In 1959, a special war criminal left the War Criminals Administration. Since then, he has been dedicating his modest efforts to the cause of Cross-Strait Reunification of Our Country, and he is Du Yuming.
When du is mentioned, many people will have a question in their hearts that cannot be solved. That is, the two battles in which Du Yuming participated suffered defeats, so why was he still reused by Chiang Kai-shek? To solve this mystery, we still have to start with the two battles in which Du Yuming participated.
In 1948, the curtain of the Liaoshen Campaign was lifted, and in less than a month, the only passage for the Kuomintang army to enter the customs was cut off by the People's Liberation Army. In order to turn defeat into victory, Du Yuming was ordered to be in danger, and before the battle began, Du Yuming had already occupied many cities. However, due to the rash sweeping policy of other generals, coupled with Du Yuming's own poor physical health, the Kuomintang troops were hit hard.
In order to reduce casualties, Du Yuming once suggested that Chiang Kai-shek abandon the cities of Shenyang and Changchun and withdraw his troops to Yingkou. Chiang Kai-shek, however, rejected Du's suggestion. Due to strategic mistakes, coupled with the defeat of other commanders in the later period, the Kuomintang suffered a heavy blow in the Liaoshen Campaign.
At the beginning of the Huaihai Campaign, due to the tactful adoption of the TACTICS of retreating most of them from Shuanggou to the southeast, Du Yuming mistakenly believed that the PLA had failed, made a wrong decision to pursue, and was eventually hit hard by the PLA. Later, under the command of Chiang Kai-shek, Du Yuming abandoned the original plan to retreat to Yongcheng and lost many people. Together with the defeats in the previous Liaoshen Campaign, the Kuomintang had lost millions of men by now.
From the results of these two battles, we can find that although Du Yuming did have improper command, the defeat of the Kuomintang in the two battles could not be blamed on Du Yuming's head. In fact, the Kuomintang's crushing defeat in the two battles was inseparable from Chiang Kai-shek's personal command mistakes, the limited ability of other generals, and the corruption and infighting of the Kuomintang itself. Therefore, it cannot be said that Du Yuming caused the defeat of the Kuomintang in these two battles.
In addition, the defeats in the two battles did not shake Chiang Kai-shek's trust in Du Yuming. In fact, long before the two battles, Chiang Kai-shek had already attached great importance to and trusted Du Yuming.
First of all, Du Yuming and Chiang Kai-shek were friends of Mo Rebellion. Du Yuming had known Chiang Kai-shek for an early time. As early as the time when Chiang Kai-shek established the Second Division, Du Yuming served as a battalion commander and other positions in the Second Division. In the time that followed, the two formed a deep personal relationship. The role of the representative of the graduates of the Whampoa Military Academy, Du Yuming's ability and character, Chiang Kai-shek has long known.
Secondly, Du Yuming was a very loyal general, and Du Yuming was able to do a very good job in the tasks assigned by Chiang Kai-shek. In the course of wars such as the Great Wall War of Resistance and the Battle of Songhu, Du Yuming won many battles for Chiang Kai-shek on the frontal battlefield through his own strength.
Moreover, as a commander, Du Yuming has his own superiority in military affairs. In November 1939, Du Yuming joined the Battle of Guinan as the commander of the 5th Army. At Kunlun Pass, Du Yuming and his comrades engaged in a bloody battle with the Japanese, in which the Japanese Fifth Division was severely damaged.
Finally, the losses inflicted on military personnel in wars such as the War of Resistance Against Japan were enormous. During the Liberation War, Chiang Kai-shek had to reuse Du Yuming, who was a Whampoa graduate and a military talent.
Seeing this, some people may ask, why is it that compared with other senior Kuomintang generals, Du Yuming received a relatively high historical evaluation. This is because Du Yuming was not only a senior Kuomintang general, but also an outstanding anti-Japanese general and military expert in our country. Gubeikou, Kunlun Pass, and Burma have all left Du Yuming's figure. Especially in Burma, Du Yuming, who was already seriously ill, relied on tenacious willpower and excellent combat ability to help the Allies crush the Japanese troops.
In addition, after the founding of New China, du Yuming's efforts cannot be ignored. In 1980, Du Yuming, who had been a member of the CPPCC National Committee for many years, published a message to his former friends in Taiwan, contributing his strength to the cause of national reunification. In addition, as a commissioner of literature and history, Du Yuming also wrote a strategy for summarizing his experience in fighting the Japanese invaders in Burma, which provided a rich theoretical basis for China's military development. Such a special general, even if he has been defeated, is really difficult to be despised.
In 1981, Du Yuming died of kidney failure, and a generation of anti-Japanese generals ended their lives. Near today's National Art Museum of China, we can still see the figure of Du Yuming's former residence. It still stays there, telling us about the legend of life that belongs to Du Yuming.