In March 1943, the headquarters of the New Fourth Army suddenly received the good news that Han Deqin, deputy commander of the Kuomintang theater, had been captured alive by our troops! When the generals of the New Fourth Army learned of this, they were immediately filled with righteous indignation and shouted that they would shoot Han Deqin to avenge the sacrifices of the soldiers who had died.
There are two main reasons why the officers and men of the New Fourth Army reacted so violently?
"Tribology Expert"
First, Han Deqin was a well-known "friction expert" at that time. In 1943, during the critical period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army became more and more resolute in resisting Japan, but at the same time, because the Japanese army set our army's base area as the main offensive target, it frequently launched large-scale "sweeps", which led to a sudden increase in the pressure on our army's base area.
Logically speaking, when the pressure of our army is enormous, the pressure of the Kuomintang army on the frontal battlefield will drop sharply, and it is a good time to make a difference.
However, Han Deqin acted perversely, not only did not actively resist Japan, but continued to attack the New Fourth Army, and also intended to be unfavorable to the fifth column of the Eighth Route Army, which was really hateful, and therefore won the title of "friction expert" and became the vanguard of the Kuomintang in provoking incidents.
Bite the hand that feeds one
Second, Han Deqin is ungrateful and a typical "white-eyed wolf". In 1940, with 100,000 troops under his command, he openly launched a large-scale attack on the New Fourth Army. Compared with the previous "friction", this time it can be called tearing the skin, completely ignoring the overall situation of resistance against Japan, and raising the butcher's knife to the New Fourth Army.
Han Deqin's department had a fierce battle with the New Fourth Army in Huangqiao, in this battle Han Deqin took the initiative and occupied the advantage of troops, but in the battle of Huangqiao, it was Chen Yi and Su Yu who encountered Chen Yi and Su Yu, and naturally failed to get good fruits to eat, and finally ended in a fiasco. Not only were more than 10,000 people annihilated, but more than 3,800 people were captured, which was simply a shame and left home.
Han Deqin's actions made his relatives bitter and enemies happy, and as the Kuomintang army continued to wear down the New Fourth Army, his own strength was also greatly weakened. In 1943, when the Japanese army attacked Han Deqin's station, the pressure on the Kuomintang army suddenly doubled, coupled with Han Deqin's poor command ability, and soon after the two sides fought, most of Han Deqin's troops were annihilated.
At the critical juncture, Han Deqin led the remnants to break through the siege to survive. I have to say that Han Deqin's desire to survive is really strong, because the direction of his breakthrough turned out to be the direction of the New Fourth Army Defense Area. Obviously, Han Deqin hoped that after breaking through the encirclement of the Japanese army, he would be able to take refuge in the defense area of the New Fourth Army, completely forgetting the evil deeds he had committed against the New Fourth Army for so many years.
Han Deqin's plan to move the troubled waters eastward was naturally seen by Chen Yi, but Chen Yi put the overall situation of resistance against Japan as the priority, sent troops to aid Han Deqin's department, attacked the Japanese army, and won the opportunity for Han Deqin to break through, which allowed Han Deqin to save his life in this battle.
It stands to reason that the New Fourth Army solved Han Deqin's urgent need this time, even if it was not a life-saving grace for him, but it always helped him once. Even if he doesn't have to be grateful to Dade, he should be restrained, but his subsequent actions are shocking, not only did he not seek an opportunity to repay his kindness, but he took revenge and fell into the well!
After the Japanese army's "sweep" of Han Deqin's garrison was destroyed by the New Fourth Army, it hated the New Fourth Army very much and soon launched a fierce attack on our army's anti-Japanese base area. The Yanfu area in northern Jiangsu suddenly became the main target of the Japanese army's attack, and the New Fourth Army fought to the death with the Japanese army here, and there was no time for anything else.
Now that the role has been reversed and the New Fourth Army needs to be rescued, Han Deqin did not help, but instead gathered troops to take the opportunity to attack the New Fourth Army defense area and occupied many important towns and positions in the central area of the revolutionary base area. Han Deqin's move completely angered the officers and men of the New Fourth Army, and Chen Yi immediately dispatched troops to quickly form a counterattack on Han Deqin's department.
Han Deqin's character is not very good, and his ability to command wars is even worse, all because of his personal relationship with Gu Zhutong back then, which has led him step by step to where he is today. Therefore, in the face of the counteroffensive of the New Fourth Army, Han Deqin's department was quickly defeated, and even Han Deqin himself became a prisoner of our army after this war.
Clever decision
Because of these two reasons, the officers and men of the New Fourth Army hated Han Deqin to the core, firstly, because Han Deqin's hands were stained with the blood of our soldiers, and secondly, because he was a cunning person who took revenge. Therefore, when the soldiers learned that Han Deqin had been captured, they were immediately indignant and wanted to shoot the executioner who had been engaged in friction and sneak attacks.
Originally, the soldiers thought that this move was a matter of course, but they didn't expect that when they applied to Chen Yi, they were decisively rejected by Chen Yi. Not only that, Chen Yi also smiled and gave an order that not only should they not kill Han Deqin, but also blend him into the other captives and let him escape.
Moreover, Chen Yi also explained that before Han Deqin left, he asked for money for money, people for people, food for food, and don't treat them badly. Chen Yi's arrangement made many soldiers not understand, but Chen Yi's arrangement was not his own decision, but reported the matter to the central government, and finally it was recognized by the central government, and the soldiers naturally no longer insisted on it.
Is Chen Yi's approach right? The answer is naturally yes, and this move can be called clever. Because Han Deqin is hateful, but the background at that time was after all the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Han Deqin, as a senior general of the Kuomintang and the deputy commander of a defense region, frequently engaged in friction, although it was a loss, but because of this, he was executed by the New Fourth Army, which would leave Chiang Kai-shek with a pretext, and might even lead to a complete breakdown of cooperation.
Although the all-out war of resistance was the top priority at that time, Chiang Kai-shek was dictatorial and selfish, and his consideration was always his own interests, in case he disregarded the overall situation and attacked our army in front and back with the Japanese army, and no matter what the outcome of Chiang Kai-shek would be in the future, the anti-Japanese situation of our army would be extremely unfavorable.
Moreover, although Han Deqin graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, not all the people who came out of the Whampoa Military Academy are elites, after all, there are so many people who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, and there are still a few well-known military talents. And Han Deqin is obviously a "poor student" in the Whampoa Military Academy, and his promotion has always been due to the care of his good brother Gu Zhutong.
If Han Deqin can be put back and continue to take charge of the military power in the defense zone, it will be a blessing in misfortune for our army. After all, if Han Deqin is shot, the Kuomintang will send someone else to take over, and the friction is an act of Chiang Kai-shek's acquiescence, not Han Deqin's personal move, and it will be like this if someone else comes again, and it will not improve the situation of our army.
On the contrary, this time, Han Deqin was secretly put back, and if Han Deqin was allowed to take care of the loss, he would have some scruples when he engaged in friction again, so as to reduce the anti-Japanese pressure of our army. So, after Han Deqin goes back, will he stage another drama of the farmer and the snake? After all, he has done a lot of revenge before, and even fell into the trap of the New Fourth Army.
Chen Yi has already taken this into consideration, because he is worried about Han Deqin's character, and his promise may not be counted. Therefore, Chen Yi demanded that before Han Deqin left, he must sign an agreement with our army, not to take any action against the New Fourth Army, and to unite with the outside world and jointly resist Japan! Otherwise, Han Deqin will violate the agreement, and the New Fourth Army will make the matter public, so that Han Deqin will lose face.
Han Deqin has a strong desire to survive, and in order to be able to go back and continue to enjoy his happiness, he categorically agreed to sign an agreement. But Han Deqin also put forward two demands, one is that he must be allowed to take some prisoners when he leaves, and the other is that the New Fourth Army must give him a sum of money to recollect the remnants of the army, otherwise it will be too embarrassing to go back.
Because Chen Yi had already ordered in advance, Han Deqin's request was all approved. First, our army originally treated prisoners preferentially, and those who were willing to stay stayed stayed, and those who were unwilling to stay went home. Second, our army has carried out ideological education for the prisoners, and many of the prisoners have changed their minds and got rid of the demonizing propaganda of the Kuomintang, and it may not be a good thing to be able to follow Han Deqin back at this time.
Chen Yi acted very generously, directly gave Han Deqin 80,000 yuan, and let him blend in with the prisoners, pretending not to find out his identity, so that he could escape safely and avoid being trusted by the Kuomintang high-level after he returned. Under Chen Yi's operation, Han Deqin successfully returned to the Kuomintang Army to continue his post, but as Chen Yi expected, he was much more honest after he went back and did not organize a large-scale attack on the New Fourth Army.