"For the sake of the party-state, pull the brothers!"
A sentence by Commander Li in the black-and-white movie "Southern Expedition and Northern War" completely ignited Li Xianzhou. Among the senior Kuomintang generals, Li Xianzhou was known not for his bravery in the War of Resistance Against Japan, but for his capture in the Battle of Laiwu.
In the Battle of Laiwu, Wang Yaowu, as the boss, not only did not "pull the brothers together", but directly sent Li Xianzhou into the encirclement of the People's Liberation Army. After Li Xianzhou was captured, Wang Yaowu did not feel sorry for the two people's party-state love and huangpu friendship, but instead sneered:
"More than 50,000 people were wiped out in three days before they knew it." Lao Tzu just put 50,000 pigs there, and told the communist army to catch them for three days! ”
In the Battle of Laiwu, Li Xianzhou's 73rd Army and 46th Army were wrapped in dumplings by the East China Field Army commanded by Chen Yi, and the entire army was destroyed, and 56,000 people were completely annihilated. Wang Yaowu's metaphor of "50,000 pigs" made Li Xianzhou more famous.
The Battle of Laiwu was a crushing defeat, and Wang Yaowu, then commander of the Kuomintang's Second Appeasement District, was at least half responsible. However, he still tried to rely on Jinan's stubborn resistance, and obviously threw the black cauldron of the lost Laiwu completely onto the head of "pig teammate" Li Xianzhou.
Li Xianzhou was born on June 17, 1894, to a landlord family in Changqing County, Shandong Province. Because of his family's wealth, he received a good education from an early age.
According to local customs, his parents arranged for him to marry a 22-year-old girl at the age of 14; Three years later, Li Xianzhou had a son. Among the senior Generals of the Kuomintang, Li Xianzhou was probably the first to be the father.
Li Xianzhou, who has already married and had children, did not willingly live the life of his wife and children. After marriage, he continued his studies, and at the age of 19, he was admitted to the prefectural single-level professor training institute to study, and after graduation, he became a primary school teacher for two years. Not only that, he also learned martial arts for 3 years, which can be described as both literary and martial arts.
Less than 20 years old, Li Xianzhou has already set up a household, according to the reason, such an ordinary life, teaching and educating people, there is nothing wrong with it. But he was not reconciled!
When the warlords divided their territory and the soldiers were in chaos, Li Xianzhou was very angry when he saw that some soldiers often bullied the common people, so he was determined to throw himself into the pen and make meritorious contributions to the benefit of the people. Li Xianzhou, who should have "cultivated peach and plum in the spring wind", was a glorious teacher of the people all his life, and the road of life has taken a turn at this point.
In 1924, Li Xianzhou, who was already 30 years old, was admitted to the Huangpu Phase I. Among all his classmates, he was the oldest and tallest, and when his classmates heard that he had married and had children in his hometown, and that he had such enthusiasm for serving the country and devoting himself to the military, they all admired him very much, calling him "Big Brother".
After a year of training at the Whampoa Military Academy, Li Xianzhou was assigned to the teaching regiment as a platoon leader after graduation, participating in the Eastern Crusade against Chen Jiongming. He fought bravely, was a pioneer, made many military achievements, and was soon promoted to company commander and successfully entered the sight of the headmaster, Chiang Kai-shek.
With Chiang Kai-shek's care, Li Xianzhou's career was smooth, and he soon went from company commander to battalion commander to regimental commander and deputy brigade commander. By 1932, Li Xianzhou was promoted to brigade commander.
Li Xianzhou, a person who is emotionally more wooden, is "low emotional intelligence" in today's words and is not good at greeting. He was able to move all the way up, which can be described as a great luck.
There are two reasons why Chiang Kai-shek attaches so much importance to him. On the one hand, striking iron also requires his own hardness, Li Xianzhou is brave in battle, has strict requirements for himself, never engages in the vice of prostitution and gambling, and is evaluated by Chiang Kai-shek as "a real soldier"; On the other hand, it is due to the huangpu origin, which is the concubine of Chiang Kai-shek.
Li Xianzhou was absolutely obedient to Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek also liked his "obedient" subordinate. Chiang Kai-shek's co-optation for Li Xianzhou was not only reflected in his promotion, but also in the "sympathy for subordinates" to buy people's hearts.
In July 1933, Li Xianzhou was trained in Lushan, Jiangxi. Li Xianzhou had the habit of taking a cold bath, and once, he took a bucket of cold water to find a place to hide from people, took off his coat and only wore a pair of shorts.
Li Xianzhou was washing happily, and turned his head in shock. Not far away, Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling were walking toward the place where he had taken a bath. Chiang Kai-shek usually pays the most attention to the appearance of subordinate soldiers, and Li Xianzhou was bumped into by him in the open shower, and a criticism was inevitable.
It was too late to dodge, and Li Xianzhou quickly pulled a towel around his lower body. He turned his back to Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang Kai-shek, pretending not to see, thinking that they would be finished walking by. Unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek and his wife not only did not go over, but stopped behind him.
Unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek not only did not criticize Li Xianzhou, but said with great concern: "The weather on the mountain is cold, the temperature is low, no better than the mountain, you wash it with cold water, you will get cold and sick, quickly put your clothes on and go to my residence." ”
The care from the principal made Li Xianzhou feel moved. Afterwards, he dressed neatly and went to Chiang Kai-shek's residence to plead guilty, and as soon as he entered the door, Li Xianzhou immediately reviewed and confessed his mistake.
But Chiang Kai-shek handed him two envelopes and said, "I didn't come to you because of your bathing." You have difficulties at home, why didn't you tell me earlier? ”
Li Xianzhou hurriedly said, "I don't have anything difficult, Headmaster!" ”
"Don't hide it from me, I know it all. Lord LingTang is ill, Ling Sister went abroad for further study, lack of funds, is there such a thing? Chiang Kai-shek asked with concern.
In the envelope that Chiang Kai-shek handed him, there were two bills of exchange, one for 5,000 yuan for his mother to see a doctor, and one for 3,000 yuan for his sister's study. Li Xianzhou took the envelope and almost cried.
Chiang Kai-shek's entrapment made Li Xianzhou feel grateful to him and die hard. In the summer of the second year after Lushan's training, Li Xianzhou led his troops to Jiangxi to participate in the "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army.
Since then, Li Xianzhou has become Chiang Kai-shek's confidant. Blind obedience to Chiang Kai-shek, willing to be an eagle dog, committed a great mistake to the people, and ultimately harmed him.
Objectively and fairly speaking, Li Xianzhou's performance in the War of Resistance Against Japan was not too bad.
After the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, Li Xianzhou led the 21st Division to fight against Japan and galloped in the front line of defending the family and defending the country. The following year, Li Xianzhou was promoted to commander of the 92nd Army, and led his troops to participate in 12 large-scale battles such as the Battle of Xinkou, the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Wuhan, and the Battle of Zaoyi, and made contributions to the anti-Japanese resistance.
Especially in the Battle of Xinkou, Li Xianzhou was a pioneer, disregarding the obstruction of his subordinates, and attacked the enemy's fire network in the indiscriminate bombardment of the Japanese army, vowing not to retreat, and finally was carried off the battlefield because of a bullet in the chest, and the position of bullet penetration was exactly between his two lobes and lungs, which can be described as nine deaths.
If he had not been tied to the carriage of the civil war by Chiang Kai-shek later, defeated and captured, Li Xianzhou would have been able to pass on to future generations with the reputation of a famous anti-Japanese general.
In 1946, Li Xianzhou was appointed commander-in-chief of the 28th Group Army, and also the commander-in-chief of the 1st Road Ting of Su Yuwan, and participated in the Incident in Southern Anhui. Soon, Li Xianzhou was appointed deputy commander of the Second Appeasement District and became the deputy of Wang Yaowu, a disciple who graduated from the third term of Huangpu.
Unfortunately, he did not last long as the deputy commander of the Appeasement Zone, and was taken prisoner of the People's Liberation Army in the Battle of Laiwu in February 1947.
After Li Xianzhou was captured, Chen Ruiting, commander of the Huaye Special Forces Column, heard the news and came to see him. Chen Ruiting saw that Li Xianzhou was injured, and said to the management personnel with great concern: "Deputy Commander Li is seriously injured, and we must send him to the Liaison Department for treatment as soon as possible." ”
Li Xianzhou was very touched, and he did not expect the People's Liberation Army to be so lenient toward him, his former battlefield enemy. What surprised him even more was that Chen Yi, commander-in-chief of Huaye, also came to visit him.
Chen Yi walked into the room, and Li Xianzhou couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart. For many years, his opponent had even lowered his dignity to see him as a prisoner of this rank. His face showed embarrassment, and he murmured, "Mr. Chen, look up for a long time!" ”
Chen Yi shook his hand and said, "Mr. Li, you are frightened! Chen Yi carefully inquired about his injury and treatment, and during the conversation, he also took a small bench cushion under Li Xianzhou's injured leg and said: "The injured leg should be raised higher, so that it will be more comfortable." Li Xianzhou was very grateful.
When talking to Chen Yi about his views on the Battle of Laiwu, Li Xianzhou learned that Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Yaowu had blamed him for the defeat in the Battle of Laiwu. He sighed and said:
"I'm in Jinan, and my name is Lieutenant General deputy commander of the Second Appeasement District, but in fact I'm just greeting ordinary guests for Wang Yaowu. This time he was sent to Laiwu, named The Frontline Commander, to put it bluntly, he was not just a messenger. For example, when Chen Cheng went to Jinan to discuss combat matters with Wang Yaowu, I was not allowed to participate. ”
Chen Yi nodded and comforted him: "Your Excellency was also a military officer during the War of Resistance, and later he was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the 15th Group Army. ”
Mentioning his meritorious efforts in resisting Japan, Li Xianzhou was very useful in his heart, saying: "At the moment of foreign enemies, defending the family and defending the country is the responsibility that every descendant of Yanhuang should fulfill. As a soldier, he galloped on the battlefield and struggled to kill the enemy. "The people will naturally not forget Li Xianzhou's contribution to the War of Resistance Against Japan.
A conversation with Chen Yi made Li Xianzhou let down his guard and gain a profound understanding of the PLA's policy of preferential treatment of prisoners. After that, he changed his position and actively opposed the civil war.
On March 21, 1947, Yan'an's "Liberation Daily" published the full text of the telegram signed by 19 captured Kuomintang generals under the title of "Li Xianzhou and Others Electrified against Civil War", and Li Xianzhou was at the top of the list. Seeing this telegram, Chiang Kai-shek was furious and scolded Li Xianzhou for his great rebellion.
After Li Xianzhou was sent to the Beijing Gongdelin War Criminals Management Office, he was actively reformed and had a profound understanding. Among the more than 200 captured Kuomintang war criminals, Li Xianzhou was the oldest, but in the best health, and he was known for eating, pulling, and sleeping "three times."
Later, because Li Xianzhou actively reformed and studied seriously, he often published his feelings after watching movies in the "Literary and Art Column", and was added "one de" and called "writing". Li Xianzhou laughed at himself and said, "The old man doesn't want three subordinates, he only needs four virtues." ”
In 1959, Li Xianzhou was received by Premier Zhou as a war criminal representative. Li Xianzhou said to Premier Zhou: "I still have one question that I have not explained. Premier Zhou smiled and asked, "What questions have not been explained?" ”
Li Xianzhou replied: "I also run a national twenty-second middle school, and I competed with the party for youth. Premier Zhou did not feel strange, but smiled and said, "What's wrong with that?" This is a great credit, aren't the young people you have cultivated all serving socialist construction? ”
Back in early 1941, Li Xianzhou led his troops to garrison northern Anhui and stayed here for two years. At the time of the War of Resistance, the people were displaced and many young people were left homeless.
In order to "cultivate the vitality of the state and save the young people in the trapped areas," Li Xianzhou, in the name of "eating empty pay," obtained a fee and set up a school to specially place students.
Li Xianzhou also served as the principal, and this school was the predecessor of the National Twenty-Two Middle School. The news that the school was in charge of eating, living, wearing, and studying was soon widely spread in the occupied areas, attracting a large number of young people from Shandong to venture far and wide.
In the face of the constant influx of hometown children, Li Xianzhou also felt a little embarrassed, just to support the daily food expenditure is not a small amount, in order to bite his teeth to move the school down, he said:
"Father Shandong trusted me and let these dolls risk their lives to find me through the Japanese blockade line, and I can't let them be displaced!"
Li Xianzhou tried everything to distribute fees to students not only in the name of "eating empty pay", but also according to the treatment of high-class soldiers. In 1942, he applied to the Nationalist government for funding to convert the school into the National No. 22 Middle School, which trained many students.
Years later, his students referred to him as "old headmaster." The matter of running the school not only won him a good impression in the hearts of the people in his hometown, but also later became a blessing for Li Xianzhou.
On November 28, 1960, the second batch of amnesty lists was announced, and Li Xianzhou ranked first. There was no Li Xianzhou in the list of the second batch of amnesty personnel, but it was added by Premier Zhou Enlai himself. It is said that Premier Zhou issued a written amnesty to only two war criminals, one of whom was Li Xianzhou.
Soon, Premier Zhou set up a banquet at his home to entertain several pardoned personnel from Whampoa, and specially let Li Xianzhou sit by his side and talk cordially with him. Premier Zhou said:
"There are hundreds of students in the first phase of Huangpu, and what impresses me the most is that you and Zeng Expand, because you are both older, and the students call you Big Brother Li and Big Brother Zeng."
Li Xianzhou said excitedly: "The students did not argue, they created a lot of sins, and they failed the teacher's teachings. Premier Zhou comforted: "Don't mention the past, we have to look forward." ”
In the Spring Festival of 1961, Li Xianzhou, who was already 67 years old, returned to his hometown of 14 years of thirst and was reunited with his family. When Li Xianzhou returned to his hometown, he received a warm welcome from local cadres and the masses, which made him feel a thousand emotions.
After returning to his hometown, Li Xianzhou kept in mind Premier Zhou's teachings and was elected to be a member of the CPPCC National Committee many times, giving full play to his residual heat to serve the people. In his spare time, Li Xianzhou teased his grandson, planted flowers and wrote, and spent a happy old age.
After Li Xianzhou returned to his hometown, he once wrote a couplet: "Knowing the present and the ancient, looking at the heavens and the earth widely." The short 10 words are also the most authentic feelings of this former anti-Japanese celebrity for life.
On October 2, 1988, Li Xianzhou died of illness in Jinan at the age of 94. Li Xianzhou's life experience can be described as ups and downs, he can finally put down his burdens and return to the embrace of the people, it can also be regarded as "knowing mistakes can be changed, and good is great." His long life and good death also show the happiness and comfort of his old age.
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