In his later years, Sun Liren
In 1990, when the 90-year-old Sun Liren saw a photo, he couldn't help but cry and cried:
"I am tired of them, why should I summon them to Taiwan?" I actually listened to Chiang Kai-shek's promise!"
In this photo is an old man paralyzed in bed, with two sideburns, described as withered, no longer the heroic posture of Sun Liren's impression of that year.
Who is this person?
What is the relationship with Sun Liren?
And why did Sun Liren feel so guilty?
It turned out that the old man was named Li Hong, born in 1903 in Xiangyin, Hunan Province, and was a student of the fifth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.
On the anti-Japanese battlefield, in the two battles of defending Burma in 1942 and counterattacking Burma in 1943, Li Hong fought bravely and well, severely damaged the Japanese Kou, and made many meritorious achievements, and was called "Montgomery of the East" by General Stilwell of the United States.
Li Hong
However, such an anti-Japanese brave general had a lamentable old age, all of which originated from the Battle of Changchun in the Liberation War.
Trapped in Changchun, he chose to surrender to the isolated city.
In March 1948, under the siege of the People's Liberation Army, Changchun had become an isolated city, severed from contact with the outside world.
At this time, the Kuomintang army defending the city in Changchun, mainly the New Seventh Army and the Sixtieth Army, with about 100,000 people, belonged to the First Corps of Zheng Dongguo.
Among them, the commander of the New Seventh Army was named Li Hong, who was originally the commander of the New Thirty-eighth Division of Sun Liren's New First Army.
After Chen Cheng broke up the New First Army in the northeast, the newly organized Thirty-eighth Division plus two newly formed divisions formed the New Seventh Army.
As the most powerful unit in the Changchun garrison, Li Hong also served as the commander of the Changchun garrison.
Kuomintang Changchun
Chiang Kai-shek issued an eight-character policy to the Changchun defenders: "Stick to the reinforcements and attack with the camera." ”
Chiang Kai-shek's idea seemed to make some sense, but he didn't want Li Hong to guard Changchun and was trapped for more than half a year.
The weather in the northeast was not yet in October, when heavy snow fell, the city of Changchun at that time was a depression, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians had already eaten everything they could eat, the soldiers were hungry and dying, walking from side to side, even if there was combat strength to speak of.
By October 15, the People's Liberation Army had conquered Jinzhou, annihilating 150,000 Nationalist defenders, and the Nationalist army's retreat route in the northeast was completely cut off.
At this time, the Changchun defenders were already floating in the hearts of the people, and the idea of fighting or descending rose and fell.
At noon the next day, after circling twice over Changchun, a fighter plane dropped two red cloth bags containing Chiang Kai-shek's handwritten instructions:
"Even if the Changchun garrison is ordered to retreat to Qingyuan, the 207th Division of the Youth Army has been sent to greet them at Qingyuan, and if it misses the opportunity again, it will be punished according to military law!"
Chiang Kai-shek personally flew to Shenyang to wait for two days, but when he got the news of Zeng Zesheng's uprising of the Sixtieth Army, Chiang Kai-shek, enraged, sent bombers to drop bombs in Changchun to force the New Seventh Army to break through as soon as possible.
However, the New Seventh Army, together with other garrison troops, sent representatives to negotiate the corresponding conditions with the People's Liberation Army.
"As long as you lay down your arms, you will be sure to ensure the safety of your lives and property, and leave you free choice!"
At this point, the Kuomintang Changchun defenders all surrendered!
The People's Liberation Army invaded Changchun
The intention to go back to the hometown, the unexpected visitor ripples!
Li Hong contracted typhoid fever while trapped in Changchun, and the People's Liberation Army sent several cars to take Zheng Dongguo, Li Hong, and others to Harbin.
Li Hong lives in a Russian-style building, the environment is very quiet, accompanied by his wife, and the entry and exit are free.
Xiao Jinguang and Xiao Hua visited Li Hong many times and were concerned about his future way out, but Li Hong did not forget his old master and refused to join the People's Liberation Army.
"I wish to return to my hometown, never meet with the Kuomintang army, and be a civilian."
At the end of January 1949. Li Hong returned to Changsha, Hunan Province, to reunite with his relatives.
At this time, Changsha had not yet been liberated, and the defender of the city was General Chen Mingren. In the northeast that year, Chen Mingren led the Seventy-first Army to defend Siping, and fought side by side with the New Thirty-eighth Division of the New First Army led by Li Hong.
Chen Mingren had invited Li Hong to assist in the defense of Changsha, but Li Hong refused:
"The generals of the defeated army are not ready to be appointed, and besides, I have an appointment with the Chinese communist side first, and in the future I will neither be an enemy of the nationalist army nor a communist army!"
In July 1949, the People's Liberation Army had been stationed in the eastern suburbs of Changsha, and Li Hong returned to his hometown of Li Family House in Xiangyin County. If he has been in his hometown for the rest of his life, Li Hong's life may have another chance.
But two uninvited guests from Taiwan made Li Hong's heart come alive again.
The two men brought a handwritten letter from Sun Liren, then Taiwan's "commander-in-chief of the army."
Sun Li and Li Hong
For Li Hong, Sun Liren can be described as the grace of knowledge, and when Li Hong was still a company commander, he was under Sun Liren's subordinates.
In the spring of 1942, Sun Liren led the New Thirty-eighth Division on an expedition to Burma, and Li Hong served as the commander of the 114th Regiment of the Division. Li Hong was very brave in fighting the Japanese, and he would make meritorious contributions in every battle and become a beloved general of Sun Liren.
In 1943, Sun Liren was promoted to the commander of the First Army, and Li Hong was directly promoted from regimental commander to commander of the New Thirty-eighth Division, directly skipping the post of chief of staff or deputy division commander, which shows Sun Liren's love for Li Hong.
When Li Hong was trapped in Changchun, Sun Liren even asked Chiang Kai-shek to take him to Changchun by plane to personally lead Li Hong's troops to break through, but Chiang Kai-shek refused this request.
When Sun Liren went to Taiwan and served as the so-called "commander-in-chief of the army," he learned that Li Hong had returned to his hometown in Hunan, so he sent someone to invite Li Hong to Taiwan.
Go and stay in the dilemma, lest you be liquidated.
Sun Liren's handwritten letter is only a few words:
"The liren has already presented himself to President Chiang Kai-shek, and the president has made it clear that he will contact him to come to Taiwan to make it difficult for him to go to Taiwan."
Middle-aged Sun Liren
Although the letter is short, the person who wrote it also took great risks.
In the face of Sun Liren's request, Chiang Kai-shek was skeptical in his heart:
"Li Hong and the others lost Changchun, and they were in the communist army for many days, poisoned by it, and Commander Sun interceded for them, are they not afraid of being implicated?"
Sun Liren replied:
"Li Ren knows very well About Li Hong and other subordinates, and is willing to vouch for their loyalty to the party-state with their lives!"
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek still had to rely on Sun Liren to help him defend Taiwan, and when he heard that Sun Liren's tone was so strong, Chiang Kai-shek changed his tone:
"Just a joke, they are all my students, how can I not believe in the Whampoa soldiers?" If they want to come to Taiwan, they can still serve in the military. ”
So Sun Liren repaired a letter and sent someone to give it to Li Hong. After reading the letter, Li Hong's heart suddenly became chaotic.
"Do you want to go to Taiwan or stay on the mainland?"
Li Hong's heart was wavering, and of course there was a great future for him to go to Taiwan to join Sun Liren, but Li Hong had a little worry in his heart, that is, if he lost Changchun, would Chiang Kai-shek settle accounts with him after the autumn?
When Li Hong separated from Zheng Dongguo in Harbin, Zheng Dongguo once said:
"Jiang Gong is a man, narrow-minded and suspicious. Although you did not participate in the Changchun surrender due to illness, I am afraid that you will not be understood and forgiven. ”
At this time, Li Hong was also wavering, until when the whole territory of Hunan was liberated, Sun Liren's words of "guaranteeing the life of his family" made Li Hong make up his mind, and he took his wife Ma Zhenyi to Taiwan.
Kuomintang officers and soldiers who fled Hong Kong
On the way to Taiwan, Li Hong stayed in Hong Kong for more than three months and had the opportunity to choose his life again.
At that time, some Kuomintang generals chose to stay in Hong Kong and did not want to go to Taiwan to join Chiang Kai-shek. Wei Lihuang, who had been the commander-in-chief of the Northeast "Suppression Command," also fled to Hong Kong at this time, and after hearing that Li Hong was going to Taiwan, he dissuaded him:
"Taiwan can't go!" Chiang Kai-shek also advised me to go to Taiwan, but I refused, and it was enough to have a Zhang Xueliang in Taiwan! ”
I have to say that Wei Lihuang's words are quite sincere and contain a certain truth. However, Li Hong heard a rumor at this time that the Americans intended to support Sun Liren to replace Chiang Kai-shek, and although Sun Liren refused, Chiang Kai-shek was angry in his heart.
"This rumor is a terrible omen for Commander Sun!"
Li Hong decided to go to Taiwan, one to advance and retreat with Sun Liren, and the other to see if there was an opportunity to persuade Sun Liren to retreat bravely in order to avoid disaster.
Insisting on going to Taiwan, he was in distress and spent the second half of his life in prison.
In May 1950, a Hong Kong and Taiwan flight landed at Taipei Taoyuan Airport.
Taiwan airports
As soon as Li Hong and his wife got out of the cabin, Sun Liren greeted them, and the two hugged each other tightly, each tearfully asking each other about the situation after saying goodbye.
The next day, Sun Liren took Li Hong and asked to see Chiang Kai-shek.
"The student is guilty, Changchun is lost, please ask the principal to punish the crime!"
Li Hong pleaded with Chiang Kai-shek.
“
Forget it, forget it, the past things don't need to be mentioned again, you lost Changchun, but I lost the mainland.
”
Chiang Kai-shek looked into the distance and only whispered.
As for how Li Hong arranged it, Sun Liren had already done some work with Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek gave him two choices: one was the commander who led the troops, and the other was the principal of the military academy.
"You think about it, see which is appropriate, and give a reply after three days."
Li Hong left in a good mood, still thanking the principal for his magnanimity, but he did not want to be arrested and imprisoned without waiting for him to think about it.
Along with Li Hong, there were more than a dozen general-level officers of the former New Thirty-eighth Division, and the arrival of these people, coupled with Sun Liren's original subordinates in Taiwan, how could Chiang Kai-shek sleep peacefully.
Li Hong and others, as subordinates of Sun Liren, were all able to recruit good warriors, and how could Chiang Kai-shek tolerate these people interspersed with the military.
Li Hong became a scapegoat for the power struggle between the Kuomintang's top brass who fled to Taiwan, and although he never went through a formal interrogation, he was imprisoned.
Chiang Kai-shek
In May 1971, Li Hong was sentenced to life imprisonment for handing over the army to the communist army and for orchestrating Sun Liren's rebellion.
After Chiang Kai-shek's death in April 1975, Li Hong was commuted to 15 years in prison, while he was released after 25 years in prison.
Li Honggang was 47 years old when he was in prison, just in his prime, and when he was released from prison, he was past the age of ancient rarity, with two sideburns, described as withered, and soon after a stroke and paralyzed in bed.
On August 15, 1988, the 86-year-old Li Hong died in Pingtung City, Tainan, Taiwan, and as he died, he was still repeating:
I am innocent and should not do this to me
”。
Sun Li and Li Hong were on the battlefield in Burma
After Li Hong's death, according to his last wishes, his ashes were escorted to Hong Kong by his wife Ma Zhenyi, and then welcomed back to Changsha by the eldest son Dingyi and the second son Dingguo on the mainland, and buried in the southern suburbs of Changsha on the shore of xiangshui.
Starting from Changsha and being buried in Changsha, After a lifetime of floating and sinking, Li Hong can also be regarded as a fallen leaf returning to the roots.
Fate is so confusing, the world is more lamented.
It can be said that:
The commander-in-chief has the right to lose the mainland and can be reinstated;
The general was powerless to protect the isolated city, and of course he was imprisoned.