In the history of modern Chinese history, the Northeast Army has always been a group that cannot be ignored, from the two Zhifeng wars to the later Northeast Yizhi and Xi'an Incident, the Northeast Army can span half of China at its peak, however, after the death of Zhang Zuolin, the influence of the Northeast Army is not as good as before.
Zhang Xueliang, as Zhang Zuolin's heir, also held great power at his peak, but the biggest mistake in his life was that he did not push Yu Xuezhong to the core position.
The Northeast Army under strife
The factional problem within the Northeast Army has a direct impact on the life and death of the army.
Among them, Yang Yuting's non-commissioned officer faction, Guo Songling's Lu Da faction and the old faction that followed Zhang Zuolin are all important forces within the Northeast Army, Zhang Xueliang must establish his prestige after coming to power, Yang Yuting was shot in the Tiger Hall, Guo Songling also raised troops and died, but most of the remaining people are dying, they have sworn allegiance to Zhang Zuolin's forces, and it is not clear how capable Zhang Xueliang is.
Among the new factions under Zhang Xueliang, there is one person whose status is very important, and he is Yu Xuezhong, who is known as the "first general".
Yu Xuezhong can be described as a horse all his life, he stayed in the barracks with his father as early as 13 years old, and regarded the battlefield as his home.
In 1921, since the Autumn Sichuan and Hubei War, Yu Xuezhong specifically asked to see Wu Peifu and told him about his counteroffensive plan, which was appreciated by Wu Peifu, and later Yu Xuezhong fought bloodily for 5 days and nights and made great achievements, and Wu Peifu directly promoted him to the regiment commander.
Soon after, the commander of the 18th Mixed Brigade under Wu Peifu was dismissed, so Yu Xuezhong naturally became the major general and brigade commander of this unit.
But for Yu Xuezhong, his life path depends entirely on how Wu Peifu mixes, and in 1926, the Northern Expeditionary Army went all the way to Hunan, Wu Peifu fled to Henan in embarrassment, and seeing that the general trend has gone, he thought of Yu Xuezhong again.
One night, Wu Peifu pushed open Yu Xuezhong's tent curtain and said to him: "All my troops will be handed over to you, you can go to Zhang Xueliang, but you can't defect to Chiang Kai-shek no matter what." ”
At this time, Zhang Xueliang had already led his troops into Henan, and he was also very eager for talents, and after learning the news, he went to find someone to contact Yu Xuezhong.
Because Wu Peifu had explained in advance, and Zhang Xueliang's attitude was very positive, Yu Xuezhong took the people to Zhang Xueliang's command, Zhang Zuolin also met Yu Xuezhong in person, and said to him: "You are not an outsider, I know all your past affairs, and I hope you can treat me like that, and everything can be discussed." ”
The first meeting between Yu Xuezhong and Zhang Xueliang was in the official residence of Zhang Xueliang in Xidan, Beijing, and the two sides hit it off at first sight after the meeting, especially Zhang Xueliang was deeply relieved about Xuezhong's way of employing troops, and Yu Xuezhong was fully responsible for military affairs.
At that time, Zhang Zuolin could still stand at the highest position to coordinate everything, but he didn't expect that in 1928, the old man was killed by the bombing, and after Zhang Xueliang took power, Yu Xuezhong was also transferred to Shanhaiguan.
Zhang Xueliang was shocked by Yu Xuezhong's extraordinary military skills, and on his recommendation, the Nanjing Nationalist Government appointed Yu Xuezhong as commander of the Pingjin garrison and commander of the 51st Army.
During the Central Plains War, Yu Xuezhong also said to Zhang Xueliang: "There are two ways for us to enter the customs to mediate, one is to go out of the customs to Hebei and Chahar and other places, not to directly conflict with Yan Xishan, and to negotiate, as long as he can withdraw from Hebei; There is also a way to attack directly, and draw elite troops to approach Datong. ”
When the front-line battlefield was in full swing, Chiang Kai-shek also wrote a personal letter to Yu Xuezhong, hoping to buy Yu Xuezhong through high-ranking officials and make him rebel against Chiang.
And Yu Xuezhong also fully fulfilled his promise, and showed the letter to Chiang Kai-shek as soon as possible; Yu Xuezhong's reply to Chiang Kai-shek was also concise and to the point: My immediate boss is Zhang Xueliang, and only Zhang Xueliang's orders are obeyed.
After the bribery failed, Chiang Kai-shek focused on Ma Yanfu, an old subordinate under Xuezhong, who ran to persuade Yu Xuezhong, who was still indifferent.
For these tricks of Chiang Kai-shek, Zhang Xueliang is not easy to attack, and can only take care of these talents under his command.
In fact, Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek both knew that Yu Xuezhong was a person who could convince the public after being trained well, and if his intelligence and talents were fully brought into play, then the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army would also rise sharply, but there was not much time left for Zhang Xueliang at that time, and there were too many things he needed to deal with.
After the September 18 Incident, Northeast China was occupied by Japanese invaders, and there was so much puppet regime on Chinese soil.
Faced with this situation, Yu Xuezhong was extremely resentful, and he once said in front of everyone: "In the First Sino-Japanese War, my father fought to the death against the Japanese invaders, and I, Yu Xuezhong, must not insult my ancestors; In order to fight against the Japanese invaders, I put everything aside, and I admired him, which is one of the main reasons why I chose to join the army. ”
At the time of the country's life and death, Zhang Xueliang can completely bring Xuezhong to the front of the stage, because he is not restricted by Chiang Kai-shek, what Yu Xuezhong lacks is not talent, but prestige, especially those veterans in the army, how to make them obey willingly is not an easy problem.
During the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, Yu Xuezhong was still serving as the commander of the 51st Army and the commander-in-chief of the First Army in North China, but after the fall of Rehe, Chiang Kai-shek forced Zhang Xueliang to go into the wilderness, and this political method was seen through by Yu Xuezhong at a glance, and he hated Chiang Kai-shek's way of blaming others.
Therefore, Yu Xuezhong found Zhang Xueliang to state the pros and cons, and he made it clear: "Once you go abroad, you may never come back, you can unite Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang's old troops to fight against Jiang, and if necessary, you can also implement military advice." ”
It's just that Zhang Xueliang didn't fully listen to these words, he just handed over all military matters to Yu Xuezhong, and as for the political aspect, he decided it himself.
In this way, Zhang Xueliang left the Northeast and went abroad, and an old friend also asked: "Yu Xuezhong is not from the Northeast, his military power is too great, can he be reliable?" ”
Zhang Xueliang nodded: "He is the most reliable in the Northeast Army, and he can only rely on him." ”
The Japanese also discovered the horror of Yu Xuezhong, and even sent an assassination team, all of which were cracked by Yu Xuezhong.
In the matter of employing people, Zhang Xueliang did not look away, Yu Xuezhong also practiced his loyalty, but Zhang Xueliang did not establish the Northeast Army Group with Yu Xuezhong as the core when he still had a lot of power, so the army generally only recognized Zhang Xueliang.
Before the outbreak of the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang was preparing how to fight to the death, that time Yu Xuezhong commanded the troops in Lanzhou, and he knew that the day of supporting the commander had come.
Yu Xuezhong should have done more
Zhang Xueliang deliberately called Xuezhong to Xi'an to listen to his opinions before launching the Xi'an Incident, and Yu Xuezhong, who has always acted decisively, also fell into contemplation at such a juncture, and he also knew very well that if there was any variable in this matter, then Zhang Xueliang would inevitably be planted in the hands of Chiang Kai-shek.
Although he did not agree with Zhang Xueliang's actions, he still believed that "it is his duty to obey the orders of the commander-in-chief", so he prepared for the response activities after returning to Lanzhou.
Therefore, during that time, in addition to the Xi'an Incident, there was also a Lanzhou Incident.
On the day of the Xi'an Incident, Yu Xuezhong instructed Zhou Congzheng, secretary general of the Gansu Provincial Government, Liu Zhonggan, chief of staff of the 51 st Army, and others to send troops to surrender the armed forces of the Kuomintang Central Committee in Lanzhou and the Gansu Pacification Office, and the southern Hu Zong, the special service battalion of the Gansu Sui Administration, and the police and military police related to the military command were all disarmed.
After becoming familiar with the CCP's anti-Japanese war ideology, Yu Xuezhong also persuaded Zhang Xueliang: "We must respect the opinions of the Communist Party, and we must also listen to Mr. Zhou's words." ”
Chairman Mao also sent Peng Xuefeng to deliver a handwritten letter to Yu Xuezhong, which mentioned that General Yu was patriotic and should establish a united front to the outside world.
When Zhang Xueliang was placed under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek, the command of the entire Northeast Army had fallen into the hands of Yu Xuezhong.
However, Zhang Xueliang did not solve the good things, and gradually brought some trouble.
Zhang Xueliang was relieved that Yu Xuezhong had taken a fancy to his loyalty, but the other generals of the Northeast Army only listened to the Zhang family's father and son, Yu Xuezhong was trusted again, he was also a guest general, how could he not be regarded as a descendant of the Northeast Army, in the past, there was the support of the Zhang family father and son, Yu Xuezhong's order was easy to issue, and now Lao Zhang was blown up and Xiao Zhang was under house arrest, and there was no one who could speak in the entire Zhang family, and those veterans of the Northeast Army were naturally even more reluctant to listen to Yu Xuezhong's command.
In January 1937, Wang Yizhe, Yang Hucheng and others also held a meeting at Wang's house to see how to save Zhang Xueliang through political means.
But Wang Yizhe still does not have absolute dominance.
Just after the meeting on January 31, some ambitious elements wanted to usurp military power, and they lured some middle-ranking officers to Wang Yizhe's house in the name of "holding a meeting" and "eating dumplings".
Seeing such a reversal of the situation, Premier Zhou turned the tide and personally led the members of the CPC delegation to Wang's house to offer condolences, and Chairman Mao, Zhu De and other major leaders also called General Wang's family.
These sudden changes made the situation worse within the Northeast Army, and Yu Xuezhong could only sigh and be sad, he had no way to save the overall situation, and the only way he could think of was to rescue Zhang Xueliang.
It can be said that if Zhang Xueliang was able to coerce the veteran faction of the Northeast Army to take Yu Xuezhong as the core through his personal authority in the past, then even if Zhang Xueliang himself was placed under house arrest, the history of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression might have to be rewritten, and many generals, including Wang Yizhe and Yu Xuezhong, would have close ties with the Red Army.
And as long as Chiang Kai-shek is unfavorable on the front line, then Yu Xuezhong also has the bargaining chips to force him to release Zhang Xueliang.
It can be said that Zhang Xueliang did not have enough hands for himself before the Xi'an Incident, even if he had hundreds of thousands of soldiers, everyone could only be in a hurry outside; But history is already ironclad, although the Zhang family father and son can know people, but the limitations of feudal warlords make them unable to consider the problem too thoroughly, if history can be repeated, it will naturally form a different consequence.
As for Yu Xuezhong, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Lusu Theater in 1938, and someone gave him a copy of "On Protracted War", Yu Xuezhong couldn't calm down for a long time after reading it, he said: "I don't know how many people's blood was used to buy this, Mr. Mao is clever." ”
Two years later, the Eighth Route Army also sent the commissioner of the Luzhong region to visit him at the station, and this time brought him a copy of "On New Democracy", and after reading it, Yu Xuezhong personally visited Zhang Jingwu, commander of the Shandong Column of the Eighth Route Army, and the two were very consistent on the issue of resistance against Japan.
In the whole process of the Anti-Japanese War, Yu Xuezhong always took the lead, and under his command, the soldiers of the troops sacrificed their lives and forgot to die, and repelled countless attacks by the enemy.
Later, his troops also traveled to major battles such as the Battle of Wuhan and the Battle of Xuzhou, all of which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese invaders.
For his outstanding contributions during the Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist Government also appointed him as Vice President of the Military Senate, and in 1947, he was also elected as a member of the Military Strategic Advisory Committee of the Nationalist Government.
On the eve of the liberation of the whole country, Chiang Kai-shek also specially assigned a plane to take Yu Xuezhong away, but Yu Xuezhong immediately hid in the countryside of Chongqing after feeling that the situation was wrong, so he stayed on the mainland.
In the same year, Premier Zhou personally sent a plane to Xuezhong to Beijing, and he was also elected as a member of the first National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, these patriotic generals received the cordial care of New China, and Yu Xuezhong was also elected as a representative of the first National People's Congress in 1954.
He spent his later years in Beijing until his death in 1964.
Perhaps, even though Yu Xuezhong is full of talent, but he is not a figure who can change the course of history at that juncture, his experience has become a very unique landscape in the long river of history, even if he comes out of the chaos of warlords, people can still see the youthful spirit in him, and he has never flinched in the face of the fierce invaders.
Even though he was a general at the top of the Kuomintang, he had maintained a posture of learning for many years, which made him stand out again and become an important figure who could bring impetus to the construction of New China.
His story is complicated, especially his loyalty to Zhang Xueliang, which is difficult to truly understand, but he can distinguish right from wrong, good from bad.
Before he died, he also held the hand of Zhang Xueliang's secretary Guo Weicheng and said: "I know very well what my own physical condition is, it seems that I will not see the day when the deputy commander-in-chief comes out, if you see him in the future, you have to tell him for me, you will say that Yu Xuezhong has never forgotten him." ”
Resources
Yu Xuezhong, a patriotic general of the Northeast Army, and Wang Li, have a history of the party
Zhang Xueliang's "right and left hand" Yu Xuezhong: The Anti-Japanese War was stationed in Qingdao Al Jazeera News