History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
In the later stages of the Liberation War, many recalcitrant Nationalist generals were taken prisoner by our army and then sent to Gongdelin for reform. These high-ranking officials and nobles who had once been dressed in fine clothes and food became prisoners overnight, and their inner depression could be imagined. Not only is the material decline, but what makes them even more uncomfortable is that their personal freedom is also restricted.
By October 1958, a vigorous production campaign was under way throughout the country, and the wind was blowing into the management office. In the end, the management office decided to let some people work on farms on the outskirts of Beijing, which was a very open field, and no one stood guard to walk around. This undoubtedly has a very strong attraction for war criminals who have been trapped in high walls. So when the news was announced, everyone enthusiastically signed up, and then the management office approved the applications of more than sixty generals.
According to the recollection of Shen Drunk, a former major general in the army, they lived in a row of bungalows, with a large open space in front of them, no walls around them, no gates, and they were so empty. In the farm, although there are also a few guards, it is already very relaxed compared with Gong delin. However, these people have worked on the farm for more than a year, but no one has ever tried to escape. Why? In fact, Shen Drunk was also very curious about this issue, and after some investigation, he finally concluded that there were three main reasons, the first was that Cheng Qian, Fu Zuoyi, and other national army leaders had come to visit them, and brought news that the government would not execute them, and soon after, they would receive amnesty, which completely calmed their hearts.
Second, in those days, when outsiders went to a strange place, they had to have a letter of introduction, so even if these people escaped, there was no place to stay, there was no place to stay. Third, most of the prisoners who could enter Gongdelin were senior generals of the Nationalist Army, who thought that the defeat had been lost in the first place, and if the escape was discovered, it would be even more humiliating. Everyone is a big person with a good status, who would rather die than a deserter, but now he wants to be a fugitive, and no one can pull down this face. Therefore, although life on the farm was relatively free, none of the generals wanted to escape.