Chapter 209: The Blame‑Shifting Conference 1

August 20 1949, Yanjing Gongde Lin. In the afternoon the Gongde Lin was like a huge steamer, so hot that people could barely breathe. Over two hundred War Criminals were packed into the cafeteria‑learning room, the ceiling fan above them turned weakly, and the wind it blew was hot.

Li Yuxuan sat in the front row, fanning a palm‑leaf fan, watching the group of former subordinates, students, and colleagues before him. These people now wore uniform blue prison garb, but their sitting posture still retained the military habit—back straight, hands on their knees.

"There's no study assignment today," Li Yuxuan began, his voice low, but the whole room fell silent at once, "I just want to ask everyone—people like us, back then we commanded heavy troops with fine equipment, how did we lose to the poorly‑equipped Republic Red Army?"

The question was like a stone thrown into a pond, sending out ripples. Whispered murmurs rose in the cafeteria.

"Speak up," Li Yuxuan set the fan down, "Speak freely. This isn't a barracks now, no need to mind rank. Consider it… a postwar summary."

The first to stand was the former Kuomintang 7th Corps Chief of Staff Wei Ao, who is now also being reformed at Gongde Lin.

"I'll go first!" Wei Ao, agitated, said, "The first to bear responsibility for the destruction of our 7th Corps is the Xuzhou 'Suppression Commander' Liu Zhi! Commander Liu assigned the 44th Army—Sichuan troops whose combat power was as weak as tofu—to us, yet he made our corps wait for them in Xin'an Town for a full two days! In those two days, the Republic Red Army's Huadong Yejun caught up!"

In the corner, the former Xuzhou 'Suppression Commander' staff director Li Shuzheng could no longer stay silent, stood up and retorted: "Chief of Staff Wei, you can't put it that way! The 44th Army was reassigned by the old man himself; Commander Liu was merely executing the order! Moreover, your corps has complex internal factions— the 25th Army is Central Army, the 44th is Sichuan Army, the two forces did not cooperate, and during the retreat their formation was chaotic; that is the real cause of the delay!"

"Bullshit!" Wei Ao's face turned red with anger, "The 44th Army marched sluggishly, only thirty li a day; assigning such a unit to us is nothing but a drag! Liu Zhi saw that we weren't his direct line and deliberately set us up!"

"Who are you calling a liar?" Li Shuzheng also grew angry.

Seeing a fight about to break out, the subordinate of the former Kuomintang 2nd Corps Commander Qiu Qingquan, the 5th Army commander Xiong Xiaosa, spoke slowly: "Chief of Staff Wei, you accuse our Commander Qiu of standing by while we die, claim our 2nd Corps was only dozens of kilometers from Nianzhuang, yet used the 'spike tactic' to advance only a few kilometers each day—this is a personal vendetta—I'll have to set the record straight."

All eyes in the cafeteria turned to Xiong Xiaosa. During the Huaihai Campaign, Qiu Qingquan's 2nd Corps was ordered to break the siege of Huang Baitao's corps, but its advance was slow and ultimately failed to rescue Huang Baitao. This issue was highly controversial within the Kuomintang.

"Do you know how fierce the Huadong Yejun's blocking fire was back then?" Xiong Xiaosa stood, gesturing, "Three vertical columns took turns to block, with layered defenses. Our 5th Army was the main force, leading the charge, suffering over a thousand casualties in a day! Commander Qiu was advancing under the orders of the Xuzhou 'Suppression Commander'; what does 'deliberate delay' mean? Moreover—"

He paused, looked at Wei Ao: "Commander Huang placed the corps headquarters on the defenseless plain of Nianzhuang; being besieged was inevitable! Blame us for a weak rescue? Why not blame himself for choosing the wrong location!"

"You!" Wei Ao trembled with anger, "Nianzhuang is a transport hub, a strategic point! If you don't hold there, where would you hold? If your 2nd Corps truly wanted to rescue, a desperate charge could reach Nianzhuang in two days! But you? Advancing five kilometers a day, as if on a tour!"

"Tourism?" Xiong Xiaosa sneered, "You go on a tour and lose a thousand people a day? You need tanks to clear the way, artillery for cover? Speaking while standing doesn't hurt your waist!"

The two grew increasingly fierce, their spit nearly spraying each other's faces. Around them, some War Criminals tried to mediate, some watched the spectacle, some shook their heads and sighed.

At that moment, a voice from the corner murmured, "If we're talking about who can't fight, I think Commander Huang Wei is the exemplar."

The speaker was the former Kuomintang 12th Corps 18th Army commander Yang Botao, a subordinate of Huang Wei, who is also now at Gongde Lin.

All eyes snapped to Huang Wei. This general, a Whampoa First Class alumnus known for his stubbornness, now wore an iron‑blue complexion.

Since Yang Botao had spoken, he said no more hesitation: "The old man ordered you to lead the corps from Central Plains across the mountains to reinforce Xuzhou, and the route chosen was all the muddy ground north of the Huai River. Don't you know how heavy our American‑style heavy artillery and tanks are? Such mud can't be traversed! Why didn't you argue? You stubbornly pressed on, and the Red Army layered blockades along the Kuai River and Wo River, forcing us into a complete encirclement!"

Huang Wei sprang to his feet: "I am a soldier! I must obey the supreme commander's orders! The old man told me to take that route—what could I do? Reroute? Disobey the command?"

"A general may be abroad, but the sovereign's command is not to be ignored!" Former Kuomintang 12th Corps Deputy Commander Hu Lian also spoke—he was lucky, having been wounded in the Huaihai Campaign and rescued by his subordinates at the cost of their lives, but now among the War Criminals at Gongde Lin, many of his former comrades also "spoke" for him.

A former 12th Corps staff officer took the floor: "When we were surrounded at Twin Block after, there was clearly an opportunity to break out while the Red Army's encirclement was still unstable, yet Commander Huang insisted on waiting for the old man's 'hold firm and await reinforcement' order, even issuing a 'no unauthorized breakout' directive, causing us to miss the chance! Later, when we tried to break out, the encirclement had become like an iron bucket!"

"And Liao Yunzhou's Uprising!" another officer added, "The 110th Division commander Liao Yunzhou led his troops to defect at the front, and you didn't even notice! The 110th Division was reconstituted from uprising forces; you distrusted them yet handed them the breakout responsibility—wasn't that digging your own grave?"

Huang Wei's complexion flushed red and white under the pressure; after a long pause, he said stiffly, "Liao Yunzhou is a betrayer; that was an unforeseen circumstance! The other units had poor execution, fighting independently during the breakout and ignoring orders—none of that is my fault!"

"Who's to blame for poor execution?" Yang Botao pressed on, "You are the Corps Commander; if the troops ignore orders, isn't that your poor leadership? Moreover—after being besieged, you ordered all cars and tanks to be arranged in a circle as fortifications, calling it a 'car wall'—what happened? The Red Army fired a shell, the vehicles exploded, the whole thing burned! Many soldiers weren't killed by bullets but by fire and blast!"

A ripple of whispers rose in the cafeteria. Many had heard the anecdote of the 'car wall'; now it was exposed before them, and Huang Wei's face was ruined.

"If we fought again, I'm sure I could break out successfully!" Huang Wei retorted defiantly, "The Red Army was just lucky, they had the terrain advantage!"

The remark drew a chorus of boos. Even the usually steady Du Yuming could no longer stay silent, speaking up: "Listen, your American‑style equipment can't even traverse mud, yet you talk about luck? The Huaihe Plain is flat as a horse‑track; where's the terrain advantage?"

Huang Wei was so berated that he could not reply, sitting down with his anger still simmering.