During the Liberation War, many Nationalist generals were captured on the battlefield and then sent as war criminals to Gongdelin for rehabilitation. Among these people, there are many well-known figures, such as Wang Yaowu, Du Yuming, Liao Yaoxiang, Huang Wei, Song Xilian, Chen Changjie and Shen Drun. In the past, these people had held important positions in the Kuomintang, held high positions, and some of them had commanded heavy troops and had a prominent reputation. Therefore, it is difficult for them to willingly cooperate with the transformation, such as Huang Wei, Wen Qiang and Qiu Xingxiang, who are more stubborn and the last batch to be pardoned.
So which three of the hundreds of war criminals in Gongdelin performed the best? The first one was Du Yuming. Du Yuming's capture was actually caused by Lao Jiang's hand. Later in the Battle of Huaihai, the defeat of the Nationalist army was decided. Du Yuming was determined to break his wrist, left the Huang Wei Corps surrounded by our army, and led his 300,000 men and horses to retreat to Bengbu to preserve their strength for future operations. At first, Lao Jiang agreed to Du Yuming's suggestion, but when Du Yuming led his troops to Chen Guanzhuang, Lao Jiang suddenly changed his mind and ordered Du Yuming to stop advancing and return to rescue Huang Wei.
At that time, Du Yuming had basically escaped from Huaye's encirclement, and as a result, he was sent back by Old Jiang. After being besieged, the national army was extremely short of food and ammunition, and could only rely on airdrops to replenish. In order to find a way to live for hundreds of thousands of his soldiers, Du Yuming prepared to surrender his guns to our army, but was brutally refused by Qiu Qingquan, and eventually defeated and captured, and was sent to Gongdelin for reform. In the Gongdelin, Du Yuming performed very well and made a lot of reading notes. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he also actively contributed ideas and suggestions, so the first batch were pardoned. He served as a commissioner of culture and history and a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and died of illness in 1981 at the age of 77.
The second is Wang Yaowu. Wang Yaowu was captured in the Battle of Jinan, when Jinan had become an isolated city and was under heavy siege by our army, so Wang Yaowu repeatedly suggested to Old Chiang Kai-shek to abandon Jinan and withdraw his troops to Xuzhou. Old Jiang not only rejected Wang Yaowu's suggestion, but also criticized him for "not thinking from the big picture" and saying that "we can fight without the rear." As for old Chiang Kai-shek's lofty remarks, Wang Yaowu naturally did not dare to refute them, and could only honestly go back and hold on, and finally lost the battle and was captured. In the Gongdelin, Wang Yaowu was active and became a member of the study committee, so he was the first to be pardoned. He served as a commissioner of culture and history and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and died of illness in 1968 at the age of 64, and his ashes were placed in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery.
The third is Chen Changjie. Chen Changjie was captured in the Battle of Pingjin, and his capture was actually a bit unjust. Before the Battle of Pingjin, Chen Changjie served in Gansu as the commander of the Eighth Supply Area of the Kuomintang Joint Logistics Headquarters, and he controlled the supply of all the equipment and goods of the army in the region, which was a fat gap that could "gain benefits" without fighting. Before the Battle of Pingjin began, Fu Zuoyi, in order to hold on to Tianjin, recommended Chen Changjie to the old Jiang and made him the commander of the Tianjin garrison. Chen Changjie and Fu Zuoyi had a very good personal relationship, and Fu Zuoyi helped him in times of danger, so he was embarrassed to refuse and had to rush to Tianjin to take office.
Soon after, the Battle of Tianjin began, and our army quickly cleared the periphery and approached the city of Tianjin. At this time, the fall of Tianjin was only a matter of time, and in order to avoid more casualties, our army sent a notice to Chen Changjie to persuade him to lay down his weapons peacefully. Chen Changjie asked Fu Zuoyi for instructions, and Fu Zuoyi told him that "if you persist, there is a way", Chen Changjie missed the opportunity to peacefully revolt and was eventually captured. In the Gongdelin, Chen Changjie performed very well, bought many Marxist-Leninist books at his own expense, carefully studied each one, made rapid progress, and worked very actively, so the first batch was pardoned. He served as a commissioner of the CPPCC Secretariat and died in 1968 at the age of 76.