On December 25, 1948, after the victory of the War of Liberation, the CCP announced 43 war criminals of the Kuomintang, with Chiang Kai-shek at the top of the list and Wei Lihuang's name among them.
On April 25, 1955, Wei Lihuang finally met Chairman Mao, who had been absent for a long time, and had not seen him for 17 years, and Chairman Mao held his hand tightly: "Time flies so fast, I can't imagine that we have come together again, you have made meritorious contributions in the past", why did Chairman Mao say this? What is the story between Wei Lihuang and the CCP? This issue of the video will take you to understand the beginning and end of the matter, new friends remember to click to follow, not only convenient to browse past videos, but also to receive the latest video sharing.
Wei Lihuang was a student of the Whampoa Military Academy, and after graduation, he was assigned to the Third Division of the First Army as the commander of the regiment, at this time Zhou Enlai served as the director of the political department of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army and the party representative of the First Division of the First Army.
In 1936, Chiang Kai-shek's passive resistance to Japan aroused the indignation of the whole nation, especially Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, who really could not stand the fall of the northeast, so they launched a military advisory to Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an, and Chiang Kai-shek was forced to unite with the Communists to resist Japan, and the second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation began.
On August 25, 1937, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which was renamed the 18th Army a month later, and was subordinate to the Second Theater of Operations under the command of Yan Xishan and Wei Lihuang.
In October 1937, the Japanese army occupied datong, an important town in northern Jin, and prepared to continue to approach south and attack Taiyuan. Wei Lihuang went to Taiyuan alone to discuss the strategic layout with Yan Xishan, and Yan Xishan had just fled back to Taiyuan from northern Jin for a few days, and he was overjoyed to see Wei Lihuang as if he was about to rescue the soldiers. The complicated situation made it difficult for Yan Xishan to be competent in commanding this battle, so he handed over the command to Wei Lihuang, and because of this, he met Zhu De and Zhou Enlai and formed a deep friendship.
When Wei Lihuang was discussing the strategy against the enemy with Yan Xishan, Yan Xishan said to him: "The Chinese Communists have sent a representative to Taiyuan this time!" Wei Lihuang hurriedly asked who it was, and Yan Xishan said, "Zhou Enlai." ”
A few days later, in the living room of Yan Xishan's home, Wei Lihuang saw Zhou Enlai for the first time, and he saluted Zhou Enlai with a military salute, and zhou Enlai warmly shook hands with him after seeing him, saying: "I haven't seen him for so many years, the changes are really great, and now we are once again back on the Tongyi front." ”
Wei Lihuang was very excited, and it turned out that Zhou Enlai still remembered himself. During this meeting, Wei Lihuang reported to Zhou Enlai the ideas and ideas of the Xinkou operation, and after Zhou Enlai listened, he analyzed the main situation in Shanxi and suggested that the main force should be placed on the flank of the main force of the Japanese army and adopt a roundabout tactic. When fighting, we should not simply defend ourselves, but should adopt the method of "counter-breakthrough" in our defense; Wei Lihuang adopted Zhou Enlai's suggestion that when deploying operations, three divisions of the Eighth Route Army were dispatched to detour back to the rear of the underground people, looking for favorable opportunities, finding the enemy's weaknesses, and then fighting hard.
On October 9, 50,000 Japanese troops, under the cover of more than 50 tanks and more than 20 armored vehicles, launched a Jedi counterattack on the Xinkou position. In the face of the Japanese attack, Wei Lihuang led the Eighth Route Army to fight fiercely with the Japanese army for many days and held the Xinkou Defense Line.
The Xinkou defense line was delayed in breaking through, and the Japanese commander Itagaki Seishiro began to ask for support from the Japanese troops in north China, in order to be able to break through the Xinkou defense line, he asked the Japanese army to advance to our army's position in the form of tunnel operations, and then blew up our army's defense line with explosives, but after being discovered by our army, it did not succeed. Just when the Xinkou front was fighting fiercely, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army blew up the enemy's aircraft at the Japanese airfield in Dai County, Shanxi, and reduced the Japanese air force's blow to the Nationalist army. The Eighth Route Army also destroyed the main north-south communication route of Yanmen Pass, which brought great trouble to the logistics of the Japanese army.
After more than 20 days of fighting, the Japanese army suffered serious casualties, and the two armies fell into a dilemma. At this time, Wei Lihuang thought of the roundabout tactics that Zhou Enlai had said, and was about to implement them, but learned that Liu Zhi, who was responsible for defending the Pinghan Road, had lost the defense line of the Tuotuo River, leaving Niangziguan in Shanxi exposed to the Japanese army.
Soon, the Xinkou position gradually fell into the encirclement of the Japanese army, and after many days of fighting, wei Lihuang's army was exhausted, and he had to announce his retreat. Although the Battle of Xinkou ended in defeat, this battle allowed Wei Lihuang to see the bravery and good fighting of the Eighth Route Army.
After returning to Taiyuan, knowing that Comrade Zhou Enlai was in Taiyuan, the exhaustion on his face was swept away, and he immediately lifted his spirits to find Zhou Enlai and said to him: "The Eighth Route Army really helped us a lot this time, blocking the communication lines of the Japanese army, if it were not for Niangziguan exposed in front of the Japanese army, I would definitely give you an explanation for this battle." ”
Zhou Enlai comforted him a few words, returned to work again, and agreed with him to talk slowly and in detail after arriving in Jinnan. After 10 days, the two met in Linfen, Shanxi, and as soon as they met, Wei Lihuang said with a sad face: "After the Battle of Xinkou, we lost a lot of land, I am really sad, coupled with the heavy losses of our troops, I am afraid that Jinnan will not be able to save, and finally had to rely on the Natural Danger River to block the enemy." ”
Zhou Enlai comforted Wei Lihuang and said: "The anti-Japanese war is a protracted battle, we must not care too much about the gains and losses of one city and one pool, our war is just, as long as we unite the strength of the people, we will definitely win." ”
Zhou Enlai's words brought great comfort to Wei Lihuang, and also brought him great confidence, and greatly encouraged his confidence in staying in Shanxi to persist in the War of Resistance in North China. In addition to Zhou Enlai, the second person who made Wei Lihuang change the CCP's view was Zhu De.
Wei Lihuang had never seen Zhu De, but he had heard zhu de's story on the battlefield, and he was very curious about what Zhu De really looked like. In his impression, the hero must be very grand, whether it is worn or used, it must be the best and most expensive, so as to meet the identity of Mr. Zhu. However, when he first met Mr. Zhu, he was stunned, he couldn't believe that the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army was dressed so ordinaryly, and if no one introduced him, Wei Lihuang would most likely recognize Mr. Zhu as a farmer. That day Jude was wearing an old-fashioned military coat with a plain white shirt underneath, black cloth shoes on his feet, and black bandages wrapped around his legs.
Zhu De's dress instantly broke his imagination of the heroic figure, and it turned out that the leadership of the Communists was so simple, no wonder everyone said that the Communist Party was good! He walked up to Zhu De, and just as he was about to praise the bravery of the Eighth Route Army, Zhu De spoke first and praised his achievements in the Battle of Xinkou, Wei Lihuang was greatly moved when he heard it, everyone was grasping his mistakes in this battle, but Zhu De was able to affirm himself.
Zhu De's frankness also made him give up his status as a Kuomintang officer, and he told Zhu De that as long as the war could be won, he was willing to give up the enmity between the two parties and communicate frankly with Commander Zhu De.
Zhu De suggested that Wei Lihuang must firmly defend Northern China and not allow the Japanese to cross the Yellow River; in terms of tactics against the enemy, he suggested adopting the enemy's flanks and rear combat, using roundabout operations as much as possible, carrying out guerrilla warfare, and preserving the strength of the army, and at the same time not forgetting to mobilize the strength of the masses of the people.
After listening to Zhu De's suggestion, Wei Lihuang slowly realized that the biggest difference between the Kuomintang army and the communist army in combat was to mobilize the masses, and the Kuomintang had never thought of the strength of the masses, but the Communist Party was different, and wherever the Communist Party went, the mass work was done.
Wei Lihuang showed great interest in the mass work of the Communist Party, and to this end, he specially invited communists Liu Yuqi and Zhao Rongsheng to serve as secretaries to the commander-in-chief.
Under the influence of the Communist Party, Wei Lihuang's army began to develop a large number of guerrilla units, and he also regarded the restoration of local order, the stabilization of people's minds, the establishment of base areas by relying on the people in the field, and so on as the focus of the development of the contingent; in order to improve the relations between the military and the people and give play to the strength of the masses to resist Japan, he also propagated the slogans of the whole people resisting Japan and eliminating traitors in the base areas.
In 1938, Wei Lihuang visited Yan'an and was personally received by Mao Zedong. Wei Lihuang was quickly impressed by Mao's approachability, warmth and friendliness. In the course of his conversation with Wei Lihuang, Mao Zedong praised Wei Lihuang's contributions in the War of Resistance Against Japan, calling Wei Lihuang an excellent patriotic general, and then emphasized the appraisal line of the Kuomintang and the Communists in jointly resisting Japan, saying: "In the future, if we unite all the forces that can be united, we will certainly be able to defeat the Japanese." After listening to it, Wei also deeply agreed, and when he left, Wei also distributed supplies to the Eighth Route Army, one million rounds of ammunition and 250,000 grenades, respectively.
The exchange between Wei Lihuang and the Ccp was detected by Chiang Kai-shek, who feared that his tiger would be "seduced" by the CCP, so he relieved him of his military powers and sent him to France to study, until 1948, when Chiang Kai-shek recalled him to China.
At this time, the war of liberation had reached a white-hot stage, and Chiang Kai-shek recalled Wei Lihuang back to China this time in the hope that he could help him defend the land in the northeast. At the beginning of 1948, as soon as Wei Lihuang returned to China, he was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Military Region, taking charge of the military and political power in the northeast.
But what Chiang Kai-shek did not know was that the current Wei Lihuang was no longer the Wei Lihuang of the past; in the positions in the northeast, Wei Lihuang warned his subordinates not to act rashly, and also told them: The Communists like to besiege the city and strike at the most, and as long as we do not move, we will certainly be able to break through the heavy siege.
As a result, due to Wei Lihuang's "passive" operation, the Nationalist army missed the best opportunity to strike, and Chiang Kai-shek was furious when he found out, and immediately removed Wei Lihuang's military power in the northeast. Wei Lihuang's series of actions in the northeast cannot help but make people suspect that he is an undercover agent of the CCP, and this sentence has also drifted into Chiang Kai-shek's ears, and he has also begun to doubt Wei Lihuang's true identity.
After the defeat of the War of Liberation, the CCP announced 43 war criminals of the Kuomintang, including Wei Lihuang's name, and Chiang Kai-shek confirmed Wei Lihuang's identity after seeing the list and did not kill him. After seeing this news, Wei Lihuang did not fidget, but was overjoyed and thanked the CCP for saving his life.
After Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, Wei Lihuang also left for Hong Kong, and after many years of wandering in Hong Kong, he finally received a telegram from the Chinese Communists and returned to Guangzhou under the escort of the Chinese Communists.
Soon after, he received an invitation from Mao Zedong inviting him to a banquet in Beijing, and Wei Lihuang was very happy to see this invitation, and said to his wife: "You see, the CCP has never forgotten me. ”
On April 6, 1955, when Wei Lihuang and his wife came down from the Beijing Railway Station, they saw Fu Zuoyi, Li Weihan, and others greeting him at the entrance of the railway station.
Arriving at the banquet hall in Beijing, Zhu Laozong, He Long, Peng Dehuai, Xu Xiangqian, Ye Jianying, and others were waiting for Wei Lihuang's arrival at the table, and personally set up a banquet to entertain Wei Lihuang and his wife. On April 25, Wei finally met Chairman Mao, who had been away for a long time, and had not seen him for 17 years, and Chairman Mao held Wei's hand tightly: "Time flies so fast, I can't imagine that we have come together again, you have merit in the past." Hearing this sentence, Wei Lihuang once again squeezed Chairman Mao's hand and said: "Hearing the chairman's affirmation, my 17 years of suffering are worth it." ”