kai-shek, so it was very difficult to carry out a battlefield uprising. Although Han Liancheng was also a core personnel of the Gui Clan, he belonged to the airborne troops and did not have many confidants in the 46th Division. Moreover, Hai Jingqiang, deputy commander of the 46th Division and brigade commander of the 188th Brigade, was also the nephew of Bai Chongxi, the second person of the 46th Division, and had a strong right to speak. If Han Liancheng announced a battlefield uprising, not only would it not have any effect, but he would be arrested by Hai Jingqiang and others. To this end, Han Lianchengcai took another approach, that is, to suddenly "disappear" before the 46th Division's operation, so as to delay the retreat of the Kuomintang troops, increase the confusion of Li Xianzhou's troops, and create opportunities for Huaye to annihilate the enemy.
After the Battle of Laiwu, Han Liancheng came to huaye headquarters to meet with Chen Yi and others. When Chen Yi asked Han Liancheng what his next plan was, Han Liancheng said that since he had not been exposed and was deeply trusted by Chiang Kai-shek and Bai Chongxi, he was ready to return to Nanjing to continue lurking:
"My identity and actions have not yet been revealed, and I will go back to Nanjing and organize another division and an army, and send you some American-style equipment."
After Han Liancheng returned to Nanjing, he deceived Chiang Kai-shek with an elaborate "Memories of the Battlefield in Luzhong" and did not receive any punishment. However, Chiang Kai-shek did not reuse Han Liancheng again, but only appointed him to the post of deputy commander of the Eighth Appeasement District.
On the surface, Han Liancheng was not only not demoted but promoted, but in essence, a deputy commander of the appeasement district was actually a role with no authority, neither the power to lead troops in the front line nor the channel to obtain important intelligence, which was too far from Han Liancheng's expectations. As a result, Han Liancheng rejected the appointment. Fortunately, Chiang Kai-shek still trusted him, so he appointed Han Lian as a senior staff officer in the attendant room, still in charge of the military aircraft.
So, no one within the Kuomintang doubted Han Liancheng? This is not true, at least twice, Han Liancheng is facing a crisis of life and death.
The first was a threat from Du Yuming.
During the battle against the Kuomintang troops, Hua Ye once had a regiment-level cadre captured by the Kuomintang and talked about Han Liancheng's abnormal performance in the "Battle of Laiwu". Du Yuming immediately reported this important situation to Chiang Kai-shek. However, Chiang Kai-shek believed that the relationship between Du Yuming and Han Liancheng had always been bad, and this time Du Yuming's complaint should be a tilt between the Huangpu students. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek believed that even if a high-ranking officer like Han Liancheng was really suspected of being a communist, his internal affairs were not within the reach of a small mid-level officer, so he did not support Du Yuming's suspicions.
Although Chiang Kai-shek unreservedly trusted Han Liancheng, He Yingqin had already developed doubts about Han Liancheng. Therefore, He Yingqin transferred Han Liancheng from the attendant room and replaced him with the commander of the Gansu Provincial Security (brigade level).
The second was a threat from He Yingqin
In October 1948, He Yingqin finally grasped the evidence that Han Liancheng was an underground party from other sources, but out of the need to protect Chiang Kai-shek's face, he did not directly arrest Han Liancheng, but asked Han Liancheng to return to Nanjing to report for duty, hoping to take this opportunity to arrest Han Liancheng.
However, due to the secret warning of Zhang Zhizhong, who learned the inside story, Han Liancheng realized that he had been exposed. Therefore, he took advantage of the opportunity of the plane refueling in Xi'an to call Yu Jishi, saying that he would go directly to meet Chiang Kai-shek after getting off the plane, and asked Yu Jishi to send a car to pick him up at the airport.
The people he Yingqin sent to arrest Han Liancheng saw that it was the presidential palace car that came to pick up Han Liancheng, so they did not dare to arrest him at the airport.
After Han Liancheng came to the presidential palace, his good friend Guan Linzheng was also there, and the two of them accompanied Chiang Kai-shek to a meal. After the meal, Guan Linzheng asked Han Liancheng if you were a communist. In fact, at the top of the Kuomintang at that time, many people knew that Han Liancheng was a member of the Communist Party, but Chiang Kai-shek refused to believe it. But at that time, Han Liancheng was really not.
Seeing that Han Liancheng denied his identity as a communist, Guan Linzheng said without any concern, It doesn't matter whether you are here with me or not. The next day, Guan Linzheng invited Han Liancheng to Suzhou to play, but when Han Liancheng arrived in Suzhou, he learned that Guan Linzheng suddenly fell unconscious. In fact, these are all blindfold methods that Guan Linzheng plays, in order to create an illusion that Han Liancheng escaped from the scene. Therefore, under the escort of Guan Linzheng's people, Han Liancheng finally fled to Shanghai, and from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and then to the Liberated Areas with the assistance of the underground party.
Like Zhang Zhizhong and Guan Linzheng, one is the director of the Kuomintang Northwest Military and Political Office, and the other is the commander-in-chief of the army, who is both highly powerful and deeply trusted by Chiang Kai-shek, but both of them are covering Han Liancheng's escape, and can the Kuomintang be undefeated?
There is also a theory that Bai Chongxi's nephew Hai Jingqiang was released and reported that Han Liancheng was a communist, while Bai Chongxi hindered Han Liancheng from being a cadre of the Gui clan and did not want to expose his family ugliness before letting Han Liancheng go. In fact, this statement is wrong. Because Hai Jingqiang was only released by Hua Ye in April 1949, and before his release, Han Liancheng also met with Hai Jingqiang. Therefore, it is very normal for Hai Jingqiang to tell Bai Chongxi the true identity of Han Liancheng after he returned, but it is nonsense to say that Bai Chongxi is afraid of blowing up his own ugliness and deliberately letting Han Liancheng go.
At the end of 1948, He Yingqin reported to Chiang Kai-shek again, saying that Han Liancheng had arrived in the Liberated Areas, and Chiang Kai-shek was greatly angered, and he did not understand until this time why people he regarded as his confidants and carefully trained would also defect to the Communist Party. Angry, Chiang Kai-shek waved his hand over the glass of drinking water, pointed at He Yingqin and scolded:
If you hadn't demoted him to a lieutenant general as a brigade commander (Gansu Provincial Security Commander), how could he have left?
In fact, this trouble was not only found by Chiang Kai-shek, but also by Zhang Zhizhong, who secretly warned Han Liancheng to escape. This is because Han Liancheng is not the kind of "miscellaneous army" general who is excluded, suppressed, and has no way out, but a general who is very important to Chiang Kai-shek. Even if Chiang Kai-shek stepped down in the future, the Gui clan who came to power after that would still entrust him with heavy responsibilities. But why did such a person, who could eat well in all aspects and be reused, go with the Communist Party?
To Zhang Zhizhong's doubts, Zhou Enlai answered only one sentence:
"This is the power of faith!"