Liao Yaoxiang was the first hunan soldier after Cai Songpo (蔡锷), and he was not overly praised. To repay the favor of the country, to serve the country, not to be loyal and martyrs; to be kind and benevolent, to be honest and self-disciplined, and not to lose the gentleman's demeanor. If we only think that we will talk about the way, then wisdom, faith, courage, and strict martial virtues, none of them are not possessed, let alone one virtue to blame.
This is the evaluation of Liao Yongxiang by Mr. Jiang Baili, a famous military theorist in China's modern military history.
Among the Hunan soldiers of Jiang Baili's contemporaries, he most admired two people: one was Cai Yi and the other was Liao Yaoxiang.
Why does Mr. Jiang Baili respect these two people so much? Praise them as the first and second people of the Hunan soldiers?
Cai Yi's great name in China's modern military history can be said to be like thunder, everyone knows that no one knows, as long as he talks about the history of the Republic of China, he must be a figure that cannot be avoided, he was the governor of Sichuan and the governor of sichuan, and was the first "king of Yunnan" in the Republic of China period.
Although Cai Yi died young, he was a teenager and did two major things in his life that are enough to be famous in history:
One was the Uprising of the New Army that led in Yunnan during the Xinhai Revolution to overthrow the rule of the Qing Dynasty; the other was the Uprising of the Patriotic Army that actively organized an uprising against Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne and defended the Republic during the Patriotic Movement, making great contributions to the establishment and re-establishment of the Republic of China.
In Chinese history, Cai Yi was a well-known heroic figure with a very positive image, who was admired during his life and remembered after his death.
Mr. Jiang Baili said that Cai Yi was the first soldier in Hunan, and Mr. Jiang Baili sincerely did not deceive me. With Cai Yi's great contribution to the establishment of the Republic of China and the rebuilding of the Republic of China twice, he deserves to be called the first hunan soldier of the same era as Jiang Baili.
Speaking of Liao Yaoxiang, "the first soldier in Hunan after Cai Songpo".
Compared with Cai Yi, his popularity is far less. This famous Kuomintang general who successively served as the commander of the New Twenty-second Division of the Kuomintang, the commander of the New Sixth Army, and the commander of the Ninth Corps, to most people, feels strange and familiar, he still stands in the depths of the clouds of history, and his image is far less clear than that of Cai Yi.
But in terms of military talent alone, Liao Yaoxiang was indeed the second hunan soldier of Jiang Baili's contemporaries after Cai Yi.
He was a highly qualified student at the French Military Professional Academy, one of the four major military schools in the world at that time, and graduated from the mechanized cavalry major in 1936 with the first place. When Jiang Baili was alive, although Liao Yaoxiang's military achievements were not obvious, and his status was not the same as that of later generations, he still saw that Liao Yaoxiang had military talents that far exceeded those of his contemporaries in Hunan.
Cai Yi's greatest wish before his death was to lead his troops to compete with foreign armies, but his untimely death failed to materialize.
This unfulfilled wish was finally fulfilled for him by his fellow countryman Liao Yaoxiang.
Liao Yaoxiang spent half his life on horseback, experienced hundreds of battles, and fought almost all the victories in the bloody battle with the Japanese Kou.
At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he led his troops as the main force to achieve the Great Victory of Kunlun Pass, and then led his troops to burma, fighting the Japanese and Kou in a foreign country for the most important international transport line of China at that time, successively winning the Battle of Hukang River Valley, the Battle of Sokhadao, the Burmese Counteroffensive Campaign, and annihilating the Eighteenth Division of the Japanese Army (participating in the Nanjing Massacre) that had committed unforgivable heinous crimes in China. During the Liberation War, Liao Yaoxiang once led his troops to force back Lin Shuai, who was recognized as using no less troops than the ancient soldier Xian Hanxin, which caused Lin Shuai a headache.
"General Liao is a perfect gentleman, he never smokes, does not drink, does not play cards, does not approach women, he is a man who takes the country and the nation as his life, puts his life and death on the line, and takes the rise and fall of the country as his responsibility."
This is a passage said by the famous female writer Xie Bingying in "The Blood War of India and Burma". In the camp of the Kuomintang reactionaries who are full of corruption and drunken dreams, Liao Yaoxiang was able to clean himself up and do not conform to the filth, which shows his self-discipline and self-improvement.
On the merits of the War of Resistance Against Japan, only by leading the new 22nd Division on an expedition to India and Burma, annihilating the 18th Division of the Japanese Army, and opening up the Sino-Indian Highway, which was an international transportation route that was very important to China at that time, not many people in the Kuomintang army could surpass Liao Yaoxiang.
In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was one of the few Kuomintang generals who was praised by both military circles and society; Xie Bingying called him a gentleman; Jiang Baili called him the first person in the Xiang Army under Cai Yi; Liu Jianzhang called him a famous General at home and abroad; and Du Yuming called him a great general.
Liao Yaoxiang has this merit and evaluation, which shows that Jiang Baili's vision is really unique, and he is really accurate in seeing people, and he can afford to be the first hunan soldier in addition to Cai Yi at the same time as Jiang Baili.
Today, let's talk about the legendary life of Liao Yaoxiang, who was praised by Mr. Jiang Baili as "the first person in Hunan soldiers after Cai Songpo".
What kind of experience did Liao Yaoxiang have in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation? What did he go through after he was captured?
On May 16, 1906, Liao Yaoxiang was born in a farming family in Huilong Village, Jiuxi Town, Xinshao County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, his grandfather was a well-known local private school, and although his father made a living as a farmer, he also read rough articles.
After Liao Yaoxiang was born, Liao's father had high hopes for him, and the word "Yaoxiang" pinned his ardent expectations for his son, hoping that his son could light the lintel and be famous for Sanxiang. In the future, Liao Yaoxiang did not insult the word "Yaoxiang".
When Liao Yaoxiang was just born, because his grandfather set up a museum in the countryside to teach apprentices, the life of the Liao family can be regarded as a well-off, although it is not rich and noble, but it is also not worried about food and clothing, at least there is no worry about life.
His grandfather worked as a teacher in the countryside, and Liao Yaoxiang naturally won the moon first in the near water building, and at the age of 5, he entered the private school opened by his grandfather to enlighten and receive cultural education. Liao Yaoxiang, who has a clever mind, coupled with diligence and studiousness, naturally has excellent grades and is known as a prodigy.
When he was studying in a private school, Liao Yaoxiang showed a memory and comprehension ability that far exceeded that of his peers, whether it was endorsement or silent writing, he was much faster than his peers, which was very good.
At the age of 14, Liao Yaoxiang was admitted to a very famous middle school in Changsha at that time, Changsha Private Yueyun Middle School, with excellent results.
The founder of Yueyun Middle School is Mr. He Binglin, one of the founders of modern basic education in China, since its founding, this middle school is full of talents, famous at home and abroad, hundreds of revolutionary martyrs, anti-Japanese celebrities, literary masters and so on.
Being admitted to such a famous school, Liao Yaoxiang's excellent results are self-evident, and the future is brighter.
However, it was at this time that the situation of the Liao family began to take a sharp turn for the worse, Liao Yaoxiang's grandfather could no longer set up a library due to old age and frailty, and the daily use of the family had to rely on his parents' years of hard work to barely support it, and with the advent of the chaotic world, the days were worse than a day, and only liao Yaoxiang's tuition expenses could barely be supported.
For the plight of the family, Liao Yaoxiang is very understanding and clear, filial piety, sensible in order to reduce the burden of the family, often single-legged, always with "life does not advance, Si backwards." Fearing difficulties, risking" to encourage themselves.
After Liao Yaoxiang became famous, Liao Changshi, a relative of Liao Yaoxiang, once told the younger generation of the Liao family such a story:
In August of that year, he and Liao Yaoxiang went to the city together, and while resting on the way, he inadvertently opened Liao Yaoxiang's package, only to see that in the package, in addition to books and brushes, only a patched piece of clothing was left.
After seeing the contents of the package, he was very curious, after all, Liao Yaoxiang went to the city to study, and once he went there, he would not go home for a few weeks, and there should be a set of clothes in the package, but there were no pants in the package, only one piece of clothing.
Confused, he asked Liao Yaoxiang, why didn't he bring pants? Liao Yaoxiang smiled and said that I only had one pair of pants, and I wore them on my body.
He asked again, what if you soil your pants? Liao Yaoxiang didn't care after hearing this, and said with a smile:
"Every day before going to bed, I would go to the bathhouse to take a shower, wash my pants by the way, and then go to bed naked, and my pants would be placed on the bed frame to dry. The next day, I would wake up more than half an hour earlier than others, wear half-wet pants to the playground for a run, and dry my pants with my body temperature and the wind that came with running. ”
When Liao Yaoxiang said this, his face did not show any sadness, but he was very optimistic, and he seemed to be very light and breezy, as if such a hard life did not happen to him.
From this story, it can be seen that although Liao Yaoxiang's life is very difficult, he himself is very positive and optimistic, optimistically creating unlimited possibilities with limited conditions.
The "destruction" of life did not stop Liao Yaoxiang's expectations for the future, but made him more optimistic and stronger.
There is an old Saying in China: "Since ancient times, the elite has come out of the cold door", although the giants have also produced talents, but the probability of their talents is much lower than that of the cold doors. Why are there more talents out of the cold door? Without him, because the harsh living environment can always stimulate people's morale to the greatest extent.
Liao Yaoxiang, he is a representative figure who "went out of the cold door since ancient times". The harsh living environment has created a generation of famous anti-Japanese generals.
In 1924, a year of turmoil in the national revolution, the Huangpu Military Academy, a revolutionary military school co-founded by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, was formally established on Changzhou Island in Huangpu District, Guangzhou. The purpose of the establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China was to train officers for the National Revolution, create a revolutionary army, and save China and the Chinese nation from a time of crisis.
After the establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy, countless enthusiastic young people in China rushed to Guangzhou from all over the country to apply for the examination, hoping to do their best to fight for China and the Chinese nation to fight for a prosperous world. Liao Yaoxiang was no exception, abandoning his pen and deciding to apply for the exam.
However, Liao Yaoxiang was unable to make enough time to go to Guangzhou within the deadline for the Whampoa Military Academy to apply for the examination, and regretted missing the opportunity to apply for the examination.
However, he abandoned his pen and made up his mind to serve the motherland with a gun ghostwriter, and he had no intention of quietly reading any sage books, and just at this time, the Teaching Corps of the Sixth Brigade of the Third Division of the Hunan Army was recruiting student soldiers, and Liao Yaoxiang resolutely signed up to participate and was successfully selected.
After several months of military training, Liao Yaoxiang successfully graduated from the training camp, and because he ranked first in the examination, he became a small squad leader of the teaching corps. Soon, because Liao Yaoxiang was dissatisfied with the warlord style of his unit, believing that it was not a unit for the country and the people, and that it was not his place to fight for such a warlord force, he left the unit and returned to his hometown.
Soon after returning to his hometown, Liao Yaoxiang, who still has the heart to serve the country, is not willing to spend such an ordinary life in this life, he wants to serve the country, not only wants to fight for himself to have a great future, but also wants to fight for a prosperous and stable country.
In 1926, when he learned that the Whampoa Military Academy had set up a branch in Changsha and the sixth phase had officially begun to enroll students, he did not hesitate and resolutely embarked on the road to the provincial capital of Changsha to study. In the same year, Liao Yaoxiang passed the first examination and officially became the sixth cavalry section of the Whampoa Army Principal Sha Branch. The following year, the Changsha branch school moved to Nanjing, and Liao Yaoxiang moved to Nanjing with the school.
During the school period, Liao Yaoxiang's performance was very excellent, whether it was cultural achievements or practical achievements, they were among the best, and they were favored by the superiors and instructors of the military academy, who all had high hopes for Liao Yaoxiang and trained him as a future general.
Liao Yaoxiang also did not live up to the ardent expectations of his superiors and instructors, and he successfully graduated from the military academy with the excellent results of ranking in the top 10 in the total score, and then he was personally selected by Chiang Kai-shek to study in the preparatory class for studying abroad.
The purpose of Chiang Kai-shek's preparatory class for studying abroad was to train generals who were loyal to him and facilitate his future control of the Kuomintang army.
Therefore, if anyone can enter here to study, it means that he has become an absolute confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, and his future future in the Kuomintang army is unlimited. Liao Yaoxiang was personally selected by Chiang Kai-shek to study in the preparatory class for studying abroad, which shows that his ability is indeed good, otherwise he would not have been cultivated by Chiang Kai-shek as a concubine.
In September 1930, after liao yaoxiang successfully completed the preparatory course for studying abroad, he was sent to the French Saint Cyr Army Officers' Military Academy, one of the four major military schools in the world at that time, and entered the cavalry department of the school.
Three years later, Liao Yaoxiang transferred to the French Army University to study mechanized cavalry. During his study abroad, Liao Yaoxiang studied hard, cherished every minute and every second of learning time, and studied every day in addition to class.
Heaven never treats hard-working people badly, especially those who are smart and hard-working, Liao Yaoxiang's efforts have not been in vain, and his grades during his school years will always be among the best.
It was at this time that Liao Yaoxiang was valued by Jiang Baili, a Chinese military student who went to Western countries to study there in the name of senior advisers of the Central Military Commission, and through his outstanding performance in the military academy, Jiang Baili saw that he could integrate Western military theory with the ancient Chinese art of war, and determined that he would definitely become a famous general who galloped on the battlefield in the future.
Jiang Baili praised Liao Yaoxiang greatly, saying that he was the first soldier in Hunan under Cai Yi, and in a letter to Chiang Kai-shek, he strongly praised Liao Yaoxiang, hoping that Chiang Kai-shek would use him more after he returned from his studies.
Chiang Kai-shek was able to personally invite him to enter the preparatory class for studying abroad, and originally intended to entrust him with a heavy responsibility and regard him as his own concubine.
Of course, seeing that Chiang Baili, a military master, had such admiration for his own personal talents, Chiang Kai-shek also had a light on his face and was very happy, and he did not forget to boast behind the letter written by Jiang Baili:
"Liao Yaoxiang recommended for me students to study in France." He also said: "This student is a rare military talent, and after returning to China, he should be entrusted with a heavy responsibility." Later, Chiang Kai-shek sandwiched Chiang Baili's letter in the officer registration form of Liao Yaoxiang of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and its intention was self-evident, that is, to tell the people of the Ministry of Military Affairs: He Liao Yaoxiang is covered by Chiang Kai-shek, and his future prospects are unlimited.
In 1936, Liao Yaoxiang graduated from the French Army university with the first place in the mechanized cavalry major.
After returning to China, as a talent valued by Chiang Kai-shek, he was appointed as the major company commander of the cavalry brigade of the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps. The Central Military Academy Teaching Corps was one of the most elite units in the Kuomintang army at that time, fully equipped with German weapons and equipment, and was heavily relied upon by Chiang Kai-shek. Liao Yaoxiang was able to be appointed as the commander of the cavalry brigade of the Central Military Academy after returning to China, which shows that Chiang Kai-shek attaches great importance to him.
Liao Yaoxiang did not disappoint Chiang Kai-shek's ardent expectations; in the course of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he repeatedly inflicted heavy blows on the Japanese Kou, played out the bloody nature of the Chinese soldiers, and even more made the name of the Chinese army, thus making outstanding contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
During the defense of Nanjing, Liao Yaoxiang was one of the few officers in the Kuomintang army who insisted on resisting the Japanese Kou, and he led the cadets of his Central Military Academy Teaching Corps to hold firm at the north gate of Nanjing, vowing not to retreat, stubbornly resisting the Japanese attacks again and again, until the last moment, almost the entire army was destroyed;
At the time of the Battle of Kunlun Pass, Liao Yaoxiang, who had been promoted to deputy commander of the new 22nd Division, led his troops as the main force of the Nationalist army participating in the battle to launch an attack on the 21st Brigade of the Japanese 5th Division, which was stationed at Kunlun Pass, known as the "Steel Army".
In the course of the battle, Liao Yaoxiang was a pioneer and brave enough not to fear death, and led his troops to capture the Japanese position of Ma'anshan south of Kunlun Pass, cutting off the connection between the Kunlun Pass defenders and the Japanese army in Nanning. In the battle, Liao Yaoxiang led his troops to almost completely annihilate the 21st Brigade, killing the enemy brigade commander Masao Nakamura and more than 4,000 Japanese troops, greatly increasing the military prestige of the Chinese army, and becoming famous in the First World War;
In the Burmese counteroffensive campaign, Liao Yaoxiang, who had been promoted to commander of the new 22nd Division, led his troops on an expedition to India and Burma, and successively won victories in the battles of the Hukang River Valley, Yubang, XiaMengguang, and Varuban, and dealt a devastating blow to the 18th Japanese Kou Division, which had committed heinous crimes in Nanjing, annihilating more than 20,000 enemy troops and almost destroying the entire army.
After the war, Stilwell, commander-in-chief of the US forces in the China-Burma-India Theater, highly praised: "This is your glory, the glory of the new 22nd Division, the glory of the Chinese army stationed in India, the glory of all the Allied forces, and even more the glory of the Chinese people." "This battle has allowed Chinese soldiers to rise to power overseas.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Liao Yaoxiang's merits and performances absolutely deserved the four words of "famous anti-Japanese general."
Because of his outstanding military achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, after the victory of the War of Resistance, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general of the newly formed Sixth Army at the age of 38, becoming a concubine of Chiang Kai-shek's concubines.
The newly organized Sixth Army, composed of three Mechanic Divisions of the New Twenty-second Division, the Fourteenth Division, and the Fiftieth Division, is a mechanized army with all American armaments, and together with Sun Liren's New First Army, Qiu Qingquan's Fifth Army, Hu Lian's Eighteenth Army, and Zhang Lingfu's Seventy-fourth Army, it is known as the "Five Main Forces" of the Kuomintang Army.
However, it was such a famous anti-Japanese general who mistakenly stood against the people in the War of Liberation and acted as a pawn of the Kuomintang reactionaries.
In October 1948, Liao Yaoxiang was captured by the People's Liberation Army during the Liaoshen Campaign.
After being captured, Liao Yaoxiang was transferred from Shenyang to the Harbin Liberation Regiment, and then moved to Fushun and Suihua County, Heilongjiang Province.
In 1956, Liao Yaoxiang was sent to Gongdelin Prison for reform.
During this period, in view of the fact that Liao Yaoxiang had received formal mechanized military education in France, Liu Bocheng, then the president of the PLA Military Academy, also invited Liao Yaoxiang to teach at the academy.
When the PLA Military Academy was first established, there was a very shortage of instructors, and although at that time our army selected some outstanding cadets from the East China Military and Political University to serve as instructors, and later recruited some intellectuals and teachers from government organs and local colleges and universities, it was still unable to meet the needs of teaching in the military academies.
In order to put the teaching work of the military academy on the right track and continue to send fresh blood to the People's Liberation Army, Liu Bocheng decided to boldly use those insurgents or prisoners of war among the former Kuomintang generals who had real talents and practical knowledge to serve as instructors or lecturers at the military academy.
As a high-caliber student majoring in mechanized cavalry at the French Army University, Liao Yaoxiang, who fought many times in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and who has made many military achievements, Liu Bocheng naturally will not forget to pull him into the academy to teach a lesson.
When Yao Lun, director of the Gongdelin Management Institute, informed Liao Yaoxiang of Liu Bocheng's appointment to the Military Academy, Liao Yaoxiang was very surprised and flattered:
"Ah! How does this work? How can a war criminal, a general of a defeated army, give a lesson to the victorious master? No, it really can't! ”
Under the sincere persuasion of Yao Lun, Liao Yaoxiang promised to try it, and when he left, he specifically said that if it did not work, he would come back immediately.
After Liao Yaoxiang came to the PLA Military Academy, Liu Bocheng personally greeted him at the door and said straight to the point:
"This time, I would like to invite you to be our teacher and ask you to talk about three aspects: First, talk about the 'small unit tactics,' 'forest combat method,' and 'urban and village battles' in which you have made certain achievements in the anti-Japanese resistance in Burma; second, talk about your experience in the Liaoshen campaign, seek truth from facts, and talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both sides in the battle; and third, talk about your suggestions for the building of the People's Liberation Army."
After Liao Yaoxiang listened, he was quite sincere and afraid, but at the sincere invitation of Liu Bocheng, he still expressed his determination to complete the task.
Facts have proved that Liu Bocheng's vision is correct, Liao Yaoxiang spoke very well, and after a class, there was a burst of applause in the classroom.
During the period of study in Gongdelin's reform, Liao Yaoxiang did not resist our party's labor and ideological reform like some Kuomintang prisoners of war, and actively accepted our party's ideological and labor reform. When he had no tasks on weekdays, he read the works of Marxism-Leninism and Chairman Mao extensively, and some of the articles he particularly liked could even be recited word for word, hence the title of "nerd".
On December 25, 1961, Liao Yaoxiang was granted an amnesty by our Party, thus ending his 13-year life as a war criminal.
After Liao Yaoxiang was pardoned, he, like Du Yuming, Fan Hanjie, Wang Yaowu, and others, became a commissioner of the Cultural and Historical Materials Committee of the CPPCC National Committee. At first, his salary was $100 a month.
Later, after he became a member of the fourth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, his salary rose to 200 yuan per month. 200 yuan is now a small amount of money, which may be spent on a meal, but in that era it was a huge amount of money, enough for a family to live comfortably for a year.
Since then, Liao Yaoxiang has written hundreds of thousands of words of literary and historical materials, and the literary and historical materials reviewed have also reached one million words. These materials have become invaluable military materials today, providing an important basis for the study of China's modern and contemporary military history.
On December 2, 1968, Liao Yaoxiang died of a sudden heart attack in Beijing at the age of 62, completing his legendary life.
In May 1980, the Party Central Committee held a memorial service for Liao Yaoxiang and placed Liao Yaoxiang's urn in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
General Liao Yaoxiang has also made meritorious contributions in this life, but no matter what Chinese people will not forget his exploits on the anti-Japanese battlefield.