At the beginning of the last century, China was experiencing a struggle for the fate of the nation, and although the masses of the people were the creators of history, the role of great men could not be ignored.
Mentioning the figures who can rewrite China's destiny, Chiang Kai-shek has to mention; apart from the struggle between political parties, Chiang Kai-shek's personal talent is still very outstanding, and the Kuomintang headed by him also made undeniable contributions during the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Some historical books and sources attribute one of the reasons for the Kuomintang's defeat to factional struggles within the Kuomintang, and although there are examples of Chiang Kai-shek's generals acting independently, there are also many people who are loyal to Chiang Kai-shek.
There were also many talents in the ranks of the Kuomintang, such as Bai Chongxi, Xue Yue, and Du Yuming, as well as Hu Zongnan, Song Xilian, and Zhang Zhizhong. However, these elite figures in the Kuomintang could not change the outcome of the Kuomintang's rout in the end, and on the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the domestic situation was already very clear, and the Kuomintang army was trapped in a corner, doing the final dying struggle.
Faced with an irreversible situation, people within the Kuomintang also began to plan a retreat strategy. Song Xilian, who was the director of the Suijing Office of the Sichuan-Xiang'e Border Region at the time, and Hu Zongnan, who was self-respecting and self-respecting, discussed a retreat strategy code-named the Yunnan Burma Plan, but many years later, Song Xilian recalled this history and sighed that if 300,000 people were evacuated to Burma at that time, the consequences would be really serious.
Plan a way out
Time back to the beginning of 1949, when people who had insight into the current situation understood that the general trend of the Kuomintang had gone, so various methods of self-protection began to appear within the Kuomintang, some people fought with trapped beasts, some people simply surrendered to the Communist Party, and some people wanted to protect themselves, find a comprehensive strategy, and wait for the opportunity to move under the premise of preserving the strength of the army.
Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian, as veteran Kuomintang generals, knew that their hands were stained with the blood of the Communists and that they had been under the weight of Chiang Kai-shek for many years, and that the only way to preserve their strength was to find a way to maintain their strength for a long time.
Long before Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian discussed the Plan for Burma, Song Xilian had already begun to plan ahead, and he had also gone to see Zhang Zhizhong, a governor who was good to him, to ask him what to do next.
At that time, Zhang Zhizhong was the kuomintang's representative to the Peiping peace talks, and he meant to let Song Xilian stay still for the time being, and then make a decision after everything came out, because Zhang Zhizhong himself had a prejudgment of the outcome of the peace talks.
However, Song Xilian did not wait for Zhang Zhizhong's reply, so he did not carry out the next step, and later mentioned this matter after the two met, and finally attributed it to the secret service organization obstructing it.
At that time, Song Xilian was the director of the Jing Office of the Sichuan-Xiang'e Border Region, and the number of troops in his hands was as high as 140,000, so many people were watching his movements, and some people once wanted to win him into an uprising, but Song Xilian knew how many Communists had died tragically under his hands, so he refused.
Unable to fight and fight, unable to descend and descend, Song Xilian looked at the brothers under his command like ants on a hot pot, and he had no clue where to go.
In August 1949, Song Xilian flew to Hanzhong to find Hu Zongnan, because Hu Zongnan's situation was very similar to his, and Hu Zongnan was much more important to Chiang Kai-shek than Song Xilian, and there were hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, if he could join forces with Hu Zongnan, it would be better.
Judge the current situation
Hu Zongnan also attached great importance to Song Xilian's visit, and personally went to Hanzhong Airport to greet him, and the two of them were worried about the future and fate of themselves and the army at this time, so after meeting, they held a secret conversation for seven or eight hours.
Later, according to Song Xilian's recollection, they mainly discussed three issues, the first was whether World War III would break out in a short period of time, and the second question was whether the Kuomintang could control the southwest, southern China, and Taiwan.
However, the answers to the above two questions are relatively easy to draw, and the answers are basically indisputable facts, the core content of their secret talks is the third question, which is also the purpose of Song Xilian's special trip this time, if the People's Liberation Army marches into the southwest region, will the Kuomintang have the ability to resist? If the southwest can't hold on, what should be the next step?
In Chiang Kai-shek's overall layout, the southwest region was his rear area, trying to use the unique geographical advantages of the southwest region to slow down the PLA's offensive and thus gain time for a "counter-offensive." However, Song Xilian and Hu Zongnan saw the situation in the southwest region clearly than Chiang Kai-shek at that time.
On the surface, the Kuomintang did occupy Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other areas, but in this relatively large area, only 900,000 troops were stationed, and these 900,000 troops were not elite divisions, and most of the newly formed troops had no combat effectiveness at all.
Both Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian were well aware of this fact, so the focus of their discussion was not on how to fight a decisive battle with the PEOPLE's Liberation Army in the southwest region, but on the retreat after the fall of the southwest.
If we want to preserve our strength, we must retreat the main force to a place that is not easy for the Platon To fight, and according to the situation at that time, retreating to the Xikang area is the best route, and even retreating to the Yunnan Burma Border Region.
Song Xilian had fought in this area and was very familiar with the situation, and took 10,000 steps back, saying that if the People's Liberation Army hit the border of Yunnan and Burma, they still had the confidence of the Burmese army to win the war and could preserve its strength in northern Burma.
The plan was rejected
As soon as this plan was proposed, it was affirmed by the two people, and after much thought, they all thought that this was the best policy, and the two even planned the specific details in detail.
Although Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian thought of a strategy of first protecting their strength and then waiting for an opportunity, the two people who were loyal to Chiang Kai-shek at that time still wanted to obtain Chiang Kai-shek's consent. Soon after the plan was planned, the two flew to Chongqing to meet Chiang Kai-shek and confided in him and the Burma plan.
He did not think that the plan of Burma, which the two of them thought was extremely clever, had been completely rejected by Chiang Kai-shek, and denounced the two of them for not thinking of fighting the People's Liberation Army to the death, but instead thinking of fleeing.
At that time, Both Song Xilian and Hu Zongnan were important figures in the Kuomintang, and if the Burma plan they formulated began to be implemented, then the other armies would be even more unwilling to fight, which was equivalent to handing over the southwest region, so no matter how the two persuaded Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek was always unmoved, and the Burma plan could only be abandoned.
However, in his later years, when Song Xilian recalled the Burma plan, he also said that this plan only sounded beautiful, and if 300,000 people were evacuated to Burma at that time, then the consequences would be really serious.
First of all, the withdrawal of 300,000 troops is a serious problem, too many people, too large targets, too long fronts, any link can not be considered will be a failure, if these 300,000 troops are lucky enough to flee to Burma, where will the later material supply come from?
brief summary:
War has always been cruel and merciless, and any decision on the battlefield is not only about the victory or defeat of the battle, but also about the survival of countless soldiers, and the families behind these soldiers.
If we can live under the sunshine of peace, no one is willing to start a war, but many times the development of history forces it to rely on war to resolve fundamental contradictions.