In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek brazenly tore up the CPPCC resolution and the Kuomintang-Communist Armistice Agreement, single-handedly provoking an all-out civil war against communism and the people, so that the people of the whole country, who had just come from the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and were still breathing, were once again dragged into the whirlpool of battle.
History will eventually prove who is the final victor, three years of arduous fighting, the People's Liberation Army has won a complete victory, and China has opened a new chapter.
During the three-year civil war, a large number of Nationalist officers and bureaucrats at all levels chose to surrender, thus avoiding unnecessary sacrifices.
Why did they surrender, and how did our Party treat them?
Nie Songxi, a high-ranking officer among the Kuomintang surrender captives after the liberation of Jinan, as the deputy commander of the Kuomintang, hid behind the crack in the door and secretly looked out for three days, and after a fierce psychological struggle, he took the incomparably correct step with difficulty.
Nie SongXi
1. Nie Songxi and his people
Nie Songxi was a senior officer of the Kuomintang lieutenant generals and had a good record during the War of Resistance Against Japan.
He was a native of Liaocheng, Shandong, who participated in the Great Revolution, was born at the Whampoa Military Academy, attended the ninth term of the Army University, and successively held important positions such as brigade commander, division commander, commander of the garrison, chairman of the Military Commission, head of Chiang Kai-shek's attendant office, and chief of staff of the Appeasement District.
These positions not only require leading soldiers to fight wars but also the ability of counselors and military aircraft, which is not something that ordinary officers can do, which shows that he is quite talented and deeply trusted by Chiang Kai-shek.
In 1942, Nie Songxi succeeded him as the commander of the Kuomintang 21st Division, which was stationed in the Fuyang area of Anhui Province, where bandits were rampant, bandits were frequent, and bullies and local tyrants were bullying.
Nie Songxi was one of the few Kuomintang generals who were willing to pay attention to the local people's livelihood; in order to put an end to this phenomenon of bandit bullying, he concurrently served as the commander of the guards in Fuyang City.
On the second day, the "Huaishang Daily" commented on it, "firing the first cannon to eliminate evil and eliminate adultery," which deterred the local gangsters and robbers; in addition, in order to consolidate public order in the Fuyang area, he set up a rapid investigation team to quickly arrest these robbers according to the weather, such as horse teams or bicycle teams, and achieved very good results.
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Nie Songxi's ability to lead troops to fight was also extraordinary, and he served as the commander of the Twenty-first Division, leading the army to fight with the Japanese army, and also made a great contribution to the victory of the War of Resistance.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was appointed deputy commander of security in Shandong Province, but in fact, Wang Yaowu, the security commander of Shandong Province at that time, was too busy with multiple duties, and the real power of the security commander was in the hands of Nie Songxi, so Nie Songxi was actually one of the most powerful and military generals in Shandong Province at that time.
Nie Songxi is a wise man, as a high-caliber student of Huangpu and Lu Da, before the Battle of Jinan, he was actually reluctant to defend this mess in Jinan, he did not have much hope for the Nationalist army, and he knew that once the People's Liberation Army attacked Jinan, the Nationalist army could only do the battle of trapped beasts...
Wang Yaowu
Second, the city of Jinan is broken
The city of Jinan was destroyed too quickly, too suddenly, and neither our Party nor the Kuomintang reactionaries expected jinan to be liberated so quickly.
It was originally expected to take fifteen days, but it did not expect to take only eight days.
The city of Jinan has always been a place where soldiers must fight, and Chiang Kai-shek also regarded it as a strategic point for maintaining the remnants of North China, so after the end of the War of Resistance, Chiang Kai-shek arranged for the famous Huangpu general Wang Yaowu to lead 110,000 heavy troops in Jinan, and built a strong fortification.
The launch of the Jinan Campaign was unusually rapid, and only four days after the Liaoshen Campaign began, Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission quickly approved the launch of the Jinan Campaign.
On the eve of the Battle of Jinan, the Kuomintang reactionaries panicked, the morale of the Nationalist army fell to the lowest point, and many people of insight of the Kuomintang surrendered one after another.
On September 16, the Battle of Jinan began, on September 19. The Kuomintang general Wu Huawen led an uprising, which directly shook the Kuomintang's determination to hold Jinan, and the Kuomintang was caught off guard, and the process of our army's attack was greatly accelerated.
In accordance with the strategic plan of the central authorities to attack and rescue and provide assistance, our army should cooperate with the outside world, greatly reducing unnecessary sacrifices, and it took only eight days to take Jinan, a city known as impregnable.
The people of Jinan welcomed the People's Liberation Army into the city with joy, laughter, song and dance.
3. The day of surrender
On the third day after the liberation of Jinan, the smell of artillery fire and bullet craters after the fierce war still remained in and around the city.
The city of Jinan is gradually recovering from the war, and there are still many Kuomintang scattered soldiers with bandages wrapped around their heads and limping on the streets, who are gradually being taken in by the People's Liberation Army.
Jinan's Chinese People's Liberation Army Garrison Headquarters has only just been established, and the People's Liberation Army is busy coming and going.
A man dressed in black suddenly appeared at the door of the security headquarters, looking to be about forty years old, tall, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he was very tired from the physical movements of walking.
When the man saw this, he was about to walk toward the garrison headquarters, but the guards immediately stopped him, found that the man was something unusual, and asked him what he had come to do.
The man also said unhurriedly: "Under the circumstances is the deputy commander of the Kuomintang lieutenant general, who has been ordered to report here." ”
The guard thought he had heard it wrong, and for a moment and a half he did not relax, and he asked again and got the same answer.
After listening to the words, the guards hurriedly called for someone, and then turned around and went to their superiors to report.
This is earth-shattering news, and the Kuomintang will run to the People's Liberation Army Garrison Headquarters to turn themselves in, which is the first time they have seen it.
The Kuomintang lieutenant general, since the battle of Jinan was won, was one of the few high-ranking generals who had been captured.
It should be known that Wang Yaowu, the supreme commander of the Kuomintang in Shandong, was only a lieutenant general, and before Wang Yaowu was captured, this person was the highest-ranking officer who surrendered since the victory in the Battle of Jinan.
A few staff members from within the Security Command quickly rushed out and welcomed the man in black into the Security Department.
This person was None other than Nie Songxi, and after the destruction of Jinan City, he lurked in the city for three days.
Fourth, his colleagues scattered and fled, and he hid in the city of Jinan
Before the outbreak of the Jinan Campaign, Nie Songxi fully examined the military strength, morale, and popular will between the Kuomintang and the Communists, and felt more and more that the Nationalist army had almost no chance of winning, so as the second person in Shandong Province, he often just weakly followed Wang Yaowu and made a perfunctory remark.
However, the real beginning and end of the Jinan campaign was far beyond his expectations, Nie Songxi was the deputy commander of the security guards, the security troops under him were not in the minority, although not better than the regular army, but the good villains were also a big combat force, so they were not sure about repelling the Platon Army, and there were indeed some chances of victory in holding jinan city waiting for support.
However, after the outbreak of the Battle of Jinan, Nie Songxi's great surprise did occur, and the Ninety-sixth Army led by Wu Huawen, the main force of the city who was fierce and fierce and tenacious in combat effectiveness, actually fell without a fight, and defected to the Chinese Communists before the battle.
At that time, Nie Songxi and Wang Yaowu were commanding the center, and after hearing this news, their lips were frightened and bloodless, and they deeply felt that the end was coming.
The battle lasted only eight days, the city of Jinan was broken, as the saying goes, the great calamity was about to fly separately, the Kuomintang officers were originally tied together because of the involvement of interests, and now their lives are gone, who cares how to resume their lives, officers at all levels are scattered like birds and beasts, either surrender or flee everywhere.
Nie Songxi was no exception, and after sensing the situation, he ran out of the headquarters alone.
He was from Shandong, and he had many friends in Jinan, so he quickly hid in the home of a friend in Jinan and became a real "light rod commander".
At first, Nie Songxi did not have the intention of surrendering to the People's Liberation Army, but only wanted to wait for the opportunity to escape from Jinan and run to Chiang Kai-shek's territory.
The city of Jinan was destroyed, the sound of gunfire slowly subsided, and the smoke in the city gradually dissipated, leaving only the sound of the People's Liberation Army patrolling back and forth from time to time.
Nie Songxi had the audacity to hide behind the door and look out through the crack in the door, trying to observe the patrol trajectory, looking for timing and patrol routes.
Fifth, fierce ideological struggle behind the door
The three days of observation behind the crack in the door made Nie Songxi feel a lot of emotions, and in just three days, he changed his mind and dismissed the original decision to flee.
"In the past few days, the citizens have rushed to tell each other, greeted each other, and the people on the market are stable" "Large and small businesses, enterprises, companies, and factories have all been protected, and the People's Liberation Army does not take a needle and a line from the masses."
The citizens commented that "with the Communist People's Liberation Army, it was only after the battle that the water and electricity supply in Jinan was restored to normal, shops were opened, and factories were opened." ”
"That's not it, the hooligans who want to take advantage of the opportunity to make trouble these days have all been arrested."
……
Nie Songxi also saw some wounded PLA soldiers wearing gauze and bandages, and insisted on standing guard at their posts.
Although PLA soldiers wore straw shoes, some of the shops they protected were stocked with various types of cloth shoes, leather shoes, and sneakers.
What moved him even more was that for the currency system that the Kuomintang had previously seriously damaged, like scrap paper, the Communist Party also told the people to exchange the Beihai coins commonly used in the Liberated Areas according to the proportions stipulated by the government.
Nie Songxi, who was peeping behind the crack in the door, was deeply moved by the various policies and moves of the Communist Party, and his heart could not help but be a little bitter, and he could not help but think that the People's Liberation Army had committed no crime against the people, while the previous actions of the Kuomintang had broken the hearts of the people.
When the Kuomintang was in the city, it regarded the people as a tool for collecting wealth, and wantonly extorted and forced the people to pay money and goods, no different from bandits.
Before the Jinan War broke out, the Kuomintang guarding the city also expropriated a large number of Jinan citizens to build fortifications for them and engage in labor, and a large number of citizens were frozen to death and starved to death.
It is only natural that the Kuomintang was able to fall to the point it is today.
When the forty-two-year-old Kuomintang lieutenant general thought of this, he couldn't help but shed tears.
Whether he would still choose to flee back to Nanjing, to the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek to resume his life, he could not help but ask himself.
His children, wives and relatives are all in Nanjing, he very much wants to go back to reunite with his relatives, and he also has a good chance to go back, he is a Shandong native, familiar with the terrain of Shandong, knows many "ground snakes", if he has the heart to abscond, he has the opportunity to escape back to Nanjing.
But can you really escape by fleeing back to Nanjing? How long will it take for the Communists to reach Nanjing?
What worried him more in his heart was that the Nanjing government had not yet been overthrown by the Communists, and he was shot by Chiang Kai-shek first.
Wang Yaowu was the culprit who lost Jinan, and as Wang Yaowu's deputy, he could not escape the blame, and he shuddered when he thought of the "Zhou Qingxiang" incident a few months ago.
Zhou Qingxiang was the commander of the Kuomintang Reorganized 32nd Division, and on March 11, 1948, the Shandong Corps of the East China Field Army launched a campaign on the western section of Jiaoji Road, annihilating 38,000 Nationalist troops in ten days.
When Chiang Kai-shek learned of this, he was furious and directly ordered Zhou Qingxiang to be shot.
Rabbits die foxes are sad, and things are exhausted.
At this moment, Nie Songxi seemed to have seen the tragic fate of his return to Nanjing, which made his original idea completely shaken.
Nie Songxi began to listen to the CCP's radio, asked his friends about the CCP's treatment of surrendered prisoners, and learned about the CCP's lenient policy toward captives, especially the special preferential treatment for voluntary surrender, and his worried heart finally gradually calmed down.
After a fierce ideological conflict, on the fourth day of the liberation of Jinan, Nie Songxi stepped out of his friend's house and walked to the People's Liberation Army Garrison Headquarters.
On this day, his choice to wear a black suit is actually of unique significance.
He saddled the Kuomintang for many years, ideologically deeply rooted in the Kuomintang as orthodox, and after he believed that the Kuomintang's mourning days were coming, he wore a black robe to report to the People's Liberation Army, and also commemorated that his once prominent position in life would end completely from this day onwards.
Sixth, preferential treatment, leniency
Kuomintang Lieutenant General Nie Songxi voluntarily surrendered three days after the liberation of Jinan, which was an explosive news, and the day after he came, a reporter from Shandong's "Dazhong Daily" came here to interview him.
Nie Songxi's attitude was calm, and he talked nonchalantly, "The lieutenant-level officers who returned from the liberation of weixian campaign are all talking about the communist party's lenient handling policy, so the officers and men who start the war have no fighting spirit, and I am also one of them. ”
"I firmly believe in the policy of the People's Liberation Army, and those who voluntarily surrender will certainly be treated leniently, which I have received from the officers who listened to the broadcasts in northern Shaanxi and were released from the battles of Weixian and Yanzhou, so I chose this way out." After saying that, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
Facts have proved that Nie Songxi's decision to surrender is incomparably bright and correct.
After his surrender, Nie Songxi was treated with great leniency, and he was transferred to the People's Liberation Army Officer Training Corps of the East China Military Region to study, and to study the works of Marx, Lenin, and Chairman Mao with a group of generals who had been captured before and Wang Yaowu, who was later captured.
During the study period, they often speak freely, express their own opinions, express different views and opinions, enjoy the diet standards of the division and regiment cadres, add dishes separately on Sundays, and can eat fish, meat, chickens, eggs, apples and pears are in an endless supply, and there is also an additional supply of cigarettes.
In addition, high-ranking prisoners above lieutenant generals such as Wang Yaowu and Nie Songxi were concentrated in a single courtyard, allowed to go out to buy things in nearby street markets, and could use their own money to transform their lives.
Seventh, the ideological transformation is rapid, and the completion of the transformation has made meritorious contributions
In this compound, Nie Songxi's progress was rapid, his thinking changed rapidly, and he once said at a speech:
"I saw that the People's Liberation Army stood guard and did not take a needle and a line from the masses, and I heard that the citizens of Jinan were doing their best to support the Communist Party, so I took the initiative to surrender, unlike some people who were stubborn and desperately fled, and in the end they were not caught?"
The person referring to this was None other than Wang Yaowu, who had absconded and been arrested, and after hearing this, Wang Yaowu's face turned blue and white, and he was ashamed.
In 1948, before the Battle of Huaihai began, the East China Military Region organized twelve senior Kuomintang prisoners of war to write radio broadcasts voluntarily, which were broadcast to the vast number of Kuomintang officers and men at the beginning of the campaign, including Nie Songxi and Wang Yaowu.
This is the famous "Letter to the Officers and Men of the Kuomintang."
In the radio broadcast, Nie Songxi sincerely described the experience of his voluntary surrender and the fierce struggle in his heart; he appeared to speak, recounted his inner struggle, and advised the vast number of Kuomintang officers and men to have a clear understanding of the situation, suddenly wake up, and take the initiative to stand on the side of the people.
Nie Songxi's appearance worked very well, and it touched a large number of Kuomintang officers and men, who took the initiative to come and surrender.
Because Nie Songxi's consciousness was thorough and his performance was very good, his time for the transformation of the East China Military Region was very short, only three months.
In January 1949, he was released, which was extremely fierce in the prisoner-of-war camp at that time, and stimulated the enthusiasm of many Kuomintang officers and soldiers, who stepped up their studies and strived to complete the transformation as soon as possible.
After being released, Nie Songxi, who was worried about his family, returned to Nanjing, and he already had ideological consciousness in his heart, and he never appeared on the battlefield of the civil war again, and lived an ordinary life with his family in the second half of his life, living until his death in 1989.
No one can go against the tide of history, and the deviation from the interests of the broad masses of the people is doomed to a dead end, and Nie Songxi's three days of observation behind the crack in the door have finally allowed him to take the right step and live an ordinary life.
bibliography:
Book "Endgame: The Truth About the Kuomintang High Prisoner of War Regiment"