On February 18, 1949, Chiang Kai shek ordered Chen Mingren to lead the 29th Army to Changsha. Soon after, another order was issued. Chen Mingren was appointed as the deputy commander of the Central China "suppression headquarters" and commander of the First Corps, with the 71st Army and the 29th Army under his command. Later, the enlarged 123, 102, 14 and 100 armies were put under the jurisdiction of the First Corps.
Chiang Kai shek naturally wanted Chen Mingren to die for him.
Chen Mingren had made contributions in the battle of Siping, but later he was vaguely accused, saying that he had been robbing the army for food and inexplicably dismissed from the army. He sat on the bench for almost a year until October 1948, when he became the commander of Wuhan police and commander of the 29th Army.
From the moment he was relieved from his military post, Chen Mingren's thoughts had undergone earth shaking changes.
After arriving in Changsha, Chen Mingren began to secretly discuss the plan of the uprising with Cheng.
But from the very beginning, the uprising had twists and turns, and even Chen Mingren himself was swaying from side to side.
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Chen Mingren and Cheng Qian are teachers and students.
In 1924, Cheng Qian, at the instigation of Sun Yat sen, set up the Guangzhou Army Martial Arts School. Chen Mingren was a student of the school (including Chen Geng, Song Xilian, etc.). Later, the military school was merged into Huangpu, and Chen Mingren formally paid homage to Chiang Kai shek.
At that time, Cheng Qian held the military and political power in Hunan. Chen Mingren led the First Corps into Changsha, which was a great obstacle to the uprising. But on the first day of Changsha, Chen Mingren visited Cheng Qian. He was willing to listen to Cheng Qian's instructions.
However, Chen Mingren had concerns at that time. What he was worried about was that in the war of Siping, he led his army to wage a bloody battle with the Northeast Democratic Union Army, worried about the Communists' turning over the past, and refused to sign the memorandum on the grounds of fear of leakage of secrets.
Chairman Mao later specially sent Li Minghao to Changsha to persuade Chen Mingren. At the Guangzhou Army Martial Arts Lecture Hall, Li Minghao was the chief educator of the school and shared the friendship between teachers and students with him.
After Li Minghao's repeated messages and Cheng Qian's work, Chen Mingren was relieved:
"The uprising will never change."
However, at that time, the situation in Changsha changed three times a day, and it was difficult to predict the final result until it reached the end.
When the Kuomintang realized that Cheng Qian might have a problem, it immediately called Cheng Qian and asked him to serve as the president of the examination institute in Guangzhou. Cheng Qian refused to excuse himself. In order to avoid being intimidated by Bai Chongxi, he returned to his hometown Shaoyang on July 21 to hide.
Even so, Cheng Qian was almost killed by the agents sent by the Kuomintang authorities.
After Cheng Qian left, Chen Mingren officially became the actual ruler of Changsha.
Bai Chongxi spared no effort to woo Chen Mingren. Chen Mingren could serve as the deputy commander of the Central China "suppression headquarters", but it was impossible without Bai Chongxi's consent.
To Bai Chongxi's surprise, from the middle of July, he issued several orders to Chen Mingren to destroy the railway and industrial facilities in Changsha, but Chen Mingren ignored them all the time. Bai Chongxi realized that something was wrong.
In order to continue to woo Chen Mingren, the Kuomintang authorities officially ordered on July 30 to appoint Chen Mingren as the Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government and Commander in Chief of the Hunan Appeasement District.
On August 1, the Kuomintang authorities sent Chen Mingren's old classmates, Huang Jie, the Under Secretary of the Ministry of National Defense, and Deng Wenyi, the Director of Political Work, to Changsha to persuade them.
During that time, Chen Mingren's attitude experienced many iterations, and later entrusted someone to send a message to the underground party of the Communist Party of China:
"I hope to retain the post of corps commander."
Unfortunately, on the same day, Mao Jianjun, Chen Mingren's chief inspector, was arrested because of great public resentment. Li Minghao decided to hand over the person to the Communist Party, which caused Chen Mingren's great dissatisfaction.
Chen Mingren is furious and accuses Li Minghao of arresting his subordinates. Li Minghao refuses to listen to any explanation. In order to promote the uprising, Li Minghao even puts down his teacher's airs and hands over Mao Jianjun to Chen Mingren.
Unexpectedly, Chen Mingren was ungrateful and announced directly:
"Uprising will not be considered for the time being."
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Chen Mingren's hesitation also made many people deeply worried.
At the end of July 1949, when Mr. He arrived in Peiping, Chairman Mao proposed to mention the situation of Changsha when chatting with him:
"Look at this Chen Mingren, a student of Chiang Kai shek. Now Changsha is uncertain and has not yet made up his mind to revolt. Do you think he will revolt?"
Many people have different views on whether Chen Mingren will choose to revolt. Some people think that he will revolt, while others think that he is a student of Whampoa, and may be determined to work for Chiang.
Mr. He did not know Chen Mingren, but he was very thorough in analyzing the situation. He clearly told Chairman Mao:
"I think he will."
As for what Mr. He's basis is, no one knows.
At the same time, Cheng Qian is also actively promoting the uprising.
On August 3, Cheng Qian called the Communist Party of China to set up the Hunan Military and Political Commission under his leadership and the Hunan People's Command under the leadership of Chen Mingren.
Although the two names do seem somewhat different, the central government still replied that it was allowed.
In any case, Chen Mingren's repeated actions did bring difficulties to the uprising. At the critical moment, Li Minghao went to Chen Mingren's house to persuade him in person, regardless of the danger, and finally made Chen Mingren cry bitterly and helped him decide to revolt.
On the evening of August 3, Chen Mingren summoned his trusted followers to his home to announce the news of the uprising. As a result, all parties disagreed and directly argued.
Although many of Chen Mingren's trusted followers also agreed to the uprising, considering that Chen Mingren was a student of Whampoa, it was not convenient to scold Chiang Kai shek directly when he was on the phone, but it was better to scold Chiang Kai shek's trusted followers in the name of Qing Junbian.
The argument lasted until dawn, when all parties reached a consensus.
During the debate, Bai Chongxi kept calling from Hengyang, trying to shake Chen Mingren's decision.
Fortunately, Chen Mingren has made up his mind to ignore the phone calls from Bai Chongxi.
Wu Xiangru, the director of political work, once proposed to cut off the telephone line so that Bai Chongxi could not call again. In order to paralyze Bai Chongxi, Chen Mingren rejected Wu Xiangru's suggestion:
"Don't come up with such an idea. Go up and tell him that I went out to check the defense."
Unexpectedly, at the moment when the dust settled, something unexpected happened again.
