Text/Feng Xuanyi
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, this man led his troops to defect to the Japanese army, and gradually developed into the most powerful puppet army in Shandong. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it was reorganized, and during the civil war, it defected to the People's Liberation Army at a critical moment, and led its troops to attack the Nanjing Presidential Palace. He is Wu Huawen. I once read a very short article written by Li Ao called "Han Traitors, Warlords, and Descending General Wu Culture", in which he said that Wu Huawen was very powerful and very clever, but the introduction to Wu Huawen's life in the article was very brief. Many people do not know much about Wu Huawen, and today Xiaobian will tell you about his history.
01. Defecting General
Wu Huawen was born in the Northwest Army, and his "old leader" Feng Yuxiang was a well-known defecting general, and Wu Huawen also learned his "essence" and became a defective general. In the end, he also broke through the bottom line and turned to the Japanese as traitors. Why did Wu Huawen choose to surrender and become a traitor? It starts with his "shrewd calculations."
Wu Huawen was originally a subordinate of Feng Yuxiang and served in the Northwest Army. In 1929, Wu Huawen was ordered by Feng Yuxiang to serve as a liaison staff officer in Han Fuyu's army. After the outbreak of the Central Plains War, Feng Yuxiang sided with Jiang, while Han Fuyu defected to Jiang, and Wu Huawen also joined Han Fuyu in throwing jiang and striking a blow against Feng Yuxiang. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Han Fuyu was shot, and Wu Hua's Ministry of Culture was reorganized into an independent 28th Brigade by the Nationalist Army, with Wu Huawen as the brigade commander. After the Battle of Xuzhou, Wu Huawen actively absorbed scattered local armed forces, expanded his troops, and soon expanded the independent brigade into a division.
The rapid expansion of Wu Hua's cultural department made it impossible for his troops to keep up. Coupled with the "encirclement and suppression" of the Japanese army, Wuhua Wenbu struggled to survive. At that time, there was often friction between the nationalist army and the nationalist army for turf and supplies, especially people like Wu Huawen, who came from warlord backgrounds, did not pay attention to rules, had no bottom line, and the friction was even more. In addition, friction between the Nationalist Army and the Eighth Route Army often occurred. Wu Hua's Ministry of Culture was stationed in Shandong at that time, and this area was the focus of the Japanese army's "encirclement and suppression" and the focus of friction. The relations between Wu Hua's cultural department and the surrounding friendly forces were not good, especially Yu Xuezhong's department, and the contradictions were very deep. This is also the reason why he vigorously attacked Yu Xuezhongbu after he surrendered to the enemy. Wu Huawen, who was in great difficulty, once said to his subordinates: "Our life is so difficult, the Eighth Route Army, the Fifty-first Army, and the provincial government are against us, and I will definitely think of a way for the brethren." "
Wu Huawen's so-called "method" is to defect to the Japanese army as a traitor.
02. Surrender to the enemy and become a traitor
Under the enticing and military pressure of the Japanese army, Wu Huawen began to actively contact the Japanese in early 1942, and officially surrendered to the enemy in January 1943, accepting the Japanese reorganization. After his surrender, his troops were reorganized into the "Shandong Front of the Peaceful Founding Army", and Wu Huawen was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the general.
However, Wu Huawen did not simply surrender to the enemy. When he surrendered to the enemy, he wrote a letter to Dai Kasa, saying that the Japanese army attacked too fiercely, the troops were not well supplied, and there were many soldiers who surrendered to the enemy. Dai Kasa gave him a secret letter of "saving the country from the curve". Receiving Dai Kasa's letter, Wu Huawen was overjoyed. He immediately said to the people around him: "Now that we have turned to Japan, if Japan wins in the future, we will naturally have no problem." If China wins, I will take this telegram to chiang kai-shek. "This is the typical two-boat pedal. However, his "shrewd calculations" did not stop there; he even counted the war between the Nationalist Army and the Eighth Route Army, and he once said with great shame: "At that time [Chiang Kai-shek], if he did not want us, we would go to the Eighth Route Army." What about the bright future of destiny? "
After defecting to the Japanese army, Wu Huawen led the supplies of the Japanese army and the Wang puppet government while vigorously expanding the troops and enriching the strength. By 1944, Wu Huawen's army had expanded to more than 19,000 people, becoming the strongest and most important puppet army in Shandong. After Japan surrendered, Chiang Kai-shek, jealous of Wu Huawen's troops, did not shoot him. His forces were reorganized into a corps by the Nationalists. However, Chiang Kai-shek did not trust Wu Huawen and did not have a good feeling for Wu Huawen. Therefore, after the situation stabilized, Wu Huawen's troops were repeatedly divided and disintegrated, and finally reduced to local security forces. Wu Huawen realized that there was no future for development in the nationalist army, so he violated the orders of the nationalist army.
03. Revolt at a critical moment and defect to the People's Liberation Army
In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek secretly ordered Wang Yaowu to execute Wu Huawen for "violating military orders." However, because of the leaked news, Wu Huawen evaded in time and escaped the disaster. In 1948, the People's Liberation Army liberated Shandong, and the Battle of Shandong began. Wu Huawen led nearly 20,000 of his troops to surrender. In the Battle of Jinan, Wang Yaowu was defeated and captured. The nationalist forces occupying Shandong were now all wiped out.
After Wu Huawen surrendered to the People's Liberation Army, the troops were reorganized into the 35th Army, with Wu Huawen as its commander. The 35th Army participated in major battles such as the Battle of Huaihai and the Battle of Crossing the River. In the campaign against Nanjing, the 35th Army led by Wu Huawen was the main force, and he led his troops to plant the red flag in the Nanjing Presidential Palace.
In January 1950, the 35th Army was withdrawn, and Wu Huawen left the army and served as the director of the Zhejiang Communications Department, and died of illness in 1962.
Resources:
Zhou Yu: "The Three Most Desperate Puppet Armies under the Sun"
Li Ao: "Traitor, Warlord, General Wu Huawen"
"The Battle of Jinan, the Mystery of Wu Huawen's Rebellion"