Please click "Follow" above before reading, thank you for your support, I hope to bring you a good reading experience, and share the joy of reading with you!
Mao Zedong commented on Zhang Kexia's pre-war uprising: "It had a great impact on the Huaihai Campaign, caused great chaos in the enemy's deployment, and was extremely conducive to the development of the revolutionary war. Su Yu also said: "If my troops in the south are delayed in Jiawang for 4 hours, Huang Baitao may retreat to Xuzhou, then the battle situation will be different." ”
Zhang Kexia, a kuomintang lieutenant general, a famous anti-Japanese general, and deputy commander of the Third Appeasement District, held important military positions in the Kuomintang army for a long time.
However, he was a "special party member" personally contacted by Zhou Enlai, a red agent of the CCP.
Before the Battle of Huaihai, he led more than 23,000 people to revolt, opening the defensive line northeast of Xuzhou and greatly promoting the victory of the first phase of the campaign.
Zhang Kexia, born in 1900 in Xianxian County, Hebei Province, grew up with his father who was a soldier wandering around, the misfortune of the country and the hardships of life, so that he had the idea of aspiring to serve the country.
Zhang Kexia
In 1915, Zhang Kexia, who was about to graduate from middle school, coincided with yuan shikai's signing of the traitorous "Twenty-One Articles" with Japan, and he hated the corruption and incompetence of the Chinese government and the army very much, so he was admitted to the Qinghe Army Officers' Preparatory School in Beijing, threw himself into the army, and began a military career of more than 30 years.
In 1918, his mother set him a family affair, the woman's name is Li Depu, born in poverty, although it is an arranged marriage, but the two have similar interests, full of expectations for the future of the revolution, and finally respect and love each other, and married before the end of the year.
In 1922, Zhang Kexia graduated from the Baoding Military Academy with excellent military and conduct, and joined the troops of Feng Yuxiang, who was strictly disciplined and most famous during the warlord period.
At that time, due to the difficulty of life, after half a year in the army, Zhang Kexia unfortunately suffered from tuberculosis, vomited blood continuously, and had to leave the army to go home to recuperate, and almost died. Thanks to his wife, who had been a nurse, she did not abandon and took care of her day and night, and she escaped from the hands of death.
In 1924, Li Dequan, the sister of his wife Li Depu, married General Feng Yuxiang.
In this way, Zhang Kexia and Feng Yuxiang became brothers-in-law, creating very good conditions for him to engage in underground work in the Northwest Army for a long time in the future.
In the autumn of that year, Zhang Kexia recovered from his illness and received two messages concerning his future, one was that Feng Yuxiang invited him to return to the Northwest Army, and the other was that his classmate Li Minghao invited him to take up a post at Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Guangzhou.
Feng Yuxiang
After careful consideration, Zhang Kexia did not go to Feng Yuxiang, a company with better conditions, but crossed the northern land of the melee, evaded the heavy inspection of the warlords and military police, took a sea ship to Guangzhou, and served as a major officer in the military and political department of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's base camp.
At that time, Guangzhou, the atmosphere of the melee in the north was by no means the same, and there was a revolutionary atmosphere everywhere, especially the Communist Party he came into contact with, which gave him a very different feeling, and he knew that
The Communist Party is China's hope!
After the Northern Expedition began, Feng Yuxiang and the Northern Expeditionary Army had close ties, and Zhang Kexia went to Feng Yuxiang's department as the deputy commander of the Cadet Corps. In 1927, with the full support of his sister-in-law, he went to the Sun Yat-sen University in the Soviet Union to study, where he really understood what kind of organization the Communist Party really was.
At that time, many core members of the Communist Party, such as Zuo Quan, the later deputy chief of general staff of the Eighth Route Army, also studied here. The two are similar in age and like-minded, Zhang Kexia realizes that only communism can save China, and he also knows that
I have followed the Communist Party all my life!
During his time in the Soviet Union, he also submitted an application to the party organization. At that time, the Kuomintang carried out counter-revolutionary activities in China, and the revolutionary situation was very grim, but Zhang Kexia still firmly believed that the Communist Party was the savior.
After returning to China, Zhang Kexia repeatedly talked to his classmate Zhang Cunshi (Feng Yuxiang's close aide-de-camp and an underground member of the COMMUNIST Party of China) about his desire to join the party, and later at the Jing'an Temple in Shanghai, under several inspections by Dong Jianwu (a central special branch personnel) and others, he was finally approved by the organization and officially joined the Communist Party.
Dong Kengo
Zhang Kexia wanted to work in the Soviet Union, but Dong Jianwu told him that the Northwest Army was a force that could be united, and it just so happened that Zhang Kexia had a special relationship with Feng Yuxiang, and that propagating the Party's ideas in the Northwest Army could better serve the Party.
Due to his special status, Zhang Kexia was personally led by Comrade Zhou Enlai, which shows that the party has high hopes for him.
In 1930, Zhang Kexia returned to the Northwest Army and was appointed chief of staff of Zhang Zizhong's division, and he took the opportunity to collect Kuomintang intelligence and send it to the party organization at all times. afterward
Chen Geng, head of the Shanghai COMMUNIST Party's special branch
He also personally visited him to communicate intelligence work.
In 1931, Zhang Kexia was sent by the 29th Army to study at Nanjing Army University. In 1933, the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, which were established by the Communist Party and Feng Yuxiang, once took back the fallen Duolun and Guyuan, shaking the whole country, but due to Chiang Kai-shek's obstruction, they were finally disbanded.
In 1937, Zhang Kexia was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Twenty-ninth Army, but unfortunately, Song Zheyuan, commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, a hero of the Anti-Japanese War, compromised with the Japanese Kou, and Tong Linge, deputy commander of the Twenty-ninth Army, and Zhao Dengyu, commander of the 132nd Division, were killed in battle, Song Zheyuan ordered the abandonment of Pingjin, and Zhang Kexia repeatedly persuaded him, but Song Zheyuan refused.
Before the fall of Pingjin, Zhang Kexia informed the party organization and progressives in advance to transfer, and more than 10,000 people were spared from the japanese army. Zhang Kexia, who was trapped in Beiping City, escaped with another progressive named Li Lianshan before the Japanese army "qingdang".
What is amazing is that the two people who live and die together do not know that the other party is the Communist Party, which shows how strict the party discipline is.
Zhou Enlai
In August 1937, Feng Yuxiang was reappointed commander of the Sixth Theater of Operations. In December, Zhang Kexia moved with Feng Yuxiang to the temporary capital Wuhan with the Nanjing government. Here, Zhang Kexia met with Zhou Enlai, Dong Biwu and other high-level CPC leaders and accepted the task. In order to facilitate the work, the central government decided that Ye Jianying would lead his work, and Zhang Kexia's contacts with the party gradually increased.
In 1938, Zhang Zizhong was transferred to the commander of the Fifty-ninth Army, he personally asked Feng Yuxiang for someone, and transferred Zhang Kexia to the Fifty-ninth Army as chief of staff, the two cooperated tacitly, the whole army was not afraid of sacrifice, and fought with Japan for ten days in the west of Linyi City.
The Japanese ace Itagaki Division suffered heavy casualties, more than half of the losses, and the Qi Itagaki almost committed suicide.
This battle set a precedent in the history of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in which the Chinese miscellaneous army defeated Japan's modern army, and enhanced the confidence of the military and the people of the whole country in resisting Japan. Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed, and Promoted Zhang Zizhong to commander-in-chief of the Thirty-third Group Army.
Zhang Kexia was also promoted to chief of staff of the group army for his outstanding performance.
It is regrettable that in May 1940, during the Battle of Suizao, Zhang Kexia left the military camp to run a training school to supplement the army with officers, did not participate in the battle, and General Zhang Zizhong was trapped in the siege of the Japanese army and heroically martyred.
Insiders recalled: If Zhang Kexia was there, General Zhang Zizhong would certainly not be under siege.
Because Zhang Kexia can calmly and calmly handle military information in any critical situation, he will never allow Zhang Zizhong to go deep alone.
It's a pity that history has no ifs.
Zhang Zizhong
In 1941, when the anti-communist upsurge came again, Feng Zhi'an, the successor commander-in-chief of the Thirty-third Army, was quite suspicious of Zhang Kexia and demoted him from the chief of staff of the group army with real power to the deputy commander-in-chief of the group army.
Feng Zhi'an also appointed Chen Jiyan, the vanguard of the Kuomintang anti-communist forces, as chief of staff, and the white terror in the army was even more tragic.
Zhang Kexia tried his best to protect the Communists in the army and was ready to sacrifice at any time.
In August 1945, after Japan surrendered, Chiang Kai-shek relied on the support of the United States to launch a civil war and attack the Communists in an all-out way.
In October 1945, Chiang Kai-shek changed the 33rd Army to the Third Appeasement Zone and sent Zhang Kexia to lead the army to Xuzhou to assemble and prepare to attack the Liberated Area. During the assembly, he discussed the situation with He Jifeng (a communist), commander of the Seventy-seventh Army, and stepped up contact with the Eighth Route Army.
He also told Liu Ruming, Zhang Lanfeng, Li Xingzhong, and other former generals of the Northwest Army who met along the way: "It seems that civil war is inevitable, and our old northwest miscellaneous army is angry everywhere, and every time there is a big war, we will be sent to the forefront, and this time we must remain neutral." ”
After entering Xuzhou,
He also plotted against Hao Pengju, the former commander of the puppet army of the Sixth Route Army, which was under the jurisdiction of the Third Appeasement District.
He deliberately showed Hao Pengju Chiang Kai-shek's secret order to disband the puppet army, and frightened Hao Pengju to the point of scattering his soul.
Inspired by Chen Yi and instigated by Zhang Kexia, on January 13, 1946, Hao Pengju led more than 12,000 people to pre-war anyway, which had a great political impact.
Our army took the opportunity to attack and won a great victory in the Battle of Lunan.
Chiang Kai-shek
Hao Pengju's actions made Chiang Kai-shek very angry, and he scolded Zhang Zhi'an, the commander-in-chief of the Third Appeasement District, with a sprinkler of dog blood. Zhang Zhi'an already suspected that Zhang Kexia had a problem at this time, but the two were from the Northwest Army, and without evidence, it was not easy to turn their faces.
In June 1946, Feng Yuxiang was dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's civil war, and he did not want to be Chiang's accomplice, so he found an excuse to fly from Nanjing to the United States. Zhang Kexia took advantage of this opportunity to accompany Feng Yuxiang to Nanjing, and found an opportunity to meet Zhou Enlai, who was negotiating with Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing.
Zhou Enlai clasped Zhang Kexia's hand and said to him:
Comrade Kexia, hard work! We're meeting again! ”
He arranged for Zhang Kexia to instigate a high-ranking general and a large army uprising within the enemy army, which was a very dangerous and very important task, and Zhou Enlai told Zhang Kexia that he must pay attention to safety.
Zhang Kexia, who was already a Kuomintang lieutenant general, said: "I have united and instigated many generals in the army, and the uprising is conditional, but in order to ensure a smooth uprising, I also asked the party to send liaison personnel to me before the attack and give me armed support." ”
Zhou Enlai was very sympathetic, and after the meeting, a group of liaison officers of our party were stationed in the Thirty-third Army. Zhang Kexia also took advantage of various opportunities to preach the party's policies and instigate Meng Shaolian, deputy commander of the 59th Army, and other Kuomintang generals to do anything else.
In the late autumn of 1948, four years after the Great War between the Kuomintang and the Communists, after the end of the Liaoshen Campaign, the military strength of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China was reversed, and in order to speed up the process of liberation, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to carry out the Huaihai Campaign.
Guo Rujie and Chiang Kai-shek
At this critical moment, Gu Zhutong, chief of staff of the Kuomintang Ministry of National Defense, accompanied by Guo Rugui, director of the War Office (a red agent of our Party in the highest position at the top of the Kuomintang), came to the Xuzhou front to convey Chiang Kai-shek's orders.
Chiang Kai-shek attached great importance to Xuzhou, and in order to win over Zhang Kexia and He Jize, he specially sent Gu Zhutong to award them the "Zhongzheng Sword" and become the "Sword General" of the Kuomintang, which was a very high honor in the Kuomintang.
Gu Zhutong took Zhang Kexia and He Jize's hands and said:
"Xuzhou has been a place where soldiers must fight since ancient times, the two are the tiger generals who guard Xuzhou, and the principal has sent them to give swords, and the two should not live up to the good intentions of the president!"
However, at this time, the Kuomintang was already in a period of turmoil, Fu Zuoyi was trapped in Pingjin; Yan Xishan was besieged; Hu Zongnan was tired of coping; Bai Chongxi bluffed; and the 600,000 troops of Liu Zhi's clique, centered on Xuzhou, were being watched by the PLA and were ready to carry out an unprecedented war of annihilation, and Liu Zhi was sitting on a needle all day.
This is Chiang Kai-shek's good intention to give the sword, he wants the two tigers to give the Communist Party a stick in Xuzhou, but where does Chiang Kai-shek know,
Both of these men were excellent Communists, and they were still constantly digging holes for Chiang Kai-shek.
In October 1948, the Central Military Commission formulated the operational policy of the Huaihai Campaign, and the focus of the first phase of the campaign was to concentrate forces on annihilating Huang Botao's corps.
Huang Botao was on the Xuzhou front
On November 6, seven columns of the People's Liberation Army had surrounded the five armies of Huang Botao's corps on three sides and 120,000 people, and the westward withdrawal of Xuzhou was the only way out for Huang Botao, and how to cut off Huang Botao's retreat became the most important issue at present.
At this critical juncture, Chen Yi sent liaison personnel to the Third Appeasement Zone. Zhang Kexia and He Jize received the 27-year-old Yang Side, head of the liaison department of the 13th Column of Huaye, and in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission, quickly formulated a plan for pre-war uprising and rebellion, so as to eliminate the back road of Huang Botao's corps.
Zhang Kexia firmly said to his superiors:
"At present, the chief officers at all levels of our ministry have party organization personnel, and as long as Chairman Mao gives an order, there will be no problem with the uprising."
Yang Side asked if he could win the uprising of Commander-in-Chief Feng Zhi'an, and Zhang Kexia said after considering it: "This person has too many worries, he will not turn to us, although the military commanders are all his people, but the division and regimental officers, we have won a lot of people." ”
As the days passed, just as the campaign and uprising were about to begin, Feng Zhi'an, who was wary of Zhang Kexia, put Zhang Kexia under house arrest at the Xuzhou "Suppression General" Headquarters and forbade him to command the troops at the front line, which made Zhang Kexia anxious.
On November 6, He Jifeng, with the cooperation of Yang Side, had settled the wives and children of the rear generals and took the Fifty-ninth Army by chance, only to wait for Deputy Commander Zhang Kexia to take over.
He Jifeng and Zhang Kexia are in Xuzhou
On November 7, Meng Shaolian, deputy commander of the Fifty-ninth Army, Cui Zhenlun, commander of the 180th Division, and Yang Gansan, commander of the 38th Division, were also trapped by Feng Zhi'an in the Xuzhou "Suppression General" Headquarters, Zhang Kexia was extremely anxious, and He Jifeng on the front line had urged him many times. Taking advantage of the urgency of the war on the front line, Zhang Kexia loudly said to Feng Zhi'an:
"The warrior can only die on the battlefield, what is it here?" Let's go! ”
Meng Shaolian and the others all stood up and turned around to leave, and Feng Zhi'an had no choice but to let a few of their military commanders and division commanders leave, but still did not let Zhang Kexia go to the front. How to do this, the uprising is in front of you, Zhang Kexia is not there, many things will change, in case of a mistake, there is no redemption.
At four o'clock in the morning of the next day, Zhang Kexia woke up the driver, and together with the adjutant, secretly drove Feng Zhi'an's Austin car away and rushed outside the city.
At the gate, yin Xintian, the governor of the city, stopped Zhang Kexia and forced him to the guardhouse next to him. Here, Yin Xintian untied his short gun from his body, put it in front of Zhang Kexia, and then took out a rope and threw it to Zhang Kexia: "Without further ado, tie me up!" ”
Zhang Kexia and the adjutant were taken aback.
Yin Xintian said: "It's too late, one day, you will understand!" ”
Zhang Kexia already understood that Yin Xintian was his comrade, and even if he sacrificed himself, he would deliberately let himself go.
After several people rushed out, Chen Jiyan had already chased up with the guards, and when he left the city, he didn't even see the shadow of the car, but found Yin Xintian, who was tied up and thrown on the side of the road by the five flowers.
Feng Zhi'an
Chen Jiyan untied his rope and angrily scolded: "You are really a waste, this is a premeditated, go back to the headquarters quickly." ”
When Feng Zhi'an got the news, he sat down on a chair and said desperately:
"It's over, my 30,000 horses, all lost to his hands." There are so many Communists in the Kuomintang, how can they not be defeated!
After Zhang Kexia and He Jifeng converged, they assembled at the People's Liberation Army at 10 o'clock on November 8, and at this point, Zhang Kexia, He Jifeng, two divisions of the Fifty-ninth Army, and one division of the Seventy-seventh Army, a total of 23,000 people, revolted before the war and returned to the embrace of the people.
Not only the 30,000 horses that Feng Zhi'an said, Zhang Kexia and He Jifeng revolted and caused the gate to open in the northeast direction of Xuzhou, the People's Liberation Army directly attacked Xuzhou, quickly cut off the back road between Huang Botao's corps and Xuzhou, Huang Botao's corps was surrounded and annihilated, and the operational intention of the first stage of the Huaihai Campaign was successfully realized.
The Central Military Commission gave Zhang Kexia a high evaluation.
On New Year's Day 1949, the rebel forces were merged into the Thirty-third Army, with Zhang Kexia as the commander and later as the chief of staff of the Songhu Garrison District.
Zhou Enlai, Zhang Kexia (first from right) and others in Wuhan
On March 7, 1950, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made the Decision on the Issue of Zhang Kexia's Party Membership. The decision held that Zhang Kexia had been lurking in the Kuomintang army for more than 20 years since joining the party in 1929 and had been trying to work for the party with great results, so all his party membership should be recognized.
After the founding of New China, Zhang Kexia successively served as vice minister of the State Forestry Department, president of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, deputy to the Fourth People's Congress, and member of the Fifth Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He died on July 7, 1984, at the age of 84.
Where there are some years quiet, but someone carries the weight for us to move forward, without them, there will be no birth of new China!
With this article, I would like to express my highest respect to Zhang Kexia, He Jifeng and others who are fighting on the hidden front!