The "Xi'an Incident" was an unexpected event of turning significance in Chinese history, and the two generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng worked together to seize Chiang Kai-shek in the early morning of December 12, 1936, making Chinese history turn a big turn on that day. After the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang took the initiative to accompany Jiang to Ning, but was detained as soon as he got off the plane.
After Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned, what awaited the 200,000 Northeast Army would be the liquidation from Chiang Kai-shek. Among them, the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" entrusted by Zhang Xueliang - Sun Mingjiu, Ying Detian and Miao Jianqiu are the most dangerous, because they are the most direct participants and executors of the Xi'an Incident.
After the 918 Incident, the Northeast fell, and the 200,000 Northeast Army was forced to retreat into the pass as a "guest army". The homeland was lost, from Zhang Xueliang to the ordinary officers and soldiers of the Northeast Army, hoping to return to their hometown one day.
For this reason, Zhang Xueliang quit drugs and no longer spent as much time drinking as before. He swept away the decadence of the past and became full of energy, just like before.
In the Rehe War of Resistance, the Northeast Army was defeated in front of the Japanese invaders, and Zhang Xueliang realized that the twilight of the Northeast Army was too heavy and too much to use. Therefore, Zhang Xueliang believed that if he wanted to expel the Japanese invaders and enrich the country and strengthen the army, he must make the Northeast Army full of vitality. Since then, Zhang Xueliang has paid great attention to discovering and absorbing young people who have an anti-log orientation.
In this situation, the Shaozhuang faction of the Northeast Army came into being, and its core figures were known as the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance", namely Zhang Xueliang's secretaries Ying Detian, Miao Jianqiu and Sun Mingjiu.
Ying Detian, Sun Mingjiu, and Miao Jianqiu "were able to pour out their hearts and minds at first sight," and they had "the same passionate anti-Japanese thoughts" and "the desire to actively rectify the Northeast Army." They demanded the reorganization of the army internally, and Zhang Xueliang externally demanded that Zhang Xueliang join forces to resist the Japanese, and the ultimate goal was to restore the land and return to the homeland. But the characteristics of the three are not the same. Miao Jianqiu summarized their respective roles: "I have ideas, Ying Detian has brains, he makes plans, and Sun Mingjiu is a practical person. ”
Sun Mingjiu's positioning is: "I am just a soldier, with a low level of education and no level, so I can't give him advice and solve problems. Miao Jianqiu also has a level, but his speech is very hot, and he is not as far-sighted as Ying Detian. It can be seen that among the three, Ying Detian is the leader, Sun Mingjiu is responsible for implementation, and Miao Jianqiu is responsible for publicity.
With these three people as the core, Zhang Xueliang established the Anti-Japanese Comrades Association. Compared with the previous commanders and veterans of the Northeast Army, Zhang Xueliang often entrusted the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" with important tasks. In the Xi'an Incident, the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" played a vital role.
At 8 o'clock in the evening of December 11, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng held a banquet to get drunk dozens of military and political dignitaries of the Jiang department. Zhang Xueliang then personally sent Chiang Kai-shek back to his official residence in Huaqingchi.
At 10 o'clock that night, Zhang Xueliang drove back to his mansion, and then called Sun Mingjiu, who was the commander of the guard battalion at the time:
"Battalion Commander Sun, I now order you to immediately lead your troops to Huaqingchi to carry out the mission, be cautious and careful, don't beat him (Chiang Kai-shek) to death, and break one of his legs as a last resort! But don't let him run away, don't let him die. ”
As an officer of the Shaozhuang faction, Sun Mingjiu had a long-standing grudge against Chiang Kai-shek for taking the order of non-resistance, and he could not wait to arrest him. After Sun Mingjiu received the order, he hurried home and wrote a will: "In case I can't come back, please Ying Detian send my brother to the Soviet Union!" Then he led more than 100 brothers to Huaqingchi to arrest Chiang Kai-shek.
After Sun Mingjiu and his entourage reached Huaqing Pond, they immediately exchanged fire with Chiang Kai-shek's guards. Sun Mingjiu later recalled that Chiang Kai-shek's guards were really not vegetarians. Except for light machine guns, the weapons are all 20 rounds in bursts, and the firepower is very fierce. But Sun Mingjiu came prepared, the firepower was more concentrated, and Chiang Kai-shek's guards were dead and wounded, lying on the ground horizontally.
Judging by the later casualty statistics, it was definitely an extremely brutal battle. Among those who died, there were 17 guards, including Shao Yuanchong, member of the Central Committee, Lieutenant General Yang Guozhen, head of the Second Military Police Regiment, Lieutenant General Yang Zhenya, head of the Third Military Police Regiment, Major General Jiang Xiaoxian, head of the third group of the attendant room, Wang Jingyue, manager of the Xi'an branch of the Frontier Bank, Colonel Zhang Naiqiang, military representative of the Frontier Bank, Lieutenant Colonel Xiao Naihua, secretary of the guards, Major Jiang Ruichang, guard officer, Major Jiang Dian, attached to the Military Police Regiment, and Lieutenant Mao Yuli, captain of the guard, as well as more than 100 military police and military police officers in Xi'an City.
Among the dead, many of them were Chiang Kai-shek's clansmen, and it can be said that Sun Mingjiu and Chiang Kai-shek had formed an indissoluble hatred.
After killing Chiang Kai-shek's guards, Sun Mingjiu and his entourage immediately went to Chiang Kai-shek's residence, but found that there was no trace of the chairman of the committee. Sun Mingjiu was dressed as a futon, but found that it was still warm, and he definitely didn't run far. Sun Mingjiu reported to Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, and instructed his subordinates:
"I want to see people in life, and I want to see corpses in death! Even if the chairman of the committee gets into the cracks in the ground, he will dig them out for me! If I can't find the chairman today, I'll be finished!
When the sky was bright, the Northeast Army captured a small soldier named Jiang Xiaozhen, and interrogated him to find that this person was Chiang Kai-shek's nephew. Sun Mingjiu asked with a scowl in his face: "Where is the chairman hiding? Don't say that I killed you!"
Jiang Xiaozhen was so young that his tongue was knotted in fright, and he said hesitantly: "I helped the chairman of the committee to escape over the wall, and I was caught by you just halfway up the mountain." Then he pointed to the hill to the northeast:
"The chairman is hiding there!"
Sun Mingjiu waved his hand, and his soldiers surrounded the hill in a hula. After some searching, Chiang Kai-shek, who was trembling all over, was pulled out of his hiding place.
It is rumored that when Sun Mingjiu saw Chiang Kai-shek, he kowtowed like a green onion. Many years later, Sun Mingjiu clarified:
"Nonsense, it's all slander! At that time, he didn't move when he asked Lao Jiang to go down the mountain, I remember that I wanted to die, knelt down on one leg and turned around, and wanted to carry him down the mountain, how can this be called kowtowing! And no matter what I do, I can't kneel and kowtow to Lao Jiang, I, Sun Mingjiu, am a patriotic young man, full of blood, and I am not sloppy in front of right and wrong!"
After Chiang Kai-shek was arrested, the officers of the Shaozhuang faction led by the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" all advocated killing Chiang Kai-shek: "Because of Chiang's counter-revolution for more than ten years, he has brought disaster to the country and the people, and all kinds of evil are heinous, and all of them hate him to the bone marrow." ”
However, for Chiang Kai-shek, Zhang Xueliang had other plans. Under the mediation of Zhou Enlai, the Xi'an Incident was finally resolved peacefully. On the morning of December 24, "Zhang convened a meeting of Lu Guangji, Li Tiancai, Ying Detian, and others to discuss the issue of releasing Chiang (but did not propose to send Chiang)."
When they heard that Zhang Xueliang was going to personally send Chiang Kai-shek to Nanjing, Ying Detian and others were very surprised, saying that this was the return of the tiger to the mountain. Unless the Central Army withdrew from Tongguan, Chiang could not be released.
But in the end, Zhang Xueliang still persuaded the officers of the Shaozhuang faction one by one. Soon after, Zhang Xueliang helped Chiang Kai-shek onto the plane. When Zhou Enlai heard this, he hurried to the airport to stop him, but he couldn't catch up. In this way, Zhang Xueliang was detained by Chiang Kai-shek and was not allowed to be free for half his life.
After Zhang Xueliang left, the Northeast Army was leaderless, and the veteran faction and the Shaozhuang faction immediately had a disagreement. The patriarchal faction led by Wang Yizhe believed that the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident should be continued. On the evening of December 25, Zhang Xueliang called Xi'an and asked Yu Xuezhong and Wang Yizhe to release Chen Cheng and other four important members.
Ying Detian said: "The detention of Chiang's military and political personnel and planes here is a reliable guarantee for the deputy commander's return. Wang Yizhe said: "The deputy commander has telegraph instructions, how can we not do it?" The chairman of the committee is gone, and it is pointless for us to keep these people, and it is the spirit of the deputy commander to send favors to our homes."
It can be seen that after Zhang Xueliang left, the decision-making power of the Northeast Army was still controlled by the patriarchal faction, but the disagreement and disagreement between the Shaozhuang faction and them became bigger and bigger. For the Shaozhuang faction, they were the most direct participants in the Xi'an Incident. If the compromise continues, the fate of the young Zhuang faction may be much worse than that of the old faction.
At the same time, Zhang Xueliang stayed in Nanjing and did not return, which also made Ying Detian, Sun Mingjiu and others anxious, so they repeatedly proposed to Wang Yizhe, asking to go out of Tongguan and rescue Zhang Xueliang. However, Wang Yizhe believes that if the troops go out of Tongguan, it will be tantamount to launching a new civil war, and it will only be taken advantage of by the Japanese in the end, so what is the significance of the Xi'an Incident?
On February 2, 1937, the contradiction between the patriarchs and the young Zhuang faction finally broke out. On the same day, under the command of Sun Mingjiu, Ying Detian and Miao Jianqiu, company commander Yu Wenjun led a group of soldiers into Wang Yizhe's house and killed Wang Yizhe, who had not yet gotten up. In addition, Jiang Bin, chief of staff of the headquarters, Song Xueli, deputy minister, and others were also killed. It is known in history as the "2.2 Incident".
Wang Yizhe was a key figure in the connection between the Northeast Army and the Red Army, and had long since joined the Chinese Communist Party. At that time, the Northwest Army, the Northeast Army and the Red Army were in the northwest trinity, forming an "iron triangle", and Wang Yizhe was one of the most critical figures.
After Wang Yizhe's death, the Northeast Army quickly divided, which was really painful for relatives and quick for enemies. Chiang Kai-shek wrote happily in his diary:
"The Northeast Army is infighting, Wang Yizhe is killed, Skynet is restored, and the speed of the heavens to report the evil is also like this!"
Under Zhou Enlai's arrangement, the representatives of the Shaozhuang faction, Sun Mingjiu, Miao Jianqiu, and Ying Detian of the Three Musketeers of the Anti-Japanese Empire, fled from Xi'an without any punishment.
But in northern Shaanxi, the position of Sun Mingjiu and others is quite embarrassing. After the incident, Zhou Enlai severely reprimanded the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" who commanded the troubles behind the scenes, these radicals who did not listen to persuasion and disregarded the overall situation, and quickly led the staff of the CPC delegation to General Wang's home to help relatives set up a mourning hall, offer condolences, and arrange the funeral.
On February 4, Mao Zedong, Zhang Wentian, Zhu De and others sent a telegram of condolences to Wang Yizhe's family. General Zhang Xueliang, who was imprisoned in Nanjing, heard the bad news, and in addition to grief, he wrote to Yu Xuezhong: "I really don't know where to start, and I don't know where to cry. ”
Soon after, the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" killed Wang Yizhe, which really caused huge consequences. This incident accelerated the surrender of the Northeast generals to the Central Army. In this way, Chiang Kai-shek easily split the Northeast Army, and more than 200,000 Northeast soldiers were transferred to Hebei, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces, and ceased to be the first army. After the withdrawal of the Northeast Army, the situation of the Northwest Trinity fell apart, and Yang Hucheng was also forced to go abroad.
Therefore, Zhou Enlai rescued the "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" from Xi'an and spared them a life, which was already benevolent and righteous.
After the second KMT-CCP cooperation began, Yan'an could not keep Sun Mingjiu, Miao Jianqiu and Ying Detian. After the three of them left Yan'an, they made a choice that made everyone jaw-dropping.
After the start of the Anti-Japanese War, Sun Mingjiu first hid in the Shanghai Concession, and then was invited out by the Wang puppet authorities and became a traitor. He once served as the deputy commander of Shandong's puppet security, and once used his popularity to recruit the Northeast Army.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he surrendered to the Kuomintang and planned to assassinate Chen Yun. Soon after, Sun Mingjiu was captured in Harbin and surrendered again. In 2000, the former "anti-Japanese youth", 92-year-old Sun Mingjiu, died in Shanghai. It is said that Zhang Xueliang, who was far away in the United States, deeply remembered this old subordinate, and when someone asked him who he wanted to see the most, Zhang Xueliang said frankly: "I want to see Sun Mingjiu, I want to ask him." ”
Perhaps Zhang Xueliang was full of questions, why did the anti-Japanese youth in the past want to join Japan and become a traitor?
Like Sun Mingjiu, Ying Detian also became a traitor and served as the director of the puppet Henan Department of Education. After liberation, he was not held accountable much and died in 1980 at the age of 80.
In 1950, when our side was examining Ying Tokuda's surrender to Japan, he was still very unconvinced, and he was still angry with the generals of the Northeast Army of the veteran faction, he said:
“...... Because these people did not do the anti-Japanese work of the United Communist Party, nor did they rescue Mr. Zhang, they did not offend Chiang Kai-shek at all, so they were able to follow Chiang Kai-shek to the liberation of Chinese mainland, and they were always good officials, so they were not oppressed and harmed by Chiang Kai-shek's thieves, and they were not stained with the enemy's fake sewage. ...... Sun Mingjiu...... If he had not actively engaged in the anti-Japanese movement of the United Communist Party that day, he would have been able to benefit from the Xi'an Incident as those 'smart people', 'good people', and 'good officials' went with the flow, nothing more than that, and when he followed the Chiang thieves to the liberation, he might have been able to benefit from some of the Xi'an Incident like those 'good people' and 'good officials'. ”
However, he didn't think about it himself, just when he was a traitor, the vast number of officers and soldiers in the Northeast who were despised by him were fighting bloody battles with the Japanese army, and his former colleagues Wu Keren and Bai Fengxiang were martyred one after another. In this way, he still felt that he had been wronged.
And what about Miao Jianqiu? His whereabouts are even more strange. After he left Yan'an, he disguised himself as a merchant and crossed east to Japan, never returning to China in this life. Obviously fighting against Japan, Miao Jianqiu disguised himself and went to the enemy country, and his behavior was really incredible.
The final choice of the three hot-blooded young people is very different from their original intention. We can also see that they hate Chiang Kai-shek to the core, and I am afraid that they are also quite dissatisfied with our party and our army.
The "Three Musketeers of Anti-Japanese Resistance" are not big names in the long river of history, but they have directly influenced the trend of the Chinese nation. They had merit in capturing Chiang, but they were also guilty of surrendering to Japan. Whether they have more merits or more sins should be evaluated by history.