In the summer of 1993, the temperature on the island of Taiwan soared, but outside the courthouse in Taipei, an unusual scene was unfolding. Tens of thousands of people, fearless of the scorching heat, gathered in front of the courthouse, holding placards and banners with the words "wronged" and "seeking justice," and their voices were loud and passionate: "Injustice! Injustice!"
In the courtroom, a special trial is underway. On the surface, the trial seemed uneventful – simply because a 97-year-old man had failed to pay his rent, was sued by the bank and faced court enforcement. However, the story behind this is far from as simple as it seems.
The old man with gray hair sitting in the dock, despite his advanced age, still held his chest and abdomen upright and maintained an upright posture. There was an unusual firmness and coldness in his eyes, which made everyone feel that he was by no means an ordinary person.
Since the judge had obviously been bribed, the outcome of the trial was already foregone for the old man. But towards the end of the trial, in the face of the judge's accusations and provocations again and again, the old man finally couldn't bear it anymore and stood up tremblingly, his voice, although weak, but full of strength and anger:
"Who do you think you are? I once wiped out 100,000 Japanese invading troops on the battlefield, and today I have to endure your insults here!"
As soon as these words came out, the entire court was in an uproar, and the judge's face instantly turned pale, because what the old man said was all hard facts. He is Xue Yue, a famous general on the battlefield of resistance against Japan.
Xue Yue was born in 1896 in a small and inconspicuous village in Shaoguan, Guangdong. The reason why he was named "Xue Yangyue" was because his father deeply admired Yue Fei's heroic deeds. When he grew up, Xue Yue not only inherited his worship of Yue Fei, but also expressed his determination to emulate Yue Fei with practical actions by changing his name to "Xue Yue".
Xue Yue dedicated his life to the country, so deep patriotic feelings, that his descendants once said of him: "My father is a person who puts the country above everything and neglects the family. ”
In the life of this general, as the old saying goes, "fame is early", he became one of the youngest veterans of the Kuomintang by joining the League against the Qing government at the age of only 13.
In 1916, 20-year-old Xue Yue was admitted to the Baoding Military Academy. Then, in 1917, after learning that Sun Yat-sen was preparing for the "Dharma Protection Movement" in Guangzhou, he resolutely went south to Guangzhou and devoted himself to this great cause.
In Guangzhou, with his extraordinary military talent, Xue Yue soon became an important figure around Sun Yat-sen, serving as the commander of the first battalion of the Great Presidential Guard Regiment. Since then, he has not only spared life and death in the process of protecting Sun Yat-sen, but also participated in the southern and northern wars, creating countless military exploits.
In 1922, Xue Yue confronted his lifelong rival Chiang Kai-shek for the first time. At that time, Xue Yue was sent to serve under Xu Chongzhi, and his immediate supervisor was none other than Chiang Kai-shek. Although Xue Yue was not born in the Whampoa Military Academy, his military talent and talent were appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek, who even tried to draw him into his camp on several occasions.
However, Xue Yue was dismissive of Chiang Kai-shek's courtship, and he and Chiang Kai-shek held very different views and positions on many major issues, and as time passed, the contradictions and conflicts between the two became more and more acute. By 1927, the relationship between the two men had finally reached a freezing point, when Chiang Kai-shek transferred Xue Yue, then the commander of the First Division, out of Shanghai and dismissed him from all positions soon after.
Faced with such adversity, Xue Yue began to run around, trying to liaise with various forces against Chiang Kai-shek, but in the end they all failed. Under difficult circumstances, Xue Yue had to leave Hong Kong to avoid Chiang Kai-shek's pursuit and suppression. It was thought that this would be the end of Xue Yue's military career, but the wheel of history was turning, and Chiang Kai-shek was repeatedly defeated in successive battles with the Red Army, which gave Xue Yue the opportunity to return to the military circle.
In the face of successive defeats, Chiang Kai-shek felt extremely irritated and frustrated. It wasn't until 1933 that he finally realized that if he wanted to turn the situation around, he had to ask Xue Yue to go out of the mountain. Because Xue Yue's military talents were well known, he was able to lead the army to victory.
After Xue Yue was appointed commander of the Fifth Army, his military career ushered in a turning point. Subsequently, he not only fought in many places, and although he failed to achieve a decisive victory in the battle against the Red Army, he succeeded in expanding Chiang Kai-shek's control in the southwestern provinces, and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1935.
However, Xue Yue's military talent was truly displayed after the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan. At that time, Xue Yue, who was in Guizhou, took the initiative to ask for a transfer to the front line to fight directly against the Japanese army. His troops successively achieved brilliant achievements such as the Wanjialing victory and the third Changsha victory.
In May 1938, Xue Yue was appointed commander-in-chief of the First Corps of the First War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and was stationed in Kaifeng, Henan. At Wanjialing, his troops engaged in fierce battles with the Japanese 106th Division under the command of Okamura Ninji. With his keen military instincts, Xue Yue devised a "pocket array" strategy, skillfully luring the Japanese army deep into the encirclement, and then launched a fierce attack.
The battle, which lasted 12 days, ended in a complete victory for the Chinese army, with the Japanese 106th Division almost completely wiped out, and only a few people escaped. This was the first time since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression that the Chinese army wiped out a complete division of the Japanese army with a complete group force.
Xue Yue became famous for this battle, and Chiang Kai-shek personally sent a message of congratulations and gave Xue Yue and his troops a high degree of commendation. Ye Ting, the commander of the New Fourth Army at that time, commented on this: "The great victory of Wanjialing saved the crisis in the entire Central China region and became one of the important victories in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
If the Wanjialing victory made Xue Yue famous, then the third Changsha victory led by him was enough to move the world.
At the end of 1941, the Japanese army invaded Changsha with more than 100,000 troops, and in the face of the well-equipped and overwhelming Japanese army, Xue Yue, then the commander-in-chief of the Ninth Theater, ignored Chiang Kai-shek's retreat order, firmly chose to stay in Changsha, and vowed to fight to the death with the enemy.
Xue Yue used his original "Heavenly Furnace Tactics" to quickly build a counter-encirclement circle against the Japanese army and introduce it into the preset decisive battle area by fortifying and luring the enemy into depth. In the ensuing half-moon battle, Xue Yue led his troops to successfully eliminate more than 50,000 Japanese troops. Because of his achievements, Xue Yue was known as the "Guardian of Changsha" and was awarded the "Blue Sky and White Sun Medal" by Chiang Kai-shek, becoming one of the most prestigious generals in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.
The victory not only boosted the country's prestige, but also prompted the allies to reassess the combat effectiveness of the Chinese military and dispel doubts about the capabilities of the Chinese military. Many allies began to cancel unequal treaties with China, and the United States also provided China with large loans, greatly strengthening China's position in the international arena.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xue Yue made many miraculous achievements, always stood at the forefront of the fight against the Japanese army, and became a widely praised anti-Japanese hero.
However, in the ensuing war of liberation, Xue Yue failed to continue to create brilliance. His troops were defeated by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in successive battles. Seeing this, Chiang Kai-shek immediately changed his attitude and dismissed Xue Yue because he was not his close confidant.
Later, Xue Yue was sent to Hainan Island to garrison. In the face of the powerful People's Liberation Army, Xue Yue repeatedly requested to retreat to Taiwan, but Chiang Kai-shek refused, asking him to hold out to the end.
In 1950, with the full liberation of Hainan Island by the People's Liberation Army, Xue Yue hurriedly fled back to Taiwan by speedboat. After his return, due to the defeat, Chiang Kai-shek was extremely cold to Xue Yue, deprived him of all his positions, and ordered him to return home to retire.
After that, Xue Yue spent forty years in retirement. During this period, although Chiang Kai-shek harassed him many times and even searched his residence, Xue Yue always kept a low profile, stayed away from political strife, and spent the rest of his life peacefully.
To Xue Yue's surprise, just after he retired more than 40 years ago, because of Lee Teng-hui's series of policies, his life in his later years was no longer peaceful, and even his living tranquility was affected.
After Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988, at the time of the transfer of power, Lee Teng-hui became the leader of the Taiwan region. However, Lee Teng-hui was still inexperienced in politics at that time and urgently needed the endorsement of an authoritative figure, so he set his sights on the heavyweight of the Kuomintang, General Xue Yue.
What Lee Teng-hui did not expect was that Xue Yue, who is over 90 years old, still dares to criticize his policies outright and firmly advocates the great cause of national reunification. This stance made Lee Teng-hui feel very unhappy, so he began to secretly exert pressure on Xue Yue with ill intentions.
It is worth mentioning that although Xue Yue has faded out of the political arena, as a first-class general, he has always enjoyed corresponding treatment and superior living conditions.
In 1991, Lee Teng-hui used despicable means to not only cancel Xue Yue's various subsidies, but also demanded that he pay back the rent in the past, otherwise he would be expelled from his residence.
In the face of such unreasonable demands, Xue Yue would not give in. In addition, he did not have enough funds to pay such a high rent, and he thought that Lee Teng-hui would not really come to this point, but he greatly underestimated Lee Teng-hui's unreasonable troubles.
In 1993, when Taiwanese banks sued Xue Yue for unpaid rent, the 97-year-old had to face a judge. After two hours of lengthy trial, Xue Yue finally couldn't bear the insult anymore, he stood up and recalled his heroic deeds on the battlefield with emotion. This is the scene described at the beginning of the article, Xue Yue never imagined that his life's contribution would be treated like this.
The outcome of the trial speaks for itself, and the former battlefield hero has encountered great difficulties in his life at an advanced age. Theoretically, if Xue Yue is willing to give in, he may still be able to keep the right to live, but how can he be in the same boat as Lee Teng-hui and others.
On May 3, 1998, General Xue Yue died in a modest hospital room at the age of 102. It is rumored that his last words before his death were: "It is better to use slaves than talents!" This sentence profoundly criticized the misuse of talents in the political environment at that time.
In 2005, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, CCTV's "News Network" broadcast "Eternal Monument: Anti-Japanese Heroes", and Xue Yue's name was prominent. This proves that no matter how the times change, the country and the people will never forget those heroes who fought for national reunification and national independence. Our happy life today is built on the sacrifice and dedication of countless martyrs. We would like to pay our highest respect to all the anti-Japanese veterans who have paid for the country!