Among Chiang Kai-shek's Huangpu student generals, the two most famous are Hu Zongnan and Du Yuming, and unlike Hu Zongnan, Du Yuming's brilliance is entirely dependent on himself.
After many years of conquest, with talent and faith, Du Yuming finally won the trust of Chiang Kai-shek, and he "bloomed" with this trust and became a generation of famous anti-Japanese generals.
However, the chaos within the military command, the conquest of the enemy and the enemy, and the increasingly unpopular behavior of Chiang Kai-shek made Du Yuming physically and mentally exhausted and unwilling to command--in the end, the army was defeated in Huaihai and captured by the East China Field Army.
Du Yuming, who became a "prisoner of the order", was escorted to the "Gongdelin" of the War Criminals Management Center. He became the only one among them who was both a prisoner and a prisoner of war.
Du Yuming was captured
Here, however, he admits to spending the most meaningful years of his life.
As one of the first amnesty war criminals in 1959, Du Yuming was reformed and released from the "Gongdelin". It was during the reform period that Du Yuming deeply realized the mistakes he had made to the party and the people before, and finally decided to take root in the mainland and give back to the motherland.
Not only that, the first thing Du Yuming did when he got out of prison was to write a letter to his wife, who missed her day and night, to let her return to China. But to her surprise, his wife Cao Xiuqing replied: If you can't do it, you will come to the United States...
Battle of Huaihai, prisoner of war career
On January 7, 1948, the Huaihai Campaign, the largest and most casualty of the three major battles of the Liberation War, had come to an end, and a large number of Kuomintang troops were either wiped out or retreated to break through.
Battle of Huaihai
Recalcitrant troops such as Huang Baitao's Seventh Corps were annihilated by our party's army together with the main general and his troops.
The troops led by Du Yuming became the only remnants of the Huaihai Campaign, and under chiang kai-shek's orders, they prepared to break through on the morning of the 10th.
Around dusk on January 9, Du Yuming was intimidated by Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and others, so he agreed to change his plan and break through that night.
On the evening of January 9, Du Yuming led more than ten people, including adjutants and guards, to act alone, and was captured by the People's Liberation Army in the early morning of the 10th, at the age of 45.
Gong Delin
After being captured, Du Yuming was first sent to the Liberated Areas for education, and later after the war situation stabilized, he was sent to the "Gongdelin" war criminals management center. He was the only person in the War Criminals Management Center who was both a prisoner of war and a war criminal.
Although Du Yuming was a prisoner of the order, he was not discriminated against in the war criminals management center, but had good treatment, because Du Yuming had chronic diseases such as stomach ulcers and tuberculosis, and the administrators had to ensure his food supply even if they ate their own nests.
Under the meticulous care of the medical staff of the War Criminals Management Center, Du Yuming's stomach ulcer, tuberculosis and other stubborn diseases have improved, and in order to allow him to sleep peacefully, the medical staff even specially made him a plasterboard.
And Du Yuming did not live up to the good treatment and ardent expectations of the management personnel, in the management office, Du Yuming actively accepted the transformation and labor, in a short period of time there was a great change in thinking.
Du Yuming and Puyi and others
He not only read through books such as "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" and "How Steel is Made", but also wrote down more than 10,000 words of reading notes and experiences, and his attitude was very good.
Not only that, du Yuming also sent his experience of transformation to Ma Shigong, commander of the Kuomintang 88th Army, in 1949 to plot a rebellion.
Although Ma Shigong did not surrender directly, he also resigned on the eve of the Battle of the Crossing River, causing confusion in management and command, allowing the 27th Army led by General Nie Fengzhi to seize the opportunity to successfully break through the defense line on April 20.
Later, Du Yuming even became the leader of the sewing team in the war criminals management center, sewing winter clothes and cotton clothes by himself, tasting the happiness of ordinary laborers, and his body was slowly improving.
In "Gong Delin", Du Yuming also encountered many interesting things, which are not only the result of his change of mood after his transformation, but also reflect his essence of helping others.
For example, after the concentration of war criminals in Beijing, there was a veteran general Wang Lingji, the oldest, general with a rank of general and high myopia, who often made himself scarred by shaving because of his old age and clumsiness.
Du Yuming was very sympathetic to Wang Lingji's old age, so he took the initiative to help him shave, and later Wang Lingji's shaving was almost all arranged by Du Yuming.
Wang Lingji also made a poem to send to Du Yuming, which was widely disseminated among the war criminals:
"Admiral He is useless, and his beard is full of cheeks. Brother Du instinctively had a hand and had to change the new tire. ”
Wang Lingji
The other thing was what happened when Du Yuming was working in the sewing room, although the work was already very busy at that time, he still asked everyone if there was any worn-out, unusable wool, fleece, etc., which he could use.
Under Du Yuming's skillful hands, he turned these wastes into vests, gloves, socks, and night hats, which not only saved money, but also appeared very beautiful and atmospheric, and he distributed these transformations to all prisoners, many even after amnesty.
Amnesty was released from prison and wrote a letter to write thoughts
Du Yuming, who was in the War Criminals Management Center, actively reformed and profoundly realized his mistakes, which could be expressed through one thing.
Once, when they visited Shenyang, in a guest house on Zhongshan Road, several people saw an iron cage drawn in chalk on the cement floor of the substation, and the cage was closed with teeth and claws, large or small tigers.
After seeing the tigers, the tension in the hearts of many war criminals was obvious, but Du Yuming believed that the tigers on the road were extremely well drawn.
Du Yuming
Du Yuming felt that in the past, when he fought a civil war in the northeast and opposed communism and the people, was he not as vicious as a tiger? Shouldn't I repent? After saying these words, I could even see tears in his eyes.
With the active cooperation of Du Yuming, the management office carried out a successful ideological transformation of him, and in 1959, Du Yuming was pardoned by the Supreme People's Court as the first batch of amnesty war criminals and restored his freedom.
In July of the following year, Premier Zhou Enlai and Foreign Minister Chen Yi invited British Field Marshal Montgomery, who was visiting China, to accompany him.
This is because Montgomery served as the commander of the Mediterranean theater in the African theater during World War II, and Du Yuming was the commander of the Sino-Burmese battlefield in the Chinese theater, and although the two had never met, they had long heard each other's names in various war reports.
Montgomery and Zhou Enlai
At the banquet, Montgomery once smiled and asked Du Yuming, where has your million army gone? Du Yuming shook his head and looked at Marshal Chen Yi: "I gave it to him." ”
Marshal Chen Yi responded with a smile: "You are not so generous, we ate it one bite at a time." ”
After the banquet, Du Yuming said that he could only agree with half of Chen Yi's words, and the other half of the army was buried in the hands of the Kuomintang itself, and it was precisely because Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang lost the hearts of the people that the people chose the Communist Party that fought for the interests of the people.
In addition to active reform and atonement, Du Yuming's most in the reform center is his wife Cao Xiuqing and several children.
As early as before he was granted amnesty, Du Yuming had already contacted his daughter in the United States through the people's government, and he also knew about his wife's recent settlement in Taipei.
Daughter Du Zhili
But after all, he was still a war criminal at that time, and due to his situation, he never contacted his wife, on the one hand, he was afraid that she would worry, and on the other hand, he was also afraid that Chiang Kai-shek would do something irrational after learning that he had contacted his wife.
After regaining his freedom, Du Yuming hurriedly wrote a long letter to Chao Simiao's wife, in which Du Yuming described in detail his recent situation and the results of his transformation, and said that he wanted to build a new China well.
At the same time, Du Yuming also expressed to his wife that he hoped that she could return to China with her children and return to her side, but Cao Xiuqing replied after receiving the letter, saying that he should not let him force it, and would come to the United States if he could not do it.
So why did Cao Xiuqing let Du Yuming go to the United States? Could it be that she doesn't look forward to being reunited with her husband, who has been separated for many years, or seeing her husband who has been successfully reformed?
Du Yuming Cao Xiuqing
Wife handwriting, Taiwan experience
Cao Xiuqing naturally wanted to see her husband who had been separated for many years, but she still had some hesitations, mainly for two reasons, the first of which was Cao Xiuqing's suspicion of her husband's attitude.
In Cao Xiuqing's impression, Du Yuming was a character who greatly admired Chiang Kai-shek and was hostile to the Communists, and now she suddenly said that she wanted to contribute to the construction of a new China, which made her a little caught off guard.
Moreover, Du Yuming was still a war criminal captured in the Battle of Huaihai, theoretically inferior, so did he really enjoy such a good life? Or did someone forge his handwriting and tone?
The second reason was the attitude of the Kuomintang authorities and Chiang Kai-shek. If the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek were to know that Du Yuming was pardoned, it would most likely be an obstruction and would not allow themselves to go to Taiwan.
Chiang Kai-shek
It is precisely for these two reasons that Cao Xiuqing doubts the authenticity of this letter, doubts her husband's personal safety and freedom, and wants to invite her husband to the United States.
But Cao Xiuqing did not know that this letter was indeed Du Yuming's heartfelt words, and after reforming and studying, he had already deeply understood that the only way to save the country and the people was to rely on Mao Zedong Thought and Marxism.
Not only that, but he also realized the cruelty and mistakes of his past, as well as the crime and decay of the bourgeoisie represented by Chiang Kai-shek, so he wrote to Cao Xiuqing, hoping that she would return to China.
So why didn't the Kuomintang authorities want Cao Xiuqing and Du Yuming to travel to the mainland? Hadn't they already given up Onook and Cao Xiuqing? How did Cao Xiuqing get to the United States? This matter should also start from Cao Xiuqing's visit to Taiwan.
Cao Xiuqing
Xiuqing went to Taiwan
The situation on the mainland in 1949 was already crumbling for the Kuomintang, full of wind and rain, and countless people packed up their fine softenings, boarded a boat across the strait, and fled to Taiwan, and Cao Xiuqing, who had just "lost" her husband, was no exception in grief.
Although Chiang Kai-shek was aware of Du Yuming's current situation, in order to maintain his prestige and at the same time to further reduce his already depressed morale, he had to conceal the news of Du Yuming's capture and declare that he was killed in battle.
Chiang Kai-shek himself was also afraid that Du Yuming would defect to the Communists, and in order to restrain Du Yuming, he half-persuaded and half-forced to take Cao Xiuqing and others to Taiwan as hostages, and in desperation, Cao Xiuqing had to take six children and leave the mainland with Chiang Kai-shek.
After coming to Taiwan, the pressure of life suddenly weighed on this rich lady, and unlike Du Yuming when he was there, Cao Xiuqing's identity is now that he is the family of a defeated general.
Chiang Kai-shek Du Yuming
What's more, this defeated general also lost the Battle of Huaihai, shattered the last hope of the Kuomintang, and was naturally angered by Chiang Kai-shek.
Relying on a meager pension, Cao Xiuqing was unable to support the elderly and children, let alone their education.
Even after relying on savings for a period of time, the reality of hardship still made Cao Xiuqing put aside the pride in his heart and go to the Taipei County Tobacco Monopoly Bureau to do receiving and sending, earning some meager wages to support his family.
But even so, Cao Xiuqing can only barely maintain the family, unable to let the children receive further education, but as a rich lady, she knows the importance of knowledge.
In order to educate her children, Cao Xiuqing had to run frequently between Du Yuming's old subordinates, old classmates, and old colleagues, get some gifts from them or ask them to intercede, in order to reluctantly place her children in school to study their homework.
Middle of the back row: Du Yuming
The son died tragically
Although life is difficult, she still has a hope for the future, but a disaster in 1956 almost destroyed the family and Cao Xiuqing's spirit.
It was a letter from Du Zhiren, his son who studied at Harvard University. The letter reads that he hopes to withdraw another three thousand dollars from his family to survive the final year of graduation.
But where is the money in the family? Maintaining a family life is already difficult for Cao Xiuqing, and she no longer has extra money to pay her son tuition.
Forced to do so, she had to find Chiang Kai-shek, hoping to borrow three thousand DOLLARs from him to help her son complete his studies and slowly repay it later.
When Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, he brought enough money, gold and silver to describe it as a sea of gold and silver, but in the face of the three thousand dollars requested by his wife, he suddenly made a mistake.
In the end, Chiang Kai-shek still did not agree to Cao Xiuqing's request, and was only willing to borrow a thousand US dollars, and even this thousand US dollars had to be paid in two years, which meant that Cao Xiuqing could only get five hundred US dollars.
Cao Xiuqing could only send the five hundred dollars to her son first, hoping to help her son survive the urgent need, but she did not expect that this letter was the last letter she sent to her son.
Du Zhiren in the United States was very desperate after receiving the five hundred dollars, and under the dual pressure of school and money, he chose to escape - leaving this world forever.
Cao Xiuqing, who received the news of her son's death, was devastated, but the difficult life had to continue, and she could only endure the pain in her heart and silently support the family, but what people never dreamed of was that Chiang Kai-shek and his wife would soon have a huge change in attitude towards her.
One day in 1958, Chiang Kai-shek and his wife sent a special car to invite Cao Xiuqing to the Shilin official residence, and Chiang Kai-shek asked her about her life, body, and children's studies with concern, as if he was not the person who was only willing to lend a thousand dollars in installments and indirectly forced Du Zhiren to die.
The reason for the change in Chiang Kai-shek's attitude is precisely because of Cao Xiuqing's son-in-law, the famous scientist Yang Zhenning.
In a Chinese restaurant in Princeton, THE United States in 1949, Du Zhili, the daughter of Cao Xiuqing, who had a teacher-student relationship with Yang Zhenning, met Yang Zhenning again, and the two teachers and students met in a foreign country, which was extremely cordial.
Yang Zhenning du saluted
This cordiality was also accompanied by a rapid increase in the friendship between men and women, and soon the two established a relationship and married in 1950.
Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize in 1957, and he held Taiwan's "Republic of China" passport, which naturally made Chiang Kai-shek's face very glorious.
It is precisely because of Yang Zhenning's "son-in-law" identity that Chiang Kai-shek came up with the idea of letting Yang Zhenning return to China through Cao Xiuqing's channels.
Although Cao Xiuqing was very disgusted by Chiang Kai-shek's hypocrisy, she was under the roof and had to bow her head, she still perfunctorily perfunctorily said every word of Chiang Kai-shek, and won the opportunity to go to the United States to "convince" Yang Zhenning.
Chiang Kai-shek Soong Mei Ling
Soon Cao Xiuqing flew to the United States in early 1959, met with his daughter and son-in-law, and escaped the "clutches" of Chiang Kai-shek, which led to Cao Xiuqing's reply - if it was in Taiwan, I am afraid she would not receive Du Yuming's letter.
This is why the Kuomintang authorities did not want Cao Xiuqing to go to the mainland, and Cao Xiuqing also told Du Yuming not to force it, but to come to the United States if he could not.
Because Cao Xiuqing is in the United States, along with them are his daughter Du Zhili and his Nobel Prize-winning son-in-law Yang Zhenning.
Fourteen years later, the husband and wife gathered
After coming to Princeton in the United States, Cao Xiuqing applied for a long-term residence permit with the help of her daughter and son-in-law and prepared to live for a long time in the United States.
During this time, Cao Xiuqing was also constantly communicating with her husband after the amnesty, she did not choose to go to Beijing to meet with her husband at the first time, in order not to stimulate Chiang Kai-shek, Cao Xiuqing had to look for opportunities little by little.
It was also in the correspondence that Cao Xiuqing learned about Du Yuming's recent situation and current situation, which also made her more and more assured and trusting of our party.
After the successful transformation, Du Yuming chose to settle in Beijing, and even served as a commissioner of the Cultural and Historical Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and in the letter, Du Yuming also wrote that he hoped to let Cao Xiuqing return to China to spend his old age together.
Yang Zhenning's father, Yang Wuzhi, would also fly to Geneva with his wife and children every summer to reunite with his family, and Cao Xiuqing could also learn about Du Yuming and the mainland from Yang Wuzhi's family.
Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili
With the constant encouragement of her son-in-law Yang Zhenning and daughter Du Zhili, Cao Xiuqing finally made a decision, and with the help of her son-in-law, Cao Xiuqing first boarded a plane in New York on May 20, 1963, and then flew to Geneva, Switzerland, from Geneva via Moscow to return home.
On June 3, 1963, Cao Xiuqing, who had been away from the mainland for more than ten years, set foot on the land again, and the husband and wife who had been separated for fourteen years finally reunited, no longer had to endure the pain of lovesickness.
After reuniting with his wife, Du Yuming devoted more energy to building a new China, and in November 1964, Du Yuming was elected as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and went to Beijing to attend the Fourth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The old society turned people into ghosts, and the new society turned ghosts into people, from the former war criminals to the current CPPCC National Committee members, walking into the Great Hall of the People to participate in the administration and discussion of state affairs.
In the days that followed, Du Yuming worked for the great cause of the peaceful reunification of the motherland until May 7, 1981, when Du Yuming died in Beijing due to kidney failure and other chronic diseases, at the age of 76.