The "Mysterious Man" Who Led Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan

Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Qiyun

In 1949, the Kuomintang government was crumbling, and Chiang Kai-shek was still struggling with the beasts, on the one hand, he deployed defenses along the Yangtze River to fight the Communists to the death, and on the other hand, he stepped up his plans for a retreat. At this time, a mysterious "high-ranking person" appeared, and he pointed out a path for Chiang Kai-shek: retreat all the way south and retreat to the isolated island of Taiwan. The emergence of this "high-ranking man" changed the fate of the Kuomintang and also changed the history of China. He is Zhang Qiyun.

Zhang Qiyun and his people

Zhang Qiyun (29 September 1900 – 26 August 1985) was a Chinese geographer and historian from Yinxian County, Ningbo, Zhejiang. He graduated from Nanjing Higher Normal School in 1923 and worked at the Shanghai Commercial Press after graduation, during which the high school geography textbook he edited, the high school physics textbook edited by Dai Yunluo, and the high school English textbook edited by Lin Yutang constituted the three major textbooks commonly used throughout the country at that time, which played a good role in promoting secondary education. From 1927 onwards, Zhang Qiyun taught at the Department of Geography at national central university (renamed Nanjing University in 1949) and was the founding master of Chinese geography. In 1935, he was elected as an inductee of the first Central Council of academia sinica, the youngest of the elected councilors who had never studied abroad. In 1949, Zhang Qiyun went to Taiwan and served as the director of the Kuomintang's "Central Propaganda Department" and the "Ministry of Education". He founded the "China Press and Publication Corporation" and the "Chinese Culture Publishing Committee" in Taiwan, initiated the establishment of various academic journals such as the "Academic Quarterly" and the "Chinese Historical Society", and made great contributions to the cultural and educational undertakings in Taiwan.

It is proposed to withdraw from Taiwan

At the beginning of 1949, after the three major battles of Liaoshen, Pingjin, and Huaihai, the effective forces of the Kuomintang army had been wiped out by more than half, and the rule on the mainland was also facing a complete collapse. Where did the Kuomintang go, Chiang Kai-shek stayed up all night. All the important officials who came to lobby were rejected by Chiang Kai-shek with his head shaken.

One day, Chiang Kai-shek stayed up in the presidential palace until dawn and did not come up with any good strategy. When the sky was dark, he came out to breathe, but he watched Zhang Qiyun, who had been invited by him, standing in the courtyard. Chiang Kai-shek stepped forward worriedly and expressed his inner bitterness. Zhang Qiyun was in the presidential palace at this time, and naturally knew this very well. He nodded calmly, and then said, "The best policy is to retreat to Taiwan!" Chiang Kai-shek was shocked. Zhang Qiyun was immediately invited by Chiang Kai-shek into the secret room for detailed talks. Zhang Qiyun held that dividing the world with the natural dangers of the Yangtze River is nothing more than the Kuomintang's wishful thinking, and the overwhelming Communist Party will never agree to it. Retreating to the southwest and Hainan is only an unrealistic idea, and only Taiwan can become the last refuge of the Kuomintang. Taiwan is a treasure land of feng shui, separated from the mainland by a strait, relying on the natural dangers of the strait, retreating can be defended, and attacking can be attacked. With the strength of the Kuomintang Navy and Air Force, it was completely possible to counter the Communist Party, which did not have a strong navy and air force at that time. At the very least, we can buy time, accumulate strength, and then "counterattack the mainland" when the international situation changes in our own favor.

Zhang Qiyun saw that Chiang Kai-shek was fascinated and continued to explain in detail what he had in mind for the southward retreat plan—the Kuomintang currently had only three retreating places: southwest, Hainan, and Taiwan. Among the three, the southwest, centered on Shudi, is militarily easy to defend and difficult to attack, with the Qinling Mountains in the north, the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in the east, and the Hengduan Mountains in the south, with dangerous terrain and numerous barriers. It was also the birthplace of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and since it was a good place to go, after the fall of Guangzhou, the authorities moved all its central institutions to Chongqing and Chengdu. However, the biggest disadvantage of this place is that it is closely connected to the mainland, and there is no insurmountable natural danger and barrier, which is difficult to make people feel at ease. In addition, the indeterminate moves of local armed forces cannot be determined. The same is true of Hainan Island, which, despite the Qiongzhou Strait, is too narrow compared to the Taiwan Strait to pose an obstacle to the Communist Party's growing armed forces. In comparison, Zhang Qiyun believes that Taiwan is the last refuge of the Kuomintang.

Until then, Chiang Kai-shek had been undecided. In his heart, he has always been unwilling to leave the mainland, because leaving the mainland means that he has completely lost to the Communist Party, and he is not willing to give up this great river and mountain to the Communist Party. Most of the staff also relied on habitual empiricism to advocate retreating to the Great Northwest or the Great Southwest, based on the fact that during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, when the capital Nanjing was conquered by the Japanese army, the Kuomintang moved to chongqing in the southwest as a base for rebellion against the Japanese army. Today, they also want to take advantage of the geographical advantages of high west and low east, take the defensive position of condescending and stubborn resistance, and can also sneak into the Central Plains. This was also deeply agreed by Chiang Kai-shek, so he has always been a supporter of the Western Withdrawal Chuan Kang (i.e., the "Western Withdrawal Theory"). But Zhang Qiyun's unusual "theory of eastern withdrawal" deeply touched him.

Taiwan's superiority

Zhang Qiyun firmly believed that it was inappropriate to withdraw from Sichuan Kang in the west, and he explained to Chiang Kai-shek in detail the advantages of withdrawing from Taiwan in the east: the Taiwan Strait was wide and the waves were high, and it could temporarily prevent the Communist army from taking advantage of the victory.

Second, as a "base for the revival of anti-communist national salvation," Taiwan has advantages that cannot be compared with other parts of the mainland, namely:

First, Taiwan is located in southeast China, the Tropic of Cancer passes through The island, tropical and subtropical climate is suitable for the growth of animals and plants, rich in products. The island has a high land utilization rate, dense vegetation, and grain and other agricultural products can basically meet the needs of the military and the people.

Second, Taiwan's transportation is convenient, the industry has the foundation left by the Japanese occupation era, if it is good at operation, the economy is expected to take off.

Militarily, Taiwan Island is separated from the mainland by a strait and is easy to defend. Moreover, Taiwan is located on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, strangling the Western Passage of the Pacific Ocean, connecting with the FAR East Defense Line of the United States, and its strategic position is extremely important, and the United States will not abandon it.

Fourth, the residents of Taiwan have lived under Japanese colonial rule for half a century, and after returning to the embrace of the motherland, they have a sense of return to the Kuomintang regime, and this psychology can be used to stabilize social order.

Fifth, the island of Taiwan has been separated from the mainland for a long time, and the CCP organization and personnel activities are fewer, there is no infiltration, and after the rectification of the "February 28" incident in 1947, there is even less interference. In the future, even if there is a slight social turmoil, Taiwan Island is surrounded by the sea on all sides and is closed, railways and highways in all directions are accessible, and rural areas have been developed, and the authorities are extremely easy to suppress unstable factors to stabilize society.

Zhang Qiyun's analysis is realistic, reasonable, and logical, which makes Chiang Kai-shek have to admire. He later had several in-depth conversations with Zhang Qiyun, and finally decided to abandon the mainland and go to Taiwan.

Chiang Kai-shek later said: "Zhang Qiyun is a rare talent, and I did not misread him. As long as it is his proposal, I will not object. ”

Subsequently, the PLA offensive became more and more fierce, and Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang authorities adopted Zhang Qiyun's proposal to move to Taiwan. (Source| Reader's Daily)