On May 1, 1950, with the shouts of the People's Liberation Army and the tsunami cheers, China's treasure island Hainan Island returned to the hands of the people, and the battle to liberate Hainan Island, which lasted half a month, ended in victory! When the news reached Taiwan, the face of the Kuomintang general Xue Yue immediately turned blue, and he knew that he had spent a huge amount of money to build the "Boling Defense Line" built by 100,000 soldiers, and after all, he did not block the wheel of history. However, he absolutely could not imagine that in the future, he would have an embarrassing ending.
Xue Yue was born in Lechang County, Guangdong Province, of Hakka family. His father was a very patriotic peasant named Xue Haohan. Xue Yue was born in 1896, when the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War was defeated, Xue Haohan was indignant and remembered the national hero Yue Fei he had always admired, so he named his son Xue Yangyue.
The so-called father must have his son, Xue Yangyue under the influence of his father, very longing for military life. In 1907, at the age of eleven or twelve, he was admitted to the Baoding Army Academy and graduated three years later. A few years later, Xue Yangyue entered the Wuchang Army Second Preparatory School for further study and laid a good academic foundation.
At the age of 18, Xue Yangyue joined Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary army and served as a staff officer for the general headquarters. Entering the military, he soon emerged as a prominent figure in the war against Cen Chunxuan and Chen Jiongming, so he was promoted and became the commander of the first battalion of the First Division. At that time, the commander of the second battalion was Ye Ting, the commander of the later New Fourth Army. These two men, together with Zhang Fakui, the commander of the third battalion, were known as the "Three Musketeers of the Cantonese Army".
The new identity gave Xue Yangyue a new idea. He felt that his name was a bit awkward and not domineering, so he removed the word "Yang" in the middle and changed his name to Xue Yue. The name will become a nightmare for the Japanese invaders in more than a decade.
In 1925, Xue Yue achieved very brilliant results in the Second Crusade and entered Chiang Kai-shek's sights. Chiang Kai-shek not only sent telegrams to commend him, but also constantly promoted him, making him a general on his own. After that, whether it was the Northern Expedition or the encirclement and suppression of the Red Army, Xue Yue was Chiang Kai-shek's strength.
On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, and the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was in full swing. On August 13 of the same year, the Battle of Songhu broke out. At this time, Xue Yue was appointed commander of the Nineteenth Army Group and put into the battlefield. Although this battle was not won, the good villain opened the way for Xue Yue to pay tribute to the idol Yue Fei with practical actions. In the eight years that followed, Xue Yue became the mainstay of the anti-Japanese frontal battlefield.
We may now wish to take stock of the specific battles in which Xue Yue participated and feel the style of this anti-Japanese god general: the Battle of Lanfeng from May 14 to June 1, 1938; the Great Victory of Wanjialing from October 1 to 10; the Battle of Nanchang from March 15 to May 8, 1939; the First Battle of Changsha from September 14 to October 7; the Winter and Summer Offensives of the Ninth Theater from December 12 to April 9, 1940; and the Winter and Summer Offensives of the Ninth Theater from October 1940 to March 1941. The Ninth Theater of Operations, March 15-29, the Battle of Shanggao, September 17-October 8, the Second Battle of Changsha, December 24- January 10, 1942, the Third Battle of Changsha, the Early June-Mid-July Battle of Zhejiang, November 1943 - January 1944, the Battle of Changde, May 27- October 2, 1944, the Battle of Changheng, January - March 1945, the Battle of Xiangyuegan... Xue Yue's total number of annihilated enemies reached around 200,000 according to statistics, accounting for more than one-third of the total number of enemies annihilated by the Kuomintang on the frontal battlefield!
One of the most noteworthy is the Third Battle of Changsha. In this campaign, Xue Yue exerted his battlefield command ability to the extreme, first using the technique of luring the enemy to attract the Japanese army to the designated area, and then using the firepower stronghold to cut, and then encircling and annihilating. In this battle, the Japanese army was severely damaged. Counting the sum of the previous two battles, the Japanese army threw 117,500 corpses in this area of Changsha! This method of warfare was later called "Heavenly Furnace Warfare Method" by Xue Yue and written into his own military writings.
The Battle of Changsha was not only of great significance to the Chinese battlefield, but also to the world and to people to rejoice. At that time, the Us military was at a complete disadvantage in the Pacific Theater, a large number of islands were occupied by the Japanese army, and the situation of the world anti-fascist war was not optimistic. The victory in the Battle of Changsha was like a shot in the arm, which made the United States, Britain and other allies ignite hope again. The British "Times" once commented: "Since December 7, the only decisive victory of the Allied forces has been the great victory of the Chinese army in Changsha."
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xue Yue's military career should have come to a perfect end. At this time, however, Chiang Kai-shek began to plan a civil war. As a dictator, he equated his personal and Chinese revolutionary causes with no one to oppose him. Xue Yue, who was brave and good at war, originally wanted to return to his hometown, but he was pushed to the foreground again.
However, at this time, the People's Liberation Army was no longer the Red Army during the Long March, and it had made great progress in terms of troop strength and weapons and equipment. Moreover, commanders who have undergone the baptism of the War of Resistance Against Japan have also improved their command ability by leaps and bounds. Xue Yue once again confronted the People's Liberation Army, and suddenly found himself overwhelmed, and suffered several defeats in succession. At this time, the drawbacks of his not being from Huangpu were revealed, and many so-called "concubines" kept provoking him, saying that he was "weak in command and low in reputation." Coupled with the fact that Chiang Kai-shek always had some scruples about Xue Yue, he began to gradually reduce his military power until he finally withdrew from the front. The commanders of the Kuomintang troops were replaced by the "Jiang Men Concubines", even if these people were incompetent. This move deeply hurt Xue Yue's self-esteem, so much so that he later said that Chiang Kai-shek "would rather use slaves than talents." ”
Later, Xue Yue came to Guangzhou to develop, collected a large number of old warlords, expanded his military strength, and claimed to fight a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army here. During this time, Xue Yue and Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law Song Ziwen quarreled. Chiang Kai-shek was overwhelmed throughout the country, so he agreed to Song Ziwen's resignation and completely handed over power to Xue Yue and others. Xue Yue was once full of spirits and wanted to do a big job. Unexpectedly, his old subordinate Wu Qiwei revolted in eastern Guangdong, disrupting the deployment of the entire Guangdong, and the People's Liberation Army could no longer stop it. Disappointed, Xue Yue could only withdraw to Hainan Island.
However, Hainan Island was also destined not to be Xue Yue's paradise, and the Qiongya column active here had long been a major problem for the Kuomintang troops. In the face of the military pressure of the People's Liberation Army on the other side, Xue Yue could not take care of the Qiongya column, and could only hastily gather 100,000 troops and build three defensive lines according to his own deployment, which is the "Boling Defense Line" mentioned at the beginning of this article. Unfortunately, in the face of the powerful People's Liberation Army, the 100,000 Defeated Kuomintang soldiers were not brave enough, and soon, these three lines of defense collapsed. In fact, Xue Yue already knew the end of the story, so he had already withdrawn to Taiwan with some soldiers, so he did not become a prisoner of our army, but also gave up the opportunity to regain a new life.
After arriving in Taiwan, although Chiang Kai-shek's father and son treated Xue Yue with courtesy for two generations, they never gave him any real power. Xue Yue was like a mascot, arched high, completely unable to exert his talents. Bored, he could only live in seclusion at home. Xue Yue is the president of the Hakka Association of Taiwan, and usually meets his fellow villagers at his home at the foot of Alishan Mountain, chats and drinks tea, but also has a good time. This peaceful mentality allowed Xue Yue to be healthy and enjoy a high life. Of course, there is also a superstitious saying that Xue Yue's longevity is because he killed many invaders and accumulated yin virtue.
However, Xue Yue never traveled in Alishan. He once said: "The mountains and rivers on the mainland have seen a lot, and what is the beauty of Taiwan's small mountains and rivers?" It can be seen that he misses his homeland in his heart.
However, things will always have twists and turns, even an old man who has no quarrel with the world has his own bottom line.
In 1991, Lee Teng-hui, then the so-called "president" of Taiwan, revised the Constitution for the fourth time in a vain attempt to deliberately evade the concept of Taiwan's "province" and subtly engage in "Taiwan independence." Since Lee Teng-hui came to power, he has amended the Constitution six times and changed Taiwan's Constitution to pieces, but the biggest move is this fourth time! This time his act was later called "Frozen Province", which was a shameless attempt to split the motherland!
At that time, Xue Yue was still a representative of Taiwan's "National Assembly," and if he wanted to pass the constitutional amendment plan, he and other deputies had to sign and agree. But what Xue Yue could not tolerate the most was splitting the motherland, and this was his bottom line! Therefore, Xue Yue simply refused to sign the constitutional amendment proposal!
Xue Yue's attitude was equivalent to giving Lee Teng-hui a resounding slap. However, his prestige was too high, and the Lee Teng-hui authorities could not deal with him in the open, so they could only say a set of sophistry, saying that Xue Yue's failure to sign "did not mean that he did not agree, but that he was "afraid of trouble." The cuffician's face was once reduced to a laughing stock.
After this storm passed, Lee Teng-hui and his minions began to think of ways to deal with Xue Yue. When Xue Yue first arrived in Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek gave him the title of "Chairman of the Design Committee for the Restoration of the Mainland," and Xue Yue's salary and the rental cost of real estate (the one at the foot of Alishan Mountain) were all funded by this committee. Lee Teng-hui stopped this committee in order to deal with Xue Yue. Suddenly, Xue Yue had no income, and he had to bear the cost of renting a house by himself, and his life suddenly became embarrassing. Immediately afterward, Lee Teng-hui instigated the Bank of Taiwan to maliciously raise the rental price. Xue Yue was not satisfied and refused to pay the rent, so he was sued in court in 1993 by a paper complaint.
At this time, Xue Yue was already a 97-year-old man. He never expected that when he was in his old age, he would actually be a defendant in court because of the problem of money. Remembering the past, Xue Yue came from it and shouted loudly: "During the War of Resistance Against Japan, I eliminated more than 100,000 Japanese troops!" ”
The old general's shouts made many people burst into tears. In the end, under the pressure of public opinion, the high rent was abandoned. But Xue Yue could not continue to live, and could only find another burrow to live in. Xue Yue's eldest son, Xue Zhaoxin, quit his job in the United States and returned home to take care of his father, so that Xue Yue avoided the danger of displacement in his later years. However, it is really chilling that a generation of famous anti-Japanese generals have been so ridiculed by their own authorities.
After this incident, Xue Yue missed his homeland even more. He very much hopes to be able to go back to his hometown of Lechang, to see the landscape there, to see his relatives. However, forced by his own body and the situation at that time, he could not realize this wish. Just a year ago, he had asked the members of the visiting delegation of the World Guest Association to bring back to his hometown a bronze mirror he had treasured, with his autograph inscription "Sangzi Deep Affection". Today, he can only send his thoughts across the vast Taiwan Strait.
In 1998, at the age of 103, Xue Yue completed his life path. With the interference of the Taiwan authorities, his funeral was very rudimentary, attended only by his own relatives and some old subordinates. Even the standard-bearer who built the national flag and the party flag for him was refused by the Taiwan authorities. Later, it was Xue Yue's children who personally looked for someone, so that the old general could enjoy the minimum decency. This is undoubtedly another blow to this famous anti-Japanese general.
Xue Yue's later years were unjust. His contributions during the War of Resistance Against Japan should never be erased and forgotten. If he had been captured in Guangdong that year, or simply revolted with Wu Qiwei, he would never have encountered such injustice in the future. But history does not assume that everyone is responsible for their own choices. While condemning the Taiwan authorities for disregarding their shame, we can only sigh at Xue Yue's own vision and heart.