After the end of the War of Liberation in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's government lost Taiwan, a large number of former Kuomintang members would follow him to Treasure Island, all of whom were middle figures in the previous Kuomintang government, including Chen Cheng of the "Civil Engineering Department".
Chen Cheng, as an early elder of the government and also a confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, was reused after Taiwan and became the chairman of the Taiwan provincial government, the second most important figure in the government after Chiang Kai-shek.
However, before Chen Cheng's death in March 1965, he gave his wife a "note" with only four words as a will, and the wife saw that the color behind the content changed greatly, what did Chen Cheng say in the will, and even let the family react so much?
(Chen Cheng)
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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > the civil engineering department of Chen Cheng's half-life</h1>
Chen Cheng was born in 1898 to an ordinary family in Qingtian, Zhejiang Province, and his life did not resemble that of most of the Later Kuomintang generals, and he was able to have his later status by relying on himself step by step. As a general from the veteran Whampoa Military Academy, Chen Cheng was able to receive Chiang Kai-shek's attention, but it was very accidental.
In 1919, Chen Cheng was admitted to the Baoding Military School, and because of his height, he was rejected by the school, but because he studied very hard and with the help of his fellow villagers, he was admitted out of the box. The changes in the situation and the experience of the Baoding Military School also made Chen Cheng secretly determined that he must make a career.
In 1925, Chen Cheng was invited to the Whampoa Military Academy and began to serve as a deputy instructor as a general from the artillery section of the Baoding Military Academy. It was also during this period that Chen Cheng had the opportunity to make further contacts with Chiang Kai-shek. Although Chen Cheng was good-looking, his height was a hard injury, and among the tall and tall military cadets, he was not too noticeable.
Chen Cheng's face was Zhou Zheng, his speech and deeds were generous, and at the beginning, Chiang Kai-shek did not notice him. When he was inspecting the post one evening, Chiang Kai-shek, as the principal, saw that there was a room with a faint light, raised his interest, and when he was at the door, he saw Chen Chengfu reading a book, originally thought that he was reading popular novels like other young people, but when he went in, he found that Chen Cheng was reading Sun Yat-sen's Three People's Principles, chiang kai-shek was greatly satisfied, and in the subsequent contacts, Chen Cheng also used his good ability to gradually win Chiang Kai-shek's trust, and appointed him as the commander of the artillery battalion. He was then sent to the battlefield of Chen Jiongming's crusade.
(Three People's Principles Books)
It was in this battle that Chen Cheng's "three guns fixed the country" determined the political and military trajectory of his life. In the Battle of Mianhu, in the face of the enemy with dozens of times the strength of the enemy, Chen Cheng was under tremendous pressure, if this battle was to be won, it would be fatal, Chen Cheng dragged his arm in his hand, stood in front of the fort, fired three cannons in a row, and hit the target one by one, and his life also rose with this shell.
From 1928 to 1937, Chen Cheng went from company commander to division commander and army commander to a close confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, and when the Central Plains War broke out in 1930, Chen Cheng accepted the battle order, and he slept all the way and did not dare to relax for a moment.
Looking at dozens of well-known generals in the Kuomintang government, Chen Cheng's military command ability is very general among them, but he is a very good person, not only loyal to his superiors, but also very sympathetic to his subordinates. In 1930, when the Central Plains War broke out, Chen Cheng was ordered to lead the 11th Division to the jinpu line battlefield, repeatedly defeated the enemy troops, achieved quite good results, and then occupied the key city of Zhengzhou.
After seeing the performance of the army, Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied, and gave Chen Cheng a reward of 200,000 silver dollars with a big hand, in fact, this money was given to Chen Cheng, that is, it was arranged with him, whether it was swallowed alone or given away, there would be no doubt. However, Chen Cheng's reaction to this huge amount of money surprised everyone, he distributed the 200,000 yuan to the soldiers under his command, and sympathized with the families of the dead and wounded soldiers, which was respected by the whole army, and even Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied after he knew it, and repeatedly praised Chen Cheng's profound righteousness and sincere heart in front of others.
Chen Cheng became more and more trusted by Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling, and in order to win over Chen Cheng, Chiang Kai-shek also married his own daughter to Chen Cheng, and the relationship between the two became closer, and Chen Cheng's identity was also plated with the strongest light, he had the Huangpu Military Academy that Chiang Kai-shek cared about very much, and he was a fellow villager and a relative of Chiang Kai-shek's middle-level, plus Chen Cheng's ability was indeed good, and it was natural to be reused.
In modern history, many times everyone refers to Chen Cheng as "little Chiang Kai-shek" and "little chairman." How close are the two? In the "Xi'an Incident" that shocked China and foreign countries, Chiang Kai-shek was detained in Xi'an by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, and Chiang Kai-shek was not alone at that time, but accompanied by Chen Cheng. Chen Cheng witnessed Chiang Kai-shek's rare period of embarrassment and despair, and the two became closer and closer.
Although Chen Cheng was a staunch Chiang Kai-shek faction, in terms of national righteousness, the quality was still remarkable, in 1937 the Outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began, the Kuomintang government at that time still had different opinions on the war, although the main battle prevailed, but there were still some people who were afraid and timid, had hope for the Japanese, and wanted to maintain the previous relations.
After Chen Cheng knew about these people's remarks, he publicly reprimanded them many times, and he vigorously advocated the War of Resistance, and also said that "instead of dying without a war, it is better to survive than to fight." For a time, Chen Cheng's remarks caused a sensation and aroused many people's confidence in the anti-Japanese resistance.
As for Chen Cheng's performance in the war, in fact, many people have looked at it, and his level is pertinent to say that it is very general, if you do not evaluate it politely, that is, you have lost more and won less, and there is almost a world of difference in battle results with recognized military command geniuses such as Xue Yue and Bai Chongxi, although he holds the five aces of the Kuomintang and is equipped with advanced weapons, it still does not affect his inexhaustible record.
In fact, for a military general of Chen Cheng's level, although his limited ability is not the top level, it will not be so bad that it is incredible, but where did Chen Cheng's failures come from?
(Xue Yue, an important commander of the Battle of Changsha)
First of all, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Battle of Songhu was very tragic, this was a large-scale battle between China and Japan, the Japanese side almost threw its national strength into the war, the Kuomintang troops were defeated and left, although they struggled to resist, but still suffered heavy losses, and the subsequent Battles of Wuhan and Changsha were also the same result. During the period, small battles continued, even if there were local victories and losses, in the early stage of defense, the main forces were gradually defeated and retreated, even if there were victories, in the case of overall defeat, nothing could be revealed.
Moreover, during the Liberation War, after the outbreak of the war, the Kuomintang side was very confident and wanted to end the battle in a short period of time, and Chen Cheng also rarely declared in public that the problem of the Platon Army would be solved in three to five months. What about the facts? In this war, the Kuomintang troops were gradually defeated, and when they were in the northeast, they also saw the powerful strength of the People's Liberation Army, and did not take advantage of it in several battles, but instead let Lin Shuai, a student at the Whampoa Military Academy, fight with teeth on the ground and was also dismissed from the post of commander-in-chief of the front line.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > defeated Taiwan, the glory and end of the Chen Cheng era</h1>
There is no doubt that Chen Cheng was patriotic, and his performance during the War of Resistance Against Japan can be seen; after the Kuomintang defeated Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek's heart and mind was to make a comeback by counterattacking the mainland, which almost became his obsession.
As the only faction of real power after arriving in Taiwan, after many former high-ranking Kuomintang officials were "shelved", Chen Cheng was instead used to the greatest extent possible, and gradually became the second person in the Kuomintang government, holding the military power and the right to speak in government affairs in the province. In dealing with the matter of "counter-offensive," Chen Cheng also advised Chiang Kai-shek on many occasions.
However, with the passage of time and the changes in the situation at home and abroad, this idea gradually became impossible. Fortunately, Chen Cheng was one of the earliest sober people, especially at that time on the island, there were still forces manipulating other countries behind him, and if he did not get it right, he would become a sinner of history. As a descendant of Huaxia, Chen Cheng's wishes have never been said to his face, but almost everyone understands that in 1963, Zhang Zhizhong once wrote a letter to Chen Cheng, hoping to resolve this matter peacefully, Chen Cheng's heart was very touched, and he was homesick like everyone else.
But at this time, Chen Cheng, who was already suffering from liver cancer, could no longer make any decisions, nor could he make up his mind and make decisions, so he tossed around on the sickbed for two years, ushering in the last time of his life in 1965. On March 3, Chen Cheng fell into a coma several times, and when he woke up again, he made a will from his family on paper and pencil.
Staying with him was the eldest son Chen Lu'an, who sat silently next to his father Chen Cheng with grief and began to record what his father said, Chen Cheng originally wanted to write a will himself, and after several attempts, he was physically weak, so he had to vaguely record what he wanted to say to his son.
His will probably has three meanings: first, to ask everyone to follow in the footsteps of the leadership and complete the revolutionary cause; second, no matter what happens, everyone must share hardships and hardships and never abandon them; third, strengthen the building of party affairs and unite internally.
Chen Cheng's will did not reveal any remarks of "counter-attacking the mainland" without revealing anything, which can actually show Chen Cheng's attitude. Afterwards, the Kuomintang staff came with this will to ask Chen Cheng's wife Tan Xiang if Chen Cheng's will could be appropriately changed and add "counter-attack on the mainland"?
Mrs. Chen shook her head, firmly believing that the will should be published to the public, and did not want to change anything in it. The will was quickly sent to Chiang Kai-shek, who was silent for half a moment and also decided to publish it according to the original.
In fact, on Chen Cheng's will, in addition to the great cause of the party, there are a few words written about his arrangement after his death - "Chen Death Cremation", after seeing this will, Mrs. Tan Xiang was greatly shocked, in the national tradition of paying attention to the burial of the country, cremation of this kind of "damage" of the body is particularly unique, especially at that time, Chen Cheng's request is even more unusual.
(Chen Cheng, right)
However, this was his wish before his death, and after consultation, the government and Chen Cheng's family decided to follow the will and cremate it.
epilogue
Chen Cheng's life has done wrong things, but he has never lost his national integrity, nor has he lost anything in the general righteousness; after Chen Cheng's death, even Premier Zhou said that "Chen Cixiu is a patriotic person", which shows that Chen Cheng's belief is still recognized by many people.