When the two armies fight, the situation changes rapidly, and it often brings some "involuntary" situations. When the army is defeated, it is often the moment of life and death choice, some people sacrifice their lives for righteousness, prefer to die unyieldingly, naturally there are naturally people who flee or surrender and are captured for a glimmer of life, the difference is that some people can choose freely, and some people do not have the right to choose.
In November 1948, the Battle of Huaihai began, in which both sides suffered heavy losses, after countless battles of all sizes, the People's Liberation Army won the final victory, the main force of the Nationalist Army on the southern front was lost, and many corps were defeated until the entire army was destroyed.
When the 13th Corps was defeated, the commander of the Corps, Li Mi, fled the battlefield in order to survive, and Zhou Fan, the commander of the 3rd Division of the 9th Army, was forced to cover Li Mi's escape, and finally surrendered helplessly.
What was the fate of Zhou Fan, who became a "prisoner" of the People's Liberation Army?
When the army was defeated, it was forced to surrender
The Battle of Huaihai was a vicious battle, which lasted more than two months from the official opening to the end, during which countless battles of all sizes were held. On the first day of the Battle of Huaihai, the People's Liberation Army surrounded Huang Baitao's Seventh Corps, and Li Mi was ordered to break the siege and failed, and in early December his own Thirteenth Corps was also surrounded by the People's Liberation Army.
In January 1949, the People's Liberation Army continued to advance, and soon broke through all the defensive lines of Li Mi and Qiu Qingquan's corps, and the defeat of the Nationalist Army was decided, and the whole army reached the front line of life and death.
As the commander of the corps, Li Mi made the decision not to coexist with the army and die, but to quietly flee and save himself.
If you want to escape under the siege of the People's Liberation Army, you will definitely need some cover, and Zhou Fan is forced to take on this "heavy responsibility".
Li Mi and the deputy commander successively "talked" with Zhou Fan, the implication of which was to let Zhou Fan attract attention, drag the People's Liberation Army, and buy time for Li Mi to escape.
Zhou Fan knew that the general situation was gone, either the whole army was destroyed, or covered Li Mi's escape, even if he was dissatisfied with Li Mi's decision, he had no second choice.
There are two ways to complete the cover, one is to drag the PLA's footsteps through engagement, and the other is to attract the attention of the PLA through "surrender negotiations".
Zhou Fan was not willing to exchange the lives of his entire army for Li Mi's life, not to mention that at this time, the remnants of the Thirteenth Corps had no strength to fight with the Platon Army, so after fleeing to the northeast of Henan and completely falling under the siege of the Plaster, Zhou Fan had to choose to surrender. Li Mi disguised himself as a soldier and successfully escaped, while Zhou Fan led the whole army to surrender and became a defeated "prisoner".
During the anti-Japanese period, he heroically defended the country
The People's Liberation Army never exterminated the "captives" who surrendered, and the Communist Party's attitude toward war criminals has always been more tolerant, not only looking at the mistakes they have made, but deciding their ultimate fate based on their past achievements and later performances.
Zhou Fan gained a glimmer of life after surrendering, because during the War of Resistance Against Japan, he once went to battle to kill the enemy and heroically defend the country.
In 1932, Zhou Fan was given a position as a policeman, but he was bent on killing the enemy and really contributing to the defense of his family and the country, so he quit this relatively stable job.
In 1937, Zhou Fan participated in the Battle of Northern Jin, cooperating with the Communists to fight a guerrilla war near the Taihang Mountains
。 In the following year, it fought against the Japanese army many times in Shandong, Henan and other places, destroying the transportation of the Japanese army and disrupting the deployment of the enemy army, creating favorable conditions for the frontal battlefield.
When the Battle of Guinan broke out, Zhou Fan led his army to counterattack head-on, and unlike the previous guerrilla warfare, this frontal engagement process was very tragic.
After half a month of bloody battle, Zhou Fan successfully annihilated a brigade of the Japanese army and expelled all the Japanese troops in Guinan.
Zhou Fan had meritorious service in the anti-Japanese war, but during the Liberation War, he also fought against the People's Liberation Army, and the mistakes he committed could not be denied, so he needed to enter the war criminals management center for reform after he surrendered.
Reform repentance, reinvent the new life
Zhou Fan spent 25 years in the Gongdelin War Criminals Management Center until 1975, when China issued the seventh batch of amnesty for war criminals, which was also the last batch of amnesty, and all the former Nationalist troops were released.
After that, some of these war criminals chose to go to Taiwan to spend the rest of their lives, and this time they had the right to freely choose to stay, but Zhou Fan voluntarily chose to stay.
Later, Zhou Fan was assigned to work in the Hunan Provincial CPPCC Committee, he conscientiously adhered to his post, sincerely served the people, and was rated as a member of the Hunan Provincial CPPCC Committee 8 years later.
Although Zhou Fan was the last to be pardoned, unlike some stubborn people, he sincerely repented of the mistakes he had made.
In his later years, Zhou Fan once mentioned the past and expressed regret that he had taken the wrong road. The word "fan" is taken apart to see "grass, water, rice", and the reason why Zhou Fan changed his name to this word is to keep himself in mind at all times, even if he "becomes an official" in the future, he should not forget his heart. Later, he went astray, gradually lost his heart, and did a lot of wrong things, but fortunately, after reforming and repenting, he was able to be forgiven, reshaped, and returned to the side of the people.
epilogue:
During the Liberation War, many generals of the Nationalist Army abandoned the secret and became rebel generals, contributing to the victory of the Liberation War. The Communist Party never abandons any hopeful person, even if he has made a mistake, as long as he knows that his mistakes can be corrected and his heart is bright, he can also get a new life.