He was a well-born general of the Nationalist Army, and had a teacher-student friendship with Chiang Kai-shek, but he became the only war criminal in the Yunnan Army in the War of Liberation. Why was he unmoved in the face of several signals from his superiors to revolt? Was it because of Chiang Kai-shek's friendship that he would rather die than surrender, or was he worried that the uprising would affect his relatives and friends? What kind of mental journey did this general go through, and why did he not avoid the fate of becoming a prisoner in the end?
Lu Junquan's illustrious background
When it comes to Lu Junquan, the first thing that comes to people's minds is his illustrious background. Lu Junquan was born in 1899 in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, into a family of thousands of slaves. Lu Junquan's father, Lu Wenjun, was a talented man in the late Qing Dynasty, who served as the Zhao Governor and was quite prestigious in the local area.
Lu Junquan's illustrious family background does not stop there, he is also related to two powerful figures of the Yunnan family, Long Yun and Lu Han. Long Yun is Lu Junquan's cousin, and Lu Han is his cousin. Long Yun and Lu Han were both the actual controllers of Yunnan during the Republic of China, and they were successively called "King of Yunnan" and played a pivotal role in military and political circles. Having such relatives has undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for Lu Junquan's career.
Despite being born in a wealthy family, Lu Junquan did not lie in the shadow of his ancestors to enjoy Qingfu, but was inspired to serve the country in the army. In 1922, he was admitted to the Yunnan Lecture Hall to learn military knowledge. Two years later, with the ideal of devoting himself to the revolution, Lu Junquan was admitted to the famous Whampoa Military Academy for further study. During his stay in Whampoa, Lu Junquan stood out with his outstanding military talents, and was appreciated by President Chiang Kai-shek, and was appointed as the captain of the third student team, becoming President Chiang's protégé.
In 1927, Lu Junquan returned from his studies, just as the warlords were fighting, and Long Yun and Hu Ruoyu were vying for control of Yunnan. As a relative of Long Yun, Lu Junquan did not hesitate to join Long Yun's command and was entrusted with an important task as a staff officer in the 98th Division of Long Yun's department. With his outstanding military command skills, Lu Junquan assisted Long Yun in defeating Hu Ruoyu and consolidating Long Yun's dominance in Yunnan.
After Long Yun took control of Yunnan, Lu Junquan's military career entered the fast lane. From battalion commander to regiment commander, to brigade commander, division commander, and army commander, Lu Junquan's military rank has been rising steadily, and he can be promoted by one level in more than four years on average. It can be said that Lu Junquan's military career was smooth sailing and smooth sailing.
However, no one thought that such a promising general of the national army would eventually become the only war criminal of the Yunnan army in the War of Liberation. What made Lu Junquan make the wrong choice at the critical moment? Was it because of Chiang Kai-shek's friendship or concern for his relatives and friends? All this has to start with Lu Junquan's experience after returning to Yunnan.
Lu Junquan's career in the Yunnan army
In 1927, after graduating from the Whampoa Military Academy, Lu Junquan resolutely returned to his hometown Yunnan. At this time, Yunnan was in the midst of a warlord melee, and Lu Junquan's cousin Long Yun and another warlord, Hu Ruoyu, were fighting for control of Yunnan. After Lu Junquan returned to Yunnan, he immediately threw himself into Long Yun's camp and served as a staff officer in the 98th Division under Long Yun.
With the knowledge of modern military theories and outstanding military command skills he learned at the Whampoa Military Academy, Lu Junquan soon made a name for himself under Long Yun's subordinates. With Lu Junquan's assistance, Long Yun's troops were invincible and invincible, and finally defeated Hu Ruoyu and consolidated Long Yun's dominance in Yunnan. Long Yun praised this right-hand man, and promoted Lu Junquan's military rank many times, from battalion commander to regiment commander, to brigade commander, division commander, and army commander, Lu Junquan's military career can be described as smooth and smooth.
In 1937, the outbreak of the all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army launched a large-scale attack in North and Central China, and the Nationalist Government faced the crisis of national extinction. In order to resist the Japanese invaders, the Nationalist Government had to change its estranged attitude towards Yunnan in the past and actively strive for the support of the Yunnan system. As the leader of the Yunnan system, Long Yun naturally became the focus of the national government. After some negotiations, Long Yun finally agreed to lead his troops into Sichuan to resist the Japanese, but the condition he put forward was that he would have full command of the Dian army and not be controlled by the Nationalist government. In order to unite against Japan, the Nationalist Government had to agree to Long Yun's request.
As Long Yun entered Sichuan to resist Japan, Lu Junquan also led his troops to the front line of resistance against Japan. On the battlefield of resistance against Japan, Lu Junquan led his troops to kill the enemy bravely, made many military exploits, and became a great general on the battlefield of resistance against Japan. In 1945, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Lu Junquan entered Vietnam with Long Yun's troops and accepted the surrender of the Japanese army. After a brief stint as commander of the Hanoi garrison, Lu Junquan led the 93rd Army back to the embrace of the motherland.
During the period when Lu Junquan and his army were in Vietnam to accept the surrender of the Japanese army, the Nationalist government, in order to weaken the strength of the Yunnan system, did not hesitate to launch a mutiny in Kunming and imprisoned Long Yun. Long Yun was forced to leave Yunnan and go to Chongqing. Without Long Yun's support, the dominance of the Yunnan system in Yunnan was in jeopardy. Although Lu Han succeeded Long Yun as the new "King of Yunnan", his prestige and strength were far inferior to Long Yun, and he could not compete with the Nationalist Government. Under these circumstances, Lu Junquan had no choice but to obey the dispatch of the Nationalist Government and lead the 93rd Army to the Northeast Battlefield to participate in the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
On the battlefield in the northeast, Lu Junquan was still loyal to his duties and led his troops to fight bloodily. In March 1948, Lu Junquan was promoted to the commander of the Jinzhou garrison, responsible for guarding Jinzhou, an important town in the northeast. In October, Lu Junquan was promoted to commander of the Sixth Corps of the Kuomintang, commanding the Kuomintang army in the Jinzhou area and becoming a prince. However, at this time, the situation of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was extremely unfavorable to the Kuomintang, and the Kuomintang troops in the northeast battlefield were defeated one after another. Jinzhou is also facing a heavy siege by the People's Liberation Army and is in danger.
In the face of the People's Liberation Army's pressing step by step, Lu Junquan stuck to his position and vowed to live and die with Jinzhou. However, Jinzhou was not a place to defend for a long time after all, and under the fierce attack of the People's Liberation Army, Jinzhou City was finally captured, and Lu Junquan also became a prisoner of the People's Liberation Army. In this way, the military career of Lu Junquan, a generation of famous generals, came to an end in the smoke of artillery fire in Jinzhou City.
Lu Junquan in the Battle of Jinzhou
In 1948, with the reversal of the situation of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the Kuomintang army in the Northeast Battlefield was defeated one after another. In October, Lu Junquan was appointed commander of the Kuomintang Sixth Corps, commanding the Kuomintang army in the Jinzhou area, with 100,000 troops in control. However, at this time, Jinzhou has become an isolated island on the northeast battlefield, facing a heavy siege by the People's Liberation Army.
In the face of the People's Liberation Army's pressing step by step, Lu Junquan stuck to his position and vowed to live and die with Jinzhou. However, what Lu Junquan didn't expect was that his old superior, Long Yun, had repeatedly signaled him to rebel and surrender. It turned out that Long Yun had already seen the end of the Kuomintang, and he was unwilling to let his former subordinates die in vain, so he secretly contacted Lu Junquan many times and asked him to lead the troops to revolt.
However, Lu Junquan turned a deaf ear to Long Yun's gestures. He has neither explicitly expressed his opposition nor responded positively, but has always adopted an evasive attitude. The reason for this is, on the one hand, that Lu Junquan still has a trace of affection for Chiang Kai-shek. When he was at the Whampoa Military Academy, Lu Junquan was Chiang Kai-shek's protégé, and there was a teacher-student friendship between the two. When the war in Jinzhou was tight, Chiang Kai-shek also personally sent a telegram to Lu Junquan, calling him a brother and encouraging Lu Junquan to stay on and wait for help. This telegram moved Lu Junquan to tears and strengthened his determination to fight to the death.
On the other hand, Lu Junquan was reluctant to revolt because he was afraid that doing so would involve his relative Lu Han. At that time, although Lu Han had lost control of Yunnan, he still had a certain position and influence within the Kuomintang. Lu Junquan feared that his rebellion would lead to Chiang Kai-shek's retaliation against Lu Han, thus endangering Lu Han's safety.
In this way, Lu Junquan vacillated between his feelings for Chiang Kai-shek and his concerns about Lu Han, and missed the great opportunity for the uprising. As the war in Jinzhou intensified, the contradictions between Lu Junquan and his subordinate generals also intensified. When Lu Junquan took Chiang Kai-shek's telegram and was moved to tears in front of his subordinate generals, his two subordinates, Sheng Jiaxing, commander of the 93rd Army and Shen Xiangkui, commander of the New 8th Army, showed great disdain. They bluntly said that when the old gentleman had no choice, he rushed to call him brother, this is a fart!
As the People's Liberation Army (PLA) offensive approached, the city of Jinzhou was finally captured in October 1948. On the eve of the city break, Lu Junquan still did not choose to revolt and surrender, but led his troops to break through. However, this breakthrough ended in failure, and Lu Junquan himself became a prisoner of the PLA. At this point, this legendary general of the national army has finally come to the end of his military career.
It is worth mentioning that during the Battle of Jinzhou, Lu Junquan's psychology underwent a subtle process of change. At first, he still had feelings for Chiang Kai-shek, and he was unmoved by Long Yun's persuasion. But with the tense war in Jinzhou and the dissatisfaction of his subordinate generals, Lu Junquan's loyalty and belief began to waver. He began to realize that Chiang Kai-shek's so-called brother and brother were just using his own means. And the disdain of the subordinate generals towards Chiang Kai-shek made Lu Junquan even more suspicious of Chiang Kai-shek's feelings.
However, even though his heart had begun to waver, Lu Junquan was unable to take the step of the uprising in the end. Between national righteousness and personal friendship, between ideals and beliefs and practical interests, Lu Junquan chose the latter. This choice, of course, has its complex historical background and practical considerations, but it also reflects Lu Junquan's limitations as a soldier. After all, he failed to jump out of the fence of personal grievances and gains and losses, and went to the right side of history.
War criminals lived and lived in old age
In October 1948, when the city of Jinzhou was broken, Lu Junquan became a prisoner of the People's Liberation Army and began his life as a war criminal. At first, Lu Junquan was detained in the Liaoning War Criminals Management Center, and later transferred to the Shenyang War Criminals Management Center. In the war criminals management center, Lu Junquan, like other war criminals, had to undergo ideological and labor reform every day.
Surprisingly, Lu Junquan showed superb bricklayer skills in the war criminals management center. According to the recollection of his fellow war criminals, the brick walls and stone ridges built by Lu Junquan never collapsed. Where did Lu Junquan learn his bricklayer skills? It turns out that as early as when Lu Junquan was young, he had learned some bricklayer skills from his father, but he did not expect them to come in handy many years later.
In the war criminals management center, Lu Junquan also made some special comrades-in-arms, including Shen Zui, a special agent of the Kuomintang military command. During the War of Liberation, he was ordered to come to the Northeast to sit in Shenyang and be responsible for the spy activities in the Northeast. However, with the liberation of Shenyang, Shen Zui also became a prisoner of the People's Liberation Army. In the war criminals management center, the former military commander's spies and generals of the national army have become brothers and sisters, and this cannot but be said to be a kind of historical mockery.
Lu Junquan spent 10 years in the war criminals management center. During this decade, his thinking also changed dramatically. Through study and reform, Lu Junquan gradually realized the decadent nature of the Kuomintang and the advanced nature of the Communist Party, and he began to sincerely support the leadership of the Communist Party and was determined to contribute his strength to the construction of New China.
In 1959, Lu Junquan ushered in a turning point in his life. In this year, the State Council issued an amnesty decree and decided to grant amnesty to a group of detained war criminals. Lu Junquan was fortunate to be one of the first war criminals to be granted amnesty. When Lu Junquan learned that he had been granted amnesty, he was so excited that he burst into tears and repeatedly expressed his desire to contribute his spare heat to the construction of New China.
After receiving the amnesty, Lu Junquan returned to his hometown of Yunnan after a long absence. In his hometown, Lu Junquan started his life anew. He has served as a member of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, contributing his wisdom and strength to the construction and development of his hometown. At the same time, Lu Junquan also began his own writing career. He successively wrote articles and books such as "Memories of the Annihilation of Jiang Jun in Jinzhou" and "Selected Literature and Historical Materials of Zhaotong Fourth Edition", which made important contributions to restoring the truth of that period of history.
In 1979, Lu Junquan died of illness in Kunming at the age of 80. Looking back on Lu Junquan's life, it can be said that it is full of ups and downs and is full of legends. He came from a prominent background, and when he was young, he joined the army with the ambition of serving the country; he was a powerful general of the Nationalist Army; he also missed the great opportunity of the uprising because of his feelings for Chiang Kai-shek and his concern for his relatives and friends, and finally became a prisoner; but he was able to reform himself in the life of a war criminal, and after obtaining amnesty, he contributed his strength to the cause of building New China.
Lu Junquan's life has not only embarrassing mistakes and regrets, but also courage and responsibility worthy of the admiration of future generations. Although he came from a wealthy and prestigious family, he was able to put down his stature and be willing to mingle with ordinary working people; although he was once a high-ranking general of the Kuomintang, he was able to put aside his prejudices and sincerely support the leadership of the Communist Party; although he only began to engage in literary and historical work in his later years, he was able to keep writing and making important contributions to restoring the original face of history.
Lu Junquan's life experience has left a valuable spiritual wealth to future generations. The patriotic feelings, enterprising spirit, repentant courage and sense of responsibility embodied in him are all worthy of our learning and development. As a soldier, although Lu Junquan once made a wrong choice, he was finally able to wake up and stand on the people's position again, which is his preciousness and an important turning point in his life.