One day in November 1949, Premier Zhou hosted a banquet at the Zhongnanhai Qinzheng Palace to entertain Zhang Zhizhong, Shao Lizi, Liu Fei, and other former Kuomintang peace negotiators, and specially invited Xiong Xianghui, the former secretary of Hu Zongnan's secretary. During the banquet, Zhang Zhizhong was quite surprised to see Xiong Xianghui: "Isn't this Old Brother Xiong?" You also revolted? Premier Zhou explained: "He is not an uprising. It's homecoming. ”
Zhang Zhizhong was very surprised after hearing this; within the Kuomintang, everyone knew that Xiong Xianghui was Hu Zongnan's most important confidant, and Hu Zongnan was the most important of Chiang Kai-shek among the Huangpu generals. Such a pivotal figure turned out to be an undercover agent of the Communist Party, which shows how terrible the Communist Party's infiltration of the Kuomintang is.
In fact, what surprised Zhang Zhizhong was not just a Xiong Xianghui. One day in 1950, Zhang Zhizhong raised a question to Premier Zhou: "Han Liancheng is a red man around Chiang Kai-shek, not a 'miscellaneous' soldier, nor a person who is ostracized and has no way out. ”
Zhang Zhizhong
Guyuan, Ningxia, a relatively barren mountainous area in the great northwest, is full of loess. Han Liancheng was born in a mountain village here, and his family lived in a cave that others abandoned. He herded the sheep and skinned the lambs, and the knife without a handguard swung freely in his hand. The elders of the village all said, "This knife makes Liso, and when he grows up, he must be a knifeman." ”
Han's knife was not constantly wielded, but at the age of 16, he was given a chance to hold a gun. Ma Hongkui's officer training team recruited students, and Because Han Liancheng was not qualified enough, he borrowed the diploma of Han Guizhang, a graduate of Gansu Provincial No. 2 Middle School in the same village, to register, and was successfully admitted, and from then on he entered Ma Hongkui's unit for training. After graduation, he participated in the Northern Expedition with the army, and due to his bravery and resourcefulness, he was repeatedly promoted, and by 1927 he was the leader of the independent cavalry regiment.
At that time, during the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists, the Seventh Division of the Northwest Army, where Han Liancheng belonged, was organized into the Fourth Army of the Combined Forces of the National Revolutionary Army, and the political director was liu Zhidan, a communist. The Nationalist Coalition Army, with Feng Yuxiang as commander-in-chief, was headed by Liu Bojian, a communist. In 1926, Han Liancheng met Liu Zhidan on a march. Han Liancheng, who came from a poor family, heard the concept of the Communist Party and immediately found his own faith.
Later, Liu Bojian and Liu Zhidan both talked to Han Liancheng alone and decided that Han was a good seedling, and Liu Zhidan sent him a "revolutionary soldier registration form" and designated him as a contact person to join the Communist Party. Unfortunately, after the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup, Feng Yuxiang began to respond to Chiang Kai-shek's liquidation of the party and expelled the communists who had openly identified themselves, Liu Zhidan was sent out of the country, and Han Liancheng lost contact with the party organization before he could join the party.
It was not until during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression that Han Liancheng made contact with Premier Zhou in Chongqing, and he immediately asked to join the Communist Party. However, Premier Zhou considered that at that time, the Kuomintang and the Communists cooperated in resisting Japan, and Han Liancheng was already the chief of staff of the Kuomintang Sixteenth Group Army at that time, and the development of such a person in an important position to become a party member would inevitably lead to disputes. Therefore, Premier Zhou hoped that Han Liancheng would continue to work in the Kuomintang areas and within the Chiang Kai-shek clique.
During that meeting, Han Liancheng told Premier Zhou in detail about his past experiences and views on the revolutionary situation. At the end of the conversation and about to break up, Premier Zhou suddenly asked: "Chief of Staff of Han, you are a general of the Gui clan, just now you said that you broke the siege for Huan Gong (Feng Yuxiang) in the Northwest Army, what is going on?" ”
Han Liancheng
After Han Liancheng introduced his relationship with Feng Yuxiang, Premier Zhou immediately asked: "So, before and after the April 12 counter-revolutionary coup, you were also in the Northwest Army?" There is a person, also surnamed Han, named Han Guizhang, do you know? Han Liancheng was stunned, and han yan said, "I am Han Guizhang!" ”
It turned out that when he was in northern Shaanxi, Premier Zhou had heard Liu Zhidan talk about Han Guizhang, so he remembered it in his heart, and when he saw Han Liancheng, who had a similar experience, he remembered it. Unfortunately, Liu Zhidan has been sacrificed. However, Han Liancheng thus established a comradely relationship with the party and began to carry out secret work under the direct leadership of Premier Zhou.
Han Liancheng was originally a general of the Northwest Army, but how did he become a "Gui general" in the mouth of Premier Zhou? At the beginning of this article, Zhang Zhizhong also said that he was "not a general of the Miscellaneous Army", and what kind of tortuous and bizarre experience did Han Liancheng have in his identity?
In the Northwest Army's Ma Hongkui unit, Han Liancheng rose steadily by virtue of his bravery in battle and good command, but in the end he was only in the Northwest Army. In 1935, he was admitted to the Army University and became acquainted with Bai Chongxi's aide-de-camp Petrified Dragon, and his life path took a huge turn.
Under the introduction of the petrified dragon, when Han Liancheng and Bai Chongxi met for the first time, they left a good impression on Bai Chongxi. Han Liancheng was polite and courteous, quoting scriptures and talking about them, reflecting his profound knowledge and being deeply appreciated by Bai Chongxi. Bai Chongxi considered Han Liancheng to be a rare military talent and reported to Li Zongren overnight.
The next day, Li Zongren received Han Liancheng, and after several conversations, he also felt that he was a talent, so he appointed him as the commander of the 117th Division. Three years later, Li Zongren promoted him to commander of the Forty-sixth Army. In the Battle of Laiwu in 1947, Han Liancheng led the Forty-sixth Army to participate in the battle as a military commander, and at the last moment he broke away from the troops, causing a chaotic scene of leaderlessness, and made a great contribution to Chen Yi and Su Yu's total annihilation of the Li Xianzhou clique. The Forty-sixth Army is the main force of the Gui clan, and the Gui clan and Chiang Kai-shek can be said to have a deep grudge, but Han Liancheng can become a red man around Chiang Kai-shek as a Gui general, which is also extremely rare within the Kuomintang.
After the Battle of Laiwu, Chen Yi met with Han Liancheng. Mr. Chen believed that Han Liancheng had made Chiang Kai-shek suffer such a big loss, and the latent work must have come to an end, so he wanted to seek his opinion on his future work and try his best to make arrangements for him. Unexpectedly, Han Liancheng said decisively: "I still go back to the Kuomintang side, I will first go to Nanjing, report the battle situation to Old Chiang, ask him to rebuild the Forty-sixth Army, and next time send you a generous gift. ”
Chen Yi couldn't believe his ears, and even if it was inappropriate, Han Liancheng was confident, "General Chen, you can rest assured, I decided after careful consideration." I am a special person, and Chiang Kai-shek will not kill my head easily. ”
Han Liancheng was so sure that Chiang Kai-shek would not kill his head, and in addition to knowing that the people who escaped from the battle were basically prisoners of the People's Liberation Army, there was another important reason: he had saved Chiang Kai-shek's life!
In April 1930, the Central Plains War between Chiang Kai-shek and Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan broke out. On April 6, the Great War began. In the middle of the month, Feng Yuxiang entered Luoyang, and the army gathered in Xuzhou and deployed along the Jinpu, Longhai, and Pinghan railways. After the two sides fought, Chiang Kai-shek personally came to the front line to command.
Less than a week after the start of the war, Feng's subordinates Han Fuyu, Shi Yousan, Yang Hucheng, Ma Hongkui and other subordinates defected to Chiang Kai-shek. Han Liancheng's Ma Hongkui unit was reorganized into the 11th Army of the Rebel Army, with Han as the commander of the Independent Regiment of the 64th Division, and on May 31, during the Battle of Yudong, Chiang Kai-shek commanded the operation at the "Commander-in-Chief's Train Camp" at Zhuji Station in Guide (present-day Shangqiu, Henan).
Zheng Dazhang, one of the "Five Tiger Generals" of Feng Yuxiang's department, led a cavalry unit of more than a thousand people to gallop for more than 80 miles at night, attacking the Guide airfield, burning 12 planes and capturing more than 50 mechanics and ground crews. The airport was in flames, the sound of gunfire broke through the night sky, and Jiang's army was in disarray. At that time, Zheng Dazhang did not know that Chiang Kai-shek was directing the operation at the Zhuji Station near the airport, and Chiang Kai-shek's headquarters was set up on the train; I didn't know that Chiang Kai-shek's general headquarters was only guarded by more than 200 people, otherwise he would not have given up.
Chen Tiaoyuan, a senior staff officer who accompanied Chiang Kai-shek, ordered all the guards to go all out to counterattack the station, and the situation was extremely grim, and Chiang Kai-shek was even more panicked and nervous. Yang Jie, the chief of staff at the time of great urgency, hung up the telephone of Han Liancheng, the garrison commander of Guide City, saying that the enemy army was encircling the commander-in-chief's train camp. After Han Liancheng knew where to send troops, he deployed the forces defending the city of Guide and immediately led the main force to rush to the station to "save the car."
Han's mission was to save people, so the focus of troop deployment was on the station. At the same time, there were also a small number of troops attacking the horse field of Zheng Dazhang's cavalry, in order to free the cavalry engaged in infantry at this time to ease the siege of the train camp.
After Han Liancheng intervened, he fought with Zheng Dazhangbu. Zheng Dazhang mistakenly thought that there were still troops on the station, and because he was not familiar with the terrain at night, he did not dare to rush to attack, and did not dare to love the battle, that is, to organize a breakthrough. At dawn, Han Liancheng attacked the platform, and Chiang Kai-shek turned the danger into a disaster.
Chiang Kai-shek yu Feng Yuxiang. Yan Xishan
The terrified Chiang Kai-shek asked Han Liancheng to board the "Commander-in-Chief's Train Camp" and summoned Han Liancheng during the calm interval between the war.
Han Liancheng was led by a guard officer into the camp carriage. He held the shell gun in his left hand, saluted Chiang Kai-shek with his right hand, stood up and reported: "Report to the commander-in-chief, Han Guizhang, commander of the independent regiment of the 64th Division stationed in Guide, to report, that the chaos at the station has subsided, and ask the commander-in-chief for instructions." ”
After seeing Han Liancheng, a heroic young officer, Chiang Kai-shek really had a sense of insanity. He held Han Liancheng's hand tightly and said, "Good! You are so nice!" As for such a young and loyal regimental commander, Chiang Kai-shek thought from his first feeling that he should be a student who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, and asked Han: "How many terms have you been a student of Whampoa?" This sudden question made Han Liancheng unable to answer in an instant. Chief of Staff Yang Jie was anxious to remind Han Liancheng: "The commander-in-chief asked you how many terms of the Whampoa Military Academy?" I recently applied for the Teaching Team of the Seventh Division of the Northwest Army, but I did not have the opportunity to do so in Whampoa. Han Liancheng gave a brief answer, and the answer was just right, grasping the fire.
Chiang Kai-shek said, "Well, you can make up your registration at the Whampoa Military Academy!"
Chiang Kai-shek had a habit of not shaking hands with Whampoa students or giving money, but when he encountered non-Whampoa students, that is, generals from other factions who had surrendered, he not only shook hands with them, but also gave money as soon as they met, and sometimes gave a lot. At this time, although he mistakenly thought that Han Liancheng was a Huangpu student, he still shook hands with him and broke his own rules. It seems that in times of crisis, there is not much to take care of.
For Han Liancheng, the importance of the experience of "saving the car" is not whether he can make up for the Whampoa School, but the important thing is not to forget the grace of saving dangers. Chiang Kai-shek was not only very satisfied with the young officer's courageous act of "saving the car" at a critical moment, but also deeply impressed by his bravery and wisdom, and praised him as a "white-robed general."
After Shangqiu "rescued the driver," Chiang Kai-shek issued a handwritten edict to the Whampoa Military Academy Graduate Investigation Office:
Han Guizhang, commander of the Sixty-fourth Division, was ordered to be loyal and courageous, graduated from the third phase of the Chartered Military Academy, was included in the student register, and the internal order was known...
Han Liancheng, who had no "Huangpu" experience, has since graduated from the third phase of "Huangpu".
The experience of the "Qin Wang" at the railway station left a deep impression on Chiang Kai-shek, and also created a dazzling aura for Han Liancheng that was difficult for others to dream.
In Chiang Kai-shek's political career, there were not many special favors like giving Han Liancheng. This rare exception is both a gratitude to Han Liancheng and a weight to Han Liancheng's young and strong soldiers. Since then, this "royal approval" of the Whampoa Military Academy "graduate" has become a "concubine student" who is highly valued by the principal. In the years that followed, Chiang Kai-shek continued to give Han new official titles and support him to promotions.
In the autumn of 1940, Han Liancheng was transferred to Chongqing by Chiang Kai-shek and served as a senior staff officer in the chairman's attendant office. It was in Chongqing that he got to know Communist Party members Li Kenong, Pan Hannian, Xia Yan, and others through the introduction of zhou Shiguan, a democrat, and Li Kenong reported to Premier Zhou on Han Liancheng's situation. Premier Zhou secretly met with Han Liancheng.
Han Liancheng originally wanted to go directly to Yan'an, but after listening to Premier Zhou's explanation, he continued to stay in the Chiang Kai-shek clique. Subsequently, he went to the National Defense Research Institute to study, and after graduation, he continued to serve as a senior attendant staff officer of Chiang Kai-shek and concurrently served as the head of the staff of the Office of the Chief of Staff.
Because of his meritorious efforts in saving Chiang Kai-shek, his military rank was relatively high (lieutenant general), and he served as the head of the staff in the office of the chief of staff, Han Liancheng's position in Chiang Kai-shek's attendant room was much higher than that of ordinary staff officers. Chiang Kai-shek personally introduced Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Wei-kuo to him, and asked his two sons to call him "Master Brother", and Han Liancheng naturally became Chiang Kai-shek's close general.
At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the defeat at the "Battle of Guiliu" to pursue responsibility, straightened out the Gui forces, and removed many senior Gui generals from their posts. At this time, Han Liancheng, who was deeply trusted by both Chiang kai-shek and Gui, was again appointed commander of the Forty-sixth Army.
After Chiang Kai-shek deliberately launched a civil war, Han's Forty-sixth Army was transferred to the Shandong battlefield to participate in the civil war. Before leaving, Han Liancheng received a secret instruction from Premier Zhou to go to Shanghai to meet Dong Biwu for talks. Han Liancheng immediately rushed to Shanghai, and while Bai Chongxi was not there, he secretly met with Elder Dong at Bai Chongxi's mansion and handed over all the information he had learned about Chiang Kai-shek's strategic plan for a full-scale civil war and the relations between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek.
Dong Biwu also gave Han Liancheng a task: whether to lead the rebellion on the battlefield or to hide for a long time is up to you to decide!
Soon after, Han Liancheng came in handy in the Battle of Laiwu. He first used a one-day delay to "break through", which bought time for the Plaster to encircle and then gave up command of the Forty-sixth Army during the "breakout", which plunged Li Xianzhou's corps into chaos. In the end, Chen Su's army annihilated more than 56,000 Kuomintang troops and captured many general-level officers below Li Xianzhou.
After the war, Han Liancheng returned to Nanjing alone, and Chiang Kai-shek did not punish him, but did not let him command an army again, but became a senior staff officer in the chairman's attendant room. Later, he was transferred to Lanzhou, and with the rank of lieutenant general, he only held the position of brigade commander.
In October 1948, Han Liancheng's secret communication with the People's Liberation Army during the Battle of Laiwu was finally revealed by others. Chiang Kai-shek, in his anger, personally sent a telegram to Zhang Zhizhong to escort Han Liancheng to Nanjing for punishment. For this reason, Zhang Zhizhong felt quite embarrassed. After some racking thoughts, Zhang Zhizhong had an idea.
On this day, Zhang Zhizhong called Han Liancheng and implied in the conversation that he had learned of Han Liancheng's relationship with the CCP, and deliberately told Han Liancheng that his safety in Lanzhou would not be a problem, but it would be difficult to say if he went elsewhere, hoping that Han Liancheng would be good at taking care of himself. The next day, all the senior cadres of Zhang Zhizhong's Office had dinner, and Han Liancheng also attended.
At the end of the banquet, Zhang Zhizhong publicly announced: "Because of the urgent official duties, I must immediately go to Nanjing to ask the president, the plane is ready, please train your brother to work hard." Then, he went to the office to write a letter to the president, and when he returned, he held an unsheathed envelope of ink and handed it to Han Liancheng in public, saying: "You go home and get ready to go." ”
In fact, Han Liancheng felt that the matter had been exposed, and he didn't know what to do. When he got home, he hurriedly opened the envelope and looked at it, but there was only half a newspaper of the day. After a little thought, he suddenly realized that this was Zhang Zhizhong using a trick to let him escape. Therefore, he immediately sent an urgent telegram to His friend in Nanjing, Zhou Shiguan, who was then the director of the Ningxia Provincial Office in the National Government, and asked him to meet him at the airport on time.
After flying to Nanjing, Han Liancheng was quickly arranged by Zhou Shiguan to be transported to Shanghai by car, and with the help of the local CCP underground organization, he was transferred to the Northeast Liberated Area, thus escaping from chiang Kai-shek's clutches.
In January 1949, Han Liancheng was transferred to Pingshan County, Hebei Province, where he was received separately by President Zhu, Premier Zhou, and Chairman Mao. Mr. Zhu praised him for "making great contributions and extraordinary contributions to the party and the revolution." Chairman Mao said: "Chairman Chiang Kai-shek has you people around him, and my small command not only commands the People's Liberation Army, but also mobilizes the millions of troops of the Kuomintang!" ”
After returning to the organization, Han Liancheng was appointed deputy chief of staff of the First Field Army and deputy director of the Lanzhou Military Control Commission. Premier Zhou entrusted Zhang Zongxun, deputy commander of the Northwest Military Region, and Gan Siqi, deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department, to be Han Liancheng's introducers to the party and joined the Communist Party in May 1950. At this time, 14 years have passed since Liu Zhidan recommended him to join the party. But as Premier Zhou said, Han Liancheng was a Communist Party member who had not formally joined the Party.
Han Liancheng in his later years
In 1955, according to Han Liancheng's special experience and conditions, including his contribution to the cause of people's liberation, if he was treated as an uprising Kuomintang commander, Han Liancheng could be awarded the rank of general, and the Central Military Commission planned to award him the rank of general with reference to the treatment of rebel military commanders. However, he will be awarded the rank of lieutenant general according to his position when he joined the Party in 1950 and the rank established in 1952. To this end, Premier Zhou Enlai also consulted him before awarding the title.
Han Liancheng, who has experienced half of his life on horseback, has been very indifferent to honor and treatment. He made a clear statement to Premier Zhou: "After the founding of New China and the peaceful establishment of the country, I should be disarmed and retired, and what generals and lieutenant generals should I fight for?" What kind of rebel general am I? Besides, since I started the revolution, I have not done it for the sake of fame and fortune. Lieutenant General is already the highest honor given to me by the government. ”
Han Liancheng insisted on accepting the rank of lieutenant general according to his time, position, and rank of joining the party, but did not accept the rank of general of the uprising general. Premier Zhou was very appreciative of this, and often said: "Han Liancheng wants party members not to be generals."
Returning to the doubts raised by Zhang Zhizhong, Premier Zhou also gave a simple and powerful answer: "This is the power of faith!" ”
As one of the "Eight Great Kongs" under Chiang Kai-shek, Zhang Zhizhong's degree of "popularity" in front of the old Chiang Kai-shek is comparable to that of Han Liancheng. However, he went to Yan'an many times, campaigned for the peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Republic of China many times, and finally accepted the invitation of Premier Zhou to stay after the failure of the Peking Peace Talks.
There is much help for the way, and there is little help for the wrong way, and it is true.
Resources
"Ten Undercover Generals", Hu Zhaocai, Shanghai People's Publishing House
"Han Liancheng Saves Jiang", Xue Zhengchang, Archives of Literature and History
"Zhang Zhizhongzhi Saves Han Liancheng", Xiong Kunjing, Xiang Chao
"Han Liancheng's Latent Experience", Wang Jianping, from all walks of life
"Han Liancheng, who wants party members and not generals", Han Jing, communist
"The Power of Faith: My Father Han Lian Became He Joined the CCP Intelligence Organization", Han Jing, Centennial Tide