On August 4, 1949, Chen Mingren and His mentor Cheng Qian telegraphed an uprising, and the total number of officers and soldiers in the uprising reached tens of thousands. On the same day, Changsha was liberated.
Such a populous historical and cultural city can be peacefully liberated, and there is no doubt that Cheng Qian and Chen Mingren are The heroes of China. This year, Chen Mingren was 46 years old.
At the age of 21, he entered the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and chen Mingren once said very proudly: "I have never lost in the fight against little Japan." But when he was an enemy of the people's sons and soldiers, his "victorious general" was doomed to be invincible.
After the uprising, Chen Mingren once dissected himself at a public meeting:
I am a soldier, I am a student of the first phase of Whampoa, and I originally took it as my duty to defend the country and save the people. For more than 20 years, he participated in the Northern Expedition, participated in the Anti-Japanese War, and fought many hard battles... In the end, he made a personal tool for Chiang Kai-shek in vain, which completely violated the interests of the people, and he was always psychologically uneasy.
I have to say that this passage is very frank and thorough, and it explains at least the following 3 points:
First, Chen Mingren's initial positioning of himself is very clear: a soldier who defends the country and saves the people. This positioning is the reason why he will fight with his life on the anti-Japanese battlefield.
Second, he won many honors in his life, and there were many high-level titles, such as acting chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, commander of the corps, etc., but in the end, his most proud identity was still: a student of the first phase of Huangpu.
Third, during the many years he followed Chiang Kai-shek, he was uneasy in his heart. In his words, it is "restlessness."
On the one hand, honor was added to the body, and on the other hand, he was uneasy, which was Chen Mingren's mentality at that time. With this mentality, he met Chairman Mao in September 1949.
To tell the truth, chen Mingren and the leaders of our party at all levels after the uprising are extremely respectful. On September 10, when he arrived in Beijing with Cheng Qian, our army sent a "super luxury pick-up group", and Nie Rongzhen, Luo Ruiqing, Zhang Youyu and others all went.
Nine days later, Chairman Mao, who was busy preparing for the founding ceremony, specially invited Chen Mingren and Cheng to sneak around the Temple of Heaven. There were many people traveling that day, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, Su Yu, Zhang Yuanji and others were all there, and Chen Mingren, who was not very tall, stood in the crowd and was not conspicuous.
Chairman Mao deliberately called him out of the crowd and said, "Zi Liang, come, come, the two of us take a picture alone!" "There are so many people, And Chairman Mao single-handedly named him to take a picture with him, which chen Mingren obviously did not expect."
After the group photo, Chairman Mao asked him happily: "How many photos are you going to enlarge and wash to give to your friends?" Chen Mingren said very happily: "Wash ten dozen." ”
The reason why there was such a dialogue was because there were many rumors outside at that time. Some newspapers with ulterior motives said that "Chen Mingren was placed under house arrest", "Chen Mingren was treated coldly on the side of the communist army", "Chen Mingren was detained"... Spreading such false reports is Chiang Kai-shek's old trick, the purpose of which is to increase the psychological burden of the insurrection soldiers and prevent the recurrence of the uprising of his subordinates.
Hearing Chen Mingren say "wash ten dozen," Chairman Mao said happily: "Less, wash fifty dozen!" That way no one says you're under house arrest by the Communists! The chairman's frankness made everyone present laugh.
A few days later, Chairman Mao received Chen Mingren again, this time to the Chairman's house for dinner. Perhaps because there were not so many people accompanying him, Chen Mingren was not so nervous when he was at the Temple of Heaven, so he finally said the words in his heart: I am guilty, I hit Siping Street too hard!
Why would Chen Mingren say such a thing at this time? In the past 20 years of military career, what kind of "geng geng uneasiness" has he experienced? How will Chairman Mao reply to his remark that "I am guilty"? What the soul of this issue wants to tell you is exactly these dusty past events that happened to a generation of famous generals Chen Mingren.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" >: a general who made Chiang Kai-shek love and hate</h1>
Speaking of which, it is really not easy for Chen Mingren to join the army.
In 1903, Chen Mingren was born in a peasant family in Hunan, and because he was the eldest grandson, he received a good education. When he was 21 years old, he heard that Cheng Had opened an army martial arts school in Guangzhou, so he immediately packed up his luggage and went to take the exam.
Unfortunately, by the time he arrived in Guangzhou, enrollment had stopped. Chen Mingren was very smart, and he thought that the principal Cheng Qian and the education chief Li Minghao were fellow villagers with him, so he took the transcript from his hometown to find these two. As a result, Cheng Qian and Li Minghao looked at it and made up their minds to make an exception to take him.
In this way, the 21-year-old Chen Mingren successfully entered the military academy. Because the school itself was appointed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen to run cheng qian, it was soon incorporated into the Whampoa Military Academy, and Chen Mingren became a cadet of the Whampoa Phase I.
At that time, the first phase of Huangpu was full of stars, which everyone knew. Compared with Chen Geng, Du Yuming, Jiang Xianyun and others, Chen Mingren was obviously not very eye-catching, but when he later attacked Chen Jiongming twice, he quickly attracted chiang kai-shek's attention.
In the Second Crusade in 1925, Chen Mingren, who was the leader of the Storm Troopers, who was the leader of the death squad, personally carried the flag and rushed out. When he planted the flag at the head of Huizhou City, Chiang Kai-shek, who was supervising the battle at the scene, asked busily: "Holding a large banner, who was the first to climb the city wall?" ”
The subordinate replied, "Your student Chen Mingren!" For this reply, Chiang Kai-shek, who has always had a good face, is obviously quite happy. So, he said on the spot: "This must be meritorious!" ”
Three days later, Chen Mingren did indeed usher in the first highlight of his life. On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek announced at the celebration meeting that Chen Mingren was appointed as the commander of the third battalion, and personally took the lead in shouting such a slogan: Look at Chen Mingren!
This scene was also seen by Zhou Enlai, who was serving at the Whampoa Military Academy at the time. After Chen Mingren's uprising, Premier Zhou also specially said to him: "When I fought Huizhou, I also raised my gun to salute you!" ”
For such talents, Chiang Kai-shek, who was anxious to cultivate his cronies, naturally wanted to do everything possible to win them over. He thought of two tricks in total, the first trick was useless, and the second trick worked.
This first trick is to pull a red line for Chen Mingren.
Chiang Kai-shek has used this trick on many generals, and the effect is good, after all, he introduced the daughters of key members of the Nationalist Army. In his opinion, if these young officers from the countryside want to take root, it is the most important thing to ask for a powerful wife from their mother's family.
Unfortunately, this time, Chiang Kai-shek made a mistake. Chen Mingren resolutely refused, saying that he already had a wife xie fangru in his hometown. Although this wife is 1 year older than him and is not the daughter of a rich family, she is chen Mingren's bad wife before his departure. When his mother opposed his joining the army, his virtuous wife silently supported him, and he naturally could not fail others at the first sight.
In this matter, Chen Mingren made many Nationalist generals look at him with astonishment, and Chiang Kai-shek did not expect him to be so tough.
Chiang Kai-shek's second move was to "promote" Chen Mingren, and this move really worked. From the captain of the colonel to the colonel, and then to the brigade commander of the major general, Chen Mingren rose step by step. By 1933, at the age of 30, he had become a lieutenant general. Being able to reach this position at the age of 30 really made Chen Mingren obey Chiang Kai-shek's orders for a time.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > two: and Chiang Kai-shek are not the same people after all</h1>
Chiang Kai-shek has always had a very good set of ideas in winning people's hearts and minds by giving money, giving officials, pulling red lines, and so on. But in the end, most of these people turned their backs on him, why? In addition to the fact that he himself stands against the people, there is another important reason: he measures too little. Chen Mingren soon had a profound understanding of this.
In the winter of 1941, Chen Mingren was ordered to garrison Kunming, Yunnan. At that time, under his painstaking management, the number of troops increased dramatically. With Chiang Kai-shek's appreciation and his many military achievements in the early days, Chen Mingren's scenery was infinite for a while.
Who knows, not long after Chiang Kai-shek passed by the Gecchi Pass, he happened to see Chen Mingren's soldiers repairing the fortifications. The clothes worn by these soldiers were very tattered, and the good-looking Chiang Kai-shek thought that this affected the overall image of the troops, so he asked: "Whose troops is this?" ”
This time, when his subordinates replied that it was Chen Mingren, Chiang Kai-shek had completely two attitudes than when he was in Huizhou.
Chiang Kai-shek immediately summoned Chen Mingren and questioned him as soon as they met him: "You are not a good division commander!" Chen Mingren did not expect that Chiang Kai-shek would be angry with him because of this matter, which in his opinion was completely unreasonable.
First of all, the soldiers' clothes were all hairs in the first two years, and the front-line troops themselves were hard, and they were torn after wearing them for 1 month each time. As the supreme commander of the army, Chiang Kai-shek did not care about the suffering of the soldiers, but he cared about the problem of face, which Chen Mingren, who has always loved soldiers, could not have imagined.
Second, at that time, Chen Mingren's department repeatedly made military achievements, and just received a commendation a few days ago. To evaluate whether a division commander is good or not, of course, is to look at the battle achievements, how can we say that people "the division commander is not good" because of the worn clothes?
Thinking of this, Chen Mingren was also furious and argued loudly with Old Jiang. Where did Chiang Kai-shek see such a bold general, and immediately said: "You dare to confront me like this!" ”。 Then he said he was going to lock him up. Chen Mingren did not hesitate, and while reaching out to tear off the lieutenant general's badge on his clothes, he yelled at Chiang Kai-shek: "I am not a good lieutenant general!"
Because of this argument, Chen Mingren was almost really removed from his post, but thanks to the intercession of Long Yun, the "King of Yunnan", he was saved. But this incident did make him have a different view of Chiang Kai-shek's obedience.
If Chen Mingren had not yet chilled chiang kai-shek about the military uniform, then after the Siping and First World War in 1947, Chen Mingren was even more helpless.
In the Battle of Siping, Chen Mingren, under the fierce attack of Lin Biao's Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, held out for more than 40 days, and the street battle alone lasted for 19 days and nights.
The Nationalist army rarely had such "achievements" on the battlefield of liberation, and Chiang Kai-shek naturally wanted to reward them well on the surface. As a result, Chen Mingren was promoted to commander of the 7th Corps soon after.
At that time, everyone thought that Chen Mingren should be reused, and who knows how soon he was dismissed from his post and investigated, because Chen Cheng complained to Chiang Kai-shek.
At that time, Chen Cheng inspected the northeast and found that Chen Mingren's subordinates used the grain fortifications aided by the United States, so he used this as a handle. Coupled with chen Mingren's usual speech and work too straight, some officials who were dissatisfied with him took the opportunity to fall into the well. Chiang Kai-shek listened to these people and removed Chen Mingren from his post.
On the day he received the dismissal order, Chen Mingren couldn't believe it. For a time, many soldiers of the Nationalist Army laughed at him: he hung a medal on his chest and held a dismissal order.
After that, Chen Mingren was discouraged and returned to Nanjing to accompany his wife and children. According to his son Chen Yangzhao, Chen Mingren, who took off his military uniform, loved to do his favorite thing every day was to hang out and play with his children. He was often so drunk that he was carried home by his lieutenant.
Occasionally, when comrades-in-arms came to see him, he would take people to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and Liao Zhongkai Cemetery. After fighting for so many years, perhaps only in these two places can he find his original intention. We don't know how he, a student of the first phase of Whampoa, felt when he stood in front of the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
In October 1948, due to the tight war, Chen Mingren was reinstated, and in 1949 he was sent to Changsha to serve as the commander of the Changsha garrison. In order to stabilize Chen Mingren, Chiang Kai-shek wrote a handwritten letter asking him to hold Changsha to the death, even if the whole army was sacrificed.
At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek also asked Chen Mingren to secretly kill Cheng Qian, who was planning to revolt. Cheng Qian was a nobleman who had helped Chen Mingren in his early years, and he was the old principal of his Army Martial Arts School in Guangzhou, and he could not have done so.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Chen Mingren did not stick to it like he did in Siping, and he led his troops to revolt.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > three: How Chairman Mao replied that he was guilty</h1>
Combing through the details of Chen Mingren's relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, you will find that he has always been a person with heavy feelings and righteousness. But at the same time, he is also a very straight-talking and grumpy person. This kind of person is obviously not the same as Chiang Kai-shek. What he needs is a person who really cherishes and loves talent to show him the direction, and this person is Chairman Mao.
In 1949, when Chen Mingren, after the uprising, said to Chairman Mao, "I am guilty, I hit Siping Street too hard," how did Chairman Mao reply?
The reason why Chen Mingren specifically mentioned the matter of Siping was because it was the fiercest battle he fought on the liberation battlefield. Because of his stubbornness, how many soldiers who did not need to die lost their lives, and how many innocent people were displaced. In his later years, he said in his autobiography that this battle was the most evil battle of his life.
In response to this matter, Chairman Mao replied in two sentences:
First, Chairman Mao said: "When two armies fight each other, each is its own master!" It's like rowing a boat, you want to row and win! ”
Second, Chairman Mao also said: "We can only say that Lin Biao did not fight this battle well!" ”
I have to say that Chairman Mao's reply is indeed too clever.
The first sentence is obviously to find a reason for Chen Mingren's "I am guilty", which Chen Mingren certainly understands.
The second sentence is also very weighty. You must know that Lin Biao's command ability is obvious to all, and he is a fierce general of our army. Over the years, it has been deeply appreciated by Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao was able to say this to his face to Chen Mingren, a former enemy general, and his measurement was not available to ordinary people.
Judging from these two sentences, Chairman Mao undoubtedly appreciated Chen Mingren very much. In fact, Chairman Mao first noticed Chen Mingren in 1945 at the Battle of Huilongshan between Chen Mingren and the Japanese army.
At that time, the British and American Allies and Expeditionary Forces were fighting the Japanese to the death, and Huilongshan was a position they had to take. Unfortunately, everyone has thought of many ways, and Huilongshan cannot be attacked for a long time.
At this time, Wei Lihuang thought of Chen Mingren. Chen Mingren had a very strong tone at that time, and he said to everyone: "My troops will arrive tomorrow, take over the defense the day after tomorrow, and attack on the third day!" ”
The U.S. general didn't believe it at all, and asked him why. Chen Mingren did not say a word, and made a military order on the spot to coexist and die with Huilongshan. Facts proved that Chen Mingren was already confident at that time. He identified the stubborn characteristics of the Japanese and quickly took Yongsan back.
After the war, Americans admired Chen Mingren and bluntly said that he was "a rare general!" At that time, Chairman Mao was in Yan'an, and after carefully analyzing Chen Mingren's playing style, he also did not hesitate to praise this battle as a "tactical masterpiece." Whatever should be exaggerated is exaggerated, and no matter whose soldier he is, this is Chairman Mao's measure.
Later, when Lin Biao and Chen Mingren met on the Siping Narrow Road, Chairman Mao also specially advised Lin Zong: We should not despise Chen Mingren and should study more examples of the Battle of Huilongshan.
It was precisely because of this station that Chairman Mao saw Chen Mingren's ability and bloodiness, so when he was in Changsha, Chairman Mao believed that he would revolt wisely, and insisted that everyone must persuade him and give him a chance.
After replying to his "I am guilty," Chairman Mao also said that he would reorganize his insurrectionary troops into the 21st Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and make him the commander of the corps. At the same time, the chairman also asked Chen Mingren: "What conditions are there, you can put them forward!" ”
Chen Mingren was deeply touched by the words, and he said: "Chairman of the report, I have now truly obeyed the Communist Party and unconditionally obeyed the leadership. ”
Hearing Chen Mingren say this, Chairman Mao laughed and said:
People put forward conditions, I am easy to do, you have no conditions, I am not easy to deal with! In this way, from now on, the People's Liberation Army will have food to eat, and you will have food to eat; the Communist army will have clothes to wear, and you will also have clothes to wear, and all people will be treated equally!
Chairman Mao said and did the same. Chen Mingren has always loved soldiers, which is one of the reasons why he finally chose a peaceful uprising, and he can't bear that his brother did not have a good end. The establishment of the 21st Corps meant that not only Chen Mingren's personal problems were solved, but also his subordinates had a way out.
On December 2, 1949, the 21st Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army held its inaugural meeting in Liuyang, Hunan. Chen Mingren, 46, wears the uniform of the People's Liberation Army and is so energetic. That day became one of the best memories of his life. Later, he led his army to participate in the suppression of bandits in Guangxi and won a huge victory.
In 1955, Chen Mingren was awarded the rank of founding general at Huai Ren Tang. When accepting the medal, he said: "I have been in the army for 30 years, and this is the first time I have received the rank of general. ”
In 1972, Chen Mingren was diagnosed with cancer, and Premier Zhou specially arranged for him to go to Beijing for treatment. On May 21, 1974, Chen Mingren died of illness in Beijing. Four days later, he was buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, and Ye Jianying attended his memorial service.
General Chen Mingren spent half his life fighting horses, and he made meritorious contributions to the anti-Japanese resistance, but he also missed the road. Fortunately, at the most critical time of his life, he was able to meet people like Chairman Mao who really appreciated him. This is the blessing of his life.