When we discuss the history of the Republic of China, the Beiyang warlords are always an unavoidable topic.
In the impression of most people, the Beiyang warlords are greedy and cruel, mercenary and mercenary, but in fact, there are relatively upright characters among these people.
Among them, Wu Peifu, the leader of the direct warlords, is the most typical, Wu Peifu, as a prominent figure in the Beiyang warlords, once ruled half of China, and most of his protégés and former officials also achieved fame, which allowed Wu Peifu's influence to continue throughout the Republic of China period.
During the Republic of China, the Japanese repeatedly asked Wu Peifu to attend as the leader of their puppet regime, but wu Peifu eventually refused. However, Wu Peifu's attitude towards the Japanese also made him jealous of the Japanese, and even led to his death...
Wu Peifu
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="7" > alternative warlord Wu Peifu</h1>
As a Beiyang warlord who grew up in the Beiyang New Army, Wu Peifu and his colleagues have many differences.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the general people who entered the army were the children of poor families, who could not eat at home before choosing to become soldiers, and in order not to starve to death, they had almost no education.
Unlike others, Wu Peifu was sent to private school by his parents from a young age and showed great talent and talent, Wu Peifu can concentrate on reading no matter how noisy the environment is, his hard work and hard work impressed his teacher, the teacher decided to focus on cultivating Wu Peifu.
Wu Peifu's efforts and efforts did not disappoint him after all, and he won the Xiucai in the late Qing Dynasty examination, which also made him a rare intellectual among the Beiyang warlords.
When Wu Peifu was young, China was in turmoil at that time, and Wu Peifu, who lived in Shandong, witnessed the tragedy of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War. At this time, the seeds of hatred for the Japanese were deeply planted in Wu Peifu's heart.
Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War
At this time, the imperial examination system was also officially abolished, and Wu Peifu made the decision to throw in the pen after thinking about it for a long time, gave up the opportunity to continue studying, entered the military school, and gradually grew into a key figure in the Beiyang system.
During the Russo-Japanese War, Yuan Shikai reached an agreement with the Japanese Embassy and sent Wu Peifu and several elite non-commissioned officers to form a joint reconnaissance team to go to the northeast to participate in the "horse thieves" activities.
In an operation, Wu Peifu and his companions on a train from Jinzhou to Xinmintun, the Russian army suddenly wanted to check the train, Wu Peifu and others knew that there was nowhere to escape, did not rush to escape, and finally because they carried a large amount of military information, they were arrested by the Russian army as a spy.
The Russians were very happy to have captured such a man with a large amount of information, and looked forward to what news would be drawn from his mouth.
However, for the Russian army's questioning and whipping, Wu Peifu gritted his teeth and persevered, and did not reveal a word about the action. Insisting that he was a student at a military school, these were just the materials for learning.
The Russian army had no choice but to put him to death with Wu Peifu's "hard bone", but the Russian army underestimated the "student" in front of them. In the car preparing to go to the execution site, Wu Peifu seized the opportunity to jump out of the car to escape, and this jump was not only unharmed, but successfully reached Xinmintun.
After the successful conclusion of the operation, Wu Peifu returned to the military school and was caught by Cao Kun for his outstanding merits and amazing abilities. Since then, Wu Peifu has been following Cao Kun.
During the reign of Yuan Shikai in the early days of the Republic of China, the generals of the Beiyang clan were gradually able to cooperate with each other, but with the death of Yuan Shikai, the various factions in Beiyang began to fight endlessly.
In the process, Wu Peifu and Cao Kun reached a cooperation, and their faction is the warlord we know as the direct line.
Wu Peifu deeply knew that in such a chaotic world, the army was the guarantee of everything, so he spent a lot of energy to train the army, which made the fighting ability of the direct army stand out among many factions, and also helped him become the dominant force in the Central Plains for a time.
In the first confrontation with Zhang Zuolin, that is, the famous First Zhifeng War, Wu Peifu defeated Zhang Zuolin's army, and it was also this war that made Wu Peifu famous.
Wu Peifu's strength grew little by little, the number of victories in wars was also increasing, and the territory he occupied became wider and wider. At that time, half of China was captured by the direct army led by Wu Peifu.
However, at this time, Zhang Zuolin's Fengzhi army regrouped after the First Zhifeng War, and also mushroomed like mushrooms, straight up, and the combat effectiveness of the army was on par with Wu Peifu's direct army.
However, wu Peifu was later defeated by the Fengzhi army led by Zhang Zuolin in the Second Zhifeng War, and Wu Peifu and his army had to temporarily retreat to Hubei and other places to rest.
At this time, the Nationalist government in Guangzhou was preparing for the Northern Expedition, and later their western expeditionary forces fought hard against the direct army in Hubei, and finally with the fall of Wuchang City, the direct warlords were completely defeated by the Northern Expeditionary Army, and Wu Peifu also became nothing from a generation of heroes.
Later, the Nationalist government in Nanjing listed Wu Peifu as a wanted war criminal, which left him living in the homes of his former subordinates in what is now Sichuan. It has also gradually moved away from China's political center, and Wu Peifu has no understanding of military warfare.
It was not until 1932 that Wu Peifu went to Beiping under Zhang Xueliang, where he finally received preferential treatment and he also settled there.
Zhang Xueliang accepted Wu Peifu
At this time, Wu Peifu was nearly sixty years old, and the ups and downs in the political arena before made him take the initiative to withdraw from the political arena and make the choice of retreat, without political and military pressure, Wu Peifu had nothing to do.
During that time, Wu Peifu spent all day at home working with flowers and plants, studying Buddhist scriptures, and living a leisurely and happy life.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="31" > persecuted by the Japanese</h1>
However, even if Wu Peifu himself wants to stay away from right and wrong, his status and outstanding ability make it impossible for him to transcend the world. After Wu Peifu arrived in Beijing, there was always traffic in front of his residence, and these people, without exception, persuaded Wu Peifu to re-emerge from the mountains.
Although the identities of these people are different, the forces behind them are the same, that is, the Japanese who are eyeing the whole territory of China. In fact, as early as when Wu Peifu was defeated by the Northern Expeditionary Army, the Japanese had asked people to contact Wu Peifu, and they said that they could contribute funds and weapons to help Wu Peifu make a comeback.
Wu Peifu's former residence in Beijing
Although the Japanese seemed to be full of sincerity, Wu Peifu could not be unaware of what medicine they were selling in the gourd, and he knew that once he accepted the assistance of the Japanese side, he was bound to become the other side's interest agent in China, then he was no different from the previous pro-Japanese Duan Qirui government.
As a Chinese soldier who witnessed the Shelling of Penglai Pavilion by Japanese warships, Wu Peifu immediately rejected the Japanese proposal. After he went to Beijing, the undead Japanese sent several emissaries to meet with Wu Peifu.
As Wu Peifu expected, the Japanese took a fancy to Wu Peifu's military position in China, his outstanding military ability, and his outstanding political strategy, and hoped that Wu Peifu would agree to the Japanese plan for the autonomy of the five provinces in North China and become an agent of the Japanese side in North China.
This time, the Japanese were still disappointed, and they also saw Wu Peifu's uncooperative attitude and temporarily gave up their persuasion work against him. However, with the beginning of Japan's all-out war of aggression against China, the Japanese people's view of Wu Peifu changed again.
The great traitor Wang Jingwei
Although they won successive victories on the frontal battlefield, they did not find a good way to rule the occupied areas, and they finally decided to maintain stability by supporting puppet regimes in these areas, and eventually Wang Jingwei became their regional agent.
However, Wang Jingwei's performance in both political and military terms after coming to power could not satisfy the Japanese, and they felt that Wang Jingwei's political influence was still not enough, so they once again set their sights on Wu Peifu.
Kenji Doihara even set up a special institution called the Bamboo Organ to woo Wu Peifu. A set of co-optation plans were specially made for Wu Peifu, and Wu Peifu was given a detailed understanding to persuade him to agree to the agent's request.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek, who was in Chongqing, also heard about this incident, and he was also very clear about the energy in Wu Peifu's body, and he knew that once Wu Peifu came out of the mountains, it would be very unfavorable to the War of Resistance Against Japan, so he also asked many of Wu Peifu's old friends in Beiping to persuade him not to agree to the conditions of the Japanese.
Chiang Kai-shek during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression
At that time, most people felt that Wu Peifu would not accept the conditions of the Japanese, but somehow, the Japanese side suddenly sent out news, claiming that Wu Peifu had promised to cooperate with the Japanese side and would hold a press conference in a few days, which shocked and worried Chiang Kai-shek and the people.
On the day of the press conference, Wu Peifu attended as promised, and it is said that at that time, the Japanese side handed him a draft of his speech, hoping that he would go through the motions according to the script. But Wu Peifu put aside the text of the speech and said the preconditions for his cooperation with the Japanese side.
That is, the Japanese army must all withdraw from the Chinese mainland, the Japanese side must also respect China's territorial and sovereign integrity, and the Chinese head of state must have the same status as the Japanese emperor.
It turned out that Wu Peifu did not really want to agree to the idea of the Japanese army, but was tortured by the Japanese and had no way to do it, so he made this decision and used this method to make the Japanese dispel their thoughts about him.
These three conditions were obviously unacceptable to the Japanese side, so the press conference was not resolved, and the Japanese had to give up the activity of persuading Wu Peifu to come out of the mountains, and also gave up Wu Peifu, a military wizard.
Chiang Kai-shek and the people of the country breathed a sigh of relief at Wu Peifu's decision and deeply admired Wu Peifu's determination and courage.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="48" > the death of Wu Peifu</h1>
After that press conference, the Japanese side and Wu Peifu had already formed a vendetta, but because of Wu Peifu's honorable status, the Japanese were not good at carrying out retaliatory activities in the open, and could only wait silently for the opportunity.
In the blink of an eye, the Opportunity for the Japanese came. At the end of 1939, Wu Peifu went out to eat a light meal with friends in Beijing, and when eating dumplings, Wu Peifu's teeth were somehow smashed, which made him suffer from severe toothache.
The elderly Wu Peifu could not withstand the torture of toothache, so he began to seek medical treatment everywhere, at that time Wu Peifu's family hoped that he could go to the hospital for treatment, but Wu Peifu, who trusted in Chinese medicine, insisted on using Chinese medicine for treatment.
However, after Visiting famous doctors in Beijing, Wu Peifu still failed to alleviate the symptoms of toothache, which made him feel very headache. Wu Peifu could not withstand the torture of toothache, so he began to rush to the hospital.
At this time, a Japanese named Okano Seijiro came to Wu Peifu's residence and recommended a Japanese doctor to him for his diagnosis and treatment, and Wu Peifu immediately called the doctor.
It is reasonable to say that at this time, Wu Peifu should be very wary of Japanese talents, but this Okano Sōjiro has a great deal, he was a military counselor when Wu Peifu was lu Zhiyu's patrol envoy, and he had many years of friendship with Wu Peifu, so Wu Peifu naturally did not have any doubts about him.
In his later years, Wu Peifu
After the Japanese doctor saw Wu Peifu's condition, he pulled out the tooth for Wu Peifu on the spot, and when the tooth was extracted, Wu Peifu felt that his toothache was better, so Wu Peifu did not feel that something was wrong, but thanked the Japanese doctor very much.
However, after this treatment, Wu Peifu's condition did not improve at all, but the entire jaw was swollen. This made Wu Peifu's heart hang again.
Just when the Wu family felt helpless, Okano Seijiro went to Wu Peifu's house again and offered to ask another Japanese military doctor to operate on Wu Peifu. Wu Peifu's family was too flustered to agree without careful consideration, and they did not know that this decision sent Wu Peifu to a dead end.
On December 4, 1939, Wu Peifu's old subordinate Qi Xieyuan brought a Japanese doctor and two nurses to Wu Peifu's home and said that he would perform surgery on Wu Peifu.
Originally, Wu Peifu refused to let the Japanese treat himself, he felt that the situation did not improve after the last tooth extraction, but it was more serious, his jaw swollen higher, and he did not dare to eat, only to eat liquid food.
However, Qi Xieyuan was worried about the deterioration of Wu Peifu's condition, so he privately decided to let the Japanese doctor check Wu Peifu's condition and asked whether the Japanese military doctor Wu Peifu's condition could be treated. I don't know if this Japanese military doctor is a "real" military doctor, the military doctor replied that Qi Xieyuan can be treated, that is, surgery is needed to cure the root of Wu Peifu's toothache.
After receiving a positive reply, Qi Xieyuan and the Japanese doctor almost performed a "forced" operation, regardless of Wu Peifu's intentions, and Wu Peifu's family did not know that they would kill Wu Peifu.
As a result, shortly after the operation began, Wu Peifu lost his vital signs and died. In this way, a generation of tyrants and military wizards passed away in an unclear way.
Originally, this incident should be regarded as a medical accident, but according to the statement of Wu Peifu's wife Zhang Shi, after she saw a Japanese doctor inject Wu Peifu with a dose of medicine on the day of Wu Peifu's operation, Wu Peifu died quickly, so she firmly believed that the Japanese killed Wu Peifu by poisoning.
War criminal Kenji Toihara
Moreover, with the deepening of research, it was also found that Okano Seijiro had become a spy under Ken Doihara during the War of Resistance Against Japan, which made the context of the matter clearer.
It can be boldly guessed that Okano Zenjiro was a Japanese spy who received orders from the Japanese army to kill Wu Peifu, and with the relationship between his old friends, Wu Peifu would not suspect him, so he poisoned and killed him.
Wu Peifu also gave the Japanese army an opportunity to take advantage of a dumpling, which led to his own tragic end, the Japanese never been soft in their treatment of the enemy, although they were old friends in the past, their colleagues who fought side by side would also brutally kill them.
Although there is still no absolute conclusive conclusion on the cause of Wu Peifu's death, it is more likely that the Japanese Sano Seijiro killed the old warlord who refused to cooperate with them.
concentrate:
The relevant content of this article about the death of Wu Peifu is referred to from the documentary "The Record of the Suspenseful And Strange Case of the Republic of China - The Death of Wu Peifu"