On May 16, 1947, the Kuomintang general Zhang Lingfu was killed by the East China Field Army at Meng Lianggu, and the 74th Division under his command was completely destroyed.
A few days later, the news reached the Nationalist government in Nanjing.
Chiang Kai-shek saw the telegram
"Zhang Lingfu was killed, and the Seventy-fourth Division was completely destroyed"
After these few words, he was shocked and angry, and suddenly fell on the chair, taking a big breath.
He tapped the floor a few times with his crutches and roared,
"Tell Tombaugh to roll me over!"
Looking at Tang Enbo, who was kneeling in front of him, Chiang Kai-shek picked up his crutches in one breath and beat him to the point that his face was covered in blood.
Who is this Tombaugh? Why did Chiang Kai-shek want to vent the anger of Zhang Lingfu's death on him? What kind of ending did he end up with?
Born slightly cold, once prominent
Tang Enbo was born poor, and although he had a determination to do a big job, he had no background and no connections.
In 1921, a depressed Tang Enbo borrowed a sum of money from his relatives and friends to prepare to travel east to Japan to enter a university, and the following year, he entered the law department of Meiji University in Japan.
Here, he met the first "nobleman" of his life, and at the same time, the second wife who later broke off from him, Wang Jingbai.
Wang Jingbai's righteous father was the famous Chen Yi, who was not only a close friend of Chiang Kai-shek's classmates, but also a veteran figure of the Kuomintang, with both fame and real power.
After Tang Enbo learned of Wang Jingbai's family background, he immediately launched a pursuit of her.
Wang Jingbai was also impressed by Tang Enbo's perseverance, and not only agreed to be with him, but also introduced him to Chen Yi.
With Chen Yi's escort, Tang Enbo dropped out of Meiji University and was escorted to the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School.
In 1926, Tang Enbo came to Chen Yi's side and served as a major staff officer of the First Division under his command, and married Wang Jingbai in the same year.
Tang Enbo also began to slowly enter the upper echelons of power of the Kuomintang, and gradually emerged in front of Chiang Kai-shek.
After that, Tang Enbo's career in the army rose all the way, until Zhang Lingfu's death, he had already held the position of deputy commander-in-chief of the army, and also served as the commander of the First Corps, was Zhang Lingfu's direct superior, and was deeply relied on by Chiang Kai-shek.
However, all this, with the death of Zhang Lingfu, the total annihilation of the Seventy-fourth Army became a passing smoke cloud.
Love will die in battle and be reviled
After the Battle of Menglianggu, he received Chiang Kai-shek calling himself
"Roll Over"
After the order, Tang Enbo came to Chiang Kai-shek's office trembling.
Looking at the angry Chiang Kai-shek in front of him, Tang Enbo was frightened and broke into a cold sweat.
He glanced at the other senior Kuomintang generals standing and found that they were all pestles like clay men. Just when he was overwhelmed, he heard Chiang Kai-shek roar,
"Kneel down for me!"
Tombaugh's knees softened, and he knelt firmly.
Chiang Kai-shek looked at Tang Enbo, who did not dare to lift his head in front of him, and without hitting a blow, he picked up his crutches and greeted Tang Enbo, beating him more fiercely than once.
More than a dozen sticks came down, Tang Enbo was already full of blood, and the generals standing next to him were also frightened like clay people, the atmosphere did not dare to come out, and no one dared to intercede for Tang Enbo.
Chiang Kai-shek continued to beat him several more times, and he lost his strength.
At this time, Chen Yi stepped forward and advised,
"Stop and rest!" Pack him up later. ”
Chiang Kai-shek threw his crutches aside, walked slowly back to his desk, turned back and got angry, and shouted angrily at him.
Get out.
Chiang Kai-shek, who had lost his beloved general, immediately suspended Tang Enbo from all his duties.
It turned out that he had put all the responsibility for Zhang Lingfu's death on Tang Enbo.
If you really talk about the right and wrong between Tang Enbo and Zhang Lingfu, it is also inexhaustible.
Although Tang Enbo was nominally Zhang Lingfu's direct superior, the Seventy-fourth Division was an independent division of the reorganization, and Zhang Lingfu himself was Chiang Kai-shek's
"Love Will"
So, one of them feels that the other party is arrogant, and the other feels that the other party is just leaning on
"Nepotism"
In the upper position, the two looked at each other wrongly, and neither of them obeyed the other.
In the campaign against Meng Lianggu, Tang Enbo led the First Corps to go with a strategy of steady and steady fighting, but Zhang Lingfu decided to surprise the Plaster by surprise, so he ordered the Seventy-fourth Division to advance quickly.
By the time Tang Enbo reacted, the Seventy-fourth Division was already nearly 20 miles away from the oversized troops, and he was furious for a moment, scolding in his mouth:
"Don't obey the orders and command, so rush to death?"
Originally, this was just an angry sentence, but I didn't expect that in the end, I foresaw Zhang Lingfu's fate.
After the Seventy-fourth Division was besieged in Menglianggu, Zhang Lingfu sent several distress telegrams in a row, but Tang Enbo ignored them.
Later, a telegram was delivered directly to Chiang Kai-shek's desk, and Chiang Kai-shek, who learned of the situation, was furious and immediately sent an urgent telegram to Tang Enbo, ordering him to immediately lead his troops to Meng Lianggu for support.
After receiving the urgent telegram from the chairman of the committee, Tang Enbo could no longer continue to "pretend to be dead", so he had to count the troops and march towards Meng Lianggu.
However, before he reached the halfway point, he learned that the People's Liberation Army led by Marshal Chen Yi and General Su Yu had gone south, and as soon as Tang Enbo heard the news, where he could still support Zhang Lingfu, he immediately returned to his base camp without turning back.
As a result, Zhang Lingfu, who was isolated and helpless, and the reorganized Seventy-fourth Division died at Meng Lianggu.
Betray your mentor in exchange for a future
Chiang Kai-shek lost his beloved general and lost the reorganized Seventy-fourth Division, which had strong combat strength, and all his anger was vented on Tang Enbo's body.
These Chiang Kai-shek can turn a blind eye to each other, but at the moment of life and death, he abandons his subordinates because he is greedy for life and fear of death, which makes him intolerable.
From this day on, Tang Enbo was slowly excluded from the circle of "concubines" by Chiang Kai-shek, and although he was later given the title of "promoted to a knight", his attitude towards him became more and more cold.
The reason why Chiang Kai-shek was still willing to use Tang Enbo was because there were not many generals available within the Kuomintang at that time, and Tang Enbo still had some skills in him; second, because of Chen Yi's recommendation.
After all, if you don't look at the monk's face to see the Buddha's face, Chen Yi's face, Chiang Kai-shek is not very good.
Unexpectedly, in order to regain the trust of Chiang's father and son, Tang Enbo turned around and sold his benefactor.
After being reprimanded by Chiang Kai-shek in front of everyone, Tang Enbo has always been unwilling, and in his conversation with Chen Yi, he also revealed his willingness to defect to the Communist Party.
At this time, Chen Yi was also in contact with the Communist Party, and the two just hit it off.
Who thought that Tombaugh was a wall grass, whatever
"Anti-Chiang Kai-shek Pro-Communists"
They all said it without a moment's indignation, and the next day they reported Chen Yi to Chiang Kai-shek.
In the face of such accusations, even if he was a friend of the same window, Chiang Kai-shek did not show mercy to his subordinates.
In 1950, Chen Yi was shot in Taiwan.
Death to a foreign land, a bleak ending
And Tang Enbo's fate did not change because of this, after the defeat of Taiwan, Tang Enbo was deprived of all real power and only got one
"Strategic Advisor"
The fictitious title.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was already extremely disgusted with him, and rarely even asked him about his situation.
In fact, for such a fate, on the day zhang Lingfu died, the foreshadowing was already laid.
He was not disposed of because he still had some value, but after living in a corner of Taiwan, he became a useless person completely.
After arriving in Taiwan, Tang Enbo's health also began to have problems, stomach disease continued to worsen, and at this time there was no one else around him except the young daughter, Wang Jingbai resented him for betraying his righteous father, took the remaining three daughters and one son to settle in the United States, and never returned.
As his illness worsened, Tang Enbo had to send a report to Chiang Kai-shek and ask for permission to go to Japan to see a doctor.
But Chiang Kai-shek only glanced at the report and replied with four words.
"Healing in place".
In desperation, Tang Enbo could only endure the pain and continue to be treated in Taiwan.
However, in April 1954, Tombaugh's condition deteriorated sharply, and the abdomen continued to hurt, and after the hospital examination, it was told that he might have cancer and needed to go to Japan for surgery.
Tombaugh then sent a second application report to the "Presidential Palace".
This time, due to his serious illness, Chiang Kai-shek did not want to be criticized by others as ruthless and unjust, so he agreed to Tang Enbo's application.
However, Tang Enbo did not return to Taiwan alive.
During the operation, due to the doctor's improper operation, he lost too much blood and finally failed to get off the operating table alive.
After Chiang Kai-shek learned of the death, he did not have any other reaction, but simply said four words.
"It's okay to die."
Tombaugh's life ended with such a tragic end, at the age of 54.
Thinking back then, he was
"A great man"
And after death, it only got the evaluation of these four words, which is not a kind of irony.