In December 1949, the Kuomintang army collapsed under the powerful offensive of the People's Liberation Army "autumn wind sweeping away the leaves".
More than 30,000 Kuomintang troops remaining in Guangxi, Yunnan and other places flowed into the Vietnamese region, which was still a French colony at that time.
And stayed here for about 3 and a half years. The New China side lodged a solemn protest against the French side's blatant admission of Kuomintang troops and sent the People's Liberation Army to demonstrate at the border; but for Huang Jie, the commander of the remnants of the Kuomintang, it was a memory that will never be forgotten.
Figure: Schematic diagram of the Battle of the River Crossing
The Kuomintang army was defeated, and Huang Jie quickly ordered: "Enter Vietnam by false roads."
After the Launch of the People's Liberation Army Battle of the River Crossing in 1949, although the Kuomintang army claimed to have more than 2 million people, it was scattered, at this time Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren were still in the midst of intrigue, and most of the generals under the Kuomintang also had different aspirations, failed to form an effective defense system, and collapsed at once. Although the Kuomintang soldiers were defeated like mountains, there were still some "lone ministers" within the Kuomintang who were not willing to fail, and still carried out Shangfeng's instructions with sincere trepidation, and Huang Jie was the best of them.
In the list of Generals of the Kuomintang, Huang Jie does not sound as famous as Li Zongren, Chen Cheng, and others, and this is indeed the case. In the War of Resistance Against Japan, although Huang Jie participated in important battles such as the Great Wall War of Resistance and the Battle of Songhu, and also led the Chinese Expeditionary Force into Burma to meet with the British and American allies.
But in the Kuomintang camp at that time, Huang Jie was not a heavyweight.
He had neither any clever political skills nor dazzling talents, and in the group photos of various senior officers of the Kuomintang army, Huang Jie was always placed in an inconspicuous position.
Pictured: Huang Jie and the U.S. Army in northern Burma in 1944
However, precisely because he had no faction and was loyal, in the case of Chiang Kai-shek's defeat, he became one of Chiang Kai-shek's most trusted late generals.
In July 1949, after Chen Mingren and Cheng Mingren's Hunan electricity uprising, Huang Jie was promoted to the position of chairman of Hunan Province and commander of the First Corps.
This was seen as "a difficult task" for Huang Jie, who was not very senior, but in the case of the annihilation of a large number of elites of Chiang Kai-shek's army, Huang Jie became one of the few candidates that Chiang Kai-shek could value.
Pictured: The 1944 Sino-American Meeting Division, the second from the left is Huang Jie
Under the circumstances at that time, it was difficult for Huang Hua not to feel trepidation in the face of such an appointment. Chiang Kai-shek knew that the defeat had been decided and had shifted the strategic center of gravity to Taiwan; the Kuomintang troops remaining on the mainland basically did not have too strong combat capabilities, and Chiang Kai-shek's expectations of Huang Jie were not high; rather than letting him lead the army to "counterattack," it was better to hope that he would be able to take the remnants of the Kuomintang out of the mainland and transfer them to the Taiwan region.
But to move troops, it is easier said than done. Senior Kuomintang officials had long since fled to Taiwan by plane, but officers of rank like Huang Jie, who were directly responsible for leading troops to fight, could only lead the remnants of the army in jeeps through the lofty mountains of the southwest region.
Beginning in August, Bai Chongxi's first, third, tenth, eleventh, and seventeenth corps, a total of 300,000 people, began to cross the river and began to sail south.
During the evacuation, there were two different opinions on the retreat within the senior Kuomintang generals.
Photo: Li Zongren, Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi group photo
Among them, Huang Jie and Li Pinxian advocated entering Yunnan and Guangxi to continue to resist, while the other three corps commanders advocated direct retreat to Hainan Island. According to the habit of the minority obeying the majority, Huang Jie's suggestion was finally not adopted, which also reflected that most of Bai Chongxi's men at that time still advocated fleeing to Hainan Island as soon as possible, and then retreating to Taiwan.
Even so, at this time, the people's liberation army's rapid movement did not allow them to hesitate for half a minute.
In the autumn and winter of 1949, the Fourth And Second Field Army had already swept across the coast of Guangdong ahead of them, cutting off their retreat to Hainan Island.
Before Bai Chongxi's other major corps had reached Qinzhou, they suffered devastating blows one after another, and finally only the First Corps led by Huang Jie remained. Surrounded by the eastern, southern, and northern aspects of the People's Liberation Army, Huang Jie could only march west alone, hoping to get support and help in Guangxi and Yunnan.
Pictured: Lu Hanrong dressed up photo
On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao had already announced the founding of New China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and such news reached the hearts of "defeated generals of the former dynasty" like Huang Jie. Originally, Huang Jie's plan was to enter Yunnan with the remnants of the Kuomintang army, but before he could enter, Lu Han, the chairman of Yunnan Province, telegraphed an uprising and detained a large number of senior Kuomintang officers.
At this critical juncture, Huang Jie hurriedly took two telegrams and sent them to Bai Chongxi and Chen Cheng, asking them to give instructions separately. Soon, Bai Chongxi called back and said: "In order to adapt to the current situation, your department should preserve its strength, break it into pieces, and choose the appropriate areas for each of them, with safety as the first priority." And Chen Cheng clearly instructed: "If brother (Huang Jie) goes out of the North Sea Defense City, it will be difficult to achieve his goal.
It is better to go all out to the west and go straight into Annam (Vietnam),
Keep a foothold, and then the camera acts..."
Photo: Chen Cheng
Considering the two instructions, Huang Jie immediately convened a meeting to discuss, and everyone unanimously decided
"False road into Vietnam, tossing and turning back to Taiwan"
So Huang Jie quickly wrote a letter to senior French officials in Vietnam to discuss the matter of "borrowing the road". On December 12, the two sides signed the relevant agreement. According to the requirements of the treaty, the remnants of the French side unified Huang Jie's troops passed through the Sino-Vietnamese border and all weapons were disarmed and sealed at the designated places, while the Kuomintang side had to ensure that the army was disciplined, that Qiu did not commit any crimes, and that it had to enter Vietnam according to the route specified by the French side.
But just when Huang Jie ordered the remnants of the Kuomintang to assemble on the Vietnamese border,
Chinese the People's Liberation Army had quickly followed, and quickly surrounded and annihilated the 63rd Division of the Nationalist 14th Army, and captured Guo Wencan, deputy commander of the 97th Army.
At this critical juncture of life and death, Huang Jie hurriedly ordered the 10th Division of the 14th Army to take cover, and on the morning of the 13th, he ordered the entry into Vietnam from Aidian.
Aidian and Zhimatun are two small hills on the border between China and Vietnam, no more than 500 meters apart from each other, and there is a natural canyon in it, which is the dividing line between China and Vietnam. At 9:00 a.m. on December 13, Huang Jie led his officers and soldiers to walk through The Love Shop, and at this time his heart was undoubtedly painful, and later, he wrote in his diary:
Pictured: Remnants of the Kuomintang crossing the Sino-Vietnamese border rest on the side of the road
"As a soldier, now that he has lost in a difficult struggle, what reason do you have to shirk your responsibility?" At this time, there is countless confusion and pain in my heart, because I am about to leave the last land of the continent. Soon after, when I turned around and looked back at the grass and trees in the love shop, I firmly said to the people around me: 'We must fight back!' ’”
Of course, Huang Jie's oath has not been fulfilled in the future, just as in the changes of China's dynasties, those who claim to fight back the relics of the former dynasty can only drift away in the light of the new dynasty, and the so-called "fight back" oath has also become a distant and passing vicissitudes with the passage of time.
When 30,000 Kuomintang troops entered Vietnam, Zhou Enlai shouted to France: All responsibilities are borne by the French side
With regard to the unauthorized decision of the French authorities to allow the remnants of the Kuomintang into the country,
After the founding of New China, Premier Zhou Enlai issued solemn statements on many occasions, expressing strong condemnation of the erroneous acts committed by the French authorities, and at the same time pointing out that the serious consequences caused by this act were all borne by the French authorities.
Pictured: Zhou Enlai is delivering an important speech at a State Council meeting
Before that, it is first necessary to understand the Sino-French relations in modern times. In 1860, the burning of the Yuanmingyuan by the Anglo-French coalition army has become a typical example of the poverty and weakness of modern old China, but in fact, the overall strength of France is still difficult to compete with Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries, and the French invaders at that time had more of an impression of those exquisite small Western-style buildings in the Shanghai Concession than the cannons of the ships.
After the outbreak of The Second World War, Nazi Germany destroyed France with lightning speed, and took over the French colonies in Southeast Asia, so at that time France naturally did not have any special status in China, and the French government-in-exile also became the support object of the other four later permanent members (the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China), so we can see that there was no French presence in the later Yalta Conference, Potsdam Conference and other important conferences.
Photo: Potsdam Conference
After the end of World War II, China, as the victorious power, abrogated the Treaty of Xinugu and all the unequal treaties imposed on China by the great powers in modern times, and at this time northern Vietnam became a surrender area for the Japanese army of the Chinese army. At that time, the Nationalist army was mostly concentrated in the southwest, and they collected the weapons captured after the surrender of the Japanese army and gave some of them to the Vietnamese forces led by Ho Chi Minh to organize the french army to make a comeback.
From the mentality of the time, the Kuomintang army did not take the French authorities seriously, but 4 years later, the remnants of the Kuomintang led by Huang Jie were forced to send people to the fence, which is undoubtedly a great irony.
It is precisely for the above reasons that the French side has maintained a cautious attitude toward the new China's statement; judging from the situation at that time, the Kuomintang government has completely collapsed, and the attitude of the big brother, the United States, is also very ambiguous, and at this time, blatantly opposing the new Chinese People's Liberation Army is undoubtedly not a wise choice.
Pictured: A house prepared by the French authorities for senior officers in 1951
Therefore, the French side demanded that all Kuomintang soldiers entering vietnam surrender their weapons.
Soon after Huang Jie entered Vietnamese territory, the French side sent a special plane to take him back to Hanoi and put him under house arrest in a Western-style building, while his Kuomintang soldiers were arranged by the French side in a small space in the two major areas of Meng Duong and Laim Fa. Obviously, the French side's act of placing Kuomintang officers and men under house arrest was a move to show goodwill to New China.
Under house arrest on desert islands, officers and men of the Nationalist army were forced to "rely on themselves"
In March 1950, the French authorities transferred Huang Jie and about 33,000 officers and soldiers under him to Phu Quoc Island and Cam Ranh Bay, and later at Huang Jie's strong request, all Kuomintang officers and soldiers came to Phu Quoc Island.
Located southwest of Saigon, the island covers an area of about 600 square kilometers and was once a strategic supply base for the Japanese army during World War II, but after Japan surrendered, it became deserted.
Pictured: Children of Kuomintang army families playing on Phu Quoc Island in 1951
Although the relocation to Phu Quoc Island was a measure of the French authorities to "monitor" them, it was also a blessing to have such an island to have a foothold. On this hot island, they worked hard to reclaim land and build houses, objectively promoting the development of local economic construction.
During their stay in Vietnam, the French authorities once wanted to force the Kuomintang officers and soldiers to do coolies, but later they were afraid that the Chinese were more united, so they did not dare to use powerful means. In order to adapt to the local environment and create revenue, Huang Jie has allowed more than 2,000 people to go out to work in Vietnam's coal mines and Cambodia's rubber factories to alleviate economic pressure.
On the other hand, in order to ensure the living security of these 30,000 people, after the initial settlement, Huang Jie hurriedly sent commissioners to Taiwan to report the situation to Chiang Kai-shek, and on April 13, 1950, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to comfort the stranded officers and soldiers, and allocated 20,000 US dollars. On the eve of the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Chiang Kai-shek sent his own "adviser on national policy" Lin Wei to Phu Quoc Island to comfort local officers and men. Since then, the lives of the officers and men of Phu Quoc Island have finally improved somewhat, not only can they receive free books, food and clothing, but also a small allowance for petty use every month.
Pictured: Scenes of the lives of the families of the remnants of the Kuomintang on Phu Quoc Island in early 1953
In December 1950, Huang Jie was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as the "Commander of the General Administration and Training Office of the Nationalist Army in Vietnam", responsible for the management and training of the Kuomintang army on the island. In the daily so-called "rotation training", Huang Jie can only use wooden tanks and guns for military training. In order to win the hearts and minds of the people, he also opened various language training classes in the local area to train the children of military dependents, and the local overseas Chinese children can also enroll for free.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States consulted with the French side on many occasions on the handling of these Kuomintang troops, and the United States proposed that the Kuomintang troops be armed to participate in the battle between the French authorities and the Viet Minh.
However, the French authorities feared that this would lead to retaliation by the New People's Liberation Army, so they simply and neatly refused.
However, the French authorities did not send these Kuomintang officers and soldiers back to Taiwan or to the mainland, and they hoped that these tens of thousands of people would be used as chips in exchange for French diplomatic interests. However, as they stayed on Phu Quoc Island for longer and longer, the idea that the vast number of Kuomintang officers and soldiers, including Huang Jie, wanted to leave the area grew day by day.
After much trouble, he finally withdrew from Vietnam
Pictured: Tassini answers questions from reporters in Hanoi in July 1951
In fact, as early as October 1950, when Chiang Kai-shek sent Lin Wei to Phu Quoc Island for "condolences", he had gone to Saigon to negotiate with the senior professionals of the French colonial authorities in India about the "retreat", but because he did not grasp the essentials, he finally failed. In 1951, the French authorities suffered a crushing defeat in northern Vietnam, and the French sent the famous Lieutenant General Tassini to take over as the commander-in-chief of the French army and the high commissioner for the Indochina region, and Tassini said that the transportation request made by Taiwan was not considered. In order to evacuate Huang Jie's troops from Vietnam as soon as possible, Chiang Kai-shek instructed the relevant organs to set up a special so-called "special case group" to make secret representations with the French authorities on many occasions, proposing to "speed up the settlement."
In protest against the French authorities' house arrest policy, on December 25, 1951, Huang Jie planned a large-scale "hunger strike" on Phu Quoc Island.
On the same day, tens of thousands of Kuomintang officers and soldiers gathered together at the Yangdong airport on Phu Quoc Island, lined up the cauldrons in their hands, and all of them were placed in the sky, and the French army on Phu Quoc Island had long been prepared to lock all their arms in the armory to avoid armed conflict. Later, French warships sent from Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay swam around Phu Quoc Island, and planes carried out low-altitude intimidation in the air.
Pictured: Huang Jie (front row center) returns to Kaohsiung in 1953
This "hunger strike" attracted the attention of the international authorities, and the United States continued to exert pressure on the French authorities after learning about it. After Tassini's death in 1952, Ridonor took over as commander-in-chief of the French army, Lin Wei went to Vietnam again to negotiate, and the French authorities finally made a reply that "in principle agreed to the withdrawal of the Kuomintang troops".
In October 1952, under the secret arrangement of the French side, Huang Jie first flew to Taiwan to report to Chiang Kai-shek, and was mainly responsible for the specific work of the transfer plan.
A month later, he returned to Vietnam, and the clouds that had accumulated on his face for 3 years finally cleared, and he finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish to bring the officers and soldiers here to Taiwan.
In the months that followed, Taiwan began to send large numbers of personnel to Phu Quoc Island to bring a large number of brand-new military uniforms to the soldiers and civilians on the island, and it was clear that huang jie and Chiang Kai-shek hoped that they would maintain a dignified and solemn appearance when they retreated, rather than looking tattered and like refugees.
Pictured: After the return of Nationalist soldiers from Vietnam to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1953, a celebration ceremony was held
On May 23, 1953, the first warships to be picked up arrived at Phu Quoc Island, and Huang Jie described it in his later notes:
"In the early morning, the fog on the surface of the sea was confused, and nothing could be seen, and my heart began to flood with endless joy with the morning sun. Gradually, the rising sun rose from the sea, and suddenly, a shout came from my side: 'The ship is coming!' Suddenly, the crowd on the beach was like ants, crowding toward the southeast. At this time, three landing craft were facing the rising sun towardS Phu Quoc Island..."
According to the prior plan, the Kuomintang officers and soldiers stranded on Phu Quoc Island were evacuated in seven batches, while more than 1,500 people voluntarily remained in Vietnam.
Pictured: Huang Jie and Jiang Jingguo
Huang Jie, who completed this heavy task, was entrusted with a heavy responsibility after returning to Taiwan, and for Chiang Kai-shek, he just needed this kind of follower who could follow him with a dead heart. Returned to Taiwan only two months,
He was promoted by Chiang Kai-shek to commander of the Taipei Garrison, and later to commander-in-chief of the army, and can be said to be Chiang Kai-shek's number one "gatekeeper" in Taiwan.
He also had close personal relations with Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-kuo. Although Huang Jie's official fortunes have been prosperous since then, in fact, in the eyes of the general Taiwanese people, Huang Jie's first impression of the people is not that he is a "political thug", in fact, he is just an honest person who obeys orders.
Pictured: A precious photograph given to Huang Jie by Shi Ming
In February 1964, Shi Ming, a general who had previously served in the First Corps, gave a treasured photograph of entering Vietnam to Huang Jie, who was then the "chairman of Taiwan Province", and next to this photo, there was an inscription like this:
"On the morning of December 13, 1949, the 38th year of the Republic of China, Dagong (Huang Jie's character) led tens of thousands of troops and other people from Aidian into Vietnam."
Gazing at this photo, Huang Jie seemed to suddenly remember this past 16 years ago, but in fact it was just a small episode at the end of the civil war. At this time, New China had already stepped over major events such as the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and socialist transformation, and was forging ahead in the midst of the terrifying waves, while Huang Jie's past deeds were just trivial matters, and no one would pay special attention to and reminisce about them.