Liu Wenhui, who rarely had the ambition of Ling Yun, joined the army as a young man and began his military career, and since then, he has soared all the way. The Sichuan warlord melee made him show his sharp edge for the first time, show his skills, and gradually grow in strength, becoming a prominent figure in Sichuan. Later, from mutual cooperation to sword fighting, liu xiang and his cousin Liu Xiang staged the largest and longest-running uncle-nephew battle on the land of Sichuan.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Liu Wenhui lived alone in Xikang and became the "King of Xikang". While resisting the disintegration of the old Chiang Kai-shek, he frequently contacted the CCP, and the two sides trusted and supported each other, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent uprising.
On December 9, 1949, Liu Wenhui, in the name of the chairman of Xikang Province and the commander of the 24th Army, electrified the uprising in PengXian County, Sichuan Province, and resolutely marched into the ranks of the people at a historic critical moment.
01 Youth joined the army and rose rapidly
Liu Wenhui was born in January 1895 to a peasant family in Dayi County, Sichuan Province, the youngest of the family and loved. He was admitted to the Army Primary School at the age of 13, and was later sent to the Beijing Army No. 1 Middle School to study, graduating from the Baoding Army Officer School in 1917.
The year Liu Wenhui graduated, sun Yat-sen launched the Dharma Protection Movement. After returning to Sichuan, Liu Wenhui, accompanied by his eldest brother Liu Wenyuan, came to Chengdu to visit Liu Xiang, who had been promoted to brigadier of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the Sichuan Army and his nephew.
Liu Xiang is 6 years older than Liu Wenhui, and he appreciates the cousin of a group of talents and treats him warmly. But surprisingly, Liu Xiang did not arrange him under his command, but a letter of recommendation to support Liu Wenhui to Leshan.
As soon as Liu Wenhui arrived in Leshan, he was appointed by Chen Hongfan, commander of the 8th Division of the Sichuan Army, as the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 29th Regiment, and after a year, he was promoted to another level, and became the regimental commander in less than 3 years. The speed of promotion was unique in the Sichuan Army at that time.
The dark rule of the warlords and the endless struggle for hegemony among the warlords provided a stage for Liu Wenhui to display his talents. He first showed his strength in the fight, and his strength gradually grew.
On May 24, 1920, the Sichuan Army launched a campaign to expel the Dian Army. Liu Wenhui's troops were praised by liu chengxun because of their good command and repeated military achievements, and he was promoted to the rank of brigade commander of the independent brigade and major general. At this time, Liu Wenhui was only 25 years old.
In 1921, Liu Wenhui's nephew Liu Xiang was promoted to commander of the 2nd Army of the Sichuan Army, and when Liu Wenhui went to Yibin under the banner of Chen Hongfan, Liu Xiang deliberately pulled him along and appointed Liu Wenhui as the brigade commander of the 1st Mixed Brigade of the Sichuan Army.
From then on, Liu Wenhui broke away from Chen Hongfan, established himself, and began his career as a warlord. In the subsequent melee, he constantly defeated his opponents, gathered his troops, and fought for territory, all smooth sailing.
In 1923, Liu Wenhui served as the commander of the 9th Division of the Sichuan Army, and in 1926 he became the commander of the 24th Army of the National Revolutionary Army. After that, Liu Wenhui used the rich areas around Yibin, Sichuan as a base, formed a situation of his own, formed an independent military and political force, and gradually became a prominent figure in Sichuan.
02 The battle of annexation is invincible
From 1926 to 1927, Liu Wenhui led an army stationed in Chengdu, holding more than 20 counties such as Meishan, Renshou, and Yibin in southern Xiachuan, and became increasingly powerful. He was determined to unify the whole of Sichuan.
However, Liu Chengxun, who was entrenched in ya'an (Ya'an), Ning (Xichang) and Pengshan and Xinjin counties in southern Shangchuan, blocked the passage from Xu (Yibin) Jia (Leshan) to Chengdu, which seriously hindered the development of Liu Wenhui's power and became a lingering heart disease for him.
On June 8, 1927, Liu Wenhui sent his subordinates to divide into three routes and launch a fierce attack on Liu Chengxun's troops. One route attacked Xinjin with a double flow; one route attacked Chongqing and Dayi toward Qionglai; the other route attacked Meishan and Danling to Mingshan and Ya'an.
In the face of Liu Wenhui's fierce offensive, Liu Chengxun's troops were basically hiding, and took the initiative to give up some of their territory, thinking that they could ease Liu Wenhui's offensive, but they did not know that Liu Wenhui had already made up his mind to eat him, and commanded the troops to repeatedly launch fierce attacks, hitting Liu Chengxun's troops without retreat.
On June 29, 1927, Liu Chengxun, who was exhausted from mountains and rivers, sent a telegram to the wilderness and returned to his hometown in Dayi, ending his career as a warlord, and his defense area was all annexed by Liu Wenhui, and the troops were absorbed by Liu Wenhui, and Liu Wenhui's strength was unprecedentedly enhanced. At this time, the more powerful forces in the Sichuan army were Liu Xiang, Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou, and Tian Songyao.
Among them, Liu Wenhui and Liu Xiang had the greatest strength, forming a situation in which the two Liu cooperated to dominate Sichuan. Liu Wenhui's uncle and nephew have threatened the survival of other departments, causing hostility among various departments.
On November 20, 1927, Yang Sen, Lai Xinhui and others jointly sent a telegram to attack Liu Xiang. On December 10, the Provisional Military Commissions of the Sichuan Allied Armies issued a telegram condemning Liu Xiang, and the Second Battle of Xiachuandong broke out.
Thanks to Liu Wenhui's strong support and adequate preparations in advance, Liu Xiang defeated Yang Sen and won a complete victory, occupying 23 counties in Yang Sen's territory in eastern Xiachuan as his own, and absorbing nearly 30,000 troops of Yang Sen, greatly increasing his strength. Liu Wenhui also gained a defensive position west of Yongchuan for his meritorious aid to Liu Xiang, and his military strength was further expanded. For some time after that, Sichuan became the domain of Erliu.
03 Uncle and nephew battle for hegemony Two Liu War
When Er Liu became the two major forces that overwhelmed the crowd on the Sichuan political stage, the uncle and nephew also changed from the previous cooperation to the open struggle and secret struggle.
In 1931, Liu Wenhui spent a huge amount of 2 million yuan to buy weapons from Britain, Japan and other countries, disassembled and reassembled, and transported them from Shanghai to Chengdu, but when passing through Wanxian County, he was detained by Liu Xiang's troops. Liu Wenhui made many representations, but Liu Xiang refused.
Therefore, at the direction of Liu Wenhui, his brother Liu Wencai sent the assassin Hu Wenpeng to Chongqing to assassinate Liu Xiang. Hu Wenpeng sneaked into Liu Xiang's brother, hid in the tree for 3 days and 3 nights, never found the opportunity to start, and on the 4th day he was hungry and fainted, fell from the tree and was captured alive. After the matter was revealed, Er Liu's contradictions intensified to an irreconcilable point.
On October 1, 1932, Liu Xiangbu, who was stationed in Wusheng, led by Luo Zezhou, launched the first attack on Liu Wenhui's Lin Yungen department in Nanchong, opening the prelude to the Second Liu War.
Liu Wenhui, who has always been invincible, was partial to defense, the defensive line was too long, the troops were scattered, and he suffered defeat in the early stage of the war. By November 11, under Liu Xiang's fierce attack, Liu Wenhui had lost Suining, Jiangjin, Chongqing, and other places; on November 21, Liu Xiang's troops entered Huzhou, and Liu Wenhui lost the important town of Huzhou.
Liu Wenhui not only lost on the battlefield, Liu Xiang also took force and bribes to deal with Liu Wenhui's subordinates, under the internal and external troubles, in August 1933, Liu Wenhui led the remnants of the army to retreat to Hanyuan and fell into a desperate situation.
Liu Wenhui's eldest brother Liu Wenyuan saw this situation, so he went to Liu Xiang to dredge up with "family friendship", plus the old Jiang deliberately retained the remnants of Liu Wenhui in order to contain Liu Xiang, ordered a ceasefire, and the second Liu "returned to good faith". Liu Xiang read the "uncle and nephew's feelings" and designated Ya'an and Xingjing counties as Liu Wenhui's defensive areas, and Liu Wenhui returned to Ya'an again.
The Battle of Liu Xiang and Liu Wenhui was the largest, longest, and last of the sichuan warlords' more than 400 wars, which lasted more than 1 year, stretching over dozens of counties in western Sichuan, northern Sichuan, and southern Sichuan, spanning thousands of miles, using more than 200,000 troops, and almost all of the warlords were involved. The war cost a total of 50 million yuan, and the loss of people's lives and property is incalculable. The end of the Erliu War was also the end of the Sichuan warlord melee.
From left: Liu Wencai, Liu Wenhui, Liu Xiang
04 Construction of Xikang development education
After Liu Wenhui's defeat, he retreated to the Sichuan Border Defense Zone, and the military headquarters was stationed in Ya'an. In 1939, the Xikang Provincial Government was officially established in Kangding, and the Executive Yuan appointed Liu Wenhui as the chairman of the Xikang Provincial Government. The provincial capital is located in Kangding, but the 24th Military Minister is Located in Ya'an, and Liu Wenhui has been sitting in Ya'an for a long time, using this place as the political, economic and cultural center of Xikang Province.
Xikang Province was established during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and after the establishment of the province, Liu Wenhui put forward the "Ten Major Construction" plan and the construction strategy of "Three Advances" and "Three Modernization Policies".
The "three advances" are: steady progress toward the Kang genus, gradual progress toward the Ya genus, and fierce progress toward the Ning genus; "three modernizations" means: replacing conquest with morality, assimilation instead of differentiation, and evolution instead of bondage.
At that time, Liu Wenhui's strategies played a certain role in stabilizing Xikang and developing the economy.
Especially in the field of education, Liu Wenhui spared no effort to vigorously promote advanced cultural education in Xikang. Before the new county governors and directors of various localities, Liu Wenhui already had a password: the construction of county government houses must not be better than the construction of new local schools, otherwise he will be dismissed on the spot. Some county magistrates also personally go to primary schools to substitute lessons. Liu Wenhui also vigorously advocated the establishment of special night schools to eliminate illiteracy.
In the 5th year after the establishment of Xikang Province (1944), Xikang Provincial Girls' High School was also established, and insisted on recruiting girls until the second half of 1949. From its establishment until the liberation of Ya'an in 1950, the school enrolled more than 1,000 students in total, cultivating many outstanding talents for Ya'an.
05 Choose the light to invest in the people
As early as the period of the First Great Revolution of Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation, the Communist Party of China began to win over Liu Wenhui. During the period of the agrarian revolutionary war, the CCP established a united front relationship with Liu Wenhui. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Liu Wenhui's ties with the CCP became even closer. Premier Zhou, Wang Ruofei, and other leaders met cordially with Liu Wenhui respectively, speeding up his march toward the democratic camp.
On November 30, 1949, Chongqing was liberated. Old Jiang flew to Chengdu and immediately summoned Zhang Qun, Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou and others and cheered them up. The next day, Old Jiang visited Liu Wenhui to observe his movements. Liu Wenhui responded calmly and did not show any flaws.
However, Lao Jiang always had no confidence in Liu Wenhui, and adopted the method of surveillance + first transferring his family, intending to control Liu Wenhui and others, and the situation was imminent.
On December 9, 1949, Liu Wenhui, in the name of chairman of Xikang Province and commander of the 24th Army, electrified an uprising in Peng County, Sichuan Province, and Deng Xihou and Pan Wenhua also announced the uprising.
After the uprising, Zhu De and He Long sent telegrams to the three generals to express their "praise" for their righteous deeds. Deng Xiaoping once said: "The victory in the Southwest Campaign was due to the correct leadership of Chairman Mao, the influence of the national victory situation, and the indestructible strength of the People's Liberation Army. At the same time, the generals Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou, and Pan Wenhua announced the uprising on December 9, which also played a good role in coordinating. ”
Write at the end:
In 1956, Liu Wenhui was awarded the Order of Liberation of the First Class. In 1959, Liu Wenhui was transferred to Beijing and served as minister of forestry. At this point, the former generation of "Xikang Kings" turned around and became the Minister of Forestry of the Republic.
Liu Wenhui has deep feelings for Premier Zhou and has always regarded him as a good teacher and friend. In 1972, Liu Wenhui accidentally broke his leg, he originally had heart disease, emphysema, and in 1975 he was found to have cancer, and his body was even weaker.
Premier Zhou was very concerned about Liu Wenhui's condition, and personally instructed him several times: Do everything possible to prolong his life, and report to him at any time as long as there is danger. However, the Prime Minister at this time was also seriously ill.
In early January 1976, Liu Wenhui, who had just been discharged from the hospital, was extremely sad to learn of the premier's death. He insisted on saying goodbye to the prime minister's body in tears, despite the doctor's advice. Soon after, Liu Wenhui was admitted to the hospital again, and died in Beijing on June 24, 1976, at the age of 81.