After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Du Yuming, a former Kuomintang general, was pardoned and walked out of the war criminals management center. While attending a meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he met a familiar face he had not seen for many years, and this person was Chiang Kai-shek's confidant entrusted with important tasks. Du Yuming was stunned on the spot and asked in disbelief: "Why are you here?" What is going on? What happened to this former confidant of Chiang Kai-shek? What happened to this former confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, who actually appeared here like Du Yuming? What will be the fate of the two?
Guo Rugui: Chiang Kai-shek's confidant
Guo Rugui was born in a scholarly family in Tongliang, Sichuan, and received a good family education since childhood. In 1925, after graduating from high school at the age of 18, Guo Rugui was admitted to the famous Whampoa Military Academy under the escort of his cousin Guo Rudong. There, he not only received strict military training, but more importantly, he was influenced by a group of communist teachers, and his yearning for the revolutionary cause germinated.
After graduation, Guo Rugui wanted to join the Communist Party of China, but due to various reasons, she was unable to do so. In 1928, he finally joined the party organization under the introduction of party member Yuan Jingming and became an out-and-out Communist Party member. However, due to the complexity of the situation, he soon lost contact with the party organization.
In order to survive, Guo Rugui had to continue to stay in the troops of his cousin Guo Rudong. In 1931, in the patriotic upsurge after the "918" incident, Guo Rugui withdrew from the Japanese non-commissioned officer school and returned to China. Once with nowhere else to go, he finally borrowed someone else's identity to enter the Chinese Army University for further study.
During his time at the Army University, Guo Rugui studied hard and achieved excellent grades, and was deeply appreciated by the Kuomintang generals. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he immediately went to the front line, and established outstanding military exploits in major battles such as the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Wuhan.
Since then, Guo Rugui has started his dormant road in the upper echelons of the Kuomintang. With his outstanding military talents, he soon became Chiang Kai-shek's guest of honor and was entrusted with important tasks. In the final stage of the Anti-Japanese War, Guo Rugui fought side by side with He Yingqin and experienced the final surrender of the Japanese army. Chiang Kai-shek placed great trust in him and regarded him as a confidant, and he would listen to Guo Rugui's opinions on both military decisions and operational deployments.
Guo Rugui's dormant road in the Kuomintang
In 1931, in the patriotic upsurge after the "918" incident, Guo Rugui withdrew from the Japanese non-commissioned officer school and returned to China. Once with nowhere to go, he finally borrowed someone else's identity to enter the Chinese Army University for further study.
During his time at the Army University, Guo Rugui studied hard and achieved excellent grades, and was deeply appreciated by the Kuomintang generals. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, he immediately went to the front line, and established outstanding military exploits in major battles such as the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Wuhan.
Since then, Guo Rugui has started his dormant road in the upper echelons of the Kuomintang. With his outstanding military talents, he soon became Chiang Kai-shek's guest of honor and was entrusted with important tasks. In the final stage of the Anti-Japanese War, Guo Rugui fought side by side with He Yingqin and experienced the final surrender of the Japanese army. Chiang Kai-shek placed great trust in him and regarded him as a confidant, and he would listen to Guo Rugui's opinions on both military decisions and operational deployments.
In 1945, Guo Rugui regained contact with the underground party organization of the CCP through Ren Tiyou and Ren Lianru, and resumed his party membership. After that, while serving in the top echelons of the Kuomintang, he secretly worked for the CCP and became an important informant of the CCP within the Kuomintang.
After the outbreak of the civil war, Chiang Kai-shek had high hopes for Guo Rugui, hoping that he would turn the tide in the southwest. In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek made a special trip to summon Guo Rugui and asked him to reorganize the 72nd Army and fight to the death with the People's Liberation Army. Soon after, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Guo Rugui as commander of the 22nd Corps, directly commanding three corps and three independent divisions.
However, all this is a disguise for Guo Rugui to buy time for the CCP Central Committee. He deliberately delayed the movement of troops and secretly propagated the CCP's ideas to the troops, which eventually led to the rapid collapse of the Kuomintang's power in the southwest. By the end of 1949, Guo Rugui led the remnants of the troops and took the initiative to surrender to the Jingyuan Front Command of the People's Liberation Army.
Guo Rugui's performance in the War of Resistance Against Japan
On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, and the all-out War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression began. Guo Rugui immediately asked the party organization to fight and went to the front line to participate in the struggle to resist Japan and save the country.
At first, Guo Rugui was assigned to the 14th Division of the 18th Group Army to which Chen Cheng belonged as chief of staff. During this period, he personally deployed combat plans on several occasions and commanded troops to exchange fire with the Japanese army. In 1938, he was transferred to Wuhan, Hubei Province with the troops led by Chen Cheng, and participated in the famous Battle of Wuhan.
During the Battle of Wuhan, Guo Rugui made many military exploits. He meticulously planned a number of breakout operations, opening up a life channel for a large number of officers and soldiers and civilians. The most famous of these is the "Guo Rugui Rescue" operation, in which he led thousands of men and horses to break through the encirclement and successfully move to the rear when the enemy was heavily besieged.
In 1939, Guo Rugui was ordered to serve as an instructor in Chiang Kai-shek's newly established "Lushan Officer Training Corps", responsible for training recruits. Here, he got acquainted with many students who later became generals of the People's Liberation Army, such as Xu Guangda, Tao Zhu and others.
In 1942, Guo Rugui was appointed commander of the Fifth Division by Chiang Kai-shek and personally led the troops into battle. In the ensuing Battle of Songhu, he commanded Ruoding, strategized, and led his troops to defeat the Japanese attack many times. After the Battle of Songhu, Chen Cheng spoke highly of his performance as "brave and good at fighting".
In 1944, Guo Rugui was transferred to Changsha, Hunan Province with the troops led by Mrs. Chen Nuo, and participated in the famous Battle of Changsha. In this battle, he once again showed outstanding military command skills, and personally charged into battle many times, and repeatedly performed miraculous feats.
In August 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender and won the War of Resistance Against Japan. At the ceremony of accepting the surrender of the Japanese army, Guo Rugui and He Yingqin stood side by side and witnessed this historic moment.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Guo Rugui established outstanding military exploits and was deeply appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng and others. Chiang Kai-shek summoned him alone on several occasions to listen to his opinions and suggestions. By the end of the war, Guo Rugui had been in the high position of lieutenant general of the Third Department of the Ministry of National Defense.
However, behind all this glory, the revolutionary ideal in Guo Rugui's heart has never wavered. He has been secretly working for the Chinese Communist Party and has become an important informant for the party within the Kuomintang. It was with this special status that he was able to better understand the rotten nature of the Kuomintang and finally made the decision to surrender.
The outbreak of the civil war Guo Rugui's choice
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ended victoriously. However, the contradictions between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were never fundamentally resolved during the war, and armed conflicts between the two sides soon broke out throughout the country.
As Chiang Kai-shek's confidant, Guo played a key role in this civil war. In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek personally appointed him commander of the 72nd Army, responsible for the reorganization of this force. Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Guo Rugui to concurrently serve as the commander of the 22nd Corps, directly commanding the 21st, 44th, and 72nd armies and three independent divisions.
It can be said that Chiang Kai-shek pinned great hopes on Guo Rugui, hoping that he could turn the tide in the southwest region. In 1949, when the Kuomintang was losing and retreating, Chiang Kai-shek made a special trip to summon Guo Rugui and asked him to concentrate all his main forces to fight to the death with the PLA.
However, all this is just a disguise for Guo Rugui to buy time for the CCP Central Committee. As early as the summer of 1945, he had already regained contact with the underground party organization through Ren Tiyou and Ren Lianru, and resumed his party membership. Since then, while serving in the top echelons of the Kuomintang, he has secretly worked for the CCP and has become an important informant of the party within the Kuomintang.
In the early days of the civil war, Guo Rugui deliberately delayed the movement of troops and secretly propagated CCP ideas to the troops, which led to the rapid collapse of the KMT's power in the southwest region. In the spring of 1949, he led the 72nd Army to take the initiative to surrender to the Jingyuan Front Command of the People's Liberation Army, clearing the obstacles for the People's Liberation Army to march into Chongqing.
After that, Guo Rugui was appointed commander of the 20th Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and led his troops to the northeast and participated in the famous Liaoshen Campaign. In this battle, he once again demonstrated outstanding military command skills and made a significant contribution to the final victory of the PLA.
In 1950, Guo Rugui was transferred to the post of deputy commander and chief of staff of the 20th Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of Major General and served as Chief of Staff of the Twentieth Corps until his death in 1958.
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Guo Rugui experienced ups and downs in his life, but he always adhered to the revolutionary ideal and fought unremittingly for the complete liberation of the Chinese people. He was once regarded as a confidant by Chiang Kai-shek, but he finally chose the path of surrendering to the People's Liberation Army and became a real general of the people's army. His life witnessed the twists and turns of the Chinese revolution and also demonstrated the unswerving revolutionary will of the communists.