Wei Lihuang was one of Chiang Kai-shek's "Five Tiger Generals" with outstanding military achievements, and the supreme commander of the Japanese army in North China, Kiyoshi Kazuki, called him "
Chi Na Tiger General
The Dictionary of Chinese Names published in the United States called it "
General Changsheng
”。 He worked as Sun Yat-sen's bodyguard, and later followed Chiang Kai-shek, making great military achievements for Chiang Kai-shek, and often singing against him.
After the Liberation War, he lived in seclusion in Hong Kong, under the close surveillance of Chiang Kai-shek's agents, until he learned that the CCP had included himself in the list of war criminals, and he was relieved: I have been saved!
General Wei Lihuang
Why?
Wei Lihuang was born in 1897 in Hefei, Anhui Province. Since childhood, he was influenced by the progressive ideas of his eldest brother Wei Lijiong and was determined to devote himself to the revolution and serve the country.
In 1915, Wei Lihuang was conscripted into Xu Chongzhi's Second Army of the Cantonese Army, and was later selected to serve Sun Yat-sen directly in sun yat-sen's guard, and soon promoted to guard platoon leader.
In 1920, Sun Yat-sen presented Wei Lihuang with a six-inch photograph and an inscription in his own handwriting."
Comrade Lihuang - Sun Wen gift
”。 Wei Lihuang regarded this photograph as a treasure and carefully collected it for decades.
After the end of the Eastern Expedition to pacify Chen Jiongming, Wei Lihuang was promoted to regimental commander first and then as the commander of the supplementary brigade because of his pioneering and courageous soldiers.
In September 1925, Chiang Kai-shek incorporated Wei Lihuang's unit, and Wei Lihuang was appointed as the commander of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Division of the 1st Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
After Sun Yat-sen's death, Chiang Kai-shek stole power, attacked political enemies, and recruited talents everywhere. At that time, Wei Lihuang was less than 30 years old, simple-minded, and mistakenly believed that Chiang was the best successor and executor of Sun Yat-sen's legacy.
Wei Lihuang had a compatriot named Wu Zhongxin, who was Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law, and he often talked to Wei Lihuang about some things about Chiang, Wu Zhongxin sometimes invited Jiang to dinner at home, and Wei Lihuang was often invited to accompany him.
In the Cantonese army, Wei Lihuang was known for his bravery and good fighting, and he was not a concubine of the Cantonese army, so Chiang Kai-shek was very kind to him and intended to win him over.
After joining the National Revolutionary Army, Wei Lihuang became a brave general under Chiang Kai-shek, and in 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek first went to the field, Wei Lihuang still earnestly retained him, and later went to Chiang Kai-shek's hometown Xikou to visit.
In 1928, Chiang Kai-shek made a comeback and began further reorganization of the troops. Wei Lihuang was neither a Huangpu student nor a fellow chiang, so he was not promoted, and was sent by Chiang to the first special class of generals at The Beiping Army University for further study under the pretext of "reading more books."
At this time, Wei Lihuang may not have much dissatisfaction with Chiang Kai-shek, after all, he has just passed the age of establishment, and there are still more opportunities in the future, and it is also a good thing that he can also gild himself for further study in the military school.
In 1930, the Central Plains War broke out, and the defensive section of the Jinpu Road of the Supply Line of Chiang Kai-shek's army was empty. At the crucial moment, Shi Yousan, who had already surrendered Chiang Kai-shek, suddenly turned against him, causing Chiang Kai-shek to fall into an extremely passive situation.
At this time, Jiang had no one to use, and all the concubines were gathered on longhai road. At the critical moment, he remembered Wei Lihuang and ordered him to form the 45th Division in Bengbu.
It can be said that it was the 45th Division that saved Chiang Kai-shek's political fate, so that Chiang did not have to worry about the security of the Jinpu Road supply line, including Nanjing, in the subsequent Battle of Jiang Fengyan. Shi Yousan, who had already rebelled against the water, had to retreat from the Jinpu Line because he was unable to defeat Wei Lihuang.
Central Plains War Infographic
The 45th Division later became Chiang Kai-shek's subordinate unit, "encircled and suppressed" the Red Army, suppressed the Fujian Incident, and became the backbone of Chiang Kai-shek's army.
Interestingly, a non-concubine general brought out a concubine unit, establishing Wei Lihuang's embarrassing position among the generals of Chiang Kai-shek's army: superb military level, untamed personality, and identity as not a fellow zhejiang of the Chiang kai-shek clan.
In July 1931, Chiang Kai-shek launched the third "encirclement and suppression" of the CCP's Soviet area, and Wei Lihuang became the commander-in-chief of the reserve army, but before he could send troops, the third "encirclement and suppression" was declared a failure.
With the successive outbreaks of the 918 and 128 incidents, the Japanese army invaded on a large scale, and Wei Lihuang's unit was organized into the 14th Army, with Wei Lihuang as the commander and participating in the vigilance of the Shanghai-Hangzhou Line.
The momentum was unfolded, but Chiang Kai-shek did not have the intention of sincerely resisting Japan, declaring that "if you want to take the outside world first, you must first be inside the country," and once again launched a "cleansing and suppression" of the Eyu-Anhui Soviet region. In September 1932, Wei Lihuang entered and occupied Jinjiazhai in Anhui Province, and Chiang Kai-shek deliberately established a new county administration here, naming it "Lihuang County" as a reward for it.
In 1933, Wei Lihuang once again became the main force in suppressing the 19th Route Army, and contributed great efforts to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek was pleased and rewarded him greatly, and in 1935 appointed Wei Lihuang as a member of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee.
After making many military achievements, Wei Lihuang seemed to get rid of his embarrassing position and became one of Chiang Kai-shek's "Five Tiger Generals".
Chiang Kai-shek and Wei Lihuang
However, Chiang Kai-shek's use of people and excessive selfishness made Wei Lihuang quite dissatisfied. And Chiang Kai-shek did not treat this tiger general with a strong personality and lost his temper at every turn. The two had friction from time to time, and if they were to leave, they were far from being as close as Chen Cheng and Chiang Kai-shek.
In fact, the contradiction between the two has appeared more than a decade ago.
In 1925, Chiang Kai-shek forced Xu Chongzhi away, annexed the Yue Army, merged the Cantonese Army with the Huangpu Instruction Regiment to form the 1st Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and demoted Wei Lihuang from brigade commander of the Guangdong Army to the commander of the 9th Regiment of the 1st Army, which made Wei Lihuang very depressed.
Wei Lihuang stayed in the Cantonese army for a long time, from the platoon commander to the brigade commander, xu Chongzhi was promoted, so he was grateful to Xu Chongzhi. He always wanted to find an opportunity to meet Xu, but Chiang Kai-shek warned him not to associate with Xu Chongzhi. Wei Lihuang was resentful and said to his close associate Chen Wu and the others: "
If there are troops in hand, it is necessary to bring down Chiang Kai-shek, who does not pay attention to faith
。 ”
Chiang Kai-shek's fifth "encirclement and suppression" of the Soviet zone in 1933 once again angered Wei Lihuang.
He appointed Chen Cheng as commander-in-chief and Wei Lihuang as the commander of the 1st Column, a position below Chen Cheng, and arranged Wei Lihuang to the forefront. Wei Lihuang was very annoyed and found an excuse to return to Nanjing.
He said to his friend that winning the battle is the credit of others, and losing is all my responsibility.
He was admitted to the hospital on the pretext that he had a tumor in his armpit and was admitted to the hospital. Chiang Kai-shek knew that he was demonstrating to himself, and he could only resign himself to it.
After suppressing the "Fujian Incident," Wei Lihuang, who had the greatest merits, won only a vacant position as a member of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee, but the actual shortage of the chairman of Fujian Province was given to Chen Yi by Chiang Kai-shek.
At that time, one of the signs of Chiang Kai-shek's reuse of someone was to make him the chairman of the province. Wei Lihuang and Gu Zhutong have the same seniority, even more than his military achievements, and Gu Zhutong became the chairman of Jiangsu Province as early as 1930, while Wei Lihuang did not have the opportunity to take the post of chairman, which is obviously Chiang Kai-shek's distrust of him, how can Wei Lihuang not be sad?
The general was indeed thrown into a concussion while riding a horse, leaving the root of the disease
One blow after another and distrust made Wei Lihuang extremely disappointed in Chiang Kai-shek, and his subsequent closeness and sympathy for the Communist Party may explain the change in his state of mind at this time.
In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Eighth Route Army was incorporated into Wei Lihuang's 14th Group Army, and after Wei Lihuang became the deputy commander of the Second Theater and the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, the Eighth Route Army belonged to the second theater of battle sequence.
In 1939, Wei Lihuang became the commander-in-chief of the First Theater, and during that time, he took care of the Communists, the Eighth Route Army, and progressives in his jurisdiction. Once passing through Xi'an, Wei Lihuang demanded that 250,000 grenades and 1 million bullets be allocated to the Eighth Route Army for military pay.
By allocating such a large amount of military supplies to the Eighth Route Army, Lu Zuo, then deputy director of the Logistics Department of the Kuomintang Military Commission, did not dare to agree, for fear that Chiang Kai-shek would find trouble.
After Wei Lihuang heard about it, he called and sent Wu Dehai, director of the Xi'an Office of the First Theater, to negotiate a solution with Lu Zuo, but Du Hailan, the former logistics commander of the former enemy headquarters in the Second Theater, still did not dare to deliver the goods when he got the approval order.
Wei Lihuang was very unhappy and called Dai Hailan and said:
"I am the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and all the troops in the Second Theater who fight Against Japan must be treated equally and treated the same as the 14th Army."
Under the operation of Wu Dehai, the weapons and ammunition were finally smoothly transferred to the Eighth Route Army's office in Xi'an.
After getting the receipt, Yang Lisan, director of the 18th Army Station, rented several commercial vehicles, together with more than a dozen large trucks in the jurisdiction, to pull things, loaded the trucks as quickly as possible, and also took advantage of the chaos to load dozens of boxes of canned beef. All of this material was eventually transferred to Yan'an.
Zhu De and Wei Lihuang
Knowing that Yan'an lacked medical treatment and medicine, Wei Lihuang also tried his best to allocate a lot of medical supplies to the Eighth Route Army from the commander's headquarters of the First Theater.
Wei Lihuang took a large amount of materials to support the Communists, which made Chiang Kai-shek very unhappy. He once met with Wei Lihuang alone in Chongqing and asked wei Lihuang to give an explanation. The two had a very unpleasant quarrel because of this.
In 1941, Wei Lihuang went to Chongqing for a meeting. On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, Chiang Kai-shek held a banquet at his home and ordered someone to send an invitation to Wei Lihuang.
Wei Lihuang had already signed for the banquet, but for some reason he suddenly changed his mind and did not go, only to call Chiang Kai-shek's secretary and say that he would go to Soong Ching Ling's residence for the banquet.
The banquet for 14 people was turned into 13 people, and Chiang Kai-shek was very angry, and he was afraid of the number 13, so he had to temporarily pull the secretary to make up the number.
Jiang later talked about this matter many times, expressing his dissatisfaction with Wei Lihuang, saying that he was leaderless, arrogant and arrogant, and casually rolled his face.
Even so, Wei Lihuang never apologized to Jiang.
In 1945, Wei Lihuang once again swept Chiang Kai-shek's face.
In January of that year, Wei Lihuang returned to Chongqing after completing the strategic task of opening up the Sino-Indian Highway, and Chiang Kai-shek awarded him the Order of the Blue Sky and White Sun and appointed him deputy commander-in-chief of the army.
The commander-in-chief of the army was He Yingqin, and Wei Lihuang did not like him and was reluctant to take up his post after receiving the appointment. He Yingqin sent people to Qing twice, and Wei Lihuang made an excuse that he had suffered a head injury after falling off his horse, needed medical treatment, and was still willing to serve the country if there was a war.
He didn't give Chiang Kai-shek's face, let alone why should he? He had no choice but to give up and report the matter to Chiang Kai-shek, who listened to it and did not comment.
Wei Lihuang and He Yingqin
Wei Lihuang had an unruly personality, fought without ambiguity, and paid great attention to coordinated combat with friendly forces. One example is the Battle of Xinkou.
In October 1937, when the Japanese army was advancing into Shanxi, Yan Xishan asked Chiang Kai-shek to order Wei Lihuang's troops to come to support.
In early October, Wei Lihuang was appointed commander-in-chief of the former enemy in World War II, commanding all the Central Army and the Jin Sui Army in northern Jin, and was responsible for stopping the Japanese army at Xinkou, which led to the outbreak of the largest and most fierce battle of the Kuomintang army since the anti-Japanese resistance in North China.
Yan Xishan mobilized several divisions for reinforcements, and Zhu De also said that the Eighth Route Army was ready to fight at any time. While Wei Lihuang and Yan Xishan were studying the battle plan, they also went to discuss strategic arrangements with Zhu De, and attached great importance to the Eighth Route Army.
The Xinkou Nationalist Army participated in 200,000 battles and 70,000 Japanese troops, which was the first large-scale trench warfare since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and it was of great significance both strategically and politically. This battle has annihilated more than 30,000 enemy personnel, becoming the most favorable war situation since the Anti-Japanese War in North China.
The Battle of Xinkou was extremely fierce, and the Japanese army could not attack for a long time, and frequently transferred troops from other places, reducing the pressure on other theaters.
Wei Lihuang was concerned about the war and often personally went to the front line to observe the enemy's situation. When Yan Xishan heard about it, he called and said:
"Junru, I heard that you often venture to the front line in Xinkou, and we can't afford to lose your life."
In January 1939, Wei Lihuang became the commander of the First Theater of Operations and the chairman of Henan Province, during which he successfully recovered Zhengzhou.
The Battle of Zhengzhou made Wei Lihuang famous in Henan.
Before the battle began, he personally went to the front line to set up a temporary command post. The temporary command post is remote, cars cannot be directly accessed, and horses need to be changed at the predetermined location. Wei Lihuang's eldest son, Wei Daojie, was the commander of the guard battalion, and according to the regulations, the road passed by the commander should be forty steps and one post, but Wei Daojie was not manpowered enough.
Wei Lihuang knew about this situation, did not consider personal safety, and calmly rode away after getting out of the car.
During the battle, the guns fired in unison, the ground shook, and the command post was shaken to pieces. Ke Wei Lihuang calmly looked at the map and listened to the phone, until the Japanese gassed out of the guards.
In 1942, Wei Lihuang was transferred from the First Theater of Operations as the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force, and on the way to the railway station, many people spontaneously set up incense cases to send him off, which made him very moved. Wei Lihuang hurriedly got off the train and walked, greeted the people, shook hands and said hello, and walked all the way to the station. There are also students and some fellow villagers waiting to bid him farewell.
No one went to work or school that day, and it is said that this scene only appeared more than 70 years ago when a former Qingdaotai left office, which is enough to see that Wei Lihuang's administration of Henan is deeply popular with the people.
As soon as he entered the station, the legions cheered in unison, and the commanders-in-chief of the various army groups and colleagues of the commander's department shook hands with him to say goodbye. Wei Lihuang stood at the window, excited and tearful.
In 1943, Wei Lihuang led the expeditionary force to successfully command three major battles in Nujiang, Tengchong, and Songshan, recovering 24,000 square kilometers of land, making the US army stand in awe of our army. The commander of the US 14th Air Force said that as long as Wei Lihuang went to Chongqing on official business, he would send a special plane to pick him up at any time.
Wei Lihuang and the U.S. generals reviewed the expeditionary force
In 1948, Wei Lihuang succeeded Chen Cheng as the "Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast Suppression". Prior to this, he refused to take up his post under various pretexts, and Chiang Kai-shek made a promise to him:
Regardless of whether you win or lose, you will not be held accountable
。
What Chiang Kai-shek did not expect was that this sentence became the fuse for Wei Lihuang to completely part ways with him.
After the defeat of Liaoshen's army, Chiang Kai-shek reneged on his promise to remove Wei Lihuang from his post and sent agents to secretly monitor him.
Wei Lihuang fought for many years, with great achievements, but he could not get a piece of his own territory; he had served as a military commander and commander-in-chief, and in the end no team belonged to him, and the 14th Army had also been dismembered and fragmented, and he had become a light rod commander.
The Battle of Liaoshen broke Wei Lihuang's last thoughts about Chiang Kai-shek.
In November 1948, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Xuzhou to plan the upcoming Battle of Huaihai, and Wei Lihuang took this opportunity, under the arrangement of his son Wei Daoran, to secretly transfer a plane to Shanghai, preparing to go to Hong Kong via Guangzhou. However, the plane was targeted by the agents, and Wei Lihuang was escorted back to Nanjing by the agents and placed under house arrest in the Wei family compound. Chiang Kai-shek gave him a three-point inadmissibility:
No going out, no meetings, no phone calls
。 Although Wei Lihuang had the protection of the old department on his side, the situation was still very dangerous.
After the Battle of Huaihai, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to resign, and Li Zongren became acting president and ordered the removal of the gendarmes who were in charge of Wei Lihuang, who fled to Shanghai in disguise and arrived in Hong Kong by British steamship at night of the Chinese New Year's Eve of that year.
Since then, Mr. and Mrs. Wei Lihuang have been in anonymity in Hong Kong and have begun a life of seclusion.
On December 25, 1948, the CCP published a list of war criminals, and Wei Lihuang was impressively listed.
When the news came, Wei Lihuang sighed and said to his wife:
“
I was saved
！”
Wei Lihuang and his wife Han Quanhua
Putting him on the list of war criminals is actually a means for the CCP to paralyze Chiang Kai-shek, lest Chiang Kai-shek order him to be removed on a whim. Wei Lihuang also knew this, knowing that he would be protected by the CCP like Fu Zuoyi and would no longer have to worry about his life.
While in Hong Kong, Chiang Kai-shek twice sent people to lobby Wei Lihuang to Go to Taiwan or abroad, but he refused. Wei Lihuang said:
I am a Chinese, and I must return to New China in the future, so let's talk about it
He subscribed to more than 30 newspapers and magazines and read them carefully every day. He told his family and Pao ze that the Communist Party would gain national power and that everyone should be mentally prepared.
In October 1949, when new China was founded, Wei Lihuang was so excited that he personally drafted a telegram and sent it to Beijing through the underground organization of the Communist Party of China in Hong Kong to congratulate Chairman Mao. The original text is as follows:
Chairman Mao of Beijing:
Under the wise leadership of Mr. Li, the people's revolution won a brilliant victory, and since then the whole Chinese people have gained great leadership, and the prosperity and strength of New China are promising, and the whole world is rejoicing and encouraging, and wholeheartedly supports it. Huang longed for heartfelt excitement. Congratulations. Vice Chairman Zhu and Premier Zhou Hechen on behalf of Shen Hechen.
Wei Lihuang
At this time, Guangzhou had not yet been liberated, and the commander of the new 30th Army stationed here was Hu Jiaji, an old subordinate of Wei Lihuang. Hu Jiaji sent people from Guangzhou to visit his old boss many times, and Wei Lihuang told him not to confront the People's Liberation Army, but to unite the enlightened people in the Huangpu department and raise troops to revolt.
Hu Jiaji could not say that he would move his subordinates, so he passively stood by and did not resist the Platon Army.
Wei Lihuang commanded the expeditionary force
Wei Lihuang's old ministries like Hu Jiaji, who were still in Guangzhou and Hong Kong at that time, secretly interacted with Wei Lihuang, and Wei Lihuang gave them an analysis of the national situation, let them recognize the reality, and made contributions to the long-term interests of the country.
In early 1954, the Chang Central Committee called on people from all walks of life overseas to return to China to participate in the construction, and Wei Lihuang secretly contacted the CCP through the latent personnel arranged by the CCP.
On the evening of March 14, 1955, Wei Lihuang and his wife arrived safely in Guangzhou on the afternoon of march 15, under the secret arrangements of the CCP. On March 17, Wei Lihuang received a welcome telegram from Chairman Mao:
"When the gentleman returned to China, he was very welcome, and looked forward to coming to Beijing as soon as possible. If you are interested, you can check the situation along the way, and it is also good to arrive in Beijing at the end of the month or the beginning of next month. ”
On the 17th, Xinhua News Agency issued a news announcement announcing that Wei Lihuang, a former senior Kuomintang general, had returned to the motherland on March 15. "People's Daily," "Southern Daily," and others all published on the front page the "Letter to Taiwan's Friends in Robes and Ze" written by Wei Lihuang, indicating his break with Chiang Kai-shek and his support for the Chinese Communists.
On the morning of April 6, Wei Lihuang and his wife arrived in Beijing, and Premier Zhou and Chairman Zhu De personally greeted them at the station. On the 25th, Chairman Mao met with and hosted a banquet for Wei Lihuang.
Chairman Mao hosted a banquet for Wei Lihuang
After returning to China, Wei Lihuang was entrusted by the central authorities to visit the senior Kuomintang generals in custody and had in-depth and earnest talks with Wang Yaowu, Liao Yaoxiang, Huang Wei, Du Yuming, Fan Hanjie, Song Xilian, and others.
After that, Wei Lihuang actively participated in national construction, and was successively promoted to the posts of deputy to the National People's Congress, the party committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the party committee of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee, and later succeeded Long Yun as vice chairman of the National Defense Commission.
In September 1956, Wei Lihuang published an article entitled "After Returning to the Mainland of the Motherland", in which he wrote:
"When this motherland is vigorously built, I deeply feel that no matter who has the opportunity to serve the country. Many of my former colleagues on the mainland held important military and political positions and assumed heavy leadership responsibilities. It is a blessing that I myself can participate in the construction cause with the people of the whole country. ...... I look forward to them... Return to the embrace of the motherland at an early date, reunite with family and friends, and build a new country that is rich, strong and healthy. ”
On January 17, 1960, Wei Lihuang died at the age of 63 after myocardial infarction complicated by pneumonia and ineffective rescue.
Buried in Beijing
Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.