On September 21, 1949, the first plenary session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was held in Beijing. In the list of committee members, there is a name that is painted in black, becoming the only member who is absent, and he is Yang Jie, a former senior Kuomintang general known as a "genius general," Chiang Kai-shek's military division, and a titan of military science.
Two days earlier, General Yang had been assassinated in Hong Kong by Kuomintang agents.
Yang Jie is not an underground member of the CCP, nor has he led his troops to surrender, and he has made countless military achievements for Chiang Kai-shek, so why did Chiang Kai-shek necessarily kill him? How did he go from being a strategist whom Chiang Kai-shek relied on to a martyr of the Republic?
Yang Jie was born in January 1889 to a Bai family in Yunnan, the son of a barefoot doctor. From an early age, he was an exceptionally intelligent teenager. The teachers loved him and had a headache, and the little bit of love for him was thorough, and the headache was rooted in his questions. Yang Jie is diligent in thinking, good at giving examples and three lessons, and often puts forward different views in the classroom, so that teachers and students have no time to deal with it.
After the signing of the "Xinugu Treaty", Yang Jie took the rise and fall of the world and the responsibility of the puppeteer as the creed of his life. Before he was a minor, he entered the Baoding Army Officer School to study, and as an honor student, he was selected to study at the Preparatory School of the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School.
During his studies in Japan, Yang Jie ranked among the best in all subjects, and he became a prominent figure in the school. Many people took the initiative to befriend him, including Chiang Kai-shek, who was studying at the same school.
Chiang Kai-shek was deeply impressed by his outstanding talent and tried his best to win him over, hoping that he would have the opportunity to use it for himself in the future. After studying for two years, Yang Jie was promoted from the preparatory school to the artillery department as he wished, and Chiang Kai-shek had mediocre grades and did not accompany him.
In 1911, Yang Jie graduated and returned to China. The following year, at the age of 23, he returned to Yunnan to join Tang Jiyao's army. In Tongren, Guizhou, Tang Jiyao's 2,000 generals fought against Yang Baizhou's more than 10,000 troops. Yang Jie dedicated his pocket array, and in only two days, he repelled Yang Baizhou's troops, and the history called Yang Jie Qiandong a great victory, and Yang Jie became famous in this battle. In the following ten years, Yang Jie, who was in a chaotic world, involuntarily participated in the warlord melee.
In 1921, Yang Jie, who was sent to supervise the study of international students, came to Japan for the second time. Revisiting the same place made him feel emotional. The enthusiasm for serving the country was futile, and the motherland was still the weak motherland, with the people on the inside who did not have a good life, and the people on the outside who were looking at the tigers by the great powers.
Feeling that the country needed change, he gave up his existing rank of lieutenant general and entered the Japanese Army University for further study. When he graduated, Yang Jie was named "
Genius General
"Identity, received the Japanese Emperor personally awarded the saber. Such an honor is unique among Chinese.
In the winter of 1924, Yang Jie, who had finished his studies, returned to the motherland for the second time. This time, he chose to join Sun Yat-sen's camp. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek had gradually taken charge of the National Revolutionary Army under the heavy use of Sun Yat-sen and was gradually completing the process of unifying the various warlords.
For Yang Jie, Chiang Kai-shek has never forgotten.
After dismantling Cheng Qian's forces, he appointed Yang Jie as the commander of the 6th Army. In the years that followed, Yang Jie became Chiang Kai-shek's behind-the-scenes "military master", providing him with many practical and feasible military advice.
To tell the truth, Yang Jie's military attainments are among the best in the Chiang Kai-shek clique. He has a solid theoretical foundation, has studied both Chinese and Western, and has served in the military for many years, and is familiar with many details of modern warfare.
Yang Jie is a decent person, has a steady work style, commands battles, and gives advice, his attitude is impartial and practical. Chiang Kai-shek knows and employs people with the heart of a tyrant, and Yang Jie can use them for him, which is indeed the most appropriate.
When Yang Jie served Chiang Kai-shek in the early days, he had a feeling of finding a good lord. Whether it was the Jiang Gui War, the Jiang Feng War, or the Dealings with the Japanese, Yang Jie was confident and strategic.
During the Great War of the Central Plains, Feng Yuxiang's army reached Chiang Kai-shek's headquarters, and Chiang hurriedly ordered him to return to his division. He was calm and self-assured, and did not rush to retreat to break the siege, but instead adopted a strategy between virtual reality and dragged down the main force of Feng Yuxiang's troops. After the military reinforcements in Nanjing arrived, the counterattack turned into an attack, saving Chiang Kai-shek's emergency.
Chiang Kai-shek thanked him for his "meritorious efforts in saving the driver", and afterwards made an exception to attend the memorial ceremony of Mrs. Yang Jie with Song Meiling, and congratulated him several times.
From the end of 1931, Yang Jie concurrently served as the president of the Kuomintang Army University as the deputy chief of staff of the Central Military Commission. Chiang Kai-shek hoped to rely on his military prowess to train and expand the ranks of senior commanders for the "party-state."
After years of experience, Yang Jie's understanding of military ideology has become more refined, and he not only attaches importance to the combination of theory and practice, but also pays more attention to the character and character cultivation of soldiers.
Yang Jie believes that to build a strong army, the patriotic spirit of the vast number of officers and men is of the utmost importance. During his teaching at Lu University, he adhered to this concept and sent a large number of idealistic and capable officers to the Nationalist army.
Most of the genius type characters are somewhat arrogant, and Yang Jie is no exception. He learned to be rich in five cars, and after joining the army, he rarely achieved defeats; coupled with his straightforward nature, he did not understand the sleek and sophisticated, and when his temper came up, he even dared to confront Chiang Kai-shek in person. Over time, Yang Jie was not very popular in the Kuomintang camp, and Chen Cheng and He Yingqin, who were favored by Chiang Kai-shek, had all befriended him. Chiang Kai-shek dealt with him more and more, and gradually alienated him.
General Yang Jie
After the September 18 Incident, Chiang Kai-shek unexpectedly gave the post of chief of the general staff to He Yingqin, who had always been suspicious of him, and Yang Jie was greatly disappointed and felt that he was sitting on a cold bench. To appease him, Chiang Kai-shek sent him on a mission to the Soviet Union to seek assistance.
During his time in Su, Yang Jie once again showed his outstanding talent. With his outstanding ability to express himself and tactical analysis, he was appreciated by Stalin and won 100 million rubles of ammunition and a special fleet to aid China for the domestic war of resistance. As a soldier, Yang Jie crossed the border to conquer the diplomatic field, won the first battle, and achieved far better results than the professional diplomats of the National Government.
The Soviet Union's plan to aid China was transmitted back to China, triggering heated discussion in public opinion, and the enthusiasm of the military and the people to resist Japan was unprecedentedly high. Chiang Kai-shek's "Dragon Face great joy" is regarded as one of the important achievements of his administration.
The experience in the Soviet Union opened a new door for Yang Jie personally. He began to come into contact with the ideas and theories of the Communist Party.
Yang Jie served in the Kuomintang government for many years and was at odds with Chiang Kai-shek's clique, and he was not accustomed to Chiang Kai-shek's nepotism and dictatorship. The Japanese invading army has been running rampant in the land of China for many years, and he has a military command ability in the air, but he has no place to use for many years.
During his stay in the Soviet Union, Yang Jie studied the Communist Manifesto, Capital, and other huge works on socialism. The Communist Party's governing philosophy activated his vision of an ideal society.
After returning to China, Yang Jie wrote millions of words of professional works such as "New Theory of National Defense" and "Military and National Defense". The new army and the new society in his mind were articulated to the masses.
In Yang Jie's works, he expressed a large number of views consistent with communist theory, which aroused strong repercussions in society. He felt it, quoted the scriptures, wrote wonderful and eloquent articles, and reprinted them in one edition, which finally aroused Chiang Kai-shek's disgust, and he believed that Yang Jie had been "redwashed."
In fact
Since 1943, Yang Jie has had contacts with Zhou Enlai and others on the CCP side
。 Under their influence, the outspoken Yang Jie began to make progressive remarks on many occasions, openly opposing the attack on Chiang Kai-shek's regime.
Yang Jie had a high reputation in Chinese society at that time, and everyone knew that he had made great contributions to Chiang Kai-shek. He is very knowledgeable and eloquent, and in his speeches, his views are clear and to the point, and people cannot refute them.
More and more people were influenced by the progressive ideas he propagated, and began to have a profound understanding of the reactionary acts of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nanjing government. Chiang Kai-shek could not tolerate such a situation, he knew that he could not control Yang Jie, so he used his best assassination method.
In September 1949, Yang Jie, who had received an early warning from the CCP, left Kunming and took refuge in Hong Kong. When Chiang Kai-shek heard that Yang Jie had been invited to participate in the CppcC National Committee, he gave Mao Renfeng a death order not to let him go to Beiping under any circumstances.
On September 19, just the day before Yang Jie was preparing to leave Hong Kong for Peking to attend the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he was shot dead at his residence in Hong Kong by Mao Renfeng's agents.
On September 21, the first National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference sent a message of condolences to the family of General Yang Jie. Zhou Enlai spoke at the meeting, denouncing the Kuomintang reactionaries who brutally assassinated General Yang Jie.
"In particular, I would like to draw everyone's attention to the fact that the important reactionaries in these reactionary classes are by no means willing to lose their privileges and must carry out conspiracies and sabotage, as exemplified by the recent murder of General Yang Jie."
In 1982, General Yang Jie was posthumously recognized as a revolutionary martyr.
In 2009, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China, General Yang Jie was listed as a candidate for heroic and exemplary figures who made outstanding contributions to the founding of New China.