Although Liao Yaoxiang, a famous anti-Japanese general, finally surrendered to the communist army, he still maintained his proud general spirit at the beginning of his capture. When General Liu Yalou hosted a banquet to entertain him, Liao Yaoxiang not only did not show weakness, but directly overturned the banquet and questioned the communist army's combat methods. At this tense moment, an unexpected figure appeared, who turned out to be Liao Yaoxiang's former boss of the national army. Under the persuasion of this old leader, Liao Yaoxiang finally put aside his prejudices and toasted Liu Yalou three glasses of wine to apologize. This scene is shocking, and one can't help but wonder: Why did the former anti-Japanese hero surrender? What is his relationship with the mysterious boss of the Nationalist Army? and how did the Communist Army transform and reuse these prisoners?
1. Anti-Japanese hero Liao Yaoxiang
In 1906, Liao Yaoxiang was born in a scholarly family in Hunan Province. His grandfather was a well-known local private school teacher, and he raised Liao Yaoxiang to be a patriotic and studious child since he was a child. His grandfather taught him to serve the country as his own responsibility, and Liao Yaoxiang set up the ambition of saving the country and the people since he was a child.
When he was a teenager, the Beiyang warlords were constantly fighting, and the country was in turmoil. Liao Yaoxiang saw the weakness of the country and decided to join the army and serve the country. After graduating from middle school, with the ideal of saving the country, he went south to take the entrance examination of the Whampoa Military Academy. He scored at the top of his exams, but was rejected because of his short stature. His irascible personality led him to rush directly into Chiang Kai-shek's office, and Chiang Kai-shek, seeing that although he was short but commendable, he approved him to study in France at his own expense.
In 1927, Liao Yaoxiang graduated from the Cavalry Department of the Sorsey Military Academy in France with excellent grades and became a new military talent appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek. As soon as he joined the army, he was appointed commander of a cavalry company, and soon showed outstanding military command skills. After the Lugou Bridge Incident the following year, he blocked the Japanese army with a mechanized infantry unit, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel chief of staff of the national army with his flexible and mobile tactics.
In 1937, the all-out War of Resistance broke out, and Liao Yaoxiang was ordered to go to Nanjing to participate in the war. In order to delay the Japanese attack, he commanded the troops to fight alone and recapture the breached positions again and again. However, the disparity in strength was too great, and he was finally defeated by the Japanese poison gas attack, so he could only lead the remnants to jump off the cliff to escape.
Although the Battle of Nanjing was lost, Liao Yaoxiang won the admiration of the soldiers for his heroic command and tenacious fighting spirit on the battlefield. The famous writer Xie Bingying commented on him in his diary of the Anti-Japanese War: "General Liao Yaoxiang is a perfect gentleman, he takes the rise and fall of the country as his own responsibility, does not smoke, drink, does not play cards, and is not good for women, he regards the interests of the country and the nation as his own life, and puts his personal life and death out of the way for a long time." ＂
A year later, Liao Yaoxiang led the modern troops to encounter the Japanese army again, and in the Battle of Kunlun Pass, he commanded well, annihilated more than 5,000 Japanese troops, and personally killed the commander of the Japanese brigade, Nakamura Masao. This battle made him famous in the eyes of Chiang Kai-shek, and he was known as "worthy of being a graduate of the French military academy, who had eaten bread and drank milk, and had something in his belly." From then on, he was appointed commander of the 22nd Division and became the commander of the new 6th Army, the ace unit of the national army.
Until the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Liao Yaoxiang established great achievements with large and small battles. He led an expedition to India and Burma to wipe out the 18th Division of the Japanese Army in one fell swoop, and after the victory of the Liberation War, he led the New 6th Army to parachute into Nanjing to accept the surrender of the Japanese army. As the main force of the national army to resist Japan, no one can match Liao Yaoxiang's heroic deeds.
Second, the Northeast Battlefield encountered a crisis
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke out. In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Liao Yaoxiang to lead the ace army, the New 6th Army, to attack the northeast in an attempt to take this important industrial base in one fell swoop.
Liao Yaoxiang, who was 40 years old at the time, although he had repeatedly performed miraculous feats on the battlefield of resistance against Japan, he was still a handful of people who treated this strange battlefield in the Northeast. He decided to land at Qinhuangdao first, cut off the connection between the northeast and the interior, and then gradually advance to eliminate the guerrillas one province at a time.
In late August, the New 6th Army went to Qinhuangdao, and Liao Yaoxiang personally commanded it. They quickly conquered the port city and then pushed inland. However, the Northeast People's Autonomous Region army did not retreat as Liao Yaoxiang expected.
In Zhangjiakou, the New 6th Army was met with a fierce counterattack. The Northeast Army adopted guerrilla tactics, dispersed Liao Yaoxiang's main force, and then concentrated superior forces to carry out local surprise attacks. Liao Yaoxiang's troops were defeated and suffered heavy losses.
Entering 1947, the advance of the New 6th Army came to a complete standstill. The unity of the military and the people in the northeast, coupled with the complex terrain, gave great resistance to the national army. Liao Yaoxiang had no choice but to adjust his strategy, abandon the offensive plan of one province after another, and decided to concentrate all his forces and attack the western Liaoning region first.
In April, the Battle of Western Liaoning began. The two sides fought fiercely in Fushun, Benxi and other places for several months, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner from the loser. Liao Yaoxiang personally commanded and used mobile combat methods to try to break through the encirclement. But the positions of the Northeast Army were strong, and Liao Yaoxiang's troops could not achieve a decisive victory.
By September, the two sides were at a stalemate. Liao Yaoxiang's New 6th Army was divided into several units by the Northeast Army and lost its unified command. At this time, the Northeast Army launched a general attack on the Liaoshen Campaign.
In mid-October, the Northeast Army began a decisive encirclement of Jinzhou, cutting off the rear route of the New 6th Army. Liao Yaoxiang realized that the situation was critical and decided to abandon Jinzhou and move westward with all his might. But in the Kaiyuan area, his troops were attacked head-on by the Northeast Army.
A tragic battle unfolded in Kaiyuan, with numerous casualties on both sides. In the end, Liao Yaoxiang's New 6th Army was greatly damaged and could only flee in all directions. In November, they were completely surrounded by the Northeast Army in Xifeng County, and 100,000 soldiers were in a desperate situation.
In the face of overwhelming troops, Liao Yaoxiang was powerless to resist and could only surrender to the Northeast Army. This ace of the national army, who once shocked the northeast, was captured alive in this way. A generation of famous anti-Japanese generals left the scene.
3. The mysterious boss of the national army appeared
On the tenth day after his capture, Liao Yaoxiang was escorted to a hotel. General Liu Yalou had been waiting there for a long time, and he set a table of wine and food, ready to entertain the fallen soldier.
Liu Yalou was originally a general of the National Revolutionary Army and fought side by side with Liao Yaoxiang in the Northwest Battlefield. Although the two did not face each other directly, they both praised each other's prestige. Now, when they meet again in this situation, the scene suddenly becomes very awkward.
As soon as Liao Yaoxiang entered the door, he glared angrily and scoffed at Liu Yalou's arrangement. He overturned the banquet and asked: "Do you still talk about tactics? Before our army has set up its formation, you have attacked in an orderly manner, and if you have real ability, we will fight again!"
Seeing this, Liu Yalou explained with a smile: "General Liao, don't panic, I'll bring an old man, let's talk after we meet." So saying, he called out an old man with gray hair.
I saw that the old man was dressed in the uniform of a lieutenant general of the national army, and although he was old, he was still in good spirits. He stepped forward and hugged Liao Yaoxiang, and said earnestly: "Yaoxiang, I really didn't expect that we would meet again in this situation." ＂
It turned out that this mysterious old man was Liao Yaoxiang's superior commander in the national army - Lieutenant General Zheng Dongguo. The two fought side by side on the battlefield of resistance against Japan and formed a revolutionary friendship.
Zheng Dongguo was the commander of the Fifth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, commanding the battle in the Battle of Wuhan and suffering a crushing defeat with the Japanese army. After that, he was ordered to lead his troops to northern Shaanxi to join forces with the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army. There, he became acquainted with the young Liao Yaoxiang and praised the recruit general.
Together, the two participated in the Yan'an Rectification Movement, where they were influenced by the Communists. Zheng Dongguo was deeply educated and gained a new understanding of the nature of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. After the war, he resolutely defected to the Communist Party and became a member of the People's Liberation Army.
Now, Zheng Dongguo, with the mood of rescuing the old department, specially came to persuade Liao Yaoxiang. He persuaded: "Yaoxiang, you and I are both soldiers who serve the country, so why should we be caught up in this civil war? Now that the country has been reunified, we should put aside our prejudices and contribute to the construction of new China." ＂
Hearing these words, Liao Yaoxiang's heart was mixed. He was shocked that his former boss was now a Communist. But at the same time, Zheng Dongguo's words also made him waver.
After some ideological struggle, Liao Yaoxiang finally let go of his prejudices. He picked up his wine glass and toasted Liu Yalou three times in a row to apologize. Since then, this former anti-Japanese hero has started a new life course.
Fourth, turn hostility into jade
After surrendering, Liao Yaoxiang was sent to the Northeast War Criminals Management Center for reform. At first, he was wary of the Communists and had a very cold attitude. But as time passed, he gradually became convinced by the party's purpose and propositions.
In 1949, the People's Republic of China was formally founded. Due to the lack of military talents, the PLA Military Academy is in urgent need of teachers. At the suggestion of Liu Bocheng and others, Liao Yaoxiang was appointed as a faculty member of the school, teaching a course on campaign tactics.
General Liu Bocheng personally went to the northeast to pick up Liao Yaoxiang and return to Beijing to teach. Along the way, Liu Bocheng treated him with great care and respect, treating him as a relative. Liao Yaoxiang was deeply moved and decided to devote himself to teaching.
At the Military Academy, Liao Yaoxiang taught the cadets the theory of campaign tactics with his rich battlefield experience and outstanding command skills. His classes are lively and interesting, and he is well received and praised by the students. A student commented on him: "When Mr. Liao is in class, it is like directing a real battle, which is clear and focused, which makes people feel like they are there." ＂
In addition to teaching, Liao Yaoxiang has also been invited to participate in the planning of many major military events. He contributed his wisdom and strength to the modernization of the people's army.
One day in 1959, Liao Yaoxiang received an amnesty order from the Supreme People's Court. This amnesty decree was also accompanied by a handwritten comment from Chairman Mao: "Comrade Liao Yaoxiang is a patriotic soldier who has made a lot of contributions in the War of Resistance Against Japan. Now that he has been reformed, we should be lenient and pardoned. ＂
After receiving this amnesty order, Liao Yaoxiang cried with joy. In the days that followed, he devoted himself even more to teaching and military work, and contributed all his strength to the peaceful construction of New China.
end
Ten years later, in 1969, Liao Yaoxiang was officially approved to join the Communist Party of China. This former Kuomintang general finally became an honorable Communist Party member.
Until 1983, Liao Yaoxiang passed away peacefully at the age of 77. His life can be described as experiencing vicissitudes, but in the end, he turned hostility into friendship and did his part for the cause of peace in the motherland. On his epitaph, there is the following passage: "He was a true patriot who fought all his life for the interests of the country and the people." (End of article)