Among the many strategists around Chiang Kai-shek, one named Yang Yongtai was particularly prominent, talented and strategic.
He was behind Chiang's "political encirclement and suppression" that forced the Red Army to start the Long March.
He skillfully weakened Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, Li Zongren and other strong opponents, and helped Jiang dominate the country.
He offered Chiang Kai-shek three times, known as the "poisonous Zhuge of the Republic of China", and Yang Yongtai's conspiracy layout was more ruthless and black-bellied each time.
Intersecting political ambitions
At this turning point in history in 1928, Chiang Kai-shek, who had just returned to the political scene, felt that he was in dire need of a resourceful strategist in a think tank.
At this critical moment, Chiang Kai-shek's brother Huang Ying recommended him a figure with great potential - Yang Yongtai.
Huang Yin praised Yang Yongtai to Chiang Kai-shek:
"Mr. Yang Changqing is a genius of the world, and he has a full stomach of economy in his chest, which is enough to assist in governing the country. He can do nothing more than I can, and he often can't do what I can. For the national plan, Wang Gong pondered and studied. ”
This praise from the mouth of the alliance brother convinced Chiang Kai-shek and filled him with strong expectations for Yang Yongtai.
Yang Yongtai, also known as Changqing, was born in Maoming, Guangdong Province in 1880 and received a strict traditional education from an early age. As an adult, he entered the Guangzhou Higher School and the Beijing College of Law and Politics for further study, receiving modern education.
After graduating, Yang Yongtai joined the newspaper industry as a reporter and editor at Guangdong Daily, where he became famous in the Pearl River region for his fluent writing, quick thinking and profound arguments.
In 1912, he was elected to the National Assembly of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.
In the subsequent movement to protect the country, the Kuomintang represented by Zhang Yaozeng and Li Gengen organized the Political Science Society (also known as the Department of Political Science), and Yang Yongtai actively participated in it and became an important member of it.
During the Movement to Protect the Law, the Department of Political Science defected to the warlords in the southwest and planned to reorganize the military government to squeeze out Sun Yat-sen.
As a core member of the Department of Political Science, Yang Yongtai participated in the work of the reorganized military government, and served as director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance and governor.
But with the fall of the military junta, Yang Yongtai left Guangzhou and defected to the Beiyang government, becoming a member of parliament again.
However, the good times were short-lived, and the Diet was soon dissolved, and the Department of Political Science collapsed.
Yang Yongtai came to Shanghai amid the changing political situation, silently waiting for the opportunity, hoping to make a comeback.
It was against this historical background that the trajectory of Yang Yongtai's life intersected with Chiang Kai-shek's political ambitions.
He first approached his old friend Xiong Shihui, an old friend from his military junta, who was not only an important confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, but also a key figure in the political landscape of the time.
Through Xiong Shihui's recommendation, Yang Yongtai skillfully entered Chiang Kai-shek's political circle and began to give advice to Chiang Kai-shek.
Yang Yongtai's upward trajectory is not only due to his profound educational background and insight into politics and law, but more importantly, his rich experience in officialdom and his keen grasp of the mechanism of power.
He is proficient in understanding the psychology of upper leaders, and is good at finding his foothold in the complex political environment, that is, the capable "sycophant" in the workplace.
His ability lies in seeing the situation, taking advantage of it, and seizing opportunities at critical moments.
These qualities allowed him to quickly win the trust of Chiang Kai-shek.
Under Chiang Kai-shek's trust and respect, Yang Yongtai quickly became Chiang's right-hand man.
Chiang Kai-shek's praise for him can be seen: "No matter how big or small, he must do business, often talk for a long time at night, obey his words, and there is no comparison between the left and the right."
During his days by Chiang Kai-shek's side, Yang Yongtai wholeheartedly excluded dissidents for Chiang Kai-shek with the belief that "those who are confidants die".
Yang Yongtai's wholehearted devotion is also paving the way for his political career. While consolidating Chiang Kai-shek's regime, he also accumulated a lot of political capital and influence for himself.
Contribute to the elimination of feudal domains and fight against local factions
In 1928, the Nationalist government in Nanjing nominally achieved the reunification of China, a historical moment that was ostensibly glamorous. However, the reality behind the scenes is far more complex than it seems.
There were constant factional disputes within the Kuomintang, and the local powerful factions were huge, among which Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, Li Zongren, and others constituted a huge obstacle for Chiang Kai-shek to monopolize the power of the central government.
In particular, Li Zongren of the Gui family, who was the key person who forced Chiang Kai-shek to go into the field for the first time, was still fresh in Chiang Kai-shek's memory and unwilling.
Against this background, the solution to the problem of local forces became Chiang Kai-shek's top priority.
In July 1928, Chiang Kai-shek convened an important military aftermath conference in Beiping, trying to reorganize the army and reduce the number of troops by putting forward the "Military Plan" and "Military Opinions" in order to weaken the military power of the local forces.
However, this plan of his was strongly resisted by Feng, Yan, Li and others, and the conference ended in failure, and Chiang Kai-shek's plan failed to materialize.
Entering 1929, Chiang Kai-shek did not abandon his strategy.
He convened a national conference in Nanjing, where he once again tried to weaken local forces such as Feng, Yan, and Li through political means.
The meeting adopted the "Outline of the Procedures for the Reorganization of the National Army", which seemed to be a victory for Chiang Kai-shek, but in fact, due to the resolute resistance of Feng, Yan, Li and others, this plan was finally in vain and had to be hastily concluded.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was in a dilemma with the strategy of dealing with various local factions, and just when he was in a dilemma and could not find a suitable solution, Yang Yongtai appeared, and he wasted no time in proposing a brilliant plan to "cut the feudal domain".
Yang Yongtai's plan was highly strategic and targeted, and he proposed using different methods to deal with different local forces.
For Feng Yuxiang's Second Army, he suggested using economic means to solve the problem, for Yan Xishan's Third Army, Yang Yongtai suggested using political means, and in the face of Li Zongren's Fourth Army, military methods should be used, and as for Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army, he proposed to deal with it by diplomatic means.
Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed when he heard of this plan, believing that it was the key to solving the problem.
He decided to first use military means to eliminate Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Gui line.
Under the direction of Yang Yongtai, Chiang Kai-shek began the operation in March 1929.
He first dismantled the alliance between the two Cantons, put Li Jishen under house arrest, and appointed Chen Mingshu and Chen Jitang to govern Guangdong, a move that effectively weakened the political base of the Gui lineage.
Next, Chiang Kai-shek sent Tang Shengzhi to Tianjin with a huge amount of money, with the aim of recovering the old army and disintegrating the Gui army in the north.
At the same time, Yang Yongtai personally stepped in and persuaded Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi's political rival Yu Zuobai to come forward and promote Li Mingrui's defection.
This series of subtle moves led to the collapse of Gui's army without a fight, and Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi were eventually forced to flee Hong Kong.
In March 1930, the curtain of the Central Plains War officially opened. The war was triggered by the three major factions of Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, and Li Zongren uniting against Chiang Kai-shek.
In the face of the powerful offensive of the coalition forces, Chiang Kai-shek's political and military position was severely tested.
At this time, Yang Yongtai suggested to Chiang Kai-shek to adopt the tactics of land warfare and air force coordination, and at the same time use silver dollars to disintegrate Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army. His second proposal was even more bold, proposing to enlist the support of Zhang Xueliang of the Northeast Army who had a wait-and-see attitude at all costs.
Chiang Kai-shek acted according to Yang Yongtai's plan and used the tricks of money politics. He bribed Feng's generals with a lot of money, and sent Wu Tiecheng and Zhang Qun to the northeast with huge sums of money, trying to win over Zhang Xueliang, hoping to gain the support of the Northeast Army on the battlefield or at least remain neutral.
This fierce battle ended in a resounding victory for Chiang Kai-shek.
The Northwest Army almost completely collapsed under the collapse of the Silver Dollar Offensive, and only the remnants of the 29th Army remained.
Yan Xishan's power in Shanxi was greatly weakened, and he had to retreat to his hometown for a long time.
And Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, who were once imposing, could only operate silently in a corner of Guangxi, and their political and military influence declined significantly.
The poisonous plan to "suppress the Communist Party" and the military and political encirclement and suppression
After successfully implementing the strategy of "cutting down the feudal domain", Chiang Kai-shek quickly turned his attention to the Soviet areas under the leadership of the Communist Party, determined to "encircle and suppress" this emerging political force by military force.
Chiang Kai-shek, having just defeated the powerful factions in various localities, was full of confidence and believed that the Communist Party was not to be worried.
However, the facts were beyond his expectations: the hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops suffered heavy defeats in two successive "encirclement and suppression" campaigns, while the Red Army became more and more courageous and its morale was high.
In June 1931, Chiang Kai-shek personally led 300,000 troops to carry out the third "encirclement and suppression" of the Soviet area, but after several months of fighting, the result was still a loss of troops and no substantive victory.
The successive failures of these three "encirclement and suppression" made Chiang Kai-shek extremely anxious, and he could not sleep and eat well.
At this critical moment, "Poison Zhuge " came out again to offer advice.
As Chiang Kai-shek's thinker and confidant, Yang Yongtai had his own views and strategies on how to deal with the Red Army.
He knew very well that the Red Army was not just an ordinary army, but a party army, and its strength was derived from firm political convictions.
Yang Yongtai believes that it is difficult to achieve results in relying solely on military means to "encircle and suppress" and that a more comprehensive strategy must be adopted.
Therefore, when Chiang Kai-shek was in trouble, he promptly put forward the "policy of suppressing the Communists" of "three parts military and seven points political".
This strategy included not only military operations, but also political, economic, cultural and other aspects, with the aim of weakening and eliminating the influence and combat effectiveness of the Red Army in all directions.
Yang Yongtai's strategy of "suppressing the Communists" proposed to Chiang Kai-shek emphasized the principle of "three parts military, seven parts political."
He advocated a greater focus on the use of political and social measures outside of military operations.
Specifically, he suggested strengthening management and propaganda for the people in the bandit areas, improving local governance, eliminating local evil forces, and providing relief and daily life guidance for the poor, with the aim of weakening the influence of the Communist Party among the people.
In addition, he advocated the implementation of a policy of leniency for members of the Communist Party who surrendered.
In April 1932, Yang Yongtai was appointed secretary general of Nanchang Xingying, chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, responsible for advising Chiang Kai-shek on the "suppression of the Communists".
In order to implement this policy of suppressing the Communist Party, he proposed a series of political and administrative reform measures, including reforming the political system, establishing a system of administrative commissioners, and implementing the four programs of "discipline, education, upbringing, and health." He also believed that administrators must have high morals, strong physique, and a wealth of knowledge. These measures are aimed at eradicating the root causes of unrest.
Under Yang Yongtai's tactics and policies, Chiang Kai-shek's army caused great difficulties to the central Soviet zone, which eventually forced the Red Army to withdraw from the Soviet zone and embark on the Long March.
Therefore, Yang Yongtai can be said to be the mastermind behind the forced Long March of the Red Army.
Dedication is counted in Sichuan, and the right is collected in three steps
Since ancient times, Sichuan has been known as the land of abundance, with fertile land and abundant resources, it is one of China's important economic zones and a key military strategic zone.
This region, which includes Sichuan, Xikang, Yunnan and Guizhou, was strategically important and served as a strong rear of the Nationalist government in the war of resistance.
After the Red Army's Long March in 1934, Chiang Kai-shek realized the political importance of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou as an opportunity for further unification.
The situation in Sichuan is particularly complicated, and Liu Xiang is the main powerful faction there. Although Liu Xiang was grateful for Chiang Kai-shek's past support, he was always wary of the intervention of the Central Army.
When Chiang Kai-shek proposed to send troops to assist in the "suppression of the Communists", Liu Xiang resolutely opposed the entry of the Central Army into Sichuan and only asked the Central Committee to provide ordnance support.
Against this background, Yang Yongtai proposed to Chiang Kai-shek: take advantage of the current situation to consolidate relations with Liu Xiang and provide financial and military support, without directly sending troops, and only suggesting that a staff corps be sent to Chongqing.
Then, it was suggested that the Nanchang camp should be abolished and the Chongqing camp should be set up instead, in the name of chasing and suppressing the communist army, but in fact it would gradually infiltrate Sichuan and finally achieve the goal of reunification.
Yang Yongtai tailored this "three-step process into Sichuan" for Chiang Kai-shek.
On January 12, 1935, He Guoguang, the head of the Nanchang camp, led the military police and staff group into Sichuan, beginning the expansion of Chiang's forces in the southwest region.
Although Liu Xiang could hardly refuse this move, it marked the initial realization of the infiltration of Chiang Kai-shek's forces in Sichuan.
Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek went to Chongqing in March, upgraded the staff group to the Chongqing camp, and appointed Yang Yongtai as the secretary general of the camp, which laid the foundation for depriving Liu Xiang of military and political power.
Next, Chiang Kai-shek adopted Yang Yongtai's suggestion to further consolidate the central government's influence in Sichuan through a series of actions. First of all, the system of local defense zones was broken, a provincial government with Liu Xiang as chairman was established, and administrative regions were redivided.
Then, the Sichuan currency system was unified, the budget system was established, and the financial system was organized.
At the same time, the Sichuan army was reorganized, including reduction and reorganization, and an officer training regiment was established in Emei, with Chiang Kai-shek himself as the commander, to conduct rotational training for the Sichuan army.
Through this series of carefully planned steps, Chiang Kai-shek gradually achieved control of Sichuan, transforming it into a solid rear of the Nationalist government in the southwest.
He was assassinated when he was in power and opposition, and he was a victim of factional struggle
Yang Yongtai reached the peak of his power under the deep trust of Chiang Kai-shek.
Yang Yongtai's power was so great that all important Kuomintang military and political documents and telegrams had to be reviewed by him, and many military and political dignitaries had to approve his arrangements when they saw Chiang Kai-shek.
Around him, a group of military and political dignitaries gathered, including Foreign Minister Huang Guo and Hubei Provincial Chairman Zhang Qun.
These people, along with Yang Yongtai, constitute the so-called New Political Science Department. Although this group did not have a fixed organization and political platform, they were closely united through personal relationships and political understanding, forming an influential political alliance.
Most of them were knowledgeable, proficient in government affairs, loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, and highly trusted by Chiang.
The rapid rise of the New Politics Department and the authoritarian rule of Yang Yongtai caused widespread concern and discontent within the KMT.
Hu Hanmin and others were the first to oppose Yang Yongtai because they were angry about Yang Yongtai's 1917 exclusion of Sun Yat-sen, believing that Chiang Kai-shek's reuse of him amounted to betrayal.
Even more acutely in conflict with Yang Yongtai was the CC department (the so-called Central Club), which lost power in the four provinces of Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangxi because of the new political science department.
During the fifth "encirclement and suppression", in order to weaken the influence of the CC department and expand his own power, Yang Yongtai proposed to Chiang Kai-shek the strategy of concentrating the party, government, and military forces on the "headquarters of the suppression of bandits".
Chiang Kai-shek accepted this suggestion and made major changes to the Kuomintang organization in the four provinces of Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangxi, giving members of the New Political Science Department control of party affairs in these areas.
Yang Yongtai also intervened in the appointment of KMT central and local government officials, and power that had been controlled by the CC department gradually shifted into his hands.
This series of measures caused strong dissatisfaction among the CC department, but because Yang Yongtai was deeply trusted by Chiang Kai-shek and had been active by Chiang's side for a long time, the CC department could only temporarily stand still out of scruples about Chiang Kai-shek.
The time was fast approaching.
In December 1935, Yang Yongtai left Chiang Kai-shek to become chairman of the Hubei provincial government. However, this change provided an opportunity for assassination by his political enemies.
On October 25, 1936, after attending a banquet at the Japanese Consulate in Hankow, Yang Yongtai was attacked by assassins at the Jianghan Wharf and unfortunately died.
This assassination caused an uproar in the Kuomintang military and political circles, and Chiang Kai-shek was furious, and immediately ordered an investigation and quickly arrested the murderer, and sentenced him to death. However, the masterminds behind the scenes were not implicated.
In the high-level factional struggle of the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek was helpless in the face of this matter, and in the end he could only let the incident go unresolved.
Resources:
Chiang Kai-shek's aides Yang Yongtai and Xiao Ruping