In September 1948, the Northeast Field Army surrounded Jinzhou with lightning speed and launched the Liaoshen Campaign, and the People's Liberation Army had already opened the prelude to a major armageddon on the northeast battlefield. At this time, the Kuomintang only had three strategic strongholds in the northeast region, Changchun, Shenyang, and Jinzhou. Jinzhou is the throat that communicates between the inside and outside of the pass, and if it is lost, the northeast will be finished. In order to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, Chiang Kai-shek decided to send the main force of Shenyang to liaoxi, but Wei Lihuang, commander-in-chief of the northeast "suppression general", opposed this plan. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek specially ordered Gu Zhutong, chief of staff, to fly to Shenyang on the same plane as Wei Lihuang to supervise its implementation.
During the flight, Wei Lihuang suggested flying to Jinzhou first to discuss the battle plan with the defender Fan Hanjie. However, when he flew over Jinzhou, Gu Zhutong saw that the People's Liberation Army was shelling Jinzhou Airport, and worried that he would not be able to take off again after landing, so he rejected Wei Lihuang's proposal and flew directly to Shenyang.
In Shenyang, in order to persuade Gu Zhutong to change the order for Shenyang to send troops to support Jinzhou, Wei Lihuang specially set up a banquet at home and instructed Liao Yaoxiang to propose a plan to retreat from yingkou by sea.
But no matter how the two men stated their reasons, Gu Zhutong said: "The president's orders cannot be violated." ”
In fact, such a sentence is also Gu Zhutong's "way to promotion".
Gu Zhutong was born in a poor family in Lianshui, Jiangsu Province, his father was a teacher, his mother died early, and his stepmother was extremely bitter and mean, and she scolded him at every turn and did not give him food. At the age of seven, Gu Zhutong entered a private school and was later admitted to the county high school. Although he is very naughty, he is talented and has always had good academic performance.
At the age of nine, Gu Zhutong, because he could not stand the barbaric abuse of his stepmother, ran out and turned to his cousin Gu Nantian, who was blind and fortune tellers. Gu Nantian was not born blind, but when he was young, he was blinded by the enemy family with lime because he was looking for flowers and asking willow for a grudge. Gu Nantian, who became blind, learned fortune telling, and lived by fortune telling for people in the four townships and eight miles. Gu Zi was too absurd when he was young, and eventually ended up alone in old age, so he was extremely attached to Gu Zhutong's dependence.
At the side of Gu Blind, Gu Zhutong learned a full set of fortune-telling terms, memorized it well, and also understood it.
The strength of this skill also became a magic weapon that was later developed because of his good at observing words and colors.
At the beginning of 1910, at the age of 17, Gu Zhutong entered the Jiangsu Army Primary School and began his military career, and entered the Baoding Army Officer School in 1917. During the war to protect the law led by Sun Yat-sen, Gu Zhutong was introduced by people and became acquainted with Chiang Kai-shek, who was then chief of staff of Sun Yat-sen's base camp and chief of staff of the Second Army of the Guangdong Army. at
In the brief conversation, Gu Zhutong gained Chiang Kai-shek's favor.
Therefore, when the Whampoa Military Academy was opened, Chiang Kai-shek transferred it to his side as an instructor.
In front of Chiang Kai-shek, Gu Zhutong was absolutely obedient. There is a legend in Jiang Jun, gu Zhutong's hometown clan concept is very strong. In 1924, when he was an instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy, whenever he was paid, he would eat and drink with his fellow brothers of the Whampoa Military Academy in the hotel. Once, because of drinking too much, Gu Zhutong panicked and did not wear a military hat when he went to exercise in the morning, and his military clothes were not neat.
Chiang Kai-shek was furious and told him to kneel before everyone as a punishment.
After Chiang Kai-shek finished his speech, he left the playground, and Gu Zhutong kept kneeling there.
The next morning, Chiang Kai-shek was about to give a lecture when he saw Gu Zhutong still kneeling there. Ask who is kneeling and why is it kneeling? The instructor was busy reporting to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek suddenly realized, went forward to help Gu Zhutong up, and pulled him to the principal's office to rest. Gu Zhutong's knees were red and swollen, and Chiang Kai-shek personally used a towel to warm him. During the meal, he and Gu Zhutong ate together, and Gu Zhutong was so moved that he fell to his knees in front of Chiang Kai-shek. Since then, Gu Zhutong has been upgraded almost every year.
Although Gu Zhutong's "official fortune" is enviable, everyone is secretly "impressed": "It is all because Gu Mosan obeys and has a good heart." Within the Kuomintang, Gu Zhutong belonged to the He Yingqin faction, but on some key issues, he was always able to properly handle and cope with the contradictions between Chiang Kai-shek and He Yingqin.
Even He Yingqin said with admiration: "Gu Mosan is too obedient. ”
After the Xi'an Incident, both Gu Zhutong and Liu Zhi were appointed as commanders-in-chief by He Yingqin and were ordered to lead their troops to march to Xi'an. Gu Zhu accepted the position granted by He Yingqin on the same side, and was full of praise for the opinions of Song Ziwen and Song Meiling's brothers and sisters. It can be said that it has achieved "obedience" at both ends. In contrast, Liu Zhi was very positive. Therefore, after the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident, Gu Zhutong continued to be promoted, and his status began to surpass That of Liu Zhi.
In terms of anti-communism, Gu Zhutong acted in full accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's will. He was a classmate of ye Tingshi, commander of the New Fourth Army, at the Baoding Military Academy, and had a good personal relationship. At first, Chiang Kai-shek instructed Gu Zhutong to try his best to win Ye Ting over, hoping that Ye Ting would break away from the leadership of the Communist Party, but this set did not work. Chiang Kai-shek also instructed him to try to put Ye Ting under house arrest, but he was unsuccessful. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Gu Zhutong to use force to destroy the New Fourth Army.
In the atmosphere of the national War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Gu Zhutong was willing to brave the world's great disobedience and brazenly launch the Anhui Southern Incident.
By May 1948, the Kuomintang army faced the East China Field Army commanded by Chen Yi and Su Yu in the East China Battlefield, and suffered defeats and losses. When Chiang Kai-shek's ace reorganized 74th Division was completely destroyed, and the division commander Zhang Lingfu ordered Meng Lianggu to be killed, the chief of staff Chen Cheng was forced to step down in anger, and it was Gu Zhutong who was succeeded.
Of course, Gu Zhutong's assumption of office could not change the decline of the Kuomintang's defeat. After the three major battles, Chiang Kai-shek's clique was on the verge of collapse. Chiang Kai-shek was forced to step down, but he still clung to military power, and it was Gu Zhutong who replaced him in charge of military power in front of the stage.
Using Chen Cheng to clean up Taiwan to leave a way out, and Gu Zhutong to support the crisis situation in order to seek a way forward, fully demonstrated the trust of old Jiang in Gu Zhutong.
Although Gu Zhutong was carrying it in front for old Chiang Kai-shek, he knew in his heart that the Kuomintang had long since ceased to have the strength to stop the People's Liberation Army from crossing the river, so
He moved his family and property to Taiwan early on, and privately sighed to his cronies, saying: "The family's things have been moved, and not even a bed of quilts has been left." ”
His own back road was arranged, and Gu Zhutong's arrangements for Chiang Kai-shek's personal situation were also extremely thoughtful. On the night of November 29, 1949, when the vanguard of Liu Deng's army was directly approaching Chongqing, Gu Zhutong was afraid that the airport would be lost, so that Chiang Kai-shek could not escape, so he sat on the "Meiling" landline and personally commanded the airport guard troops to fight a trap, and waited until Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly arrived in the early morning of the next day and fled to Chengdu together.
On the eve of the liberation of Chengdu, Gu Zhutong boarded a plane sent by Taiwan to pick him up and fled in a hurry. In January 1950, Gu Zhutong was also sent by Chiang Kai-shek to Mengzi, Yunnan Province, to rescue the remnants of the Kuomintang 8th Army and the 26th Army and arrange guerrilla warfare in western Yunnan, but to no avail. In early March, he flew with Chiang Ching-kuo to Xichang to make a final struggle with Hu Zongnan.
On March 2, Gu Zhutong supported his last meeting on the mainland in Xichang and decided to hold xichang and establish a base area in western Yunnan as a bridgehead for future counteroffensives. But before the meeting was over, Gu Zhutong received news that the People's Liberation Army had marched to Xichang
We had to finish the meeting in a hurry, and Jiang Chingguo hurried to the airport
, ready to fly to Mengzi.
The plane was just about to take off, hu Zongnan hurriedly arrived, and even shouted "Can't take off!" Can't take off! ”。
It turned out that the news had just come that the officers and men of Mengzi Airport had revolted. If Hu Zongnan had come a step late, Gu Zhutong and Chiang Ching-kuo might have been sent to the door to become prisoners of the People's Liberation Army. In a panic, Gu Zhutong decided to fly to Haikou and then to Taiwan. After that, for thirty-six years, he never returned to his homeland.
After Gu Zhutong fled to Taiwan, he was horrified and heard another bad news:
In order to expel him from Taiwan, chen cheng, an old rival, used the "killing with a knife" scheme
He suggested to Chiang Kai-shek that "the mainland no longer has a central organ, and it is better to send a senior dignitary back to the mainland to preside over the grand plan." General Manager Gu is highly respected and respected, and he is old enough to plan for the country and is worthy of this great responsibility. When Gu Zhutong heard this news, he gritted his teeth in hatred, but on the surface he remained silent, secretly thinking about a way to get out.
He asked his wife to find chiang kai-shek's closest confidant, crying and complaining:
"General Gu has been in the middle of nowhere for many years, has been fighting and working hard for many years, has become physically exhausted, the mainland is already the domain of the Communist Party, and the remnants of the nationalist army have no place to stand, and if they suffer from turbulence and displacement again, this life will be suspended."
Chiang Kai-shek also did not want such a high-ranking official to become a prisoner of the People's Liberation Army, so he asked Gu Zhutong to find someone to replace him and go to the mainland to command the remnants of the Kuomintang army on the border of Yunnan and Burma. In the end, Tang Yao, deputy commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Army, went to the mainland in place of Gu Zhutong and was captured by the People's Liberation Army in the deep mountains and dense forests on the east bank of the Red River in Yunnan.
Tang Yao
At the beginning of Gu Zhutong's flight to Taiwan, in addition to the "chief of staff" and "commander-in-chief of the army" of the Kuomintang army, he also acted as the pseudo -"minister of national defense." But soon, Chiang Kai-shek decided to ignore the "acting president" Li Zongren who was still in the United States and reinstated himself, and Chen Cheng continued to serve as an important figure in the new core of power.
Gu Zhutong's three positions were replaced by Zhou Zhirou, Sun Li and Guo Jiyao.
When Chiang Kai-shek's entire focus shifted to cultivating Chiang Ching-kuo to succeed him and continue his Chiang dynasty, even if his cronies joined Gu Zhutong, they had to stand on the sidelines.
After being dismissed, Gu Zhutong was in a very bad mood, depressed all day long, and shut himself at home, saying that he wanted to think about it. When Chiang Kai-shek found out, he called him to comfort him and asked him to go outside and not to embarrass himself too much. Since then, Gu Zhutong's mood has slowly improved. Occasionally, he would sit with his former subordinates or friends and chat. When the weather is good, take a look at the famous scenic spots near Taipei.
At this time, many people at the top of the Kuomintang demanded that Gu Zhutong be held responsible for his defeat in the war, and Chiang Kai-shek personally came forward to "intercede" for him, and since his popularity was relatively good in peacetime, this matter was not resolved.
In order to appease Gu Zhutong, Chiang Kai-shek arranged for him to serve as vice chairman of his "Strategic Advisory Committee."
This was an institution specially set up by Chiang Kai-shek to arrange for the fallen veterans, and the chairman of the committee was Gu Zhutong's veteran he Yingqin. However, the people in this committee are also divided into three, six, nine and so on, such as Bai Chongxi, who is also a vice chairman of the committee, and his political and life treatment is far inferior to Gu Zhutong's.
After a few years of such a day without real power, in 1959, Gu Zhutong, who was nearly seventy years old, actually ushered in his own political upturn. Chiang Kai-shek's single-minded efforts to pave the way for Chiang Ching-kuo's succession were well known to passers-by, but the old Chiang Kai-shek wanted both a son and a face, and was worried about falling into the historical infamy of "crossing the river and demolishing the bridge." Therefore, he promoted some of his closest confidants in the past mainland period and put them in more important positions.
As a result, Gu Zhutong, the most obedient of the old ministers, ushered in his own opportunity and was appointed secretary general of the highest decision-making body of the Kuomintang. The main members of this organ are the heads of the party and government organs, chiang kai-shek himself presides over the meeting, and all the important decisions of the Kuomintang come from this organ. Gu Zhutong was re-elected secretary general for eight years, becoming an evergreen tree in the Kuomintang's political arena.
In February 1967, the elderly Gu Zhutong took the initiative to let Xian recommend to Chiang Kai-shek that Huang Shaogu, a close associate of Chiang Ching-kuo, succeed him to his post. After Chiang Kai-shek's death and Chiang Ching-kuo's smooth succession, Gu Zhutong resigned from all public offices. Gu Zhutong, who left the center of power, focused all his remaining energy on zunkong reading the scriptures.
Some insiders sneered in private for this reason: "Gu Mosan spent a lot of time drinking when he was young, and when he was dying, he became a fake Taoist gentleman again, which is really ridiculous!" ”
Gu Zhutong did have some debauchery in his private life in his early years
But unlike the blind cousin who was looking for flowers and asking for willows, he didn't have to worry about causing accidents because he offended the enemy family, because he was a person with great power many times. Before he was founded, under the leadership of his family, he married the original wife Yang Shi and bore him a son and a daughter. But since his inception, Gu Zhutong has left his wife in the family behind.
When serving as the commander of the Third Division, Gu Zhutong married another lady, Xu Wenrong, who was a famous lady in Suzhou, who was proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was praised as a talented woman. Gu Zhutong specially purchased a large villa for Xu Wenrong in Shanghai, and in order to please Xu Wenrong, he even took a pair of children born to Yang to Shanghai and handed them over to her to raise.
Poor Mrs. Yang, since Gu Zhutong had a new love, it was difficult to see him again, but fortunately, having children by her side could also alleviate some loneliness. But this bit of sustenance was ruthlessly deprived by Gu Zhutong. Since the children were taken away, only the Yang family was left in the large mansion.
Not long after, Yang suddenly died in a mysterious fire
。
After the death of the original wife, Xu Wenrong was naturally corrected. But even with such a flower-like wife to accompany him, Gu Zhutong still couldn't change his habit of stealing incense and stealing jade. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Gu Zhutong was appointed commander of the Third Theater and fell in love with Shi Wenqing, a Peking opera actor, in Tunxi, a small city in southern Anhui.
This Shi Wenqing originally sang in Suzhou, and was Shangguan Yunxiang, the deputy commander of the Third Theater, who took her to Tunxi. Shi Wenqing became a hit in Tunxi and soon became the darling of the dignitaries. Gu Zhutong went to great lengths to get Shi Wenqing, and he asked the military aircraft office to post a notice on Tunxi Street to prohibit all soldiers from entering the theater. In this way, it is even Shi Wenqing's rice bowl. Not long after, Shi Wenqing obediently threw himself into the net and became the caged bird of Chief Gu.
At that time, most of the senior Kuomintang generals had a problem, marrying a beautiful woman everywhere they went, and they were jokingly called "the lady of the War of Resistance".
However, the Ability of the Kuomintang Army to Resist The War of Resistance was really limited, and it was difficult to stay in one place for a long time. As soon as the troops retreated, they patted their butts and left, leaving the poor women to fend for themselves. Shi Wenqing also failed to escape the fate of the "Lady of the War of Resistance".
Gu Zhutong was already nearly old when he fled to Taiwan, and as he continued to grow older, he didn't have the energy to do those prodigal things anymore.
Who knew that he had changed his body and posed as "Mr. Taoist" again, talking about etiquette, righteousness, and shame.
In this regard, Gu Zhutong actually has some similarities with the old Jiang he has followed all his life.
When he was on the mainland, Gu Zhutong was a person who attached great importance to local concepts, and when he arrived in Taiwan, he could no longer set foot in his hometown, and he still often missed it. In May 1973, the 80-year-old Gu Zhutong, together with the veteran governor He Yingqin, visited the Kinmen and Penghu Islands with great interest. While at the Golden Gate, Gu Zhutong held aloft the high-powered telescope and stared at the direction of the mainland for ten minutes. Gu Zhutong, who was still talking and laughing, suddenly became silent.
He probably wanted to try his best to peek into the grass and trees of his hometown from the high-powered telescope! Unfortunately, that was impossible. From the moment he chose to follow Chiang Kai-shek and stand against the people, he should have thought that one day there would be such an end.
Gu Zhutong, He Yingqin, Bai Chongxi
Gu Zhutong's later life is very regular, going to bed early and getting up early every day, and has always maintained the habit of walking. In his spare time, Gu Zhutong is also keen on raising flowers. Usually, except for the occasional miss of home, I basically maintain a good attitude. Therefore, Gu Zhutong is very long-lived.
One day in August 1985, Gu Zhutong suddenly felt uncomfortable and was diagnosed by the doctor as high blood pressure. The doctor told him to pay attention to rest, but he thought he was in good health, did not take the doctor's words seriously, and got up early the next day to go to the flower market to enjoy the flowers. That night, gu Zhutong suddenly fell to the ground while reading the newspaper, unconscious. After being sent to the hospital, he was diagnosed with microvascular embolism in the brain. Since then, Gu Zhutong has been admitted to the hospital, bedridden, and his words are not clear. On January 17, 1987, Gu Zhutong died in the hospital at the age of 95.