Author: Xiao Ming
Link: https://www.zhihu.com/question/623567314/answer/3577163668
Source: Zhihu
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Because during the resistance against the Japanese invasion, there was a commander who couldn't be killed no matter how hard they tried, while Li Zicheng had the misfortune of dying quickly. Chiang Kai-shek narrowly escaped death at least dozens of times and was targeted for assassination hundreds of times, but he never died. In the end, he lived to be 88 years old, which is unprecedented in the five thousand years of Chinese history. If you carefully examine his life, you will find that each time he narrowly escaped death, it couldn't be explained as mere coincidence. Most people would have died after losing ten lives, but he always managed to survive by a hair's breadth. It's a completely different story from someone like Castro, who was supposedly targeted for assassination hundreds of times but was rarely in any real danger. During the Battle of Shanghai, a Japanese spy named Huang Jun passed information to the Japanese that Chiang was planning to take an English ambassador to the front lines in Shanghai. The Japanese bombed the ambassador's car, but Chiang happened to change his plans and didn't get in the car, thus narrowly escaping the attack. Before the Battle of Shanghai, two unidentified men attempted to assassinate Chiang during a mobilization at the Central Military Academy, but they managed to escape in a car. On July 23, 1938, Chiang and Soong Mei-ling were in the temporary command center in Wuchang City when they suddenly heard the sharp sound of an air raid alarm, and the Japanese planes began another round of bombing. The Japanese planes had apparently learned of Chiang's whereabouts in advance and flew directly over the command center building, bombarding it relentlessly. The command center was engulfed in smoke and flames in an instant. After the alarm sounded, the couple and several guards had already taken cover in an air raid shelter downstairs, but since the Japanese planes had come with a purpose, they didn't stop easily. After nearly reducing the building to ruins, a bomb landed right next to the air raid shelter, and everyone inside was knocked down. Before the bomb hit the ground, the guards had already thrown themselves on top of Chiang and Soong Mei-ling. Soong Mei-ling was knocked unconscious, and several guards were killed instantly. When Soong Mei-ling woke up and saw that all the guards had been killed, she burst into tears. During the Battle of Tai'erzhuang in 1938, Chiang personally went to the front lines, despite Li Zongren's attempts to dissuade him. The Japanese were able to launch a surprise attack and reach the front lines before the Chinese forces could retreat. Chiang's command center was located at the Nan Station in Tai'erzhuang, within earshot of the sounds of artillery fire. The Japanese made a targeted attempt to eliminate him in Chongqing by bombing his villa, but he survived while several of his guards were killed. During the Battle of Wuhan, Chiang was in Wuchang, but as soon as the city fell, he left. Fortunately, the weather was bad, and he narrowly avoided being captured by the Japanese. During the war, Japanese planes bombed Chiang's headquarters multiple times in an attempt to assassinate him. There are records of at least seven such bombings. In one instance, Chiang was on a balcony observing a dogfight between Chinese and Japanese planes, and as a result, he developed new tactics for aerial combat. In his diary, Chiang wrote, "Of all the bombings in the past two years, today's was the most intense. I am overwhelmed with worry and anger. I don't know how the victims of the disaster are being rescued. I can only think of their suffering." In the afternoon, Chiang shared his research findings on how to combat enemy fighter planes, stating, "I have given instructions on everything, but I don't know if it will be effective. I can only do my best and leave the rest to fate." There was also an assassination attempt on Chiang by Wang Yaqiao's subordinates, but Chiang didn't show up, resulting in Wang Yaqiao assassinating Wang Jingwei instead. Later, Wang Jingwei died early due to his injuries. During the Second Northern Expedition, the Jinan Incident occurred, and the Japanese cannons directly targeted Chiang himself, nearly killing him. During the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang's soldiers stormed into Chiang's bedroom with the intention of killing him, showing no mercy. Chiang's guards sacrificed themselves to protect him, and all of them died. After the incident, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng killed nearly all of Chiang's several hundred bodyguards, as well as many of his subordinates. Even his nephew was killed. Chiang's older brother, upon learning of the Xi'an Incident, was so frightened that he died. Zhang Xueliang, Chen Cheng, and Wei Lihuang captured Chiang, but he was not killed (Yang Hucheng was later killed for other reasons). After a new leader took over, he was immediately removed from power. During the encirclement of the Red Army in Jiangxi, the Red Army was only 100 meters away from Chiang's command center, which had only about 100 people. Yet, they were never discovered. When Cheng Gongliang carried Chiang on his back, they suffered a major defeat and Chiang had already resigned himself to his fate, lying on the ground and not wanting to move. He first asked Cheng Gongliang to leave him behind, and then asked him to kill him, in order to maintain his integrity. In the end, Cheng Gongliang carried him out. And so on and so forth... Zhang Zuolin was only assassinated once in his lifetime, and U.S. President Kennedy was only assassinated once. Chiang Kai-shek was targeted for assassination hundreds of times and narrowly escaped death dozens of times, but he always survived. If only Li Zicheng could have been like that, no matter how hard they tried to kill him, they wouldn't have succeeded, and he would have been able to defeat the Qing Dynasty.