Wei Lihuang, a senior general of Chiang Kai-shek's concubine, a senior military general of the Kuomintang, a second-class general of the Nationalist Army, one of Chiang Kai-shek's very important "Five Tiger Generals", and a veritable tiger general among the "Five Tiger Generals", the other four are empty names. He participated in the encirclement and suppression of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and caused heavy losses to the Red Army. During the Liberation War, he was also listed as one of the main war criminals of the Kuomintang, and such a person should have been hated by the people, because he stood against the people and served Chiang Kai-shek. But the truth is often unexpected. After the founding of New China, Wei Lihuang returned to Beijing in 1955 and was personally received by Chairman Mao. Later, he served as vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, member of the Standing Committee of the Second and Third National Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, deputy to the Second National People's Congress, and member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee.
From a major war criminal of the Kuomintang to the vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, what kind of twists and turns have been experienced in the middle?
In 1955, Chairman Mao personally received Wei Lihuang
The Tyrant in a Troubled World
Wei Lihuang was born in 1897 in Hefei, Anhui Province. When he was 8 years old, his father, Wei Zhengqiu, died of the plague. After that, the daily living expenses of the whole family had to rely on his brother Wei Lijiong's appointment in the county to maintain, and his childhood life was not very rich, and it could even be said that he was poor. But in such an environment, he did not give up on himself, but was positive. When he was young, he went to a private school in a neighboring village to study, and during the period of study, he worked very hard, and he did not want to lag behind the children of the rich family, so he read a lot of historical books and could also write poems and fill in words, which laid the foundation for his future military talents. Although his father died early, Wei Lihuang's mother was extremely protective of him, so he was very filial to his mother. Not only his original wife, Ge Shi, but also his later step-stepmote, was married by his mother. From his early life, it can be seen that he has a courageous and resolute character that does not accept defeat, and his heart is full of love for his family, which has slowly evolved into love for his homeland, and it is also this great love that supports him to kill the enemy on the battlefield.
In 1912, the 15-year-old Wei Lihuang found his eldest brother and hoped that he could let him participate in military training, at this time his eldest brother was a subordinate of Bai Wenwei's revolutionary army. The purpose of his first coming here was actually to make more money, to subsidize the family, and did not want his eldest brother to work so hard. However, at this time, he was not yet old enough to enlist in the army, so the eldest brother arranged for him to stand guard. During his two years here, although he did not undergo military training, his revolutionary ideas were greatly enlightened. He was influenced by the revolutionary ideas of his eldest brother Wei Lijiong and others, cut off his braids and began to participate in military training.
In 1914, he embarked on a real journey to the revolution. At this time, at the age of 17, he applied for the Hubei Army Cadet Barracks and was admitted. After more than a year of military training, during the training period, he strictly demanded himself, actively trained, not only learned military knowledge, but also broadened his insights. After he graduated, he did not join the Beiyang Army in Beijing, but went to Shanghai to look for revolutionaries.
Wei Lihuang
In October 1917, Sun Yat-sen was elected marshal of the military government and inaugurated. After being introduced by others, Wei Lihuang entered the Marshal's Mansion as a guard for Dr. Sun Yat-sen. During his tenure as a guard, he listened to Dr. Sun Yat-sen's side, learned military knowledge, and understood the basic combat deployment, laying the foundation for his future military command ability. It is precisely because of the past few years of Mr. Sun Yat-sen's side that he has cultivated his national righteousness, as well as his sense of mission and responsibility for the country, and has also come into contact with the Three People's Principles. It is also because of Wei Lihuang's handling of people and his due diligence in his post that he is deeply loved by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. In 1920, when the warlords of the Gui clan returned victoriously, Dr. Sun Yat-sen presented Wei Lihuang with a six-inch single photograph, which was also written on the photo
"Comrade Sun Wen gift of Lihuang"
。 This precious photograph, Wei Lihuang has been carefully collecting, to show respect and admiration for Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Since then, Wei Lihuang has continuously participated in the suppression of rebellions in the southern generation. It can be said that his experience in commanding battles is all fought by himself, which is why he can become the real tiger general among Chiang Kai-shek's "five tiger generals".
Chiang Kai-shek and Wei Lihuang
After a hundred battles, I lost my way back
He continued to conquer the north and south, and successively participated in many battles such as the Northern Expedition, the Ten Years' War, the Fierce Battle of Nankou, the Battle of Xinkou, and the Battle of Han Xinling.
In the Northern Expedition, Wei Lihuang can be said to have made many achievements in battle, he fought against the enemy for six days and nights, and finally won the victory. When the strength of the Northern Expedition had just weakened, some people became traitors, and at such a critical moment, Wei Lihuang led his troops to support, and it was another fierce battle, and finally victory was achieved. It was also this battle that spread his name of bravery and good fighting. The Battle of Xinkou was the most famous battle commanded by Wei Lihuang during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and although this battle was not won in the end, it also dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army, annihilating tens of thousands of enemy troops. Of course, at the time of the ten-year civil war, he also participated in it, and by relying on his military talents, he caused no small loss to our Party. However, after the "September 18 Incident", Chiang Kai-shek still advocated civil war, completely disregarding the situation in our country at that time, which caused Wei Lihuang's dissatisfaction, he did not want to see his own country, when there was a foreign invasion, his own people were still killing each other. This also sowed the seeds for him to provide help to the Communist Party in the future period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Because he realized that if he was under such a leader, the country would not get out of the shackles of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and at the same time, in the "Xi'an Incident", he also saw the heart of the Communist leader and the great national righteousness in the hearts of the Communists.
Xi'an Incident
It was also during the "Xi'an Incident" that the Communist Party saw Wei Lihuang's military ability and national feelings, and the director of the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army at the time expressed his high praise for his heroic performance in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, saying that "the Yellow River defends North China, and Mr. Huang defends the Yellow River."
After the outbreak of the "July 7 Incident," there were still many voices opposing the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists in the Kuomintang, but Wei Lihuang still expressed strong support and a very tough attitude under the anti-Japanese united front, and he demanded that his army also get along with the communist troops and jointly resist the enemy. The reason why he did this was not for his own interests, but to support the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party from the perspective of national righteousness. During his command of operations, he would often consult with the leaders of the Eighth Route Army. He never flinched during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and he was always brave and good at war, and he believed that as long as it was an anti-Japanese unit, then everyone was a family. During the Period of Resistance Against Japan, when the Eighth Route Army was undersupplied, he did not care at all about the Kuomintang saying that he was "communist", but actively provided the Eighth Route Army with weapons and equipment, clothes and food.
In March 1941, he came to power in Henan. Zhengzhou fell on October 4. Wei Lihuang believed that Zhengzhou was an important territory in North China, and if Zhengzhou fell, then the entire North China region would suffer bad luck. Therefore, Wei Lihuang immediately held a military conference, and he personally rushed to the front line, and after a night of hard resistance, Zhengzhou was lost and regained. And this battle was one of the twelve battles of the War of Resistance. When Wei Lihuang returned to Luoyang by special car, he heard the loud applause of the people of Luoyang, and people also specially prepared the slogan of "Warmly welcoming the triumphant return of Chief Wei Lihuang" and sang the song "Chief Wei Lihuang, good command":
The Zhongtiao Mountain was high and tall, and under the command of Commander Wei Lihuang, the plane could not move, and the cannon could not be knocked down. The fortress of activity is powerful, we are firmly guarded and firm, and the devils have nowhere to escape, nowhere to escape!
From this, we can see Wei Lihuang's position in the minds of the people, and he can be described as a good general who is truly worthy of the people. During his reign in Henan, he was not only a good general in the hearts of the people, but also a leader who actively cooperated with the Communist Party and had close exchanges. It was precisely because of his close dealings with Communist Party leaders during his reign that he was often accused. He said: "Support the Communist Party and have different intentions toward the Party-State", and sued Chiang Kai-shek. At that time, dai Kasa, the head of the secret service, also flew to Luoyang and began to collect "materials" that Wei Lihuang and the Communist Party had "close contacts." Some innocent and progressive youth were arrested on the pretext of collecting materials. The reason why Wei Lihuang was accused one after another was only that some people were worried about his position as chairman of Henan Province, so they repeatedly accused Wei Lihuang. In the face of the invasion of the motherland by foreign countries, these so-called soldiers are not thinking about how to fight against foreign thieves, but are deliberately considering their own interests. It is no wonder that the Kuomintang ended in defeat, and how could it achieve victory under the leadership of such a group of "anti-Japanese generals"?
Wei Lihuang was on the anti-Japanese front
In 1944, he went on another expedition. Under his leadership, the troops defeated the Japanese army in western Yunnan and China and Burma, recaptured our southwestern artery, and successfully completed the mission of opening up the Sino-Indian Highway. Do not underestimate their battle, without this battle, the external materials can not be transported in. The battle also greatly demoralized the Morale of the Japanese Army and provided preconditions for the subsequent victory of the War of Resistance. We thought that the victory in this war would allow Wei Lihuang to be appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek, but the result surprised us. Instead of gaining Chiang Kai-shek's trust in his promotion, Wei Lihuang was reprimanded by Chiang Kai-shek when he saw him, reprimanding him for commanding without military orders. Chiang Kai-shek still wanted to remove him from his post, but Wei Lihuang was unwilling to be removed in his heart, not because he was reluctant to accept this so-called high-ranking official Houlu, but because if he was removed, he would not be able to go to the front to resist. In this kind of questioning and reprimanding, Wei Lihuang did not defend himself, but was concerned about the war, afraid that he would not be able to go into battle and kill the enemy. How can such a person not be respected?
After this, during the Liberation War, he was again dispatched to Shenyang to start the "suppression of bandits" operation, at this time Wei Lihuang was unwilling in his heart, so he did not move in Shenyang, and concentrated all his troops in Shenyang. In the end, of course, this battle ended in failure, and in order to find a scapegoat for the failure of this battle, Wei Lihuang was dismissed from his post and investigated. After that, the Kuomintang was completely defeated, they fled to Taiwan, wei Lihuang also got the news of the founding of new China in Taiwan, Wei Lihuang was very happy after hearing the news, and sent a congratulatory telegram to the mainland to express congratulations. Wei Lihuang was very happy about the founding of New China, he entered the military camp from the age of fifteen when he was a teenager, to now he is fifty-two years old, and he can be regarded as a person over half a hundred years old, in his life of more than fifty years, since he entered the army at the age of fifteen to the present, almost all his life has been spent in the army, he should hope for the end of the war more than anyone in the Kuomintang, see that there is no more war in the country.
When we look back at Wei Lihuang's life, he never flinched during each war of resistance and always struggled to resist, even though many people in the Kuomintang accused him of betraying the Kuomintang. Chiang Kai-shek also did not trust him, and often gave him the position of bright ascension and dark surrender, and only when there was no one available and the situation was very dangerous, would he think of Wei Lihuang and dispatch him to the front. But he never gave up the War of Resistance because of this, because his heart never put personal interests first, his heart was filled with the country and the world, and he did not want his country and nation to fall into the hands of the enemy. When the Japanese generals who fought against him talked about Wei Lihuang, their hearts would be afraid of three points, and they even called him "The Tiger General of China"; in the "Dictionary of Chinese Names" published by the United States, he was even called "General Changsheng". It can be seen that he was one of the few anti-Japanese generals in the Kuomintang at that time, which is why he could be personally received by Chairman Mao after the founding of New China, and even more so, he was made vice chairman of the National Defense Commission. Because he is a Chinese with a national spirit, even if he was a general of the Kuomintang, he can still be promoted to vice chairman.
After he returned to the mainland, he also said that he was no longer the Wei Lihuang he was then.
Chairman Mao feasted on Wei Lihuang
Let's get to know his sons and grandsons, who are living happily and freely under the protection of New China and have made outstanding contributions to our country. I believe that the reason why Wei Lihuang's descendants love their country so much is that Wei Lihuang's influence on his children, leading by example, and teaching by example. If Wei Lihuang had no national righteousness in his heart, I don't think his descendants would have had such deep patriotic feelings.
We were born in this country without war, famine, and disaster, and we are also grateful to our predecessors, if it were not for their own bodies, desperately blocking in front of us, we would not talk about the happy life we have now, let alone our ideal future. Although we will not experience the same wars and oppression as before, we must always remember the history of that time, so as to encourage us to cherish the happy life now, always keep in mind the motherland, and forge ahead.