In August 1942, Chen Cheng received a letter from a woman who deeply touched him and made him make a bold decision.
At the beginning of 1941, the "Southern Anhui Incident" occurred in Jiangnan that shocked China and foreign countries, and Ye Ting, as the commander of the New Fourth Army, was severely tested. At the critical juncture, he resolutely went down the mountain to negotiate with the Kuomintang regardless of his personal safety. After that, it was illegally detained by the Kuomintang diehards.
From this moment on, the patriotic general who led the New Fourth Army to persist in the war of resistance behind enemy lines in Central China lost his freedom for five years.
After Ye Ting was detained, the Party Central Committee was worried about his safety, and his wife Li Xiuwen was even more anxious. Despite the fact that she was a few months pregnant, she ran in many ways to rescue her husband, and she knew deeply that General Ye Ting would never do anything that endangered the country and the nation.
In December 1942, after Li Xiuwen learned from others the specific place where Ye Ting was imprisoned - Enshi, Hubei, he was overjoyed. Because Chen Cheng happened to be there, and he had a very good relationship with Ye Ting.
Chen Cheng and Ye Ting both graduated from the Baoding Military Academy, and the two admired each other and talked very well.
After the establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy, the two went there again and served as instructors. It just so happened that the chief captain of the military academy was serious (the word Lisan) was also a Whampoa student, and the three of them cherished each other and married Jin Lan.
Seriously old, respected as the eldest brother; Ye Ting is one year old and seriously old, in the middle; Chen Cheng is the youngest and is the third brother.
In mid-December 1936, the Xi'an Incident broke out, Chiang Kai-shek was arrested, and Chen Cheng and other senior generals were also detained. Ye Ting was so anxious when he heard the news that he rushed from Shanghai to Nanjing overnight to meet He Yingqin and offered to lead the army to Xi'an to rescue him. Chen Cheng was moved to tears when he learned about it, and immediately made an appointment to meet Ye Ting after returning to Nanjing to express his gratitude.
Now that Ye Ting is in trouble, Chen Cheng, as a brother, cannot sit idly by. Li Xiuwen picked up the pen and wrote a letter to Chen Cheng:
"My husband Ye Ting was arrested, could not be seen, was wounded, and was imprisoned...... I wanted to go to the gate to face you to grieve and suffer, but I can't make the trip until I give birth, and if something happens to my husband, what will happen to the women and children of the family?"
In the end, Li Xiuwen said that she was willing to reunite with Ye Ting, and if her husband must go to prison, then she chose to accompany her husband to prison together.
Chen Cheng was also moved by it after reading it, and was full of emotion, and immediately "extrajudicial kindness", agreed to Li Xiuwen's request that year, and arranged for the couple to reunite in October of that year.
When Li Xiuwen accompanied her husband in prison, she also delivered letters to Ye Ting, and the article "Prisoner Song" was passed on through her hands.
It can be seen from this that although Chen Cheng was a pawn of Chiang Kai-shek and had committed anti-communist and anti-people crimes, human nature has a complex side, and he has also done some things worthy of affirmation.
In addition to letting Mrs. Ye go to the prison and accompany the general, he also arranged for Zhou Enlai to have a meeting with Ye Ting.
Zhou Enlai and Ye Ting's relationship began at the Whampoa Military Academy, and the two not only shared the same spirit, but also shared the same beliefs. In August 1927, under the leadership of Zhou Enlai, Ye Ting participated in the Nanchang Uprising, and the revolutionary friendship was further strengthened.
Ten years later, in August 1937, Zhou Enlai met with Ye Ting at the New Asia Hotel in Shanghai under the arrangement of Pan Hannian, and told him that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had begun a second cooperation, and that the Red Army in the south was about to form the New Fourth Army.
Zhou Enlai also said to Ye Ting: "I asked you to come only for one thing, I hope you will be the commander of the New Fourth Army." ”
"As you know, I'm no longer a member of the party. Ye Ting said embarrassedly.
"It is precisely because you are not a party member that you decided to do so. ”
"What do you mean by that?"
Chiang Kai-shek believed that the commander of the New Fourth Army could only be held by a person from the Kuomintang, and our party originally resolutely disagreed, but for the sake of the overall situation of resisting Japan, our party took a step back and proposed that a person without party affiliation should serve as the commander, and the old Chiang also agreed. ”
After listening to Zhou Enlai's words, Ye Tingquan understood. Out of trust in Zhou Enlai, Ye Ting, who has been out of the party for ten years, was very moved and immediately agreed.
"You can also take advantage of your special relationship with Chen Cheng to get the other party to recommend you to the post of military commander in front of Chiang Kai-shek. Zhou Enlai added. Following Zhou Enlai's instructions, Ye Ting saw Chen Cheng and said his thoughts.
Chen Cheng was naturally very willing to cooperate, and said in front of Chiang Kai-shek that Ye Ting's appointment as a military commander would be beneficial and harmless to the party and the state. Chen Cheng is Chiang Kai-shek's confidant, one of Chiang's Eight King Kongs, and his words naturally carry a lot of weight. Sure enough, a month later, Chiang Kai-shek announced that Ye Ting would be the commander of the New Fourth Army.
After that, because of the command of the New Fourth Army, Ye Ting and Xiang Ying had a fierce conflict, during which Ye resigned several times. At this time, it was Zhou Enlai who personally came forward to mediate and persuade Xiang Ying to respect Ye Ting's opinion and give him the military command he deserved.
At the beginning of 1941, due to indecisive decision-making, the New Fourth Army in Jiangnan was surrounded by recalcitrant troops on all sides, and the situation was critical.
At that time, the person who commanded the recalcitrant army to surround the New Fourth Army was Shangguan Yunxiang, who was a Baoding student and also an alumnus of Ye Ting.
And Shangguan Yunxiang's top boss Gu Zhutong is also a Baoding student. Under Secretary Rao's repeated requests, Ye Ting had to rely on his special identity to go down the mountain to negotiate with the stubborn enemy to save the whole army after asking the Central Committee for instructions.
But because of Chiang Kai-shek, Shangguan Yunxiang and Gu Zhutong did not dare to show favoritism, not only did they not release the New Fourth Army, but also detained Ye Ting.
On January 3, 1942, Ye Ting was transferred from Shangrao, Jiangxi Province to Chongqing, the capital of China, and was secretly guarded by the military commanders.
The relationship between Chen Cheng and Ye Ting is well known, and it is impossible for Chiang Kai-shek not to know, so he came up with an idea and asked Chen Cheng to come forward to persuade Ye Ting, hoping that he would issue a statement admitting his mistakes, change his position, and use it for his own use.
After all, Ye Ting is not a member of the Communist Party, and there is a possibility of vacillation.
Chen Cheng knows Ye Ting, a sworn brother, knows his stubborn temper, and is not sure of persuasion. However, Chiang Kai-shek's orders could not but be carried out. In order to complete the task, Chen Cheng thought of Zhou Enlai.
Chen Cheng said to Zhou En: "Brother, I don't approve of everything Shangguan Yunxiang did in southern Anhui, but you know the arbitrariness of the chairman, brother, I have a hard time." ”
He paused and said, "The matter has passed, now I just want to save Xiyi, he only needs to make a statement, brother I can guarantee his life." ”
Zhou Enlai solemnly said: "First of all, our party does not approve of this, after all, the New Fourth Army is not wrong. ”
When Chen Cheng heard this, he looked very embarrassed and kept pacing in the room.
"Secondly, you also know Xiyi's temper, he will not admit his mistake to Mr. Jiang. Zhou Enlai said again.
Chen Cheng had no choice but to have a showdown with Ye Ting in person. As expected, Ye Ting categorically refused to admit his mistake to Lao Jiang: "Our New Fourth Army was ordered to move north, why is it wrong?"
Knowing that Zhou Enlai was coming, Ye Ting said that he hoped to meet with Zhou Gong.
Ye Ting also wanted to meet Zhou Enlai, report to him the details of the incident in southern Anhui, and tell him his hardships and firm belief in the revolution. But without Chiang Kai-shek's permission, Chen Cheng did not dare to call the shots, and Ye Ting's wish was disappointed.
Chen Cheng also felt guilty about this, and was always looking for an opportunity to make amends. On December 3, 1942, Chen Cheng attended a military meeting chaired by Chiang Kai-shek, and euphemistically expressed his hope that Ye Ting would be handed over to the custody of the Sixth War Zone.
"Why, isn't he good in the military command?" Chiang Kai-shek's eyes widened, feeling dissatisfied.
"There are rumors in the outside world that Xiyi has been mistreated in the military command, and if he gets to my sixth war zone, no one else can say anything. Chen Cheng said cautiously.
When Chiang Kai-shek heard this, he felt that it was reasonable, and it could be regarded as giving Chen Cheng face, and then he wrote an edict approving Ye Ting's transfer to the Sixth War Zone for detention.
After getting the edict, Chen Chengru got a treasure, and sent his adjutant to see Dai Li early the next morning, went through the handover procedures, and took Ye Ting to the Tongde warship that had been moored by the river.
In order to realize Ye Ting's long-cherished wish, Chen Cheng also informed Zhou Enlai and Guo Moruo in Chongqing to secretly board the ship in the dawn of night and talk with Ye Ting and his wife.
What they said after meeting is unknown to outsiders. The meeting between Zhou Gong and Ye Ting was not mentioned in the biography of Zhou Gong and his chronology, so it is little known. But all this could not be hidden from the eyes of the military commander's spies, and Dai Li quickly knew about it and reported it to Lao Jiang.
On December 6, Chiang Kai-shek received a secret report from Dai Li, the core of which was only one: "Zhou Enlai had met with Ye Ting under the arrangement of Chief Chen."
In this regard, Chen Cheng also recorded in his diary that day: "December 4th...... Zhou Enlai and Guo Moruo came to the ship to talk."
It can be seen that Zhou Enlai seems to have indeed met Ye Ting. Zhou Gong is different from Pan Hannian, he is a revolutionary with a strong sense of organization, he will not meet Ye Ting privately, he will definitely ask for instructions in advance, and he will report afterwards. However, there is no mention of this matter in his chronology.
Was it the need for secrecy, or the editor's negligence, or did not exist? In any case, the matter remains a mystery and there is no definite answer.
Source: "The Ups and Downs of the Shogun" Author: Li Qihua Liaoning People's Publishing House "The Encounters and Entanglements of the Three Jinlan Brothers of Serious, Chen Cheng and Ye Ting" Hubei Literature and History Hubei People's Publishing House "Hook and Sink: Zhou Enlai and Ye Ting" Author Tong Ziqiang, Vice President of the New Fourth Army Research Association Shangguan News April 5, 2018