After the victory of the War of Liberation, the main force of the Kuomintang army had been annihilated by our army, and Chiang Kai-shek could only lead the remaining army to defeat And retreat to Taiwan.
In this war, many Kuomintang troops were captured by our army, including many senior Kuomintang officials and Chiang Kai-shek's confidants, and although they embarked on the wrong path, our Party was still willing to give them a chance.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, they were imprisoned in the war criminals management center for labor reform and ideological reform.
In 1959, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the founding of New China, Chairman Mao, after much consideration, decided to grant amnesty to some war criminals who had performed well in reform and had clear ideological progress, so as to show our Party's attitude of treating the reformed and rehabilitated war criminals equally.
On September 18, the People's Daily published Chairman Mao's proposal to pardon war criminals, and Liu Shaoqi's amnesty decree was issued to grant amnesty to war criminals who had been imprisoned for ten years and had changed from evil to good.
There are a total of 33 war criminals on these amnesty lists, of which ten are the main war criminals of the Kuomintang, including Du Yuming, Song Xilian, Wang Yaowu, Chen Changjie, Lu Junquan, Zeng Guoqing, Zhou Zhenqiang, Zheng Tingji, Yue Xingxiang, and Yang Botao. The recent hit TV series "Amnesty 1959" was released to the first batch of amnesty personnel to be freed, and then the plot ended. But in fact, after learning of these people's amnesty, the war criminals management center immediately exploded.
The rest of the war criminals are very unconvinced, thinking that their performance is good enough, why is there no self on the amnesty list? Could it be that amnesty is based on official positions that were once in the Kuomintang? Fan Hanjie, who had been imprisoned in the War Criminals Management Institute for ten years, was also very puzzled, if according to the official position, his position was not lower than those ten people, why was he missed?
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War criminals discuss amnesty grounds
For the first list of amnesty, the war criminals detained in Gongdelin were divided into opinions, because the criteria for releasing war criminals were obedience to reform, good performance, and recognition of the mistakes they had made, and renunciation of evil and good.
Most people think they have met this requirement, they have been positive in the transformation, and their thinking has changed dramatically.
Why are those ten people who were active in suppressing the Communists in the War of Liberation able to go out, but they can't? Could it be that the highest official can go out?
For this reason, the war criminals were very emotional and had to ask the managers to give an explanation.
If these problems are left behind, war criminals may no longer be rehabilitated in the future, which is extremely detrimental to the war criminals management center.
The managers of Gongdelin also racked their brains to solve this problem, and finally they decided on a plan to open up the minds of the war criminals, that is, to let everyone discuss freely.
What the war criminals did not expect was that the administrators gathered everyone together, but there was no explanation for them, they let the war criminals discuss at will, complained casually, and went to those people themselves to be pardoned.
And the main purpose of not being pardoned is to convince themselves, which is much more useful than simply announcing the reason.
So the war criminals got together and talked about why those people could be pardoned.
The most obvious manifestation in the amnesty list is that the official university goes out first.
Is this really the case? Among the first people to go out, almost all of them were officers who led troops to the front line, and only Zeng Guangqing was a secret agent.
Du Yuming, Wang Yaowu, Song Xilian and others, counted as Chiang Kai-shek's concubines, had a large number of troops under their command, and had been fighting on the front line, fighting the most fiercely with the Communists in the civil war.
During the second period of the domestic revolution, Wang Yaowu killed Fang Zhimin, who was the chairman of the Soviet government in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Gansu Provinces, and Song Xilian killed Zhai Qiubai, an important founder of the Chinese revolutionary literary cause.
Is it possible that the greater the sin, the more it can go out? But in terms of status, Wang Lingji was the only general among the prisoners of war, and the crimes he committed against the Communists were not small, and the "March 31" massacre and the "April 9" massacre were all written by him. There was also Kang Ze, a great spy trusted by Chiang Kai-shek, who was on a par with Dai Kasa, who founded the Military Command Bureau. Kang Ze did a lot of bad things when he surrounded and suppressed the Red Army in Sichuan, and later came out to lead the troops and killed many people in the People's Liberation Army.
There was also Huang Wei, a confidant of The Kuomintang general Chen Cheng, who was an extremely stubborn element, firmly supported the status of the Chiang clique, and committed many crimes during the war, but he still stayed here with Fang Jing, Song Ruike and others.
It can be seen that this amnesty is not based on status and crime, and the prisoners of war began to discuss it from other aspects.
Why were ten war criminals pardoned?
Let's say that the first batch of amnesty Du Yuming, who was a member of the Huangpu clan and the backbone of Chiang Kai-shek, commanded the Liaoshen Campaign and the Huaihai Campaign successively.
Although he was not the nominal commander of the Suppression of the Communists, he held real power in his hands and occupied an important position in the two battles of Liaoshen and Huaihai.
He was able to mobilize all his troops and was our greatest rival in both campaigns. Therefore, although he only had the rank of lieutenant general, he was still listed by our Party as the number one war criminal.
After entering the War Criminals Management Center, Du Yuming did not resist reform like other high-ranking officials, because his body suffered from a variety of diseases in 1947, when he was suffering from successive fiascos, until the captured body had collapsed. It can be said that he spent most of his time in the prisoner-of-war management center, and after he was captured, our army did not torture him, but treated him very favorably.
Therefore, Du Yuming profoundly realized the communist mindset, he actively accepted reform in the prisoner of war management center, studied seriously, and became the leader of the sewing team in the war criminals' center. And in Chairman Mao's hometown of Xiangtan, because Du Yuming had prevented Zhang Zhizhong from setting fire to the city, he saved more than 100,000 people in Xiangtan.
Another reason is that in 1957, his son-in-law Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize in Physics, and Du Yuming was pardoned.
Another pardoned Song Xilian, although his official position during the Liberation War was not very high in the war criminal management center, he was also the commander of more than 100,000 troops.
During Chiang Kai-shek's retreat to the southeast, he guarded the eastern gate of the northwest and was a general whom Chiang Kai-shek relied on.
In 1949, the Second Field Army of the People's Liberation Army marched into the southwest, and Song Xilian was eventually defeated and captured by our army.
Song Xilian and General Chen Geng were fellow countrymen, studied together at the Whampoa Military Academy, and under Chen Geng's mobilization and introduction, Song Xilian had joined the Communist Party. However, due to different choices, Song Xilian later became a member of Chiang Kai-shek's clique, but the revolutionary friendship between him and Chen Geng did not change.
When Chen Geng was arrested by Chiang Kai-shek, Song Xilian joined forces with many students to write a letter, and eventually Chen Geng was released by Chiang Kai-shek.
Therefore, after learning that Song Xilian had been captured, Chen Geng made a special trip to visit him and advised him to actively reform.
Chen Geng's arrival made Song Xilian very touched, and he also regretted his wrong choice, so after entering the War Criminals Management Center, he has been cooperating with the reform and is one of the best performing students at that time.
Moreover, Song Xilian's crimes were relatively minor, and with the addition of some of the above factors, he became the first batch of people to be pardoned.
Chen Changjie was a major general under Fu Zuoyi, and he was also known as the Changsheng General because of his repeated achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japan, which greatly destroyed the arrogance of the Japanese army.
During the Liberation War, Fu Zuoyi strongly recommended him to be the commander of the Tianjin garrison, and in the overwhelming attack of the People's Liberation Army, he was invincible and asked Fu Zuoyi for instructions. Fu Zuoyi asked Chen Changjie to hold his position, and as a result, not long after Fu Zuoyi revolted, he peacefully handed over the Peiping regime, and he became a guest of honor of our party.
When the captured Chen Changjie heard the news, his heart was extremely uncomfortable, and Fu Zuoyi was not only his Bole, but also his respected chief.
As a result, this commander asked him to strictly guard Tianjin while handing over Beiping.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Chen Changjie to retreat, and because he obeyed Fu Zuoyi's orders, he insisted on Holding Tianjin, and as a result, Fu Zuoyi finally became a guest of honor, and he was a prisoner.
Therefore, when he first entered the war criminals management center, Chen Changjie stubbornly resisted, was very emotional, and did not speak when Fu Zuoyi went to visit him. Fu Zuoyi felt very guilty about this, because the Beiping Uprising was still confidential at that time, and he did not disclose it to Chen Changjie.
Later, with the help of the management personnel of the War Criminals Management Center, Fu Zuoyi explained the matter in detail to Chen Changjie, and Chen Changjie also forgave him, and from then on he seriously reformed and actively cooperated with the management personnel, because of his good performance, coupled with Fu Zuoyi's incessant circumlocution outside, Chen Changjie entered the first batch of amnesty lists.
Wang Yaowu was a very capable general in the army, and he made many achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
In the Battle of Jinan, he fought with our army for eight days and eight nights, and was finally defeated and captured.
After that, Chairman Mao personally met with him and affirmed Wang Yaowu's contributions during the War of Resistance Against Japan and his merits to the people, and said that if Wang Yaowu was well reformed, he would definitely be released in the end.
Chairman Mao's remarks greatly touched Wang Yaowu; he was naturally not an ordinary person who could hold such a high position in the Kuomintang, and he knew at once what was most advantageous, and immediately made a war speech on the radio, which played a very important role in dismantling the other stubborn Kuomintang troops.
After entering the war criminals management center, Wang Yaowu obeyed the reform and performed prominently, and he became one of the first amnesty personnel, and his amnesty was related to the fact that only two tractors were found from his home when he was captured, and there was no other property.
As a Kuomintang general, Wang Yaowu set extremely strict demands on himself and did not contaminate the unhealthy atmosphere in the Kuomintang army, which was also one of the reasons why he took the lead in reforming successfully.
Lu Junquan was the commander of the Kuomintang 6th Corps, and his pardon had a lot to do with his involvement in the Yunnan uprising. The peaceful liberation of Yunnan after the Yunnan Uprising not only greatly reduced the casualties of our army, but also reduced the losses of the people of Yunnan and avoided the destruction of Yunnan. Coupled with his good performance as a war criminal, he became an amnesty officer.
Zeng Guangqing was the head of the political training system of the Nationalist Army, had been classmates with Chen Geng and Xu Jishen, Zhou Enlai had been his teacher, and although he was also a high-ranking Kuomintang official, due to the Xi'an Incident, he was snubbed by Chiang Kai-shek, and he was excluded from politics after that, and did not play any role in the Liberation War.
Zheng Tingdi and Yue Xingxiang, both backbones of Huangpu, did not have much influence in the Kuomintang, and made relatively minor mistakes; in addition, they actively reformed themselves in the war criminals management center, conscientiously studied Marxism, showed great favor for our party, and learned a lot of techniques in prison, and were released as a typical example of good performance.
Yang Botao was a famous anti-Japanese general in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and in that era when he was making fried noodles from the prime minister down to prisoners and providing food for the soldiers of the Volunteer Army to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he actively made fried noodles for the volunteers and worked very seriously, which became a reason for his amnesty.
Zhou Zhenqiang's outstanding performance in the Northern Expedition war was favored by Chiang Kai-shek, and during the Xi'an Incident, he led his troops to Tongguan and besieged Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, who had imprisoned Chiang Kai-shek. He was a confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, who did not play much in the war, and who performed well, so his name was added to the amnesty list.
This is also to tell everyone that even Chiang Kai-shek's confidants can be released, and others can behave well.
Why Fan Hanjie was not pardoned
These ten people all have amnesty reasons, so what if Fan Hanjie, who also performed well, was not pardoned? Fan Hanjie was also a graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy and a beloved general of Chiang Kai-shek, who repeatedly fought against the War of Resistance Against Japan.
After he came to the war criminals management center, he actively reformed and performed well, and his name was originally on the amnesty list, but due to the resolute opposition of Cai Tingkai and Jiang Guangnai, his name was drawn out of the amnesty list.
So, why did Cai Tingkai and Jiang Guangnai resolutely oppose the amnesty of Fan Hanjie first? In 1932, Chiang Kai-shek's line of suppression of the Communists had been extended to Fujian, and Cai Tingkai realized that there was no way out of the civil war and that there was no future for following Chiang Kai-shek, so they used the 19th Route Army as the main force to launch the Fujian Incident and create a second government. Chiang Kai-shek was furious and ordered that the rebellion of Cai Yankai and others be suppressed at all costs.
On the one hand, Chiang Kai-shek's army confronted the 19th Route Army, and on the other hand, it secretly co-opted the internal personnel of the 19th Route Army, and Fan Hanjie became the main target of Chiang Kai-shek's side.
Finally, in the battle between the two sides, Fan Hanjie secretly told Chiang Kai-shek the telegram code of the 19th Route Army, so that the other side could grasp the military deployment and troop strength of the Fujian side.
Relying on this information, Chiang Kai-shek deployed a battle plan, and within a month, the Entire Fujian Army collapsed and suppressed the Fujian uprising.
Therefore, Cai Tingkai and Jiang Guangnai will be resentful of Fan Hanjie and resolutely resist his amnesty. Later, Premier Zhou believed that the failure of the Fujian uprising was not the responsibility of Fan Hanjie alone; when they revolted, they did not consult with their subordinates to identify officers who were willing to revolt, Fan Hanjie was once Chiang Kai-shek's old subordinate, and it was understandable to surrender to Chiang Kai-shek.
Although his act of rebellion was disgraceful, he spent a decade in the War Criminals Management Center and realized his mistake and deserved to be pardoned. After Premier Zhou and Cai Tingkai finished their work, the other party agreed with Premier Zhou's opinion and revoked Fan Hanjie's materials, and in 1960, Fan Hanjie was successfully granted amnesty, ending his twelve-year imprisonment.
By 1975, all detained war criminals had been pardoned and walked out of the gates of the War Criminals Management Centre. The amnesty for war criminals is a major policy decision made by the CPC Central Committee for the great cause of the reunification of the motherland and the overall situation at home and abroad; it not only allows the Kuomintang people in Taiwan to see our attitude of not taking responsibility for the past, shakes their hearts in sticking to Taiwan, prepares for Taiwan's return, and has had a positive impact on promoting the great cause of the motherland's peaceful reunification.