On October 19, 1948, Zheng Dongguo and the Seventh Army of the Kuomintang laid down their arms one after another, and Changchun was liberated. On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek asked Du Yuming and Wei Lihuang to hurry to Beijing for a meeting and talks.
As soon as they met, what Chiang Kai-shek said surprised Du Yuming.
Later, Du Yuming believed in his "Overview of the Liaoshen Campaign" that the two letters airdropped by Chiang Kai-shek to Fan Hanjie and Zheng Dongguo were the main culprits for the Kuomintang's loss of the entire northeast!
Du Yuming, whose name is Guangting, was born in 1904 in Mizhi, Shaanxi. During his middle school studies, he was influenced by the May Fourth Movement, and like a large number of patriotic young people, he campaigned to save the country's survival.
Later, under the influence of his relative, the famous pioneer of the democratic revolution, Du Bincheng, he left northern Shaanxi and went south to Guangzhou, where he became the first student of Whampoa.
In April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution, and Du Yuming expressed his political position of loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek. After graduating from Huangpu, he went to Wuhan Huangpu Branch to serve as a company commander in the Cadet Corps.
Since then, Du Yuming has relied on his loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek and has been steadily rising in the Kuomintang.
Until the early days of the National War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Du Yuming had served as the commander of the Fifth Army of the Kuomintang. The Fifth Army was the only mechanized unit established by the Kuomintang in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, and many people wanted to sit on the throne of the commander of the Fifth Army.
However, Chiang Kai-shek handed over this important task to his proud disciple Du Yuming, who knew that this opportunity was not easy to come by, so he was even more loyal to President Chiang.
In all fairness, Du Yuming made great contributions in the War of Resistance Against Japan. It's just that after the outbreak of the Liberation War, Du Yuming did not recognize the situation and historical trends, and repeatedly chose to be loyal to President Jiang.
In October 1945, during the Chongqing negotiations, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Du Yuming as the commander of the Northeast Security Command. Because after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang frantically seized strategic places and prepared to start a civil war.
Northeast China was the base of heavy industry and was a natural target for Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek's intention in entrusting this task to Du Yuming was already very obvious, and he hoped that his proud disciples would not disappoint their expectations and be able to drive out the Communists and troops in the northeast as soon as possible.
From November 1945 to 1948, in just three years, Du Yuming entered and exited the Northeast three times.
In November 1945, Du Yuming arrived in Qinhuangdao and commanded the 13th and 52nd armies of the Kuomintang, with the spearhead directly aimed at the communist troops in the Yulin and Jinzhou areas.
Later, with the assistance of the United States, the sea, land and air routes marched into the northeast, and successively occupied Suizhong, Jinxi, Huludao, Jinzhou and other places.
Just when Du Yuming was smooth sailing, he suffered from kidney tuberculosis and had to leave the Northeast for treatment in Beijing.
During the treatment, Chiang Kai-shek sent Dai Li to visit him in the Beijing Hospital, and promised that after Du Yuming's illness recovered, the position of the commander of the Northeast Security would still be his.
In April 1946, Du Yuming recovered from a serious illness and was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek to come to the Northeast for the second time. At this time, although the Kuomintang troops on the northeast battlefield occupied some large cities such as Fushun and Anshan, they were strongly blocked by our army and suffered heavy losses.
Du Yuming believes that the key issue is not to occupy one city or one pond, but to eliminate as many main forces of the communist army as possible.
In May 1946, under the joint command of Du Yuming and Bai Chongxi, the Kuomintang army did not hesitate to pay heavy casualties and occupied Siping, Changchun, Yongji and other important cities.
Du Yuming's successive military victories made him very proud, and he hired more than 200 generals as senior staff officers, and even made himself an official.
By 1947, the situation in the Northeast Battlefield had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army had shifted from strategic defense to strategic counteroffensive, and the Kuomintang army suffered heavy losses under the stubborn resistance and powerful counterattack of our army.
Du Yuming, who was once arrogant, became depressed and became ill, and after obtaining Chiang Kai-shek's consent, he left the Northeast again and went to Shanghai for treatment.
After Du Yuming left the Northeast, Chiang Kai-shek sent Chen Cheng to the Northeast to command the army to fight against the Democratic Alliance. Chen Cheng concentrated 14 armies and prepared to defeat the main force of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army in one fell swoop, but the results were not satisfactory.
Du Yuming's third entry into the Northeast was in October 1948. At that time, the Liaoshen Campaign had already begun, and the defeat of the Kuomintang army was a foregone conclusion.
In the early morning of October 15, 1948, Du Yuming, who was preparing to go to Shangqiu, Henan Province, in Xuzhou, received a call from Chiang Kai-shek, asking him to rush to Shenyang immediately.
Changchun was liberated on October 19, 1948, and on the same day, Chiang Kai-shek asked Du Yuming and Wei Lihuang to immediately rush to Beiping for a meeting.
After arriving in Beiping, Chiang Kai-shek said to Du Yuming straight to the point: "I will completely hand over the Northeast to you, and you will go to expand the army and find food by yourself." ”
Du Yuming replied a little timidly: "I don't dare to go like this, because I have never been involved in economics." ”
As soon as Du Yuming said this, Chiang Kai-shek became furious and asked: "Why can the Communist Party fight guerrillas and raise grain on the spot, can't we, Huangpu Sheng, do all this?"
As he spoke, Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he brushed his sleeves and went upstairs. After a while, Chiang Kai-shek went downstairs and saw Du Yuming honestly waiting for him downstairs, his anger completely disappeared, and his tone softened and said: "Do you have any opinions to tell me again? I didn't ask you to go to the northeast to be the commander of the light pole, before this I had already airdropped a letter to Fan Hanjie in Jinzhou, so that he could keep the rules, and if he couldn't keep it, he would retreat to Jinxi." I also airdropped a letter to Zheng Dongguo, asking him to break through to Shenyang as soon as possible. ”
Chiang Kai-shek's two sentences made Du Yuming feel helpless, and sighed in his heart: The Northeast will be lost!
Because according to Du Yuming's pre-conceived idea, no matter how difficult Fan Hanjie and Zheng Dongguo are, they must hold Jinzhou and Changchun.
Once these two cities were occupied by the communist army, the remaining Jinxi and Shenyang became two isolated cities, which could not withstand the powerful attack of the Northeast Field Army.
Chiang Kai-shek asked Fan Hanjie and Zheng Dongguo to keep the rules, and if they didn't defend it, they would quickly retreat to Jinxi and Shenyang, which was equivalent to taking the initiative to give up the little strategic advantage that had been accumulated with great difficulty, and surrendering the results to the communist army.
Because of this, Du Yuming in his later years said when he wrote "Overview of the Liaoshen Campaign": The abandonment of Jinzhou and Changchun is related to the battle plan of the entire Northeast. Chiang Kai-shek had not consulted with me and Wei Lihuang and other generals before, but now that the wood is in the boat, it is irreparable.
The final result is self-evident, Fan Hanjie and Zheng Dongguo did not fight to the death with the Northeast Field Army at all after receiving Chiang Kai-shek's order to "be able to abide by the rules", which also made Du Yuming a loner after arriving in the Northeast.
On the evening of November 1, 1948, Shenyang was lost, and Du Yuming and Wei Lihuang fled to Beijing together. In the end, Du Yuming withdrew the remnants of the Kuomintang troops from the ports of Yingkou and Huludao.
On November 8, 1948, the entire territory of Northeast China was liberated, and the Liaoshen Campaign, which lasted nearly two months, ended with the annihilation of 470,000 Kuomintang troops.
After the end of the Liaoshen Campaign, the People's Liberation Army began to launch a powerful offensive against Xuzhou, which opened the prelude to the Huaihai Campaign. Du Yuming was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's "Suppression Commander".
In January 1949, Du Yuming was captured alive by our army. After being captured, he tried to commit suicide twice to repay President Chiang for his kindness.
However, during his imprisonment at the Gongdelin War Criminals Management Center in Beijing, the Communist Party not only did not put him to death, but also did everything possible to cure Du Yuming's various tuberculosis diseases, so that he had a healthy body.
Looking back on the past, Du Yuming changed his stubbornness, and finally honestly accepted the transformation and returned to the ranks of the people.