Zhang Lingfu was Chiang Kai-shek's "ace general", and the 74th Division under his command was the victorious division of the Kuomintang. However, such a legendary figure died in an unnamed cave in Meng Lianggu. At that time, it was General Su Yu who was fighting with Zhang Lingfu, and General Su Yu ordered someone to collect his body and bury him, and sent him on his last journey.
At that time, many people disapproved of General Su Yu's approach, especially the fact that Zhang Lingfu was wearing a PLA uniform when he was buried, which caused a lot of criticism. However, looking back now, I realize that General Su Yu was far-sighted and acted wisely.
Zhang Lingfu's death
Zhang Lingfu defeated Meng Lianggu, but how he died was a mystery at the time. When the PLA soldiers were cleaning the battlefield, they saw him killed by several guns, and Su Yu asked in the army, but no one admitted that he fired the gun. For a time, Zhang Lingfu's death became a mystery. It wasn't until decades later that Zhang Lingfu's widow Wang Yuling was interviewed that the truth surfaced, Zhang Lingfu committed suicide, but he did kill him.
Zhang Lingfu, who was besieged in Menglianggu in May 1947, was at the end of his rope and told Chiang Kai-shek that he would kill himself. And there were many Kuomintang generals trapped in the cave at the same time as him, deputy division commander Cai Renjie, regiment commander Zhou Shaobin, brigade commander Lu Xing and others had a friendship with Zhang Lingfu in life and death, and almost did not hesitate to express their vow to follow him to the death.
However, not everyone is willing to die to achieve "loyalty to the party and the state", such as Chief of Staff Wei Zhenyue, Brigade Commander Chen Shuyun, and Staff Officer Yang Zhanchun......
Ms. Wang said in an interview that these people had told her about Ms. Meng after they returned. In the description of these people, Zhang Lingfu said to them at that time, "If you don't want to commit suicide, you can get out of the cave", so they went out of the cave and walked down the mountain. And Yang Zhanchun, the staff officer of the entourage who stayed until the end, knew more than Wei Zhenyue and others.
He told Wang Yuling that although Zhang Lingfu decided to kill himself, he did not shoot himself, but Liu Lizi, colonel and deputy director of the Staff Office of the 74th Division.
Liu Lizi shot at his commander under Zhang Lingfu's order, but at first his hand trembled and he missed the shot, and the bullet passed through Zhang Lingfu's cheek and had to be replaced. And this also corresponds to Su Yu's statement that Zhang Lingfu was shot several times when he found his body.
However, under the circumstances at that time, Zhang Lingfu was dead, and it was no longer meaningful to investigate who fired the gun, so the matter was put aside for the time being, and only the relevant matters of Zhang Lingfu's burial had to be careful. Where Zhang Lingfu's tomb is, it has not yet been found, but one thing is certain, the People's Liberation Army did collect his body and bury him at that time. This was told to Wang Yuling by Zhang Lingfu's old subordinates.
The prestige within the 74th Division is still relatively high, so after the captured people of the 74th Division learned of Zhang Lingfu's death, they asked to see the division commander for the last time. When they saw Zhang Lingfu, his body had been cleaned up, and the tattered military uniform on his body had been replaced by a brand new PLA uniform.
Why can you wear a PLA uniform to be buried?
Su Yu ordered someone to collect Zhang Lingfu's body and bury it, which was controversial at that time. The first is that the coffin used for Zhang Lingfu's burial at that time cost a lot, and the second is that Zhang Lingfu was buried in a People's Liberation Army uniform.
Many people in the army thought that he was a Kuomintang reactionary who had killed so many of our Red Army soldiers, and it was already good to prevent him from exposing his corpses in the wilderness, so how could he be given such good treatment? These discussions reached Su Yu's ears, but Su Yu was strong against public opinion, because he knew Zhang Lingfu's influence on the 74th Division.
Zhang Lingfu's own military command ability is controversial, but the combat effectiveness of the 74th Division is recognized by everyone. After the Battle of Menglianggu, the PLA captured many officers and soldiers of the 74th Division.
These people have received regular military training, and most of them have excellent military literacy, and if they can be successfully reformed, it will bring a lot of help to our army. After Chen Yi learned of the battle situation of Meng Lianggu, he personally instructed to transform the captured soldiers of the 74th Division as much as possible.
But at that time, the officers and men of the 74th Division were all panicked, and even resisted registering their names. Therefore, Su Yu should ease their tension as much as possible at this time, and make them believe that the PLA treats prisoners well and preferentially.
And the disposal of Zhang Lingfu's body is the best breakthrough. The casualties of the People's Liberation Army caused by Zhang Lingfu are not small, such a person can not blame the past, let alone other ordinary soldiers? After Zhang Lingfu was buried, the resistance of the captured soldiers to reform was significantly reduced, and most of the more than 20,000 people who were captured in the end joined the PLA, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of our army.
Therefore, Su Yu chose to bury Zhang Lingfu thickly, not only because he has the capacity to accommodate people, but also because of his wisdom.
Bibliography:
[1] Chen Yong. Interview with Wang Yuling, widow of Zhang Lingfu[J].Jianghuai Literature and History,2015(01):104-113.
[2] Dong Shaodong. Folded Meng Lianggu -—— unworthy "famous general" Zhang Lingfu[N]. Beijing Daily,2022-07-12(009). DOI:10.28033/n.cnki.nbjrb.2022.003876.