In 1949, as the War of Liberation came to an end, the Kuomintang suffered a decisive defeat. Chiang Kai-shek faced the fate of being captured or martyred. At this critical juncture, he chose to flee to Taiwan. However, the escape was not without its challenges. Over Canton, Chiang Kai-shek's plane was intercepted by PLA troops. As one of the generals of the People's Liberation Army, Ye Jianying is faced with a difficult choice: is it to shoot down Chiang Kai-shek's plane and end this civil war? Or let him flee to Taiwan and continue the war? What decision did Ye Jianying make in the end? What are the reasons and considerations behind this decision?
1. The civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party came to an end
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, the Chinese Civil War broke out again. Although the Kuomintang had an advantage in personnel and weaponry, due to factors such as corruption and dishonesty, strategic mistakes, and low morale, it was soon defeated and retreated under the offensive of the PLA. In the second half of 1948, after the Kuomintang successively lost Taiyuan, Zhangjiakou, Kaifeng and other strategic places, its main force had been seriously weakened. At the beginning of 1949, the People's Liberation Army launched a strategic offensive and quickly occupied Beiping, Tianjin and other large cities.
In the face of the deterioration of the military situation, rifts also appeared within the Kuomintang. Many generals poured their sincerity to Chiang Kai-shek and urged them to negotiate with the Communists as soon as possible to avoid defeat. Chiang Kai-shek felt that there was nothing he could do about the development of the situation, so he had to announce his resignation as supreme commander in late April, preparing to shift positions, and finally chose Taiwan as the last line of defense.
After more than a year of arduous fighting, by the end of 1949, the PLA had liberated most of the country. The Kuomintang was on the verge of collapse from once holding the central government to the last corner of the CCP. The scales of the civil war were finally tilted in favor of the Communists. The phased end of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party marked the birth of New China just around the corner.
2. Chiang Kai-shek's path to escape
At the beginning of 1949, the Kuomintang suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Pingjin, and Beiping and Tianjin were lost one after another. Chiang Kai-shek realized that there was not much left of the situation and that he had to find a way out for himself. After much deliberation, he decided to make Taiwan his last refuge.
In order to implement this plan, Chiang Kai-shek first set out to solve the problem of internal power struggles. Previously, there had been a serious split within the KMT's top leadership due to the defeat in the war, and many people advocated negotiating reconciliation with the Communists. Chiang Kai-shek, under intense pressure from inside and outside the party, was forced to announce his resignation as supreme commander on April 21. However, he still retains the title of president and concentrates power at a critical moment.
Chiang Kai-shek then sent his eldest son, Chiang Ching-kuo, to Taiwan at the end of May to take charge of the preliminary work for the deployment of asylum there. In order to prevent a shortage of funds, he secretly shipped large quantities of gold and foreign exchange from the central bank's reserves to Taiwan. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek himself remained on the mainland for the time being, trying to continue resistance in the southwest in order to gain favorable conditions.
By mid-August, with the rapid advance of the People's Liberation Army, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to move to Chongqing, Sichuan, where he deployed a "defensive battle" in the southwest. However, the Battle of Chongqing broke out in October, and Chongqing fell into a besieged situation. A few days later, the People's Liberation Army invaded Chengdu, and Chiang Kai-shek had to abandon the city and flee on December 10 to his last refuge, Taiwan.
In the process, Chiang Kai-shek, in the face of domestic and foreign difficulties, carried out a planned transfer of resources to Taiwan and prepared for future refuge, albeit at a huge cost.
3. The skies over Guangzhou were intercepted
On December 10, 1949, Chongqing fell, and Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to abandon the city and flee, deciding to take a military transport plane to Taiwan. The trip was supposed to be low-key, but it was intercepted by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) over Guangzhou.
At that time, the 15th Corps of the People's Liberation Army had taken control of the Guangzhou airport and the surrounding area. Commander Hong Xuezhi learned that Chiang Kai-shek's plane would pass through this airspace, and immediately reported it to his superiors and demanded that Chiang Kai-shek's plane be intercepted. Hong Xuezhi believed that shooting down Chiang Kai-shek's plane would not only capture the "war criminal Chiang Kai-shek" in one fell swoop, but also completely end this protracted civil war.
The higher-level military attached great importance to this, and Ye Jianying, acting commander of the Second Field Army, immediately received a report on the relevant situation. As a senior revolutionary and military strategist, Ye Jianying realized the great significance of this "air decisive battle" for the first time.
On the one hand, shooting down Chiang Ji is undoubtedly a one-and-done solution to the enemy's problems, which will completely clear the obstacles and win the final victory in the civil war. On the other hand, this act will undoubtedly cause an international sensation and may provoke strong dissatisfaction and retaliation from the Western powers.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ye Jianying finally made a puzzling decision: not to shoot down Chiang Kai-shek's plane. He reprimanded his men for "not being able to fight".
Why did Ye Jianying make such a decision? This has to be traced back to his past intersection with Chiang Kai-shek. As Sun Yat-sen's subordinates, the two met during the revolutionary years. Later, during the Northern Expedition, Ye Jianying was once favored by Chiang Kai-shek and was almost promoted to division commander. It was not until the "April 12" coup d'état that the two drifted apart and embarked on the road of confrontation.
Therefore, deep down, Ye Jianying still has a trace of complicated feelings for the former "principal". He believed that Chiang Kai-shek should be given a chance to retreat in order not to fall into the situation of being captured. More importantly, he hoped that through this move, the civil war would end as soon as possible, curb the further expansion of armed conflicts throughout the country, and create favorable conditions for the recovery of Taiwan in the future.
Fourth, analysis of the reasons for the return of the tiger to the mountain
Why did Ye Jianying finally decide to let Chiang Kai-shek flee to Taiwan instead of shooting him down and capturing him? There are profound reasons and considerations behind this decision.
First of all, Ye Jianying adheres to the concept of peace and opposes the indiscriminate use of force. He had strictly forbidden the beating of prisoners by his troops, demonstrating a humanitarian spirit. For Chiang Kai-shek, Ye Jianying also hopes to avoid bloodshed and give him a glimmer of life.
Secondly, Ye Jianying, out of political considerations, hopes to end the civil war as soon as possible. If Chiang Ji was shot down, although he could destroy the enemy in one fell swoop, it could also cause the remnants of the Kuomintang to fall into a desperate situation and turn to a more frantic counterattack. In contrast, allowing Chiang Kai-shek to flee to the remote island of Taiwan and contain the war within a certain range is more conducive to ending the war in an all-round way.
Moreover, after all, Ye Jianying had a teacher-student intersection with Chiang Kai-shek, and gave a basic guarantee to his personal safety. Although the two sides gradually drifted apart after the "412" incident, Ye Jianying still has a complicated feeling for the former "Principal Jiang". This kind of human consideration has also become one of the reasons why he made the corresponding decision.
From a broader perspective, Ye Jianying's behavior also contains a far-sighted strategic vision. He realized that it was only an expedient measure to let the tiger go back to the mountains, and that sooner or later Taiwan would have to return to the embrace of the motherland. Therefore, by avoiding a fierce confrontation, favorable conditions were created for the recovery of Taiwan in the future.
Considering the above many aspects, Ye Jianying made a decision that violated common sense but was very meaningful, which not only reflected his humane care, but also showed extraordinary political wisdom. Although this decision was highly controversial, judging from the final result, it did buy time and space for ending the civil war as soon as possible and creating conditions for peaceful reunification.
V. Chiang Kai-shek's follow-up in Taiwan
On December 25, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek finally arrived in Taiwan, ending a rather tortuous month-long escape. In Taiwan, he did not rest on his laurels and continued to harbor the ambition of "counterattacking the mainland."
When he first arrived in Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek was faced with a situation that was not optimistic. The remnants of the Kuomintang under his leadership were only about 600,000 people, and their arms reserves were very limited. On the other side, the Communist Party already controls most of the territory and nearly 500 million people. It is not easy to launch a "counteroffensive" from such a passive situation.
In order to rebuild his military strength, Chiang Kai-shek first imposed harsh martial law rule in Taiwan, exploiting the population for resources. At the same time, he sought the help of the U.S. government for weapons and economic assistance. After the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States began to provide large amounts of arms and financial support to the Chiang Kai-shek regime out of the need to curb communism.
By 1953, Chiang Kai-shek's "Nationalist Army" had more than 600,000 regular troops, plus reserve troops and local troops, with a total strength of more than 1 million troops, forming a huge army. Chiang Kai-shek immediately sounded the clarion call for a "counteroffensive" and instigated a series of small-scale raids and disturbances, such as the Battle of the Dongsha Islands and the Matsu Islands, with the intention of gradually infiltrating and regaining the coastal areas of the mainland.
This state of affairs continued until the mid-50s. In order to better "wait for the counteroffensive," Chiang Kai-shek set out to strengthen the education and inculcation of the "Three People's Principles," regarded the "counterattack on the mainland" as the ultimate goal, and established the illusion that "the end of the day is near" and "time is running out." At the same time, he imposed martial law in Taiwan for 38 years, severely suppressing dissident forces.
end
It was not until he was forced to withdraw from the United Nations in 1971 that Chiang Kai-shek's "counteroffensive" attempt finally failed. However, his obsession with "recovering the mainland" has undoubtedly perpetuated the dangerous situation of cross-strait confrontation and added many variables to the peaceful development of the Taiwan Strait.